Cognitive Deviance

34. Controversy

May 26, 2045 - 4:30 PM

Commissioner Mason stood above the rest of the city on the stage. A dozen of her fellow Psychwatch officers stood behind her in a horizontal line, their faces hidden underneath opaque helmets while their Assault Fatemakers remained on display. She was greeted with a cacophonous mixture of cheers and boos as she approached the podium, but she didn't fear a single one of them. Unlike many of her colleagues, she'd grown used to seeing those masks and those heart-shaped lenses and those gratuitous cybernetics. In the end, they were always the same: red blood, blue tears, clouded thoughts, and blind eyes. Someday they'd realize they were wrong, she thought. Someday.

One of the Nice Guys lobbed a glass bottle toward Mason from thirty feet away in the crowd. Mason only knew who it was because she could hear him shout, "Fuck you, Psychwatch!" at the top of his lungs, and she could sense his deadly glare from deep within the crowd. As the bottle shattered into a hundred pieces beside her, the drones flew toward the man responsible like vultures to a fresh carcass. Through the drones' footage, Mason could see his middle finger extended clearly along with the Threat Level 3 he'd earned for nearly assaulting an officer.

It took a few seconds longer than she anticipated, but the Scan's thought-transfer ability did its job. Mason caught a glimpse of the fear in that man's eyes before he turned around and made his way toward the exit, two drones pursuing him to ensure no further harm would occur.

Mason extended her hands out to silence the crowds before her. Before a word could leave her tongue, she took a brief moment to study the faces of her audience, specifically for those who were too loyal or fearful to betray her. She saw Margo in one corner of the park, who was nervously overseeing that Dottie was escorted out of the rally by two other officers while angry Omniluv members stood behind her. In another corner of the park stood an abandoned, four-story brownstone where Holden, Nikki, and several other officers secretly maintained the drones around the park as well as the SanityScans' connections. Jack and Royce were lost somewhere in the freak show beneath her, but she wasn't concerned. Royce—bless his heart—was as harmless as a mouse, and Jack's life was in Mason's hands.

She could've killed him if she wanted. God knows the thought has tempted her before. It's not like he's been making any progress. And he couldn't just refuse service and go home. He had nowhere else to go. It's either Psychwatch or a regular prison, and they didn't care nearly as much as Psychwatch did.

"Good afternoon, everyone," Mason greeted. "Thank you all so much for coming to this year's Mental Health Awareness rally. I'd like to thank our wonderful mayor for supporting our cause and spreading the word of the good we've done for this city and for this country. I'd like to thank the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for having faith in our organization and providing us with the proper funds to aid us in our mission to better the future. And finally, I'd like to thank our founders, Cyrus Lynch and Tetsuo Fujioka. It hurts to know of their disappearance, but wherever they may be, I hope they know that they are the pioneers of the future of mental health and America. We wouldn't be where we are now if it wasn't for them."

Applause rippled through the crowds, but Mason and her fellow doctor-cops couldn't escape those lingering expressions of disapproval that followed after each round of praise like an aftershock. She looked back to see Carl and Andrade glancing at each other; even when hidden behind those helmets, she knew they were feeling uneasy. She also knew this wasn't their first rodeo, so they'd adapt easily to whatever behavior the crowds threw at them next.

She cleared her throat and continued. "I'm sure many of you have heard of the recent, atrocious acts committed within our own city streets. Four individuals killed in a drug deal gone wrong. Four more in a public restroom near the Philadelphia Zoo. And one in particular that absolutely disgusts me: the discovery of a neo-speakeasy with a role in the Sentient trafficking ring. Ladies and gentlemen, do you know what all of these horrible acts have in common?"