Hollow Point Happiness

Case 9: Closed Case Report

Interplanetary Police, Luna Headquarters
Closed Case Report
Written By: Chris Cartwin
Relevant Parties Involved: Chris Cartwin, Chuck Prescott, Mana Brighten, Off-world satellite ID: 1336-8DFRG9-3HR7 referred to as Defrag.
Relevant Evidence: X150 Scythe Anti-Tank Rifle, 23 .45 ACP Bullet Casings, 3 .308 Casings, 1 28mm Casings, A heavily bloodied Karambit style knife, Fingerprints, DNA, Facial video, Destroyed Node (Mana Brighten), Body (Mana Brighten).
**ALL EVIDENCE HAS BEEN TURNED OVER TO INTERPLANETARY POLICE EVIDENCE UNIT**
Cause of case closure: Death of relevant suspect, Mana Brighten
Date: 3/18/2298
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Mana Brighten was confirmed Body Dead, at 11:43 am 3/14/2298, Confirmed CMND (Complete Node Destruction) at 11:41 am 3/14/2298. Due to these circumstances, we are unable to retrieve any data from the Node or revive the body.

Case Conclusion:

I was meeting with the suspect, Mana Brighten, after an invitation to meet at Brickwall coffee shop on Earth. Seeing as we had no reason to arrest her due to her sudden complete pardon I decided to work outside of Police jurisdiction and take a personal approach in attempting to dig up more evidence. I'm not sure why I was invited by Mana other than from what little information we could gather on her which leads me to believe that myself and her father, Robert Brighten, who was found Body Dead 7/25/2286 with no Node implant, had interacted in the past. She believes that I was involved in his death and upon finding that I was not responsible took her own life via hiring another, currently unknown, hitman to kill her as well as destroy her Node.

Case Details:

I was assigned to the case by Chuck Prescott...

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Chris walked into Chuck's office late that afternoon.

"Well, done with the report?"
Chris handed him the paper, "Yep."
Chuck slid into his chair, "So I wanted to talk to you about your ramblings yesterday."
Chris sat down in a chair rubbing his forehead, "Ya. Ya. Ask away."
"Chris I know you really want to believe it wasn't an accident. To this day I grieve with you, but what happened to Emerald was an accident. We checked everything Chris, we turned this planet upside down looking. But... 2 lifetimes Chris. That's what I risked. The amount of shit you pulled digging into Warmage looking for evidence. Then I somehow let you convince me that letting you work undercover with Pablo and the Triple-A was a good idea. It was a shitstorm trying to cover all that up Chris."

"Chuck..."

He cut Chris off, "No! I'm talking right now Chris." He took a deep breath, "I agreed to let you keep working after the pardon came through because it was on your head, not mine if you did stuff as a civilian, not a cop. But what was your plan? 'Look at me, I'm not a cop but I'm still going to arrest you.'."

"Chuck please..."

"NO CHRIS! Another problem not only the fact that you didn't tell us she contacted you. But also the fact that you thought when you arrested her you would strong-arm into helping you. But it didn't matter if you couldn't find a reason to arrest her. Because, you had another plan anyway."

Chuck slammed a syringe into the desk.

"You broke into the evidence locked and stole knockout drugs! You planned to fucking kidnap her Chris. Just so you could use her underworld connects to go back and try to fuck over the Warmage Corpos for a crime that you still can't prove wasn't an accident based solely on the fact that she had connections to the company as well. You have gone way outside the boundaries and then some, you were always a loose cannon when you undercover but this... this is unacceptable."

Chris put his head in his hands.

"I thought you were a cop, but as soon as you saw personal gain you went off the fucking rails. You're a disgrace to this organization. Your father would be appalled. Leave, get the fuck out of my office. Grab your shit and don't ever come back. I don't ever want to see you again."

...

Chris unlocked his apartment's door after far too many attempts. He stumbled in and collapsed to the floor as a hologram appeared in the room. AVA stood over him.

"Mr. Cartwin your blood-alcohol level is far too high please refrain from the intake of any more alcohol."
Chris threw the bottle at AVA's figure, "FUCK YOU! You're not my wife!"
The bottle glided through her and smashed against the wall, "Please lay down, I will prepare a water glass and pain relievers"
Chris laid his head on the ground, "Just die... fuck off. I don't need you. I only need me. I... don't... need any help."

A mechanical arm came down from the ceiling placing a glass of water and 2 small tablets next to him on the floor. He swung his arm out knocking them over, his hand clipping some broken glass and making a small cut. He rolled his head over to look at it. It was shards of the beer bottles that Mana had knocked over. His mind was guided to the memories of the day. He put his hand down into his jacket and grabbed something solid. He pulled it out as he curled into a fetal position and held it in the faint sunlight and looked at the inscription.

He read the words as his tears soaked into the carpet, in beautiful gold text is read "Do Harm".
He placed the barrel to his throat, right atop the small bump of his Node. He squeezed his eyes shut and the world went dark.