Officer Maloney was mumbling incoherently as he drank his morning tea. He looked up from his cool drink and scanned lazily the rows of monitors in his cramped office. As usual, there was silence in Dave-156's room. Then he stared intently at a screen. Instead of reporting no crime or showing some entertainment, it is filled with police notes about a case. Perhaps the word "event" is more accurate. Technically, it was a criminal charge, but some influence from someone in the military he'd never even met forced his captain to erase all official records of the incident. Given the highly automated nature of the society they live in, that means it might as well not have happened.
However, Maloney did not let this matter go. He didn't know why. Maybe it's because this is the first real mystery he's faced in his six years on the force? Maybe it's his sense of justice nagging him that something isn't right. This may also be due to his stubbornness or his unwillingness to give up halfway. It is likely a combination of these factors. Whatever the reason, something drives the officer to dig deeper and uncover what happened to the strange girl named Maggie. or magazine. He never learned her real name and was unlikely to find out through official channels, so he resorted to nicknames and aliases.
In fact, this is not entirely true. She does have an accomplice or a boyfriend or something. There was nothing suspicious about Joe Mulligan, but Maloney's instinct told him to investigate this guy anyway. He seemed to have nothing else to do, so he used his security clearance to pull up Mulligan's personal records. This man is 22 years old, born and raised in Dave 156, has never worked, his parents are still alive, and he is as unremarkable as their son. Everyone said that this person was just a drop of water in the sea of people living in this big city. However, his transaction records showed some very suspicious activity.
An investigation into Mulligan's past spending revealed nothing unusual until a few weeks ago, when he made a large donation to a man named Dave Willabon. Maloney immediately investigated the man and discovered that he had received similar gifts from dozens of people. The entire amount he received enabled him to purchase an old abandoned factory building. That's pretty impressive considering Willabong doesn't have a job and appears to be crowdfunding a business.
However, he and all of his financial backers (for lack of a better term) were reportedly detained or killed for conspiring against the state. These are serious accusations and certainly not what Maloney expected. Then, he vaguely remembered hearing about it from a colleague who worked in a neighboring branch. He made a note to follow up with his colleagues later, but for now he was more concerned about Mulligan's involvement in the mess. More specifically, how it failed just two days after he donated it, and how he was the only one to leave.
Officer Maloney wasn't really sure what to make of the information. All he was sure of was that Joe was involved in something he couldn't understand. After meeting and speaking with this man, it's difficult to imagine that he was a hardened criminal mastermind or some covert agent sent to infiltrate this group of potential individuals. It wasn't just his overly casual and indecisive demeanor, but also his physique. There is no doubt that this is the physique of a commoner who has never lifted anything heavier than a teacup. Even the laziest police forces require their members to maintain a minimum level of personal fitness. A government spy would surely be at least as fit as Officer Maloney, otherwise they'd be out of breath the moment anything insignificant happens.
That was the police's initial verdict, but an investigation into Joe Mulligan's finances further revealed an entirely different issue. His account was involved in thousands of transactions with an unbelievable number of objects, which were then immediately refunded at the request of the sender. The amount alone is harrowing, but the amount of money involved is simply unbelievable. So little money was actually moved back and forth that Butte
po
D-4's banking software treats this as zero. However, Mr Mulligan's personal account ended up with an extra 200 pounds, even though no money should have been exchanged.
Officer Maloney had a strong premonition of what was going on. While at the academy, he underwent a mandatory and fairly exhaustive course covering various aspects of computer science and virtual reality. This knowledge is essential for law enforcement officers to fully discharge their duties in the hyper-digital society in which humans live, especially in the Third British Empire. Thanks to this, Maloney was able to deduce that the transactions caused an obscure rounding error that caused the funds to essentially appear out of thin air.
The officer hated to admit it, but whoever discovered and exploited this flaw was an absolute genius. His memories of the banking system taught him that personal finances were handled in a robust yet sophisticated manner. A person can't just enter a bunch of numbers and get free money because the system's audit of their past transactions will immediately detect the tampering. Not only did this distributed rounding error approach bypass these safeguards, it also did not trigger any automatic alerts because the affected individuals' balances technically did not change.
So, is this Joe Mulligan a super smart hacker? Absolutely not. Maloney is convinced that's not the case, mainly because all of these transactions happen within seconds. The human brain cannot accomplish so much in such a short amount of time, and the brain's banking interface to the machine has no room for automated scripts or third-party software to alter inputs. The only viable explanation Officer Maloney could come up with was that this feat of processing power somehow involved an artificial mind, a suggestion not to be taken lightly. Low-level logic blocks controlling factory machines and non-player characters in VR games are one thing, but what about fully self-aware AI? That would be highly illegal within the 3BE space. So much so that police regulations require law enforcement officers to notify the military immediately if they notice even the slightest sign of this happening.
So things are back to square one. kind. At least the pieces of the puzzle that Maloney collected are starting to become clearer. As far as he knew, either the military, the government, or some large companies with their support were conducting extremely shady experiments involving artificial intelligence. Considering all of the suspicious bank activity was coming from Joe's VR pod, it seemed like the most logical next step in the investigation. Mahoney could easily imagine a scenario in which, whether Mulligan agrees or not, the machine has become host to some kind of self-aware digital consciousness. He's trapped in the middle of it all, with the girl named Maggie by his side.
In a moment of clarity, the officer stepped back from the terminal and looked down at his cup of tea, which had gone cold. Does he really want to get involved in something that is clearly beyond his purview? It would be highly unwise to do so given the potential risk to his career and even his life. And even if he uncovers some huge conspiracy, what can a random cop do? Nothing if the government gets involved. Absolutely, given the circumstances. Even so, something compelled him to ignore his better judgment and see for himself how deep this rabbit hole went. It has nothing to do with responsibility, money, justice or public safety. not real.
For the first time in his life, Grant Maloney felt so strongly about something, and the thrill of solving the mystery was intoxicating.
So police officers began an unofficial, not strictly illegal, investigation into the couple's activities. His first thought was to take a closer look at Mulligan's virtual reality pod. He had no chance to see it when he brought the suspect into the police station, nor did he think it was relevant to the case at the time. This was a missed opportunity because it was impossible to get into that apartment without any of the residents realizing it as long as they lived in that apartment, and that was pretty much all the time. I've been more nervous than usual lately. When Maloney first met Mulligan two days ago, Mulligan said he was exhausted from playing a big game in a few weeks. It's unlikely he'll leave before this is over.
So the dangerous and curious officer took to the streets and started asking around. He thinks people - especially shop owners - will remember seeing someone with a unique look like Maggie. Even if they haven't met her in person, they've probably heard some rumors about her. His instincts are spot on. Within an hour, he heard about a so-called "pale goddess" who had recently been circulating on community message boards. Following this clue, he found a grocery store called Lyfe Haxx.
As soon as the police entered the door, they attracted the attention of the four people inside, because it was very rare for law enforcement officers to appear suddenly like this.
"Oh! Hello, officer!" the old gentleman behind the counter greeted him.
"Hello, sir. I'm Officer Maloney," he said, tilting the brim of his hat. "Are you the owner of this store?"
"Yes, Mr. Eugene Charles, I am willing to serve you." He lowered his head gently. "Are you interested in a handheld teapot? Or are you here to work a case?"
"I'm afraid it's the latter. Can I have a word with you in private?"
"Of course. This way please."
Mr. Charles said goodbye to the three potential customers in the store and led Maloney into the back warehouse. The shopkeeper's businesslike smile immediately disappeared, replaced by a look of genuine concern.
"Officer, what's going on?"
"I assure you, this has nothing to do with you, sir. I'm just investigating someone who has been at your place of business recently."
"I understand." He relaxed a little. "I don't know how I can help, but I'll do whatever I can to help you. Who are you looking for?"
"A pale girl. Dark hair, dark eyes, both genetic patterns, late teens or early twenties. Named Mags, sometimes Maggie. Sound familiar?"
"It does. In fact, I have a feeling it might be about her."
"Why did you say that?"
"Well, to say the least, she's a really weird girl. She has an exotic look and a very long-winded way of talking. I can't think of anyone else who would come to the attention of the police."
"Yeah. Can you tell me about her?"
"Not much, I'm afraid. As far as I can tell, she's a recent visitor. Seems to have no idea how the Empire works. When I told her she needed to be implanted
When P can buy something, she is really sad. "
"Sad? Really?"
"I...might be exaggerating. She was disappointed. I felt bad for her, so I offered to barter. She agreed, which, to be honest, was fine with me."
"Can you tell me the details of this barter?"
"Of course, officer. Give me a moment..."
Charles rummaged through the table for a minute before finding the written agreement and handed it to Maloney.
"Signed hard copies of something like Barter are pretty rare, aren't they?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Oh, of course. However, Miss Muggs was quite insistent. He must have been worried that I would break my promise."
The policeman turned his attention back to the file and glanced at it. The suspect appeared to have performed some personal marketing services in exchange for a pet package containing a baby boa python. Well, that certainly explains where her snakes come from, but seeing her signature raises more questions. Instead of using her initials or writing her name in cursive, she drew a series of strange and elaborate characters that looked more like graffiti than letters.
"Do you know what this is about?" He pointed to the suspicious signature.
"No, sir. This is as foreign to me as it is to you."
"Don't you think it's strange?"
"Oh, that's true. However, it's just a promissory note. I don't think it's appropriate to question the girl's strange customs over such a trivial matter."
In fact, calling this scrap of paper a legally binding document is like calling water a hydrogen-based corrosive substance. Still, the suspicious handwriting is a promising clue. Deciphering the symbols would allow Maloney to learn the girl's full name, if nothing else.
"Can I take this?" he asked.
"No problem from my side, officer. I've digitized the agreement, so I don't need the original. But, may I ask, is she involved in anything? You just mentioned something."
"None of your business, sir. It was just a public disturbance that ended with her making some sweet remarks to a law enforcement officer. The matter has been resolved and I was just following up with her because we were having some trouble with the background check."
"So she wasn't in any trouble?"
"Not yet, no."
"That's great," the man said with obvious relief.
"Even though you haven't met yet, you seem to care about her," the officer said.
"Yeah, she's a lovely girl. Strange, but sweet. And polite, calm, and surprisingly professional. She helped get my business off the ground more than the five hundred pound Pontington I gave her The article is more worthwhile. I was so impressed by her that I offered to ask her to be my assistant. In fact, if she changes her mind, I would still like to do so. And of course, implant P
P. "
"Mr. Charles, that is indeed a glowing compliment. Regardless, I appreciate your input and I won't take up any more of your valuable time."
"Please, it's no trouble at all, officer."
"Oh, and can I ask you a favor?"
"what is that?"
"If you happen to see the girl, please don't mention that we spoke. I was just filling in some gaps in my report and I didn't want her to worry about it."
"I understand, sir. I keep my mouth shut. Metaphorically speaking."
The two men looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, and the policeman took in the meaning behind the unnecessary clarification.
"She's serious, isn't she?" Maloney couldn't help but laugh.
"Heh. Yes, sir," chuckled Mr. Charles.
