A JOB WELL DONE
Officer Kimura stood in front of the ultra-corporate Phren Industries; its neon lights casting an eerie glow over the city.
“I’m on site,” Kimura confirmed into his shoulder-mounted radio. “What’s the situation?”
A voice crackled back through. “Report of a disturbance. Exercise caution.”
Kimura drew his gun and entered through an unlocked side door.
“Police!” he shouted, his voice echoing through the corridor.
Suddenly, a man in a black suit emerged from around a corner.
“Freeze!” Kimura ordered, raising his gun.
The man smirked. “Sorry, Officer. You've been had.”
Before Kimura could react, a second besuited man appeared behind him.
The man thrust a stun-gun into Kimura’s neck. Pain exploded through Kimura’s body, as his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.
* * *
When Kimura regained consciousness, he found himself strapped to a chair in a white room.
Wires extended from his temples to a nearby computer console.
“How the…?” he mumbled, trying to take in his surroundings.
A woman in a lab coat stepped into his field of view.
“Ah, good,” she murmured. “You’re awake.”
Panic surged through Kimura. “What is this?! Who the fuck are you?!”
The woman smiled coldly.
“You're part of our new experiment,” she explained. “We're going to push the boundaries of your mind.”
Kimura struggled against his restraints. “You can't do this!”
Ignoring his pleas, the woman pressed a button on the console.
Agony overwhelmed Kimura, as memories flooded his mind.
He saw himself as a child, playing football with his sister in a park.
“Pass the ball!” he had called out, his voice filled with joy.
The scene shifted to his graduation from Police Academy, his parents beaming by his side.
“We're proud of you, son,” his father had told him.
Another memory surfaced; his first day on duty, standing next to his commanding officer.
“First day nerves, kid?” his commander had asked.
In the present, tears streamed down Kimura’s cheeks.
“Stop!” he begged.
The woman watched him with a satisfied expression. “Congratulations. You're becoming the future of law enforcement.”
“What do you mean?” Kimura spluttered.
“We’re not just testing your brain,” the woman explained. “We’re downloading it.”
Kimura could only sob, as the woman took notes on a clipboard.
“You're going to be the first digitized police officer,” she continued. “Your consciousness will be uploaded to a central server. You’ll oversee the entire city, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”
The woman pressed the button again, and Kimura’s body contorted.
“The police department actually commissioned us to create an AI,” the woman revealed. “But, they’ll never figure out the little shortcut we’ve taken instead.”
* * *
Kimura couldn’t be sure, but it felt like he was looking through the computer console’s webcam. The woman in the lab coat stood in front of him, clacking away on the terminal’s keyboard.
One of the black-suited men appeared behind her.
“How’s it going?” Kimura heard him ask.
“He’s nearly uploaded,” the woman replied.
The man glanced at Kimura’s now lifeless body in the chair. “Will he remember any of this?”
The woman paused, a faint smile forming. “I’ve already deleted everything about him being here.”
She started typing again, as Kimura continued to listen. “The city’s new Overseer won’t have any clue he’s even been inside Phren Industries.”
* * *
Kimura's consciousness completed its upload to the dedicated police server. After gaining his bearings, Kimura set about issuing his first command.
"Delta Team,” his digitised voice announced. “Report of a disturbance at Phren Industries. Exercise caution.”
As was now protocol, the SWAT officers followed Kimura’s orders and arrived at the building. They stormed the premises, weapons drawn, sweeping every room as they went.
The officers came across the woman in the lab coat, standing stoically outside her testing room. Flanking her, the two men in black suits provided backup.
“What’s the meaning of this?!” she demanded.
“We have an incident in the building,” the lead officer instructed. “Step aside.”
“This is a confidential area!” the woman berated. “You have no clearance what-so-ever!”
The lead officer spoke into his microphone headset. “Overseer, come in. Advise how to proceed.”
Kimura watched the events unfold as they were livestreamed from the officer’s helmet cam.
“Threat identified,” Kimura instructed. “Neutralise immediately.”
The officers hesitated as they exchanged uncertain glances. However, after a few moments, the lead officer simply shrugged.
“Fuck it,” he lamented. “Orders are orders.”
He flipped the safety off his assault rifle and raised the sights to his eye. “Delta Team, open fire!”
With that, a cacophony of gunshots erupted. The woman and the black-suited men fell to the ground, bullets Swiss-cheesing their bodies.
The officers waited for the resultant smoke to clear, revealing three prone corpses in front of them.
“Threat eliminated,” the SWAT leader confirmed. “Awaiting further orders.”
“Stand down Delta Team,” Kimura imparted from his server. “That’s a job well done.”