Dener and Urma, police officers from the new Urvashi Guard, were riding in a car, carefully surveying the city. Dener was already forty, having spent his entire life on the streets, chasing thieves and fighting street crime. Urma, on the other hand, was a young graduate of the Police Academy, and he was her mentor. Overall, the training principles were sound: candidates were first assessed and trained, then thrown onto the streets under the guidance of an experienced mentor. However, the mentor also had to learn—for example, how to drive a car. They didn't use an autopilot system, doing everything themselves, so they could quickly react to changing circumstances.
"You have to admit, things are getting better," the old law enforcement officer's young protégé insisted. Dehner consoled himself with the thought that he was entitled to a substantial bonus for his mentorship.
"Everything remains the same: thieves steal, murderers kill, people act like pigs when they're drunk and do stupid things. It doesn't matter why," the older man pointed out.
— But hasn't there been objectively less crime?
"Okay," Dener agreed. "People are well-fed, so desperation doesn't drive them to crime. But I've seen perfectly happy people commit stupid acts."
"No, I agree with the girl," the detainee suddenly spoke up from the back seat. "The booze has gotten better, the salaries are good—and you can afford a lot."
"So why did you get into a fight with that guy?" asked the senior police officer.
"He was making nasty comments about my girlfriend. She wanted to get into a fight herself, but I got there first. She can't get into trouble with you, she's smart, she's studying physics at the university," the detainee boasted.
- You see, they are smart people, but they don't understand that you can't solve problems with your fists.
"Hey, how do you solve problems like that? Let some bastard insult your loved one?"
"You're smart people. Look, there's a girl going to university—she could have come up with something. Fists are a last resort. A fight breaks out, someone accidentally falls the wrong way, and now there's a corpse. Yes, you can resurrect him with the help of 'sarcophagi,' but does that justify your stupidity? But you still end up in prison. And instead of a beautiful life with the one you love, you're a criminal, with a record of killing someone in a tight spot. Words should be answered with words, not trying to show off in front of a girl."
"So you wouldn't punch a guy who spoke badly of your wife?" the detainee asked provocatively.
"No, because it's illegal," both the student and the detainee looked at him strangely.
— To all patrols, code 46, at 89 Khlebnaya Street.
"7-Adam-15, we're two hundred meters away, we can take him, but we'll need a patrol to deliver the detainee on Code 13," the man answered over the radio.
"Acknowledged, 7-Adam-15," said the dispatcher.
- So, newbie, what is Code 46?
"Discovery of bodies," the woman replied. After a few seconds, she paled slightly. They stopped near a house where a construction crew stood, dismantling it. The police stopped and cautiously stepped out. A pale man quickly approached them.
"Sir, have you reported the discovery of a body? I'm Officer Dener, this is Officer Urma." In another part of the yard, there were robots used by construction workers. And this man was most likely directing them, as he personally oversaw the progress of the work.
— Yes, officers. We dismantled this house and discovered several mummified bodies in the basement.
- Show me.
The man held his nose and led them into a building that had already been almost completely dismantled. The basement remained. When the workers began to demolish it, they discovered bodies. The stench of death hit them. Urma immediately ran off to vomit outside. The attentive man, fortunately accustomed to such sights, began examining the bodies. He then activated his omni-tool and scanned the corpses. Thanks to advanced technology beyond his comprehension, he realized the bodies were female. They had been raped and then strangled before death. The program also reconstructed the victims' faces. After seeing the results, the policeman sighed and called his superior directly, after first making sure the witness had come out for air.
— Yes?
"Remember that case from fifteen years ago? A girl went missing from a major merchant's family. They were desperately looking for her back then, even taking portraits. We thought she'd run away from her overprotective family with her lover."
- I remember.
"I'm standing over her body. And four more nearby. Perhaps this is what Phaeron warned about." The senior staff of the new police force was trained for an expanded list of threats, drawing on experience from Earth and other planets. One of the most unpleasant things was serial killers, and no one on the force wanted to deal with them. Criminals without any sane motivation, completely insane.
— Got it. I'll send you reinforcements. Don't tell anyone about this yet. Tell the new girl.
"I'll tell you. But I think it'll be all over the news pretty soon. There's a whole construction crew of witnesses. They'll be gossiping all over town and in the bars. But I'll try to be discreet. Everything will be ready for the investigators' arrival."
- Fine.
Coming out of the building, Dener noticed a girl breathing heavily.
"Shall we get to work, or do you need a couple more days to rest? You came here to maintain law and order, and that includes looking at bodies that can no longer be resurrected. So decide quickly: do you want to work even through what you see, or is this place not for you?"
Yes, from a certain point of view it was cruel, but he was here to teach the newbie how to work effectively. They get better technology, but the newbies who puke at the sight of corpses remain. Just like the bastards who want to harm people.
Dehner wanted to work for a while longer, maybe ten years, and then retire. He'd have a hundred years left in his life, which he could devote to something other than chasing down criminals. He liked his job. He made people's lives safer, but burnout still happened, and the number of bad days when he couldn't do much was high. The time he failed to find that girl was one of them. But now there was a chance and more resources to find the bastard. He would definitely be sentenced to death once they scanned his memory. And Dehner would attend that execution to witness the victory over him.