Jacob's RevGang victory caused little excitement when he showed up to the station, which was already a flurry of activity. He arrived exhausted, two soaking wet RevGang members in tow that looked like they had emerged from a war zone. The booking officer barely looked up when he plopped them down in the chair in front of him. The Officer - an older man named Ramirez who was a few months away from retirement - glanced up briefly, before grabbing a stack of intake forms.
“You're late. “ Ramirez said dryly, checking off the standard boxes on his paperwork.
“I had my hands full.” Jacob gestured vaguely towards the criminals “Give them the standard charges. Attempted robbery, illegal card usage, obstruction of Agency duties, conspiracy to confiscate government property.”
Ramirez grunted. Both of them knew the charges were a formality. A slap on the wrist, and a release to the public. Enforcing Card laws had stretched incarceration to its limit. There wasn’t enough opportunity, wasn’t enough resources, and cards that could reshape reality. Crime had exploded. Not because the populace was inherently bad or criminal, but because there was no other way to get by. The prisons were full; even if the Agency wanted to throw the book at the enforcers, there would be nowhere to lock them away.
Jacob glanced at the large clock on the wall. 8:27. He was late. The station chief was going to give him an earful. He opened the door to the back area, and was greeted with absolute chaos. The station appeared to be double staffed, and officers were frantically moving throughout the building. They crowded into every crevice, on every terminal, calling across the room to each other in an absolute cacophony. All the televisions on the wall were tuned in to various news outlets, all of whom were reporting on Wonder corps. Jacob couldn't hear the reporters over the wall of sound in the space.
Jacob navigated his way through the ocean of officers to his desk, which had three people staffing it already. His night shift replacement Anderson was working the terminal, while the others were using portable units. Anderson looked completely exhausted, jittering from a concentration card overdose. Coffee cups were scattered around him as his hands flew over the keyboard, and the man looked as if he was on the verge of collapse. Deep circles were under his eyes, and as Jacob watched an intern rushed by to place another cup of coffee on his desk, before quickly moving on. Anderson noticed Jacob slowly, giving him a slightly zombie-like stare before recognition flashed over his face.
“You’re late” Anderson said, stopping his work momentarily.
“Apprehended two RevGang thugs on the way in.” Jacob was nonchalant. Normally that would raise an eyebrow - an uncarded government agent stopping two RevGang enforcers - but Anderson didn’t even blink. The information barely registered as it met him, and he nodded weakly.
“That would explain why you look like shit.” Anderson took a sip of his coffee and sighed. Jacob watched as he pulled an awakening card out of his equip deck and slapped it into his equipper. He didn’t bother removing the stack of cards already there, and as he did the bottom card fried itself and disintegrated. Jacob noticed the deck box at Anderson’s side was noticeably thinner than when he had turned up for work the day before.
“You’re one to talk.” Jacob glanced around at the madness throughout the station “What the hell is going on around here?”
“Chief’ll explain. She wants to see you. Expect an earful.” Anderson turned back to the terminal and pulled up more files. Jacob saw Wonder Corp. logos on several, with the word CLASSIFIED plastered over others. Jacob groaned a bit and braced himself as he walked towards the Station Chief’s office. It was at the very back of the Station, behind the offices of the various shift and duty supervisors who handled specialty crimes and cases. Every office was packed with officers while dozens of Academy interns flitted between them, carrying papers, portable terminals, and coffees. Jacob had never seen the station so harried. Whatever was happening couldn’t be good.
As he reached the door of the chief’s office, he felt another buzz at his side. He reached down to his equip deck, noticing it had dispensed a card on its own. He pulled it out of the deck and looked at it. Insight of Soul. He paused for a moment in the middle of the station and an intern bumped into him, sputtering out a rushed apology before hurrying to their next task. Jacob debated for a moment before slipping the card into his equipper. There was a rush as it equipped, a feeling of warmth, and a momentary increase in the cacophony as he suddenly became aware of the intentions of every officer within eyesight. The noise was only for a moment however, before returning to its prior levels. There was a slight burning sensation on the back of his right palm, and Jacob noticed an unusual shimmering symbol on it. The outline of a human eye was imprinted on the back of his hand, glimmering with a slight iridescence. Jacob stuck the hand in his pocket, then opened the door.
The station chief was barely visible in her office, hidden behind a mountain of files. She was in the formal Agency uniform: nearly identical to his but closely tailored, with a formalized blazer over the top that contained her station and duty pins as well as several award markers. The Station chief was a small, middle aged woman, with a wit and personality sharper than any knife. She was a legend at the station, someone every officer both admired and feared. She had served in the Agency for almost 30 years, and unlike most of the officers she volunteered for this station. Her career was lengthy and notorious, with many accolades and achievements under her belt. Outwardly she said she wanted something quieter before she retired. Internally, most officers doubted she would ever retire. She was strict, disciplined, and totally devoted to the Agency mission. Where she was now Jacob suspected his grandfather had once been, 30 years ago, right when she was starting her career. Would she be like his Grandfather in 30 years, eking out an existence on Gov Benefits in the industrial districts? Or would she still be at this desk, working until she dies? By then Jacob hoped to be long gone, stationed somewhere more central with a more battle-heavy mission. The match earlier had lit a fire in him he hadn’t felt since the Academy, and he was desperate for more.
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“You’re late.” The chief was brusque as always.
“So everybody has pointed out.” Jacob tried to keep his tone in check “I intercepted two RevGang enforcers on the way here. Low level, but it delayed me.”
“You’re not in my office to discuss why you were late.” The chief gestured at the chair in front of her desk “You’re here for a briefing, you need to be brought up to speed.”
Jacob nodded and took a seat. As he did he felt the symbol on his hand warm slightly, and he focused in on the chief. Her expression was inscrutable as always, but when he focused, he saw a deeper layer. Something behind the impossible to read face, burdened by years of agency work.
Brief the kid. Get back to work. I’ll never promote with this nonsense. Jacob smirked inwardly as the thoughts of intention rolled over him. He knew she didn’t plan to retire anytime soon. The chief loved the job too much.
“Wonder Corp. is opening its doors. They announced it this morning. Five random people, selected by lottery.” The news froze Jacob in his seat. Wonder Corp. was famously secretive about everything. Never accepted defense projects unless absolutely necessary, never submitted to national or international oversight. Their corporate cards were amongst the most popular with competitive casters, due to their increased durability and the company’s uncanny ability to unlock cards before anyone else. Their notoriety had made them incredibly powerful, with their corporate headquarters being located in a secretive submerged lab somewhere in international waters. Every government in the world had looked for it for years, but none had been able to find it. Their secrecy was legendary, to the extent that no one knew who ran the company itself. They always spoke through anonymous press briefings and figurehead public relations firms, if they said anything at all. Some in the Academy even whispered rumors that the company was the source of the shadow cards, using arcane knowledge and secret machines to produce what no one could explain.
And now that company was letting in five random people.
“That’s… big news.” Jacob finally said, still taken aback.
“Indeed.” The chief almost looked disappointed at his response, a disappointment that radiated through her intention as well as her words. “Of course the lottery is bullshit. They’re hiding invitation cards into their packs, but aren’t saying which ones or where they’re being distributed.”
“Which is why I’m guessing every Officer in the station is running around like another insurrection is about to start.” Jacob said “Every government, competitive caster, company, and individual is going to be attempting to get their hands on one of those cards. By any means necessary.”
“Including the Agency. They have almost the entirety of the intelligence and computational divisions attempting to crack where those cards will appear, and who will be invited to go.” The chief looked at him critically, and the symbol on his hand warmed again. He placed his left hand over his right to hide it, as the thoughts of the chief’s intention rolled into his mind.
This kid isn’t stupid, but he’ll get in the way. I’ll have him on Corporate Research. That’ll get him out of the way, let the experienced officers have some breathing room. This station has gotten far too crowded and stuffy. It’ll keep him busy.
Jacob wasn’t surprised the chief didn’t think especially highly of him. Since he had joined the station the most distinguished thing he had done was bring in the enforcers that morning, and he hadn’t even filled out the standard reporting yet on that encounter. RevGang enforcers were brought in to the station almost every day, often in groups of 4-5. Half the stations frontline officers organized their patrols specifically around catching them. They were an easy way to build up a resume, as most enforcers carried low level cards that matched their low level rap sheets. So long as you didn’t run into the bosses; taking down a RevGang boss was rare and challenging. Only a few Officers were tasked with that, and usually there was less than one of those brought in a year.
“Before I give you your assignment, I’m asking every officer the same question.” The chief leaned back in her chair, giving Jacob her full attention “What’s your read?”
“Well obviously crime is going to spike” Jacob frowned , sensing he was likely giving the same insight every officer had that day “Since everyone will be doing what they can to get those cards we’re going to see a massive increase in thefts, break-ins, robbery, forgeries, black market sales, murders, the entire spectrum. Corporate crime will likely also increase, as the other companies attempt to hack Wonder Corp. to find the 5 invite packs. The Agency won’t be able to do much about preventing it, with most of our top talent dedicated to finding the cards themselves and getting an Officer on the inside. Which I’m guessing is the read that every officer in the station has given you.”
“Pretty much.” The chief smiled from the corner of her mouth, appreciating the self-awareness “It’s the most obvious read.”
“What I think will be more dangerous is the people who aren’t looking for those cards.” Jacob continued “The Holy Order, RevGang, the other governments, all will have groups looking for invites sure; I would guess quite a few of them will also realize that this is the perfect distraction. With everyone seeking out invites, no one is going to notice if one of these groups starts taking out their rivals, or stockpiling other powerful cards. Like the shadow packs.”
So he has a little bit of a brain. The chief gave a light look of approval as her thoughts rolled in. Maybe he’ll find something useful in archives, I’ll send him there instead.
“We’ll definitely be a lot more overworked.” The chief said, returning to her paperwork “Your other murder investigations are suspended until this resolves; after you file your accounting of your incident this morning, you will report to the archives and records facility downtown. The Agency needs more officers digging into the history of Wonder Corp., there’s a group there seeing if there’s anything relevant in special collections.”
“Are we looking for anything in particular?” Jacob asked, raising an eyebrow . The archives were clearly a dead end, to the point the chief herself knew it. “Or is this just an excuse to get us newer officers out of the way?”
“80% excuse, 19% opportunity to actually build up our file on Wonder Corp.” The chief smiled wryly at Jacob’s forwardness “1% chance you find something that could actually help. Our file on Wonder Corp. is embarrassingly thin, we’ve been so busy dealing with Murders and street gangs over the past 40 years we never got around to doing a proper investigation of the biggest players. Which is likely how Wonder Corp. was able to be such a secret in the first place. But if you hate the assignment, I’d be happy to put you back on murders. I have 6 more that came in this morning with zero evidence that I was going to hand over to the Academy kids.”
“The archives will be great.” Jacob jumped in “I’ll do my best.”
“Don’t just do your best.” The chief suddenly looked up at Jacob seriously. The intention symbol on his hand was burning but no thoughts came through, just a sense of sudden opportunity “Build me a file that surprises me.”
Jacob nodded. “Yes ma’am.”
“You’re dismissed.” The Station chief returned to her stack of papers, looking away from Jacob. The symbol on his hand cooled, fading into a light dull throb. Jacob got up and quickly left the office, heading towards the front of the station.
The chief wanted a file that would surprise her. Jacob would make that happen.
direct retelling, but the bare bones are there. I have a personal relationship with the story the first book in this series is based on; it was the first opportunity I had to portray a character on the stage over 20 years ago, when I was a small boy. I have a deep love for it and all the other elements of our story; for those who know the tale I encourage you not to write this book off and stick around. I have a lot of creative changes and twists throughout the book that I’m eager to show y’all, including one at the very end that I’ve already started foreshadowing. In terms of Lore I’ll give you this small tidbit: The names of the two RevGang enforcers Jacob brought in are Joseph and Jeremiah.
trust in the cards
What side character do you want to learn more about throughout the book?
