James Swithinski: Enabler of Death, Part II

Just an hour later after James had murdered the old man in the alleyway, he was pulling up to the Church of New Light. The sky overhead was cloudy and dark, the rumble of thunder in the distance threatening more rain.

The Church had lights on inside and outside, and the driveway and parking lot of the Church was shinny with rain. James slowed down his motorbike to a stop, kicking out the stand and standing the bike into it's stationary stance.

Swinging his leg over the bike James walked from his bike up tot he sidewalk, tucking his left hand into his jacket pocket. He let his right hand dangle by the gun on his hip. James let himself huff out a sigh before he left the sidewalk to cross the rain-soaked grass that wrapped around the Church. There was more than one in New Jack City, but this one had been closer. James knew there was a good chance he would find father McConally inside, and he could help.

Standing near the church were a few other people, one of them clutching a shopping cart that was covered with a tarp. James looked at them through his black helmet, but couldn't see anything they were doing was wrong. James job was taking care of big problems, like bank robberies, double or triple homicides, or strange talking amulets.

Across the grass James came to walk across a bit of parking lot, stepping over a pothole that was big enough to hold a manhole cover. New Jack City had been in the top-most part of New York for the last thirty-four years now, and it had seen plenty of violence, damage and destruction.

James started his walk up the steps now, and pulled off his helmet. Passing a hand through his short hair he carried his helmet in one hand and pulled open the front door of the Church with his other hand. It was warmer inside, and James unzipped his jacket, wiping a wet hand off on his grey shirt.

The Church lobby was well lit, and James walked through the area to reach the nave, or the main area. James, who wasn't religious, didn't know the anatomy or layout of a Church like father McConolly did. The nave wasn't as bright as the lobby, but well enough that James could see everything around him. The pews were made of dark oak, and behind the alter was a marble statue of Jesus upon the cross, his arms held out and his head bent down. James knew there was some symbolism behind that, but didn't recall it off the top of his head.

Father McConolly was standing behind the alter, and looked up at James as the man walked past the rows of pews. The Ireland native still had some accent in his voice, but his family had come to New Jack City almost eight years ago to leave for a different setting. A slight hate on Protestant religion had come to befall McConolly had his family, and they had sought a stronger reform in N.J.C.

James met eyes with Father McConllly then, and nodded to him. He swapped hands with his helmet, then reached into the inside pocket of his jacket to pull out the remains of the amulet.

"What've ya got there?" asked Father then.

"It looks to be a recording device, of some kind," James answered as he came to the steps in front of the alter, "I regrettably killed a man, but not for the reasons you'd think."

"He was innocent?" asked McConolly.

"I never said that," James shook his head as he stopped on the other side of the alter, "he could have been the biggest piece of shit in south Athebby and I would have never known it."

Father McConolly raised an eyebrow then, and James muttered,

"Sorry," before making a mock sign of the cross.

Father McConlly only held out his hand then, showing a dark grey steel hand that shone dully in the light. James set the piece of the amulet on the alter, and then the microchip that had been inside the ruby heart.

"How're the hands?" James asked.

"I need to get them tuned up," McConolly was arranging the amulet pieces the alter, "I took me about a full minute to open a jar of sauerkraut yesterday for lunch.

James only smirked them, and watched as Father McConolly reached out to pick up the microchip on the alter.

"So what happened?" the Priest asked then.

"I answered a personal phone call from on old man who probably got my number from the precinct, and then he showed me this amulet. It was a heart before I smashed it, and this little chip inside had apparently been telling the old man to do pretty bad things. Rape, kill, murder, stuff like that. Then it started talking to me, and I went to shoot it. My gun was right against the thing though, and I shot that old man instead. I'm thinking that a strong signal moved my hand on it's own, but my software's about a year out of date."

"Your smarter than most," McConlly looked up at James, smiling.

"I just need the tech so I can shoot straight and get rid of my headaches," James admitted, "I don't care for all this "new age" tech that On-Line is promoting right now.

"Good thing your hardware is police issued then," McConollly's eyes flashed a shade of blue then.

"You got anything?" James asked.

McConolly only blinked at the chip in his hand, and James stood quietly. Father McConolly had artificial hands to replace his own after they had been lost in a construction accident some years ago, but the Priest had other part of his body altered and modified so he could help the Asako Crime Agency with problems that were to big for the local police.

"It came from an audio shop, but it's been modified to broadcast signals from a different location. Somewhere in Singsbury, by the looks of it."

"I don't understand why that old man had it though," James shook his head, "he didn't tell me where he got it from. Just that it was bad, which by the looks of things, it is."

"If it came from Singsbury, I know the Third Eye gang makes their home there," McConolly said.

"Oh great," James' tone was sarcastic, "I'll have them flip over some tarot cards for me and tickle my palm."

"Well if the Third Eye can help you, that's a start," McConolly looked at James past the chip, "they don't have any reason to hurt people, but I know they like to safeguard their territory out there."

"Yeah, that old man might have rubbed them the wrong way and this was their way of getting back at him," James nodded, passing a hand over his hair, "any way you can put that on another chip for me and get me whatever conversations they had with the old man for me to hear?"

"Sure," McConolly nodded, closing the chip in his fist.

The Priest stepped away from the alter then to walk for a closed door off to the right, and James stepped away a few feet, resting either foot on two separate steps.

He waited for maybe ten minutes, and looked up from rubbing a spec of dirt away from the muzzle of his gun when the door Father McConolly had walked through opened again.

The Priest walked up to James, and held out a smooth grey bit of metal, like a slide you would put under a microscope to see bacteria or germs.

James took the slide with a nod, and McConolly nodded back.

"Thanks, Father," James said as he walked down the alter steps.

"Careful out there," McConolly raised a hand to James walking-away back.

James only held up a waving hand as he kept walking, pinching the metal chip in his thumb and forefinger. He walked past the rows of pews again, and then walked back through the lobby.

Through the lobby James pushed open one of the wooden front doors of the Church, and hefted his bike helmet in his hand. The streets were still wet, and James walked back through the parking lot and over the grass and sidewalk to reach his bike.

Swinging his leg back over the bike James sat down with a grunt, and set his helmet on one of the handlebars. raising the chip up James looked at it one way, then the other. He reached his hand up to his neck, were a small metal slot was imbedded in the left side of his neck. A data slot that was used by some members of the Asako for the examination or analysis of data that pertained to whatever an Agent could be working on.

James pressed the chip that McConolly had given him into the slot, and it made a small clicking noise as it was excepted into James' neurological network.

As James pulled on his bike helmet a chime sounded, and two small wave lengths and a few pictures of faces appeared in his vision, but didn't obscure anything that was around him. The old man that James had killed had been Walter Edders.

Walter was having a conversation with a woman named "Tally" and two other men named Jake and Riggs. The wavelengths detected any change in a persons mood based on their vocal patterns, and James turned a key in his bike, pulled up the kickstand, and started driving.

"So, your saying that you can keep an eye on my psychoses levels with this?" that was Walter's voice.

"Yes," said the woman's voice. Tally.

"You think it'll help with my mood paranoia?" Walter asked.

"We can wait and see," said Tally, "I am, after all, a retired medical professional."

Walter's wavelength spiked then, and James heard his voice waver as he seemed to question Tally's expertise in her "retired field."

"Well if you think it'll help," Walter said.

"Hey man, lady knows her stuff," said Rigg's wavelength.

"She's the best in her class," came Jake's wavelength next.

There was a moment of silence then, and the wavelengths and pictures all blinked away. James blinked, but only cleared his throat as he kept driving. He thought on the evidence he had to go on a minute, then figured out what he knew based on what he had.

Walter had gone to the Third Eye in search of a remedy for a mood paranoia, whatever that could have been. James was only prone to headaches so violent all he could do was sit in a chair and wait for them to pass, with help from a stabilizer that was on the left side of his head, and didn't have any experience with paranoia.

What that fact absent, James wondered for a moment if the Third Eye had simply lied to Walter, giving him the amulet to spy on him, or increase his condition in hopes of sparking some kind of episode in him that resulted in gain for the gang. James was aware the Third Eye had used phycological tactics before, and effectively, though he hated to admit the latter.

With a light shake of his head James rolled up to a red light, and looked around. His head almost sore, but the stabilizer was doing it's job and helping the Agent to level out.

The damp streets shone with lights from surrounding buildings and street lights, and if you looked past the throngs of people and rumbling exhaust from cars, New Jack City wasn't the worst place to live in, even by the standard that 2057 had set in place.

Reaching up James adjusted his helmet, and zipped up his jacket just before the streetlight turned green. The young man twisted the throttle grip, zipping away from the faded white lines on the street to stat rolling up a mild hill, heading east for Singsbury.

It wouldn't take James long to get there, and the sooner he figured out his new mystery, he'd more than likely have to write some kind of report on it. Twenty years after the climax of overpopulation in America, the world certainly wasn't without it's problems; James wasn't worried about having to put his hands on a keyboard by any means.