James Croc and the Case of the Captivating Cadaver


It was about two thirty in the morning when my holo-phone woke me out of a deep sleep, groggily I answered the phone.
"Hello." I said wiping the sleep from my eyes. the person was shrouded in darkness.
"Hello... there's a body over here at Third and Main that i think you should look at," said the man. I recognised the voice it was one of my connections in the APD who usually called me when they had a strange or hard to solve cases they were working on. I climbed out of bed and went to the window, looking out i could see the macro-bacteria trucks have not even cleared the streets yet. I then stepped outside looking around for a cab, though very few would come out at this time of the day. especially when visibly being so poor. I could hear a sweeper truck coming from down the road. it was a large truck which came down the roads with a large net clearing away the macro-bacteria allowing the cars and other vehicles to pass through the streets and being able to see clearly. Immediately following the truck was a cab.
making his early morning rounds. I then hailed him . The cabbie pulled up peering out of the window.
"Where to bub?" he asked. I could see the remnants of his last meal in his teeth. as much as I wanted wanted to get another cab he was the only one here. as I climbed into the cab I said," I need to go to corner of Third and Main."
"OK" said the cabbie.
It took about five minutes for us to get there when I arrived I could see the body it did not look too terribly strange from this distance. I paid the cabbie. Fifty Creds I think is too much, but I payed it anyway. As I came closer to the body, I could see that the body had no webbing in their fingers and no scales or gills. My interest was definitely piqued , but i could not tell anything until we got it to the Medical Examiner's office . I turned to ME and said "Bag'em and Tag'em." I said. I needed to look at this at the ME's office. I managed to get a ride with the Medical Examiner. I followed him down the long hallways of the Atlantia Medical Examiner's office we came to a room with lockers by the door and a large machine with the body laying on the bed I happened to come in just as the body was going through the scanners. each of the scanners emit rays of varying wavelengths penetrating deeper into the body which the image is then sent to a computer and the resulting image is displayed on a screen giving the ME full access to the inside of the body without cutting open the body. The ME went over to the screen and started to delve inside the body.
"There's something wrong with this machine." he said pondering the image. From what I could see most of the body looked normal, but there was no gills and two fleshy sacks which seemed to have air in them. I've never seen anything like it. The ME's assistant came in with his nose in a book. It appeared that he was reading about history .
He said with the book still up to his face," Wow would you believe that about 700 years ago that we breathed air and walked on land?"
He glanced up at the screen as the ME was complaining that there was something wrong with the bone density and still was baffled about the organs which he had never seen.
He turned to the ME and asked " what's the ETD?"
"I don't know maybe an hour or two." replied the ME
I then turned to the ME and asked" what was the cause of death and were there any possessions on the body?"
The ME replied,"It appears to be a knife wound, but without knowing what this person is or where it came from that's only a guess."
the assistant then went to a locker pulled out a vacuum sealed package with several things inside. looking to one thing which appeared to be a small plastic card with a picture and a DNA profile on the back.
"What type of society needs something telling them who they are?" the assistant quipped.
The assistant's face went blank with awe as he looked up at the screen then he went to flipping through the book and stopped at a picture of the anatomy of the of the beings which existed 700 years ago. It looked strikingly similar could it be that these beings still lived? I then glanced at the plastic card her name was Jennifer Richardson and apparently she lived in a place called New York. According to the book that city must be well over 1,000 years old if it still stood today. I made my mind up I would have to see if there was anything still on the surface. if anything still lived above the water, but how, i could not breath air.
I began asking around the city about if anyone knew anything about going up to the surface. after several hours of nothing I came across a flier stuck to a pole it was toting that a company called Aqua Tech had developed a suit which could go to the surface and it was looking for people to test it out it gave the address. I hailed another cab by now it was about six o' clock . The cab pulled into the entryway of Aqua Tech Incorporated I paid the cabbie and headed inside as I entered the building I could see a Fleet of holographic advertisements stating the company's achievements and goals. I then turned to the receptionist and asked her "Is Mr. Jacobs in? I need to speak with him."
She looked at me from behind thick framed glasses and said, "Mr Jacobs is in a meeting and he is not seeing anyone at this time."
I walked right passed her . "You cannot go in there!" she blurted out. Opening the door I could see Mr Jacobs sitting behind a desk his head laying back and there was a loud thud as I opened the door. A woman popped her head from behind the desk her clothes were disheveled I turned to Mr. Jacobs and said "A meeting huh?" I then turned around so they could compose themselves. "How can I help you?" asked Mr Jacobs after escorting the lady out of the office. I came to ask you use of your suit. I'm Investigating a murder and I need to go to the surface.
"Okay" he said with a hint of skepticism. "I need You to sign here ...here ...initial here" he explained while flipping through a lengthy contract. "You can't be too careful " he said with a chuckle. It sounded like he wanted to cover his own ass. "This suit will allow anyone to walk on the surface safely it will keep the water pressure the same and it also has filters which keeps the internal water clean. I would recommend changing the filters at least every three hours. if the water is found to be too contaminated for the filters it then will dispose of the water and draw clean water from the outside to replace it or gets it from condensing air, but If the water or air on the outside is contaminated once it tries to replace any water it will draw it in unfiltered. Unfortunately our funding has run little short and could not place any more filtering units on it."
I looked over the suit It looked bulky and cumbersome I could see that there were filters on the legs and arms of the suit. there were also hoses running one coming from the back to the helmet to the back of the suit and another going to a spray head. That must be the outlet for the dirty water . We continued walking down a hallway while he someone brought the suit we turned into a room where there was a vehicle the person loaded the suit into the pack of the vehicle which folded down to a ramp which the suit was loaded into the vehicle. We both boarded the vehicle the back was closed and we pulled out of a large opening and started moving up words. l looked out the window watching the various sea creatures. I started to feel the pressure start to decline it made me feel light headed. One thing which I have read and seen in documentaries about this planet is that there was a star which breathed life into it , but strangely I could not see any light that was shed it was still as dark as pitch. We traveled up until the vehicles weight could not be supported. Mr Jacobs turned to me and said," This is where you get off."The suit was thrown on me quickly as the vehicle shook trying to maintain its position in the water they then put me in the suit into a cylinder which was allowed to decompress as the floor opened up allowing me access to the out side. Falling down I struggled to find my barrings and began to swim up words towards the surface something was blocking any light from coming through which I could not see. The suit was heavy and hard to move, slowly I pulled my self up eventually breaking the surface I then found myself surrounded by garbage. I started to move to the shore the garbage was still surrounding me the water was almost black in color . I was about twenty feet from shore when I noticed some lights were flashing and the water started to become cloudy inside to suit it became harder to breath. My eye went wide and I struggled to reach the shore I could feel myself getting weaker, thankfully I came to the shore I couldn't even stand the light was blinding so I closed my eyes. I woke up several hours later with someone standing over me! It was a kid he had a suit on similar to mine but it looked more streamline and lighter. He turned to around and said, " He's alive!" He turned back around and said to me "I changed your filters in your suit. You should be ok for three hours." His friends came running around me. and helped me up onto my feet. there was something different about his friends. they did not even need a suit. They could breath air and they were definitely not Atlantian they were covered in hair but still looked somewhat human. They looked friendly though. Before I could question them we heard a call of rain over an intercom system then I was hurried under an overhang of a building. The streets were cluttered with litter which was soon being burned by the rain the I could not see the kids which saved my life. I then moved along in front of the building across the street I could see more people like those kids and a few like Jennifer Robinson. I was suddenly pulled into a room. The room was dark it had a television and a table several people were sitting around the table discussing recent events which included discrimination. " I am sick and tired of having fake and real mice thrown at me and those humans saying 'here kitty kitty kitty'" said the half cat. "You have it bad! Ha! I can't walk down the street with out people oinking at me and calling me a fat pig!" said the half pig. The dog-man pounded his hands on the table "Enough! We all have hard times on the streets. we all go through the same things. At least we have Jennifer Robinson to help us out, to stand up for us!" A news broadcast came on the tv. The half dog got everyone quiet." Still there are no leads in the disappearance of Jennifer Robinson. She was the spokesperson for the human and animal hybrids and she was working to put the inter-special equality amendment on the constitution .She was last seen three days ago by this security camera in a restaurant she has since disappeared. No one seems to know if she is even still alive. This is Ronald Goldlan reporting for WCHB channel 12 news." "She's dead," I said calmly and as soon as I was finished saying that I was pinned against the the wall the whole room's eyes were on me. The dog hybrid was in my face and he said with a growl. "How do you know she is? So help me I will kill you if you laid a single webbed hand on her!"nervously I stated,"I am James Croc a detective commissioned by the Atlantian Police Department to investigate a body which was found in the middle of a road in Atlantia. It turns out that the body is that of Jennifer Robinson." Thankfully he eased off me with this heavy suit on I was in no condition to fight. The cat hybrid climbed on the table and said " Tonight we march over to city hall and protest! We will also find out who did this and they will pay!" All ten of the people in the room began to work themselves up and began making signs some stating equal pay for all others were about their improving living conditions, and other were about getting the right to vote. We still had to wait for the rain to stop. I could hear tires squealing out side and then I could see a knife come through the door. Some people ran to the door opening it, but the car was gone. Someone grabbed the note and the knife it was exactly alike to the one that was used to kill Jennifer Robinson. The note said stop now and no one else will die. I could see nothing distinctive about the paper used to for the note, and the writing was printed from a computer. The rain had stopped and everyone started leaving the room carrying a sign. Someone handed me a sign I took it even though I was not one of them. It was for a good cause and besides I might get some leads on the case. I followed them down the streets where I could hear people saying half-breed, manimal and mongrel as we walked by them. As we arrived at City Hall and began picketing on its steps they all starting saying,"Equal Rights and Pay for all People!" repeatedly . It wasn't long before a crowd started to form around us some first came the hybrids. I could see a child dressed in rags she was a hybrid of a mouse she was holding a small toy watching what was going on. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. I turned my attention from her and I could see a mob of humans walking down the street some of them armed, but before they could approach us two large vans pulled in front of us they were both from channel 12. they began setting up their equipment they set up lights which shone brightly in my eyes I raised my hand to block out the light and I could see that they had a camera set up in front of me. "We start filming in 3...2...1 go!" said the camera man "I am in front of City hall where a protest is taking place asking the government for equal rights for the animal and human hybrids I am with..." Ronald Goldlan said as he moved the microphone under my mouth. "James Croc" I said hesitantly. "Now James why now why today to protest. the human animal hybrids have been on this planet now for 70 years. why start to protest today?" Ronald Goldlan asked. "We have been mistreated under paid and abused others may not have been brave enough to stand up for our rights, but it stops now!" I replied going along with the protest. "Well, You've heard it here they are not going to take it anymore! this is Ronald Goldlan reporting for WCHB channel 12 news." I waited until the camera man packed up his camera before going over to Ronald. I asked him "What do you know about Jennifer Robinson?" I asked him. He gave me a snide look and said "Why in the hell should I tell you what I know about her. I'm only doing this assignment because I pissed off my boss for one I'm glad she disappeared. I think the world would be a lot better without all these freaks." I really wanted to deck this guy but I kept control over my emotions and let him go. As he drove away I could see people coming from their hiding places some came from the alleys others from behind doors. I noticed some of the others began seeing the people now even more of them armed themselves with what ever could be found on the ground. Some of them began throwing rocks luckily none hit anybody. The crowd began to run as they saw the rocks flying through the air. That's when the mob began running at us one came at me with a stick I was able to block the blow just in time. I could also see some of the others going after the others and some harassing the people who were watching. I pushed him away from me, but he came running back at me lifting my arm up just as he came close to me. I decided to use his force against him. It was still hard to move in the suit . I then saw two of them they had the little mouse girl cornered, one of them had a knife. Why didn't she run with the others? why did she have to stay? Pushing through some of them I could see the little mouse girl back pedaling until she hit the wall then she crouched on the ground. The knife wielding person raised the knife up I dove I felt the knife pierce the side of the suit turning my body I then disarmed him, the knife now holding the water in. I felt light headed from the sudden drop in pressure. I then flung my arms up hitting the one who had the knife in the face. I turned to the girl and said "Run!" She ran into her house. Before I could turn back around I felt a hard yank at the back of my head. I watched the water in the suit drop as it dropped so did the pressure I could no longer stand. I fell to my knees gasping for air as I lay there unable to move and everything went black. I woke up in a tank I could see what looked like computers against the wall. My view of my surroundings was obscured by a transparent curtain. I could see a person was checking on each of the computers. The man then turned towards me sliding open the curtain." Ahh I see you are awake!" said the man in a white lab coat
"I found you on the street near city hall." "who are you? where am I?" I asked still groggy. "All of your questions will be answered in due time. You know you are quite different from the genetically created beings." he said looking at a chart . "The external differences are almost unnoticeable, but the internal are astounding, Where are you from? What do you eat? How did you get here?" he rambled on in an almost child-like excited tone. I listened to him ramble on for several minutes still trying to clear the fog in my head. "Hold on.. Hold on.. one question at a time please. My name is James Croc. I am from the Atlantian Police Department. I am investigating the murder of Jennifer Richardson." I said. "Ahh yes the hybrid sympathiser she has done wonders for them. And that suit is what you use to remain on the surface?" the man queried. I nodded in response. "Your suit is made from primitive technology, it was used here at least five years ago. sorry for the cramped quarters, but it was the only thing not being used at the moment. "