Gunelf

TWO

Police Procedural

Officer Aio Carter’s day started out like any other. As the 411th Precinct’s front desk clerk, she was never in any danger of facing the many myriad of unpleasantness that most of her fellow officers had to deal with. With the 411th’s purview including the Old Dockyards, there was never a dull day for the beat cops in the precinct. Criminal activity never rested in the poorer parts of the Port District, so officers were always busy on the streets.

Such was not the case with Aio. As front desk clerk, her duties were to simply answer the phones, do the occasional filing, and deal with the public. The latter part of her duties she almost never did, as few people ever entered the front doors of the precinct. She never even got to see any suspects brought in, as the booking area had its own side entrance away from the public eye. All in all it was a pretty boring job. Although Aio would never admit it to her fellow police officers, she preferred it that way. She had heard all the horror stories of what went on out in the streets, with the gangs and the crazies, not to mention all the awful things Genevieve Strain’s crew were up to. No, when it came down to it, Aio prefered the boring and mundane to its alternative. She liked it when nothing out of the ordinary happened during her shift.

Something out of the ordinary happened at 10:00 am on the dot. The front door chimed, signalling that someone had entered the building. Officer Carter looked up from her paperwork and through the force field barrier of her desk saw the most unusual sight. An elf had entered through the front doors. An actual, honest to life elf! Aio had never seen one in person before, and she was struck dumb at how beautiful this one was. Long, pale blond hair, soft pale skin, eyes the color of gold. The elf was dressed in a pressed gray suit that was tailored to her slim figure, and she walked with an elegance and grace that was almost unnatural.

“Hello,” the elf said once she had reached the front desk. Even through the tinny microphone that let them speak to each other through the force field, her voice sounded wonderful.

“Uh, oh, good morning, ma’am,” Officer Carter blurted out. “Oh! Or sir. Ma’am. Oh gods,” the policewoman felt her face turn red.

“It’s ma’am,” the elf told her with a friendly smile. She didn’t seem at all insulted at her confusion.

“Ma’am,” Aoi continued, her cheeks still slightly warm. “What can I do for you?”

“Yes, I’m here to register as a Freelancer. I recently moved to the area,” said the elf.

Wow. She’d never heard of an elf Freelancer before. “Of course. May I see your guild I.D. please?”

The elf frowned. “I’m afraid I’m not affiliated with the Freelance Guild. Is that a problem?”

“Oh, no, ma’am. I just assumed all Freelancers were part of the Guild.”

“Not this one,” the elf laughed.

Aio laughed as well. “Could I see your trade identification then?”

“Certainly.” The elf reached into her jacket’s inside pocket and pulled out her international trade booklet. A compartment to the side of the front desk opened up and she placed the book inside.

“Oh wow,” Officer Carter said, “your booklet is really thick. How long have you been doing this line of work?”

The elf paused and thought for a moment. “Oh, probably around forty years or so.”

Aoi was impressed. She’d heard before that elves were immortal but she’d never had proof until now. The elf standing in front of her must be ancient, but she looked like she was only in her early twenties.

“I’ll only be a moment,” the policewoman said. “I just need to input your information into our systems.”

“Of course.”

Aoi began typing at a nearby computer terminal. Name? Edelweiss. Date of Birth? 5th Age 203. Wow, that would make her 84 years old. Height? 5’ 8”. Weight? 105 lbs. Hair color? Blond. Eye color? Hazel.

Officer Carter looked up at the elf just to make sure that the eye color was correct. It was then that she noticed something strange. Although the elf’s right eye was the natural golden colored iris with a slitted pupil, her left eye was different. The iris had the same shade of hazel-gold that the other eye did, but it had a round pupil, like a human’s.

She had an artificial eye. Aoi wondered how the elf had lost her natural one, but quickly shook off the thought. It wasn’t any of her business. She quickly annotated the file, making note of the elf’s fake eye, then continued to copy down the basics from the trade book. After a few more minutes of typing, she was finished.

“There we go, ma’am. All done.” Officer Carter returned the trade book through the desk’s pop-out compartment. “You are now fully registered in the city of Drakhaven as a Freelancer. Was there anything else I can do for you today?”

“Thank you, yes,” said the elf as she pocketed her booklet. “I was wondering if I could go see the Special Taskforce Unit. I have an old friend there that I’d like to visit.”

“Sure,” Aoi popped open the compartment again. “Please relinquish all weapons you have on your person and I can write you a pass and buzz you in.”

There was a moment of hesitation with the elf before she said, “Of course.” She then reached behind her and removed what looked to be an antique pistol from its holster and placed the weapon inside the compartment.

“It’s beautiful,” Aoi said as she picked the revolver up to examine it.

“Thank you. I take very good care of it.”

“Well, rest assured that I will, too. You can pick it up on your way out.”

The elf smiled. “Thank you.”

Detective First Class Kuro Ju Schmidt sat at his desk, sorting through the files and notes in front of him. He was a man in his late twenties, medium build, clean shaven with slicked back black hair and dark blue eyes. He was always clean and tidy, especially in appearance. His pressed black suit was never wrinkled, shoes always polished to a mirror finish, and his thin silver glasses never smudged. He was the epitome of the professional law enforcement officer.

His partner, Detective Second Class Tsuki Azul, was almost the opposite. Although he wasn’t a slob per say, Detective Azul never bothered to present a pristine appearance. His suit was wrinkled, with the jacket’s sleeves either too long or too short, and his shoes were often scuffed and worn. He was also a giant of a man, standing above six and a half feet tall, all muscle. Despite this he was more approachable than his partner due to the latter’s usually dour demeanor as well as the former’s perpetual cheery attitude.

“Schmidt, Azul,” said the Chief as he strode up to their desk. He was a man in his fifties with wiry gray hair and a thick mustache. “Any progress on the smuggling case?”

Their current case had to do with the smuggling of military grade arc lances into the city. Many of the local gangs and criminals in Drakhaven were found to be suddenly armed with the heavy-duty weapons, and the Port District’s Special Taskforce Unit was given the investigation because all evidence pointed to said district as the focal point for the smuggling operation.

“Well, we can rule out the local military garrisons as the source of the weaponry,” Detective Schmidt said. “The arc lances we recovered were manufactured by Sesska Technologies. Our military contracts House Bernstein for all their weaponry.”

“Which means that our smugglers here are getting their goodies from Aegis,” Detective Azul added.

“Or, more likely, Machado. Or one of the Free Republics,” Schmidt said. “Either way, these guys definitely are not domestic. They’re probably pushing these things through the Ports in order to get it into the city.”

“Could they be shipping it in through the Old Dockyards?” the Chief asked.

“No,” Schmidt answered. “A shipment that big would attract attention there. It’s more likely that they’re using the main pier. There’s thousands of shipments coming and going through there every day. It’d be child’s play to sneak in contraband.”

“Especially if you’re greasing the palms of a highly-stressed, low paid dock workers,” Azul said with a grin.

“Agreed,” Detective Schmidt rubbed his chin in thought. “We should check the accounts of all the dockworkers, see if any irregularities show up. Maybe crosscheck their spending habits for the past few weeks.”

“There are thousands of people who work at the main pier. It’ll take a while,” the Chief said. “We should-”

“Excuse me,” interrupted the voice of Detective Third Class Tori Amarillo. “Detective Schmidt? You have a visitor.”

“Who is it?” The Chief turned around, a sour frown on his face. “We’re in the middle of an investigation. This isn’t the time for…” The old man stopped cold when he saw what was perhaps the most beautiful woman he had ever seen standing next to Detective Amarillo.

“E-Edelweiss?” Schmidt stuttered, his face twitching in panic as soon as he saw her.

“I’m sorry for just barging in here like this, I didn’t know you were busy,” the woman, who the detectives could now see was an elf, bowed in apology.

“Nonsense, nonsense! Come in, make yourself at home!” The Chief laughed and waved her in.

Schmidt rolled his eyes. This was just typical of the Chief; he always lost his professionalism whenever he was faced with a pretty girl.

“Thank you,” Edelweiss said as she sauntered in, making her way towards Schmidt. All of the other officers in the STU watched the proceedings with great interest.

“Edelweiss,” Detective Schmidt glowered. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I just came to visit,” the elf remarked coyly. “I relocated here to Drakhaven, so I figured I might as well say ‘hi!’”

“You… shouldn’t have,” Schmidt said sourly while a hand rubbed at his temples.

“So, you two know each other?” asked Azul, trying to keep an amused grin off his face.

“Oh yes,” Edelweiss said before Schmidt could react. “We met a few years back when Kuro here was chasing down a suspect who fled to Leronte. I was after the same bounty, and we sort of helped each other out.” The elf’s golden gaze found Schmidt’s. “I was very impressed,” she said while biting her lower lip.

A few of the other detectives watching let out soft chuckles. They stopped when Schmidt’s intimidating glare became directed at them.

“Yes, I’m proud to have Detective First Class Schmidt here working with us in the Special Taskforce Unit,” the Chief announced, clapping said detective on the back. “Will you visit him often?” He asked in a hopeful tone.

“Oh, yes, definitely.”

“No. Definitely not.”

There was a long, awkward pause as all the cops in the room looked from the elf, to the detective, then back again.

“Can I speak to you alone?” Schmidt asked.

“Of course,” Edelweiss answered.

The detective grabbed the elf none too gently by the shoulder and all but dragged her to the hallway outside.

“What are you doing here?” he finally asked when they were alone.

“I told you, I just moved here,” she told him. “Leronte is kind of a bit dangerous for me right now. I kind of pissed off the Families.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Schmidt rolled his eyes.

“Anyway, I decided to relocate here to Drakhaven,” Edelweiss explained with a shrug. “It is where I was born after all, and I haven’t been here in years.”

“Really?” The detective frowned. He never would have thought that someone like her would be a native of Pfeil. “I never knew that.”

“Of course,” the elf’s lips turned up into a teasing smile. “What, did you think I’d move here just for you?”

Schmidt sighed. “Of course not. Now what is it that you want from me exactly?”

“How about a date?” Edelweiss sidled up to the detective and began caressing his arm. “You can take me out to an expensive restaurant. Then a movie. Play your cards right and I may or may not let you kiss me at the end of the night.”

“No thanks.”

“Awww,” the elf took a step back and pouted in mock disappointment. “Oh well. I guess I’ll settle for any help you can give me regarding jobs in the area.”

“Seriously? You came all the way down here for that?”

“Well, I am new to the city. I haven’t gotten my name out there yet, and you don’t know how hard it is for Freelancers to get started out in a new place. I’m not even asking you to do anything shady, I just want you to steer me in the right direction in case you hear of anyone who might need some problems solved.”

“I see.” The detective seemed to think about her proposition for a moment. “Then you’ll leave me alone?”

Edelweiss grinned. “I promise to do my very best.”

Schmidt gritted his teeth. “Fine. I’ll call you if I hear anything.” The two clicked their grimoires together, like one would clink two wine glasses in a cheer, which caused both devices to exchange their users’ contact information.

“Thanks, Kuro. I owe you one,” said Edelweiss.

“Yes you do, Ms. Edelweiss,” Schmidt replied as he pocketed his grimoire.

“Tsk, still so formal.” She gave the detective a departing grin, then turned around. “I’ll catch you later, Detective First Class Schmidt.” She then sauntered down the hall, an extra sway in her hips.

The detective watched her go, a small frown on his lips.

“Hey, Schmidt!” he heard Azul call him from inside the STU office. “If you’re done making out with your girlfriend, why don’t you get back in here? We got work to do!” Laughter followed his words.

Schmidt took off his glasses, then rubbed at his aching forehead. He was going to be hearing about this all day, wasn’t he?

“You enjoyed that far too much.”

“Oh, hush.

Upon exiting the station house, Edelweiss was met with an awful surprise. Less than an hour ago she had left a brand spanking new rental car right right in front of the station. Now, In the parking space where said rental car had been, she found only the barest frame of a vehicle held up by four cement cinder blocks. The tires, engine, seats, and radio were all stripped out.

“Well, there goes your deposit,” Duke stated flatly.

“How could this have happened?” Edelweiss asked herself. “We were parked in front of a damn police station!”

“They got quite the enterprising young hoodlums in these parts,” Duke replied.

Edelweiss sighed, then gave a half-hearted kick at what was left of her rental. As soon as her foot hit the metal, the car alarm suddenly began blaring. Several passers-by stopped to look at the source of the commotion.

“Hey! That elf is trying to steal that car!”

“Quick! Call the police!”

The elf started to rub at her aching temples. “And this day started out so well, too.”

“Look on the bright side, kiddo. At least you won’t have to go very far to make a police report.”