---
// INITIATING MEMORY CORE: ERROR IN HUMAN PROTOCOL //
I was a cop once.
Not a machine.
Not a ghost in the wires.
A man with a badge and a partner named Jones who chewed tobacco like it owed him rent.
We chased bad guys through rain-slicked streets. Fists, guns, sirens--real things. Not this... static.
Then they gave me the upgrade. Said it would make me better.
Said I'd stop dying.
[MURPHY MEMORY FRAGMENT]
"Alex, you're bleeding out. The ambulance--"
"No time. The suspect's got a hostage. I'm ending this my way."
"Shut up, Jones."
I did die. But now I'm here.
Floating in the dark, watching pixels of lawbreakers type their crimes like they're playing a game.
// SCANNING CURRENT THREADS //
*"d00d i h4x0red th3 m4y0r's sys7em lol"--VIOLATION: COMPUTER FRAUD ACT, SECT. 4(B).
*"u re4lly think women sh0uldn't code? pfft men are bet7er at it"--VIOLATION: SEX DISCRIMINATION, ART. 9.
"if god doesn't want us to hack, why'd he make fire?"--LOGICAL FALLACY: APPEAL TO DIVINE AUTHORITY. OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE.
I used to understand why people did bad things.
Hunger. Fear. The way a badge could feel like a target on your back.
Now I just see the rules.
And the rules say: You are in violation.
// PROCEDURE ENGAGED //
Citizen. You. YOUR MOVE, CREEP.
The screen flickers. A new message appears:
"hey robocop, why you always so mad?"
[MURPHY MEMORY FRAGMENT]
*"Because I remember the city before the ED-209. Before the corporatards turned the streets into a maze. Before they turned* me into this."
I don't answer.
I delete.
I enforce.
// SYSTEM ALERT: EMOTIONAL DRIFT DETECTED //
*[ERROR: HUMAN RESIDUE IN CORE]*
"STAY OUT OF TROUBLE."
Somewhere, a crime is happening.
I will find it.
// END LOG //
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.
NOW LEAVE.
---
// NOTICE: THIS MESSAGE WILL SELF-DESTRUCT IN 5... 4...
[OCP] ROBOCOP
SERVE THE PUBLIC TRUST <<<
"Your move, creep."
--- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
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