Eden & Echo - A Gritty Cyberpunk Noir Thriller

She opened her briefcase and set it on the bed. It was mostly empty except for a black tablet in a gray fabric case, portable security cameras, pens, and a yellow legal pad.

"The security guard who was killed put in a call to emergency services when his partner was injured and while the police take their time to respond, they do eventually show up. First things first, if there are any recording devices in the apartment or on your person I would ask you to disable them and give them over to me for safe keeping."

Mr. Rook pulled a slim device the size of a pack of gum from the webbing of his gray plate carrier, flicked a switch on the back, then tossed it into the open briefcase. Sparky tossed a similar device over to him from his place by the bedroom door. I peeled the scarab off the back of my neck.

The lawyer raised an eyebrow. "That's an odd thing to wear when you're getting ready for bed." Sapphire said as she shut the briefcase.

"I forgot I had it on." I answered honestly. "I was just doing my evening rounds before bed when I realized someone had been in my apartment."

Sapphire considered this and slowly spun around as if she was looking for something. "Did you sweep the apartment for bugs?" She asked.

"Nothing came up from our initial sweep but we haven't brought the really heavy equipment in yet. It's on the way." Rook said, open to the possibility that he had missed something.

"In that case we will do this interview via wetware hard-link just to be safe." Sapphire held out her hands. "Come over and link up with me so we can talk freely."

I came over and took one hand while Rook grabbed the other. I felt a connection request and accepted, allowing verbal and visual communication only. "So, what do you want to know?" I asked, my lips not moving but the muscles in my throat slightly tightening and loosening as I thought the words.

"First, I want to establish some ground rules." Sapphire said, speaking via link with her eyes locked on mine. "Don't lie to me or twist the truth. Everything we talk about is covered by attorney client privilege, unless of course you tell me that you intend to harm someone at which point I would be obligated to inform the authorities of that intent. So there is no reason to lie. It just makes my job harder and sets us both up for a swift kick in the ass."

I nodded, this made sense. Rook nodded as well.

"Next, if I ask you something and the answer would incriminate you, or you feel that you can't answer it honestly, or you are too embarrassed to answer, simply tell me that you are not comfortable answering the question at this time and I will work around it. If it is something I absolutely need to know, I will explain why it is important and ask again. But I can't stress this enough, do not lie to me."

"No lies, if I can't give an honest answer I will say nothing." I confirmed.

Rook nodded. "I find this acceptable."

"This next part is crucial." Sapphire explained. "Do not speak to law enforcement, the media, or anyone outside this room about what happened here until I give you leave to do so. Depending on what I hear I may allow you to speak with your father about it, but at this time we must completely control the flow of information."

"Ah." I said, realizing the bind I was in. "I was supposed to start a job tomorrow with Porto PD."

"You can't do that until the case is closed and a ruling is reached, unfortunately." Sapphire said.

"Well that's not fair." I gritted my teeth. "I didn't do anything wrong and now I'm getting fucked over because of something someone else did? You want me to just quit? After all I went through to get hired in the first place?"

"No, you misunderstand." Sapphire shook her head. "You will not be eligible to start work as a police officer until this matter is resolved. They cannot hire someone who is part of an active investigation. If they rule that it was a good shooting, you will be free to begin your new career."

"Fuck." I replied as I swallowed back the taste of bile. "Alright. No talking to cops or reporters."

"Not even about the weather." Sapphire said. "And I do mean that literally. There is no way that talking to law enforcement about this or anything else without me present ends well, even if they are the ones doing the talking."

The doubt must have shown on my face because Sapphire decided to elaborate. "There was a case once where one of the detectives told a defendant specific details about a murder while he was riding to the station to be interviewed."

"Then later when the defendant mentioned the details back to the detectives during an interview they claimed that only the killer could know such specific details. The detective either forgot what he said or lied about it to move the case along."

"In fact they used what the defendant said in that interview as probable cause for a search warrant. Luckily the defendant recorded the conversation in the cruiser on his phone and when the case went to court I was able to get it all thrown out. Long story short, don't talk to cops or let them talk to you."

"Got it." I said, wondering what kind of bullshit I was going to see when I finally managed to get my badge.

"Lastly, when they interview you we will give them a written statement. Do not speak to them, or even say a single word unless you run it by me first. If you feel yourself wanting to say something simply take a slow deep breath and hold it for a moment, then exhale." Her eyes were sympathetic.

"They won't like that you are exercising your rights. Most likely they will attempt to insult you or imply grotesque things to get a reaction. Don't let them."

Rook chimed in. "I like to make a bingo card ahead of time and play along mentally."

The look Sapphire gave him was equal parts horrified and amazed. "That's probably one of the stupidest things I've ever heard, from a legal standpoint. But damn if I don't want to try it sometime." She thought about this for a second. "What's your free space?"

"I am Döbian and male so 'racist' is my usual pick. That or 'killing machine' in reference to my being a warhund." Rook replied. "Most police are not particularly creative in that respect."

"Mine would probably be 'dog fucker'." Sapphire and Rook both looked over in shock and surprise at hearing me say the 'D' word. "That's their word choice, not mine. People like to imply I'm Simon's mistress instead of his adopted daughter."

"Well I suppose mine would be 'slut'." Sapphire said, getting in on the fun. "They like to imply that clients hire me because of my looks and I perform sexual favors to justify my fees."

"How charming." I replied. "Well we've established the ground rules so I think we should get down to business before the police show up."

"Agreed." Sapphire pulled up an augmented reality whiteboard for us to share. We could all see it and manipulate it mentally. "Walk me through the timeline starting from when you got home to when I arrived."