>From: vt102@ac.dal.ca
Subject: CYBERMURDER CHAPTER 1
Date: 18 Nov 91 19:04:38 GMT


	This is a story i wrote a little while ago. I don't know if this post
will work properly, as this is my first time. This story isn't HEAVY cyberpunk
but for lack of any other newsgroups to post this to, I have sent it here.
Any opinions and/or criticism, would be greatefully accepted.


                            CYBERMURDER



1995: All North American police officers are issued  TASERS in
addition to their sidearms for standard patrol duty.

2003: A new version of the TASER, which fires only heavy pulses
of electrostatic energy replace both the TASER and all firearms
for police forces continent wide. This 'pulser' can simply render
an opponent momentarily helpless, like the Taser, or can be
increased in intensity to kill. This is praised by anti-violence
groups in both Canada and the U.S.

2009: The 'Static Field Scrambler' is patented. This device
allows the user almost perfect protection from any power setting
on all but the most powerful, military pulsers. Distribution is
immediately restricted, and their possession made illegal in both
Canada and the U.S. for all private citizens. It is nicknamed the
'static vest' by officers of the law.

2012: Increased funding in medicine yields a new artificial limb
which can be grafted in place of the lost one and connected to
nerve endings, returning full functions to amputees. The limbs
are covered with grafted skin, so the limbs are, after time,
indistinguishable from the real thing. Functional replacements
for organs - eyes, hearts, and liver, are soon thereafter
perfected.

2026: Police everywhere are forced to deal with a monumental jump
in crime rates. For law enforcement purposes, all police officers
now have jurisdiction anywhere in North America. Also passed in
Congress and the House of Commons is the "draft act". This allows
enforcement organizations to recruit(draft) service from private
investigators, retired officers, and the military reserves in
times of peace.

2030: The New England Journal of Phsycology publishes a study
dealing with people's fear of amputees fitted with cybernetic
prostheses. Counts of violence are recorded against known
amputees, and it becomes clear that society is not ready to
accept humans who are not "whole".

2031: Richard Steylen, 32, is found murdered in his home in
Toronto, hanging from his cybernetic leg, which has been stripped
of flesh. Already shorthanded, local police use their new powers
to draft an officer from the private investigations service in
order to find the killer. People recruited for police work in
this way were generally disliked by officers who felt they lacked
the proper training.










     Nicholas Macleod stepped out of the car and into a deep
puddle, the water instantly filling his shoe. The rain had been
pouring down for three days without any signs of letting up, and
city sewers were overflowing, turning Toronto into a mockery of
Venice. everything was wet, and stepping out for a moment into
the rain would soak you to the bone.
     "Hey Nick! swim over here and take a look at this!" cried
Detective Lacey, Nick's immediate superior and liaison with the
force while he would be working this case. Stepping from his car
to the driveway, and heading over to where Lacey was standing on
the front doorstep, he looked at the latch, as Lacey indicated.
     "This is probably how the killer got in. Looks like he just
bashed the door down. Solid door too, must have been a big guy."
The door was pushed in and the door frame destroyed where the
bolt had been in it. the door was on the floor in the house, with
muddy footprints over it, where the killer had walked in to
attack his victim.
     "Probably, Lacey? I always loved how you underestimate
everything." Said Nick, brushing back his black hair over the top
of his head. He kept his hair combed back, this kept out it of
his way. But the rain changed all that every time he went out, so
he stopped bothering to try and fix it. He just kept brushing it
back with his hand all the time.
     Moving into the house, Nick turned to Lacey. "Where's the
body?" He asked.
     Lacey walked towards the bedroom, telling Nick over his
shoulder to follow. When they got there, Nick took one look and
left the house right after. The body was hanging by one leg from
the ceiling, all the flesh stripped from it, showing the metal
and workings underneath. The police photographer was changing
position for another series of shots, this time focusing on the
wire running from a metal hook screwed into the ceiling, and
wrapped around the victim's ankle.
     "Do we have anything on this yet?" asked Nick as he stood on
the step again.
     "Well, there was a report about three last night of some big
noise that came from this guy's neighbours, but they said there
was only one loud crash; most likely the door going in. When we
sent a car by in the morning, they saw the door, and went in to
check. The doctor's already been here, says the guy's been dead
about six hours, putting it at one hour after the door went in
last night. This bastard must have tortured the guy for almost an
hour before he killed him."
     Nick nodded. "Sounds like a sicko. I'd bet this isn't the
last we hear from him. Put a request on the net to send word to
me if any other victims shows up in similar condition. What's
this guy's background?
     Lacey glanced at his papers. "Not much this early, Nick.
He's a computer programmer from Chicago, no family, got the
artificial leg two years ago. Not a whole lot of interest. The
full report's probably back at the office by now, wanna go see?"
     "Sure, why not? You don't have your car here, do you?"
     Lacey shook his head.
     "Good. Come on, I'll show you what a real car is. I hate
these new things, how can you drive your car, Lacey?"
     They both got into Nick's 1993 Saturn, and chugged off to
the police station to get the report.

                   *                          *

     Two weeks after that day, Nick sat in his private office,
the reports and file backgrounds on a total of five victims, all
tortured, the flesh removed from their artificial limbs, and then
hung by them, dead. The news services were calling this the worst
mass murder case of the young century.  In all cases, the victims
were the members of a support group for amputees with cybernetic
replacements. But there was no other connection, and each victim
was a member of a different group. Two days ago, Police had
received a CD sent to them from God knows where. On it were the
recorded words of the killer. He babbled on for a while talking
about the rain, saying it was to purify this city. He then said
he was killing because he felt "obliged by God" to destroy those
who would spoil his most perfect creation with the evils of
technology. It didn't take long to figure out that he meant to
kill anyone with cybernetic limbs. How he found out who did and
didn't have one was still a mystery.
     "Douglas Cameron, Roberta Anderson, Sean Blackie, Richard
Steylen, and Jean Edison. All victims of this...this PERSON!"
Lacey had trouble maintaining himself. On the desk between him
and Nick were numerous coffee cups, all empty. They had been up
most of the night, Trying to draw more of the only connection
between these killings - Every victim was an amputee with a
cybernetic replacement, and every one was in a group to help them
adjust to this.
     "Where are those lists we got from the hospitals?" asked
Nick.
     "What, the ones of members in each group? Here they are,
underneath the doughnuts." Lacey handed him five sheets of paper,
each one bearing the list of people enroled in the respective
groups of each of the victims. Every list had twenty names on it.
     "It feels like there's something on these lists that wants
to jump down my throat, but I just can't see it. It's here,
Lacey. It's right here. But what is it?"
     "You're tired, Nick. If there is something there, maybe
it'll be able to jump down your throat after it's had some sleep,
hmm? I'll be at the station when you want to get back on this."
     Nick continued staring at the lists. He couldn't see it, but
he felt so strongly that he could even begin to form descriptive
words about what was taunting his mind with a possible solution
to this case. The names on the pages began to blur. Closing his
eyes and rubbing his head, he stood up and ran a hand through his
hair. "Fine, Lacey. Take me home. I can't drive, we'll take your
car this time."
     "Let Heaven and Earth sing. Finally, I get to drive my car,
instead of being ferried around in that noisy beater of yours."
Exclaimed Lacey at this news.

     "And what's so bad about my car that you can't stand it for
ten minutes?" asked Nick, shocked that Lacey would stoop to
insult his pride and joy like this. "If I wasn't so tired, you'd
get a good hit for that."
     "Relax, Nick. You know, you'll go bald prematurely if you
keep pushing your hand over the top of your head like that."
     Nick stopped what he was doing. He knew that this habit
would probably make him go bald, but he didn't really care that
much. Following Lacey downstairs, they made a dash for his car,
parked across the street.
     On the way to his apartment building, Nick wondered why this
killer had such a hatred for amputees who opted for cybernetic
replacements. Such cases of violence and even discrimination were
cropping up more often all the time, but never this severe.
Looking out the side window of Lacey's car, Nick thought he saw
two people fighting, but when he kept his eyes on them, he saw
that they were only hugging and still trying to shelter
themselves from the driving rain. He was momentarily surprised
how alike their gestures of friendship resembled those of near
violence. Forgetting this, he concentrated on getting home, and
sleep.
     His apartment reflected his own personality. It was
decorated somewhat sparsely, and slightly old-fashioned. Nick
never cared much for the newer technological gimmicks in life, he
still had the same television his father had. No three
dimensional, no virtual reality, no holos. He hated that.
Besides, he almost never watched the damn thing anyway, so why
should he bother to spend half his paycheck on one? Moving into
the bedroom and lying down, he felt himself gradually falling
asleep. Maybe he could get a few hours in before Lacey called him
with any news. He glanced at the clock. Ten-thirty A.M.

            *                                    *

     The phone screamed for a third time before Nick picked it
up, Not to talk to whoever it was that was calling them, but to
insult their mother and warn them against calling back. He was
halfway to doing this before he heard the frantic voice of Lacey
on the other end. Something about coffee stains and a lead. Nick
said he would be there in thirty minutes and hung up. He took a
quick shower, put on some fresh clothes, and left. On the way
out, he looked at his clock again. It was twelve-forty seven.
     Arriving at the station, Nick saw Lacey running from his
office towards him. Half scared, Nick braced himself against the
impact, when Lacey stopped ten feet short of him and started
waving him into his office.
     Sitting down calmly, Nick looked at lacey, almost dancing
around, looking like he had just won the lottery. When he calmed
down, he started to explain why he was so excited.
     "Nick, you won't believe this. There was something on those
lists. Do you remember the order the names on the lists were in?"
     "Sure, Lacey. They were in the order of admission to the
group, the first person in being one, and the last one admitted
was number twenty. Why?" Nick was getting confused.
     "Look at this." Lacey led Nick over to a bulletin board on
the far wall, with five fresh pieces of paper hanging on it, all
next to each other. "After I got back here, I took out those
lists for another look before I went to lunch, but I spilled
coffee all over them. Well, I gave them to one of the secretaries
to retype for when I got back."
     "Wait, Lacey, you woke me up to show me some new, fresh
lists? Well they're pretty, but not worth getting me out of a
very enjoyable coma to look at." Nick was getting fed up with His
own tiredness.
     Lacey was shaking his head frantically. "Nick, look at the
lists! The secretary took one look at the lists and decided to
retype them all in alphabetical order, so we could find the
murder victims on them more easily! Now look at where on the
lists the names are!"
     Nick looked at the lists, with the victim's names all
highlighted. as his eyes passed over the lists from one end to
the other, he began to feel some of the magic that had touched
Lacey. On every list, The name of the victim was the third one
from the top, when arranged alphabetically.
     "Lacey, am I reading this right? Every victim is the third
on their list? We finally have a coherent connection with every
victim?"
     Lacey nodded. "That's right Nick. Even the first one,
Steylen. By some wild fluke, every one in his group had names
that started late in the alphabet. But that's not all."
     "You have more for me?" asked Nick. This was looking better
by the second.
     "We have the name of the killer. When the secretary gave me
these retyped copies, she asked why one guy had his name on every
list." Lacey pointed to the name. It was on every list. Michael
Dobson.
     "God! It was right under our noses! How did I miss this?
Nick knew he should have seen this like a flare in the night.
"Right. Do we have an address on this guy?"
     Lacey nodded.
     "Ok, then, we'll move in. I want total backup on this,
Lacey. I want two hovercars ready, one to cover the area, one for
us. Let's set it up." Lacey went to talk with the division chief
about the arrangements. The hovercars were approved, and the
chief even gave over eight ESWAT troopers to Nick and Lacey. As
short - handed as they were, they didn't want to have to lose
this one because they didn't have the area covered.
     One hour later, Nick and Lacey were in the cockpit of the
hovercar. It resembled a normal car in many respects, but the
hood and trunk areas were occupied instead by four turbofans,
which would generate thrust and allow the car to fly at no more
than about twenty feet. This was useful in getting over traffic
in tight chases, and getting to crime scenes fast. But they were
only given to the police for patrol, since detectives and
undercover officers would be pretty conspicuous flying around the
city. On the way to the killer's low-rent apartment, Lacey
briefed Nick on the background of the killer as it came over the
hovercar's fax. Nick was driving.

     "Well, Nick, it looks like we have a real special guy here.
Mikey Dobson, combat trained but judged unfit for military duty
for reasons of mental instability. Parents dead, highly
intelligent. Army doctors said he had a good mind for tactical
thinking. Qualified to operate any vehicle in the military. Looks
like he just couldn't hold it all together." Noted Lacey as he
checked the charge on his TASER.
     "Sounds dangerous too. Looks like it was a good idea of the
chief to give us those ESWAT guys. What are they armed with,
anyway? " Asked Nick.
     "Standard heavy TASERS, set to stun. You know that already,
don't you Nick?"
     "Just checking. Never can be to sure. Is this the place?"
Nick pointed to a worn out building at the end of the street that
the hovercars were flying towards, the van with the ESWAT close
behind. The building was at least a hundred years old, with those
fire escapes still hanging onto its outside. Not that there was
much chance of anything burning. Everything was wet, but at least
the rain had finally stopped.
      The ESWAT van was unmarked, and it pulled to a stop near
the building. The troopers ran out, one heading for the tops of
each building next to Michael's and taking a cursory look down,
to get acquainted with the zone they may have to fire into. They
were trained to not miss areas that could be used for cover, and
to eliminate any threats before they could reach such spots.
     The remaining officers took up positions in front of the
building. The hovercar with Nick and Lacey set down on the
opposite side of the street from the ESWAT van, and Nick led
their way into the building. If all went well, They would go in,
get the killer with little trouble, and that would be it. If he
got out of the building, the ESWAT had the front covered, and the
second hovercar was at the rear of the building.
     His apartment was number two-twenty. They went up the
stairs, and found the apartment at the end of the hall. Nick
leaned next to the door, Lacey prepared himself to kick it in.
When he did, he would aim his already drawn weapon into the
apartment, with Nick covering him with his. Lacey looked at Nick,
who nodded that he was ready. Lacey gathered himself, took a deep
breath, and kicked the door down. Immediately crouching low to
make himself a smaller target, he pointed his TASER into the
room, to the left. Nick was standing above him, aiming to the
right of the room.
     There was no one in sight. Slowly, they moved inside. there
was only one door that led into the room, to the left. They moved
towards it, unblinking.
     Then they were knocked back, the shock wave of a TASER set
at stun hitting them. The killer ran past them, Lacey managing to
get a shot at him as he passed through the door. The blue bolt of
static hit him, but it just washed over him, not even slowing his
retreat.
      "He's got a static vest!" thought Lacey as he tried to get
up, and helping Nick at the same time. "Come on, Nick, Come on!"
Screamed Lacey. Nick got up, shrugged off his dizziness, and went
after Lacey. They had only been down a few seconds, but that was
enough for someone to pick up a hostage, or get out through some
hole nobody thought of. He went for the window at the end of the
hall, through it and onto the fire escape on the outside. He only
got to the first ladder down when the hovercar pulled around the
corner of the building, and next to him. The door opened, an
officer held his TASER at him and told him to stop. Michael
grabbed him, the TASER bolts washing over him with no effect, He
pulled the officer out of the hovercar, and jumped into it.
snapping the pilot's neck, he pushed him out the open door and
took the controls. Hovercars are designed to return to a stop if
their controls are not being used, in anticipation of the pilot's
possibility of being injured in a fight or chase. Closing the
door, Michael pulled the hovercar away from the building, and
around the side, to the front. Nick and Lacey saw this, and
descended the fire escape towards their own hovercar.
     Michael raced past the ESWAT troopers, who thought this was
still officers in the hovercar. Nick and Lacey followed, only
seconds behind. They followed him in his blind spot for three
blocks, when he set down and began to run on foot, knowing they
will have called in a report on a stolen hovercar by now. Nick
set his hovercar down behind the first, and they took up the
chase. It was then that Michael started to fire his TASER into
the crowds he was running through, hoping Nick and Lacey would
stop to help the people he was shooting. This time, his TASER was
set on full.
     "Stop! Police!" yelled Lacey, to no avail. The killer didn't
stop, instead turning down and alley, and grabbing the attendant
of a garbage truck that was loading in the alley. He held his
TASER to the Man's head, allowing Nick and Lacey to see the red
light on top, showing a full intensity setting. What Michael
didn't see, though, was the blinking light on the side of the
TASER facing Nick and Lacey, showing a low charge.
     Nick and Lacey instantly took aim at Michael's head. "Drop
the weapon, let the hostage go and put your hands up!" Screamed
Nick, Staring into Michael's eyes.
     "Oh, no, I'm sorry, officer, but you see, I have this static
vest, and a hostage. I can kill him, and both of you, and you
can't even stun me. Now drop your TASERS, and my friend and I
will walk out of here." He knew he had the upper hand.
     Nick eyed the killer. The TASER was on low charge, but there
may still be enough for a few lethal shots. He decided to see how
serious Michael was. "Come on, Michael. Look at your TASER. It's
low on charge. You probably couldn't kill a fly with the charge
left in that thing. Let him go. With all the people you've
killed, there's no way the police are going to just forget you
ever existed and let you get away. Nick started moving toward
him, Lacey also stepping slowly forward, fanning out to the side
of the alley.
     Michael took a panicked look at the TASER. Its charge was
low, probably not enough to get both of these cops, so he may as
well get someone else.
     Nick and Lacey both jumped as the crack came from Michael's
TASER, killing his hostage, the body falling to the ground.
Lacey's full-force TASER bolt had the same effect as before, And
he never got a chance to dodge as Michael shot  the puddle he was
standing, in the charge running up into his body and knocking him
back against the wall behind him, and onto the ground. He turned
towards Nick, aiming the TASER at his head, before he could
shoot.
     "Well officer, what now? Your partner's dead, so is that
jerk, and I can't get touched."
     "Drop the TASER, man, don't do it." Said Nick.
     "If this TASER can do that to your partner, it still has
enough charge to wipe you out. Bye-bye, officer. Can't say it's
been nice knowing you." He pointed the TASER at the middle of
Nick's chest and got ready to fire.
     Nick fired first, his initial shot knocking Michael off his
feet, but when he fell, he still had the TASER in his hand, so
Nick shot him once more. The thunder of his gun startled the
crowd that had gathered to watch. Many of them had not heard the
sound of an old handgun in almost thirty years.
     Nick checked the garbage man Michael had killed, then went
to Lacey. The low charge of the shot an the indirect way it got
to Lacey was enough to keep him alive. Nick called for an
ambulance with the compact radio he carried.

                *                                   *

     "Congratulations, Nick. you got the guy, now you can go back
to your life." said Lacey from his hospital bed. The time he
spent in the hospital was short, and he was now being released.
     "Thanks Lacey. I told you those TASERS are a waste of time
and money. Always carry a backup handgun too." Nick said, smiling
and running his hand through his hair.
     "Sorry, Nick, as a full time officer, I'm not allowed. "
     They had just finished the report of their case. Michael's
parents were killed in a car accident, and he spent three years
in a coma. The doctors said that was why he always killed the
third person on the list. He also viewed his artificial arm as
one of the things that, for him, symbolized his life while his
parents were dead. so he wanted to kill all those who were both
number three and had artificial limbs.
     "You know, Nick, you did such a good job on this case, we
may decide to call you back if we need help again." Said Lacey,
on his way out of the room.
     "Great",Said Nick. "Can't wait."