Unclassified; Zero and Still Standing

Chapter 4: Detained

Yesu watched as the once lifeless accident scene gradually became surrounded by numerous personalities arriving in pairs.

She recognized a journalist representative of Null News, Jessica Freeman, making her way to the center of the mounting chaos. A cameraman was right on her tail.

"This is Jessica Freeman and we are live at the scene of an accident that took place just this evening. With me here is our very own Officer MacKayden, who will be giving us insight on what happened tonight."

The blue and red lights spinning on the light bars of the CCD officers’ vehicles created a false aura of urgency.

The other officers ignored the media completely, leaving it all to Officer MacKayden.

’He must be a senior officer.’ Yesu thought.

She was sitting in the ambulance, with paramedic Nick tending to her wounds.

He had taken off the neck brace his colleague had put on her first. Then he wiped the cut on her head, checking how deep it was. It wasn’t as deep as it had seemed a few minutes ago. He put a gauze pad on.

Now he was covering her grazed arms with sterile dressings.

"You sure are a very lucky girl." He said suddenly.

Yesu gave a wobbly smile. ƒreewebɳovel.com

"Does it hurt?"

Yesu hesitated "No.

Nick paused mid-motion. "... That’s strange."

"What is?"

He forced a small chuckle. "Nothing. Might be shocking."

Outside, Jessica Freeman was trying to get a word or two from Officer MacKayden.

"What is the situation here Officer?"

"An accident. Exactly as you see it."

"There seemed to have been a trailer parked in the middle of the street."

"Well, do you see any?"

Jessica Freeman looked annoyed for a millisecond, and then she was back to being the journalist.

"Was it somewhat of a hit and run?"

"There was no running, I can tell you that.

"Are there any victims of this unfortunate event?"

Officer MacKayden’s eyes darted to the ambulance, then back at the journalist.

"That is for the CCD to worry about." He said in a low voice, showing interest in the interview since it began. "Now if you would excuse us, we officers have important jobs to do."

Jessica Freeman didn’t seem surprised, even letting resentment show on her beautiful features.

"Let’s go." She said to her cameraman.

The man sighed tiredly, casually placed his camera underneath his armpits and they retreated.

"They weren’t even alive." Nick’s partner, who was standing outside the ambulance, scoffed.

****

Sitting at the back of a CCD vehicle, Yesu felt isolated as she watched the ambulance drive away.

Glancing at the back window she saw Officer MacKayden approach.

He got in the driver’s seat and turned on the ignition.

"Am I under arrest?" Yesu asked.

"No."

His gaze met hers in the rear-view mirror. "Just a brief questioning."

A pause.

"You don’t look like someone who just survived that."

He started driving away from the scene. Only CCD officers remained, everyone else had been dismissed.

Yesu looked back just in time to see a CCD officer stretch out a hand.

The trailer went up in flames. The car. The bike. Everything.

Just like that. No investigation. No questions.

Like it never happened.

****

The CCD station was a bit quiet because it was a weekday. People worked on weekdays so there were fewer opportunities for crimes or mischief.

Weekends, however, were another story.

The holding area smelled faintly of disinfectant and old metal.

Yesu sat on a bench licking a half-crushed lollipop she had found in her sweatpants.

Two men sat across from her. One had a swollen lip. The other kept glancing at her like he was trying to figure something out.

"That’s her," he muttered under his breath. "The one from the crash."

"She should be in the hospital." muttered the first one.

"She should be dead." the other replied.

Yesu exhaled through her nose and looked away.

Footsteps echoed down the hall. She didn’t need to look up to know it was him.

"Kaelitha."

She stood.

****

The room he took her to wasn’t much different, only smaller and quieter.

A table. Two chairs.

MacKayden didn’t sit immediately. He walked around once, slow, like he was measuring the space, or her.

"Yesuin Kaelitha," he said finally. "Rank 0. You were on a delivery route."

"Established."

"You encountered a blocked road."

"Yes."

"And a vehicle behind you."

"Yes."

He stopped. "Describe it."

Yesu shrugged slightly. "Black. Fast."

"Driver?"

She paused.

"...I didn’t see one."

MacKayden’s eyes narrowed just enough to notice.

"You didn’t see one," he repeated.

"It was dark."

"That’s not what I asked."

Silence.

"Yes," Yesu said flatly. "I didn’t see a driver."

He held her gaze for a moment longer, then pulled out a small notepad.

"No driver," he wrote.

A pause.

"The trailer?"

"It was just there."

"No prior report of obstruction," he murmured to himself.

Then he looked back at her. "You hit the brakes."

"Yes."

"And then?"

"I jumped."

"How far?"

"I don’t know."

"Estimate."

"...A few meters."

MacKayden didn’t write that down.

"You slid under the trailer."

"Yes."

"And the vehicle behind you?"

"It crashed."

"With yours."

"Yes."

Another pause.

"You didn’t lose consciousness."

"No."

"You didn’t scream."

Yesu blinked. "What?"

"You didn’t scream," he repeated calmly.

She frowned slightly. "I didn’t feel like it."

Her answer lingered.

MacKayden stared at her for a second longer than necessary.

"You’re aware of your classification."

"Surely."

"Zero class."

"Obviously."

"And yet," he said quietly, "you survived a high-impact collision that should have killed you."

Yesu didn’t respond. Because she didn’t have an answer.

MacKayden watched her for another moment, then turned away.

"Wait here."

He stepped out, closing the door behind him.

An officer approached almost immediately.

"What do we have sir?"

MacKayden didn’t answer right away.

"The car," he said instead. "Did you check it?"

"Burned."

"Before that."

The officer hesitated. "No registered driver."

MacKayden’s gaze shifted. "Autonomous?"

"Doesn’t match any registered system."

A beat.

"Plate?"

"Scrubbed."

Silence stretched.

MacKayden looked back at the closed door.

"...And the girl?"

The officer shrugged slightly. "Rank 0. Clean record."

MacKayden exhaled slowly. "Too clean."

****

Inside, Yesu leaned against the chair, arms folded.

The room was quiet again. Like nothing had happened. Like nothing ever did. freēwēbnovel.com

****

In the adjacent office, MacKayden stood over a terminal. He pulled up her file.

Yesuin Kaelitha. Rank 0. No guardian. No incidents. No anomalies.

He stared at the screen. Then at the report draft. Then back at the screen.

"...No anomalies," he repeated under his breath.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard, then moved.

Case Note: Survival inconsistency.

Observed behavior: No fear response. No pain reaction.

Incident factor: Unidentified vehicle (no driver).

He paused, then..

Status: Flagged for review.

He leaned back slightly, eyes narrowing.

"Let’s see what you are."