Within a minute, Beibei was transported from the One city precinct to the headquarters in Beijing. Liwu was frankly relieved to see Beibei and her mother gone.
By the ti she returned to the beach, word of her suggestion to Beibei had already spread and her colleagues were laughing.
"Only you Bad Luck Tai, only you." Xuanji giggled.
Liwu rolled her eyes. "Hey, its not like I handed her a list of assistants to hire. It just seed to like she was struggling to balance everything on her own."
The officer that had replaced her got up and she sat down. For a second, she crossed her fingers and whispered, "No red systems, no systems."
Sowhere in the back of her mind, Liwu heard the universe laughing loudly. She could feel it in the air, her bad luck was churning like butter. A furious mother shoved a ten year old boy forward, practically planting him in the chair opposite Liwu.
"Tell them what you are." She snapped, her voice sharp with exhaustion. She looked into Liwu’s wary eyes and said, "He has a mind control system. We just discovered this morning that he has been manipulating us for two months. He has not been to school for two whole months. My husband quit his job to take him to gaming arcades and amusent parks.
Our house is filled with gaming equipnt and they have tickets to Hawaii for next week!! We have been eating junk food, soda and candy at ho because he made it the law. He made us give him our bedroom and move into his room. He has turned our lives upside down. I want him registered, contained. Do sothing before I lose my mind and lock him up in a basent."
People gasped.
The boy, small and deceptively calm, folded his arms. He did not utter and apology or offer an explanation. His eyes glead with a confidence that was not seen in children his age. "You’ll let go and register sothing else as my system," he said softly, staring directly at Liwu.
Liwu felt the tug imdiately--a pressure in her mind, like invisible strings pulling at her thoughts. He bad luck kicked in, sand slapped her in the face.
[ 10 points: Slapped by sand.]
"Nice try kid." She laughed.
The boy smirked. "You’ll do as I say, obey my words. Everyone does."
The mother slamd her hand on the table. "See? This is what we have been living with! Do you know how I got him here? My mother visited us yesterday and she noticed a problem imdiately. She put a cloth over his head and taped his mouth shut, I only removed it because I didn’t want people judging ."
Liwu looked around, people were staring at them and they were judging.
The mother continued, "We have security caras at ho and my husband and I viewed them on the way here. He made his father salute him before bedti and call him Sir!"
Soone sniggered. It all sounded like pranks a kid this age would do.
Liwu’s pulse quickened. The boy had a dangerous system and these pranks were not funny. They were not destructive in the traditional sense but lives could be ruined. His father was already unemployed. The family finances were probably drained and who knew how many neighbors or strangers had been tricked into doing favors they didn’t want.
If left unchecked, this boy and his system could spread beyond his neighborhood, destabilizing communities and cities. As he grew, maybe even the entire country or world soday.
The boy leaned forward, voice low and commanding. "Call Sir and salute . Give your money."
Liwu felt the pull once again but her bad luck was not having it. She wagged her finger, "Not today baby Sir."
She alerted the higher up imdiately using the computer and reached for her radio. "Control, this is detective Tai Liwu SOB, badge number 4721-B. We have a got a mind control host, juvenile, active system. Request the imdiate disposal of experts and SWAT containnt."
The boy’s eyes widened, his confidence faltering. "No, you are supposed to obey."
SWAT officers surrounded them, weapons trained but careful, their visors reflecting the boy’s panicked face.
Liwu stood with a gaphone, "The rest of you, please stay calm. This boy may be young but his system is a world-level threat. Mind your business and let us work."
The boy was contained, a pair of special sunglasses was placed over his eyes and he was carried off by the officers.
The mother exhaled in relief as her son was carefully carted away after being restrained gently.
"Ma’am, you need to go with us." An officer said to her. "You and your family need to see our hypnotherapist and have your brains scanned. There are also so decisions that require your consent. Do not be afraid, at the end of it all, you will take your son ho."
"Without that terrible system I hope." She croaked. "Did I tell you how he made fight a chicken? We don’t even have chickens at ho. I don’t know where he got one from."
Liwu rubbed her temples. Her mother was going to love dealing with the boy’s mother. She was the kind of decisive person Tai Alix liked. The woman recognized the mind control system as a bad one and she wanted it gone.
"Why do I always get the worst cases?" she muttered.
Her bad luck pulsed again and a dog that was sniffing for contraband bit her shoe and ran off with it.
[ 1 Point: Lost shoe.]
Liwu took a deep breath. "Next," she called out. This ti, she did not even bother hoping for a silly system. The odds were, she was going to co across another bad one.
Her next custor was an elderly man, leaning heavily on a cane. He looked tired and moved slowly. She smiled, because the lack of strength or intensity or screaming family mber probably ant he was harmless.
"Na and system?" She asked, voice steady.
"Mu Lin," the man replied, lowering himself into the chair across Liwu slowly. "Before I tell you what my system is I would like to explain. Three years ago, I had cancer. Lung cancer."
"Okay." Liwu said with uncertainty.
"Its not one of the cancers they have found a cure for as of yet." He continued. "I was sure that I was going to die."
Liwu tapped her pen on the screen of the computer, "Sir, I hate to rush you but the line is still long. If you can just tell what your system is so that I can log it in, I will be very grateful. After that, if there is sothing that you need to discuss, I will assign you to another officer."
The man smiled, "I am sorry, I did not an to make your job anymore difficult that it already is. I am the host of a ’Disease Manipulation System."
Liwu alerted the higher ups imdiately. She could hear the chuckling coming from Mu Xuanji.
"Bad Luck Files," he said. "It is what it is."
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