Sins Loom: The Unwilling Weaver

On the other side of the call, the woman immediately went to work trying to solve the problem. She sent the police back out to search for the briefcase.

Having received the call, the police force that had just left the area only a few hours ago once again flooded back in. The people who lived nearby once again had their lives disrupted by the police. Some were having breakfast, others were still fast asleep, and some were heading off to work. Regardless of what they were doing, they had to stop.

The police no longer settled for scanning the streets. They knew this was something important, and so they searched every house and questioned anyone who had a briefcase even remotely similar to the one mentioned by the woman.

Inside the factory warehouse, the workers that had just entered and were beginning their workload for the day were pushed aside. Every single one of them was contained and questioned about whether they had seen a briefcase. Their work was forcefully halted, and some were even escorted out of the building for appearing too nervous.

The entire street and its surrounding area was in chaos. Everyone was searching for this briefcase, and they turned the entire area upside down to find it. The shelves in the warehouse were all torn down, opened boxes and their contents littered the ground, making it a struggle to walk through.

Every nearby house had their belongings searched through against their will. And anyone who questioned it or was even slightly nervous was detained and brought back to the police station. Stuffed kids' toys were ripped apart, even if they were clearly not big enough to contain a briefcase. Children cried, and some even fought back after seeing their toys destroyed. And so they were detained and brought back to the station as well.

No stone was left unturned. Anyone who was even slightly suspicious was detained for questioning. The police had no choice. Their careers and maybe even their lives were relying on finding this briefcase. They didn’t care how heavy handed they were being, as they saw it all as necessary damage.

Only the very buildings themselves were spared, everything else was destroyed. People wanted to protest, but they had no power here. As they watched people getting dragged away by the police, kicking and screaming while covered in bruises and bits of blood, they decided it was for the better to keep their heads down and suck it up. As long as they were alive, that’s all that mattered.

In this single night, the police had let the entire city remember that they were to be feared. News spread about what happened. Police from all over the city cracked down on the once all powerful gangs, jumping out from everywhere all at once in a surprising fashion that none of the gangs expected.

The balance of power in the city had changed in a single night. The police were no longer scoffed at by the citizens. They were no longer seen as pigs and obedient pets of the gangs. They were now feared by all. The people were reminded that the police held all the power.

Everyone was afraid. No one in the city had been completely law abiding. Everyone of them had secretly, or not so secretly, broken a law at some point in their lives. That was just the norm in the lower city. But now everyone was looking over their shoulders, afraid the police would crack down on them as well.

The entire lower city ground to a halt as the police continued their search for the briefcase. They expanded from the warehouse and that street, to the surrounding streets, and eventually the entire neighbourhood. The search area grew wider and wider, and yet they still failed to find it.

Those in charge were beginning to sweat, especially the one who had received the call. If they could not find the briefcase, their heads would be put on pikes for the world to see. The wrath of the middle city would fall upon them, and they would be skewered and made examples of.

No one in the lower city felt safe. Not the civilians, and not even the police.

Suddenly, a second call came through from the woman, and the person in charge paled. The call was picked up without his consent. The woman had overridden his control, and he had no say in the matter.

“Have you found it?” Her voice was calm, but it sent a chill down the spines of everyone who was listening to it.

“No. We are still looking,” he admitted, hoping honesty would save his skin. But even as he started speaking he felt something was wrong. His body felt like it was starting to swell. He began sweating profusely and he found it difficult to breathe. His skin turned red and his eyes started bulging out of his skull.

Everyone looked on in horror as he popped like a balloon, blood and guts landing everywhere. Some of it even went into the open mouths of those who were too stunned by the situation. People began to vomit, but especially those who had just ingested a piece of their former comrade.

The woman watched on coldly, ignoring everything that had happened like it had nothing to do with her. “Find the briefcase!” she ordered before disappearing.

The search continued. Every nook and cranny across the city was searched through as the entire police force was put on this case. It may have seemed like an overreaction, and that it would surely attract the unwanted attention of her competitors or the governmental bodies of the middle and upper city, but it barely made a splash.

The news didn’t even spread to the middle city, so the regular citizens didn’t even know of the chaos happening beneath them. Those who were in the know agreed with the behaviour of the police after finding out that something had been taken from someone in the middle city. They even thought that things hadn’t gone far enough.