Rushina could feel her teeth gnashing as the cold tore through her. Shivering and shaking, she could nothing but stayed still in place, covering up as much of her body for warmth as she could.
Then finally after what felt like an eternity in what seemed to be a frozen hell, the gears within the metal door of the cell began to shift. Then with huff of warm air from the other side the door slid up.
Rushina, seeing the door open, wanted to leap off the ground and rush straight for it but felt too stiff and heavy due to the immense cold for her to get up and use her speed.
"Rushina," a calm gentle voice spoke out as the silhouette stepped in to the cell.
Rushina had bowed and arms wrapped around her knees as seat on the cold metal floor only raised her head once the man's shadow was looming over her.
Raising her head she saw him, recognizing his armor and limiter that glowed softly with green hue. It very same officer that arrested her and put her in that cell.
"You looked like your about to freeze over," he spoke as the thermal regulars in his suit kept him warm.
Rushina gave no reply and just stared at with cold that almost looked dead.
The officer then bent down to meet her gaze. Looking at him Rushina was taken aback by the gentle warm in his gaze.
"I need you to answer a few questions," said the officer with calm voice.
Hypirex officers were divided in to three main classes, the Runners who were basically the lowest ranked. They had no power to arrest or detain and their duty were mostly regulated to handling paperwork and the mundane tasks assigned to them by their superiors. They were mostly made out of gear twos.
Then they were Sprinters. They had the power investigate and make arrest within the city of their jurisdiction with credible evidence that a crime had been committed. They were made up of a mix of both gear twos and threes. And then they were Reacher, the top rank in Hypirex. They could make an arrest with evidence in anywhere on Kinerikan. They were in change of handling serious crimes and dealt with criminal that were too quick for Sprinter.
You could tell a Sprinter apart from Reacher from their armor which was specially design to durable enough to handle intense speeds without burning up and the fact that unlike most other Kinerikan they were never in a hurry because they had a reason to rush for in the entirety they were said to be the pinnacle of speed in Kinerikan, rivaling that of even the council of Kinerik.
There intimidating presence was something that inspired immense reverence to Kinerikan all around the Kinerikan as well as immense fear, especial for those with gear one limiter desperate enough to feel the rush of raw speed and motion to break the law.
Rushina, seated on hard steel chair, on a cold table with heavy metal device resting on her wrist where her limiter once laid. Before her stood the Reacher looking at her with a solemn gaze that almost seemed sorry for her or pitied her.
Any other Kinerikan in her situation would her situation would have begged and pleaded to be let go but…
*sigh*
What was the point?
She knew they were no use in plea.
She looked down at the device on her wrist with a tire breath leaving her lips. There was nowhere she could run to.
The Reacher, seeing the dead and dejected look in Rushina's eyes, cleared his throat before saying, "Okay miss Rushina. I'll be frank with you, you crimes are severe"
Crimes?
Her mind went back to blissful sensation she felt as the wind push against as she raced through the city. Heat in her lungs and he way her heart felt pounding against her chest with each step.
Those were crimes?
She shut her eyes and allow single tear to slowly make it was down her cheeks.
The sensation of actually being alive was a crime.
"Disturbing the peace, threating the lives of your fellow Kinerikans by nearly combusting in middle of the city as well as being in possession with a hacked limiter," she heard the Reacher list her crimes and her head sunk down low.
Rushina's eyes then made landed on the Reacher limiter, spotting the symbol "III" on t instead of a digit. A soft sigh then left her lips.
"Eighteen," Rushina muttered softly.
"What?" said the Reacher was slightly taken aback by her?
"That was how old I was when I first heard the news of the first gear one to shift gears," said Rushina.
The Reacher upon hearing her words said nothing and calmly shut his eyes and let out a breath.
"I still remember following the news about him. How he was brought in to the Hypirex as a Sprinter and eventually did so well at his job that he was promoted to a Reacher" said Rushina tears beginning to form on her eyes.
"I remember looking up to him, thinking if he could make so could I," she spoke with a dry chuckle. "Every month, after working a job I detest. I would dart away to the nearest Speed Checker to test my speed. I'd fail and every single time, over and over again,"
She tear kept streaming down her eyes.
"I barely had enough money to eat or pay the rest in my one room apartment"
"But still I continue going and going until…" She looked down, finally tear made it way down her cheeks and on to floor below.
"Tell me Reacher, what makes you so special," voice came out hollow and empty. "The rest of us have to live our lives in this system where everything hates us for simply existing"
She then raised her head and met his gaze.
Tears standing stagnantly on her eye lid at the verge of falling as her. Painful mix fury and sorrow in her gaze.
"Why did you run and why we can barely stand,"
Those words seemed to be enough to shake the Reacher down to his core.
The Reacher placed his hands on metal table. His eyes falling on to his gauntlet like limiter before admitting, in a soft and calm voice, "I don't know,"
"I don't know why out of so many other gear ones why I was the one," he spoke words heavy.
Rushina then bowed her head. Tear droplet falling down her eyes.
"It's not fair," she wept.
The Reacher then shut his eyes and let out a low before shifting his gaze away from the limiter.
"You're right, it isn't but that's just how life is," his fell as he spoke. "The rules may not be fair and flawed but they are necessary. Imagine what would have happen if I hadn't gotten to you on time,"
Rushina's eyes shook upon hearing his words.
"You would overheated and blown up, taking not just your life but the of any Kinerikan next to you,"
Rushina, hearing his words just hung her head low.
"What…what are they going to do to me," she spoke soft in voice in quiet and low voice barely greater than a whisper.
The Reacher then let out a heavy sigh.
"Well, considering just how severe your crimes were. There'll probably give the highest form of punishment in Kinerik," said the Reacher.
Rushina sinking even lower upon hearing his words.
"Then that means…" she couldn't even bring herself to complete the sentence as she just glanced down at the device on her wrist.
The Reacher looked at her, seeing her hollow eyes as they glanced down at the device on her wrist, locking away her speed, and glanced down. He then let out a low breath.
"I can help reduce your sentence, but you'd have to cooperate and tell everything about who helped you hack your limiter," said the Reacher.
Rushina, upon hearing his words, just let out a breath and raised her head. Her eyes were hollow and empty as she opened her mouth.