Chapter 145 Many Centuries Of Feuding
"Esong," Scarlet turned around to look at him because she had a question. "It has been months and we are yet to catch the person whose intention it was to harm me. Do you think the danger has passed or maybe the rat is too good at hiding?"
"The what is what?" He gave her a confused look.
"A rat is a small creature that likes to live in dark holes sometimes underground or in sewers. Even dumpsters, basically a filthy creature that sneaks around to steal food. People who can't keep secrets are also called rats or snitches."
"Oh," Esong replied. He was not sure if that was the appropriate response for the situation but seeing as to how he had no idea what a rat looked like he could not equate it to the circumstances. " The RGB is in charge of the investigation and captain Zorl keeps refusing to answer my questions because it's an official investigation. I don't think he likes me very much." Esong said, "Zorl," with displeasure on his face.
"He told me the same thing." Scarlet told Esong. "Is the RGB this.....um.....I don't know the right word for it." she said slowly, quite unsurely.
"Incompetent." Esong said in a questioning tone.
She raised her eyebrows slightly, thinking to herself that incompetent was a bit of overkill. "It's not the word I was going for, I was going to say rigid. I have not really met an RGB officer I have liked, they all seem to have a stick up their ass." After the two that she met the first time on Justin's case she had not been too eager to interact with more of them.
Esong chuckled and Tion coughed to cover up his own desire to chuckle too.
"That's it!!!" Esong laughed louder, "They can be uptight bastards. Most of them have around SS to A levels of mental strength and half of them failed to make it in the mecha warrior academies. It's one of the reasons as to why the RGB and the mecha warriors don't mix. They also have this thing about keeping their organization free from outside influence to avoid corruption. The emperor is the only one they bend for, the rest of us can go screw ourselves as far as they are concerned. To be an RGB officer one must have a spotless record, including your family background going back five hundred years."
"So if my great great grandfather was a criminal five hundred years ago I cannot become an RGB officer?" She asked him.
"Yes." A new voice joined them.
Scarlet and Esong looked away from each other to meet the eyes of captain Zorl. "It's how we maintain our purity and the reason why our organization has been voted the most organized and efficient in the empire for three hundred years in a row. There are things that we do better than mecha warriors."
"Oh yeah, name one." Esong challenged captain Zorl.
Captain Zorl's lips trembled and he smiled stiffly. She could tell that he was probably holding back a punch right now which he very much desired to land on Esong's face. "We keep peace among the common people by arresting criminals like mecha warriors who go to the dark side." He said.
"And we mecha warriors keep you alive at the expense of our own lives." Esong reminded him.
"And you never let us forget it." Captain Zorl mentioned sarcastically. "The great heroes of the empire, the only ones deserving of recognition and praise."
Esong was unbothered by the sarcasm, it was not him that was the origin point of the petty feud between the RGB and mecha warriors association. But he would not let captain Zorl have the last word. "Because the day you forget our importance is the day young boys will stop dreaming about becoming mecha warriors and they will stop joining our academies. Where do you think that will leave the common people? Who will protect them from mutated beasts, space pirates, enemy nations and other threats we don't tell you about? You and your fellow RGB officers will be guarding graves so, no, we will never let you forget about the sacrifices of the mecha warriors because those men that died to keep you alive deserve to be remembered."
Ignoring the tension Scarlet popped her head slightly between the two men and said, "And girls, haha, let's not forget the girls who want to be mecha warriors too."
Esong frowned at her and he laughed lightly. "Now, really?" He asked her curiously.
She shrugged and answered him, "I am just putting it out there. Anyway both the mecha warriors and RGB officers do important work. There is no need to rip off each other's heads, if you want to compete form some football teams and face off. We have six teams playing in the winter tournament so far, two more are welcome." She was going to give the mecha fights a run for their money since she could not squeeze into the mecha fighting business and most of her people did not participate in the fights anyway. She had been actively promoting sports like football, basketball and ninja warrior challenges. In the winter they would add ice hockey or sledding and skating. Her people would not spend the winter cooped up like chicken. Speaking of chicken....." Esong, I have to go quickly. I forgot that I have to visit the chicken farm today. Good to see captain Zorl as always."
She took off running and Tion too started running after her.
She waved to different people as she run because they waved at her first. Some of them were carrying luggage, others had shopping bags. Some carried food stuffs, preferring to cook their own meals instead of buying it or eating the free porridge from the canteen kitchen. A few couples were riding bicycles with baskets and blankets, probably planning to go on dates by the lake side. All this brought a smile to her lips because once upon a time, it was nothing but silence, hunger, fear, anxiety and worry.
"You are late." Her mother said to her the moment she hurried into the hatchery. "All the eggs have been hatched already. You can watch the process on BSTV when the show about animals is aired. Look at all those tiny little yellow colored chicks, aren't they adorable?"
"Yes," she replied, "So adorable." They were watching the chick's through a solid glass window. Only the sanitized employees in their overalls could go into the hatchery. She was not going to risk these checks catching any diseases.
"How many are they?" She asked her mother.
"Two thousand one hundred." Mega Su replied.
"That's too little." Scarlet commented, "I was expecting a bigger number."
"Eight hundred did not hatch, you have to remember that the hatching machine or brooder as you call it is still new, this is a trial and error process. The workers will find out what went wrong with the eggs which did not hatch. But what are they going to do with them? Can they be eaten?"
"They can feed them to the pigs." Scarlet replied.
"Too bad, eight hundred eggs to be wasted just like that." Her mother shook her head. "I don't feel right about wasting food like this."
"We also can't feed it to the people because it could be a health risk. We do not want the narrative that food is poisonous out there. If the pigs don't want it then they should be incinerated."
"Ho, even pigs can be choosy." Mega commented in disbelief. "I will see to it, don't worry."