AfterNet 01 - Good Cop Dead Cop

the brass … they don’t think of us as people anymore than they do … someone like you. We’re just manpower … sorry, staffing.” Morris did say the last word with sarcasm but it couldn’t be conveyed to Munroe.
    “Damn, what a fucked up operation this was,” Morris said.
    “At least no one was inside,” Munroe offered.
    “This time.”
    “Are you going to be the partner of the person you got coming?”
    “Well, yeah. I hadn’t really thought of it that way.” Another firefighter walked up to Morris. “Get out of the way, Morris,” he said. He grabbed Morris by the shoulders and moved him aside so he could load a large ventilation fan into the back of the HazMat truck. “Were you talking to yourself?”
    Morris walked away without answering him. “Let’s get back in my car before …” he said to Munroe. Back in the vehicle, Munroe said, “You better start thinking of yourself as … what’s this person’s name?”
    “Who, oh, Sarah … uh … Richardson.”
    “Well, you’re Sarah’s partner. You’re not on the line, are you? You’re not at a station?”
    “No, they pulled me to do this, and for the training … you know, how to use the terminal. I still don’t know if I’m being punished. I’ve got a reputation as a fuck up.”
    This kid needs some morale boosting, Munroe thought. “Did you work with a disembodied person during the training?”
    “No.”
    “Is Sarah … was she a firefighter?”
    “Yeah, but she died a year ago, in the line. I think it was … it was in a flashover, in Boston.”
    “OK, you’ll have to train together as a team. When we first started, Linda and I, that’s my partner, we did all the stupid stuff you and I did today. It took her a while to learn how fast I could move and that she needs to hold the door open for me and stuff like that. She even needed to learn how to walk so that she could keep the terminal field steady for me. Look, if you like, I can work with you and your … who was that we were talking to?”
    “Oh, that was the HazMat captain. He just wants to chew me out. The Operations Division Chief is really my boss. They haven’t quite figured out where I … and my partner fit.”
    “Well that sounds familiar. Look, I’ll talk to my deputy chief and tell him about tonight’s adventure and see if I can work with you.”
    “You might want to rethink that. The two departments guard their turf.”
    “Yes, but at the moment, I’m their fair-haired boy … or whatever. Well, if we’re done here, how about you take me back to the station?”
    On the drive back, Munroe gave Morris hints on how to work with his future partner.
    Yamaguchi was in bed watching TV, idly wondering if it was time to pee yet. At least 15 minutes had gone by without a trip to the bathroom and she’d like to stretch it to 30 if she could. Peeing was her body’s response to any kind of illness or discomfort. If she had a cold, she had to pee. If she was cold, she had to pee. Fever: pee. Sinus attack: pee. I’m sure if I ever get shot the first thing I’ll need to do is pee, she thought.
    The need to pee almost drove her to the point of quitting in her rookie days. She hated the whole process of going to the bathroom in full cop regalia, including the stares of the public and the hurried way they would finish their business whenever she entered a restroom.
    Once in the stall, she would have to remove her equipment belt. Then what do you do with it? She remembered the time she used the coat hook on the back of the door, only to see the soft metal snap off and the belt plummet to the floor. Luckily that time her reflexes let her catch it before it hit the floor. It didn’t help that there was a sign on the door: “Use hook for coats only. No purses or heavy objects.”
    Far worse, though, was the time she wasn’t paying enough attention and she dropped her equipment belt on the floor. Her pepper spray went flying across the floor of the restroom and her collapsible nightstick fell in the toilet. Of course, her shoulder mike, which was attached to her radio, which was on the belt, fell on the floor and keyed the emergency button. So for the next few minutes dispatch heard her radio transmitting the sounds of her fumbling around the floor of the bathroom with the occasional expletive.
    Of course, she eventually trained herself: only use single occupant restrooms when possible, look for toilets with a tank where you can rest the belt, or stalls equipped