I was offered the opportunity to accompany HPD to a site of an atrocity that they wished to show me. This scene had been discovered, at least according to HPD as a result of following up a previous gruesome murder.
Some of you will remember in late April that this newspaper posted about a reward for the missing Maxim Pink. Very sadly it became apparent in May that Maxim had been murdered with both his father and his colleague Dale Warrhol announcing it on social media.
I thought I had been asked to visit this basement as part of that investigation, although since a month or more had passed it wasn’t clear to me what was left to help or report on.
Visiting this dank basement I shivered. This is Hathian; basement after basement after basement… where people are hurt or worse. I should be used to it… I’ve been in basements myself, but how can one get desensitised to violence? I see people who have hurt me and I turn the other cheek because raising my hand against them deliberately cannot possibly make me feel a better person. Nevertheless I cannot condemn the desire to take revenge for your loved ones, but I can suggest, humbly, that you are contributing to a cycle. I feel on repeat, saying that. Hear me Hathian? Love works.
What Happened In The Basement?
Accompanying me among the other members of HPD was Lt. Landon Fyre. Recovered from his fight night ‘ordeal’ (see our other article) he cut his normally imposing figure as he led me down the steps to show me what he wanted.
Lt. Fyre: “I’d like to begin with a tribute to courageous first responders, Stephanie McDaniels and Maxim Pink. Both of whom had dedicated their young lives to those in need and subsequently became victims of Hathian’s senseless gang violence. A month ago, along the course of seeking justice for Maxim, I descended into this death-filled basement. Maxim’s murderers were discovered to be sworn members of the Rejects gang. Take a look around you, this den reeked of despair and misery. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, I could see a girl laying on the ground with a chainsaw wielding male about to carve into her. So I did what I do best and tackled the maniac head on, he near took my leg off with the saw, but eventually I had him down. And then began the grisly process of sifting through dismembered body parts and identifying the victims littered around the basement. This, is who the Rejects are.”
Weapons in the basement, crusted in blood.
So, it wasn’t about Maxim really, but just the follow-up to close down (or tamper down?) the gang that Fyre stated was involved. Did I have evidence other than Fyre’s claim this was the Rejects… No, I feel in most normal cities people accept the press releases of their police force and really was it hard to believe the Rejects did yet more in this city to hurt it? No… ‘Dog Bites Man’ doesn’t cause many ripples does it?
Daiyu: “So, specifics… going back to Maxim who did it and what happened to them? What happened here as well? How were they linked?”
Lt. Fyre: “It was Quintin, and Espi, responsible for Maxim’s fate and they’re both in custody for now, awaiting trial…”
Fyre didn’t explain more about the basement, neither covering the man he overpowered or how this particular place was traced back to the Rejects. With regard to Maxim’s death, it did appear that the Rejects were involved with court cases filed and other conversations in town but without permission to get Espi our of jail (and noting she hadn’t been seen for a while), there was little I could get directly from the accused. I wonder if we’ll see her again or will she be one of the few who finally heads to a SuperMax somewhere to rot?
I hope that whomever cares is relieved that another torture spot is closed, but like Hathian’s pervasive violence, there will always be more. Well done to Fyre and the HPD for this example then I guess.
Our Approach
This newspaper cannot become a mouthpiece for those seeking to put their agenda over. That includes Gangs, individuals or even the HPD. While the above crime scene is clearly shocking and HPD indicates that Rejects members were charged, until the court case come into the public, the evidence of that cannot have been said to have been tested sufficiently.
I spent this morning as the printing presses started to whir thinking about why people did things. Why was hurting and killing their go-to tool for… what? Self-aggrandisement? Control? Weakness of character?
Self-destructively perhaps I took the bottle of whiskey that Stanley hides (sorry boss) and drank a few measures while texting people related to this story in different ways and means. Have you ever looked into the abyss and had the abyss tell you to suck a dick? Welcome to my life.
