Tess followed Marlene as she approached the car. She could hear the operator in her ear, demanding to know what was going on. Tess would have answered, but she knew from experience that the operators didn’t care what she had to say. She was just a dog, and when she spoke, all the operators, hell, all most higher ups heard, was a bark that was almost as bad as a bite. She could see Marlene talking, going through protocol for a rookie cop. It was almost entertaining to see the detective do it, and she couldn’t imagine Jameson ever lowering himself enough to question someone who was speeding. He’d have given it to dispatch and went on his merry way.<br/><br/>She moved to take a step forward, to put her hand on Marlene’s gun and lower it for her. The last thing she needed was for the detective to get a demotion before she’d even finished her first case. She saw the perp in the car move and instinctively grabbed her own gun in case the man went for Marlene and she found herself unable to pull the trigger. She didn’t like the woman, but she didn’t seem like a bad person and Tess wasn’t going to let her die. Marlene reacted first. Tess found her eyes widening as Marlene fired, she pushed herself back, out of the way of the blast so that she wouldn’t get covered in bodily bits.<br/><br/>She watched as Marlene was thrown back, unused to the kick of the gun in kill mode. She’d been standing all wrong, and the result was Marlene on the ground with her gun skidding across the road for anyone to grab. Tess touched her earpiece. “Sibyl, activate holograms on car 842.” The holograms burst to life, weaker than what had been at the crime scene, but all anyone outside would see was the police cordon around an empty street. “Put redirect routes in place.”<br/><br/>“<span style="font-family: 'Courier New'"><span style="font-size: 12px">REDIRECT ROUTES INITIALISING</span></span>.”<br/><br/>Tess turned back to Marlene, watching as the detective managed to hurt herself once more. Marlene would be sent to the infirmary upon returning to work. The kick of the gun was powerful, and Tess wondered if she’d managed to crack a rib. When Marlene got to her feet, Tess raised an eyebrow at her, making it clear that she thought Marlene was an idiot for ending up on the ground. She wasn’t criticising the fact she’d fired, just the result.  Her psychopass had also risen considerably, and Tess wondered what would happen if she saw something truly terrifying.<br/><br/>As soon as the cars pulled up, Tess glanced into the car, reading the ID and raising her eyes. Perhaps Marlene wouldn’t get her ass handed to her after all, perhaps she was actually going to get a pat on the back.  She saw Jameson, and raised her hands in surrender when his glare turned on her. Her head tilted towards the car and Jameson approached as Marlene went to the ambulance. “Look who it is.” She said in a low voice, and Jameson checked the ID. She leant against the side of the car, and she had a perfect view of his expression when he clocked who it was.<br/><br/>Tess could hear Jameson congratulating Marlene, and he walked over to her to check on her injuries. “Are you sure you passed basic gun training? Because that is a rookie mistake.” Jameson told Marlene, pointing out her bruises.<br/><br/>Tess remained by the car, and as she zoned out, she felt vibrations on the car. She frowned and walked along the car, reaching the boot and as she put her gun away, she noticed it trying to take a reading. She popped the boot, and her eyes widened. A young woman was bound in the boot, cramped and with tear tracks down her face. Tape covered her mouth and Tess leant down, pulling the tape off and lifting her out.  The young woman stumbled and Tess caught her, untying the rope around her wrist and stepping back as the woman wrapped her arms around Tess, sobbing and saying things that Tess couldn’t hear. Tess was frozen, not touching the woman as she looked over to the others for help.<br/><br/>Jameson was the first over, peeling the girl off Tess and putting his hands on her arms. “Miss, you have to calm down, your crime coefficient is too high.” The young woman only sobbed and pulled away from Jameson, sprinting through the hologram and down the road. “Shit, Tess!”<br/><br/>Tess was already running.