Themis, The Flower of Justice
Chapter 4 — Men with justice
29 October, 2097 [19:00]
[London City, England]
Somewhere in London, an abandoned warehouse with two trucks and a private car was parked in front of it. The warehouse was very seedy and dilapidated, looking like it would collapse at any moment. The existence of these cars is odd because of the quiet atmosphere and there is not a single vehicle there. Coupled with a rundown warehouse that is impossible to work in because of safety concerns, of course it adds to the peculiarity of why the car is there.
Inside the warehouse were 2 people standing guard at the entrance and some people were sitting around in a circle as if discussing something. The inside of the warehouse was very dark, only illuminated by the light of lightning from the outside rumbling so that the faces of these people could not be seen clearly. The atmosphere of the warehouse is also quiet, but the silence of the entire room can be covered by the loud sound of rain that hit the ceiling of the building.
“Is the preparation done?”
A man with a heavy and resounding voice started the conversation
“Of course, haven't we prepared them well?”
Said another man in a high voice that was not pleasant to hear.
“Huhu, because we have prepared the stage for them, of course they have to work hard~ “ taunted a man with a hoarse voice
Lightning snatching hard. The light from behind the small window entered the warehouse and illuminated the entire room and revealed their appearance. There were 3 people who were discussing and 2 people who looked aged wearing white shirts and gray suits and the other was wearing a fedora hat and a black coat that was observing the three of them. The old man wearing a fedora hat tidied up his hat and lightning struck hard, illuminating his wrinkled face adorned with a vile grin, creating a quite gruesome sight
“Let's start”
*GLARRR
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[London High Court]
October 29, 2097 [AT 21:30]
“Good work Mr. Nielson, you have worked hard,”
Said a woman dressed as a prosecutor with a slight bow.
“Ah so do you, thank you for your hard work, Miss Gretta”
A bespectacled man with black hair replied to the woman called Gretta while looking down as well.
“Ah, then be careful on the road. Hope you are comfortable with your return trip,”
The girl named Gretta smiled as she slightly lowered her head and tucked the front hair over her ears. His face looked slightly red and timid.
“Ah of course. I've worked hard, I should have enjoyed my return trip comfortably~” said the man in a trivial tone while shaking his hand
“Nona Gretta, it's out of business hours. So stop being formal” continued the man.
“Oh yes, hahaha. Looks like I'm still getting carried away by the tense trial earlier”
The woman laughed lightly while rubbing the back of her head.
“Hahaha, the atmosphere of the trial was indeed quite tense so no wonder if carried away until now,”
They talked and laughed together. Looking at the scene, they looked more like very familiar friends than just coworkers.
“Nona Gretta, I think I should leave now. There's someone waiting for me, I don't want him to complain to me for being late, Hahaha!”
“Ah yes, forgive me! I seem to take up too much of your time. Be careful on the road,”
Her breeze tidied up the wind-struck hair plus that gentle smile, making herself look extremely beautiful.
“It's okay, see you back,”
The bespectacled man called Mr. Nielson waved as he got into his car. Then he started his car and smiled before he left the woman called Gretta.
Looking at Mr. Nielson's car that was moving away from the view, Gretta's gaze withered and her smile faded from her face. Gretta's looking for something from under her cape.
He took out something from under his cloak, it was a blue pendant. He stared at her for some time and then clasped the locket while grasping it tightly.
‘Mr Nielson, does she have a boyfriend? Though I was waiting for him and did not get married despite stepping on the number 3, but he..’.
.....
This man called Nielson drove his car slowly, even though the road seemed quiet, he still drove slowly. The quiet streets of London show a beautiful view as well as a soothing atmosphere.
Wet roads and buildings, as well as the sound of falling rainwater, make the mood calm. Street lights with classic models illuminate the road, also no one who passed by on the side of the road to make the atmosphere become quiet and give the impression of loneliness.
‘Street is quiet once...’
Surprisingly, usually the bustling city of London, it has now become like a city without inhabitants. After all, at this time it is not too late, there should be many people still on the move, especially this road is always a lot of people passing by in the streets. Despite the rain, it was strange to see the normally crowded city become silent and desolate.
‘Is there enough acid rain that makes the city seem deserted? No, it's not that...
Probably the real cause is—‘
‘Third world war'
The third world war, which occurred in 2075, aka 22 years ago, the war that occurred for 3 years took a lot of things from humanity. The war caused a great deal of harm to the world, from the loss of 60% of the human population to the destruction of a land or land that could no longer be inhabited due to deadly radiation.
A devastating war involving nuclear weapons is beyond common sense. Even a superpower like the United States turned in an instant into a vast expanse of uninhabitable desert. Russia's cold Siberian mainland has almost never experienced winter again. Because of this war, human civilization also retreated several decades back.
Nuclear radiation that seeps into the soil causes the soil to become arid and unable to be made to grow plants anymore. Radiation flowing into the sea causes the sea to become polluted and many fish die or evolve into monstrous creatures, even until now the sea became a forbidden zone because it is very dangerous and technology that does not support the security of ocean exploration.
Not only because of nuclear, but because every country is racing to advance their technology for the sake of war, they are competing to make a powerful weapon but do not pay attention to the surrounding environment. Excessive industrial smoke causes poor air pollution.
The ferocity of the smoke from overproduction, not to mention the deadly weapons launched during the war, resulted in air pollution that was so severe that it settled in the sky that even sunlight was unable to penetrate it, and enough toxic smog was scattered throughout the air that everyone in this era had to wear a special gas mask that had been determined. Even when every rain, the water that falls contains a very high level of acidity to be enough to further damage the environment and make people exposed to direct exposure will fall ill
The sky is covered with smoke until there is no sunlight, but the entire earth remains exposed to the sun's radiation to a dangerous level. The ozone system in the broken atmosphere caused the radiation from sunlight to become unstoppable, which caused people in this era when leaving home during the day to also have to wear special clothes specified.
As well as soil and polluted air make it difficult for people to grow plants either for oxygen or for food. Since no plant-eating animals starve and die, even predatory animals lose their food, causing mass extinction of animals. It also resulted in human shortage of foodstuffs so that the cause of death increased not only due to war but also due to depletion of food supply.
‘it's all because of those guys...
For greed, they—‘
Given what happened in the war as well as its causes, Nielson's view went cold. He hinted that the third world war was caused by a certain person. It was only natural for Nielson to think that way, because in the event of a war then it was common for a head of state to simply die and his empty seat to be taken over by someone. After all, Nielson was one of their creations.
Nielson suddenly stopped his car on the side of the road. He stopped his car in front of a thrift store, which was the only store open along the way. It was strange that a constitutional official would visit a thrift store, surely he could have someone replace him to visit the store rather than visit him in person.
From the outside of the shop there was nothing strange, even when Nielson went inside, there was not a single strange view of the store. There are only obsolete items that have mostly been damaged like how a thrift store should be.
Nielson continued walking inside until he met a middle-aged man sitting at a table reading a newspaper. He looked like a 40-year-old man, with a thick mustache and his face slightly covered with a hat. It is a strange thing to wear such a hat in the room. If he wears a hat in a shop or place of trade, it is not strange, but the place is already shabby and certainly no one buyers, it is not a strange thing, so there is no specific functional for the reason he wears a hat.
Nielson tapped on his desk to hint to the shopkeeper that there was a customer in front of him. The shopkeeper took down his newspaper and only glanced at Nielson.
“There can I help sir?”
The man only glanced briefly at Nielson, but he did not turn his face away from his newspaper. Nielson was not offended despite getting disrespectful treatment and still immediately said his needs.
“I want the document”
“Documents? What document? This master seems to be an honorable government official. Did you have the wrong address? Here is just a thrift store, what documents are you talking about~ “
The man put down his newspaper and spoke in a sarcastic tone. This time he spoke while looking at Nielson but still showed an unfriendly expression.
“Stop saying nonsense, just give it D-001”
After saying this, the guard became silent and stared at Nielson for a while. Then he took a book from some books arranged on his desk, from the book he took a book marker that read Delta. Then it was like putting the book marker toward a small mirror on his desk. When the marker is brought closer, the mirror starts to emit light like it is scanning something. The sound of *BIPP was heard, suddenly the table that did not appear there was an open drawer, and there was a pile of paper that was the contents of the drawer.
The mustachioed man took out some documents and sorted them out before being given to Nielson. Nielson looked at it for a while, he flipped through the document and checked it. After checking it, Nielson pulled out a pin and put it on his desk and left the man without a word.
“Yo! Welcome back to shop”
The man smiled and waved his hand towards Nielson but Nielson ignored him and did not turn his head in the slightest. When he was outside Nielson checked it again and he took a deep breath.
‘List of people to be tried in court'
Looking at the title of the document, Nielson was deep in thought. From the title it does seem that there is no meaningful problem, but that for Nielson it is a problem, because the court referred to by the document is not an ordinary court.
Delta Court, Nielson called it that way. The Delta court was an unusual one, it only contained certain cases such as those relating to the secret organization that Nielson was sheltering. Injustice ensued in the Delta court, torturing Nielson every time he handled the case in the court. Whatever the case, the evidence, or who is guilty is meaningless in Delta court.
Droplets of acid rain fell on Nielson's face and pulled him out of his mind. His emotions surged for a moment, he quickly tried to cool his head and calm himself down. Although his emotions rose, the look on Nielson's face did not change.
‘True, I need to calm down... If I oppose them rashly, then my life is at stake. After all I've done this a lot, so what's wrong with doing it again?’
Although Nielson thought that, the fear of it still haunted him. He said it was only to amuse himself. Nielson could not abandon the justice he was upheld even though he had often done injustice on their orders.
Nielson, who had regained his composure, rushed over and entered his car. Nielson this time stepped on the gas pedal hard and the car drove quickly away from the store.
Despite being calm, thinking about the matter that was in the Delta court made Nielson's expression darken. He squeezed the document firmly and then smashed his hand into the dashboard violently. The car's dashboard broke, blood was flowing in his hands, but Nielson did not relax his fist in the slightest.
What makes Nielson emotional is not that he feels guilty about the defendants being silenced in the delta court. But what made him emotional was that he did not feel any emotion when punishing those who were innocent.
Although he upheld justice, he felt nothing when following their orders and punishing the defendants. Like his emotions had been lost to it and left a feeling of disgust for him like this. The disgust had filled him for a long time but he could not stop carrying out their duties, in fact he is not allowed to feel emotions that go against his duty even though it is contrary to his conscience and ideology.
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