'Detective Alpha!'

The voice sounded suddenly in my head, causing me to cringe and having to correct the trajectory. Close call.

Although I had had the Dispatcher implant for many years already, I would never get used to the sound of a voice directly injected into my brains, and always at the most inopportune times.

'Good morning, Linda,' I directed my thought back at the dispatcher.

These implants were tricky, they allowed for two-way communication but you needed to think in a specific direction to ensure the right message came through at the other end. Until you got the hang of it the department suggested you turn the implant off in the evening and on in the morning. It was hard enough for the dispatchers to handle the actual communications without having to sift through the wet dreams of some of the younger officers, and nobody liked the awkward moment when you walked into the precinct the next day.

Strangely enough, the thoughts that people directed at each other sounded exactly as if they were talking, some voices could almost put you to sleep, while others gave you an instant headache. Linda's was... hard to ignore.

'Are you currently doing anything important, detective?'

'Um, no,' I said, zipping up and flushing the toilet, 'I just finished breakfast.'

'Excellent, there has been a homicide down at Rowdy street. The captain has put you on the case, Rascal and his men are already setting up a perimeter.'

'What kind of homicide?'

'The kind where somebody got shot and died,' Linda replied dryly.

'I see. Okay, well, I'll pack up my Abilities and head over there right away. Tell the captain I'm on it.'

'Have a nice day, George.'

'You too, Linda.'