Police boredom, the district and a pile of paperwork

It was an unusually quiet time for SA6 district murder squad. Detective Cog Wheele was sitting behind his table trying to catch up with his paperwork. Stacks of reports, notes, and unfinished forms were all but falling off the desk.

SA6 district is the smallest part of the city. As all the districts labelled SA, it is inhabited by jobless people in extremely high concentrations. Like every overpopulated place, there is a great number of health issues and criminality is extremely high.

Its neighbours are IN4, which is an industrial district, and SC6, whose people are employed mainly in the factories of IN districts. These districts are separated by a high and thick wall. The only way to get out of SA6 is through a heavily guarded back door inside the SA6 police station on the western end of the Factory Street I.

People living in districts designated SA has little to no chance to find work and transfer to some of the higher districts, but there are few ways for those naturally talented to receive a sponsorship from a sports team or a company, that saw an exceptional talent or aptitude for a job they had in mind.

The only other way was is the annual lottery run by the government, that enabled three lucky individuals from SA and SC districts to move to one of the higher districts. This relocation included a small apartment and a job at one of the government-owned businesses.

When he started the day, Detective hummed some tunes as he worked. But now he just sagged in his chair and tried to think. But even that was above his current capacity.

If you ever tried to fill out a paper version of tax return or something of that kind, you probably know how the detective felt.

`Bugger it!` he thought. `Show me the idiot who invented bloody paperwork and I will strangle him on the spot!` added quietly as he shifted another load of papers on the DONE pile.

But there was something else happening downstairs in the reception office that will soon liberate detective Wheele from that “bloody paperwork”.