While Callie wrestled with her decision, in a tiny office within Enforcer Headquarters, the museum archivist, Albert was very busy going through each open case as quickly and meticulously as he could, closing them speedily if possible, as he understood how important this was to all the parties involved with running and protecting the city that this get done before their visitors left and before any of the problems could manifest themselves again.
It had taken him weeks but he was now putting together his report and recommendations today. First, though, he felt a need to review every file one more time and add any changes that had just occurred within the last day or two. Getting himself a fresh cup of coffee, he settled down again. He'd been at this since arriving at work at six in the morning and would probably be here after quitting time again.
The first case he looked at was easy to skim through quickly and set aside as it was on Dr. Viper. The file contained proof of the mutant Kat's death from the coroner's office and complete destruction of his lab witnessed and filed by Commander Feral and Lt. Kam.
On the second case, he had just received a call from Ms. Briggs confirming the SWAT Kats had just taken care of sending Mad Kat's box into a deep trench in the ocean and Commander Feral had signed off on the report that Albert would get later today. The report in paws included the statement by Mr. Katzmer, original owner of the box, that he had no knowledge of how to dispose of it, a legal bill of sale from Ms. Briggs stating city funds had paid the antique dealer for the box, gaining legal control of it, then the phone call from Ms. Briggs on the actual disposal of said item. Once he got the report the Commander would be sending down to him today, he could finally close the file. He sighed in pleased relief that this extremely deadly 'loose end' had been finally taken care of.
The next case could not be closed though the omega involved was dead. He'd already received the eye witness accounts from Commander Feral, the SWAT Kats, and Lt. Kam of the death of Dark Kat in space (there was no body to bring back), but his hideout, creepling-making machine, and any other dangerous devices, had not been found.
The SWAT Kats had volunteered to search for the hideout and destroy all within it after taking inventory of the contents first. Any living creeplings would be put to death while any ninjas still around, would be jailed. So this file would remain open until the SWAT Kats notified Feral and turned over the actions they took and the Chief Enforcer signed off on it. He placed it in a holding basket for now.
Opening the next file, he glanced over the case of Dr. Liter Greenbox, the poor scientist who had been twice screwed by criminals then went a little crazy the second time it happened. The scientist had recovered rather quickly but since he had broken the law, he'd been required to spend a year in jail. When he was released, Albert found he had managed to find work in a small lab that was willing to take a risk on him. Dr. Greenbox had been willing to allow his new employer to monitor him closely while he rebuilt his small robot that repaired things with such excellent efficiency.
The invention was felt to be a serious advancement for Katkind and shouldn't have been allowed to disappear simply because the Metallikats had corrupted its memory the first time around. With proper safeguards, this time the device could be properly tested then, if as successful as the first one was, be mass produced for use by companies first then the public second. Dr. Liter Greenbox had vowed to insure the device was fitted with an internal command to self destruct if improperly tampered with making it much safer to use.
Albert was pleased Dr. Greenbox was being given a second chance. Such brilliance shouldn't be punished for things that weren't his fault. However, Albert felt it wise to recommend the enforcers keep the doctor under surveillance for at least a year, just in case then provisionally closed the file.
The next file made him sigh in disgust. The Metallikats case had to remain open while the pair were being seen by a therapist. Albert personally didn't think the two robots would agree to being altered and his last report from the therapist stated his feelings were spot on. It seemed the solution by their alien visitors to place a control chip in their brains was going to be the best solution but he had no say in the matter and could only keep the file open until some kind of decision was made.
Another criminal that kept cropping up frequently was Hard Drive. Albert's research revealed that most of Hard Drive's escapes from prison had been engineered by Dark Kat. With that omega dead, the techno thief was stuck in jail. He was presently serving a five year sentence at Alkatraz. As for his surge coat, Albert felt it had no redeeming value since it had been discovered Hard Drive's was the only one who could handle being converted into energy...something to do with his genes...so the coat could not be used by anyone else. The coat was in the enforcer evidence locker at the present time. Albert had strongly recommended the coat be destroyed immediately. He didn't think he would get an argument on it so was surprised he hadn't already received an answer on it.
Frowning, he made a quick call to his enforcer liaison, Lt. Jessup.
"Ah, Albert, what can I do for you now?" The lieutenant asked. He found he liked the little archivist very much. The tom was a bright and earnest worker, very good at what he did and easy to work with.
"Leon, I need to know what the status is on Hard Drive's surge coat. I sent a recommendation to destroy it but received no answer. Could you check the status? I would very much like to close this file before I complete my report by end of day," Albert asked.
"Wow! You're ready to do a final report already?"
Albert chuckled wanly, "well, I have gone through all the case files as thoroughly as I could now its up to the powers that be to finish up the last actions necessary to close the still pending ones. Hopefully, that will be soon, " he said shyly, embarrassed at the praise.
"Still, that's a monumental achievement, my friend. Okay, on the surge coat, I don't know why it hasn't been closed. I'll go check with the Commander and get right back with you," Leon promised.
"Thank you so much. Later then," Albert sighed in relief.
"Sure thing, bye," the lieutenant said warmly then hung up.
Setting that file aside to wait for the return call on it, Albert went on to the next set of cases that dealt with more minor but no less deadly omegas that only troubled them one time each. First up was Rex Shard, the accidentally altered prisoner. After calling the prison doctors that had treated the tom, he was assured Shard was indeed back to normal and still safely behind bars. That was good news but he couldn't find out where the Gemkat 6000 mining machine had ended up.
Such a device, if used properly, would be a boon to the mining industry and would go a long way toward giving Dr. Greenbox his credibility back as well as pay him well for his invention which Albert discovered hadn't been credited to the doctor at all...a serious breach of inventor patent laws.
It wasn't until a week later, after he'd asked about its location, that Lt. Jessup had found the machine in the evidence room. Nothing had been done with it even though the case had been closed more than a year and a half ago. A note in its file stated, with Dr. Greenbox in jail, the machine would be kept locked up for the time being and it was signed by Lt. Commander Steele.
Albert made a snort of derision. He was truly glad that idiot had been sent to another military base as he was nothing but trouble here. Though, he'd never met the tom, he'd uncovered all the mistakes caused by that fool's incompetence in managing records properly . It caused Albert no end of headaches to unravel the mess to locate the information he'd needed. He had no doubt Steele was partly at fault for much of this information remaining buried for so long and not dealt with properly.
Well, now that they knew where the machine was, Albert felt it was his duty to inform Dr. Green box that his device was still in holding within the enforcer building and, as the legal owner, he could and should retrieve it. Dr. Greenbox had been shocked and surprised his invention was still around.
"I'm amazed! I thought surely it would have been destroyed.," Greenbox said over the phone.
"No, it was part of your case and Shard's so when the case closed and you were incarcerated after that Zed incident, it was just kept here. I recommend you retrieve it and definitely repair it then sell the invention to the Megakat Mining Association. It would boost mining production of precious minerals by over 80%. You need to make sure you're properly compensated and that you set up a royalty plan for the proceeds from its use," Albert told him earnestly.
There was a long pause before Greenbox was able to speak again. "I-I don't know what to say. Thank you so very much. You didn't have to do this for me...someone you don't even know...I-I'm so grateful to you and will do as you suggest. Thank you again for giving me more to be happy for. I don't know how to thank you," Greenbox said with heartfelt sincerity.
"That's quite alright, sir. You can repay me by keeping a closer watch over your inventions, who is using them, watching for abuse, and always be represented by a lawyer to protect yourself in the future. I wish you good luck," Albert said warmly.
"I will and thank you again."
They both hung up. Albert had a huge smile on his face as he annotated his records with the conversation he'd just had and placed the note in Greenbox's file, closing it.
Setting Greenbox's file in the closed box, he studied the second of the two minor cases which dealt with the toxic waste disaster created by the now jailed Tiger Conklin. Albert's research found there were no more giant scorpions, much to his relief, but there were over a hundred small ones still around and very dangerous. Scorpions were normally only about one to two inches long but these guys were more than two feet long and vicious. The environmental protection agency was having a very hard time trying to clean the toxic lake with those critters around so the danger continued to remain unsolved.
Albert called the agency and told them the SWAT Kats would be around soon to help them deal with the scorpions but that they were occupied with another project for the city. They would be next, he assured them. The agency thanked him with much relief and promised to keep an eye on the problem until it could be solved.
The most dangerous case still open was the Pastmaster. He shuddered when he thought about that nasty little sorcerer. For the museum staff, the wizard was a pain in the tail. He didn't much like the possible solution that had been presented but something had to be done and from what he'd been told, Ms. Briggs was the best chance they had of disposing of the threat. He hoped so, meanwhile, all he could do was wait and see how this problem would be solved.
Setting that aside, he pulled another file out. This case was a real weirdy, about a ghost, for heaven's sake. He studied the report again, carefully. Though the report said the Red Lynx had been destroyed when Mayor Manx shot him down, there had been no corroboration of that fact.
He paused and scratched his head, 'now how would one prove a ghost was truly gone?' He wondered. Sighing, he reached for his phone and called Dr. Sinian. If anyone would have an answer to that question, she would.
After a short discussion, Dr. Sinian said, "I thought that had been cleared up completely! Anyway, Albert, according to all the data at my disposal, I can only say once the Mayor followed through with the prophecy, the ghost could not remain in this world. I'm afraid there's nothing we have to prove otherwise so I'd say it was safe to close the file on him."
"Okay, thanks Dr. Sinian," Albert said, relieved.
"By the way, Albert, how is your research going, " Dr. Sinian asked, wanting an update.
"Very well, ma'am. I'm nearly finished with my report and will be handing it over by tomorrow."
"Excellent. That is good news. Well, I'll let you get back to it and be sure I get a copy of that report as well," Dr. Sinian said, pleased.
"Of course, ma'am. Goodbye," Albert promised then hung up after she said good bye as well.
With a flourish of his pen, Albert gratefully made a note of Dr. Sinian's confirmation then closed the file. But there was on aspect of that case he still wanted taken care of and that was the Blue Manx the Red Lynx had stolen. This had been a prototype jet that the ghost had proven was worth its weight in gold but was now lost at the bottom of the bay.
Though it was not cost effective to retrieve the jet from the water, that did not mean the plans for the jet should have been dropped. That was an unconscionable loss of an excellent fighter jet the enforcers desperately needed.
Copies of letters from the Chief Enforcer pleading for more funding from the city council were constantly turned down with the repeated refrain 'not enough money'. Though he wasn't an accountant, Albert could plainly see something was wrong about this picture. Digging deeper, he found a pattern of gross misappropriation of funds by the Mayor who was funneling his money into numerous building projects...especially the unlucky Megakat Tower that had been rebuilt more than three times to the ruinous tune of over a billion dollars so far. This was just unconscionable and smacked of graft. It made him feel righteously angry that something like this could have continued to go on for so long.
Frowning, Albert realized he had found something so politically hot and dangerous that he could easily lose his life if the wrong parties realized what he knew. Shivering but not losing his courage, he carefully documented everything he'd uncovered and wrote it up on a separate report to be handed over to the proper authorities responsible for monitoring the city government. Until he could hand it over to the right paws, he would keep the report under lock and key.
Shoving that dangerous and uncomfortable piece of work carefully away for now, he went back to the other cases he was investigating which had more to do with things rather than criminals. Before he could start, however, Lt. Jessup called him back and was able to tell him the surge coat had indeed been destroyed by the Commander himself. Pleased, Albert thanked him, hung up then dug out the file and finished it up. Now he could get back to the next things on his list.
Besides the Blue Manx there was the unique helicopter flown by Chop Shop, that now resided in the salvage yard with a broken prop but not much else. Chop Shop, himself, was still in prison for at least another two years.
Albert tracked down the information on the chopper and found the enforcers had managed to find out who had designed and built it...a company called Queron Labs in Sandeval Bay. They had barely finished the prototype and were preparing to test it when Chop Shop had stolen it. The enforcers had notified the lab of where to retrieve their damaged prototype and that seemed to have been the end of the subject.
Albert could only shake his head. This chopper had proven to be far more advanced than the present choppers the enforcers used. There was no further word if the company had decided to go ahead and produce a line of these choppers or not.
Curious, Albert decided to find out. After some chasing around on the phone, he finally managed to speak with one of the designers of the chopper. Not only had the chopper been placed in production but it was extremely profitable as many countries wanted it. They had been surprised that Megakat City, who had unwittingly gave it a performance test, hadn't placed an order for them too. Albert couldn't answer that but did thank the designer, asked for some brochures on the chopper to be sent to him, then hung up.
He was miffed such an opportunity as this chopper had been swept under the rug. After looking through the rather slim file on the incident, all he could determine was Steele was the one handling the report and the information on the chopper. Almost tearing his hair out in frustration, Albert quickly wrote up his notes on the phone call and set the file aside to await the brochure to add to it.
In his report, he carefully suggested someone pursue the idea of purchasing these superb choppers. The enforcers truly needed such updated helicopters badly though, he was afraid the enforcers request for them might be stonewalled by the council and the Mayor yet again. There was nothing more he could do right now except continue to document what he found and make recommendations.
He was starting to get incensed by this travesty of justice that had been allowed to go on for years between the Mayor's office and the enforcers and unnoticed by everyone except those in charge. He had no doubt Commander Feral was thoroughly tired of attempting to get what he desperately needed to protect the city, he would be too.
As he went on to the next case, he was even more disgusted when he saw the prototype tank known as the Behemoth, which Hard Drive had stolen and the SWAT Kats had been forced to damage, had also been allowed to languish in the bowels of Enforcer Headquarters, still damaged and untouched. He was nearly beside himself with anger It should have gone back to Pumadyne for repair and corrections of the flaws the impromptu testing had uncovered, then mass produced for the enforcers.
Two other inventions had been all but ignored. These were the Vertical Cannon and the Giant Laser Satellite. The vertical cannon, if downsized, could be very useful in breaking up mobs and gang wars.
As for the satellite, it required more security to prevent the laser from getting into the paws of criminals and gotten back to what it was supposed to be doing...breaking up earthquakes. It still hadn't been launched into space which was why it needed extra guarding and this was where he'd like to see the robots Hackle was supposed to be providing soon, to be placed.
He was all for the robot police force he'd heard Professor Hackle was working on. As a matter of fact, he was certain Hackle could convert the vertical cannon into a smaller version of itself so it could be part of the enforcer's arsenal and he made sure to recommend that in his report as well.
The last item on his list was the Pumadyne Anti-Weapons Scrambler that had been stolen by Hard Drive. The device was now in the paws of the enforcers but, again, it was not being used. Admittedly, some of the gangs used propellant weapons and the device was no good against them but the rest did use lasers and it made sense to have enforcers armed with it to end a fight much faster. It should have been made a part of their normal equipment they carried. Dr. Ohm did finally create a counter to the device so if it was turned against the enforcers they had a way to counteract it.
This incredible waste of vehicles and equipment, appalled Albert. He had been made privy to the fact that Commander Feral and possibly the SWAT Kats would be leaving when the Wotan departed. This made the loss of such advanced technology even more criminal.
If their city stood a chance of surviving the loss of their strongest defenders, then all these issues needed to be addressed immediately. The enforcers needed to be as up-to-date as their neighbors even if they didn't face anymore omegas. It just wasn't right for them to be left nearly a decade behind technologically.
The dangerous document he had hidden was looking like the only thing that could change the balance of power in Megakat City, restore honesty to the government, and help the enforcers be the force they were supposed to be. But for all that to happen, he suspected now, was to remove Mayor Manx. He shook his head. This was all beyond him now but he knew he couldn't back down since it would be his documentation that would start the firestorm of controversy and finger pointing.
When he had been asked to do this massive project, he had been appalled that so many things had been overlooked, ignored, poorly managed, or even criminally caused. To have this many things of such dangerous magnitude out there that could threaten the city's stability and safety was unimaginable. It was no wonder the city was kept in a constant state of upheaval.
Well after working his tail off for more than a month for fourteen hours a day, he was hardily grateful to be nearly eighty-five percent finished. The still open cases were now plainly listed so they could be addressed immediately. His recommendations and suggestions were also plainly listed so that they could be checked off by those reviewer the document.
Albert wasn't ashamed to admit he was dog tired. All he needed to do now was type this up quickly, make copies for Deputy Mayor Briggs, Dr. Sinian, Commander Feral and the museum archival records that kept the city's history.
As for the more dangerous piece of documentation...he had no idea who to give that to so left it locked up tight until he could get some sleep then tomorrow find out who should deal with it. He didn't envy the poor sap that got elected to deal with what essentially was a bomb of mammoth proportions. Of course, he would be right there with that same slob, taking the heat for what he'd discovered and standing firm on what he concluded as the only solutions.
He was ready to fight against the storm of outrage and anger to come. Shaking his head, he focused on getting the report typed up on his personal computer. It took another hour and a half before he was finished and standing sleepily at the printer waiting for his multiple copies to spit out.
He allowed his mind to drift toward more pleasant things...like the possibility of their world being made a stopover for alien visitors. He was excited by the prospect rather than afraid and even thought about maybe one day leaving on one of those ships to see other worlds himself. It would be so cool then he shook his head and thought, 'keep your mind on your job, my friend, there's a lot to get done yet before you can chase your dreams.'