The punch slammed down, sending everything on the desk airborne as if the presence of those objects were a personal insult rather than serving a greater purpose.
"How many?"
"Nationwide, over 14,000 victims... Globally, the figures cannot even be calculated yet."
They were facing the largest attack lacking any common thread, any criminal motive. The police knew there were no links to organized crime, gang violence, or even a lone lunatic who believed himself godlike, choosing who lived and who died. The only unquestionable facts were that the population kept dying and that the victims could fit any demographic—as long as they were not children under the age of 12.
The cases did not happen overnight, and law enforcement took them seriously from the start. However, incompetence and bureaucracy are terrible rivals when public panic puts pressure on the government. Cries and lamentations filled every precinct, while those processing the final paperwork of the deceased were overwhelmed with work.
None left usable evidence behind; there were no marks indicating the weapon used, only sheer, crushing violence covering the scene. Surveillance cameras multiplied along streets and avenues, yet this did not stop the killer from reaching victims. Personal body cameras were briefly considered, but the invasion of privacy still terrified citizens.
The number of officers patrolling at night was increased, but what can 10,000 police officers do spread across hundreds of streets in every district? Small towns suffered fewer victims, though obviously because they had little to offer.
Research centers scrambled for motives and causes to understand why someone was attacking so fiercely and violently. Curfews were established, bars were closed, and illegal establishments did not last long: not because anyone reported them, but because near those places, the body of someone who went out to party late would soon appear. Prohibiting alcohol was proposed to keep adults alert, but skyrocketing depression rates risked driving the population to far worse coping methods.
The problem was not just the deaths, but the absolute lack of evidence: only a crushed, shapeless mass remained, leaving no notes, showing no remorse. The autopsy reports became increasingly depressing; the victims were not hardened criminals, but ordinary people, mostly teenagers.
And of course, everyone knew where they were coming from: bored teenagers defying the danger at home, essentially signing their own death warrants. At night, when exhausted parents, grandparents, and guardians finally collapsed, these kids snuck out into the dark. They coordinated signals with window lights when computers were banned; if phones were confiscated, they met at doorways or street corners. They all attended school, they all talked, making surveillance futile despite continuous attempts.
Desperate parents rushed to purchase new security upgrades to preserve their children's lives, but police reports indicated that the service contracts had quietly changed: it was no longer standard 360 protection. New clauses had been added.
Anything from "inappropriate conduct by the minor" to a "hazardous domestic environment" could void the agreement. Suddenly, unsuspecting parents would go to sleep, only to wake up the next morning to tears, a automated departure notice, and an empty room: both child and robot were gone.
Families rushed to the manufacturer's corporate offices, but the company produced recording logs proving domestic abuse and neglect—both from parents toward their children and from teenagers toward the units. Some scenes were so disturbing no one wanted them released for public debate. Years dragged on, reaching a decade of this macabra normalcy that no one wanted to accept.
Terrified parents spent fortunes attempting to convert their homes into fortresses. They armed themselves and upgraded their children's caregiver robots with defense modules, since most kids never reached adulthood anyway. Few reached age 17, but once they hit adulthood, the killer outside became the least of their problems: parents themselves chained and locked their grown children in basements so they wouldn't risk leaving. When authorities inspected these homes, the confined young adults were clearly no longer sane.
The crisis peaked as the 11th year of these killings approached. Birth rates collapsed globally. Discussions began regarding state-run centers to isolate children as soon as they approached puberty. At first, parents were outraged, but as cemeteries filled with urns and fear paralyzed public life, a debate reached the Senate to strip parents of custody the moment a child reached age 12.
On the very night of that legislative debate, screams echoed through the streets once more. There were no new urns filled that night, but in their small beds, not a single child remained.
That night would forever be remembered as the night the rebellion begin.