Written in 365 Parts: 63: Babysitting Corpses

Hooper escorted the two mortuary stretchers as they hovered down the corridor on the pre-programmed route to the secure area that had held Marsh and Krennar. The stretchers were from a privately maintained mortuary and were fully automatic. Hooper idly wondered how much smarter than his apartment they were likely to be? Krennar was a legal, probably pulled in more in a year than Hooper could expect to earn in a lifetime so the insurance would be delightfully bespoke. 

The stretchers reached the doorway and Hooper used a keycard to override the security. Krennar and Marsh were lying on the floor where the med team had left them after declaring them deceased. Hooper watched showing no expression as the stretchers hovered over the bodies and a hatchway opened in the base of each one. They lowered over the bodies and then closed the hatch sealing the bodies inside.

Hooper waited as the stretchers, more mobile coffins now, identified and then instantly administered care. in this case it would be to hold them in a state of grace. Hooper made sure to get the confirmation codes that officially handed over the two organics to the private medical company and then escorted them out of the room.

Hooper almost walked into Perf who was outside in the corridor. “Heya Hooper.”

“Perf.”

“I came down to see if it was true. So they are actually dead?”

“That’s what it says on the med sheet.”

“Holy heck, what happened?”

“Damndest thing, the air circulator had a short and a fatal shut down. Some form of software glitch. I would have sworn it was impossible, in fact, my first thought was that someone had tried to cover up a murder. But the techs assure me it was all a massive series of related incidents. They called it a cascade failure. A small issue that spirals into a large issue, each one contributing to a larger end effect.”

“Wow. I wouldn’t have thought it was possible, these rooms are supposed to be ultra safe and secure.”

“Tell me about it. Going to be a heck of a stink about this. I already had three different oversight bodies contact me, and I hate to think what the investigator assigned is going to say.”

“I hear they’re a bit of a firebrand.”

“They are a massive pain in the arse is what they are.”

“I thought you guys were a little tighter than that?”

“Not that tight, I owe them and they have been using that for a long time.”

“Sorry to hear that. Look do you want me to do the filing of the paperwork for you?”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“I’d be happy to, hell that’s ninety percent of my job so it wouldn’t be a real stress.”

“Thanks Perf, I owe you. Means I can escort the stretchers and then go off shift.” Hooper passed a data card to Perf.

“I’ll walk down to the hanger with you,” said Perf, “we can go over your picks for a fantasy team in next year’s league, fully round out something good.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Hooper, “I hate babysitting corpses.”