Their filthy hideout. Their parents were upper-middle class, at least to some extent. But Joshua and his gang, already guilty of multiple petty crimes, had been abandoned by them.
“What the hell is taking them so long?” Joshua muttered.
“Probably messing around somewhere. Maybe they forgot about us,” Yamada replied.
Just then, the door was suddenly kicked open.
“Show me your hands. Joshua Bar Yosef. David Yamada. You are under arrest.”
The robot’s face was equipped with a high-powered laser, and it was clear that it had them in its sights.
In this part of town, ignoring a first warning meant instant death. Human Rights Ignore Mode—that’s what Joshua and his gang jokingly called it.
Joshua, feigning indifference, stood up slowly as if to say, “We’re not scared.”
At the police station, the two were being interrogated on suspicion of aiding a terrorist.
“Scum like you helping terrorists is exactly why they’re still running around,” a man—presumably a detective—said, shoving a photo in front of them. “We already know you helped this guy escape.”
But Joshua had never seen the man in the picture before.
“I don’t know him.”
“Don’t lie to me. We already have everything on you.” The detective spoke irritably, clearly a short-tempered man. He was barely holding back his rage.
Grabbing Joshua by the collar, he growled, “Hurry up and confess, or things will get a lot worse for you.”
This was a man who had no qualms about using violence. Someone like Joshua had no chance of calling a lawyer.
Since the First Interplanetary War, the slums had become a place where the prevailing attitude was that people who loitered there didn’t deserve human rights.
Joshua knew that unless he confessed, he was in for a severe beating.
彼らの汚い溜まり場。親は一応中産階級のちょっと上くらい。でも既に軽犯罪を幾つも犯しているヨシュア達は親に見放されている
「アイツら、遅えなあ。何してるんだ？」とヨシュア。
「どっかで遊んでんじゃねえの？俺らのこと忘れてるんじゃねえ？」ヤマダは言った。
そうしていると、いきなりドアが蹴破られた。「両手を見せろ。ヨシュア・バル・ヨセフ。デビッド・ヤマダ。お前たちを逮捕する 」そのロボットの顔には高出力レーザーが付いていた。それが狙っているのは明らかだ。
この界隈で一回目の警告を無視すれば、すぐ殺される。人権無視モードだ（これはヨシュアたちがふざけてつけたモード名）
ダルそうに、俺らは怖くなんかねえ、と言わんばかりの態度でヨシュアは、ゆっくりと立ち上がった。
警察署内で、二人はテロリストを助けた疑いで取り調べを受けていた。
「お前らのようなクズがテロリストを助けるから、奴らがのさばるんだよ」刑事とみられる男はテロリストの画像を見せながら言った「こいつの逃亡を手伝ったのは分かってるんだ。」
しかし、写真の男はヨシュアには見覚えのない男だ「俺、知らねえよ。こいつ」
「嘘をつくな。全部バレてんだよ」苛々した言い方で刑事は言った。短気な男らしい、内心では怒り狂っている。
黙っているヨシュアの襟首をつかみ「さっさと認めちまえ。でないと、もっとひどい目にあうぞ」この男は暴力も辞さない男なのだ。ヨシュアのような者は弁護士など呼べない。第１次惑星間戦争以来、スラム街
に、たむろっているような連中には人権など認めない、といった空気が優勢になってしまっている。ヨシュアも罪を認めない限りかなり殴られるだろう。
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