PRISONERS ESCAPE, PUBLIC ENRAGED
Karin Ivers, Pallad City Post
[Archived Article: Published 9 Days Ago]

Yesterday’s accident involving a prisoner transport on the Deevos Highway has left three officers in critical condition, one officer missing, and two prisoners on the loose. Pallad City Police claim that the armored transport was disabled by an explosive, which allowed the prisoners to escape during a “coordinated attack.”

One of the escaped prisoners, 35-year-old Symon Ghast, was responsible for the abduction of Mayor Hynden Neville on Halloween, along with masterminding a failed bomb plot connected to the annual Pallad City Halloween Parade.

The other prisoner has only been identified by authorities under her alias, Miss Bliss—a name associated with numerous criminal acts on the ShadowNet, including blackmail, malware/ransomware distribution, drug trafficking, and illegal shipments of Class VII pleasure androids. Miss Bliss was arrested on November 4th after police discovered she was responsible for an organ trafficking ring with Dalton Trayer, the owner of the Fantasy Funland theme park.

The PCPD have confirmed that the capture of both high-profile prisoners will be their highest priority. That might not be enough to satisfy many Palladians, who are already voicing their concerns over the police’s handling of the situation.

“We now have a maniac running free who just tried to blow up several city blocks,” said Jon Gidaire, owner of Gidaire’s Sports and Fitness. “I’m worried that he’ll try again. He wasn’t just targeting the Mayor. Who knows what someone like that’s capable of.”

Laine Archos, an investment banker at Riss Capital, expressed doubts over the PCPD’s ability to keep citizens safe. “How does this happen? One escapee’s bad enough, but two? Are our police that incompetent? I don’t feel safe in this city anymore.”

“You never hear about this kind of stuff happening in Silica,” added Kurt Maknee, an electrician with Pallad City Power. “This city brings out the worst in people. I mean, I feel bad for the cops who have to deal with some of these sickos, but that doesn’t excuse them either. The cops aren’t doing their jobs. If we can’t even depend on the PCPD to keep these people behind bars, what’s the next step? Where do we go from here?”

A Pallad City Post poll conducted last week revealed that 33% of Palladians have very little confidence in the PCPD, while 41% had no confidence at all. This is an all-time low for the PCPD and yesterday’s prisoner escape will likely bring these numbers even lower.

“We are doing everything within our power to locate and apprehend these two individuals as quickly as possible,” Mayor Neville said in a statement. “Chief Hardiman has assured me that we will have them in custody by the end of the week.”

Danger Zone One. Story by Midnight. Art by Salaiix.