//------------------------------// // Day 7: Search and Seziure // Story: Arstrotzka Welcomes You: A Papers, Please Crossover. // by Herr Director //------------------------------// The Inspector arrived at the checkpoint the next morning, feeling more alert than usual. His wife had given him a double shot of espresso rather than his usual plain black coffee to help him stay alert on the job. It was working. The Inspector hoped that he wouldn't be too jittery today because of the coffee. That would look very unprofessional, and being unprofessional was unacceptable. The Inspector noticed that the guards that had been killed yesterday were already replaced with fresh ones. They did not acknowledge him as he made his way to the booth. The Inspector slipped inside the cozy building and shut the door. As usual, the Inspector made a beeline for the bulletin. He picked it up out of its slot and unfolded it. A note, presumably from the Governor fell out onto the desk. The Inspector read his instructions first. Dear Inspector Your instructions are simple today. The Ministry of Admissions is cracking down on Gryphonian terrorist attacks. They have yet to come up with a truly efficient system, but for now, all Gryphonians must be searched for weapons and contraband. NO EXCEPTIONS. Earlier on, you may have noticed a photography trigger under your desk. That trigger is for the new scanner system that was installed on your booth. It uses a sort of high energy wavelength to see through concealment that might hide contraband. But that doesn't matter. There should be a switch on the side of the trigger. It activates the right camera and the left camera. Click the trigger, flip the switch, click the trigger again, then flip the switch back to its original position. The printer will print out the photos so that you may examine them. Remember, under no circumstances must contraband get past the checkpoint. Searching is mandatory for Gryphonians. If you find an entrant with contraband, they must be detained. I know that sounds a bit out of character for me, but this is a really big deal. Treat your task with the utmost importance. Arstrotzka is counting on you. For the Glory of Arstrotzka and Equestria, Princess Twilight Sparkle Temporary Governor of Arstrotzka The Inspector nodded to himself. That didn't seem so hard to remember. He turned his attention to the note that had been placed in his bulletin. He unfolded the note and read it after putting the bulletin away. Dear Inspector I'm thankful to hear that you were all right after what happened yesterday. Ever since the first attack, there haven't been any willing applicants for customs officers anywhere around Arstrotzka. Speaking of yesterday, I want to congratulate you on catching Bangor Dare at the checkpoint. It made the front page on The Truth of Arstrotzka, you know. I don't know how you knew about him and his activities, but you saved a lot of mares from a life of cruelty. I tried to wire you a bonus for your efforts, but the Ministry of Admissions would not allow it. I also want to thank you for helping Fluttershy. That was the mare who jumped into your booth after the bomb went off. As I'm sure you can guess, she's another friend of mine. She wrote me a letter telling me how you protected her during the attack. You got a good head on your shoulders, Inspector. Arstrotzka should be proud of you. I know that I certainly am. Don't forget, you can write to me if you need anything from me. In case you lost the address I gave you last time, I wrote it again at the bottom. Twilight Sparkle 4200, 139th Street, Prancadizna The Inspector placed the note in his bag. He picked up the photo trigger from under his desk and examined it. The red button on top activated the cameras. The switch on the side switched between the cameras. There was also a small grey button below the switch that Twilight had not mentioned in the bulletin. The Inspector pressed the button, and discovered that it activated a pair of curtains that swung around where the entrant would stand, giving them privacy in case they needed to undress. Time to get started, the Inspector thought as he reset the camera and curtains. "The checkpoint is now open, please enter the booth" The first entrant of the booth was a female gryphon. "Papers, please." The Inspector held out his hoof. She gave him a Gryphonian passport and an entry permit. "What is the purpose of your trip?" "I am moving in with my husband. He lives here." The Inspector's eyes flickered over the papers. They were all valid and correct. However, this entrant was indeed Gryphonian, so she had to be searched. "You have been selected for a random search." The Inspector said. He pressed the grey button. The curtains swooped around the gryphon. "Whoa! What's going on?" the gryphon exclaimed. "Is there something wrong with my papers?" "Do not worry, it is only a scan for contraband." The Inspector explained. "I swear I don't have any contraband!" she cried. "Just face the camera." The Inspector instructed. He pressed the red button on the trigger. CLICK. There was a bright flash from behind the curtains. He flicked the switch and pressed the button again. CLICK. Another flash. "I think I blinked during that, sorry." the gryphon apologized as the curtains were folded up and stored away. "It's not a problem." The Inspector said. The printer clicked to life. It expelled two pictures. The Inspector examined the photos briefly. This gryphon was carrying no contraband. KA-CHUNK. "Cause no trouble." The Inspector said. The gryphon nodded. "A good day to you, sir." She left the booth. "Next." "Papers, please." "I have my papers right here." "What is the purpose of your trip?" "I am here for work." "Duration of stay?" "I remain here for 90 days." "Where is your work pass?" "Work pass? Oh, I'm sorry. Here you go." "Thank you." KA-CHUNK. "Cause no trouble." "Next." "Papers, please." "Good day, sir." Here is my permit." "Where is your passport?" "Passport? Why do you want to see that?" "You need one to enter." "Oh. This is embarrassing. I didn't know it was required." *facehoof* "Okay, For future refrence, a passport is required to enter Arstrotzka. No exceptions." PING, FWIP. KA-CHUNK. "Here is a visa slip. Come back with proper documents." "Very well. I'm sorry to have wasted your time. I guess I will return another day." "Next." The Inspector called. A brown stallion with a red mane entered the booth "Papers, please." the Inspector asked. The stallion gave him an Arstrotzkan passport and ID card. "Hello." The stallion said. "My, this weather today is horrible." he commented "Indeed. It is very cold." the Inspector acquiesced. Hm, that matches up, this ID is valid, oh! Wow, why didn't I notice that sooner? "How strange, your photos do not match your face." The stallion wrinkled his eyebrows. "Really? Let me see. On the ID card?" "Yes. Can you explain?" "I have had surgery lately." "I see." FWIP The Inspector pressed the "P" button on the dispenser. A hoof print slip was ejected onto the desk. "Please fill out your hoof prints on this slip." "Okay." The stallion fumbled with the ink pad and slip. "Oh yuck, my hooves are all inky now!" "Wipe them off with this towel." The Inspector tossed him a paper towel. He scrutinized the tow sets of hoof prints, the ones from the entrant, and the ones he had received from the printer. "Now, these hoof prints do not match. I cannot verify your identity." The stallion began to shake, as if he was angry, but seemed to calm down. "Please let me through." he said in a defeated voice. "I could not afford a proper ID card, I had to borrow one from my brother! Please, I need to get in!" The Inspector mentally shook his head. Part of him felt bad for the pony, but he needed to toughen up. Helping ponies was important, but the job came first. These were forged papers and the entrant had to be arrested. He sounded the alarm. CLANG! "Wait here." "Are you arresting me? You heartless bastard!" "OUT!" "Next." A blue-green mare entered the booth. "Papers please." The Inspector asked. She gave him an Arstrotzkan passport and an ID card. It looked okay, but the gender on the passport said that she was male. The Inspector felt himself blush as he realized how ridiculous his next question would sound. "Er, are you male or female?" "It is as it says on the passport." The mare, or stallion, said nonchalantly. It was as if (s)he had heard this many times before. "Oh. Well then, please face the scanner." The Inspector took up the photo trigger and used it to close the curtains. CLICK. The camera flashed. CLICK. The Inspector stowed the curtains. He looked at the photos of the entrant. Hmm. Seems like a mare from he- oh, okay, never mind, it's a he. The Inspector stamped the passport with an approval stamp. "Cause no trouble, er, sir." He waved the she-male away. "Thank you for not asking too many questions about my appearance. I have to put up with it much too often nowadays." The stallion walked out of the booth." Well that's something I'll never be able to get out of my head, the Inspector thought. He called the next entrant. "Next." The entrant was a pegasus stallion. He was white and black with red eyes, and seemed unusually tall. "Papers, please." The Inspector spoke as if he was reading off of a script, which he practically was. The entrant passed him an Equestrian passport and entry pass. "Here you are, good sir." The stallion said. "I am Infinite Spirit, I will be here for travel purposes and will only be staying for two weeks. I am sure there will be no problems." "Well I'm afraid that is not true." The Inspector replied after a quick glance at the documents. "This photo on the passport is wrong. You don't have a horn concealed under all that mane, do you?" Indeed, the photo on the passport suggested that Spirit the pegasus was indeed an alicorn as the entrant in the photo sported a horn as well as wings. Infinite Spirit rubbed his chin with his hoof. "Mmm, are you sure?" he asked, almost snidely. "Why don't you check again." he suggested. There was an air of confidence to his voice, and the Inspector did not like it one bit. He looked at the passport again. The horn had disappeared now, and the alicorn that was once in the photo was now just a pegasus. The Inspector frowned. He was sure that the picture had been different. I need a way to prove that this document has been altered by magic, because I know it is, he thought. Maybe the Discrepancy Detector can see through the magic. He took out the black cylinder from his desk drawer and looked through it. The picture once more looked like the alicorn from before. The words "DISCREPANCY DETECTED" formed at the bottom of the lens. "This document has indeed been altered." The Inspector informed Spirit. "Would you care to explain?" "Ah, yes." A bright light appeared around the pegasus' head. A horn was now poking out of his scruffy mane. "The jig is up. You've caught me." He smiled. "Usually that trick works, but somehow that device of yours saw through my enchantments. I must commend you on finding me out, good sir." He sat on the floor and raised his hooves in the air. "Do not worry, Inspector, I will go quietly." "Good." The Inspector said as he pressed the alarm button. CLANG! The grate slammed shut. "That will make my job easier." He was tired of Spirit's snarky, almost theatrical attitude. "OUT!" "Perhaps we will meet on more fortunate circumstances, yes?" Spirit remarked as the guards led him out of the booth. The Inspector said nothing. How many more peculiar ponies were out there in the world and why all of them coming to his booth? If the Inspector didn't know any better, he would have thought that this was all scripted, like some kind of movie written by a mad Director who was hell bent on making his job tiring and miserable. But that was a ridiculous notion, right? The Inspector shook his head and cleared his mind. Deep thinking took time away from work, and that meant less money at the end of the day. "Next!" The Inspector called. Another pegasus entered the booth. She was a gold colored mare with a black mane. She had strange pink dots on her wings and black streaks that ran though her body. The mare was dressed in a miner's outfit. A lantern and a small pickaxe hung from her belt. "Papers, please." She gave him a Gryphonian passport, an entry permit, and a work pass. "What is the purpose of your trip?" "Work." "Duration of stay?" "I estimate it to be three months." The Inspector looked through the documents. There was something off. He used the Discrepancy Detector. It revealed that the names on the entry permit and passport were listed as Pyrite, but the one on the work pass was listed as Fool's Gold. "These names do not match." the Inspector pointed out the error to Pyrite. "Ah yes, that's easy to explain." Pyrite said. "I have two different names." "Okay then." The Inspector scanned Pyrite's passport. The slip said that she was indeed called both Fool's Gold as well as Pyrite. The Inspector was about to stamp her approval, but stopped. Her passport was Gryphonian. She had to be searched. Oh boy, I've gotta run this poor mare through the whole system. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but you have been selected for a random search." "Oh, no, that's no problem." Pyrite grinned. "Please face the camera." The Inspector requested. He drew the curtains with the trigger. CLICK. CLICK. A pair of pictures were printed out from under the Inspector's desk. He looked through them. They showed what the mare kept withtin her pockets and under her clothes. There was mostly mining equipment, and none of it seemed bad except for one thing. Under the mare's right leg was a bundle of dynamite. "You should not have come here with those explosives." The Inspector remarked. "What explos- oh no, the dynamite!" Pyrite cried. She looked around in panic. "Please pass me through. It's only for mining. You see, I need to get in. It is very important!" "Why are you so adamant to gain entry?" The Inspector asked. "Back in my village, I am known for my poor follow through with promises. It's in my nature." Pyrite made circles in the floor with her hoof. "That's why they call me Fool's Gold." She sighed. "A little while ago, my mother broke her wings. She loved flying so much, and we didn't have enough money for surgery. I promised her that I would find a way to get the money. I have heard news of a big gem cache in Arstrotzka, and I want to sell the gems to fund the surgery." Pyrite put her head down on the desk. "Please, this is a promise I cannot break. I'll..." Pyrite looked up. "I'll pay you to let me through. Here, take these ten bits." She placed a stack of bits onto the counter. "I'll give you these now, and if I make any extra money from the gem cache, I'll give you a portion of it." She stuck out a hoof. "Okay?" The Inspector was torn in two directions. This mare was carrying explosives, which were not allowed past the checkpoint. It was his duty to arrest her. On the other hoof, those ten bits might be all he needed to keep his family alive and well for a few more days. He sided with his family. This mare had made it quite clear that she was not going to try and attack the checkpoint. There couldn't be any harm in letting her through. KA-CHUNK "Cause no trouble, and do not forget about my payment." The Inspector said. He took the bits and put him in his saddlebag. "I cannot thank you enough." Pyrite gushed. "You have practically saved my mother's life." She left without another word. CLICK CLICK CLICK. The Inspector sighed. I wonder what that could be? M.O.A. CITATION Alert: Contraband detected. Possible smuggler admitted. FIRST WARNING: NO PENALTY GIVEN Great. Soon after that, the shift ended. The Inspector trudged home and entered his apartment. His wife and uncle were sitting at the dinner table talking in worried voices. "What is going on?" the Inspector asked. "Did something happen?" His wife turned to him "Yes. I'm afraid that my mother and our son have caught the Chernobit disease." The Inspector was appalled. The Chernobit disease was a disease caused by radiation from the Chernobit Plant, a failed experimental power plant. The disease could be prevented by eating well and staying warm. "I can see why your mother caught the Chernobit disease." The Inspector said. "But why did our son get it? Don't they have heaters in school?" "School was cancelled because of the attack yesterday." It was the uncle's turn to deliver bad news. "Both of them are rather sick." He stood up. "Please tell me we have enough money for tonight." "I think so." the Inspector nodded. "Did my paycheck come yet?" A dull thud came from outside the front door. The Inspector hurried over and cautiously opened the door, peeking his head out ever so slightly. In the mail slot next to the door was the M.O.A. package containing his money. "Good." The Inspector mumbled to himself. He brought back in the paycheck and dumped it in on the table. He took out the bits from his saddle bag that Pyrite had given him. "Where did you get those?" His wife asked. "Work." The Inspector replied simply. It was the truth, maybe not the whole truth, but the truth. He counted out the money. "How much is the medicine these days?" The Inspector asked his uncle. "Is it still five bits for a bottle?" "Yes." Uncle replied. "Now the bills are fifty-five bits total, and the medicine will be ten bits. That's sixty-five bits total," He looked doubtfully at the pile of bits on the table. "Do we have enough?" "Fifty-eight, fifty-nine..." The Inspector's face took on a look of sadness. He hung his head, letting his hat fall off. "Sixty bits," he sighed. He looked back up at his family. "We can only afford one bottle." "What do we do?" his wife said. "Is there any way that we can get more bits?" "It's too late, honey." the Inspector rested a hoof on his wife's back. Her eyes were filled with tears, and the Inspector felt tears of his own breaking loose. "Well..." his wife said between sniffles. "We should tell them what's going on." She nodded towards the bedroom where the two sick ponies were resting. "Maybe they can help us decide what we should do." The Inspector and his healthy family members entered the dark bedroom. It was kept dark to help the occupants sleep and to save electricity. "P-Papa?" The raspy voice of his son made the Inspector's heart break. "Yes, my sweet little colt," The Inspector choked on his tears slightly. "Do not worry, I am here for you." "Well, it's about time." Even in sickness, the Inspector's mother-in-law was still very grumpy. "My daughter has been coddling the both of us for too long. It's too much." She folded her forelegs. "Just 'cause I'm sick, doesn't mean I need boatloads upon boatloads of care like this." she grumbled under her breath. The Inspector sat down on the end of his son's bed. "I have some bad news." he spoke solemnly. "We can only acquire enough medicine for one of you." he told them. The old mare pointed her hoof at the colt. "Give it to him!" she said. "I have been through plenty of living, and he's got so much more to experience!" "But Gra- *cough cough*" The colt coughed a bit. When he caought his breath again, he continued. "But Grandma, you need it more than me, don't you?" "No, I don't." the elderly mare said gently. It was a rare moment that she did not shout or snap at somepony. "Your life is more precious than mine." She looked at the Inspector. "Now you go and get that medicine before your boy keels over." "Mom, wait-" The Inspector's wife began to protest but her mother cut her off. "No!" She shouted as loud as Chernobit would let her. "You know that your boy is more important than this dried up bag of bones!" "You're right... mama." The Inspector's wife said simply. The Inspector and his wife both knew that giving their son the medicine was indeed, the right thing to do. "Come now," The Inspector led his wife out the door. He looked back at his mother-in-law, who gave a final nod of approval. "Let's go get that medicine." Guest Star OCs! Special Thanks to: Infinite Spirit by mattman1313 Pyrite by espreeses1 Thank you for submitting! Keep sending me those characters and they will have a good chance to appear in an upcoming chapter.