"Please go take care of him before he does something more vile," Stella said, and the officers nodded.
"Please remain here, ma'am, while we handle this" Officer Brook said as he and his partner walked past Stella and headed to the house.
"Be careful. He has a weapon hidden somewhere on him" she yelled, then smiled mischievously.
The two officers paused and became more cautious. Wanting to protect themselves from the supposed weapon, they reached for their guns and pulled them out before entering the house.
"Freeze!" the officers yelled, pointing their guns at Benjamin.
"What's going on?" Lucia asked, her eyes widened in shock.
"Ma'am, please step away from him," Officer Brook said.
"What? No! Why should I step away from my—" Lucia said, but Officer Winston cut her off.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we'll have to use force if you don't step away from him right now," Officer Winston said as he got closer, his gun still pointing at Benjamin, who was frozen in shock and fear of being shot.
"No! I'm not going to go anywhere until you tell me what's—" Lucia said, but was interrupted by Gina.
"Mom, what's going on? Why are there police officers in our house" Gina asked, terrified of the guns she was seeing.
Just then, Officer Winston, who had gotten behind Benjamin, grabbed his arms and pushed his body to the floor, making a loud thud.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Lucia yelled "Leave my son alone! He hasn't done any—"
"Ma'am, please move away. I don't want to hurt you by accident", Officer Winston said to Lucia, who refused to listen to his instructions about moving away.
"My son hasn't done anything so let him go right now!" Lucia yelled.
"Yes, Officer. Please let my big brother go. He's innocent" Gina begged, not being able to put up as much of a fight as her mother because of her handicap.
Sick of the interference, Officer Winston looked at his partner and used his eyes to tell him to handle the two ladies.
Officer Brook nodded then returned his gun to its holster and tried to move Lucia and Gina out of the way, so his partner could take care of Benjamin.
Officer Winston huffed, happy to be free of the two ladies, and then he focused back on Benjamin.
"Where is it? Where is the weapon?!" Officer Winston asked Benjamin.
"Weapon?! What weapon?! I don't have any weapons—" Benjamin replied, but was cut off.
"I know you have some kind of weapon on you. I was told before entering this building, so there's no use trying to lie", Officer Winston said as he checked Benjamin's pants for anything remotely close to a weapon.
"Is this it?!" He asked after touching something.
"No, that's not a weapon. That's a—" Benjamin said, but paused when Officer Winston reached into his pocket and brought out a retractable segment blade knife.
"Look what we have here," Officer Winston said with a proud smirk.
Benjamin's eyes widened as he saw the blade— knowing the implications.
"No, no, no, you have it all wrong. That's for school. I used it for a project at school and forgot it was in my pocket. I swear, I didn't do anything wrong or plan to use it on anyone!" Benjamin said desperately.
"You expect me to believe that crap? You coincidentally forgot such a dangerous weapon in your pocket and didn't plan on using it. Sure thing kid!" Officer Winston said sarcastically, then he pocketed the blade.
Seeing that the officer was refusing to listen, Benjamin looked at his mother for help.
"Mom! Mom, tell them to leave me alone. I didn't do anything wrong, and I honestly forgot that the blade was in my pocket when I left school", Benjamin cried.
"You also didn't attack that guy lying unconscious on the floor, right?" Officer Winston asked sarcastically.
Benjamin looked at Jerry, and he couldn't say anything back because he was the one who knocked him out.
"He's only like that because he deserved it," Benjamin said.
"That's all I needed to know," Officer Winston said. He then pressed his knee on Benjamin's back, using his weight to keep him down as he cuffed his arms behind his back.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be used against you in the court of law…" Officer Winston finished cuffing Benjamin's arm, then he raised him to his feet and continued reading him his Miranda rights.
Officer Winston started pulling Benjamin to the front door while Officer Brook continued to hold Lucia and Gina back from getting close.
"Mom! Mom! Mom, please help!" Benjamin cried.
Just then, Lucia, who had struggled enough, started coughing. Her health wasn't good and the stress of what was happening wasn't helping her.
Benjamin, who wanted to make sure she was okay, put up more of a fight— trying to run to his mother, but Officer Winston wouldn't let loose.
"Hey, stop resisting arrest, or I'll have to be more aggressive!" Officer Winston instructed, but it fell on deaf ears, as Benjamin was more concerned about his mother than the arrest.
He kept trying to get to his mother, slowly pulling Officer Winston, who was putting up a good fight, along.
Just then, Officer Brook, who couldn't let Benjamin get closer, pulled out his gun, pointed it at Benjamin's head and yelled "Move back! Don't come any closer and stop resisting arrest if you know what's good for you!"
Seeing the nozzle of the gun pointing at his face, Benjamin's expression became grim, and he lost the strength to resist.
"S-stop it. Please let g-go of my s-son", Lucia coughed.
Meanwhile, Gina, who had to choose between helping Benjamin or her mother, was left with no choice but to abandon her brother and tried to make sure Lucia was okay.
"Come here," Officer Winston said, then started pulling Benjamin to the door and, because of the gun pointed at him, Benjamin couldn't do anything but go along.
Left speechless by what was happening, Benjamin receded to his thoughts.
'Why's all this happening to me? To my family? What did we ever do to deserve this? Who did we ever offend to get this done to us? Fuck! If only I had the power to protect my family, none of this would have happened, but what can I do in this situation? What can I do to change this disgusting fate of ours?' Benjamin thought, desperate for any help he could get.
Be it God or the devil, he didn't care which one offered to help. He would take it as long as it meant getting payback and protecting his family.
Tears fell down Benjamin's eyes as he lost hope and just as they hit the ground, time stopped.
'Huh? What's going on? Why's everyone no longer moving? Why am I no longer moving? It's like I'm frozen— like we're all frozen, but how? Wait a minute, is time frozen?' Benjamin thought, surprised and confused by what was going on.
The only parts of his body that could move were his eyes, which shifted all over the place and saw that time was indeed frozen.
'What's going on? Am I going crazy or hallucinating or am I maybe having a stroke—' Benjamin thought, but stopped when suddenly a massive display appeared in front of his vision.
On it was the message:
[You have been chosen as a worthy candidate for the system project… Do you wish to accept?]