It’s Friday night at the end of a long shift, and Harry’s is packed. Obviously, Harrys’ isn’t the bar’s real name, the officers of the Armored Mobile Police (A.M.P.) and the investigative arm better known as Amplitude Squad like to keep their favorite watering hole a secret. So I’m here on my best behavior, knowing the second I spill the beans about this place, I’ll have to answer to a dozen men and women in five-ton exo-suits.
The NYPD and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department are the most active and successful recruiters for meta-powered officers and exo-suit pilots given the meta-populations in both cities. In the booth with me sits Andrew Rossi, better known as Riot Act. He’s one of a handful of police officers with meta-powers, and I spoke with him about his experiences and what it’s like being a cop with powers.
HERO BEAT: Did you always want to be a cop?
RIOT ACT: Oh yeah, for sure. I actually got into the Academy and everything. I was going to pass on my own two feet when this thing happened.
HERO BEAT: Your trigger event.
RIOT ACT: Class of 2007, the Spring Nor’easter. Flooding, lightning strikes, 18 dead, and me shining like a polished chrome bumper.
HERO BEAT: You tried to keep your abilities a secret at first.
RIOT ACT: Hell yeah! I wanted to be a cop. I didn’t want to get booted. But the eyes. You try telling your training Sergeant why you need to wear sunglasses during drills.
HERO BEAT: So what happened?
RIOT ACT: I told the Sarge and he knew Tango over at the War Academy. They understood, but they said if I wanted to be a cop with powers, I had to go to the War Academy first and then back through basic all over again.
HERO BEAT: That must have been heartbreaking.
RIOT ACT: I thought I was getting railroaded, but the War Academy was all right, you know? I thought I’d be with a bunch of jarheads shouting “Hooah” all the time and getting fed the party line, but there were regular metas there too. It was all about responsible power usage and learning your limits. Normal heroes go just to get vetted to make proper citizen arrests, to learn hand-to-hand basics against powers, to learn tactics, you name it.
HERO BEAT: But you surrender your private identity and if there’s a crisis, you’re on call.
RIOT ACT: I’m on call anyways, and the heroes that’re really serious about being heroes? This gives them a fighting chance to do some good. It builds their connections, it trains them. If it wasn’t for the War Academy, I wouldn’t be a cop right now.
HERO BEAT: So, what’s it like serving with A.M.P.
RIOT ACT: I love it. I thought I wanted to be a Detective or something, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop serving on the streets. I’m the guy they call in when they have a meta on the loose. Hard to beat that rush.
HERO BEAT: A.M.P.’s mechanized power armors are pretty state of the art. When do they send you in instead of one of A.M.P.’s exo-units.
RIOT ACT: The exos take longer to suit up—usually it’s in route to a crisis spot aboard one of their V-T Carriers. Me? I’m usually first feet on the ground, or there solo like when some Charlie* decides to try his hand at being naughty.
*Charlie: Slang for Charlie-Class meta.
HERO BEAT: Do the other officers treat you differently because of your powers?
RIOT ACT: Sure. Sometimes. Not in A.M.P. but outside the squad? The young guys look at me and see a loaded gun. Not in the head, but what I can do. I don’t blame them. But the old guys, they’ve seen everything so they don’t even blink. They look at me, chuckle, and say the beer’s on me. When I ask them ‘why?’ They say ‘it’s because you’re a shit magnet.’
HERO BEAT: Do they have a special nickname for you?
RIOT ACT: [Laughs] Yeah. Kegger, on account of my silver skin.
HERO BEAT: And what do you say?
RIOT ACT: Nothing. [Calling out to the bar] I just blind the old farts!
The cheer that comes back speaks of a tightly knit unit. There’s no denying the job is tough and the stress high, but there’s also no doubt that Riot Act is a part of something bigger and that no matter what happens, these other officers have his back.