Chapter 14: Unyielding

"Name?"
"Ao Xi."
"Age?"
"Seventeen."
"Seventeen?"
"Twenty-three, twenty-three, I misspoke."

Ao Xi sat in a conference room, face to face with two investigators from the LASD Internal Affairs Bureau. They were there to question him about the shooting in which he killed a homeless man.
"I am Officer Steve from Internal Affairs, and this is Sam. We're now officially beginning the inquiry. Please briefly describe what happened."
"Officer Mark and I were assigned to a homeless clearance operation organized by the Rosemead City government. I was chatting with two tourists when I noticed the other officers suddenly running in one direction. I followed them.
As I ran, I saw an African American homeless man fighting with an officer. They both fell to the ground, and then I heard the officer on the ground shout, 'He took my gun!'
I instinctively drew my own weapon and issued a verbal warning, but it was ignored. I then saw the officer on the ground trying to push the homeless man away, while the homeless man attempted to point the gun at him. I made a split-second decision and fired, killing the homeless man. That's how it happened."
"The report says you fired five shots, all hitting the homeless man's torso, and yet Officer Hank, who was right there, wasn't even scratched. Your marksmanship is impressive—not what one would expect from someone new to handguns."
"I'm naturally a decent shot. My training officers have all said I improve quickly. The distance was also close—only two or three meters. I was lucky as well."
"Weren't you afraid the homeless man would shoot you?"
"I didn't think that far ahead at the time. You know, I don't have much experience. In hindsight, I probably should have moved to his left side for safety."
Steve flipped through the files in his hands. "This record says that when you first arrived in America, you experienced a severe robbery, and that you became a reserve deputy to fight crime. So, do you have a tendency to use excessive force, perhaps as a form of revenge?"
Ao Xi narrowed his eyes, sensing something was off. The questions were starting to veer off course, and Steve's words carried a hidden meaning.
After a moment's thought, he replied, "Of course not. Suffering through violence only makes one cherish life more. If I were to vent my emotions on innocent people, how would I be any different from the criminals? Going from one darkness into another is nothing but tragic."
"And is firing five rounds into a homeless man your way of cherishing life?"
This man was targeting him. Ao Xi realized he needed to push back, not let himself be steered by Steve's line of questioning.
He stared at Steve and said, "Are you prejudiced against me? Is it because I'm Chinese?"
"What?!"

"According to LASD patrol regulations, when someone is found to exhibit aggressive intent or is in possession of deadly force and is threatening public safety, and ignores warnings, patrol officers are permitted to use a higher level of force to prevent serious incidents.
In this event, the homeless man fought with an officer, tried to seize his gun, and ignored warnings. I fired and killed him, then turned in my weapon and equipment, fully complying with procedure. Several senior officers were present, all wearing body cameras that recorded the incident.
Since my actions were above board, but you keep asking leading and biased questions, and groundlessly doubting me, showing no professionalism at all, I have reason to believe you are dissatisfied with my Chinese background and are discriminating against me. I will file a complaint with your superiors, Officer Steve."
Officer Sam cleared his throat. "You misunderstand, Mr. Ao Xi."
"And you, Officer Sam, as a professional from Internal Affairs, failed to intervene when your partner acted unprofessionally, instead allowing his conduct. I will be filing a complaint against you as well."
Ao Xi was laughing inwardly. He had mastered a certain American tactic: whenever faced with unfavorable circumstances, accuse the other party of discrimination. If they question me, they're discriminating against me; as a minority, that must be their motive!
Perhaps this approach was even correct—had a white officer fired the shots, these two Internal Affairs officers probably wouldn't have questioned him so aggressively.
As for whether there were any flaws in Ao Xi's conduct during the shooting, of course there were. There were several officers present—why was he the one who fired? Why did he fire five shots, faster than any other officer there? That was the biggest flaw.
Still, it could be explained: he was a nervous rookie, or he had a "golden finger," and so on. Even without an explanation, as Ao Xi said, procedurally everything was in order; it all depended on how the investigators saw it.
With the conversation at this point, Steve and Sam had nothing more to say. They packed up their things and left.
Seeing their displeasure, Ao Xi was sure he had done the right thing. The more they opposed him, the more it proved he was on the right path.
At the door, Steve turned and said, "I'll remember you, Ao Xi."
"I'll remember you too, Steve. Expect a complaint letter."

A while later, Mark and Wally came in. "What were you guys talking about? Why did those two look so sour?"
Ao Xi briefly recounted the meeting.
"Your instincts were right. They were targeting you, but you were a bit too aggressive."
"If I hadn't pushed back, I'd probably be labeled a murderer by now and on my way to prison."
While waiting alone earlier, Ao Xi had already made up his mind: he hadn't come to America to be a cop for real; he was here to complete system tasks, earn rewards, and reach the pinnacle of life.
Being a police officer was just a convenience, a means to an end, not the goal itself. He couldn't forget his real needs.
As long as he could keep completing tasks—taking out red- and black-named targets—whether he wore a badge or not was secondary.
Of course, being a cop was better; he wouldn't get caught. So being resented was no big deal. At worst, he'd remain a reserve deputy—but so what?

In fact, showing resolve had its advantages. Opportunities to fire his weapon would come again, as would the scrutiny, and no one could endure being harassed every single time.
Now Internal Affairs would know he was tough and would think twice before coming for him, unless they caught him in a real mistake.
Of course, that would matter more when he became a full officer; as a reserve deputy, he didn't need to worry about it for now.
"Can I patrol with you tomorrow? What about my gun?"
Mark rolled his eyes. "No way it's that quick. If it's resolved in three, five, or seven days, that's already fast. As for your gun, you'll get it back after the case is closed. You might as well buy another from the gun shop—it's not like you're strapped for cash. Just check in with Susan to register the serial number as your backup weapon and you can use it on duty."
"Alright. Want to grab dinner?"
Wally had a night shift to support his family, and Mark, being directly involved, had a mountain of reports to write.

Ao Xi had to leave the station and eat alone. Before he left, he borrowed a computer from Susan to write two complaint letters to Internal Affairs. When she heard he was writing complaints, Susan was thrilled and even found him some templates.
They were all letters of complaint from citizens against police officers—a few tweaks would make them perfect for his purpose.
After sending them, Susan informed Ao Xi that the sheriff had asked the administrative staff to add him to the patrol schedule. Once that was done, he wouldn't have to wait for backup calls anymore; he'd be full-time, not just part-time.
Ao Xi pondered this with some amusement. The internal investigation hadn't ended, yet the sheriff was putting him on the regular schedule—was it because he shot someone?
He couldn't ask; he'd only met the sheriff a few times and never had a real conversation.
Since he couldn't figure it out, he decided not to dwell on it. The road would reveal itself in time.

He found a Korean-Chinese restaurant owned by a fellow Chinese and had a bowl of bibimbap, then headed to a gun shop to pick out a handgun. Officially, he was unarmed, so he needed to buy one for self-defense.
He bought a large box of 500 rounds of Hornady 9mm 135gr FMJ for only $175—about 2.5 RMB per round.
Buying ammo was easy; choosing a gun was hard. The selection was overwhelming. Ao Xi could shoot, but he didn’t know much about the features, pros and cons, or which models suited which users.
He hesitated for some time, debating whether to get a Glock 45 MOS, which was similar to his Glock 19 but a bit slimmer. In the end, he bought a SIG Sauer P320 XFive Legion, designed for competition and high-performance users, with a 17-round magazine, lightweight frame, and a specially tuned trigger—totally different from the rugged Glock.
Honestly, he just thought it looked cool and hoped to show it off online someday.