Okay start

You pass in the paperwork, and get going… at speed, of course. A walk at a hundred times normal works out to around three hundred miles an hour. That would take you maybe two minutes to do a ten mile loop… if all you were doing was walking it.

But no. “Okay, so at this point, you'll need to stop and note down the time, where you are, and anything of note…” your coach informs you.

You stop to do so, pulling the log book out of the steel container, start to write… and the paper catches fire, so you quickly rip that page out, slow down, and try again… you suppose this kind of thing explains the fits and spurts of most speedsters’ movements: It's needed to interact with a lot of things. Still… you write down the time, what you see at this particular corner, close things up, speed back up, and move on to the next… and the next… and the next.

You see some vandals spray painting a wall and start to move, but your patron interrupts, “Don't touch ‘em. Write ‘em down, certainly, say hello perhaps, but one of the compromises to make this work is that you're only really supposed to intervene when there's a risk of someone getting injured or killed, or an obvious major crime. Someone spray painting a building, climbing into a house through a window, or jimmying a car could potentially own it and just want to avoid the expense of hiring a professional painter or a locksmith.

“But they're pretty obviously gangsters…” you comment, moving at a hundred times the speed of your potential prey as you look at the bandannas, low belt, and ripped jeans.

“Unfortunately, it also becomes a ‘style’,” he shudders on your hand, “but you're not wrong - in all probability, they're up to no good. Still, there's far too many people who are simply looking for an excuse - whether that's to sue someone or hurt someone. Once you have a camera then the actual police will follow up on such things if there's a report of vandalism or whatever, and they'll use the video to identify the perps, and you can defend yourself if they attack you without provocation… but no way to get a conviction, and it's risky. For now, you can't legally lay a hand on them.”

“Well that's depressing…” you consider, “...but I think I will say hello…”

You walk around them, getting a good look without touching, take a few steps back, and slip down to almost normal speeds, keeping an edge, “Hey, what are you two up to?”

The two react in slow motion, turning around, one replying slowly in really deep bass… which suggests you sound like a cheerleader on helium to him… “Well Helloooo nurse. Aren't you a forward little whore?” He reaches for your chest.

But you're already at about double speed. It's trivial for you to slip back up to a hundred speed, walk around to the other side, and slip back down to double, “I'm not a paid lady, my super powers just don't work well with clothes. Call me The Streak.”

“Well Ms. Steak,” the thug deliberately mispronounces your hero name, “what business is it of yours?”

Time slows down unexpectedly, and your trainer pipes up, “I left a trigger I can use in your training bracelet, which you are still wearing. Take a breath, ignore the loudmouth, look at the quiet guy.”

You do… and he's pulling a gun out of his crotch. You purse your lips at that, “So… the loudmouth idiot routine is a tactic?”

“Whether deliberate or accidental, yes,” your trainer confirms, “he's a decoy. Now what are you going to do about it, keeping in mind you're not really allowed to hurt them or anything?”

You consider a bit… you have time… “Well… let's see…” you kneel down by the gun, “...looks like that's the safety…” you brace the gun and switch it to ‘safe’, but keep looking, “...oh, and that looks like a release for the clip…” again, bracing the gun, you press it, and carefully slide the clip out a half-inch. “As for the one in the chamber…” again bracing the firearm, you pull it back, and slowly (to you) pry the bullet out of the chamber, and drop it into the thug’s pocket.

Smiling, you look at your handiwork, “That should do.”

You get back into the position you just vacated, and pause, “Umm… how do I get the clock ticking again?”

“Oh, right…” the ring chuckles as your speed drops back down to where you set it: “Merely” double.

You watch as the ‘quiet’ thug finishes drawing his gun in slow motion… and the clip falls out as he raises it… there's a low click as he pulls the trigger… and then a curse as the clip actually lands on his foot. Super speed is cheating… you start with the truth, “Yeah, shooting me isn't going to work,” and end with a lie: “Luck powers.”

The man with the gun looks at his partner in crime as he bends down to pick up the clip, “Maaybe we should move on?”

“Yeah….” the loudmouth agrees, “...let's just go.”

As they leave, you jot things down in your log book, and move on.

The ring actually encourages you to s

do the patrol at ten times speed, rather than a hundred, “See, catching and arresting the bad guy's isn't the best possible outcome.”

That makes you frown, “It's not?”

“Nope. The best possible outcome is that the bad guy's don't do bad things in the first place,” he chuckles. “Consider: Suppose you're a normal guy who's down on his luck, and - because you're worried about money - are seriously considering knocking over a liquor store.”

You nod, and the ring continues, “Now, you don't want to get caught…”

“Obviously,” you roll your eyes.

The dragon chuckles and continues, “...so if you've seen heroes patrolling the area, are you more, or less, likely to go steal from the store than if you haven't seen a hero in ages?”

“Less…” you start nodding.

“And which is better:” your instructor takes a breath, “That we catch the crook and take him to jail, or that the guy never commits a crime in the first place?”

“Thathe never commits it in the first place,” you get it now. “No trial, no jail, no damages, and he has another chance to do something useful instead.”

“That's right, it's called deterrence, and it's the backbone of any good law enforcement strategy…” your body guest chuckles, “...although it does lead to the policeman's paradox: If you have a bunch of officers walking around, they all have basically nothing to do, but if you don't have ‘em out there, they'll be swamped with work. It's the bane of city budgets everywhere.”

You nod and continue your route....