Chapter Text
The screen buzzes to life. It shows a room, walls and floors padded white.
--
“What is your name?” The clinical, almost robotic, voice calls from the speakers.
“K-K-Ki-i-ich-i.” The boy of sixteen croaks from the corner of the room. He’s curled into the foetal position, shivering and hiccuping over his shortness of breath.
Other questions are asked, but they go unanswered. He remains in that corner, shaking, sobbing, for the first two hours.
--
“Nishishi. You deserve this.” The patient grins, looking down at his own arm. Without hesitation, he bites into the flesh, drawing blood and the flashing red lights of emergency within the facility.
A woman approaches outside of the plastic separating him from her. “Your hue won’t improve by doing that."
His grin stretches over his entire face, “He deserves this,” he tells the woman in a lab coat. The blood darkens his lips.
“Who?”
“Kokichi Oma.”
“What-? Sir, stop this at once. Don’t you want to live?” She watches as the patient breaks out in maniacal laughter.
“He can’t handle it, but I can. I’m the favorite.”
“You said your name is Kichi, correct?”
“Kichi?” he spits the name like it’s poison, “Didn’t you hear me the first time? I’m the favorite.”
“The… favorite?”
“Mhm! One-hundred and ten percent! That’s why I’m here after all.”
“You’ll be able to leave here if you calm down and let your hue improve. It might not happen right away, but if you keep going as you are you’ll reach your limit.”
His expression drops and tears rain down his face like a thunderstorm; tremors hit his malnourished body like bolts of lightning. “N-no” He looks terrified, his eyes wide and spilling saltwater as he backs away into the corner.
“That’s odd,” the woman notes, facing another ‘labcoat’, “his hue switched to dark blue in the blink of an eye - no deceleration or anything. He’s still a latent criminal, but he was bordering three-hundred.”
The dispirited whimpers continue.
“Get a copy of the footage and send it in to the Ministry of Welfare,” she tells the other employee who nods swiftly.
--
September, year 2099
Horns and chatter echo through the livelihood of the neo-city. The sun is at high-noon by the time Shuichi Saihara arrives at the NONA Tower: center of operations for the Criminal Investigation Department. He observes Hanako and Taro holos guarding the doors, and a few normal everyday citizens bypassing the front entrance, presumably on a walk with friends, or out to lunch. Today is the day that he begins his career as an inspector for the Ministry of Welfare Public Safety Bureau; he is donned in his uniform and reporting for duty.
A magenta-haired man, probably slightly older than Shuichi is, greets him. He’s a bit taller than him too. Shuichi would estimate him being in his early to mid-twenties. “Shuichi Saihara, right?” He’s wearing the same uniform, meaning he must be another inspector.
Shuichi startles at the recognition. He’d hoped nobody knew about his connection to the PSB, but sometimes things just don’t go as planned... “Ah, yea.”
“Your uncle mentioned you’d be joining this division. Welcome to the force Saihara!” He slaps him on the back, unintentionally knocking the air out of Shuichi’s lungs. The zealous man turns around and cups his hand around his mouth, directionalizing his booming voice. “Hey! Harumaki! My new sidekick’s here!”
“S-sidekick?” Shuichi sputters, turning to see who the comment was directed at.
A dangerous-looking woman approaches. “I don’t care…” she mumbles before stiffening, “and I told you not to call me that.”
The taller man brushes the objection off like dust on his shoulder. “You’re only a rookie right now. It’s a good thing you have an experienced inspector like me to teach you the basics. I’m Kaito Momota, Inspector for the Ministry of Welfare Public Safety Bureau! Nice to meet’cha Saihara!” He sticks out his hand, grinning animatedly.
“Ah, you too Momota-kun.” Shuichi addresses him, hesitantly taking the hand as Momota enthusiastically shakes it up and down before letting go. The younger inspector habitually wipes the hand on his pants.
The other doesn’t seem to notice. “No need to be so formal, call me Momota!”
“...”
He slaps him on the back again, clearly eager. “Come on, I’ll bring you to the rest of the team!” Momota strides through the front doors, leaving him and ‘Harumaki’ to follow.
“You and me are the only inspectors, well except for your uncle and Miss Tojo, but they’re upper management,” Momota explains while walking. He gives a preoccupied wave to the worker at the front desk as they round a corner towards the elevators.
“I see…” Shuichi responds, deep in thought. He wonders which position the intimidating woman beside Momota works in. If she’s not an inspector, then maybe she works on cases from the inside.
His unsaid question is answered as the three step into an elevator. “The rest of them, including Harumaki here, are enforcers.” The elevator ascends. Shuichi notes that one of the two must’ve pressed the button.
The woman glares. “Don’t call me that,” she commands.
Shuichi turns towards ‘Harumaki’, opting not to call her that, even though he hasn’t yet learned her actual name. “Ah, what do the enforcers do?”
Shuichi flinches as Momota’s loud voice pipes up again, expecting a third clap to the back. His voice is especially loud within the elevator, amplified by either the slight echo or the lack of any other noise, “man, I’m surprised they didn’t tell you about that during training, Saihara!” He scratches his goatee, “It’s no problem.” He visibly settles on the response before he begins explaining, “the enforcers are latent criminals that were picked by the MWPSB to fight under the inspectors. Their crime coefficients are above regulation, and can’t get back down to normal, so they help us out. This means they can do something that we can’t; they can think like the criminals we set out to catch, right Harumaki?”
Her glare darkens. “Do you want to die?”
“Hahaha, that’s Maki Harukawa for you.” The bluenette’s glad he can now put a name to the face (and frightening presence). The elevator opens with a ding, and they continue on their trek to wherever Momota has planned as the destination.
“Hmph.” Harukawa crosses her arms and doesn’t make eye contact. She seems a little more complacent now that Momota has addressed her by her real name.
They walk through sleek halls with ambient lighting; each detail certainly gives off the feel of a top tier building. “When you start your first mission, you’ll be using a dominator - you know what that is right?”
He does. “It’s the weapon used by the PSB, only usable on latent criminals, right?”
“Yeah! Looks like they did teach you something in training after all. Well, not only do they lock when a person’s psycho-pass is normal, but when someone has an elevated stress level, the dominator decides whether that person’s stunned, or executed.”
Shuichi nods.
Momota valiantly pushes open a set of doors. “Here we are!” he announces.
They enter an office-like area. Monitors and typing-tablets are planted on various desks. It’s mostly vacant. Only two people are scattered among the desk chairs.
A man with greenish hair swivels his chair towards them. “Hey, you must be the rookie.”
“Yeah, I’m… I’m Inspector Shuichi Saihara.”
“Saihara, huh?” A voice calls from the empty left side of the room. Then there’s the sound of two feet hitting the floor and making their way to him, Momota, and Harukawa. Shuichi looks down to see a short man, an unlit cigarette in his mouth. “You must be Shoma’s son.”
“Ah, no, I’m his nephew.”
He closes his eyes. “Is that so…” he hmphs and one corner of his mouth lifts. It’s not really a smile, but it kind of seems like it’s supposed to be one. “Well, welcome to the team. I’m an enforcer, but you probably guessed that much. Name’s Ryoma Hoshi.”
“Nice to meet you Hoshi-san.”
He raises his brow and tips his head, appraisingly. “You’re polite. You’ve got potential; don’t waste it,” he rounds off the last three words with his head down-turned, but the eye-contact remains.
“...”
The first one to say something stands to his feet. “Haha, I’m Rantaro Amami. Hoshi here can be a little intimidating, but he means well.” He raises a hand in greeting, and Shuichi can see he’s wearing multiple rings on the hand. He’s also got some piercings, but they’re offset by his carefree smile. He doesn’t look nearly as intimidating, but to Shuichi, they are all people he has yet to figure out.
The rookie inspector nods stiffly.
“Relax, we’re not gonna hurt you. Well, Oma-kun might, but not too bad.” He winks.
“Nee-heehee!” The purple-haired male sitting a few seats over from Amami kicks his feet up onto the desk. “Is my beloved Amami-chan talking about me?” he calls over, before standing up and locking gazes with Shuichi. “I won’t bite... but maybe that’s a lie.” He lifts his pointer finger to the center of his lips and grins.
“He’s Kokichi Oma,” Amami informs him. He leans closer and continues in a quieter voice, “I’m only telling you that myself because, if you ask him, he’ll probably lie.”
“Hey, no fair!” Oma calls.
Hoshi turns his head to the side, his arms crossed. “Hmph.”
“Nice to… meet you Oma-kun.” Shuichi hesitates.
Oma is leaning towards him, grinning wildly. “Oh, is Saihara-chan already lying to me? I hate liars, you know.”
“...”
“Don’t listen to Oma, he’s just trying to mess with you.”
Oma whips his head towards him and points accusingly, his eyebrows furrowed. “Shut up Momota-chan. You’re just a stupid inspector.”
The recipient of the insult narrows his eyes, retorting, “and you’re a latent criminal.”
“Nee-heehee! Am I really?” He challenges.
Shuichi can see how Momota tenses up, his teeth likely gritting together. He grumbles.
Oma responds to the grumbling, “hmm, you shouldn’t talk down on us criminals. Isn’t your lover Harumaki the same?”
He bares his teeth, akin to a predator. “She’s not my-”
Harukawa interrupts him, “I will not hesitate to kill you. ”
“Oooo, scary.”
“Besides, Maki’s not like you.” Momota takes a deep breath. Shuichi supposes that Oma might be one of those enforcers that he’d heard about in training - the type that clouds others’ psycho-passes by just being around them. But, it seems that it’s only Momota that’s affected by it. Harukawa seems surprisingly composed for someone so menacing. Shuichi almost wants to assume that Oma’s purposely trying to provoke the inspector. But, why would he do that?
Shuichi’s brow raises before he can realize it, “um-”
“You’re right Momota-chan! Harukawa-chan isn’t like me, she’s more of a latent criminal than I am!”
“What does that mean?” Shuichi interjects.
“It means that Harukawa-chan kills children for fun and-”
Momota stops him, saying, “I’ll tell you later.”
“O-okay.”
An alarm sounds from overhead, blinking red lights, “Elevated area stress-level warning, a psycho-pass above the regulation value has been detected. Immediate action is required.”
Momota claps his hands together, oozing determination. “Looks like you’ll be doing your first mission sooner than we thought. Get ready Saihara, because no training can prepare you for the real thing.”
--
Shuichi steps out of the police cruiser once they arrive at the scene. The others - the enforcers, exit through the back of the police van that followed. It’s got a mechanism in place so it locks the passengers inside while moving. He knows it’s sensible in a way, but it also seems like it could become a safety hazard. Then again, the escape of latent criminals would be considered a safety hazard as well. Momota comes around from the driver’s side of the cruiser and hands him a Dominator. He recognizes it because of his training, but he supposes he’d otherwise just think it’s a regular gun. He knows better than that, though, as he hears the robotic voice of the Sibyl System infiltrate his head and affirm his authorization as an inspector.
“The area’s already been evacuated,” Momota informs him as the six of them set out to the scene, on guard. He nods and checks his surroundings, making sure there are no imminent threats. It’s unlikely that the culprit would remain at the scene of the crime, but it’s not impossible.
--
Momota was right; no amount of training could prepare him for the sight of nine corpses, naked, their hands tied above their heads. They all lay facing up, towards the sky. Like some significant display, they’re arranged around the center of the park in a circle. Shuichi shudders.
“Fuck,” Momota grimaces, “Looks like a goddamn execution.”
“Nishishi, looks like someone hates women,” Oma remarks. He’s most likely right, since all nine of the victims are women. They’ll need to look into suspects with a possible vendetta.
But, for now, they need to look for clues. “Alright, everyone pick a body and make a profile. List everything - possible causes of deaths, any external wounds, physical descriptions, and whatever else there is to note,” Momota directs them, and Shuichi wonders how the man who was so animated and short-fused earlier, could seem so level-headed now. It’s a good trait to have in the line of work, but he didn’t necessarily expect it from Momota.
Harukawa and Hoshi are stone-faced and Oma’s grinning. The only one who seems to be having a visible reaction is Amami, who looks vaguely uncomfortable, but determined.
The forensic bot drones are scouring the area around the bodies, for now, looking for pieces of evidence not easily found by human eyes.
Shuichi strengthens his resolve and blocks all emotional response out. He needs to look at this with a cold and clear head. He walks up to one of the bodies and checks the bound wrists. They’re badly bruised, suggesting pre-mortem struggling. Her hair’s blonde, but it looks dirty and oily. She might’ve been missing for a few days before she was murdered. There’s a single stab wound in the middle of the ribcage, and there are traces of glitter on her torso. It might’ve been from the clothing she was wearing during her death, which could aid in spotting her on any security footage.
Shuichi grimaces internally as his eyes meet those of the corpse; they’re still open. The pupils are dilated, and the blank expression paired with the wide eyes feels so unnatural on a person that Shuichi can’t help but turn away. He puts on his pair of nitrile gloves and lifts the head. There are no marks on the neck or scalp.
“It’s unfortunate that this is your first case. We don’t see serial murders often, but they’re probably one of the most unsettling to anyone who’s not a latent criminal,” Hoshi pipes up from behind him.
Shuichi jumps out of his skin before facing the enforcer and adding, “I received digital training for examinations, but this is… different,” his voice is almost a whisper by the end. Hoshi nods in agreement as Shuichi continues his inspection.
The back of the body has discolored to a dark purple with lividity, and blood is dried on the center of the spine. It seems like the stab wound from the front cut straight through. There’s more bruising around her ankles, suggesting she was bound there too at some point. There’s barely even a speck of blood on the cement beneath them, ensuring she, and the other women, were murdered elsewhere.
Shuichi’s about to stand up and record his findings when he notices a speck of black on the underside of the woman’s foot. He furrows his brows and rubs some of the powdery substance between his gloved fingers. Charcoal?
Shuichi inputs his observations into his wristcom for safekeeping.
His knees are a little weak as he stands to his feet. He pulls the gloves off and discards them in the drone, moving on to other parts of the park that the rest of the team has begun to investigate.
Harukawa notices him as he nears her while looking at the ground for anything they missed. Harukawa’s leafing through the trash as she tells him, “the reports on the bodies have been sent into Kiibo. He will contact all of us with the results shortly.”
“Kiibo?”
“He’s the Analyst for the MWPSB.” She then returns the trash to its container and speaks into her communication holo, “Nothing to note in the trash.”
Amami is examining the road by the park’s west entrance. He begins to make his way towards the other when he unceremoniously trips right onto the cement bricks.
He hears Oma laughing at him from a distance.
Slightly embarrassed, he blushes and pushes himself to his feet. He must’ve drawn Amami’s attention too, because the green-haired man is looking at him with amusement. “You okay?” the enforcer chuckles as he nears.
Shuichi brushes it off and instead asks him, “are you looking for tire marks?”
“You’re pretty sharp Saihara. Yeah, I was, but it doesn’t look like there are any. The culprit must’ve not been in much of a rush…”
Shuichi nods and begins looking to see if there are more traces of charcoal anywhere.
In his search he hears Amami sigh from beside him, “you probably noticed how I wasn’t too eager to get close to the bodies, despite me being labeled a latent criminal.”
Shuichi glances up at him.
He continues without an answer, “there was a similar murder a few years ago.” He looks up towards the sky, recalling it. “it’s the reason I’m here today. They flagged me as a latent criminal, said a hue that cloudy had no chance of return.”
“...Is that so..?” he hesitates, his eyes wide.
Amami nods aloofly.
He wonders what the circumstances were surrounding the case, but he can’t just ask. He barely knows Amami, and it’s probably not information he’d want to bring up.
He guesses that Amami can sense his discomfort, doubtlessly the reason that he drops the topic quickly. “Haha, sorry for the dreary subject. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Amami lets out a vaguely cynical, reminiscent chuckle before forcing a smile in his direction.
There’s a moment of silence before Amami changes the subject.
“Anyway, there’s still some of the park that hasn’t been covered. I’ll go check the other entrance,” Amami tells him as he starts moving towards the east entrance of the park.
Shuichi blinks a few times before getting back on task.
--
“The wounds show that the weapon would’ve had to be thin and sword-like. It couldn’t have been the work of any average knife. The puncture was clean, suggesting no jagged edges. Also, the victims didn’t have any absolute ties aside from their area of residence. Each of the women came from the neighborhood you are all currently standing in. Hair follicles collected by the forensic bots indicate that they were most likely dragged to their positioning upon arrival. The reason for this is still unknown. The murders occurred around eighteen hours ago.”
“I’ve looked into likely suspects and found a total of three. News reports have records of a man, Haiji Towa, who was fired from his job last week, his boss being a woman. Furthermore, there could be ties to the recent murder of Masao Takata, courtesy of Mika Suzune who has been apprehended since then. However, further research has shown that the victim from that case had a fiancé, Shino Ruruhito; she might also have a vendetta against women similar to the one that murdered her significant other.”
“The last suspect is Toko Fukawa, a woman who has shown a cloudy psycho-pass on several occasions but was shown to have returned to normal by the time she was approached by law enforcement. She reportedly has been accused of stalking a man named Byakuya Togami, and she may have killed the women, as they were all clients at the Togami Corporation,” the robotic voice of Kiibo informs them over the communication holo. “The traffic cameras showed that the assailant had long hair, which rules out Ruruhito; she has short hair. I suggest that you interview the other two suspects as soon as possible.”
“Alright, you heard it straight from the Analyst. We gotta jump on this fast; we can’t let them dispose of any evidence,” Momota begins, “Saihara, you find Fukawa with Oma and Amami. Harukawa, Hoshi, and I will investigate Towa. We need to keep this low profile, so take the main cruiser. The van will risk us being spotted and the criminal fleeing. Keep the cruiser’s holos on unless you end up chasing down the suspect.”
“Ah, but how will you get to Towa Momota-kun?” as far as Shuichi knows, there is only one police cruiser with them.
“Don’t worry about it sidekick, the drones are already on their way with the other one.” Momota grins and gives him a thumbs up.
“Soooo, does this mean me and Amami-chan can welcome Saihara-chan with some good old hazing?” Oma inquires.
“You know as well as I do that we’re dogs for the bureau. Don’t fool around.” Hoshi’s the one to answer him, his lips pressed in a slight frown.
“O-kay, whatever you say!” Oma chirps before tugging Amami and Saihara’s sleeves towards the cruiser.