Chapter One: The Enemy

Heavy rain pounded the alley and slid off the lids to the dumpsters around me. I did my best to compact myself into the miniscule space between the Pizza Parlors Trash bin and the brick wall behind me. Covering whatever exposed skin I had with my hoodie and previously dyed hair, I prayed they'd pass without seeing me.

Though, it wasn't as if god favored me anymore.

90 seconds ago I was fine, I was normal, I was anything other than I was now. Until I caught sight of the street-flagger, looked into it's mechanical-eye and watched as all hell broke loose. It was okay at first, nothing happened, and then one of the well known avatars stepped in front of me, a wicked fake grin on its robotic head as it spoke with a monotone voice.

"Excuse me ma'am, would you mind if we took a quick measure of your psycho-pass?"

"What? Uh, sure." I cleared my throat, looking away awkwardly as my friends stopped just ahead, waiting for me to finish up and join them. The machine took longer than usual, a few seconds more to be exact, and I began to get anxious.

"Oh, my. You're definitely in need of some emergency therapy." The machine cooed, ushering me to the edge of the crowd that passed by me and the robot, flashing us nervous glances. My eyes widened and I shook my head vigorously. "Your crime-coefficient is rated at 250."

"Please, no, take it again." I stammered on the words. 250? That's nearly double what it was this morning! I shook my head hard, slowly backing up out of instinct. My mind told me to run, run far. All they ever did to people with crime-coefficients above 200 is lock them up, I'd never seen somebody above 200 get even the option of therapy, it was apparently useless. "Take it again."

"Not necessary. Please come with me for some emergency therapy."

I bit my lip, looking back at my friends, Hannah and Miyuki, who waited patiently a few steps behind the machine, unable to hear out conversation through the mix of other voices and rain. Swallowing the air I struggled to breathe in, I forced up a lie. "Yes, yes of course."

The machine spun around to begin leading me to the Public Safety Bureau that was barely two blocks from our stance, only I didn't follow it.

I ran harder than I'd ever run before. My feet splashed in tiny puddles along the sidewalk, people cleared out of my way quickly once they took note of me. I ducked into an alley, taking time only now to look back at the two machines that rounded the corner after me.

"Kaiden Rayys? You are in need of emergency therapy. Please follow me." The machines echoed along as the darted down the alley. I hid safely under my clothes, not daring to look up as their wheels loomed closer.

"00987, 00988 please return to your posts. Division 2 will take it from here on out." A new voice startled me as it called from the entryway to the ally, a female sounding to be older.

"Yes, Inspector Keysh." The machines spun, the sound of the wheels cracking on the gravel made me wince, but I didn't dare make a sound as the duo disappeared back down the alley.

My nerves extended to severe the moment division was mentioned. There were three divisions in San Francisco, and they were all forces to be reckoned with. Groups of inspectors and enforcers that dedicated their lives, or what little freedom they had, to hunting and tracing latent criminals.

People like me, apparently.

"Enforcers, separate into two's. Kyle and Maya, take quadrant two, Karly, Jason, quadrant three, Benny and Hayes, you're on quadrant four. Inspector Aillot and I will be in Quadrant one. Go."

Footsteps pounded as people dispersed in different directions, some heading towards me. I cowered further behind the dumpster, waiting for the inevitable. I closed my eyes as rain grew heavier, and soon enough my once dry clothes were soaked with water. I was wet at the core, my toes shivering from frost.

"Knock, knock. Anyone home?" Someone laughed from not to far away, I bit my bottom lip in an action of fear. "Hello?"

"Shut up, Karly, you aren't funny." A second person informed. The pair grew closer.

"Come on out, the Dominators don't hurt, promise! We're just going to put you to sleep for a little bit." The female of the two said quietly. "Come on, this is so boring."

"We've been at it for barely thirty seconds." The boy laughed, "Whatever, let's go checkout the roofs, they could have climbed the fire-escape."

"Aye, aye, Inspector." The girl giggled, rushing towards the black ladder, she climbed above me, further up the fire-escape that lined the hotel above the pizza parlor.

"Don't you ever call me that." The boy stammered, obviously angry. He followed closely behind her, but with him, I heard him stop just above me. And I made the mistake of looking up, meeting two bright-green eyes that held a sickeningly happy look to them. "Bingo."

I stood quickly, racing back down the alley and out onto the street, I heard him right after me, his partner no doubt just behind him. I listened as he spoke into the communicator that was hitched into the weapons the enforcers were equipped with, gun-like Dominators that measured someone's psycho-pass and decided automatically whether you could just subdue them, or kill them too. "Found the Latent, pursuing on foot down 43rd street, back up requested."

Someone spoke back through the device, "On it."

I picked up my pace, my hands whipping at my sides as I pushed and shoved past people in my way, doing my best to keep my head start strong. I looked up at the flash of movement, someone ran along the roofs of the townhouses I passed, jumping across the small, meter-wide gaps between them, they never took their eyes off of me.

I ran across the street, ignoring the honking traffic. I continued my run on the opposite end of the road, until something sharp jabbed at my left shoulder and my legs stopped working, sending my flying forward at the same pace I'd been running at. I would have hit the ground had someone not grabbed my wrist the moment before my head smashed the concrete, saving me from a drastic headache. I couldn't look up at them, my limbs felt numb, my muscles limp. I felt like I was in a state of paralysis everywhere.

"Latent apprehended at the corner of 43rd and 100th. Paddy Wagon pick-up requested." The voice was male, and without any kind of emotion or tone to it.

"Ready, aim, kill, eh Hayes?" The girl from earlier spoke from somewhere behind me. I couldn't see her, I couldn't see anyone, only the cold are ground in front of my face. "You just going to keep dangling her like a stuffed doll or what? Poor thing looks like spaghetti."

"Spaghetti? Interesting observation, Maya." Someone else spoke up, the voice recognisable from earlier in the night, just a few minutes ago, "Load her in, we'll head back to MWPSB Headquarters once everyone's rounded back."

"Yes, sir." The girl, Maya, said, before grabbing my other arm and lifting me so she could wrap her frail, twig-sized arms around my torso. I finally got a good look at her, with bright-pink hair that was beginning to grow out at the roots and incredibly tanned skin, she was certainly attention grabbing, I'd hand her that much for sure. "Well hello there, my name is Maya and I love your hair."

She struggled to throw me over her shoulder, but eventually succeeded, shocking me with the amount of strength she had in her frail arms. I was carried into the back of a Paddy Wagon, it's black exterior and interior seemed bland and frightening, even more so frightening. The girl, Maya, dropped me onto the seat beside her, and once again I tried to move. I made an attempt to wiggle my toes, but came out with no luck. I was stuck where I was. 5 others climbed into the vehicle behind us, sitting mostly on the bench across from us, aside from one blonde boy who sat beside Maya, their facial resemblance catching me right away, from what I could see, anyways, with my head rolling around my neck.

The drive was short for me, as seconds into it my eyes blackened and my other senses faded out, I was left with nothing but my own thoughts.