Devastation Man
"The development of cryogenic containment technology allowed for the creation of truly escape-proof prisons, ensuring that no homicidal maniac, insane pedophile or man-eating ghoul would ever plague our society again. And with the passing of the Ghoul Registration Act, all ghouls were ensured a place in the world, employment and food, provided they are registered. Our civilization has entered an age of peace, humans and ghouls living together without fear of violent crime."
The crowd was thick on the wide pedestrian walkway, thanks to the late-afternoon commuter rush. A small woman pushed through the throng, headed in the opposite direction of the majority of foot traffic. Not looking up from the ground as she walked, she bumped directly into a young man, much taller than her. She mumbled an apology, then attempted to carry on, but he stopped her.
"That ain't it, ghoul." He spat hatefully. He pushed her to the ground. Her bag fell open, spilling assorted office supplies and papers all over the pavement. She fumbled to pick them up, the young man walking off, snickering. Not far away, off to side of the walkway, three teenagers sat on a bench. The youngest, a girl with pale violet hair that hung past her shoulders and covered her right eye, spoke with quiet earnest.
"Should we help?" The middle one, a boy with black hair and dark eyes, shook his head.
"Not our problem." The eldest, with dark purple hair in a short bob, scanned the crowd intently.
"Besides," She added, "Shenji should get here any second." As if on cue, a boy with dark blue hair emerged from the crowd, smiling widely. He was younger than any of the others, and comparatively small. The youngest girl ran up to him.
"Cousin Shenji!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. He laughed, then turned to the others.
"Kana isn't here yet? She usually beats me here." The black-haired boy pointed to a female figure visible not far away.
"There she is." He said simply. The girl had bright orange hair and a sassy grin, as well as a pair of rectangular glasses. She walked up to the group.
"Friends." She nodded at them. "Shenji. I see you got here first for once. Good for you." So the group was assembled. They were not an impressive bunch. None of the kids looked like they had had a good meal in their lives, their clothes wrinkled and patched. The black-haired boy rose.
"Now that we're all here, we should head to where we're actually going." He stated, then began descending the staircase that lead below the pedestrian walkway. The two girls who were with him, his sisters, followed suit. Shenji and Kana exchanged glances. Kana shrugged.
"Hey, Sasaki?" She asked the boy, who halted on the steps to look at her.
"Yes?"
"Where exactly are we going?" Sasaki smiled and continued down the stairs.
"We're going to get our freedom."
A small shop, box-shaped and bearing a sign that read "Computer services" sat beneath the concrete pathway. Inside, the five teens convened.
"This is the place that'll grant us freedom? Looks like a computer mausoleum." Kana commented. All around them in assorted boxes were computer parts of all kinds. A small area of exposed counter was empty, lit by a grimy desk lamp. Kana rang the bell next to it. Suddenly, as if by magic, a young blond man appeared. His hair was smooth and combed elegantly. He addressed the eldest girl of the group.
"Akira, it's a pleasure as always." She rolled her eyes.
"We're not here to chat, Hirako." She looked around the dusty shop and lowered her voice. "We're getting out of the system." He looked a little stunned.
"All of you at once? I don't know if I've ever done that many de-registrations in under an hour.." He trailed off. "But hey, it's a challenge! Exciting!" He clapped his hands. "Now, to the back! Allons-y!"
Hirako was into the CGC logs within minutes, leafing through the digital registration files. When he found the one he needed, he cleared it of data, deleted the file, then covered his tracks.
"Like I was never there. Heck, like that file never existed! Those pigeons won't know the difference." His hacks were smooth and efficient. He erased all five of the young ghouls from the system within the hour. As he finished, the twirled his chair around to face them. "Congrats kids, you're free. What're you gonna do now?" Sasaki was already getting up as he answered.
"Get some real food." He smiled deviously, and Hirako did
the same. The teenage ghouls left the shop, and Hirako was alone once again. He sighed thoughtfully.
"Can't help but worry at what I've released into the world." He shrugged, and got back into his work.
Eight Months Later
"We haven't seen anything like this since before the Last Raid." Kagerou Tarano tossed the bundle of papers down onto the table before the five young Agents. He seated himself at the head of the table, setting his hands on its surface while he waited for the file to be passed around. Takeshi Shikarada , a young man of near twenty with blazing pink hair and large round glasses, shunted the packet to his neighbour.
"Statistics like these would indicate a large population of actively feeding ghouls." He said matter-of-factly. Next to him, Suzuku Ano, a woman with wavy, pale green hair sent the file across the table.
"Which is something we shouldn't have anymore." She said. "Right?" Roshi Tanegashi, nineteen, with unruly chocolate-brown hair, nodded.
"That means we aren't doing our jobs very well." He leaned back on his chair, handing the papers over. Taking them and flipping through them nonchalantly, Furine Obito, with hair the colour of grape soda, commented.
"Well, it's not like it's our fault." She passed the papers to her neighbour. "All those old Investigators died when the CCG fell. We don't have anyone who knows how to deal with ghouls anymore." The final agent, twenty-one with hair as black as the void, Arino Kageto spoke excitedly.
"Yeah, one of those cool guys like Amon Kotarou, or Akira Mado..."
"Akira Mado was a woman." Said Kagerou. Arino continued.
"Or Stitches!" He clasped his hands and trembled a bit. The subject of Arino's eternal obsession, "Stitches" was the name given to an Investigator whose real name had been lost. He was called this on account of the stitches he apparently had in his skin. Little was known of him, except that he was very strong and had killed many ghouls, back when that kind of thing was necessary. The others at the table tried their best to ignore Arino while Kagerou explained.
"These are the murders and missing person cases for the last eight months. Notice they rise but maintain a steady relation with the apparent drop in registered Ghoul populations." He had a larger version of the graphs on the wall behind him. "Now people, what does this mean?" Takeshi raised his hand.
"This would mean that ghouls are somehow un-registering themselves and returning to murdering ways. But Tarano-San, shouldn't that be impossible?" Kagerou grunted. He had been twenty on the night of the Last Raid. Eighteen years had passed since then, but his memories of the carnage remained. He strode to the window and opened it, exposing the young Agents to the bright sunlight. He looked out over the seemingly endless expanse of Tokyo, face grave. He turned back to the five people seated at the table.
"Yes, Level two Shikarada. But it's going on. Those ghoul monsters are out killing people again." He slammed his large hands down on the table, startling everyone except Takeshi. "We can't let eighteen years of peace just end. We have to do something." The room was silent. Arino looked up from twiddling his thumbs.
"Level one Tarano?" He piped up. Kagerou looked a bit incredulous, but responded.
"Yes, Level three Kageto?" Arino continued.
"I've been doing some digging, in the surviving files from the main CCG archives. I think I've found someone who could help us."
The five young Agents, as well as Kagerou, were crowded around the computer in Arino's cramped office/lab area. Arino pulled up an image of a scorched paper.
"This file was heavily redacted, but from what I've read, it tells of an Investigator being frozen over twenty years ago and kept in Cochlea with the captured ghouls. It was kept secret from the Commission, and it was spread around that he had been killed." He tapped a few keys and pulled up another document. This one was much more recent. "This is a document from Cochlea prisoner records. This prisoner, number 10111, was a ghoul Investigator, and was frozen at the same time as the other file says. I think this guy could help us." He turned to his colleagues with an eager look on his face. Suzuku leaned in, reading off his screen.
"It says the guy was frozen for killing his own teammate, on purpose." She looked to Arino. "Is this really a guy we want to defrost?" Roshi shrugged.
"If he can help us do our jobs and get those ghouls under control." He looked around at his unsure colleagues. "I say we go find this guy."
Ever since being converted to a cryogenic facility, Cochlea prison was colder and darker than it had ever been. The five rookie Ghoul Control Agents walked the freezing passages past countless long-frozen ghoul criminals. They were headed deep into the lower parts of the detention facility, to what was once the higher S-rank lockdown area. Furine pulled her jacket tighter around herself.
"It's so damn cold down here! It should only be freezing in those tubes!" She indicated a containment tube as they passed, it's occupant visible through the frosty transparent front. Suzuku glanced at it in passing.
"Not bad-looking, for a ghoul. I like that blue hair." She commented to no one in particular. The five climbed into the final elevator that would take them into the very bottom of the prison.
The bottom level of Cochlea was small, only twelve meters across, a circle of cryogenic tubes occupied by the most dangerous ghouls known to man. Arino stopped in front of one.
"This is it guys, prisoner 10111." They all gathered in front of the clear tube. Roshi spoke up.
"He's smaller than I expected." It was true, the man in the tube was quite small. He was shorter than most of the Agents. Furine spoke next.
"He's so weird looking. What's up with his hair?" Arino peered closer at the prisoner. His hair was mostly black, but it seemed to be growing in white at the roots. Arino cleaned condensation off the tube and put his face on the surface. He stared at the inmate's face. Unsticking his cheek from the tube, Arino looked very excited.
"His face has stitches on it!" He announced. He jumped up and down and stared at the tube. "Guys, we found Stitches!" Roshi nodded, pushing Arino away from the frozen inmate. He pressed several buttons on the console next to the tube, and freezing air escaped from it with a loud hiss. Inside the tube, the frost dissipated as the temperature rose. The occupant twitched, then suddenly his eyes opened. They were clear and alert, a rich rosy red. They darted around frantically. Finally the tube opened, and the man fell face first onto the floor. Arino made a sound of frustration.
"Why did nobody catch him? Geez guys!" He crouched next to the man. "Hello? Can you hear me?" Arino was about to poke him when he began to laugh, quietly, then loudly, hysterically. Arino backed off in a start. The small man stood unsteadily, no longer laughing but smiling in rather demented fashion.
"I'M ALIVE!" He declared, in an eerily high voice. He then promptly blacked out, falling into Furine, who screeched.
"He's on top of me! Get him off!" Takeshi, who had said nothing over the entire visit, walked over to Furine and lifted him off of her. Takeshi's eyes widened behind his glasses.
"This guy is heavier than he looks. Roshi, help me with this." Roshi took hold of the legs, and the Agents set off once again, carrying a long-frozen prisoner out of Cochlea. Arino could hardly contain himself.