Pressing Play

I sit, my body aching. My eyes lock on him. I can feel just how tired I am, the lack of sleep finally starting to seep into my body. I'm panting for breath, and I can feel myself bleeding from the cut on my lip. My muscles burn and scream, and the room seems silent and tense. He looks at me, and we both look over to the door. It's a moment of calm before the chaos that will inevitably blow in a storm. She takes a step in. This is where the path has led us, and I can feel the salt of my tears mingling on my tongue, the tears that come from the stress of grief. It's time to think back on the path…

*A Few Months Prior*

Setsu sighed, her sock covered feet on the table, legs crossed at the ankle. Her countryside land, a true rarity in the world as it was, was quiet. A stretching fall darkness was outside the windows, but Setsu didn't have much of a mind for it. Her green eyes remained locked on the floating screen in front her. She read the words over and over again, the corner of her eye barely catching the blinking number on the clock. 12:05. Sighing, Setsu leaned her head back. Eyes closed, she thought of the door just down the hall where a ten year old boy named Satoshi was asleep. He was not her son, but her nephew. Her elder sister, Misora, died shortly after giving birth to him. His father didn't even know he existed.

Setsu's communicator rang out in the silent room. The 25 year old stirred in her seat, staring at the face and name that lit up on the screen. Groaning, she answered before the noise waked the boy. "Why are you all of a sudden calling me in?" Setsu demanded.

"Your psycho-pass has now exceeded one hundred. I thought you might want to be an Enforcer," Chief Kasei explained. Setsu frowned. It was 101. That was her psycho-pass. It was barely enough to call her a latent criminal. Besides, it fluctuated frequently enough that it would be back down in a day or so. Kasei had to be playing some other game.

"In other words, you've finally decided that you would rather have me where you can watch me," Setsu pointed out with a sigh.

"Just come in tomorrow. Send the boy to his grandmother. I'll have it arranged. You'll be working with Division 1," Kasei ordered sharply yet coolly. It was enough to send chills down Setsu's body just under the skin. She grabbed the blanket that sat in a crumpled mess at the end of the couch.

"I should be the one to explain who he is," Setsu growled. Her eyes narrowed, and she felt her psycho pass rising a point or so. She needed to calm down and fast.

"Write it out then. I expect you to report in the morning," Kasei replied. She ended the call. Leaning forward, wrapping her blanket around her, she snatched up her bottle of beer. Her intelligence level made her quite a threat to the Sibyl System, so they gave her all they could to keep her mouth shut. She quickly chugged the drink down, shivering in the fall cold.

"Raise temperature," she ordered. Setsu heard the heat kick on a moment later as she stood to walk towards her own bedroom. Her eyes landed once again on the clock. 12:10. Setsu's room was on the second floor. Satoshi had the entire bottom floor to himself while Setsu had the upstairs. It was a fair agreement. Setsu's feet made almost no noise as she walked down the hall. She glanced at her psycho-pass. It was now 108. She cursed allowed to Chief Kasei and the rest of the system. "Fuck them all," the woman muttered as she collapsed onto her bed. Her hand reached out to the nightstand where she picked up the old picture.

Setsu wasn't in the picture, but three people who were close to her were. They were sixteen when the picture was taken, Setsu just nine. It was such a happy time then. She'd been about fifteen when Satoshi was born, 18 when she had to take him in. They were fending off the world then, same as they really were now. Setsu didn't know how she was supposed to tell the boy's grandmother about the real reason Misora had died. "Help me, Misora," Setsu muttered, crawling into bed where she quickly fell asleep.

The morning sun trickled in through the window. The blue hologram jellyfish looking thing popped out from the wall. "Setsu Mishimori, the time is 7:00 and you should get up in order to make it to Tokyo in time for work!" the cheerful voice called out. Setsu turned over with a groan, but soon there came a knock on the door.

"Aunt Setsu, what's going on? Why do we have to be up now?" a yawning voice asked. Setsu glared up at the hologram.

"Prepare my things and some breakfast for Satoshi and I. We leave in an hour," Setsu ordered, getting up and getting dressed. "Satoshi, get dressed and meet me downstairs. I'll explain then," Setsu called out. She heard the boy walk away. Turning to the mirror, Setsu pulled back her hair into a bun. She looked like her older sister except for the eyes. Misora had brown eyes while Setsu had green. That was the difference. Well, that and the fact that Misora always had a stable psycho-pass. "Check psycho-pass," Setsu ordered the mirror. The number 120 flashed on the screen in green. Setsu frowned. So she would fluctuate up before going back down.

Finally satisfied, Setsu bounded down the stairs. "Aunt Setsu, can you explain now?" the boy at the table whined. Setsu rolled her eyes. Satoshi had Misora's hair, but his father's eyes.

"We have to go into town. I have to work, Satoshi. You will be going with your grandmother. I won't be able to take you there. Someone will when we get to the Bureau, but I'll try and write to you as much as possible," Setsu explained. Satoshi frowned.

"Is it your mother?" Satoshi asked, eating his cereal. Setsu shook her head.

"No, love, it's your father's mother. She's kind. You'll like her," Setsu explained. "Eat quickly and make sure you have everything you need." She grabbed her toast and went up to her office to write what she had to. Looking around, Setsu wondered when she'd see this room again. She pulled up a screen and made a call. Kogami's face filled the screen.

"Setsu, it's nice to see you," Kogami greeted. Setsu didn't smile as he did.

"My psycho-pass is 120. Chief's called me in to be an Enforcer for Division 1. Satoshi is going to his grandmother," Setsu swallowed. Kogami's brow furrowed.

"You know who's in Division 1, right?" Kogami asked. Setsu nodded. "I found a way back. Should I… Should I watch your place?"

"No, they have cameras. Stay where you are. You're free, Kogami. I'll try and send word if I can," Setsu advised. She leaned back. "One day, it'll be better. It can all be better. I'm sure of it."

"You'll like Akane. You have a lot in common, particularly about justice. Stay close to her," Kogami remarked. Setsu bit her lip.

"I'll tell her, what you've told me. Everything," Setsu assured.

"Good," Kogami sighed. "She should know. Tell them both I'm sorry," Kogami agreed. Setsu ended the call, staring at a blank page on the desk surface. She leaned forward, pen in hand, and began to write the story that had so long been on her conscience. By the time she was done, her face was stained by tears.

A/N: Hello readers and Psycho-Pass fans! Welcome to my new story! I'm so excited for this. I've already written a good bit of the story, so it'll be fun to post. Most of the starting chapters are going to be flash backs. Timeline wise, this probably takes place almost a year after the movie, placing the flashback section about five months after the movie. I don't know if that helps at all, but maybe it will. Cool stuff though. We have more cool stuff though. Check out my profile for information on a lot of stuff including me and new fan fictions. So just to lay out my thought process, I'm taking a few ideas mentioned in the show and movie and putting it all together. It's basically two major sub plots rolled into one plot. One plot line is more romance the other is more Sibyl System. That's all I'm saying now. Check out my profile, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review. I use reviews for a lot of things, mainly to figure out how you guys like what I'm doing. So tell me what you think.