Zero.

The city met new dawn with electrified silence. The usually busy streets now held mute clusters of people waiting for something. Ad banners gleamed and chimed happily in vain. The NONA tower swimming in a golden haze of rising sun hovered over the city like a ghost of terror that's been haunting the whole nation for the last three weeks.

Finally, one by one, the large screens flickered cutting off the useless commercials. Now every frame showed a picture of a slim short man in his late twenties, draped in dark clothes and holding a smoldering cigarette between his fingers, seated in some abandoned warehouse. With a tired sigh he looked up at the camera and said:

"Hello there. This is a default message for the worst case scenario. If you are watching this, that means I'm most likely dead by now. So technically, there is no point in hiding anymore."

With that he fished a small device out of his pocket and pressed a button. A Holo surrounding him fell apart. Instead of once sharp dark eyes now dulled by tiredness, large opal orbs calmly gazed upon a stunned crowd. The woman on the screens sighed again and continued:

"My name… My real name is Akane Tsunemori, an Inspector for the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Welfare and Public Safety. And this is my last recording."

Ten minutes earlier, twenty stories down beneath the NONA tower in clinically lit up room with no corners the very same woman stood and listened to the hum of the life support system, waiting for a reply. She wasn't even interested in one. It was of more interest to find out, just how much did Sibyl System know now about the way Akane's mind worked. Everything depended on an assumption that they haven't learned enough.

With an air of boredom Inspector took out a cigarette and lit it up. She's never been a good liar. That's why trying to bluff her way into this room and out of the trap, certainly waiting for her there, took all her strength and resolve not to break down and see this day through to the end. Even though she knew that the gesture would be identified as a telltale of nervousness, she couldn't bring herself to care anymore. Everything would end today, for better or for worse. Finally, a smug almost human female voice echoed around the room:

"There is no way for your society to survive without us. You know that, right… Inspector Tsunemori? They wouldn't even know what to do with the freedom you so desire to give them."

The emphasis on her status made Akane snap her attention back on. Under the bravado of a superior mind in the tones of Sibyl there finally lurked an uncertainty which made criminally asymptomatic minds desperately seek a weakness in her defenses and logic. Well, this was of no use for them now: the most important thing she had learned from her encounters with the likes of them or Makishima was that weakness lies in doubt. Now, standing at the threshold of an end, there was no place for doubt and no backing down.

"They'll find the way. We always have."

"As interesting and naïve as ever. What do you think is going to happen when there is no System to keep criminals locked away? The riots, the deaths of innocent – and no one to stop it. Didn't you learn from the past, Ms Tsunemori? Do you think they are going to be grateful to you after something like that?"

The tiny woman flinched. The forgotten cigarette wavered in her fingers. This notion could turn out to be more real than she wanted to think. But then again, didn't some latent criminals show her that it wasn't the System that made humans want to be better? Didn't seemingly normal people turn out to be monsters that would give chills to even the most experienced Enforcers? Sibyl's interference in most cases just made it worse. Semi human machine armed with steel of logic and blind obedience and trust still wasn't human enough. Emotion was alien to logic. Humans were just subjects in another experiment. And that detachment was their weakness. Akane lifted her head up again:

"You are so sure I didn't think about that. But what you forget about is that everything I did for the last three weeks led them to the point where they can make a choice of their own. And they are going to make it together. You wanted to show them your true nature one day, on your terms. But that would've had to be just another deceit. The truth would have been too horrible to accept and they would have been shocked into frenzy. Not something you would want, right? But give them time to adapt to the reality and they start thinking on their own. It's all in the way you give information. If you understand the way human emotion works, of course. I just had to make my move before you did."

Inspector allowed herself a small smile.

"With all the capacity of two hundred minds you still can't grasp the way our hearts tick. What you call a dangerous amount of emotion has been the very thing that accompanied change throughout human history. It helped us evolve. You assume that in the end everyone is as sterile and detached as you, but that's where you are wrong. That's why we don't need you that much. And after everything they've seen, there will be enough people among Inspectors and Enforcers to maintain order."

She looked at the burning point of her cigarette like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Then seemingly as an afterthought she added:

"Did you know that in the beginning Sibyl System was supposed to be used on the very limited scale after the society normalized and didn't need to coordinate it's every step with Sibyl's 'prophecies'?"

"But it proved to be flawless and was left the way it should be – the way we are now" followed an immediate irritated answer.

She hit the bull's-eye. Good.

"That is one way to look at it" Akane replied sharply. "The point is that there still are stations connected to the System that were supposed to carry on after you guys resigned. And for the last couple of months someone has been busy restoring them."

"Hm, so all this clamor has been orchestrated to keep our attention fixed specifically on you. Quite clever. But that would achieve you nothing. As long as Sibyl is in control there is no way of changing System's configuration. Anyone who tries it would be eliminated immediately."

"And why do you think am I standing here?" There was a small grin making its way on Akane's face. She already heard the footfalls behind her but didn't turn around.

"You are not leaving the room this time, Akane Tsunemori."

She didn't have a Dominator on her person – it would have definitely turned out to be her downfall if she did. There was nothing that she could use as a weapon. That fact made Chief Kasei's impersonation stop dead in its tracks and eye Inspector Tsunemori with a puzzled and wary expression. Something didn't sit right with the scene. Kasei pointed her Dominator at the now former Inspector. The sooner they got rid of her, the better. The younger woman, finally facing her future murderer, stood still and didn't try to escape. Then a calm, bright smile graced her lips and she took the smoldering cigarette between them. After a long drag she outstretched her hand to the side and let the cigarette butt fall.

"So, this is it for me." She was fully smiling now.

Blinding blue light exploded in the room. After a moment of silence something fell on the floor with a sickening sound.

"Took you long enough." A female voice said.

Somewhere up in the city a simple countdown program hit zero turning on the last recording.

Well, hello there) This is the first time I'm doing anything like writing fanfiction, so please, be kind enough to point out my mistakes or even tell me if I should just leave it alone. I've planned it to be a multi-chapter, but if it's no good, I'll stop. Promise)

Thanks for at least reading ;)