AN: Hi, welcome to my fic. I have a few things to say before we begin though. First off, this is my first attempt at a mystery of any kind, so I'm a bit dubious about it. I have tried my hardest to make it as good as possible though. Second, the rating is for a few things. You might notice the language as one of them. The other is that I have some intense things planned to happen, especially with the corpse. Not gorey and gruesome, just not necessarily pretty or something your younger siblings would like to think about right before bed. That sort of intense thing. Third, I intend this story to get long and involved, complicated even (though whether or not it turns out that way remains to be seen;) ). I would like to put a lot of time, effort, and research into making this a good, thought-out story that you can enjoy, but I would also rather not waste all that time this summer if no one's going to read it, or if you think this stinks.(Yes, I am aware I need to work on my self esteem issues) So please R&R! Tell me if you want more, tell me where to stick it, offer advice, give me criticism, just please, please, PLEASE tell me what you think! Now, on to the story! Enjoy!
Chapter One
Off Switch
He slowly lowered the corpse to the ground.
"No, not a corpse, a shell. A flawless shell housing the imperfect ghost and spirit."
In the moonlight the synthetic flesh sparkled and glistened like an unearthly gem. Reaching down, he repositioned the fair limbs into an exact mosaic.
"Each curve of this false temple shall spell out my word, my message." Carefully, he slid open the eyelids and twisted the head back over the shoulder.
"Look back upon the sin. Let your gaze show them the way."
The grey of early dawn glittered on his scene as he left to watch and wait.
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Togusa and Bateau arrived at the scene and got out of the car having yet another philosophical conversation, or rather, argument.
"C'mon, Togusa, stop bringing up the food thing. I've told you before that even I still get cravings for the real deal. I may be a cyborg, but I still remember what it tastes like, and still have the cravings. And it's not good for a member of Section 9 to be seen salivating over memories." Bateau looked over at his brown haired coworker with his metal mechanical eyes as a crinkling sound came from Togusa. "Huh? Hey, what's that?"
"Oh, this?" Togusa said, holding up the energy bar he had been unwrapping, "My breakfast, that's what. I was running late this morning and haven't had a chance to eat yet."
"You mean you've had food all along!" Bateau demanded, "Then why the hell where you talking about food the whole ride here instead of just eating it!"
"Well excuse me, I didn't think you'd want me eating it in front of you since you didn't have any." Togusa took a bite and chewed thoughtfully for a moment. "Besides," he said with his mouth full, "It's funny seeing you drooling all over the steering wheel."
"What! I did not! Give me that!" Bateau swatted the bar from Togusa's hands, "You shouldn't be eating in front of the police, anyway," he smiled mischievously, "Besides, I think I might just be having one of those cravings right now."
"Now wait a minute!" Togusa said, trying to grab his breakfast back from the taller, stronger man. "If you want breakfast, pay for it yourself! Hey! Bateau!" They had reached the actual scene of the crime, and Bateau had stopped dead, dropping the contested food to the ground. "What is it?" He followed the other's gaze beyond the yellow stripes of wind-waving police tape, and felt his mouth drop.
"What the hell happened here?" A female body lay in the sand of the beach, face towards the city. A white, grainy substance was clearly visible where it lay scattered about the asphalt bike path. But what was most striking about the scene was the sparkling sheen that lay across the body and glittered on the black business suir in the mid-morning sun. Short cropped blonde hair rested stiffly on the head, coated with the same substance that crusted her fair skin. Her eyes were wide open, staring at the lifeless buildings of the city, their emerald irises dull with death, the only part of the grim tableau that didn't shine.
"Guess that's what they want to know. After all, that's our job, isn't it?" Bateau headed over to the body and bent down to inspect it. " Young female, Caucasian, fully prosthetic body, looks pretty physically fit, too."
"Now that's a scientific observation," Togusa quipped. "So why'd the boss send us in? Isn't this a job for CSI?"
"One would think, but I think it has something to do with the white substance that's all over the scene. Not exactly a normal M.O." Bateau pulled out a wallet from a pocket of the victim's black slacks, grimacing as the material crackled. "As the major said, she's the head of one of the big cybernetic companies. Cops probably don't want to mess up a big case like this."
"What do you think this substance is?" Togusa asked, looking at the sparkling crust that coated the body, shirt, pants, skin, hair, and all. "And all the white stuff on the ground?" He glanced around the stretch of asphalt and the beach around them where the white crystals lay scattered like the remnants of a bizarre summer snow.
"Wow, 'stuff.' Where did you learn such technical scientific terms?" Bateau sniffed at the substance. "Doesn't have too much of a smell, but then again, I've only been able to smell the ocean salt ever since we got here. Tachikoma! Can you analyze this substance for me? I need it identified." One of the A.I. combat units replied an affirmative over the mental link, the projected image of the blue machine bobbing hyper-actively in his field of vision, thanks to the implant that let the Section 9 members communicate essentially telepathically. A white circle appeared in the other corner of his vision, the scrolling words telling him that Major Motoko Kusanagi was on the other line.
"Status, Bateau."
"Nothing yet, the Tachikomas are analyzing something for us, then we're heading back."
"After taking the crime scene photos, of course," Togusa interjected, "You're probably going to want to see this."
"Mr. Bateau, sir! I've got the analysis for you! And thank you so much for caring about our ghosts!"
"What are they talking about, Bateau?" the Major asked.
"Yeah, Bateau. We're on a case. This isn't the time for the Tachikoma's to be soul searching."
"That was humor, right, Mr. Bateau! That was a really great joke!" The Tachikoma happily bobbed around in his vision again.
"Just give me the damn analysis, Tachikoma!"
"It's sodium chloride! That was the joke, right? It was really easy to figure out!"
"You mean it's table salt!" Togusa leaned over and stuck a moistened finger against the glittering sheen and tasted it, then pulled a face. "Yup, that's salt alright. But what's our vic doing coated in the stuff? It's like someone soaked her in salt water and let it crystallize."
"I don't know. But it looks like we're going to be having more late nights this week. C'mon, let's take the pictures and get back."
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The crime scene pictures flashed up on the screen one at a time, cycling through a second time before showing a mosaic of key images. Section 9 was gathered around together in front of the television; the major sat, legs crossed on the couch with her arms resting along the back, Chief Aramaki beside her, stroking his chin, Saito reclined quietly on the chair to their right with Togusa across from him, leaning forward from his matching chair with the remote, and Bateau, Pazu, and Ishikawa were holding up various walls, cans of cheap beer in hand.
The picture in the upper right zoomed out from the corner of the screen to show a woman's face. She was young looking, blonde hair hanging level with her chin perfectly placed. Intensely emerald green eyes echoed the slight smile she displayed while at the same time showing a hidden strength and hinting at an experienced mind that had seen many cunning business deals.
"Ms. Shizuka Suzuki, our victim, age 27. She's the head of Body Design Corporation, commonly called BD Corp." Togusa hit a button, and a corner of the photo switched to show a simplistic logo, the letters BDC in azure blue highlighted in soft purples. "Its an up-and-coming design and manufacturing company of fully prosthetic bodies, aimed at the newer, younger generations."
"That's the one that has all those new models, right?" the major said. "The overly curvaceous, very voluptuous females, and the beautifully handsome, perfectly muscled males?" She didn't quite manage to hide the tinge of sarcasm and disdain in her voice.
"Yep, that's the one," Bateau smiled. "Can't turn a corner anymore without seeing one of them. Honestly, they look more like Barbie dolls than girls, and the guys look like bishonen straight out of a cartoon."
"But were getting off topic," Togusa said. The image zoomed back out, and another one enlarged, the crime scene with the body and surrounding salty area. "This is what Ms. Suzuki looks like now." The images began to cycle through various close ups of the scene; the body, her wide-eyed face, the skin, the white, crystalline salt.
"Believe it or not, that's salt on her," Bateau said. "It was all over the place, and all over her body."
"Any indication about what it might mean?" Aramaki asked.
"Not a clue. But it did look like she'd been positioned, there might be something in that."
"What are you thinking, Bateau?" Kusanagi asked, her amethyst eyes still studying the pictures on the screen.
"I mean that her body position doesn't look natural. It's almost as if someone posed the body that way. Y'know, opened the eyes, laid her down, turned the head, that sort of thing."
"It's weird, I'll give it that," Pazu drawled, "but so what? It's not even a serial murder victim, just some stand-alone case. So why drag us in for one body, one weirdo in a whole world of psychopaths? Isn't CSI usually the Feds' job?" He gesticulated with the can before taking a swig.
Bateau crumpled his own can, then folded his arms and leaned harder into the wall. "You act as if it was you out there taking samples and photos all day! First time I've ever been on the wrong end of a salt shaker."
"I think Ms. Suzuki would agree," Aramaki replied, waving at the screen and glancing over at Bateau before turning his attention to Pazu. "But you do bring up a good point. If this were any ordinary case, then the police would handle it."
"I guess that would depend on your definition of 'ordinary,'" Togusa interjected, looking at the photos.
"Well the fact of the matter is that it is not what, but who that has brought this into our hands. Since it was a prominent cybernetic figurehead that was our victim, the Prime Minister is afraid of a panic from the remaining cybernetic leaders. So-"
"We've been given the task of keeping all this quiet and preventing a mass hysteria in the higher up muckety-mucks while still trying to catch this guy," Bateau interrupted.
Aramaki sighed. "That's about it, yes."
"Great, another babysitting job. So we wait for the coroner's repot on the autopsy, find out what killed our little lady, then trace it back to the damn freak show that did this. Day or two of work, max, and we're back to sitting on our asses waiting for a real case to come along," Bateau grumbled.
Boma came down the stairs, passing in front of Bateau and leaning on the back of Togusa's chair. "Coroner's report's in."
"Well speak of the devil. It's 4:15 now. This time tomorrow the bastard'll be behind bars."
"Don't be so eager. You might want to hear this first. According to the coroner, our victim was perfectly healthy."
"Other than being dead." The major quipped with a wry smile. "If she's dead, there has to be a C.O.D."
"See, that's just it. Far as can be made out, there's nothing wrong with her. It's almost as if someone just," Boma leaned over the back of Togusa's chair and pushed a button on the remote, turning off the television, "Hit her off switch."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bateau asked. "Cybernetic bodies don't come with off switches. If they did, I'm sure a lot more people would be dead right now."
The major shifted on the couch. "That's not exactly true. Theoretically it would be possible to 'switch off' a cybernetic body by removing the consciousness that animates it. But the only way to do that is to transfer the mind from one body to another, such as when the body is damaged beyond repair."
"Sounds almost like you're talking about Ghosts."
She ignored the comment. "Well, Bateau, you wanted a real case. Is this interesting enough for you?"
"Maybe." He pushed himself off the wall as she stood up from her seat. "So what's the plan, Major?"
"It doesn't seem we have many leads to work on. We'll just have to dig up some of our own." She turned around quickly, shaking her short purple hair from her face. "Alright then, Pazu, Saito, Ishikawa, I want you diving the net, see what you can find out about the company, its employees, and Suzuki. Report to me if you find anything that could possibly be relevant. Boma, you go back to the coroner and keep digging. Maybe there was something they missed. Look for anything irregular. Bateau and Togusa, you're with me. We're going to Body Design Corporation to see if they can shed any light on this." There was a rumble of acknowledgements, and they went to their separate, assigned ways.
The investigation was underway.
AN: So, I hope it wasn't too bad. In fact, I hope it left you wanting to find out what happened. So, as I said at the top, please R&R and let me know what you thought and if I should continue.