Pie: It seems everyone is making fun of Ginoza because of his Avatar choice. Well, being Ginoza is suffering, this is only natural. Thanks for reading and reviewing the last chapter!
Wrath: Do not underestimate the things we have learned from Urobutcher's fantastic School of Butchering. Just a warning for things to come in 11.
Your Face is Nothing
After the mess caused in the Exoset Club, Tsunemori knew there was little chance Spooky Boogie would risk cooperation another time, but she had to be polite and meet her again. Kougami approved of the meeting and she logged in as Lemonade Candy.
The private chatroom with Spooky Boogie was waiting for her.
"I'm sorry."
Spooky Boogie's arms were folded over her frilled chest, and her mouth threatening to break out into a snarl.
"If everyone's problems can be solved with just 'sorry' then we won't need the police," she spat. "Not only you let Talisman escape, my Commufield has been wrecked. I wonder whose fault is that?"
Tsunemori sighed. Their conversation was faring worse than she predicted.
"It is our fault, and I really am sorry," she said again. "But you helped because you thought there was something wrong, ri-"
"I am Spooky Boogie, the anarchist," she cut in firmly. "No matter what the circumstance, I'll never be a government underling again. Don't even think of asking me to help the police again."
Before Tsunemori had the chance to respond, the chatroom evaporated around her and Spooky Boogie logged out. Slowly, the Enforcer pulled off the Net Helmet, and she rubbed a thumb again the metal covering- it was going to be a while until she'd be able to Field surf again.
Whilst she and Kagari packed away the headset, the rest of the Unit crowded around Shion's computers, staring at an enlarged image of Talisman as if there was a hint hiding on his screen.
"Well, we're back to square one," Shion announced, lighting a cigarette. "Any bright ideas?"
"Look into his access routes. That's the only other option we have," Ginoza muttered. "Karanamori. Tell me when you get a location."
When he got up to leave, he was surprised to finding Tsunemori blocking his path.
"Wait, Inspector, I want to try something first," she requested. "Depending on my results, we may have somewhere more dire to go to."
Considering how vague she was sounding, Kougami was half-expecting Ginoza to brush past her. Instead, the bespectacled Inspector considered her words and gave her a curt nod.
"You won't have long, Tsunemori."
A small smile curled on her face and she turned to Shion.
"Karanamori-san, could you play the recording of my Chatroom with Spooky Boogie, please? The second one?"
The chatroom Akane was just in a few minutes ago flooded a wide screen. Her co-workers stared at it vacantly, not really sure what they were supposed to be looking for. The Enforcers in fact looked quite bored, and whilst Akane was being engulfed by the playback, the rest of them were slouching on various seats in the lab.
"I never really understood the idea of Commufields," Masaoka commented.
A toothy grin stretched across Kagari's face. "You're a dying breed, tottsan. You and Inspector Kou."
"Karanamori-san, please rewind a few seconds," Akane abruptly said.
Shion clicked on her mouse a few times.
"No matter what the circumstance, I'll never be a government underling again. Don't even think of asking me to help the police again."
"What are you looking for?" Kunizuka asked the question everyone else held in their heads.
"A slip-up," Akane mumbled under her breath. She edged a little closer to the monitor. "Karanmori-san, could you play my first conversation with Spooky Boogie?"
"Besides, having the CID in my debt won't harm me, right?"
Akane's eyes narrowed. "Karanamori-san, just one more thing. Could you check Spooky Boogie's logs and search for the number of times she uses 'CID' as opposed of 'police?'"
Fingernails clacked against the keyboard and the search list poured over the screen. 'CID' was highlighted in dozens of conversations where Spooky Boogie brushed on anarchy, whilst 'police' in fact never made it once in the results.
"The person I just talked to was not Spooky Boogie," Akane finally announced. "She would've addressed up by the 'CID,' not the 'police.'"
Ginoza glanced at her. "Tsunemori, you said Spooky Boogie was a classmate of yours. Have you figured who yet?"
"There won't be a need to; we can filter from the students in my class to whoever earns a living through web advertising- just like Hasayama Kimihiko," she explained. "Shion-san, could you please do that so we can get an address?"
Still sitting comfortably on a spare computer chair, Masaoka lifted his head up so he could study Tsunemori's face.
"Ojou-chan, there really is no need, I'm sure whoever was the previous Spooky Boogie Avatar is already dead," he stated flatly.
It was as if his words summoned a flood to drown out the rest of the team's voices. No one else spoke, all concentrated on the female Enforcer whose face did not as much twitch at his words. Her hands however, did visibly clench with her nails digging into her palms.
She tried to keep her tone even. "Why would you say that, Masaoka-san?"
"I'm surprised someone as sharp as you didn't notice," Masaoka observed. "The fact that someone is impersonating this Avatar means the original user is in a position where she can't. Usually that means she's dead. I know I'm not familiar with this form of social networking but that doesn't mean I don't have any common sense."
"Masaoka, quiet. You're making baseless assumptions again," Ginoza warned quietly.
Kagari exasperated. "But wait, who would've killed her?"
"The kind of person who'd hijack an Avatar just so he can impersonate it," Masaoka replied, ignoring Ginoza's darkening scowl. "It's Talisman. Our ghost here isn't focused solely on that one Avatar, he's focused on collecting them. It's not an uncommon pattern amongst criminals who have a passion for something. I've seen a long line of them."
"Old man, stop acting like such archaic methods actually provide any proof! You must be fooling yourself-" Ginoza began ranting, which was rather unprofessional in Kougami's opinion. He was going to say something to cut off his fellow Inspector, but then-
Tsunemori coughed. "Ginoza-san," she said sharply, glaring straight at him.
The man fell silent at once.
Kougami raised an eyebrow. What just happened? Next to him, Masaoka laughed in a fatherly way. "Aah, it seems like the little miss still can reign Nobuchika in, even though she is a Enforcer."
"Hm?" Kougami glanced at Masaoka curiously. "Did something happen between them?"
Hound 1 smiled deprecatingly. "When you stare into the abyss too long, the abyss stares into your soul. Ojou-chan isn't entirely what she seems."
"I kind of figured that out the day I joined, Masaoka-san," Kougami replied. "She did crash through the ceiling with a rabid drone after her. It is a rather memorable scene, you know."
The man just smiled, eyes crinkling up in the corners. "If you want to find out about ojou-chan's past... You have your work cut out for you, Kou."
They stole a look at Tsunemori who stood quite still in the centre of the lab. The only time she spoke up again was ten minutes later when the address to Sugawara Shouko's home came up. She volunteered to go.
For some reason, Tsunemori imagined she had physically changed a lot since she first joined the MWPSB. Instead, when she looked at the training school graduate photo of herself, she realized she was still sporting the same mushroom bobcut, her eyes were still babyish and she wore funny smiles.
She gently placed the graduation album back on Sugawara's desk. No, Shouko's desk. Akane had always addressed her classmates by their first names.
Her gloved hand traced along the bookshelf. There was a strange array of manga, political studies and history books stacked in a line. Above the shelf was a careful display of soft toys with frilly bows and velvet jackets. Shouko loved girly things. That's how she and Akane got along.
Akane stepped away from the desk, unable to delve any more. She still had her back to Kougami so he couldn't see her expression. If anything, she would have wanted to come alone- but that was no longer an option after she became a latent criminal.
After that happened.
"It isn't your fault," his voice suddenly rang in the middle of her thoughts.
She didn't respond to him straight away, her eyes followed one of the small drones which was crawling across the room. The small batch they had sent down the sewers found some pieces of Shouko's flesh.
"I know it isn't. Shouko offered to help us out of her free will, none of us put this on her." She said that knowing her words sounded robotic and unfeeling.
"I thought you might've wanted someone to tell you that."
"Thank-you, Inspector." She turned round so he could see her relaxed expression. "I appreciate your thoughts, but as you can see, I'm fine."
"She was a friend of yours."
"Yes, a good friend. All I can do now for her is make sure she didn't die in vain." She moved so she could walk past him, but froze at the door when Kougami spoke up again.
"We'll catch this criminal, Tsunemori."
She had heard those words before, but his tone was not full of naive promise- they were confident and daring, sparking a foreign feeling which tugged the corner of Tsunemori's lips into a smile. A small one, but still a smile.
"Thank-you, Inspector Kougami."
However, the moment they had come back from Sugawara's apartment, Tsunemori had disappeared from view. No one had bothered to look for her so far, Kougami observed. It was probably for the best, considering what had happened to Sugawara. He had managed a short chat with her, but apparently she was still brooding.
He stopped by the lab, finding Shion working alone.
"Oh, Inspector Kougami, what can I do for you?" she asked with an amiable smile. "I'm on a break, so let's hope it's not work related."
Kougami gave the empty sofa a sparing glance, he thought that Tsunemori might have come back to continue with the case. Still, he had a few questions to ask the analysis anyway.
"We've confirmed Sugawara Shouko's death to be similar to Hayama's, which means our culprit is an Avatar collector," Kougami reported. "I want to know if there has been any other famous Avatars going through a short losing trend before suddenly regaining popularity again."
Shion twirled her cigarette. "And so it's work related. You say a trend?" She turned back to her computer, varnish nails clacking against the keys. "Well, Blue Melancholia is one case half a year ago."
"And his user?"
"A 14-year-old boy named... oh, wait a minute, he's been reported missing around the same time he regained his popularity," Shion said in surprise.
Kougami nodded his head. "I have a final request. Compare all the viewers of their Commufields a few months within that trend and with the disappearance of the three victims. The culprit would have used his own Avatar to log in their fields up to the point he killed them all, but after that he'd be using their accounts. In theory, he would've stopped visiting them immediately after their deaths."
Shion exasperated. "Here I thought we'd get along, Inspector but you're just as demanding as Ginoza-kun. We're talking about hundreds of accounts so it'll take a while to load."
The Inspector nodded. "Thanks for the hard work. Call me when you're done."
As he exited the lab, he spotted Sasayama fishing out a packet of cigarettes from a nearby vending machine.
"Sasayama," he called out, "where does Tsunemori spend time?"
The sandy-haired man shrugged. "At this point in time, she's probably beating the crap out of some training Drones," he drawled. "She spends a lot of time sparring in the exercising rooms."
Kougami stepped into the corridor which would lead to said rooms, intent on finding the Enforcer. It was good that she was releasing stress rather than allowing her Crime Coefficient to build up even more, he supposed.
He arrived at the exercise room just in time to see the seemingly diminutive woman unleash a series of kicks that forced the Drone backwards, against the wall. Tsunemori swung around and punched the lower cheek, a clang resounded as fist met metal and she dented the Drone, the Holo fizzing out.
Kougami glanced at the entry card. "You have the difficulty set at the highest?" he said aloud questioningly. "I wouldn't think that someone with your physique capable of taking down a sparring Drone of that level."
Tsunemori ignored him, bending over backwards to stretch her back. She only wore a sports bra and some shorts, an outfit which did reveal a more than decent amount of skin.
She walked over to the bench, grabbing a bottle of water and gulping it down. For some reason, Kougami couldn't bring himself to look away from her direction. He tried to clear his throat but failed miserably.
"I tend to be severely underestimated upon first impressions with people," she said easily, setting down the bottle and raising an eyebrow.
Kougami made a slightly strangled sound at the back of his throat when she stepped closer in order to grab a towel on the bench. "So I suppose that you don't feel too mentally impacted by Sugawara Shoko's death?" he tried, staring at her and making himself remember to blink at least a few times.
Tsunemori dragged the towel over her face. "Of course I'm mentally influenced by her death. However, I accepted the occurrence and refuse to brood over it any longer. The best I can do is strengthen my body so that I may prepare to arrest the killer."
She glanced at him. "... Is there something on my face?"
What saved Kougami from a very potentially embarrassing moment was the bleep on their Communicators. They accepted the group call which was made by Shion.
"Hello boys and girls, guess who found your target?" she sung. "Inspectors, you owe me some drinks since I worked overtime for you~"
A phone beeped on the dresser, the screen reading: 'Choe Gu-Song.
"It's bad news, whenever I get a call from you," Midou said upon picking up.
There was a short chuckle on the other end. "You have to forgive me. But you're right, I bring in bad news. The MWPSB are on your trail."
Midou didn't have to hear anymore to know what Choe Gu Song wanted to say next.
"I can't stop now," he said firmly. "I have a mission to maintain the perfection of these Avatars."
"Of course, continue as you wish," Choe responded politely. "You after all are still within Makishima-san's interests, therefore I shall assist you."
There was the background noise of a tapping keys and a mouse scraping across a table. Midou know his way around computers but the expertise of the Korean hacker was almost monstrous.
"It would seem you will need to move again," Choe notified. "There are some special guests on their way to see you."
Midou glared at his own laptop screen where he saw Choe's hacked security camera recordings showing a police van draw up next to the hotel. He sucked in his breath, and glanced down at the medicine still scattered across the table.
He had very little time.
The results from Shion's analysis showed only one suspect, Midou Masatake. His bank account showed he had recently checked in a hotel nearby his apartment. Inspector Kougami arranged a police-van to take Unit 1 to the address. Considering it was a small operation, only Enforcers Masaoka and Sasayama were assigned.
They filed out of the vehicle in front of a modest-looking building with holo letters decorating the front. Kougami noticed that as Masaoka walked ahead, the Enforcer pocketed a container.
"What are you carrying?" he asked.
Masaoka only chuckled, the sound of swishing liquid inside his pocket. "Something which might help when stuck indoors."
They quickly arrived at the fourth floor, finding Midou's door across a long stretch of hallway. In a structured manner, they cautiously approached it with Sasayama near the front.
Receiving a nod of approval from the Inspector, he kicked down the door and raised his Dominator.
"This is the MWPSB, you unlucky bastard!" Sasayama called out as he entered the room.
The rest of the team followed en suite, whilst their target -hidden next a wardrobe- impatiently finished typing up a string of commands on the laptop. A code given specially by a Korean hacker.
A second after Midou hit the enter key, the entire room bursted into a disarray of colours and flying furniture. The carpet underneath Sasayama melted into a black hole, forcing him to scramble back in confusion.
"What the actual fuck?" he hissed, trying to keep his footing.
"He completely messed with the interior holo," Kougami cursed, eyes unfocused in the clutter of holographic chairs zooming by.
"How are you meant to aim with all this trippy shit in the way?" Sasayama groaned, ducking as lamp spun past.
Masaoka lifted the mysterious container from his pocket, revealing a bottle of alcohol. He unscrewed the cap with one twist.
"Sasayama!" he barked.
On cue, a lighter was tossed in his direction which he caught with his free hand. Kougami watched in confusion as the Enforcer suddenly took a swig of the alcohol.
"Oi, Inspector! You might want to move out of the way!" Sasayama warned with a feral grin. He was about to say more but caught a blur of a man running past him.
He instantly spun round and chased after him, dodging moving walls and furniture on his way. By the time he stumbled into the hallway, the blurred person had already reach the other end. The target stopped momentarily to look backwards- but that was the vital second which the fire sprinklers turned on at the influence of Masaoka's firebending.
Crime Coefficient: 330
Aim and raise, just like routine-
Mode: Lethal Eliminator. Please aim and eliminate the target safely.
Sasayama pulled the trigger, seeing the usual explosion of flesh and blood - but from the wrong place. Midou only stumbled before continuing running, sans his right arm. "Well, fuck. I think he used some kind of numbing drug-"
Kougami sprinted with the Enforcer towards the staircase, following the blood dripped on the tile floor. They looked down the flights, Sasayama glaring down hatefully. "Karanamori, can you track Midou's movements?" he yelled into his Communicator.
A crackle of interference interrupted her first words, but it cleared up right after. "His signal is going through the side streets- he's headed towards his apartment. Let Akane-chan and the other finish this."
Both men nodded, and Kougami turned around to fetch Masaoka - only to freeze at the old man offering some hysterical hotel workers some alcohol to calm down.
He hastily typed a series of keys on his tablet, the door to his apartment still swinging behind him. A window lit up on his screen, and the Holo began to shift as the program activated. "I'm... home..."
"Welcome back, Midou-kun," the three Avatars chorused.
"I'm okay," he said distractedly, briefly touching his bloodied shoulder. "You're all eternal. You were released from the chains of a physical body and polished by collective intelligence. You're the souls most close to Plato's "Idea." No one can look down at you. I won't let anyone destroy your nobility. I... will protect you all."
"Thank-you, Midou-kun."
"Once I was guided by you. Now, together with you, I will guide people and the world," he breathed, the numb pain in his arm being overwhelmed by his excitement and happiness to see his beloved Avatars smile upon him.
In a spacious yet bare room, a set of computer screens was the only light source for the single resident. He watched in amusement at Midou's grey but content face.
Again, "You are eternal."
Choe Gu Song felt a faint smile form as he lifted his cup of tea. He guessed it was about time.
He tapped a single key which held activated his bug on the program for Midou's elaborate delusion. Technically, Choe didn't have to observe Midou any longer, but he continued to sit there, sipping his tea, watching as the gentle smiles on the Avatars twisted mockingly.
In the middle of his beloved AIs, the blank-faced man felt at peace, as if the CID was not after him. But then he was torn from his illusion of peace with a murmur from Spooky Boogie. "But... couldn't you have done a better job, Midou-kun?"
He was not entirely an idiot to notice that there was something suddenly wrong. "Wait, what on earth-?"
The colourfully costumed Talisman spoke next, his voice only a slightly different pitch, yet sounding menacing. "There's something that I've been searching for... that I want to know. For that purpose, I did whatever it took."
"Say, have you read Shuji Terayama? You should read his play, "Saraba, eiga yo." It seems like everyone is an agent for someone," the blue youth chimed in next, shaking his finger disapprovingly, "And further, those agents have their Avatars communicate in place of them."
Midou's face went impossibly pale, and he swallowed his saliva to choke out, "Are you.. Makishima?"
As one, the Avatars spoke Makishima's words, "You have a thorough knowledge of various Avatars and are capable of imitating anyone. You can be anyone you like so I was very interested in what your personality was like. That's why I lent you my assistance."
He jerked to his feet, left hand batting at the Holo in front of him and swaying uneasily, the figures blurring and sharpening back and forth,"Stop it! Give them back to me! Don't speak in their voices!" Midou screamed in anguish.
With each phrase, an Avatar would speak, moving tauntingly around the crazed criminal, "But... now I see matters coming to a close. At least for the end, instead of using a borrowed idea, why don't you come up with an idea of your own to close the curtain?" Makishima clicked off the speakers, continuing to speak and not caring what Midou cried.
"What are you doing?!" He tried to grab the edge of Talisman's red-and-gold in vain, hand passing through the Holo and making him stumble. Spooky Boogie and Blue Melancholia sneered at him, and Talisman's disembodied head hung just beyond his reach, gave painted with a mocking expression facing him.
"You can play any character, and yet, in the end it turned out that you yourself are nobody. Your core personality is null. It's empty." Makishima sighed with disdainful disappointment, "You don't have the will to face yourself. Since you lacked a face, you were simply able to wear any kind of mask."
"STOP IT. STOP IIIIT."
"It's about to say goodbye, Midou Masatake. The hunting dogs that bring death have arrived," a press of the enter key and Midou's Interior Holo was disabled, a few typed commands wiped his computer's memory, and Makishima slid off the headset altogether, standing up from his seat and stretching. "Perhaps now would be a good time for tea."
They had been outside for only a few moments, Tsunemori and Kagari listening on the inside with their ears to the door. A pained scream caught their attention, and Ginoza raised a finger, a second, and when his ring finger was up Tsunemori spun around, her heel meeting the door and kicking it in with a bang as it slammed open. "This is the MWPSB!" she announced, running in and taking a position on Midou's right, Kagari, Ginoza, and Yayoi taking up their own spots and aiming at the flailing, deranged Midou.
Choe choked on a sip of tea, setting the cup down and turning up the volume. He began typing rapidly to open his line on the apartment's surveillance cameras, a pressing sense of urgency presenting itself. Did he just hear-
Crime Coefficient: 330. Mode: Lethal Eliminator. Please aim safely and eliminate the target. The directional voice sang.
With a nod from Ginoza, the four pulled the triggers on their Dominators, four blasts of molecular disruptor biting Midou's torso at once.
He exploded into muscle and blood, a mere messy splash on the floor.
The Dominators went back to Paralyzer form, and Yayoi was the first to lower hers. "So it seems that this case is over," she stated curtly.
Tsunemori had gone near Midou's computer, tapping away at the tablet. "But... Who was he talking to in here?" she observed, momentarily glancing at the surveillance cameras suspiciously.
Gu-Song could barely believe his ears and eyes- she had been right under their noses the whole time. She was right there-
He took a glance from the view of another camera, looking straight at the mushroom-haired woman. Should I- he shook his head.
If be was to choose between his methods of death, he'd rather die by Makishima's razor blade than any terrors that Tsunemori's black mood could bring. It would be best to wait to examine her movements, or if Makishima did hear of her existence from him and she had disappeared again...
Choe decided that it would be best for his sanity to not pursue that line of thought.
Pie: RIP Midou. He was actually my favourite minor villain... And can anyone guess what case happens after this one? XD
Review? O w O