"I'm sorry you had to hear it this way," Akane said.

Kagari didn't respond.

She wanted to add something more, to somehow lessen the blow, but she couldn't think of anything to say. She'd had months to deal with her own grief, and during that time it had changed from a hot angry presence in her chest to a sadness that accompanied her around like a constant companion. So to her, this was a joyous occasion—seeing a friend miraculously returned to life. To Kagari, though, it was a huge shock—he and the old man had shared a close friendship. In many ways, Kagari had known Tomomi Masaoka better than Ginoza.

Kagari stared down at the carpet, as if divining some insight from the fibers there. His sudden appearance in Akane's apartment had led to an ecstatic reunion, with Akane breaking down into tears and Kagari looking uncomfortable at her emotional reaction, and both telling each other stories of what had happened to them since the attack on Nona Tower. Akane's disbelief at Kagari's revelation about the true nature of the Sibyl System was only partly feigned. His description of Caneworth elicited genuine skepticism from her—she didn't think it credible that the Sibyl System would go to all the trouble of creating such an elaborate anachronism, but when Kagari told her of the gods he had met there, and the cavalier nature of their cruelties, a look of dawning recognition seemed to enter her eyes.

Then Akane had spoken of the Bureau, and their mutual friends, and now…

Maybe I should have lied to him, Akane thought sadly. He doesn't deserve this.

The redhead shuddered and seemed to go limp in his chair. Choe Gu-sung's program had hijacked Candy, forcing the holographic projectors built into Akane's apartment to form a replica of Kagari's mental self-image. He appeared much as he had in life—though, Akane thought, perhaps a bit more dashing.

"He wrote your eulogy," Akane said. "Masaoka, I mean."

Kagari looked up. His eyes were bloodshot. Even holographically, they looked sad. "Did he insult me?"

Akane blinked. "What? No, of course not!"

"That old bastard," Kagari sighed. "I knew he wouldn't go through with it." At Akane's puzzled look, he added, "We had a deal. If one of us bought the farm before the other, we were supposed to call each other horrible names during the ceremony."

"Oh."

"We came up with the idea during one of Ginoza's stakeouts. This was before you came on the force—say, three years ago? Anyway, there was a perp who suddenly snapped one day, went from a Crime Coefficient of 35 to over 170 in less than two hours. We'd never seen anything like it." Kagari shook his head slowly, his eyes seeming to mist over with the memory. "This guy somehow managed to slip through the interdiction nets. Vanished like smoke. Never seen anything like that, either."

"What happened?"

"Well, since the Officer's Handbook didn't have anything in it about magical criminals who could evade the PSB's sensors, Ginoza had no clue what to do. You should have seen his face." Kagari chuckled. "He looked green. Anyway, the idiot had the bright idea of putting his two best Enforcers on stakeout duty at the perp's apartment. The one place in the whole world that he'd be sure never to show his face, right? Well, try telling Nobuchika Ginoza that. I sure did."

"He usually goes by the book," Akane said diplomatically.

The redhead snorted. "That's 'cause he's got as much sense as a cut of salmon."

"Actually, Ginoza's been the most effective of my Enforcers. He's changed."

"Really? That's a surprise. What happened?"

Akane winced. I shouldn't have brought it up. "After Masaoka died."

Kagari's face slowly lost its expressiveness. His eyes grew hooded and he looked back down. "Right," was all he said.

Akane sighed and fiddled with her teacup. She looked around her apartment for inspiration, trying to find something to rouse her friend from his grief, but nothing presented itself. Then she paused. What am I doing? I'm the head of Division One of the Public Safety Bureau. I'm a Senior Inspector. Kagari was an Enforcer—technically, he still is an Enforcer. Why am I treating him like spun glass?

"Kagari."

He looked up.

Akane made her tone gentle but firm. "You can't fall to pieces right now just because Masaoka died. I know you're grieving, and I sympathize, but there are too many urgent things to discuss." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to pull yourself together."

The redheaded Enforcer blinked. He looked at Akane's face, then around her apartment. He finally focused on his shoes. "Well, that was a surprise."

"What was?" Akane demanded.

"That." He nodded to her. "Akane Tsunemori acting like an Inspector of the MWPSB for once. Things really have changed, haven't they? Back when I used to run with you, you'd flinch if Kogami even looked at you funny."

"Ginoza wasn't the only one who changed," Akane said. "I did, too."

"I can see that." Kagari sighed, then seemed to shake himself like a wet dog drying its coat. He rubbed his face with his palms and then inhaled sharply. "All right, Inspector. What are your orders?"

"You said that Choe Gu-sung has plans to take down the Sibyl System."

"That's right. And I'm going to help him."

"You should both know that Sibyl's defenses have been upgraded since Makishima's attack on the Tower. The Cymatic scan helmet trick won't work again—the algorithms have been upgraded. And the Tower itself has been hardened against physical attacks. There are auto-gun emplacements now, controlled directly by Sibyl. A garrison of the SDF has been positioned nearby with heavy weaponry." Akane spread her hands. "There's really no chance for a repeat of the last attack. You'd be cut down before you could even get near the heart of Sibyl."

Kagari smiled. "There's no need for that. Choe found a hole in the Tower's firewalls. The next time we go in, it won't be through the front door."

Akane frowned. If they really have a way of getting inside the firewall, their attack might actually work. The defense drills are almost always about physically securing the Tower. The MWPSB never discusses cyber-defenses—they're considered to be invulnerable. For human programmers to think about second-guessing the peerless Sibyl System was laughable. It seems like Sibyl's arrogance might be its downfall.

"And when are you planning to carry out this attack?" Akane asked carefully.

"Well, that was partly why I asked Choe to send me here." Kagari looked at her current apartment décor—a floral-wallpaper, shag-carpet extravaganza of retro style—and grinned at her. "Of course, seeing Akane Tsunemori's home up close was an extra incentive. What's going on in here, by the way? Where did you get all this stuff?"

Akane felt her face grow warm. "It's my grandmother's. I found the holo-discs in her vault after she died. It's her birthday next month, so..."

"I get it. That's sweet of you. Mind you, I'd never do anything like that for my grandma. She used to chase me around the house with a stick, 'cause I used to steal stuff from the mall." Kagari shook his head with a sigh. "Of course, even back then I'd already been labeled as a latent criminal, so I figured, why bother fighting it? Just fulfill my destiny and get it over with—and in the meantime pick up some sweet stuff. But she did it for my own good, I guess."

Akane opened her mouth to offer her friend some commiserating words, but something stopped her. She thought of her earlier lie to Kagari—a lie by omission, yes, but a lie nonetheless. Kagari seemed completely convinced that the Sibyl System was unjust and should be dismantled. Why didn't she feel the same way? It's solved so many problems for society. Theft, murder, rape—they're all nightmares of the past. We don't have to fear walking down an alley in the middle of the night any longer. Sibyl has shown us that there's nothing to fear in the dark—that all human beings are equally trustworthy, equally kind, because Sibyl has vouched for them, and Sibyl knows us all. But didn't that mean Sibyl would have to know Shusei Kagari, too? And if it did, then wasn't his status as a latent criminal justified?

She couldn't be sure. She had trusted the System all her life, and even after learning that it was made up of criminally asymptomatic brains, a revelation that had shaken her faith to its core, Akane still believed in the fundamental goal of the Sibyl System: to make the world a safe place for people to live. But you know Shusei Kagari, a voice whispered in her head. You know he doesn't deserve a life of imprisonment, a life spent hunting down other criminals like a dog. You know he has a good heart. Akane blinked, and was surprised to find that tears were clinging to the corners of her eyes. She wiped them away angrily.

"Are you okay?" Kagari asked, looking concerned.

"I'm fine," she sniffed, and lied again. "I was just thinking about my grandmother."

Akane thought of Masaoka—the hardbitten detective, a relic from a world long past—and Kunizuka, a girl who just wanted freedom through her music. Were they all to be condemned? She thought of a monster like Shogo Makishima—if the Sibyl System could seek him out and elevate him to its own ranks, while simultaneously forcing a good person like Kagari into prison, was it actually making the world a just place? Or was it making the world a tame place?

An image of the Enforcers' quarters suddenly popped into her head. It had never looked more like a kennel.

Then she thought of Japan itself—an island that had somehow avoided the nuclear catastrophe of the past century, when other nations built themselves up, raged against their neighbors, and just as quickly fell to pieces. The Japanese people believed themselves to be the fortunate ones, but perhaps that was not the case. Perhaps the nuclear wars had been—should have been—an extinction event, and those who survived were like an endangered species kept alive in captivity. Perhaps Sibyl was their zookeeper.

No, she thought. That's not it.

She pictured, instead, countless strings dangling from Nona Tower, as millions of marionettes lived, danced, and died in unthinking unison.

That's it.

"Kagari," Akane said. "When is Choe planning to attack?"

"Soon," he replied. "We wanted to find someone on the ground, in the real world, to help us. I thought of you."

When had she become so blind? It was staring her right in the face—the cause of her ennui. The reason for the sadness that would periodically swallow her whole. It had taken Kagari coming back from the dead to snap her out of an unthinking malaise... To realize that what was not logical might still be right. The Sibyl System had driven the man she loved into exile, and now it dared to threaten his life, thinking her a tame puppet. She knew what she had to do.

It's time to cut my strings.

"Someone on the ground," Akane repeated, smiling. "I think I have just the person for you."

Kagari blinked. "Who?"

Kogami, she thought, her smile growing wider. Shinya Kogami.


"He's back."

"Can he hear us?"

"I don't know, Vice-Chairman."

"Shogo?"

The blackness of oblivion fled; Makishima felt warmth return to his limbs, sight to his eyes, sound to his ears. He inhaled sharply and opened his eyes. For a moment the world spun sickeningly, and he came close to throwing up. But then the room seemed to right itself, and he saw that he was sitting half-crouched in the center of the Awakening Portal, which before his eyes seemed to fade away, as if it had been drawn with invisible ink.

Evelyn Sawaki was lying nearby, being tended to by Naoka and another Sibyl technician. She seemed to be unconscious. What did she say before we left? Makishima searched his memory, grasping with clumsy fingers through a fog of amnesia. She said that I saved her.

Masuda and Yamato were suddenly hovering over him—or perhaps they had been there all along. Makishima looked up at the Vice-Chairman, whose ruddy countenance seemed immensely relieved to see him alive and well.

"It worked," Makishima said, hoarsely.

"I see that." Yamato clapped him on the shoulder, hard. "Good work, Shogo. I knew you wouldn't let us down. The Sibyl System owes you a debt of gratitude." He hesitated, then lowered his voice. "And the latent criminals?"

For the first time, Makishima realized that murdering all of Caneworth's latent criminals might not have had the official sanction of Sibyl. Wonderful. He closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose. "Dead. All of them."

Yamato gave a self-satisfied smile. "Very good."

"You saved her, Shogo," Masuda breathed into his ear, too close, and Makishima glanced at him. The programmer's eyes were shining. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Makishima let the two men help him upright—his muscles seemed to have the consistency of toasted jelly. He wobbled for a few seconds before Masuda caught him. "What's wrong with me?"

"You just experienced a tremendous mental strain," Yamato explained as Makishima was half-carried to a nearby chair. "When you used the Authorship to dismiss the latent criminals, leaving Evelyn and yourself as the only participants of Caneworth, the responsibility of generating its environments fell solely to you both. And when Evelyn lost consciousness, it came to you entirely." Yamato shook his head. "I do not think you realize how extraordinary you are, Shogo. To be able to hold within your mind the entirety of Caneworth, even for a matter of seconds—it was an incredible feat, worthy of Mr Chambers himself."

"Is that so?"

"Yes," Masuda said eagerly. "And he wants to meet you, Shogo. Isn't that wonderful? The old man himself wants to speak to you in person." He sighed. "What an honor!"

Mr Chambers is the last person I want to see, Makishima thought grimly. "Could I get a few hours of sleep first?" he asked. "I'd like to be well-rested for our first meeting."

"Of course, of course," Yamato murmured, and patted him again on the shoulder. "Take as much time as you need. Masuda here will see that you are taken to the infirmary. Once again, Shogo, well done."

The Vice-Chairman nodded to Masuda and left. Makishima watched him go, then turned his attention to the woman, who still seemed to be comatose. "Is she going to be all right?" he asked Masuda.

The Sibyl programmer looked at Evelyn with a possessive gleam in his eyes. "She'll survive," he sighed, and rested his hand comfortably on Makishima's shoulder. "She's a fighter."

"And beautiful, too," Makishima said, deciding to test one of his hunches.

Hiroki's hand tightened for a brief second, then withdrew from his shoulder. The look that Makishima received was a good deal less friendly than it had been moments before.

"Yes, very beautiful." Masuda hesitated. "I didn't think she was your type."

"I can appreciate a beautiful woman as well as any man."

"Can you?" Masuda's hand returned to his shoulder, questing, and a fingertip brushed his collarbone.

"In fact, I may take her up on her invitation to dine together," Makishima added with a smile. "That is, once she recovers from her ordeal."

Masuda locked eyes with him. "She won't be interested in that, Shogo. Evelyn has… prior engagements."

Makishima chuckled. "With you?"

The programmer gestured to the door, ignoring his question. "We should get you to the infirmary, Shogo. You need to be looked at by our physician."

Just as I thought. He's in love with her.

Makishima slung his arm around the other man's shoulder and began to hobble toward the doorway. His trip to Caneworth had been more fruitful than he'd realized. In all his time spent in the Sibyl System so far, this was what he had been missing—leverage. The ability to bend a human being to his will, to unleash a person's desires to his own ends… It would never get old, not in a million years.

I can use this.


Makishima held out his arm and let the nurse replace the bandages that swaddled his left bicep and shoulder. He looked like an Egyptian mummy that had been interrupted half-way through the embalmment ceremony.

It had confused him, at first, this business of mental wounds inflicting physical maladies. But as Yamato explained it, these weren't actually physical wounds at all, as nobody in the Sibyl System possessed a body. They were instead a kind of imprint on the body's mental self-image. Makishima's rescue of Evelyn Sawaki had put his mind under great strain, and the result wasn't merely a headache—though he had one of those too, unfortunately—but a series of black-and-blue bruises that ran down the length of the left side of his body.

This was the third day after his return to the Blue Astrocyte. He had played up his injuries as much as he could, and the medical staff still seemed to believe him. His goal, of course, was to postpone his face-to-face meeting with Mr Chambers for as long as possible. He spent much of his time pacing the length of the infirmary, which was empty save for him—Sibyl gods were a mostly healthy sort, it seemed.

He must have gotten out safely, Makishima thought. He must have.

He being, of course, the Enforcer he'd met in Caneworth. If the man had successfully reached Choe, then Makishima should be receiving a message soon. He wasn't sure how the hacker would do it, but that Gu-sung would succeed he had no doubt.

As for what would happen afterwards, he wasn't yet sure. Probably Choe would have some insight that would illuminate a way forward—at least that was what Makishima hoped. From his current vantage, Sibyl was frighteningly defensible.

They learned from our last attack. This Mr Chambers, whoever or whatever he is, isn't stupid.

"There," said the nurse, and tied a neat knot at his shoulder. Makishima flexed his bicep and nodded. "You're all set, sir."

"Thank you," Makishima said, and turned away. But he paused and turned back, his face curious. "Are you a latent criminal?"

The nurse, a plump, mildly attractive young woman, looked startled at his question, then nodded shyly. She had a mole on the right side of her nose, which Makishima found oddly alluring.

"What did you do?" Makishima asked.

The nurse hesitated. She looked around the infirmary, saw that it was deserted, and seemed to waver in a moment of indecision. But then she shook her head. "I'm sorry, sir, but we aren't supposed to tell. We promised."

"I see. That's fine." Makishima smiled. "By the way, would you happen to know where they're treating the other patient? The woman—Evelyn Sawaki?"

"She's just down the hall, sir, in room 6."

"Thank you."

Makishima nodded to her and left. The infirmary was on the ground floor of the Astrocyte, and since there were only eight private rooms adjoining it, number 6 wasn't very difficult to find. He went to the door and gave it a quick rap with his knuckles, then opened it and went inside.

It was the mirror of his own room—a smallish space with a single cotton-sheeted bed, a chair for the visiting physician, a gray metal cabinet holding various disinfectants and medicines, and little else. In this room, however, the bed was occupied by a woman. She appeared to be asleep.

Makishima watched her from the doorway. The way she looked at me in Caneworth, he thought. It's as if she thought I was a completely different person.

He turned to go.

"Wait."

Makishima paused. "Oh, you're awake."

"Yes." Sawaki turned to face him, the sheets crumpling against her body. The room was dim, illuminated only by a single light-panel on the ceiling, and her eyes seemed to glint at him from the darkness. "Hello, Shogo."

"Hello," he returned, and came closer to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Painful," the woman admitted. "I might have gotten beaten up by a hundred people. That's what it feels like."

Makishima smiled and said, "I know what you mean." He gestured to his bandaged arm. "I managed to get away with only a few bruises. I think your injuries would be more severe." He looked closely at her face. "May I ask what it was like, in Caneworth?"

Sawaki closed her eyes. "Dying, you mean."

"Well, that's what Mr Yamato calls it, but I'm not so sure." Makishima came closer, seated himself on the chair beside the bed. He averted his eyes from her body. Gravity had tugged the fabric down, outlining a soft curve of skin. "Did it seem like death to you?"

Sawaki's eyes opened into slits and stared up at the ceiling, sightless. "It was like a dream," she said softly. "I was lost in a dark abyss, and there were voices murmuring my name all around me. Then they stopped, and I, I wanted them to keep going, but they couldn't hear me. They grew fainter and fainter, and then it was only me." She swallowed. "Only me and the darkness."

"That sounds quite horrible," Makishima said.

"It was. I floated there for an eternity, with only my thoughts, and I…" A tear rolled down Sawaki's cheek. Makishima watched it fall without expression. "I lost my mind. I know I did. I was afraid, Shogo, deeply afraid."

She turned to face him, and her eyes stared up at him with a lustful hunger.

"But then I heard something. It was a voice calling out to me, calling into the darkness." She swallowed, licking her lips. "It was you, Shogo. It was your voice. I heard you and knew that I was saved."

"I'm glad you're okay," Makishima said, voice soft as a whisper, "but it wasn't me, Evelyn. Yamato and Masuda arranged the rescue. Probably Mr Chambers had a hand in it as well. I just did what they asked."

At the words Mr Chambers Evelyn Sawaki's eyes grew wide with terror. She sat bolt upright in bed and reached a shaking hand out toward Makishima. "You haven't met him yet, have you?" she demanded. "Please say you haven't, Shogo!"

Why is she so agitated? Makishima slowly shook his head. "I haven't. I've been recovering in the infirmary with you. Why?"

"Oh, thank God." Sawaki sagged back down, and for the first time Makishima saw how frail she was. Her arms trembled from the strain of holding herself upright. "Listen to me, Shogo. You mustn't agree to meet Chambers. He isn't what you think. Do you understand?"

"Yes," he said slowly. "But you have to explain. Why is he so dangerous? Does he want to kill me?"

"He doesn't want to kill you," Sawaki whispered, exhausted. "He doesn't care if you live or die, Shogo. Death is immaterial to him. He isn't human."

Makishima blinked, then opened his mouth. He couldn't think of anything to say to that, so he closed it again. He's not human?

"Promise me you'll stay away from him," Sawaki said softly.

"He wants to meet me," Makishima said.

"That's the first step. You must avoid it at all costs, Shogo."

"I may not have a choice."

"You must find some way of stalling them."

Makishima gazed at her with narrowed eyes. "Them?" he echoed.

"Kurou knows the truth. He is one of the few to understand what Sibyl really is." Sawaki closed her eyes and grimaced. "You mustn't trust anything that man says. He is an adder."

Just as I suspected. But how can I trust her? She is a psychopath, and notorious for her cruelty. Makishima studied Sawaki's face. But she's changed, somehow, since Caneworth. I can read that much from her face.

"Evelyn, what is Mr Chambers?" he asked.

Sawaki shook her head. "I can't tell you, Shogo, not yet. If you were to hear that knowledge, Chambers would know instantly and seek you out. Your best chance is to find some way of avoiding him that won't raise suspicions." She chewed her lower lip and gazed at him intently, her eyes lovely and brown. She is beautiful, isn't she? Something about Evelyn Sawaki reminded him of a wild animal. In that, Makishima thought wistfully, she was like Shinya Kogami.

"When can you tell me?" he demanded.

"Telling you would sign your death warrant. I can't do that."

Would trusting this woman be too dangerous? Makishima wasn't entirely certain, but he took the risk anyway. If I'm wrong, I die. These kinds of stakes are what makes life exhilarating and worth living.

"Evelyn, I have a plan to destroy the System." He looked at her face. Her expression flicked through surprise and quickly transformed into hope.

"When?"

"Just as you can't tell me about Mr Chambers, I'm not sure I can trust you yet," he replied. "But it will be soon. In the meantime, I will try my best to avoid Mr Chambers. Will you keep me apprised of the Vice-Chairman's plans?"

"Yes," she said softly.

Makishima nodded, and turned to leave.

"Shogo."

He paused by the doorway. "Yes?"

"I love you."

For a moment, Makishima looked as if he would respond in kind. But he simply stared at her for a moment before nodding and leaving the room.

In the hallway, he paused, a half-smile rising to tug at the corner of his lips. Kurou knows the truth, she said. He began to walk with a purpose toward the nearest bank of elevators. I think it's time I learn more about the Vice-Chairman's background, and I know just the person to ask.


"It's going to look suspicious if I leave the Dominator in the car for too long," Akane muttered to her wrist. There, alongside her PSB-issued communicator, lay what had been the most coveted device of her high school years: a portable holo-projector with integrated CPU and microphone, capable of beaming CommuField shows directly into the real world. It had cost a fortune of credit card debt (Akane still hadn't paid it off) and then sat unused for years, having taken a backseat to first her schooling, then her new career. Until now.

"You should have left it at home," a tinny reproduction of Kagari's voice said, wafting from the speaker on her wrist. "That's what I did."

"I know, and you used to get written up for it," Akane pointed out. "In fact, I used to write you up, Shusei."

"I thought that was Ginoza! Is that why I lost roaming privileges?"

"Affirmative," Akane said cheerfully.

"I can't believe you would do that to me, Akane-chan!"

"Be quiet."

The worker entrance of the Shoju Industrial Manufacturing Center was an ordinary steel door set low against the high facade of the crumbling factory. Akane entered an alphanumeric code on the small rusted keypad next to the door and waited. After a moment, a snick was heard and the door slid quietly open.

Akane peered into the dusty darkness. Well, that's a bit spooky.

"You can go inside. There's nothing there."

"It was Makishima's lair," Akane protested, with a slight shiver that she hoped Kagari wouldn't notice. "Forgive me if I don't want to just walk right in. It could be a trap."

"Akane, trust me," Kagari's voice sighed. "I really think we misjudged Gu-sung and Makishima. They're definitely the lesser of two evils. The Sibyl System is much worse."

Steeling herself, Akane walked into the darkness, expecting a hand to reach out and grab her at any moment. But nothing did. As she walked, her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light, and she realized that what she had taken to be a hallway was in fact a gigantic empty space—almost three football pitches in length, and several stories high. Each time she took a step her heels gave a resounding echo into that cavernous expanse.

"What did they build here?" Akane asked, awestruck by the sheer size of the factory. "It must have been big, whatever it was."

"No idea. Keep going straight. See that light in the far corner? That's Choe."

Akane squinted. By now she was more than halfway across the factory floor, yet she couldn't make out anything but the dimmest outline of the far wall. But then, as she passed two parked automobiles and a motorbike, she began to see a feeble blue glow in the distance.

"I see something."

"Keep going."

She did, though her feet were beginning to ache. I didn't think this would involve a forced march, she grumbled to herself. This Choe Gu-sung had better be worth it.

The blue glow proved to be the soft LED illuminations of a high-end computer. It was cube-shaped, sleekly built—and she knew she'd seen one before. Then she remembered where. Karanomori has one in the Data Hive. According to her, it's a supercomputer, with availability restricted to the most trusted Japanese businesses and government agencies. How did Makishima's hacker get one?

She entered the makeshift office space and looked around. "It's awfully dark in here," she said. "Can I turn on a light?"

There was the sound of a throat clearing, and then a new voice said, in gruff Japanese, "Be my guest, Inspector."

Akane whirled, her hand instinctively falling to her empty holster. Damn it. She looked around the L-shaped desk with wide eyes, her heart racing. Who said that? There's nobody here!

"Inspector, please calm yourself. You already looked at me."

"The computer," Kagari supplied dryly.

Oh. Akane circled the desk slowly and stared at the computer.

"You seem surprised," Gu-sung's voice said, coming from a small speaker built into the cube.

"No." She shook her head. "I just expected you to be..."

"Human?"

Akane shrugged. "Maybe. When Kagari came to my apartment, he looked just like he did when I knew him." She took a deep breath, and despite the fact that she felt silly doing it, she gave the computer a deep bow. "I apologize for my rudeness, Mr Gu-sung. I just expected you to take a human form, that's all."

"I see." There was a sound of static. "Is this better?"

Above them, in the corner of the factory, an old holographic projector flared into life. Through a cloud of dust motes a beam of light was sent, focused on a spot directly across from Akane. At first just gray noise, the light grew brighter and sharper, until the silhouette of a man appeared, though still indistinct.

"One moment."

With a loud bang, a diesel generator rumbled to life at the far end of the factory. Akane jumped. At the same time, the floodlights on the ceiling turned themselves on, and when Akane looked back across the table, a man in his early thirties was staring back at her.

Choe Gu-sung was fairly ordinary in appearance—except for his eyes. They glowed yellow when Akane looked at him. Of course, she thought. Cyberized implants. The hacker was attired in a white shirt and low-slung jeans. An earring—whether purely ornamental or of some function purpose, she couldn't tell for sure—poked out from one earlobe. All in all, Makishima's sidekick gave an unassuming impression.

He looks like a computer programmer, Akane thought. She'd seen his type before, in the arcades outside of the business district. But I should be careful. This is the man who brought Makishima's desire for chaos into reality.

"Do I meet your expectations?" Gu-sung asked dryly, having noticed Akane's scrutinizing stare.

"You look harmless enough," Akane replied, and smiled when the hacker grimaced.

"Shogo always took credit for being the dangerous one," Gu-sung sighed.

Akane raised an eyebrow. "Well, wasn't he?"

The hacker sighed again. "Touché."

He's not what I expected. He seems too normal to have helped Makishima kill so many innocent people. But I can't forget what he is. He deserves to stand trial just like the man he follows.

"Sorry to interrupt, but can we get on with things?" Kagari asked. "I mean, it's not like the Sibyl System is still out there oppressing the Japanese people or anything."

"He's right," Akane said, and turned to the hacker. "Mr Gu-sung, Shusei tells me that you have the ability to break through Nona Tower's firewalls."

"I do, but I'm afraid we've had a small change in plans. The attack has been postponed."

Akane blinked. "What?"

Ignoring her, the hacker said to Kagari, "He sent a message."

"Seriously? What did it say?"

"He wants us to look into the history of Kurou Yamato."

Kagari sounded crestfallen. "I've never heard of him."

"I have," Akane said.

And it was true: she was intimately familiar with the scion of the Yamato family, having written her thesis on the Sibyl System. Kurou had been the eldest son of a representative in the old Diet, before the deposing of the Japanese emperor and the brief establishment of martial law, and had played a pivotal role in the creation of modern Japan. Put simply, the country wouldn't exist as it now did without his efforts.

The hacker's yellow eyes fixed upon Akane. He must have known who Yamato was, Akane thought, but he seemed to be willing to let her fill in the gaps for Kagari. Maybe he's trying to see how much I know. His projected body shimmered as it rounded the desk to sit upon an equally illusory chair. He crossed his arms and watched her.

"Well, who is he, Akane-chan?" Kagari demanded impatiently.

"He was a politician before he died," Akane began, then stopped. "Well, actually, he was a transformational figure in Japanese history, not just a politician. He created the Sibyl System, or at least its predecessor, the Karma Network. The entire system of Cymatic scans and assigned Psycho-Passes was his idea. Many people considered him to be a genius."

"Why does Makishima want us to research this old guy? I mean, what could he possibly have to do with helping us bring down Sibyl?"

"Shogo believes that he's important," Choe said quietly. "Therefore he is. We'll do as he asks."

"Fine, fine."

"I mean, it makes sense," Akane said slowly. "He was the creator of the Sibyl System, so it stands to reason that something in his life, something Makishima discovered or suspects, could help us. I'd say it's worth checking out."

"Great," Kagari said, sounding less than enthused. It was clear that he had been looking forward to planning an attack, not poring over a lifetime's worth of records of a deceased politician. "Where do we start?"

Akane waited, but Choe Gu-sung didn't budge from his chair. He sat with a serene expression and examined his fingernails, craned his head to peer up at the skylights, then cracked his knuckles. It was only when he turned to Akane and lifted his eyebrow, as if to say, Well, get on with it, Inspector, that she understood what he was doing.

He wants to use my Bureau access to look into Yamato's restricted files. Akane chewed on her lower lip. Even if we're working together against Sibyl, can I give a hacker of Choe's caliber free access to the MWPSB's database?

Gu-sung seemed to be aware of the ethical struggle that Akane was having. He watched her with evident amusement, a glint in his false yellow eyes. He seemed to view it as a sort of grand entertainment.

Akane closed her eyes. There really was no alternative, she knew. But that didn't mean she had to like it. "We can use my Ministry credentials to access the citizens' database," she said reluctantly. "It will have everything on Yamato—his schooling, his career, even personal documents."

"But the only terminal in the Public Safety Bureau with that level of access is in Shion's… Oh!"

Akane sighed. "That's right. We have to complete the search from within Nona Tower. This is going to be tricky."

As if that were his cue to speak, Choe Gu-sung uncurled himself from a lazy sprawl on his chair and stood. He crossed the small office and pointed to a filing cabinet. "I believe I can help with the logistics, Inspector. You can carry us into the MWPSB right under everyone's noses. They'll be none the wiser."

"How?" Akane demanded.

"Open it."

She did as the hacker asked. Inside the cabinet was a… a…

"What the hell is that?" Kagari asked, voicing Akane's own question.

The hacker gave them both a pitying look. "Do neither of you have an appreciation for history?" He shook his head sadly. "This, my friends, is called a laptop."

"It's big."

"It's old."

"It's our new home," Choe said. "It doesn't have any Cymatic circuitry in it, so the Tower's automatic scans won't pick up anything. But the quantum chip inside is quick enough to simulate both Kagari and myself. Inspector Tsunemori can bring it to work, wait for the database terminal to be unattended, and then connect us to the data-port. We'll download everything."

That's what I was afraid of, Akane thought. "How long will it take to set up the laptop, Mr Gu-sung?"

"Transferring all of the programs I'll need should take a few hours."

"Fine. Get to work, then."

The hacker smiled. "Yes, ma'am."

It's not the ideal course of action, but it's a necessary one. I'll have to get used to the idea that after Sibyl is gone, the world won't be organized and catalogued perfectly. It will be like it was in the old world. Messy and chaotic—but free.