Cutscene: On Free Will...
Friday September 21st 2012 4:37 PM
Sumaru Police Headquarters
Office of Captain Shimazu, Head of the Homicide Division
"That was quite the stunt you pulled, Suou."
So speaks the man venturing into the far end of his fifties seated across from Katsuya. He's displeased, a fact made known solely by the absence of the head of the homicide division's usual smirk. Still staring down Suou, Captain Shimazu pushes his glasses up his nose.
Silence ensues from Katsuya's end of the desk, his own gaze level with his senior.
"You were explicitly told to refrain from working on this case, Suou. I can't see how I can take your actions at the hospital as anything but willful disobedience." Slowly, he taps his index finger on the top of his wooden desk. "Perhaps you would care to explain yourself?"
"Sir. I had to speak to him," Katsuya says at last, breaking his own silence. "...I understand that this isn't my assignment. Yet, I know that no one has made any headway in interrogating him. How are we meant to understand why he shot the mayor if no one can get through to him? I was the one who apprehended him, I saw how he was acting at the time. I know that I've been barred from this, but even my report from the City Hall incident went ignored." Katsuya pauses, straightening in his seat. "I can't excuse what I did. I disobeyed, deliberately. However, the suspect was willing to talk to me about what happened. Isn't that more important?"
Grim-faced, Shimazu leans forward on his desk. "You had your orders. Yet you decided that you would sneak into the hospital and speak to the suspect on your own," he says, brushing aside all of Suou's explanations as if he had barely even heard them. "With a /civilian/ girl, according to security's report. I fail to see how this staggering breach of protocol has anything to do with your claims."
In his seat, Katsuya tenses, the light catching at an odd angle across his sunglasses. "That's... Sir, I know that it's important to follow protocol. Believe me, I know that. We can't just do as we please. ...However, this is different. I've been removed from assisting the department in this, and there hasn't even been an explanation--" He cuts himself off as Shimazu lifts a hand. 'Stop.'
The barest of sighs escapes Shimazu. Slightly, the older man shakes his head. "Suou... what am I to do with you? Once again, you've managed to break protocol over this... ideal of yours. Has the academy grown so lax?" He settles back in his seat again, folding his hands across his desk.
Tilting his head, he peers over his glasses at the younger officer seated across from him. "I should fire you for this. --No," he corrects himself. "I should let Internal Affairs take you apart and /then/ fire you. Believe me, there's nothing I would like to do more than that."
Above the door, the clock continues to tick. It seems like it should miss a beat, for all the way the world seems to have fallen to one side. Katsuya himself holds so still it's difficult for anyone at all to say -- himself included -- that he even breathes. A statue must feel this way. Frozen hard and as still and cold as ice.
"However."
The word drops like a knell. There, at last, Shimazu's usual smirk has begun to make its reappearance. "It would be a shame, I would think, for the current generation to fall victim to the same fate as the last..."
Though Katsuya bears himself just as before, the feeling of cold within succumbs to that of a rising inferno.
"...Wouldn't you agree?" Shimazu finishes.
There is no sound in the office except the ticking of the clock.
"...Yes, sir," Katsuya says at considerable length.
"Now, shall we make a deal? Why don't you, as a show of good faith, volunteer to assist the department with a different aspect of our investigation into 'Cintamani'. Narcotics isn't your division, but under the circumstances, I believe we can make an exception. ...That is, if you're still interested in this case, Suou."
Katsuya again is silent at first. "...Please, go on, sir." What else could he even say?
That smug look remains on Shimazu's face. "We need men to go undercover and infiltrate the groups dealing the drug."
Widening his eyes, Katsuya stares. "You can't... isn't that dangerous? If they suspected the truth..."
Shimazu shakes his head, a slight movement that yet manages to remain saturated with judgment. "All policework is dangerous, Suou. Haven't you learned that by now?" Atop his desk, the captain splays his fingers together. "Regardless, I will admit that we are... somewhat desperate. How do they put it? 'Desperate times call for desperate measures'? We will do what's necessary to protect this city." Pointedly, he looks at Katsuya.
Who remains silent.
"We have a means to go about this, of course. We have every interest in mitigating the danger our officers are exposed to. You understand that, Suou." It's not a question.
Katsuya nods. "...I do, sir."
That twisted smile of Shimazu's only broadens. Without a word, he opens up a desk drawer, pulling out something from the depths that rattles in his hand. He leans across his desk, dropping it there on the edge, just within Suou's reach.
Tentatively, Katsuya picks it up. It has no label. With one questioning glance the captain's way, he unscrews the lid, shaking out the contents into his hand.
Five little pills, rather resembling a pile of tiny rough-cast bullets.
Friday September 21st 21 2012 10:53 PM
Sumaru Police Headquarters
Office of Captain Shimazu, Head of the Homicide Division
The office is dark. Lingering by the window, the aging captain lifts a few slats of the blinds with one finger. It's bright outside, a city lit by countless lights even when the world suggests it should be resting. Even now, who can say how many crimes are being committed, in the darkness and below the neon lights? It's a sinful world...
On his desk, the telephone rings. Walking over to his chair, Shimazu settles in before picking up, pressing the receiver against his ear.
"Did you finish making your selections?" asks the voice on the other end of the line.
"Yes. I excluded a few of our most useful officers from the pool. I think you'll be pleased with the ones I did choose. Hm... 'Two birds with one stone', is it? We learn more about 'Cintamani' and its producers in one move."
"Good," says the voice. "I'll see to it that you receive what you need in the next few days. We obtained some of 'it' from a supplier. Remember, they're not to know what they're taking is the real thing."
In the darkness, Shimazu's typical smirk broadens. "Of course."
