Justice at Delphi - The Fall of Sibyl

Chapter 23

The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become.

-Heraclitus

Akane stared into  her coffee pensively as if it held the secrets of the universe. It was well past the end of her shift, but she hadn't gone home. Her eyes strayed to the window of the canteen. The city lights were shining like stars in the darkness. Somewhere out there Kogami and Mr. Koji were setting her plan in motion. A lump formed in her throat. It was one thing to plan how to bring down Sibyl. It was another thing entirely to actually do it. She had faith in Kogami and Mr. Koji, but it didn't make her any less scared. 

What if they were caught? 

Kogami would probably be executed. A shiver went down her spine at the thought. The idea that he could suddenly cease to exist sent a dagger of pain through her heart. That someone so strong, so relentless could vanish...be reduced to nothing more than a gory stain on the ground made her ill. 

Mr. Koji would most likely be incarcerated at a correctional facility. For a man like him, it would a fate worse than death. To go from having near absolute freedom, to having every moment of your life restricted would be hell itself. 

Don't think like that!

She forced herself to focus on the task at hand. How to keep Sibyl busy while they set off the EMP in the tower? She wracked her brain, but could come up with no solutions. Makishima's method had been brutal, but effective. Distracting them all with mayhem and chaos in the street, while he quietly broke in. They hadn't seen it coming. Even Sibyl had been blindsided. However, Akane was no Makishima. The point was to rescue society from Sibyl's clutches, not destroy it. She sighed heavily. 

"Something wrong?"

Akane jumped at the sound of Yayoi's voice. She looked up in embarrassment at the enforcer. As usual, her face was inscrutable. People used to call it a poker face. She offered the enforcer a tight smile. "No, just a lot on my mind lately."

"May I sit?" It wasn't a question. It was a formality. Yayoi took the seat opposite Akane, her serious eyes observing her inspector. She respected Akane. She'd seen her develop from a rookie into a seasoned detective. After all this time, Yayoi trusted her. Trusted her enough to ask for the truth. "There's something specific bothering you, isn't there?"

Akane met Yayoi's penetrating gaze. Was this going to end like her conversation with Ginoza? He was still not speaking to her. She'd catch a brooding stare from him every now and then, but nothing else. Then again, Yayoi was less vindictive than Ginoza. She hadn't found a good time to broach the subject with him. To explain. To see if he would understand. "It's nothing I can't handle."

Yayoi scowled. "There's a reason inspectors and enforcers work together. We're supposed to shoulder the burden for you."

"And that doesn't bother you?" The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"That's just the way it is." Yayoi replied simply. She'd made her peace with her role a long time ago.

Akane shook her head. "If you hadn't become an enforcer, what would you be doing right now?"

"I was a musician...so probably doing a set a nightclub." She paused a beat before she continued. "I don't regret becoming an enforcer."

Akane's lips quirked up in a smile. "I don't doubt that. You have incredible skills as an enforcer."

Yayoi snorted softly. Kogami had once said something similar to her before she'd joined the MWPSB. It had given her a new purpose and changed her life forever. Now that she thought about it, Kogami had changed more than one life both as an inspector and an enforcer. The proof sat across from her. "I made my decision. I chose Sibyl. I chose justice."

She was surprised by Akane's bitter laughter at her words. She'd never seen the inspector like this. "Tsunemori?"

Akane sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude. It's just..." She bit her lip, debating how much she should say. She trusted Kunizuka as much as she trusted Ginoza. She was a reliable enforcer and she hoped a trusted friend. She was beginning to realize her plan would require more hands than she anticipated. People with a very specific skill set. Taking a leap of faith, Akane decided to test the waters. "I don't think justice is Sibyl's primary objective. It's true we bring in latent criminals and save innocent people, but don't you think there is something fundamentally unjust about Sibyl? The way we all live...it's as if individual choice and freedom have been entirely factored out of the equation."

The passion in Akane's voice was familiar. It reminded Yayoi of the rookie inspector who'd stood up to Ginoza in the face of his wrath. Akane wasn't the kind of person to blindly follow. Unlike some of the other inspectors, she could think outside Sibyl's pre-approved box. Even back then, Akane pushed back in her own innocent way...especially when Kogami was involved. Kogami...again. A nagging thought tugged at the corner of her mind. Why did she get the feeling Kogami had something to do with Akane's unrest?

"Life isn't always fair, but we chose this system and it has brought us relative peace and stability."

Akane nodded. She could count on Yayoi to offer a sensible point of view. "Yes and no. Is it really a choice when we didn't know what we were choosing?"

Yayoi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, " Akane added, lowering her voice. "Sibyl might not be what we think it is."

Akane's words chilled Yayoi to her core. Talk like this could raise a person's psycho-pass. While their senior inspector was extremely resilient, Akane could still get in trouble if the wrong person were to overhear their conversation. "Inspector--"

"I know what I sound like and I know it makes me seem crazy." Akane took a sip of her now tepid coffee and grimaced. 

"I don't think you're crazy." Yayoi hesitated before continuing. "I've known you a long time now and you've never struck me as the kind of person to give credit to wild conspiracy theories. I've learned to trust your judgement."

Akane smiled through the heavy ache in her chest. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." She rose to leave, knowing if she stayed any longer, she might give more away than she intended. At least, not yet. "Can we keep this conversation between us?"

Yayoi nodded. "Of course."

Before Akane could walk away, Yayoi grabbed her wrist. "I chose to serve Sibyl, but...if you ever need help just ask." She saw a strange look in Akane's eyes. Relief? Had she been worried about talking to her? As she watched Akane leave, a flicker of movement drew Yayoi's attention. She caught sight of Inspector Shimotsuki trailing after Akane, trying to look nonchalant. Patching things up? What a joke. She was spying on Tsunemori. 

Yayoi leaned back in her chair and looked at the ceiling. The question was who would Shimotsuki spy for? Who would want to spy on Akane and why? She had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with Akane's misgivings about Sibyl. One thing was clear. There were larger forces afoot. She couldn't name it, but she could feel it. It was the same feeling she'd had when Kagari disappeared. After all this time, she was sure he was dead.  But who had ended his life and why? Why had there been such an effort to sweep things under the rug? It was more than just saving face of the MWPSB. It was something else. Something that had proved too elusive to find.

She sighed. She realized that the relative peace of Division 1 had been an illusion. There was too much left unresolved for that. We're just side characters in someone else's game. What pisses me off the most is we don't even get to choose the game. Kagari's words returned to her troubled mind. 

Yayoi glanced out the window into the inky darkness of the night. Her reflection stared back at her, placid as a lake. "Whose game are you playing inspector?"