Psycho Pass: Colorful World

8

And soon she was driving over the speed limit, with rotating lights and sirens on. It was unusual for an inspector to drive manually, but she preferred to do it herself. She avoided other vehicles, trying to reach the house as quickly as possible. Suddenly she heard a beep and the young man sitting next to her pressed the answer button, enabling only audio so that she would not be distracted while driving.

"You were right, inspector," Karanomori's voice echoed inside the car. "The suspect probably went to his house. He used a false identity and was not found at the hospital. He left half an hour ago."

"What a coincidence," Daiki muttered, looking straight ahead and grabbing his seat belt.

"How did you know? And why are you so sure he's going to kill his mother?"

"He kills abusers" -Yashiro turned the steering wheel to avoid hitting a security drone-"because he himself was abused as a child. He knows... he is going to get caught. He has to end it himself before the bureau gets there. I mean, that's what I would do. Wouldn't you?"

In the lab, Karanomori raised an eyebrow, startled by the way Yashiro mentioned the Public Safety Bureau, as something she was not part of, despite being an inspector herself. The holographic device displayed another call, and Daiki pressed the answer button again. Yashiro knew the moment she took the vehicle without previously consulting Aoyanagi, she would get into trouble.

"I told you not to rush in," her words seemed like knives by then. "You were supposed to wait for us. Your behavior is not that of an inspector. Just park the car near his house, and wait for reinforcement. Are you even listening to what I'm saying?"

"Someone tipped him off that you were coming for him. He must have gone home by now."

"Division 1 is on its way," Aoyanagi informed them.

Yashiro glanced at the screen and could not help but blurt out, "Division 1?"

"They found a victim who fits the profile the killer is looking for. Three years ago, they had been part of our investigation. At least wait for them," Aoyanagi warned her for the last time.

Yashiro knew she was being tracked by GPS and that they were heading to her location. She turned the device off as she stopped the car in front of the house. Holding the dominator with both hands, Daiki walked beside her to the door of the house and was about to knock, when they realized it was already open a few inches. There was no one inside, but they entered quietly.

Daiki opened the door to the basement of the house, which was next to the stairs, and looked at her raising his dominator with both hands. Yashiro nodded and continued into the other room. Daiki went down the stairs very slowly, and manipulated a touch screen on the wall to turn the lights on. Instead of discovering old tools and dust, he found himself in an operating room. There was an empty, clean surgical table in the center, illuminated by a white ceiling-mounted light that resembled a hanging eye watching a prospective patient.

Daiki was drawn to the far end of the room, where there was a desk with a large screen hanging on the wall and a computer. His eyes grew wider and wider as he got closer. It was a list of people living in Japan. They were women in their forties, with brown hair and brown eyes. All had been filtered according to the profile the killer was looking for, and they were the mothers of a child who had been hospitalized. Slowly, he raised his forearm towards his face.

"Inspector, uh, you'd better take a look at this," he mumbled, then turned his wristcom off.

Yashiro cautiously walked into the living room. There were two brown couches and an armchair with a small table in the middle, but she approached the fireplace and turned a wheelchair that was nearby. A woman with long brown hair suddenly opened her eyes and looked at her with bated breath. Yashiro tilted her head with the same relaxed expression, studying her features. She was wearing a white kimono with very wide sleeves, which covered her entire body and was fastened in front with a belt.