PSYCHO-PASS : Paradigm Shift

Chapter 14 : Perfect Control

PSYCHO-PASS : PARADIGM SHIFT

PART 14 – Perfect Control

Warning: Some gore/non-con elements are featured in this chapter. Please read at your own discretion.

Shizuka was revising reports, marking the most important pending cases. MWPSB had more files than ever. The crime rate has risen beyond the capacity of personnel that the bureau currently had, and Shizuka had to ask herself yet again why there seemed to be an increasing number of criminals under Sibyl's watchful eye.

If the system was considered perfect... then why did people show such discontent with it?

An image of a swinging body with shiny black shoes flashed before her eyes. She shook it away, thinking how it was the worst time to be revoking those memories. She had to focus on her work, not the memories of the past. All her triggers were active recently, so she had to be very careful.

It just didn't add up. He was a criminal psychologist. He was investigating occurrences in patients... whose psycho passes were irregular and unacceptable. Why would he turn against his own family? Why would he eventually take his own life? Did he actually take his own life? And why has Hana, her mother... reacted... the way she did? Why did she have that expression when Shizuka came into his study... and found him?

Since when has she started referring to her as Hana... and not as mom? In her mind, maybe she made that distinction because she needed to separate the two. Hana the victim... Hana, the tormented one. And mom. Loving, caring, and wonderful mom who was always considerate, gentle, and dead before her time. Shizuka sighed, shaking her head. Don't think about the past, she told herself. Think about the future. Whatever it might bring.

Her other thoughts weren't much brighter in comparison.

The Specimen case. Her recent therapy sessions with Kana's AI. Her disagreements with Kasei. Her fights with both Kogami and Gino. The discord between inspectors was growing bigger, despite everyone's best effort to work as diligently as they could, each in their own way. Gino... Akane... Shizuka, each did their jobs in their own manners, some working closer with enforcers than others, but working in their best way nonetheless. Still, it became particularly harsh these past few cases, despite them mending all the troublesome gaps and character differences.

We have to work in unison. We can't risk to pursue things individually. We are a team, and we have to work as a team. Shizuka felt restless because she had a bad feeling ever since she got into the office.

She glanced towards Kandinski's 'Blue'. For a moment, she thought she could hear the melody behind the visual 'code' that the painting represented. It resonated within Shizuka's soul. The sound was vibrant and melodic, but sad in its essence. She was dissociating from her work for a moment, only realizing that her wristcom was ringing after the holo projection of a picture appeared. Focusing on the name, Shizuka picked up the call.

"Gino?"

"Kogami disappeared," were his words shortly after she opened the line.

At first, she thought she didn't hear him well. She was silent in her confusion, feeling a cold sweat breaking upon her forehead. She wiped it away.

"What are you talking about?" she asked. Just this morning, he headed off to assist Akane.

"You know what I am talking about," Gino retorted with a lack of patience. With all the piled up stress in the past week, he wasn't in the mood to play.

"Hey, Nobuchika..." she started, but his voice interrupted.

"Don't play coy, Shizuka. I know you were with him last night," he stated, with astute delivery of that observation. His voice sounded calm, professional like it had always been while they were working... but Shizuka felt her cheeks burn, as if Gino was standing right in front of her. She could picture his expression quite clearly. He probably had that grimace of silent disdain.