Psycho Pass: All Alone With You

Only When It Rains, Pt. 2

I let you in, you bled me out

You left me skin and bone, you left me all alone

You used to run, run through my veins

And to be honest, I know I'll never be the same

—from "Alone" by I, Prevail

Kogami felt himself being dragged through the darkness. That's how he seemed to spend his waking moments, treading water in darkness or drowning in it. His shoulders convulsed with spasms, cramping from the way his wrists were cuffed tightly behind his back. The pain was only intensified by the rough handling of the two men who carried him. One arm under each of his, they dragged his semi-conscious body through the long corridor.

He saw exploding pinpricks of stars long before they dropped him onto the dirt floor of his cell. Callously kneeling on the back of his neck, a heavy knee pinned him down, face first, in the dirt. Another knee dropped into his back, purposely targeting the freshly excised bullet wound. Kogami struggled to breathe and heard himself wheezing for air.

It was difficult to focus through his swollen eyes. One abstract shadow blurred into another. Colors streaked together in a chaotic mosaic of natural hues and black and white. He could barely make out figures of two men standing in the doorway. One of them was dressed in a white smock. He knew this only because the color stood out so prominently against all the others floating before him. The other man was dressed in military fatigues, digital-print camouflage, that drowned out his image. While Kogami could not see them clearly, he recognized their voices.

"Is that really necessary?" Harris asked. "You paid a lot of money for this one. It won't do if we damage him."

"I can't afford to lose anymore men to this rabid dog."

"The more savage the dog, the tougher the training. The tougher the training, the better the programming, producing a better soldier. You'll see."

"So you've told me. I'm tired of waiting, Dr. Harris. I want results. Double the dosage."

"I already did."

"Then triple it!"

"That could kill him or worse."

"What's worse?" Merck asked.

"He could experience a psychotic break, then he'd be completely useless to you."

"So be it. Either break him or he dies." There was a pause and the muffled noise of movement behind them in the corridor. "If he loses his mind, we can always use him for target practice."

"How very merciful of you."

"Get on with it, doctor."

Kogami felt the sharp prick of a needle shoved into his neck. He grit his teeth and groaned as the chemical moved through his veins like slow-moving lava. Temporarily, the blur of colors before his eyes went all gray and then his entire world went black.

He never fully lost consciousness, at least he didn't think so, because he could hear himself breathing with the labored measure of a sprinter having just crossed the finish line. His hands were no longer bound, and he was alone, lying prone on the dirt floor.

"Send her in. Give it a minute, then turn the water on."

Kogami heard the cell door open and then slam shut with a heavy thud. Footsteps moved toward him, timid at first, but growing more assertive and closer.

"Lying down on the job as usual," she said.

From his position on the floor, he could only see her ankles and just barely. As his focus returned with sharper images, Kogami saw the bottom of her suit skirt, which primly came down below the knee.