Psycho Pass: All Alone With You

Drift! Chapter 12

 Kogami took a deep breath. He was relieved to be wearing the familiar black suit that was his standard fare for work at the MWPSB. With his left arm confined to a sling, he struggled to properly knot his tie, so he left it loose and hanging in the collar of his shirt.

It was early evening as he made his way from the locker room and across the LAPD's CID floor. Without fail, the Los Angeles night life emerged in force. The desks were filling up with the usual cast of characters from the city's streets, and the LAPD officers were there to receive them.

"Nice work, Ko!" Sgt. Cunningham winked at him from her processing station near the fingerprinting machine.

Barbosa, a detective from homicide, nodded as he passed Kogami. "Way to bring down that bastard."

A rookie looked up from her terminal as Kogami walked by her. The nameplate on her desk read: Brink. "Great job, Enforcer Kogami!"

The praises kept coming from all across the large room. Emerging from the break room and various departmental offices, police officers stopped what they were doing to acknowledge him and the end of a very difficult case. Kogami sensed a raw camaraderie from the officers that he had come to envy and, regretfully, would miss when he returned to Japan.

There were 15 cops in the room, hunting dogs every one, without a single, so-called Inspector in sight. Some of them came from other careers, the military, familiar obligation, but for all of them, law enforcement had been their choice of career. Human made choices, not the neutral decision of a machine, and no apocalypse as consequence.

Not much to be said for the Sibyl System, he thought.

"How's it feel to be loved for what you do and not kept on a leash?" Rodriguez asked. Coming up behind Kogami, he slapped the Enforcer hard on the left side of his back.

Kogami winced and held his breath until the pain subsided. "You looking to go another round, Rodriguez?"

"Not certain you're up to it, old boy, not with that sling around your neck."

"The sling can come off."

"But it won't have to," Akane said, getting between them, "because Kogami has me to back him up. That was a cheap shot, Rodriguez. Even for you." She punched him in the arm, but it was hardly a proper blow.

Rodriguez feigned fear and flinched away from her. "My neck still hurts from that little tussle on the beach, Inspector Tsunemori. I give. You win."

"That's right. Recognize your betters." Akane walked between them, taking the arm of each man, and let them escort her down the corridor to the conference room for their debriefing.

"Yes, ma'am," Rodriguez said. He opened the door, and both Kogami and he waited respectfully for Akane to go in first.

"Ah," Chief Tomb cried with delight, "my undercover consultants from Japan have arrived." She set down a bundle of files and a tablet in front of her on the table and sat down. "Where's Officer Royce?"

"Thought he'd be here by now," Rodriguez replied.

"And I thought he was with you," Tomb said.

"Apologies for my tardiness, Chief," Royce said, sticking his head into the room. "If Officer Rodriguez would do his job properly, people would not be parking illegally in the handicap area in front of the station."

"Except for that big mouth of yours, why on Earth would you need a handicap spot? Kogami's the one who got shot. You didn't even so much as break a nail."

"What about me?" Nysa asked. Dressed in a gray business suit, she sat in a wheelchair as Royce pushed her into the room. "How's it going boys and girl!" She winked at Akane. "Did you miss me?"