Psycho Pass: Out of Control

Coliseum, Round 2

 Dimly aware of a cramp in his left side, Kogami awoke from a nightmare where he was trapped in an abandoned office building and held hostage by hostile drones. The sordid reality of the facts and the intensity of the pain in his side grew as true consciousness returned to him. Holding his breath to stifle the pain, he finally gasped for air as the last few minutes of recent memory played through like a horror film in his troubled brain.

Lying on his back on a massage bed in a dimly lit room, Kogami felt cold, but considering that he was in shock, it was not surprising. Despite the thin blanket that had been thrown over him to minimize his symptoms, he shivered, which only aggravated his traumatized body. His attention was drawn to an uncomfortable tightness around his abdomen. It was difficult to breathe against it. He gently traced the outline with his fingers and tugged at the snug compression of a pressure bandage.

"His airway's good," Masaoka said, his voice coming from the room. "He's breathing, and the circulation looks good. But I suspect he's bleeding internally."

"How serious is it?" Akane asked.

"I'm no doctor, Inspector, and definitely not a surgeon."

Remembering that Akane had been hurt in the explosion, Kogami sat up abruptly. The puncture wound pulled painfully beneath the pressure bandage. He sucked in his breath and swore vehemently as he clung to the edges of the massage table to keep from falling.

"I think he's awake," Akane whispered. "You better go to him and explain this before he freaks out."

She's afraid. Why?

Kogami was immediately unsettled by the fear in her voice, much more so than her low opinion of how he might react. Before he could call out in response, he caught movement slinking through the darkness in his peripheral vision.

With a dull whirring, the drone observed him from the shadows just beyond the corridor to the massage room. A nightmare, as only the heart of terror could produce, the mechanical beast was made from a black metal that had been polished to a high sheen, and yet the light did not reflect from it. The black, metallic hide caught what little light there was coming from the other rooms and absorbed as camouflage. Five red eyes perceived every minute movement, leaving nothing to chance, and watched him intently from less than a dozen feet away.

This particular model was weaponized with rows of uneven, razor-sharp teeth and four claws that could easily rend flesh from bone. A pair of pincers slowly snipped at the air as the drone's tail wagged from side to side in anticipation of a master's call. As Kogami focused on the foxhound and held its unwavering gaze, the drone stood up from its seated position and took a step towards him.

"Ko, no sudden moves." When Masaoka appeared from around the corner of the lounge, the foxhound resumed its former position in the shadows and sat down. "Just be still."

"What the hell is that?"

"A watch dog," Masaoka replied. Pressing himself against the wall to keep his distance from the drone, he moved into the massage room and made his way to the injured Enforcer. "But so far, the only thing it seems to watch is you."

"Where did it come from?"

"Through the same door we did. Shortly after you passed out, it came strolling in like it owned the place."

"Still think I'm being paranoid?" Kogami cautiously slid his legs over the side of the bed.

"I never doubted you."

"What about the security drones?"

"Still out there in the atrium. Though, there's been some rather interesting developments."