**Author's Note**

Hey you guys. For those of you who read "No Time to Waste" and are like "I thought you were too busy to write", I wrote this before I stopped. I still have one week left before I can get any solid writing done, so, in the meanwhile, I thought I'd just post this.

I highly recommend that while you read this, you listen to the Psycho-Pass soundtrack. Since this is a TV show and collectively covers more ground than a movie like "A Girl Who Leapt Through Time", I think it'll be easier to get in the mode to read this and imagine the beautiful Psycho-Pass cityscapes. Also, I wrote this while listening to the soundtrack, so maybe this story will connect with you on a musical level.

I also listen to the GWLTT soundtrack while writing that fanfic, so feel free to listen to that as well.

I hope you enjoy this story... still suffering from serious Psycho-Pass withdrawal. I hope they get renewed for a second season.

Chapter 1

Beginnings

"This is the Criminal Investigation Department, part of the Public Safety Bureau. Access to this block is currently restricted to ensure safety. Neighborhood residents are expected to evacuate immediately. I repeat, this is the Criminal Investigation Department-"

"Excuse me! Are you Inspector Tsunemori?"

I turn around to see who the voice belongs to. It's the fresh-faced newbie I was expecting. "Yes. What bad luck that you have to deal with an incident right after you got posted."

"I'm Shimotsuki Mika. I've been assigned to the Criminal Investigation Department as of today! Pleased to meet you!"

Smiling inwardly, I continue, "Sorry, but the CID is very short on manpower. So, I'll help you out, but I can't treat you like a newbie."

"I'm aware of that. I'm looking forward to the work."

"Good response."

Just as I finish my very Ginoza-like speech, the paddy wagon arrives.

"That's.."

"The guys you're about to meet are humans just like us, but they'll deal with crime using a criteria for judgment different from yours. Their actions sometimes may be beyond your comprehension. Trust them, but at the same time," and Kougami-san's face flashes across my mind, "be cautious of them. If you underestimate them, you'll get seriously hurt. They're what we call 'Enforcers'. They'll be your subordinates." I walk over to the paddy wagon, and Shimotsuki-san follows. The paddy wagon's back door opens, and the side compartment with Dominators extends toward us. Shimotsuki-san and I both pick up a Dominator each. Her eyes and wristlet flash that electric blue, calibrating with the Dominator, and she looks up at me, bewildered by the information. I don't think I'll ever get over it either.

INITIALIZING/

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

TS No. 001568-003

ID-CTRL 0457

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT

NAME: AKANE TSUNEMORI

ID: 00475-AECJ-30157-1

AFFILIATION: INSPECTOR

SAFETY: LOCK. NON-LETHAL

"Dominator Portable Psychological Diagnosis and Suppression System has been activated. User Authentication: Inspector Akane Tsunemori. Dominator usage approval confirmed. You are a valid user. Safety lock on." The voice of the Dominator, a sub-unit of the Sibyl System, calmly tells me this, and my fingers involuntarily clench around the gun.

"The voice is alarming at first, but you'll get somewhat used to it," I tell Shimotsuki-san. "So. These are the Enforcers. This is Ginoza-san and Kunizuka-san." I motion to them as they approach the Dominators.

"Nice to meet you." She bows her head at both. They both return with curt nods and pick up Dominators.

"Alright," I say, tapping my wristlet. "Our target is Akihiko Watanabe. A street scanner flagged him during a hue check, so a security drone ordered him to receive therapy, but he refused and ran."

Shimotsuki-san checks her wristlet as I send the information to hers. "His Psycho-Pass is navy blue. His aggression and compulsion are expected to be very high."

"How did he let his hue get that cloudy?" Shimotsuki-san asks quietly.

"I don't know," I reply, "but our job is to follow Sibyl's judgment. We can question his moves as much as we want AFTER we catch this guy." I look at Kunizuka-san. "Kunizuka-san, please come with me. Ginoza-san, go with Shimotsuki-san. Some witnesses saw the target going into this building." I tap my wristlet again. "It's an old business structure that's under construction. Apparently, he went in with someone else. Male, estimated over 180 centimeters, brown hair, dark clothes. Be on the lookout for both. We'll take the west wing. Shimotsuki-san, you and Ginoza-san take the east. Ready to go?"

We all lift our Dominators as a signal. Then, we take off.

This is an unusually late job, but I've been going over hours almost every single day. The CID desperately needs more people... I need to talk to the Director about recruiting more Enforcers. Maybe even another Investigator. It's not like I've been in this position for very long. I'm still nowhere near as experienced as Ginoza-san is.

Kunizuka-san takes the lead. As the longest standing Enforcer, she's now Hound 1 and calls most of the shots. I can tell Ginoza-san isn't all too happy about it, but... inter-agency hierarchy. Ginoza-san has been in the field longer than Kunizuka-san, but she's been an Enforcer for longer.

Kunizuka-san taps her wristlet as we run, bringing up a blueprint of the building. "Twenty-story office building with practically no security now that it's unoccupied and under construction. We can take the back door. The front is impossible to get through, with all the renovations going on."

"Alright," I respond. I tap my wristlet and go through a couple hologram slides to call up our analyst, Shion Karanomori.

"Ehh, Tsunemori-chan."

"Hello, Karanomori-san. Can we have some assistance?" I put the call on speaker and then send her the case file with a couple taps.

I hear her typing furiously. "Okay, the entry will be relatively easy. The front is operated electronically, but the back has a manual key. After that is where it gets tricky. There's no electricity running in the building, so the elevators and cameras aren't working, so I can't track much.

"Are you saying we have to use stairs for twenty stories?!" Kunizuka-san yells towards the general direction of my wristlet.

"Calm down, calm down. This building has a back-up generator off the grid. I can probably get a service elevator working. Hold on. I'll do it for both wings."

In the mean time, we reach the back door of the west wing. Kunizuka-san gives the knob a test giggle and the door a test nudge. Then, she backs up, runs at it at full speed, and kicks it right off the hinges. She smirks. "Why does no one ever care about the back door?"

We head inside.

"Alright, got it. The elevator should be on your left."

Just as we see it, we hear it hum to life.

"We'll be back to use it. We need to clear the first floor."

"No need. The corridor from where you are to the first floor's main hallway is blocked by construction. Go ahead to the second floor. It's clear till the fifth room."

Kunizuka-san presses the elevator button for up.

"Thank you, Karanomori-san. Can I also ask for something else?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm here for, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, but can you use the cameras outside? Anything in the past half hour?" The elevator arrives, and Kunizuka-san and I head inside.

Just as Kunizuka-san presses the button for the second floor, I give a small gasp.

"What?" Kunizuka-san asks.

"The door."

"What about it?"

"You busted it open a perfectly fine door. And now its hinges need to be replaced."

"And?"

"That means everyone who used the building before used a key. The door wasn't rammed open previously."

Kunizuka-san narrows her eyes as the doors open. "This is their home front, then. They have the advantage."

Suddenly, as we're stepping onto the second floor, Karanomori-san reports,

"Hey, looks like they took the stairs. I checked all the electricity logs. Nothing's been used today besides the service elevators I just put into work. And a camera from the building across detected some movement on the fourth floor. There hasn't been anything moving back towards the stairs or into the east wing, so-"

Kunizuka-san and I pivot back into the elevator.

"We're on our way," I say.

"Be careful."

"Roger," I respond, and Karanomori-san ends the call. Then, she starts up group communication mode. A function used for missions only, it allows all of us, Investigators and Enforcers, to talk and hear as if we were in a group call but doesn't require us to answer; it immediately goes through.

"This is Hound 1. Hound 2, what is your location?"

"Second floor. Yours?"

"In the service elevator. Get to the fourth floor. The targets are in the area between the bridge between the wings and the west wing stairs. Hang back by the bridge, just in case something happens. We'll leave this call on."

"Roger."

The elevator doors open, and we race out together.

Kunizuka-san and I clear the first several rooms when we see Ginoza-san and Shimotsuki-san running across the bridge towards us. Just as they reach the door into the west wing, a man bursts out of one of the uncleared rooms.

"Put down your Dominators!" He brandishes a gun from the olden days. A standard handgun, probably .45 caliber. As procedure, Kunizuka-san and I lower our Dominators to the ground. "Kick them to me!" We do as he says. "Come into the room. Now!" We slowly make our way toward the doorway, and when we pass over the threshold, he closes the door behind us.

The man with the gun is our main target Watanabe. And the man on the opposite side of the room must be the other guy that witnesses reported.

"CID? As expected." He turns away from the window to face us. He's tall, with slightly tousled chocolate brown hair and blank, amber eyes. "You must be... Tsunemori Akane and Kunizuka Yayoi. Nice to meet you."

"Wish we could say the same," Kunizuka-san replies bitingly.

He laughs. "This one likes to play, huh?" She narrows her eyes. "I'm Nakamura Seiji. Feel free to call me Naka-chan," he jokes and flashes a mischievous smile. "Anyway, Tsunemori-san, before your friends bust in here and try to shoot down Watanabe and me... I've got a little message for you."

"What is it?" I ask, my right hand balling into a fist.

He smirks. "You know, he didn't describe you very well."

My heart drops into my stomach and my lungs come into my throat.

"He forgot to tell me how cute his lady friend is... that little bastard, Kougami Shinya."