The sky that had broken and bled with a red glow only a couple of hours earlier was now beginning to shift forwards into clear and calm blue. Beneath this lay Tokyo, rebuilt and home to humans, ghouls and the organisation that hunts them. Inside one of the many corridors of the building that housed this organisation, three investigators walked side by side.

"I feel that I should warn you in advance, the man you're going to meet is a little...strange." Take Hirako was rarely as judgmental, but having spoken to the man previously ensured him that it was necessary to prepare his colleagues.

Akira Mado raised an eyebrow at him as they walked beneath the bright lights. "Strange?"

He half shrugged, not knowing what to tell her. "Maybe eccentric would be a better choice." If eccentric meant completely and utterly insane, that is.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Haise Sasaki smiled reassuringly from his other side, a response that Take had counted on. If anyone could deal with the man and his proposal it would be him. Both him and Akira actually, which was one of the main reasons they had been assigned the case.

"I'm sure it will." He replied honestly. "To quote what I was told 'This wacko's an idiot but we need his help'. Also, I hear he's been referred to us from an impeccable source."

"Who?"

"Ex-first class investigator Makina. She was an excellent investigator, absolutely ruthless when hunting. She left a good few years ago and became chief warden at Deadman Wonderland." He had met Makina only briefly once before, but had heard many speak highly of her.

"How do you go from a job like this to working in a prison?" Akira questioned, and Haise nodded alongside her, eyebrows drawing into a crease just a little. Honestly Take wondered the same frequently, but then he didn't see how anyone could do any normal job after working for the CCG.

"I don't know. But then again, it's never exactly been a normal prison." He sensed that Akira and Haise still had questions, but they had already reached the meeting room. "Remember, this is your case, not his." With that, he ushered them inside with a small, calm smile before turning and walking swiftly away, unwilling to be in the presence of that vapid man again.

Said man grinned at the two newcomers, seemingly having made himself at home in the meeting room - a phrase which here means he was reclining with his feet on the table playing with some form of child's toy.

"Hi! I'm Tamaki, Promoter at Deadman Wonderland. I hope we'll be great friends!" Tamaki stood abruptly and thrust out his hand in the direction of the two investigators, looking as casual as anything. Akira was staring at the offered hand as though it was offensives, so Haise quickly stepped forwards and clasped it tightly. Unfortunately, it felt as though Tamaki had taken that to be a challenge judging by the vice like grip and overly enthusiastic shaking he received. The smile became a Cheshire cat's grin.

"H-Hi." Haise stuttered. "I'm Rank one investigator Haise Sasaki and this is my superior First Class investigator Akira Mado. Thank you for meeting with us today, shall we start?" He smiled and gestured to the table in the centre of the room. Akira folded gracefully into her chair and Haise took the one next to her, so that they faced Tamaki, who had returned to perching on his previous chair. Haise couldn't help but notice that due to the positioning of the chairs, the door was behind himself and Akira, with Tamaki facing the door. It made him feel reminiscent of being called into someone's office, as though it was Tamaki who was in charge and was of a higher authority than them. He could tell by the slight shift in Akira's posture beside him that she was feeling just as uncomfortable.

"Why don't I start by telling you a little about the establishment I represent?" Tamaki gave them no time to reply before launching into it anyway. "As I'm sure you remember, the Great Tokyo Earthquake completely decimated most of the region. When it was rebuilt years later, in order to hold the criminals of the newly reinstated population and make money to continue the restoration, the first fully public prison in Japan, Deadman a Wonderland was opened! The prison works almost like a theme park as well as a prison, with shows and attractions ran by the prisoners themselves." Haise, having like most people seen all of the adverts as well as having read the brief that morning, was trying to appear politely interested but guessed he was likely failing. He opened his mouth to speak, hand touching his chin, but Akira beat him to it

"Not to be rude, but how does this help us?" Tamaki's grin widened and Haise decided he hated the smug aura around him. It was rare for Haise to actually hate something, but he got an inherently off feeling about the man before him, and as Akira often reminded him you should listen to your instincts

"Ah! I like you, Akira. You're just like me. You like to tear the present open as soon as you get it, right?" The investigator kept silent, so he continued. "Well, I must confess that the purpose of Deadman Wonderland is not only as I've said. Years ago, around the time of the earthquake, humans infected with a particular disease began to appear. With it came an ability we call the 'Branch of Sin' and the people,well, they are the Deadmen! There's a lot of other science stuff that doesn't really matter, but what you need to know is that the Branch of Sin is the ability to manipulate their blood like a weapon. Similar to a ghoul's kagune, right? This time it was Haise that jumped in.

"Er...Not really, but I understand what you mean." He finished quickly, wondering if Tamaki actually understood how a ghoul worked. He decided against explaining, sensing that the man probably wouldn't pay much notice, and chose to start with a more obvious question. "How powerful are they, these Deadmen?"

"It varies, although most of the weak ones have been weeded out, shall we say. The strong one's are very powerful. Remember the Great Tokyo Earthquake? Well, rumour has it it was caused by one single Deadman! Pretty impressive, don't you think? Having lost his memories, Haise couldn't remember the devastation caused by the earthquake first hand, but he knew that Akira's mother had died because of it, as well as countless others. To think that a single person could cause that much damage seemed unbelievable.

"You believe that was caused by a single man?" Akira asked, doubtfully.

"I said it was a rumour!" The promoter threw up his hands in mock defence with a little chuckle. His fellow investigator leaned back in her seat, her face perplexed. It wouldn't be obvious to Tamaki, but Haise knew that she was either onto something or had figured something out and made a mental note to ask later. Right now, something else had caught in his mind.

"What did you mean, weeded out?" Something about the phrasing seemed incredibly off to him, as did the sharp defensiveness of Tamaki's reply.

"Well, sometimes little accidents happen and a few prisoners die, but at the end of the day they're criminals! And monsters!" Akira's head snapped up.

"I thought you said they were humans who'd been infected?"

"Same thing. It's like zombies."

"Zombies?" Haise probably shouldn't have been surprised by the reply given the nature of his conversation partner, but it did anyway. He couldn't believe that this guy was in charge of a prison, let alone a group of people powerful enough to destroy Tokyo! Tamaki looked nonplussed at his bafflement, looking at him with laughing eyes.

"Yep! The movie ones, with the really creepy-"

"We're wasting time." Akira cut in, her expression exasperated. "The financial costs have already been established, the Deadmen will be assigned to work with our other more controversial unit which works under me and can start immediately. Will that be all?" He could tell that she was keen to be done with the meeting, but apparently their guest felt otherwise.

"Not quite. A group of our most dangerous prisoners managed to escape. We don't know what they're planning and they're smart enough that we can't find them alone."

"You want us to do it?"

"Well, we'd certainly appreciate the help! It's in your best interests anyway. The Deadmen are killers at heart, monsters just like ghouls. They must be contained at all costs, before they start to become a problem like the ghouls." Haise couldn't help but notice that the man had gone from describing them as humans with a disease to heartless monsters in a matter of minutes. Did he think they would be more likely to agree that way? Akira seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

"Then how can you be sure that they'll be useful to us? Do you have any guarantee that they can be controlled?"

"Ah, the collars aren't just for show, you know!" The tall man tapped at his neck as if to demonstrate. "They have all the basic functions, like tracking and shocking, but also serve as the death penalty. We pump in a stream of poison constantly. If they don't eat our candy every three days then they die! Cool, right?" Haise couldn't think of much less cool than that.

"But doesn't that solve the problem of your escaped prisoners?" He asked, confused as to how anyone could just escape from prison, let alone a large group.

"Unfortunately not. They somehow managed to damage the tracking devices and as for the candy, they...stocked up, shall we say. Anyway, even if you forget about the collars, if worst comes to worst, we have these!" Tamaki reached below the table and pulled up a case. Unzipping it, he presented them with a weapon neither had ever seen before.

"Worm Eater weapons! They completely nullify the Deadmen's Branch of Sin, so that they can be effectively killed. Neat, huh?" Again, Haise couldn't think of much less neat, but simply smiled and nodded anyway.

"If I may, I have one last teensy little request." Akira sighed, but kept her strictly professional composure perfectly

"What now?" Instantly Tamaki's expression changed. It twisted cruelly, and became far more serious than Haise had been expecting. It was a startling change, that aged the promoter several years.

"If you find a Deaman, or have to kill one... Don't destroy them completely. We have have use for their bodies." He laughed. "Waste not, want not! As they say."

The two investigators exchanged brief looks. Something was amiss, they both knew it.

"Alright. We have a deal." Akira's tone was final, and lacked any hint of enthusiasm, professional or otherwise.

"Perfect! Oh, and here are the files on my Deadmen. The ones I'm loaning to you, anyway. They each have their own little stage name so they should be easy to remember. I'll have them transferred immediately. It was lovely chatting with you!" Tamaki winked at Haise, all but throwing the folders down before leaving the room faster than either of them could react. The door clicked shut leaving the room in stunned silence for a moment.

"I don't trust him. He's not the idiot he pretends to be." Akira was as blunt as ever in her remark. Honestly, at times like these Haise was glad for it though.

"Neither do I, but what can we do?"

"Watch him closely, that's about it." She sighed. "I want to go on the record here and say that this is a bad idea. It won't end well for anyone involved."

"You suspect they'll try something?" As much as Haise knew that he distrusted Tamaki, he didn't think he was stupid enough to try and cross the CCG.

"I don't know what I suspect yet. It's just a feeling right now, but I've always been told to trust my intuition and it hasn't failed me yet." With that, she left to go and make the necessary arrangements, leaving him with several files and a heavy sense of foreboding.

Haise sighed and opened the first file, the one marked with 'Woodpecker'.