Alone in the atrium with Kagari and the shadows, Kogami straightened his jacket and adjusted the sleeves. "You ready for this?"

    "I was born ready for this shit."  He yanked at the collar of his red jacket with an indignant frown.  "Putting bad men down is a calling.  I live for it.  How do you want to do this?"

    "Raid style.  High shock value."

    "Oh, yeah?"

    "Inspector Tsunemori is right.  Not all of the people behind that door are latent criminals.  If we go in loud enough and hard enough, the good citizens will back down."

    "And anyone who wants to get in the way will have the crime coefficient to prove it."

    "Think you can handle two Dominators?"

    "You know it! Akane found a wrist brace in the medical kit.  I may not be gaming for a few weeks, but I can hold a Dominator and pull the trigger, if that's all you need."

    Kogami handed him his weapon and retrieved the other stun baton so that he was carrying two in the style of martial arts rattan fighting sticks.  "When we get passed the door, you scan anybody we encounter.  Call out their crime coefficient.  If it's over regulation—"

    "I fire and drop them.  If they're under regulation, they shouldn't be a problem."

    "And they become a problem," Kogami said, twirling the stun batons in each hand, "that's where these come in.  Torao will answer for what he's done."

    "Hell yeah, he will!"

    The Enforcers stood on opposite sides of the earthquake shelter entrance.  "Sachi, enter the access code."

    With a whirring of gears, the heavy portal slid open, and Director Ito's torso was reunited with the rest of her corpse.  Stepping over her, Kogami charged into the interior, loudly declaring, "Freeze!  MWPSB special investigation.  Dr. Torao is a person of interest.  Do not interfere."

    "Come out with your hands in the air!" Kagari shouted behind him.

    A trembling orderly came to an interior doorway with his hands up.  He shuddered as Kogami turned on him with the stun batons.  "Kagari?"

    "Crime coefficient 59, Ko."

    Another man stepped into the doorway beside Kogami.

    "Forty-one!"

    Along the opposite wall, a third man stepped into the corridor.  He was carrying a stun baton that crackled as he switched it to the on position.

    "Eighty-nine!  Wait!  Siybl's reassessing, 101!  Ha, got you!"  Kagari pulled the trigger of one Dominator when the trigger was released.  The non-lethal paralyzer projectile struck the orderly in the neck and sent the man into an erratic freefall to the floor.  Still clasped in his hands, the stun baton sputtered against the metal railing in the doorframe.

    Kogami kicked it free and retrieved it.  "I repeat, this is an MWPSB special investigation.  Dr. Torao is a person of interest in the case.  Do not interfere.  Your psycho pass will be scanned.  If you are out of regulation compliance, you will be shot."

    Another man came through a doorway on Kogami's left side.  He was wielding a stun baton in his hand.

    "Fifty-two," Kagari read the man's psycho pass. "Trigger's locked, Ko!" he shouted as the man charged his colleague.  "Take him out the hard way!"

    "Gladly." Kogami easily dodged the orderly's first clumsy attempt to jab at him with the baton.  Twisting sharply to the right, he brought both batons across the orderly's jaw, followed through from the left, and repeated the maneuver.  "I'm not some little kid you can bully."  With a kick, he sent the man's head flying back sharply, nose bloodied, where he fell unconscious to the floor.

    "What is this!" Dr. Torao demanded.  "Ah, Enforcer Kogami, so you survived.  How nice."

    "Survived and found out what you've been doing here, doctor," Kogami said.  He saw recognition in Torao's widened eyes.  "You're under arrest pending the conclusion of an MWPSB investigation into your drug company and the use of these children as lab rats in your experiments."

    "You have no rights here!"  Torao tried to retreat into the room.  "My research is above any reproach!"

    "I may be a latent criminal, but with these Dominators in my hands," Kagari said, holding up the signature weapons of the MWPSB, "I have all the rights I need."  He laughed and tossed his unruly locks of his red hair.  "I've always wondered what it would be like to fire two of these little ladies at the same time."  He pulled both triggers.

    It was nearly thirty-six hours later when search crews reached the Daiago Children's facility and initiated a priority rescue.  Another twelve hours passed before the MWPSB allowed non-essential personnel onto the secured grounds.  Reunification personnel teams were fully operational and security drones processed prisoners for immediate transport to isolation cells in the Ministry of Welfare's building or nearby local facilities. 

    Medical professionals from various agencies descended on the mental care hospital to assess the young patients for injuries, both physical and mental, old and recent.  Sachi's discovery on the facility servers were proven correct.  Every child held on the facility roster had crime coefficients well within standard compliance, with fewer than 3 scanned as cautious measurements.

    News of the facility's oversight and Torao's corruption shared prime time news slots with the earthquake, a massive 8.1 that had caused significant damage throughout the city.  The aftershock for Torao's pharmaceutical company was just as devastating.  Wealthy investors abandoned the company to distance themselves from the scandal.  Falling stocks and tarnished reputations had the public and the government calling for a full investigation into the standing Board of Directors as well as anyone involved with the day-to-day dealings of the business.

    Kogami watched it unfold on a digital ticker-tape display across the street.  It was odd to be watching from eye level.  The quake had toppled the ten-story building and the ticker tape at its crown.  When the power was restored, the digital display was still functioning, despite being cracked and even shattered in some places.  He wanted a cigarette in the worst way, but there was so much going on around and behind him that he felt the need to ignore his craving for more important distractions.

    Construction bots were clearing heavy debris from the main intersection, while others reinforced nearby structures and roadways.  All main roads leading to the area were closed due to fallen debris or damage.  Despite the massive quake's fury, the loss of life had been minimal.

     Mother Nature was the greatest of all killers, Kogami thought.  She would get away with her crimes today, but Dr. Torao would not. 

    The disgraced physician was going down on 30 counts of false imprisonment, compounded by the ages of the children at the facility.  Ethics charges were pending against him for the corruption of his office and malpractice.  The brutal murder of Director Ito would hang from his neck as well.  There was no way he would ever see the light of day again, and Kogami was determined to see to that personally.

    Laughter behind him proved too spontaneous to ignore.  He smiled, watching as Sachi made her good byes to Kagari.  The girl's family had been the first to arrive on scene, thanks to their diplomatic ties to the government.  After a briefing with Ginoza, they were permitted to reunite with their daughter.  That's when the first demands to meet Enforcer Kagari had come with great insistence and been answered.

    Sachi was dressed in plain jeans and a t-shirt with the words—Warning:  Offensive!—printed on the front.  She was wearing hot pink Converse sneakers that were decorated with glue-on gems.  Hard to believe that was the same little girl in the hospital smock who had hacked into the hospital servers to find a terrible crime in the middle of a terrible tragedy. 

    Happy endings, Kogami thought, she deserves to go home.  Her crime coefficient was barely over 50, while Torao had it listed as 120.  Her flight drone laid on a pile of discarded debris.  After crashing into the MWPSB mobile drone, there was not much left to salvage and now that she was free, her parents had promised a custom-built model meant for the open skies.

    Sachi's one request from her parents had been a copy of the Destiny Road video game signed by the developer.  What they brought was a signed copy of the game, an unreleased digital download, and a new game console as a gift for Kagari.  Now sporting a cast for his broken wrist, the Enforcer howled with delight at his newly acquired treasure.  It wasn't long before the two were exchanging barbs and jeers over who was the better driver and who had found the most hidden tracks.

    "All in a day's work, Mr. Kogami?" Akane asked.  She walked up beside him and kindly caressed his shoulder.

    "More like two days," he grumbled, despite a smile at his lips.  "And one of them was my day off."

    "A detective is always on the job.  Wasn't it you who said those words?"

    "Maybe—"

    "Excuse me, Mr. Kogami," Gin said.  The young man was dressed in a dark business suit that was tailored to perfection.  It was a sharp contrast to the yellow hospital smock.  Taken aback, Kogami noted that he looked like a remarkably younger version of Ginoza.  Gin bowed politely and handed Kogami a wooden box.

    Taking the gift, Kogami pulled the purple ribbon off to the side and opened it.  Inside was a freshly polished model of a Dominator.  He was forced to smile at the gift, remembering the first encounter with the young man.  "Scale's a little off.  Was that intentional?"

    Gin smiled, then recomposed the usually smug look on his face.  "You have a discerning eye, a capital trait in a good Enforcer." He pushed his glasses awkwardly up the bridge of his nose and brushed a dark lock of hair from his face.  "I wanted to thank you, Mr. Kogami, and you, Inspector Tsunemori.  Because of you, I'm going home."

    Kogami straightened his tall frame, unable to mask the pride he felt.  "Hope you put this to good use, Gin.  Not everyone gets a chance like this."

    "I've decided to focus my studies towards becoming an Inspector in the MWPSB."

    Kogami pursed his lips tightly together and nodded his approval.  "After what I've seen, you'll make an excellent Inspector with all the potential to be a great one."

    "If I get to work with an Enforcer of your caliber, I have no doubt of that."  He bowed deeply to Kogami and then to Akane.  "Good bye."  Gin returned to the main staging area where his mother and father were waiting.  The three of them bowed deeply to Kogami and Akane before being led away to a transport.

    "Wasn't expecting that," Kogami confessed.  He tucked the model Dominator and its box under his arm.

    "Our Career Day showcase was a resounding success, Mr. Kogami.  Chief Kasei is ecstatic, or as excited as I've ever seen her.  Commendations all around."

    "Is that why I saw Ginoza scowling?  He'll have to say something nice about me.  Bet that hurt."

    "Kogami, you're so difficult sometimes!" She cuffed him firmly on the arm.

    "Admit it.  It's what gives me character."  Tapping a cigarette from its packet, Kogami lit it and walked over to the shade of a nearby rescue vehicle.  He leaned his shoulders against it and inhaled deeply.

    "Oh, look, Kogami," Akane said, following him.  "It's Mi-Yeon."

    Escorted by a team of doctors and drones, Mi-Yeon was the last to emerge from the medical processing area.  Dressed in a pink wool skirt with a black cat on it and matching coat, the little girl walked with a renewed sense of importance.  Her outfit was complimented by an accompanying hat with cat ears protruding from the top.  She smiled excitedly, seeing him, and waved while walking hand in hand with an older lady.  Pulling the child close to her, the woman smiled sadly at Kogami, waved a gloved hand, and then lifted the child into a nearby transport.

    "I'm so happy that Mi-Yeon found someone to care for her," Akane said.  She was grinning so widely that her cheeks burst with color.  "I thought she was an orphan with no family."

    "She is."

    "Then who is that woman?"

    "My mother."

    Akane's head snapped around to look at him, her eyes so large they reflected the nearby rescue lights.  "Your mother?"

    Kogami felt a bit of a hot flush across his chest and anxiously ran a hand through his tousled hair.  "She always did want a girl.  I proved to be something of a handful."

    "Kogami?" Akane's eyes welled up with tears.  "I—I just—"

    "Not you, too.  Come on, Inspector."  He gently wiped away the track of a tear from her cheek with his thumb.  "Mi-Yeon's been through a lot.  She needed a big brother, and she chose me.  The least I can do is make it real."

    "This is the most wonderful thing I've ever heard in my life!"  Akane snatched him by the lapel of his jacket and buried her face in his shirt.  The warmth of her tears went through the thin fabric to his skin.  "You can be such a jerk sometimes," she cried, pounding a fist against his chest, "but then you go—you go and do something like this!"

    Kogami chuckled softly and put his arms around her to comfort her.  "Yeah, I know."

    Akane looked up at him.  "Honestly, Mr. Kogami, you make me wonder how in the world the Siybl System could ever label a man like you as a latent criminal."  On tiptoe, she put her arms behind his neck, which forced him to bend over, and then kissed him on the cheek.  "I guess Emerson was right.  Good men really musn't obey the law too well."  She smiled at him and pretended to pet the stuffed cat peeking out of his pocket.  "Come on, you've done enough for one—two days.  Let's get you home."