#shūsei kagari

[chyfr]

missing kagari shūsei hours.....

[r0ymustang]

[psuedoart]

Take the hand or fist Just to sell ourselves for this The path we least resist -Keys to the Kingdom

finally finished my psycho pass/ hunting party thing

the last panel is made entirely of my non-gun-drawing tears

[revoluxionist]

リンリンチ@007

[luu-elric]

[cutethingsaboutanime]

[cleverwolfpoetry]

Psycho-pass Movie Novel Chapter 4, part 1

Finally the first part of chapter 4 is done. At the first lines, I had looked at it as a little boring but I was proved wrong. These are the main subjects:

Section 1: A conversation between Gino and Shimotsuki, showing an unexpected side of her. (I liked it a lot!)

Section 2: Akane’s trip on the plane. THIS PART IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE MOVIE.

 An interesting fact: As I didn’t remember well how the scene set on the plane was displayed in the movie, I watched it again.

In the movie, while Akane is on the plane, some scenes belonging to chapter 3 of the book appear as flashback images in her mind.

The first image is the conversation with Saiga about the power of will and actions that forge a person’s destiny, set at the prison.

The second image is the conversation Akane holds with Chief Kasei about Shambala float knowing or not Sibyls true identity, set when Akane ask for her the permission to go to SEAUn.

  So…what happens on the plane in the book version? Read it after the stop…  

Note before reading: sentences in italics represent the character’s thoughts.

1

 Tsunemori Akane had left Japan on a jet plane of the Ministry of Defense.

— to track down Kougami Shinya.

— to find out if he had something to do with the crime*.

Ginoza Nobuchika, the enforcer who hadn’t been allowed to accompany her, was on a panoramic terrace at the Public Safety Bureau. He was looking at the city view absentmindedly, somehow sadly.

As the weather was good, the ambience holos were fully operating. An information hologram praising the Sibyl System was fluttering restlessly on the wall of a building. When not showing news, it promoted goods to keep a good hue. Tons of advertisement — newly developed supplements, newly developed diagnostic apps*, the most advanced design accessories to take care of the hues around. To make your colour clear. Well, I also desperately tried to keep my hue in the past…Ginoza mocked himself.

“She’s left, eh? Inspector Tsunemori”

Reached him in that place, Inspector Shimotsuki started to talk to him.

How rare for her to approach Ginoza.                

“Inspector Shimotsuki, are you happy that you didn’t accompany her in the investigation abroad?”

“What? I couldn’t do anything the same”

Shimotsuki made an annoyed face.

“Besides, there are things I will have to do in the future"

“…is that so?”

“The chief allowed Inspector Tsunemori’s arbitrary actions. It’s quite clear that there’s something behind. Our chance will come soon”

“…hee”

Ginoza was secretly impressed. As expected, that’s what people call an elite inspector. She acts in her own way predicting the future.  

“I’ve talked too much with you enforcer…”

Shimotsuki clack her tongue.

“You really hate the enforcers”

Once become a latent criminal, Ginoza had been ready to such a treatment. For this reason, even if Shimotsuki treated him HARSHLY*, it wasn’t a big deal.

“Not the enforcers, I can’t forgive latent criminals”                        

Shimotsuki’s look became stern.

“If we completely destroyed latent criminals, some people wouldn’t die”

“Can’t you forgive Kunizuka too?”

Today’s Ginoza somewhat felt like making bitchy remarks.

Just as expected, Shimotsuki turned pale.

“Why does Kunizuka-san’s name come out now?”

“Oh, I don’t know why…”

“Kunizuka-san…why a latent criminal…”

Shimotsuki heaved a sigh.

“If she was free, what kind of crime would she do?” *

Those words dag into Ginoza too.

If I went free, what kind of crime would I do?

(No, not only me)

Father? Kougami? Shūsei Kagari?              

— Everybody, why were they latent criminals?

Shimotsuki went on.

“Kunizuka-san, she has a high regard for Inspector Tsunemori”

“…yes, she has”

“I failed”

Shimotsuki said biting her lips.

“Becoming an amazing inspector, handling the enforcers well, arresting the criminals who go out of Sibyl System’s framework one after the other…even though that was my only goal…”

“…”

“I wonder why it ended up like this…I do nothing but go wrong…” 

Then she dropped her gaze.

The current Shimotsuki was different from her usual self, just because of a slight blow, she looked like a balloon on the verge of bursting.

She resembles me, Ginoza thought.

(I was always annoyed too)

‘Why can’t I do like him?’ I used to think.*

However, in spite of the similarities, there was a crucial difference between the Ginoza from his inspector days and Inspector Shimotsuki.

Experience. Having or not having experience.

Ginoza and Kougami had the experience of having known each other from the university days. For this reason, even if the antagonism inside the Public Safety Bureau had gotten deeper, there was barely enough sense of trust (maybe the Ginoza of those days would have never admitted). Whereas in Shimotsuki’s case, Tsunemori Akane was close to a ‘wall appeared out of nowhere’*.

“During my studies, my best friend was killed. It seems that somehow the perpetrator disappeared at the hands of the mastermind who worked out the plan…”

“I know. We were in charge of the case”

“The ‘Makishima case’ …the Public Safety Bureau’s most secret affair. When I became an inspector, I could finally get close to that case, if only a little. However, I can’t say that I’ve grasped everything yet”

“There’s something you’d like to say?”

“Kougami Shinya, what kind of person is he?”

“…”

“Both Inspector Tsunemori and Ginoza-san seem to be affected by that man even now”

“We are not affected”

“Though she flew overseas in great haste? Ginoza-san also applied instantly for the permission to accompany her. Only, the permission was rejected. That’s what I’d call ‘be affected’ ”

“Kougami, uh…?”

After some thought, Ginoza answered.

“He is a ‘Citizen Kane’*”

“…yes?”

“In my dead father’s belongings, there was a database with a great number of movies. Only old, not hologram-supported movies. In idle moments, I check them. The last time, I saw that one called ‘Citizen Kane’ ”

“I know it. Orson Wells”

“…”

“Despite appearances, I had the best grades in the prestigious Ousou Academy. Don’t make little of me” Shimotsuki frowned at him.

“…I see”

“Nowadays, they uncommonly study classics there. The masterpieces among literature and movies based on literary works.  From Shakespeare to Tanizaki Junichirou*. Within the limits allowed by Sibyl System” 

Shimotsuki went on.

 “The newspaper magnate Kane dies in his mansion. With his last breath, Kane leaves a word with a hidden meaning, ‘Rosebud’. To solve the mystery of this word, the protagonist goes round visiting the people who were close to Kane”

Ginoza nodded.

“It’s that Citizen Kane”

“How is Kougami Shinya related to that?”

“Citizen Kane is the central figure of the movie. However, he dies just after the beginning. Despite his death, Citizen Kane keeps on being the main character for all the movie”

“Aha…”

“Now, everything about Kougami Shinya is a ‘rosebud’ *”

“Anyway, the mystery around that word was revealed* in the movie”

“What did you get from it?”

Ginoza asked.

“It was a sad ending” Shimotsuki said. “Common at the times when Sibyl System still didn’t exist, the vacuity of human life”

“Tsunemori may  be struggling with such a vacuity just right now”

“Are you saying that the mystery about ‘Rosebud’ may be solved overseas?”

“Yes, just like that”

Shimotsuki breathed out deeply and shrugged her shoulders.

“Or rather, Tsunemori senpai can’t really read the situation…”

“Is it so?”

“Sometimes, it’s her demeanor. There are times when she compares the old Division 1 with the present one”

“…!” Ginoza gasped unconsciously.

“Don’t you think so? I feel like my senior neglects the current Division 1. For this reason, she flies away without even consulting with us all. Whoosh*”

“…”

I guess that’s not Tsunemori’s intention, Ginoza thought.

However — Shimotsuki is sharp, I can’t but admit it.

There’s no meaning in evading the matter this way.

Even if it was unconscious, there may have been such an intention in Tsunemori.

For me, for her — at the end he’s still such a big presence.

Kougami Shinya.

To cut him off, should we meet him one more time?

“Well, it’s all right the same…”

“In the end, I feel like I’ve understood you a little more, Inspector Shimotsuki”

“Ah?”

She openly showed an unpleased face.

“An enforcer who says he understands me. You’re kidding me, stupid” 

 2

 On board the transport jet airplane, the crew space was bare.

As it wasn’t a civilian airplane, the design of both seatbelts and seats was quite rough, taking into account the practical use. In a cabin where there was no one else than her, Tsunemori was sitting alone with a firm look. After some time, the loadmaster Tanohata approached her.

“Well, the reason is that, even if we call it Air Force, it’s essentially an unmanned armed force. It’s been a while since we normally took living guests on board”

Tanohata checked the amount of loaded fuel, the weight of the cargo and the flight plan with his own portable terminal.

“Nothing anomalous” he informed the pilot.

At the driving seats of the transport jet plane there were one human pilot and one drone. The drone pilot dealt entirely with the complex operations. On the front seat, Tanohata also fastened his seatbelt. A loadmaster on a government plane also serves as a flight attendant. The transport plane started to move. From the apron, it headed for the airstrip at low speed. The pilots and the unmanned air traffic control system exchanged information, the road was clear. Moving on the strip, it picked up speed. After a sudden sensation like the internal organs had been forcefully pulled, she understood that the airplane was floating in the air*.  After the takeoff, the speed quickly increased again. At almost the same timing, two unmanned fighters took off to escort the transport plane carrying Tsunemori.

Shortly after, the signal to keep the seatbelts fastened was turned off.

“It’s already ok” Leaving his seat, Tanohata stood up.  

“…” Tsunemori also unfastened her seatbelt.

Freed his body, Tanohata opened the upper luggage rack and pulled out an alloy case. He carried it close to Tsunemori.

“Here you are, the case opens with your biometric authentication, Inspector Tsunemori”

“…?”

Tsunemori received the case in her hands. Just as Tanohata had said, the case was unlocked through the vein pattern and the voiceprint. Inside of that, a gun.

A custom Government* —  an original Colt Government. A weapon developed more than 200 years ago. In addition, a box of 45-caliber ammunition and four spare magazines* were included in the case.

At the Public Safety Bureau, firearms besides the dominator are rarely  used. As for the territory inside Japan, 90% of the gunpowder weapons have been disposed of. The world’s period of chaos and the development of electromagnetic weaponry  — piling up the two main causes, the gunpowder weapons design and performance have been stagnating for a period close to 70 years. I heard that for this reason a weapon whose production started 100 years ago is normally being used overseas even now.  

“Are you uneasy in using a gun different from a dominator?” Tanohata asked.

Surely a dominator is, by far, more performant than a regular weapon. The ‘effective range’ of the lethal electromagnetic waves is wide. The effective range of a bullet tends, by all means, to be ‘a point’ but a dominator is different. It overpowers the opponents with the width of its ‘field of action’.

“It’s an old gun indeed, don’t you think?”

“However, a 45 caliber has its stability. It’s hard to break down in whatever harsh circumstance. Sure is that it’s been entirely restored with contemporary part and it can also operate together with a  holographic aiming device”

“Huh…”

Tsunemori took the custom Government in her hand and pushed the magazine catch*. After checking that the magazine was not inserted, she pulled the slide* and peeked in the chamber*. The chamber was empty too. She pushed the slide stop, a blank shot. To test the feel of the trigger. She had prepared herself in handling a gun before leaving Japan.

“Could it be that you have already used it at the Ministry of Defense? The dominator…”

“It’s not for portable use. It’s provided on the drones. Look, talk of the devil…” Tanohata pointed at the window of the transport plane.

When Tsunemori pressed a finger on the touch panel near the window, a holographic screen appeared and she could check the situation outside. The transport plane was already flying over the sea. In the sea below, some things like black spots were moving, tracing white wakes in the waves.

Tsunemori enlarged the camera view through the touch panel and made sure of the real nature of those things.

The black spots were ships.

“Those…”

“They are the naval forces constituting the national borders defense system of the Ministry of Defense”

“Are they fighting?”

“The opponents are refugees. They head for Japan…the one and only normal country in the world”

On the sea, six smuggling ships modified from large-sized fishing boats. However, the way to their destination had been barred by the unmanned frigates of Japan’s government naval forces. The unmanned frigates kept saying in the language of several countries ‘Japan’s coastline is blocked. The people who wish to enter the country are required to get past customs through the regular procedure’.  

And yet, the refugees’ boats were trying to violate the territorial waters threading their way through the gaps.

The frigates sniped at the illegal immigrants with special dominators mounted on gun turrets*. They detected the people with a high crime coefficient and blew them up showering them with lethal electromagnetic waves. Blown up through a lethal ‘warning’, the common refugees lost their fighting spirit. Panicked, they turned the bow and backtracked. The frigates shot the refugees’ ships which didn’t change course at all with machine guns, as it couldn’t be helped. Going up in flames straightaway, the refugees ships blew up and sank.

“Our home waters are always like this. Even if they get through by good luck, the coastline defense forces are much more unrelenting”

“It’s horrible…”

“They measure the crime coefficient precisely. There also are people with a low crime coefficient among the refugees. In that case they aid them for sure”

“But…”

“If they didn’t act this way, it would be dangerous. Even the peaceful life you have lived is all thanks to this sort of severe activity”   

 NOTES TO TRANSLATION:

 *the crime: the terrorists sent to Japan.

*diagnostic apps: applications (on electronic devices) for diagnostic purpose, probably hue diagnostic.

*HARSHLY: I wrote it in capital letters because in the book this sentence is written with dots above the kanjis to underline it.

* If she was free, what kind of crime would she do? : Shimotsuki is wondering how Kunizuka could be of some harm to anyone if she was freed, she doesn’t understand why she’s a latent criminal.

*’Why can’t I do like him?’ I used to think: In this part, Ginoza sees himself in Shimotsuki, he remembers how he always looked at Kougami, wondering why he couldn’t do things well like Kougami did.

*a wall appeared out of nowhere: it seems the author likes to stress Akane’s self-isolation. It’s stated in the former chapters that Akane scarcely meets with friends because she doesn’t want them to get involved in something bad; Gino says her ‘you’re a mistery as always’ and now this thing of the wall. It really seems like she doesn’t let anyone get close anymore, Ginoza included. I have always wondered what kind of interaction Gino and Akane have. He surely trusts and admires her and she knows how he always worries for the others, but it seems that Akane has a wall that keeps her far from the others and from Gino too. JUST A PERSONAL THOUGHT ANYWAY. That’s what I feel when I read parts like this.

*Citizen Kane: it’s a 1941 American mystery drama film by Orson Welles, its producer, co-screenwriter, director and star.

Plot: In a rich mansion, the elderly Charles Foster Kane is on his deathbed. Holding a snow globe, he utters a word, “Rosebud”, and dies; the globe slips from his hand and smashes on the floor. A newsreel obituary tells the life story of Kane, an enormously wealthy newspaper publisher. Kane’s death becomes sensational news around the world, and the newsreel’s producer tasks a reporter with discovering the meaning of “Rosebud”. The reporter sets out to interview Kane’s friends and associates. Kane’s life is narrated through these interviews, but nothing about ‘rosebud’ comes out. At the end of the movie, back at the mansion, Kane’s belongings are being cataloged or discarded. The reporter concludes that he is unable to solve the mystery and that the meaning of Kane’s last word will forever remain an enigma. In the last scene, the camera reveals that “Rosebud” is the trade name of the sled on which the eight-year-old Kane was playing on the day that he was taken from his home in Colorado. Thought to be junk by the mansion’s staff, the sled is burned in a furnace.

*Tanizaki Junichirou: (谷崎 潤一郎, Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, 24 July 1886 – 30 July 1965) was one of the major writers of modern Japanese literature, and perhaps the most popular Japanese novelist after Natsume Sōseki. Some of his works present a shocking world of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions. (  (O_O) is this the kind of things taught in Ousou Academy???) Others, less sensational, subtly portray the dynamics of family life in the context of the rapid changes in 20th-century Japanese society. Frequently his stories are narrated in the context of a search for cultural identity in which constructions of “the West” and “Japanese tradition” are juxtaposed.

He was one of six authors on the final shortlist for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1964, but his death the following year meant he was not considered the following years.

*everything related to Kougami Shinya is a rosebud: in this sentence, Gino means that everything related to Kougami Shinya is a mistery.

*the mystery around that word was revealed: I translated as the mystery was revealed and not solved, because in that movie, the journalist who was in charge of discovering the truth about Rosebud didn’t reach the truth. The camera finally revealed what Rosebud was in the last scene.

* Whoosh: this is an onomatopoeia for the sound of fast motion, running very fast. It’s Mika who imitates the plane flying away.

*After a sudden sensation like the internal organs had been forcefully pulled, she understood that the airplane was floating in the air: this is cute. It seems the description of a child flying on a plane for the first time. Well, this may really be the first flight for Akane.    

*custom Government: it’s a model of Colt gun. 

  *magazine: A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating firearm. Magazines can be removable (detachable) or integral to the firearm. The magazine functions by moving the cartridges stored in the magazine into a position where they may be loaded into the chamber by the action of the firearm. The detachable magazine is often referred to as a clip, although this is technically inaccurate. (from Wikipedia)

*magazine catch: it’s a mechanism installed on guns and automatic rifles that serves to remove the cartridge from the weapon.

*slide: see picture below.

*chamber:

In firearms, the chamber is the portion of the barrel or firing cylinder in which the cartridge is inserted before being fired. Rifles and pistols generally have a single chamber in their barrels, while revolvers have multiple chambers in their cylinders and no chamber in their barrel. Thus rifles and pistols can usually be fired even with a detached magazine, while a revolver cannot be fired with its cylinder swung out. The act of chambering a cartridge means the insertion of a round into the chamber, either manually or through the action of the weapon.

*gun turrets: A gun turret is a location from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility, and some cone of fire. A modern gun turret is generally a weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in some degree of azimuth and elevation (cone of fire).

God, how long is this post? Creating such posts is energy-draining!!! Why am I not good at all at it???

[nagatoes]

[oniisann]

[cleverwolfpoetry]

Psycho-pass Movie Novel Chapter 3 - Part 2/2

The end of chapter 3…things are finally moving and Akane is about to leave for SEAUn. This is a nice second part of the chapter, all centered on the kind Sugou-san: I like him a lot and it’s a pity that this part wasn’t in the movie. He should have had more screen time.

Now, the story…hope you’ll like it.

    Note before reading: sentences in italics represent the character’s thoughts.

  3

  20 hours were left until the departure time of the direct flight headed to SEAUn ---.

In her office at the Criminal Investigation Department, Tsunemori was rearranging the documents containing the necessary data when the enforcer Sugou Teppei addressed her. 

“I heard you’ll fly to SEAUn”

Tsunemori nodded slightly.

“Yes”

“Enforcers aren’t allowed to accompany you” Sugou went on.

“Of course”

“And you aren’t going to ask for support from other inspectors”  

Tsunemori wasn’t displeased by Sugou’s honest objection.

“That’s because there’s no need”

“What about a bodyguard?”

“We have an agreement that the local military police and its drones will cooperate with me in the investigation”

“You’re really efficient, aren’t you?”

“Yes. This is one of my merits”

At this sentence, Tsunemori gave out with a slightly confident smile.

“I have some knowledge on places overseas”

Something vaguely dark crossed Sugou’s expression while he was saying so.

“…you were formerly occupied in the Navy National Borders Defensive System, weren’t you?”

Sugou had graduated in the field of information Engineering and was a former worker at the Ministry of Defense.

He belonged to the Navy Defensive System for the protection of the national borders. SOMETHING HAPPENED THERE* and he was moved from the Drones Unit to the Research & Development Unit. His hue worsened and he was labeled as latent criminal.

“Bullets fly everywhere. A man’s life has a low value overseas”

Because of Sugou’s threatening way of talking, “Hmm, it’s scary” Tsunemori eluded him slightly.

“What do you think about your own life?

“Eh…?”

Tsunemori was taken aback by Sugou’s simple question.

My own life --- am I prizing it?

When I think about it calmly --- I wonder about that question myself.

It took her some time, but Tsunemori had built a network of informants. It was a primitive HUMINT*. For that purpose, she had been frequently visiting the abandoned blocks too. Sibyl System wouldn’t have probably considered that thing agreeable.

There were many hazards around Tsunemori. For not dragging her friends into them, she was consciously reducing her social life too.

I wonder if recently there have been moments when I could think that something was pleasant from the bottom of my heart.

I wonder if I am alive now---

I wonder if there have been moments when I could feel it for real.

I should  acknowledge that.

(I don’t cherish my own life in front of a criminal)

Ginoza, Kunizuka, Sugou and Hinakawa too --- . All the Division 1 enforcers don’t seem to fear death. Yesterday’s fight with the terrorists was like that too and even if they exposed themselves to the gunfire, they were coolheaded. I have the feeling that the one and only clearly afraid of dying was Inspector Shimotsuki…

Which means... such a way of thinking like ‘I don’t cherish my own life’, could it be typical of a latent criminal?

If it is so, why does Tsunemori Akane’s hue never cloud? Why does it remain clear? The conclusion is always the same. I don’t understand Sibyl System’s thought.

“Sugou-san, what would you like to do?”

Tsunemori asked conversely.

“Eh…ah, well”

Sugou was clearly baffled.

“If you ask me what I’d like to do…”

“You don’t want me to go overseas, isn’t it? In short, you don’t you want me to die, isn’t it?”

“…”

“there are still some hours until the flight”

“…yes”

“Why don’t we go to the gym?”

“…yes?”

  Tsunemori and Sugou moved to the Public Safety Bureau’s training room and changed into their sportswear respectively in the locker rooms. Now they were facing each other on a large judo mat. As one would expect, Tsunemori’s body was too delicate compared to Sugou’s strong and muscular build.

“There’s quite a difference between our body weights. Usually, I don’t spar this way”

Sugou had a depressed look.

“If I get seriously injured just training here, I won’t neither be able to go to SEAUn”

At Tsunemori’s words, Sugou opened his eyes wide in astonishment.

“What are your intentions?”

“uhm ... my intentions …?”

If there was a need to come this far… neither Akane knew well.  It’s just that she felt like doing it, so she did.

“…understood. I won’t use rough moves, but …a headgear…just in case”

“Ok”

Both of them put on open finger gloves.

Akane wore a sports headgear too.

Sugou had only a sports supporter* as a protective equipment.

“Let’s go”

“Yes”

They set the sparring robot in arbiter mode.

Its task was to stop the one of them who would go too far.

Then they started the sparring.

Soon after they started, Sugou grabbed Tsunemori’s arm.

Seizing me this way, does he hope to finish the sparring amicably?

Sugou is strong.

However, he’s not the type who hits a superior all of a sudden with no hesitation.

There was a technique Tsunemori was eager to try for times like this.

“Uh…”

The moment Sugou grabbed her left wrist, Tsunemori stepped suddenly to the right.

By doing so, right after breaking down her opponent’s posture, she answered by grabbing with her right hand the one Sugou had used to grab her. Pulling Sugou’s hand on her shoulder with both hands and making sure to fold his arm, she immobilized him with a double-arm lock. She knocked him down in one breath. 

Dang! With a great noise, Sugou’s back hit the mat. Then, looking at Sugou’s helpless face, Tsunemori stopped just before the blow.

It is a fundamental of the self-defense art, but it is hard to use during a fight.

This time, the match had been entirely decided by Sugou’s inattention and tact*.

When Tsunemori removed her hands, Sugou instantly stood up.

“I’m sorry”

“Do we go for the next one?”

Just after the sparring restart, Tsunemori made a sharp slide.

“!”

From her low position, she wrapped Sugou’s leg. A sneak attack to the ankles.

Holding Sugou’s right leg between hers and grabbing his ankle with both hands, she twisted it.

“Uh!”

“To make up for a weight difference, there is nothing but the joint lock*, isn’t it?”

Overturned, Sugou tapped the mat.

Undoing the joint lock, Tsunemori stood up.

“Sugou-san, you are strong. However, you have gone too easy with me. Despite blows seem to be your strong point, you haven’t hit me once”

“You say I’ve gone easy to you, but you surely are strong too, Inspector Tsunemori. I’ve understood that your level is not the same as an inspector’s”                                              

 Sugou stood up too.

“Kougami Shinya has changed you”

“…”

Hearing that name, Tsunemori felt like she’d been stabbed in her chest.

“I don’t know the details. However, Kougami-san had such an influence on your life that you can’t go back. Training eagerly in martial arts too, it looks so”

“If I told you I don’t get it … it would be a lie, wouldn’t it?”

--- is life precious?

The matter is not when will we die, it’s how we will die.

(Kougami-san, he would definitely say something like that, I guess)

It’s not only living.

Is there a sense in those deaths?

Kagari Shūsei’s death supports the present Tsunemori Akane.

Masaoka Tomomi’s death supports the present Ginoza Nobuchika.

If she herself died going across the sea, there should be a sense in that.

Turning towards Sugou and holding out her right hand, Tsunemori offered it to him.

“Let’s go”

“Somehow…”

Making up his mind, Sugou responded to her shakehand.

“…it’s like you must meet with Kougami Shinya one more time”     

    Late at night at the CID office of the Public Safety Bureau---. Maneuvering the keyboard, Tsunemori was arranging the documents that seemed to have some connection to SEAUn. She copied the information obtained with the memory scoop and went on with the arrangement of her investigation abroad. It’s late at night, and possibly there’s no one here --- or so she thought, but Ginoza entered quietly.

“…I asked for the permission to accompany you, but they rejected it”

Tsunemori stopped doing her work.

“I’m not surprised. The dispatch of an inspector abroad is such a singular case. Let alone enforcers”

“Is it Kougami?”

“…” Tsunemori’s expression hardened to Ginoza’s words.

Ginoza sat at his desk, Tsunemori installed the memory scoop on her portable terminal and stood up.

“I have a favor to ask you” Ginoza said.

“Eh?”

“If you manage to meet him again, give him a punch for me”

“I can’t do that”

“What?”

While making a light shadowboxing*, Tsunemori said

“When I find him, I will arrest and bring him back home. I want you to punch him personally, Ginoza-san”

Hearing that, Ginoza smiled wryly.

“I can’t tell if you have changed or you’re still the same…you’re a mystery as always”

  4

  Carrying a suitcase with her, Tsunemori stopped the car at Yokota Air Base*of the Ministry of Defense. In the unmanned, fully automated Yokota Air Base there were only two people responsible for the air traffic control, drones had replaced the staff for the most part. The ones arranging the plane and the one refueling it were all drones too.  

“--- bzz”

A sharp sound breaking the sound speed echoed far up in the sky. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)* belonging to the Air Force System for the defense of the national borders,  jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, had taken off from the airstrip of this airport for the routine patrol.

There were two types of UAV: a large one used for reconnaissance and a small one used for fights.

Even if she was going overseas, Tsunemori was travelling lightly because she had no sightseeing purpose. Her suitcase was a self-moving type with small wheels, a model that came along with Tsunemori freely. Once gone through the necessary formalities at the reception control panel, she followed the holographic visual guide and went to the zone where aircrafts were parked --- the airport apron*. 

The transport jet plane, property of the Ministry of Defense, was waiting there ready to leave.

Near the transport plane, a male loadmaster* was receiving a report from a service drone.

The loadmaster noticed Tsunemori immediately.

“Inspector Tsunemori?”

“Yes!” as there was a loud noise on the flying ground, she naturally raised her voice.

“I’m the loadmaster Tanohata of the Ministry of Defense Air Force. I’m pleased to meet you”

“It’s my pleasure”   

“Thanks to this guy*, it’ll take us just three hours”

Saying so, Tanohata pointed proudly at the plain.

    NOTES TO TRANSLATION:

*SOMETHING HAPPENED THERE: I wrote it in capital letters because in the book this sentence is written with dots above the kanjis to underline it.

*HUMINT: Human intelligence (frequently abbreviated HUMINT) is intelligence gathered by means of interpersonal contact, as opposed to the more technical intelligence gathering disciplines such as signals intelligence (SIGINT), imagery intelligence (IMINT) and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT).

NATO defines HUMINT as "a category of intelligence derived from information collected and provided by human sources." Typical HUMINT activities consist of interrogations and conversations with persons having access to information.

The manner in which HUMINT operations are conducted is dictated by both official protocol and the nature of the source of the information. Within the context of the U.S. military, most HUMINT activity does not involve clandestine activities. Both counter intelligence and HUMINT do include clandestine HUMINT and clandestine HUMINT operational techniques.

HUMINT can provide several kinds of information. It can provide observations during travel or other events from travelers, refugees, escaped friendly POWs, etc. It can provide data on things about which the subject has specific knowledge, which can be another human subject, or, in the case of defectors and spies, sensitive information to which they had access. Finally, it can provide information on interpersonal relationships and networks of interest.

HUMINT is both a source of positive intelligence, but also of information of strong counterintelligence value. Interviews should balance any known information requirements of both intelligence collection guidance and of counterintelligence requirements. (from Wikipedia)

This word is really interesting, I never heard it before. This translation is such a source of new information for me; I learn something new every time.

*supporter: it is a protective equipment which protects genitals from hits during fight.

*inattention and tact: here the author means that Sugou has too tact to attack her seriously because he fears he can hurt her and he’s also not too careful, so at the end he is easily beaten.

*joint lock: locking technique in judo. 

*shadowboxing: Shadowboxing is an exercise used in the training for combat sports, especially, as its name implies, in boxing. It is used mainly to prepare the muscles before the person training engages in stronger physical activity. In shadowboxing, only one person is required to participate; the participant throws punches at no one in particular. (from Wikipedia)

*Yokota Air Base: (横田飛行場, Yokota Hikōjō), is a United States Air Force base in the city of Fussa, one of 26 cities in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo. (from Wikipedia)

*UAV: Acronym of the English translation for the word   無人航空機(UAV) , composed by 無人 (unmanned) and 航空機 (aerial vehicle).  

*airport apron: The airport apron is the area of an airport where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded, refueled, or boarded. Although the use of the apron is covered by regulations, such as lighting on vehicles, it is typically more accessible to users than the runway or taxiway. However, the apron is not usually open to the general public and a license may be required to gain access.

The apron is designated by the ICAO as not being part of the maneuvering area. All vehicles, aircraft and people using the apron are referred to as apron traffic. (from Wikipedia)

*loadmaster: A loadmaster is an aircrew member on civilian aircraft or military transport aircraft tasked with the safe loading, transport and unloading of aerial cargoes. Loadmasters serve in the militaries and civilian airlines of many nations. The loadmaster performs the calculations and plans cargo and passenger placement to keep the aircraft within permissible center of gravity limits throughout the flight. Loadmasters ensure cargo is placed on the aircraft in such a way as to prevent overloading sensitive sections of the airframe and cargo floor. Considerations are also given to civilian and military regulations which may prohibit the placement of one type of cargo in proximity to another. Unusual cargo may require special equipment to be loaded safely aboard the aircraft, limiting where the other cargo may feasibly be placed. Tactically, loadmasters may also directly affect combat readiness as they are also responsible for determining the load order of aircraft so that more tactically important material (e.g. ammunition) is off-loaded and therefore ready to deploy faster than other support items; this may be especially germane to forward operating bases.

The loadmaster may physically load the aircraft, but primarily supervises loading crews and procedures. Once positioned aboard the aircraft, the loadmaster ensures that their charge is properly secured, as an unexpected shift of the load can produce serious handling problems for the aircraft. Chains, straps, and integrated cargo locks are among the most common tools used to secure the cargo. Because cargo may shift during abrupt maneuvers, the loadmaster must determine the appropriate type(s), quantity and placement of cargo restraint.

*thanks to this guy: Tanohata is talking about his plane, called affectionately ‘this guy’.