Psycho Pass: All Alone With You

Drift! Chapter 2

Royce nodded in agreement. "These cars are one-of-a-kind. As unique as the drivers who built and raced them."

"Still waiting for a connection, gentlemen." Tomb pressed the palms of her hands against her forehead. "Give me some reason to risk my pension."

"BabyGirl," Kogami whispered.

"Excuse me, Enforcer Kogami!"

"Chief, he's not being disrespectful," Royce said quickly. "It's the name of a car. Reese Iazzetti's Porsche 911. We suspect McNeill tried to have Iazzetti killed, but the attempt failed."

"Well, Iazzetti eventually did die of his wounds," Rodriguez added, "but he made certain that McNeill didn't get the car."

"Without realizing who they were," Akane said, "we ran into Iazzetti's sister and daughter at the car show this morning."

Waving her glasses back and forth in front of her, Tomb asked, "What's the significance of this car? I'm still not making the connection."

"It's our way in, Chief," Rodriguez said. "Iazzetti was a Purgatory Patriarch, one of the leaders of the biggest underground street racing crews in Los Angeles. If we can get the car back on the street and racing, we might flush McNeill out when he makes another bid to claim it."

"And who is supposed to drive it, Rodriguez? You? After that stunt you pulled at the county line? No way! And Royce drives like my grandmother."

"Neither of us, Chief," Rodriguez said. "Him." He pointed to Kogami. When she rolled her eyes in reply, he added, "It's the perfect cover. With the red tape between us and Japan, it would be difficult to track Kogami's real records."

"And we could make that even more difficult with a bit of official hacking," Royce said. "Chief, you've been riding us hard on this case for months now. This is the break we've been looking for."

Akane absently rubbed at her chin. "It does make perfect sense, Royce. With a bit of work at MWPSB, we can make the digital trail very difficult to track. Shion could put a whole other identity into the system for Kogami." Then realizing she had spoken out loud, she gasped, "I mean! If you thought it was a good idea, Chief Tomb!"

"Not just a good idea, it's a good plan," Royce said. "Kogami's an unknown in Los Angeles. No records. No priors."

"Plus he's got the skills," Rodriguez said. "As proven at the track earlier today, and on top of it all, he's a cop."

"Something of a rogue cop," Tomb said, looking over a digital file on a tablet. She swept her hand over the contents. "Senior Inspector Nobuchika Ginoza describes you in three words, Enforcer. Impertinent. Insubordinate. Incorrigible."

Kogami said the words along with her in his head. He cracked his knuckles and sighed as he slouched into his chair. Even 8000 miles away, Ginoza was still a spur in his side. "Guilty. On all counts."

Tomb leered at him with a fake grin on her face. "Glad to see you can admit it."

"But, Chief," Rodriguez said, "his handler's right here with him. We send Inspector Tsunemori undercover with Kogami. He can play some exiled Yakuza brat."

"Sent here because of his psycho pass," Royce added.

"And Inspector Tsunemori can go in as his old lady."

"And if that doesn't wash, Chief, we've got 100% full cooperation from the FBI. They've been looking to bring this guy McNeill down a peg for their own reasons."

"FBI?" Tomb said. "Why didn't you mention that fact? How'd you two manage that?"

Rodriguez smiled. "Our people know other people. That's all we can really say right now. Full interagency cooperation, Chief! LAPD, FBI, MWPSB. That's a lot of acronyms for a headline."