Debrief 1: The Detective

Name and Aliases:

-Emiri (Emi) Todo

-magical girl name: Queen of Hearts: Emi

Powers:

- Transformation object: fancy scissors. Can become giant and used like a sword

-general strength/speed enhancement and flight

- ability to create and manipulate vast amounts of smaller pairs of scissors. Scissors generated by her powers don’t seem to be able to change size.

Background:

-Operated as the serial killer known as “the beauty queen killer”; committed torture murders and stole victims faces throughout Tokyo

-Over the course of a year, she had 22 confirmed kills, most of which happened over a period of 4 months at the beginning of fall

-Was contacted by a worm and given powers and then killed a classmate she was jealous of before going on to be a serial killer

Aftermath:

-terminated via decapitation; subject wasn’t used to physically strenuous use of her powers or fighting against an equal opponent

- Worm was located and destroyed after death of its host; transformation object vanished after death of both parasite and host

-it’s believed Emiri died in a freak accident and the serial killings have largely vanished from the media. No more murders or suspicious deaths fitting her MO have occurred 

Notes:

It’s my personal observation that the worm was the instigating force, but it simply made Emiri act on her preexisting desires. Subject was highly mentally unstable, irrationally jealous and vindictive and admitted to having fantasized about killing people long before she came in contact with the worm. Exact level of progress with the take-over is unknown, but I’m certain that the worm had no direct influence on any of her actions and simply allowed her to act on her fantasies, though the worms influence would have progressively increased the frequency and severity of her crimes if she hadn’t been terminated.

                              *                                                         *                                              *

Tsubkai closed her journal. Her case notes were so unspectacular that she felt embarrassed even writing them down, but she wasn’t doing it  for herself. It helped keep her grounded to remember the people she’d killed and the reality of her mission, but the purpose was to leave a record for future research. Not the government assholes who used her sister, mind you, but her contacts who had actual humanity. So little was known about the worms and the monsters known as magical girls, that any information about the different ways the parasite influenced and infected it victims would be precious. 

Her eyes drifted over to the news program running on the tv. The host was talking about some industrial warehouse fire that had happened last night. ‘Lots of injuries, no deaths...it’s been so quiet in Tokyo since that night.’ Once the confidential sector of the police force that delt with and covered up magical girl incidents had gotten involved, it was like the killings had never happened. They just...vanished from the news. Sure, they covered developments like the unidentified bodies being identified, but the terms ‘murder’, ‘serial killer’ and ‘the beauty queen killer’ were never mentioned. When the first victim, Sakura Ito, was identified, they only called her “the young girl who met a violent end and was found next to a walking path in the housing development she lived in.” They made it sound like she’d fallen from a cliff or something instead of being stabbed to death by another person. But Tsubaki knew why they were trying to memory hole the killing spree; the killer wasn’t ever going to be identified or caught. A middle school girl somehow developing the strength and skill to go on a forensically undetectable killing spree was the kind of thing that would raise all sorts of questions. They couldn't tell the truth, but people would be pissed if they declared it solved without anymore information. Engineering mass forgetfulness was the only real option. ‘I feel bad for the victims...it’s like they never existed and no one cared about them. Though, I guess it’s not like they were forgotten because no one cared...the cops did investigate and their killer was stopped...it’s just the kind of thing that can’t be made public. I don’t know...I still have mixed feelings about magical girl incidents being covered up.’ Tsubaki sighed. There weren't any easy or good answers to any of this. She was jolted out of her sulking by her phone vibrating in her pocket.

Tomboy: We all still meeting up before the service?

Pigtails: Yeah, Lily’s at my house RN and we’ll met you at the bus stop.

Tsubaki: Sounds good. See you soon

‘Huh, guess glasses’ name is Lily. Whatever.’ Tsubaki slipped her phone back into her pocket and grabbed her backpack. Time to go to Emiri’s memorial service. Classes had been canceled for the day so the students could attend and, as one of the dead girl’s classmates, it was expected that Tsubaki be there. It didn’t bother her, aside from being a bit redundant. Afterall, Tsubaki has already covered Emi's face with her cardigan, laid out the body in a respectful position and said a little prayer before she’d called the detectives to come handle the rest. At least she was still so new that, even if people had noticed her and Emi spending time together, it wouldn’t be odd for her to not be visibly upset at the service. It would have been exhausting if she had to manufacture tears  for everyone else.

'It’s not that I don’t care or don’t feel bad that she had to die.’ Tsubaki reflected as she locked the door behind her. ‘she was an awful person, but she might have grown out of it without ever hurting anyone if it wasn’t for that stupid worm. We’ll never know. And her parents are a real mess right now because she was their only child. They didn’t know anything about her issues or the things she did. She was their baby, and they loved her, and she’s gone now. It’s so unfair for them.’ She silently trotted down the stairs and emerged outside into the fresh air. Ironically, for the occasion, it was an absolutely beautiful day.

“Going to the Todo girl’s memorial?” Tsubaki turned. A man in a trench coat was leaning against the wall, fiddling with a lighter. “Mr. detective. Yeah, she was my classmate after all. I kind of don’t have a choice.” He regarded her with his emotionless black eyes, and she could feel him pulling her words apart like the layers of an onion. Judging; he was always judging everything for truthfulness, but he was especially harsh and detailed when it came to Tsubaki. “I got the doctor’s report. No physical changes, no reported mental changes.” The detective's implication was clear. 

“No, detective, the worm hasn’t had any effect on my brain, and I haven’t begun feeling homicidal.” Tsubaki rolled her eyes. “Still just the feeling that there’s something inside me watching me. The usual.” She didn’t bring up how she’d hallucinated a shadow being looking at her in the mirror. It was the worm messing with her head, but it was just an effect of it being inside her head and taking root. It wasn’t a hallucination in the way some magical girls would hallucinate that innocent people were attempting to attack them or think that they were doing something mundane while actually committing acts of violence. It was just one of those damn bugs’ mind games. For now, anyway.

The detective frowned and flicked his lighter shut. Mr. Detective; that was the only name Tsubaki knew him by. She was fine with that; he needed to know who she was for the purposes of tracking and observing her, but she didn’t need to know who he was. He was her contact for dealing with magical girl related things and it was mutually beneficial. The cops didn’t have to waste lives or resources taking down unnatural threats to the public and she was provided with information, resources and a cover so she could go about her mission unimpeded. He also connected her to a doctor that was independently associated with the government's research on magical girls so she could receive medical care and monitoring.

He was a pain in the ass, but Tsubaki was grateful for him. Afterall, he’d agreed to work together and cover for her after Hana’s death and didn’t tell the Japanese government about her. Generally, the government would care about her existence one way or the other, as long as the “special incidents” police division did its job to deal with her when the time came but, given the fact that she’d caught the parasite from a magical girl who was one of their special projects...well, Tsubaki preferred not to think about what would have happened to her if the agents and scientists that had lured her sister in had realized that she was a magical girl, too. It was so dumb; she’d only gotten a little bit of blood to spatter on her face! Traumatic, yes, but it was so minor. That was just how resilient those damn space worms were. The parasite had realized what Hana was planning and had immediately jumped to a new host. The worms never died with their hosts; of course it couldn’t be that easy; but the bug that had taken advantage of her sister was devious enough to be able to avoid having to spend time hunting for a new host.

“I’m not a fan of that tone. How am I supposed to know that you aren’t being forced to say that you’re okay? Or genuinely being tricked into perceiving yourself as still stable?” Tsubaki’s vein bulged. “Because I’m not!” The detective raised his eyebrow gravely. “Stop treating me like I’m just a psycho waiting to happen! I know myself and I am who I am! I’m Tsubaki Moto and my brain and my feelings are still functioning!” “Can you actually prove that, though?” The detective asked quietly. “It’s my job to doubt you. If I ever think that you’re about to become a risk-” “I know!” Tsubaki snapped. “You think I like thinking about that? I know it’s your job to stop me if I ever lose it, but I won’t! I know what I’m doing. When the time comes, I’ll take care of it. And I know that might mean turning to you to put me down. But I’m not just going to snap without a single warning and I’m going to fight it off as long as I can. That was the deal, remember? You promised to let me manage it with the doctor and his drugs!” Tsubaki’s voice rose to a frantic pitch that caused passers-by to stare.

Sometimes, she felt like she had forfeited all personal autonomy and the right to be seen as competent the second she’d been infected. Now, she was automatically considered suspect and had to prove that her thoughts and feelings were actually her own by default. It was enough to make her doubt herself and turn delusional, even without the worm. ‘I wonder if it wants that. Does the confusion and fear give it power?’ She turned away from the detective. “I gotta go. Meeting some of my friends to go to the service.”

“You weren’t injured at all during your fight, right?” Tsubaki shook her head no. “Not even a scratch. Emi made me work up a sweat, but she wasn’t much of a fighter. It was a quick fight.” “Good. And you have money? You’ve been able to get food and pay the doctor?” “You know Doctor X never charges me. And I have plenty of money from the government. They’re still giving me my stipend since they don’t know about...you know.” “I see.” The detective slipped his hands into his pockets as he turned to leave. “If you ever need anything, you know you can contact me, right? Not just for business.” “Yeah. I’m fine, really. You don’t need to worry about me.” Tsubaki promised as she walked away. “Alright. See you later, Tsubaki-San.”

As she walked down the street, Tsubaki was finally able to unclench her fists. As much as she knew that the detective was on the side of good and was only being rational, talking to him still caused so much rage to boil inside her. The way he treated her as nothing but a walking time bomb and parasite host made her want to scream. Running into him made her feel like she had been stripped of her humanity. Of course, she knew that, functionally, she had been; she ceased to have normal rights the second she’d come into contact with her sister’s blood. But even if there was a parasite in her brain trying to take her over, she wasn’t gone yet. She was still in there and was still herself, but it felt like she had to scream over the noise of her status as a magical girl to be seen and heard. She knew the complexities and risks she inherently posed now, but that didn’t make it any less of a mind screw to be treated like a non-human entity while she was still in control of herself.