Darker Than Black > 04. A New Star Shines in the Dawn Sky... (Part 2)

Saito:
Looks like we gotta real live on our hands.

Kono:
Astronomics is saying this new star they IDed is giving out some kinda weird spectrum readings. We might be dealing with a moratorium here.
Poor bastards are crispier than the bacon I had for breakfast.

Saito:
Moratorium, huh?
That's what's gonna be trouble.

Mao:
How did this happen?
You say Tahara's daughter caused all this?
I get the sense you know something about that girl you're not sharing with us.

Mai:
Back when I was younger my dad used to say it was my good luck charm.
He said it would always keep me safe.

Kenneth:
According to our intel, Tahara's daughter has shown no signs of being a contractor before today.
Either we've been working from bad information or more likely it means Tahara's research was a success and he's been holding out.
In any case, we're taking them both.
Time to earn your keep, Luco.



Mai:
I didn't... It wasn't me! It's no my faults!

Kirihara:
Meyer & Hilton?

Hourai:
When the UK entered the Argentine coastal conflict, Meyer & Hilton was the first company hired by the military to develop and supply contractors for use in battle.
There are fairly despicable bunch from what I can tell.
They employ some rather questionable methods.
Inbreeding and cross-fertilization to mass-produce contractors.
Experimental surgery on normal individuals to execute contracts.

Kirihara:
What's their connection to the moratorium that emerged?

Hourai:
We're not sure.
However, we do have one possible lead.
They employed a former Pandora scientist [for a] number of years.
We know he left on unfavorable terms.
That given the nature of his research, if he's here in the city that could account for the presents of Meyer & Hilton, as well as the appearance of the new star this morning.

Kirihara:
Yes, sir. Understood.
I'll have Saito and Kono start looking for the scientist.
I'll focus on tracking down the moratorium.

Hourai:
I can't stress it enough. It's imperative that we secure and isolate that moratorium immediately.
They're neither contractors nor dolls.
They're monsters with no self-awareness and no control over their own abilities.

Kirihara:
I'll do my best.

Mayu:
Chief!

Kirihara:
What's our status?

Mayu:
We're all setup for you inside.

Kirihara:
Thank you, Ishizaki. Have you been able to locate the subject?

Ishizaki:
Not precisely. Our mediums did manage to reacquire it briefly not far from where it first appeared. However, we also began picking up a powerful countercurrent that was causing some dangerous levels of interference so we've been forced to suspend the search for the time being.

Kirihara:
And the evacuation advisory?

Yuka:
It's been issued over a five-kilometer radius.
We're saying it's a ruptured gas line.

Kirihara:
I've been away far too long, Stargazer.
It's me. Kirihara.

Ishizaki:
It's the reason contractors are even called contractors in the first place.
They're compelled to perform a specific act every time they use their power.
This payment or price varies from individual to individual.
In the case of a moratorium, on the other hand, that payment is deferred.
Instead, once a set amount of time is passed they generally transition into a doll state.
Not unlike the mediums we have here.

Kirihara:
So where a contractor's price forces a certain degree of restraint, a moratorium has no means to regulate or control their own ability.

Ishizaki:
That's the gist of it.
And there you go. Now you know almost as much about them as we do.
Even here in astronomics they're still basically a mystery.
They just haven't been able to observe that many moratorium cases.

Kirihara:
Thankfully.

Ishizaki:
In this particular case, what we do know is the pulse is a bit unstable.
Of course, we have no idea what that might mean right now.
You're doing that thing with your forehead again.
You know, you're not that young anymore.
They're gonna give yourself wrinkles.

Kirihara:
We're the same age, Kanami.
If I'm getting old then so are you.

Ishizaki:
Sure, technically. But I'm not worried which is exactly why I am not giving myself wrinkles. You see how that works?

Kirihara:
You haven't changed. Not one bit.

Ishizaki:
Neither have you.



Announce:
All residents are advised to proceed to the designated evacuation shelter immediately.
Please proceed in an orderly fashion. For your own safety, all private vehicles or personal belongings should be left behind. Repeating...

Yuka:
Mai?
I thought that was you. What are you doing?
Didn't you hear we have to leave. It's dangerous.
Something about a broken gas line!

Father:
Yuka!
Friend of yours?

Yuka:
Oh, yeah.

Father:
Listen, don't worry.
I know this is scary but why don't you come with us?
It'll be all right.

Mai:
No! Don't touch me!

Yuka:
It's okay, Mai. He's my dad.

Mai:
Please! Get away from me! Just go!

Yuka:
Mai...?

Yuka's father:
Look, we have to go.

Mai:
No! I said don't!

Yuka:
Oh my god! Daddy!

Mai:
I told you not to come near me.
Why didn't you listen!?

Ishizaki:
Subject acquired!

Mayu:
We've got it!
Evacuation zone. Southeast quadrant.

Kirihara:
All units, contain the target.
But do not engage until help arrives.

Police:
A little girl?



Kenneth:
You've been keeping secrets, Tahara.
Your research was successful, wasn't it?
You've discovered how to suppress the powers of a contractor.
After all we've done for you.
Though I can understand why you wouldn't want word to get out that you used your daughter as a guinea pig.
Now we could come to you with the factory but I hope you'll save us the trouble.
We'd like to avoid further casualties.
You know where to find this. Your daughter will be waiting for you when you get here.
Just make it fast.

Mai:
I see you like that. How many skull messy hairs get in his eyes all the time.



Hei:
Is it true?
You used your daughter as (your) a guinea pig?
What did you do to her? Tell me.
What is that thing you implanted in Mai's wrist?

Tahara:
I'm guessing you've heard the stories about me, about my past.
So you know that I am the sole survivor of the first investigative team sent into Hell's Gate.
The part the story doesn't tell you is that when I came out I brought something back.
An organic material possessing certain properties that I came to feel might be used to inhibit the abilities of contractor.
Of course, it was only a theory, but after two years working for Meyer & Hilton, I was beginning to produce results.
Little did I know. It was already too late.



Tahara:
Mai? Mai! What?
Don't do that!

Mai:
But, why not?

Tahara:
You know how contractors are regarded by the rest of the world, don't you?
They are feared, despised. Seen as less than human.
I tried to suppress Mai's abilities before they fully manifested.
I implanted one of the samples I had taken from the Gate into her wrist.
My theory wasn't tested. My research incomplete. But... I was grasping at straws.
No. To be more precise, they weren't straws.
What I was grasping at were seeds. Thinking back on it now, maybe those seeds had been cursed by the Gate.
My punishment for ever setting foot in that place.
I knew that the seed I implanted in Mai's wrist would decay in time.
Once it did, her abilities would begin to manifest again.
So, I continued my research.
And in the end, you know what I discovered?
I discovered that complete suppression was impossible.
The contractor host into which the seed had been implanted would metamorphose into a moratorium. And it would be no way to predict how long the affects would last.
What I had done was turn my own daughter into a monster. A freak of nature. Even more [with vile than] a contractor.
I destroyed my lab and my data.
I used ME to erase Mai's memories. Got us away from Meyer & Hilton.
There was no way I could stay in risk letting them find out about Mai's condition.
I couldn't let those butchers turn her into a true guinea pig.

Hei:
So you threw everything away and came here.
You just gave up on her.

Tahara:
I told you! It was impossible to keep a contract from manifesting.
What would you have me do? Should I have let them experiment on her?
When I already knew what they would find?
When I left I was able to take two seeds with me.
One with in Mai's wrist, the other...
Even if Mai's seed were to completely decay, I thought that... perhaps if I had store of newly produced seeds to replace it, I might be able to keep her nature as a moratorium suppressed indefinitely. It was our only real hope for a normal life.
Every time I water this plant, that thought was the only thing that could put my heart at ease.
But... this morning I saw the last of my hopes wither away.
The seeds didn't grow.
I saw what my daughter was becoming but I couldn't bring myself to face you to see the result of my mistakes staring back at me.
If I'd known that would come to this, I would've much rather let her become a contractor instead.

Hei:
If you're looking for forgiveness, you won't get it from me.
You can just stay in this room and rot along with your seeds for all I care.

Tahara:
I'm sorry, Mai.
It was supposed to have borne so many seeds.
It was supposed to bear lots and lots of good-luck seeds to keep you safe...



Mai:
That looks right.
See? He's got these big bushy eyebrows and little scratchy whiskers all over his face.

Kenneth:
Is Tahara here?

Luco:
Not him. But it's someone. That's for sure.

Mao:
Damn it!

Yin:
I have it.
He's in the old warehouse district.

Hei:
Contractor, huh?

Luco:
It takes one to know one, isn't that what they say?

Kenneth:
That's far enough.
If you care at all about Tahara's daughter you'll stay right there.

Luco:
That was a bad play. Plan might have worked if you were going straight for the girl instead of trying to get through me.

Kenneth:
Well then. Lucky for us you didn't hire a smarter contractor.
Isn't that right, Tahara?

Tahara:
That's enough. Now give me my daughter.

Kenneth:
Does this mean you've agreed to come back to work for us?

Tahara:
I told you before I want nothing more to do with you people.
Instead, I brought my research material. You can have it.

Kenneth:
All right. Hand it over.

Tahara:
No, my daughter first.

Kenneth:
You heard him.
Now go on, Mai. Your dear old dad is here to take you home.

Mai:
I don't wanna... Please, no... I don't know him.
No!

Kenneth:
Damn it! Hurry up and give us the materials.
What the hell is that?

Tahara:
My research.

Kenneth:
xxx stupid you!
Don't make me ask you again!

Tahara:
I'm telling you that's it. That's everything.

Mai:
No! You're not my daddy. Let me go!
You're not him. My daddy is smart, stronger and [handsome.] he's better than you!

Tahara:
No. Your father is a terrible man.

Mai:
No, he's not! He's good! He takes care of me! He says he always protect me!
I love my daddy...

Tahara:
And daddy loves you, too, Mai.
I love you very much.

Kenneth:
Forget about him!
All that matters is the sample!

Hei:
I guess you should've listened to your buddy.

Tahara:
Mai... Mai...
My work... it's done. Mai...
I'll be home...

Mai:
I missed you, daddy...

Kenneth:
Wait! Luco is the one who killed him! Please let me go!

Hei:
No, Mai. Don't do it.

Mai:
But, why not?

Kenneth:
No, don't! Stay away!

Mai:
(singing)

Hei:
It's her price.

Mao:
A moratorium changing into a contractor.
I thought the probability of that was supposed to be zero.

Huang:
Yeah, well, it's not the strangest thing that ever happened.
Don't worry too much about loosing Tahara.
Looks like we ended up with some a lot more interesting, instead.

Mai:
It feels like I have killed a lot of people.

Huang:
Don't let it get you down, kid. After all, killing people is what you contractors do. But I guess you're not exactly sorry.

Mai:
Do you know where I'll be going now?

Huang:
To heaven, kid. Just might take a little to get there is all.

Kirihara:
By the time we arrived on the scene, there was no trace of the moratorium or of Messier code BK201, which for a brief moment had shown along sighted.
Afterward, the investigation of special case #1032 was taken out of the public security division's hands. And at present, word is that no new leads have surfaced.
However, one thing is certain at least.
The new star that was born that day has not yet fallen.



In Eastern Europe, they found her. The woman who was once the devil. But the fires have long since gone out. What they see reflected in her vacant eyes is only the cold, white light of loss. Is this sigh that escapes from her unopen lips a devil's whisper, or is it a sigh of relief? The winds of destruction were never supposed to blow again. And then, the trap was set.