Chapter 161: Forensics Lab.

Emilia, that was her name apparently. She was also the one in charge of the lab… That was how she introduced herself, but her entrance, and her attitude seemed, at odds with her position. And not just that, but it felt odd.

As the silence continued, she just stared back. Her eyes never leaving mine. It was oddly, oppressive…

Eventually, I had to speak, after all, I was here for a reason, and it wasn’t like I had an eternity either. “Taylor told me to bring this down.” I gestured on the box I had brought. The very box she had just rifled through just moments prior. “Inside are, contraband I was able to recover from a gang lab.”

“I knew those looked rather familiar! You have some basic healing potions, strength potions, stamina potions, and…” She trails off at seeing the pills. Blinks, and opens the bag to give them a whiff.

“Hoh… magic pills. Rather, magic resistance pills. These aren’t commonly retrieved. Where did you say you found these?” She asks, and for once, she actually looked serious.

I held nothing back, explaining what we saw, the lab, the gang, all of it.

“Yeah, this sounds like a Dragon Gang operation.” Was what she said at the end of it all. “They create drug labs to mass produce potions and such.”

“Isn’t that illegal? I mean, it’s clear that their doing this to distribute it.” I say.

“Technically, no. Possession, or even production of magical goods isn’t illegal. Otherwise, just about every magical girl in the city would be deemed a criminal. What is illegal is the distribution of magical items or goods to the general populace.”

I nod, “That makes sense, but does the distinction really matter? And wouldn’t that be hard to enforce?”

“Immensely hard, yet, what else can we do? If magical material becomes commonplace in the city we’d have an issue on our hands.”

“Mutations, people becoming monsters?” I ask.

“Well, yes, but there’s a bit more to it… see, when a citizen comes into contact with raw magic, miasma, or whatever above a certain concentration you get one of a few outcomes. Either they transform into a monster, they mutate into something else, they become a magic user, or… and this is rare, you get a natural born magical girl.”

That term, I’ve definitely heard that before… “I thought our city wasn’t big enough for that though?”

“Our city, as it is, is way too small for that to happen naturally. But, if you artificially raise the magic levels, and the average contamination among the populace hits a certain critical mass, you can force it.” She says, adopting the bearing of a teacher, or perhaps a professor speaking to a student.

“And is that what the Dragon Gang is going for?”

“Dunno, nobody is really sure. We do know it destabilizes the city. And the way the gang operates makes it rather difficult to pin down why they’d want that.”

“Even though you know who the head is?”

“Yes… Primarily because they don’t produce themselves, or even directly hand over the material. They use a lot of intermediaries, and so, it’s impossible to tack them for anything. That… and as frustrating as it is, a lot of those intermediaries are important businesses in the city. For example, most of the stores that sell or produce magical items tend to be affiliated with the Dragon Gang.”

“Is it because of their connection with Tartarus?” I ask, remembering what happened during the blood moon.

“Potentially… We’re not really sure.” She says with a sigh. “I do know we’ve seen a serious uptick in magical items and drugs among the populace. Combined with our current lack of manpower, and inability to crack down, we can’t say how much of its actually the Dragon Gang, individual gangs branching out, or even if its leakage from the local magic user organizations.”

“That… sounds troublesome…”

“Yeah, like you wouldn’t believe, but there is a benefit. With each crack down, we get a load of materials for me to work with, like, say, here.” She pointed to the crate. “Though, I doubt this is all you found, yes?”

“You’re not wrong. I found a lot more, but I only brought a sample of what we have.”

She hummed. “Well, if you want to hand them over, they’d make a difference, rather, they’d make my life a lot easier.”

“How so?” I ask. “From what I’ve heard, or what I’ve been told by my own resident expert, these are unlikely to be of use for us.”

“For us, yes. These potions are crazy watered down. Probably to make them usable by the common man. Take a health potion, pop a magic pill, and not only would you get the equivalent of free healthcare, but you’d get no serious side effects. Even straight consumption of some of these potions wouldn’t cause severe side effects, well, so long as enough time is taken between doses.”

“And the others are the same?”

“Yeah, potions that make you stronger, restore energy, the whole nine yards, or whatever… As for the magic pills, you know how magic functions, yes?”

“I do. Actually, I recently acquired some knowledge on alchemy.”

“Oh, the beginner edition from Sheep’s shop?”

“The same one.” I say.

“Good, well, then you understand that magical energy functions a lot like radiation, being exposed to too much of it can cause sickness, death, and so on. And like radiation from the movies, or the occasional comic, can also mutate people. Well, the magic pills act like radiation pills. Helping boost their resistance, and to a smaller extent help disperse it. Granted, it’s not great, but if someone on the pill has to wander at night, in areas with miasma, they won’t turn.” She says.

“So… it’s a way for people to avoid the curfew then?”

“About, yes. Everyone has their own reasons, but it’s also difficult to crack down on their use and distribution for much the same reason. Only, the pill creates a… shall we say, a false safety net. The moment they take in too much magic, the transformation is often a lot more severe and sudden.” She emphasizes that statement with a snap of her fingers.

“I suppose that makes sense, it’s a preventative, not a cure.”

“Exactly. And again, even if we do crack down on it, we have no idea how many are in circulation, and even if we stop the production and sales of them, who knows how many remain in their hands, and even worse, what do you think happens when they lose their steady supply of pills?” She asks.

“I… don’t know actually. Wouldn’t they be forced to stay inside?”

“You’d think, but contamination by magic takes time to disperse. The pill only protects them to an extent. If they keep getting doses, always under their threshold, they can remain human, but they’re essentially stuck on the pill until they work through the contamination that has already been built up.”

“Ah, like addicts losing their drug of choice…” I mutter. “Only, instead of facing withdrawals, they’ll literally transform.”

“Yup, which is why it needs to be dealt with, but also, it’s something that needs a bit of nuance. Especially since, we need to make sure the populace has access to such pills between busts.”

“Which is why you want what I have?” I venture.

“Partially, and as I said, we have no uses for the potions ourselves, but… in case you weren’t aware, the average officer here isn’t one of us. Rather, they’re average people.”

“Are you saying they need the pills too?”

“No, thankfully… If I had to make pills for every officer, I’d probably go insane. No, since they all have a contract with the chief, they can handle magic contamination without issue. The greater issue is, even bolstered by the chief’s magic, they are still mostly human. Which means, between patrols and enforcement activities, they have a steady diet of magical supplements, like these.” She points to the vials.

“So… our police force is literally doping?” I say.

“More or less. Before every major event, we make sure to give them a cocktail of reinforcing potions, like these. It drastically improves their capabilities. Granting them potions for healing can save lives, especially out in the field where a proper medic or nurse is unlikely to be found.”

“I imagine there is a lot more to it… If these potions are temporary, surely, you must be doing things to make them stronger in other, more permanent ways.” I say, though, it came out more as an accusation.

“No… well, I won’t say that’s not entirely true. The chief isn’t exactly running experiments on the rank and file, that much I can guarantee you. As for her personal guard, that’s… that is a whole other issue, which I won’t go into…”

That, is a lot to unpack. At the same time, I wouldn’t say it is that surprising. I distinctly remember how capable the officers that were aiding me on the blood moon were. Imagining them hopped up on magical drugs made their performance, more reasonable. As odd as it may sound, knowing our police force was supernaturally strong did make me feel better about them… Now, as for handing over what I had…

“Would I get anything for handing over the contraband?”

“Huh? I mean, I could probably pay you for each potion? If that’s what you want.”

Money? For something I can’t really use, and even if I did want to use those potions, I’d have to do quite a bit to bring them up to snuff… There was also the whole situation with me needing proper equipment to work with it and well, my purse wasn’t that fat after my latest spending spree. And as for reclaiming the facilities the gang used?

I mean, that stuff was the very definition of jerry rigged. It was a miracle they even made anything with that setup. All in all, money didn’t sound like a bad option, but…

“That sounds fine, but… do you think you could give me more?”

“More? Like, what?” She asked.

“Information, maybe access to police resources?”

She frowned, “What kind of information, exactly?”

“Anything. I mean, I don’t know much about the situation here and I’d rather not get caught into the middle of something out of my depth.”

“That… honestly, I don’t mind giving you some information. You’ve more or less been vetted, otherwise Taylor wouldn’t have let you in, but… The other thing, getting access to police resources, I’m sure you’re aware we have a dedicated store? Otherwise, I don’t see why you’d be asking that.”

I nod, “I am aware, and that is exactly why I am asking.”

She hummed for a moment, “Thought so… well, I don’t have the authority to give you access. And even then, I’m actually paying out of pocket for these potions.”

“But you can make a request for me to be given access?” I press.

“I could, but… Mm… what would I get out of it?” She asked, turning the tables on me.

“What do you want?” I ask back.

“Well, hmm… more of this, obviously, at a discount too.” She points to the crate and the vials.

“How much of a discount?”

“Say, about this much?” She gives me a number. “I was thinking, maybe paying this much for each potion, or batch, but if you’re asking me to put my neck on the line…” And gives me another, larger number.

“What makes you think I’ll get more?” I say back.

“If you continue taking patrols, it’s inevitable at this rate… Honestly, it may sound crazy, but what the Dragon Gang is doing, and the distribution of drugs isn’t exactly bad right now. Granted, they caused this situation, but if they are ramping up drug production, it’s probably why the city hasn’t collapsed yet.”

“So, you’re saying their doing a community service?”

“Well, almost. They are still taking advantage of the situation. If they offered it for free, well, we’d have a different problem. Or if they coordinated with the hospital, yeah.”

“Instead, they’re working around the systems?”

“Yes, exactly. And I doubt they’ll stop production any time soon, rather, I believe that future patrols will see you running into smaller drug labs like you did today.”

“You really think so? I mean, we found a lab in an older apartment building. How many more could there be?” I went ahead and gave her a brief explanation of what we had dealt with.

“Smarter groups will make their labs elsewhere, or in locations that will cause less casualties.” She started with, “Although, even if you had ignored it, we would have had handled it by the week’s end. I do have to admit that your situation is a bit of an outlier. Honestly, you were rather lucky.”

“Lucky how?”

“Well, how to explains this?” She mutters, “I suppose I should start with explaining what a workshop is, as I’m sure you’re not fully aware of what a workshop is.”

“I have an idea of what a workshop might be.”

“An idea, but you don’t ‘know’.” She counters, and I had no retort. “So, I’m going to explain in simple terms. A workshop is a little more than simply a place where a magic user or magical girl works on magical products. A workshop is a specially prepared spot for magic craft. As, making magical materials require specific conditions and a stable environment. As such, workshops are typically created utilizing a variety of arrays or enchantments to create such a space.”

I nod along.

“Now, as your friend said, a basic workshop array works in various isolation and containment arrays to keep magical energy from leaking out, but also typically have a space expansion feature. Allowing a place to be bigger on the inside than the outside. Normally, when these arrays are used as intended, there is no chance of anything going wrong.”

I notice the caveat, “Normally, you say?”

“Yes, even if left alone, or abandoned, a workshop won’t cause too many issues. Left alone to stew, it might evolve into a dungeon, but that’s another issue. However, if a workshop array, especially one meant to expand space is tampered with, you get issues.”

“Issues?” I ask, though… perhaps I already had an idea.

“Yes, likely, based on what you’ve told me, the array was initially intended to be placed within a side room, to act as a contained lab. However, they probably thought they were being clever and expanded the array to cover the whole of the apartment. A bad idea, simply put.”

“And why exactly is that a bad idea?”

“Expanding arrays, especially space expanding ones require expertise, obviously. And jerry rigging a solution rarely ends well. Especially since when space expands and isn’t properly contained you can see… cracks.”

“Cracks?” I say, but, “Would a crack look anything like this?” I quickly explained to the window; what I saw outside.

“More or less…”

“And, what would have happened had I somehow gotten outside? Would I have gone to the other side, or fallen through the cracks?”

“What?” She asks almost incredulous. “No… I mean, possibly, but… wow, you really don’t know a lot…”

“I’m becoming very aware of that.”

“Well, it’s not that surprising really.”

“Is it? And really, if I was going to be dealing with this, shouldn’t Taylor have given more of an explanation?”

“She’s swamped. Honestly, and it’s not like she, or anyone really expected you’d find something like that. And seeing as how I’m giving you a full lesson here, I’m going to assume this is you agreeing with my proposal?” She asks.

I take a moment to think and well, again, it wasn’t like I could do anything with the potions on my own, and going out of my way to find a buyer? Yeah, not worth my time… That and, this did seem important. “As long as you put your all into granting me access to police resources on top of this.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t cheat you. I’ll make sure to make a request to the chief, and honestly, I don’t think anyone would disagree with giving you access going forward. Especially if you keep going on patrols.”

“Alright, then we have an agreement. Now, what do I need to know?”

“Right, so, what you saw wasn’t the other side. You could say our city is, layered. The other side is sometimes called the nightmare city, and it’s a copy of the city created by the collective thoughts and imaginations of the population. It’s a good place to farm coins, but it’s also exceedingly dangerous. Especially for newer magical girls, I’m sure you know that much?”

“I do, So, how does falling through the cracks differ?”

“That’s a bit more, nuanced. It can happen, but you can consider it as falling through the gaps in reality. Or more specifically, the space between places.”

“What? Cracks in reality? And that breach wasn’t a crack?”

“No, the breach, rather, dimensional magic expands a space by tapping into the primordial chaos that exists between realms. When a dimensional space breaches, it allows this primordial chaos to manifest and infect the area.”

That was… I wasn’t sure how to take that in. “Is… it dangerous?”

“Exceedingly so. Granted, we have resistance to it, but traversing the primordial sea is a difficult affair. Let alone navigating it, something all Sheep can do naturally.”

“Right and if I found myself there?”

She shrugs. “You’ll probably die, unless you get lucky and wash up in another realm. Now, that is typically what will happen should you, fall through the cracks. The other options is, well, you vanish.”

“Vanish as in die?”

Again, she shrugs. “I mean, I don’t know? I don’t think anyone here has actually travelled there? Éclair might have, at least once, I think…” She hums… “Yeah, think she mentioned it was… weird? I do know that dimensional apartments, and such are all anchored in whatever place that falling into a crack brings you into.”

“And how do you know that?” I have to ask.

“Rumors mostly? I mean, I knew a few people that had a dimensional apartment, and they all had the same warning.”

“And that would be?”

“If something knocks on the door, never answer.”

I blinked. That… sounded rather ominous actually. “Right…” I finally say, “And we were lucky, how?”

“Because it was a minor breach that sealed itself. Simply put. Had it been a major breach, I don’t think you would have survived. The primordial sea has all kinds of… things. And we tend to be their favorite meal.”

“Uh-huh… that… that is very good to know…:

“Right? Any other questions, or can I move to the next topic?”

“No, I think, I think I’m good enough for now on that topic. I’m sure I know enough now to well, not get involved in all that.”

“A great idea! It never is wise to get involved in all that!” She proceeds to laugh, but… Yeah, it didn’t make me feel any less like I had dodged a bullet.

“Now… let’s move on to the actual discussion, you wanted to know about the current status of our department, right?”

“About, yeah. Anything you can tell me will help.”

“That… is a rather loaded question… So, how about this, I’ll start with our precinct. Taylor is the head of our investigative branch. Her specific job is to keep track of all the criminal groups and track their activities. She’s basically the information center for the police force. Most of her people tend to be undercover or involved with the day to day. She wasn’t hurt too bad by the blood moon, though, in recent months her agents have been getting picked off. Which puts the whole force in a bit of a pickle.”

I nod along. “And the others?”

“The chief and her force remain mostly unharmed. However, she can’t really make any overt moves, especially now. Her magic works best from a seat of power, and if she goes out and acts on her own, well, the overall efficiency of our force drops drastically.”

“Does that mean the gang might try getting her out of her office?”

“To an extent, and really, they’ve gotten pretty close a few times, but the blood moon mostly impacted our rank and file. Most of our elites were preserved. Well, again, most. Grim and her unit were about eliminated. Thankfully, the people she sent your way survived, so with them as a core they could rebuild.”

“And what does Grim handle?”

“Special operations, mainly. You could think of them as SWAT, or some comparison. She kicks down doors and eliminates targets with brutal efficiency.”

“And there was another, right?”

“Yes, Penance. She’s… a bit odd. She heads the anti-riot force. She and her force managed the blood moon without incident.”

“What of Mori?”

“Mori is new, can’t say much. I heard he might be made head of the rank and file, when they rebuild, but that depends on if everyone continues to survive.”

“Survive?” I ask.

“Yes, dogs, specifically, hunting dogs have a bad habit of getting themselves killed. Of the precinct, the oldest member is Taylor. Penance follows after her, with Grim being the youngest of the trio.”

“And the chief?”

“The chief is a support dog.”

“Had she always been chief?” I follow up with.

“No, the chief used to be in the administrative part of the structure. The old chief used to be a member of the elite, a mage. Of course, after the whole incident, well, the chief filled in the vacancy.”

“The incident?” I think a moment, “Was Éclair involved in this incident?” I venture.

“Yeah, her. She killed the old guard across the city in her pursuit of the sheep. Really shook things up, accelerated a lot of things, pushed a lot of other stuff really far behind. That, and when she blew up the city, she happened to kill off the majority of the foreign influences inside the city when that happened.”

That actually tracks with what the therapist at the hospital said. Or rather, it lines up with what she said. I had a lot of questions on that, but…

“Was Éclair ever part of the force, or affiliated with it?” I asked instead.

“Yes… no? Rather, she was more of an outside element. She worked with the police before, but mainly in her capacity as an artist for identifying people.  Don’t think she ever took the oath.”

“Oh, and you?”

“Me? Well… eh…” She said, motioning with her hand. “Been here as long as I can remember. I’m probably… probably the oldest one here?” She says, though, not confidently. “I don’t really know, I spend most of my time down here making and working on the equipment and gear the force uses.”

“Alone? No assistants?”

“Not really. I mean, I don’t mind being alone. I actually like it, since I have plenty of time to work on my own projects, but hey, you get what you get.”

At a glance, it was obvious this lab was rather big. Big enough that I had a hard time imagining a single person managing it. Especially not someone like her. Even as we spoke, she swayed in her chair, never quite sitting still. Her eyes constantly darted about, occasionally she’d glance back to where she came from.

She didn’t seem like she was in a hurry, and despite looking exhausted, she didn’t seem to act like she was. Her attitude, her apparent seniority, none of it seemed to quite add up.

“Was there anything else?” She asked.

I take a moment before firing my next question, “Not involving Éclair, but I’m guessing the police force isn’t in that bad of a position, at least, from what I’ve been hearing.”

“Well, yeah, we’re not in that bad of a position. Most of our strength has been preserved, and well, had Grim died, we’d be in a much worse position. Which is why, of anyone, I think you’d have the best chance at getting clearance.”

“Would it really be that bad?”

“Yes… Grim is the only active member of the force, or rather, the only one that can actively kick down doors and take out targets. Taylor is stuck in her office all the time dealing with reports, the chief has to remain at her desk, and even then, she has to be careful with how she deploys her forces, and as for Penance? She isn’t so good at surgical strikes.”

“I think I have a better grasp of the situation… though, how long will it take to recover?”

She just shrugs. “No idea. Now that everything?”

I had more questions, but I had heard enough to have an idea of the police forces current state. That, and I didn’t think she’d give me more information. Not now anyway. “I suppose, I’ll make sure to bring the rest of the potions around, and the pills for you to work with.”

“And I’ll make sure to give my recommendation to the chief when you do! Oh, and your money!"

And with that, I had a better idea as to the state of the precinct. Albeit, it was just a small piece of the puzzle. Still, it was something. Maybe next time I could ask her about another group.