Tape 001 - OSAMU DAZAI
a/n: I'm excited to put this out! I've never explored this concept before so I hope it comes off as good as it does in my head. This will be the first in the series. w/c: 1.4k m.lists: face files, main m.list warnings: cursing, small depiction of violence, interrogation genre: angst? but not like super sad or anything
⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
-Start of Recording
The room is pitch black before a blinding light flashes the respondent. He can’t see very well, but he doesn’t need to. He is placed in a metal chair that locks him in by his wrists and ankles. He struggles but quickly realizes he can’t move.
A cough is heard before the interviewer speaks, “Mr. Osamu Dazai, is that correct?”
“Who are you?” he questions, his eyes slowly adjusting to the brightness of the light. “Where am I?”
“My apologies. I should have introduced myself. My name is Dr. Arthur Cartwright of the TimeSpace Preservation Association. The reason you are here with me in this hypothetical space is because you are a close contact to █████ ████████, an anomaly of this timeline.”
Dazai’s lips parted at the mention of her name. “What makes you think I’d tell you anything? And that’s if I knew anything.”
Dr. Cartwright presses a button on his computer, and suddenly the light in Dazai’s face gradually changes color to a deep blue. The pupils of his eyes suddenly become dilated.
“Trying to set the mood or something?”
“Sir, I want you to tell me what happened to your mother.”
Without even realizing, Dazai responds. “She died when I was born.” His mouth is agape in shock, and he struggles once more against the straps around him. “What the hell is going on?!”
The doctor jots down a few details on his clipboard, muttering to himself. “It seems that the validity scanner works correctly.” He turns back to his current captive, “Forgive me, that was simply a test.” Dazai was so confused that he couldn’t even fathom a response. His breaths become forced. “This device will allow us to avoid any inaccuracies in your answers and extract the data we need directly from your brain without any invasive procedures.”
“As if this isn’t intrusive.”
“I understand your discomfort sir, but I’ll have you know that you will not remember any of this interaction once you leave. You are located in a space in between timelines that serves no purpose. In simpler terms, your life is on ‘pause' until your return.”
To Dazai, this feels like an odd dream. He feels almost hazy, as if he’d had a drink. However, his mind has lingered around the mention of her name from the beginning. “What are you gonna do to her?”
“We have no intentions of harming her. We just have some questions for you, and we will be on our way.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little unfair not to answer a few questions of mine first?”
The doctor pauses but concedes. “I suppose. Go ahead.”
“You mentioned earlier that she was an…’anomaly’. What did you mean by that?”
“By standards of the TPA, she is filed as such because she remains in your timeline without any major damages to its structure.”
“So…”
“So she isn’t supposed to be there. Her timeline is number…” He flips through a few of his documents. “3142025. You are from 7925076. I’m sure you can see the issue here.”
“Does it really matter-”
“Of course it matters. When people are moved around, it destabilizes reality until it shatters. However, it hasn’t, and I’m trying to figure out why.”
Dazai stares at the stranger in front of him, his finger tapping against the cool metal. He tries to look around, but there’s nothing to look at. His ability is useless in this situation. “Then let’s get this over with.”
“Thank you for your cooperation. I’ll start simple. Who is █████ ████████?”
“She’s a member of the Armed Detective Agency.”
Scribbling is heard from the other side of the desk, “Who is she to you?”
“She’s my best friend.” His expression is blank, letting the machine mentally yank his thoughts out. “She’s also my partner at the agency.”
“How did you meet her?”
“When I was in the Port Mafia, my boss introduced me to her. He was acquainted with her father.”
The doctor pauses. “Did you ever come across her father?”
Dazai shrugs. “Here and there. Kanan wasn’t exactly important to me or my job, so we never had much interaction outside of work.”
“What was his role?”
“He was one of the five executives.”
“From my understanding, he passed away, correct?” Dazai nods.
“How?”
“He was assassinated by enemies of the of the mafia.”
His eyes narrow. “Interesting…I’ll go back to █████ ████████. What was her role in the mafia?”
“She either assisted with interrogations or trained for one of the command units, typically with Chuuya.” A look of annoyance flashes across his face.
“Chuuya Nakahara?” Dazai nods. “Why him?”
“Their abilities had similar components. While Chuuya could manipulate gravity, she was able to move things telekinetically. It made sense to put them together at the time.”
“How did that make you feel?”
“Pissed.” Doctor Cartwright wonders if he has stopped breathing. He is completely still.
“Do you need a break?”
“No.” His gaze hasn’t moved from the surface of the desk since the interview began.
“Just let me know if you do.” He clears his throat. “Why would that bother you the way it did?”
He bites his lip, but it doesn't stop him from answering the question. “I didn’t want to have to share my only friend-dammit!” He was trying to fight the device.
The doctor flips through his notes. “Okay, we’re getting off topic.” He writes some things down. “Tell me more about her ability. You mentioned telekinetics.”
“Right. She’s great at picking locks with it. I’ve seen her crush someone’s windpipe when we were in a bind once, but she doesn’t really use it for that anymore…” He trails off.
“What does she usually use it for?”
“Typically, scanning for information. She’d explained it before; it’s like moving someone’s brain around to get information. Sound familiar?” His sarcastic tone doesn't faze the doctor.
“Surprisingly, yes.” More scribbles.
“It’s one of the main reasons she became an asset to the mafia, aside from her more combatative attributes.”
“Why did she leave the Port Mafia?”
“Kanan’s death really shook her up, but I couldn’t blame her for it. I had a feeling she wouldn’t last much longer afterwards.” He took a deep breath. “When it was confirmed by the boss that she was erased from the organization, I was afraid she’d hurt herself, so I kept an eye on her for a while.”
“Like…stalking her?”
The ghost of a smile formed on his face. “Not exactly. It didn’t take me long to track her down, but when I did, I was going to let her go.”
“…Right. Was that when she obtained a job at the Armed Detective Agency?”
He nodded. “About a year or so later. I joined after her a year later.”
“Why did it take you so long?”
“My reputation as the Port Mafia’s youngest executive wasn’t exactly something I could just waltz into the agency with. I went into hiding for a little while.”
“While still watching █████?”
He nods. “Not in a weird way, though.”
“I’m sure. When was the last time you saw her?”
“At work. Her desk is next to mine.”
“I guess it makes sense for your new boss to put you two together since you share a past. What was her reaction to seeing you again? After all that time, I mean.”
“She was startled at first, but she came around.”
“Came around..?”
“She gave me a really big hug, and I felt everything from the past few years just drip off of me. The Presdient called her into the office with Kunikida, and when I saw her I-I think- ” A stray tear falls down his face. “-I just felt so…fuck!”
“Let’s take a second.” Cartwright turns the light off and Dazai’s pupils go back to normal.
Dazai closes his eyes as he heaves, his stress levels exponentially high. “Is this enough for you? Is this what you wanted?”
“Hey, we’re almost done-”
“Almost? I’m getting sick of being probed.” He pushes against the restraints.
“Dammit…” Cartwright quickly powers everything back on. He stands up, leaning both hands on the table. “The quicker we get through this, the quicker you can forget this ever happened. Do you know who exactly killed Kanan ████████?”
“I already told you it-”
“That’s not true, though. Who told you it was an enemy attacker?”
“She did?”
“Then, who told her that?”
“How the fuck would I know that!?” Dazai was growing more frustrated than he already was. “Why does that even matter if this is about her?”
Dr. Cartwright slumps back down, realizing that Dazai wasn't going to give him the answers he needed. He reaches into his pocket for a pen. He points the end of it towards his face, “Thank you for your contributions, Mr. Dazai. You’re free to go. You’ll wake up exactly where you were extracted from. It’ll be as if nothing ever happened.”
With a flash, Osamu Dazai disappeared from the room.
-End of Recording
⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──