[Death Note/Dexter]: Pride Goeth
Deb paused in trying to figure out my French press and looked up. “Seen what?”
“Come here and look.” I put my hands behind my head as she wandered over to peer over my shoulder, so she couldn’t see their trembling. It was the news, playing the same story they’d been playing for an hour.
“-of so called ‘Kira,’ a Japanese imitation of the English word ‘killer’ is spreading. Over 5000 suspected deaths, and the Japanese government has officially withdrawn its investigation, confessing itself helpless, even as the killings spread to other nations and mount in number…”
“Holy fuck,” says Deb, with typical eloquence.
“…rate at a twenty year low…”
“Holy fuck,” Deb says again. “Over - fuck! What is this, judgment day?”
“Then why are we still here?” I tease, when really what I mean is why am I still here?
I look back at the screen. They’re going over the whole thing again. Someone out there is somehow doing my job. But better. And neater, too. How can any human - but no, this is a human action. I can sense it.
I lean forward, my elbows on my knees. Who are you? I ask fiercely, silently. And do I take this as a warning…or a challenge?
**
A challenge.
I went looking for articles. Amid the piles of conspiracy theories and heaps of (?) fansites, I found a list of FBI officers who had died in Japan while hunting ‘Kira.’ Innocents doing their job. That put this one squarely within my jurisdiction just as much as the mounting numbers of deaths attributed to him.
Or her. Wouldn’t want to be sexist.
“Hey Dex. Dex!”
My sister appears to have been talking to me. “Hmmmm?”
“Wow, Dex, are you zoned or what? I’ve been trying to get your attention for five minutes. I have something for you to look at. You know, actual work?”
I rub my face in a good imitation of exhaustion. “Sorry, Deb. Next time just whack me with something.”
She tosses the evidence bag on my dext and glowers. “Just see if I won’t,” she threatens, and I breathe out when she leaves. Dexter’s Lab’s sanctity is restored, thank God.
Kira…catching a killer based in Japan is challenge enough for me. I can’t exactly take time off to wander to a foreign country looking for a phantom killer - and besides, catching a killer who seems able to kill almost anyone, and from a distance, makes it more of one. Maybe I'm looking at biting off more than I can chew here.
But it would be the kill of a lifetime, Dex…
Damn. Whoever that is in my head, he’s good. A little too good. Ending mass murder on a global scale - I could probably call that achievement.
I close the page. I’ll need to think about this more. I wonder if Harry would like this one. No mess, no fuss, no blood. Just a heart attack and they’re gone. He’d probably think it was nice.
I guess I'm still bitter.
Crime rate lowest in 20 years… maybe it’s best to leave well enough alone.
But I can already tell I'm not listening to me. Oops.
**
To my surprise, there wasn’t any information on the internet about Kira. No real information, anyway, just theories about the police and the government and someone named L - generally in the context of ‘L = Kira???’ with multiple question marks. But no real information.
Every investigation, I know, always has leaks. And even if the Japanese had pulled out all their investigators, there still should have been something, some hint of information. But all I can find are conspiracy theories and the sparse information the news has been spouting all evening.
Whoever this Kira is, either the investigation is remarkably stupid or he’s remarkably good at covering his tracks.
Or maybe there weren’t any leaks.
I watch video feed for a couple hours - one called ‘the L vs. Kira showdown’ that is awkwardly subtitled from Japanese, another called ‘the SakuraTV videos’ that are even less informative. I'm getting nowhere with this, and even if I did get somewhere, the practical part of me is painfully aware that I have no idea what I’d do then. Fly to Japan, track down an invisible killer, and strap him to my table of tricks?
Good idea, Dexter. Really good idea, and sounds like a good plan and not at all a way to leave Rita suddenly boyfriendless.
I have to wonder who this mysterious ‘L’ who keeps coming up is, though. More poking around on the internet tells me even less about him (or her, but even with the voice scrambled from the video I suspect L is male). A detective, someone says, private detective. Kira, playing an elaborate double game with the police. No one seems to actually know.
I lean back in my chair with a frustrated sigh. This is what you get for getting involved in international murder investigations from the sidelines, Dexter Morgan, I remind myself, and get up to go take an Advil for my burgeoning headache.
I don’t really think I'm ever going to get anywhere with this. But I can’t stop anyway.
Harry would probably call it an obsession. I'm going to call it a project. ‘Kira’ doesn’t even know I'm here. But I know where he is, and I’ve tracked down killers before.
I can do it again.
I feel a little bit like Captain Ahab, limping along with my fake leg of humanity. Kira, I think, almost amused, you get to be my white whale.
This should be good.
“Come here and look.” I put my hands behind my head as she wandered over to peer over my shoulder, so she couldn’t see their trembling. It was the news, playing the same story they’d been playing for an hour.
“-of so called ‘Kira,’ a Japanese imitation of the English word ‘killer’ is spreading. Over 5000 suspected deaths, and the Japanese government has officially withdrawn its investigation, confessing itself helpless, even as the killings spread to other nations and mount in number…”
“Holy fuck,” says Deb, with typical eloquence.
“…rate at a twenty year low…”
“Holy fuck,” Deb says again. “Over - fuck! What is this, judgment day?”
“Then why are we still here?” I tease, when really what I mean is why am I still here?
I look back at the screen. They’re going over the whole thing again. Someone out there is somehow doing my job. But better. And neater, too. How can any human - but no, this is a human action. I can sense it.
I lean forward, my elbows on my knees. Who are you? I ask fiercely, silently. And do I take this as a warning…or a challenge?
**
A challenge.
I went looking for articles. Amid the piles of conspiracy theories and heaps of (?) fansites, I found a list of FBI officers who had died in Japan while hunting ‘Kira.’ Innocents doing their job. That put this one squarely within my jurisdiction just as much as the mounting numbers of deaths attributed to him.
Or her. Wouldn’t want to be sexist.
“Hey Dex. Dex!”
My sister appears to have been talking to me. “Hmmmm?”
“Wow, Dex, are you zoned or what? I’ve been trying to get your attention for five minutes. I have something for you to look at. You know, actual work?”
I rub my face in a good imitation of exhaustion. “Sorry, Deb. Next time just whack me with something.”
She tosses the evidence bag on my dext and glowers. “Just see if I won’t,” she threatens, and I breathe out when she leaves. Dexter’s Lab’s sanctity is restored, thank God.
Kira…catching a killer based in Japan is challenge enough for me. I can’t exactly take time off to wander to a foreign country looking for a phantom killer - and besides, catching a killer who seems able to kill almost anyone, and from a distance, makes it more of one. Maybe I'm looking at biting off more than I can chew here.
But it would be the kill of a lifetime, Dex…
Damn. Whoever that is in my head, he’s good. A little too good. Ending mass murder on a global scale - I could probably call that achievement.
I close the page. I’ll need to think about this more. I wonder if Harry would like this one. No mess, no fuss, no blood. Just a heart attack and they’re gone. He’d probably think it was nice.
I guess I'm still bitter.
Crime rate lowest in 20 years… maybe it’s best to leave well enough alone.
But I can already tell I'm not listening to me. Oops.
**
To my surprise, there wasn’t any information on the internet about Kira. No real information, anyway, just theories about the police and the government and someone named L - generally in the context of ‘L = Kira???’ with multiple question marks. But no real information.
Every investigation, I know, always has leaks. And even if the Japanese had pulled out all their investigators, there still should have been something, some hint of information. But all I can find are conspiracy theories and the sparse information the news has been spouting all evening.
Whoever this Kira is, either the investigation is remarkably stupid or he’s remarkably good at covering his tracks.
Or maybe there weren’t any leaks.
I watch video feed for a couple hours - one called ‘the L vs. Kira showdown’ that is awkwardly subtitled from Japanese, another called ‘the SakuraTV videos’ that are even less informative. I'm getting nowhere with this, and even if I did get somewhere, the practical part of me is painfully aware that I have no idea what I’d do then. Fly to Japan, track down an invisible killer, and strap him to my table of tricks?
Good idea, Dexter. Really good idea, and sounds like a good plan and not at all a way to leave Rita suddenly boyfriendless.
I have to wonder who this mysterious ‘L’ who keeps coming up is, though. More poking around on the internet tells me even less about him (or her, but even with the voice scrambled from the video I suspect L is male). A detective, someone says, private detective. Kira, playing an elaborate double game with the police. No one seems to actually know.
I lean back in my chair with a frustrated sigh. This is what you get for getting involved in international murder investigations from the sidelines, Dexter Morgan, I remind myself, and get up to go take an Advil for my burgeoning headache.
I don’t really think I'm ever going to get anywhere with this. But I can’t stop anyway.
Harry would probably call it an obsession. I'm going to call it a project. ‘Kira’ doesn’t even know I'm here. But I know where he is, and I’ve tracked down killers before.
I can do it again.
I feel a little bit like Captain Ahab, limping along with my fake leg of humanity. Kira, I think, almost amused, you get to be my white whale.
This should be good.