Defective (MHA)

The visit to Tartarus left a bad taste in Taiko's mouth. The prison was incredible. It seems he overestimated this woman, she simply snapped and killed another corrupt autocrat at the head of the HPSC. Lady Nagant was appointed to this position of "surgeon", and once she snapped. She had to be locked up and shut up for a long time so that she would not tell about such a noisy case.

-After all, life is a struggle for a place in the sun, while the strongest administer justice. Her place in the world is limited to the four walls of a prison cell.

Lady Nagant initially believed in the hero system, striving for justice and protecting society. She became part of the Public Security Department with the best of intentions, thinking that she was fulfilling a noble mission. However, a clash with the dark side of this system - corruption, manipulation, and the need to "remove" enemies, even when it meant killing innocents - destroyed her faith. This deep disillusionment with the ideals she served left deep scars on her soul.

She is aware that her actions in the past have caused her much pain. Although she justified her actions for the "good of society", over time the guilt over the lives taken became too much for her to bear. Her moral principles conflicted with the need to act on orders, causing a severe internal rift.

She believes that society lives in an illusion, believing that heroes are always right and protect the innocent. This cynicism is the result of her experiences seeing how the system suppresses the truth and manipulates people's opinions. Her phrase about the "dirt under the carpet" of society highlights her keen understanding of the hidden flaws of the system.

- She may even have a point. - Taiko did not like her feeling sorry for herself. Admits guilt, but wants to whiten her conscience by saying how bad society is, although the hypocrite killed herself. She didn't say this in the dialogue, but throughout the entire conversation it was clearly felt from Oneself.

Only again this feeling of depersonalization... Reality sometimes finished drawing itself, remember the same walls of Tartarus. The objects inside seemed to have a familiar shade of some buildings, and even the uniform resembled a police one, and everything would have been fine, but only one of the guards looked like the spitting image of the policeman killed by Taiko with his uniform. Well, the same facial features!

Something strange was happening...

It is also depressing how easily random coincidences like those cameras in the warehouse occurred. There can't be such a big mistake in reality! Luck? With each damn day it seemed that the surrounding reality was building itself. Sometimes, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed how the faces of some people were... indistinct, blurry. Only now did he notice - this had been happening absolutely all the time. All three damn years.

Maybe Taiko started to wind himself up too much, maybe he started to go crazy...

...

After Taiko arrived at the sewing factory and paid the worker decent money in advance to sew a combat suit based on graphene fabric and carbon plates. He sketched out a rough set of what the end result should look like. The worker, by the way, had experience sewing both Kevlar body armor and full-fledged suits. The set consists of gloves, boots, a body armor with chest plates, separate armor for the back and neck that does not restrict movement, knee pads and elbow pads, a helmet-mask. And also a set of underwear that completely covers the body.

Since the worker would start working immediately and would do nothing else at the same time, the order would cost 2.5 million yen at first and 2.5 million afterwards. The order, according to the sewing worker's estimate, would take two weeks of clean work.

It was hard to part with your hard-earned money, but the sketch of the costume made you gasp. It was definitely worth it. After taking measurements, Taiko left, leaving the sewing worker alone. He immediately started working, wasting no time.

- Giran, how are you? - he called him.

- Good news, I found a buyer and I'll tell you more, I've already sold it for the highest price possible.

- Tell me when we meet. I'll be at the bar soon.

- No, we're not meeting at the bar, but at the parking lot. The money is already laundered and I'll tell you... a big win. - the call ended. Something in his voice gave away Giran.

As soon as Taiko ended the call, he shrank with joy. - "Finally, a comfortable life!"

...

On the outskirts of the city, under the dim light of the few street lamps, there is a deserted parking lot. The surface of the earth is dotted with cracks, and the air smells of dampness and gasoline. A light fog spreads across the ground, and only the occasional sound of a car passing in the distance breaks the silence.

Giran is standing by the trunk of his black car. He is wearing an expensive suit, and his gaze is predatory and appraising. He holds a briefcase with money, smoking a signature cigarette. He checks his watch and winces. He does not like latecomers, but since this is a big deal, it was worth it. Suddenly, footsteps are heard in the distance. A minute later, Taiko appears from the shadows in the parking lot.

He is dressed inconspicuously and his face is hidden, but his movements betray a man accustomed to danger. As he approaches, he frowns, sensing a strange tension in the air. His ability allows him to pick up on superficial emotions, and right now he senses hidden anxiety and fear.

-I hope everything is ready. (muffled)

-As agreed. The money is clean. Check it if you want. -Taiko seems to Giran feels uncomfortable and as if he is in a hurry, and his emotional spectrum also shows a certain interest in money, one might even say Greed.

Giran opens the case, and the smell of fresh bills hits Taiko. Taiko nods, but does not approach, continuing to carefully examine Giran and the surrounding area.

Tires screech. A minibus comes around the corner, blocking one of the exits from the parking lot. Several people get out of the car. This is a group of yakuza bandits. They are dressed in leather jackets and look menacing. They are holding bats and knives.

-"Fucking Giran! He sold the material to the yakuza! Apparently the gangs found out about the deal and followed Giran."

-It seems like someone is making a deal here without our permission. Put your money on the barrel, guys, or you won't get out of here. - a large man with glasses spoke.

Giran's face changed after a second. Pride and greed suddenly appeared among the emotional spectrum. -Ha... Kid, did you really think about getting into our business? Okay, I'll get 80%, and you'll get 20%. The last offer from generous me! Well, yeah, you managed to get past the security with some unimaginable cunning, and you were lucky with the cameras! -It was obvious that someone influenced his thoughts and advised him to betray the deal.

-You're disappointing... I thought you'd be much smarter...-Giant wings grew from behind Taiko, causing the slowly approaching Yakuza around him to stare at them. In an instant, Taiko was next to Giran and with a blow of his head against his broke his nose, taking away the heavy briefcase. One of the Yakuza noticed how Taiko was about to fly away, but grabbed his leg just before takeoff. Unfortunately for him, he fell and smashed right into the wall of a neighboring building.

-Ow! What the hell?! What the fuck?! (muffled) - Giran grabbed his nose. He couldn't even imagine that Grimm had wings. -What are you standing there for! Get behind him, quickly!

Giran couldn't even imagine such a scenario. The bandits got into the minibus, but it was too late to do anything. Taiko flew too high and too fast.

...

Giran's betrayal was the last thing he expected. Taiko was in his dorm room, counting bills. There were 250 million yen in American dollars. Two and a half million dollars.

At the same time, Detnerat CEO Rikiya Yotsubashi was broadcasting a statement from his phone about strengthening security measures and revising logistics deliveries. The warehouse owner wanted to blame everything on incompetent security on the very first day, but after an unpleasant detail about the warehouse's "video surveillance servers", or rather their absence, leaked to the media... In a word, it was the collapse of the distributor. All partners stopped doing business with him, and the owner was forced to declare bankruptcy, depriving people of jobs.

Taiko didn't know what to think about this. It seemed that the only right decision was the one that led him to become a dollar millionaire, but... for some reason there was no joy from this money, even despite the betrayal of a seemingly quite adequate and respected figure. He already knew the answer why.

-This is blood money, obtained through the misfortune of other people.

Taiko knew how to call things by their proper names and was always ready to admit his mistake, but having seen with his own eyes the destructive consequences of his actions, he began to doubt.

-It seems that this is my curse to destroy. I have not brought anything useful to society... - for some reason the question of benefit to society began to worry him more than before. Before, he was hungry for money, real greed overshadowed his innate desire for justice and fairness. And now, finally, he got what he wanted. Apparently, it's time to think about changing jobs.

- No, this money is no different from the others, I also earned it in equal measure with my skills, strength, cunning, luck and knowledge. This is money fairly earned by my strength! Conquered by me. Either you are a sheep or a wolf in life.

In fact, Taiko understood that this money was not completely laundered, but the American dollar was in demand in Japan more than the national currency, so it was easy to invest it somewhere. It will only become laundered when the tax office sees that it legally belongs to Taiko Garaki. If he suddenly buys a house, it will seem at least strange, because he does not even have a source of income. Where will the money come from?

So he came up with a cool plan: He will receive this money as an inheritance. He will be adopted by a pre-arranged person under a fictitious name, they will arrange his death and voila. This is what he planned to do in the near future...

-Right after I find and beat up those yakuza. I need an example for everyone. - he put the mask back on and flew out the window.