After receiving Akane's report on violating mission regulations, Ginoza listened to Shinya Kogami's opinion and raised no objections. This showed that he was not incapable of being lenient with his subordinates.
Having once lost a classmate he had entered the force with because he had failed to stop the Specimen Case, Ginoza had been especially strict with Akane, unwilling to let her make the same mistake.
And Teng.
He was enjoying the latest game. The newest setup was a mainstream immersive gaming device combining holographic projection with a 360-degree treadmill.
There was also Tomomi Masaoka.
She was reading an electronic magazine.
Since almost no one paid attention to Akane's arrival, she tactfully refrained from exchanging pleasantries with the others and sat down to write her report.
"...What is this? What's going on... This..."
She suddenly found the virtual input device somewhat sluggish. After trying to adjust it without any improvement, she decided to ask Teng and Tomomi Masaoka for help. After all, they seemed like experts compared to Akane.
"Um... Excuse me, are there any other floating devices?"
"There are, but the backup unit is currently in use... Lin Yan..."
Though Teng answered, he sounded distracted and continued playing his game, seemingly preoccupied.
"Mr. Lin Yan...?"
"Anyone hit by Anesthetic Mode should be recuperating right now... How could he be using it? Right?"
Akane had no idea why Teng was targeting him like this.
That backup device was clearly sitting idle, and their previous collaboration had seemed perfectly fine. What exactly had gone wrong? Akane thought it over in an instant, yet found no answer.
"Please use this one. I have another."
"Th-thank you very much. Really, thank you."
Only then did Akane get a proper look at Tomomi Masaoka. Tomomi Masaoka showed very little expression, her face practically blank.