Absolute Zero: Special Investigation Unit (絶対零度)

Good morning, Sakuragi-san.

-Morning. -Is that a new jacket? It's cute.

Isn't it? It was 70 percent off.

Good morning.

-Be more self-conscious. -Huh?

Change the way you dress.

Suits for work? That's not my style.

I don't care about your style. Individuality is a hindrance in this line of work.

You're always so stoic. I'd better watch it too.

Isomura-san, you don't have to worry. Your presence by itself lacks individuality.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah. -That type's

-the least popular with women. -I swear, you guys are the worst.

Sakuragi.

-Cards? -Concentration. Play it 1,000 times.

-Your memory skill will improve considerably. -1,000 times.

Is 1,000 times going to be enough? Her brain's a strainer, you know.

What do you mean by that.

Gather around. We've been requested to investigate.

It's in regards to the fatal accident that occurred 3 days ago

in the vicinity of Kirisawa Station. The victim is Noda Yuji, 35 years old.

He's a researcher at MNP, isn't he?

-MNP. -MNP is a

medical institution that develops new drugs for the world.

It's a national project championed and started by

the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, with the help of

-major corporations and hospitals. -National project?

Was there something suspicious about that researcher's death?

First of all, take a look at this. From eyewitness reports at the scene,

we know that Noda was being chased by some people.

There were four men chasing Noda.

So far, the identity of those four is unknown.

Also, immediately after the accident, another man approached Noda.

This man is Kitamura Masamune, 44 years old. He's the deputy director of MNP.

Kitamura reported the accident as well.

During the police interview, he testified that he just happened to be at the accident scene.

It looks to me like Kitamura's searching for something in Noda's clothing.

There's one more suspicious thing.

A very small amount of blood other than Noda's was found on his clothing.

According to eyewitness testimonies, Noda was

at the MNP research facility until just prior to the accident.

He was being chased after something happened at the research facility.

MNP is denying there was any trouble within the research facility.

In addition, they're also denying us access to videos from surveillance cameras and employee roster.

Their reason is to prevent the leakage of classified information relating to their research.

Conversely, we could take it to mean that they have something to hide.

But why did we get the request?

If there's something fishy going on, they should investigate them head on.

The government is involved in the MNP too. They can't make an indiscreet move.

Obviously, security will be extremely tight.

How are we going to go after them?

The ones to infiltrate are Takigawa...and Sakuragi.

Me?

-Here. Your character profiles. -Thank you.

Thank you.

Member of a Shimokita theatrical group, huh? Satonaka Yuuka.

Satonaka Yuuka.

Aren't you going to look at it?

Ohta Seiji, 30 years old. Started working for Pacific Sohgo Security,

a company that handles security for MNP, 3 years ago.

Originally aspired to be a police officer.

Director took a bold action, didn't he?

Letting Sakuragi infiltrate.

Seems he had no choice.

A retired police officer works for Pacific Sohgo Security, but

one person was all he could sneak in

as a replacement for a spot that just happened to open up.

Furthermore, they do a thorough check on their security guards,

and carrying in of any personal effects is prohibited.

It would be impossible to bring in equipment or bring out information.

Someone to back him up was necessary.

The only one who could infiltrate was Sakuragi.

May I see your ID please.

Seems they're conducting a clinical research

targeting only women in their 20's.

Thank you.

Please sign this consent form.

We'll hold on to your cell phone for you.

We'll have to check your bag.

Please proceed.

They say security checks for volunteers are lax, but it's still scary.

Murayama-san.

I'm sorry. Is it okay if I go to the bathroom?

Sure, go ahead.

Thanks. I'll be right back.

Volunteers for the clinical research, this way please.

Infiltration accomplished.

Roger. What about Takigawa.

-Accomplished as well. -Takigawa, are you alright?

We're getting static in the voice communication...

-Shiraishi-san? -Sorry to make you wait.

Thanks for waiting.

Crap, it's completely cut off.

The signal interruption is worse than we expected.

The research labs are on this floor.

To enter any research lab,

you need a 4-digit code in addition to fingerprint authentication.

The codes are changed daily so don't forget.

With this kind of security, the safeguarding of classified data is flawless, isn't it?

It's hardly flawless.

The fatal accident that occurred the other day by Kirisawa Station. That was our researcher.

-He stole the data. -The data?

Furthermore, it seems they haven't recovered it yet.

How's the application with the Patent Office coming along?

It's progressing smoothly. All procedures will be complete before the announcement.

It's less than a week until press conference.

How are we going to handle the media?

We've already arranged to have them submit a

list of questions beforehand.

Come in.

This is the main research lab.

All the e-mails and telephone conversations are kept on record

and if a problem should arise, the whereabouts of the responsible party is identified immediately.

What is that room?

That's where all the data is consolidated.

No one but Shoji-san, the director, is allowed to enter.

Let's go.

Oh, excuse me.

We have to verify that you took the medication.

Please open your mouth.

Alright. You can close now.

Oh...yes.

Noda-san was acting rather suspiciously lately.

Even while working, he was oddly sneaking around.

He's always been the kind of guy who sucked up to the top anyway.

-Ambition personified. -As a researcher, he was the worst.

What's an outsider doing here?

You, what are you doing? You're a volunteer for the clinical research, aren't you?

No, I'm sorry.

Hold it.

I'm sorry. The clinical research room was over there.

Oh, she came after the others, but

I'm new here too, so I told her to go to the wrong room.

I'm sorry. This way please.

-The man who was chasing Noda was there. -I'll find out what he has to say.

I'm sorry.

That's Kitamura. The man who's with him is Shoji, the director.

Let me see their expressions.

-Follow Shoji. -Roger.

When Kitamura was seeing Shoji off, the corner of his mouth and his line of vision tilted.

That's a sign of aversion.

Also, he showed some adaptive movements which

appear when a person is feeling stressed.

So does Kitamura has negative feelings toward Shoji?

Yes.

Kitamura's leaving too. Follow him.

Can't tell if you're being cautious or if it's just your taste.

Welcome back, master.

Here. Tadaima.

That's not Japanese.

Oh, that's Russian.

Master, can you understand?

Are you sure you can get a hold of the promised item?

Yes, I'll have it in my hands soon.

You don't need to change your voice.

Oh, hey.

Takamine-san's interpretation was right on. What's that mean?

Sounds like Kitamura was not happy with Shoji

who tried to take credit for all the achievements.

Let's check out the relationship between Kitamura and that Russian guy.

What? You already heard from all four guys?

All four were just told to chase Noda and

didn't seem to know the circumstances or the content of the data.

It's the picture file of the interior of the institute. It'll give you an idea of the building structure.

It's amazing you were able to investigate in this tight security.

That's the job of the special investigation team.

Aren't you scared?

Of course I'm scared.

That's surprising.

If an incompetent fool drags me down, the criminal will get away.

That's the only thing that scares me.

Being sarcastic, huh?

Boss.

Oh, weren't you on your break?

I'm not completely familiar with the premises so

I thought I'd check it out while taking a walk.

You're so dedicated.

Before you came, a veteran old guy quit suddenly

so I didn't know what was going to happen, but I'm relieved.

He quit suddenly? Yeah, it was the day after that accident.

and I had to pick up the slack.

That's certainly odd. We'll run a check on the security guard.

Thank you.

Sakuragi's clinical research is over.

I'll figure out the next step on how we can get the data out.

It might be inconvenient, but hang in there.

Are you going to continue by yourself?

I don't have a choice. I'll memorize as much information as I can and bring it out.

We found out the identity of the Russian guy who was meeting with Kitamura.

Vladimir Markov, 42 years old.

He's an employee of Stefano, a Russian pharmaceutical company,

and he's been repeatedly entering and departing the country for the past year.

Also, this Stefano company is developing

a new drug to treat SLE (Lupus).

Stefano would

desperately want to get a hold of the data on

the new drug for SLE that MNP is developing.

Furthermore, it appears that Stefano is

bringing Kitamura in with special treatment.

Kitamura's the one who brought Noda on board MNP too.

Noda was always sucking up to Kitamura.