NAME: Karen Hoshino

AGE: 32

GENDER: Female

OCCUPATION: Public Safety Bureau Enforcer

APPEARANCE:

Karen stands around 5’ 6” with an athletic build that you would expect from a member of the PSB. Karen keeps her black hair in unkempt pixie cut since easy for her to maintain and stays out of her narrow emerald green eyes. Her body is covered in scars from “the event” that sent her crime coefficient way over the acceptable range, around 278 to be precise. There is a large scar across her forehead from a knife wound she got while chasing down a latent criminal. Overall, her thin face shows signs of lack of sleep with deep-set in dark circles and pale skin.

For work, Karen wears a black pantsuit, with a red blouse under her suit jacket and simple black dress shoes. She rolls the sleeves of her jacket to ¾ of the way up her arm, ending right below her elbow, much to the annoyance of her superiors, and her brother Ren.

In her off-hours, she’s seen wearing a black tank and grey loose-fitting pants.

PERSONALITY:

Karen is open with her opinion on a case, or when she has a hunch about something. She has never been known to back down when she knows someone is in danger, which is part of want makes her an effective enforcer. She willingly gives her all and puts her life on the line for another person when she is able to do something about the situation. She’s been called reckless, but effective. She can be obsessive, once she sinks her teeth into something, she won’t let go.

Her personality was majorly changed when “the event” happened. She used to be more cautious, but still slightly reckless. She smiled more than she does now, and it’s easy to tell from her expression that she’s plagued with regret and resentment. She used to be friendly with her coworkers, and approachable, now she keeps to herself, and rarely contributes to a conversation unless she has a reason to. She’s also developed a bit of an alcohol problem, and smokes a pack of cigarettes a day, all in a feeble attempt to quell her anxiety and depression. (Something Ren has tried to help her through.)

Outside of work, she’s quite and keeps to herself mostly. She can be found drinking and reading in her room, or just laying in her bed with music playing in the background. She spends around an hour a day exercising and keeping herself in shape as well as keeping her mind off of things. As night, however, her mental illness gets the best of her, a lotting her only 4 hours of sleep a night.

BACKGROUND:

Karen her twin brother Ren grew up in the Tokyo district of Shinjuku with their older parents, they were both in their late 30s when they had the twins. Karen was the more outgoing of the two, always talking about how she was going to be an inspector and bring in the bad guys. She spent her childhood excelling in school, and in high school and college was placed in the honors classes. The Sibyl System deemed her a good fit for the PSB after her exams, an offer she accepted gladly.

Once in the PSB, she quickly picked up the ropes, proving herself a capable inspector. She was able to piece together clues, and evidence to find a solution while working with her partner at the time, her brother Ren. She and Ren were a force to be contended with when given a case. Ren and Karen complimented each other well, filling in the weakness of the other. Ren was better at finding the smaller details while Karen was better at piecing them together. They both were talented at hand to hand combat, both frequently sparring with each other on their off-hours to keep their bodies in shape.

One day, they were dispatched to track down a man who scanned at a 110 on a street scanner. Not being able to bear the thought of what his family might think of him, he murdered his wife and abducted his daughters at knifepoint. He ran out of the city, and Karen was driven to get the girls back safe, and to end his madness.

They were able to corner him in an abandoned and condemned building outside of Tokyo, but by that point, he was a crazed mess. He had butchered his daughters, leaving a gruesome sight that caused both inspectors to be shaken to their core. The father starts blathering from the rafters about how Sibyl took his family from him, but if he was going to be taken out, he wasn’t going alone. He dropped a heavy beam on Ren, pinning him, and lunged at Karen while her guard was down, stabbing her in the arms and torso repeatedly. With her dominator just out of reach, she resorted to swinging punches at the man, but the blood loss was getting the better of her. As a last resort, she swung at his throat, dazing him enough for her to push him off her, and grab her dominator to kill him with his crime coefficient being well over 300. At the moment, she was changed forever, and that case would be known as “the event.”

She woke up in the hospital to her brother next to her bed. She had been out for a week due to blood loss and hemorrhaging of her wounds. Ren informed her that her crime coefficient has been 278 since “the event”, and that while she didn’t sustain any permanent damage, she was going to be demoted to an enforcer working under her brother instead of as his partner.

Later, it was discovered that that father had been abusing his family, but was able to keep his crime coefficient low enough, for the most part. He had steadily been losing control of his mental state and was causing his crime coefficient to go past the 100 thresholds. The fact that he was able to manipulate the Sibyl System caused her to grow resentful of the system itself. She had served the PSB well but was being punished for witnessing true horror, and being a victim by the very system she had sworn to uphold. Ren tried supporting her as best he could, but he saw his sister slipping away from him.

NAME: Ren Hoshino

AGE: 32

GENDER: Male

OCCUPATION: Public Safety Bureau Inspector (Division 2 senior officer)

APPEARANCE:

Ren stands at 6’ 2” with a slender and athletic build due to his extensive training regiment. His wavy black hair is kept slightly slicked back with a side part. His slightly narrow emerald green eyes are the most striking feature on his slim face. He keeps facial hair trimmed, only allowing a slight scruff to pepper his face and defined jawline. He has a small fading scar on his neck from a surgery he had as a teenager.

At work, Ren is always seen in a nice black suit, with a white undershirt and dark blue tie the whole outfit topped out with simple yet well-polished dress shoes. Unlike is unorderly sister, he keeps his sleeves fully buttoned and rolled down. He prides himself on looking professional at work and maintaining order at his workstation.

While off the clock, Ren wears well-fitting jeans and a button-up shirt, the sleeves loosely rolled to his elbows.

PERSONALITY:

Ren is what many would call the water to his sister’s fire. Calm and fluid, but fierce and powerful when need be. He’s utterly focused on his work and is able to find even the smallest detail, which works well with Karen’s abilities to piece all the clues together to find the bigger picture. He takes is time and is deliberate in his work, priding himself on making the right decision in the heat of the moment while keeping his people safe.

While not a massive social butterfly or a full-on introvert, Ren is warm, charismatic, and somewhat quiet. He also is very encouraging, even to the enforcers of his unit. He sets his expectations of them based on their talents and abilities and supports his team as best he can to help them become better at their job. When stressed, he can seem a bit cold, and standoffish, even rude at times. He struggles with a bought of insecurity over his own skills since “the incident”; he feels this if he had only been better, faster, and less shaken, Karen might not be in her own personal hellhole.

Outside of work, he’s slightly sarcastic and has a dry sense of humor about him while still maintaining his warmth. He enjoys reading philosophy and maintaining his skills in hand to hand combat with Karen. He’s been known to go out and enjoy a drink here and there at a bar not far from his apartment to relax, and people watch; sometimes even finding someone to spend an evening with if he finds them interesting enough.

BACKGROUND:

Ren and Karen grew up in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo. While their parents were older than most, they were able to provide and take care of the kids allowing them to grow into their own person independent of their twin, but still incredibly close. Ren was a bit quieter as a kid than Karen. While Karen was out playing in the mud with the other kids, Ren was playing board games with the other children. Growing up, Karen and Ren talked about how they were going to be the unbeatable Hoshino Twins for the PSB, and bring the criminals to justice while helping their victims. While in school, he excelled, even being placed in honors classes in high school and college, much like his sister. Ren was recommended to the PSB by the Sybil System, and from there, his talents for the job only grew.

Ren developed a reputation for finding the smallest details in a case, that paired with Karen’s abilities to build a case from nothing made them a force to be reckoned with. While on duty, they became well known for their teamwork and became partners a few years later. In their off-hours, they would spar with each other, and of course, the normal sibling banter and teasing was a mainstay in their matches and training. Ren always had a slight edge on Karen in hand to hand, but marksmanship with her specialty.

Then the event happened. A latent criminal was caught by a street scanner, murdered his wife and evaded capture for a few hours while holding his two children at knifepoint. Karen and Ren were put on the case since they were the ones most likely to track him down. Working through the clues, they were able to figure out his father owned an abandoned building just outside of Tokyo. He was backed into a corner when they arrived, but horrors were waiting for them.

Ren was the first to find the girls' bodies cut into pieces in two bloody heaps with Karen right behind him. His stomach twisted and caved at the sight of the fear in their dead eyes. They were too late. Then, the mad man started rating about the Sybil System, how it ended his life and stole his happiness. Ren was pinned by a heavy beam that landed on him, breaking an arm and cracking a few ribs in the process. He watched in horror as the man attacked Karen, stabbing her over and over in the chest and arms, blood pooling from her wounds. She was swinging with all her might and managed to land a blow to his throat, dazing him just enough for her put the rabid dog down before passing out from blood loss. He knew he had lost his sister at that moment.

Back up from Division 1 and 2 arrived soon after to free Ren from the beam, and to jettison Karen to the hospital. As per protocol for PSB officers after experiencing trauma, both of their Psycho Passes were taken to evaluate any psychological treatment that might be needed. Ren registered at a 90, his normal was a 45 with an aqua blue hue. It was recommended he spend some time in therapy to recover, and he would be re-evaluated later. However, Karen’s was registered at a 278 with blood-red hue, normally a 55 with a mint green hue. It was expected that her hue would never recover, and it was recommended she be de-demoted, and turned into an enforcer. Ren argued her cases knowing his efforts were futile, but he had to stand by his sister when he failed to protect her when she needed him. That guilt still hangs heavy on his heart.

After he recovered, he was promoted to senior officer and insisted that he be Karen’s handler. He wasn’t going to have it any other way, and Joshu Kasei agreed to allow Karen to be under his care.