Midas Division of Public Safety

Midas Division of Public Safety (MDPS) also known as Midas Security Police was the main law enforcement agency in Midas. Their job was to ensure the safety and well-being of the tourists and citizens of Midas.

They were comprised of patrol police dressed in silver-gray uniforms, the secret service details that guarded VIPs, and the black-clad, elite security guards infamously known as the *Darkmen*, who were mainly posted in the Pleasure Quarters or sent to deal with the most hardened criminals. These Darkmen were infamous for their no-nonsense brutality.

## **Duties and Jurisdiction**

Aside from the ceremonial duties of the old-style Mounties, the officers assigned to the Midas Division of Public Safety were anything but ornamental. They were tenacious in their pursuit of anyone who flouted the law, be they citizens of Midas, Ceres or Off-worlders.

A person who was brought to the station would be photographed, fingerprinted, and had their retinas scanned, and could potentially end up on the Midas police blacklist. This list was mostly meant for off-worlders that have outstayed their welcome in Midas.

Being registered on the blacklist meant a nanochip was embedded in the base of the skull, making a return visit to the planet of Amoy impossible. Any attempts to disregard the ban and enter illegally, for example, with a fake passport, and the nanochip would respond in a flash, killing its host.

The citizens of Ceres also feared the blacklist believing that once apprehended, they would be chipped and unable to return for their illegal exploits in Midas. But in truth, the police didn’t bother with the mongrels, their goal mostly being to beat them into fearful obedience.

In fact, they cared so little for the mongrels in general that if they found a dead body of a mongrel on their territory, they would just brand it a John Doe without further investigation.

MDPS were loyal to Tanagura, and Tanagura only. They did not cross paths or cooperate with the Ceres police (except for one time), and even the Black Market didn’t want to get on their bad side. Notoriously tenacious, they were not even susceptible to bribes.

While they had access to the pet administration records, up to the level 3 security clearance, they needed to be careful not to step on Tanagura’s toes.

As seen in the 2012 anime series.As seen in the 2012 anime series.
## **Midas Police Center**

Midas Police Center is the main police station of the force. The austere gray building, which stood in great contrast to the rest of flashy Midas, was located off the beaten path. It stood alone, and no tourist shuttle buses came anywhere close to it. As a result, the entire area was clad in darkness.

The building sported a rooftop carport with shuttered roof doors, connected to the rest of the facilities by an elevator.

The interrogation and monitoring rooms were located in the second basement level. The interrogation rooms were large with only a small table and chairs, and the ceiling was equipped with disguised cameras with a 360-degree field of vision with zoom, the same make and model used in Eos to surveil the pets.

## Sleepers

Sleeper is a code word for a special-duty cop working undercover, under the direct control of Tanagura. Who they were, how many there were, and their official assignments and personal histories were all listed as top-secret. Nothing about them was ever more than rumor and speculation, because no one person in the Midas Division of Public Safety knew the whole story.

But nobody could deny their existence. Even the Darkmen saw important intel arising in sectors they were not involved in, setting critical events into motion with seemingly miraculous timing.

There is only one known sleeper, currently operating in Neal Darts.

## Darkmen

Darkmen were considered the elite of Midas law enforcement and were dispatched to deal only with the worst criminals. They were usually stationed in the Pleasure Quarters of Midas, where they were tasked with neutralising any predators that might cause trouble for the tourists and citizens.

They have an elite status among the MDPS, but the rumors of their brutality were spread far and wide throughout the Commonwealth star systems. Half of it was propaganda generated to perpetuate the law and order facade that Midas operated under. Half was a veiled warning to libertine visitors who might take the lack of taboos in Midas too seriously. Though because these free-spending guests were their meal ticket, they tended to exercise a modicum of moderation on their behalf.

The Darkmen took great pride in their status and reputation, and took their duties seriously. No matter the orders they were given, they executed them with all due haste, as quickly and precisely as possible. Their pride and dignity as Darkmen demanded nothing less.

### Darkmen vs Slum Mongrels

Reviled throughout the slums, the Darkmen were seen as the flip side of the rule of law, spreading fear in secret. The word was that by simply flashing their shock eyes, any brawl dissipated on the spot.

The scorn and contempt in which the people of Midas held the slum dwellers was deeply ingrained, and even the stoic Darkmen, who kept a tight rein on their emotions, were no exception. They despised the existence of the slum mongrels.

In turn, the mongrels knew that any encounter with them would lead to broken limbs and being beaten to a pulp. Nobody had ever run afoul of the Darkmen and still emerged in one piece. The Darkmen had no problem getting violent during interrogations and even using memory retrieval drugs.

> Nobody left there with everything still intact. Body, mind, and spirit got put through the grinder, and what came out the other end wasn't good for much more than compost.
>
>

### Appearance and equipment

Darkmen got their moniker because they dressed in all black, including long raincoats. They were well known and most feared for their nightsticks, known in the slums as shock eyes (ショック・アイ).

These were compact, ca. 20cm long, silver batons that functioned also as tasers. When the tip came in contact with the skin, the electric jolt delivered felt like sparks coursing out of the eyeballs, even on the lowest setting. It could drop the toughest, strongest man to his knees. The telescopic nightsticks could also expand several times in length, giving it reach.

In addition, they also had access to laser mounted guns.

## **Squad**

### **Chief Marcus**

Marcus (マーカス, Mākasu) was the Chief of the Darkmen working for the Midas Division of Public Safety. He was a taciturn, muscular man in his 30s with short-cropped silver hair, sharp eyes and a commanding voice of someone used to giving orders and having them followed.

As the Darkmen’s boss, he was proud and well respected by everyone in the force. His duty was to secure peace in Midas and hunt down the criminals and lowlifes who endangered it. In order to do this, the Darkmen had to be respected and feared by everyone—citizens, the illegal refugee sinkers, and especially the slum mongrels. He had an assumption that all slum mongrels ever did was do drugs, drink alcohol and gangbang like the depraved slum trash they are. As such, he had no qualms with applying brute force in order to intimidate and keep them at bay.

Despite this, he wasn’t entirely soulless and did what he felt he needed to in order to get the desired results, without reveling in causing pain.

### **Lieutenant Jayd**

Jayd (ジェイド, Jeido) was a Darkman and Chief Marcus’ subordinate. He had red hair and a hatred for slum mongrels that went beyond what his duty dictated. The fruits of the Midas education have had a profound effect on his view of mongrels which resulted in complete disregard of their well-being.

Even though it is standard practice within the force to treat mongrels with disdain, Jayd’s hatred for them and the enthusiasm with which he hurt them stood out.

### Gayle

Gayle (ゲイル, Geiru) was a Darkman and Chief Marcus’ subordinate. He was renowned for his computer skills among the Darkmen, which were on par with those of a hacker.

Gayle was cool and composed, and rarely let emotions cloud his judgment or get in the way of his work. No matter the task at hand, he approached it with logic and efficiency.

### Haggard

Haggard (ハガード, Hagādo) was a Darkman working for Chief Marcus.

## The Ceres Raid

The following section contains spoilers for Volume 5 of the novels.

The main target of the raid was the slum-dweller Kirie, for his transgressions in Guardian. Operating with little information, the darkmen were sent to the Roget Bar where Bison members, including Kirie, were known to hang out. Here they brutally interrogated the patrons until learning eventually of the gang’s former leader, Riki. The Darkmen Chief himself paid Riki a visit at his home and apprehended him.
Even after roughing him up in the Midas Police Center, they got no useful information from him as Riki insisted he didn’t know Kirie’s whereabouts. The Interrogation was cut short after the Darkmen ran a background check on Riki, finding out that he is a currently a registered Tanagura Blondy Pet. As not even Darkmen dared to stick their noses into Blondy business, they deleted the file they had made on Riki and let him go.