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lupizora · 5 months ago

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DCMK Empire of Corpses AU

This will be based on the 2015 anime movie Shisha no Teikoku or The Empire of Corpses. (I can't believe it's been almost ten years since it came out. The grip this movie has on me *sighs*). If you haven't watched it, I'll be dropping MAJOR SPOILERS from it for the overall development of this AU. Kind of like a speed-run of the important plot points. Also, lots of Character Death mentioned left and right. So, please consider yourselves warned 😅

The basic premise of it is that in an Alternative History Victorian era with a lot of steampunk influences, people have found the method of reanimation. Reanimated corpses don't have fully human sentience. They're more akin to zombies and can lose control just as fast, if the reanimation code is damaged in some way. Therefore, they're usually used for manual labor or in wars since they are still considered Undead.

The movie follows John Watson who reanimated his recently deceased close friend "Friday". Doing that outside of the government's control is considered illegal, so to avoid going to jail and other more personal reasons, he's roped into a mission from the government to find the notes of Victor Frankenstein, who was rumored to have produced the first Corpse that retains a soul. It has several philosophical debates about the nature of the soul which I personally found fascinating. Plus, it's gorgeously animated with how it combines the zombies/steampunk aesthetic (even if the ending leaves a lot to be desired imo. I mean we can't know if that was the author's original intent since he apparently passed away before he could finish the novel the movie was based on and someone else stepped up to finish it in his stead. But I digress since I will incorporate the movie's ending into the AU anyway lol).

Okay. Back to the AU.

Given that the characters were more or less contemporary historical figures or fictional heroes of the era, case in point John Watson, and even a cameo of dear Mr.Sherlock Holmes in the post-credits scene, my brain jumped at the opportunity of making it about DetCo.

DetCo has so many characters that could be used for this, but my first thought was focused on the Gosho Boys quartet. You can literally go for every ship variation between them, especially if you don't want to follow the movie's plot to the letter.

However, my BFF and I both agreed that the one who encompasses the headstrong, laser-focused determination Watson exhibits was Hattori Heiji. Because of course, Heiji will throw caution to the wind and go to great lengths for a friend (and/or potential lover).

If anything, this AU is so HeiShin-coded that you could more or less reenact the whole movie and not change much; even with the allusions in the credits scene that Friday turns out to maybe(?) be Moriarty when he gets his soul back. Like in my humble opinion, Shinichi and Saguru (the true Sherlockians) seem to personify different sides of Sherlock Holmes, with Shinichi being closer to (and I'm paraphrasing): "If he didn't give his brilliant mind to solving the crimes, he would be a criminal mastermind instead".

But! I never make things easier for myself that way so this turned into a HeiSagu/SaguHei AU 😂

Frankly, going for this ship angle was more compelling for me. Because Heiji's motivation behind his actions will come from a place of necessity instead of true compassion at first. Like he and Saguru were barely on civil interaction terms, maybe even academic rivals to a degree, at the point of Saguru's death. On the other hand, he couldn't let one of their generation's brilliant minds disappear like that. If Heiji got to prove his "rival's" theory wrong too in the process, no one would be any wiser.

This fictional British Government does not take lightly illegal reanimation, more so from a foreign citizen on their soil. So to avoid forced deportation and/or jail, Heiji and his "servant" (I'm not sure what sort of different name Saguru could have as a reanimated corpse. I was thinking some kind of bird of prey because of his falconry hobby) are tasked with finding the Karasuma notes. Said notes are currently rumored to be in the hands of some researchers Heiji and Saguru were having regular correspondence with. Special Agent Sera Mary and her daughter Masumi tag along as insurance so they won't run off.

The researchers are holed up at some secluded place in Siberia though, so the team ends up finding guides in the form of Kaito and Aoko. Despite Kaito's antics, the one Heiji finds odd is Aoko instead. She rarely eats, rarely sleeps, and she keeps talking in third person about herself. Heiji wonders if she's some kind of advanced corpse but Kaito dodges the question.

Before they reach their destination, they get attacked by corpses with higher mobility that usual. Then it's revealed that Aoko is a high-specs automaton Kaito had built himself when her arms change into weapons mid-fight. They are saved when another automaton, Conan, appears and fries the system running in those advanced corpses with a pulse attack. Conan explains that they were made with designs someone stole from his creators, who were trying a different approach than what the Karasuma notes were describing.

After the final stretch, they find the secluded town they were trying to reach filled with the original design of those advanced corpses and the only alive people there are Shinichi and Agasa. Nothing else seems amiss at first, even if it's creepy how life-like and not at the same time the citizens appear. The team stays there for a couple of days. Heiji is delighted to learn that Shinichi had been the one exchanging letters with him, instead of some stiff researcher like his teachers back in London. But Shinichi keeps diverting the conversation when inquired about the Karasuma notes.

It all comes to end the moment Shinichi realizes that the corpse following Heiji around is Saguru. Because all the time in the world can't prevent him from dying due to an accident or sudden illness before finishing his research. The reason the town's corpses look kind of alive is because they were created when the person was near-death. This time, in his fit of desperation, Shinichi does the procedure to a very much alive Kaito, hoping to preserve both of them for if/when proper reanimation succeeds, and follows suit in front of an appalled Heiji (this part in the movie was so unsettling, to put it mildly. I still shiver whenever I remember it. Here's even more terrifying to imagine because their appearance is so similar 😰). Shinichi does manage to tell them before he loses awareness that the previous researchers took the Karasuma notes with them to Japan.

But Heiji does not want to hear about the notes anymore or anything else really. He goes out in the cold to grieve and mope. Despite not giving him any commands, Saguru joins him. This only serves to anger Heiji because it doesn't prove that this action was made from any remnants of Saguru's "soul", and not a byproduct from the reanimation code. So Heiji lashes out, tackling him to the snow-filled ground. His fist stops midway though because he realizes that there is no point venting his frustrations on someone that will not comprehend why or even fight back.

Mary comes to remind him that he can't stop the mission whenever he wants, so they have to head out. They take Aoko and Conan with them while Agasa stays behind to take care of everyone for as long as he has left.

In Japan, they track the notes all the way to Osaka. Heiji learns that after the news of his transgression reached his father, he was disowned. Fine by him. It does not stop him from roping Kazuha and Otaki into helping him bust into the lab of the shadowy organization that seems to have the notes. And they do actually which amidst the chaos Heiji feeds them into Saguru's reanimation code to analyze them. Right about then though, the rumored successful reanimation project of Karasuma himself—Vermouth (of course it was gonna be her lol) appears, kills Mary and Otaki before she steals the notes.

The place burns down, separating Heiji and Saguru from the rest as they end up in the sewers. Since the notes were analyzed halfway and jumbled Saguru's code, he acts like a feral zombie. Heiji tries to hold his ground, but there is only so much he can do against a corpse that doesn't hold back its strength at all. Pinned against the wall by Saguru trying to choke the life out of him, Heiji ponders why he got into this mess and if dead people should stay dead and dammit he might have cared about Saguru more than he originally thought but he sure as hell won't allow him to run amok any longer. So he headbutts him, causing Saguru to drop him. While Heiji is wheezing for breath on the floor, he notices Saguru isn't moving. If anything, it looks like he calmed down. And then, a soft sound starts coming from him until it's apparent that Saguru is laughing. Heiji flashbacks to the aftermath of a fencing duel they had during their first days in the academy. For a moment, the images overlap and Heiji could believe that Saguru is still alive right before he "shuts down".

Reconnecting with the girls and Conan, they escape Japan through Kazuha's connections (she stays behind to cover their tracks). Saguru is back to being feral the next time he "wakes up", but Heiji has seen hope that he's still there (even if inevitably this is confirming Saguru's theory) so he continues to struggle to fix the scrambled reanimation code. While on Vermouth's trail, they come across the Kudous along with Nakamori Ginzo and learn that Aoko was modeled after his daughter because her body had been cremated before Kaito could even consider the thought of reanimating her. Aoko isn't interested in playing make-believe with Ginzo, even with the implanted memories Kaito had given her. Since she's just an automaton, therefore lacking a soul by conventional means, she wants to find her place in the world by herself.

Around then, Vermouth kidnaps Aoko to use as a vessel to bring back her beloved "angel" (Ran, the only human who showed her kindness) and the recently fixed Saguru because he has the missing portion of Karasuma's notes inside of him. Heiji, Conan and Masumi follow her back to a London in flames. Vermouth intents to use the Archive of the Dead that holds every reanimation code ever issued which is akin to holding humanity's collective conscious along with the notes for her plan. Although they manage to intercept her in the control room and Masumi shoots her, Vermouth's "soul" had already entered Saguru's body.

Heiji asks Conan to overload the Archive while Masumi reluctantly helps him connect himself to it through Shinichi's reanimation method. In the sea of humanity's collective conscious, Heiji finds Vermouth clinging to Saguru like a parasite because otherwise her artificial "soul" would disperse and disappear. Heiji yells at her that there is nothing artificial about someone with such a strong will to live. It's just that humans were not made to last for centuries on end and there is not much left of her anymore. Right then, someone looking like Aoko (but not really) appears and after fusing with Vermouth's remnants, disperses into their surroundings.

Saguru opens his eyes, finding himself in Heiji's embrace. Heiji offers his congratulations to him for being right about this, but the latter does not accept it. Because Heiji's recklessness to be here will make him die when he returns to his body. Their little reunion is interrupted by Kaito and Shinichi showing up, since the Archive overloading connected every Undead around the world into the sea of humanity's collective conscious. They all brainstorm together if there is a way to prevent Heiji's death or actually resurrect Saguru. Kaito proposes that before the Archive completely collapses, they could connect Heiji's living body and Saguru's reanimated one and feed the system the leftover pieces of the Karasuma notes (it's similar with how they implant memories on automaton brains). But if it works, they'll lose every memory they have of each other. While the notes work like the glue keeping their souls tethered, a certain amount of energy still needs to be spend for all this.

Heiji wakes up and tells the others of Kaito's proposal. Conan tells him that there is no guarantee that both of their objectives will become true. Heiji's final words are that he doesn't care if his soul takes all of the burden for Saguru to return to life.

***THE END?***

Quite a while later, Kazuha drops Heiji at a lodging in Tokyo.

After he returned from London still being disowned by his father, Heiji worked odd jobs here and there; relying on his employer to provide him with a place to stay. His latest job unfortunately doesn't, and even though the pay is alright, it's not enough for one person to live alone. So Kazuha had asked around and heard from Momiji that someone was looking for a roommate, before dragging him there.

Heiji is a bit hesitant about all this. The house looks kind of out of his budget, even with a roommate. His alarms go off when Kazuha vanishes while the housemaid (Keiko) had just let them in. But before he could make up an excuse to leave, the master of the house comes down the stairs.

He seems familiar; from his build to how he handles himself and the way he speaks. The only thing that strikes Heiji as odd are his eyes. For some weird reason, he was under the impression they were going to be blue and faded. They are a warm brown instead.

The man introduces himself as Hakuba Saguru.

Heiji had heard of him. Something about rebelling against his father wishes to join the military and leaving for London to pursue some kind of criminology field. Several different people had asked Heiji if he ever met him while he was still in England, and Heiji had denied it. But this familiarity, tugging him to close the distance between them, is unmistakable.

"Do I know ya?" Heiji asks.

Saguru smiles politely as if he's humoring him. "I would have certainly remembered someone rude enough not introduce themselves first."

Irritation, that comes off as borderline déjà vu, flares up in Heiji's chest as he gives back only his first name. That catches Saguru's attention as he inquires about it. Despite his reservations, Heiji admits that he isn't allowed to use his family name anymore.

"Why don't you take mine?" Saguru says.

At the shock of Keiko, more so to Heiji himself, he backtracks and goes on about housing laws and contracts being troublesome without full names from both participants. However, Heiji can somehow tell that Saguru is a bit flustered from that fumble.

"Sure," Heiji says with a chuckle. "As long as ya won't take yer word back."

Outside, in a cafe across the street, Kazuha joins the others to discuss the success of their little scheme. Conan wonders if this would be alright in the long run, because the chances of them remembering everything is close to none. Kazuha starts harping about fate and similar romantic notions, leaving him unimpressed.

Aoko stirs her teacup with a mysterious air about her. "We only helped them find each other faster. It's up to them whether they will cling to the past or set forth to make new memories."

Changing the subject, Masuki asks her if she has decided on her name yet. Aoko is conflicted since she has always been Aoko, but after what happened at the Archive, she isn't so sure about it anymore.

"Something starting with M sounds interesting though."

Around then Kazuha notices that Conan is gone. Masumi reassures her that he has been doing this kind of thing lately. Even after following him a couple of times, it didn't seem like something to worry about.

Conan enters the dilapidated warehouse he had been visiting and finds its sole occupier tinkering on his body again.

"I know I'm better at taking things apart than fixing them," he complains, "but you could have waited a bit!"

Turns out that before making Aoko, Kaito had made an unfinished automaton prototype based on himself that he hadn't told anyone about, more so Shinichi. While Conan was connected to the Archive, he saw it in his memories. Apparently, he had reactivated amidst the chaos of Vermouth's plan, fixing himself little by little and sending out some sort of signal. The first thing Conan told him when he found him was that only someone like Kaito would think to make trial runs on himself. Automaton!Kaito asked if he hadn't done the same since Conan is technically Shinichi (made from Agasa as a compromise for his parents, in case things went wrong with his research), not to mention his self-destruction in Siberia.

"Even in death, we still kept a lot of secrets from each other," Conan says with a bitter smile.

"Showing all your cards leaves you vulnerable. Isn't it in human nature to hold a part of ourselves hidden?" He pauses, thinking it over. "Although, I suppose we don't qualify as 'humans' at the moment."

Conan rolls his eyes. "It's a matter of perspective."

Kaito teases him about his optimistic outlook when they are merely shadows of the originals, stuck into artificial bodies.

"But we are still here, aren't we?"