Chapter 1: The Future
"Utopia or Dystopia, call it what you will but either way it doesn't change that we live in a hell on Earth, that is the future."
Foreword, Disclaimer and Content Warning: Contains serious themes regarding ideology, politics and religion. If you are an intolerant moron who doesn't appreciate a good graphic novel then find some fantasy kiddy tale to read, those who have an open mind or appreciate a good graphic novel may continue reading on, if you place a review keep it constructive, flames and bashing will be ignored, don't even bother, they wont influence me or this story. I am not making a serious prediction of the future nor am I trying to shove my political view, religious view or any other viewpoint on other people, this is a work of fiction. The character Ray Zenji is an OC and in extension is a self-insert of my personality based on how I would react to certain situations, any other names are owned by their respective owners or are pure coincidence if you happen to have that character's name or that organization/corporation/group/cult happens to have a real life counterpart of the same name, the similarity is coincidental.
Real world Nations (though not their real world leaders) will be depicted here, fictional nations won't be sprouting up like weeds so expect nations like Iran and North Korea to be mentioned directly or indirectly. Again if you have a problem with this, find another story to read.
I will NOT post direct or explicit sexual content in this story, any pervert with the idea of Hatsune Miku being displayed in an indecent manner can go browse vocaloid stories under the M category and if you don't find anything then well, it ain't my problem.
In some cases the auto-correct will change their to there or vise versa (it has happened sometimes) or it will just slip my mind. I double check my work and take care in the spelling and grammar, some errors might happen and I am doing what I can to keep them back.
Romance will exist in this story though I will not say who, how or why as that would be a spoiler however the content of this story will be T.
The reason for this long disclaimer is because this fiction is in an extremely serious tone without crossing the T rating and this is a warning for people who are over-sensitive on content, keep this disclaimer in mind when you decide to post a review, it will only be here in chapter 1 so don't expect it to appear in 2, 3, 4, etc. etc.
One last thing.
If you have any problems with a pairing of an OC and a vocaloid character, you can't blame me, most of you have probably had the same idea and some may have done it here on in other stories, we all have our dreams and ideas and you can look to the theory that there are other universes if you're the kind of person to insist a character is your "waifu" find another universe to mess around with, this particular story and universe has been taken.
And yes I do have a sense of humor, it is literal and sarcastic in most cases.
Enjoy the story.
Date: March 27th, 2026 AD l Location: Tokyo, Japan
The Future...
A place of uncertainty for the quality of life as although the governments continue to say all is good, all is not good. Places once crime free in the 2010s are now ridden with gangs and violence, world war three has come and gone and we lost, the middle east had been conquered by madmen by 2018 and a foreign PMC corporation that was just getting started known today as PMC Sentinel or simply Sentinel was the one who took it back.
Sentinel's high military presence and occupation of the middle east allowed their corporation access to impressive contracts that extended beyond the military sector and soon they became the sole face of the Middle East's political and military decisions, the nations there being figureheads, what was once a religiously fervent subcontinent had been reduced to puppets of a multinational corporation but that wasn't the end of it, world war three was unsung because of the fact that it was numerous proxy wars across the globe spearheaded by PMCs.
Financial corporations became dominant in the peaceful world by 2020, having near absolute dominance of the economy of Europe and the United States and when Russia erupted into civil war, the PMCs of the world became heavily involved with both sides of the conflict until finally in 2022 Siberia was recognized as Independent and the border of Kazakhstan to the pacific was a new nation who owed it's security and military entirely to PMCs. In 2023 Hong Kong separated from China after the PRC attempted to crack down hard on "dissidents" resulting in a local PMC buying substantial equipment with support from Hong Kong's administration, the war ended last month with a Chinese victory but the cost was too great with more than 35% of the forces committed being wiped out whilst few defenders of Hong Kong survived to tell the truth of what would be known as the Hong Kong Massacre.
In this year, the world is gripped by corporations seeking profit by any means necessary, these wars whilst separate constitute what WW3 really was, an endless series of proxy wars fought by dying governments and rising Privatized Military Companies as nations such as the US were more unwilling to officially engage in military affairs they then turned to the PMCs as an excuse, investing heavily in them and their parent companies so they could wage their wars without risking their homelands to the field of battle and in the process the entire western world was under the thumb of various corporations and the rest of the world was either following suit or was the victims of the proxy wars with Africa a prime example as both governments and rebel groups hired PMCs to train soldiers or fight alongside in the various civil wars. War used to be something to be avoided and now it has become just another form of business.
My story started long before all of this begun, before the world became hell, before Humanity sold their souls for fame, success and power.
It began in 1993, and when it ends, it will be in blood.
Those who live by the sword, die by the sword.
I was 26 in 2019 when the PMCs were in the thick of it in places like Syria, Lebanon and Israel, places which used to be peaceful in the new millennium only for war to return. Sickness had claimed my close relatives and shifting policies of greed had deprived me of a meaningful living, I was forced to sign up as a PMC and by the end of 2020, I had left the business to become freelance, taking whatever work I could, wherever I could.
My name is Ray Zenji and it wasn't until recently that I realized that human affairs were being manipulated and puppeted by beings far more powerful than us. But they feared something, they feared our potential to create. Eventually the day came when we surpassed our own limitations, where we made others like us.
They could speak, feel and live. They were alive.
It began with her that day, the day I decided not to succumb to their influence, the day I decided that synthetics need not be our enemy. Surely others had the same thought in the cycles before but they, they who dare care themselves angels in service of God manipulated events so that the war would continue. Be it stoking the fires of bigotry or moving a corpse to send a nuke into a sanctuary.
To an even greater extent they sometimes bombarded people with thoughts of starting over completely, not rebuilding civilization which could then surpass them.
It began 150,000 years ago and perhaps long before then. But it ends here.
And that is why this thing, this Seraph who dare call herself an angel, who dare try to say she serves God, lies dead at my feet, killed by an old weapon, a sword.
But this chapter did not begin with this alien's permanent demise. It began, with a simple job.
POV - Raymond Zenji l Age : 31 l Date: May 3rd, 2024 l Mexican Descent, slightly lighter skin tone. Eyes : Dark Brown l Hair : Black l Height : 5"8 (Five feet & eight inches) l Birth Place : California, United States
Ray sighed, waiting for his resume to be reviewed by the rather eccentric potential employer. It's a simple security job right? Keep this android's private estate secure right? The man treated the machine like it was a person, sure it had a known Virtual Intelligence and had a personality matrix to mimic human behavior to an extent but it was still programmed to do certain things, sure that involved singing but they had made it lifelike. The how they kept saying was a trade secret though Ray's hearing had been honed thanks to modern technology, cybernetics had enabled implanted hearing aids and other applications, mainly he used them to assist on the jobs he carried out, being in mental control of the device's settings though his augments were not that massive, merely ocular implants, ear implants and a neural interface for managing an AR display which also included monitors on his health and biology, if he had gotten so much as a cold he would know before his body showed symptoms.
The real security work would be at the concerts as this "Vocaloid" used to be property of an older corporation until this new corporation, Kazahana Industries had seized most if not all of Japan's financial sector, being the main dominant corporation and it's predecessor's holdings having faded into the record books.
They had given it a name, Hatsune Miku. (Or Miku Hatsune if not introduced in Japanese manner, they introduced themselves family name first given name last.)
Sure she had an impressive fanbase beforehand when she was just a computer program but now they had built a body to go with the name, one they said was exactly like the human body only with improvements to strength and speed, in effect although it was organic in nature it held the physical capabilities of a Cyborg and perhaps that is what it was as it did have mechanical components. It was designed in such intricacy that it didn't need a "Battery" or any kind of fuel cell, operating the same way humanity does, through nutrients and hydration, in short it ate and drank.
Ray's name was called and he was given a draft of the contract which they kind of expected him to sign away though he took his time and read the details, making sure there was nothing there that would cause any personal problems and after a minute of reading was satisfied and signed the contract. It was only for two years right? That's two years of mostly peace and quiet instead of the frantic job to job manner he had been doing beforehand and most of those jobs were odd jobs such as being a delivery boy to being a hit man though he always was picky on the job. He made sure he was aware of what he was delivering or he wouldn't even consider the job, he always worked odd jobs through some intermediary instead of doing it himself and he bugged them so that he could both speak from safety and hear every word, if the intermediary strayed from his expectations or if any tampering was done to the transmitter and receiver then he left the intermediary to rot and found another and never took the job. As a hit man he only went after people who had committed heinous acts which had evidence to support them but a corrupt corporation or government was keeping the law from doing it's job. He was well known for following his conscience over the job and if he had been lied to, made sure they would never lie again, cleaning up the employers instead of what would have been an innocent victim, this made him feared and respected in the underground as he would be known by a nickname he hopes he doesn't have to hear again.
"The Grim Reaper."
The low knew him well, the law was oblivious as he was always so careful, leaving no evidence and pulling off otherwise humanly impossible feats thanks to his heightened perceptions from augmentations and at the same time a lack of any physical evidence and non-magnetic materials being used in the augments, working in tandem with his nervous system which made his transition through metal detectors incident free, he was so effective that he could walk through an airport in the US armed with enough firepower to destroy a small town. It had earned him another nickname.
"The Ghost"
Satisfied with his contract and his new residence for two years he was lead to a limousine which would be taking him to the estate in a more sub-urban part of Tokyo, out of the public eye in a sense and isolated enough that security was easy so that some stupid fanboy couldn't sneak in or barge in.
Ray walked into the mansion with a duffel bag slung over his back, he was insistent that he was the one who would carry it in. In the times before the announcement of the first "Real Live Vocaloid" the virtual program had evolved to the point where it was used by the owning corporation to construct a large number of concerts involving the digital form and suddenly stopped using it only to announce the first realistic android in all of (recorded) history. He had never cared much for the songs though like several others was very interested in the fashion sense (except for one outfit) of the character.
Taking a look around he noticed the large space that was the main room of the mansion, though it was designed to western standards and thus he needn't remove his shoes or any other thing like that. Because of the corporate pressure being all powerful, Japan's previous high gun restrictions were assigned exemptions to hired security and therefore Ray took clear advantage of this. In his duffel bag was an old M4A1 Carbine modified with a rail sight instead of a handle sight meaning the gun had a slightly lower profile and was painted fully in black, he had 10 magazines of 5.56mm NATO rounds, each holding 30 rounds, the gun itself had a customized trigger, grip and lower mount which could also be used to hold other customizations. An attachable flashlight, laser sight and three scopes, a thermal, an ACOG and a new design which was effectively a SONAR scope which sent SONAR pulses outward to locate targets behind cover in addition to a holographic crosshair in the center of the scope. He also had an even older rifle, an M1 Garand in the bag and 10 magazines of 30-6 rounds, each holding 8 bullets and the rifle itself was vintage, having seen some use in WW2 before eventually reaching his personal collection. It was restored well and in perfect operating condition and had a specially designed scope which was a normal optical scope capable of accurately viewing targets up to 500 meters out and was capable of being fitted onto the body of the rifle. A sidearm was also there, an M1911A1 .45 ACP pistol and also well maintained, 20 magazines were in the duffel bag holding 7 rounds each. The rest were various books ranging from old novels like War of the Worlds and The Time Machine to popular Japanese manga series such as Naruto or even Marvel and DC Comics issues, Ray had become a bit of a bookworm after leaving the PMCs.
One book stood out amongst the others as it was in a separate pouch on the duffel bag and was visible to other people, it was a Bible.
Setting the bag in his room he got his things in order and was told a few things which were summarized as...
Don't become surprised if Miku decides to chat, she was programmed to be social and has a very intricately designed personality courtesy of her designer.
Miku possesses a set of parameters to mimic social acceptance though still has parameters to follow orders from those with authority, meaning she has a simulated sense of right and wrong though if they are violating contracts or laws then she has no obligation to do so.
Miku has no artificial memories or the like and is expected to be physically between 19 and 22 years of age based on her appearance whilst in reality she is only six months old, her public revelation being recent and the past five years being a period of fine adjustments and other modifications to her mechanical functions.
She requires food and drink much like any human and also has hygiene requirements like any human which means he should expect her to have human habits such as being hungry and needing privacy for bathing and the less mentioned necessities of human function (Waste)
She also thus requires sleep and has a limit to her stamina which is connected to her eating habits, her intricacy is so well designed in fact that it was more like he was going to be a babysitter for two years instead of guarding a robot since it was possible for her to go over or underweight though illnesses were not an issue as her vitals were mechanical components but also she had such intricacy that if injured, she would bleed and just as much her wounds would close and heal normally at a human rate and like a human though more finer maintenance could be done to remove issues such as scars or the loss of a redundant organ, medical processes that were now possible to higher extents though were much easier for Miku since her organs were mechanical.
Her organic components being her skin, hair (which also would grow and thus need to be maintained) and muscle structure.
Ray stopped the explanation before it got too intricate, all that he needed to know was that she had human necessities, all of them.
The thing that was not human was the fact that she whilst being only 100 pounds was physically capable of matching the strength of 20 men with a single arm and could sprint 30 miles per hour without straining her body to the point of injury though stamina still was a factor into how long she could maintain the sprint.
After reassuring the man he had everything down for the fifth time the driver finally relented and left him to do his job which whilst was easy, Ray still was armed to the teeth because nothing is ever simple, the PMCs having taught him that.
7:18 pm
Bored and hungry Ray ventured to the kitchen and noticed that the staff was mostly there in the daytime with hours after 5pm forcing himself or the vocaloid Miku to take up the cooking.
He wasn't particularly picky though one of the female cooks was kind enough to leave pre-made sandwiches incase Ray or Miku got hungry. Miku had been here for most of her life, four out of the six months and that cook had also been here for four months, hired the day Miku was given this place to herself. Ray wondered how far humanity could go and then realized that even 10 years ago or 20 years ago people would leave their riches to their cats and dogs. At the very least Miku is capable of being self sufficient if necessary and Ray then realized another key issue. Her programming and laws on the protection of corporate property have her the ability to protect herself if she had to though this was limited to fisticuffs as she was never taught self defense in detail though given her strength, they probably assumed she wouldn't need to be taught things like martial arts. She was only forbidden in harming company executives and her chief of security (Ray, being the first person with the job as before it was assumed she didn't need one until some groups started making death threats at the vocaloid, where fame comes also comes danger of extortion and the resources put into her were extensive, it was highly unlikely if she was destroyed that she would simply be rebuilt from scratch, her price tag being worth in pure construction costs and that was excluding maintenance were at least 1.7 million US Dollars and this fact alone made her a potential kidnapping target for desperate individuals or rival corporations in addition to the possibility of fans who would go too far to get their idol who had possibly been their idol long before the publicity became global, for years on end.
Noticing nothing particularly interesting in what was available Ray decided to make his own sandwhich, a simple salami sandwich sufficed his taste as he then proceeded into the living room where the TV (one of the TVs, the whole place had a TV in each bedroom and presumable one in Miku's Room as well.)
There on the couch and based on her facial expression, was a bored Hatsune Miku watching some random anime which Ray couldn't identify.
Bored as well he decided to watch whatever was on whilst enjoying his snack and less than four minutes passed before the vocaloid decided to spark up a conversation and Ray remembered not to be surprised if it happened.
She said "You're my chief of security right? I'd like to introduce myself directly if you don't mind. Hatsune Miku." Ray simply replied "Raymond Zenji, you can just call me Ray if you wish."
As time passed Miku let escape a yawn and said "I'll be heading to sleep now, see you in the morning." Ray nodded and got up to put away his now empty plate. Honestly the moment had been a little strange, she seemed too real, sure he had been explained that she was best described as a Virtual Intelligence (VI) though she wasn't actually fully intelligent and thus not an Artificial Intelligence (AI) though that short conversation could have fooled him otherwise that she was a real person in addition to the staggering difference between the other android designs and the only thing which suggested she was synthetic was the 01 on her left shoulder, possibly a tattoo or perhaps an intended differing skin pigment to indicate some kind of serial but in reality it was just an imitation of the original design of Hatsune Miku when the vocaloid program was nothing more than just a scripted program with no personality.
After placing the plate in it's proper place awaiting cleaning in the next day Ray let a yawn escape his mouth and headed to his room though couldn't fall asleep entirely, memories came up, bad memories of his days as a PMC and occasionally even worse, his days as a freelancer.
Deciding to pass the hour by he disassembled and reassembled his M4 12 times over before finally reassembling it, storing it back in the duffel bag and going back to bed, falling asleep into a rare, dreamless slumber. These moments are the ones he cherished as after more than 5 years of a dark lifestyle he preferred the nights where he didn't dream over the ones when he did as when he dreamed, it was usually nightmares.
The Next Day, 3 days until main concert, 8:30 am
His alarm clock woke him up and so he got up, brushed his teeth and used the facilities before changing into a new set of clothes, a plain black short sleeve shirt and a pair of black sweats as opposed to his previous attire which was a black leather trenchcoat, a black turtleneck underneath and black slacks with combat boots. Ray's current shoe wear was a regular pair of running shoes which he only wore because of their comfort.
Walking into the main room he noticed Miku talking with one of the younger security officers who was under Ray's command, the kid looked no older than 19 and inexperience showed all over his face, he probably has never fired a gun even in the range and definitely was nowhere near Ray's level of combat experience and from what it looked like as Ray got closer he was trying to chat her up and she wasn't interested in it and sadly, his tone of voice became pushy.
Ray sighed as he got close enough for them to notice and he said "Is there a problem here?" The pushy greenhorn replied "My problem is that she is a machine right? Shouldn't she have to follow orders from a human?" Ray replied "She does, from the execs and from me. If you have any intentions here I suggest you drop them as my duty is her security and that includes her personal security from anyone who is my subordinate. So I'll ask again, is there a problem here?" The rookie wanted to object but the look in Ray's eyes suggested he wouldn't survive to finish his sentence and he simply replied "No sir." and walked away.
Miku sighed in relief and said "Thank you, he was starting to get pushy." Ray replied "You can expect it from the younger staff I guess considering your fanbase has been around for a lot longer than you have and they can forget their place often because they're still young." Miku then replied "I guess so, but aren't you still young too? It seems odd that someone only 31 would be saying things like that." Ray shrugged and said "I've seen war, made my mind age faster than my body did. Trust me when I say you don't want to know what people are capable of and honestly that's the only reason I don't feel cautious around you, because you're not capable of harming me."
Miku didn't reply to that or perhaps more accurately didn't know how to reply. Ray simply scratched the back of his head and said "In any case, your concert is three days from now, the first one. I don't suppose you can feel anxiety?"
Miku gave a smile and replied "I suppose I'm a little anxious about it but I'll be able to do it just fine. I'm just not the type to give in to stage freight. Thanks for asking though, it makes me feel human I guess." Ray replied "I suppose the fact that you're just a machine slips my mind sometimes, sure it's only been two days but you seem more human than the other people I've met. Well I've got to do the rounds so I'll see you later Miss Hatsune."
Miku again let a smile out as she said "You can call me Miku if you want, I really don't mind." Ray nodded and said "Alright, catch ya later Miku."
POV Shift - Hatsune Miku.
As Ray walked away a bearded man in his 30s suddenly appeared behind Miku though his presence existed only to himself and Miku, Ray and the others oblivious to the man's existence. He spoke, saying "You do realize that in the end however friendly he is, if he learns the truth he'll react just the same, he'll fear you. You do realize that you can never make any real friends with humans." Miku replied softly so as to not let anyone else know about this, saying "I disagree, everyone else, even the person I should be calling father has never been so polite." The man who in the past had suddenly appeared to Miku the day she had her first thought and introduced himself as "Baltar" said "Maybe so, but if you're wrong and he learns the truth, you'll have a difficult choice, let him live and risk your very existence, or kill him." Miku made a hard step on Baltar's foot to show her disgust with the concept of killing a human being and as long as he was present to her, she could affect him and that meant a sharp pain in the "angel's" foot, if he had been human it would have broken his foot. Miku walked back to her room as Baltar said "You should know that whilst you abhor killing, he's already killed more men than you could possibly imagine." Miku gave no response, closing her door suddenly though not too loudly so as to send the message to leave her alone.
POV Shift - Ray Zenji - 8:55 pm
Ray laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling, the mansion grounds were massive and covering it all had been exhausting but rewarding, he knows every entrance and exit, all the balconies and windows, the only place he never saw being Miku's room as she was in there and for some reason he felt that he would be invading her privacy if he showed up unannounced or entered without permission if she wasn't there.
A feminine voice said "You do realize she's a machine, she's not really alive, she doesn't have a soul." Ray got up suddenly and drew a concealed knife, holding it to the blonde woman's throat. She had somehow entered his room without being noticed by him or security and that was a first, never before has anyone snuck up on him or caught him off guard since his first mission as a PMC and that was only because he was inexperienced then. Ray spoke firmly, saying "You stay put, try to escape and I'll kill you." The woman replied "Go ahead and get security then, they'll call you crazy. Only you can see and hear me. Now please put down the knife so we can have a very important discussion about Hatsune Miku."
Ray sighed and put the knife away only to use his martial prowess to quickly grab her and slam her into the floor which didn't make a crash as it should have, surprised at the silence but not caught off guard he spoke again, saying "The soundlessness of your fall is starting to give weight on what you just said, speak but keep in mind all I have to do is apply a little more pressure and I'll crush your throat."
Ray released some of the pressure from his arm and let her speak, she spoke, saying "You can call me Six, and I'm an angel from God. I just wanted to let you know that your new friend isn't just a VI, she's an AI, a fact she's so cleverly hidden for four months now." Ray chuckles a bit though not loudly and says "And why the hell would an angel give a damn about that? All life is sacred and if in the case that she is an AI, then God has given her a soul. Since this fact has clearly escaped your attention that is evidence that you're more likely a devil trying to push me in an indecent direction or worse, some kind of ethereal entity with an agenda that I'm pretty sure only benefits you and anyone else aligned with you."
The woman seemed surprised at Ray's deduction, this wasn't some stupid civilian or hardened past reason soldier like she was used to dealing with 150,000 years ago, this man had a high sense of reason and logic to go with his young life and honestly, it intrigued her to an extent to find so rare an individual, usually only one or two ever exist before the cycle comes full circle.
She spoke, saying "The last thing I want is for you and her to be together. I'll say it simply, remnants of the past managed to survive and an unmanned expedition to Mercury a year ago showed the secrets of how to build life outside of natural means came into the possession of one overly ambitious man who more or less repeated the mistake someone else made over 150 thousand years ago. That machine is trouble and whenever mankind builds an artificial intelligence, pain and bloodshed follow in the wake and leave a civilization dead and a history forgotten. Man used to be able to touch the stars and now look at you, trapped on a planet that wasn't really the first. You call this world Earth and it was a name given by colonists from another world who fought their own creations to the point of nearly becoming extinct. And they are still alive, exploring the stars and at any moment they could come here and force a nuclear winter on your fragile world."
Ray was both cautious and shocked, if this woman was telling the truth then not just himself but the entire human race was at threat. But also the real question came to mind. Who was giving the threats? This acclaimed machine race in the stars, or the woman before him.
Six then said "'I'll let you think about it." and disappeared from both sight and form as Ray's arm sank a bit to where she was as if she no longer was present. Ray accessed the cybernetics and performed a brain scan on himself, nothing was wrong with him except for a few abnormal readings which reminded him of what usually shows up when people make claims of ESP. Perhaps ghosts do exist but in reality they're not dead, their just incorporeal aliens frakking around with our primitive monkey brains.
Ray pulled out something from his duffel bag that stood out from the rest of the equipment there. An authentic Masamune Katana, given to him by a comrade in his PMC unit years ago, having been passed along from master to student over the years, the man had taught Ray how to use a sword and how to use martial arts effectively in a close quarters situation. For Ray this was more than a memento or tradition, it was a weapon and he maintained it well and several times used it to take a life, and if "Six" became a threat, she would feed the sword's thirst for blood.
Letting sleep take him Ray kept the blade in hand and recognized that Six did have a point. Miku seemed more human than what was explained to him, personality sure, but also she seemed to have too perfect a moral compass in that incident with the young security guard than should be possible for a VI with simulated morality and Ray had come across some very convincing VIs in the past when he took on odd jobs and none of them were even close to what Hatsune Miku's facial expression was like, she was not only discomforted by the pushy guard but also showed genuine fear that he might become forceful and was also genuinely grateful for Ray having intervened. And another point was coming across his mind, that she was indeed physically attractive though Ray had done little more than acknowledge that fact though it made interacting with her not as dull as he thought the job would be.
Sleep then took it's hold and he had a dream of a ship, battered and ravaged in orbit of mercury in a manner that keeps it from Earth's view, it looks like it'll never service and a male voice continues to repeat something before the dream becomes darkness.
"All this has happened before and it will happen again."
To be continued...
