Fortune's Favorites

by

Nana

Prologue

Hanyou


Author's Notes: Hi and welcome to another fic! I'm kind of new at the AU Science Fiction thing, and I really don't know what to expect. This fic promises to be a lot darker and intense than anything I've written before, and hopefully it will get somewhere. It's also got some pretty weird interpretations of the elements found in the manga, but for the prologue, we'll start with a twist to the meaning of the word "Hanyou".

In choosing a title for this fic, I got inspired by the title of a book by Colleen McCullough (a favorite of mine!) although the contents cannot be more different than the topic at hand, as her book is all about the Roman Empire and Julius Caesar.

A brain hyped on coffee, a book on tarots, and Rehabilitation Medicine notes on prostheses and orthoses had prompted this insane quest! Anyways, I do hope you guys will give it a chance, and tell me what you think. Please do read and review!


Disclaimer: Whether they get thrown in situations of the past, present or future, the characters of Inu Yasha are never going to be mine. Boohoohoo…


Kyoto

Februray 6, 2053

11:43 pm

In the tradition of fortune tellers and cards, the girl peered out onto the world through her tarot. Her still, white fingers dealt the hand of destiny as she slowly turned the cards over, reading in them all the possibilities of a future that was currently still in the making.

A soft metallic click sounded as the electronic card landed face up on the hard wooden table.

The Chariot…

The emotionless grey eyes softened a little as the girl smiled. The final, most significant card had been drawn, and she was almost relieved at the results.

The card signified an ordeal, a great effort against overwhelming odds. And yet it had landed upright in her view. A sure sign of victory…

It meant the young police officer was going to live.

Most interesting…

The girl pushed back the ornate wooden chair in which she sat and slowly made her way to the window, where the night view of the Kyoto of 2053 awaited her.

Of all the cities in Japan, Kyoto alone had withstood the test of time and technology that had steadily engulfed every facet and way of life of people all over the world. In Kyoto, at least, strict preservation of the national treasures and ancient temples had ensured that memories of an earlier time would not be erased completely.

But how long before human destiny took its course? Already forces were on the move that may tip the fragile balance into their favor.

Like an invisible hand, they stretched themselves out until nothing could escape their single, collective shadow. Ever since artificial intelligence had been perfected some thirty years before, nothing was to be the same with humanity again.

But certain things had remained. There were still wars to be won, the same human fears and struggles to overcome, and superstition of all kinds to flourish.

The girl glanced back at the deck of electronic tarots lying on top of her expensive, antique table. The mysteries of prediction would, perhaps, continue to fascinate humanity as long as it had, she thought.

She could only hope so. She had a feeling her very life would soon depend on the deck of cards that she dealt, as well as the young officer whose life she had been following with growing interest in the past couple of months.


Tokyo Metro Hospital

February 6, 2053

11:43 pm

"You did everything humanly possible, so don't worry about it," Tokyo Chief of Police Ishida Mushin said in gruff tones. His low voice echoed strangely in the deserted corridor of the great hospital. "You brought him into the hospital in record time. I'm sure the doctors will be able to do something. In the meantime, why don't you go home, change out of your shirt and catch a few hours of sleep? Waiting here like this is not going to help any. Trust me."

Beside him, his nephew Ishida Miroku nodded mechanically. His pale face, streaked with grime and dried blood, looked deadly calm. Although his violet eyes gave away nothing, never once did they leave the closed, giant doors leading to the emergency room complex. It was apparent he had not caught a single word his uncle was saying.

Shock, the police veteran thought with an inward sigh. Nothing new with that.

The Chief of Police stared down the younger Ishida's blood-stained shirt, partially hidden by his black trench coat, and sighed.

When one was enlisted as an officer in Homicide, this was always a possibility. A partner getting busted in the line of duty; in this case, a night-time investigation gone horribly wrong. He had tried to discourage the boy earlier on in joining the Metro Police, but hell…would Miroku listen to the Chief of Police? Nooooo…!

Behind those closed doors, Miroku's partner, rookie officer Inu Yasha was fighting for his life.

He was shot in the chest at close proximity, but he was lucky the guns used were primitive automatics dating back at least twenty years. He would not have survived if modern laser-guns had been employed to blast a hole right through the chest. He would have died immediately, faster than Miroku could have encased him in a cryogenic capsule that had temporarily arrested all bodily processes to enable them to get him to a hospital.

Still, he was shot at the heart. Within the tiny seconds Miroku had activated the capsule, Inu Yasha's blood had seeped right through his shirt.

His uncle was right. He had done everything humanly possible, but was it enough?

The doors finally slid open, and the doctor stepped out.

Kami, is it really like this, or am I just tired? Miroku thought, staring dumbstruck as the doctor seemed to be making his way to them in slow motion.

But in no time at all, the doctor was standing in front of them, was telling them--

"--Artificial heart replacement surgery, and the prognosis is good. He's young, he'll be able to make it."

"Ha! Did you hear that, Miroku?" Ishida clasped his nephew's stiff shoulders. "Did you hear that?! He's going to make it!"

Miroku opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Inu Yasha was going to live. That hot-headed, foul-mouthed, impulsive bastard was going to live, and Miroku had never been more relieved in his whole life.

There would be plenty of time soon for disciplinary sanctions when Internal Affairs would mince the whole situation and analyze everything that had happened tonight, and there would be plenty of time soon to ponder over the consequences of the life-saving operation that was going to be performed on his partner, but right now, Miroku could not care less.

As the tight knot loosened slowly in his chest, Miroku slowly became aware of the ache in his arms, his legs, his head, everywhere. Abruptly, he sat down on one of the hospital chairs.

"You alright?" inquired his uncle. "C'mon. I'll take you home."

"Hai. In a minute," he said heavily, aware of nothing but the dull throbbing in his head.

It was only in the quiet confines of the car that a thought surfaced in his numb and tired brain.

Artificial heart replacement…

Because tenuous ethical codes had not yet approved the use of cloned human hearts, artificial heart replacement using synthetic, immunomodulated "intelligent" machine pumps had recently been the trend in heart trauma surgery.

Artificial heart replacement--meaning a youkai, slang for any machine with an intelligence chip, was going to be inserted to pump blood into Inu Yasha's body.

From now on, he was going to be a hanyou. A human with a machine part built in. The option was not exactly free from controversy, but any alternative was good enough right now, as long as it meant Inu Yasha was going to live.

Not, mind you, that Inu Yasha needed to know how concerned Miroku was over the whole thing. This part would be easy enough to keep as a secret.


A short note on tarot cards: I came across this interesting book about prediction, and it had a hefty chapter on Tarot Cards. It struck me as creepy and fascinating that these cards meant differently if they presented upright or inverted to the reader. Well, more next time on the cards as our fortune teller weaves her way through the story.


Posted: 10/07/02

Revised: 03/27/08 (Yes, you read right! It has taken nearly six years, I know. Sorry about the delay, but better late than never!)