Hello once again. I present to you a ShizNat story of mediocre proportions, heh. No, I have high hopes for this one. My goal is lofty, but attainable.
Also, I'm looking for a Beta if anyone is willing. I must admit that my updating is not terrible frequent, but I make a point to finish what I've started.
The idea for this fic was taken from the political thriller novel 'The Manchurian Candidate.' Also, there's some research that the FBI supposedly did in the 60's and 70's involving the effects of Halucigenic drugs (i.e. LSD) and phsycho/electroshock therapy with the aim of creating a Manchurian Candidate that will be mentioned.
So yeah, let me know what you think and all ^_^
The Manchurian Candidate
In a dank, run-down building located in the industrial sector of Tokyo, remnants of a once powerful organisation gathered together like rats in a sewer. They came slowly at first but soon they were arriving frequently, sometimes in a group of two or more. Mostly protected from the elements but not much more they licked their wounds, compared their situations and most importantly, plotted revenge. It took a few months before they could account for all the losses they had sustained. Colleagues, equipment, property and vital research notes, killed, confiscated or burnt.
A particularly dismal winter's evening found the escapees huddled about a central meeting table that had been cobbled together using discarded materials they had found. Using the staff lists several members had salvaged they were coming to the end of ticking off those assumed dead. A haggard-looking man sat at the head of the table, trying to maintain some semblance of organisation as bickering broke out around the table, blame being tossed about as it so often had in the last few months.
The company was silenced when the heavy, reinforced doors of the abandoned factory were pushed open. They all froze, the hands of those who carried weapons were immediately occupied. These soon relaxed however, as everyone at the table recognised the woman who leant against the door-frame for support; the head of their research department, Doctor Suzumi Hokaido. Tucked under her arm was an accordion file, stuffed to the brim with papers that were threatening to break open the already worn looking cardboard. Immediately chairs were pushed back, scrapping against the concrete floor. A young woman went forward with a blanket, draping it around the shoulders of her one time co-worker. Some men offered her their arms for support and she gratefully leant on them after handing the files over to the haggard-looking man.
"General."
She said softly, belying her weakness. He nodded curtly and she was led away to the makeshift sickbay they had created. Thankfully a few of the doctors had made their way to the rendezvous point early on, and had been able to treat those who had come in wounded and ill. She would be fine in their care. Now that he held the folder, he also held the attention of all of the people in the room. They once again gathered at the table, bringing pens and expertise. One by one the files were drawn out and sorted. As they revealed exactly what research the Doctor had managed to salvage, a plan began to form in his mind. It would take some time, but he would avenge his people, the ones who had worked so hard toward their common goal. And he would restore the people around him to their lives and their families as quickly as he was able.
The HiME project had been by far the most interesting they had ever undertaken, and General Hatake intended to bring the affair to an end after obtaining as much information as possible. After all, it would happen again in the next three hundred years, and he wanted to make sure the First District was ready. He looked down the length of the table, taking in the faces of his only remaining lieutenant, three secretaries, two professors, several research assistants, guards and field agents. They were all that was left of his team, but they were more than enough. They had encountered the true power of the HiME and it had sent them all running in terror. It would be folly to send the next generation of their organisation into a situation they did not know the gravity of. Hatake would not have it. With careful planning and true understanding of what they were undertaking, they would succeed in better preparing themselves for the next time. And in the process they would rid the world of the HiME.
He remembered when he had first been offered the job of taking charge of the operation. They had emphasised just how powerful these girls would be, and how necessary it was that his team obtained the power of the star. It could lead to breakthroughs in energy production, space travel, technology in general, not to mention weaponry advances. The angle he had come up with was that while they were amazingly powerful they were still just girls, barely old enough to make decisions for themselves. He understood them to a point, having had a daughter around their age and also remembering his own youth.
That angle still applied even now, after all the destruction and mayhem. They were still in school and even though the events had surely changed them they were still only girls. It would require research and time on their part, but they had nothing but time now. The General no longer had a home to go to. His wife and daughter has been visiting him at his office, or had been about to when the rampaging HiME, known to them all as Subject Fujino had appeared in a whirl of flame and slithered across the car park on the back of her enormous CHILD.
He considered himself a brave man, but the sight of that girl had been enough to strike terror into the hearts of him and his most battle hardened men. That was nothing however compared to the horror and the overwhelming helplessness he had felt as a burning carwreck had been thrown by one of the seething heads of the CHILD, Kiyohime, onto his wife and daughter as they cowered on the ground. He had screamed then, rage burning in his veins as he took a soldiers shotgun from his limp grip, aiming both barrels at the ethereal girl that stood upon one of Kiyohime's heads. Her hair was fluttering around her face as hot air rose all around her, a Naginata was held tightly in a double handed grip and she levelled his gaze.
Ordinarily he would have shivered at the sight of those blood red eyes, but he didn't feel any fear as he kicked his desk over and knelt behind it, taking aim at her from the office which was missing a wall and half it's ceiling thanks to an errant swipe of the beasts tail. The CHILDs heads were raised by this time and when their mouths opened they exposed the frightening maw of a viper, all fangs and venom. Scarier still was the girls' apathetic expression as she bid the beast to attack with a slash of her weapon in the air. Not taking a second to think he had reacted on instinct and unloaded both shells into the first head without thinking. It blew a great, bleeding hole in its neck and the beast as a whole had recoiled. It was then that his men seized him and dragged him out of the exposed room and into the building. It had been a bit of a blur from then on, they had gathered as many of their number as time would allow, and left hurriedly, heading straight for the place they had arranged to meet in case of such an emergency.
Looking up from his recollection he noticed all of his companions were looking to him for direction. Clearing his throat he spoke,
"Friends," he began tenderly, "we all know what has brought us to this point. And I know that you are probably angry, hurt and afraid. But I doubt that we would have all gathered here if had not been for a common desire to not only continue our work, but also enact our revenge." A general murmur of agreement went around the table and several people nodded their heads. He continued, emboldened by the consensus of his team, "And so I propose a plan to all of you. It will take some time and may be dangerous but I assure you it will satisfy your thirst for revenge, and prepare those who would take up our work in the future." This was again met by approval and he smiled at them, "Prepare then for the reopening of project Manchurian Candidate."
Several gasped at the statement, looking to the general for further explanation, eyes wide with surprise.
"You will all remember the American organisation CIA worked on this particular project with some vigor in the nineteen sixties and seventies. And of course you will remember that it was shut down after they finally came to the conclusion that it was impossible to create a Manchurian Candidate, a perfect assassin." Again those present nodded, but with much less enthusiasm than before. Undeterred Hatake made to speak again, convinced that he could get them to see the light. "But my Friends, they did not have what we have now. The knowledge of the HiME, and their star, the kind of power we have at our disposal now. You may ask, and rightly so, about the relevancy of The Manchurian Candidate to us and our current situation. This is where we will extract our revenge good people."
With their curiosity piqued the remaining members of the first district leaned forward in their chairs. "Project Fujino will be captured, and programmed in accordance with the files we have on the Manchurian Candidate project which will of course have to be improved on." Leaving no time for interjection the General continued, "The idea, ladies and gentlemen, is that we will tap into that side of Project Fujino we saw that night," he shuddered involuntarily at the thought before speaking again,
"As I said, we will tap into that side of her, and reinforce it with the programming, before allowing her back amongst her fellow HiME. It won't be long before we trigger her into that state and allow her to witness her fellow HiME dropping like flies all around her, not knowing the cause as the others suspicions grow. An unwitting lion amongst lambs."
It was there that he paused and observed the others, scanning their faces for any sign of their approval. Slowly but surely whispers grew amongst the company, soon turning into full bodied voices shouting their consent. Applause was heard around the table and soon it broke down in to excited whispers once more. The General waited. He let their voices eddy around the once bleak and empty space, filling it with warm enthusiasm. When the talking died away and he found himself once again the focus of their attention, he spoke,
"And so, I'm splitting you up into operation teams as soon as this meeting is adjourned. If anyone has any objections, let them speak now."
There was a marked silence.
"Very well. With the absence of many of our top agents we're going to have to divide you into separate independent units."
With that he elected team leaders, gave each team a doctor, several research assistants, a secretary and an even numbers of guards and field agents. The end result was three groups, evenly matched in ability and skill. The first group was to organize the existing notes on the Manchurian project and add any of their own knowledge to the pool. The second was to go out and find as much information as possible on the project that they did not already have in their possession. The third were left with the daunting task of planning a kidnapping, one that hardly any of them wanted a part in. They set about their task with determination however, knowing that their plan hinged on their success.
Hatake sat at the head of the table, listening to the murmurs of group three from a far corner of the room. Satisfied that he had all of them occupied, the guards and agents included, he felt he could relax a little. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief and sank back into his chair. The first team was at the opposite end of the factory, talking in hushed voices. The second had already spilt up and left to go in search of information, in surreptitious disguises. Once the initial planning stage was over, he could allocate each of them to a job that required their skills specifically. For now it was good to keep them occupied. He had assigned himself a task also, and that was to make their current base of operations as livable as possible. He stood, arching his back subtly, feeling the joints pop and loosen. Clasping his hands behind his back he strode over to see how Dr. Hokaido was doing.
An IV drip was inserted into a vein in the crook of her elbow. She looked pale, but not sickly. One of the other doctors gave him a nod of reassurance and he smiled briefly, before turning back to the rest of the factory. It didn't take him long to gather what he needed from the chest in which they had stored all of their important possessions, files and money included. He took some of the cash, wrote it down in the record book and bid his goodbyes before heading out into the slow drizzle.
There were a few things he needed to pick up, food being the most important. His footsteps landed in shallow puddles more often than not, and he spent the walk listening to the wet echoes bouncing off the brick walls, a hand inside his long coat, clenched around the handle of a pistol. Even though his coat collar had been turned up for the walk, he still shivered as the occasional raindrop trickled down his neck. He finally emerged onto a street with some lights on, and a convenience store.
The white framed glass doors slid open automatically with a small melodic chime. It cheered him to some extent, all the light and the warmth in the little building. Nodding to the shopkeeper he immediately picked up several large bags of rice, some green vegetables and some cheap pork cuts. He also bought a large umbrella. With a parting wave he pushed the shopping cart he had put all the groceries into out of the sliding doors, balancing the now open umbrella over the contents. The walk back to the hideaway was just uneventful as the trip out had been. He was grateful to come in out of the rain and smiled as he saw everyone else still hard at work.
Before long Hatake had dinner underway. With a pot full of water suspended over a fire in an empty metal drum, he turned to prepare the vegetables. Their materials were limited, but he made do with a sharpened hunting knife one of the soldiers had donated to the cause. After the water had boiled he dumped the bags of rice in, causing the water to splash over the sides a little, hissing as it evaporated in the fire below. Hefting the pot over to the side of the drum, the General lay a flat griddle down over the fire, allowing it to rest on the rim on either side. Butter slid along the plate as it melted, leaving a glistening trail behind it. The pork sizzled as it hit the heat, as did the vegetables. Soon a delicious smell was circulating around the damp factory. All the groups were roused from their work, taking a moment to sniff the air before returning to their discussions, bellies rumbling in anticipation.
At dinner they ate quickly and thankfully, eager to share what they had learned and grateful that their general had provided. It wasn't long before all plates were cleared away and the talking began. The plan was laid out on the table, and taken apart. As they talked it became clear that they still had a lot of preliminary preparations to make. Dismissed and buzzing with excitement over the promise that the plan showed the First District members all pitched in to clean up after dinner. The General lay awake that night, listening to the combined breathing of his comrades that made it seem as if the building was sighing. There was so much he had to consider that his brain would simply not relax.
'After we gather as much information on the Manchurian project as possible, we cannot simply dive in. The HiME have proved to be wily, worthy adversaries.'
His tactical mind worked quickly, running through several courses of action and assessing their faults and merits. They needed to understand their prey, more than they did now. They needed to understand the other side of her, the one that they hadn't seen amidst the burning wreckage of their hard work, their slain friends and family; the girl as opposed to the monster. As they all rose in the morning Hatake sought out a man he knew specialized in reconnaissance, charging him with the task of observing the HiME, particularly project Fujino, in their school environment. Being a professional, the agent set out at once, promising to call and relay any interesting information as well as keeping a detailed file on the HiME's actions.
It was on a particularly hot day that he received the first report from his man, whose name was Wakaba. The information in the report was comprehensive, and a lot of things were discovered about their target. Her favourite subjects, food and people were presented first, and all could be used to the advantage of the cowed organisation. As he listened Hatake began to notice a pattern, and therefore a possible weakness. It seemed that Fujino spent a lot of her time with one of the other HiME, Kuga, and when they were apart Wakaba had noticed that Fujino was more often than not observing the other.
A fragment of a plan formed then, and it niggled at the back of his mind as he sorted through the more solid information his man had gathered. There were the obvious things; drugging her food and kidnapping her, waiting until she left the grounds and abducting her, but he couldn't help but shrug these ideas off as the plan in the back of his mind became more elaborate.
He sent the word to Wakaba after he had finished summarising the report to observe Kuga and Fujino equally. If their goal was revenge, and it most certainly was, why not drag Fujino through the mud as much as they could? If she was as attached to this Kuga girl as she seemed, then it would only make sense for her to attempt to rescue her should she ever be in danger. Group three were given the new objective and they set to the task with renewed vigor. Once they were finished however he would have to assign them to other tasks.
Hatake knew there was still a lot of research to be done on the Manchurian Candidate process. It would take a lot of work to make the perfect assassin out of a perfectly unwilling girl.
Well there you have it. I'd love to hear what you think. Until next time.