Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Elfen Lied, or to characters in it. That would be Lynn Okamoto, who is a man by the way, but this stuff is strictly non-profit (writing practice notwithstanding) and for the free amusement of myself and my readers, if any. This is written according to British spelling, because (1) I live closer to Britain than the USA and (2) the original is better. Everything below is Not Safe For Work, mostly because of profanity, but the violence and a few nods to sexuality don't help either.
Certain chapters will contain events derived directly from the Elfen Lied graphic novel (and readers may not understand certain things unless they've read it); I have rewritten the characters' lines (from the probably inaccurate English translation I read) and most of their actions to make it at least somewhat my content as well as accommodate my own characters.
This is a doubly revised version, though the story is the same and most changes are minor (such as standardizing all measurements to metric). I thought I'd proofread this thing thoroughly, but such was not the case, and I bet there are still mistakes inside now. As the last update, I'm going to put this in the Teen rating, since all censors are way more concerned about sexual content than violence and swearing, and there is nothing in here to top violent T (or equivalent)-rated films, which are by default far more explicit than written text.
"FALL IN YOU MAGGOTS!"
The thirty candidates, mostly post-humans, or PH's, coming in all descriptions of skin tone, size and clothes, flinched at the bellowing voice but didn't realize it was directed at them. The giant sergeant marched toward the group. "WHAT PART OF FALL IN DIDN'T YOU HEAR? Form a fucking straight line in front of me! Do it now!"
The tired people, all of them young adults, rushed to obey him and they had to find their own common point of reference. The planet's gravity, a chest-clinching, bone-damaging, choking 1.91 standard g's, suppressed their movements; even the PH's, even the almost 220 centimetre tall monster of a sergeant, needed the gravity pill to stay healthy in it. The gravity pill induced faster repair cycles in the circulatory system and the skeleton, to stop them from eroding, and strengthened the eyes and internal ears to keep them of the proper shape. With it, people could live the full lifespan in up to about the 2.5g range, where even a bit of vertical acceleration blacked you out, but it didn't make it comfortable and, PH or not, it took a lot of training to overcome the crushing fatigue, especially shortness of breath, it induced, and it was still ridiculously easy to tear ligaments.
The sergeant, whose name tag read Chase, circled their motley formation, shoving hard at people who were not in line with the rest. "Stand up straight! Where do you think you are? Welfare? Only the pussies on Earth have WELFARE. Stand up straight! This is not WELFARE, you bitches! Did you read the sign?"
He was referring to the plaque of the large monument they'd all been propped against until a minute ago. It read 'Full Course Close Combat Training,' and underneath, 'Extreme Temperature, High Gravity and Coriolis Force Department' – essentially, where soldiers were trained to fight in the Universe's most extreme conditions that were even remotely like liveable. Normal humans couldn't do it; it took PH's, other genetically engineered people or the extremely rare mutants with enough uncanny benefits, and being qualified for ECCC – extreme conditions close combat – meant elite status.
"You'd better answer your superiors when they see fit to talk to dregs like you!" barked Chase when nobody answered him. "And since you pussies are just civilians, you say 'sir' at the end of your first sentence! Not that you pukes have anything to say worth more than one sentence. Got that?"
They answered, beaten down by the planet's punishing pull: "Yes sir!"
"I've heard the sand answer with more energy than that! Now, got that?"
"Yes sir!" They howled it louder this time. One of them, a tall chunky PH boy who already had a proper military tonsure, was the loudest.
The sergeant got in his face at once. "What's your name, chunky puff?"
"Collins, George, sir!"
"You served before, chunky puff?"
"No sir!"
"I can tell! Don't you worry, we'll have that puppy fat right off before you beg to quit! Unless you beg to quit now, of course! Beg to quit, fat ass, while you can still beg!"
"No sir!"
"No my ass! You'll quit this evening, or you'll fucking die here! What're you all looking at? Think you're entitled to stare at me? Peripheral vision's not doing it for you? Eyes forward! And what's with this posture, you maggots? You even know how to stand to attention?"
"Yes sir!" shouted everybody.
"Squad, teen-SHUN!"
They stood to attention in various levels of correctness. He went through them, savagely chewing out those who were sloppy about it.
There was supposed to be a strange one this time around: a speciated human, called a 'Diclonius' because of the two short, cat ear-like horns on either temple, just above and in front of the ears, and only ten years old, because they matured at double speed and her high IQ had allowed to complete basic and medium education way ahead of time, though with not a few discipline and violence problems. Other characteristics included red irises, hair in shades of pink and red, and the ability to create extremely powerful hand-like projections, a little over two meters long in this case, only visible in the medium UV range and strong enough to tear ordinary humans apart like paper, injure or restrain PH's or annoy one such as the sergeant. Though this candidate had undergone genetic treatment to blacken her hair.
Chase spotted her soon enough: the smallest in the group by far, last on the left, around 150-160 cm, skinny, the horns, long black hair and a cutesy ash cheongsam with white floral models. To a giant PH like him, she still looked like a ten year old child; she was standing to attention flawlessly, or almost, and scowling. He was almost moved to pity, for this girl had a lot of potential. Trainees like that were set aside for increased abuse in official policy.
"What's your name, you little sugar?" he said in a voice that approached baby talk.
The girl swallowed hard. "Y –Yamada Toshiko," she said weakly.
"The word is SIR!" She flinched hard at that.
"Yes sir…"
"Louder!"
"Yes sir!"
Chase turned an ear toward her. "Didn't catch that!"
"YES SIR!"
"You won't be here long, so I'll keep my eye on you too. Breathing a little hard there, cupcake! This course has a ten percent fatality rate from exposure alone, missy; that means YOU and two more maggots! Got a death wish?"
"No sir!"
"Then maybe you'll have time to get one, and if there's anything I'll let you shits have as much as you can handle, it's death wishes AND their fulfilment. Beyond Miss Me Love You Long Time and the two other pussies-in-chief here, another one of you will commit suicide, someone will be killed by another trainee fucking up, I and the other instructors here might kill one or two of you directly, and at least fifteen will drop out and learn that E-Triple-C is not for weak maggots like you! Anybody want to get your ass off this rock before you fucking DIE?"
"No sir," they answered.
"Like you've got a pair of lungs between you all, maggots!"
"No sir!" they yelled.
"You can leave your civilian shit out here," he said; a few of the candidates, including the Diclonius girl, had luggage. "You don't need it here and you won't need it when you rotate to Hell for R&R! Your betters will practice on them with H.E. That's high explosives! And you won't need your hair. Barrack seven, on the double!" He pointed at one of the innocuous Quonset huts spread in neat rows throughout the base. The candidates forced themselves into a jog toward it; the sergeant grabbed the girl's shoulder. "You stop!"
"Sir?"
"What's that gliding shit you're doing? I can see your ghost hands when I want to, cupcake! When I say on the double I mean with your fucking LEGS!"
"Y-yes sir…" Her projections vanished and her feet landed on the ground. She wobbled.
"Bullshit! Where's your voice?"
"Yes sir!"
"If I see a ghost hand on the ground I'll shove it down your throat! Barracks seven, on the double! Move!" Telling him that projections didn't work that way didn't sound like a good idea. So she tried to run, tripping and falling at once on all fours under the crushing weight. When she didn't get up at once, Sergeant Chase bellowed some more: "What the fuck are you doing down there, fishing for paedophiles? That's how whores sit! Are you a whore, Trainee Cupcake?"
She stood back up. "Hell no, sir!"
"Bullshit again, Trainee Whore! Let's see you at the double on your own feet, then! Move it!" So she did, and at every step it felt like her ankle tore. "Come on, I don't mean to fucking retire before you get there! You just can't keep up without your ghost hands, can you? Why don't you quit now before you get hurt?"
"I'm not used to quitting, sir," she managed between her teeth.
"Eyes front! Think you can take this program?"
"Yes sir!"
Without a warning, his foot flew into her face, and sent her into a spinning fall. She'd only managed to start projecting, so the last approach had been like kicking through thick jelly, but it had still broken her skin. If she hadn't projected at all it would have taken her head right off. "On your feet if you can take it! Use your body, and add ghost hands only when you need to!"
The girl painstakingly picked herself up under the looks of some of the other new trainees who were waiting at the hut's entrance and the scattered personnel and jogging platoons around the base. Her dress was dirty and ruined, and blood was flowing down her face and neck onto it. She didn't protest and didn't cry, but continued to jog, casting the sergeant a murderous look ("Eyes front!"), and using her projections within her legs to add the needed strength. "Less ghost, more muscle," the sergeant ordered. "That's what I thought, Trainee Cupcake! You're too dumb to be a whore and too dumb to quit, so you'll stay here and die. WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ALL LOOKING AT? INSIDE, ON THE DOUBLE!"