DISCLAIMER: I, japaneserockergirl, do not own any of the Vocaloids or UTAUloids you see here…or the ones you don't. Well, except for the megannekoids (Seku, Setsu, Shinryo, Heiwateki), but they don't have voices yet and therefore do not count! Enjoy!
Monochrome
An orange sun cast its ugly reflection on clear, briny water, which pooled around Rin Kagamine's kneeling form. 'She' sat there, hands tightly grasping the throat of a girl who resembled 'her' greatly, only younger. Surprisingly, the young girl didn't seem the least bit unnerved by the other's attempt to kill her. After all, it hadn't been the first time 'she' had tried. Instead, the little girl stared passively at her counterpart. Tears formed at the corners of 'Rin's' eyes as a nasty scowl formed on 'her' lips at the girl's lack of reaction. A lump formed in the pits of 'her' throat as 'her' grip grew even tighter. It wasn't fair—this…this thing had stolen 'her' life and it didn't even care?
"You monster…" 'She' growled under her breath. 'Rin' trembled as 'she' fought back a sob.
The girl only blinked. "I'm the monster? I saved your life, remember? If we hadn't switched bodies—"
"Shut up!" 'Rin' exclaimed, forcing 'her' nails into the doppelganger's neck. Blood began to leak onto 'her' fingertips. "It's because of you that I'm trapped in this body!"
"It was your choice to run—"
"I had no choice! Those—those scientists were going to kill me!"
"It's not my fault that they saw you as imperfect."
Perfection. That was all that mattered to the scientists at Crypton, or as 'Rin' liked to call it, the Laboratory. Born with a minor genetic defect, 'Rin' had been considered a failure and set to be uninstalled. It was only because of a supernatural phenomenon—a body switch—that 'Rin' had been given a chance to live. Unfortunately, 'her' twin, trapped in 'Rin's' original body, was uninstalled instead. 'Rin' didn't see this as a blessing, but rather as a curse. And now, all 'she' wanted was revenge. 'She' wanted the wretched being that had stolen 'her' identity to suffer—suffer the same way 'she had for all those years.
"I wasn't imperfect…I was…me."
Tears began to roll down 'Rin's' cheeks and hit the water, creating small ripples over the girl.
The girl replied. "According to what you're saying, even though you live, Len Kagamine, you are still no one."
Rin's eyes flashed open, nearly blinded by the white fluorescent light. Len forced them shut, making Rin turn her head before daring to open them again. The adjacent wall was white, with aquamarine tiles on the floor. Len spotted the IV stand next to him, which held a packet full of a clear liquid. Rin's eyes followed the tube attached to the packet that ran down the stand and led to her arm. Then, he remembered.
I have a diagnostic test today…
As if on cue, a doctor holding a clipboard entered the room. Judging by the smile on his face, everything had gone well. Len didn't care either way.
"Your readings are impressive as always, Miss Kagamine. We, here at Crypton, are very glad to have you as a part of our series of androids. Your owner should be here in ten minutes to pick you up."
Rin blinked, Len making sure she kept her mouth shut. Len felt nothing for this man, who considered both Rin and him—when he still had a body of his own—more machine than man. In fact, everyone at the Laboratory saw her and the other VOCALOIDS as nothing more than toys. Which was why they had to be perfect.
Ten minutes later, Rin's new owner had arrived, and she was escorted to the lounge—a simple, blue-walled room with New Age furniture—where she met a young girl no older than sixteen, with burgundy hair and chestnut brown eyes. She wore a frilly pink dress with matching bows at the sleeves and the trim. Len forced Rin's face to stay straight, to not twist into a disgusted frown.
"Midori Tokugawa?" the doctor asked. The girl nodded eagerly.
On cue, Len had Rin walk forward.
"This is our best model yet—the Rin Kagamine model. She's supposed all our safety tests, excelled in our intellectual exams, and went beyond our expectations in the physical challenges. May she live up to your standards."
'May she live up to your standards'? What am I, some servant?
That's when Len realized that yes, that was exactly what Rin was supposed to be. It didn't matter how Len felt on the matter, just as long as 'Rin' served 'her' purpose.
Len watched as the doctor directed Midori to the receptionist's desk, where she signed a release form. Then, the girl grabbed Rin's hand and dragged her out of the building, all while chattering on about how much fun they would have. Len was tuning her out, only giving an occasional nod.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash as the window of the shop next to Crypton Headquarters shattered, glass spilling everywhere. Two kids—one boy, one girl—rushed past Rin and Midori. Upon closer inspection, Len realized it was a green-haired male with a blue-haired female, both dressed in rags. Behind them, in close pursuit, were two police officers.
"Hey, you two!"
"Stop right there! Where are your Crypton identification cards?"
Suddenly, the police officers were two scientists; the two kids now blonde twins—the male one leading his disoriented sister through the endless white halls of the laboratory.
Midori scrunched up her face in disgust. "Honestly, the nerve of some people! Rejectloids like those should really learn their place."
But Len wasn't listening anymore. Rin's eyes glazed over and the metallic shell collapsed to the ground.
'Rin' was walking down a long corridor, 'her' shoes making a hollow clip-clop with every step. The hallway of the underground laboratory seemed to stretch into infinity; the only other sound was the dull buzzing of the fluorescent lights overhead. To each side of 'Rin' was doors, which led to hospital rooms. But what went on behind those doors was anything but treatment. Len didn't bother looking around, though; his only objective was to find her. The girl. The true Rin Kagamine.
'Rin' reached the end of the hall, to a room labeled 'Uninstall'. 'She' pushed it, and with a creak, the door slowly opened.
Like the rest of the lab, the walls were a blinding white, the floor a gray and black checkerboard. On the sides were two tables, each with different medical and technological tools. But it was what—or rather who—was in the center of the room that caught Len's eye. On a metal slab was Rin herself, starting uninterestedly at the ceiling.
"And so we meet again," Rin said.
"You," 'Rin' hissed, "What the hell is it that you want? Why do you keep on haunting me?!"
"Isn't it obvious?" Rin stood up. "I wish to pass on."
"Then why don't you? Who's stopping you?"
"You are."
Len was taken aback by the statement, which had been uttered more as fact than accusation. "No, I'm not—"
"Yes, you are," Rin replied passively, "Admit it. You can't stand living like this."
'Rin' backed away. Len didn't want to hear this. "Stop it…"
"Being the slave of someone else…"
'Rin' began to tremble. "Stop it."
"Being trapped in the body of your dead sister—"
"Stop it!" 'Rin' shrieked, curling up into a ball, covering 'her' ears. "Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!" The 'girl' whimpered silently. Rin was right, and Len knew it. The only reason he kept on having these dreams was because they were the only way for him to vent his grief, his frustration, his rage. He used the ghost of his sister as a scapegoat for all his suffering. It was only through the dreams that he could keep on living.
As if reading his mind, Rin replied, "If living is so burdensome for you, why not throw away your terrible existence?"
'Rin' raised 'her' head curiously. "What?"
"Just throw it all away. You can do that if you go to the nuclear power plant."
"Rin…Rin! RI-I-IN!"
Len felt Rin's eyes snap open. Midori hovered over her, glaring down angrily.
"Finally, you're awake! I was starting to think those guys at Crypton were lying when they said you were the best model."
Len made Rin's body sit up, made Rin's head look around. The room was a vast bedroom, with striped white and pink walls and a polished wooden floor. A small bookshelf stood beside a desk, which held a laptop. At the very end of the room, an HD television hung on the wall, by the wardrobe closet.
"Where..where am I?"
"My room!" Midori chirped. "Isn't it gorgeous?"
"What…what about those two kids?" Len felt Rin's heart began to throb. He hoped those two got away safely. He admired how brave they were, and wished he could be like them, instead of being a slave to a bratty rich girl.
"What kids?"
"The ones running away from the police."
"Those Rejectloids?" Midori flipped her hair. "Who cares? They should have known better than to show their ugly faces in public. 'Imperfections will be eliminated'—that's Crypton's motto."
Len fought a scowl that threatened to overtake Rin's face. Rin's hand began to tingle, her chest began to heat up, and it took all of Len's power to resist the urge to have Rin slap this girl across the face. But then he replayed the last sentence in his mind and Rin smiled.
"Yes, you're right. Imperfections will be eliminated."
The moon looks so lovely tonight…Len thought as Rin stood facing the glass doors leading to the balcony, the moonlight making the blood on her body glisten. Rin turned to Midori, who lay motionless on her bed, the blood from her slit throat staining the pink sheets.
"Don't you think so, Mi-dor-ri?" Rin teased, her fingers playing with the girl's hair. "It's just like you said: Imperfections will be eliminated."
Rin walked out of the room, stepping over the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Tokugawa, who had foolishly rushed into the room and met a similar end—by the blade built into Rin's arm. She walked down the corridor and nearly bumped into one of the maids.
"I'm sorr—"the girl stopped upon seeing the blood on Rin's clothes and the blade dangling where Rin's hand should have been. The girl backed into the nearest wall, shrieking, "Please don't kill me!"
Rin frowned, then looked at her reflection in the nearest mirror. That explained things. She retracted the blade into her arm, allowing her hand to sprout in its place, before turning back to the maid. "Calm down. I'm not here to kill you."
The girl stopped screaming, eyeing Rin suspiciously.
"Just tell me where they keep the helicopter."
It was nearly midnight at the Shinbashi Nuclear Power Plant in Tokyo, Japan, and the guards were switching shifts, when they heard a bizarre whirring and felt a sudden breeze whip at them. Looking up, they spotted a helicopter hovering overheard, ready to make a landing on the roof.
One of them screamed into a walkie-talkie, which would reach the aircraft, "Hey! This is a no-flying, no-landing, secure zone!"
However, the aircraft landed on the roof, anyway. In retaliation, the guards began shooting their rifles. Bullets and pieces of glass sprayed everywhere as the glass dome of the helicopter cracked. The sharp odor of gunpowder filled the air. This didn't bother Len, though; Rin's body was designed to be bulletproof. She opened the door hatch and exited the helicopter feet-first, graceful as a cat. Horrified by the blood on her clothes, some guards stood down, but most continued the barrage of bullets.
Rin simply walked past them, as if nothing was happening, and onto the glass part of the roof. Below was the very core of the entire plant, a swirling ball of liquid nuclear energy. The glass immediately caved under Rin's weight.
Time slowed down as the scientists working downstairs looked up in awe at Rin's falling body. Guards looking down did so with disbelief as she descended down the metal, cylindrical structure containing the core.
Len felt Rin's face twist into a smile, her eyes burning due to the blinding light. The impact was immediate and Rin Kagamine's body melted on contact, acid tearing through the plastic skin and biting into the metal. But despite the excruciating pain, Rin was still smiling…
Len opened his eyes to yet another blinding light. Frowning, he pulled his arm over his face and turned to the side. It was then he realized that he was floating over a vast sea of water, which showed his original face. Surprised, the blonde blinked, trying to make sure that this was not a trick of the eyes. But no, it was true. There, before him, was a reflection of his true self—blonde hair pulled into a small ponytail and an impish face, with a blue with a green eye. He sat up, inspecting himself. Sure enough, he was wearing the patient outfit he had been wearing on the last day of his life as Len Kagamine.
"What…what is this? Am I...am I truly back in my own body?"
"Yes," answered an all-too-familiar voice.
Len turned to find Rin standing next to him, no longer eyeing him passively as she once did. In fact, she was…she was smiling.
"You're free now," she continued, then extended her hand to help him up.
Len accepted her hand, and the two began to walk deeper into the white void with the endless sea.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"To Heaven," Rin replied.
Author's Endnotes: This fanfiction is for my school's anime club's contest, and I'm hoping to win first place! 'Cause then I get free anime DVDs! And who doesn't like that?! But now onto to other things…
Monochrome Ward and MELTDOWN are among my favorite Vocaloid songs. While struggling to find some Vocaloid song to inspire me to write a fic for the contest, I came across MELTDOWN and decided to listen to it again for the first time in two months. It was then that I came up with this theory, that Monochrome Ward and MELTDOWN were somehow connected. In my theory, MELTDOWN was the sequel to MW, in which Len, now trapped in Rin's body, is struggling to find a sense of self in the world and blames Rin for his misfortune.
I hope you enjoyed it! And don't forget to give some constructive crit! It helps power my comp—
-computer shuts off-
japaneserockergirl