?
...Come on… ...Please… ...I'm so tired…
In a small moment, an alarm clock blares loudly. A hand, already exhausted from today, emerges from a creased blanket and lazily plops on the top of the alarm clock, pressing the snooze button and ending the bothersome tone.
The blanket swings over, revealing a girl with messy blonde hair and blue eyes in her pajamas. She tiredly groans and wipes her eyes. She lifts her head directly into the sunlight piercing through her window. She quietly yelps and covers her eyes with her hands. Convinced that the sun is telling her to stay in bed, she drops her head back down on her pillow and lifts her blanket up to her neck again. She forcibly closes her eyes, hoping for the sweet sensation of drifting off to envelope her.
Unfortunately, her phone, lying on her nightstand, begins vibrating, rattling against the table and producing an equally annoying sound. She impatiently lifts her head again and barely opens her eyes. She angrily reaches for her phone and peers at the caller ID. Work. She instantly rises to a sitting position, with her legs dangling off of the edge of the bed. She taps on the green icon and places the phone to her right ear.
"Hello," she asks in a colorful tone, completely devoid of the grogginess from earlier.
"Specialist Akira Shinji? This is your captain speaking."
"Sir."
"I understand that you're off duty right now, but we have a situation regarding a missing Person of Interest. I know your particular skill set makes you… well-fitted for this kind of job. That's why I'm enlisting you to resolve it." Akira hesitates for a moment.
"...Yes, sir."
"Alright, I need you here at 1100 hours to discuss it in detail."
"Yes, sir."
"Oh, and try to be a little more… present. That's all for now. Over and out." The call ends. Akira slowly drops her hand from her ear to her right leg. She stares out of the window, observing her town in the sunlight. After a while, she inserts her legs into the covers and lays her head down, attempting to get a little more shuteye before 11 o'clock. That is, until her alarm clock goes off again. Damn!
Aikō Hata
It's now late afternoon. The school day has just ended for many students across the nation, one of those students being Aikō Hata. Kind, joyous, and surprisingly bright, she skips her way to the front of the school. She peers through the front doors as she recalls the daily forecast predicting a large thunderstorm in the afternoon. Luckily, she brought her trusty umbrella. She decides to take her chances and leaves in the midst of the storm.
The walk home is treacherous. The wind intensifies and her umbrella becomes a liability, dragging her like a kite across the walking trail. A large gust sweeps by, and the wind picks her up and drops her in a nearby ditch. She's dripping with mud. It's on her clothes, in her hair, and in her shoes. Nevertheless, optimistic Aikō Hata stands up and continues walking. As if willed by her undeterred happiness, the rain ceases and the clouds fade, leaving a happy blue sky and a setting, orange sun.
As she views the mesmerizingly beautiful sunset during her walk, she notices something gray in the corner of her eye. It pokes just barely out of the lush forest on her right and she spots it easily, since it contrasts against the green bush it pokes out from. She leaves the walking trail and moves closer to the strange object. As she does, she sees the object move in and out of the bush.
"Hello," Aikō calls out, assuming that someone must be moving the object. At the sound of her voice, the object suddenly shoots up and Aikō finds out that her assumption is wrong. It's not an object, but a robot. Aikō remarks its intricate detail, for it looks incredibly human-like.
Long, metallic white hair flows down its head like a river, down past its shoulders, matted and unkempt, glistening in the sunlight. Its piercing yellow eyes analytically jump back and forth, up and down in Aikō's direction, as if they carefully scan her. Its exterior is constructed with a shiny gray metal that shimmers through the raindrops that drip down and it has a distinctly feminine physique. On its joints, like elbows, fingers, and wrists, the metal ceases, revealing a light pink plastic layer underneath, which Aikō presumes must be covering her inner core consisting of wires and motors.
Aikō stands there for a while, letting the robot familiarize itself with her.
"Who are you?" Its voice is feminine in pitch, yet monotonous and mechanical. It reminds Aikō of her phone's virtual assistant; although, this robot's voice is incredibly more unique and detailed.
"I'm Aikō Hata! Nice to meet you!" Aikō abruptly offers her hand forward for a handshake. Already cautious of Aikō, the robot shifts its body defensively and its eyes glow a bright red at Aikō's gesture.
"No, it's okay. It's just a handshake."
"Hand… shake…?"
"Here, like this." Aikō reaches for and grabs the robot's hand and brings it closer to hers.
"You put your fingers like this and… boom. A handshake. Then you go up and down, like this." Aikō lifts her hand up and down. The robot just peers at the interaction between their hands with a look of curiosity and… sadness? Aikō ignores the thought, but it does seem like she's able to see sorrow on its face.
Aikō releases her grip. The robot lets its hand hang in the air for a moment, then brings it closer to its face.
"Handshake." The robot looks content for now. As if she had just realized something, Aikō searches around them for anyone coming.
"Hey, you want to come with me? I'm walking back to my house," Aikō says with a wide smile on her face. The robot looks hesitant, not like it's calculating what to say, but like it's nervous.
"...Is it safe there? At your… house?"
"What do you mean?" The robot hesitates once more.
"...Okay. I'll go."
"Great!" Aikō, excited to have a new friend, and one that is willing to hang out with her, joyfully skips forward back to the walking trail, with the robot following behind. Aikō was expecting her walk to be stiff and… well, robotic. But her walk is fluid and smooth. It has a feminine style to it. Aikō briefly notes it to herself, but continues skipping along anyway.
School Bus
About 20 miles away, a school bus zooms through the north eastern suburbs of the city. Its occupants? The East River Tigers, a team of martial artists.
"Alright, boys. Settle down." A coach, near the front of the bus, tired from the recent fighting match between his school, East River Middle School, and the opposing school that day, Shō Middle School, plops down into his seat, unable to get the attention of the boys in the back.
"That was some move, Isamu. How did you do it?!" A boy exclaims curiously.
"A master never reveals their secrets," Isamu responds coolly. The surrounding boys ooh at Isamu's wise words. He has just won his school the state championship.
Pulling into the last round, Isamu was in a bit of a pickle. His opponent had him pinned against the fence. He had nowhere to move. He was exhausted, his vision blurred and his breathing intense. In a last-ditch attempt, he dug deep, and leaped into the air with a superman punch. His opponent, with lowered guard and heightened confidence, felt the direct force of the punch against his jaw, and down he went, cold and stiff. Isamu had won by an incredible knockout.
Still on a winner's high from the victory, Isamu had recollected his journey. He had started with the weight lifting club at his school. He worked out 5 times a week, working every single muscle group he could. He was still underaged, but that didn't deter him from working out. He loved pushing his body to the limit, feeling his heart beat to the drum of his music pounding in his ears. Craving more, he moved on to his school's wrestling team, honing his fighting skills and mastering his craft. Just within that year alone, he was attracting all sorts of attention from outside of the city. Desiring even more, he had taken a keen interest in martial arts. He liked the variety of the sport and strived to master every kind of martial art, to which he would then formulate his own arsenal of moves to defeat his opponents. He was only in wrestling for one year before switching over to a martial arts club. His fame had followed him and it had pushed the club into competing in state championships. After lots of strife and struggle, he took his team to the very end and brought home the gold.
An interesting journey indeed, but Isamu wants more. He wants to keep pushing. He wants to become the very best.
In the midst of his daydreaming, Isamu hears commotion in the front of the bus. He hears his coach vaguely yelling about something in the road. In an instant, before Isamu can even look to the front, the bus begins harshly sweeping to one side before tipping over completely. Screams and yells fill the air as Isamu plants his hand on the back wall of the bus, holding himself against the seat. Still fatigued from the fight, he can't keep pressure against the wall and he inevitably falls from one side of the bus to the other. He grits his teeth and closes his eyes, waiting for the unavoidable pain to come.
...He opens his eyes. He slammed into the wall, but he's okay. He can hear the various moans and groans of his teammates throughout the bus. He stands up on the left side of the bus and peers over the seat, now standing like a wall in his way. Some people are standing, some are sitting, some are gripping themselves where they hurt the most. Isamu's eyes shift to gaze at the ceiling of the bus. The bus door. It's up there, out of reach of anyone. Isamu remembers the safety videos about buses, and the top hatch, now a side door, stands as everyone's escape.
Still fixated on the ceiling of the bus, the windows are also up there. And… Isamu notices something. It's hard to spot, but a strange, light green gas seeps into the bus… and it's moving fast. Large plumes of gas blow into people's faces. Immediately, a cacophonous sound of coughing and choking fill the bus, followed by absolute silence. Isamu manages to breathe in the remaining fresh air at the back of the bus, inhaling it in and holding it. It's the last breath he'll take if he doesn't move quickly.
After deciding that the escape hatch might take too long, he swiftly climbs onto one of the seats and jumps up to one of the emergency windows. He manages to grasp onto it. He hurriedly snaps the locks, causing the inner piece of the window to cave in, creating a hole big enough for him to squeeze through, but something's still in his way. Isamu freezes, as a pair of piercing yellow eyes stare back at him. He hears the mechanical whirring of motors and discordant beeping coming from them. It's a robot.
As Isamu sits there, surprised at the face staring back at him, the robot brings up a hose of sorts in between them and fires gas directly into Isamu's face. Shocked, he gasps for air, and immediately lets go of the window, for he now sinks into a deep, unwanted unconsciousness.
In his last moments, Isamu hears the emergency hatch open behind him as he falls into the dark cloud of his own mind.
Aikō
At her house now, Aikō tiptoes to the front window and carefully peers in, looking to see if anyone is home. Behind her, the robot patiently awaits for Aikō's next move. Bored, it turns around to face a tree in Aikō's front yard. Up on a high branch of the tree, a nest sits peacefully, with birds congregating on it. The robot watches the birds move and flap around, tweeting cheerfully in the chilly spring air. The robot gets an innate sensation that it's now evening. Its eyes rise to the sky and confirm that it is indeed nightfall.
"Come on." The robot turns around at Aikō's whispered command. Uneasy, the robot follows Aikō.
They stop in front of Aikō's front door. Just above the door, there's an opened window that Aikō has taken a keen interest in.
"Alright, we're gonna have to go through that window." Confused, the robot's eyebrows intricately pinch together, perfectly mimicking an expression of bewilderment.
"Yeah… I forgot my key this morning." Aikō casually explains as she awkwardly smiles at her own clumsiness.
"I didn't think my parents wouldn't be home. It's fine, though: I've gone through this window plenty of times."
"Now, come on. I'll get you up there." Aikō slightly crouches and clasps her hands together with her palms facing upwards, producing a makeshift platform for the robot to stand on. Uncertain, the robot stands there motionless.
"Just stand on my hands and reach up there." Hesitant, the robot puts its right hand on Aikō's shoulder for support and plants its right foot on Aikō's clasped hands.
"Yeah, like that. Now, the other one." The robot then does the same with its other foot, bringing its feet together. Remarkably, Aikō takes the increased weight without struggle.
"Okay," Aikō says through slightly gritted teeth. She extends her back very quickly. The robot lets go of Aikō's shoulders and slowly straightens its back, being careful to keep its balance. Even with the added height, the window is just barely out of reach.
"Can't reach it still? Okay, hold on." Aikō slowly crouches down again.
"Try and grab it." Confused, the robot turns its head downward and opens its mouth to ask her to explain, but Aikō, unprompted, straightens up in an instant and follows with a hop while lifting the robot's feet upward. With quick reflexes, the robot extends its arms and grabs the bottom edge of the window, clutching it as Aikō's hands leave the metallic soles of its feet. Aikō steps back to look at the robot.
"Nice! Now climb in," Aikō says before glancing around her, worried that someone may intrude at the commotion.
"Hurry." The robot lifts itself through the window without much of a problem. It inserts its legs and haphazardly falls to the floor of Aikō's house.
Alright, now it's my turn... wait a second." Aikō bends over and peels back the doormat, revealing a small key on the concrete.
"Oh yeah! The spare key!" Aikō snatches it up and inserts it into the door.
"Wait a second." She pulls the key out of the door without twisting it and turns the doorknob. The door swings open.
"We don't lock our doors!" Aikō puts the key back underneath the doormat and hops through the door. She closes it behind her and locks it.
"Can't have strangers entering our house, now." Aikō joyfully skips through the house.
"Let's go, my room is over here."
In her room now, the robot sits down on Aikō's bed per her invitation. Aikō grabs a blanket and covers them as they are still wet from the rainstorm.
"There you go."
"...Thank… ...you…" The robot utters in a sorrowful tone.
"Don't mention it!" Aikō responds with absolute delight. As silence grows between them, Aikō notices the still-lingering expression of sadness on the robot's face.
"You seem down, is everything okay?" Aikō asks comfortingly.
"...I can't tell you…" The robot's downward gaze rises to meet Aikō's. A look of dread and unhappiness radiates from its eyes.
"...You seem nice… I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." The robot answers coldly. Her eyes return to the floor.
"But I want to help you, especially since we're friends now." The robot's eyes shoot upwards as a look of shock spreads across its face.
"...Friends?"
"Yes… and friends help each other… but I can't help if I don't know what the problem is." Aikō looks at the robot pleadingly.
"Please…" She stretches her hand outward, offering it to the robot. After hesitating, the robot places its hand on Aikō's.
"Friends."
"Now tell me what's bothering you." The robot thinks for a moment, deciding where to start. Aikō patiently waits for them to start speaking.
"What am I? A robot. You already know that, but there's more to it. I'm more of a machine, created with one goal in mind. I was created… with the sole purpose of… of..." The robot's eyes dart back and forth, not wanting to finish the sentence. Aikō listens intently, suddenly very interested in what the robot was about to say.
"What were you created for?"
"...To eradicate humanity." Aikō suddenly stares off, but not because she's fearful or anything, but because she appears to be deep in thought. The robot's voice becomes shaky with emotion.
"I was created by this shady organization, I don't know what the name is or anything, but they told me that I was going to lead an army of robots to kill every last human on Earth. I don't know why, but I felt this awful feeling and as soon as no one was looking, I escaped." Aikō continues thinking to herself, as if debating over something. Her warm and kind nature disappears, but only for a moment. She snaps out of her trance and looks back at the robot. She smiles warmly.
"It's okay, don't worry about it. You're safe now." The robot's look of fright doesn't fade away at Aikō's encouraging words.
"Maybe for now, but I fear that they may be looking for me. And then they'll find you… and then they'll…" The robot squeezes its eyes shut, trying to stop any terrifying scenarios from entering its thoughts.
"And then they'll try and kill everyone, with or without me. And if there are people in this world like you, then… then…"
"...Then why don't we stop them?" The robot's eyes widen at the suggestion. It opens its mouth to say something but can't form any words, stunned at Aikō's proposal. As the robot makes stuttered noises thinking of what to say, Aikō bends down and reaches under her bed. She unveils a small knife in her right hand.
"I don't think we could do anything with just a knife."
"It's not just about the knife," Aikō says, followed by a childish giggle. The robot blinks and, within an instant, Aikō disappears from its field of vision.
"It's more about the person wielding it." The robot turns around to Aikō, who's peering out of the window. She observes that it's the dead of night right now.
"How did you—"
"Have you ever heard of... ki?" Aikō turns from the window to face the robot. The robot reflects her question.
"Ki…" The robot repeats.
"I might have. What is it?"
"It's like a natural energy that all living things have. Most cannot sense it or feel it or use it in any useful way. But there are a select few that can use ki and it has all kinds of uses. Like super speed or super strength or you can project the energy outwards and create beams of it so dense, it burns things." Aikō looks at her legs.
"It's very hard to use, so I specialized on using it for super speed."
"Not just living things," The robot points out. Aikō looks over. Its eyes are closed with its arms at shoulder level, elbows pointing outwards and hands cupped facing the floor with thumbs pointing inwards. Suddenly, sparks fly out of its hands, arcing to a specific point just below its fingers and leaving behind a long, metal object. Its arms begin to move, rotating backwards like a rower, elbows remaining pointed and perpendicular with small arcs of electricity shooting out and creating a blade. The movement ends and two, long, curved katanas float in the air with electricity still bouncing up and down the blades.
"Cool," Aikō whispers under her breath. The robot grabs onto the handles of the katanas and opens its eyes.
"These katanas, the organization referred to them as Denkinas. The Dual Denkinas. Denki… it means electricity, because I can channel my electricity through them… with the help of ki."
"So, you are able to use it."
"Yes. With ki, I can manipulate my electricity. I can discharge it through my hands or empower these swords with it."
"Wow. With those, and your control of ki, we should be able to stop the organization, right?" The robot awkwardly drops its arms to its sides.
"What's wrong?"
"Although I was taught how to create these blades… I don't know how to make them vanish." Suddenly inspired, Aikō goes over to her dresser and rummages through it.
"Hold on, I've got something." She pulls out a brown, leather belt with two sheaths meant for katanas.
"Here, put this on." Aikō hands the belt to the robot, but it gives her a look like it had just been handed advanced calculus homework.
"Like this." Aikō fastens the belt around the robot's waist. Two sheaths sit on the right side of the belt.
"Now you can put them somewhere." The robot awkwardly slides them in one at a time. They are a perfect fit.
"Awesome! I didn't have any long swords so I couldn't use that belt. Now you can use it!" Aikō gives the robot a wide smile. It peers at the belt intently. In its short life, this is the first thing someone has given it.
"...Thanks." A smile slowly widens on its face.
"So, you remember where this place is?"
"Yeah, I have a built-in GPS."
"Good, let's go!" Aikō inserts her knife into a scabbard of its own and joyously marches out of her room.
"I think you need a name."
"Hmm?"
"A name. Like how mine is Aikō. Do you have something like that?"
"Not really. At the organization, I was called Sabi Denki 001. It's inscribed on my left forearm." The robot extends its arm outwards, showing the inscription. Below it, Aikō notices the word Tokoyami also written on its forearm.
"What's this?"
"Hmm? Oh, that's my code name."
"Well, I don't know if I can call you by that. It needs to be new, not something a dark organization gave you… what about Akane?"
"Akane?"
"Yes! Akane Tokoyami! It sounds so cool!"
"Akane Tokoyami… I like it." The robot—er, Akane Tokoyami thinks to herself, that is a cool name. Very cool, indeed.
Akira Shinji
This is definitely not what Akira had in mind.
As the day went on and on, the agency became more and more panicked as the Missing Person of Interest case turned into a Missing Persons of Interest case. Akira had formulated a plan requiring the force of a couple dozen officers by her side to fix the problem, but now she needs around a hundred. With multiple people missing comes a larger area to cover, so she took to the air in a helicopter to quickly follow any leads that come through on her radio; although, as the day turns into night, barely any calls come in. It's the dead of night now, and Akira fumbles around with her sniper rifle as she waits for a call.
"Specialist Akira." A message comes through on her radio.
"Continue," she says casually, with a slight sigh.
"We have a lead." Akira instantly sits up at the good news. She almost sits up too fast, nearly launching herself out of the helicopter. Maybe I shouldn't sit on the floor of the helicopter.
"Well?"
"A black van. Multiple bullet holes. Missing left side mirror. It was heading west on Iceman Road. A temperature scan indicated a heat signature, that of an unconscious, young boy."
"Fantastic. Pilot, take us to Iceman Road."
"Affirmative, ma'am." The helicopter swings left, making way for Iceman Road. Interested now, Akira stands up and leans out of the helicopter.
"Does anyone have confirmation of a black van on Iceman?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Identify yourself."
"Private Johnson of the 5th Division, ma'am."
"Location?"
"Driving on Iceman now, ma'am. The suspect is just ahead. We've just passed the intersection with Redwood Street, ma'am."
"Thank you, Private Johnson. You hear that, pilot?"
"Yes, ma'am. Moving in." Akira reaches into a satchel lying near the left rear seat of the helicopter and pulls out a pair of binoculars. She places them up to her eyes and zooms in. She searches the road for any vehicles, of which there aren't many due to the late hours. She spots the vehicle of Private Johnson. She moves ahead of the vehicle. She sees it. The black van. Missing left side mirror. Perfect fit.
"We've got a visual on the suspect." Akira notices its right turn signal.
"Drive past, Private."
"Yes, ma'am." The van turns into the parking lot of an abandoned warehouse. Most people don't go over to this side of town. Whatever is going down in that warehouse is illegal, she's sure of it.
"Take us in, pilot."
"Yes, ma'am."
"The missing person has been located at a warehouse west of Iceman and Redwood. I need all forces to congregate near the site. Block off all roads. Over and out." Akira readies her sniper rifle and settles in for a long night. We've got you now, you son of a bitch!