What Does Not Kill Us
By
DrummondType2
Chapter 1:
Shizuru Fujino, age 23, stared out the window of the top floor of the latest building in the Fujino Group, looking out over the land of Fuuka. She wore a smile on her face, but it was not a genuine smile. Her crimson eyes watched the setting sun.
There was a knock at the door.
"Enter," She said gently. She already knew who was on the other side. The security in this building was without equal.
"Mistress Alyssa is waiting in the limousine, Miss Fujino," Miyu Greer gave a short nod.
Shizuru closed her eyes, "I will be there momentarily, Miss Greer."
The android nodded once, and then was gone.
Shizuru collected her purse. She looked at the digital calendar on the wall, highlighting the day. August 15th.
"Another year gone by," Shizuru sighed.
"You're not gonna get all emotional and depressed again, are you?" A voice chided her in her head. It was that wonderful, delightful, husky voice that she always yearned to hear.
"Ara, but can Natsuki blame me?" Shizuru muttered to no one there, "It's been five years."
Yes. Five years since they'd been told that Natsuki's motorcycle had been found halfway between her apartment and Fuuka Academy, on fire and riddled with bullet holes. There was no sign of the young woman, herself, and no trace of where she might have gone.
Nao had promised to try and get in touch with Natsuki's informant, the mysterious man known only as Yamada who she met from time to time at the bar known as Rorschach. Only for Nao Yuuki to come up missing the next day. Two days later, a body was found in the back alley, a middle aged male. There was no identification on his person, but Mai confirmed to Shizuru that it was Yamada, whom Mai had met on the final day of the Festival.
With two of the HiME now missing, the very real possibility that all of them were targets was to be considered. But it was now five years later, and nothing more had happened.
Shizuru rode the elevator to the garage in silence. Miyu was sitting in the driver's seat, and Alyssa was in the back, waiting for Shizuru.
At fifteen, Alyssa was now the same height that Natsuki had been before her disappearance.
"Is there any news?" Shizuru asked, sliding into the car next to Alyssa. Miyu pulled the limo out of the garage and began to drive out of the city.
"Nothing concrete. John Smith allocated funds from one of the offshore accounts during the period where I was technically dead, and he sent them through a labyrinthine network of banks and financial institutions until they were untraceable, even for Miyu."
Shizuru sighed, "How troublesome. My own research into survivors of District One has yielded little."
"I was under the impression that you didn't leave any survivors," Alyssa said evenly.
Shizuru sighed, "I don't know if it's a good thing or not, but there were a handful. But none of the surviving members of that organization had the financial resources to arrange for an abduction, or the scientific knowledge of materialization to warrant abducting a HiME. What's more, I doubt that they had the skills necessary to surprise and capture your sister."
It still felt strange to Shizuru to refer to Alyssa as Natsuki's sister. However, after the chaos of the Festival, and her stunning resurrection, Alyssa had taken the time to inform Natsuki of her lineage, including the fact that she had been created using genetic material from Saeko Kuga. Natsuki, already short on family members, had decided that she would accept Alyssa as her flesh and blood sister, and had been in the middle of making arrangements for the two of them to live together, right before her disappearance.
"We've spent five years chasing District One and Searrs Foundations ghosts and operatives," Shizuru sighed, "We have to accept that this might be the work of operatives from another source. Perhaps a foreign government? Or another ancient conspiracy that we've not heard of yet?"
"Maybe you haven't heard of them, yet," Alyssa smirked, "The Searrs Foundation is old enough to know the operatives of most other conspiracies on a first name basis."
"How exciting for you," Shizuru said flatly, "And yet it has done us no good in this venture."
"I promise you, this is John Smith's handiwork. What I don't understand is his objective. And I don't know what he's done with Natsuki."
"Miss Alyssa," Miyu interrupted, "We have a probable threat fast approaching. Five motorcycles, fast approaching from the vehicle's rear."
"They all have the Searrs insignia," Alyssa nodded, "A rival faction working under Smith, no doubt."
"They are armed," Miyu said flatly, "I detect gunfire."
There were several loud pings all over the body of the limo.
"The vehicle body is uncompromised," Miyu informed them, "However, we are rapidly losing tire pressure. I cannot maintain control of the vehicle. We must stop."
Miyu managed to pull the limo over to the side of the road.
"Ara, but this place seems to have some significance after all," Shizuru said, nodding. Alyssa realized where they were.
"This is the same cliff, isn't it? The one where they killed Saeko Kuga. The one where you fought Nao Yuuki to protect Natsuki."
The five motorcycles pulled to a stop on what Shizuru had left of the cliff some five years before, their riders dismounting. One of them flexed her left arm, causing it to flicker, and her hand was replaced by a razor sharp sword.
"They are Greer type androids!" Miyu sounded alarmed.
The other four riders also flicked their arms into swords.
"What are our chances, Miyu?" Alyssa asked her.
"I am not confident in our survival, Miss Alyssa," Miyu said honestly, "They appear to have the same weapon systems that I possess. If their combat subroutines are the equivalent of my own, I cannot reasonably defeat them."
There was the loud report of a gun, and one of the attackers fell to the ground, an explosion of blood and bone from the motorcycle helmet the assailant was wearing.
"They're not androids!" Miyu said, "They're cyborgs. A mix of organic and mechanical parts. They cannot think at the same speeds I do."
"Ara, but who fired that shot?"
"That would be me," a lone figure stepped from around the curve in the road, holding a large pistol. The voice was feminine, and oddly familiar, but the newcomer was also wearing a motorcycle helmet. She fired again, and another of the attackers fell, this time caught in the heart. One of them turned to charge her, moving with unparalleled speed, while the other two turned to face Miyu. Miyu dodged a sword-strike from one of them, grabbed the arm, and brought her own blade down, cutting the arm from the body. There was a spray of blood, meaning she had severed the limb at a point where it was organic. She whipped around with uncanny speed and took the head off of the other that attacked her.
The gunwoman fired several rounds in rapid succession, but the assailant charging her seemed very good at dodging bullets. The gunwoman ripped off her motorcycle helmet, throwing it at the attacker.
"Nao!"
"Later," Nao said, firing again, point blank into her attacker's chest. The attacker fell to the ground, and the helmet came off. Shizuru looked at the figure lying dead in front of Nao, and she screamed. She screamed until she had no more breath with which to scream. She screamed until her heart felt like it had to give way.
Lying at Nao's feet, the unmistakable emerald eyes and cobalt tresses of Natsuki Kuga.
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"It's not Kuga," Nao explained to them after they'd calmed Shizuru down, "Or, I should say, it's not the original Kuga."
"Clones?" Alyssa asked.
Nao nodded, "Put through a rigorous regimen of torture, training, and medical alteration to implant cybernetic organs and weapons. I've had to kill more than a few of these things over the years."
"Then…what of Natsuki?" Shizuru asked, "Is she…?"
"The pup is still alive," Nao said.
"Ara, but where have you been all this time, Yuuki-han?"
"Look, right now is not a safe place or time to talk. These second-rate Kuga clones are all lying dead, and their alert systems will be informing their boss that they're all dead, meaning they'll come looking for us. Let's not be here when they come."
"And would Yuuki-han have transportation for all of us?" Shizuru raised an eyebrow.
"Matter of fact, I do," Nao said, "Got a car waiting for you. Now come on!"
They walked around the bend, and found Sakomizu sitting behind the wheel of a sedan. He was greying at the temples, and his face was fraught with worry.
"Let's get out of here," He said.
They drove on, Sakomizu at the wheel, until they came to Fuuka Academy.
"Himeno is waiting for us," He said.
They followed him to Fumi's office.
"Oh, thank goodness you got them here safely," Fumi nodded to Sakomizu, "The clones?"
"Their handlers will take care of collecting and disposing of their own trash. They wouldn't want any of their handiwork showing up in the public eye just yet."
Nao joined them, "I'm sure they suspect that we're here, but this place is a little too public for them to try anything, for now."
"Yuuki-han, don't take this the wrong way, but I spent the last five years believing you were dead. What is going on?"
Nao nodded, "Five years ago, I went to see Natsuki's contact, Yamada. He didn't want to talk to me. Said he was done enabling teen girls going off half-cocked to get themselves captured or killed."
Shizuru winced.
"I'm not finished yet, Fujino," Nao said, "Anyway, just as I was walking off, two toughs try to grab me. Yamada helps me get away. But they catch him, and then he was gone.
"But I'd learned a thing or two about sneaking around unnoticed. So I followed them. I've spent the last five years trying to get inside their base. Last night, after years of surveillance and planning, I succeeded."
Fumi pulled a switch and the bookshelf opened, revealing a door.
They descended a flight of stairs, coming to a place that Nao was familiar with, but which Shizuru, Alyssa, and Miyu were seeing for the first time.
"This is the place where Tokiha had her battle with the Obsidian Prince, isn't it."
"The doorway to that realm, yes," Fumi confirmed.
Then Shizuru saw it. A hospital bed with a familiar occupant, "Natsuki!"
She ran over to her. Natsuki was lying in the bed, her eyes closed, a breathing mask over her face, her skin cold to the touch.
"They had Kuga in a cryogenic storage tank," Nao said, "They've been taking blood and tissue samples from her, trying to recreate her power. The reports say they even took her egg cells. Two-hundred thousand viable egg cells. Each one used to help facilitate those clones that you saw. I've fought them before. They have three classes of clone. The ones we dealt with were Gammas. Low intellect. They do what they're told. No imagination. No creativity. But ruthless.
"Then there's the Betas. Betas are infiltrators. They don't have any cybernetic enhancements, but they have normal human intellect. They can imitate Kuga really well, but there's a flaw with the eye color. They tend to have amber colored eyes.
"And then…" Nao shuddered, "There's the Alphas. Pray you never have to fight one. Alpha's are peak intellect and with a wide array of cybernetic implants and weapons.
"I got her out last night.
"She's alive," Shizuru teared up. She didn't know if she should be relieved or alarmed at that revelation, looking at the young woman unconscious before her.
"She's in a medically induced coma," Nao looked away, "No telling how long until she comes to. If she does."
"Who did this to her?" Shizuru stood up, and there was a look in her eyes that Nao had only seen once before, but it made her blood run like ice, "Who was it?"
"John Smith," Nao said with a shiver, "Him and the leftovers from District One."