She had been walking for days, and yet had seen nothing of life. It must have been at least three days, with no food, water, or sleep. Vega walked on like a mindless drone, concerned only with getting to the tower in the distance. Each day that Vega walked, she saw a few more buildings sprout up around the tower. They weren't as tall, merely tiny specks of dust dotting the horizon.
Her bare feet pressed against the snow that had piled up as she trekked on. She had manually increased her heart rate, increasing her blood flow to prevent herself from getting frostbite. Unfortunately, her increased heart rate also meant she expelled more energy. Without any energy coming in, she couldn't continue like this. Her body weakened, until finally, she collapsed.
Falling to her knees in the snow, Vega sighed. She pulled the thin lab coat she had stolen tightly around her body. As her heart rate returned to a normal pace, she desperately tried to preserve any heat she could. It seemed hopeless. Days of walking, days she hadn't bothered to count, had passed her by. She was still days more from the city, and was so low on energy that she was ready to give up. Snow clung to her hair, freezing the strands wet from her sweat in place. "…I give up." She fell onto her back and simply laid there, closing her eyes. She decided to just stay there and wait for death. She felt she had nothing else to live for anyway. Her death might just bring her absolute freedom from her dismal existence.
It was then that a voice spoke inside her head. It was not her own, but it was still familiar. The words were faded, their meaning jumbled, but it seemed to be telling her to not give up. If a good talking to what all she needed, she wouldn't have quit in the first place. But desperation does funny things to people, and deep within the recesses of Vega's brain, she could recall information. It was information she was never actually informed of, she just knew it. Her body jumped up, with a will of its one, and once more, Vega wasn't in control. Her legs pushed hard against the ground, her energy flared, and in an instant, she was in the air. Vega began to scream fearfully inside her head, as she was locked out of control of her body by this person that took over her. There was a rage, and calmness. This side of her was darkness, as she was it's light. The voice spoke again, this time from Vega's lips, with her voice, "Would you shut up, please?" Vega stopped the screaming her mind was doing, internally calling out meekly to the voice, "W-who are you?" Her crimson lips peeled back in a demented smile, "I am you. The you that you want to, but cannot be. I am the part of you that killed that old man." Vega was silent, was she really not in control of herself? Maybe she was a monster like the old man said. Or was she just crazy? "You're not going to hurt me, right" the mind questioned the body. The body took her time to spin and flip in the air, "You act as though I'm the enemy. I'm the one saving you, aren't I?"
Vega, rather indignantly and somewhat childishly, spoke back, "But what about me? It's I my /I body! I don't even have control. How do I know this isn't a dream? Or some sick hallucination?" She rolled her eyes, "Why should you even bother? It's obvious you can't do anything for yourself. Without me, you're as good as dead. Since I'm part of your demented system, my self-preservation kicked in. I wasn't about to let you kill me, after all that I did."
Vega stayed silent for a minute, her anger growing. She was angry that for the second time in her short life, she had no control over what was happening to her. She was angry because her other self was partly right. She was also angry because children tend to get angry when they don't get their way, and when they feel belittled. She then began to scream inside her head, over and over.
The other self became enraged. At first she tried to ignore her inner child, but there's only so long you can ignore screaming permeating through your head. She tried yelling back, telling her other self to shut up, and finally, as they got to the edge of the city, the body gave up. When Vega was back in control, it took her a moment to realize it. She wiggled her fingers and moved her arms before being completely sure, and then cried out in happiness; however short-lived.
Unfortunately, Vega didn't know how to fly. She looked around, realizing she was still mid-air, and she screamed, falling to the ground like a ton of bricks. She I was /I at the edge of the city, and she managed to fall, screaming all the way down at an angle, into an alleyway. She landed hard against a wall, forehead first, before rebounding off the wall backwards onto the concrete floor. There was almost no pain involved, it more or less shocked Vega. She lay there for a minute, staring upwards, until she looked to her right, seeing a man standing there.
With an eyebrow cocked, the man's hand fell to his side from the swords at his belt. He simply stared at the half naked female who fell from the sky. He looked upward for a minute, slightly puzzled, before looking down at her. "You're naked."
Vega blinked for a minute, before realizing that not all of her body was inside the jacket. She stood up quickly, and pulled the jacket down over her hips, dusting herself off with a rabid blush across her face. She looked up at the man, who was studying her up and down. It was easy to tell she had been outside for a long time. Her hair was so matted with frost that it looked as though it was one large icicle.
The man's locks hung slightly over his eyes, so Vega couldn't really meet eye to eye with him, but he seemed to see just fine out of his curtain of hair. The man turned back to his original position, with his back against the wall, "So where'd you come from?"
Vega, replying without thinking, managed to dig herself into a hole, "The lab down that way." She pointed at the wall opposite of which she slammed into. The man raised his eyebrow, looking back at the girl next to him, "…What were you doing there, work?" Vega nodded, seeing as how she didn't want to tell anyone about what she was really doing there, and had no better excuse at hand. The man turned his entire body to her, brushing his bangs out of his eyes, and looked at her, "You go to work naked? What are you? A whore?" Vega was taken aback by his bluntness, "Erm… Uh… N-no… I was… just… uh…"
The man smirked slightly, "It doesn't matter much." He pulled a handful of dollar bills from his back pocket with his right hand, gripping one of Vega's wrists in his free hand, and forcing the bills into her palm, "Get yourself some food and something to wear so you don't get solicited."
Vega clutched the money and looked at the man as he walked off. She blinked some, slightly confused, and left the alley a few feet behind the man. He disappeared around the corner, but when she turned the corner after him, he was nowhere to be found. Vega blinked, and stood there holding the money in her hand, before heading off down the street, looking at the various stores for a clothing shop.
She rubbed her forehead, which had turned red from her impact. She stuffed her money into her pocket, and headed into a second hand store along the street. Stepping inside in just the jacket, which luckily covers down to mid-thigh, Vega asked where she could find some clothes. The shopkeeper motioned towards the rear of the store. She hurried toward the back and rummaged through the many bins of clothes. Having never bought clothes before in her life, it was no surprise that the confusion she felt was accompanied by fear. The voice returned to her, cocky in sound, "Can't survive one day without me, can you? You have to try some stuff on in order to find something that will fit. Just pick up a few pants and shirts that look like about your size, and go into the room behind you on the right. But knock first; you don't want to offend anyone just yet." Vega processed the new information, and did as she was told. She picked out five shirts of different colors, and four pants of different lengths, all different sizes. She knocked on the side room, waiting for a response. After a few seconds, with no response, she let herself in.
She dropped the jacket on the stool in the small room, and turned to look in the mirror. It was the first time Vega had actually seen her body, and it puzzled her. Her mind was fairly new, but her body certainly wasn't. She poked at her developed chest and hips, examining the details of her body. Scars here and there, no hair except for her eyebrows and head, but what interested Vega was the two tattoos staining her body. There was a "22" on her left thigh. It stood out, in big black lettering, a parting gift from the doctor? Were there really 21 others before her? There was a tattoo on her lower back, as the doctor had mentioned. In block lettering, it spelled, "V-E-G-A," the name the doctor called her by. "Vega... my name, I suppose..." But how could she be sure? Maybe the doctor had tattooed it on her? Or what about the person who had persevered her, the doctor said he hadn't, after all, he just found her there. But who leaves a preserved person all alone for someone to find and... do this to.
She decided to forget about the tattoos and questions about her past for right now. She couldn't stay naked in the dressing room all day. For close to two hours, Vega rummaged for clothes that were both comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. She settled for a pair of black sweatpants, and a baby blue sweater. She then bought a pair of snow boots that came up to mid-shin, and tucked her pant legs inside them. She wrapped her jacket around her body, paid for the clothes and headed out of the store, further into the city.
Buying the clothes meant she had spent most of the money given to her, but it didn't faze Vega. She was warm now, content. "I guess… the next thing to look for would be food… But I haven't even seen any stores or restaurants yet." Vega grumbled, dissatisfied. She continued up and across various streets, looking for some place to eat. After looking for another hour, and the sun setting, she entered a regular grocery store, and picked up a candy bar. She peeled the wrapped off, and took small bites out of it as she wandered around. She had forgotten how good chocolate was, but it was no comfort to her. There was no place left for her to go. She made her way to a small barren area. Mostly dirt, with patches of snow and tiny tufts of grass, this place had a sign where Vega stood, "City Park." Vega resided to spend the night in the park, which rested forgotten in the center of the city.
There was one lone oak tree in the center of the park. Its sad dilapidated condition made Vega pity it. She sat with her back against the trunk, and she ate the remainder of her candy bar, her eyes lolling in her sockets. Was it the cold? Was it her sadness? No, she was just tired. Pulling her jacket tight around her body, she turned to the tree and wished him goodnight. She dozed off, using one of the tree's roots as a pillow.
She was awoken hours later by a bunch of voices. A group of male teenagers surrounded her. Vega, half asleep, couldn't find herself able to stir her senses. She thought it would be best to get back to sleep, and she tried to do so. The boys were talking amongst themselves, louder now. Were they getting closer? Probably just passing through the park, going home, Vega thought. Just as she felt she was about to get back to sleep, two of the boys grabbed her. One at her arms, holding them down, and one at her legs, spreading them, and holding them that way. Vega's confusion hit first, her senses jolting to awareness. She looked around, studying at the faces of those around her, of which she counted five. Their expression were horrific, it was something she couldn't identify. Angry, or vengeful, or perhaps full of hatred, Vega couldn't tell. Staring up at their faces, however, sparked a new sensation in Vega, fear. It was terrible sensation, her lungs and heart hurt, and she could feel her breathing quicken. If there was a time for her other to show up, now would be perfect.
One of the men, she assumed at this point to be the leader, pulled out a knife from his back pocket. He smirked, and leaned in towards Vega, who in her fear and confusion, could nothing but stare into his eyes, as the tears streamed down her face. She tried to coax herself to move, but there was a numbness in her body. She couldn't even feel the hands clench around her wrists and knees. Then suddenly, a flash of red crossed behind the man, illuminating the immediate area. His eyes widened, and he fell forward, his head landing on Vega's stomach. Vega looked down, his face turned toward her. His jaw lolled open, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. It was a painful expression frozen on his lifeless face. The other guys clambered to their feet, releasing Vega, who screamed, and quickly pushed the dead man off her body. The men looked around frantically, yelling at each other in their panicked state. What just happened? What caused it?
The guy from the alley, with a katana drawn, appeared from the blind spot of the 4 remaining men, "Attacking an unsuspecting person? Not a very nice thing. Normally, I wouldn't care, but I gave her the money for those clothes, so technically they're mine." His gaze narrowed on the young men, who stood there like a deer in the headlights. The man smirked slightly, "I don't like people fucking with my stuff."
The four remaining men all turned towards the man. One of the guys tried to calm himself, but even Vega could heart the quivering in his voice. He screamed to rally the troops, "Let's get 'em!" As they all ran in from their different positions, the first man to get to Vega's savior was rather young. He had a scared look on his face, filled with a fear so strong a dog a mile away could smell it, but he followed the order anyway, raising his knife while he ran, and attempting to stab right into the unknown man's chest.
Inexperience showed. These guys weren't members of a gang; they were children looking to start some trouble. They had picked on someone who they thought was weaker than them, but unfortunately, they paid the ultimate price. The man from the alley held his sword in his right hand; raising his hand up just as his opponent's knife hand was within his reach. He grabbed the attacker's wrist with his left hand, and in one effortless, swift motion, he ripped the man's shoulder out of the socket. Breaking the other bones in the man's arm as Vega's savior turned the attacker's knife towards the young boy's chest, and stabbed him with his own weapon. The young man didn't even get the chance to scream before falling to the ground, dead. The other three men, seeing their comrade defeated so easily, and rather painfully, turned tail and ran.
Vega sat up slowly, and looked up at her rescuer, "…Why did you save me?" Looking at the girl without turning his body, he glanced at her from the side, the male shrugged, "I was around… You really aren't from around here, are you?" Vega shook her head, "No… Not really…" The man walked over to Vega, and extended his hand to help her up, "What's your name, girl?" Vega sat there for a minute, looking up at him, before shyly taking his hand, "V-vega…" The man, pulling her rather quickly upwards, didn't even flinch as Vega ended up falling into him, "Try to take care, Vega… I shouldn't have to bother with taking care of you." With that, he turned his back, and began to walk off.
"H-hey wait! You still haven't told me your name," Vega called after him. The man stopped, "It's Rinja…" Vega slowly walked forward, smirking slightly, but trying to keep it hidden, as the man stood there, not moving a muscle, "Well, Rinja… Since I'm so weak right now, have no money for food and am incapable of fending off attackers, why don't you take me with you?" She smiled visibly now, trying to look as innocent as possible. Rinja shrugged, "Suit yourself." And with that, he began to walk off, with Vega following a few feet behind.