PROTOTYPE – Part 2
Yoshito woke up sitting on a chair. From the slight numbness in his arms, he deduced that he was restrained from free movement though he was confused by his bonds being quite slack.
He wanted to open his eyes but the sensation of cloth meant that he was currently blindfolded. But these were his only slight discomforts as the chair he was sitting in was quite comfortable to say the least, and the room was pleasantly cool, with a slight scent of antiseptic lavender.
Lavender......that meant only one distinct possibility: he was in a woman's room or office. True enough, a woman was what he saw as soon as a man took away his blindfold and his vision cleared, adapting to the light inside the room. Said woman was seated across him, behind a huge table that looked more like a starship's console rather than a business desk. The woman was strikingly beautiful even though she was wearing glasses and had her hair caught in a tight bun. Her eyes though, had a certain expression that reminded him of someone he knew, though he couldn't remember yet. But his appreciation of her beauty only lasted a second or two at best as his eyes fell on the setup that served as her desk.
"Whoa! That's some desk. I have got to get myself one of those," Yoshito thought to himself.
"I see you're awake now," she said as she stood up and turned off the main holographic-display of her desk.
"I do hope that my team wasn't too rough on you. Though I believe I should be thanking you for not being too rough on them. You certainly proved to be quite difficult to capture," she declared.
"Thank you, I think..," Yoshito replied.
"Such sarcasm is unnecessary, I assure you. What I said was truly a compliment. After all, it IS a testament to my handiwork in a way," she added.
Yoshito was completely taken aback by the woman's last statement. "What was she implying?" he thought.
"YOUR handiwork?" he asked.
"I see that I have your complete attention, then. Do you want to know more?" she asked. To which, Yoshito nodded in assent.
She seemed more or less pleased with Yoshito's reply and stood up. She went to him and stood behind the chair.
"I'll untie you but only if I have your word that you will not attack me once you are free. Do you agree to my terms?" she asked.
"...............Yes."
With that, the woman undid Yoshito's bonds then went back to her desk. Yoshito took a few minutes to look at her before saying anything.
"You were quite confident of my cooperation back there," he began.
"Of course. It wouldn't profit you to kill me outright even IF your bonds were tight. You STILL would want to know why you were brought here in the first place," she replied.
Yoshito just had to smile at her reply. Even if he did manage to kill her, he'd still have to get out of this facility and that meant going through an army more or less of security.
"Okay, ma'am. You have my complete attention," he replied.
"Good."
She pressed a few buttons on her console and a projector emerged from the ceiling.
"During the height of the Cold War, the CIA sought a way to gain an upper hand over the KGB and its other enemies. Meetings were held with various corporations and companies and after the bidding and presentations were over, two firms emerged as the final contractors for the project: STIMSOLL TECHNOLOGIES and NEO-GENETIQUE LABORATORIES."
"Well that isn't new. They do that with almost every military project and weapon they develop. The most recent was the combined-strike fighter-jet which has yet to be resolved," Yoshito replied.
"Yes but in this case, the object of development wasn't any weapon-system or war-machine of any sort but human genetic-manipulation," the woman added. Yoshito couldn't form any reply so she continued.
"The aim was of course, to develop the perfect soldier. There were various experiments and projects that were done before but it was only when instruments and techniques were able to go really microscopic that success became closer and closer. In the end, there were two major schools of thought that prevailed."
"And they were?" Yoshito asked.
"Well one technique called for radical physical-enhancements while the other wanted to boost the intellectual aspect of a person. These two proposals were what the last two successfully bidding firms offered. Each had its own merits and thus the CIA decided to hold a last round of eliminations in order to prove which proved the better option. Indeed, it was toss-up between having a 'SUPER-BODY' or a 'SUPER-BRAIN'. The CIA looked to be choosing the 'SUPER-BODY' option but switched choices in the last minute and went with developing a 'SUPER-BRAIN'. The project went into high-gear almost immediately but after a few years, Congress soon stopped funding ultra-expensive weapons development. Many projects got shelved or cancelled and along with them was the 'SUPER-BRAIN' project."
Through all this, the only indication that Yoshito was paying attention was his slightly raised left-eyebrow, giving no outward sign that his mind was churning with various thoughts and ideas.
"Care for some refreshments, Yoshito?" she offered to which, he nodded in assent.
She had two tall glasses of iced-tea brought in, along with a few small desserts. After a few minutes, they had consumed the light snack. Even Yoshito was surprised that he had three helpings of the small cakes.
"That was quite refreshing, don't you agree?"
"Yes. My compliments to the confectioner," Yoshito replied almost emotionlessly, eliciting laughter from her.
"I'll make sure she gets to know you liked the cakes. Now where was I? Oh yes. The proponent for a SUPER-BRAIN, STIMSOLL TECHNOLOGIES, decided to carry out the project on their own though a few high-ranking CIA officials actually maintained contact with them. Things went slowly as opposed to how it would've gone had funding pushed through but they still made leaps and bounds and were successful in developing a human that had a 100% stable and superior intellect, with monstrous adaptability and a lightning-fast learning curve. Even the weakest individual could memorize an entire movie script after one hour. The best ones could learn almost any language, mathematical system, subject, even martial arts after a few minutes of just seeing them. All they needed was to access the information they'd already stored in their brains and they could apply it instantly."
"Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" she asked. Yoshito however, remained as calm and stoic as he had been for the past half hour.
"However, STIMSOLL TECH. didn't take into account that their rival, NEO- GENETIQUE LABS also carried out their SUPER-BODY project underground. Their sponsors now were the KGB and other terrorist-groups all of whom wanted the kind of soldiers that such a process would engineer. Things were well underway until the collapse of the Soviet Union, wherein NEO-GENETIQUE lost its biggest sponsor and the use of the extensive facilities they had. The former KGB-members didn't have enough clout to control the terrorist-groups and relations were steadily declining among them. In the end, one of the groups decided to take total control of the project. Fortunately for them, one of the heads of NEO-GENETIQUE contacted the CIA a few days earlier and asked for their assistance in the matter. What followed was the litmus-test of both experiments as there were a number of operatives sent by the CIA that were the same individuals produced by the SUPER-BRAIN project while their opponents were super-enhanced soldiers."
She took a few minutes to drink a bit of her iced-tea and repositioned herself on the chair before continuing.
"At first, the CIA and their operatives were at a losing stalemate. Their opponents could withstand hits or blows that would normally incapacitate a human. But true to the nature of what the SUPER-BRAIN project endowed them with, they soon turned the tide of battle and eliminated the super-enhanced soldiers. However, they were not without losses themselves as 8 of their number were killed as they had underestimated the resilience of their enemy. Among those killed were 2 enhanced-intellect soldiers. After cleaning up, the CIA returned to home-base and apprised STIMSOLL TECH of what they experienced. STIMSOLL TECH couldn't deny that the SUPER-BODY project had its merits and decided that they would integrate the 2 projects. A new team was formed to oversee the project but there was conflict among the heads. One side wanted immediate integration of the 2 processes into an individual while the other side called for taking an extra step before actual integration. STIMSOLL TECH decided to split the team and gave each side everything they'd need to carry out the project, housing them in separate facilities."
Yoshito noted the slightly-raised emotion in her voice as she went into this part of her account.
"Why the conflict in the first place? I thought the teams were from the same firm," he asked.
"Why indeed? Well, you see the 1st team proposed that both types of enhancements could be introduced at the embryonic stage of a human being's development while the 2nd team believed otherwise. They claimed that there were simply too much irreconcilable differences in the 2 processes for both to be genetically administered in one operation. But since both sides argued for their cases well enough, the heads at STIMSOLL let them both have their way, though they did stipulate that whichever team is ultimately successful gets to absorb the other team."
She took a short breather after her last statement. To Yoshito, it seemed like she was still having some sort of inner-conflict but she continued nonetheless.
"In the end, one team did prove themselves right. There WERE too many differences in the processes. So much so that even an embryo's incredible healing ability and adaptability could only render the arising defect dormant. And even then, it would be only temporary."
"What sort of defects are you referring to here?" Yoshito inquired though he was already suspecting what her answer might be.
"Slight to worse mental-instability, megalomania, schizophrenia, etc. mostly mental-related problems. The body simply didn't know which aspects to focus on developing and even if the added nutrient-needs were addressed, the resulting embryo would still have a high probability of developing any of those defects I mentioned."
"I see. How come the other team succeeded with the same project when the differences were there?" Yoshito asked.
"All because they chose to add an extra step or phase in their genetic- manipulation. Instead of administering both genetic-codes into one embryo, they decided to administer those sera separately into 2 people. Also, the effects on them would be temporary"
"Two people? How did they combine the codes then? Are you saying....?"
"Yes. These 2 would then PROCREATE the individual that would possess BOTH attributes SEAMLESSLY."
Yoshito couldn't believe what he just heard. Thoughts and ideas raced through his mind at the implications of what had been revealed to him.
"The NATURAL integration of the processes was what made the other team's experiment successful. Indeed, you proved to be a very difficult subject to capture, Yoshito," she declared.
Yoshito made no reply. He was seething inside as he couldn't believe that he was a product of an experiment rather than of a loving union.
"No need to be agitated. I'm not done yet. As I said, the recipients of the sera would only experience the effects temporarily with only a 2-month period. I have to commend your father for his amazing foresight. Not only did he see beforehand that the 2 processes would not integrate well with each other, he and his team also altered the serum to have just a temporary effect. He proposed the idea to your mother who agreed to it as by that time, she was already your father's fiancee' even as she was co-leader of their team."
"Co-leader?" Yoshito asked. He was surprised that his mother was part of the team.
"Yes. They got married a few days after administering the serum to each other. Your father took the serum for physical enhancement while your mother took the mental-enhancement serum. By the time your mother was 4 months into her gestation, the effects of the sera on them had worn off completely," she replied.
Yoshito was calmed down somewhat with her reply. His father DID think and plan ahead really well so it was no surprise at all. He was about to settle down completely when he remembered something.
"You said there was another team. What happened to their project?" he asked.
"I'm glad you asked for that is why you were brought here. "We" went ahead with our FORCED integration and at first, all seemed well. The child surpassed all our expectations and we congratulated ourselves. But she began to show signs that confirmed your father's suspicions. Of course it wasn't anything that a few behavior-altering drugs couldn't handle but it worsened through the years until it got to this point."
To further emphasize her statement, she pressed a different button on her console and caused a panel in the east wall to roll up. What Yoshito saw threw him for a loop as he beheld a screaming Urumi wearing a straightjacket, with 6 attendants restraining her while another administered what turned out to be tranquilizers inside a padded room.
"Yoshito Kikuchi, this is my daughter: your classmate, XH-2, also known as Urumi Kanzaki," she explained.
"What's happening to her....?" Yoshito asked.
"Like I said, mental-instability resulting from the forced genetic- manipulation. I was too proud and too hasty with my decisions back then and believe me, I would do anything to take it back," she replied.
Yoshito was about to make a blistering retort when he saw that the Michiko Kanzaki was crying even as she spoke steadily.
"How can I help?" he asked resignedly.
Michiko took a few seconds to steady herself before she replied.
"Well, fortunately for us, the defect can still be repaired. These defects arise from a misfired DNA-code which can be removed then replaced with a proper one. The only source for such a corrective-code is you, Yoshito."
"Me?" he asked.
"Yes. Your father also catalogued and studied my team's efforts even as he carried out his own. It was he who found out that your genetic-sequence could correct Urumi's defects. It was also he who came up with the extraction and patching process so that it could be safely achieved," Michiko replied.
Yoshito merely nodded even as he shifted his attention to Urumi who by now was placated and sleeping.
"Your father gave his permission to enlist your assistance in this matter but I'll leave it to you to decide whether you want to help or not. I will not force you to do so," Michiko declared.
Yoshito took a few minutes more to look at Urumi before he turned to Michiko.
"How much time does she have left?" he asked.
"We have at best, 2 days," she replied.
"Two days before what?"
"Two days before the other persona takes over completely. After that time has passed, Urumi Kanzaki will exist no more."
Yoshito thought about it for a while before he came to a decision.
"Okay. I'm in," he replied.
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Meanwhile, a medical-technician made his way to Urumi's holding cell. Unknown to everyone, this tech was paid by the same terrorist-groups who still wanted back the enhancement-project the CIA took from them. The tech was carrying a hypo containing a hormone which would speed up Urumi's persona-degradation and nano-instructions which she would carry out once she was out of the facility. He successfully made it inside Urumi's cell and when he was sure no one would see, injected the hormone and instructions mix into Urumi.
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Back in Michiko Kanzaki's office, Yoshito was stating his conditions.
"I'll help out in the way you and my father mentioned but if and only if my conditions are met."
"Okay; let's hear it then," Ms. Kanzaki replied.
"First: the genetic-code you'll extract from me will be used only to treat Urumi, no one else. Second: you will not synthesize the resulting plasma- serum you extract from me. Third: you will not create any more enhanced people like me or Urumi after this. It's only fortunate that you and my father were able to address this problem early enough and that your daughter Urumi IS a good friend of mine. Lastly: all files and data concerning this project will be deleted after this is over. Are we clear on this, Ms. Kanzaki?" Yoshito asked.
"Fair enough. What if I we don't comply?" Ms. Kanzaki replied.
"Then I'll destroy the files myself, this facility included," Yoshito replied.
Michiko regarded Yoshito for a few minutes before a slow smile appeared on her lips. He truly was Kazuma's son. She liked him already.
"And I believe you will make good on that. I'm surprised you delineated such strict terms," Ms. Kanzaki stated.
"Well you'll be getting the complete CORRECT genetic-code with my compliance. I'm sure you people will be tempted to mass-produce more individuals now that everything is problem-free," Yoshito stated.
"How about your father? Won't he have anything to say in the matter?"
"I'll take care of that problem myself, ma'am."
"Very well," Ms. Kanzaki replied.
She then pressed another set of buttons to the surprise and added delight of Yoshito. A few more buttons pressed and a blood-extraction setup emerged from the middle left-side of the desk.
"Is there anything that your desk CAN'T do?" Yoshito asked.
"Well I can't cook a decent meal on it. I still have to use the pantry for that," Ms. Kanzaki replied.
She motioned for Yoshito to place his arm over the apparatus that emerged. A robot-arm appeared with a hypo and extracted blood from him. Everything was done in a few seconds.
"There, that's all we need," Ms. Kanzaki declared as she stored the vials containing Yoshito's blood.
She turned to him and this time she had an honest look of gratitude as she spoke.
"Thank you for doing this, Yoshito. You don't know how much you've helped us."
"I came here to help Urumi, not you," Yoshito replied.
Ms. Kanzaki couldn't help but smile at Yoshito's statement. The boy obviously cared a lot for her daughter but she had a feeling he wasn't aware yet just how much.
"I'll have the guards escort you out of this facility. Thanks again," Ms. Kanzaki stated.
Yoshito merely nodded as the guards arrived. They were about to exit when alarms started sounding all over the place.
"What's happening?!!" Ms. Kanzaki yelled over the comm..
"XH-2 has awakened and freed herself, ma'am! She took out the guards and is heading for the armory right now!" the staff replied.
"Armory?!!! You people have an armory here?!! On second thought, don't answer that. What's she going to do with those weapons?!!" Yoshito asked.
"I don't know! Kakizaki! Who was last in the room with my daughter?!!" Ms. Kanzaki yelled anew.
"According to the records it was.......Ichise, ma'am!" he replied.
"Go find Ichise! Now!" Ms. Kanzaki ordered.
Yoshito was left alone by the guards during the commotion. As he watched what was happening, his attention went to Ms. Kanzaki's console. Indeed, Urumi was making short work of the highly trained staff guarding the armory. She was fast, efficient and lethal. After donning her gear and procuring the weapons, Urumi blew open a window, jumped out and ran to the exit after falling unharmed from 6 floors. Yoshito knew that it was hopeless to catch up with her so he decided to find out Urumi's objective from the one they called Ichise.
"I take it your desk has access to every camera and sensor in this facility?" he asked and Ms. Kanzaki nodded in assent.
Yoshito tapped a few commands and the 3 displays showed every view that each camera and sensor covered.
"He's in Block-D, Level-4. Where can he go from there?" Yoshito asked.
"There's a vacant lot that leads to a back road behind this building. He may have a car waiting there," replied Ms. Kanzaki's assistant who entered the room a few minutes ago.
"I'll head him off. You guys have a team ready," Yoshito instructed.
"You won't make it there in time! It takes 15 minutes to get to that area from here!" shouted the assistant though Yoshito was already out of earshot by the time he finished his warning.
"Let him be, Toyotomi. He'll make it. He is XH-1, after all," Ms. Kanzaki explained.
Yoshito ran all the way and was able to make it to the area a few seconds before Ichise emerged from the building.
"Isn't the exit the other way around?" Yoshito asked before proceeding to knock out Ichise. The support team showed up a few minutes after.
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Back in Ms. Kanzaki's office, calls were being made to each and every area of the building, with every staff coordinating with everyone. They were surprised when Yoshito showed up with an unconscious Ichise slung over his shoulders, the support team behind him.
"Here's your man," Yoshito declared as he dropped the man onto the couch he occupied before.
"Somebody get me some smelling salts! Now!" Ms. Kanzaki ordered.
"That'll take too long. Let me," Yoshito declared. He then pressed a pressure point on Ichise's shoulder and the man woke up. He panicked when he saw Ms. Kanzaki's face.
"What did you do to my daughter?!!!" she yelled.
"I don't know what you're talking about!!! Honest!" Ichise replied.
Ms. Kanzaki was about to hit him when Yoshito stopped her.
"Somebody get me some of that VERITAS-mixture that I saw on our way back. Hitting him will do no good," he ordered.
"But..................that will fry his brain after a few minutes!" one tech explained even as he observed Yoshito looking at him with a slightly raised left eyebrow. He decided to play along.
"Better his brain than Urumi's," Yoshito replied.
"No! No! Not that! I'll tell everything! Just please don't use that stuff on me!" Ichise wailed.
Ichise proceeded to tell them about his ties with the disgruntled terrorist- groups and their plan to discredit, sabotage and ultimately reclaim the formula to create super-soldiers. Urumi was to assassinate the Japanese premier as soon as she freed herself.
"Is that all?" Yoshito asked.
"Yes, that's all! I swear! Please have mercy on me!" Ichise groveled.
Yoshito then gave a signal and the tech proceeded to hypodermically administer the alleged truth-serum. Ichise proceeded to pass out.
"At least we know now what XH-2, I mean, Urumi wants to do," declared Najita, the head technician.
"Good work. But I do not recall having you people make any truth-serum like that," Ms. Kanzaki stated.
"We know that. But Ichise didn't," Yoshito replied.
Once again, Ms. Kanzaki was amazed at Yoshito's creativity.
"Have Team Raptor assemble in the parking lot. Their objective is to stop my daughter from carrying out her assassination attempt.
Her staff complied and Ichise was carried out of the room. The activity in the room soon died out, leaving Ms. Kanzaki with Yoshito.
"All we can do now is hope and pray that Team Raptor can stop her. The hormone Ichise injected shortened our window of opportunity to just 1 day. After that, XH-2 takes over and Urumi will be no more," Ms. Kanzaki stated. She then stood up to proceed to the parking lot where she would be giving Team Raptor their mission.
Yoshito took a few minutes as he observed Ms. Kanzaki before he replied.
"Is there extra gear that I can use?" Yoshito asked.
Ms; Kanzaki was surprised at Yoshito's statement. She realized what he was saying.
"You've already done enough for us, Yoshito. I can't ask you to be part of the team that will bring her back. We don't know the full extent of Urumi's capabilities and I'm afraid there's a possibility that Team Raptor might have to eliminate her altogether," she replied.
"That's why I'm going. To make sure that all we do is bring Urumi back. No one else is better suited for the job. I am XH-1, after all," Yoshito stated.
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Team Raptor was fully assembled in the parking lot, waiting for Ms. Kanzaki. They saw her emerge from the building with a few guards and Yoshito clad in full gear.
"Team Raptor, these are your orders: the objective is to capture and bring back alive my daughter. As you may well know, her XH-2 persona has taken over and she aims to assassinate the premier. She is to be incapacitated but not killed. I expect you all to be clear on that. Accompanying you on this mission is XH-1, otherwise known as Yoshito Kikuchi. He will be our ace-in-the-hole and co-leader with Raptor-1. I expect your team to fully cooperate with him on this mission. That is all," Ms. Kanzaki declared. She then turned and headed back into the building.
"You heard the lady, now go, go, go!!!" Raptor-1 barked as the team split into 2 groups and boarded the helicopters. He then approached Yoshito.
"So you'll be joining us, XH-1?"
"The name's Yoshito Kikuchi. But XH-1 will do for now," Yoshito replied.
The 2 men sized each other up for a few minutes before Raptor-1 declared: "I expect you to carry out my orders without question, you got that?"
"Affirmative," Yoshito replied.
"Glad to have you on our side for a change, kid. Now let's go get your girlfriend."
"She's not my girlfriend!"
"Whatever."
Yoshito woke up sitting on a chair. From the slight numbness in his arms, he deduced that he was restrained from free movement though he was confused by his bonds being quite slack.
He wanted to open his eyes but the sensation of cloth meant that he was currently blindfolded. But these were his only slight discomforts as the chair he was sitting in was quite comfortable to say the least, and the room was pleasantly cool, with a slight scent of antiseptic lavender.
Lavender......that meant only one distinct possibility: he was in a woman's room or office. True enough, a woman was what he saw as soon as a man took away his blindfold and his vision cleared, adapting to the light inside the room. Said woman was seated across him, behind a huge table that looked more like a starship's console rather than a business desk. The woman was strikingly beautiful even though she was wearing glasses and had her hair caught in a tight bun. Her eyes though, had a certain expression that reminded him of someone he knew, though he couldn't remember yet. But his appreciation of her beauty only lasted a second or two at best as his eyes fell on the setup that served as her desk.
"Whoa! That's some desk. I have got to get myself one of those," Yoshito thought to himself.
"I see you're awake now," she said as she stood up and turned off the main holographic-display of her desk.
"I do hope that my team wasn't too rough on you. Though I believe I should be thanking you for not being too rough on them. You certainly proved to be quite difficult to capture," she declared.
"Thank you, I think..," Yoshito replied.
"Such sarcasm is unnecessary, I assure you. What I said was truly a compliment. After all, it IS a testament to my handiwork in a way," she added.
Yoshito was completely taken aback by the woman's last statement. "What was she implying?" he thought.
"YOUR handiwork?" he asked.
"I see that I have your complete attention, then. Do you want to know more?" she asked. To which, Yoshito nodded in assent.
She seemed more or less pleased with Yoshito's reply and stood up. She went to him and stood behind the chair.
"I'll untie you but only if I have your word that you will not attack me once you are free. Do you agree to my terms?" she asked.
"...............Yes."
With that, the woman undid Yoshito's bonds then went back to her desk. Yoshito took a few minutes to look at her before saying anything.
"You were quite confident of my cooperation back there," he began.
"Of course. It wouldn't profit you to kill me outright even IF your bonds were tight. You STILL would want to know why you were brought here in the first place," she replied.
Yoshito just had to smile at her reply. Even if he did manage to kill her, he'd still have to get out of this facility and that meant going through an army more or less of security.
"Okay, ma'am. You have my complete attention," he replied.
"Good."
She pressed a few buttons on her console and a projector emerged from the ceiling.
"During the height of the Cold War, the CIA sought a way to gain an upper hand over the KGB and its other enemies. Meetings were held with various corporations and companies and after the bidding and presentations were over, two firms emerged as the final contractors for the project: STIMSOLL TECHNOLOGIES and NEO-GENETIQUE LABORATORIES."
"Well that isn't new. They do that with almost every military project and weapon they develop. The most recent was the combined-strike fighter-jet which has yet to be resolved," Yoshito replied.
"Yes but in this case, the object of development wasn't any weapon-system or war-machine of any sort but human genetic-manipulation," the woman added. Yoshito couldn't form any reply so she continued.
"The aim was of course, to develop the perfect soldier. There were various experiments and projects that were done before but it was only when instruments and techniques were able to go really microscopic that success became closer and closer. In the end, there were two major schools of thought that prevailed."
"And they were?" Yoshito asked.
"Well one technique called for radical physical-enhancements while the other wanted to boost the intellectual aspect of a person. These two proposals were what the last two successfully bidding firms offered. Each had its own merits and thus the CIA decided to hold a last round of eliminations in order to prove which proved the better option. Indeed, it was toss-up between having a 'SUPER-BODY' or a 'SUPER-BRAIN'. The CIA looked to be choosing the 'SUPER-BODY' option but switched choices in the last minute and went with developing a 'SUPER-BRAIN'. The project went into high-gear almost immediately but after a few years, Congress soon stopped funding ultra-expensive weapons development. Many projects got shelved or cancelled and along with them was the 'SUPER-BRAIN' project."
Through all this, the only indication that Yoshito was paying attention was his slightly raised left-eyebrow, giving no outward sign that his mind was churning with various thoughts and ideas.
"Care for some refreshments, Yoshito?" she offered to which, he nodded in assent.
She had two tall glasses of iced-tea brought in, along with a few small desserts. After a few minutes, they had consumed the light snack. Even Yoshito was surprised that he had three helpings of the small cakes.
"That was quite refreshing, don't you agree?"
"Yes. My compliments to the confectioner," Yoshito replied almost emotionlessly, eliciting laughter from her.
"I'll make sure she gets to know you liked the cakes. Now where was I? Oh yes. The proponent for a SUPER-BRAIN, STIMSOLL TECHNOLOGIES, decided to carry out the project on their own though a few high-ranking CIA officials actually maintained contact with them. Things went slowly as opposed to how it would've gone had funding pushed through but they still made leaps and bounds and were successful in developing a human that had a 100% stable and superior intellect, with monstrous adaptability and a lightning-fast learning curve. Even the weakest individual could memorize an entire movie script after one hour. The best ones could learn almost any language, mathematical system, subject, even martial arts after a few minutes of just seeing them. All they needed was to access the information they'd already stored in their brains and they could apply it instantly."
"Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" she asked. Yoshito however, remained as calm and stoic as he had been for the past half hour.
"However, STIMSOLL TECH. didn't take into account that their rival, NEO- GENETIQUE LABS also carried out their SUPER-BODY project underground. Their sponsors now were the KGB and other terrorist-groups all of whom wanted the kind of soldiers that such a process would engineer. Things were well underway until the collapse of the Soviet Union, wherein NEO-GENETIQUE lost its biggest sponsor and the use of the extensive facilities they had. The former KGB-members didn't have enough clout to control the terrorist-groups and relations were steadily declining among them. In the end, one of the groups decided to take total control of the project. Fortunately for them, one of the heads of NEO-GENETIQUE contacted the CIA a few days earlier and asked for their assistance in the matter. What followed was the litmus-test of both experiments as there were a number of operatives sent by the CIA that were the same individuals produced by the SUPER-BRAIN project while their opponents were super-enhanced soldiers."
She took a few minutes to drink a bit of her iced-tea and repositioned herself on the chair before continuing.
"At first, the CIA and their operatives were at a losing stalemate. Their opponents could withstand hits or blows that would normally incapacitate a human. But true to the nature of what the SUPER-BRAIN project endowed them with, they soon turned the tide of battle and eliminated the super-enhanced soldiers. However, they were not without losses themselves as 8 of their number were killed as they had underestimated the resilience of their enemy. Among those killed were 2 enhanced-intellect soldiers. After cleaning up, the CIA returned to home-base and apprised STIMSOLL TECH of what they experienced. STIMSOLL TECH couldn't deny that the SUPER-BODY project had its merits and decided that they would integrate the 2 projects. A new team was formed to oversee the project but there was conflict among the heads. One side wanted immediate integration of the 2 processes into an individual while the other side called for taking an extra step before actual integration. STIMSOLL TECH decided to split the team and gave each side everything they'd need to carry out the project, housing them in separate facilities."
Yoshito noted the slightly-raised emotion in her voice as she went into this part of her account.
"Why the conflict in the first place? I thought the teams were from the same firm," he asked.
"Why indeed? Well, you see the 1st team proposed that both types of enhancements could be introduced at the embryonic stage of a human being's development while the 2nd team believed otherwise. They claimed that there were simply too much irreconcilable differences in the 2 processes for both to be genetically administered in one operation. But since both sides argued for their cases well enough, the heads at STIMSOLL let them both have their way, though they did stipulate that whichever team is ultimately successful gets to absorb the other team."
She took a short breather after her last statement. To Yoshito, it seemed like she was still having some sort of inner-conflict but she continued nonetheless.
"In the end, one team did prove themselves right. There WERE too many differences in the processes. So much so that even an embryo's incredible healing ability and adaptability could only render the arising defect dormant. And even then, it would be only temporary."
"What sort of defects are you referring to here?" Yoshito inquired though he was already suspecting what her answer might be.
"Slight to worse mental-instability, megalomania, schizophrenia, etc. mostly mental-related problems. The body simply didn't know which aspects to focus on developing and even if the added nutrient-needs were addressed, the resulting embryo would still have a high probability of developing any of those defects I mentioned."
"I see. How come the other team succeeded with the same project when the differences were there?" Yoshito asked.
"All because they chose to add an extra step or phase in their genetic- manipulation. Instead of administering both genetic-codes into one embryo, they decided to administer those sera separately into 2 people. Also, the effects on them would be temporary"
"Two people? How did they combine the codes then? Are you saying....?"
"Yes. These 2 would then PROCREATE the individual that would possess BOTH attributes SEAMLESSLY."
Yoshito couldn't believe what he just heard. Thoughts and ideas raced through his mind at the implications of what had been revealed to him.
"The NATURAL integration of the processes was what made the other team's experiment successful. Indeed, you proved to be a very difficult subject to capture, Yoshito," she declared.
Yoshito made no reply. He was seething inside as he couldn't believe that he was a product of an experiment rather than of a loving union.
"No need to be agitated. I'm not done yet. As I said, the recipients of the sera would only experience the effects temporarily with only a 2-month period. I have to commend your father for his amazing foresight. Not only did he see beforehand that the 2 processes would not integrate well with each other, he and his team also altered the serum to have just a temporary effect. He proposed the idea to your mother who agreed to it as by that time, she was already your father's fiancee' even as she was co-leader of their team."
"Co-leader?" Yoshito asked. He was surprised that his mother was part of the team.
"Yes. They got married a few days after administering the serum to each other. Your father took the serum for physical enhancement while your mother took the mental-enhancement serum. By the time your mother was 4 months into her gestation, the effects of the sera on them had worn off completely," she replied.
Yoshito was calmed down somewhat with her reply. His father DID think and plan ahead really well so it was no surprise at all. He was about to settle down completely when he remembered something.
"You said there was another team. What happened to their project?" he asked.
"I'm glad you asked for that is why you were brought here. "We" went ahead with our FORCED integration and at first, all seemed well. The child surpassed all our expectations and we congratulated ourselves. But she began to show signs that confirmed your father's suspicions. Of course it wasn't anything that a few behavior-altering drugs couldn't handle but it worsened through the years until it got to this point."
To further emphasize her statement, she pressed a different button on her console and caused a panel in the east wall to roll up. What Yoshito saw threw him for a loop as he beheld a screaming Urumi wearing a straightjacket, with 6 attendants restraining her while another administered what turned out to be tranquilizers inside a padded room.
"Yoshito Kikuchi, this is my daughter: your classmate, XH-2, also known as Urumi Kanzaki," she explained.
"What's happening to her....?" Yoshito asked.
"Like I said, mental-instability resulting from the forced genetic- manipulation. I was too proud and too hasty with my decisions back then and believe me, I would do anything to take it back," she replied.
Yoshito was about to make a blistering retort when he saw that the Michiko Kanzaki was crying even as she spoke steadily.
"How can I help?" he asked resignedly.
Michiko took a few seconds to steady herself before she replied.
"Well, fortunately for us, the defect can still be repaired. These defects arise from a misfired DNA-code which can be removed then replaced with a proper one. The only source for such a corrective-code is you, Yoshito."
"Me?" he asked.
"Yes. Your father also catalogued and studied my team's efforts even as he carried out his own. It was he who found out that your genetic-sequence could correct Urumi's defects. It was also he who came up with the extraction and patching process so that it could be safely achieved," Michiko replied.
Yoshito merely nodded even as he shifted his attention to Urumi who by now was placated and sleeping.
"Your father gave his permission to enlist your assistance in this matter but I'll leave it to you to decide whether you want to help or not. I will not force you to do so," Michiko declared.
Yoshito took a few minutes more to look at Urumi before he turned to Michiko.
"How much time does she have left?" he asked.
"We have at best, 2 days," she replied.
"Two days before what?"
"Two days before the other persona takes over completely. After that time has passed, Urumi Kanzaki will exist no more."
Yoshito thought about it for a while before he came to a decision.
"Okay. I'm in," he replied.
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Meanwhile, a medical-technician made his way to Urumi's holding cell. Unknown to everyone, this tech was paid by the same terrorist-groups who still wanted back the enhancement-project the CIA took from them. The tech was carrying a hypo containing a hormone which would speed up Urumi's persona-degradation and nano-instructions which she would carry out once she was out of the facility. He successfully made it inside Urumi's cell and when he was sure no one would see, injected the hormone and instructions mix into Urumi.
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Back in Michiko Kanzaki's office, Yoshito was stating his conditions.
"I'll help out in the way you and my father mentioned but if and only if my conditions are met."
"Okay; let's hear it then," Ms. Kanzaki replied.
"First: the genetic-code you'll extract from me will be used only to treat Urumi, no one else. Second: you will not synthesize the resulting plasma- serum you extract from me. Third: you will not create any more enhanced people like me or Urumi after this. It's only fortunate that you and my father were able to address this problem early enough and that your daughter Urumi IS a good friend of mine. Lastly: all files and data concerning this project will be deleted after this is over. Are we clear on this, Ms. Kanzaki?" Yoshito asked.
"Fair enough. What if I we don't comply?" Ms. Kanzaki replied.
"Then I'll destroy the files myself, this facility included," Yoshito replied.
Michiko regarded Yoshito for a few minutes before a slow smile appeared on her lips. He truly was Kazuma's son. She liked him already.
"And I believe you will make good on that. I'm surprised you delineated such strict terms," Ms. Kanzaki stated.
"Well you'll be getting the complete CORRECT genetic-code with my compliance. I'm sure you people will be tempted to mass-produce more individuals now that everything is problem-free," Yoshito stated.
"How about your father? Won't he have anything to say in the matter?"
"I'll take care of that problem myself, ma'am."
"Very well," Ms. Kanzaki replied.
She then pressed another set of buttons to the surprise and added delight of Yoshito. A few more buttons pressed and a blood-extraction setup emerged from the middle left-side of the desk.
"Is there anything that your desk CAN'T do?" Yoshito asked.
"Well I can't cook a decent meal on it. I still have to use the pantry for that," Ms. Kanzaki replied.
She motioned for Yoshito to place his arm over the apparatus that emerged. A robot-arm appeared with a hypo and extracted blood from him. Everything was done in a few seconds.
"There, that's all we need," Ms. Kanzaki declared as she stored the vials containing Yoshito's blood.
She turned to him and this time she had an honest look of gratitude as she spoke.
"Thank you for doing this, Yoshito. You don't know how much you've helped us."
"I came here to help Urumi, not you," Yoshito replied.
Ms. Kanzaki couldn't help but smile at Yoshito's statement. The boy obviously cared a lot for her daughter but she had a feeling he wasn't aware yet just how much.
"I'll have the guards escort you out of this facility. Thanks again," Ms. Kanzaki stated.
Yoshito merely nodded as the guards arrived. They were about to exit when alarms started sounding all over the place.
"What's happening?!!" Ms. Kanzaki yelled over the comm..
"XH-2 has awakened and freed herself, ma'am! She took out the guards and is heading for the armory right now!" the staff replied.
"Armory?!!! You people have an armory here?!! On second thought, don't answer that. What's she going to do with those weapons?!!" Yoshito asked.
"I don't know! Kakizaki! Who was last in the room with my daughter?!!" Ms. Kanzaki yelled anew.
"According to the records it was.......Ichise, ma'am!" he replied.
"Go find Ichise! Now!" Ms. Kanzaki ordered.
Yoshito was left alone by the guards during the commotion. As he watched what was happening, his attention went to Ms. Kanzaki's console. Indeed, Urumi was making short work of the highly trained staff guarding the armory. She was fast, efficient and lethal. After donning her gear and procuring the weapons, Urumi blew open a window, jumped out and ran to the exit after falling unharmed from 6 floors. Yoshito knew that it was hopeless to catch up with her so he decided to find out Urumi's objective from the one they called Ichise.
"I take it your desk has access to every camera and sensor in this facility?" he asked and Ms. Kanzaki nodded in assent.
Yoshito tapped a few commands and the 3 displays showed every view that each camera and sensor covered.
"He's in Block-D, Level-4. Where can he go from there?" Yoshito asked.
"There's a vacant lot that leads to a back road behind this building. He may have a car waiting there," replied Ms. Kanzaki's assistant who entered the room a few minutes ago.
"I'll head him off. You guys have a team ready," Yoshito instructed.
"You won't make it there in time! It takes 15 minutes to get to that area from here!" shouted the assistant though Yoshito was already out of earshot by the time he finished his warning.
"Let him be, Toyotomi. He'll make it. He is XH-1, after all," Ms. Kanzaki explained.
Yoshito ran all the way and was able to make it to the area a few seconds before Ichise emerged from the building.
"Isn't the exit the other way around?" Yoshito asked before proceeding to knock out Ichise. The support team showed up a few minutes after.
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Back in Ms. Kanzaki's office, calls were being made to each and every area of the building, with every staff coordinating with everyone. They were surprised when Yoshito showed up with an unconscious Ichise slung over his shoulders, the support team behind him.
"Here's your man," Yoshito declared as he dropped the man onto the couch he occupied before.
"Somebody get me some smelling salts! Now!" Ms. Kanzaki ordered.
"That'll take too long. Let me," Yoshito declared. He then pressed a pressure point on Ichise's shoulder and the man woke up. He panicked when he saw Ms. Kanzaki's face.
"What did you do to my daughter?!!!" she yelled.
"I don't know what you're talking about!!! Honest!" Ichise replied.
Ms. Kanzaki was about to hit him when Yoshito stopped her.
"Somebody get me some of that VERITAS-mixture that I saw on our way back. Hitting him will do no good," he ordered.
"But..................that will fry his brain after a few minutes!" one tech explained even as he observed Yoshito looking at him with a slightly raised left eyebrow. He decided to play along.
"Better his brain than Urumi's," Yoshito replied.
"No! No! Not that! I'll tell everything! Just please don't use that stuff on me!" Ichise wailed.
Ichise proceeded to tell them about his ties with the disgruntled terrorist- groups and their plan to discredit, sabotage and ultimately reclaim the formula to create super-soldiers. Urumi was to assassinate the Japanese premier as soon as she freed herself.
"Is that all?" Yoshito asked.
"Yes, that's all! I swear! Please have mercy on me!" Ichise groveled.
Yoshito then gave a signal and the tech proceeded to hypodermically administer the alleged truth-serum. Ichise proceeded to pass out.
"At least we know now what XH-2, I mean, Urumi wants to do," declared Najita, the head technician.
"Good work. But I do not recall having you people make any truth-serum like that," Ms. Kanzaki stated.
"We know that. But Ichise didn't," Yoshito replied.
Once again, Ms. Kanzaki was amazed at Yoshito's creativity.
"Have Team Raptor assemble in the parking lot. Their objective is to stop my daughter from carrying out her assassination attempt.
Her staff complied and Ichise was carried out of the room. The activity in the room soon died out, leaving Ms. Kanzaki with Yoshito.
"All we can do now is hope and pray that Team Raptor can stop her. The hormone Ichise injected shortened our window of opportunity to just 1 day. After that, XH-2 takes over and Urumi will be no more," Ms. Kanzaki stated. She then stood up to proceed to the parking lot where she would be giving Team Raptor their mission.
Yoshito took a few minutes as he observed Ms. Kanzaki before he replied.
"Is there extra gear that I can use?" Yoshito asked.
Ms; Kanzaki was surprised at Yoshito's statement. She realized what he was saying.
"You've already done enough for us, Yoshito. I can't ask you to be part of the team that will bring her back. We don't know the full extent of Urumi's capabilities and I'm afraid there's a possibility that Team Raptor might have to eliminate her altogether," she replied.
"That's why I'm going. To make sure that all we do is bring Urumi back. No one else is better suited for the job. I am XH-1, after all," Yoshito stated.
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Team Raptor was fully assembled in the parking lot, waiting for Ms. Kanzaki. They saw her emerge from the building with a few guards and Yoshito clad in full gear.
"Team Raptor, these are your orders: the objective is to capture and bring back alive my daughter. As you may well know, her XH-2 persona has taken over and she aims to assassinate the premier. She is to be incapacitated but not killed. I expect you all to be clear on that. Accompanying you on this mission is XH-1, otherwise known as Yoshito Kikuchi. He will be our ace-in-the-hole and co-leader with Raptor-1. I expect your team to fully cooperate with him on this mission. That is all," Ms. Kanzaki declared. She then turned and headed back into the building.
"You heard the lady, now go, go, go!!!" Raptor-1 barked as the team split into 2 groups and boarded the helicopters. He then approached Yoshito.
"So you'll be joining us, XH-1?"
"The name's Yoshito Kikuchi. But XH-1 will do for now," Yoshito replied.
The 2 men sized each other up for a few minutes before Raptor-1 declared: "I expect you to carry out my orders without question, you got that?"
"Affirmative," Yoshito replied.
"Glad to have you on our side for a change, kid. Now let's go get your girlfriend."
"She's not my girlfriend!"
"Whatever."