Operation Ex4: Machina

"And now our top story this morning for the local news." Yuri Otani munched toast in her family's apartment. She had moved back with her mother and father, since with both her dorm mates absent from the country without replacements, she was reluctant to stay. Her parents, Masatoshi and Satoko, had relented, especially with her mother's opinion on the unwanted position of Alien Fighter. Though she was one year and one growth spurt older, character-wise, their daughter had changed and matured little. Satoko blamed the stress, and her spouse agreed.

An icon showing stylized pictures of two organic spaceships appeared above the words "Alien Attack?" on the television as the anchor continued. "A major alien attack on a local school last night was apparently stopped through unknown means. Police are reluctant to part with the details, though it is rumored to be the work of some sort of vigilantes. It happened in the neighborhood of Hinode-cho; where a record six spaceships landed on the grounds of the Hinode Junior High School. Police and fire crews responded to the scene after being a fire was reported at the school. They found two burnt spaceships and a rather massive stack of what appears to have alien carapaces arranged into pyre; almost all of the carcasses were burnt beyond recognition. We have no definite word at this point, but many of the bodies appear to have died before being burnt, and police have found traces of glass and lead in the remains. We have contacted the local branch of the Earth Defense Committee but as of this broadcast, they have not returned our calls; it is unknown who or what is responsible for stopping the attacks. Damage to the school is estimated at just over three million yen."

Yuri's mother said little. Her daughter looked at her, and somewhat hopefully asked, "Do you think they have cancelled school?" Satoko sighed. "Well, they didn't say anything about, and all the damage looks like a bunch of broken glass. But…I'm just trying to imagine what would have happened if those aliens had arrived today. Could you have fought them?" Yuri thought for a moment, hesitant. As she opened her mouth to say "no" the doorbell rang. Yuri got up and opened the door. It was Monami. "Let's get going Yuri; you're going to be late." Yuri stood at the door until the thought registered, before hurrying towards her things. "Good morning, miss Komai." Monami bowed. "Good morning, ma'am." "Please try and look after my daughter." "I always do. Or least, I try." With that, Yuri appeared, slipped on her shoes, and was out the door with her senior.

• • •

It had been a rather harmless question. "Would you like to go shopping after school?" Saki had asked Jun the question, presumably in an effort to dull her friends' anxiety over actually interacting with the oddly scarred transfer student in a social setting. Jun, for reasons not entirely clear even to her, took the girl up on it. And thus, she had paid the price.

Jun sighed once. "How long are they going to take?" She adjusted the mountain packages she held, trying to even them out between her hands. Surprisingly, the bag handles were not cutting into her hands, though the sheer weight of them was doing numbers on her shoulders. "Shinosaki, how about here?" Jun mumbled a quick "sure" before she walked on. They had already exhausted the mall in Hinode and thus were now two subway stops away, pilfering the storefronts. "So, Jun, not much of a shopper?" "Well, Taka, not to this amount." As far as Jun could remember, the three other girls beside her and Saki answered to Yoshiko, Taka, and Kyoko, and their stamina for such exploits far exceeded her own. And thus, when she stopped actually looking at sale items, Jun had somehow been relegated to bag duty.

Finally, the Shinosaki girl spied an empty bench outside of the boutique where the quartet was currently scavenging. She slid her smoke-grey mono-strap backpack to one side and sat down with almost as much force as the bags she held. "Thanks for holding up." Jun looked up to see Saki in front of her, smiling. "Here. A reward for putting up with me and my friends." The girl reached into her back pocket and removed a small keychain of a standing woman. It was vaguely familiar "It's the Sho Kannon. I figured you could use a little bit of mercy right about now." Jun blinked but accepted the gift. "Thanks. I think."

The group of five took a slightly different way back to the subway station, since the line of storefronts that they had most recently passed through were oddly devoid of vending machines. They found a side street with a vending machine and several small parked cars. A forest butted up to the street, cordoned off by a high chain link fence topped with spiraled razor wire. Saki scrunched her eyes noticing the warning placard and the fact that the area was right next to a residential and shopping district. "Weird. Never been by here before." Kyoko and Yoshiko added, "nope" while Taka fed the drink machine. Jun set down the near-dozen bags she had been carrying and somewhat relaxed. It was then that she gagged and nearly collapsed forward.

The nerves in Jun's neck had taken that instant to all fire off simultaneously, causing the reflex. She knew what the insubstantial feeling was, and at this magnitude, something was practically screaming at her. Saki caught her as she feel. "Jun, are you okay?" Jun gasped as a few beads of sweat ran down her face. She weakly gave a "yeah" back before she got up and steadied herself. The only other people on the side-street, a couple at the upper definition of 'teenager', stared on at the short spectacle. Jun looked through the lovers and at the fence, but saw nothing. "You guys need to get going." Kyoko frowned. "Why?" Taka tossed Jun a water, which she promptly set on the ground. A dull, growling screech was followed by the fence buckling. The woman in front of the fence starting yell-whimpering, unable to vocalize a scream, as she gripped her significant other increasingly tighter. As the girls gaped upward, Jun failed to say "That's why" and instead only thought it.

Jun broke into a sprint, lowering her right arm and allowing her bag to swing forward. She unzipped it as she neared the fence, as if a mechanical action. She looked up, stopped, and rebounded off the face, tackling the couple as the fence collapsed toward the street. She grimaced, but a nearby car stopped the razor wire from reaching the back of her head. She had to the literally drag the man and woman out from under the fence. "Get out of here!" Jun retrieved a loaded magazine, tossing it left. Her left hand instinctively caught it and she pulled her pistol and instantly combined the pair. A gloved left hand yanked back the slide and chambered the first round before it screwed on the silencer. The giant worm slid over the remains of the fence and over the blue compact car, crushing it under several tons of invertebrate.

The alien was impressive by most standards. The beast was almost ten feet in diameter and probably sixty feet long. A flat, rounded head held flush light-sensing organs and a large, circular radula filled with vicious teeth lined the underside. The worm howled a deep wail that sounded vaguely like wind being forced through a small canyon. The first bullet that hit its 'eye' did little as it slid forward, rearing its fore end in the air. A quick glance behind her told Jun that her schoolmates had fled the immediate scene, but the college-age woman sat paralyzed on the ground, and her companion was reluctant to leave her. Jun faced him with an inhumanly stern countenance. "LEAVE." The man faintly nodded before complying.

The worm shifted its focus towards the woman and began closing the distance between them. Two more rounds hit the worm in the 'head' but did little to deter it, and overall had little effect. Jun lowered her pistol and ran forward, stopping above the young woman. Two shots to the inside of the radula caused a small stream of violet sanguine flood dripped out of the mouth, but the creature still paid little attention to its wounds. Jun flicked her pistol's safety and caught the lady under her right arm, hoisting her up thanks to the adrenaline that now rushed through the girl's system. After depositing the hysterical teenager a good distance away, she spun and faced and faced her prey. The worm still paid her little heed, so as she ran past it, she unzipped her backpack's front pocket and removed her knife. She plunged the silver-black fighting knife into the alien's rough outer skin. It stayed perfectly put. "Perfect." Jun stepped on the handle and catapulted herself on top of the rounded surface of the worm's 'back' before leaning down and yanking out the knife. Only the very tip of it held purple blood.

Jun momentarily gauged the internal armor of her target before she ran over the sandpaper-like surface of the skin towards the front of the worm, which was still slowly approaching the woman. Because of the tilt on the neck, she again used her knife as an improvised step. She braced her gloved hands against the rough skin, pulling herself above the curve of the 'head' before standing up. She was roughly three stories in the air. It was then the noticed the odd patch of skin at almost the exact middle of the front section of the animal. On a hunch, she armed her pistol and fired a single round into the translucent section. It immediately spurt purple blood that seemed to be mixed with a different metallic silver blood. Jun scowled and emptied the remaining nineteen nine-millimeter rounds into the soft spot.

The alien roared again, though the vocalization quickly turned to a whining gurgle as the worm quivered once before collapsing forward. Jun purposely fell forward and gripped the carapace as best she could as the beast hit the ground, twitched twice, and lay still. The girl with one eye stood up and grabbed her knife, tried her best to rub the blood off on the outer skin, and then stowed it along with her pistol in her backpack. She quickly hunted down the empty pieces of brass and tossed them into the small front pocket before she zipped it. The street was empty except for the woman and Jun's bottle of water, lying on its side and still unopened.

Shinosaki eyed the hapless barely twenty-something fumbling with a cell phone. Jun put the single strap of her bag over her back and walked up to the 'victim', and snatched the cell phone out of her hands. Jun's white-covered right hand quickly dialed "119" followed by the "send" button before handing it back to the woman. Jun passed a weak smile and a sigh before heading off towards the subway station. Twenty seconds later, the woman spoke up, her phone glued to her face. "Wh-where are we?" Jun turned and calmly replied, "The east border of the Forest of Spaceships."

• • •

"I don't believe it. I honestly don't." "Believe what?" Jun glanced at the rather consternated teacher. "Mr. Noda isn't going to believe this." "Believe what, ma'am?" "Nothing, you're free to go, I suppose." Jun's school day had started with having her jacket, schoolbag, all her belongings, and even her shoe locker searched. Satisfied, the woman held back a slight frown. "Well, thank you." Jun bowed, though she wasn't quite sure if thanking a person who had almost strip-searched her was the appropriate response. Jun knew what they were looking for…and they wouldn't find it. She had left her 'tools' at home. If Saki and her friends hadn't seen Jun draw her weapons, then the young couple certainly had. It was probably both.

During class, whispers were aboundingly present, and Jun was sure that it was not simply paranoia when her fellow students treated her more distantly than her first day of school. Between class, Jun a caught a hold of someone she recognized as Yoshiko from the previous day. She was hesitant to start talking but she relaxed (slightly) as she started talking. Her full name was Yoshiko Ito. Jun gave her best impression of a friendly smile as she walked down one of the second-floor corridors. Another group of girls squeezed closer to their lockers. "So, why is everyone edgy today?" Jun already knew the response. "I know exactly why everyone is edgy." "Why do you think, Shinosaki? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that you brought a gun to go shopping." Jun faked slight embarrassment. "Sorry, but would you have rather seen that man and woman be eaten?" Yoshiko. "Whatever. You're thinking with the wrong head. Later, weirdo." The last word was neither toned as an insult or as a joking remark—the tone was neutral in a tone that Jun often used herself. She honestly didn't know to respond, so she simply said nothing.

By the end of the school day, the slightly pensive Jun was sure that the rumors had permeated every corner of the school, from the gym to the computer labs. The gossip had actually not reached every willing ear yet, but it undoubtedly felt like it. One of the people it had reached was Miyu Tamaki, and thus, Yuri. "I don't get it. She only used it on the alien, right? Maybe she's an alien fighter, but she just doesn't use a borg. That makes sense, right?" Hopeful eyes glanced at Miyu, who gave a sighing smirk. "Interesting way to put it, but I think you're missing the point." "Isn't that the point?" "You're hopeless, Yuri." Otani shrugged. "Why should Jun be scary?"

Without really thinking about it, Yuri tracked down Shinosaki after the last bell. "Hey, um…Jun!" Jun turned to her right, allowing her good eye a clear field of view. "Oh…Otani, was it?" The alien fighter nodded. "Well…I heard…you hunt aliens, right?" Jun blinked. "Everyone was so concerned about the gun. She's more concerned about the actual alien?" "That's correct." "Are you some kind of alien fighter?" "Not really." Yuri perked up. "Have you considered joining this school's Alien Party? I'm sure we could use your help." Jun said nothing. "Okay…well, can I ask for help?" Jun turned her shoulders as she briefly glanced forward to keep from falling down the stairs she had just started descending. "How so?"

"Well, how do you do it?" Jun's face contorted in confusion. "Isn't that much…obvious?" "No, no…I mean…um…whenever I'm against aliens…I get scared and…tense up." Jun failed to realize how much of a colossal understatement it really was. The two had reached the first floor of the school. "Hmm…well, the best weapon that aliens have isn't claws or drills; it's fear. All you have to do remind yourself that you won't let fear rule you. Some aliens may think and talk, but they're still just animals. If you can make them afraid, there's nothing to worry about. And if that's not working, just use some other emotion. Be annoyed that they're taking your time, or be angry at them for hurting others. If you can try that, you won't have the time be afraid."

Jun opened her shoe locker and quickly switched footwear. As she stepped towards the still-broken glass front doors and into the din outside, Yuri, who had been attempting to internalize the advice, noticed. "Hey, wait!" Jun didn't hear her. Yuri reached out to Jun's right hand and grabbed it in an attempt to catch the girl's attention. It didn't. Instead, the thin white leather glove slid cleanly off Jun's right hand. "Ah." Jun stopped. A number of gasps arose from nearby students. She turned her head.

It was then the chorus started its revue. "That…can't be right." "Wh-what is that?" "Cool." "How does that even work?" "She's…a…" Jun turned around. In front of the interested and disgusted alike was Yuri, standing still, looking very confused and holding a white leather glove. Jun's eye caught sight of the glove. She followed the path of the menagerie's eye until she realized it led towards her. Jun looked down at her hand. It was metallic in a matte black with a touch of silver. Under her uniform jacket was a mechanical arm. The breath had been instantly drained from her. Jun turned and broke into a sprint, one narrow step away from tears, leaving a silent but wistful Yuri Otani holding the glove.