Far East Branch - Dungeon

The Far East was in utter chaos following Neo's violent outburst. The damage left in her wake shook all the squadrons to their core. Gunter, the 2nd Unit's top assault member was hospitalized with head trauma and asphyxiation. His allies weren't in much better condition. Caleb, a 3rd Unit gunner, was in the ward with broken ribs, resulting from blunt force trauma. Otto, his 3rd Unit colleague, remained comatose as well with both blunt force trauma and nerve damage from electrocution. Lenka Utsugi, the 1st Unit's Captain, was hospitalized for the same reason.

And the news spread like wildfire.

Within twelve hours of the incident, the entire Den was in an uproar, with everyone trying to figure out exactly what had happened. So far, only a handful of undeniable facts were confirmed. Four God Eaters across varying units were currently hospitalized in unstable condition. Neo, the Den's volatile New Type was responsible. And Ichiro Hamasaki, her caretaker and closest friend, was nowhere to be found.

Soma had shown him the archives, finally revealing to him the true nature of Neo's experimentation. His initial reaction had been very similar to his own. The veteran stood there; eyes glued to the screen of the terminal. Soma didn't blame him. He had done much the same thing when he learned the truth. What differed was followed after.

He had been fully prepared for whatever wrath Ichiro would bring. He had prepared for various scenarios, everything from blockading him into his room to restraining him in the event of another episode. With no idea of how far the infection had spread, it was entirely possible that his Oracle cells would activate, sending him into a violent rage. What he had not prepared for was what the guardian actually did.

His reaction… was no reaction at all. Ichiro didn't say a word. He didn't scream, nor rage, or even acknowledge the documentation at all. He simply… left. Without a sound, he turned and strode from the room. Soma didn't bother going after him. His instincts told him it would be best not to. There was something deeply unsettling about the calmness in his demeanor. As though one wrong move would set off an atomic bomb.

Following his disappearance, things only continued to worsen from there.

The attack had led to outcry from members of the Den all over. It seemed that this had been the final straw. Demands for justice rose like an echo chamber, with some calling for exile, others for imprisonment. And as it stood, Major Amamiya didn't have a choice. The incident was just too large to ignore, with four God Eaters in the ward and another MIA, there was no way Neo could walk without widespread outrage.

Yet strangely, Neo didn't react in the way that they had come to expect. As a result of her strength and volatility, the executives had come to armed to the teeth to collect her. With multiple God Eaters, restraints, as well as high-powered sedatives and sonic devices, they were prepared for a full-scale battle. But in the end, none of it was needed as her apprehension went far smoother than any of them could have imagined.

The New Type was found sitting in Hamasaki's bedroom, lifelessly on the bed. There were no door locks or electrical fields, and she offered no resistance to her arrest. Catatonic, she simply followed them to her holding cell without a single word of opposition. Her teammates watched the display with various reactions, Soma and Alisa being the most disturbed. It was almost as though Reaper had returned… but far, far worse. Any light remaining in her eyes was gone. She was utterly broken.

Following her detainment, discussions began almost immediately about what to do with her. There had initially been talk of caging her, but the idea was quickly discarded. It was a well-known fact that there was no cell within their walls that would be able to contain her permanently. When she grew tired of her holding, she would leave it, simple as that. Of course, for the time being, it didn't look like that would be happening any time soon.

In the interim, she had been moved to the lowest floor of underground containment. Selecting the strongest chamber they could possibly find, they reinforced it as many times as they could for maximum security. Along every few floors were members of the reserves and rotating members of the Defense Unit. Whether or not their precautions would hold remained to be seen, but there wasn't much else to be done about it. All they could do was hope that she remained in her compliant state until they could figure out a course of action.

Heavy footsteps wandered down the empty stairwell. After Hamasaki's disappearance, Soma had taken up the mantle of Neo's care in his absence. The responsibility was initially meant to fall between Sakaki, Tsubaki, and a few other members of the 1st Unit. Soma, surprising every one of them, had volunteered to watch over her. He cited no reasons why and quite frankly, didn't entirely understand it himself. It was just something he felt he needed to do.

It wasn't a difficult job. In fact, it was possibly the easiest he had ever done. Not that that was a good thing.

Neo had shown almost no signs of life. She didn't eat, she didn't drink, and whether or not she slept remained a mystery. Any attempts at questioning or explanation were fruitless as she wouldn't speak. She hadn't uttered a single word since that day. Not to Alisa, not to Soma, and not even to Dr. Sakaki. If they could draw her attention from the wall, it was considered a miracle.

But Soma refused to give up. He was determined to get through to her, even if it was nothing more than a single word. As such, he continued coming down multiple times a day, every day, bringing fresh meals to replace the ones that she hadn't eaten. To replace the water that she hadn't drank. Even a can of First Love Juice hadn't been enough to stir her, sitting near the entrance of her chamber where he left it.

If it weren't for the fact she occasionally appeared in different positions, one would almost think she were actually dead. Which was why this particular evening was so alarming. Reaching the lowest floor, Soma made his way through the familiar halls, his nose wrinkling at the various chambers as he passed. Rooms that once held Aragami and scientists conducting experimentation now lay as empty relics of the past. All but one of them were left abandoned… the one that Soma suddenly found himself drawn to.

And now, I'm so far gone

Can you change my name? Can you replace my pain?

I know I'm not all wrong

So, throw away my parts and burn my blackened heart

It had taken him a few paces before he realized what was going on. His legs carried him slowly towards the familiar sound, just as they had so long ago after Hamasaki's first disappearance. Her somber song rang in his ears, taking over more and more of his consciousness the closer he became.

Now I'm broken, I'm scraps, yet I'm the monster

You bring me back to life so you can watch me die

You can't tame me, just blame me, make me obsolete

There's nothing left to say, just let me fade away

By the time she reached the end of her song, Soma found himself approaching the doorway.

Just let me fade away… "Hmm?" Neo halted her melody at the sight of movement in her periphery. Her mouth snapped shut, eyes lowering once again to the floor.

Soma shook his head, trying to clear it and bring himself back to planet Earth. Her song was a dark one, like many of the tunes she often sang. It was a miserable gateway into her tortured soul… but at least it was still something. It was the first sign of sentience she had shown in days, and he didn't intend to let it slip away. If he were to have any chance of engaging with her, it would have to be now. Otherwise, she would clam up once more and his opportunity may be permanently lost. Unfortunately, Soma wasn't the best conversationalist, and couldn't really think of what to say. So instead, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "…Your song was depressing."

'Smooth.' He scolded himself as the corner of her mouth twitched. It wouldn't do much good to get her functioning only to piss her off.

Thankfully, she didn't take offense, and it was enough to garner her attention. She didn't lift her eyes, nor turn her head. Instead, she exhaled a bitter laugh, its ring threatening to beckon him forward once again. "But it's fitting, isn't it?"

Soma paused for a moment. He couldn't lie to her. Neo didn't enjoy empty words of comfort. Yet, he didn't like the path she was taking, leading her back into the darkest corners of her past. "No… Not now. You don't live in that world anymore."

Another resentful chuckle. "Don't I?"

"You're not in North America."

"Yet the result is the same."

"Not necessarily. Alisa and I are on your side. There's a good chance that -"

"Don't lie to me, Soma." Neo snapped, startling him into dead silence. Slowly, she turned her head to face him, eyes boring into his own with a look he couldn't describe. "Tell me they aren't up there right now, contemplating my execution."

Soma had no words. As always, she had seen right through him. Her behavior made him forget so very often. Neo wasn't stupid. In fact, she was alarmingly aware, and even now, knew the happenings of the Den despite being caged in a reinforced prison. Perhaps that was why she wouldn't eat… she saw no sense in battling the inevitable. But he didn't want to accept that. And he wouldn't let her either. "You need to eat something."

"What's the point?"

"Neo, you can't sit here and starve yourself."

"Would it be better to die by their hands?"

"You're not gonna die."

"There's no sense in fighting it."

"I won't let that happen."

"You're going to stop them?"

"If I have to."

"Ha! I'd love to you see you try." Neo cackled at his foolishness. In truth, she really wouldn't mind watching him defy Fenrir. As the old director's son and a relatively obedient soldier, it wasn't likely he would get more than a stern scolding. Worst case, he would simply land himself in a cell right alongside of her. At least, for however long she had left.

Soma frowned at the hollow tone to her voice. It didn't hold its usual defiance, but instead grudging amusement. Her expression held none of its typical stubbornness and her normally taut body was relaxed and loose. She wasn't angry. She wasn't even upset. She was just tired… like she had truly given up. That was what hurt the most. To see her ever-burning light, battered and weakened over years of abuse, finally being extinguished.

The area fell into silence, save for the quiet splashing of water droplets from the leaky piping. They fell rhythmically against the floor, counting the seconds between them. What could he say to her? How could he convince her to fight? Not to give up hope? How could he convince her that life was worth living? Even if he did, what was the point? With the entire Den in an uproar, and Hamasaki MIA, she was probably right. Sooner or later, a verdict would be passed down and without her primary guardian, she would have no one left to protect her or argue in her stead. Of course, at this point, he wasn't sure how much the other veteran could help her either, especially if Lenka could prove compromise or incompetence. Thankfully, he wasn't currently a factor.

"I hurt him." Soma blinked. Neo had finally spoken. "I hurt all of them."

It seemed she remembered the events of her outburst after all. Either that, or she remembered the aftermath. They had, after all, been cleaning up the remnants during her apprehension. "… One of them kind of deserved it." He muttered, recalling the number of times Otto had bullied the New Type both as Reaper and as Neo.

"But you didn't. Ichiro didn't. Caleb didn't. Even Lenka didn't." Her voice grew softer with each name she listed, the last coming out as barely a whisper.

Soma wasn't sure what to say to that. He would be lying if he tried to say that she hadn't hurt him. Her strike alone had bruised one of his ribs as well as multiple other parts of his body as he tumbled across the floor. Of course, his injuries were mild in comparison to the four who had been hospitalized and at this point, had all but fully healed. But that wasn't his concern. Right now, the only thing that mattered to him was the cause.

This was an exceptionally violent episode, even for her. To make matters worse, it was strangely targeted. Typically, when Neo relapsed, it resulted in a wild explosion with her lashing out at anything that got too close. She rapidly switched marks, selecting whichever one posed the greatest threat to her in that particular moment. This time, she had been focused, so much so that she returned to her original target after batting him away. The behavior was more akin to her patterns during a mission. She was after a specific person and was willing to tear through anyone to get to him. This went far beyond her typical triggers. No… this was personal.

"This is about Gunter, isn't it?" Neo's grimace confirmed his suspicions. "What did he do?"

She didn't answer his question. Instead, she shook her head, eyes moving back towards the wall. "I just - I thought I was finally…" Her words came out as broken sentences, her mind trying to figure out how to best formulate her thoughts. But she couldn't. There was no way vocalize this level of betrayal.

Soma watched her, taking careful note of her mannerisms. He was used to this pattern by now, especially following violent incidents. She would generally show guilt in the aftermath, either avoiding or trying to rectify the situation. Yet strangely, she wasn't acting the same way as she had during the other times. It wasn't like her reaction when Hamasaki pushed her beyond her limits and she snapped at him, or when she lashed out at an unsuspecting ally. It was the look he had seen during Spring Thunder just before her disappearance. Neo wasn't remorseful this time. She was hurt. "Finally…?"

The woman fell silent, her eyes drifting down to the floor. The last thing she wanted to do at this point was relive those moments. Even worse, she didn't want to burden those problems onto Soma or anyone else. At this point, she was content to finish out her sentence, whatever that may be… and if their decision was what she expected, then she wouldn't be anyone's problem anymore.

Soma, however, was having none of it. He was not going to let her drown herself in despair. Doing so was how she had gotten this way in the first place, always internalizing, and bottling up her problems. "Neo…"

Her violet hair shook with her head from side to side. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

"No, I'm going to worry about it. I won't let you keep doing this." He wasn't going to let her run away. Not this time.

"At the moment, I'm not doing much of anything."

"You know damn well that's not what I'm talking about."

"It's none of your concern."

"It is my concern."

"It doesn't affect you."

"Neo, you're in a fucking cell! It does affect me!"

"Exactly! I'm in a cell! Not you!"

"Would you just stop?!" Soma shouted, startling himself with his own volume. The way she flinched didn't escape his notice. But he wouldn't apologize. He had had enough. "You hold on to so much and try to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. You take care of everyone around you, but never yourself and you refuse to ask anyone for help -"

"Oh, look who's talking!" She snapped, her eyes filling with more life than he had seen since that day. "You want to lecture me about going it alone?!"

Soma scowled, his patience waning. While he was far from happy to see her stubbornness returning, he couldn't help but feel a bit relieved. She was arguing with him. It was a huge improvement from her previously empty state. "I didn't have a choice."

"Bullshit!" Neo leapt to her feet and stormed towards the bars, an alarming display of movement after remaining still for so long. "You were never alone, Soma. You always had me!"

"And you had Hamasaki!"

"You expect Ichiro to understand?!"

His mouth snapped shut. She was right. Despite growing up in the same branch, Ichiro was uninvolved in matters regarding her internal conflict. As a human, he had no way of ever comprehending what it was like to live as they did. Always struggling. Always fighting against their very nature. To make matters worse, he had been ignorant to what was going on externally, her experimentation a total mystery to him. Even now, she didn't realize that her guardian finally knew the truth… a bridge he would cross when he got to it. For now, he would focus on the present.

She had always been an understanding party. Always acting as his sounding board, the only one there for him when no one else was. But he had never truly offered her the same.

"…No. No, I don't. Hamasaki couldn't possibly understand… but I can."

"Hehe…" Her fingers gently wrapped around the bars, her head lowering to the floor. She tugged them lightly, as if to emphasize their existence. "It's too -"

"It's not too late." Soma stepped forward, placing his hand over hers. The muscles twitched as the chilled metal brushed against his fingertips. "I wasn't there then, but I am here now. I want to help you, but I can't if you won't let me."

Neo's chest shook with a bitter laugh. "Why are you so -"

"Because you're -"

You're important to me.

"… you're not an easy person to replace. I…"

I care about you.

"… I hate seeing you like this.

Her tired eyes slowly widened. His words had hitched, changing course mid-sentence. They hadn't come out properly. With Soma, they rarely did. But the sentiment wasn't lost on her.

"Neo. Talk to me."

"…"

Silence hung in the air, the two watching each other on opposite ends of the bars. The New Type couldn't help but shake her head at the familiarity. It was truly uncanny. There they stood once again, two Managarm children, gazing at one another through a screen. More or less. This time however, things would reverse. He would listen to her. With a resigned sigh, she finally relented.

"Being with Gunter was… different. He was the first outsider who didn't fear or reject me. It almost made me feel…" Her voice paused as she tried to recollect her thoughts.

Soma observed her, feeling his heart clench as he waited for her to finish her train of thought. He had never liked the idea of the two of them together, primarily because he didn't trust him. Yet strangely, it had never bothered him to the point that it did now. What was she going to say, he wondered? That he made her feel accepted? Appreciated? Loved? He didn't know… but she seemed to be having difficulty to getting out the words. "…Special?"

Neo shook her head. "… human." Her lips pulled into a sad smile, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "But it doesn't matter now. It was a lie. All of it. Heh… and you know what's fucked up?" Soma lifted an eyebrow, urging her to continue. "I'm not even upset about it."

"Could've fooled me." Soma muttered, earning a wistful chuckle in response.

"No… I mean, I'm not upset about his deception. I'm upset with myself. For not seeing it coming. For allowing myself to believe that I could live in this world among humans. That I allowed myself to forget, for even a moment, that I'm -"

"But you're not." Soma said, leveling a frown at her. He didn't know what had happened between the two of them prior to their arrival. Chances were, whatever he had said or done to trigger her was some sort of misunderstanding. One that he would get to the bottom of. Eventually. Shaking his head, he fixed his gaze with hers. "Look, I don't know what started all of this, but what happened that day… You weren't yourself."

"Wasn't I? Am I not the very image of death? Of destruction?"

The veteran sighed, unable to argue with her logic. Her training aside, Neo was a natural-born predator. Everything from her regenerative capabilities to her agile body were built for combat. She was a hunter by design… but that only determined what she was. Not who she was. "Maybe you are… but not at your core." She chuckled lightly at his choice of words. "You are what they made you. You're not a bad person."

"Soma, don't be naïve. I'm called the Dark Child for reason. It's because I am the manifestation of evil. A monster with sentience."

"Only half of you is. The other half is the opposite… and you used to know that."

The New Type shook her head. "Even if you're right, it doesn't matter. Either way, retribution is coming."

"Not while I have anything to say about it." Soma meant his words. He couldn't promise that she wouldn't be in her cell for a while. Neo would likely be in there for some time, and if he were being honest, that was probably for the good of everyone to some degree. She couldn't cause very much trouble from an underground cell. But as the Gods were his witness, he would not allow anyone to harm her. They would get to the bottom of this. They would get her out. Then… they would get her help. "We'll figure this out. Until then, try to behave yourself."

Stepping away from the bars, he eyed her food tray sitting abandoned at her bedside. "And eat something. I'll be back later."

"I'll be here." She muttered, wandering back towards her bed as Soma disappeared from sight. There was likely nothing he could do for her. She knew that. Even still, the idea that he was trying so hard made her feel just a little bit better.

. . .

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Song:

Obsolete - NateWantsToBattle

It's kind of weird how well his songs match Neo's life.