"Building a Foundation"

I walked for what must've been hours. I knew where I was going somehow, even though I wasn't even given so much as a map. I figured I probably had a GPS in my head that I just didn't know about. Occasionally, Junko would say something. She'd talk about whatever came to her mind. Mostly, it was rumblings of her despair philosophy that I didn't even pretend to listen to, but other times it was about the Future Foundation. She mentioned that it was led by a Makoto Naegi.

"I think I met his sister." I added.

"Oh? Really? That's pretty neat I guess. To be honest though, I don't care." Junko snarked.

I rolled my eyes and continued walking. Eventually, I saw a town under construction, or rather, reconstruction, in the distance. I was about to just run on in, but Junko stopped me.

"I think they'll freak the fuck out if they see all your robot parts! Find something longer to wear, god damnit!" She yelled.

I snuck in to the city quietly, and found a mostly raided clothing store. I took some long pants and a hooded jacket, putting them on. I felt only a little bad about the stealing; I mean, it was wrong, but it's not like anyone was trying to sell these anymore. I walked out and wandered a bit. The city was in better condition than Towa city, but still looked as though ravaged by war. I would've kept looking around, but I heard people; two younger men were talking. I fought the instinct to call out to them or find them, and decided to hide. I ducked behind a small fence and peeked through it. Two men wearing black suits and a logo appeared. Junko instantly recognized them as Future Foundation.

"What do I do?" I asked her.

"Take them out, and take any kind of phone they have on them." Junko ordered. I gulped, but I knew I would've had to come to blows with someone eventually. I hopped over the ledge, and they turned to face me.

"Who are you?!" One Future Foundation member said.

"Freeze!" the other said as he pulled out a handgun.

I said nothing as I put my hands in the air. They grabbed my arms, but then I, holding my breath, whipped my metal arm around. The man who held it was sent flying into a nearby brick wall. I heard him slam against it, but I had no time to feel bad when the other officer pointed his gun at me. I let out a small yelp as I put my arms in front of my face. I didn't know what else to do. However, it was more than enough to protect me, as the bullet ricocheted off my metal arm.

I looked up at the officer, who was bewildered. He started walking backwards.

"W-what are you? Get away from me!" he yelled.

I felt compelled (probably by a subtle push from Junko) not to let him escape, so I quickly chased him down with my superior running skills that I thankfully had not lost. I knocked him unconscious and took his phone.

"OK, so I'll digitally download the phone's information. Oh, and aren't you forgetting something?" Junko smiled.

"What am I forgetting? I took out the officers and got one of their pho—"

"No, you took out one officer. I mean, if he's not dead then he's got broken bones and won't be a threat."

"So you want me to break this one's bones?" I forced a smile.

"I personally would kill him, but it's your choice. Kill him, and you'll probably bring more despair to yourself; it'd be your first meditated murder, and maybe your first period if the other guy lived. Or, you can break his back, bringing him a permanent reminder of despair and terror that'd he'd probably have to live with for the rest of his life." She laughed evilly.

I stopped and thought about it. Junko would destroy me from the inside if I did nothing. I might destroy myself if I did either of her orders. I decided to break his back. I figured he would at least get to see his family again. I picked up his unconscious body. I realized I was crying and whispered "I'm…sorry…."

CRUNCH!

As I set the officer's now crippled body down, I heard Junko booing. She said I was lame, but it was whatever. I sat down and cried a little bit. I was wallowing in my own shame. I felt Junko staring at me.

"Y'know, I was being too hard on you."

"Really?" I said skeptically.

"Yeah. I mean, you're not a stone cold killer yet, so I shouldn't have expected a kill out of you. Here, maybe this will make it better." Junko said. Suddenly, I felt an intense surge of pleasure throughout my mind and body. The despair was still present, but now alongside a weird ecstasy.

"What's…this…?" I managed to ask.

"It's me activating your brain's pleasure centers. Oh, and it's what you'll feel as you hurt, kill and bring despair." Junko giggled.

"Um…uh…no thanks…I…."

"No, I insist!" Junko urged. I felt it for quite a bit longer before it finally faded away.

Eventually, I stood up and felt where I was supposed to go. Junko informed me that, from the officer's phone, she found the location of a Future Foundation facility. My GPS was locked on, so I moved forward. I tried so hard not to think about the despair of murder…and the pleasure that was bound to come from it. I shivered. It was revolting and disgusting, but it felt impossible to get my mind off of. I did have a brief reprieve when I saw a fast food restaurant and heard my stomach growling, though.

"I'm hungry."

"Ugh, fine. Make it quick."

I took some food and ate it as I trudged forward still to the Future Foundation's HQ. At the very least, it proved I still needed to eat. The walk took until sunset regardless, though, and my thoughts waved back and forth on the subject I wanted to avoid. Junko made that terrible action of mine feel…good. I didn't want despair or hurting or killing to feel good! It was less about the guilty reward for the actions I knew were bad.

It was more about how afraid I was that I might grow to like it.

I walked for what felt like hours, and the world around me was in ruin. Cars flipped over, dried blood even now, buildings smashed, and weapons strewn. But, as the GPS carried me onward, I crossed into a large field, probably a former farm. I stood and admired the scenery. Unlike the city, this area looked lush and beautiful even after all that's happened. It was like a twisted parallel to how far we'd fallen….

Huh. That was more poetic than I was expecting.

"Hey, Yuta, what are you even doing?" Junko sneered.

I snapped back into reality "Sorry. I'll keep walking."

"No, fool. You've already arrived. Find an entrance." Junko ordered in a queen-like personality.

"This is just a plain filled with plants." I rebutted.

"MOTHER FUCKER! THEY'RE UNDER-GROUND, DUH!" Junko boomed in her angry persona.

I sighed, and swept the area for an entrance. As much as I liked my eyes, I started to wonder why I didn't get a robot one. It would have really help with scanning, at least. Regardless, I eventually stepped on a piece of earth that gave off a loud "clang!" when my metal foot crossed it.

"'Clang'? Well, there's the entrance…"

Sure enough, I brushed away all the dirt and grass to find a metal hatch. It had a passcode reader.

"Hey, Yuta, plug my source flash drive into the keypad." Junko said.

I looked at the flash drive that had been plugged into my head earlier.

"It doesn't fit a USB…." I mumbled. Suddenly, a compatible plug for the passcode reader popped out of the flash drive. I plugged it in, and the door opened.

"What did that do?" I asked.

"Hacked security. They're cameras won't even work." Junko explained absentmindedly. I took that in stride, and went inside the facility. Three guards with pistols approached me.

"Freeze!" one said. They began firing. I led with my left, since there were more robotics on that side of me, and charged forward. I slammed directly into one guard, knocking him out. With my human leg, I kicked the second one in the face, and he fell to the floor. I turned to the third guard and slapped him with my metal arm.

I began to walk away when the second guard got up and pointed the gun at my face.

"DIE!" he screamed.

I reacted on instinct, and punched a hole clean through him. At first, I didn't realize what I had done. But when I looked….

"OH MY GOD!" I shrieked. I pulled my arm out and backed up against a wall. I just killed a man. Maybe that other one from earlier died, but this was different. Then, I had no idea how strong my arm really was. This time, I just punched a hole in a man knowing full well I could.

"Ohgodohgodohgodohgod…." I muttered, trailing off. I could feel Junko's eyes on me.

"Yuta-kun, don't cry…" Junko said in her cute persona before switching, "that was FUCKING AWESOME!"

"S-shut up!" I growled.

"Maybe this will help."

Junko triggered my brain's pleasure centers.

"N-no…stop! I d-don't want killing to feel…aaaaah…." I moaned.

"Sure you do! Oh, but make sure you finish the mission." Junko chimed.

The pleasure ceased, and I stood up shaking. Too many emotions ran through my head to register properly, so I did all I could to focus single-mindedly on the task at hand. At this point, though she hasn't exactly told me, I'm pretty sure my goal is to systematically destroy the Future Foundation. I didn't know what that meant to do here, but I'm sure Miss Crazy in my head would tell me.

I walked forward in a long hallway, leading to some kind of command room. I was assaulted by six guards before I got there—

Or, was it seven guards? I wasn't paying attention. They couldn't stop me and I was too numb to care. I killed a man. Not entirely by choice, but not entirely against my will, either.

And thanks to that little bitch, it felt amazing.

I wanted to throw up. I hated myself. I really hated myself. Of course it was still terrible, and I knew that, blah blah blah. But I liked it. I mean, not on a psychopath's level; I still hated it, too. But I was beginning to like it.

"What happens when I begin to truly enjoy it?"

"Even if that doesn't happen, will I become physically addicted to murder?"

"Will…will I still be me when this is all over?"

I plugged Junko's drive into another computer at the command center. She collected data from the server before being shut out by the anti-virus software.

"Hmmm…we have a stop to make." Junko announced.

"Where?" I heaved.

"We have a warrior to kill." Junko smiled.

To Be Continued…