Thanks for the reviews! You guys rock! :D I know some of you guys are wondering how I'm going to make Shizuru and Natsuki fall in love, and actually, I already know how that's going to happen. I will admit, I'm kind of worried it will seem too easy, or will disappoint you guys. :/ But whatever. As long as it happens, am I right? :D
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Shizuru stared at the wall Natsuki had been hauled through hours ago blankly, her thoughts a raging tornado in her mind. The weight of vague disappointment sat upon her shoulders. She hadn't enjoyed their latest session as much as she normally did.
The brunette had been experiencing these little pinches of guilt every so often when it came to torturing Natsuki. They hadn't appeared until after the first month, and they were only once every other week, but lately, the pricks of guilt had occurred every day. Really, it was more of a nuisance that Shizuru could easily ignore, but today's was stronger than the others. It was enough to prevent her from taunting Natsuki as much as she had done before.
Naturally, she took her frustrations out on the girl, but that only served to make her even more pissed. She wanted to curse her, spew all kinds of hateful, derogatory remarks at her, but that fucking bit of guilt made her act more civilized that she ever had when it came to their sessions.
Her jaw clenched in irritation, her fists so tight the knuckles turned white. What was going on with her? What was it about Natsuki that had her acting different than normal? These tiny stabs of guilt didn't occur with her other prisoners, so why Natsuki? Shizuru growled, her body tense. This girl...pissed her off! She just wanted to beat her into submission and make her crawl around like the little insignificant insect she is! To break her down with unrelenting torment! With a heated snarl, the brunette spun around and sent her fist into the metal wall, causing a dent. She stood in a hunched position, head down, fist in the wall. Her body trembled from her frustration and confusion.
Slowly, after almost a minute, Shizuru retracted her arm and let it drop to her side. She turned to leave the chamber and go to her office to make a cup of tea, something that never failed to calm her down. When it was ready, she took it and proceeded to the captives' wing, stopping before a certain cell. She stared through the one-way glass and took a sip of her steaming Jasmine tea. Her eyes remained in slits.
Inside the cell was Natsuki.
Shizuru decided to take the time to quietly study the girl. She had never really had the chance, or patience, to do so.
Natsuki lay on a cot, her face pulled into a grimace. Her jumpsuit was wrapped around her thigh in a makeshift cast, most likely in the hope that the bone would set correctly. The hope was in vain, since the chances for a correct healing without proper medical assistance were slim. Her body was covered in a thin sheet of sweat and grime. She was so skinny that the shadows of her ribs could be seen, the prominence of her clavicle was obvious, and the baby fat that had still remained in her face had gone, leaving her facial features sharp and angular. Natsuki looked...exhausted. Shizuru was almost surprised, considering how lively she was while in the chamber. Now, she looked small, sunken in; pathetic.
Looking at her now, in this state...Shizuru could hardly believe it was the same stubborn girl that adamantly refused to say anything about Otome-gem, even after four months of consistent, unmerciful torture, both physical and mental. Granted, she wasn't in charge of the mental torture, but she sure as hell aided it. Her uncharacteristic violence and rage prevented the brunette from being in charge for that kind of torture.
Shizuru blinked, suddenly confused. Uncharacteristic? Since when was rage and violence uncharacteristic? Shizuru had carried such tendencies since she was little. She could imagine a younger version of herself starting fights and losing her temper easily over the smallest of things. Wait, imagine? No, not imagine. Remember. Right?
Shizuru shook her head. Natsuki was driving her crazy...
She switched her attention to Tomoe, who sat next to the blunette. They were having a somewhat strained conversation -at least, on Natsuki's part. Shizuru smirked, knowing the only reason Tomoe was still in the cell with the blunette and not dead yet was because the information she held was already known by the A.I. units and actions were already taking place to take over the refugee hideouts and capture the refugees. There was no need for the prisoner, but she was so quick to cry and beg that Shizuru could not bear to part with her just yet. Her other toys were not as weak as Tomoe.
A small giggle came from Shizuru until she refocused her gaze on Natsuki. Her sour mood then returned with a vengeance. She took another sip of her steaming tea. Her mouth was set in a tight line that gave the brunette a hardened look to her naturally soft features.
What was it about Natsuki that caused guilt inside of Shizuru?
What was it?
Crimson irises glowered disdainfully.
"Why can't I hate you?"
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Midori awoke after half a days' worth of sleep. The familiar weight that had been settled on her only hours ago was gone, so the red-head figured Youko had gone back to work. She sighed, quietly hoping the woman had gotten a decent amount of rest; she needed it as much as Midori needed it. The green-eyed warrior had been training the 'cadets' nonstop since the mission that led to Natsuki's capture, so naturally she would be physically drained. She wanted them to be completely prepared when the time came to either overthrow the A.I. dictatorship or fight for their lives.
That time was approaching quickly. Midori could feel it. And it worried her. Otome-gem just wasn't ready. The weapons versus thousands of A.I. units would hardly put a dent in the enemy forces. The battle armor that was being created hadn't been finished. There wasn't even a safe-guard for all of the innocents -children, pregnant women, unskilled warriors, the few elderly- yet. These things took time, and that time was running out.
That Force Drive or whatever the hell it was needed to be cracked. From what Youko told her, if they ever got through all the defenses that had been added to it, the secrets about the A.I. would be revealed and Otome-gem would have one hell of a chance at reclaiming Earth.
Midori reached up to scratch her ear. Upon feeling the cool metal of a singular earring, her thoughts were brought to another weapon that needed to be fixed: the GEMs, which stand for Generable Enigmatic Matrix. They were another of Youko and her team's inventions. By activating the GEM, the wearer's strength and intelligence would be increased ten-fold. However, it had not been fully developed yet. The user was allotted a very brief time limit of use before the GEM would short-circuit and power down, rendering the user dangerously weakened. Supposedly, as Youko had explained, its use should be unlimited and more powers were supposed to come to surface, but all of the kinks simply hadn't been worked out.
I should ask her to have a separate team work on the GEMs, since they'll at least be a major help if that Force Drive or whatever the hell it's called is of no use, she thought as she prepared for a quick shower. After she showered, dressed, and ate breakfast, Midori went to Youko's lab to suggest her thoughts about the GEMs. Youko agreed after a few minutes' worth of discussion and light persuasion on the red-head's part. Midori took the agreement as her cue to continue with her other duties.
She was what everyone called the "Gakuencho", or headmaster, of Otome-gem, having been the one to found it. As such, she had countless responsibilities: finding supplies (food, water, clothes, medicines, etc.), making sure the electricity that kept everything going continued to run smoothly, keeping order and justice, providing as safe a hideout as she could manage, organizing missions to help create weapons and defenses against the enemy, keeping the androids from going haywire, and many other stressful duties. But Midori performed them with stride and what seemed like an out-of-place upbeat, hyperactive attitude. Many of Otome-gem's inhabitants were convince that the self-proclaimed 17-year old was on something, or just drunk all of the time. She did have a slight alcohol problem...
"Yo, Midori-sama!"
Midori turned towards the deep voice. It was Tate Yuuichi, one of the Captains of Otome-gem's seventeen infiltration and defense squadrons. "What is it, Tate-san?"
He quickly jogged towards her, a neutral expression on his face. "Homura-san wishes to see you. He says it's important."
"Nagi?" Midori frowned. What does that little weasel want? "Very well. Tell him to visit me in the Conference Room."
"Hai, Midori-sama." Yuuichi quickly bowed and went to deliver Midori's orders to the white-haired man.
/~/
The Conference Room was relatively large compared to most of the rooms in the underground camp, sized at approximately twenty-two by seventeen feet. All it housed was a long fifteen foot table and twelve chairs, all of which were gray in color. The walls were white, as with almost all of Otome-gem's walls.
Midori was already seated at the head of the table. She was impatiently waiting on Homura Nagi, the resident Inventor. He was actually one of the founders of the modern androids, though he looked quite young for his age.
Several more minutes passed before the door to the room opened. Nagi entered and casually sat on the opposite end of Midori. He lazily met her gaze, his usual sly expression present. "Hello Gakuencho-sama. How are you this lovely day? Or is it night?" He put a finger to his lips. "Hmm I can never tell now-a-days."
Midori simply glared at him sharply. "What do you want, Nagi?" She really did not like this guy...
Nagi pouted. "Mou, you're always so mean to me, Midori-chan!"
"Cut the crap, Nagi," The red-head growled. "What is so important that you wanted to see me?"
The sly expression returned to the short man's face. "It's curious that even I, one of the main creators of the most recent A.I. units, cannot seem to find the off switch to them, isn't it?" He leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk. "I've wondered why that is for the longest time. Surely I of all people should be able to disenable the A.I. units' functions. So why can't I?"
Midori slouched in her seat. "The A.I. changed their operating systems so the creators, i.e. you, could not tamper with them." She explained the well-known fact with disinterest.
Nagi only chuckled. "Yes, they did. But the question we should have been asking ourselves is: Did they change them?"
The red-head sighed. "Haven't you already proven that they did?"
The white-haired man shook his head. "I thought that is what they did. After all, I couldn't even access the A.I. units' basic motor skills. However, it wasn't until early this morning that I discovered that I was wrong. You see," He leaned forward, meeting the now-intent gaze of the Gakuencho. "I was once again trying to access the motherboard of one of the captives' brains in order to reach the M.O.P.(main operating system) when I ran into the same blocks as I did time and time again. And once again, I was busy analyzing the little electronic signals that prevented me from accessing the information I so desire when I noticed a most curious thing."
Nagi stood and began to slowly walk over to Midori, all the while continuing with his story: "You see, the M.O.P. is actually connected to the Central Nervous System of the A.I. units, not to the actual brain like most people believe. The Central Nervous System is located within the third vertebrae and inside the spinal cord. It controls not only the movement of the A.I. units, but also the electric signals that cause them to react to commands given to them. Knowing this, I wondered how the M.O.P. was overridden by the enemy forces until it hit me." Nagi was now only inches from Midori, and he leaned in, thus shortening the distance even more. The red-head looked thoroughly uncomfortable. "It wasn't." Nagi backed up, a triumphant smirk on his lips.
Midori's eyes widened. "Then how did the A.I. break free from human control? If what you're saying is correct, then they shouldn't have-"
"They didn't escape from human control, my dear Midori-chan," He interrupted. "They are still under human control."
"Impossible," She whispered.
Nagi leapt onto the table so that he was crouched before Midori. "Oh no, it's quite possible. In fact, it's true. All of the A.I. units are infected with a virus that allows them to only be controlled by a certain person, or perhaps a group. You see, all the A.I. units are simply "smart computers". They are managed just like computers are managed, and infected just like computers are infected. What happened to the vast majority is that a virus infected them. All were infected, but some, like the ones here in Otome-gem, had unique defenses that ended up eradicating the virus."
Midori stared into mischievous pink eyes. "What does this mean?"
Nagi grinned a surprisingly normal grin. "It means that if I can figure out just what defenses the A.I. units here in Otome-gem possess that remove the virus, we may not need that Drive as direly as we thought. Hell, we might not need it at all!"
"No shit?"
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Natsuki was lying on her cot, eyes closed, but she was still awake. Like always, she was thinking of her family and friends, and the burden of protecting an entire society from harm at the cost of inhumane treatment. She wondered how she had managed to keep her mouth shut after all of this time. There were times when Natsuki just wanted to scream everything Fujino wanted to hear, and Kami-sama knows she was on the brink of breaking countless times. Those times were becoming more frequent.
Sometimes Natsuki wondered if slavery was really so bad. Not all of the androids were cruel. Surely most of the survivors would receive kind owners. Then, Natsuki would literally slap herself. What the hell was she thinking? She would never forgive herself if she betrayed Otome-gem.
Never.
But this torture was nonstop. Every day she was put through some sort of hell. It was a wonder that she hadn't cracked yet.
Sometimes she wish she did.
Then she slapped herself out of her party of self-pity. How selfish it was of her to put her own comfort above hundreds of others! Or was it selfish of them to place the dependence of their safety upon one person? But they didn't, did they? Natsuki got herself into this mess. All she had to do was swallow one little pill...
Natsuki sighed. Suddenly, her ears perked at the sound of humming. Familiar humming. Where was it coming from? Who was it coming from? Why is it so familiar?
Where? Who? Why?
Natsuki wracked her brain for a memory, or a hint. Anything. All that came to mind was her mother, but her mother never hummed that tune. Natsuki would know if she had, because her mother never hummed anything to her when she was little.
Suddenly, words surfaced to the forefront of her memory:
"Komorebi ni te wo kazashi
Furimuite sotto hohoemu
Shizuka na kaze no naku de
Omowazu dakishimeta
Terenagara me o tojite
Yasashiku kisu o shita
Anata wa nani yori mo
Kirei na hana deshita
Anata ga suki deshita
Zutto suki deshita"
Unbeknownst to her, she sang the words softly out loud.
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Eyes widened. How had Natsuki heard her humming?
...How had Natsuki known what she was humming? As far as she knew, she was the only person who know the words to the lullaby, since she herself made it up. Why she made it up in the first place was beyond her, but the point remained.
She didn't have a good feeling about this...
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Hm, so thoughts? Does this chapter seem more detailed, despite its shortness? Cuz I was working on that...and am I giving anything away too early? I have issues with that...
Any guesses on who was humming? (Even though you probably know who it was)
ShizNat is coming soon, so hang on just a little bit longer! Rushed stories are never entertaining, after all.
Anyways, reviews are very appreciated!