Summary: Nemu is getting worse. Soul society prepares for the assault.
Ten Days Ago
"Second division. Search and rescue…."
His name was Ishikawa Kaoru. In the twelfth division, it was understood that there were two kinds of shinigami. There were the ones who were recruited from the academy for their high marks and aptitude for the sciences. They were given white coats and carefully trained to add to the division's ranks of skilled scientists and researchers. Then there were the others. These shinigami were the bottom of the barrel. They were not good fighters, displayed no talent and in general barely scraped through to graduation. If no other division wanted you, the twelfth scooped you up. What happened after that was the basis for many rumors and stories. Stories of lethal experimentation. Stories of "accidents" that wiped out whole squads. It was hard to say how much was true, but one thing was certain. If you weren't wearing a white coat, you were cannon fodder. Unseated shinigami Ishikawa Kaoru did not wear a white coat. He knew the twelfth had a high turnover rate for new recruits. Their Captain, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, thought of them as disposable pawns if he thought of them at all. Ishikawa knew his best chance for survival lay in only one direction. A transfer. To that end, he worked hard to build up his resume. Anything that looked high visibility but survivable he volunteered for. He didn't care where he transferred. After seeing nearly all of his class mates disappear one by one, he knew he had to get out. This assignment had seemed right up his alley. Exploring new dimensions looked good on your evaluation reports and the mission as described looked harmless. If only he'd known. If the lieutenant hadn't been watching over them, they may have all been killed. As it was, they isolated all the captive squad members. He had no idea what was happening to them. They had deprived him of sleep and food, brought him out for questioning sessions at random times, beat him when he didn't answer. His name and division was all he would say. He had done all he could to adhere to the code of conduct, to uphold the admittedly dubious honor of his division and to protect his companions. The patch had caught him totally by surprise. When the man with the broad black and yellow striped face paint had waved the scrap of cloth with the tulip embroidered on it under his nose, hope rose up in his chest.
"We almost caught another one of you." The man said. "This patch is different. What does it mean?"
Without thinking, he blurted out the words.
"Second division. Search and rescue…."
Tezcatlipoca saw it. The flash of despair across the young man's face. He didn't intend to say that. He knew that he had said too much. Tezcatlipoca could trust that it was true. The captive knew the people who tried to break into the temple last night. The priest got up from his seat and waved at the downcast young shinigami.
"Take him back to his cell." He commanded.
He knew the young man would not answer any more questions that day out of shame for his slip up. He didn't stay to see his order carried out. This was important news. During the night, the alarms had gone off and several men in black clothes were spotted. They were fast and skilled. The guards almost caught one. He had struggled out of his shirt to escape. They all got away through a portal they hastily conjured up. Search and Rescue. What in intriguing concept. Up till now, every tribe they had encountered had mostly the same rules. Once someone was captured, they no longer belonged to you. They became property of the conquering tribe. No one ever tried to get them back. This tribe's culture was very different. The Emperor must hear of this. He began to walk faster, despite the ache of forcing his bad leg to move. Plans for increasing security for the prisoners formed in his head. New wards must be set up, first around the temple, then the city. No new portals must be allowed within the city limits. Disruption fields would be set up at all possible nexus points. This must not happen again. Search and Rescue. So unusual. He doubted they had come to save the foot soldiers. No, he was quite sure they had come for the lieutenant. He thought about how she had looked last night. She had been pale and feverish, the lower priests carefully helping her to eat and drink in her dazed state. There had been some debate about what the title "Lieutenant" meant. Now he was sure. Lieutenant had to be their word for princess. There could be no other reason for the extraordinary effort to recover her. He gritted his teeth as sharp pains started to run up his leg, but he did not slow down. Her people must value her very much, he thought.
Yesterday
"If we're going to rescue people, why don't we just go?" Ichigo complained. "Why do we have to go to the theater?"
Renji took great pleasure in looking down his nose at the substitute shinigami.
"You'd like that wouldn't you? Go off half-cocked, no plan, no information, just wing it and hope you can power through. Well we're doing things right this time, no more running around impulsively."
"Worked pretty good for me so far." Ichigo grumbled.
Ishida had to agree with Renji. While they had managed to power out of several bad situations in the past, a little foreknowledge and preparation would have helped a lot. They had been roused from their beds early that morning and given robes to wear to breakfast and for their morning bath. When they returned, their uniforms had been cleaned and pressed. Even he had to admit the sixth division had done an excellent job as he looked over his sparkling white, neatly pressed uniform. It was obvious Renji was enjoying showing off the power of his position. As they entered the theater, they were greeted by several of Renji's friends.
"Oi, Renji!" A man with 69 tattooed on his face shouted. "Over here!"
"Shuhei! Are you ready for this?" Renji replied
"Good morning Renji. Good morning everyone." A thin blond haired man greeted them. "Have we met before? I am Kira, lieutenant of the third division. I'm glad you could make it. This will be a most unusual mission. No doubt your talents will come in handy. "
"Unusual?" Ishida asked. "In what way?"
The one called Shuhei answered.
"Usually, if the search and rescue team cannot recover lost shinigami, they are written off." He said.
Kira added, "In this case, we are making an extraordinary effort backed by all the divisions. Everyone is contributing in some way."
He leaned in to whisper. "Rumor has it one of the captains made a special appeal to the Captain-Commander. Somehow, they were able to convince him to make an exception and devote all these resources to the rescue mission."
That surprised Uryuu. He could believe Soul Society would write off Nemu and her squad. That seemed par for the course. A captain getting authorization for a special rescue operation? That was unusual. Was it Mayuri? He pictured in his mind the painted features of the hated captain. It was hard to believe the man who punched and kicked his own daughter at the slightest provocation would care enough to ask for an exception to the rules. Maybe there was a side to the man he didn't know.
"Come on Ichigo, let's find a seat." Rukia said.
"We're all in the front." Renji said. "This way."
They made their way to the front of the theater and took their seats. Shinigami swarmed in from all sides. Ishida felt distinctly out of place in his white uniform. More than a few people seemed to be staring. The seats behind them soon filled up. The man behind Chad tapped him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me sir." He said. "Could you please sit down? I can't see."
"I am sitting down." Chad replied.
The shinigami at the door called out, "Room. Atten-hut!"
As one, everyone in the theater sprang to their feet and assumed the position of attention. Ichigo, Chad and Uryuu clumsily followed suit.
Down the center of the aisle, Captains Soifon, Unohana, Kenpachi and finally Mayuri strode to the stage with everyone except Captain Soifon standing off to the side of the big screen. Soifon stood directly in the center. When the other captains got in place, she barked out a quick
"At ease. Take your seats."
She gave them a few minutes to settle down before continuing.
"As you all know, we have lost a squad of shinigami in a strange new dimension. Efforts to recover them have failed. The intelligence gained from that mission tells us it will take extraordinary effort to get these people back. All divisions are contributing to this rescue effort. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you your objective."
She gestured to the screen that lit up to show a huge stepped pyramid, elaborately carved and painted, built into the side of a mountain.
Ishida heard Chad gasp next to him.
"What's wrong?" he whispered.
"This is bad." Chad said. "Very bad."
"I will now turn the briefing over to Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri for a BRIEF overview on the conditions and inhabitants. It should be VERY BRIEF. Just like we AGREED."
She gave Mayuri a hard look as she emphasized he wasn't allowed to monopolize the briefing. It was not surprising the most unlikable captain in the Gotei 13 rubbed the uptight captain of the second division the wrong way. They maintained an angry eye lock as they switched places on stage.
"I'm not at all sure why you needed me to lecture these fools." He said. "I doubt one in ten will comprehend even the simplest of the facts."
He reached the center of the stage and lazily gestured at the slide.
"For those of you with a working brain, this slide needs no explanation. For everyone who is not me, this is the dimension the second division FAILED to recue my squad from."
He made sure he was looking as Soifon when he said that. "While they completely and utterly fell down on the job of rescuing, they at least managed to place some hidden cameras and gain some intelligence. Probably by accident, I'm sure."
Those in the front row could actually hear Captain Soifon's teeth grinding.
Mayuri continued. "This dimension is unique in the low amount of spiritual energy available. Operating in this environment is similar to working on the top of a mountain without supplemental oxygen. Those with low energy levels will be hard pressed to operate at all. Anyone who goes here will find maintaining their energy level difficult."
He clicked his fingernails together and changed the slide. A group of feathered and painted warriors were shown.
"The inhabitants of this dimension have dealt with this situation in at least two unique ways. One is external storage and one is the acquisition of power from other sources."
He changed the slide again to show a middle aged man in a jaguar skin cloak holding a red stone.
"A certain class of shaman or priest can store and channel energy in stones they use for various purposes, rather like Kido."
His next slide showed warriors lined up next to an alter with the shaman holding an obsidian knife over a person laying on it.
"The warrior class builds their energy up with practice and training, much like we do, but with the low level of background energy, the fastest way to gain power is to take it from someone else. Apparently, they do this with prisoners from their various raids. This is how the prisoner's energy is extracted and distributed."
He clicked through the rest of the slides with obvious relish. Several shinigami began to retch at the horrifying sight. A couple had to bolt for the door. Mayuri continued as if he were discussing the finer points of a tea ceremony.
"After extraction, the capturing team gets a share of the captive's energy, their lord gets a share and most importantly, the Emperor gets a share. In this way, the higher up you are, the more powerful you become. As for the body of the prisoner, well, I guess it's a case of 'waste not, want not'."
He clicked to the next slide. Several more shinigami fled the theater. Mayuri seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. He clicked again.
"The city you are looking at is called Mictlan. It is the main capital city and where the captives are being held. They are apparently in a system of caves carved into the mountain behind the pyramid. The recue team was unable to enter it which doesn't surprise me at all. Since they tipped their hand so clumsily, the shaman class has set up spells making it impossible to enter the city via senkaimon. Even if we could, finding the prisoners in a series of unknown caves is too risky. This brings us to my brilliant solution."
The next slide showed what appeared to be a necklace composed of many knotted strings of various lengths and colors.
"This is how they send messages. It is called a Quipu. It was child's play for me to translate it and is the key to a SUCCESSFUL rescue operation plan."
Soifon's face was visibly red.
"It is an invitation for all vassal lords to attend the 'joining ceremony' between the Emperor Mictlantecuhtil and his newest concubine, the 'Foreign Princess'."
The last words were spoken in a contempt filled sneer.
"Afterward, her strange companions will be sacrificed as a gift to the Emperor in the hopes the princess will soon bear him a son. This will all take place on the main altar at the top of the temple. This will be the only time the captives will be all in one spot and in a position where we can reach them. That is when we will strike. I turn the briefing back over to the captain of the failed rescue expedition."
As they met each other crossing the stage, Mayuri stage whispered,
"BRIEF enough for you?"
Soifon bared her teeth as she snarled at him.
"Listen you son of a…"
Her voice dropped too low for Uryuu to hear. Not that it mattered. He was too stunned to think. It had finally hit him that Nemu was in trouble and that bad things were happening to her. He couldn't wrap his mind around it. These people were going to turn Nemu into a...a...brood mare!
Ten Days Ago,
Patecatl put down his tools, exhausted. That was it. He had healed every physical problem the young woman had. There was no reason she couldn't get up and walk out the door that very instant. No physical reason anyway. He looked into her blank eyes for the thousandth time that day. She wasn't responding to stimuli. She was getting noticeably thinner. Her skin was losing elasticity and the fever had gotten worse.
"Come on, lieutenant," he murmured, "whatever you're seeing, is it really all that bad?"
He needed a drink.
She wandered down the darkened streets of Seireitei. There was no moon, there was no light. There were no other shinigami there but her. Both sides of the street were lined with the mutilated bodies of the twelfth division's victims. They did not accuse her as before. They just lay there, staring as only the dead can. Those that still had eyes. The noise came from the people around them. Husbands and wives, sons and daughters, parents, friends, everyone who had cared for the people they had experimented on. Wailing and grieving for someone taken away from them, never to return. She tried to talk to an old woman sobbing over the body of her daughter.
"I'm sorry." She said, "I didn't know."
The woman did not look up. She tried to touch the old woman's shoulder to offer comfort. Her hand passed right through. She couldn't touch her. The woman couldn't hear her. She tried again with other people. No one heard her. She could affect nothing around her. She could only look around in despair as the ranks of those harmed by her hands stretched on and on.
"Why did I do this?" She asked aloud. "What was worth all this suffering?"
A man's voice called out from a side alley, startling her.
"What was worth all the suffering?" it said. "Why, knowledge of course."
She turned to see him emerge from the alley. The man with the black and white painted face. She remembered him now. With a jolt, she realized who it was. It was her father. It was Kurotsuchi Mayuri. He spread his hands out in a gesture to encompass the mass of suffering people.
"All this was worth it. All of it, and more."
"Mayuri-sama." She said, "We have caused so much pain. We cannot reverse it. We cannot make it up to these people. Can anything we have learned balance the evil we have done?"
He father sneered as he replied
"Evil? There is no such thing. Morality is an illusion. Suffering is meaningless. Everyone you see is destined to die and be forgotten in the depths of time. Their brief lives have no meaning or importance. There is only one thing of value. Knowledge! If grinding a thousand children to powder yields me only one new fact, then it has been worth it! They will all die someday anyway, why not in the service of building our store of knowledge?"
"There had to be other ways." She said, "Surely we do not need to harm in order to learn?" She gestured to the people all around. "Why must all this continue?"
"It must continue because I must know! We cannot stop until I know everything!" He replied, "When all the secrets of the universe are laid bare, in all its forms, then I will stop. Until that day, I need to search for the knowledge that eludse me. I need to experiment. That requires me to use subjects…and tools."
He gestured to a figure in the shadows behind him. It was her. Her double's face was blank and placid. She recognized that look. It was like looking at herself when she was first created. No motivation beyond serving Mayuri-sama. No desire but the avoidance of pain.
Her father said "That is what you are Nemu."
Nemu. Yes, that was her name. She remembered.
Her father continued. "You were created to serve me. You are a tool designed to assist me in seeking knowledge. You are nothing more than that and nothing at all without me! Not only that, but the desire to learn is just as strong in you as it is in me. You helped me because you wanted to. You also have that all consuming need to know."
He began to laugh.
"You couldn't be any other way. That's how I made you."
His laughter grew louder as her double began to walk towards her. She held out her hand to Nemu. Instinctively, Nemu knew that if she was touched, she would lose her identity and become little more than an automaton again.
"No," she said, "That's not me. That's not me anymore!"
She turned and ran. She didn't need to look to know her double was chasing her. She had to stay away from her. Her heart soon began to pound in her chest and her breathing became labored. Her father's mocking laughter was loud in her ears.
"Put her there." Patecatl ordered.
Four under-priests gently lowered the lieutenant's stretcher on to a low stone bench. She was shivering uncontrollably. As soon as they set her down, Patecatl had them leave. The stones in the pit at the center of the room were hot. He stepped over to a vat containing herbs and water. Using a dipper, he poured the water over the rocks. The herbs had been steeping in the water for hours. The steam gave off a pleasant and bracing smell. He was very worried. First she got trapped in her dreams and would not wake up. Next it was fever. Now, not only did her fever get much worse, she had rampant chills. If she didn't turn around soon, he doubted she could survive. He hoped the sweat lodge worked. It was all he had left.