Chapter 16
If not for being able to hear my own heart, I'd think I'm dead. I can't move a muscle; I can't even feel my body. I can't even tell whether my eyes are opened in complete darkness or closed.
I hear two people approaching - the Commander and Mindbender. I want to jump at the Commander's throat - I'm screaming at my muscles to jump. I don't even get a twitch out of them, or at least I don't think I do – I can't actually tell.
"I must thank you again for this opportunity, Commander," Mindbender says.
My heart starts hammering. I do NOT like the sound of this. I try to force myself to calm down, but without even being able to control my breathing, it's no easy task. It becomes altogether impossible as he continues.
"The results you want will require wiping his memory practically clear, and then rebuilding. Such a complete change will make it easy to tell how well the treatments are working. And if what you told me about his powers of retention is true…" the doctor trails off, sounding blissful.
I try moving again. I concentrate every ounce of will and strength I have in an effort to just clench my fist. As far as I can tell, nothing happens.
This can't be happening.
"Think nothing of it, Doctor," the Commander says. "The only reason I didn't let you do it earlier is that I was getting a kick out of him."
"It's already a treat to see my safety device worked so well. What made him move to attack you? Did he scream when it happened?"
"He overheard me reassuring the real culprit that I would blame someone else for the murder of his uncle. He hollered. I'm surprised you didn't hear it, I suspect most of the base did," the Commander says, careless as can be.
A safety device by Mindbender designed to activate if I made a move against the Commander… that's how they stopped me, that's what caused the pain. They must have implanted a chip in my head at some point. I don't know how they pulled it off, and by now, it doesn't matter anymore – they've been controlling the food I eat and the air I breathe for eight years, it's not like drugging me would have been all that difficult. I try to move again, more desperate to succeed at moving a muscle, any muscle, than I've ever been to do anything. Nothing happens.
I start panicking. I know it, and I can't stop it. My heart is beating about three times as fast as it should be and I can't slow my breathing anymore than I can control any other part of my own body.
"Is his heart rate supposed to be this high?" the Commander asks.
"He's just terrified," the doctor says dismissively. "You would be too, if you were so powerless as he is now, and knew that I was about to get my hands on your mind. It creates too much stress not to let the brains have this one way to react; it makes it difficult to work. So, I never take the heart over. The machine adjusts his breathing automatically if it becomes necessary to keep him conscious."
The Commander laughs. I'd scream if I could. This can't be real, this can't be happening!
"Yes, I suppose the only other way around it would be to kill his hearing like you do his other senses, and that wouldn't be any fun, now would it?"
The doctor chuckles and starts moving around, clicking some machine parts together and tapping or moving some other parts. It sounds like some of the stuff he is handling is right on me, although I can't feel a thing.
I'm still trying to move, but I can't concentrate. I can't shake the panic. My thoughts are running circles between trying to deny any of this is happening and begging the spirits of my parents and uncle for help.
The doctor keeps puttering about, causing the occasional sound cues from his machine.
It seems like my heart should have failed by now, it's going mad. I wish it would, I'd rather die than live through this. This can't be happening. Not when I finally got what I wanted… it can't end like this! It can't be my fate to be turned into Cobra's mind slave!
"I could give him back verbal control and some rudimentary motor control, if you'd like," the Doctor says. "This is going to be extremely painful and the process will not allow for him to pass out, so if you're feeling vindictive, we can make it… entertaining."
"No," the Commander replies right away. "No control at all. We're not taking any chances."
Mindbender doesn't reply. I hear another click, and the pain that knocked me out earlier suddenly seems like a tickle in comparison. What exactly is going on flies right out of my mind as the pain takes over.
True to what Mindbender promised, I don't pass out this time: the pain just keeps on going. And I still can't move, scream, or so much as think.
Another scream that fades away as another victim dies. It's a young girl's voice, so it had to be one of our young students. I clench my teeth and continue to fight. If I slow down, not only will I share her fate and that of all who preceded her, I won't have any chance of saving what few are left.
There are TOO few. I can hear several more dying within the next few minutes – GI Joe is just taking them out now. The noise level keeps dropping as the fight winds to an end. Pretty soon, everything is quiet except for the clank of my weapons against theirs and the gunfire that is aimed at me.
I'm the last one; the Joes have killed everyone else. I woke up this morning to a clan of hundreds, and now the Arashikage is down to just me.
The moment I realize I'm the only survivor, I grow perfectly calm. I know exactly what to do, and I know how it will end. I will kill as many of them as I can, until they finish me off too.
"Very few of you will live to report this victory," I growl at them. "I swear it."
It's not that I was not fighting as well as I could before, but this resolution, along with the knowledge that this is my last fight, allows me to put myself in the Arashikage Mindset, something that I would normally need someone else to assist me with.
I wake up with a start and jump out of bed in a fighting stance before I realize that there's nobody around, and that I'm in a small room instead of in an open air courtyard. Catching a glance at myself, I also see that although I'm wearing a gi, I have no weapon on me.
Someone knocks at the door. I automatically face the door in a defensive stance.
"Can I come in?" a voice says from the other side.
"Who are you?" I reply, trying to sound like I'm not freaking out. "What is this place? How did I get here?"
"We rescued you from the World Order," the voice says. "Listen, I know you could kill me before I'm even done opening the door, so I'd appreciate if you agreed not to. Think of the fact you were asleep just then, and nobody harmed you. We're on your side."
I stare at the door for a second and decide I'm more likely to get some answers if there's someone in the room to give them to me.
"You can come in," I call out.
I hear a sigh of relief and a doctor comes in, looking for all the world like the archetypal mad scientist.
"I know how I look," he grumbles upon seeing my expression. He sits on the chair next to my bed. "Do you remember who you are?"
"Arashikage…" I can't finish, I can't think of my given name. "I… I don't? What happened to me?"
"Your memory has been wiped by the World Order. It IS encouraging that you remember your family name – obviously, they haven't completed the treatments. They probably had to go slowly in order to preserve your fighting ability – it's what makes you useful to them – and your normally flawless memory might have slowed them down… What else do you remember?"
I search my memory and feel myself starting to panic upon finding next to no recollection at all, of anything. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down and try again, but all I can remember is the dream I was just having. I don't even remember being a good fighter in reality.
"Nothing," I sigh.
"How about general knowledge? I've mentioned the World Order. Do you know what I'm talking about? What do you remember of the world itself? Geography, history, science?"
I frown, puzzled. I remember nothing about me, but I do remember the names of the continents, several countries, some history, and even some scientific facts. I most definitely remember the World Order – they secretly run most of the planet. They're tyrants, murderers. I even remember that most people think they are an urban legend and don't really exist, despite suffering under their rule. I also remember their military, GI Joe – they do all the dirty work, but also a fair bit of public services for appearances, under the guise of working for the American Government. They're hailed as heroes by the general public, who doesn't know any better.
"I think I remember everything," I say. "How is that possible?"
"It seems like we interrupted them towards the end of the first phase of your flip. They hadn't started on your general knowledge, they were still working on your personal memories," he says as if to himself.
"Flip?" I can guess what he means by the context, but I can't believe it.
"It's what they call their brainwashing process. They flip their victims from enemies to allies."
"They were trying to make me their ally?"
"Yes. That's why they captured you. We rescued you before they finished, thankfully."
"If you hadn't…" I can barely finish. The thought is beyond horrifying. "…I'd be working for them? I'd be helping them?"
"Yes."
"But then, is everyone who works for them, just… flipped?"
"No. It's an insanely expensive process, very time consuming, very labour intensive. They have only done it a handful of times."
"Then why were they trying to do it to me?"
"Because you are the best ninja alive."
"Ninja?" I remember my dream again – the way I was fighting in it was certainly ninja-like. Maybe that part of it came from a shred of memories?
"Yes," he confirms. "You were a member of the Arashikage, a ninja clan that was dedicated to fighting the Order."
"What do you mean, I was? I haven't been flipped, why wouldn't I go back home? Considering what they've tried to do to me, I'll be more than happy to continue to fight the Order."
He looks at me sadly and doesn't say anything.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"The Arashikage is no more."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I demand, refusing to acknowledge the now obvious fact that this 'dream' I had was actually a residual memory.
"The Order killed all the others on the same day they captured you."
"You said we were a clan of ninja!" I protest. "They can't have killed us all! We would have been able to defend ourselves!"
He nods. "Against anything but their full force, more than likely. As near as we can figure out, they sent at least two thousand highly trained troops. We knew your clan to have about 200 members, and 216 bodies were found: men, women, and children. Rival clans were blamed, but as confirmed by our finding you in their custody, it was definitely the Order. I'm sorry."
I sit back down on the bed, or rather, crash back down on it. I feel like I've fallen into a nightmare. My whole family has been slaughtered, just like in my dream, and I can't even REMEMBER them.
"I remember the attack," I mutter, my voice shaking so badly that I don't dare speak louder. I'm willing my eyes to stay dry and staring at the floor in an attempt to focus on something harmless. "I thought it was just a nightmare."
"You do?" he asks, trying and failing not to sound delighted. "That's a good sign. You may recover yet… let me relate to you some basic information about yourself, we will see if any of it resonates. I'm afraid all we have on you is very impersonal, the kind of things you would find on a file card, but..."
I don't want to hear anymore right now. What I'd really like is for him to shut up. I'm saved by a new knock on the door.
"Doctor?" a voice calls. "He's awake, is he? How is he doing?"
My eyes widen. I recognize the voice and now that I'm actively listening to them, I recognize his vital signs as well. I've heard him on TV often enough – his is arguably the most annoying voice in the world, and among the most hated, thanks to Order propaganda.
The Cobra Commander himself is outside the door – the man behind the most successful force against the Order, an organization most people mistakenly believe to be evil itself because they are usually blamed for the Order's own actions.
Author's notes:
Sorry about the abrupt break. Same old story as usual: this part was too long to post in one go without killing my buffer, especially considering I'm trying hard to update weekly.
What do you think? This part was difficult to write, and I'd love to know what works and what doesn't.
A few quick notes:
1) The size of the Arashikage clan: this is not a continuity error, Cobra just lied for added drama.
2) Storm Shadow automatically starts introducing himself by giving his family name first. This is the normal way to do it in Japan, and considering how confused he is, I think he can be excused for forgetting to switch the order around for the benefit of the person he was talking to.
3) The Order: this is just something I got Cobra to come up with. It does not match any existing theory on secret World Ruling Organizations, or if it does, it's purely accidental. This story takes place in a fictional Universe, and in that Universe, the Order is fictional.
I live for feedback, so bring it on! You even get rewards if you do it with a signed review (nothing against unsigned reviews, but I can't reply to them). If you don't want the bonus materials, you can still review: just let me know and I won't send anything.
Other than typos and minor grammatical corrections, I don't go back and edit already posted chapters, but if you see plot holes or mistakes, you can go ahead and point them out, I won't mind! I'm masochist enough to enjoy trying to fix them after the fact, and more importantly, I can't learn if I never find out about my mistakes.
Thank you for reading!