Cultural Exchange

by tartar12345

Story is set shortly after the Tekken 6: Scenario Campaign ending. Who are Julia Chang's real parents? How is she and Michelle Chang connected to Ogre? Warnings: Some re-edits & retro-add-ons. Julia-centric. Raw & highly self-indulgent & potential angst backfire. Currently NOT planning to follow T7 plotline/characters. Relatively OC-heavy, moments of OOCness, & AUishness.

9. P1-C5: Introspective

Pre-Warnings/Clarifications:

(1) For those readers who have taken interest in my story, I'm sorry about the very long delay, which was caused both by serious illness/constant hospital stays, family conflicts, and a very bad & prolonged case of writer's block. The former two have been solved (fingers crossed) for the time being, and confident plot/character ideas are flowing in again for upcoming chapters - as the previous ones have been edited & embellished (no significant changes to previous plot, but rather a lot of add-ons to tie together characters/events and make room for potential developments. I have a lot of development ideas pre-planned, and they feel much more solid than before). I hope these retro-edits and new developments won't be too much of a turn-off.

(2) This chapter will be a bit shorter than some prior chapters. I'll either write longer chapters after this one, or edit this one into a long chapter later, if I feel the contents may flow better.

(3) I know Tekken 7 is coming out very soon (if not already). For the time being I'm planning to actively disregard (and try to remain ignorant as possible about) the supposedly final & conclusive Tekken installment, as Namco's official post-T6SC story will most likely deter my motivation to finish this story or clash with my own developing (and deviating-tangent) plot. Of course, continuation of story will depend on readership interest and my own ongoing ability/motivation to finish the story.

(4) Two OC females have been promoted in story significance - one will be featured more heavily in the next few chapters than initially intended.

(5) New AUish identities/subplots/concepts added to increase plot potential.

(6) Chapter will contain a tedious, long-winded exposition in the form of dialogue between Raven and Zafina again - some of which include OCs and AUish concepts. Most of the chapter will center around Julia's very long soliloquy, with Jin's (likely OC and stultifying) inner responses to her vocalized thoughts.

(7) There will be a lot of OCs (children) mentioned by name, but their importance and role in story - save 3 or 4 at most - will be limited to their existence and namesake (at least planned so far).

(8) Jun Kazama will be appearing here, and portrayed with some OCish unkindness. Julia will have her moments of an OCish immature jerkass, as well.

(9) A brief list of the more major retro-edits/add-ons are as follows (more may be added in the future, if I catch missed ones):
a. Prologue 1: Tried to make Jin's choice to hand Lars the Zaibatsu seat more plausible; Fill in some logical gaps regarding the Zaibatsu Spouse Clause & elaborated on it; Tried to make Operation Scapegoat more believable & solid.
b. Prologue 2: Edited the Celestial-Fairy appearances from Julia's "Doppelganger Dreams" (hair, face, eyes, attire, etc. This is largely due to a plot element I plan on using in future chapters); Tried to make Julia's opinion on Jin (whom she believes is deceased) more consistent.
c. Prologue 3: Again, edited the Celestial-Fairy appearances from Julia's "Doppelganger Dreams" (hair, face, eyes, attire, etc. This is also due to that plot element I plan on using in future chapters); Changed many of the Chinese names I made up for both IC and OCs; Retroactively pre-introduced the OC "agent Dove" - now changed to "agent Valkyrie", as I'm planning for this OC to play a somewhat bigger role for another few chapters (especially to develop Lars' character, his relationship with Julia, and the way Julia views herself); Jin and Zafina retroactively make an in-person appearance at the end of Prologue 3, and it is shown how he's chosen to go with his current plan to work with the Agency; Operation Scapegoat is modified to involve Julia even more profoundly than previously planned.
d. Prologue 4: Made slight modifications to OC Lei Wuji's appearance & attire choice; Changed Wuji's mother maiden name; Altered Julia's past interactions with Lei Wuji & her mother, in order to introduce & highlight another of Julia's dysfunctional characteristic that will be coming up in this chapter and/or the next ones - as well as Lei Wuji's upcoming roles in the story; Modified some of Geppetto Boskonovitch's interactions with a younger Julia - which I plan to connect to Alisa's past & present.
e. Chapter 1: Julia hints that she's made an undisclosed tweak on Alisa - which will come into play in future chapters; OC Valkyrie's attire is significantly altered, while OC Nadiya Pak's & OC Luce Martus's attire & name are slightly modified; The 3 OC agents' physical appearances are further detailed & 2 female OCs' profile info altered/modified; The 3 OC agents' martial arts arsenal and ages altered/modified; Semi-OC Giselle Chang's tribal name changed from "Blue-Wave" to "Voice-Wave"; End of chapter tacks on the Agency's plan to forcefully control Julia, as well as means to deal with Jin upon their planned eventual execution of Julia.
f. Chapter 2: Jin's chamber room furnishings slightly modified; Jin's (technically still platonic) attraction towards Julia is elaborated, with a specific element added; OC Nadiya reveals some more about OC Valkyrie's character; OC Ingrid Montiero's martial arts arsenal altered/modified; OC Vo Thi Binh's appearance & hairstyle slightly altered, and her martial arts arsenal altered/modified; OC Divina Galit Amaranto & her daughters' ages & martial arts arsenal slightly altered/modified; OC "Marian Amaranto" name changed to "Mercedes Amaranto".
g. Chapter 3: Minor details about base interior functioning (notably Jin's cell chamber) altered slightly to make more sense; Jin's musings and reminiscing about Julia at end of chapter is elaborated, due to retro-added elements in previous chapters.
h. Chapter 4: Slightly altered Celestial-Fairy appearances to corroborate with Prologue 3. Took out name of Jacy's wife, Aiyana.
i. Chapter-end notes altered/modified as I see more suitable.

Disclaimer:

I do not own Tekken, its original characters or the mainstream fictional works that inspired or I derived my Storyline/Characterizations/Plot Devices/OCs/Character Names.

I do own the OCs presented here, along with the chosen naming & self-invented backgrounds of both playable & previously nameless canon characters with little or different background info (up to Tekken 6: Scenario Campaign).

Part I Ch5: Introspective Acquaintance

JULIA & JIN AS CELL-ROOMMATES: DAY 16

*****
Jin's chamber cell, 12:47am...

The Mishima boy couldn't fall back into restful slumber again - after his dream about Angel, and after the sight of the girl's diary started up some unpleasant imagination. He had to find some way to sever his cellmate's role as scapegoat...and he must do so surreptitiously enough, so that the Agency won't deem necessary to intervene until too late, until he's whisked her into the safe hands of unified Mishima Zaibatsu power.
Still, the mission to stop Kazuya and Heihachi takes precedence over everything else...no one's life or well-being can be above sacrifice to end their threats - not Xiaoyu, not Hwoarang, and not this girl. No cost is too high. Humanity and even the world will be better off annihilated, rather than forever terrorized and brutally exploited by his evil kin...

Jin started slightly when he heard his cell lock clicking, and the door slowly creaking open. To his surprise, Raven strutted right into the cell-chamber's doorway, and various staff swarmed in from behind him to put out the blaze and clean up the mess.

The ninja stood akimbo glancing around the room, then shook his head. "We really ought to start sending our repair bills to the Zaibatsu. Or maybe Violet Systems, too."

The Mishima boy glowered warily at Raven, clutching his sleeping cellmate in a tighter protective hold, causing the still-unconscious girl to whimper in discomfort. "What the hell are you doing here, at this particular time?"

Raven sighed in frustration. "Good question. I still don't know why the higher-ups are penalizing me to this task, and right when I was scheduled to take a nice breather. So why don't you move your ass to your new cell pronto? And yeah, Chang can come with you."

Jin blinked. New cell? The Mishima boy was pondering about the quality and facilities of their new holding quarters, when Raven gave an impatient jerk of his head to get moving.
Keeping a sharp eye on the girl's diary, Jin carefully rearranged his hold on her so he could carry her in a secure bridal-style. When he got near the cell door, he quickly bent down and snatched the diary log into one hand.

The leader escort Lawson was outside, eyes slightly red with fatigue.
"This way, lovebirds. Seriously, I'm starting to feel bad for agent Raven...and that's something I never felt for the workaholic of workaholics." He chuckled under his breath as he led Jin down the corridor and turned left into another passage.

They finally stopped in front of a newer-looking automatic cell door, easily twice as large as Jin's old cell door. Lawson pressed his hand against a large palm-sized scanner board built in the side. The larger cell door slid open from the middle, like an elevator's.

"Congrats. As our most valued VIPs, you just got huge upgrade." Lawson commented dryly, as Jin looked inside with a strongly unpleasant surprise written on his face.

This cell chamber was at least 4 times more spacious than the Mishima boy's original room. All the exact same luxurious comforts, furnishings, and amenities from his original were there - all brand-new. Instead of the medium-small tube television, there was a large flat-screen HD TV built in the wall. His new training space was considerably larger with more useful equipment, as was his new dining area - strangely built like a rectangular conference table surrounded by 10 dining chairs this time, instead of one.

But this time, there was an almost identical version of his room, set up far against the other side of the much more spacious chamber...except that other version was noticeably smaller. And clearly customized for a lady and computer-work technician. Although their cell chamber is still technically an open and shared one, they've granted the girl her own very nicely furnished living space - segregated by distance, and possibly even some hidden activatable barrier.
Instead of a king-sized poster bed and dining table in his "suite", his cellmate's "suite" respectively consisted of a queen-sized canopy bed and very large working desk with a comfy loveseat-like desk chair. Her cell-suite's empty workstation had large variety of electric sockets and cable outlets. Although her bathroom also appeared much smaller than his own...his excellent eyesight can make out that there was only a shower cubicle in that "lady's suite", and zero bathtub.

And far across the entrance was a huge undrawn curtain - neatly splitting the distance between his own suite and the girl's suite in even halves - that aligned with the cell doors' opening.

"Well? You gonna stand there holding Chang like an infant, till she wakes?" Raven's impatient tone snapped Jin out of his displeased surveying. "Hurry up and dump her on her bed...or your bed, somewhere."

The Mishima boy wanted to dispute the many odd and dissatisfactory aspects of the new cell chamber - right then and there, but decided that he can be more persuasive with his arms free from their delicate load...besides, he didn't want to wake the girl up, especially with the argument he's about to have.

Thus, Jin strode to his new king-sized poster bed and gingerly lay his cellmate upon it. He briefly wondered if he could somehow manually rearrange or modify the chamber, so the girl wouldn't be able to access her own suite. As he was fussing to cover her warmly with her thermal blanket, she suddenly moaned and stirred, making him freeze automatically.

The girl's eyelids fluttered a few times, and then she peered at him through half-open lids. "...Kazama?" She called out in a confused whisper.

Jin's mind was still anxiously scrambling about on how to react towards the girl's unexpectedly early regain of consciousness, when he suddenly felt a sharp tingling sensation prickling his wrists painfully. Instantly, every muscle in his body seemed to slack into mush-like enervation. Knees buckling, he abruptly crashed down face-forward right onto his cellmate's mid-lower section and thighs - his still-lucid mind distressing over his sheer inability to soften his falling weight onto the girl. Despite his energy-drained state, he could clearly hear the girl cry out in alarm and then grunt hard, as his deadened body slumped with its full heaviness onto hers.

Julia promptly sat up, all traces of sleepiness startled out of her system.
Instinctively, the young scientist wound her arms under Jin's to keep his whole body from slipping to the floor, and frantically checked his neck pulse. It was beating strong and regularly, allowing Julia to exhale a deep sigh of relief. Her eyes quickly shot up to observe her unfamiliar surroundings, and a familiar person standing a few feet from her.

"...what exactly happened here? What have you done to him?" The young scientist couldn't keep the tense worry and anger from her voice.

Raven took an unhurried moment to bend and pick up a familiar-looking notebook that had fallen next to the Mishima boy, before answering. "Nothing special. We just drained his energy, so he can get some good sleep...shouldn't regain consciousness for at least another 12 hours. More effective and innocuous than using tranquilizer sedative." The ninja agent then held up the notebook, which Julia saw was her diary-log. "We'll be confiscating this for the time-being. Make sure you tell Kazama nothing about its contents."

"B-but that's my...you can't...!" Julia protested loudly, unable to move forward without losing her grip on Jin's heavy form.

"...yes we can, Chang. And we'll give it back - untampered - sometime after you've proved your dedication to get Kazama back into the world, nice and clean...and back into Zaibatsu power." Raven returned impassively. "And remember, no matter how hard that Mishima brat tries to press you, say nothing on what you know about yourself. I trust you're smart enough to know when he's trying to indirectly bait you, too."

Julia narrowed her eyes. "Now why should I? Not that I'll gain anything by telling Kazama about my speculated biological background, but what's a real impetus I need to use against any possible coercion...other than the fact that the Agency wants me to?"

Raven scoffed. "Use your brain, Chang. The logical reasoning is much simpler than rocket science. Do you honestly think Kazama will ever get off your back, once he learns about your pre-birth backstory? Like any other Mishima, he'll do his best to meddle in potentially world-changing affairs - for better or worse intentions."

The young scientist was speechless for a moment, then she frowned. "Hold on a sec. You seriously want me to believe the Agency still desires long-term active services from me? After it sat back for hours - without any protective backup or medical assistance - to see if I'd die from grievous injuries or life-risking situations...twice, within 5 days?" She demanded incredulously.

"You weren't going to die either times, Chang. Had your incipient self-healing proved to be inferior by our estimated standards, the Agency pre-readied emergency rescue tools that would've kept your so-called 'grievously injured' state within safe parameters...medical technology beyond Dr. Laroft's authoritative knowledge." The ninja agent informed her nonchalantly.
"As for those 'life-risking' situations - they're nothing that should surpass the requisite competence of your reflexes and instantaneous judgments, once you do start doing active work for us. Last night, your fight with Kazama merely proved you weren't too stupid or too slow, to be of adequate use in our current mission against enemy Mishima. There will be another test or two for you to clear - not to mention some intense random training - your chance to show you're actually up for your tasks." Without further ado, Raven turned towards the open cell doors, with the staff and guards already waiting for him outside.

"...T-tests? Training? W-wha...? Raven, wait!" Julia called out to the exiting ninja agent in a distressed voice, but her only reply was the new cell chamber doors sliding shut.

Julia huffed angrily after staring at the closed cell doors for almost a minute. To think I almost believed that agent Raven was one of the half-civil around people here. She quickly snapped out of her angry musings when she felt the Mishima boy's large frame sliding from her arms, threatening to collapse head-first against the hard floor.

Sighing, Julia carefully slipped down from the bed whilst maintaining her grip on Jin. Sitting him on the floor as gently as her physical strength allowed, she cautiously re-arranged the Mishima boy's limp form, so he was leaning against the bedside. Then the young scientist crawled back up his bed and threw aside the thick satin bedcovers, along with her thermal blanket.
She paused to run her hand across the large black fabric that Jin had draped around himself - after draping her into the warm tender comfort of his body, as she was suffering from her own medicine's aftereffects. That part...it wasn't part of my dream. But why would he...? Julia felt tears of poignancy and longing sting her eyes again, but hastily wiped them away. Dream or not, the young scientist wasn't going to just leave her cell-roommate - or in fact, anyone she doesn't genuinely hate - to sleep for heaven knows how long, half-naked and sitting his ass on the cold hard floor.

It was her turn to tuck him in.

Julia then got off the bed again to lift and lay the Mishima boy's seemingly unconscious form, in a relaxed sleeping position onto his new king-sized mattress - the padding somewhat firmer compared to the old one that she set ablaze last night.

Squatting down astride Jin's thighs, the young scientist wrapped her arms around the Mishima boy's torso in a tight bear-hug, and then lift-pushed the large male body onto the mattress, grunting with the strain of its weight. It took some bit-by-bit rolling around, pulling, pushing, and limb-placements to get Jin's body in a proper and comfortable-looking position on his bed. Julia moved the Mishima boy about very patiently and meticulously, taking her fully focused time and working up quite a sweat...she certainly didn't want to deal with accusations of cramps or pulled tendons when he woke up.
After she was certain that he would wake up as comfortable as he looked right now, the young scientist pulled the thick satin covers snugly over his chest.

As Julia slid off the king-sized bed and walked towards her own suite, she stopped and turned to Jin's sleeping form. Her satisfied feelings of a job well done had suddenly evaporated into a strange sense of sad emptiness and reluctance to leave. She palmed her forehead. A shower...she was all sweaty, and the warm flowing water would clear her mind.

Other than the confiscated diary log, her and Jin's belongings have all been tidily relocated to their respective suites. She now had her own big closet, complete with clothe hangers and a nice set of drawers.

The young scientist's bathroom was half the size of their previous cell bathroom...mainly because hers had no bathtub. She sighed. True, she didn't care much about bathing facilities, but it would've been nice to have that small closed-in space she could stretch out in...her quirky way of shutting out the world.

After drying off her body and hair from a thorough soaping and showering, Julia hesitated on her choice of pajamas for a moment...before slipping on her least modest but most comfy set of sleeping wear - her elastic cotton bra-like crop top, easy-fitting cotton sports thong, and loose ribbed cotton socks. It may be a long time before she'll have a chance to wear such shameless luxuries again, if ever...

Julia wriggled her body into the silken bed covers of her own prettily-designed queen-sized canopy...and almost sank into the extra-soft bedding. Her own mattress was much softer than Jin's king-sized mattresses - of both his current bed and the one she burned last night. How gender-stereotypical. Michelle and I slept on straw-woven rugs on the wooden cabin floor, ever since I learned to walk...not to mention that cheap little sofa-bed I have at Violet Systems. Oh well, soft mattresses never gave me aches or spinal problems, either.

Julia stubbornly threw her own warm satin sheets over herself and rolled away from Jin's direction...then on her back, then facing Jin's suite, and finally face down with head under pillow.
It took the young scientist almost 3 hours of tossing, turning, and fierce inner debate to come to terms that she wasn't going to get any sleep the way on her own bed...not tonight and not in her current state, anyways.
Sighing in sheer frustration, she lifted herself up with one hand, and turned to look at the Mishima boy again. He hadn't budged an inch from her bedly handiwork, but his chest rose and fell in deep even breaths.
After staring his uninterrupted slumbering form intently for a good few minutes, Julia quietly slipped off her bed and headed towards Jin's suite in small tentative steps. And halted right at the Mishima boy's bedside...

*****
Hallway outside Jin Kazama & Julia Chang's new chamber cell, 1:16am...

Raven glared at Zafina through his pitch-black shades as he emerged from the double-suite cell-chamber. The middle eastern mystic almost seemed like she was enjoying his bad humor.
"As I see it, the Agency should also bill you for intentional property damage done by our fine guests. Every idea you insisted on putting into practice on them, has without fail led to costly destruction of some sort."

Zafina looked even more pleased with herself. "Griping about costs in monetary terms, when the stability of the world is still at stake? One wonders why you persist in your professional agent position. And at least your superiors have the sense to admit that my suggestions have been...'on track', so far. Let's see now..." The middle eastern mystic tapped a golden nail-polished forefinger against her palm in playful mockery.
"...bring out Julia Chang's psychological oddities to examine and counter? Check. Expedite the Chang girl's awakening by 3 times its original rate, without seriously harming her psychological well-being? Check. Established a strong potential rapport between Kazama and Chang, enough for them to work together willingly? Your superiors - of all people - are optimistic that my indirect 'meddling' ideas will flower results soon. Have Chang demonstrate she possesses unique supernatural abilities not on record? Obtained a very useful and powerful weapon, whilst causing only moderate damage to non-vital equipment? Well, those were free bonuses to the Agency. Compare those to a broken wall and a few items of semi-expensive furniture-"

"-all right, all right." The ninja agent waved his hand irritably. He then crossed his arms, aggravated mood suddenly replaced with a business-like disposition.
"Still...as of now, Chang appears to be dangerously unprepared - and almost completely faithless towards her own potential, not to mention surpassing it. We need to finish a few more tests on her and dish out some basic training, before we can completely invest her into Kazama's cause. She already seems more than intimidated by the former.
"And I don't care who or how many of us are optimistic. The fact is Chang still doesn't have a long-lasting impetus - some strong personal cause - to unconditionally help Kazama's mission with full willingness. We simply don't have the time to sit back and hope some haphazard spark suddenly stirs up her chemistry, enough to override the scores of solid reasons why she won't help that Mishima brat."

Zafina looked mildly contemplative. "And are any of those remaining tests or training sessions related to her debilitating psychological dysfunctions?"

Raven sighed. "Yeah, Luce and I more or less agreed that we'll have to work around them. I've never seen that sadistic wonder so pissed off and disappointed by any of his 'test session' results before, the way he was with Chang's. Contrary to what we've been telling mid-level staff, the higher-ups have ordered him to more or less repeat his last test with her...and if that still fails, we'll have to get by using the collar on her, should circumstances require at-hand shock therapy." He suddenly frowned when the middle eastern mystic half-turned away, and lightly placed a hand on her lips, as if trying to suppress a chuckle.
"What's wrong with you? You find something funny about Chang's misery?" The ninja agent demanded with slight indignation.

Zafina cleared her throat and faced him again. "Pardon me, it's nothing of the sort. What you said just reminded me that...well, never mind. Now about motivating that Chang girl..." She then curled her slender fingers under her chin. "Let me talk to her in private. But pre-arranged under the condition that Kazama remain totally clueless and unsuspecting, regarding who had been talking to her and what may have been said. He needs to be completely sedated during my meeting with her, and such sedation must not appear suspiciously coincidental. I promise you, within the week she'll start on Kazama's mission with zeal, straight from her own heart."

"Under a load of very specific and meticulously pre-arranged conditions, you mean." Raven pointed out sarcastically. "But what could possibly sway her within a few days? Like Kazama, Chang doggedly refuses to be compromised by those people she's most concerned about."

"Ironically, the very person which had been her myriad reasons not to willingly work on aiding Kazama. The boy himself." Zafina replied with a slight twinkle in her eyes. "Don't give me that look now, you're the one complaining how we can't afford to sit on our hands...so why not allow my harmless gamble? I informed you a while back, Chang holds the ability to save Kazama from himself. And if she fails, we can simply redirect course of action to our simpler pre-planned alternatives."

"Huh." The ninja agent scoffed. "And how are you going to convince Ms. pig-headed scientific skeptic that eternal soul-condemnation with evil spirits is actually real and readily doable? After all the supernatural events she's been through first-hand, Chang's still only half-convinced of her own extraterrestrial origins."

"Look who's talking." Zafina retorted dryly. "For someone who has personally encountered Azazel Himself, you're still almost as bad as that Chang girl yourself. Her fath...that male human that impregnated her birth mother, he was skillfully empathic - able to lucidly share memories, emotions, and sensations via telepathic link with a consensual partner.
"And luckily for me, as a Collectress of Time - my soul one of the daughters of Death and Fate - I naturally excel in that area. Especially in light of how her little 'foster-sister' is also a dangerously self-aware and knowledgeable one of my kind as well, and whose past reincarnated soul had been inextricably involved in doing October Tenth Moon's dirty work. And of course, as I have warned you when first you brought that Child-Mercenary under your wing, that particular girl-child is too, albeit still oblivious of her own identity as one of us. And there is that also clueless one in G. Corp., whose powers and knowledge will stay largely locked...until she finally finds the heartlessness to kill her own sister with full intentions."
The middle eastern mystic suddenly gave Raven a stern look. "The Agency has kept those little tidbits of knowledge off all their non-tangible records, have they not?"

"Yeah, wouldn't help if Chang learned about that claim, even if she refused to believe so," Raven replied. "If anything, it would just deepen her doubts about her informed heritage. What was it again - you, Valkyrie, and Lei Wulong's niece have some astral-plane royalty status running in your ectoplasmic veins?"

"Nothing 'royal' in being a Collectress of Time, that necessarily makes our lives easier." Zafina sighed. "Just a selection of supernatural traits - as advantageous as they can be bothersome - that those of our kind may choose to cultivate and utilize, deny and ignore, or minimize via self-training and self-control.
"Our souls intrinsically require sustenance from Death...in exchange for reaping His due. The more living souls we grievously harm or put out, the stronger we get. More importantly, we possess unusual metaphysical abilities and foresight, imparted us from Fate, in order to properly steer worldly events the way She requires."

"...in other words, Alexandersson and I wasted our time scurrying into your village, to help support your outnumbered ass from Kazama's hit squad. Because the more of those Mishima army ants swarming in, the better you feed." The ninja agent commented sarcastically.

Zafina chuckled. "I am sorry...but indeed you have, as I was in no danger at all. Every life I took or injury I inflicted on the boy's pitiful Tekken force, my energy and power took a sizeable leap...until they accumulated to the point where I almost felt I was beating mere, helpless children. Those armed fools were obviously frustrated and confused by my irrationally increasing combat powers, yet kept on fighting mindlessly without stopping to think of a strategy or possible counter-tactics."

The middle eastern mystic's expression then became solemn and distant.
"Lei Wuji indulges in her kills with voracious glee - her physio-spiritual needs feed on kills are peculiarly untamable and desperate for any Collectress's I've come across...almost as if she was penalty-cursed for that particular past-reincarnation transgression, involving Chang's maternal line and her biological father.
"I myself painstakingly self-trained my own inherent need to feed on human kills - minimizing it to a highly controllable extent, via slow and gradual adaptive deprivation."

"Your little Valkyrie, on the other hand...that poor Child-Mercenary is still too preoccupied with staying in denial via her many wanton and self-abusive proclivities...which not only suppresses her sense of self-awareness, but also hinders her otherwise exceptionally potent human-based metaphysical capacities.
"Yet as you well know, despite her profound psychological volatility, she also possesses an extremely risky combat aptitude and intelligence, even for a Collectress. During her days as a child-soldier, she was pitted against her oldest sibling-sister - who by unfortunate coincidence, was a Collectress like her, too - and emerged victorious.
"A Collectress killing another one would allow the victor to absorb the victim's energy release upon death, increasing the former's overall power exponentially. Both happened to be among the 5 of Angel's hopeful army against the-then impending Azazel threat...which could have relieved Her from putting Kazama through his soul-racking hardships.
"But of course, after causing the death of an Angel-Devil gene-spliced sibling-in-arms, Valkyrie just had to actively kill off the remaining 3 among them - out of that peculiar instinctive impulse of hers...or merely to spite Angel at all costs. I still cannot guess. Either way, that girl-child single-handedly toppled Angel's initial and quite reliable 'Army of Azazel Slayers' plan like a stack of dominoes. Forcing Her to swap Kazama's soul - originally Her failsafe backup - as Her official Azazel elimination pawn, while little Valkyrie herself was demoted to Angel's very last and desperate resort instead."
Zafina suddenly narrowed her eyes. "It was prudent of you to send your little fan-agent as far from Jin Kazama's presence as possible. The manacles can no longer hold back his inner Azazel-Spawn from forcing others like Himself to rise, even with Angel's prevailing inner-presence counter-balancing His telepathic goading. And I doubt Kazuya Mishima can spur her into transforming any time soon either, especially given the state his Devil-powers have been temporarily rendered."

Raven was silent for a minute. "...the higher-ups are debating whether to terminate Valkyrie - immediately after G. Corp.'s militarized edge has been weakened enough for its opposing factions to take down. As of now, the benefits of using her still outweigh the high possibility that she'll turn against us, out of pure instinctive whim...with dire consequences. Not to mention our resources and risks that go to constantly funding and covering for her unmanageable habits. What do you think?"

"...I cannot formally advise on that matter with full confidence. " Zafina replied after her own moment of quiet thoughtfulness. "Indeed, the Falling Angel's backup usefulness has long expired. And keeping her around will eventually inflict heavy casualties on our side, as our opponents. But my gut feeling tells me that whatever burdens and pyrrhic victories caused by her will benefit us greatly in the long-run. Besides, Lars Alexandersson still stands firmly in the way, between Chang and Kazama's joint destiny. That Alisa marionette alone will be inadequate in getting Kazama's half-uncle out of the picture...but the Child-Mercenary has a much better chance to catch-"

"-I'm not hearing this." The ninja agent interrupted in a rather cutting tone, holding up a hand. And abruptly moved to walk away.

Zafina couldn't help chuckle out loud this time. "A little insecure now, aren't we? Or could it be...jealousy over a female child's amorous attentions?"

Ignoring the teasing gesture, Raven stopped to turn to Zafina again and crossed his arms. "You're a tad insistent in your argument in keeping Valkyrie around, for an outside consultant who just self-proclaimed she 'lacked confidence' about her advice on the matter."

"...all right, then. I'll admit that I personally have a stake in your little fan agent's survival. She is one of my Collectress sisters after all, and an unusually strong - albeit a still nascent one - at that. Which means she likely can help cull unearthly deities like Chang, and those who want to keep her alive for their own purposes. Maybe even Chang herself, should I somehow fail." Zafina replied evenly.
"Our Collectress souls carry over indefinitely as female human embodiments of the ultimate Master and Mistress of all our universe's sentient beings - be the latter mundane or holy. When the Avatars were created and tried to colonize the human world, Our souls' parents adapted our souls, giving our human form the ability to counter & slay the trespassers...with more efficiency, perhaps surpassing even our own worldly deities. So now, our souls' purposes are no longer focused solely on culling lives for Death, and stealthily maneuvering humanity under Fate's direction...our priorities have been altered to manage those extraterrestrial artificial deity-creations, that have developed their own rather still inferior and underdeveloped souls. That is, the souls of who haven't been human-birthed and thus possess a human soul. Like the Chang girl's original ancestral mother."

"So you gals will never be given an opportunity to feel what it's like being a guy? I'd say that's gross injustice in itself. An eternal one at that." Raven commented offhandedly.

"Never knew you had a hidden penchant for belittling women." Zafina waved off in a dismissive tone. "And that Lei Wuji...she'll be more than a mere nuisance, seeing how she's perplexingly adamant in keeping Chang alive and sane at all costs. Which is going strongly against our inherent duties...and contradicting all her past-life actions against Chang's maternal ancestors."

"...so Lei Wulong's niece had been doing all the killing for Chang's father, and is now seeking redemption by protecting Chang." The ninja agent concluded dryly.

The middle eastern mystic shook her head. "I doubt Lei Wuji's motives regarding Chang are anywhere that simple or benevolent. But to reiterate: Our souls are now equipped with strong immunity against the metaphysical-based attacks of intruding otherworldly deities, and we can take Their lives with relative ease...perhaps even more efficiently than the gods of our own world. No matter how powerful a mystic Chang's father was, he wouldn't have been able to kill 10 of his extraterrestrial-deistic victims so effectively and consistently. For a Collectress as experienced and self-aware as Lei Wuji...how vast her soul's impudent wrath must be, to blind her into attempting constant defiance against Death and Fate Themselves."
Zafina's expression became slightly distasteful. "But in my humble opinion, that fool Jun Kazama is still a tad worse...even now, the Kazama woman's spirit is desperately trying to cling on to her blind faith in Angel. And the simple-minded belief that untouched purity and infantile ideals of short-term justice alone prevails all other laws in the world. All are indiscriminately consumed by Death, and none - not even the gods Themselves - can dictate or escape Fate. From the grandmotherly wisdom of Jun Kazama's ancient soul, one would expect the 'Chosen' Kazama woman to know better than keep her eyes shut in denial. But then again, such seems to be a persistent trait among women closely associated with Jin Kazama's - those whom he attracts or is attracted to."

"Hmph. I know you were obliged to play temple sentinel, while that 'otherworldly-deity' Ogre was free and terrorizing various people. Where were your other so-claimed 'extraterrestrial god-huntress' sisters, then?" Raven suddenly inquired in a dubious tone.

The middle eastern mystic crossed her arms defensively. "We may surpass our worldly deities in some abilities, but we are still humans after all...not physical gods. As our kind is by default born with highly prophetic skills, we are informed by Fate when or when not to intervene in deistic-level affairs - orders from Death and Fate Themselves. Though I wager that rebellious anomalies like Lei Wuji refrained from meddling with Ogre to keep her identity hidden from Chang.

It was Raven's turn to look faintly amused. "...I admire your tedious efforts to cover all logical gaps in your metaphysical-based arguments. Though you'll need more hard proof and reasonable flow to convince the higher-ups that they're more than on-the-spot mythical BSing."

Zafina merely shrugged. "Well then, let Fate be the judge...or perhaps more relevantly to you, your superiors."

*****
Inside the New chamber cell, 3:43 am...

Still fully conscious and senses lucidly clear, Jin inwardly blinked in astonishment as he felt the girl striding quickly to his suite, then balking right by his beside. He was momentarily grateful for the cuff's drainage duration forced control of his breathing into involuntarily deep regular breaths - as he otherwise would've surely interrupted his breathing in a tell-tale manner. She still believed he was deep asleep...and he was deeply inquisitive of her unexpected approaching toward his helpless, seemingly completely knocked-out state.

The Mishima boy perceived his cellmate's frustrated efforts to get a little shut-eye within the last few hours - and like himself, whose body was forced into complete physical relaxation - failing miserably. There was just too many thoughts and emotions circulating in his consciousness, sleep appeared to be impossible...and he was resigned to just lie there like a log, fully awake and active mind constantly bursting in frustration, for the next 10 or so hours. The girl was obviously in a similar mental quandary...but at least she is free to move about as she pleased.

The girl already grabbed his surprised and curious attention when she got up from her bed, then turned stared at his "sleeping" self so intensely. Apparently, he himself was a main reason for her restlessness...but he wasn't at all worried that she'd try to cause any harm to him. She obviously remembered how caringly he tended to her without personal gain, at her peak of self-induced debilitating discomfort. Trying to return the favor by hauling his much-heavier and larger body onto his with strenuous efforts, then painstakingly rearranged his limbs and position to ensure his maximum restful comfortableness, before tucking his bedcovers over him with needlessly meticulous care. Besides, he long intuited that his cellmate was simply above acting out such underhanded vindictiveness. But what in the heavens and hells could she possibly want with him right now?

The girl suddenly interrupted his thoughts by heaving two noisy, prolonged breaths - as if she was readying herself to do something especially dreaded and nerve-racking. Jin subdued his mental wanderings, to focus on sensing emotional or physiological cues from the girl's internal activity. There was heightened anticipation and confidence that was overtaking her hesitation. Within her excited chaos of feelings he perceived an impulsive and fretful anticipation...then smelled her lust-related arousal.

The Mishima boy mentally frowned, but only slightly. He knew that normal humans - correction, humans not a product of a Devil-infused Mishima and Angel-powered Kazama - often had their emotional interests mixed into biological urges to be basely intimate.
Though Jin wouldn't really mind if the girl got physically very near him, and felt him up wherever her biological desires compelled her to do. In fact, feeling her warm tender flesh and silky-soft hair brushing against his largely unclothed body...not to mention whiffing at that gentle, refreshing fragrance of her natural body scent. That might be nice enough to make up for any queasiness, should she act upon her animal-instinctive intrusions.

The Mishima boy was just anxious about his cellmate touching any part of his mouth using her own. It was simply some idiosyncratic hygienic peeve the Mishima boy never managed to outgrow...since he was 6 years old. During Jin's child-to-adolescenthood with his mother, he always refused to open his mouth whenever Jun tried to feed him using her own chopsticks, and obsessively checked nightly that his toothbrush was placed far from his mother's. When he had Stray as a pet, he sternly trained his puppy that his face was off-limits from affectionate licking. When teenaged Jin went to live with Heihachi, he'd cleverly avoid eating at social dining events where other diners' chopsticks or fingers will be going at the same food - even on a shared grill or boiling pot.

But he'll just cope if the girl does put her saliva on or into his mouth...no justifiable reason for hard feelings. That blonde research head herself had put plenty of lewd moves on him plenty of times, whenever they were alone and he was sedated into semi-consciousness. Not only running her tongue on parts of his body, an act that truly puzzled him and grossed him out...but even worse, probing his whole mouth with her tongue afterwards. Luckily for that Laroft woman, her supervisors turn a blind eye to those bizarre (to him) sensory curiosities clearly unrelated to her profession. And as psychologically uncomfortable as the ordeals made Jin, he simply couldn't bring himself to fuss about such trivial issues. Nothing that a nice prolonged teeth-brushing and scalding-hot body-cleansing couldn't help relieve, anyways.
The worst part was being reminded that he actually craved another human's affectionate touch...having been deprived of - and actively abstaining of - such for what seemed an eternity. So much that deep inside, he knew at least part of him perversely looked forward to Laroft's lewd bodily intrusions - in spite of all the deep shame and self-disgust that this realization never failed to invoke.

It was then Jin also realized that the girl was still just standing there, towering over his recumbent form. After another minute or two, he grew oddly irritable and wanted to snap at her to either do something - anything - with him, or simply get out of his suite.

"...sorry about the sleazeball I'm about to be, Kazama, I really am." The girl murmured softly in a very awkward tone. "But if this is the only chance I've got to get you out of my system...and get some half-restful sleep, I just cannot afford to lose it. Besides, you...well, what you don't know or feel won't hurt you." He heard a small smile in her whisper.

Get him out of her system? What did she mean? The Mishima boy found himself wondering with a confused fear and anxiety. His worries were cut off by moderate weight sinking onto his bed, shifting about the mattress as she climbed on, taking her time to creep towards him. With a fluid seamlessness, the girl deftly replaced his pillow with her own lap - her thighs and hips almost all bare flesh.
Jin almost forgot his astonishment at this very unexpected action, as his senses lost themselves in enjoyable ease upon their new "head rest". She had lay his head to the side, so his face felt that tender velvety smoothness of her skin, that soothing human warmth...and of course, that wonderful scent of hers. This time her inherent scent was notably different...but just as pleasant, if not more, in the current mood he was in. Instead of putting in mind a refreshingly cool forest morning air after an intense nightly storm...her scent now gave off a cozy, lullingly toasty and subtly sweet, soothing feeling - like nodding off in restful tranquility beside a generous hearth of burning Juniper firewood on a cold night.
Her thighs were better than any pillow he's ever slept on...just the right balance of softness and firmness. He felt a brief nostalgic tinge of childish jubilance, whenever his mother was about to gently clean his ears.

Jin inwardly started when his cellmate suddenly started running tentative fingers that barely touched the surface of his skin...tracing his cheekbone and combing through his spiky hair. Her touch was so slight, as if closer contact with his skin would've burned her fingertips...her movement so slow, that the slowness was burning his senses with grating impatience. Those fingertips felt almost like small sparks of static electricity to his suddenly over-sensitive nerves.
Without warning, she then lifted her fingers and started flicking at his bangs playfully, giggling like a toddler as they swept stubbornly back into place.

"You sure have weird hair, Kazama. Your overly-long bangs and swept-back spiky hairstyle really do make you look unkempt. You ought to trim your bangs...on second thought, get a major haircut and styling - not only to look like a normal guy, but seeing how much your spiked hair makes you look like your dad." The girl paused, seemingly contemplative.
"Though on the other hand, you'll appear even more of a boring sourpuss, if you just cropped or slicked everything flat...so much that I bet even Ling will get turned off."
"Besides," His cellmate's soft voice took on a faintly incredulous amusement. "Jun Kazama managed to look all elegant and pretty with those weird long bangs. It must be one of the world's greatest fashion mysteries, how she manages that. I've seen her in framed pictures at Asuka's family home...well, that was before they've took them down, since you started wrecking havoc upon the world."

Jin felt more than a tad slighted by his cellmate's comments about hair. She's the one to talk...as if she wasn't profoundly lazy and tastelessly plain about her own fashion. As if he somehow had the time or luxury to constantly fuss over his clothes and hair. As if he was that much more self-conscious about the stylishness of his attire, than she was.
His mother's lovely bangs were undisputedly the best-looking physical attribute on his whole body.
Moreover, trying to forcefully change any physical - or even stylistic - resemblances with his father...that would be a most cowardly act. However much he hates Kazuya Mishima and strives to become everything against what latter stands for, he had enough spine and self-honesty to recognize what he is...that evil, greedy scum's biological son.
Then something curious struck him. How did the girl get acquainted with his Kazama-side cousin...and mother's niece? From the way his cellmate talked about Asuka Kazama, it sounded almost like the two were closely acquainted.
An uneasy feat - given the Kazama clan's tendency to keep to themselves from outsiders - not to mention an American of a duskier-skinned race. And his cellmate apparently managed to wheedle herself into their clan's home...somewhere that he was never welcomed, even as a toddler.

"You know, Kazama...I'm thinking about talking myself to sleep, and not feel too asinine about that, by pretending you're my audience. Not that the Agency has any reason to show you the footage of me, inappropriately handling you in your sleep and rambling my nonsense. Hope you won't mind...well, of course you won't." The girl laughed softly to herself.

Of course he will...her soft, drone-like prattling will likely help bore him to sleep, too. Not to mention he finds her lap a deal more comfy and relaxing than even those deluxe satin pillows.
Though she'd better refrain from saying anything more offending than her imbecilic opinions about his hair. It'd be annoying to have to meticulously suppress all traces of vindictiveness, which his pretense-unconscious self is not suppose to be harboring, when they interact again with each other on a conscious level.

His cellmate had started petting his hair...like he was a pet puppy or kitten. "...I'll bet your own girlfriend never had the opportunity to take advantage of you yet. Seeing how uptight you are about showing some sensitivity, and Ling's own shy ingenuousness. Have you guys even gotten to holding hands?" A mischievous playfulness laced her almost-whispering voice. "Maybe I ought to apply for a freeze frame of your head on my lap, then blackmail you with it. I bet if I send a pic to Ling, your sweetheart would be so jealous...she'd definitely kill you after she kills me."

The Mishima boy never could stop wondering - where did she get the impression that he saw Xiaoyu more than a friend? Or that he'd want to lie in the frail-looking, petite Chinese girl's lap?
There's just something about young-girlish features - like Xiaoyu's, like Alisa's. No matter how beautiful, he just had trouble seeing them as equals - an overly naive kid sister to protect in the former's case, and in the latter a mere prettied-up doll whose baby-face features reflected her own overly-fragile backbone...even when presented the choice to follow her own will.
Unlike womanly females - such as his mother, Nina Williams, and this girl. Perhaps this was just his own superficial tastes. Mature-looking visages and bodies - along with down-to-Earth, level-headed personalities - unfairly and unfailingly gave him an impression of equality in nearly all aspects, when he's looking for a female to rely on - an associate or otherwise. What's more, the Mishima boy tends to notice...and even admire the aesthetic or unique attributes of types like them. Maybe his mother had something to do with such tastes.
But his cellmate was a bit of a deviation. Save those special hazel eyes of hers, this girl wasn't as beautiful as his mother or Nina...but her facial features didn't have to be beautiful for Jin to be personally fond of them...more fond than even gorgeous ones.
Further, he adored the girl's somewhat out-of-place yet childishly cute pigtails - he admired those twin braids - rather than finding them silly on a quite womanly-looking girl. That, and her many appallingly homely young-student-like mannerisms and perplexing quirks. But not in a way he viewed cute, child-like girls...instead, he found those qualities fresh and original for a woman.
Most of all, his cellmate was level-headed and prudent when it comes to suppressing emotional vulnerability and juvenile feelings, yet clearly far from expert. Unlike Jun Kazama's all-around motherliness and lady-like character, concerned almost solely in protecting and nurturing. Unlike Nina's all-around stylish grace and ice-queen pragmatism. Rather, his cellmate was a grown young woman who didn't get the chance to outgrow some of her girlish habits, but managed to mature into a solidly dignified, independently-willed, reliably competent, and...well, largely sensible human in her own right. A prominent character of hers that kept on reminding him of himself - but now, seeing himself through her had somehow started mellowing his scathing self-hatred into a bittersweet coming-to-terms, almost a sense of impassive self-acceptance...

"I-I had the weirdest dream last night when I fell asleep in your...when my feverish ass finally passed out. Well, it was more like one of those nightmares that make no sense. You were in it, Kazama. Along with Lars, Ling, Alisa... and other people I know, including those I met here in the base. But also many others I never in my life met, dreams or reality." The girl's body started quivering.

She suddenly repositioned herself into a half-leaning, half-lying position and gathered Jin higher in her embrace - so that his face was now pressing into her breasts. His cellmate's movements were slow and gentle, but seemly distracted...as if in her lonely trepidation, she absent-mindedly gave into a toddler-like desire to latch onto something. Not realizing that it was the Mishima boy himself.

Jin inwardly tried to suppress a moan of indulging relaxation, as his face was nestled into the girl's bountiful breasts. And then felt her arms encircling torso holding him close, in a tender but firm hug. This new bosom-cushion was in turn definitely more comfy than her lap...save that thin white tank top she was wearing, which prevented him from feeling the smooth velvetiness of her bare skin. Her breasts were so snug and supple against his head, and possessed an even more perfect firm-softness than her folded thighs.
He was never this wholesomely comfortable before...or it'd been too long since he could remember. Absurdly, to almost a shocking degree, the Mishima boy suddenly felt like an infant - all trusting, pure, and simple - entirely safe and protected by some omnipotent power of everlasting love. As if the girl's intimately close embrace was a perfectly cozy and impenetrable sacred sanctuary, for both his body and soul - that would shield him from all the hostile hatred and malignant influences of the world...and within himself.
And then she started cradling him so soothingly, as if she was trying to console a baby or grieving child. Apparently, she was using him as some psychological substitute for her own troubling emotions - projecting onto him her own longing to be physically embraced and comforted like she was doing to him, without even realizing so.
The Mishima boy was so deeply engrossed in clashing feelings of bliss in his new resting position - against mounting concern over her current emotional state - that he missed the first few minutes of her rambling.

"Well, Kazama...in that weird nightmare, you were wearing that black trench-coat and fancy dress-shirt with pinstriped business slacks. You know, that set of attire you often wore when you made your public appearances as Zaibatsu CEO? We were alone in that Gargoyle's Perch - the Zaibatsu tower's top chamber, where you fought Lars that first time and then rebooted Alisa to fight against him. But it was just you and me. I was inside the bomb-proof-glass elevator, watching you as you were looking outside the windows. When the elevator doors opened I stepped out, expecting that I was supposed to somehow defeat you. To stop you from destroying what's left of the world.
"Then...then you turned around to look at me. A-and the look in your eyes was just so wrong. Not that cruel mass-slaughterer smirk you wore around the TV cameras last year...but something far worse. The way you were looked at me - i-it reminded me of the way Kazuya Mishima looked when he was involved in his ambitious projects: GENOCELL from a few years back; Then your father's plan to destroy you - both your life and your name - then seize the Zaibatsu, all the while being exalted as a hero by the world. That endless desire and greed. Except your eyes still didn't carry have that subzero soul-less gleam of Kazuya Mishima's. Instead, they had some kind of personal fury and determination directed at me...as if I'd taken something invaluable from you, and you were desperate to get it back."
The girl attempted to quell a shiver. "...and then you started to stride towards me. I became so confused and scared, I forgot all about fighting you, and quickly fled back into the elevator and closed it without thinking. You started to pound the elevator doors with your fists, yelling at me to stop running...that I'll never escape from you. Strangely enough, I don't remember being afraid for a moment that you'd harm me...but that if you caught me, you'll imprison me for the rest of my life. No, not only my life - for eternity." She suddenly buried her face into Jin's hair. "It was just a dream, I know. But...but I in all honesty, don't ever wish to be that frightened of you again."

As he felt the girl's face nuzzling into his hair, the Mishima boy's hazy mind and senses started to tune back into reality. And then he felt her brief shiver of apprehension. What was that she said...she dreamed about him turning out just like his father in the end, and wanted to use her for his own personal purposes?
Jin felt a wave of angry disappointment. In her subconscious, his cellmate still held such distrust towards him...even though his rational mind knew it was perfectly normal for any sensible and mature human to do so...as he actually had been planning to - albeit the fact that he genuinely balked to follow through, long before knowing who exactly would be his unwitting fall victim.
But going so far as to imagine that he had the potential to become that hopelessly decadent being his father is? Disturbingly insulting, even for one of those utterly nonsensical dreams that was the subconscious's cruel prank on the mind. Which explicitly implied nothing about her psyche's perception...

"I managed to make it to ground level, terrified that you'd be waiting to get me. But you weren't there. So I fled towards the tower's exits...only-only to run right into Laurent De Rochefort, who had suddenly sprouted from under the tiled floors. My mother's goldmine paramour was as young as I last saw him in person - about Lars's age." His cellmate paused to breathe in a shaky breath. "He-he grabbed me with some superhuman strength. A-and...and tried to drag me with him, into the hole he'd sprung from."

The girl lifted one embracing arm from his body, so that she could press a palm against her eyes. Her body trembled as she tried to contain her tears
Jin felt his psyche starting to churn with sad sympathy and anger for his silently weeping cellmate. If only he had the energy to lift his hand and just brush a finger or two against that gentle arm holding onto his torso. But he simply can't. Probably for the better, as she'd know that he was still conscious.

After a minute or so, his cellmate stopped trembling, sniffled, and resumed holding him with both arms. "And then you dashed right at the edge of the hole, Kazama. You kept on begging me to take your hand...and that expression you had, it was pure panic and distress. As if I somehow became as dear to you as Ling, and you were terrified of losing me." Jin could hear the faint smile in her voice.
"But then, Lars appeared on the other side of the hole I was being dragged into, and just looked at me...reluctant and troubled. As if he didn't really want to bother rescuing me, but felt obliged to by his own moral code." The girl laughed softly. "Isn't that the silliest thing ever? Lars Alexandersson, of all people, hesitating to help a damsel in distress!" She abruptly stopped laughing, and when she spoke again her tone had darkened slightly. "...now that I think of it in retrospect, he almost looked as if he was begrudging me over something pretty serious. Maybe Alisa told him what I told her. Or her human persona was never the same again, after the 'command authority' strain I put her through that first day in the Agency base."

The girl sighed, then lay her cheek lightly against the top of the Mishima boy's head. "Still...I turned away from you and started pleading for Lars to save me, ignoring you completely. After watching me struggle for a good while, he finally crouched down unhastily, and limped a listless arm within my reach - slowly and grudgingly. Didn't even bother holding out his hand, so I had to grab his wrist and pull myself up. He wasn't really interested at all to save me, but I managed to pull free from Laurent and save myself - using Lars's anchoring weight as some immobile climbing gear. And then I turned to look at you again, Kazama. You seemed so saddened, so hurt...almost as if I was some closely trusted ally who betrayed you or something. And then you glowered at me...as if you wanted some retribution. That Kazuya Mishima-like look was in your eyes again - except your expression was full of vengeful anger and some desperate need. You started stomp-striding around the hole to get me, again. And I quickly hid behind Lars, hoping forlornly that he'd somehow shield me from you."

The Mishima boy's pride and dignity were most definitely offended...who for his mother's sake did the girl assume she was to him? And where in the depths of hells how did her psyche get the notion that he was some overly-possessive pervert - solely obsessed on claiming her? He was nothing like his over-sentimentally attached half-uncle, nor his romance-obsessed Chinese friend...never was before, and never will be!
And despite Xiaoyu's all-too-vocal sweet nothings, even she would have the sane respect and humility to accept her beyond-friendship longings as one-sided, and be fully content with loving and protecting him from afar!

...this cellmate of his was outright projecting her own bitterly unrequited feelings towards Lars Alexandersson onto him. That must be it.
Except her love-sickened-into-utter-stupidity psyche was twisting their roles around...swapping his role with his half-uncle's in that dream. Yes, that's exactly it.
At least this love-stricken girl's subconscious interpretation of his half-uncle's non-existent interest in her...it was refreshingly reflective of reality. He inwardly scoffed with as much scorn as he could muster.
Trying to tune out the flurry of voices deeper within him chiding otherwise. And subdue into denial the jealous indignation that was still flaring dangerously within.

One of the girl's hands left Jin's torso again, so its long slender fingers could stroke one of his bangs. "You know what's funny? The reason I have that huge crush on Lars...it's really because of you. Several years ago, I spied on you - because back then, you were still the beloved grandson of Heihachi Mishima...who just happened to kidnap my adoptive mother. And then I was surprised to see nothing but regret and pain of loss in your eyes, for the mother who was taken from you. It wasn't rationally justifiable, but I simply couldn't help conclude you knew nothing of the wicked things your grandfather had been doing."

Jin blinked inwardly. So she started having feelings him way back, since his first participation in the tournaments?

"...though my emotional instincts were sadly proven right, when your grandfather tried to take your life and forced you into exile. When you returned in one of the subsequent tournaments, I finally got to meet you face-to-face for the first time...as your opponent. You've become full of vengeful anger and hostility by then. But I could perceive no hint of malevolence, or even sadistic vindictiveness - just plain anger and determination.
"You treated me like an irritable nuisance to swat out of your way ASAP, before and during our showcase fight. But after you won and was exiting the stage - and I doubt I'll ever forget that moment...you actually took a moment to offer a chivalrous entreaty for my forgiveness, just because you won and beat my ass a little sore in the process."
The Mishima boy could tell the girl was smiling again, but her tone became timid with embarrassment. "Helped me realize in hindsight how self-centered and patronizing my previous post-victory apologies sounded - 'Your sacrifice won't be in vain'. Hah!" She laughed at herself in self-deprecation, then took a moment to recollect her voice.

"...after that, I-I just became enamored with you. I'd say I was on par with Ling, if her vocal sweet nothings were indeed all straight from her heart. My own heart had so strongly resonated with your antagonistic rage that I saw in your eyes. I saw it stemming from indignation of self-serving immorality, aimed at those that harm and betray a trusting soul. I guess it was because of my experience with Rochefort, that I self-importantly led myself to assume I could empathize with you in a way no one could. Well, no one who was paying attention to you, like I was." The girl stifled a uncomfortable chuckle.
"I was stalking you quite often back then, so I can say that no one else was spying on you like I did. And you were obviously too preoccupied with your feud against Kazuya and Heihachi Mishima to notice me...or you simply didn't want to bother. Fortunately for us, I'm not the upfront type about my romantic longings. Plus, you were my very first taste of romantic attraction...and of course, didn't help that Ling had already gotten to you first."

Intense surprise and delight buzzed throughout Jin's insides, seeping into his core...and then the Mishima boy felt his ego and pride skyrocketing. What was this girl doing to him? She was undeniably expanding his span of emotions and sensations, either unfamiliar ones or those deemed long extinct since his young childhood.
If only...if only his cellmate did manage the courage to approach him. And possessed the emotional perseverance, understanding, and open-heartedness to wear down the cold rejection...and then the surly aloofness he'd most certainly respond with, initially. Like Xiaoyu and Hwoarang had done with their non-stop pestering to get his attention.

Just where and how far would they have gone, had this girl won his approval and trust for companionship? It wouldn't have been hard for her at all. Despite her considerably more mature, disciplined, and complex character - he would've been able to decipher the pains that strongly reflected his own, her simple selfless wish for shared companionship - and a common goal to bring down those around or within him, who wished either him or his psyche dead for their own destructively greedy ambitions. Maybe working together, they could've taken down G. Corp. and his father, without having to invoke premature awakening of Azazel. And if they still had to go with the latter, she would've been his closest confidante and most trusted ally - emotionally and dutifully, the former that no one was able to provide...not even Nina Williams. She would've totally understood and forgiven his motives for being that 'mass-murdering war-criminal', even if she elected not to participate. Perhaps the girl would've been his undercover for G. Corp. instead of being forced to ally with his shady self-interested adopted uncle. And of course, he'd have made Rochefort pay more than corporate assets, but given that monstrous predator a taste of true agony...

...no, why was he kidding himself? Just less than two years back, the Mishima boy was too naively bullish about having to risk anyone innocent in completing his life mission against his Mishima enemies and Devil - much less someone that he'd most surely care about, and even find strong emotional attachment towards. He'd feign coldness and push her as far away as possible, the very moment he started feeling more than simple affinity towards this girl.
Not to mention that on the flip side - her timid social spinelessness doubled as a perceptive, respectful distancing and her reasonable, unyielding sense dignity. A trait he admired and appreciated...a virtue that set her apart from his other openly caring but often pushy friends.

"Yeah, then you started that whole global war thing." The girl's tone turned bitter. "If I hadn't trained myself into the harder sciences, I'd probably still be mining for mental excuses to somehow exonerate your criminal deeds...and actually believe them. Or wallow in blind faith that your terrible actions were somehow tragically misunderstood by the world. But since my particular childhood mess stemming from Rochefort and Michelle's under-the-table bargaining, I've always strived to scrutinize reality fair and square - even as I'm aware I err from psychological or emotional biases far too frequently for my profession."

The Mishima boy honestly could not tell whether he was more amused or annoyed at that particular confession...so ironic that it was comical. Saddening too, and not just in the pathetic sense.

"As much as I abhorred what you did as Zaibatsu CEO...and how you unwittingly disillusioned me...it still took longer than it should've, to purge my one-sided love-sickness from my system. Or so I thought it was." Jin could almost visualize the wistful smile from his cellmate's tone.
"The very first time I saw Lars Alexandersson up close, when he came to rescue my negligent butt from G. Corp...I became love-struck again, full force and impact."
The girl let out a brief chuckle again. "Yeah, your half-Swedish uncle is handsome indeed, despite his trademark Mishima-weird hair. In my humble opinion, he's the best looking among you Mishima lot...unless there are more of your paternal kin running around, waiting to be aesthetically compared." She laughed mischievously.

...that "humble opinion" of hers got onto his nerves with an irritating pique. He knew how outrageously tasteless the girl can be about outward appearance. But seriously, judging that hardly 30ish Mishima half-wit the better looking of them all, with facial definitions more chiseled and protruding than a middle-aged Kazuya Mishima? Not to mention the relatively young half-foreigner Mishima's forehead was perpetually creased with even more prominent frown-wrinkles than his half-brother - 2 decades his senior, to boot. And no, Devil Gene had absolutely nothing to do with his father or his own graceful aging. At all.
Yes, Lars Alexandersson was a mere 3 centimeters taller than the Mishima boy. Yet, he himself was more broadly built, or maybe even more muscular, than his half-uncle...the latter a seasoned military man who fought and trained for a living. Solidly evident by their height-weight correlations.
Huh. So his cellmate was in fact not only tasteless, but blindly superficial - when it came to judging other people's aesthetic attributes. And in the most mindlessly double-standard and typical way...mindlessly prejudging another's physical beauty superior solely because he was of mixed Asian-Caucasian origin. Another thing to be disgusted about the girl...or rather, her bizarre infatuation with that half...

"...well, maybe I'm just biased because Lars had always been on our side - not to mention our acquaintance by his rescue, then learning that he earlier helped Lei escape G. Corp.'s attack. I don't really understand all the woman-chatter over 'Mishima men's inherent gorgeousness'." The girl's pensive voice interrupted his mental invective against her.
"Apparently Heihachi Mishima had his prime days when my mother was young, then Kazuya Mishima's looks were the ladies' rage when the world hailed him as their 'savior', from your destructive tyranny...though mainly the late-twenties or older female demography, with Oedipus complex-ridden younger exceptions. Makes one wonder how you and Lars managed to avoid being overrun by teeming female idols, during the pre-Azazel war times. Probably wasn't too difficult with you, with that sour-ass anti-social glare constantly etched on your face, and countenance that warned , 'Don't try to approach me or I'll bite your fucking head off'. I'll bet you've had your share of those unrelenting romantic pursuers - not intimidated by your hair-trigger anti-socialism, or simply too dedicated in becoming the girl to open your heart. But Ling must've single-handedly quelled even the bravest and most determined female suitors for you. I'm betting that your sassy ingénue of a girlfriend has a darker side...from what I've seen of her, I can't help but conclude she's violently overprotective type - if not overly-possessive of her romantic interests, as well. No wonder she won you over, out of countless admirers." His cellmate chuckled softly to herself.

Her incessant comments about Xiaoyu's more-than-just-friends relationship with him was really starting to irritate the Mishima boy. He'll somehow have to wipe that assumption clean out of her understanding. But on the other hand, if the girl was constantly bringing up their assumed 'romance' as a veiled attempt to vent her own jealousy...

"It's a lot harder to understand Lars's 20-plus decades of celibacy. He even told me that Alisa was his very first love...a man approaching thirty, with a normal libido at that. What, is Tekken Force training like being committed to a monastery? And he supposedly didn't get to leave Sweden until his later teens." The girl wondered out loud. "Was he a shy introvert before he got into Mishima infantry? Or maybe his mother's philandering ways rendered him averse to romance or sex, until Alisa came his way. But what's so great about that combot, anyways? Yeah, she's gorgeously lovely and possesses a highly advanced human-like A.I., that can be pretty cute and endearing sometimes." His cellmate's voice grew bitter.
"Still, he adores her...in that way, more than any real human - even as she proven contrary of her insistent 'humanity' - twice already, and hurting him even more the second time, due to her own selfish and weak-willed cowardice. She's like a barely-adolescent lolita, for the heavens' sake! Couple that with her puerile attitude, a child who's too young to understand sexual or romantic love..."
The girl suddenly halted mid-sentence, and Jin felt a chill pass through her body - as if something terrible just dawned upon her.
"...well, I guess Lars has his own preferences." She suddenly clipped, her tone taking on dismay and very disappointed edge, tinged with an almost frightened disgust.

Her thoughts about his half-uncle's deranged affection for a robot must have triggered a recollective impression of Laurent De Rochefort. How this girl loved to over-think emotional matters - on the relatively infrequent occasions that she does. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing in this context...

"Yeah, there were plenty of guys a lot cuter or more handsome than Lars, too - some who were also regular participants in the past Iron Fist Tournament." The girl abruptly changed the subject after her moment of uncomfortable silence.
"There's that Korean terrorist leader with the dyed hair...a real cute pretty boy with excellent fashion taste, except his demeanor a bit too mouthy and punkish for my liking.
"And one of Lei's good friends, a British boxer who's allegedly connected to Heihachi Mishima, G. Corp., and your old bodyguard Nina Williams. An attractive kid, with a mature and decent attitude to complement. Though he seems to prefer being alone if not around Lei, and nothing about him particularly intrigued me on, anyways.
"Your ex-henchman Eddo Gordo was quite a looker too, though he always had this no-nonsense loner frown on his face...and like you with Ling, apparently only open with Christie Monteiro. And as with Fox, I didn't know anything about Gordo's private life or other unknown attributes to intrigue my emotional interests.
"I also remember seeing another very handsome guy on TV here, though he looked a few years older..."

...okay, so it was merely that the girl didn't really have her own unique taste in men - they were all over the place. Her aesthetic judgment was as bland and muddled as her own fashion sense. Except her perceived "beautiful youth" attractiveness and approved stylishness of Hwoarang...those made Jin cringe inwardly a bit.
His exasperation against his cellmate's "superficial sense of preference" largely evaporated, though he still felt...well, slightly annoyed that she actually deemed his half-wit half-uncle more physically attractive. And disappointed - in her tragically dysfunctional sense of aestheticism, of course.

"...right, then there's that ex-terrorist from Spain, a ruggedly handsome bruiser. Whose sister you happened to kill on her wedding day." The girl continued after her recollective pause, her voice suddenly darkening. "...Miguel. Yeah, that's his name. Despite his vengeful hatred towards you and all your supporters, he still protested against his family about backing up G. Corp. solely to bring Lars's faction down. The news broadcast stated that he was the family's black sheep, but cared about his murdered sister more than anything in the world. Yet, he still managed to see Kazuya Mishima for what he is, and held steadfast on his ethical standards.
"I really wonder if you would've been able to hold onto your own integrity like that, Kazama, if so happens Lars's Faction causes Ling's death. No intending to curse her or anything - knock on wood." She hastily added that last comment.

Jin could feel no guilt or shame. Nor an inkling of frustration or defensiveness. But unfortunately unable to respond with indifference, either. Instead, he felt a deep sadness again - one tinged with remorse.
Remorse for failing to finish the job of finishing off Azazel, Devil, and all of G. Corp...thus rendering those many innocent sacrifices and ruined lives unjustifiable - at least currently.
Sad because of those sacrifices and tragedies caused by his sincere attempt to save humanity...and because of the girl apparently has a memorable tragedy to hold against him.
But yes, he would willingly sacrifice Xiaoyu without much hesitation if his mission required it, and forcefully refrain himself from blaming anyone but himself - should she become collateral damage, due to deliberate vengeance or accidental crossfire.
It was only fair. And the Mishima boy intended to clarify to his cellmate - later on, by some indirect indications - that he at least possesses such sense of fairness.

"At any rate, unless he proves himself...of unhealthy tastes, I'll still only have eyes for Lars. Or rather, he's the only man I'm attracted to..." The girl's voice abruptly trailed off into a barely audible whisper, sounding as if she was confessing a mortal sin. "...who I dare to openly love and desire, without betraying my own conscience and standards - or the world."

As much as his heart wished to, the Mishima boy couldn't find any justifiable reason to criticize that prejudgment. In fact, it was this very aspect of his cellmate, that made him trust and respect her in the first place.

"But like I said before, I doubt I'd have fallen so deeply for your half-uncle, and at first sight, no less - even taking into account his heroic rescue of both Lei and I from G. Corp. - if Lars didn't have a very specific and familiar spark in his eyes. That very spark I saw in yours, Kazama...before you got to the Zaibatsu throne." The girl's voice became gloomy and wistful. "He became the embodiment of what I thought you were...or at least an effective substitute.
"Sometimes...sometimes I think I've glimpsed that spark in your eyes again, the few times we made direct eye contact. I guess it's just a figment hopeful imagination from somewhere deep in my subconscious, as I've never had the courage to look for it in the first place. And if Lars actually did return my feelings, without that green-eyed monster constantly in the way." His cellmate burst out laughing upon uttering her last sentence. "I still don't know who I'm referring to - myself, or Alisa Boskonovitch."

She knew. Deep down inside, the girl knew that scrapped remains of his old self weren't completely dead just yet. But she tried to keep herself in denial, tried to pass off what she witnessed in him as some self-induced delusion.
The Mishima boy needed to trick or force her into frequent direct-eye-contacting with him. Because her knowledge of their continuing existence...and visible, approving acknowledgement of them in her own beautiful eyes...that'll be more than enough to keep those rapidly-fading remnants of his original human self alive.

"Speaking of Alisa Boskonovitch...that reminds me. In my dream, you and Lars suddenly vanished right when I hid behind Lars, and the Mishima Tower base surroundings blurred into another place - like I've been sucked into a time-warp." His cellmate recollected, continuing her conversational soliloquy.
"I suddenly found myself in Dr. Boskonovitch's old research lab. Boskonovitch himself was standing there in front of me...as if he expected my teleported drop-in. My departed mentor looked so sad and guilty, as if that most philanthropic of ultra-genius inventors had...well, somehow exploited my deep gratitude and admiration for his own ends. While misleading me into believing his 'free' mentoring generosity comprised solely of charity and perceived integrity. He tearfully apologized how I'd been part of a bargain, which I was never given the knowledge or opportunity to consent to.
"The good professor then shamefully informed me that the reason he offered internships in the first place, was to physically lure me into his research laboratories. He needed to study my biological blueprints...mine alone. He somehow knew beforehand of my extraterrestrial bio-machine origins - when no supernatural-interested organization, deity, asserted psychics, or even myself, implied an inkling of knowledge...until quite recently. And claimed that the only hope to revive his deceased daughter - the original human Alisa Boskonovitch - was to build a temporary body capable of preserving her soul.
"My alien-built bio-machine anatomy was obviously too complicated and advanced for even the peerless genius himself, so he had to settle for a much simpler and mechanized version of my supernatural physiology, in order to animate his daughter's soul and keep it safe. Then when time ripened, I'd have to finish the resurrection of Alisa Boskonovitch - fulfilling Dr. Boskonovitch's wish of bringing his deceased child back, and satisfying his robot daughter's obsession in 'being human'.
"I just felt downright indignant after hearing that, for some reason. As if the professor had asked me to do him a favor, right after invading my privacy. I asked him why I should feel obliged to 'complete' his wish for himself and his daughter, after all the advantages he'd taken from me, without my knowledge. The old scientist frowned at me - I've seriously never seen him frown before. And then claimed that in a sense, I was Alisa Boskonovitch's second mother - the robot Alisa, of course - because she was 'created based on' my 'super-biological blueprints'. What a load of half-baked B.S."

The girl was emotionally blinded by her own bitter jealousy and disapproval of Alisa...otherwise, her virtually omni-disciplined scientist mind would've easily come to the same conclusion that Raven, both his uncles, and the Mishima Zaibatsu scientists had. The gynoid combot's A.I. was far too complex and self-aware to have been artificially created by mere human hands. Despite all the Mishima boy's own derogatory comments about Boskonovitch's robot being a mere 'human imitation', and although his cellmate apparently managed to convince herself that Alisa's 'lack of free will' was rigidly permanent - with his Devil-power enhanced senses, Jin perceived well beforehand that whatever controlled Alisa's 'human' persona was an actual human soul. It just needed time to realize and adjust to its own sense of genuinely independent self-control and full free will...but circumstances and complications due to his Azazel-elimination project afforded the combot no time or opportunity to do so.
More confounding was Alisa's ability to regenerate both energy and mechanical supplies, instantaneously and almost endlessly - unless her system has taken enough damage in rapid succession. Even the top Mishima Zaibatsu researchers were outright baffled and helpless, when they tried to replicate some of the technology found in Alisa's blueprint design - despite having Boskonovitch's complete collection of detailed invention notes readily at hand.
He recalled how his cellmate had repaired Alisa perfectly and accessed the combot in areas previously off-limits, and did so casually - as if the supernaturally advanced super-combot was some mass-manufactured Violet-Systems robot, or G. Corp.'s Jacks, or the Zaibatsu's Nancy. The girl obviously possessed some intuitive grasp - or technical secret - of Alisa's more esoteric technology without any of Boskonovitch's notes.
Perhaps not all aspects of the girl's dreams were attempts to torment her with absurd circumstances and notions...

His cellmate's tone became dry. "Then my dreamt-up version of Dr. Boskonovitch remorsefully confessed that due to his indiscriminate over-eagerness to experiment with my bio-machine technology, he saved horrible people who should've stayed dead. One of his most tragically successful mistakes being Bryan Fury, Lei's allegedly already-dead partner who was brought back to life - and even granted nigh-immortality - via some kind of built-in, perpetually self-generating life support...which fully sustains his brain function and regenerate his body cells, so he doesn't rot or become brain-dead like a zombie. Yeah, how so very coincidental that Dr. Boskonovitch's 'most tragic success' happens to be someone I've heard about, and only held rumors of his actual death."

The girl then scoffed quietly. "Like the rest of that dream, Dr. Boskonovitch was played out so outrageously inane on so many levels, wasn't he? My subconscious was obviously besides itself entertaining the most illogical notions, in that dream. One of the most absurd being that almost 3 years ago in reality, Boskonovitch sent me his last e-message - less than 24 hours before he was killed - about authorizing me to override the 'commanding authority' status of his 'ultimate creation' which he'd been talking about, and instructing me how to do so. Fat lot of use it turned out to be, as beautifully demonstrated when Alisa's loyalty to her 'purpose of creation' effectively took precedence over my influence - and even over her desire to be a 'human girl' she keeps on parroting to everyone. So why would Boskonovitch have bestowed you knowledge, unconditional protection, and full control over his A.I. masterpiece...instead of me? He'd need to guarantee my safety and survival - if I actually was the key in 'liberating' his daughter back into healthy blood, flesh, and full humanity - from her 'mechanized prosthetic preservation'?"

That argument was actually valid. Why did Boskonovitch entrusted his most beloved invention - one that probably did contain his dead child's human soul - as a mechanical bodyguard programmed to protect Jin at the cost of her life? If the genius inventor was indeed trying to preserve his daughter's soul in the world of living? How the Boskonovitch girl's human soul got attached to its current mechanical body in the first place...that part wasn't too mystifying. Sufficiently powerful occultists are known to seal souls into otherwise inanimate, or even non-biological bodies. Such as that fully-wooden, but fully alive Mokujin puppet which Lars Alexandersson and Alisa ran into by chance. Perhaps the Russian professor came across a skilled folk-magician by chance, and somehow convinced him or her to perform such rites on his daughter-imitation combot.
But he's never heard of anyone or anything able to convert non-biological matter into blood-and-flesh life. At least not in their world. Maybe Boskonovitch assumed that a supreme deity - like Devil within him - would possess the uncanny alchemical powers to transform Alisa's robotic form into a full human being...which He did not.

His cellmate suddenly scooted herself upright a bit, and then lay her cheek onto Jin's spiked-up hair. He savored the feel of her own long, fine silky locks brushing about his skin as they fanned across his face and chest.
"My dream obviously decided to save its weirdest performance for last." She cooed softly in a slightly muffled voice. "My subconscious transported me away to another place...our old cell-chamber. You weren't there. But dozens of children were. The oldest among them couldn't have been older than 7 years old, with the youngest just past toddler-hood. And they were all standing side by side, staring at me with the exact same expression - anxious, unsmiling faces. And they were all wearing identical hospital gowns of their size.
"Wait, there was one odd-child-out. A frowning, scrawny boy in his mid-late teens, who looked a lot like Alisa. Except a tad more...boyish. And a good deal taller. And he looked really miffed at me. As if I unintentionally caused him some not-too-serious but lifelong inconvenience." His cellmate's loud giggles slightly reverberated through his hair and to his scalp.
"I never saw these kids before, but like that male-version Alisa, many of them looked strangely familiar...resembling people I have seen. Then one of the older boys claimed to me that they are the children of the future. Moreover, I brought forth their potential existence, but actualization of their existence into reality will be contingent on my future decisions.
"Then one of the little girls spoke up and told me that I had to guess which one among them was my own child...I only had one among the whole lot in them. If I guessed wrong 3 times, my child will come forward and try to kill me. They told me their names one by one, to give me clues..." The girl laughed in an amazed tone. "...and I the funny thing is, still remember most of them. Or maybe even all of them."
"Three of them looked like you and Ling, and were among the older kids. Two twin sons who resembled more of Ling than you: 'Junta Kazama' and 'Ren-er Kazama'. A younger non-twin son who resembled you more than Ling: 'Sandao Kazama'.
"Yet another four little boys who looked like you too, but were mixed Asian-Caucasian children, three of them triplets who had Nina William's icy blue eyes but resembled you more strongly in other areas, and another with a set of charcoal-brown like you, but otherwise inherited more of their assassin mother's visage: 'Liam Kazama', 'Mishima Kazama', 'Anvil Kazama', and 'Eugene Kazama'."

Yes, she was right. The girl's subconscious indeed saved its most ridiculous show for last. But it most certainly deserved credit for its both infuriating and amusing creativity.

"Then four children who looked like Lars, but each were apparently mothered by different women. The older one resembled that teenager Agent Valkyrie, while I couldn't tell the second oldest kid's maternal ethnicity...but definitely wasn't East Asian or Caucasian. And crazily enough, younger two looked like Ling again. Alexandersson Junior #1 announced himself 'Togou Axel Alexandersson', while Junior #2 was 'Nail Alexandersson'. Junior #3 was 'Eikan Alexandersson', and #4 'Lennart Alexandersson'."

Jin felt his hair being pushed back ever-so-slightly, indicating that the girl was smiling again. "And then there's 'Hwamae Kazama' and 'Nabi Kazama'. Precocious and gentle-looking brother. Plus temperamental, sassy-looking little sister. The idea is just too funny, because Asuka Kazama absolutely loathes the 'trouble-making bad-boy' type. I can't imagine her and that young Korean biker-turned-terrorist leader could stay away from each other's throat long enough to make babies, not to mention have a second child."

Asuka Kazama...right. His half-uncle and Alisa decided to visit the Kazama dojo for info on himself. Despite his self-imposed taboo to reminisce of his mother at the time, he'd still been ever-so-slightly anticipating to see what his mother's niece was like, through his unwitting spy's eyes. His young cousin did resemble Jun somewhat in physical appearance. But the Kazama girl's disappointingly noisy, brash, and not-at-all gentle attitude turned him off quite a bit...thankfully.
If Jin was to have his say, Hwoarang and his Kazama cousin seemed like a match made in hell...at least for their children, if the heavens forbid they'll have any.

"The rest of them - 'Emmett Fox', 'Izzy Fox', 'Ingretta Fox', 'Vince Fox', 'Anna Gordo', 'Ianna Gordo', 'Elaina Gordo', 'Francisco Chico Gordo', 'Kelly Gordo', 'Cleo Boskonovitch', 'Elsa Boskonovitch', 'Lenz Boskonovitch', 'Joseph Boskonovitch', 'Zackariella Zack Boskonovitch', 'Shepherd Law', 'Cesar Law' and 'Drake Law' - they were fortunately...or unfortunately easy eliminations. Both by familiarity of parental resemblances, and their names.
"Oh yeah, can't forget that teenage male Alisa, who called himself 'Alison'. And boy, he sounded pissed off." His cellmate's body shook with controlled laughter. "Though he also said that he was still 'Alisa' for most the months, so it didn't matter too much. Whatever that means."

However asinine the girl's dream was, at least it flowed with surprising consistency.

His cellmate suddenly sighed. "And so I had to guess which one out of the bunch was my biological child. One of my important clue-ins would've been the child's name - I knew exactly which names I would've named my child, even if it turned out to be a son. And the second, more crucial indicator...I have to be fairly sure that my child doesn't look like a female human I already know of, and the latter was a tremendously helpful eliminator. And that just happened to leave three marginally reasonable guesses among the bunch.
"I first went for 'Nail Alexandersson'. His mother didn't look like anyone I knew, and he resembled nothing of me, either...save a somewhat darker skin tone, hinting at a non-Caucasian maternal heritage. 'Strike one!' The kids chorused disapprovingly.
"So I tried 'Ingretta Fox', next. Even though that little girl very much resembled a female friend I knew, but I was forced to try by namesake...and got an even louder 'That's two! Three strikes and you're out!'
"I took quite a long time thinking out my last guess - 'Alison Boskonovitch'. It was a wild and illogical, but still somewhat educated guess - if Dr. Boskonovitch's words earlier in my dreams were supposed to have any in-dream basis. You know, about me partially being Alisa's biological mother, in a loosely technical sense. I assumed that the guesses were supposed to be a trick question anyways, and 'biological child' didn't have to equate to 'birth child'."

...wait, nothing from him? True, the labs ascertained his sterility and asexuality, but...

"Well, turns out that the trick question was way beyond trickier." The girl scoffed slightly.
"A little girl's voice behind me announced 'Strike three. The answer is no one among them.' When I whirled around, there was this 6 or 7 year old kid, and she not only looked pissed off - she was scowling at me quite murderously. And then she informed me quietly 'I be Chang'...or so it sounded like at first. But then she followed up with 'Short for Ingrid Benevolencia Chang'. And that if everyone else only allowed her to choose one 'official' father, he'd be either 'Alexandersson or Kazama'.
"And seriously Kazama, this supposed daughter of mine looked so much like both you and Lars, but at the same time like neither of you...I know I'm not making sense, but I don't know how to describe her otherwise. At any rate, she resembled nothing of me. Zero. Zilch."

...so she did have a child with him in her dream. A daughter, no less. Maybe. He couldn't make sense of how she was trying to describe their dreamt-up child either, but somehow it gave him an inexplicable feeling of angry worry and dismay.
This subconsciously-fabricated daughter of hers must be some symbolic reflection of her inner emotional conflict, towards himself and his half-uncle.

"And right after she spoke, this 'I.B. Chang Alexandersson or Kazama' kid suddenly morphed into someone else - Raven's teen Agent, Valkyrie. Who in turn immediately morphed into some kind of winged humanoid creature...with the whitest pair of giant dove-like wings I've ever seen." The girl recollected with a slight tremor.
"Except almost half her wing's primaries and her wing bones were set ablaze with some deep red-orange flames, scorching some of her white feathers into black. But the blaze and feather-charring never spread beyond half her wings, nor showed any signs of dying down...as if she was some condemned seraph falling for eternity, who simply couldn't fall all the way to diabolic hell - or even ordinary humanity - no matter how hard she tried to...and whose wings were damned to partly burn with Iab's...well, Valkyrie's irises turned pitch-black, her pupils becoming bright glowing lights, and large, almost as large as her irises. Just like...you know, those animal night eyes. Another eye - some big gleaming purple jewel - split open on her forehead.
"She flew straight to the ceiling, right above me. I heard announced from high above that 'I've proven myself that I'm not something that should exist'. No heat or emotion in her voice, as if she was casually reporting me of a simple fact. Then...then some kind of dark matter collected around her forehead. As if her third eye was gathering an aura of shadowy energy. And the condition of her wings also changed quite a deal...from a red-orange scorching partial blaze, to a fully-burning pale bright-golden pair...the type of pale bright-gold that the sunlight becomes right before sunset or just after sunrise.
The next thing I know, a huge pillar of some pure anti-light-like laser beam - crackling with black electricity - was shot right at me. I felt nothing upon hit...but when I looked down at myself, there was a gaping hole in my chest. And my body started crystallizing - as if I was being petrified into a quartz statue...except my crystallized body parts almost immediately started crumbling into crystalline dust. That's when I woke up. And found you falling right on top of me."

His cellmate suddenly yawned, then lifted her face from his hair to look down at him. "Damn it, Kazama. What do I do now?" She chuckled in helpless frustration. "I know I have to go back to my own bed...only the heavens can tell what you'd do, if you woke up to find me having taken advantaged of your knocked-out-cold state. But...but I just want to feel you. Your strong, warm body that took care of mine and comforted me to sleep...right after I insulted your mother and beat you up. Oh yeah, I'll have to apologize to you about her, when you can consciously hear me...but now, I just want to hold you. I...I want to keep holding you. All night. I find your bed a tad more comfortable, anyways." She let out a small, sad laugh. "Just 20...no, 10 more minutes. Please give me 10 more minutes, Kazama."

Jin suddenly started feeling frantic. No, the girl can't leave him alone right now. She can't. He needed her warm, tender company more than she wanted his. He longed to hear more of her bedtime stories, with her calming womanly voice. Somehow he'll make her aware that she had to maintain their close presence...

The Mishima boy managed to crack his eyelids open just a slit...and saw her looking down. With the most mesmerizingly expression of undisguised lovingness and tender yearning in her so-beautiful hazels...directed straight at him. He felt his heart almost skipping a beat, and he'd definitely stop breathing for a few seconds - if it weren't for his manacles' involuntary control of his lungs and heart. And a second later, his facial muscles failed him flat.
No, no! Open up! He must see those eyes, that gaze again! He had to! One more time, just one more time...

*****
Inside the New Cell Chamber, 5:51 am...

Julia replaced Jin's head with his pillow again with the utmost ginger care, and pulled the slipped covers up to his bare chest. After a moment's hesitation, she placed a butterfly-like kiss on the Mishima boy's forehead.

The young scientist decided that she overstayed her intrusive welcome...she thought she saw Jin's eyes open just a slit, which unnerved her enough to sneak back into her own cell-chamber suite, earlier than she wished to. She was sure it was merely her imagination, as he stayed motionless again for another 5 or so minutes.
Nevertheless, Julia's gut started to work about rather nervously. As if the Mishima boy had heard every word she said. Which would lead to some rather...strong consequences, for better or worse. The least being her mortification of Jin actually having heard her baring her heart to him, holding virtually nothing back.
No. This is not the time to indulge in petty worries or silly paranoia. She chastised herself mentally.

Julia didn't realize how parched she was from all her own talking, until she reached her side of the cell chamber. Striding into her bathroom, she filled her mouth-rinsing cup from the tap, and downed a few gulps of nice, cool water. Sighing in satisfaction, she crawled into her own bed and pulled the covers over her collar. Suddenly, her mattress's excessive softness felt all right.
Her prolonged soliloquy with the sleeping Jin had worn her out better than she had hoped. Being in the Mishima boy's company - however one-sided it was - also unloaded a strange heaviness from her psyche, one that she didn't even realize was there in the first place...

*****
Deep in Julia's sleeping subconscious realm...

Julia found herself standing in the middle of a lovely forest again...but the environment in this one seemed normal and peace-inducing. Moreover - from her cursory scan of the flora and fauna - the forest was on mountainous terrain outside of America. She recognized some of the Arboreal varieties native to Asia. From the lightly paved pathways and bridges built to prevent hikers from falling over ledges, it was clear that this forested area was maintained especially for mountain-climbers.

Julia was still examining her surroundings with curiosity and pleasure, when an unfamiliar woman's voice from behind addressed her. "Julia Chang. Over here."

Startled, the young scientist cautiously looked behind her...and saw herself staring at Jun Kazama - the Mishima boy's mother looked exactly like she did in the Kazama household portraits, and was resting her elbows on her palms.

"Jun Ka...I-I mean, Miz Kazama. How did-" Julia was about to approach the older woman standing about 3 feet away with alacrity, but Jun gently lifted a hand to halt the young scientist mid-step.

"That's far enough. Please forgive me, I mean no personal offense. But I must make clear from the start that we cannot afford to develop mutual camaraderie." Jun said in an apologetic but firm tone. Her unsmiling and sad expression conveyed an almost hardened sternness - in contrast to the inexhaustibly kind and gentle look she always bore in the pictures.

Julia felt a twinge of hurt and disappointment. Figures. What loving mother would appreciate people who'd deliberately injured her child and just now taken advantage of him, for their own personal reasons? She concluded to herself unhappily.
"Why have you called out to me? Have I intruded on your property? If so, I'll immedi-"

"No, Julia Chang. I have summoned you because I wish to speak to you about my son, Jin. You...have come to hold the key to my poor child's salvation. And moreover, a genuinely happy future in the living world." Jun then averted her eye contact with Julia. "Although I must be honest with you upfront - I much rather it wasn't you, but Ling Xiaoyu instead. Whose still-undefiled innocence will allow her to love and forgive Jin unconditionally, as he is now - with a wholly open and unhesitating heart."

Despite her puzzlement, the young scientist felt a surge of indignation through her veins. "So...why compare me to Ling? Am I 'not good enough' for a man who deliberately killed and ruined countless lives? I've never been a mother myself...nor did I have any consistently loving mother figures. But neither am I too dense or ignorant to perceive the so-called 'motherly-love' that intentionally overlooks what her child really is-"

"-Julia Chang! That is not the point, here." Jun cut in sharply, looking straight at Julia again with controlled indignation and defensiveness. And as to what my son 'truly is', I'll enlighten you this much: He was tasked to save the world and humanity from themselves...but could not sully or darken his soul as much as necessary - such went against his soft, benevolent nature too much. He was forced to seek out and undergo the soul-agonizing tutelage of that cold-blooded assassin Nina Williams, who managed to have himself brainwashed into the required level of callous cruelty and ruthless murdering.
"Azazel's seal was enforced by people with hearts of enduring purity and justice...which the world was dwindling of because of decadence and corruption, especially because of the immoral men and women ruling humanity with undeserved power. Jin's constant soul-struggles against Devil within him also helped keep the Devil-Ancestor within His bonds.
"But Kazuya's influence and humanity's overall moral decline had punctured Azazel's seal enough, so He could strengthen himself via the malevolent and negative spiritual energies from the world, that surreptitiously leaked into his prison. Feeding on those energies at such a rate, Azazel would've too soon grown too strong for either Angel or Devil to defeat Him...never mind breaking out of the metaphysical shackles that held him back from the earthly realm for so long.
"And the longer my poor son's already worn-and-torn human soul fought off the temptation of permanently surrendering his body to Devil's full possession, the less possible there'd be anyone left - one who was both able to kill Azazel, and do so out of honorable selflessness.
"By darkening and bloodying his own human soul, close enough to Kazuya's level, and openly clashing against his father with speciously evil motivations - at the same time destroying as much innocent living souls as corrupt ones...that was the only way Jin could respectively bring forth the Devil-ancestor into the material plane and expedite the corrosion of Azazel's prison, while He was still relatively weak from the effects of His millennia-long bondage.
"Even those who sealed Azazel in the first place - or rather, their descendants - seem to insist on their stubborn, thankless ignorance against Jin. For all that my son has sacrificed to achieve what they never could." The older woman finished with a definite note of resentment in her voice.

Jun then sighed deeply. "No one can convince you of Jin's honestly selfless and overall benevolent intentions, when he caused all those tragedies. Nor make you understand the horrible ordeals he had to put himself through to achieve them. You must come to reach them yourself...if you can overcome your unfair biases. And try to forgive him with an open heart and mind."

Julia could tell that Jin's mother wasn't too enthusiastic about conversing with her in the first place. Well, neither was the young scientist herself anymore.
"Yes, Miz Kazama. How I wish to judge your son is my business indeed. So please get to your point, and enlighten me why you chose to be in my dreams right now, and not Kaza...I mean, your son's. From the way he's been behaving towards me and others, he's not exactly well-mannered...and much of it is unwarranted. Not to mention that you don't find me agreeable company, either." A questioning thought suddenly struck Julia. "Wait a minute...is it true my biological parents had something to do with your disappearance? If so, is there anything that can possibly be said to Jin...or maybe done to-?

Jun firmly shook her head to interrupt Julia's inquiry. "I am currently unable to communicate with Jin by any means, except through you. And even if I manage to enter his dreams directly, I'd only make things worse for him."
The older woman's stern gaze at Julia suddenly softened. "I know that not too deep within yourself, you love my son more than anything...and will gradually realize that you love him enough to sacrifice anything to ensure his happiness and well-being.
"I'm here to implore you - no matter what becomes at stake, you give all of yourself to him...the very moment you realize that you indeed do love him. Such is not only the best for him...but for you as well. Please, for the sake of my poor child, please give him the happiest days he'll ever have in his life - that will once again impel him to live life to the fullest. Do not let your sense of duty or other loved ones get in the way - Jin himself was able to do so much for the world.
"And Regarding your wish to set me free...as terrible as this may sound, I'm praying that you won't live long enough to find me.
"Not at all because my body and soul particularly enjoy being trapped where they are...but again for the sake of my poor, poor Jin.
"Also, for the sake Ling Xiaoyu - that maiden-child whose inexhaustibly determined strength and protectiveness are drawn from her shiningly immaculate purity, who won't ever doubt loving my son with all her heart, and possessing unrelenting supporting faith in his ultimately selfless benevolent nature, no matter how reality attempts to misrepresent the truth about him otherwise. She is the invaluably rare type of soul-mate and psyche-healer that Jin sorely needs.
"And last but not least - as hard to believe as this may sound right now - for your own sake as well, Ms. Chang. Your poor soul and psyche...they have been maimed for too long and too deeply by other's self-serving personal interests. It is a heinous injustice for any inner child to have to suffer for so long, the way your inner self has for a these many years."

Julia stared at the older Kazama woman in a very frustrated and dispirited disbelief for a few moments. Never fathomed that Jun Kazama was the type of mother to dictate her fully grown son what was best for him, given her own prolonged absence and direct company from his life. Did Jin Kazama's mother even believe in the cathartic power of empathetic bonds or companionships borne from bitter hardships, of which ordeals may bear an inkling of similarities?
She decided to keep that question for later. Attempting to debate with this spiritually sacred "Chosen One" of the Kazamas appeared to be even more insufferably and emotionally taxing than Julia could've imagined. And she well knew trying to start a debate with jealousy as its main driver will get neither anywhere fast...except to exacerbate her own resentment and bitter envy.

Nevertheless, the young scientist still frowned. "No offense, Miz Kazama. But why should I feel obliged to reach Jin Kazama's standards, in your eyes? And what's wrong with having Ling Xiaoyu save your son from himself? I thought my character was less-than-truly deserving of Jin Kazama's, compared to Ling's unfettered carefree and ideal optimism."
Then, unable to keep that burning question to herself any longer, Julia suddenly blurted it out less than a mere second later. "What it is exactly that makes me so unworthy and disapproving in your eyes, Miz Kazama? Because I no longer possess such sanguine naivety that Ling can still afford - due to my 'screwed up' and 'defiled' childhood experiences?" She tried to rein in the resentment threatening to overtake her voice.

Jun sighed again, her countenance becoming that of trying patience and world-weariness.
"Please don't make wild assumptions, Ms. Chang. And like I said, you alone possess the potential to save my son from himself - I am very knowledgeable about your unusual heritage, more than you yourself currently. My reasons for personal disapproval towards you are not so simple and unfair. Much of it has to do with you and your adoptive mother's callous disrespect towards the living souls of untamed purity...to be specific, the lives of wild forest animals. Both of you appear to have a passion for hunting and trapping - not necessitated by mere survival, but mainly for the sake of recreational game and gustatory indulgence."

"...so...did you raise your son to be a vegetarian? Because what I've seen of him for the past two weeks or so, he's been eating what I have - a lot of meat from what were obviously butchered remains of farm-bred animals. Not processed protein that tastes like real meat - I can tell." Julia returned, her anger still radiating strong.
"And even if he had been living on cooked weeds alone...did you know, Miz Kazama, that plants too have sentience? It's scientifically proven that plucked blade of grass radiates with agony whenever touched. Do you want us to go on about this?" Julia knew she was blabbering defensively like a petty adolescent...but she didn't care at the moment. It's not as if her argument had no countering basis against the older woman's.

"Souls born in the wild maintain their individuality and wholeness, Julia Chang." Jun returned in an even tone. "But those mass-bred and raised in highly controlled, highly conditioned environments - they'd have long lost theirs through conditioning. Still, neither my son nor I consume more farm-bred products than necessary, even if the soul-less qualities of such thoroughly brainwashed creatures are justified in having their living existence serve for pleasuring the taste buds. For them, it is a merci-"

"-oh, so that's it. That's why I'm so inferior all around, compared to Ling Xiaoyu. She possesses the untainted purity of a wild, untamed animal. While my living soul's purpose, in contrast, is to live or die solely for another human's pleasure and happiness - the moment Laurent De Rochefort 'conditioned' my eight year old self to serve his pedophilic pleasures." Julia interrupted, her vocal volume and ferociousness rising rapidly.
"Or are you instead referring to what my biological father had been doing to my human-born clone predecessors for the past century or so?"

Something with what Jun said - or perhaps the way the older woman chose her words - just rubbed the young scientist in an unforgivably wrong way. Whatever it was, it triggered Julia's blood to boiling point. She whirled around to stomp away.

"Please calm down, Ms. Chang!" Jun called out from behind her, in a tone that managed to sound chiding and placating at the same time. "You are jumping to conclusions, and I didn't mean to imply-" The older woman tried to insist with as much firm gentleness as she could muster. But Jun's attempts to calm only further incited Julia's vicious conniptions.

"Leave me the fuck alone, you unfeeling hag! And don't you ever try to fucking patronize me with your saccharine-coated B.S. - EVER AGAIN!" Julia halted in her footsteps to scream from the depths of her psyche. But the young scientist daren't turn around herself to face Jun, as Julia herself was seeing too much red at the moment.
"Whatever chance you had in convincing me to fix the mess that is your 'poor, heroic' war criminal of a son, you just botched it by appearing to me in the first place! How about you stop being an overly-self-concerned and irresponsible loser like Michelle Chang, and go deal with Jin Kazama yourself? Instead of wallowing in denial and trying to con others into clean up after your own epic failures of upbringing?"

Julia finally spun around to see a deeply sad and aggrieved-looking Jun - her features bore no trace of anger - or even offense. A pang of guilt slammed the young scientist's heart for over-indulging in such a vitriolic diatribe, but her lingering anger and dignity were still more than strong enough to self-justify her actions. And so Julia turned away and started walking off casually, leaving the poor Kazama mother without a departing note of apology or remorseful comfort...

*****
Inside the New Cell Chamber, 12:43 pm...

Julia was awakened by the sound of a door opening quietly from the other side of the chamber. Jin had just stepped out of his bathroom and was putting his clothes on...notably more slowly than usual.

As the Mishima boy was busy dressing himself, Julia grimly recollected all that happened last night, and afterwards. She felt a tremendous headache coming about. The young scientist wondered how she should deal with Jin, now...well, perhaps more with herself in Jin's presence. Not only after all that transpired last night, but then her rather awkward and unpleasant dream-encounter with Jun Kazama. She was seriously starting to worry about her ability to apologize about his mother in good faith...and she knew Jin was dangerously sharp when it came to insincere gestures.

There was an unnaturally long pause, prompting Julia to curiously turn her head and peek at Jin's suite. The Mishima boy was hunched over, looking almost as hesitant and troubled as she felt. As if on cue, Jin's eyes suddenly darted over to her. He stood up slowly, making his way towards her suite in unhurried strides.

Their eyes made contact. This time she didn't try to avert hers, and neither did he. The young scientist found herself inexplicably blushing very furiously. She couldn't quite put her finger on it at first, but she got a subtle impression that the Mishima boy looked kind of...too naked - not that he was wearing any less than usual, outside of the bathroom. Something very revealing about him, in a way Julia never saw him before.
Then it hit Julia. It was the way Jin was looking at her now...his eyes were showing open uncertainty and nervousness, strongly countered by an almost eager anticipation. Whether the Mishima boy was bearing his expressed feelings so openly because he didn't consciously realize, or whether he simply didn't bother - or want - to disguise them...Julia could not fathom. Except that it made the young scientist even more fretful with her own contained excitement and self-consciousness.

Julia felt her heart rate beating even faster, and her innards tightening with intense anxiety. However she chooses to act or respond from now on, will surely have direct and long-term bearings...

A/N:

Apologies if this chapter dragged a bit too much. Character interaction and developments should go by quicker, more solidly, and with more dynamism in the following chapters & beyond.

The section where Julia openly bore her feelings & strange dream to Jin (whom she assumed he was fast asleep) was inspired by Stardust(movie).

The dreamed-up "children of the future" trick question was inspired by Spirited Away and Rock & Rule.

The names "Ren-Er" & "Sandao" respectively mean "Benevolent Second (child)" & "Entering a Prayer (different characters but same pronunciation as 'Mishima' - 'Three Islands' - in Mandarin)".

The names "Nabi" & "Hwamae" were founded by My Love Madam Butterfly & Google Translate.

Valkyrie's/Iab's appearance as the "Falling Angel" was inspired by Rayearth, Sailor Moon (original anime), Constantine, Horns, and Thumbelina (Andersen).

The "Anti-light" laser beam was inspired by Sailor Moon (original anime).