"Today is a day that will change mankind forever." The announcer said, while the screen showed a space shuttle from the International Airspace Agency, at the European spaceport in French Guyana.
She pressed the button to advance the video. The image now showed the space shuttle in the orbit. Auxiliary satellites captured images. In front of the shuttle, there was a dozen of alien ships. They had different designs: some had sharp edges, shaped like a knife, others were blocky and shaped like an octagon. Leading them, their capital ship was as bright as the sun, with a sleek design. A proud sigil of a sun adorned its hull.
"We are bringing some of the brightest minds mankind ever produced to this unique meeting. Among them, the beloved prof. Saotome, father of the getter technology. They were chosen to be our ambassadors to our brethren in the stars."
Something glowed at the tip of the sun ship. A beam of energy fired at the shuttle. The explosion incinerated the human spacecraft.
"What's going on?" The announcer cried, "The aliens…they killed prof. Saotome and the brilliant minds! They betrayed us!"
She pressed the button to advance the video again. It showed a map of many large cities struck, with photos appearing. "In a massive blow to mankind, all urban centers that developed getter technology were bombarded. 25 large cities obliterated! Damage is in the trillions, many logistic lanes disrupted, massive economic disasters! Mankind will never forget you, alien bastards!"
She saw enough and closed the tab. Putting her cellphone in her pocket, she walked through the park. She wondered why she was watching that video again. Maybe she still couldn't believe Tokyo was destroyed. Tokyo was such a beautiful city, full of lies and people craving for them. She could feel a sense of belonging to it – also because it was the long-term objective of the Institute, there was something buried down the original headquarters that could change the tide of the war. It was hard to accept that her home city became a place of ruins, ruled by a man named Hayato.
Being born in a vat meant that she really had no home other than where the Saotome Institute was stationed. It was a stealth mobile base that travelled through the nations of the southern hemisphere. They were spared by the devastation simply because they didn't have a lot of getter technology. They still suffered from the economic collapse and refugee crises, though.
It was winter in Bogotá, capital of Colombia, the Institute's current stop. It surprised her that a city so close to the Equator could be as cold as Tokyo in autumn. She looked at the pale moon above. The shadow of a dragon covered it for a moment. She, then, glanced at some posters glued to the wall, written "¡Muerte a los marcianitos!"
She hummed some songs of her previous life to distract herself. The streets were nearly empty. The Institute would like to keep her secret, so she was only allowed outside at night. Her official reason to leave was to memorize the layout of the city against an eventual attack, but she just wanted to spend some time away from the base. She needed that to not go insane. At least none of the people that she saw when she first opened her eyes were there in the base. That, honestly, made her relieved.
She wasn't born, but rather made, like a machine of flesh. She had to behave like one. She put up the façade of an emotionless woman, focused on learning and appeasing her creators. They had great expectations for her. Thus, she would pretend to not have emotions, would be exceedingly polite, exhibiting fierce loyalty. Quick to listen, slow to talk.
After so many years living as an energetic idol, that was boring. But she had to keep it if she wanted to do what she was supposed to do…whenever she was sure what to do. Protect the world, they said.
She still called herself "Ai" in her thoughts, though. She never once slipped her true name to others. Even if she remained an idol at heart, it would be nearly impossible to become one with that new body. She was now a 185 cm tall, toned woman that vaguely resembled her old self. A monster, for idol standards. She was by no means "ugly", but if she appeared on stage with that body, most of her audience would compare her to Godzilla dancing on Tokyo's ruins.
Maybe a "beauty and beast" dynamic could work, without alienating the average idol fan. That, however, would require a large amount of effort and planning that most agencies would think to be pointless, when there are so many cute, thin types vying for a place. She missed her delicate, dainty body. Above all, she missed her "special" smile – the structure of her face made it hard to do it. Or was it because there was nothing worth in that world to genuinely smile for?
But one thing she counted as an absolute advantage of that body: never again she will be defenseless.
She still ran laps when most of her colleagues were already on the floor. She defeated dozens of adversaries in spars without breaking a sweat. She quickly took over the scoreboard in the shooting range. Even her brain was different: while she used to struggle keeping up with basic math, useless for an idol, now she already mastered calculus and moved to more advanced equations.
She was supposed to be the perfect and ultimate soldier now. Mission given, mission accomplished. And that body was the perfect tool for that. It would've been so, so easy to overpower her killer in that new body. Such cruel irony…
At least she kept her six-pointed star pupils. It was strange nobody ever commented on them in her previous life, nor in this new one. That allowed her to still be "Ai" in a world where she was just a boring killing machine.
A machine engineered to pilot another machine.
"Come, we need to get home before…"
Huh?
Was that Japanese?
She looked at the other side of the street and saw a woman carrying a few bags, followed by two teenagers. They didn't look Colombians, so she assumed they were refugees.
There was something familiar with them. It made her heart ache. She would've gone after them if she didn't notice someone watching her.
"As expected from wisdom herself."
She looked at an alley, between two colonial-era buildings. A man was there, wearing a worn-out trench coat. His hair looked so disheveled, almost like a homeless. He seemed to have a red scarf around his neck. He also stood still, showing both of his palms.
Good. He knew his place.
"What do you want?"
"Let's cut to the beef: the Saotome Institute is lying to you. The bastards there betrayed prof. Saotome."
"This is a world made of lies." Ai replied. Her voice was cold, monotone. Her pupils turned black. "Why wouldn't them be lying to me? I am nothing but a soldier. Mission given, mission accomplished. It's not in my competency to question the mission."
If the mission was to fire on a crowd of innocent protesters, Ai would follow it. She wouldn't have any personal feelings. Good soldiers followed orders, just like that.
The man blinked. But then he grinned.
Ai knew what kind of grin was that. She recognized a kindred spirit.
"Look, miss, trust me: this doesn't pay off in the long run." He turned around and left, but not before finishing his words, "There's a difference between living lies and living for lies. I hope you understand that, before it's too late."
Out of respect for a kindred spirit, Ai let him go. A man like him wouldn't be able to stop what was supposed to happen.
She remained still for a couple of minutes, however. She thought of her children. They weren't there anymore. Her mission was, supposedly, to protect a world that she had no interest in. In her previous life, she chose the lie of an idol. But she could have refused it. What if she didn't want to live this new lie?
The universe was spread to her like a canvas. Trillions and trillions of dots shone under her. Beautiful, mesmerizing, amazing, all those words seemed so pale compared to seeing the real thing. The universe had always been gently whispering to her. Life wanted to be alive after all.
Until she could feel an unbearable fear in her heart.
The universe whimpered.
A giant metallic hand punched through the canvas.
She opened her eyes. They were red, like cherries, like fresh blood. Her forehead was wet. She was in a black, watery void, with absolutely nothing around. The only light came from her bioluminescent body. She sat down in a lotus position.
The woman had a long white dress, with a red cravat around her neck. Her long white hair had perfectly trimmed bangs over her eyes. She could be easily mistaken for a human if it wasn't for the large jellyfish cap in her back, with dozens of tentacles fluttering in the air.
A door appeared in the white void room. It opened. There was an insect-like person waiting for her. She clicked its head appendages.
"My lady Lumi, the preparations for the operation are complete. We are just missing your final decision and approval from the representatives of the Red Emperor."
Lumi got up. She followed the insect woman. The black void disappeared behind her. She was in the bridge of a starship of the Seven Emperors, with representatives of most of the civilizations that belonged to their domain:
The Koloptros, they resembled beetles, and were known for their dexterity and how they could adapt to most environments.
The Deinonos, resembling lizards and dinosaurs, known for their resilience and their resistance to heat.
The Kevilins, they were like a mix between bears, marmosets and pangolins, with an additional pair of arms and eyes, known for braving the ice.
The Laqi, worms that used mechanical legs and were known for their TI services.
The Titanoids, robots of many shapes that performed many services, considered as equal as their flesh co-citizens.
The Bahut, towering all the others, they were like centaurs, with strong arms and hands and two pairs of legs. They had dog-like snouts, which hid sharp teeth. They were known as the Fist of the Seven Emperors.
Everyone but the Titanoids and the Bahut bowed in respect whenever she passed by. They all made silence, while her steps echoed, along with the sound of beeps coming from the ship's panels. She looked over the window of the ship: she could see Earth from there.
"My lady Lumi," a deinono stepped up, still bowing to her, "We are detecting high levels of getter energy at the southern island continent that the humans call Australia. It's deep in the desert-"
"No need, commander Herapt," the woman said, still staring at the blue planet below, "This is a distraction. If you'd like, send our reserves, they need field experience. The humans will activate their machines somewhere else."
"Then, we need to hurry up and prepare our peacekeeping forces. Where should we send them to?"
"Visions concerning the getter rays themselves are hazy and unstable…"
"Just like five years ago." A bahut said. His steps made a loud 'thud' in the ship. His baritone voice contrasted with Lumi's calm and soothing tone. "Who could've predicted that the Sun Empress started all of this. 'Life is sacred'…maybe she should rename herself as the Silly Empress."
The rest of the crew tensed up, while the bahut had its arms crossed. The priestess remained calm.
"Tell your Red Emperor that the principle remains the same. Do I need to remind you that your kind would be gone if the Sun Empress didn't abide by this rule?"
The centaur showed his teeth. Lumi sharpened her gaze.
"General Umbrais, it would be unwise to sow division among our crew," Lumi said, raising her voice just a bit, "Would you, please, approve this mission?"
"And how do you intend to waste the Seven Emperor's precious resources?"
"We aren't going after the getter signatures."
"…No, milady?" the deinono said. The bahut raised his brow.
"Destroying the tech centers five years ago was pointless. Humans can just rebuild them. We are going after resources they can't afford to replenish."
The deinono looked confused, but the bahut caught on and laughed.
"The Red Emperor grants your request." The bahut said, his teeth grinning.
"Milady, where shall we go then?" the deinono asked.
"My visions told me that our objective is there."
Lumi pointed to place below. From that height, they could see it was in the north of the South American continent, at the feet of a mountain range. There was a city there.
"At your positions."
"The Priestess of Shinkai has spoken!"
As the crew moved around, Lumi kept staring at the planet below. Her imposing, pokerfaced expression softened when she knew nobody looked at her.
"Priestess of Shinkai..." she muttered, "More like, Murderess of Shinkai…"
A.N.: I chose Bogotá simply because I went there once. But, yeah, given getter technology would likely be first developed in the Northern Hemisphere, then a lot of centers were destroyed, especially Tokyo. Also updates will be slow because I need to study to an admission exam.