Chapter 4: Domesticize
(Authors Note: Chapters 1–3 have been edited and updated. I have added extra scenes to some chapters for extra context. So I would advise you to reread chapters 1–3 before reading chapter 4.)
(1000 hours, 09/28/2100's) (Unknown Location) (7 Months till Serenity's Supposed Admission)
Intimidating
Is the only word he can use to express what he's seeing as he walks across the catwalk.
The screaming batters the ears of the man walking down the catwalk. Wearing a blue and white business casual uniform, his shoes clack against the metal floor.
The area he's walking through is large, a vast facility filled with clean, sterilized white metal panels. The catwalk is about 200 feet from the bottom. Below are tens of other catwalks linking to different levels of the massive room.
Glancing to his right, he inspects one of the many giant containment doors adorning the walls of the facility. They appear to be 10 feet in width and height, and the number of locks brings an effect of despair. Though it appears clean, the smell of feces and urine proceeds through the cracks, penetrating his nostrils and causing him to turn his head away. Weirdly, there seems to be something purple peeking from the cracks of one until it disappears.
To his left, a voice is heard: "Get used to the smell; you aren't leaving till it's finished."
Turning to his left, he sees a man walking. The man's tall, about 3 feet higher than his 5'11". Though wearing a suit, his muscles appear to be straining against the material as he walks and turns.
"I'm not sure if you're lucky or not. Even with your skills, if it weren't for your sister, you wouldn't be here right now." The giant of a man states, not as mocking, but as if it were factual.
The shorter man tightens his fists, though he is not outwardly reacting to refute; he seems to contemplate.
The two men continue to walk, now in silence, only broken by the screams of people behind the giant metal doors.
Upon reaching the end of the catwalk, they reach a large metal gate. The giant man walks to a small fingerprint reader, and upon putting his left index finger on it, the machine beeps lightly.
Some seconds pass until the massive gate opens, revealing a hallway. The next area appears to be the same cosmetically, though there are normal wooden doors instead of the eerie metal ones from before.
Walking towards one room, the tall man pulls on the door and beckons the smaller man inside.
Upon walking through the door, it gets closed behind him. Turning around, he sees the giant man walk back to the large facility room.
A warm, sweet voice beckons him from the newly opened room: "Hello, Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. It's great to see you. Are you parched?" Though he can't explain why, the voice doesn't feel sweet at all; it feels sinister.
Turning around once again, he sees six people in the room surrounding a rectangular table. The table has tons of papers, electrical devices, and drinks laid on it.
The one who spoke seemed to be an elderly woman, if he had to guess, around her late seventies. Though she appears to be a sweet elder, something about her rubs him the wrong way, as if just staring at her for too long will spell out his doom. Investigating her, he finds her name tag, stating Fude Shimo. The name widens his eyes, his body stills, and his brain freezes for a second before quickly returning to normal. She's associated with the board; if she's here, it truly must be serious.
The board, a group of eight of Japan's most influential members of government, each controls in the shadows, unknown to the general populace. If it weren't for his rebellious days of searching for confidential information, he would have no clue who she was. Each of the eight controls separate yet massive parts of Japan as a whole, from deciding the state of the economy to dealing with security and military procedures. If they knew he knew, they would without question take him out, clearly a fate not desirable.
The now-named Naomasa Tsukauchi nods his head slightly. Turning to his left, he sees his sister, who's speaking to a man around her age; below them are pictures from the recent raid one month ago.
Noticing his arrival, the sister smiles brightly and says, "Nao, we've been waiting for you." His face upon the nickname tensed; this is caught by her, who deflates slightly in response. "Sorry, Naomasa."
Approaching Naomasa is the man his sister was talking to. His European face is pleasing to the eyes; with bleached blonde hair, perfect skin, and faint freckles. He looks to be a model.
In his hands, there appears to be a glass of water. With his hand held out, Naomasa takes it with a slight nod. Turning to the one unused chair, he sits on it. The old lady clears her throat, causing the other four to sit as well.
"As you have all read the case file, we are dealing with a dangerous situation." She holds a picture out, appearing on it as a heavily bound Serenity. It appears she has a metal harness placed on her head. This covers the entirety of her head, though it appears to have a panel where the mouth would be with a lock holding it in place. Upon closer inspection, two small pin sized wholes are placed where her eyes would be located.
She's strapped to a metal table; the only way Naomasa can describe it is "pathetic." Though he doesn't know much, he knows she's dangerous, but seeing her like this makes him want to chuckle for some weird reason he can't discern.
"This girl is dangerous; personnel enlisted have concluded current studies of her quirk. Her quirk is heavily poison-based, allowing her to create a variety of poisons. These substances can come from anything, whether it be saliva or her fingertips. Because of training by a now-designated villain terrorist organization, she has an extreme knowledge of how to apply and use her quirk. Because of her threat and capabilities to utilize her quirk in such dangerous manners, many security measures had to be taken to secure your safety. If it wasn't for Mr. O'clock II, we would not have been able to retrieve her." Naomasa knows that name; he's a somewhat recent new hero who has taken Japan by storm. He's currently ranked 6th in Japan; it's expected that by next year he'll hit 4th.
The elder continues, "Your main goal is to get her acclimated to the real world. It's theorized she's been cooped in a laboratory from the day of her birth fourteen years ago, never once leaving it. You all have a deadline of 7 months to get her acclimated to the real world. We may extend it to a year if testing and interrogation have hiccups. This means basic education and morals. After acclimation, she'll be put into an undisclosed school for further education." The knowledge causes Naomasas, his sister, and a green-haired woman's fists to curl up and their eyebrows to furrow.
"Mr. William, you'll be teaching geography and history from 1560 to the modern day." The blonde European man makes an audible hmph in response. "Naomasa will teach mathematics and common scientific knowledge." he nods in response. "Ms. Joke will cover the writing of hiragana and kanji, not katakana and Japanese. The target already has a base knowledge on the Japanese language. I Makoto, you will educate Khadija in technology terms and how to utilize products and services. Finally, Mandalay will teach Khadija common law and morals in our culture." The rest nodded in confirmation.
"Each encounter with the subject Khadija will be recorded on video and audio. When entering Khadija's containment room, you will follow the designated procedures. The procedure states that no subject is allowed within ten feet in any direction of Khadija. For your own protection, multiple protective measures are in place." Stopping suddenly, she grasps a glass of water; upon drinking, she places it back down and continues.
"Her current government-designated name is Khadija; you will only call her that and nothing else, no matter what she says or does. When Khadija becomes too distraught or hostile, personnel'll pull you out of the room. You will not resist; if you do so, you'll be pulled out of the program and silenced."
Naomasa's sister, during all this, is writing out all that the lady says.
"Under no circumstances are you to reach a deal with Khadija without my approval. No outside items are allowed into her containment zone without my approval. No word of what occurs here will be brought outside this room; if so, Japan's government'll sue you and'll put you on trial for betraying your country. You'll be given sheets each month to inform them of what you must educate her about. By the end of each month, she'll be issued a standardized test. For rehabilitation, she must succeed in all seven. Questions?" The lady asks with a ghost of a smile.
Naomasa tries to form words but is beaten by two female heroes on his right. With one having brown-red hair and the other green, he's able to recognize them; it's Ms. Mandalay and Ms. Joke. While both are not highly ranked heroes, their respective quirks, Telepath and Outburst, could be helpful.
The green-haired one, now named Ms. Joke, speaks out first: "I'm all fine and dandy helping the girl, but won't it be hard for us to do our job at such a distance? There's got to be a way for us to get closer, ma'am–" She's interrupted by the old lady: "No, under no circumstances are you allowed close to the target at this point; discussion may occur upon repeated passes of her tests and through psychological tests."
Naomasa's brow furrows once more. Target, she's called her that more then once already. Why call her a target?
Miss Mandalay, upon receiving the response, lowers her hand and speaks, "So that's where I come in; that makes sense."
Naomasa's sister then looks up from her notes and, with a bright smile, asks a question: "With your 'Telepath', Joke's 'Outburst', my 'Polygraph', Williams 'Connect', and brothers smarts, this can totally work." The silent blonde man responds with a nod, though the wording of this confuses Ms. Joke. "Wait, Makoto, why would Naomasa's quirk not work?"
This simple question frustrates Naomasa, who glares at his sister, now named Makoto.
Makoto, realizing her mistakes, hesitates; bluntly, Fude Shimo responds in her place, "It's because he's quirkless." Before she can continue, the now-named William snarkily says, "Maggot." With a quick glare from Makoto, he becomes quiet once more. Fude continues, "Now, you four have the quirks and abilities needed for such a mission to work, I expect competence and professionalism."
Naomasa's fists tighten slightly, which catches the eye of William, who smirks deviously.
Fude Shimo slides copies of documents to all five of them. "This is all of your contracts, which you signed before arriving here. There's no going back."
Naomasa contemplates those documents that were signed months ago; it's hard to remember what they entailed. He remembers the death waiver and an NDA, along with a variety of other legal documents.
With a loud creek, Fude Shimo stands up and says, "You'll start tomorrow; get to know each other as you'll be spending the next seven to twelve months here caring for this girl." Fude Shimo walks out of the room quietly, and with the door closing behind her, William sighs out of relief and stretches himself.
"Grand, never been scared shitless like that before; thought my mah was bad." He looks towards Ms. Joke and says, "Never thought in a donkey's years that you'd be doing this; why?" Ms. Joke looks at William with a peeved expression.
Almost instantly, she says, "Personal reasons." This causes eyebrow raises from all but Naomasa, who blatantly couldn't care.
"Disappointing. For a hero named Ms. Joke, that was rather unfunny. You gotta be able to tell us something; don't be a dryshite," says William.
Ms. Joke stays quiet; silence fills the rooms as the rest watch until William begins to open his mouth before quickly being shut down.
"Stop, she doesn't want to talk about it, William," says Mandalay with crossed arms and a stern expression towards William, who just sits there and smiles.
Silence fills the rooms for a few seconds until Makoto tries to speak with Naomasa, who's looking at the documents.
"Been some time; how have you been?" Naomasa stays silent.
The uncomfortable silence quietly gains the attention of the other three, who each stare with different expressions.
"My career at Captain Celebrity is going well; after this, I'll be getting a promotion to general manager; how about you with the force?" Again, no response; with just the turning of a page, Mandalay furrows her brows.
The documents seem to pertain to tasks, rules, and duties each of the five is to enact and follow during their seven-month stay at Tartarus. It details the consumption of meals, sleep schedules, academic schedules, containment rules, and much more.
She continues to speak, "It's nice you get this opportunity, right? It took me a long time to convince them to add a fifth member. Not that you needed it, eh?" Ignored again.
The squeak of a chair can be heard in Mandalay's direction as she turns it to face Naomasa.
Frustrated, Mandalay speaks out, "Hey, who do you think you are? Your sister is trying to talk to you." Her expression is filled with disappointment and disdain.
Naomasa still doesn't react, just staring at the documents in front of him. Makoto, though, with sudden evident vile in her voice, speaks towards Mandalay, "Shut your mouth, leave him alone."
Her wording clearly confuses Mandalay, who wisely drops it and speaks with Ms. Joke and William. Though not clearly shown, the brother and sister befuddle all three.
Slightly upset, Makoto Tsukauchi stands and begins walking towards Naomasa and the door. Upon reaching Naomasa, she plucks out an item from her pocket and hands it to him before leaving without a word being said. Naomasa, during this, still doesn't react to her or the item.
Time passes, and over a few minutes, the other three leave, resulting in Naomasa being the only one left, sitting in his chair, still going over the documents with a keen eye. After finishing his read, he looks over to his left at the item, which causes him to slightly smile.
"I love you too."
Pocketing it, he leaves the room, documents in hand, heading to his designated room. Staring at the surrounding areas, he readies himself, as this is all he will see for the next seven to twelve months.
.
[X]
.
(1200 hours, 09/28/2100's) (Streets of Musutafu)
The streets are filled with stores brimming with customers, and many civilians roam the sidewalks, conversing. Screams erupting from an alleyway disrupt this peacefulness. Running out of it onto the sidewalk is a woman holding her purse close to her chest.
The civilians at first are startled, but many relax upon some sort of realization. It appears that this same event is playing out so many times already that civilians expect it more than anything else.
Bursting from the alleyway is a fellow woman; noticeably, she's purple-colored with scaly skin. With a distressed and enraged look, she rabidly looks around the busy street, searching. Upon locking with the retreating woman, she yells as she chases after the fleeing woman.
Anger clearly consumed the purple-skinned woman's face. Snarls erupt from her lips, which are heard by all those near her.
A civilian watching this unfold high-pitched screams out, "Villain! There's a villain!"
For what should inflict a reaction similar to panic causing many to run, the actual reaction is odd. Most aren't running; instead, they take out and hold out their phones to record the incident.
The purple-skinned villain is shouting something at the people recording and is waving towards the fleeing woman.
The fleeing woman screams louder and begs for help loudly, yelling at the villain to stop.
"You bastard! Leave her alone!" yells out one courageous civilian, with black shaggy hair and what seems to be dispensers at his elbows. He throws a brick toward the villain.
The chase continues for some time until sliding onto the scene is a rarely seen baseball outfit-wearing hero. With orange hair, his face appears to be an umpire's mask, and he has a big gauntlet strapped to his right arm with a barrel laid on top.
Though few recognize him, one shouts out, "Slugger! The villain is over there!" and points towards the purple-skinned woman.
Slugger, in response, dashes towards the two women and places himself between them. With a thick accent, Slugger yells out, "Villains never learn; prepare to be struck out!" He raises his barreled gauntlet toward the now-in-place villain.
Panicked, the villain waves her arms and shouts, "N-No! The villains are behind you! She stole my purse!" She points towards the terrified-looking woman who's being helped to safety by other courageous civilians.
The hero's face shows signs of anger. "Claiming a victim as the aggressor?" he tenses his gauntleted arm, and a white object can be seen loaded into it. "Disgusting villains like you should never be allowed on these streets."
How dare she claim these lies? Threatening innocents, trying to rob, and now lying about these crimes, only the true worst of the worst would commit such crimes. She's disgusting, vile, and sinful.
His fist clenches, causing the mechanism of his gauntlet to fire a fast-speeded baseball right into the villain's face. A loud crack and yells can be heard from the villain.
The purple-skinned villain holds her face in reaction. Seconds pass until Slugger can see the streams of tears going down her face. Realizing the situation placed upon her, she flees.
Slugger's face only becomes more enraged upon this: "Already fleeing from one throw villain? That was only strike one!" Another baseball is fired from his gauntlet, smashing the ball onto the back of her knee and causing another crack as she stumbles downward. "Strike Two!"
During all of this, the yells of the civilians never stop. "How can you live with yourself?" yells out an elderly woman. "People like you are ruining this country!" bellows out a teenager.
While many show anger-filled expressions, some faces even give Slugger a momentary pause. Though very few, strange pleasure-filled expressions decorate the decent crowd of people. Smiles grow on their faces as they jump up and down, yelling out for Slugger to 'finish' her.
The purple-skinned villain curls up on the ground, scared.
Slugger approaches the curled-up villain, determined; he lowers his gauntlet at her curled form. "You're going away for a long time; I'd say I hope you learn not to do this anymore, but knowing your kind, you won't." Firing one more shot at her head, he knocks her out on the sidewalk. "Strike Three, you're out."
Cheers erupt from the civilians still there, video-recording the whole scenario.
"Another one down. Not a lot of action, sadly; can we even use this?" says an enthusiastic business executive.
A woman to his left nods in agreement. "It's just infinite content for our channel. Let go to Dianard's street; usually more dangerous villain activity occurs there." With a nod from her partner, they depart.
Eventually, the crowd disperses, leaving Slugger to himself to contain the villain in cuffs.
He takes out a pair of villain-grade cuffs and locks them onto her unconscious form. With a furious look, he kicks her side. Seconds pass as he thinks before continuing to kick her downed body. This cruel treatment continues until he hears the sirens.
Eventually, a police car arrives, and exiting are two individuals, one slightly larger while the other is a normal figure. With some reluctance and disgust present on their faces, they take the purple-skinned villain and roughly throw them into their car.
"Thanks, Slugger, good old reliable," says the slightly overweight cop, whipping off the sweat on his forehead. With a quick look downward, Slugger sees something poking out of the officer's pocket, which gives him pause. The officer quickly notices.
Silence comes from both as the officer quickly pushes something further back into his pocket, hiding it from sight once again. "Sorry, Slugger, I'm sure you understand. Thank you for your splendid job."
Slugger smiles in response. "Just doing my duty, officer, please be safe; these villains never stop." Turning around, he walks away from the scene to continue his patrol.
The overweight cop turns to the other officer, one who is doing paperwork, and asks, "So what did she do?" The other responds with, "Attempted robbery, resisting a hero, and assault. Hopefully, we can get more charges to stick and change the attempt to just robbery. Trash like her deserves to be in Tartarus forever."
With a shared laugh, they both get into the cop car, and with the villain unconscious in the back seat, they drive off. Unknown to the officers, a mirage of black and purple can be seen growing beneath the unconscious villain, which sucks her right in.
.
[X]
.
(0800 hours, 09/29/2100's) (Tartarus)
Stationed in a small chamber, separating a waiting room and a cell, are two men stationed at the cell's door. Both are equipped with state-of-the-art military and riot gear. Each is equipped with rifles, tasers, batons, and more.
Beeping occurs over the speakers every 5 seconds to show it's working for the two men inside.
Beep
The sound of tapping feet penetrates the room, and the repeated sounds of it anger one of the two men stationed there. Over seconds, an irritated voice is heard: "Bloody, stop it! You're driving me insane'keh; just chill out for once, Jumpy'keh." A second, quieter voice speaks out, "How am I supposed to be calm? We're going to have to be in the same room as her for hours; that's a death sentence. Also, stop with the 'kehs'; it's irritating to listen to." He kicks backward at the door behind the two for added effect.
Beep
"She's chained up, not able to even move 'Jumpy'keh. There's enough protection; you wanted the pay increase; this is what you've got to do for it'keh. Also, that's a speech impediment, asshole'keh." The irritated voice spoke bluntly.
"Stop calling me 'jumpy'; I jumped one time, one time!" The quieter voice erupts more loudly.
"I don't give a shit; take the name and bear it with pride'keh," states the man in an unforgiving tone.
The quieter man is about to burst out once more until something catches the corner of his eye. It was purple. It was there for a second, he could swear, but there was nothing else in the room but them.
Beep
Worry fills 'jumpy'. Is it an intruder? Is it an escaped villain? The thoughts won't leave his brain as he investigates the room.
He looks around and wanders about the room, which catches the attention of the other guard. "Stand at attention, 'Jumpy'. I'm not getting in trouble again because of you'keh." 'Jumpy' responds with a middle finger and continues to look around.
"Kiba, did you see something just now? Something purples?"
The now-named Kiba looks at 'Jumpy' weirdly and says, "No, no, I did not. There's nothing here. Just get back to your post and wait for the arrivals'keh."
'Jumpy' ignores him and continues to look around.
Beep
Sighing, Kiba walks towards 'Jumpy', only to stop upon seeing something bolt in the corner of his eye—something purple.
"Wha-" crunch
The sudden noise causes 'Jumpy' to turn around, only to see Kiba, who's now standing back at the post.
"Did you hear that, Kiba? Something's in here."
In response, Kiba holds his hand up in a stop' position. "I was cracking my neck. Just stand in position." He beckons towards the spot 'jumpy' should occupy.
"Maybe it was some dust. Let's just wait for the arrivals," says Kiba.
'Jumpy' agrees and walks back to his spot, head cast downwards, until a realization hits him.
"Hey, why aren't you keh'ing Kiba? Isn't it a speech impediment?" he asks jokingly, expecting the impediment thing to be a lie.
Silence
Silence is all that's received, his heart rate begins to increase in this the small confined room.
Silence permeates throughout the room. A tingly feeling goes down 'jumpy's spine as he realizes something.
Why has the beeping stopped?
Crack
Pressure builds in 'Jumpy' as he feels the world spin.
Crunch
Sweat builds onto 'Jumpy'. Why hasn't Kiba responded? He can see his feet in his peripheral view. He's there. In fact, he's turning to face 'Jumpy' ever so slowly.
Crack Snap
Should he look up?
A thought shoots through Jumpy, the camera. There's a camera in the roof's corner. It has to be recording. Turning away from Kiba, he looks up at the corner, only for his heart to stop.
The cameras at Tartarus are a classic power gear brand, the type that shows a reflection when looked at.
Kiba's face; all he can focus on is Kiba's face through the camera's reflection. It's distorted, twisted, and wrong. His face is sagging. Why is his face sagging?
To make matters worse, the camera is off. All that's happening here is not being seen by anyone. His mind clicks as he realizes he has his walkie-talkie and grasps it, only to see in the corner of his eye the purple mass once more.
Only it's not leaving his sight.
He can finally see it, but what is he actually seeing?
How could he even begin describing that?
The sight of the purple mass paralyzes 'Jumpy'.
All he can comprehend next is one thought.
Beautiful.
Crunch
.
[X]
.
(0800 hours, 09/29/2100's) (Tartarus) (Day 1/213)
Sitting in a waiting room are William, Naomasa, Mandalay, Ms. Joke, and Makoto, each holding a variety of items allowed and/or required by the board.
Ms. Joke and Mandalay are conversing with one another, mostly involving past arrests and family matters.
William appears to be fiddling with the pair of white gloves he's wearing, while Makoto is writing something onto a notepad.
Finally, Naomasa is staring at a corner of the room, deep in thought, his brow furrowed.
A speaker from above rings out.
Kcht "Permission to enter has been approved. Follow protocol, don't endanger Tatarus personnel or yourselves." Kcht
All five stand up, walking towards the door leading to the cell. With the door sliding open, the two guards seen before talking are at attention, eerily silent.
As they walk past, they can hear slight noises of cracks in the two guards, who greet them with a smile. Looking down at their chests, two name tags are displayed: 'Kiba' and 'Veronio'.
Upon all five entering the small room, the two guards open panels to their left and right respectively, to press a combination of buttons. Reaching into their back pockets, each pulls out a key to twist into a slot, causing a mirage of beeps and the sound of a lock somewhere else opening.
Slowly, the door behind the guards opens, revealing a 30-by-30-foot room covered in dark gray rough concrete. Lacerations and cracks can be seen throughout the walls, floors, and ceiling. A big, one-sided glass window appears on the right wall.
Placed in the center room is Khadija, strapped into a metal chair similar to the electric chair used in executions. She seems to be strapped into an insane asylum-like uniform. They strapped her arms and legs multiple times to the chair, while some straps are leather, others are metal or an unknown material.
The metal mask is still in place, though the lock seems to be removed, allowing her mouth to be free. Attached to it seems to be a headset, with a microphone up to the open slot of the mask. Overall, no skin shows on her body, which is completely covered.
They placed three separate circular, clear barriers around Khadija, each 1 foot from the other, in ever-growing circles. In between each seems to be a multitude of machinery that the five and Khadija are meant to use, mostly conveyor belts, projectors, and scanners. There's a standard microphone in front of them, connected to speakers near Khadija.
Looking at the corners of the ceiling, there are automatic weapons aimed at Khadija stationed at each.
While the five try to get adjusted to the atmosphere, a noise is heard from the ceiling. Looking up, there's a speaker system above the five.
Kcht "Video and audio feed is active; Log 1 is starting; you may begin." Kcht
Mandalay and Ms. Joke are hesitant and understandable because of the circumstances of the subject.
Makoto walks right up to the microphone, smiling brightly at Khadija.
"Heyo Khadija, are you doing well?" No response comes from her.
Makoto pursues, "My name's Makoto Tsukauchi, and next to me is my older brother, Naomasa Tsukauchi. The European man is Mr. William, and the two nice ladies are Mandalay and Ms. Joke. It's nice to meet you." No noise emerges from Khadija.
The silence continues to permeate the room. Makoto chuckles to break the silence, but no response emerges from the bound Khadija.
Ms. Joke jokingly whispers to Mandalay and pats her shoulder, "No hostilities, good start." She walks up to Makoto and steals the mic. "Hello! The name is Ms. Joke! After all this, you'll be calling me Miss Funny! Hah!" With a slight concentration, her quirk, Outburst, activates.
Immediately, a physical reaction can be seen coming from Serenity, who seems to twitch and move her body. Khadija is seemingly trying to resist whatever Ms. Joke is trying to cause. Slight tearing sounds can be heard from Khadija beneath her binding clothes.
Khadija thrashes more, and clashes of metal can be heard from Khadija. This is because of the banging of her metal helm against the chair behind her. As the banging occurs, they hear the sounds of mechanical gears revving up from the automatic guns in the room.
Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick
Tension builds as the ripping becomes more clear, and the guns continue to rev until clicks are heard from each, signifying readiness.
Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Click
A slight trail of violet liquid can be seen coming from the mouth opening, dribbling down the mask. These signs cause Ms. Joke to still, and the worry for this girl causes her to undo her quirk.
Upon the deactivation, Khadija stops thrashing and becomes still, similar to how she was before the occurrence, the main difference being the line of violet liquid coming out of her oral region.
Kcht "Ms. Joke, at this point and onward, do not use your quirk. The subject was becoming increasingly hostile. If this had continued, you and the others would have been removed for your safety. Because of the unknown development, discussion of your further involvement will occur after today." Kcht
Nodding silently, she walks back some steps. While it appears she's afraid and worried, it's more for the girl's sake of what just occurred. A girl raised from birth to be a laboratory pet, the thought of this pangs in Ms. Joke's heart causing her to wince badly.
William, annoyed, steps up to the microphone, "Give me a lash of that, you're approaching the geebag all wrong, listen." He turns towards Khadija.
"Hey geebag, I know you ain't a gobdaw like my mate Lincoln." The blunt and crude approach gains bewildered reactions from all viewing. The one talking through the speakers is about to reprimand before noticing something which stops him.
"You can talk and understand Japanese. Everyone here knows this. We are here to help your wagon ass. You want out of this bollox place? Listen to us for the next 7 months and you will."
"Language." sternly states Mandalay, looking at William, annoyed. He nonchalantly shrugs her off.
Though unnoticed by almost all, Naomasa and William see a slight movement from Khadija, a movement indicating listening. Why is she listening? This crude and blunt approach would never be used, yet is causing a non-negative reaction from the subject.
William bluntly continues, "Listening? Bang on, these sorry lumps and I got to educate you for these seven next rotten months. Do you want a relaxing hot shower? Good food that's not pure shitty slop? I know I would."
Khadija seems to be solely focusing her attention on William, who continues in response.
"The education we're bringing you is about morality and basic education a toddler would know. Each month, we'll give you a test. Wanna leave? Pass em. You'll be having a normal high school experience, seven to eight hours of learning, with breaks in between. You'll be given the material afterward to study in your own time. Think of it as a recreational activity to not be so fucking bored youngwan." He pulls out an image of a map of Japan.
"We'll play a game since you don't like to speak. You have the ability to slam your head backward it seems, bang once against the chair for yes and twice for no, okay?"
Seconds pass as they can hear only the sound of ticking gears from above. Mandalay is about to speak up before…
Clunk
"Great, Now I'm here to teach you about the History and geography of this country. Let's start. Do you know what it is I'm showing you?" He waves around the map.
Clunk
.
[X]
.
All Serenity can do is stare, stare at the man with a head of blonde. She knows it's not him. His corpse is still fresh in her mind.
Memories pound into her head, thoughts of a malnourished scrawny man, waving about with an expression of sincerity.
The sincerity of the man was infectious, even as was dying beneath her feet, begging for the sweet release of death.
'They' always smiled, but the smiles never felt real. Though she could never describe it, she knew 'they' weren't truly smiling. He did, though, he always did. Why is he gone?
The man was long gone, never to see the sun he desired, never able to achieve his dream. Why would he desire the sight of the sun? It's illogical to wish for something.
The train of thought ends suddenly. Something is inflicting her, an invasion, something illogical.
What is this feeling? It's wrong, so, so wrong. She closes her eyes and focuses on what is so illogical.
Something is building up inside her. She can feel it, something wishing to escape.
Is it bile? Blood? The salvation? She can't let it escape, she won't.
She thrashes, trying to gain control of her body, pushing down what desires to escape.
Tensing and flexing her muscles, she hears tearing. The tearing of whatever that was doesn't matter. It's still trying to escape. It must not. He'll be upset. She can't make him upset. She won't.
Mechanical sounds of ticking erupt from the corners of the room, and the ticking gets faster as seconds pass.
Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick
Is it a warning? A threat?
A realization goes through her. If she doesn't hold this back before the ticking ends, she'll fail.
She can't fail, she won't.
More memories go through her head, sights of scientists committing tests on her, opening up her still conscious body as they implant salvation into her. Her father always soothed her and whispered sweet nothing's.
She continues to thrash against her bindings as she feels a stronger urge to the thing trying to escape. Failure is not an option.
She can still vividly remember the first time she failed, the sinner beat her. That scrawny man, the blonde one, beat her. Though the beating paled compared to the one she received afterward. She deserved it. She failed.
A sweet taste envelops her mouth, her eyes widen in recognition that salvation is escaping. The sweet copper taste must not leave her lips. She'll be punished, possibly decommissioned.
Her eyes widen with fear as she feels a trail of salvation leaves her lips, trailing down her chin.
She failed.
Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Click
Four clicks go off at once in different corners of the room. She failed, and she'll be punished.
How could she? What right does she have to fail? Failure is for the successful, not for waste like her.
Suddenly, the urge to expel salvation stops. A thought goes through her. It stopped because she failed the test, and she's a failure once more.
Kcht "Ms. Joke, at this point and onward, do not use your quirk. The subject was becoming increasingly hostile. If this had continued, you and the others would have been removed for your safety. Because of the unknown development, discussion of your further involvement will occur after today." Kcht
Thoughts rampage through her head, envisioning how she'll be punished. Conscious experimentation? The vat? The thoughts don't stop, no matter how much she begs it too.
Though all thoughts are expelled in someone's voice, "Give me a lash of that, you're approaching the geebag all wrong, listen." Why, why does she know this voice?
"Hey geebag, I know you ain't a gobdaw like my mate Lincoln." The blunt and crude approach causes her a freeze in place once more. He's dead, she killed him, he can't be here, it's not logical.
"You can talk and understand Japanese. Everyone here knows this. We are here to help your wagon ass. You want out of this bollox place? Listen to us for the next 7 months and you will." She motions her head towards him, gaining another deep look on his face.
"Language." sternly states someone else in the background. The voice irritates Serenity.
The blonde man bluntly continues, "Listening? Bang on, these sorry lumps, and I got to educate you for these seven next rotten months. Do you want a relaxing hot shower? Good food that's not pure shitty slop? I know I would."
A memory flashes once more.
.
[X]
.
A 10-year-old Khadija is unconscious inside her violet-filled vat. With tubes going down her throat pumping in a viscous green liquid. Her eyes move behind her eyelids, indicating a dream is occurring.
The scene continues to play out until she awakens suddenly within the violet filled vat with a confused expression.
She looks around. The violet hasn't been drained, and the release process has been done irregularly. What's happening?
She motions around the vat, looking out the ceiling window to view what's happening.
Blood covers the view, along with a chopped-off hand laid on top, bleeding out onto the glass.
The vat suddenly opens, the violet pouring out in gallons, the crisp cool air gives her body a temporary shock.
She gasps, and the tubes down her throat stop feeding the viscous liquid. Reaching for it, it gets harshly tugged out of her throat, causing a gagging reaction from Serenity.
She flails on the bottom of the vat, confused and bewildered until a familiar face is seen peering over the vat above her.
"This slop again? You gotta ask them for real food, geebag, gotta be uncomfortable eating like this," says a European-looking man above her head, blonde. He appears to be a man in his early twenties.
Recognition flashes across her eyes until fear fills them. This is improper and irregular. Why is this happening?
A smile grows on his face. "Such a buzzkill." His face appears to be slowly losing color, yet his kind smile remains. Though unnoticed by her, a ghost of a smile grows on herself, immediately recognized by the man who smiles ever brighter.
Suddenly, the man loses balance and falls off the vat, pounding onto the floor with a loud thud.
Panic envelopes Serenity. What just happened? Does he need medical assistance? Where is her family?
The thought of leaving the pod enters her mind only to be wiped out in an instant.
She cannot leave, 'they' strictly said so. Suddenly a disturbing thought runs through her, he's dying, isn't that reason enough?
No, it's illogical to leave. Her family will come. They have to. They always do.
She can hear his whines of pain as he slowly curls himself up against her vat.
Tens of seconds pass, and he's still whining, yet it's growing weaker as time passes. Why is this happening?
Where is her family?
Frozen in place in fear, she listens to his slowly dying breath. Why did he leave his pod? Was that hand his?
"S-Serenity…" the voice says once more, much quieter. "I can't do this anymore. It's too much. I-I…" a sniffle is heard, "It's too late for us… All that's left is death… Can you even understand that?" The question confuses Serenity.
What?
What is he saying? She doesn't understand the question, why is he saying this? What's his goal in this?
More seconds pass as his breath grows quieter.
"Sereni…" silence.
His breaths, whines, and wheezes disappear, never heard again.
Time passes as she lays in her vat. Should she check upon him? Her family should do so. Why aren't they here?
A tremble goes across her body. This is a test. It has to be. Has she failed? She couldn't have. No punishment has occurred yet. Can she still pass?
A weird sensation of determination passes across her body. She's supposed to leave the pod, she's supposed to check on him. She rationalizes that the hand must be a fake, the blood too. He's still alive, faking. It's the only logical scenario.
Ever so slowly, she climbs onto her elbows. The fear of failure rackets her brain.
Raising her left arm, she grasps the edge of the vat. With a tug, she pulls herself up onto her knees.
Peering her head over the edge she looks at the floor beneath her, laying there, curled up, is the now still blonde man.
Ever so silently, she climbs out of the vat, plopping her feet to the floor. She bends down and examines the man's body closer.
Upon inspection, she stills at the sight of his stump of a forearm, bleeding out from where the wrist should be.
Serenity ponders, what is she to do? What's the test?
As she investigates, the sliding of a mechanical door can be heard from behind.
Serenity's still frozen, her brain racked with thoughts of what she's to do.
A mockingly sad European-accented voice comes from the direction of the door.
"His last moments were spent with you. Couldn't think of a better fate for him, may salvation come for us all."
The voice causes a shiver down her spine. It's him. The thing in human flesh. Why is he here? The yearly trials are days from now.
As she stays in place, the thing approaches calmly, walking at a slow pace toward her bent-over figure.
"You left the safety of your 'cage', why? It's safe there… Are you becoming rebellious again?" The movement of her shaking head startles herself as she does so on instinct.
"You say no, yet you're still here, free from your 'cage'. Clearly, you're being rebellious. Father has made it so it's up to me to set you straight once more again." A smile grows on the man's face.
A shiver goes down her spine once more, "I failed?" she quietly says, despair racking her core.
The man snickers, "Yes. You failed." The smile ever grows as he continues, "Just know, I feel great joy doing this to you."
The last thing she'll ever remember from that day is the disgusting, demented sound of the train.
.
[X]
.
The memory quickly ends upon hearing the blonde man's next words.
"The education we're bringing you is about morality and basic education a toddler would know in this country. Each month you'll be given a test by us. Wanna leave? Pass em. You'll be having a normal high school experience, seven to eight hours of learning, with breaks in between. You'll be given the material afterward to study in your own time. Think of it as a recreational activity to not be so fucking bored youngwan. "
Test.
There are tests.
She can redeem herself. They're giving her a second chance. She must succeed in seven tests over seven months. She'll do this, she has to.
All she can pray is that they don't bring her back to the thing in human skin. Anything but that. She'll be a good girl, she will. Don't leave her primed for the slaughter. She's not ready to die.
Failure is not an option.
"We'll play a game since you don't like to speak. You can move your head backward it seems, bang once against the chair for yes and twice for no, okay?"
The statement is logical; it makes sense, a way to test her with limitations. This means she won't be able to speak or explain her answers, this is much more difficult. It's to be expected, 'they' must expect much from her.
Seconds pass, and only the sound of ticking gears from above can be heard as she thinks deeply to herself. With determination, she bangs her head against the chair behind her.
Clunk
"Great. Now I'm here to teach you about the history and geography of this country. Let's start. Do you know what it is I'm showing you?" He waves around the map.
Confusion slightly overtakes Serenity. This can't be the test. There's clearly more to it. As to not break the rules, she follows instructions by banging her head against the chair once.
Clunk
As she watches him pull out a huge stack of papers, relief flows through her, the challenge begins now. Those questions were to see if she'd still follow instructions, logical. Now the real questions come, she won't fail, she will never fail 'them' again.
.
[X]
.
Next Expected Chapter Date: October 17-31st 2023
I appreciate reviews.
Any requests you might have for story directions or character additions, please direct message them to me for discussion.
To: Gallerian
Thank you for the review! You were my first ever 'positive' review. Due to people like you, I feel more and more passionate about this project as each day passes.
To: Morbidly-A-Beast
Thank you as well! As my second positive review, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to say this. I hope you have a great day!