Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Yes, they are." said a voice at the door. It was deep and calm. Hearing it one could almost assume there was experience behind it.
Ivan Stepped in slowly. From behind a pair of dark glasses his eyes played over the nurse and his new tool.
he took her in quickly. She was older than his last two had ben.
"I hope for her sake she gets over that quickly."

He didn't introduce himself. Instead he simply walked up to Rain quietly. Under his arm he carried a large box; it pressed against the dark material of his suit. Setting it down on the bed he sat himself.

"You're the charge known as Ryouki, aren't you?" he said. The young man didn't face the boy, nor did he seem to be looking at him. He was fully focused on Rain.
Taking her hand in his he ran a gentle finger over her wrists, her palms and finally across her forehead. "If my last trainee had survived she would be almost your age now."

In a very calm and soothing tone he spoke again, "Ryouki, I don't know what the UF expected you to do here. Furthermore, I don't care what Lilly Marcius wants. You're going to stay out f my way. If you don't..." a soft smile appeared on his face, "I will send your remains back to Central Intelligence in a plastic bag."

"Nurse," he continued, "Prepare the next injection."
Tapping Rain on the shoulder he pulled her hair forward and away it from the back of her neck. The nurse stepped over to them and, slipping in from behind the wide-eyed girl, the needle was inserted at the base of her skull.
Ivan held her steady. Her eyes didn't close, nor did she buck under the pain. They stayed locked on his. Once the shot was done the point was pulled back out and the man let her go. He took his glasses off then.

Crystal blue eyes stared into Rains. They sat like that for several moments before either moved. It was quiet in the room; awkwardly so.

When motion finally did return to the girl, Ivan broke his gaze and reached for the box he had brought in. Inside were two things. The first was a toy. It was a scale model of the Eden. Roughly 12 inches tall it clinked against his watch as he handed it to her. A tiny guitar was attached to the back.

He saw her smile brightly at this and smiled himself. Rain held the toy out in front of herself for a moment. While not possessed of any true memories, she felt connected to it somehow.
In a joyful motion she hugged it to herself and closed her eyes.

Ivan looked to the nurse again. "That will be all." Nothing else needed to be said. They packed up what they had brought with them and quickly left the room. As this went on Rain played with the Eden figure, making the arms move up and down, testing the way the head turned. At one point she bit her lip in concentration and tried to pose the figure sitting Indian style on the bed beside her.

Reaching out to her, Ivan took the hand not holding Eden. She didn't fight him. Her eyes opened wide and the smile remained. He pointed at her and touched his finger to her nose.

"Rain." he said.

A laugh almost escaped when he heard her mimic the word. It was clear she had no idea what he was saying. He shook his head in a negative way and he made the motion again, this time placing his index finger on her collar bone and tapping lightly.

"Rain."

She repeated the word again. He then tapped his own chest and said, "Ivan".

"Ivan," she said and reached out to tap him on the collar bone just as he had done.

It was good enough. She would know her name. She would know his. Sitting back he let her play with the LFO for a few minutes more.

Looking to Ryouki finally his smile faded. "If she's given an order she will follow it. You will not question that, nor will you try to confuse her by trying to talk her out of it. If I find out you have, I will make good on my promise."

Ivan put his glasses back on then and reached into the box for the second gift. It was much larger than the first. He was grateful to Dusana for bringing it out. A second one had been in the box earlier, a newer electric model that was a replica of Eden's. However, this one... seemed to suit the girl more.

He presented the guitar to Rain with both hands. "Take care of these things Rain." he ordered. "Learn them. Know them. I will see you again very soon."

With that he stood up. With the empty box under his arm, the trainer left his charge. The door opened for him and it closed as he left.

Nothing was more important than the first interaction. His mind went over each act. It was true what they say, that the first memory was always the most lasting. More memories would follow.

(this should be interesting)

It took a few minutes after this whole scene ended for the boy in the room to regain his composer. This was all way out of Ryouki's comfort zone by now, and he wasn't happy about it. If the nurse hadn't been weird enough, THAT guy just gave him the creeps like nothing ever had.

"That guy.....why do I get the feeling I'm gonna hate his guts sooner rather than later...?" he wondered aloud.

Turning to Rain, he seemed more concerned. She was the really creepy factor in all this. It just...wasn't right. It wasn't right that they could inject her with stuff and BAM she was their perfect little angel again. What happened to the kicking and screaming when they dragged her here? Sure, it was a military operation......but that didn't stop it from being eerie and just plain wrong in all sorts of ways.

(((Are you HAPPY now?? stare )))

(((Damnit Re, your tryin' to kill that boy with cuteness, aint'cha?? xd )))

'Must...resist...urge...to murder....myself...'

That was what Ryouki was thinking at this point. Well, that...along with the ever-pressing question of life: Why HIM?? This girl was nothing but trouble. Just like the military always had been, and just like a certain black-haired psycho girl had been before that. Life was not good to him, not one bit.

"I TOLD you my name on the ship, don't you remember?? I'm Ryouki!"

Thinking it might help her understand, he motioned to himself in the same way, while inwardly cursing that what's-his-name man for all of this.

"....Good enough...." he sighed, sort of feeling bad for yelling at the girl. This was extremely odd though, and Ryouki didn't like one bit of it.

"You really don't remember a thing....I'm sorry, but there's something really wrong with brainwashing a girl your age. I think I'm gonna have a word with that guy from before, lets just hope it's not in an alleyway..."

He sort of mused to himself for a minute, thinking of what he would do to that man. Sure, it was illogical, to say the least. But once in awhile one meets a person that they instinctively dislike...and this was one such case.

(((That's more me-logic, which is worse than Kayako-logic and more twisted than a french braid. biggrin )))

"H-Hey! Be careful, will ya? Don't tell me they even made you forget how to walk..."

Okay, now this was just something that made "Ryo" as he was called want to punch that scientist-woman's face in along with everyone else responsible for this madness. Sure, brainwashing was bad enough, but this girl could do absolutely nothing on her own! That was more than brainwashing, that was....well, there wasn't even a word for it!

"Are you okay Rain?" hoping she wouldn't flip out anymore, he knelt down and placed his hand on her shoulder.

(((I keep reversing words...O__O....)))

(((Owww.......Yumi-chan scratched-ed my finger.... crying )))

"GAH!"

WHACK!

There was that famous 'ow' again, only this time it came for Ryouki, who had now been thrown against the metal handle of the door by the crazy girl.

"She's....strong....."

Watching her eye the food, the black-haired boy suddenly felt that 'oh crap' feeling again, meaning here was another time he'd be forced to do something weird. Whoever the higher-power was in this situation certainly disliked poor Ryouki Wakamiya, that was obvious.

"Hey Rain....You hungry...?" he figured he'd get it over with. Hey, at least no one he knew could see him do this....

(((His sister would be all "BABYSITTER!! Ryou is a baby-sitter!!")))

"....I hate my life." At this point, it didn't matter what he said because most likely she wouldn't understand it anyways.

Sighing, Ryouki walked over to the table and grabbed the dish. This was annoying, and just plain weird. He vowed that if that nurse-lady came back, he'd find some evil way to pay her back for sticking him with this. Somewhere, far away, he could see his little sister laughing at him wherever she was. If she found out about this.....Oh man, he'd never live it down.

"Okay....Someone owes me for this..." It was probably funnier than hell to see a 17-year-old boy finally swallow his pride and get to work tending to the evil-cute redhead. And yes, somewhere someone was laughing at him....

(((Generalizing cause the laughter is blocking my writer's...uh, block! rofl rofl )))

Day after day Ivan would come to see her. Popping in to watch the progression of her training. After a week she had absorbed enough information to use simple sentences. After the second, her vocabulary had improved greatly and the regular physical exercises had stared. Each morning began with a run and a trip to the foundation’s gym. He directed her to use specific machines each day in order to tone muscle and strengthen her body.

By the third week it was easy to communicate with the girl and her curiosity had began to grow. Often he had given commands for her to not focus on certain issues. The guitar became a focus. One that he encouraged her to keep. Practice with the instrument lasted for several hours each day.

Going into the fourth week Ivan was pleased with her progress. He reflected this by taking her on a small trip. After their morning run and gym workout, he surprised her.

"Shower and dress Rain. We have something special to do today." It had been a simple command and one that peeked her curiosity. After a short drive into one of Joy Division's other facilities he had introduced her to the real Eden. He had explained about how it would be her partner. How it would follow her commands as she did his. It was her gift, her birthright. One she had to earn, though, and one that would serve her loyaly.

Rain came back to her room after the expedition with Ivan and immediately sat down on her bed, not even the slightest hint that she recognized her companion's presence. She took the model of Eden and look at it with a determined glare. "I will have you," she said to it.

Her legs were bent and her feet were on the mattress. Eden was placed on her torso and was standing up against her upper legs. The intentive gaze of her cerulean eyes did not leave the toy, looking over every little detail several times over.