Prelude Chapter 1"Good job, my little fire starter," the tall, bald man said with a smile as he gazed over at the pile of smoldering rubble that had once been a boulder the size of a school bus, "You're excelling faster than anyone I've ever seen in the program. I guess what they say is true, you really are our angel."
For a split second she could feel something stir deep inside of her- some might call it love, others pride- but it was gone as soon as it came. She stared off into space as he glanced down at his watch.
"Whoa, about time for you to take your pills. Hurry up now. We've got thirteen more exercises to go before the day is done."
"Yes, Father Bunpei," came the reply, completely devoid of feeling. She scurried off and found the familiar packet of brown pills she was damned to take every three hours. She downed them without even thinking of water and hurried back to the waiting scientist. You never wanted to make one of the Fathers wait.
There were three truths that Experiment No. 1028 had come to understand in her thirteen years of life at the Facility:
1. There was no safe place on earth but there. Everywhere and everyone else were evil.
2. It was of the utmost importance to do everything the Fathers said, no questions asked.
3. NEVER stop taking the pills. If you did, you'd die.
It was by these three truths that 1028 had come to live her life. In actuality, they were the only thoughts that her mind could hold onto for longer than a few seconds. Never could she think any further than what the men she called "Father" told her, and what they said was truth.
As far as Experiment 1028- whose true name was actually Kiku- knew, she had been part of the Pyro-Kinetics program all her life. The men she saw everyday were her fathers and it was her destiny to help them cleanse the world of its evil. In the beginning there had been many children her age, all striving to please the Fathers. One by one she watched them all fail, being dragged beaten and burned through the halls to be thrown out like trash into the vast dark world of the outside. She was now the only one left, thirteen and taking to the drugs extraordinarily well. I would say that she was happy with her life, but, just like her ability to think freely, her capacity to feel any emotion was hindered.
So, without feeling or thinking, she went through the exercises, Bunpei always watching her with the utmost interest. Each task was different, but all had the same purpose: destruction. One after another she completed them all, leaving behind only a pile of soot and ash. She gazed out over her work, feeling nothing of accomplishment or pride…or regret.
The sound of clapping broke the eerie silence. A large, very round man with a red face and greasy black hair walked out from the shadows, Father Ishido. He walked up to Father Bunpei, only coming up to his chest, and broke out into a grin that would give anyone the shivers, anyone that is except for Kiku.
"Quite impressive, quite impressive," Ishido cooed, Father Bunpei taking full not of the condescendence in his voice, "by winter she'll be ready to lead the first strike." Bunpei couldn't hide a grimace which only made Ishido grin wider.
"You know that's not possible, Ishido. We haven't even started waning her off the mood stabilizers. If we try to push her into battle too quickly she could break down like the others." The hatred was clear on Bunpei's face. He never liked Ishido and he loathed him now for trying to take over his experiment.
Ishido's reply was nonchalant and lathered in arrogance, "Well, at least if she goes down, then she'll take a few of the rotten bastards with her." He picked at his fingers absent mindedly. "This is war, friend. We're trying to start a revolution. You just can't sit around and wait."
"And you can't destroy the last hope we've got. You know about what happened in the other facilities. They tried to speed up the process and now everyone's dead. 1028 is the only one we have left that has any chance of complete success. I would advise you not to let your own agendas affect that of the Organization's."
The blow struck hard and Ishido's face got even redder.
"What exactly are you implying, Bunpei? That I'm not in this for the same reasons as everyone else?"
"You know exactly what I'm implying. Don't think that no one knows about your little side deals. If it was up to me, you'd be thrown out like all the other failures here and fed to the dogs."
Kiku watched in silence as the two men bickered at each other. She stared at them, her eyes not really seeing, the words falling on her ears in a meaningless jumble. She merely waited patiently to be given her next order. Then something she had never experienced before happened.
It started off so slowly. A sense of awareness started to form in the back of her mind, creeping ever so slightly over the rest of her brain. She could hear sounds she had never noticed before or just couldn't remember and the words the two men threw at each other began making sense. She looked around and took note of all the different colors and devices in the room. She saw a speck of dust float lazily to the floor and for once she did not forget it immediately. Then she started to remember things.
Gradually a picture started to form in her mind. It was a nice little house surrounded by green that she had never been to before but somehow knew, like in a past life. She could see people there, running, smiling, laughing. She was terrified by this vision, not used to the sensation. She became more terrified still when she realized she was actually feeling something.
Like a new born child she looked around, seeing things for the first time. She gazed up at the men she knew so well but didn't and was shaken by what she saw. Radiating off them were waves of bent light and somehow she knew what they were- their emotions. The hatred and anger oozed off their bodies, snaking around each other in a fight to strangle the other to death. She looked deeper still and saw even more disturbing things, the very souls of the men. Both were dark and tarnished, defiled by years of lies and sin.
Very carefully she walked up to Bunpei and grasped his hand. A burning sensation pricked her arm and then a flood of his memories smacked her in the face. It was as she were him, seeing the world through his eyes. She knew what he was, knew what he knew, and almost broke down when she saw herself, what she truly was to him. She broke away and focused on Ishido. The greed and gluttony bulged from him like tumors and she again saw herself through his eyes, just another pawn. She could see the lust hidden in his eyes as he glanced at her and she remembered those times as well.
Everything was becoming so clear. Thoughts were racing for dominance in her mind and she wondered, quite rightfully, if her brain could explode. In a matter of seconds everything she had ever known had been demolished. Everything she had believed was a lie. Everything she knew to be truth, few though they were, was a lie. A million new sensations rocked her and she collapsed, trying to regain control, but she knew now she never had control. It was all fake. No one will ever be able to understand how painful it was, regaining the ability to think in a second, feeling everything for the first time all at once. It was hell, but she knew she had to overcome it. She had to stop the lies…
As soon as she had touched his wrist, Bunpei had turned his attention back to her. He had felt the jolt when she had entered his mind and now as she crumpled to the floor with her hands over her ears, he could feel the heat radiating off her.
"What's….what's happening?" Ishido stammered, all his cockiness lost to the fear of imminent death.
Bunpei shoved him away forcefully and rushed to the med cart. He grabbed the nearest syringe and quickly filled it with a red liquid. The purer, more potent form of their mind dulling drugs shone like blood in the tube.
"Because of your insolence, you've caused her to miss her scheduled dose of medication. Her brain is regaining function, which, with the mental stimulators we fed her at the beginning, is overwhelming her psyche. You wanted to take her off the meds, now you know what will happen if you do."
Driven by anger and the extreme desire to life, he ran over to Kiku and jabbed the needle into her arm. She let out a small whelp of pain, the first she had uttered since the initial operation, and began to calm down, her muscles relaxing. A tear rolled down her cheek, sizzling from the heat still pouring off of her. That too began to subside and both men breathed a sigh of relief. She'd be okay, for now.
Just like a real father, Bunpei picked Kiku up and started to carry her back to her cell. The drugs were quick and she didn't resist the action at all. Bunpei glared at Ishido as he walked past, grinding his teeth and whispering, "You happy now?"
Like water, all the thoughts that had threatened to consume her began to trickle out of Kiku's mind, the dull sensation returning and fogging up her senses. She knew that Bunpei was carrying her but she was detached from it. She could feel him lay her down on her cot, but it failed to register in her mind. He walked out and closed the door on her, leaving her in darkness. Soon the blackness crept over her as well and everything faded away into nothingness. Everything except for one thought, on truth, that would replaced the others forever:
"I don't belong here."
Reply
