章節 4: Episode Three. (May 9th, 2123. Division-A, South District.)
The black, ominous skies were painted over with gray clouds- illuminated by the cluster of city lights below. Branching off from the bustling highway was a muddy plot of land. Upon that plot of land sat the Grand Hall, Division-A's headquarters. The bright office lights shined through the large windows, exposing the lounging room and the secretary's office.
A limousine pulled up next to the Grand Hall. Two men came out from either side of the front few seats and walked to the back. As they opened the door, Makina already had her foot crushed into the gravel. She walked past her escorts and climbed up the slick concrete stairs to the massive pair of doors awaiting her. Two guards equipped with several sinister weapons stood beside the doors, eyeing Makina as she walked in nonchalantly.
The doors opened for her, allowing her to run her eyes over the long hallway. The carpet was a very pigmented red. Towering concrete walls decorated with electric torches lined them. Against the walls was a long line of guards, each with various unknown weapons, from start to finish.
Makina continued down the lengthy hall as the guards gazed at her, intimidated merely by her presence. A young African American girl stepped out from the long line of identical guards and began walking alongside her. She had white hair, dark skin, blue eyes, and freckles. She was quite tall for a girl her age; approximately fifteen. A red choker with the Division-A logo was wrapped around her neck. She wore a gray t-shirt, black skirt, red boots, and a strap that hung from her shoulder carrying her swords.
Makina recognized who this girl was as soon as she stepped forward. She did not say anything, however. She knew the first girl to talk would be the other, not her.
"You came earlier than expected!" The girl acknowledged.
Makina rolled her eyes. "You can thank your puppets for that. I did nothing except go along for the ride."
She smiled in return with an accompanied nod. "Anyway, it's nice to see you back at the Grand Hall. We've missed you."
"You know why I never planned to return here. However, I heard it was important." Makina looked down at her. "Was it so important that you had me escorted from school, Hideyo?"
Hideyo became nervous and tugged at her red gloves. "It wasn't my decision, it was milady's."
"I know that," Makina admitted, "but since you are her little pawn, I'd assume you would have some insight. It's you two who decided to enlist me into that school anyway. I'd rather not be pulled from something you made me do. It's a waste of my time, especially when I could be out on the battle field instead of going to damn school."
The girl nodded again. "Yeah, but-," she paused, "you might be fighting sooner than you think. You should enjoy this peace while it's here, Makina. We both know it won't last long."
"I can't wait for the peace to end," Makina said coldly.
Hideyo looked down towards the floor as she trailed beside her. Counting her footsteps, she eventually made it to a pair of titanic concrete doors that led to the leader's office. Hideyo gripped the handle and pulled the heavy doors open.
Inside was a circular room with tall, stain glass windows along the backside. Shelves stacked with books and various documents surrounded a massive wooden desk cluttered with papers and a few laptops. Behind the desk was an elderly woman with bags pulling her eyes down to her droopy cheeks. She had curly white hair down to the end of her neck where a high collared, button-up red shirt began.
The woman stood up from her chair and smiled at Makina. "It's been a long time, Makina. It's nice seeing you here in the flesh," she rejoiced with her raspy tone.
Makina ran her eyes over the office, taking note of how it has changed over the years. "It's a pleasure to see you too, Royal Ambassador."
The woman chuckled. "I told you, you can call me Hetsu, Makina. You aren't a civilian."
"Yeah," she responded, "so let's get to the point, what's this all about?"
Hetsu's body stiffened. She slid her hands in her pockets and stared Makina in the eye with a stern expression. "It's about the East Districts."
Makina shifted her weight to her side. "What about them?"
Hideyo glanced off into the distance as Hetsu continued.
"As you know, the Compactors have launched their attacks against the East and South East Districts, leveling the entire city and killing nearly one hundred thousand civilians. Infrastructure is little to none and Division-A is struggling financially. The media is also getting suspicious. Honestly, the city can't handle another attack like this. The costs of upgrading our security alone is more than we can handle, let alone repairing what was destroyed."
"...and what about the survivors?"
"We have them under custody. The ones who claim to have seen the Compactors will be executed. The others with no claims of sightings will go through intense interrogation. The females will be recruited as Omegas if they wish."
Hideyo smiled weakly at Makina, who stood speechless. "It's like what we did with you."
Makina dropped her head, examining her white sneakers. "Are you going to kill them if they refuse the offer?"
A dreadful silence invaded the office. Makina tugged at her purple plaid skirt, talking to herself.
"It's the only option we have. You know that. Anyway, we wanted to let you know we are expecting the Omegas from the East Districts to be transferred here, to the capital. You will be the commander in charge of Squad Thirteen," Hetsu informed Makina.
The red eyed Omega glared at the elder woman, irritated. "You know that would slow me down. I'm better off going solo."
"This isn't about you, Makina. You have the most experience and excel in battle tactics and strategy. It isn't about killing the most Compactors, it's about being a role model for the Omegas who have yet to reach your level of expertise."
"If they need someone to look after them then they aren't fit to be a soldier."
"Makina...," Hideyo mumbled. "Pardon my interruption, but don't forget how you started off. You were one of the weakest Omegas we had during training."
Makina hissed, twisting her body to face the little girl. "I wasn't weak! I wasn't being trained to unlock my full potential. Its only that when I was then put under Captain's thumb, I became stronger. And what would you know, Hideyo Hiroko? You were nothing but a child at that time- and still are!"
Hetsu slammed her frail hand into the oak table. "Makina! That is enough! Watch your tongue!"
Makina growled, balling her fists. She found herself staring out the window behind Hetsu, unable to look her in the eye. Eventually, she spoke up in the form of a whisper. "Commander? Do you expect war?"
Hideyo let out a notable whimper.
"It is inevitable," Hetsu admitted, "it will come sooner than later- and when it does, we will be prepared."
"It's about time you can say that with a straight face, Hetsu Koboshi," Makina stated.
"I refuse to have a repeat of what happened to our ancestors. We will survive and we will prosper," the woman said determinedly with a raspy voice.
Suddenly, a tall man in a skin-tight white uniform busted through the doors, panting: a guard. He had sweat running down his forehead. He took a few breaths before eventually leaning against the door frame, exhausted.
Hideyo turned to him. "What is it?"
He continued breathing heavily. "Y-you need to shut down all media outlets, ah, they found Compactor victims... th-they're... filming it."
Akino and Sakagami crowded around the boxy television that sat on the kitchen counter. Their eyes were glued to the screen as they watched the footage roll. Their ears were open as they listened to the news reporter.
On the screen was a young, brown-haired woman with a microphone and an umbrella standing off to the right. Behind her was a dark alleyway illuminated by the spotlights behind the camera. In the alleyway were several clothes lines hanging from house to house. Towards the end were two bodies draped over the clothes line. The bodies were obviously heavy, evident from the drooping line of string underneath their torso. The clothes they wore had been ripped in several areas, exposing deep gashes with dried blood crusted around them. However, the most notable thing about these corpses were the fact that-
They were both missing their limbs.
"Behind me are two corpses hanging from a clothing line. A young man in his twenties was walking back from work in this remote part of town when he just so happened to come across this gruesome scene. The victims have been hanging here for approximately thirteen hours. Officials say that they could have been dead for anywhere between five to three hours. The perpetrator has yet to be identified."
Sakagami had her face practically pushed against the screen.
Abruptly, a man came from the corner of the screen and whispered in the reporter's ear. She turned back towards the camera frantically. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize how close we were to curfew. We will have to cut this short. Have a great night, Division-A. We will be back nex-" Before she could finish, the screen went black and changed to a new channel.
"What?! What happened?! Hey! They can't just do that! That was close," Sakagami complained.
"It's curfew. We need to take our pills and go to bed," Akino stated.
The blonde sighed. She stood up straight and stretched, yawning. "Yeah, I guess so. If they don't air this tomorrow morning, I'll be upset." Sakagami started walking towards her room. "See you."
"Bye," he mumbled.
Sakagami walked around the kitchen table and exited, sliding the door closed behind her. Akino stayed slouched over the television, his chin resting in the palms of his hands.
'Two people have been found dead, side by side, hanging from a clothing line with their limbs missing.' The boy gulped and started picking at his nails anxiously. 'Damn it, Makina, of course she would do something like this. Ah! M-maybe if I leave now, I can catch her. But... but what would I do once I was there? Should I turn her into the cops? No, no, she's on their side. If I try to talk to her would she...'
Akino stood up with wide eyes.
'I don't have time to contemplate this! I need to find her!'
Akino looked up above the sink to the clock. 10:02pm. Akino jumped up from the crouched position he was in and raced out the door and down the alley. He skipped over several cobblestone steps as he advanced to his destination, barefooted. He ran down the silent, dark, abandoned high way and past the community park.
'That neighborhood where the corpses were found- I-it's just a few miles away! At my speed,' Akino paused his thought process to count his steps, 'I should be there in a few minutes!'
Makina launched herself into a massive tree, using one of the many branches to catapult herself onto the roof of a building. The moonlight shined down on her and reflected against her deadly red eyes while she advanced to the crime scene. She continued jumping from roof to roof as she hovered her hand over her necklace.
'The way the arms and legs were removed from the body... it wasn't clean enough to be done by the likes of a blade. The torn flesh had patterns on it! They resembled a jaw... like someone bit into them. There's no question about it, Compactor!
Makina jumped one more time. Pushing all her weight into her feet, she leaped into the cold and damp night air. Whilst in midair, Makina plucked her miniature sword from her beaded necklace and unwinded it into its full shape. She looked down to what she expected to be a narrow sidewalk to land on. What was under her was far from that.
A Compactor- a monster.
"Shit!"
Assuming there was no other option, she sliced through the squirming tentacles on her way down to the ground so fast that even the blood splatter was delayed. Makina contorted her body and rolled away from the monster as it turned the other way.
Makina's palms were sweaty and her head was racing. Her blood boiled as they flowed through her constricted veins. The Compactor turned its head towards her and sent its remaining tentacle shooting towards her. The Omega jumped out of the way and scaled the wall as it chased after her.
"This is dangerous! It's acting recklessly! I can't predict its movements!"
Suddenly, a tentacle slammed into the side of Makina's cheek with an ear piercing 'WHAM!' She flew through the street and into the side of an overfilled dumpster. Cups and bags flew out and rode with the wind beside her.
'Careful. If I don't become the offensive player here, I'll be smashed. Ah! The way it's feet are mounted to the pavement and the arch of its back… it's going to attack me with one of its right hand tentacles. So it does have a fighting technique!'
The Compactor backed up and twisted its upper right tentacle to face her.
'Now!'
Expecting for the creature to shoot the predicted limb, Makina pushed herself to left to avoid the attack. Unbeknownst to her, the creature swung its left tentacle into the building she backed into, causing a mound of debris to rain on top of her. Makina watched on, stunned, before she eventually became crushed underneath the rubble.
Suddenly, Makina felt a sharp and intense pain in her side. Before she could take into account what happened, she found herself pushed out of the rubble and into the street with a gaping flesh wound cutting through her shirt. She hovered her hand over the wound and ran her fingertips over the gash, fleeing the jagged cut and warmth of her blood bleeding onto her hand.
"That's it," she said to herself, "I can act recklessly, too."
Before the monster could attack, she had already flattened her body against the ground to dodge. Once the Compactor became puzzled, she sneaked behind it.
"That's it, hit me!"
Still facing the opposite direction, the Compactor slammed its tentacle into her torso and sent her flying in the air. Makina tightened her grip on her weapon before gravity pulled her back down. Her eyes glowed red with bloodlust as she cut through the monster, using its flailing outgrowths as launchpads to get closer to the creature.
"That's it," she shouted, "you're finished!!!"
She slid past the monster, leaving a trail of dust and blood behind her. The gray tentacled creature tumbled to the ground in hundreds of pieces. Makina fell to her knees, debilitated, and covered in blood.
"Makina…"
The teenage girl looked up, startled, with blurry vision. Once her eyes came into focus, she grew furious. She climbed to her feet and stumbled her way towards Akino, her heavy weapon tugging at her arm. Carelessly, she swung her blade at him, cutting his cheek and sending him to the ground.
"H-hey, stop!"
She slammed the blade into the ground between his arm and chest threateningly. "I told you to stay away from me! Do you have a death wish? If a Compactor doesn't kill you, I sure will! You're a leach- a pest! Leave me alone!!!" She shrieked, her voice traveling through the clouds.
Akino looked up at her, frightened but determined. "Are the Compactors… those monsters? Did they kill all those people in the East Districts?"
Makina held herself up with the handle of her weapon while she hung over him. "It's none of your business! I should kill you here and now for what you've seen. In fact," she pulled the weapon from the ground and aimed it and him, "nothing is holding me back."
"Wait!" Akino yelled, his fear lodged in his throat. "I have information! If we work together, we can defeat the Compactors!"
The two of them became quiet, their silence replaced with the chirping of crickets.
'What am I saying?' Akino thought to himself. 'I don't have anything to offer, do I? Saying that… it was like instinct! Wait, I remember! My dreams- that man! He mentioned something about them! Why am I just remembering this now?!'
Once you arrive, your life here will be no more. Monsters of all forms, human and supernatural, will come for your blood. They mustn't know the truth.
"…mustn't know the truth," he mumbled.
Makina clenched her teeth together as she pointed the red blade straight at the point of his nose. Her balance was incredible. Her focus was impeccable. "What was that? Baiting me into your game won't work on me. If you have useful information, the Royal Ambassador would have had you behind bars by now."
"Makina," Akino muttered, "I can help you."
She paused, her face ridden with fury. "I don't need your help, human! If you think you're stronger than me, then you are mistaken! You couldn't possibly know even a sliver as much as I do, let alone more than me! I'll kill them all single-handedly. I don't need you in my way."
A metallic ball shimmered under the streetlight across the road. With the touch of a breeze, the ball rolled off the sidewalk and into the street, crossing it. Makina watched as it rolled up onto the sidewalk her and Akino rested on and then behind her. She happened to catch a glimpse of Akino's face- a terrified one.
Akino lifted his twitching hand up and pointed behind her as a shadow slowly consumed the two of them. Makina turned her head, hesitantly, to see the Compactor growing in size, dwarfing her.
"Damn it, no!" Makina stepped back, giving it room to enlarge as she rationalized. "I forgot- I got too worked up, I forgot about the core!"
The outline of the figure solidified into a menacing ten feet tall with glowing blue eyes. Long tentacles, now double the amount, pushed themselves out of its back as they pulsed and throbbed.
"The-the core?!" Akino asked, glancing at Makina who stood before him, ready for combat.
"It's like a heart- no, a battery! It keeps the Compactor alive. If it's destroyed, it can't regenerate. However, the core can triple in power if the circumstances allow. In this case, the core doubled its power to keep the Compactor alive," Makina commented as the rest of its features developed.
Akino scooted back, terrified. "How is it a battery then?!"
"If it isn't charged with enough blood, then the Compactor will starve," Makina shouted. "But this Compactor doesn't have enough blood to grow to Stage 2 like its doing. It's using energy it doesn't have to keep itself alive."
Akino gulped, his nerves crawling through his skin.
The creature arched its back and looked Makina dead in the eye, tempting her.
"However," Makina said, maintaining eye contact, "that means it's easier to kill."
And with one flick of the wrist, her blades sliced through the monster.
-and the core flew out, sliced through the middle as well.
"It's a simple arrangement, actually. The method applies to every living being, dismissing the quirks. Everyone needs to eat to live, to fight. If you're starved, you lose energy... and you can't use the energy you don't have."
'She's right. You can't fight on an empty stomach... but how far will pure determination get you...?'
Akino looked up at Makina, eagerly, prepared with questions. A breeze picked up and pushed her long, purple hair behind her, allowing Akino to catch a glimpse of her face.
It was like his first encounter with her- when they met.
It was sad, no- melancholic.
Peaceful? Possibly.
But... just a bit more anguished.
Her bright, menacing red eyes seemed a bit duller and more glazed over.
Her already abnormal pale skin, seemed flushed of all color.
And with a blink, it all went away.
She turned around to face him, who still sat on the edge of the sidewalk. Makina lifted her weapon and resumed pointing it at him. "Leave, now, if you don't want the others coming after you. Remember what you promised, Akino Sakagami. If you do so much as look at me the wrong way, I'll crush you like that Compactor. Understand?"
'Why is she acting like this? Is she being nice? Ngh, it doesn't matter.'
"Alright. Just please consider my offer," he reminded her.
Makina gripped the handle tighter. "I won't. You have nothing that could benefit me or Division-A. You're a pathetic child that lives on cheap thrills and pestering others. Don't meddle in things that could get you killed, cause it might do just that."
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票