Day 142

[from Vanishing Point]

There was nothing particularly out-of-the-ordinary about the five-storey office building that the two Shinsuke City Patrol pilots had just pulled up outside of. Nor was there anything particularly out-of-the-ordinary about the IT company based within. However, in order for the City Patrol themselves to be investigating the premises, something had to be seriously amiss, and so as the two men crossed the threshold, the receptionist looked up at them with some concern.

"Good morning," she said, trying to keep the concern out of her voice. "Is there something I can help you gentlemen with?"

"Yes, thank you," said the first man. "We understand you have an employee named Aiko Fujikawa working here?"

"Uhh, let me see…" said the receptionist, consulting her computer for a moment. "Fujikawa, Fujikawa… ah, yes. Miss Fujikawa works up on the third floor."

"Has Miss Fujikawa been coming in to work recently?" asked the first man.

"Let me check…" said the receptionist. "Well, according to our records, Miss Fujikawa has only missed a single day of work in the past month. Why? May I ask what this is about?"

"Aiko Fujikawa has been dead for three weeks," said the second man. "Her body was found last night."

"What?!" exclaimed the receptionist. "But that's impossible! She-"

"We need to talk to the woman claiming to be Miss Fujikawa," said the first man. "You said she works on the third floor, right?"

"Y-yes, that's right," stammered the shocked receptionist. "I'm sorry, I don't understand… are you saying that-"

But the men were already making their way towards the elevator, ignoring the receptionist entirely as they focused on apprehending their target. They knew exactly who the impostor was, and they knew the consequences if she were allowed to roam free. She had to be captured, no matter what.

***

Kiyoko slept in late that morning, recovering from the previous night's endeavours. When she finally woke up, she found that a blanket had been wrapped around her to keep her warm. She stretched, sat up, and rubbed her eyes, before looking around the room to try and locate the others. This did not take long.

"Oh hey, Kiyoko's awake!" said Hanako. She and the others were gathered around Kamui's computer, waiting for her. "Good morning, sleepyhead~!"

"Good morning," said Kiyoko, standing up. "I'm feeling a lot better now."

"I sure hope so," said Kamui. "You were asleep for eleven hours, you know."

"Really?" exclaimed Kiyoko. "Well, uhh… sorry…"

"Sorry?" repeated Kamui, amused. "What's there to be sorry for? It's not your fault if you're exhausted after what happened yesterday."

"I guess not," admitted Kiyoko. "But still…"

"Well, now that you're awake, let's have a look at what you managed to get," said Kamui.

"Of course," said Kiyoko. "I don't know if it'll be enough, but-"

"Well, we'll see in a minute, won't we?" said Cobra. "Come on, let's take a look."

Kiyoko nodded, and took the USB drive out of her pocket, handing it to Kamui. He plugged it into his computer and opened it up. "I see… individual files on each test subject, huh?" he said. "Subjects 1 to 15… well, that confirms our theory. Assuming you guys are Subjects 13 through 15, that means there are twelve more test subjects out there."

"I wonder what's in this files," said Cobra. "Any chance they'll contain any personal information about me or Kiyoko? Something that will bring back more of our memories?"

"I don't know," said Kamui, "but I guess it's worth a shot. You said you were Subject 13, right?"

Cobra nodded. "That's what they called me," she said.

"Then let's have a look," said Kamui. He double-clicked the file labelled "Subject 13", opening it. Sure enough, it was a profile of herself, complete with a photo. Cobra, eager for information, pushed Kamui aside and read the file herself, her face mere inches from the screen.

"'Name: Subject 13'," she began. "'Codename: To be determined'. Darn it… I should've known they wouldn’t have our real names. Anyway… 'Age: 22. Height: 180cm. Weight…'" Cobra suddenly blushed, her eyes widening in shock, and tried to cover up the screen to no avail.

"169 pounds?!"¹ exclaimed Hanako, reading the figure off the screen. "Wow, I didn't realize you were so fat-!"

Cobra's response was to wordlessly reach back and punch Hanako in the face without taking her eyes off the screen, knocking the young girl to the floor. With the other three strongly dissuaded from making any further remarks about her size, Cobra continued reading. "'Current status: Phase 3. Subject 13 appears to exhibit some form of superhuman strength, both physically and mentally, and has so far been resistant to our conditioning techniques.' Conditioning?" she repeated, alarmed. "They were trying to brainwash me?"

"Apparently," said Kamui. "I don't like the sound of that at all."

"Do you remember them trying to brainwash you?" asked Kiyoko.

"Not at all," said Cobra. "I guess I must have blotted it out, like it says in the file."

"Well, we're already learning a lot," said Kamui. "Keep going."

Cobra nodded, and kept reading. "'Dr. Morgan is of the opinion that Subject 13's abilities will be invaluable to the program, but employees are reminded to exercise caution around her at all times and to follow the recommended safety procedures, in order to avoid a repeat of the incident with Obsidian. Refer to Subject 3's profile…'" This last portion seemed to interest Cobra. "Hmm… so perhaps we weren't the first ones to try and escape…"

"How come this Obsidian has her name listed?" asked Kiyoko.

"I don't think that's her real name," said Cobra. "There was a "Codename" section in my profile… I'm guessing they give us each some kind of codename after our conditioning is complete."

"I see," said Kamui. "Well, that told us plenty about Shinsuke, but not much about you yourself, Cobra."

"I'm not sure what I was expecting, honestly," said Cobra. "They don't care about our names, or our histories. We're just tools to them." She shook her head, sighing. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. I'm sure I'll find the answers in time."

"I'm sure you will," said Kamui.

"I hope so…" said Kiyoko.

"Now then," said Kamui, "we have twelve other test subjects to track down. Which one should we look at first?"

"I'd say we try and find this Obsidian, and see if we can talk to her," said Cobra. "If she's rebelled against Shinsuke before, that means there's a good chance she'll be willing to help us."

Kamui nodded. "That makes sense. Alright, let's see what she looks like." Closing Cobra's file, Kamui opened the file named "Subject 3". The profile image depicted a girl with long black hair and scarlet eyes filled with fury. The picture rather unsettled Kiyoko, as well as Hanako, who by now had recovered from her blow to the face.

"She doesn't look too friendly," remarked Kiyoko.

"Not to worry," said Kamui. "As the saying goes, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend²"."

FOOTNOTES:

¹Cobra's weight derives from her height and muscular, athletic physique; muscle weight more than fat, after all. Even so, finding out that you weigh 12 stone can be a bit of a shock for the average Japanese woman.

²This is from Vanishing Point Episode 3, which is entitled "The Enemy Of My Enemy".