Day 176

[from Cyborg Team Alpha]

In the mid-2030s, the South China Sea was a hotbed of political tensions, with numerous ongoing territorial disputes, coupled with increasing racial tensions amidst the hundredth anniversary of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Japanese nationals living in China became the victims of brutal attacks, while Chinese politicians led vocal campaigns demanding official apologies for Japanese war crimes during the prior conflict. As tensions increased, the two countries found themselves on the brink of war.

At the same time, and undisturbed by the rumblings of war, prominent Japanese scientist Prof. Satoshi Toriyama was working on his greatest invention: the Cyborg System, a means of reviving the recently-deceased using cutting-edge computer hardware, keeping their memories and personalities completely intact while replacing any irreparably damaged body parts with state-of-the-art bionics. Toriyama's intention was to give those killed in tragic accidents, or by degenerative diseases, a second chance at life. Though highly expensive, the system, if perfected, could potentially hold the key to eternal life. Some were skeptical or even fearful of the technology, but Toriyama pressed on with the research regardless.

In 2038, China declared war on Japan, ostensibly over the countries' various territorial disputes. The Chinese Army swiftly launched an invasion of Japan which the Japanese Self-Defence Force managed to hold back, though the Chinese Army's numbers advantage meant they could not repel it completely. Many in China called for nuclear strikes on Japan, to destroy the country entirely, but the Chinese government refused, knowing that launching a nuclear attack would be tantamount to suicide. The Japanese, however, were far more willing to go to extreme lengths.

The Japanese military swiftly hijacked Prof. Toriyama's Cyborg program, and in 2040 the system was perfected. The military then began reviving recently-deceased soldiers from both sides, turning them into powerful cybernetically-enhanced killing machines, turning the tide of the war in Japan's favour. To prevent the technology from falling into Chinese hands, the Cyborgs were rigged to explode upon death, causing further casualties.

The Japanese public, the international community, and especially Prof. Toriyama, were all appalled by the Japanese military's use of Cyborgs, branding it inhumane and a war crime. The United Nations banned the use of Cyborgs for military purposes in 2042, but the Japanese military persisted.  Ultimately, in mid-2043, a UN-governed task force brokered a peace treaty and, to eliminate the numerous territorial disputes in the area, the Pinnacle Islands and various other island groups were destroyed with tactical nuclear strikes.

All remaining Cyborgs were destroyed, along with the facilities that had produced them, and an international treaty was signed that made the technology illegal. Japan refused to sign, but agreed to limit Cyborg conversion to peaceful purposes, and on the condition that the deceased person's family consented to the conversion. However, with the stigma now attached to the Cyborgs, and with the only facilities capable of producing them in ruins, no new Cyborgs were ever produced.

Prof. Toriyama was forced into hiding, blamed for having been the Cyborgs' inventor, even though he had had nothing to do with their use in the war. Ashamed of what his creations had been turned into, Prof. Toriyama decided to continue his work on the Cyborg system in secret, convinced that with the right application, he could vindicate himself and his research and change the public's opinion of Cyborgs for the better.

In the wake of the war's end, the public grew bitter and angry at the government for wasting trillions of yen and millions of lives on a war that had ultimately been pointless. Sporadic violence and protests occurred throughout the country, often aimed at Chinese nationals in the country, though the Japanese government, in an attempt to stave off another war, dealt very harshly with anyone involved in xenophobic attacks against ethnic Chinese. In August 2045, commemorations were held to mark 100 years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and though largely peaceful, three Americans were killed by ultra-nationalists.

Though other, smaller ultra-nationalist groups had emerged in the wake of the war, 2049 saw the emergence of the Rising Sun, a group of terrorists who began a campaign of bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations, further threatening the country's fragile recovery. Prof. Toriyama saw his chance, and requested permission from the Diet to form a secret group of Cyborgs that would help combat the Rising Sun and protect Japan's citizens. The Diet were reluctant, but ultimately agreed.

Over the next three years, Toriyama found four recently-deceased people whose skills would prove beneficial to the unit, and whose families permitted him to rebuild them as Cyborgs. They were: Ryuto Kagetane, an ex-soldier who had been killed in a Rising Sun bombing; Gumi Takahashi, a gifted scientist and engineer who died in a car crash; Hiroki Ashida, a strong builder who was killed in an industrial accident; and Dae-Sung Park, a Korean martial arts instructor murdered in a xenophobic attack by Rising Sun members.

In 2052, a random terrorist bombing by the Rising Sun claims the life of Ichiko St. Clare, a half-American teenager renowned for her mathematical ability, and who had been considered one of Japan's brightest young prodigies. Toriyama received permission to revive her as a Cyborg and promptly did so, making her the fifth and final member of his elite Cyborg unit, now dubbed "Cyborg Team Alpha". Upon awaking, Ichiko is initially shocked to learn of her fate, but jumps at the chance to help rid Japan of the Rising Sun and agrees to join the team. After a gruelling period of physical therapy, during which she gradually gets used to her new bionic parts, Ichiko sets out with the other members to tackle the Rising Sun, as well as the world's continued negative perception of the Cyborgs.