Day 207

[from Cyborg Team Alpha]

Ichiko's recovery was progressing well. She was more or less able to walk again, and was recovering the fine motor skills in her hands; she could now open bottles and such. However, she was finding that there were difficulties associated with her new bionic limbs that she had never had to overcome before. Her cybernetic hands, for example, had a maximum gripping force far exceeding that of a regular human. She had just about managed to moderate her grip strength, but not before crushing three cups, bending several items of cutlery in half, severely warping a metal doorknob, and ripping one of her shirts clean in two.

The next step would be combat training, and it was at this point that Ichiko realized exactly what she had been signed up for. She had been assured that Cyborg Team Alpha would be a strictly non-lethal fighting force, but even so, she was a thinker, not a fighter. She had never been in a fight in her life. What's more, the people she would be fighting were ruthless criminals, hardened by a lifetime of violence. Now that she had been given a second chance at life, she didn't want to die a second time at the hands of the Rising Sun, and although she still felt a burning desire to get revenge on them, she also felt the bitter realization that she was not strong enough.

On her first day of training, Ichiko arrived at the dojo located within the headquarters, completely unsure of what awaited her there, and equally unsure about herself. As she entered, she ignored the standard training equipment scattered around the large room, and instead focused on the man stood in the centre of the room: Professor Satoshi Toriyama himself. Ichiko had never seen him in person before, but she recognized him instantly. Even though he appeared to have grown a short white beard during his reclusion, he was still unmistakeably the man she had seen in so many news bulletins and newspaper articles.

"Professor Toriyama!" she gasped, awe-struck. "You're the one who's going to be training me?"

Professor Toriyama nodded, and slowly walked towards Ichiko. "In the 19th century," he began, "Alfred Nobel invented dynamite. He intended for it to be used in mining, but instead it was used to create deadly new explosives for war. He was so overcome with guilt, that he set aside his entire estate for the establishment of the Nobel Prize, to promote humanitarian science."

The professor came to a halt in front of Ichiko, and she could see the pain etched into every wrinkle of his face. "When the Japanese military hijacked my research on the Cyborg system, I felt the same pain that Nobel had felt, tenfold," he continued. "The Cyborg system, which had previously been thought to be the future of mankind, is now thought to be unethical and inhumane. The military applications might now be outlawed under the Geneva Convention, but the stigma still remains: Cyborgs are heartless killing machines that were never truly revived.

"My greatest invention, my life's work, has been wrenched from my grasp, and I was unable to do anything about it. Men greater than I have lost their minds over less, succumbing to the evils of revenge and despair. But I have not. Cyborg Team Alpha is my attempt at reclaiming my research, turning it into a force for good, and restoring my reputation. You and the others carry with you my hope. It is, therefore, understandable that I will oversee your training myself. I want to make sure that the Cyborg 2.0 system is utilized to its fullest extent."

Ichiko nodded. "Okay. So, what first?"

"First, you should know that some of your cybernetic enhancements are currently locked down," said Professor Toriyama. "These locked enhancements are, by and large, tied to your fighting capabilities. I wanted you to learn to walk before you learned to run, so to speak. As you progress through your training, I will gradually unlock more of your enhancements, until you reach your true potential."

The professor pulled a small tablet device out of the pocket of his lab coat. Presumably, this device controlled some sort of master override program that could remotely alter her systems, such as locking or unlocking certain features. Ichiko couldn't help feeling slightly nervous at the thought that such a thing existed, but she knew that the professor would only use it responsibly, and in any case, it would most likely have built-in biometric safeguards that would prevent anyone but himself from using it.

"I will start by unlocking the features of your bionic eye," said Professor Toriyama. "You will be able to enhance your vision by up to 32x, allowing you to see things from far greater distances than normal. The eye also includes X-ray and infrared filters, advanced object recognition and tracking systems that can feed information to your limbs, and a high-tech scanner that will read and display the vital signs of anyone you see. Its heads-up display will translate text in real-time for you, and highlight vital information such as enemies and escape routes. It will take some time to get used to these new abilities, and to learn to use them properly, but they will be the first step in learning  to fight effectively as a Cyborg."

"That's a lot of abilities," said Ichiko. "I'm sure they'll really come in handy, but they certainly do sound like they'll take some getting used to. Alright. Go ahead and activate them."

"This may be disorientating at first," Professor Toriyama warned.

Ichiko nodded firmly. "I know," she said. "I'm ready."

"Very well then. Here goes."

Professor Toriyama pressed a button on the device, and the word "CALIBRATING" suddenly appeared in the corner of Ichiko's vision. A second later, a digital readout appeared beneath it, listing the professor's height, weight, blood type, and current heart rate and blood pressure. "Hey, wow, that's handy," said Ichiko.

A moment later, Ichiko's vision suddenly jumped into X-ray mode, and she could now see the professor's bones through his skin. Looking down at herself, she could see her own bones, as well as the black patches that denoted her bionic parts. It was highly disconcerting, just as he had warned her it would be, but she managed to keep her calm.

A moment later, her vision jumped into infrared mode, which was only slightly less disconcerting. The world around her suddenly became a patchwork of blues and greens, broken only by the blinding pinks and whites of Professor Toriyama's body heat. Looking down once more, she saw that she herself was of a vibrant reddish-pink colour. "Yeah, this will definitely come in handy," she said, and green wisps of warm air floated before her as she spoke.

Her vision soon snapped back to normal, only to then suddenly zoom right in like a camera, until all she could see was one of the professor's sunken blue eyes. Somehow, this effect was the most dizzying of all, as despite her body remaining completely stationary, the sudden zoom tricked her brain into thinking that she was moving. Ichiko felt her mechanical legs tremble beneath her as her brain tried to counterbalance movements she was not in fact making, and as her vision zoomed back out again, she suddenly started to feel quite nauseous. "I didn't like that," she said. "That just felt weird."

"I told you it would take some getting used to," said Professor Toriyama. "The eye's calibration is now complete. Its processes are thought-controlled, so you should be able to control them like any other part of your body. Once you have used them a few times, your brain will start to adjust to the new sensations, and the feelings of disorientation will lessen considerably."

"So, should I just practice using it for now?" asked Ichiko.

"Until you get used to it, yes," said Professor Toriyama. "Its functions will be invaluable in the field, so strive to get used to them as soon as possible. But please, do not push yourself. You may put too much of a strain on your mind, and that would not do."

Ichiko nodded. She'd spent the last several weeks finding and pushing her limits, and she'd learned by now not to overstep them. "Understood," she said.

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.

Day 155

[from Cyborg Team Alpha]

Ichiko's recovery progressed fairly swiftly. It was now two weeks since she had first woken up, and she was able to feed herself, dress herself - though she could not yet manage buttons or shoelaces - and was now starting to learn how to walk again. However, this was a slow, difficult process. These legs were not the ones she was used to, and after three days of practice she was still struggling, even with the waist-high parallel bars to help guide her. It did not help that the hands gripping the bars were not the ones she was used to either, and more than once her grip had let her down, sending her tumbling.

Unperturbed, Ichiko continued to persevere, and each day she was able to walk a little further. Her new comrades in Cyborg Team Alpha felt she was pushing herself a little too hard, but they all knew better than to try and tell her to take it easy. After all, they had been much the same during their own rehabilitations.

Today, Ichiko was being supervised by Gumi. Gumi seemed to be the kindest and most gentle of the group members, and the one least suited to fighting. She was also, as far as Ichiko could tell, the only one whose cyberization was not immediately apparent. As she pulled up halfway down the rails, resting her robotic arms against one of the bars, she decided to take the opportunity to try and get to know Gumi a little better.

"Here." Ichiko looked up to see that Gumi was holding out a bottle of water for her. "If you're going to train this much, you'll need to stay hydrated. Your body still needs sustenance, you know."

Ichiko nodded, and took the bottle. "Thank you," she said. Holding the bottle in one hand, she attempted to unscrew the lid with the other, but she hadn't quite recovered the fine motor control to enable herself to do so.

"Oh, sorry," said Gumi, "I should have unscrewed the lid first-"

"No, it's okay," said Ichiko, her metal fingers still scrabbling for purchase on the bottle lid. "I can do this…"

At that moment, Ichiko lost her balance and fell to the floor, the bottle tumbling out of her hands and rolling away. She let out a heavy sigh and lay there for a moment, feeling useless. "How am I supposed to fight the Rising Sun if I can't even open a bottle of water…?" she lamented quietly.

Gumi retrieved the bottle of water, then sat down next to Ichiko. "You'll get stronger," she said, unscrewing the bottle lid. "You're already getting stronger, day after day. Nobody expects you to fight just yet. We want to make sure that when the time comes, you'll be ready." She held out the water bottle. "Having to ask for help doesn't make you a weak person," she said. "It means you're still human."

Ichiko nodded, sat up, and took the water bottle. "But… I'm not really human, am I?" she said. "Not anymore."

"You're just as human as the rest of us," said Gumi, as Ichiko started to drink. "You can think, and feel, and make your own decisions. You struggle, and you fail, and you make mistakes, and you get upset about them. All these things make you human, Ichiko."

"But-"

"No buts," said Gumi. "You may be a Cyborg, but you are still also a human."

Ichiko sighed. "I guess so," she said. Decided now was as good a time as any, she added, "Hey, Gumi? Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure," said Gumi. "Go ahead."

"Well…" Ichiko tries to think of how best to phrase the question. "What exactly happened to you in order to necessitate your conversion? I mean… everyone else, I can tell what happened to them, but…"

Gumi smiled. "My story's not as exciting as yours or Ryuto's, sadly," she said. "I was in a car accident, you see. My right leg had to be amputated in order to get me out of the vehicle, and by the time I got to the hospital, I'd already died of internal bleeding. But fortunately, due to my skills in bio-mechanics and prosthetics, Dr. Toriyama chose to save me, and make me a part of Cyborg Team Alpha."

Gumi lifted up her right trouser leg. The prosthetic beneath was so realistic that Ichiko would never have realized it was fake, had she not been told. Ichiko hesitantly prodded it with a finger: it felt like flesh. "Is this really a prosthetic?" she asked. "It looks so real… not like mine and Ryuto's at all."

"Well, there was no way we could get yours and Ryuto's cyberizations to look 100% human," said Gumi. "So we decided to just leave them like they are. We could have made your arms and legs more human-like, like mine, but we figured you'd prefer them like they are now. Ryuto certainly does."

Ichiko nodded, looking down at her skeletal carbon-grey hand. "You're right," she said, "I prefer it like this. It helps remind me of what I am. What the Rising Sun did to me. If I looked human again… it wouldn't feel right."

"Like I said," said Gumi, "you are a human, Ichiko. Maybe you don't feel like you are, but the fact that you feel at all is what makes you human." Standing up, she held out a hand to Ichiko. "Now then, do you feel like carrying on with your exercises?"

Ichiko nodded, taking Gumi's hand. "Of course," she said, as she shakily stood up. "Always."

Gumi smiled. "Give it your best," she said.

Ichiko handed back the water bottle and gripped onto the rails once again. "Of course," she said. As the pain and determination crept back into her expression in equal measure, Ichiko lifted her leg and took another slow step forwards.

Day 136

[from Cyborg Team Alpha]

"Could I talk to her for a bit?" It was the male speaking this time. Ichiko no longer felt like talking, but he was addressing Gumi, not her.

"Sure," said Gumi. "There's some things you can explain better than I could."

The man stepped forward, placing a hand on the railing at the side of Ichiko's bed. "Ichiko… look at me," he said. He tried to sound gentle, but with the metallic quality of his voice, it sounded more like a harsh whisper. It began to dawn on Ichiko exactly why his voice sounded like it did. Even so, however, she still could not bring herself to face him.

"I can understand if you don't want to look at yourself," the man continued. "Neither did I, at first. But please, at least look at me."

Reluctantly, Ichiko rolled over in bed, wincing a little, to gaze upon the man standing beside her. He was wearing all black, and had short black hair with a piercing gaze. His mouth was covered by a balaclava, but as he pulled it down around his neck, Ichiko saw that his entire lower jaw was constructed from a dull grey metal. She then realized that the hand clutching the bed rail was also bionic: a grey, skeletal model, with the inner workings visible inside. Her first thought was that it was rather disturbing, but then she remembered that her own hands - both of them - were now exactly the same.

"I was also killed by the Rising Sun," said the man. "I found it ironic, in a way. I'd spent three years fighting for this nation, I'd survived the bloodiest conflict of the 21st century, and then a bunch of domestic terrorists go and blow me up. But I was lucky. Professor Toriyama had noticed my potential, and he rebuilt me just as he rebuilt you."

That answered that particular question. This was indeed the Toriyama Institute, and the man who had saved her was indeed Professor Satoshi Toriyama, the inventor of the Cyborg System. But there were still so many other questions left unanswered. "But… why?" she asked. "What potential? What is it about us in particular that… made him…" As her pain began to flare up yet again, Ichiko winces, inhaled sharply, and replaced her oxygen mask, trying to relax.

"Professor Toriyama wants to atone for what his research was used for during the South China War," said the man. "He also wants to protect Tokyo from the new menace of the Rising Sun. To that end, he is putting together a team of gifted Cyborgs to protect the city from acts of terror, as well as other criminal activities. There are already four of us, and you, Ichiko St. Clare, make five. Your intellect, supplemented by the computers built into your bionic eye, will prove invaluable to us."

The man's robotic hand tightened around the bed rail, his expression growing uneasy. "I'm afraid that this is non-negotiable," he continued. "You are obliged to join this task force. I can understand if you don't want to, but at the same time… you can feel it, can't you? The desire to avenge yourself. The desire to stop the Rising Sun from hurting anyone else the way they hurt you. I felt it too, after I learned what had happened to me. In time, we will both get our revenge. The Rising Sun will fall. Trust me on that."

Ichiko nodded. It made sense. A task force made of Cyborgs, even a small one, could solve and prevent crimes much faster and easier than a conventional human task force, what with their robotic augmentations. That being said, Cyborgs were viewed as little more than unethical biological weapons by the vast majority of people, so there was no doubt that people would get in their way. But that can't be helped at this point, thought Ichiko. I'm already a Cyborg. No matter where I go now, or what I do, people will look at me the same way they'd look at a nuclear warhead or a sample of anthrax. If I'm going to be a weapon, I might as well be a weapon of good. If there even is such a thing.

In any case, she thought, he's right. I want to get revenge against Rising Sun for what they've done to me. I want to make it so that nobody else ever has to go through what I have. And not just the dying, but the rebuilding. I'm used to being stigmatized, being half-American, but that's nothing compared to what I'll face now that I'm a Cyborg. I can't blame the professor for rebuilding me, so I'll blame the Rising Sun for making him have to. We can destroy them. Together, we can destroy them. I know it.

Finally, Ichiko removed her oxygen mask, and nodded. "Okay," she said. "I'll join you. Even if I don't have a choice, it's still what I want to do."

The man nodded, and extended his bionic arm towards Ichiko. "My name is Ryuto Murakami," he said. "Welcome to Cyborg Team Alpha."

Ichiko reached up, and for the first time she took notice of her own bionic hand. Sure enough, it was identical to Ryuto's, though a little smaller and slimmer. After a moment's hesitation, she gently took hold of his hand. The sensation in her bionic limbs seemed to have finally kicked in, for she could feel the coldness and hardness of Ryuto's hand in hers. She knew it was only bionic sensors giving her this information, not her own nervous system, but even so, the sensations in her robotic fingertips were as real as though she had never lost her hand at all. If not for the steel-grey, skeletal appearance of the prosthetic, poking out from beneath her bed sheets like a ghastly wraith, she could forget that it wasn't the real thing.

"Thank you, Ryuto," she said, shaking his hand. "You too, Gumi. And, also… if you could… please bring Professor Toriyama here, so I can thank him personally. He did save my life, after all… in a manner of speaking."

Ryuto nodded, his half-metal mouth twisting into something that may have been a smile. "Of course," he said. "I imagine he'll want to see you as well; he'll be glad to know that the reconstruction was a success."

"He's over in his office," said Gumi. "I'll go and fetch him."

 Ryuto nodded, and Gumi left the room. As she did so, Ichiko noticed that her footsteps sounded rather metallic, and a little heavy. From this, she could surmise that Gumi had, at the very least, had her feet replaced. She had, after all, mentioned that she was also a Cyborg. Ichiko couldn't help wondering for a moment what had happened to her, and what the full extent of her rebuild was, but she knew better than to ask. It was most likely a touchy subject, and she didn't want to pry into the personal history of a woman she'd only met five minutes ago. Instead, she replaced her oxygen mask and closed her one remaining normal eye, resting a little while she waited for the professor to arrive.

Day 113

[from Cyborg Team Alpha]

"Do you understand what I've just told you?"

In the time it had taken the woman to explain Ichiko's predicament to her, the girl lying in the hospital bed had finally regained full use of her senses, and was feeling the control return to her body. Her limbs still felt somewhat numb, but she at least seemed to be able to use them now; her hands were curled tightly into fists as she tried to process what she had just heard. She had died. She had been blown apart, and then put back together again. She was a Cyborg now.

"I'm really sorry," continued the voice. Ichiko still could not see the owner of the voice, though she could tell that it was genuinely remorseful about her satiation. "I know how upsetting this must be for you. Believe me, it was upsetting for me as well." So this woman is a Cyborg as well, Ichiko realized. "But you shouldn't worry," the woman continued. "We'll be here for every step of your recovery, to help you get used to your new Cyborg parts. In time, you won't even realize you have them."

"That's not strictly true," said the male voice. Though Ichiko could hear everything else as clear as day now, the man's voice still sounded slightly muffled, as though he were speaking with his mouth hidden behind a scarf. "I hate to tell you this, Ichiko, but being a Cyborg isn't something you can just forget about. Especially not with the level of conversion you've had to undergo. But what I think she means is… before long, you'll be able to do everything you were able to do before your conversion. And quite a few things you couldn't."

At this point, as she felt her voice returning, Ichiko decided that she had to ask the numerous questions that were preying on her mind, swirling around like a violent storm inside her head. The moment she removed her oxygen mask, pulling it away from her face with trembling fingers, the most important question of all came weakly forth from between her pale lips. "Why?" she gasped. "Why… did you do this…?"

The male answered this one. "You are a teenage prodigy, Ichiko," he said. "From what I've heard, your test scores are among the highest in the country, and you're one of the finest chess prodigies in the world. When we heard what had happened to you, we decided we had to save you, to preserve your intellect, for the good of Japan."

Ichiko didn't have to ask who the man meant by "we". There was only one place in Japan capable of resurrecting a person as a Cyborg: the Toriyama Institute, the world's leading research centre when it came to cybernetics, and the inventor of the Cyborg System by which the recently-deceased could be resurrected as Cyborgs. But… didn't they shut down after the war?

For now, however, there was a far more pressing question to be asked. "You said… a bomb…" gasped Ichiko. "Who… planted it…?" She had a feeling she knew the culprits already, but she wanted to be sure.

"The Rising Sun have claimed responsibility for the bombing," said the woman. "We don't know specifically who planted it, but believe me, we're working with the police as hard as we can to track them down and apprehend them. They won't get away with what they did to you."

Ichiko nodded, her hands clenching tighter. She knew it. The Rising Sun. They were an ultra-nationalist movement that had sprung up three years ago, beginning a campaign of terror against the Japanese government. It was easy to understand their reasons for hating the government, after the five years of war that had engulfed the region during the first years of Ichiko's life. Their methods, however, were far less agreeable. To everyone but themselves, the Rising Sun were nothing more than violent terrorists, who were destabilizing a country that had only just been getting back on its feet.

There was one more vital question to be asked. "How bad… is it? I… I want to see…"

The female hesitated for a moment. "Are you sure you want to see?" she asked eventually. "It's going to be quite a shock for you-"

"I'll have to… see it at… some point," breathed Ichiko, who could already feel herself starting to tire. In her current condition, just speaking was far more effort than it normally would have been. "It… might as well be… now. I'm… ready."

"She sounds just like I did," remarked the male. He's also a Cyborg… I wonder how many others are here. I thought they were all shut down… "Go ahead, Gumi. Show her."

There was relative silence for a moment while Gumi, presumably the female, went to fetch something, presumably a mirror. Then footsteps, and when Gumi spoke again she was standing right beside Ichiko, leaning over the bed a little. "I'm going to remove the bandages over your face now," she said. "Take a deep breath."

Ichiko did as she was told, and slowly, she felt the layers of bandages peel away from her face. The darkness slowly began to recede, but it was not until the bandages were removed completely that she could finally see. As her eyes settled on her reflection in the mirror being held above her face, the horrible reality of what had happened to her finally hit home.

Most of the right side of her face was gone. In its place was a patchwork of steel-grey metallic panels, stitched together with micro-joints to replicate the flexibility of her facial muscles. Her right eye, however, bore no resemblance to her left whatsoever, and she finally realized why she had been unable to close or even blink it. Set in her right eye socket, surrounded by the fake metal skin, was a glowing green artificial eye that resembled an old laser pointer more than an actual eye. The emerald glow was reflected by the mirror back into her eye, until it seemed to consume the entire right-hand side of her face, leaving only half a shocked expression staring back at her. It was both her face and not her face at the same time.

"As you can see, the explosion caused quite a lot of facial damage," said Gumi. "We'll make it look prettier, trust me-"

"What else?" breathed Ichiko, almost unconsciously. A tear rolled down from her left eye, running down her cheek before dripping onto her sheets; her robotic right eye could not and did not weep. "What else did they take from me?"

Gumi let out a heavy sigh before continuing, in a surprisingly more direct manner. "Your left hand. Your right arm, at the shoulder. Your legs, just above the knee. Part of your lower-right torso. All these things were lost in the explosion, and have been rebuilt. Again, I'm very sorry. I wish we hadn't had to have done this to you."

Ichiko looked away, closing her left eye. She could not bear to look anymore. It wasn't that she hated what she had become; it was that she hated what the Rising Sun had done to her. She could feel the pain returning to her extremities, her arms and legs aching as an unfamiliar fury started to well up inside her. They killed me… I'm going to get them back for that.

Day 90

[from Cyborg Team Alpha]

TWO DAYS EARLIER

Ichiko stretched and yawned as she headed out of the main building of her high school, and out into the grounds. It had been another long and tiring day, and she was eager to get home and relax. She and her friend Hinata had stayed behind as part of their Chess Club activities, but now it was getting late, and the clubs had had to pack up their activities and send their members on their way.

"-I still like Alice Chess the most," said Hinata. "Having to manage two boards at once, while your pieces are constantly jumping between then, is really quite challenging, but also adds far more complexity and strategy to the game. You have to be a real master of strategy to be good at that game."

"Yeah, I've only played it once and it gave me a headache," said Ichiko. "But I dare say I have the "strategy mastery" to get the hang of it fairly quickly." This boast was not unwarranted: Ichiko, despite being only sixteen, was a well-known prodigy of both mathematics and chess. She had finished her entrance exams in half the time of anyone else, scoring almost-perfect marks, and spent the rest of the time doodling chess problems on the back of her test paper. A false rumour had once spread that the examiner who marked Ichiko's test had attempted the problems, and been so frustrated by them that he offered Ichiko perfect marks in exchange for the correct solutions. He had, in fact, attempted the problems and been unable to crack them, but had simply given up on them.

"I'm sure you can, with enough practice," said Hinata. "We can play a few games together tomorrow, if you like."

"Yeah, that'd be interesting," said Ichiko. "Probably more interesting than what we were playing today."

The pair made their way to the hoverboard racks at the side of the school. There were a few bicycle racks remaining, but with hoverboards all the rage, their use was declining. Ichiko did not have a hoverboard - she preferred the exercise of walking - but Hinata did. She was already wearing her helmet, elbow and knee pads, and special high-friction shoes, having retrieved them from her locker, and now bent down to unlock the hoverboard from its rack. "Yeah, it's really not that hard once you get used to the "looking-glass" mechanics," she said. "Once you've gotten the hang of those, you can master it just like you would ordinary chess."

"I'm sure I can," said Ichiko. "Is there a world championship for it?"

"Woah, there, Ichiko," said Hinata, grinning as she retrieved her board. "I think you might be getting a bit ahead of yourself there."

"I was just asking," said Ichiko, as Hinata switched her hoverboard on. High-pressure air jets vented from the numerous slots in the bottom of the board, pushing it a few inches off the ground with enough force to support a grown male. Other jets embedded around the board's circumference would propel her forwards, backwards, or allow her to turn, depending on which direction she was leaning, just like an old-fashioned skateboard.

Hinata stepped onto the board, balancing herself upon it with practices ease. The extremely grippy, high-friction coating of her riding shoes made it impossible for her to slip or slide while standing on the board's surface, but meant she could easily step off of it once she had arrived at her destination. The boards were advanced, but not perfect, and were still fairly expensive, not that Hinata particularly minded.

"Alright, I'll be off then," said Hinata. "See you tomorrow, Ichiko!"

"See you!" said Ichiko, waving as her friend set off on her hoverboard. It wasn't especially fast - only ten miles an hour - but it certainly looked cool and futuristic, especially with its sleek design and blue-and-white colour scheme. Ichiko, however, was perfectly content to make her way home on foot, and so she too headed off on her way. Before long, Hinata was away and out of sight.

Ichiko made her way through the Tokyo streets, the late afternoon sun behind her as it began to set. To her right, the city's fleet of driverless cars rushed back and forth across the road, ferrying their passengers autonomously to their destinations, or else circling the city in search of their next passenger, all the while drawing power from the network of high-friction solar panels built into the road's surface. Even into the 2050s, Tokyo's reputation for being ahead of the curve when it came to technology rang truer than ever. The panels also provided a significant amount of Tokyo's energy, drastically reducing its carbon emissions in an age where preserving what little remained of the ice caps was a pressing global issue. For Ichiko, it was an exciting time to be alive.

As she continued innocently on her way, she heard a strange noise coming from an alleyway to her left. Ichiko stopped, her attention drawn to the sound. After a moment, she heard it again. It sounded like a dog barking. Looking into the alleyway, she saw a cardboard box sitting in the middle of the alley. Written on the side was "PLEASE TAKE TO A GOOD HOME". Ichiko could then make out a quiet, high-pitched whine, and now there could be no mistaking it: there was an abandoned dog inside that box.

Ichiko's compassion and curiosity compelled her to enter the alleyway, approaching the closed box. Even if she couldn't adopt the puppy herself - her parents would probably forbid it - she could at least take it to an animal shelter, where it could be properly cared for until it found a new owner. She knelt down before it and opened up the box.

There was no dog inside. Or rather, there was, but it was not a real dog. It was a toy robot dog, looking sadly up at Ichiko with blinking LED eyes. Ichiko paused, confused as to why someone would abandon a robotic dog in such a manner. Then, at the very last moment, it occurred to her that it might be a trap.

Then the robotic dog detonated with immense force. Ichiko's body was torn apart, her shattered, bloody limbs flying in all directions as her charred torso was thrown back by the force of the explosion. She was dead before she knew what had happened to her. A small trickle of blood ran from her half-open mouth, one eye frozen open in shock and the other destroyed by shrapnel from the exploding machine. And there she lay, bloodied, broken, and categorically dead, as the smoke and flames began to rise up into the afternoon sky above.

Day 61

[from Cyborg Team Alpha]

The first thing Ichiko became aware of was a quiet, steady beeping. Her brain, newly-rebooted and still very groggy, was busy trying to slowly get her various bodily systems back up and running again, and so for a few minutes she simply lay there, unable to comprehend what the beeping sound was, where it was coming from, or where she currently was. A single cloudy thought began to drift into her mind: I'm awake. I'm alive.

Gradually, she began to recover her senses, and in turn, her thought process slowly returned to her. She now recognized the beeping: it was that of a heart monitor. She could now make out the gentle hum of machinery in the background, and the sound of her own shallow breathing. Mixed together, these sounds told her that she was in a hospital of some kind. As her nostrils awakened, a sterile smell hit her nose, confirming her suspicion.

Ichiko couldn't remember what had happened to put her in the hospital, but it dawned on her that whatever it was, it had to be serious. Her entire body felt numb; she couldn't feel her hands or feet, much less lift a finger. Not even her heavy eyelids would open, though the lack of light filtering through them made her think that they were swathed with bandages, a thought that merely increased her concern. If only she could speak, or even just make some kind of gesture to show that she were conscious… I can't stay like this forever, she thought. Once I recover just a little more strength, I'm sure I'll be able to move.

After a while - Ichiko didn't know how long exactly - she felt the feeling began to return to her body. She soon wished she hadn't. Aches and pains began to spread across her flesh until most of her body hurt. She still could not feel her hands and feet, though her knees and shoulder were in agony, as was her right eye, which she realized seemed to be open. She tried to close it against the pain, but found that she could not. Her discomfort, and her worry, continued to grow.

Perhaps her increased heart rate her betrayed her consciousness, for at last she heard a voice nearby. "Oh shit, she's waking up!" it said. There was a sound like someone getting up, then hurried footsteps. A door opened and closed somewhere, and then there was silence. Whoever was in the room had run to get help, perhaps.

Sure enough, a minute later the door opened again and more footsteps hurried into the room. The voices of the new arrivals mingled and mixed with each other as they drifted lazily into Ichiko's ear, making it hard to distinguish what each voice was saying.

"I'll go and up her pain relief-" "-wait to meet the newest member of the-" "Sit down and be quiet-" "-Jesus Christ, how extensive were her repairs? The professor-" "-50 milligrams of adrenaline-" "Not too much, or you'll put her right back to sleep again" "I know, I know… alright, done."

The voices stopped for a moment, as those gathered round her seemed to settle down. Ichiko could sense someone standing by her side, and a moment later she heard a soft female voice. "Hey there," it said. "Can you hear us? Can you move yet?"

Ichiko, still seemingly immobile, did not and could not respond. The painkillers had not yet kicked in, and she was still hurting all over, except, strangely, her lower legs, right arm and hands, all of which were still completely numb. She tried focusing on just her left arm, trying to get it to move, but it still hurt too much.

"I'll assume that's a no to the second question at least," said the female voice. "Well, if you can hear me, you probably have quite a lot of questions, like, "Where am I?" or "What happened to me?" I'll try and answer those for you, but I have to be honest with you, you might not like the answers to all of them. Okay?"

"What if she can't hear you?" asked another voice, this one male, and further away. "You'll think you've explained everything, then when she wakes up properly, she won't have a clue what's going on."

"Well, until she can speak, or at least move, I can't verify whether she can hear me or not," said the female voice. "But it's likely that she can, at this stage."

Another male voice, this one rather more authoritative, spoke up at this point. Ichiko couldn't exactly tell, but it sounded slightly muffled, perhaps. "Well, let's just wait until we know for sure, just to be on the safe side."

"So we just, what, sit here and wait for her to move?"

"Yes."

"And how long will that take?"

"As long as it takes," said the authoritative voice.

There was a sigh, and the silence once more. As her pain gradually subsided, Ichiko decided to try once again to move her arm. If that was what it would take to get her answers, she had to try. Slowly, she managed to shift her arm a little way along the bedsheets.

The movement did not go unnoticed. "Did you see that?" said the female voice. "Her arm just moved!"

"I saw," said the authoritative voice.

"If you can hear me," said the female voice gently, "move your arm again."

Ichiko mustered a little more strength, and did as she was told, shifting her arm back again. This time, she felt the palm of her hand brush against the fabric of the sheets as she did so. The feeling in the rest of her body was starting to return.

"Well, since I know you can hear me now," said the female voice, "I'm going to go ahead and explain your current situation. Like I said, you may not like some of what you're about to hear, but you need to hear it. Okay? Alright, then I'll start with where you are…"

Day 29

[from Cyborg Team Alpha]

It was almost 4am by the time Gumi was finished. She staggered out of the augmentation theatre into the brightly-lit corridor, letting out a loud yawn. "Finally…" she muttered. "Finally done…"

Ryuto was sat in the corridor, waiting for her. Unlike his companion, he did not look the least bit tired. "You didn't have to stay up all night to finish it, you know," he said.

"You didn't have to stay up all night waiting for me to finish," replied Gumi, rubbing her tired eyes.

"You know I don't have a choice," said Ryuto, adjusting the black hood pulled tight around his head. With the bandana drawn over his mouth, he more closely resembled the gangs he was out to stop than anything else. "So, have you rebooted her?"

Gumi yawned again and nodded. "Yeah… it'll take a few hours for her to regain consciousness, though. I want us t… to all be there when she does…"

Another loud yawn escaped from Gumi's mouth. Ryuto heaved a metallic-sounding sigh. "Go get some sleep, Gumi," he said. "I'll watch over her for now. If she starts to wake up, I'll let you know."

Gumi nodded, let out yet another yawn, then shuffled off towards the dormitory. Ryuto stood up, and entered the room she had just left, the door closing behind him with a pneumatic hiss.

Inside, the augmentation theatre was rather cluttered despite its large size. It was filled with all manner of machinery, electronics, and computers, many of which Ryuto did not know the function of. Several brightly-coloured displays set up around the room showed the status of the figure lying in the white hospital bed, in a clearing in the centre of the room. Only two were of importance to Ryuto. One was the heart rate monitor, which showed that her heart was beating at a slow, steady rate. The other was a touch-screen computer monitor, with a simple message displayed on a pop-up on the screen: "REBOOT COMPLETE".

Ryuto could see nothing of the girl apart from the left side of her face. The right half was swathed in bandages, an oxygen mask concealed beneath them, and the rest of her body was covered by the bedsheets . He did not know what lay beneath, but he knew that it would not be pretty. Judging from the time Gumi and the professor had spend augmenting her, and what he had heard when she had first been brought in, her injuries had been both horrific and extensive, no doubt even more so than his.

For a moment, Ryuto was tempted to pull away the sheets, to unravel the bandages, to see just what had been done to this poor girl and what Gumi had had to fix. Eventually, he decided against it. He did not want to disturb anything, lest he accidentally cause the poor girl any discomfort.

Pulling up a chair, Ryuto sat down by the girl's side and began his quiet vigil. Almost without realizing, he swept back the hood of his jacket and pulled down his bandana. Much of the left side of his face, and his lower jaw, had been replaced by metal plating. Where his left ear had been, there was now a bionic ear with ten times the capability of a normal human ear. This, in a way, was his gift. Not only had he been reborn, he had been enhanced, and now it was his solemn vow to use those enhancements, and the second chance at life he had been given, to protect the country. In a few hours, when she woke up, the girl would find herself perhaps not with the same enhancements as him, but with the same life, the same fate. And unlike him, she would have others like her there to help her come to terms with it. She would not be alone.

As Ryuto spoke, his metallic jaw did not move, creating an eerie effect despite the softness of his words. "Welcome back, Ichiko St-Clare."