Nier:Gayle
Gayle
Character Story
Story 1
I am on a journey of revenge. The kingdom razed my home, killed my sister, and took everything from me. But its lust for power fed an unsustainable hunger for war, and it eventually collapsed. Still, scattered remnants of its forces remain. And I won’t stop until every last one of them is dead.
I tarry for a while in a small village. Under the midday sun, I hear a voice call for help. I see a kingdom soldier raise a fist and bring it down on the head of a woman. He moves to deliver a second blow. I leap in the way and take it myself before swiftly ending his life. The woman begins thanking me profusely… But I ignore her. I fight for revenge—not to save lives or spread justice. As I move to leave, the woman bars my path. Asking to see my prosthetic arm, she draws in close. She examines it carefully, looking it up and down. It was damaged when I took the blow the soldier intended for her. Though I try to explain that I can repair my arm, she waves me off with a dismissive grunt.
“We’ve a skilled engineer in the village,” she says. “Come along.”
Before I can think to protest further, she takes my hand in hers and leads me off.
Story 2
I am guided to an engineer so that my arm might be repaired. The engineer is indeed skilled, but lacks the needed parts for repairs—and unfortunately, it will be some time before they’re available. Still determined to show her thanks, the woman huffs loudly, grabs my good arm, and drags me off anew.
We end up in the village pub. She gathers the drinkers around her and spins an epic tale of how I saved her from the kingdom brigand. Soon, I find myself regaled with food, drink, and song from all corners. I take a bite of something and nearly swoon; I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a hot meal. When the woman leans in and asks how it tastes, I feel an unfamiliar smile slowly make its way across my lips.
How long has it been since I smiled? Weeks? Years? More?
I thought I’d lost the ability to do such a thing long ago.
Story 3
Eventually, the parts arrive and my arm is finally repaired. The woman asks me how it feels, and I’m both surprised and delighted that it seems to move more smoothly than before. As I test it out, the engineer smiles at me and says,
“Consider this my way of saying thanks for saving my wife.”
It turns out the engineer and the woman are married. She turns red as he talks about everything he loves about her. I can only chuckle and show a wry smile as I listen. Finally, she can take no more attention and leads me out of the shop. As we walk, she tells me they have been married almost three years. She also thanks me again for my actions from before. This time, I manage to face the woman and thank her for the assistance. I tell her my work in the village is done and I will be on my way…… But that’s not the entire truth. I’m also afraid of what might happen if I grow used to the warmth and kindness of others. The villagers all gather at the edge of town to see me off.
“Come and see us again real soon!” says the woman.
As I walk away, the last thing I see is her small hand happily waving goodbye.
Story 4
It wasn’t long after leaving the village that I heard the news: A soldier was attacking the village in revenge. Before I even know it, I am on my feet and running like the very wind itself.
I find the village in flames. The soldier is roaming about madly as he scours the village in search of every last person he can find.
“That man was family!” he cries as he puts another house to the torch.
“All of you will pay for his death with your lives!”
My vision is fire.
Before I even have the chance to feel my building rage, I engage the man in battle. My arm works even better than before. In a moment, I cut him down like a dog.
When the deed is done, I walk around the village in search of survivors. In the very last house, I find the woman and the engineer with their arms wrapped around each other and their bodies still. I thought I had saved them—saved
of them—from a terrible fate that first night… But my actions had only been the impetus for an even greater tragedy. These innocent people had been caught in the cycle of revenge, and now their lifeless eyes stare accusingly up at me.
And you know what? They’re right.
did this. It is all because of
. As I fight, I only add more links to the chain of revenge—but if I stop, the remaining soldiers will continue to commit their horrid atrocities. So I have to fight. I have no choice. But in so doing, will I, too, become an object of hatred in this world of neverending slaughter? All that lays before my eyes is a crimson world of blood and fire.
Dark Memories
Story 1
A Promise Sworn Part 1
[
]
When she was yet young
A blazing inferno reflects in a pair of eyes. The girl’s empty expression betrays nothing. The sight of flames roaring in the darkness is etched upon her mind. Her heart speaks to her in a dry tone.
You will never forget this night. Not for the rest of your life.
“Mom, come help with this!” The girl’s bright voice rings through the kitchen. Lined across the table are a colorful array of vegetables in hues of green, yellow, and red, as well as a large piece of meat. Cradling the girl’s younger sister, her mother turns to the sound of her older child’s pleas.
“Well, someone’s enthusiastic about their cooking.”
The mother looks on as the girl continues bustling about the kitchen. She is learning to cook from her mother.
“You need to add a little more seasoning, honey.”
“Here, try it now.”
The moment the girl brings the food to her mouth, her furrowed brow loosens and a smile breaks out.
“Oh, yummy!”
The two chefs look at each other proudly, content in the knowledge the recipe is perfect. The girl sets the steaming dishes down. The mother plops the little sister in her chair as the three of them gather around the table.
The wood practically groans under the weight of the food, which is far too much for even three hungry mouths. As the mother starts cutting meat into small pieces for her youngest daughter, she looks at the elder with a wry smile.
“It’s good you got more practice in, but we clearly went overboard on our portion control.”
Everyone chuckles as they dive into their meal.
“Dad’s coming home soon, right?” asks the girl as she happily bounces up and down in her chair.
The letter had arrived a few days ago. It was a notice their father would soon be returning from his military service. The moment the girl read it, she rain into her mother’s room and announced her grand plan:
“I’m going to make Dad’s favorite dinner when he gets back!”
She has been awaiting his return for so long. The last time she saw him was the morning he left for the front. His expression betrayed mixed feelings, and the young girl had no way of knowing what sort of emotions they were. But as he held her tight, he leaned into her ear and whispered,
“I will come back to you. I promise.”
That promise was everything to her—and now it is coming true. When she thinks of it, she can hardly contain herself. Feelings she managed to keep suppressed all this time are now bubbling up like water from an overfilled pot. But she manages to hold them back and keep her calm.
I’m the older sister now
, she thinks.
I have to hold it together.
Her younger sister was born after her father left, and word of her birth had not been able to reach him on the battlefield.
What will Dad think when he sees her? Will he love her like me? …Will he love her more than me?
The girl shakes her head to clear the ugly thought away.
…………
……
As she rubs her swollen belly, she marvels at how well the cooking lessons have gone—aside from her ability to judge proper quantities, of course. She leans back in her chair and indulges in a brief flight of fancy. All of her father’s favorite foods are lined across the table. As he takes the first bite, a satisfied smile crosses his face. She sits at his side, no longer the young child he once knew, but not yet a woman grown.
He’ll be amazed to see how much I’ve changed. It’s going to make him so happy.
Her reverie is interrupted by the voice of her mother: “When you’re done woolgathering, you can help clean up.”
The girl starts, nearly tipping her chair over in the process.
“You’re the older sister now; you can’t afford to be lazy.”
The girl pouts a little at the scolding, but her mother pays this small rebellion no mind. Instead, she entrusts her to take care of the dishes and heads off to attend to her sister.
It must be so hard for mom to take care of both of us alone.
I need to work as hard as I can to support her. She’s always put on a smile for us, no matter what. And that’s why I’ve been able to keep going, even when I was sad or lonely or depressed. I’m too old to be having jealous fits or slinging snide remarks. So what if she doesn’t pay much attention to me anymore?
She nods to herself as she reaches this conclusion, and proceeds to wash and put away the kitchenware.
When night comes, the exhausted girl begins falling asleep the moment her head strikes the pillow. As she drifts off, she feels her mother’s hand on her head.
“Thank you, honey. You are
always
appreciated.”
With that, her mother stands and leaves the room. In her dreams, her entire family sits happily around the table.
Story 2
A Promise Sworn Part 2
[
]
The girl stares out the window. Whenever she hears a noise coming from the door, she bolts to her feet. Her mother makes a comment about her being worse than a puppy, which causes her cheeks to go pouty once more. With each ring of the doorbell, the girl rushes to the door, only to return each time filled with disappointment. Finally, the moment she was waiting for arrives. The front door opens to reveal her father in his military uniform. How long had they waited for this? How long had they
all
waited for this? Unable to help herself, the girl leaps up and runs to her father.
But then… Something shocking happens. Her father shoves her aside. She crashes to the ground, unable to process what just happened. A silence ill befitting a family reunion falls over them. Sensing the heavy atmosphere, the youngest begins to cry. The father covers his ears at the sound of her wails and rushes off to his room.
“Don’t worry girls,” says her mother as she helps her daughter up.
“Your father is just tired.”
She smiles as she says this, but the expression does not carry over to her eyes. The girl remains stunned. She can’t fathom what just happened. Her sister’s sobs echo around the entryway. She does not see her father again until dinner. She is almost beside herself with worry; what if her actions had caused her father’s mood? As she bites her lower lip, her mother comes up behind her.
“It’s okay, honey. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Rather than comfort her, the words make tears spring to her eyes. But she manages to hold them back and force a smile on her face.
It will be better once he eats. He’s going to love it.
This is what you’ve been working so hard for, remember?
Thus determined, she begins helping her mother with the meal. The fragrance of grilling meat covered in her mother’s secret seasoning soon wafts through the kitchen. A knife falls up and down on the cutting board. As the ingredients take on new forms, the girl’s heart leaps wildly between anticipation and anxiousness. They put up the decorations they’d prepared around the room and pile the plates high with steaming warm food in order to celebrate the day. And then, they await the guest of honor.
Some time later, he enters the room and takes his seat. The whole family is finally together again. But her father doesn’t touch his food. Instead, he just…sits there. The daughter looks at him out of the corner of her eye, noticing for the first time how gaunt he has become; how pale and sickly he appears. Her dream has become reality, but there is no joy in it. She begins to wish it weren’t real after all, that she might wake up from it… As that thought crosses her mind…
A crash rings out. She is yanked back to reality by the sound of shattering porcelain. The carefully prepared dinner is now scattered across the floor.
“BUGS!” screams her father, his voice raw with terror.
“Oh god, they’re EVERYWHERE!”
Her panicked father leaps up and dances away from the table. He then begins stomping the food into the floor with the heels of his heavy military boots. He is trying to squish the insects: the ones only he can see. Her little sister begins to wail again. Even her normally composed mother stared on, dumbfounded. She can’t even pretend to understand what is happening. A few seconds later, her father comes to his senses.
“I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
He lets his words trail off as he sways unsteadily on his feet. Then he bends down and begins to slowly scrape the food off the floor, moving as if in a trance.
“Dad, no! Let me do it!”
The girl drops to her knees and begins a frantic cleaning. Her mother rushes to grab some rags, and for a brief, insane moment, it almost feel like everything will be okay. But then…
“Ow! Dangit…”
In her rush, the girl had cut her finger on a broken shard of plate, and now drops of blood spill down to the floor. The moment her father sees it, he turns to the side and vomits. When her mother returns, she finds a room filled with horrid smells, shrieking cries, and chaos. Her father stumbles from the house and into the night without even bothering to clean himself. He does not return until the next day.
Story 3
A Promise Sworn Part 3
[
]
Her father is unable to find work. Days pass. Then weeks. Nothing changes. With their savings all but depleted, the mother is forced to find work outside the home. The job of watching over the younger sister falls to the elder. But youth has a way of forgetting trouble, and the little sister is constantly happy, vibrant, and full of life. Each time she begs her sister to play, it brings a bit of warmth to her tense heart. But there is also much pain as well.
One day, she and her sister are playing with blocks. They build a small town with a strong gate and a mighty castle, and populate it with the little sister’s toy soldiers. The girl takes out a small instrument and begins playing a jaunty march as her sister moves the soldiers to and fro. This game—which they call “Parade”—has been the little sister’s favorite of late. Suddenly, her father wanders by the room, his face clouded. The moment he sees the soldiers, he begins to scream:
“No! NO! Stop that RIGHT NOW!”
The girls freeze. He tears the soldiers out of the little sister’s hands, rips their heads from their bodies, and kicks over the blocks. The girl stares wordlessly. Her sister begins to cry. Her father throws the ruined toys in the trash and backs out of the room with a terrified look on his face. He is a different person now. She no longer knows him. And yet, he is still her father, whom she loves.
He’s just sick
, she tells herself day after day.
He’ll get better. Things will go back to how they were.
Their father does seem to feel guilty about his condition. One day, he offers to help with the housework. Mother and daughter both agree instantly, hoping that perhaps this smallest of steps will be the push he needs to get well.
The next day, he begins preparing a bath for the little sister. The girl is worried by her father’s slow, clumsy movements, and finds herself checking in on him every few minutes. But watching him draw the bath just feels so very
normal
, and for a brief moment, she finds happiness in the scene. Expecting things to be ready soon, the girl peeks in and finds her father about to place her sister into the bath. Her little sister is staring at the bath, eyes wide. Sensing something amiss, the girl looks at the water and sees that it is boiling. She runs to her sister and quickly scoops her up.
“Dad, no! What are you DOING!?” Her father stares at her, confused.
“I was just…putting her in the bath…”
Her father’s answer contains no acknowledgement of the situation’s horror. She fumbles out a lame excuse about her not being ready for a bath and flees the room with her sister in her arms. She is glad her father wants to be involved with the family. She truly is. But his actions bring no joy. Mother and daughter find themselves more exhausted with each passing day.
And one night…it all comes crashing down. Her patience gone, the girl’s mother begins to scream at her husband. Her furious cries penetrate the bedroom walls. The girl has never heard her scream like this before. Within moments, her father begins to bellow back, and the sounds of their rage fill the air. Suddenly, the girl feels a strange sensation, almost like her heart is splitting in two.
What’s going to happen to us?
She does not know. All she can do is close her eyes and pray.
Story 4
A Promise Sworn Part 4
[
]
A strange crackling sound stirs her from sleep. Then she begins to cough.
Smoke. That’s…smoke?
Oh my god, the house is on fire!
She wants to believe this is a nightmare; she wants to believe it with all that she is. But the heat will not let her.
…!
Dad…
Mom…
My sister!
A moment later, she dashes out of her bedroom.
“Dad!”
Her father is standing in the living room. Flames lick up around him. Her mother’s body lies still at his feet. Her father slowly turns to look at her. His eyes are two empty pools. His mind is gone. The girl stares at him, unable to act. The flames grow stronger. A vibration shakes the room. Something falls. Glass shatters. Finally, the girl snaps back to reality. She is standing in the middle of an inferno.
Suddenly, her vision goes black. She smells a familiar, comforting aroma, and realizes she is wrapped in her father’s coat. He lifts her in his arms and sprints out of the house. When he sets her on the ground and unrolls the coat, her eyes are burned by the intensity of the flames. Her consciousness a whirl, she manages to croak out:
“M-my sister…”
She does not know if he hears her or not, but he turns around and runs back into the house. His silhouette is swallowed by fire.
Time passes. A minute is an age. The girl can only stare and hope. Finally, a figure emerges from the inferno. Her sister is in his arms, wrapped in a blanket. He reaches the girl and collapses to the ground; the smoking blanket unfurls to reveal her sobbing sister. The girl runs her hands over her sister to check for injuries, and is shocked to find she has none. But her father is a different story. His skin is peeled and blackened. His remaining hair crumbles to ash when she touches it. His clouded, bloody eyes stare unseeingly at nothing. After a moment, his mouth begins to move. He repeats the same words over and over. It is an apology. But it is not meant for her—nor for her sister or their mother. Instead, he is apologizing for actions during the war, his mind lost amidst fields of battles long-since fought. His voice grows softer and weaker. In an increasingly faint voice, he calls his daughter’s name. However, she is unable to make out whatever words follow. By the time she attempts a reply, he is gone.
………………
…………
……
Some time later, she learns portions of what happened to him during the war. The orders he was given. Young children clutching weapons. Blood. Gore. Screams of pain. Eyes staring up from the dirt. The eyes of little girls. Girls much like his own daughter. Her father left the battlefield, but his spirit never did.
Why why why why why
Why why why why why
Why why why why why
Why why why why why
Why why why why why
Why why why why why
No matter how many times she asks… No one ever answers her. Perhaps there is no answer—or at least, no answer that can roll the stone off her heart. The two girls stare at the smoking remains of their home.
“Sis? Where’s Mom? Where’s Dad?”
Her little sister looks up at her quizzically. They are now alone in the world. The girl smiles gently at her sister. Like her own question, hers has no answer. Yet she feels a resolve begin to build.
I will make her happy. Whatever it takes. She will never have to feel the way I do right now.
She squeezes her sister’s hand as she makes this silent vow.
A vow that is now her entire reason for living.
Recollections of Dusk
Story 1
Story 2
Story 3
Story 4
Hidden Stories
Story 1
Ch. 1: Pessimism Blues
[
]
Glasses clink. Men guffaw. The saloon is filled with chatter, and lively as always. As I attempt to finish my drink in peace, a man who’s so drunk he can barely hold up his head suddenly takes notice of me.
“Hey! Hey, she’s here! It’s the one-armed woman!”
At his words, the doors fling wide and spill forth a group of familiar men.
Oh joy,
I think.
The collectors are back.
“Hey there, sweet thing! We haven’t got your payment this week. Maybe we’ll just take one of your legs instead.”
The lively saloon suddenly becomes silent, as if someone threw a damp blanket over the rowdy denizens. “Sorry,” I say, my words slurred. “I’ll pay at the end of the week.”
The collectors scoff. “And how’s the great kingdom-hunter gonna do that, huh? You know that horror show you call a body ain’t no good for manual labor.”
The kingdom.
They were the ones who put my home to the torch and turned my sister into a killing machine before deciding she was a failure and cutting her down. Twenty years ago that was, and I’d spent the long years in between killing every last soldier I could find. I’d been good at my job—maybe even too good, because these days I don’t find anyone who claims to have been part of that army.
You think I’d be happy to have done such a thorough job, but I don’t feel happiness anymore. I also don’t feel satisfaction, or excitement, or joy. All I feel is an emptiness so deep it threatens to consume me every time I open my eyes in the morning. The only thing that drives me now is this saloon and the mind-numbing cure that awaits inside. If I have money, I drink. If I don’t, I work. If I can’t find work, I use my left arm as collateral and borrow—the same left arm that once cut through so many soldiers of the former kingdom.
“Try speakin’ up for once!” growls one of the collectors as he grabs me by the collar and lifts me off my feet. The sudden movement causes the drink I was raising to my mouth to reverse course and splatter all over his arm—a development he doesn’t exactly take in stride.
“Damn fool! I’ll kill you!”
He throws me aside, grabs a short metal rod from his belt, and begins slamming it into my side. I drop to the floor and curl into a ball as he keeps raining blows down upon me. If I had my left arm—and my wits—I could handle this wretch with ease. But in my current state, I’m a miserably weak and powerless thing.
“Please… I’ll…pay back…”
I’m begging now, which some dark corner of my mind finds amusing. Despite my hollow days being filled with nothing but drink and self-loathing, I’m somehow still afraid to die. Life really is a comedy.
“That’s enough.”
The words come from a man in a cloak who is standing in the doorway. The setting sun behind him makes it impossible to see his face, but his voice stirs something deep in my chest.
“Mind your business,” spits my assailant. “This ain’t got nothing to do with—“
The cloaked man is a blur. One moment he’s standing in the doorway, and the next he’s holding a knife against the collector’s throat.
“I said, that’s enough.”
The collector’s breath catches in fear. Unwilling to push the issue further, he lowers his weapon and slinks out of the saloon with his metaphorical tail tucked.
“You good?” asks my rescuer. He extends a hand down to help me up, and recognition suddenly floods over me. I know this man—and this is the second time he has saved my life.
The first time we met was the night my sister and I became orphans. We were so cold and tired and so,
so
afraid, but he extended his hand to us and asked the same simple question: “You good?” From that day on, he taught me everything I needed to survive, from preparing game for eating to wheedling things from adults.
“Been looking for you,” he says.
Me? He’s been looking for me? Why the hell would he do that? I’m a drunk, a useless lump with nothing to live for but lacks the guts to die. And yet, apparently my mentor decided I meant enough to track across all the miles and all the years.
“Why?” I manage to say.
“Got a request. Hear me out?”
At that moment, I realize this is my last chance. If I let it go—if I tell him no and turn back to the bottle—I won’t last another week.
“Sure,” I finally reply. “Let’s hear it. And…thanks.”
It’s a lousy reply, but the best I can do at the moment. And as I say it, I feel a tiny little something in my soul: A spark of hope that maybe, just maybe, my life is going to change for the better.
Story 2
Ch. 2: A Criminal’s Gloom
[
]
I reconnect with the man who saved my life once before.
He’d heard rumors about a woman with prosthetic limbs and sought me out for an important mission: to rescue his beloved, who had been kidnapped by a pack of former kingdom soldiers. Playing mercenary is part and parcel for me these days, but hearing I missed some soldiers makes my blood boil, so I’m happy to take the job for a whole number of reasons.
“Hang on,” I say to the man as we walk. “I know this road.”
“‘Course you do. Bastards took up residence in our old home.”
The reality of this hits me like a cannonball. I remember these trees—how my sister and I used to run through them without a care. I haven’t been here in at least 20 years; maybe that’s why the soldiers decided to hole up here.
“How’s the new arm?”
I know he’s changing the subject to lighten the mood, so I go ahead and play along. “Better than the last time I pawned it. Broker did a good job fixing it up.”
The man bought my arm back as payment for my taking the job. And now that it’s a part of me again, the old bloodlust that came with it has returned as well. But as I turn it this way and that, my companion suddenly looks over at a nearby thicket.
“Come on out,” he says in a voice casual as a spring day.
Sensing an enemy, I raise my sword above my head and grit my teeth. This time, every last whisper of the kingdom will perish. This time, all of them will fall. This time—
“GYaHAhahAHAHahaHA!”
What leaps out at me is another modified human soldier with prosthetic limbs—someone just like me.
“It’S BIg siS! EVEryONe, cOOoooOoMe!!”
On this signal, prosthetic soldiers swarm like insects. I feel a gorge rising in my throat as they approach. My sword wavers. But it isn’t fear that does this. Oh no. Fear would be easy.
All of them look exactly like my little sister.
The creatures don’t share my hesitation, and the first one who reaches me kicks my leg out from under me, sending me crashing to the ground.
“WheEhhEEE hEeEE HEEeE! ThiS Is FUn! THIs feeLS GOOd!”
She leaps on top of me and makes to plunge her sword into my chest, but I manage to knock her aside. As she tumbles, a small picture locket snaps away from her neck and sails into the sky.
She was once a girl. A normal girl with a normal life.
“Come on!” yells the man as he pulls me to my feet. “RUN!”
We race into the forest, speeding through the trees I once loved so much. When the giggling of the soldiers finally fades, we lean against a pair of tall oaks and try to catch our breath.
“Lost ‘em,” says the man as he places a comforting hand on my shoulder. At his touch, I realize my entire body is trembling. I can tell he thinks it’s because they looked like my sister, but he’s wrong. That’s not the reason I’m trembling at all.
I’m just happy they’re still alive.
After losing my little sister, I lived only to destroy the kingdom—and the day I thought that mission was over, my life lost all meaning. Yet because I wasn’t strong enough to choose death, my life took on a weird sort of limbo, one where I woke up, drank myself into oblivion, then repeated the process all over again. But now? Facing the kingdom again after so very long? I feel…excited. My anger toward the kingdom is what kept me alive all these long years, my life bound to the object of my loathing.
And I hate myself for it.
“Hey,” says the man. “I know you think you can only live for revenge, but don’t think that. It’s too sad. Hell, I’m sure the life you’re looking for is out there somewhere.”
His kind voice is a gentle warmth on my scars, and my small hand fits inside his gnarled one as if it was meant to be there. “I’ll help you when this is over, all right? We’ll find a new way of life. Together.”
When was the last time I felt such warmth?
I want to tell him now—tell him
everything
. Because the walls I’ve spent so long constructing around my heart have finally begun to fall.
Story 3
Ch. 3: Warped Echoes
[
]
Having accepted my one-time benefactor’s request, I accompanied him to my hometown—a place where former kingdom soldiers were said to be hiding. Though I had twinges of doubt in my heart, I ignored them so I might bring his wish to life:
I want to save my beloved, who was kidnapped by men from what remains of the kingdom.
We snuck toward town, deftly avoiding the soldiers who patrolled the area. But once inside, I could hardly believe my eyes. The town was brightly decorated as if for a festival—and amidst the glitter and pomp, augmented soldiers went about their regular lives.
“WhAT aN AusPICIouS DaY!
WHat AN auSPIcioUS daY!”
Perhaps it’s fairer to say they were
trying
to live regular lives. Some were giving morning greetings. Some were cleaning. Some were eating. But their every movement was stiff and unnatural, like old toys in need of repair.
“The hell is going on here?”
I did not mean to speak the words aloud, but the sight so shocked me that they simply slipped out. The moment my breath became sound, the augmented soldiers turned as one to look at me.
“KIlL! KIlL! I wAnT to KiLL!”
They swarmed like insects, and I barely managed to protect my companion from the initial assault. “We’re getting out of here NOW!” I cried, shoving him back. I didn’t want to lose anyone important to me ever again—I
couldn’t
. But then an electric shock coursed through my whole body, sending me crashing to the ground.
“Seize her, but do not harm her.”
Just before my world faded to black, I realized the person giving the orders was the very same man I had been trying to protect.
“Ah, good. You’re awake.”
The man’s voice pulled me from my unnatural sleep. I tried to move and couldn’t, and quickly realized one of the soldiers was holding me in place.
“Are my toys not adorable? Ah, I tried to get them to act human, but it didn’t work out quite as I planned.”
His expression was bright, his voice as gentle as ever. It only made the experience all the more uncanny.
“Why!?” I cried. “Why are you working with the kingdom!?”
“Oh, there’s no need to worry about
that
,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “The kingdom is gone—consigned to the dustbin of history. All I did was borrow a bit of their technology regarding human augmentation.”
He pulled out a locket and opened it, staring spellbound at the photo inside. “Do you recall my wife?” he murmured, almost to himself.
Memories of a more peaceful time flooded over me. Though older than me, his wife was a tiny waif of a thing who resembled a little girl more than a woman grown.
“We ran when the kingdom attacked, but our journey only led to a different kind of hell.”
He stopped his story, pulled a newspaper clipping from his pocket, and tossed it at my feet. The headline read: ROYAL MILITARY EXPANSION CAUSES CHEMICAL POLLUTION.
“The rot started in her lungs before spreading to the rest of her body. It was fast—
so
fast. Like a wind. The doctors had no idea how to help her, but rather than surrendering hope, I decided to replace her failing body with that of a machine.”
“You wanted to augment your own
wife
!?”
“Yes. And if you wish to know how it ended, you need only remember the thing that jumped you in the forest.”
At that moment, I realized the face in his locket was the same as the soldier I encountered in the woods. Even though the kingdom itself was gone, its horrid technology lived on to birth new pain—and those who weren’t compatible with augmentation inevitably lost all control of themselves.
“Ah, yes,” he said in response to the horror that moved across my face. “I fear she’s been like that ever since the operation. I needed to know if there was a way to get her back, so I kidnapped people and experimented on them to further my research.”
The soldiers I had seen in the forest? The people I’d seen in the town? All victims of his cruel work.
“Alas, I could never get the results I wanted. But then I found
you
.”
Me—someone who survived the operation. Even though I was deemed a failure, I still retained a sense of self.
“I wanted you to see the pain of those who do not have the sweet release of death. With you helping me, I can
end
that! My research will grow by leaps and bounds!” A flame lit in his eyes then, one stoked by madness. “You endured the augmentation, so give me your mind! Give me your body! Do so for the sake of my wife, as well as for all who suffer in agony and pain!”
He had come down a road from which he could not turn back, all for the sake of one he loved. It was a truth I knew painfully well.
Which is why I could not permit him to continue.
I shook off the soldier holding me and readied myself for battle. This nightmare would end today.
Story 4
Ch. 4: Final Brilliance
[
]
The man who once saved me had modified human bodies at the cost of countless lives.
“AAaaAAHh Ha HA hA ha HA!
LEt’S dANce, sIs!”
I didn’t want to hurt the augmented soldiers more than he already had, so instead I damaged their machine parts, rendering them inoperable.
“Animal! You would destroy the fruits of my research!?”
Realizing the tide had turned, he tried to slip away through crowds of augmented soldiers. But I saw right through his ruse and chased him down.
“The kingdom’s technology dies with you.” I said as I stood over him, sword at the ready.
“No, wait! This is good for you, I swear! I’m going to help you find a new way of life, just as I promised!”
I could tell he was trying to curry favor, but instead of rage, the attempt created only a kind of emptiness inside me.
“You think having me aid your experiments is a new life?”
“Yes! You can
help
people! You can finally be a savior, not a murderer!”
Oh, but he knew how to spin a pretty tale. Yet I was viscerally aware of how his technology brought about only misfortune and misery.
“I bet she would be happy if you helped!” he continued frantically. “Your sister―”
He spoke my sister’s name.
“You…”
The tip of my blade shuddered.
I saw a distant past, then. Beheld forgotten memories—memories of the only time in my life that could hope to soothe me. And he destroyed them. He used my sister’s name for his own ends.
“All I want is to perfect the technology!”
As my memory fell apart, I destroyed him.
“That’s a shame.”
There was a flash as my blade struck flesh. Silence descended over the area. It was over quickly—far too quickly.
Enough is enough.
I had my revenge, and lost my life’s meaning in the process. I know now that my days would run into each other one after the next, turning into a meaningless, insubstantial blur I could never escape.
“Time to join her.”
The ending of my own life would snuff out any lingering existence of the kingdom. I brought the blade to my chest, felt the pressure. But the moment I began to push, a soft thud from somewhere beyond the trees brought me to a halt. If there were augmented soldiers left, I had a duty to dispatch them quickly and painlessly. But as I approached the sound…
“Who are you?” asked a little girl who could be no more than 10. “What are you doing here?”
“Me? I, uh… What are
you
doing here?”
“I live here with Papa and—
cough, cough
!” The hand to her mouth turned pale red. “Sorry. I can’t stop coughing. Mama was like that too.”
“What happened to your mom?” I asked.
Her eyes clouded. “Mama…stopped being Mama. But Papa’s trying to fix her.”
“Is he now?”
“Yes! And once Mama’s fixed, he’s gonna fix me, too!”
The man had expressed his wish to save his beloved. That, at least, had not been a lie.
“But Papa’s been so busy with research that he…forgot me.”
It all started with a wish to save his wife, all well as his daughter. It started with a desire to keep his family safe. What did he say in the end?
I want to perfect the technology.
The poor fool was so caught up in the journey that he forgot the destination.
“Have you seen my papa?”
There was only one thing to do. I can’t say it was the correct thing, or that I even had the right to do it in the first place. But…
“Your papa went on a journey. He’s trying to find a way to save you. You can stay with me until he comes back.”
I must be at her side.
“Aw! I wanted to wave bye.”
The girl took my hand with her own. It was soft and warm as the sun.
“He didn’t want to see you sad,” I whispered.
“Papa’s so nice,” she said with a smile. As she did, I felt the evening breeze slowly push aside whatever remained of my hesitation.
Story 5
Half a Hunter’s Life
[
]
“All right, let’s leave our review there for today.”
“Okay.”
“Sure.”
“Good idea.”
“When’s the next one?”
“Not a problem.”
“Um, if I may?”
“Yes? What is it?”
“So I understand she gave her life for revenge, but that wasn’t all it was about.”
“Go on. Please. I’d love to hear your thoughts.”
“Well, a lot of people passed through her life.”
“That’s true. Her record is much longer than most, making analysis difficult.”
“And of course, she made mistakes along the way. But she slowly grew because of it.”
“Precisely. But let’s leave our judgments until we watch to the end of the record.”
“But we’re the only ones who can watch over her journey.”
“Thank you for pointing this out. We need to take this seriously or ■■■■■■
ERROR: INSUFFICIENT MEMORY
Story 6
Big Sister Observation Diary
[
]
Today is my birthday and it’s sunny! My big sister made me sooo much food!
It’s been a long time since we had so many vegetables and so much meat! The meat was kind of hard but it tasted great! My sister is great!
She said Mom taught her a lot about how to cook food! I want Mom to teach me too so I am going to be on my best behavior all the time!
So I helped clean up too! My sister made a big mess while cooking, so the whole house was a mess! It was funny.
By the way the neighborhood dog went missing so we are all going to go looking for him.
Maybe he just wants to play hide and seek?
Story 7
Father’s Teachings
[
]
After repeated cries of exertion, the finishing blow arrives. The animal—which had been rushing at the speed of an arrow not moments earlier—crumples to the earth before the man. When that happens, a small girl less than half his size peeks out from behind a tree, her eyes glittering in wonder.
“Footprints in mud. Broken branches. The forest leaves many clues for us to find.”
The man does not know how to be a father; all he can teach her is hunting and survival. Though he knows logically that teaching a woman such skills will only make her life difficult in this day and age, it remains all he can do for her. But his daughter is blissfully unaware of his worries; she is only delighted to watch his gallantry.
Soon, the man will be drafted and sent to war. He must return alive, lest his family starve. This fears kick the cogs of his mind into gear, and he shakes his head to clear his musings.
“While I am away, you must look after your mother and the new baby. Understand?”
His words are casual, the meaning behind them lost on the little girl. But in her eyes, she clearly realizes this is what a family protector should look like.
“I will come back to you,” he says as he enfolds the girl in his massive arms.
“I will return. I promise.”
Story 8
Mentor’s Prescence
[
]
“What do you think?”
“Tasty.”
“This is what meat tastes like when the animal doesn’t suffer and you dress it correctly.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why did you kill that dog and steal those vegetables?”
“The house burned up. We had nothing left to eat.”
“But you still know there are things you shouldn’t do, right?”
“I know. But I don’t want to worry my sister any more.”
“She’ll be okay. You’re doing a fine job.”
“…She knows I cry when she’s not looking.”
“And yet she doesn’t seem upset about it. In fact, she’s been having a great time writing in her diary.”
“She does that to make me feel better. She knows I’m hiding something.”
“Perhaps it’s her way of showing you kindness.”
“I don’t want to lie to anyone anymore. Not to myself—and definitely not to her.”
“That’s why I’ll teach you all you need to survive.”
“Thank you. I really want to hunt by myself next time.”
“You’ll be doing that soon. Hell, you’re already good at stalking prey! Where’d you learn to do that, anyway?”
“…My dad.”