104BONUS CHAPTER 01: DEATH AND REBIRTH
NEW KYOTO, JAPAN
2004
Well this is the last time I'm going to get involved in a long distance relationship again, seriously the bitch breaks up with me after I take time off to visit her all the way here in Japan. Does she know how hard it was to have enough time to fly all the way to from the UK to Japan with all the wars happening since Second Impact? Even with the Valentine Treaty being signed three years ago, violence and unrest is still common place in many places with small local wars and terrorists groups popping up on a semi-regular basis.
Well I hope you learned your lesson Ferro, only date women from the EU, much easier to see someone on the same continent.
And when I get back I have to start looking through hospitals to pick out a kid to turn into a cyborg…I sigh to myself, Ferro why did you chose to accept that transfer from Section 2 to Section 3 again?
God I need a drink.
Walking down the street I see a bar and open the door. I didn't see the name of the place but as I walk in I make a note to remember this place if I ever visit New Kyoto again, this place is really nice. It reminds me a lot of the pubs back home in London, warm brown wood and a western aesthetic, something I'm sure I was lucky to find all the way here in Japan. The place is not too busy, lucky for me since I don't really need someone to hit on me, not when I'm this irritated and can't shoot them since I'm not above the law here in Japan.
I see that a few tables are taken but I don't want to take one and have someone who thinks they have 'game' taking a seat with me. Turning to the bar I see its empty for some reason except…a kid? On one of the bar stools was a small kid around three or four years old, he was still too small to reach the bar top so a few thick books were piled on top of the bar stool to act as a booster. He was a cute kid, brown hair and blue eyes and dressed in a red shirt and blue shorts and he was currently enjoying what seemed to be a plate of chicken strips and French fries and drinking what I assume is apple juice. I wonder why he's here? Bar tender's kid?
I walk up to the bar and see that the bartender, a large and intimidating man in a dress shirt and bow tie and for some reason he started to glare at me.
"You look like a nice lady but if you make trouble for the kid I'll literally kick you out, you got that?" he told me in perfect English as I sit beside down beside the boy.
"Oh I'd never. I work for a government agency back in Europe that looks after kids. I love kids so I'd never hurt him," I respond with a smile. What I told him wasn't exactly a lie, I do actually LOVE kids but the agency I now work for uses kids as assassins. Granted the ones they use are kids that are on death's doorstep so in a way we do save them. Also his English really was perfect, looks like I don't have to use that translation app on my phone or rely on the few Japanese phrases I acually know
"Good," he grunted with a nod, "so what will it be?"
I tell him I want some of the local beer, I've been curious to try some ever since coming here and as for food I told him to surprise me.
Glancing over to the kid I smile as I see he's so busy stuffing his face that he hasn't seemed to have noticed me.
"Hey there," I say to him and he turns to me and he was absolutely adorable. Big dark blue eyes, crumbs on his face and with his mouth full of food he kind of looked like a chipmunk with his puffy cheeks. "My name is Ferro. What's your name kiddo?" I ask him and I have to stop from palming my face, he probably won't know what I'm saying.
I see him chew faster and swallow before answering, "I am Shinji, nice meet you."
Well I'll be, it was a bit broken and the accent was a bit thick but his English wasn't all that bad. I knew they teach English here but I doubt he had gotten very far at his young age.
"Your English is very impressive Shinji, do you go to a private school?" I ask him and I get a cute response with his head tilted to the side and a questioning look on his face so I ask him again but slower and with simpler words. "How is your English so good?"
"Oh uh," he sputters and pauses to think out his response, "I…don't lot to do. I study lots."
I frown a little bit, doesn't he have friends? I know education is very important but he should be playing too, his childhood is very important and only happens once after all.
Seeing that my food has arrived I take a bite, I don't know what it is or what it's called except it's some kind of meat on a stick and it goes well with Japanese beer. Hm I'll make a note to try to find some back in London, while I prefer the beer from back home I do think having some Japanese beer will be a good change of pace from time to time.
I let out a content sigh as I finish my drink before ordering another.
Oh sweet sweet beer.
"Hey barkeep," I call to the bartender as he was just idly swiping the top of the bar.
"Yes? Something I can get you?" he asks me as he gives Shinji another glass of apple juice…or I hope its apple juice.
"Is he your kid?" I ask as I nod at the boy beside who was enjoying his juice and watching us with obvious curiosity.
"Wh-oh no," he explains as he starts to clean some glasses to my right before gesturing to a very very drunk looking man sitting in the corner. "Shinji boy here is with him over there, I don't know his name but I don't think that he's the dad, guardian probably, uncle or something I think. Sometimes the kid comes in with bruises."
I take a look at Shinji who looked slightly lost with his head cutely tilted to the side, obviously unable to keep up with the speed the English words are being exchanged. I take a good look at him and I do see a slight blemish that looks to be the remnants of a bruise under his left eye.
"Can't you do something about it?" I ask him and he gives me a tired sigh in response.
"We did but…"
"But?"
"But it was like something was keeping the authorities at bay, stopping them from doing something. The old man who takes care of him is a bastard but he likes to drink here and bring the kid. The old coot can get crazy but usually behaves himself while he's here and since he brings the kid here I can at least make sure he gets a good meal. Another bonus is I can easily keep an eye on him here, my bar isn't that busy so it's no big deal."
"Isn't that a problem? This place not being busy I mean."
"No, I'm retired JSSDF, I get plenty to live off of with my pension and savings. This place is more of a hobby that just breaks even. So-"
*CRASH!* *BANG!*
Turning around I see Shinji's guardian has shattered a glass of beer and thrown a chair and tipped over a table.
Hearing a sigh I turn to the bartender.
"Looks like I have to kick him out before he hurts someone again," he mutters before turning to Shinji with an apologetic look and tone, "gomenasai Shinji-kun."
"Mmn," Shinji shakes his head with a sad knowing smile, "sayonara, Oji-san."
And just like that Shinji walks out…well more like dragged out by his uncle.
The moment he walks out the door I wait a few dozen seconds before paying and walking out the door, the street is fairly straight with the nearest intersection roughly two minutes away so catching up with them will be easy. As I walk out into the rain I curse not bringing an umbrella with me.
Spotting Shinji and his drunk guardian down the road I make sure to rack the slide of the Sig P226R pistol in my pocket to ready a round (just in case he's a violent drunk) and make sure to follow at a distance. I know I have no jurisdiction here but I at least want to make sure the kid gets home safe, I have a bad feeling about tonight and if I learned anything when I was commando with Section 2 it was to trust my gut.
"Come on you damn kid," uncle shouted as we walked down the road.
It's scary. It's dark and the rain is loud and sometimes lightning and thunder comes and scares me.
And I don't feel safe around uncle either.
Why did dad leave me to this scary man? Where is mama?
Where is Auntie Kyoko? What about Asuka-chan?
Why Shinji see them anymore?
Why is uncle and his family so mean to Shinji?
Did Shinji do something wrong?
If he did, Shinji is sorry.
Shinji just wants to see mama again, wants to see everyone again.
I-
*SCREEEEECH!*
Turning right I see a car, tires screeching and hurting my ears and coming towards us and-
*CRASH!*
The car hits me and my uncle, pinning him against a wall and I tumble and skid down the road.
I feel my skin peel and burn against the road as I stop underneath a bus shelter on my back.
"Ugh," I groan, "ouch."
I try to get up but I can't and instead pain.
Pain
Pain
Painpainpainpainpainpainpainpainpain
PAIN
IT HURTS!
My arms and legs feel broken and my chest burns like fire and I can feel something warm start to pool around me.
I hear someone running up to me shouting something, they sound worried. I hope they are okay, she sounds familiar as well…like that nice lady at the bar. Why couldn't dad leave me with someone like her? She was pretty and really nice, nothing like uncle.
My head feels all woozy and as my vision blurs I can't help but be glad that at least I'm out of the rain.
"DAMNIT! NOOO!" I scream out as I see the car crash at the intersection and I break out into an all out sprint down to the intersection.
As I reach the intersection I see the car, an old pre-Impact model. The car was smashed into the guardian and into a wall. Seeing the car and Shinji's guardian I know from experience that the driver and guardian are both dead as dead can be.
"Shinji where are you buddy?" I mutter as I start to search for him and damnit I can't find him! God no please don't tell me he's smashed under the car oh no no no no no no.
"God no pl-what the?" I see a trail of blood, it's reallyhard to see with the dark street and rain pouring down and washing it away but I see a trail of blood leading down to a bus shelter.
Where I see a small body.
"Shinji!" and I immediately run to his side and see his body was a mess, there was blood everywhere, he was lying in a pool of his own blood. I quickly call emergency services before performing what basic care I can and stay by his side under the bus shelter and hold his hand. He was unconscious now but from what I've been told sometimes unconscious people could still sense the world around them. Sounds and touch and the like so I hope I can give him some support.
As I wait an idea comes to mind. With his guardian dead I'm sure he'll be handed off to someone else and if his father or whoever left him with his current guardian is still in charge I doubt the new guardian will be good for Shinji. And from the wounds I see I know he wouldn't last long anyway, even with today's medical technologies and techniques I know that it will only extend his life, I've seen people die from less severe wounds back in my time as a commando.
But that's only considering top-of-the line medical procedures available in civilian hospitals.
So I make a choice, I'll give him a new chance at life. It won't be an easy life but I'll be with him every step of the way.
Taking out my satellite phone I dial up a direct connection to The Agency.
"Rainbow this is Dragonfly, I need you to move some Japanese assets. I've found my Toy Soldier, I'll contact you again when I arrive at the hospital. Dragonfly out."
Six Months Later
'Hogwarts,' UK
"Will he wake up soon?" I ask the other person in the room.
I'm currently standing in a dark room, it was an observation room with sound proof walls. It was dark and quiet as the only other person in the room, Sierra my old partner from my days in Section 2 who was sitting at a computer, were both watching the same thing.
In front of me, behind a two-way mirror, I could see Shinji lying in bed. The room he's staying in is completely sterile, light grey walls with no windows and just some florescent lighting on the ceiling. Other than that the room was empty except for the white bed with a white pillow and white sheets that Shinji is currently sleeping in. While I couldn't see them I knew there were also microphones hidden in the room so we could hear what was happening inside, right now all we could hear was peaceful breathing.
The last part of cyborg conversion happens in this room, imprinting. The conditioning drugs, which will be given all at once as a cocktail daily from today onwards, has to be given in stages at first to prevent shock and death of the subject. Last night the last of the drugs were finally added to his daily dose and with that he's set to imprint on the first person he sees.
"He should be awake in a few minutes. Nervous?" Sierra asked calmly. She was dressed in full combat gear with a UTS-15 Gen 3 shotgun leaning on the computer table at the ready. She was my back-up in case the cyborg turns violent and needless to say we both hope she won't be necessary...for various reasons.
"Y-yeah," I breathed out and I'm not lying. It had been six months since I met that adorable boy in Japan, getting him to the UK had been easy enough, a few bribes, the use of some of our Japanese agents and a few deleted files and it was easy enough to get him onto one of our flights. That said he almost didn't make the journey, his injuries were worse than what I thought.
A few days after that he had started the months long process of being….improved into something leaning on super human.
It wasn't pleasant.
The doctors had let the handlers, who wanted to, visit the cyborgs in between procedures and I definitely made use of that. While it helps ease my conscience to see him so happy to see me, it tore my heart when he started to forget about his past and eventually he forgot when we first met. Now his oldest memory of me was when I started to visit him.
What he didn't know is I also made sure to keep an eye on him during his operations and procedures as well, it was my decision to stain this poor innocent child with the darkness of the world and I plan to take responsibility for it.
It was…horrific.
The screams, dear God the SCREAMS.
Even when I sleep all I hear are the screams.
Every time they injected some chemical concoction into him I would see his body tense and his back arch in pain as he screamed and screamed and screamed 'till his voice was hoarse and screamed until no sound came out.
I asked him you know?
I sometimes asked him what it felt like as his bones were reinforced to be unbreakable and nerves were altered to be faster and stronger. He said it felt like his bones were being turned into glass and made to shatter over and over and over again. That when his nerves were altered he felt like his entire body was filled with fire.
I asked him what he felt when he was recovering when some of his muscles were replaced with artificial muscle, he said that it felt like insects were crawling inside his skin and eating him alive.
The worst was when they installed his optical implants. Coming into the room to see bandages covering his eyes is something I still have nightmares about. He had to be restrained to the bed so he wouldn't try to claw out his own eyes. When I asked why I hadn't heard of any other of the cyborgs in his batch doing that they said they had tried out a new experimental implant on him.
And they did that without asking me.
I think the bitch who thought that was a good idea is still recovering from when I kneecapped her. If she wasn't considered 'essential personnel' I would have gave her a free demo on the effects of a 9x19mm Parabellum round has on a human skull.
The three hour long lecture I had to sit through as punishment was totally worth it. Not like they can do much to me anyway since I'm one of their most experienced handler candidates and with my prolonged contact with Shinji there was the risk he was already starting to get attached to me.
And considering that there were plenty of scientists looking for such a high paying job, how most Section 2 operators had no interest joining the brand new Section 3, and how much time and money were spent on Shinji already I knew I was in no real trouble.
All the scientists and doctors made sure to keep me informed on all his procedures after that, even though they were all standard...well as standard as anything The Agency does can be called that.
"I'm sure you'll be fine," my friend reassured me. "You love kids. Besides he remembers you from all the visits, so you already have a good impression on him."
"I guess you're right…"
"Do you have plans for what to do in the next few months?"
I smile at her attempt to bring the conversation to lighter topics. To give the cyborgs enough time to heal and recover properly, as well as let the handlers adjust and maybe get to know their charges better if they wish, The Agency gives us three months of almost free time. I say almost because there are light exercises we have to have them go through and their education, both mundane and work related, starts as well. Other than that we have free reign on what to do.
"Hmmm…well I was thinking of asking him what he wants to do. If he wants to go anywhere specific and stuff. Have any recommendations? You adopted a kid a year ago right?"
"He's a baby. He doesn't really-wait. He's waking up."
"Okay," I say more to myself than her, "now or never."
I knock before I enter, once he gets a gun it's going to be a good habit to develop so he doesn't accidentally shoot me, and walk in.
His eyes open and then he cocked his head to the side and while minor I can see a hint of that curious and adorable kid I saw all those months ago, half way across the world.
"Hello Miss Ferro. I assume you are my handler then?" he asked me in a monotone but I saw the slight shadow of a smile.
"Yes. Yes I am," I say with relief as I hug him. He's there. Inside him I know that little boy is still there. He stiffens in surprise at the contact at first but relaxes. I don't know if it's the conditioning or his own relief, probably both, but I don't care.
"What is my name?"
"You're name is Shin. And call me big sis ok? From now on I'll be with you," I assure him.
I know it will take time but I'll try to restore him, but I will, bit by bit. Remind him every day he's not just some attack dog.
I'll make him as happy as I can.
I'm his big sister now and I'll be the best one I can be.
To make up for my sin of saving him.
To make up for my sin of corrupting him.
For turning him into this.
For that little boy with big blue eyes I met in some random bar six months ago.
For this little boy with big blue eyes I'll be taking care of from now on.
And if anything tries to stand in my way, I will unleash hell.
AN
Well here it is, the first Bonus Chapter. These Bonus Chapters, if I do anymore, will be shorter snipets of content. All will be back story on Shinji's life as a cyborg before he joins NERV.
Here I wanted to show how Shinji and Ferro first met and the horror that is cyborg conversion. For what it felt like I pulled some inspiration from the Halo game's SPARTAN program. I also wanted to show a bit more of Ferro's side of things as we haven't seen her much as well as hint at what she will do later in the story.
These Bonus chapters will contain backstory and hints of future events but nothing too important so are 100% optional.
If I do more of these the next 2, in no particular order will be:
GUARDIAN ANGELS: A short chapter covering one of Shinji and Ferro's missions to rescue a VIP in the European Alps. Said VIP will be appearing later on in the story as well.
THE ROYAL CASINO: More Shinji and Ferro. More of a classic spy style story taking place in a casino. Gambling, formal wear, Martinis shaken not stirred, assassinations and food.