☣ o15; [video]

[lucycoded]

[The video feed starts with a screen of bright blue; one that only shows itself to be something other than a technical error when a wisp of white rare to the sky today peeks into view. The microphone rumbles with the breeze whipping across it. After a moment of this, things seem to calm, and the camera is turned on Kazuhiko's face

Comments

Voice | Private

[bornfromdeath]

Kazuhiko... I'm glad you're alright. I've already called off the searchers. What's your condition?

[Kimihiko's voice holds traces of relief, but otherwise, everything is dimmed. The mask fixed firmly in place to hide his feelings and thoughts. Is Kazuhiko if observant, he might notice the man seems discomforted. It's for this reason he's focusing on voice rather than face.]

This world isn't quite all that different from ours. Maybe the technology and faces are, but in the end... it's always the same. Does it worry you?

Voice | Private

[bornfromdeath]

She might come here.

[He listens, eyes closed to take in the words. In this unstable state, the words calm him somewhat.]

Amamiya-san. You might be better off as you are. Even if it hurts to not know yourself... it might be better for you.

Perhaps I'm wrong. It's all mixed up and if the bits I'm remembering are right then things become ever more complicated. I wonder if your Machi is even aware of herself.

And perhaps you are right that she is not the same woman I met back there.

Voice | Private

[lucycoded]

... I would really like that. [Some sort of stability...]

I would rather know. No matter what the answer is, anything is better than this...

Machi... was always distant, but she cared. She was never afraid of me, of Shinji. She worried, but in doing so she helped me have more than I've ever had before. I had never lived on my own before her. I never thought I would get out of that place...

Voice | Private

[bornfromdeath]

Amamiya. You helped me a little just now, so I'll return the favour.

[His voice is low and serious. That cannot be the Wakana Isono that he knows. Surely it cannot. There was no caring in that cold woman. Even her eyes were like those of the dead.]

Ask me something. If it's too dangerous for you to know right now, I'll ask you to change the question.

Voice | Private

[lucycoded]

[... What? A question?...

One question and the chance he might get answers?

In that moment, it's like his mind and heart stop simultaneously, before racing away without him.

Just one? One. Anything. Even with the chance of being denied the answer, there's still the chance that he won't be. his breathing picks up in his frantic internal search for that one thing he wants to know above anything else. Above all else. And while 'who am I' might be too much, to broad of a question to get a good answer...]

Why were we made?

Voice | Private

[bornfromdeath]

To create a leader capable of bringing the world into submission under Gakuso's hand.

[This is a question he can answer. He doesn't know the details, not fully, but he knows the truth of it. He wonders how Kazuhiko Amamiya will handle it.]

Kazuhiko Amamiya has the function of performing that role.

Voice | Private

[lucycoded]

Me? As I am? Just me?

[The idea of himself being a world leader is... more than slightly laughable.]

Voice | Private

[bornfromdeath]

There's more to it... I don't know the details. But the functions of the samples and spares is to develop the power to manipulate others. In essence, you are a weapon, Kazuhiko Amamiya, that will kill nobody. Perhaps Gakuso still had more to do with you before Shinji Nishizono left their clutches. But the fact still is that the Kazuhiko Amamiya program was intended for that purpose.

Whether he was intended to or not, Shinji Nishizono is the shield that keeps you safe. Because Gakuso will attempt to reclaim you. Kazuhiko Amamiya is an important part of their plans.

There are... other parts, I believe. But again, I know only the most basic of details.

[He falls silent, mulling it over. His shattered memories are making him wonder. Was he meant to be part of this too? Then why... was his eye unmarked?]

Voice | Private

[lucycoded]

[The silence stretches on as Kazuhiko picks apart each piece of what Kimihiko is saying and processes it both alone and together with everything else. It's hard- never had he thought he would actually hear these answers, and so the thought of having to understand them, to piece them into his self of sense riddled with missing parts and voids...

Samples... spares... he's never heard people called this, but that is for another time. It has to have something to do with the barcodes. Samples of the population forced unknowingly into this experiment. That is the only conclusion he can come to. As for the spares... there had been talk once of clones to replace the failing parts of important political figures, right? Perhaps the two are connected...

Weapon. It rings. A weapon that will kill nobody. That is all he is? That is what his life is meant to be? Had things gone as they were intended... would he be...

A murderer?His throat closes at the idea, at the mere thought that if he weren't in the state he is now, he would be something so

Voice | Private

[bornfromdeath]

No. You are a result of the first level of development but you are not the first and nor will you be the last. You are only the most important. Kazuhiko Amamiya is something essential and impossible to replicate.

[Kimihiko's voice is surprisingly calm. He realises that what he's saying is going to hurt Kazuhiko.]

Because Shinji escaped Gakuso, you escaped the fate they intended for you and slept deeply within him to awaken unknowing. As a result, you had the opportunity to develop your own life. Don't let go of that. Whatever they intended you to be, you have the freedom to live as you wish.

Voice | Private

[lucycoded]

[He takes that relief. While Kazuhiko isn't one to give up responsibility easily, there's just too much. And while he'll reject his selfishness later, for now, it's the only thing that's keeping him awake and functioning- that and the fear of what would happen should he release control. He's done this before, he's allowed himself to let go of something that could (with the right logic and thought) be entirely his fault in order to save himself. To save what little pieces of himself he's gathered into a neat little pile, no matter how incomplete it may be.

The sigh comes before he even realizes he's held his breath for so long. Even if Kimihiko can't see it, there's a torn and sad smile on his lips.]

Then me, living as I am, is what's stopping them from hurting more people.

[Purpose.]

Voice | Private

[bornfromdeath]

Yes. You're keeping people safe without even knowing it.

[And the shattering stills. It's a relief. Having something to focus on is a good distraction from his own thoughts and the chaos of his mind turning against him.]

They cannot progress without you.

Voice | Private

[lucycoded]

Then... what about Shinji Nishizono? [Formal. Full name. A purposeful disconnection.] What is his purpose in this? And what about the others? The ones whose names are those of children Shinji murdered?

Voice | Private

[bornfromdeath]

I... don't know. They weren't part of the program. I'm sure of that. Nor are any of them the original personality. Their appearances are too sporadic, their presences too weak. Shinji was also an unintentional side-effect, I believe, although Gakuso is trying to recreate him in others.

[Best to lie on this next part.] Perhaps the Program was damaged when it was placed within your body. Shinji could have been part of you that became separate.

Voice | Private

[lucycoded]

I see. [Of course Kimihiko wouldn't know everything. If he did, it would more than likely mean he is involved personally in the project from the inside- To which Kazuhiko would have infinitely more specific questions.]

Do you know what happened at the Medical Facility? What really happened? [Because that newspaper article was clearly missing pieces.] Did you know him then?

Voice | Private

[bornfromdeath]

...no. I didn't. And I don't. Shinji lost his memory after that, so any information I could have gotten from him was lost.