[Closed] Flashback

'Back in late 2005, Andrea was sent on a covert mission alongside your father, who was also working for us. That's how they met. At the end, they both went AWOL and moved back to Canada. And you should know the rest'

'Wait, there's something I don't get...' he leans back into his chair. You're saying that Andrea is a cyborg, right? Well, in that case, most of her body should be cybernetic. That can't be the case, because right now, she's three months pregnant'

'Is that right?' Masato looks up. 'Well, I can only assume that she found some way to revert her body back to its human form - through surgery, transplants... It would not even surprise me if the answer lied in sorcery and witchcraft. After all, pregnancy should not be possible - I extracted her uterus myself, alongside most other major organs. And besides... The conditioning drug had a very fatal flaw that prevented the cyborgs from living for more than a couple of years. As of today, your sister is the only survivor of the SWA'

'Well, have you considered the fact that maybe my sister isn't the Andrea you worked with all those years ago? I mean... What you're saying simply isn't possible!'

'Has your father adopted other girls named Andrea? And besides, I am pretty sure that you feel it too. Her martial arts skills... Unnaturally detailed knowledge of firearms... Perfectly fluent in multiple languages that she's not supposed to know... If I were to take her origins into consideration, I would also guess the presence of a mild to severe case of androphobia. And, of course, the most common sign - crying during sleep'

Wade's mouth gapes. Every single one of these signs hit home. There's simply no way Masato could either know about them before that or just guess about them randomly. 'I... I don't know what to say... She never even mentioned anything like that' he looks down, feeling disappointed in his sister. The two had made a silent promise to never have secrets from each other, and thus far, Wade hadn't broken it once, much to his embarrassment.

'You don't need to say anything. I simply felt the need to reveal what had been unfairly kept from you for so long. As I said... Our encounter was decided by fate. I believe you were destined to learn about this, one way or another'

'Yeah, but... Why?' Wade raises his head. 'I mean, you could get in a lot of trouble for revealing classified information like that! Why risk your neck for a complete stranger like that, especially if you believe that I'd just learn all this anyway?'

Masato sighs. 'To be perfectly honest, it was not my decision to make. My employer has been very interested in you, Wade. She sees great potential in you and believes that you, given your heritage, would become a valuable asset to our plan'

Wade lifts an eyebrow. 'What? Okay, rewind a bit, because I didn't understand a word of what you just said'

Masato adjusts his eyepatch and leans back. 'You see, Wade... Exposing your sister's secret was not the only reason why I shared this information with you. Remember the perfect world I described, where every man, woman and child has far exceeded the boundaries of mortality? What if I told you that this perfect world is already here?'

'I would call you delusional, as I'm pretty sure that I'd die if I shot myself or something. If what you were saying was really true, then--'

'Of course, we would need to work for it' Masato raises his hand to cut him off. 'But what I am saying is that this is no longer some vague, unreachable future that may or may not happen. It's already here. As a matter of fact, there is a near-perfect being right in your class already'

'Well, I don't mean to brag, but--'

'I am talking... about a certain classmate of your called Nayumi Tachibana. What do you know about her?'

'Tachibana? Well, uh, let me think...' Wade scratches his cheek. 'She's cute, I guess. Keeps most of herself clothed even in summer, so I have no idea what's up with that'

'The reason she keeps her body covered... is because it is no longer organic. Over ninety five percent of her has been replaced with top of the line cybernetics. She is... My legacy'

'Your legacy? You mean you... built her?'

Masato nods. 'It took me years to figure out how to make her perfect, but at the end, the results were astonishing. The structure of her body makes it almost indestructible - she can get hit by a car and walk it off without any serious injuries. If she gets hit by a truck, all it'll take are a few simple repairs. Bullets and knife wounds will only scratch her. And, since all of her organs are cybernetic, she is practically immune to disease. When liberated from the boundaries of her organic body, Nayumi will live between 150 and 180 years, which is at least twice as long as the current average life expectancy. And who knows - maybe by then someone will have invented a way to digitize the brain and transfer the consciousness into a fully cybernetic host, which would truly make humankind immortal! But that's not all - she also doesn't need to breathe, eat or drink. Thanks to studies done in India in the 2010's, we have discovered a chemical that is extremely easy to produce internally and feeds the body the necessary nutrients. Don't you get it - Nayumi is able to survive for over 150 years without requiring anything at all to keep going! Not only that - since then I have perfected my research and discovered a way to even further enhance my cybernetics, giving a next-gen cyborg like her the strength and agility possessed by the SWA cyborgs, and more! Not only that - the self-repairing nanomachines I invented completely eliminate the need for the body to undergo any kind of maintenance!'

'Wow... That's really impressive!' Wade chuckles, feeling overwhelmed by the information. Masato had earned his trust, so he feels no need to doubt what he says. And besides, he already knew there was something wrong with Nayumi's body anyway. 'The only problem is, I really don't think the world is ready for this kind of research. No matter what, there will be those stubborn idiots who'll want to cling onto humanity, no matter what. It's kind of like when workers protester the wide spread of factories during the industrial age, even though using them for manufacturing was easier, faster and the products were of a higher quality. Most people are just too stupid to accept any kind of change, no matter how positive it will be in the long run'

Masato smiles. 'I can see my employer was right to be interested in you. You see, Wade... I'm not going to simply wait around for someone to give me permission to change the world. Me and my employer will do so ourselves. We have already commenced our tests, and thus far, the results have been astonishing!'

'Tests? What the... Oh... So you're the guy who kidnapped all the students...'

'Kidnapped? No, I'm afraid you misunderstand. All of them came by their own free will. They might be considered missing by the authorities, but I assure you, they were certainly not kidnapped. They have accepted their upgrades automatically and are well on their way to becoming among the first perfect humans'

'I see...' Wade nods, imagining that Masato had led similar conversations with the others to convince them to join him. 'So, what? If I join you, will I get awesome superpowers too?'

'Not yet, no' he shakes his head. 'I will be needing you for a different purpose. If you agree to join them, I will need you to... Bring Nayumi to me'