1.3

Four’s awakening

When Hiro turned around, the operative was already on him. Four held him by the throat, her strength over domineering. The young man swung his feet but he was lift up helplessly. Knowing Suiren was coming, he told her to stand down and look at his captor.

Towering over him was Four. Despite having a fair but unassuming face, Hiro couldn’t stop but stare at her jaw. It was made of metal, a row of teeth running under the upper lip all way to the side. Her veins were blueish, her skin discoloured. Victor said she was suffering from some sort poisoning. ‘She would be severely weaken’, he said, ‘it will be fine’.

Momo-chan: [Fine my arse, why is she so strong, I can’t breathe!]

Hiro: {WE can’t breathe, we}

Momo-chan: [Are you seriously doing this now!]

With one hand, the operative held Hiro up by the throat. Her arm despite its lanky appearance, was as tough as rocks. She said menacingly.

“Who are you, answer or I will break you”

“I really want to, but this arrangement is quite uncomfortable!” Hiro answered with the best of his power “Can you at least let me down first”

The young man wanted to try something. Could his power work on her, just a thought? But seeing that her arm was longer, that didn’t seem feasible. The operative dropped him onto the ground. Hiro crawled up, trying to gain back his breathe. What with him and being choked by women. From Suiren to Four.

“I am Hiro, Hanazawa. I have some news for you, about your friend… Six”

The young man then proceeded to tell her the story of Six’s death, of his murderer Killer Queen. Contrary to his expectation, Four listened quietly, even when Hiro mentioned that he was summoned by Eden. The operative turned around, looking at the man sitting behind.

“And I presumed you are Victor” She said coldly.

“Yes, it’s yours truly” The man nearly blabbered something inconsequential but held back.

“I see, so that idiot had gone and gotten himself killed” Four sighed “And now you want me to help you?”

“Yes” Hiro chimed in “He is a threat to us all and he killed your friend. We desperately need your help, we heard you are the only one who could stop that thing”

“You are aware that I can kill all except that girl and wait for him to come myself”

The operative said, staring into Hiro’s eyes. The young man didn’t stand down, however. Victor had told him about her. About rumours back when the doctor was still a normal citizen. Hiro prayed they were right.

“I know that full well. I also know you are soldier, that you won’t hesitate to carry out any order” Hiro gazed back at Four “But I also know that you are good person, like Six. That you wouldn’t let down those in distress. I am not asking you to avenge your friend, no, I wanted to ask you to save us, please, you are the only one who can! We need a hero, we need you!”

“Tch” Four glanced back at Victor, her hand placed over her face.

The operative was feeling uncomfortable without her mask. Unlike her siblings, Four wasn’t trained at espionage or the art of lying. The operative evaluated her situation. There were likely many more in another carriage. They managed to chase that Killer Queen away, so at least some of them must be competent. Meanwhile, she still felt like a wreck. The overdosed was now poisoning her, it would go away but that would take a while.

Four tried to calculate but a memory returned to her, kept on disrupting her thought. Gahhhh, thinking wasn’t really her forte. Four gave her answer.

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“Very well”

Hiro bowed at her, a gesture he had performed countless time “Thank you very much”

Seeing it that was certainly a déjà vu for Four, before coming to the new world, she was an accountant for so long. The operative continued “I would only help you to deal with the Killer Queen and only it”

“That would be plenty already, thank you”

Momo-chan: [That certainly went better than I expected]

Hiro couldn’t help but agree to that sentiment. Although the voice was thinking of something else. Of his host’s plea, it was sincere but deep down, he knew that wasn’t the case. And the bowing… All of them were so foreign to the voice.

Four was now feeling rather restless, having been confided to the bed for days.

The operative headed to the carriage door only to be stopped by Hiro. “What do you want?” She glared at him. Hiro stood his ground, there was still another thing. Knowing Willow, and possibly Johann, they wouldn’t accept working with an enemy. Something else needed to be done first. Hiro explained that to Four, something tough, that would require her full attention.

“What do you mean?” The operative wondered, what could be so difficult.

“Well, we can’t really present you as Four, right. I think that you would need a cover identity, like a secret agent of sort!” That was Victor idea actually.

“What!”

From her reaction, so that rumour was true after all “From what I heard, you aren’t really good at that. Don’t worry, I am hear to help you with that! Let’s do our best!”

Hiro tried his best to channel all the positive people in his life, which weren’t much. In the background, Victor was clapping in agreement.

___

That word, ‘hero’, certainly brought Four way back.

Back when they were younger, back at the camp where they were born and raised. One sunny morning, Four didn’t train with the others. Her strength superior, she had a different training regiment. It was a shame, the girl wanted to see how the new guys fared. For so long it was just her, Two and Three. Suddenly, there were so many new faces, from a different camp.

When she went outside to the courtyard, everyone was all grouped together. It was Two, he was showing the new kids their treasure. A vintage copy of the first comic issue of Major America, he must have swiped it from One’s office.

The girl hurried over, she wanted to see it again too. No matter how many times they have seen the comic, the three at this camp always wanted new reason to read it again. The new faces were unimpressed, however.

“It was just a comic from more than a century ago” They said.

They couldn’t understand, why were the three here so impressed with such a naïve story. There had been plenty other rendition of Major America, becoming darker over time. It was up to Two to show them, he was always the charismatic one. Meanwhile, Three was hiding behind a pillar, shrouded in darkness.

“So, what if it’s old, what if it’s naïve. Is it such an antiquated thought, to always strive for good. No, in this age of cynicism, it’s more important than ever to aspire to heroism!” The boy hopped onto the table “We are all born stronger, faster, smarter than normal. We are made this way. Then isn’t it important for us to be better, to be the heroes from the story of olds, an unstoppable force of good!”

The children were unimpressed, their eyes’ lifeless. What happened to them in the other camp, Four wondered. They looked like the other adults, cynical and devoid of any positive thoughts, deeming them simple.

“Heroes, there are no heroes” They said.

A person walked past Four, such light footsteps, it was One. He came to see how the new faces first day was. The man had seen Two’s shenanigans. He kneeled down in front of the children, a warm smile on his face. No one could tell that this person was deemed the greatest soldier.

“Heroes do exist, they are all around us. Firefighters, police officers and even teachers, all those who do goods are heroes” He said, taking back the comic book. It was a collector item, luckily, the thing was unscratched. One looked at Two, sternly “What you said about responsibility is wrong. No one should be forced to do good, no matter who they are”

The new faces turned quiet, one of them wasn’t quite convinced though. A meek boy, Six, he said “But it’s not like we can choose… We will be soldiers, there is no way around that”

A grim reminder indeed. Products of genetical engineering, the children in the camp were raised to be soldiers. And soldiers they shall be, killing, maiming, destroying all in their path, as long as the order was given.

One placed his hand on Six’s head. The Canadian boy looked up, a warm feeling swelled up within him. His life had only known needles and gruesome training, such kindness was alien.

A determined look on his face, One hugged the boy close.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let that happen. You shall be free, you shall be able to decide your future, your path. All of you. That I promise”

He kept his promise, One, the programme was shut down. All of the children were free, unbounded. Most impressive, the soldier managed that without shedding a single drop of blood. He appealed to every offices involved, every country possible. The man had worked tirelessly for them to be free.

But of course, it wasn’t that simple. Private companies were involved and they weren’t happy that their investment didn’t yield any result. One of them, a powerful private military contractor sent their force to capture the children.

The company would find out why One was the greatest soldier.

Four would later be an accountant, a rather mundane job. But the woman would never forget the One’s effort for her to live a mundane life. He was her hero.

Living so peacefully did sometimes make Four pondered, perhaps one day she could also be someone hero.