Prologue

Introduction to The Young and Old, written by Mieko Fujimaki.

Often viewed by many cultures around the world as one of the worst taboos a person can commit, the killing of another human being is clearly immoral. With the knowledge of eternal suffering after death, fear of capital punishment and rejection of our fellow man, we are raised to believe the absolute and irrefutable fact that to kill another person is wrong.

It is not an awful idea to be raised on. It shows that we have learned from our long and bloody history. In Medieval Europe, it was not uncommon to see a man be executed in an excruciatingly cruel way in public, often as a form of entertainment. It was a spectacular sight to see someone die in such strange ways in those times. Yet as time went on and we advanced to where we are now, we have grown appalled at our past selves.

A good example of this is the last public execution in France, 1939, where a man had been found guilty of multiple murders and sentenced to death. He was brought out before a crowd and beheaded by the infamous guillotine. Rather than act with solemn observance, the crowd rushed to the scene to soak their handkerchiefs in his blood as souvenirs. Described as “unruly” and “disgusting,” it proved that public execution did not serve as a deterrent to crime but rather promoted humanity’s baser instincts. The event deemed that killing for the sake of entertainment was no longer acceptable in the advanced nations of the world.

However, in the modern world there seem to have been some exceptions made. Films and video games often portray violence as exhilarating. Players are rewarded with digital trophies that allow them to show off their in-game accomplishments to others. A scene where the protagonist is able to kill evil henchmen with style and grace is praised by film critics.

Yet, these exceptions are understandable as no one is actually harmed in their creation. It is only special effects and pixels on a screen. An engaging combat encounter in a game and an enthralling fight sequence in a movie is a testament to the talent of the creative minds. They are celebrated and it is all deserved.

There is one exception to the rule of “thou shalt not kill” that is more morally ambiguous. One that is frequently debated in both casual conversation and political arguments. It is denounced as humanity’s greatest evil and regarded as the greatest of all human endeavors, depending on the state of the world. Does it create only broken souls or the greatest heroes and leaders our species will ever know?

That exception is the art of war. Believed to be the one thing that will bring about the extinction of the human race or the great crucible in which the greatest warriors are forged, it is the unfortunate exception that we all have to make. We are quick to denounce it as an absolute evil during times of peace but the moment our country is threatened, we are so willing to send a new generation of young adults to die protecting it. When the ones that escape the shells of war return, we regard them as heroes because they are untouchable and we cannot understand them.

Such is the case of the men and women of the 75th Ranger Regiment. At the time of writing this, it has been two years since the end of the eight year war against the Russian Empire and Prussian Aristocracy and six years since I was an embedded reporter during the Russian invasion of Japan.

By now, they have made their celebrations and have only just begun their new lives but I seriously doubt that the ones I encountered have returned to their homes. If they have, it is unlikely that they are the same people they were when they enlisted or even when I first met them.

War brings out the worst in everyone. The commanders and strategists send the young adults to their deaths for medals. Those men and women, who enlisted at such a young age and might as well still be children, see things that age them beyond their years and resort to acts of barbarism to stay alive. Thousands are victims of the Old Lie.

The best example I can think of that perfectly illustrates the damage that sustained exposure to human cruelty can do to the mind is that of Corporal Suzue Kobayashi.

Born and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado to Japanese parents who immigrated to America due to a shared love of a certain yellow sponge, she is the second oldest of seven siblings and a strange mix of Japanese tradition and American values. She respects her elders and maintains strong family ties but is not afraid to speak her mind. She values the group over the individual but maintains the idea that no one is above the other. Her taste in music switches between Western country and Japanese idol groups.

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Suzue’s former classmates, who affectionately called her Suzi, described her as lively, athletic, kind, a lover of all things cute and, most importantly, curious. She was always willing to try something new, even if she was terrible at it. She once played percussion in her school’s band class despite having never picked up an instrument in her life and being unable to read music. She took up drawing even though she was terrible and put on such an unconvincing performance in a school play that the director thought about stopping the show.

Despite all of that, Suzue still moved forward, always looking for new hobbies to enjoy. The only ones that stuck with her were MMA, basketball, collecting old video games, building model kits and cooking. When I asked her why she tried so many things, she said, “I fear failure just as much as the next guy but for me, that’s what makes trying something new so exciting. It’s a fear of the unknown. It’s probably why I love MMA so much. I’m kind of scared every time I do it.”

When I asked her about how she felt about the war, shortly after we embarked on a large-scale operation to retake Hokkaido, she said, “Politics and ideology don’t really matter to me. This operation is another great unknown where you never know what’s gonna happen. It’s scary and I can’t wait. And besides,” she smiles brightly at me. “The sooner it starts, the sooner we go home!”

While not particularly popular, she was certainly well liked among her peers. She was never one to start conflict if she could help it but there were a few cases where she did get in trouble for getting physically violent. This usually involved someone getting unfairly picked on.

She once told me, “It just makes sense to help people, you know?”

After being told about this from her old classmates, I began to form an image of who Suzue Kobayashi was as a seventeen-year old.  I then tell them about how her comrades described her.

She was confrontational, vulgar and perverted. They were not happy after hearing that and a few became furious when I told them that Suzue’s comrades, even her childhood friend that she enlisted with, considered her to be the most cold-blooded killer in the whole unit.

Her classmates called her comrades horrible because that was not the type of person she was to them. But it was true and they do not understand the daily life of a soldier. They were not insulting her, they were giving her a glowing review.

In the end, that is the whole point of their training, to commit the ultimate taboo: to kill. Being called a cold-blooded killer means you’re good at your job. It means that you can be relied upon in the battlefield.

When I first saw her, I did not see a bright-eyed girl or a gleeful psychopath. I saw someone who was simply reveling in a culture so unfamiliar to our own. The traits that were given to her showed that she fit right in, except for the perversion to an extent. She gets rather embarrassed when people realize what she’s actually into.

Culturally speaking, these people would be unrecognizable from their forefathers in what America calls their “Greatest Generation.” Instead of being raised on Christian values and jazz, they are brought up on hip-hop and heavy metal. Many are more experienced with video games and internet pornography. Some of them even quote strange philosophies that they learned from watching martial arts movies and anime. For some, the words of rap stars are more valued and well known than the speeches of the president.

Before the war, not much was expected of them but the moment Russian troops landed on the coastlines of Hokkaido, they were expected to be the heroes they never had. They were predisposed to the Old Lie and enlisted anyway. They have been told by their Commander in Chief, and even their own families, that they are protecting the freedom of Japan and the United States, but very few of them would be surprised to learn it was all just an excuse to have a larger military presence there. They actually expect to be lied to. To them, the Old Lie is as American as apple pie.

Even with this knowledge, they were still greatly unprepared for the horrors that they witnessed. By the time the Tsar had surrendered, they were stone-faced and became known as the Old Breed when a new wave of recruits flooded their ranks after Prussia declared war.

The last time I saw Suzue, the woman I met was gone. There was not even a spark of the seventeen-year old from Colorado or the Ranger that always tried to smile through every battle. She had seen far too much and she was only twenty-two. Young yet experienced like an old man. All she knows of an adult’s life is despair, death and fear.

I do not know what she witnessed and I hope I never do, but she still went on to fight again. It was obvious that she had grown tired of war but she went anyway.

A willing victim of the old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.

“It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”