It was the third day in hell, and she was already starting to believe in never giving an inch. Still, she knew she was close to her limit, having told the truth countless of times she knew she was going to break and tell the men what they wanted to hear ' even if it was a lie.
Curling up on the uncomfortable bed in her cell, she tried in vain to get some sleep when the noise of the door opening could be heard, this caused an unwanted chill to run down her spine. Was it morning already? Were they already coming to bring her back to that dreaded room?
She waited passively for the guard, or whoever was in the room, to grab her and pull her out of the bed ' an act that she was accustomed to recently. When nothing happened for several minutes, she curiously raised her head to see someone standing near the entry, and it seemed the man was waiting for her to notice him.
'Good evening, Miss Reiko.' The man said.
Evening? That came as a surprise to her, she slowly began sitting up, glaring across the room at the man and withdrawing herself to the furthest part of the room, though still staying on the bed. All while remaining silent and studying the man.
From the various guards and the two spooks she was acquainted with, this one didn't seem to belong here, whether that was a good thing or not was yet to be seen.
She couldn't help but notice that he was studying her back, when he finally turned and called over his shoulder, 'Get a medic in here, please.' She heard him say.
The entire situation suddenly became surrealistic to her, was it another trick coming from her guardians? She continued glaring at the man.
'Hmm,' The man hummed while studying her, as he started moving closer, taking a seat on the opposite side of the bed to keep his distance from her, 'I wanted to see first hand that criminal that was giving so much hard work to the Tokkeitai.'
Digging her nails into the blanket, contemplating whether or not to take advantage of the situation that was presented before her, forcing a smile at the thought of punching him nicely, or clawing his eyes out.
But, after being tortured on and off for the past couple of days, she knew she had better reserve her strength for the future, feeling content with the hostile stare she was now giving him.
'Hm, hai.' The man said again, as a reply to the stare he was receiving, he was about to continue when he was interrupted by the medic who walked into the room, 'Check her swiftly, please.'
'Hai, at once.' The medic replied, moving over to her. She scowled slightly as the medic started looking her over, but didn't resist.
'I had to admit I was quite surprised by your willpower. Furthermore, you appear to fight for what you believe to be right, which is a rare quality these days.' The first man stated, Reiko having turned her attention back towards him.
She kept silent, not wanting to comment to what the man had said, keeping her eyes locked on him as the medic began speaking.
'Extreme fatigue, dehydration. I cannot be sure without instruments, but it's obvious the patient suffers from some central nervous system disorders. Nothing critical however. Though, I would like to run some diagnosis.'
'Very well, thank you. You will be able to in a few. Leave us.' The man replied, waving the medic away.
Once the medic left, the man rubbed the top of his head thoughtfully, and finally sighing silently said, 'I must say, you were quite unlucky to fall into the Tokkeitai's hands. The naval secret police methods are sometimes questionable.'
'Like torturing people for pleasure?' She snapped, finding the comment necessary, although she didn't get the answer she wanted from him.
'Hm,' He replied, turning to face her so that he could look into her eyes, 'Please tell me, Reiko-san... How much do you love Kusari, and what would you be able to give to protect it's people?'
'Should have asked me that question before your people tortured me, baka.' She scowled, going to raise her hand but sighing heavily and setting it back down on her lap, looking away from the man before continuing, 'I've always loved Kusari... thought it's Imperial methods have always been questionable, which is why I fought for what I thought was right. Now there isn't any need to... and I would give my life to ensure the protection of it's people.'
He appeared to reflect on that assertion for a while.
Finally, he asked : "How do you conciliate that oath with your acts, which used to be to kill for your sisterhood? The officers you shot were Kusari people, who vowed to protect Kusari." "That wasn't in malicious actions. Each pilot shot down was shot down in a fair and honorable duel, as tradition of the Kusari people. I didn't fight them any other way." She muttered, continuing to stare straight ahead of her at the floor.
"Honor has little to no place on a battlefield" he finally replied, after a silent sigh. "Slaining a life is still a sin, no matter which codifications were followed during the fight."
"What really matters is the cause." he finally asserted after a pause, gazing gravely at her. "Each duel was called upon by your pilots, each duel I witnessed them eject from their pods, and left to be picked up by waiting officers." She growled, looking over at the man. "I never killed anyone."
The man was still studying her, remaining silent. He finally asserted : "Pardon me, but you don't seem to understand what i'm trying to say. The fact those officers were saved doesn't alleviate that you shot at them. Those officers certainly shot you because of your affiliation."
She was growing tired of that stranger coming here just to give her an unnecessary lecture. "Hai, and I turned myself in to atone for my actions. No one here seems to understand that... I have renounced my affiliation with the sisterhood and did what I thought was right - facing my crimes rather than running."
Nodding slightly, he gazed over at the cell. Now that she was observing him closely, he just looked weary... Almost depressed. "And this brings us to the reasons of my presence here. I believe i do not need to tell you Kusari is facing a multi level crysis during this era.
The change of government lead to an identity crysis. A fair part of Kusari people aren't confortable with the notion of a Republic. While i myself am for it and participated to its creation, this must be taken into account. Some matters are still unresolved. Change is always difficult.
On the other side, Kusari lost its strength during the last wars, and only then are we starting to rise from the weakened state we were experiencing. We were forced into a truce with Gallia, simply because we didn't have the means to protect Kusari and its people. Yet, i do not trust them and i expect to have to fight them again, sooner or later."
He then took a pause and, as she didn't seem to wish to react on that long tirade, finally said : "You are intelligent. you know already where this is going." "Enlighten me." She snarled in response, not willing to do the first step. "If you indeed wish to expiate your actions and to protect our people, then you must become a worm inside the apple. Because it's the only way to make things change. Fight from the inside, so that your voice can be heard."
She had a provoking laughter and glared at the man unkindly. "You expect me to just up and agree with such a proposal after I was tortured? You must be as insane as the others I've met in the last two days." She stated, smirking and tapping the side of her head with her hand, before letting it drop back into her lap and sighing. "What do I have to do?"
He shook his head, appearing to be rather disappointed. "You misunderstand. I didn't come here to meet a puppet. Either it is your decision or it's nothing valuable." "My mind is already made up if it gets me away from this..." She pauses, furrowing her brow, "Hell hole." "Hm. Keep in mind it might be very difficult. You will have to prove you have the Right view, the Right intention, the Right action, the Right livelihood and the Right effort.
It is not an easy way out of this place. You will suffer. You will regret that choice some days."
"Difficult is my middle name, and I'll make sure others suffer just as much if they cause me any problems." She stated, smirking lightly, looking back over at him.
A move of his eyebrow made her wonder if he was surprised or even amused by her bluster. "Hm. Is that so. Overconfidence is quite a flaw." "Well, it kept me going, and got me this far. So... flaw or not. I'll keep it!" Her mood seeming to brighten just a bit.
He considered her for a while and then chuckled quietly while rubbing the back of his head. "Hm... Youth's impetuousness. There will be little romantism in what you will do however, i'm afraid." "Which is what exactly?" "Protecting those who cannot protect themselves. Keep safe Kusari house's interests. Fight criminals and murderers.
In others words, a tiresome and thankless job." "I'm sure I can handle it better than most of your flyboys can now." She stated, grinning widely by this point.
Was he indeed annoyed, disappointed or amused by her bragging? Hard to tell. "Your optimism is noted." he finally asserted neutrally. "Hai." She looked around the room, finding it odd that she found new strength, and sat upright. "Uh... now what?"
"Now, i have to convince my peers of the Admiral circle." He finally replied after yet another silent sigh. "Does that mean I'll still be stuck in this cell and tortured by those bakas? Because that wouldn't be honorable, or nice!" she rebelled in quite a mischievous way.
She was now tempted to just drive that man crazy with some remarks of her own devising, but she abstained. Perhaps he was her only hope to escape that abject situation she was in.
If he noticed the change in her tone since a while, he yet showed no sign of it. "For now you will have to stay in this cell. I will ensure you are correctly treated and will short circuit the Tokkeitai.. Until a decision is made, at least."
The woman sighed lightly, giving a slight nod and looked away. "Hai... but don't be surprised to come back and see a body or two on the ground if they try to take me back to interrogation." "No. Whatever happens, you must cooperate. Please don't make things even more complicated. You shouldn't worry anyway. It is unlikely to happen." "Then it better not, hai?" She growled again, looking over towards the man, clearly wanting to be left alone for the time being, especially to recover her strength.
Almost nodding as if he understood her wish, he stood up and walked towards the door. "Fine. I will have the medic sent your way. Sayonara, miss Reiko." "Arigato."
She waited for the man to leave her cell before moving back towards the middle of the bed, pulling the sheets over her and laying down, staring at the door.
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