The Rise of Shiroi Nami – Chapter 3

“Here so soon?” Isao looks up from his workbench where he’s interfacing with the tōsha projections that power his hookup to Saki. His brother, my other winged cousin, Wataru, sits in front of Saki. His forehead is creased as he stares at his tablet.

“The party broke up early.” I cross the room to his workbench, pull out a chair, and climb onto it. I’m about half the size of Isao, and his chairs were meant for giants, not small women.

Isao smiles as he avoids my eyes. “I’ve seen your documentary, more than once. I had a feeling it wouldn’t go over well with everyone else.”

I lean forward and rest my chin on my propped hand. “What did you think of it?”

“Well,” he says, pushing his tōsha to the side so he can concentrate on me, “I watched it because I was interested in finding out what your homeworld was like.” Wataru glances up from his tablet and stares at Isao. Isao sighs. “Yes, and to see what kind of work you do. It may not seem like we’re related, but we are. It’s important to me that you represent the Minamoto name with honor and respect.”

This pulls me up from my resting pose. Honor and respect — two things I’ve heard a lot about in my life and two things I’ve hated on and off for years. Honor comes from having a good heart. Respect is earned, not bestowed upon someone because of who they are.

Isao’s clear eyes drill through me. “You have something to say, cousin. Say it.”

I look at both Isao and Wataru, waiting for me to challenge them.

Fine.

I remember my first few weeks here on Kurai, back when I was in the hands of Buichi Tamura and Aka Matsuba, and how afraid I was to speak out. I was close to death several times because of my mouth. But now, it’s time to be me.

“You know what’s worth more to me than honor and respect? Character. A person’s character determines how much respect they earn, and that determines how honorable they are. I don’t care if you find me lacking. I have beaten myself up about my personality for years. Do you think you’ll do me any worse?”

I snort and roll my eyes.

Isao tilts his head, a small smile pushing at the corners of his lips. “I thought the documentary was insightful and well done, and according to Shintaro, it was what pushed your empress to work harder for equality for everyone.”

I shake my head. “No. I was a stupid kid who only made things worse for her. It almost ruined our relationship. My father and mother were heartbroken for years over what I did. It showed a horrible side to my character, and I spent a decade repairing that relationship.”

Wataru returns to his tablet, uninterested in the ramblings of a little girl.

“I think you have underestimated yourself, Yumi. Shintaro and Kazuo believe in you. Rin loves you. And after seeing the documentary, I knew you were the right person for our future — the right person to force us to look at ourselves.”

“Me?” I hold back a scoff. I am the wrong person for pretty much everything here.

“Maybe you’re the right person for all the reasons you don’t want to hear about.” Aimi joins us in the room. “Sorry,” she says, jerking her thumb at the door, “but I decided to eavesdrop before coming in.”

I ignore her as she stuffs her hands in her pants pockets and rocks back on her heels. Isao looks at us both for a moment before deciding to move on.

“Let’s wake up Saki, shall we? That’s what you’re here for, aren’t you?”

My throat dries, and my upper lip beads with sweat. I haven’t spoken to Saki since Narumi took her over. What will happen when she wakes up? Despite my fear and the way my heart is trying to escape my chest and run away, I nod.

Let’s do it.

“Okay. I just need to wake her from hibernation.”

Wataru sets down his tablet and stands beside me. Even sitting on this giant chair, I feel like a tiny bug next to him. And he’s so quiet. Far and away, the quietest of the Minamoto family here.

We sit and watch, hoping for a sign that this is a good idea. Maybe it’s a terrible idea; I don’t know yet. Sweat gathers on the back of my head, but I don’t move to whisk it away with my fingers. I’m afraid to even breathe.

Saki’s eyes flicker open, and I catch my breath in my lungs.

“Ah, good.” Isao studies his display. “No errors. Saki? How are you feeling?”

Saki looks from me to Wataru and then slowly turns her head to look at Isao. I’m comforted that she’s been well taken care of since the battle in Susami, back on Hikari. They have healed her injuries, her hair has been combed and pulled into a ponytail, and she’s wearing clean clothes. She looks down at her shirt before shrugging.

“Fucking confused. Where the hell am I?”

I let out my breath in a huff of a laugh. “That’s the Saki I know.” I glance at Aimi, and she’s watching Saki with an intense glare. Maybe she’s waiting for a sign Saki will need to be destroyed? Aimi isn’t wearing her sword, so I’m not sure what she’d do if Saki jumped up and tried to kill us all right now.

Saki turns her face to me, and I lose my smile. “Yumi? What’s going on? I thought…” She presses her fingers to her temple and closes her eyes. “Something is different.”

“Saki, please state your high command rules,” Isao says, and Saki blinks at the question.

“These are new. The first rule is to not hurt humans or, through inaction, let humans come to harm. The second is to obey commands from humans unless it violates the first rule. The third is to protect my own existence unless it violates the first two rules.” She ponders this for a moment, pulling her bottom lip into her teeth. “Looks like my days of cage fighting are over.”

Isao’s lips twist as he tries to keep a smile from forming. “Do you understand what will happen to you if you try to violate these rules?”

Her head jerks up. “I will shut down. Huh.”

Aimi smiles. “I like that.”

Isao nods, satisfied with her answer. “If you fight it, you will fry your brain, so be careful. It’s part of your very survival to adhere to the new rules.”

I don’t like this development, but I now believe that a malfunctioning android is better off as a dead android. I close my eyes and curse the person I’ve become.

“Okay,” Saki says. “I understand. Yumi?”

My eyes pop open, and Saki is looking at me. The emotion in her eyes is untouched and raw.

“I think… I think I did horrible things.”

A hand tightens around my heart. “You didn’t do horrible things, Saki. Narumi Ogawa did.”

She turns her face to the door, so I glance over my shoulder. Rin stands, watching her.

“You still have Rin,” she says, relief coating every uttered syllable. She drops her head. “I’m so… so… so…” Her head twitches again and again and again as she repeats the word.

Isao returns to his controls and shuts her down.

“Feedback loop. I need to work on her emotional control next before we turn her on for good.”

Rin enters the room all the way and stares at Saki. “Will she pass the Doshisha Test?”

Isao shakes his head. “I’ve created a tell in the pupils. They will pulse during extended questioning lasting over five minutes.” He looks up from his console. “I read all your notes on the test before deciding. Only someone administering the test will be able to tell.”

“I would like to see this for myself. Soon.”

Isao nods. “Of course.”

“It won’t matter in the end,” Aimi interrupts. “We’ll be rid of all their kind, eventually.”

“Yes, but ‘eventually’ is a long way off,” I remind her. She nods her head, conceding the point.

I hold off the torrent of emotions raging through me as I picture Rin back in his job, the black garb of Kiiroi Yama and a sword on his back. The life we left behind. But I suppose this entire existence has only been temporary.

I need to accept that my people may be years away from arriving here. I should plan for a life on Hikari, even if it’s short-lived. I must look to the future.

I can’t do that if I’m dead.

What are my choices? Rest and recuperate here on Kurai, for months — maybe years — until my brain and body are healed? I don’t know if that’s even possible, what with the state Shiroi Nami is in and Hikari on the verge of all-out war.

I hate to even go down this road, but…

“Isao, about earlier. I need to know if you can fix me.” His hands halt in the air of his projection. “I know you fix androids.” I wave away his obvious unspoken objection. “But what about everything the surgeon and doctor said? We can’t fix my brain, right? Even if I sit around and let it heal.”

He sighs, and I can feel the regret from across the room. “Your brain is permanently damaged, Yumi. Your chronic migraines are a sign that it won’t get any better either. It’ll just get worse.” He shrugs, his wings rising and falling. “If we start now, we could get ahead of any further memory loss. Rin has told me that your memory is important to you.”

“Aren’t memories important to everyone?”

“Touché. I have ninety years of memories, and I wouldn’t want to lose any of them. I can still remember being a kid. We grew up outside of Susami on a farm.” His gaze becomes distant and soft. “A far cry from where we are now.” He gestures to himself. Yes, Shiroi Nami has come a long way.

“Yumi,” Rin butts in, coming to my side, “I think we should talk about this before you make any decisions. I want you to make the best possible choice for your health.”

I tip my face to him and read his concern like a book. What would happen to us if I did this? Would he be able to accept the new body? Would it matter to him?

Maybe it would, and that would matter to me too.

“Sure. We can talk about it tonight after dinner.”

“You should have all the information you need to decide, though.” Isao leans forward to alight from his chair. He tucks his wings against his back as he inches around Saki’s slumped body at the desk.

He crosses to his bookshelf on the other side of the room and drags his finger across a stack of leather-bound notebooks. I press my hand to my chest and feel the notebook that Kazuo gave me nestled in my bra. Such old tech compared to everything else in this lab.

“I’ll let you borrow this,” he says, handing it off to me. “I’ve been lucky to keep them here all these years, though they’ve come with me on many evacuations, and I have digitized them as well. But it’s nice to have the real thing to flip through.” He smiles as the book settles between my two hands. “Writing on paper reminds me of my childhood, long ago. My body may be quite new.” He snaps open his wings, and I gasp before we all laugh. “But my habits are a million years old.”

Aimi snorts a laugh. “A million years is right.” She winks at him and waves to us. “I’m out of here. I need food after that captivating film I just watched.”

My grin is lopsided and half-hearted as she leaves. We still have far to go in our friendship.

“Thank you,” I say to Isao, holding the book in my hands and wondering what treasures are inside. Maybe it’s filled with pages of data? Or personal experiences? Excitement buzzes in my chest as I consider all the possibilities.

“Besides that, there are a few other things to know.”

I set the book in my lap and focus my attention on him.

“The growth process will be about three months, and we do all of our lab work off Kurai. There’s still too much extraneous radiation here to make growing complicated bodies a viable business. We have a heavily shielded facility off-world, on a moon around the fifth planet of this system.”

Hmmm, I had given little thought to the other planets in this system. What are they like? Our home system has rocky worlds and a few gas giants. Orihimé is the only planet with plenty of water. It just lacks land, which is why we went on this mission in the first place.

“There’s so much we can do for you. Make you stronger, healthier, give you the ability to photosynthesize energy, faster recovery time from injuries… The list is endless.”

I pull my bottom lip into my teeth as I imagine the person I could become. Strong, capable, healthy — I could use those traits to everyone’s advantage, not just my own. I mean, yeah, I can be selfish and annoying at times, and I know it. It’s one of my fatal flaws. This would be a way to fix that. By making myself better, I could better serve those around me. Isn’t that what most superhero stories are about?

Rin looks from Isao to me and back to Isao before dredging up one of his weary sighs. “I think you’ve already made your decision.”

“No, no,” I say with a chuckle as I stand up. “I’m willing to think on it. It’s a big decision that should not be made with my ego.”

“That’s what I like about you, cousin.” He raises his finger. “And I’ve been giving some thought to your earlier request to interview me. I would like to make a proposal.”

My smile widens. “Go on.”

“I’ve seen your documentary more than once. You have talent. I’d like for you to make a documentary about Shiroi Nami. It can be short. It doesn’t have to be something long and complicated.” He stretches his arm out to encompass the room, this base, his people. “But the people back home on Hikari have forgotten about us and the work we do. They once held the same vision for our future as we did, and after the war, they turned on us. It’s time to show them how to move forward, into the future.”

I smile and nod, but I’m wary of getting too involved. After the run-in I just had with the executives in Shiroi Nami, I’m not sure they’re the corporation I should be championing. I believe in democracy. It’s one of the core tenets I grew up with. We have a constitutional monarchy at home, but the people have a voice. They elect officials, and the parliament hears arguments and passes laws. The empress is just a guide; she keeps everyone in line and on task. An itch in my chest tells me this is what the people need here, a voice.

But Shiroi Nami should be given a chance. What I see, right in front of me in Isao, is the future. And it can still be the future for a prospering corporation.

But they don’t have to be in power to get things done.

“A documentary is a great idea.” I lift my chin and pull back my shoulders. “I’m honored you asked me to do this. Thank you.”

His smirk is just this side of amused before he turns to work on Saki again. “Don’t let the fame go to your head, cousin. We Minamoto still have a lot of work to do.”

A lot of work is an understatement.

I press the book he gave me to my chest with one arm and lace the other arm through Rin’s.

Yes, I have work to do.