Deus Ex: Katawa Revolution (Complete)

[Bi-Polar Hernandez]

>These comments

Adam Jensen = Hisao
Megan Reed = Lilly
David Sarif = Mutou
Faridah Malik = Hanako
Francis Pritchard = Kenji
Hugh Darrow = Nomiya
Yelena Fedorova = Miki

Can't think of any others.
Why would you do this? I am not up too rewriting all of Deus Ex:HR.

I see Nomiya as Barret simply because of This KS-ified version of the Human Revolution trailer

[Roamin12]

>These comments

Adam Jensen = Hisao
Megan Reed = Lilly
David Sarif = Mutou
Faridah Malik = Hanako
Francis Pritchard = Kenji
Hugh Darrow = Nomiya
Yelena Fedorova = Miki

Can't think of any others.
Why would you do this? I am not up too rewriting all of Deus Ex:HR.

I see Nomiya as Barret simply because of This KS-ified version of the Human Revolution trailer

That was...amazing...the main theme playing in the background completed it.

[Kayo12]

Part 2/6

I have a hard time falling asleep and the next day I get up almost an half hour later than usual.
Emi's gonna kill me.
I get dressed, tossing back the pills I need to stay alive, miserable as I do. I swallow each one slowly and each time I think about how simpler it would be if I never needed to take medication again. All I'd have to do is have one or two surgeries and my life would be changed forever. I'd get rid of this weak, defective heart and replace it with something stronger, something sterner, cold iron pumping away eternally.
The pills are bitter and I try to rush forcing them down my throat to get the trial over with.

Once that's done, I quickly change into my running clothes and head out as silent as possible to avoid Kenji in the next room. Outside, the crisp, morning air wakes me up fully and the breeze and sunlight make me feel marginally better about my situation.
The track is abandoned except for one tiny sparkler who runs up to me on squeaking legs.

“You are late, buster!” she says, pointing a finger in my face. “You are horrible! Keeping a girl waiting is a terrible thing to do! I've been here for almost an hour waiting for you to show up! What's your excuse this time?“

“Sorry, Emi,” I shrug, “rough morning. Have you gotten your runs in yet?”

She looks at me with narrowed eyes, discerning whether I'm trying to lie to her or not. She seems to come to the conclusion my tardiness was an innocent oversight and shrugs.

“No, I've been waiting for you! And if this keeps happening, I'm gonna start waking you up myself and force you to get out of bed so you'll show up at a decent time!“

“You couldn't carry me.”

“I could if I tied you up and dragged you here in a sheet!“

“Sounds kinky.”

She sticks her finger in my face again. “Don't try to get on my good side, mister! I'm serious about this and so should you! This is your health we're talking about! This isn't something you can just make go away with magic!“

I turn away from Emi and grumble under my breath. “Wouldn't need to use magic....”

“What are you whispering about? Stop mumbling!”

I groan. “Never mind. Are we going to run or not?”

That makes her mood lighten up. From berating me like a drill sergeant to smiling and bouncing in no time flat. “I thought you'd never ask!”

Emi and I stretch before our run, but I can't help but steal a few glances at her running legs when she's not looking. I wonder why she hasn't gotten augments and why she uses an old prosthetic instead of new, easier and more efficient legs. She wouldn't have to change back and forth between her running and walking legs, she'd never need to worry about infection or breaking one of them accidentally and she'd never need to be fitted with a new pair of legs if she just got some augments.

Emi catches me watching her stretch and she smiles like the cat who just caught the mouse. “Whatcha' looking at, Hisao?” she purrs.

My face turns red and I jump to my feet, taking off down the track without looking back.
Emi is furious, hobbling to her legs and running after me. “Cheater! Filthy, filthy cheater!”

The two of us run a few times around the track, but I soon lose steam and begin slowing down, Emi blasting off in front of me. I get tired, taking a few short laps, huffing and puffing for air as I do. Emi keeps going, taking the track with long, graceful strides, a look of exultation on her face.
I watch her and I feel jealousy burn in my chest.

After the run, she and I cool down and head to the Nurse's office for my check-up and for her to get her legs switched and inspected. The long hall is empty when I knock on the door.

“Come in, come in!” I hear a cheerful voice say from the other side of the door.

I politely open the door for Emi and she smiles at me as she enters.
The small office has only one person inside, the Nurse, turning in an office chair away from a computer to face the door.

He smiles widely when he sees to pair of us, his eyes glinting with a pleased look.

Then I remind myself that good nature isn't the only thing that lights them up.

Nurse's eyes have a thin shell of silver over them which blinks with a few tiny, rapid lights. His eyelids have several thin wires running through the skin, which curve back into his temples, lights floating back and forth through the fiber optic implants. He holds in his left hand a file filled with sheets of paper and his right hand is an augment, covered in a layer of synthetic skin on top with bare metal below, several rounds pads on the tips of his fingers and palm.

“Emi! Hisao! Glad to see you! Did you have a good run?“

Emi smiles and nods, then peers at me from the side. “Yeah, but Hisao was late again!”

I tear my eyes away from Nurse and look at her, glaring slightly. “Traitor!”

She sticks her tongue out at me and giggles.
Nurse is less pleased. “Hisao, I hope you're not starting to pull back on your health now. You've got a good thing going here with Emi, I'd hate to see you fall back on bad habits.“

“I'm not slacking off. I just had a rough time falling asleep last night. I got a late start this morning“

Nurse nods, watching me carefully. “Insomnia? It's possible with your medication.”

I shake my head. “No, just had a lot on my mind lately.”

He rubs his chin a little, still watching me carefully, his eyes blinking with colored lights.
“I see. Well, Emi, let's get those legs off and get you to class. I'll have to run a few tests on Hisao that could take longer than usual. Sorry, I can't let you watch.“

Nurse quickly helps Emi behind a curtain with her legs and I wait in a chair for my turn, head down and in deep thought.

Emi quickly returns, her walking legs on. She gives me a playful shove on the arm when she sees me. “What's up with you, today? You're being really gloomy! It's bringing me down!“

I fake a smile. “I'm all right. I'll see you later, okay?”

She looks a little disappointed when I dismiss her so quickly. “Well, all right....”
She perks up suddenly. “Why don't you join me and Rin for lunch on the roof! That should cheer you up!“

I smile, this time for real. “Okay, sure. I could use a good lunch.”
She winks at me and rubs my head, messing up my hair before she bounces off out of the room and down the hall.

Nurse smiles as she leaves and then turns towards me. “So, Hisao, what's up? Emi's right, you look a little down.“

I think about it for a while before looking up at Nurse. “Can I ask you a question?”

Nurse pulls up a chair and sits down casually, letting one leg rest against his knee, a folder of papers resting on his lap. “Of course, Hisao! I'm not just here for your physical health! If you have something on your mind, please share it!“

I hesitate for a minute before speaking. “I've been doing a lot of thinking recently.”

“What about?”

I shrug. “Augmentation.”

Nurse looks at me very seriously. “I see. I remember that your file says that even though you were a perfect candidate for surgery, your parents turned down the procedure for personal beliefs.“

I nod slowly. “Yeah, but that's not what I was wondering about. I've been wondering about other people and their reasons. What I wanted to know was why did you get augmented?“

Nurse looks surprised by my question. He recovers and thinks for a moment, face scrunched up, hand clutching his chin in contemplation, humming to himself.
“Well, to be perfectly honest, I got my augments so I would be better at my job.“

“You didn't need them?”

“No, no, not at all. I wanted to be the best at what I do. If there's an advantage to be had that makes me better at helping my patients, then I'll use it, augmentation or not.“ He shrugs. ”Truth is, I can probably thank my augments for getting me this job.“

I'm a little confused by his meaning. “What do you mean? You were hired because you're augmented?“

Nurse laughs. “Well, not exactly. See, when Emi started attending Yamaku, I followed to stay close to her. I applied for the job and eventually was hired, but I almost wasn't. There was another person looking for this job. I can tell you honestly, I thought the Yamaku Foundation was going to hire her. I thought she was a lot smarter than I was and would be a better choice for the job, but they chose me. I later found out they did so because they thought my augments would give me an advantage that would help the students. I don't like thinking that they're the sole reason I got hired, but I'll admit, they make my job a lot easier. I think if I wasn't augmented, you'd have a pretty young lady taking care of you right now instead of me!“

I laugh, taking kindly to the idea. “Not that I don't like you, Nurse, but I kind of like that idea more.“

Nurse's smile is wide. “I don't blame you!”

“But what do you mean, 'make your job easier'? What kind of augments do you have?“

Nurse thinks for a minute. Then he snaps his fingers, the ones on his organic hand. “Here, let me show you! Let's take care of your physical in the mean time.“

I take my shirt off and Nurse begins the familiar and practiced steps of checking my heart rate, blood pressure, taking samples of blood and checking all the other things that have to be done to ensure my continued survival. This time though he dispenses with any medical tools or devices. He waves his hand over the computer and it springs to life, numbers flowing past the screen. He checks my pulse with his augmented hand, pressing once to my chest and to my neck, the hand beeping each time in a steady pulse like a heart monitor. He grips my wrist gently and my blood pressure appears on screen, information being compiled and organized automatically. He stares at my chest intently for a few minutes and I get a little worried by the expression on his face. Then I realize he must be using his ocular implants to gather data on my heart, looking straight into my body like an x-ray. It's a weird feeling and I get a little self conscious.

“It's all right, Hisao. I'm just checking you for any signs of wear and tear.“
“You...you can do that?”
“Oh yes. I can also see you're a little nervous. Your heart spiked a bit. Don't worry, I like the ladies. Hold your breath, please.“

I follow his instruction and in record time my checkup is finished.
I put my shirt back on a few minutes later. “Everything all right?”

Nurse holds his hand over the computer, his fingers twitching, typing in mid air. He then turns back towards me with a winning smile. “Perfectly fine! I even ran some tests I had been meaning to get out of the way!“

I'm amazed by the speed at which he worked. I usually have to be here twice as long as this and he worked extra today. “If it's so much faster, why don't you use your augments all the time?“

Nurse shrugs. “Not everyone is comfortable with them, Hisao. I do things the old fashioned way unless it's an emergency and I need to help a student as fast as possible.“

I chuckle as I stand from the examining table. “Well, you can go ahead and use your augments from now on. Anything that gets me out of here as fast as possible is okay with me.“

Nurse laughs and his eyes gleam like polished chrome. “I'll remember that. But Hisao, what brought this about? Why the sudden interest in augmentation? Are you considering having implants?“

I give a half shrug. “Sort of a extra credit project from Mutou. I was just curious, that's all. I've been wondering why people get augmented and why they don't. It's not as common at Yamaku as you would think.“

Nurse sits back down in his chair, knee propped up once again. "Well, most the students who come here have their own reasons for not being augmented. Japan is a very traditional country! Augmentation, especially on children and young adults, isn't something that many people are ready to accept. They need a place like Yamaku for an alternative. I wouldn't be surprised though if a lot of the students here didn't get themselves augmented once they graduate and are on their own."

Nurse nods sagely. “But it seems to me that the real thing you should be wondering about isn't what other people think of augmentation, but what you think of it. It sounds like you've got some soul searching to do. It's not a simple question, far from it. It's something that can change your life forever.“

“I know, but for the better, right? It's better than having to take pills and live my life in fear that my heart will give out at any moment.“

“Maybe, but remember; you may not need to keep taking your medication, but you'll spend the rest of your life taking neuropozyne or you'll develop Darrow Deficiency Syndrome and your augments will be rejected! And to be brutally honest, it's a terrible thing to watch. I've seen how easily our technologies turn on us. The more power you think you have, the more quickly it slips from your hands. On top of that, instead of coming here, you'll need to visit a LIMB Clinic regularly to make sure your augments are in working order. It's not a perfect cure for all your problems, Hisao.“

I nod, discouraged. “I know that.”

Nurse nods back. “Whatever you decide, you can come back and talk to me about it. Maybe we can set up a meeting with your parents and I'll try to explain your wishes to them.“

“You'd do that?”

“Of course, Hisao, if it's what you really want!”

I walk to the door to leave. “Thanks, Nurse. I appreciate it.”

He gives me a wave as I leave and I head down the hall back towards my room to get a shower in before class.
I can't help but be preoccupied by the thought of being augmented, about how it would change my life. I keep seeing Nurse's hand and eyes in my mind, except that this time, they're attached to me and not him.

[nemz]

Somehow I actually have a feeling Emi might not like augments either, perhaps seeing them as too much of an advantage, perhaps even cheating. On the other foot, unless she got FULL leg replacements she couldn't hope to seriously compete with augmented runners either, so she's kinda caught in a catch-22.

Also a nice touch to have cyber-Nurse's hiring story basically justifying Lilly's objections, though not without showing big upside in the process.

I for one welcome the transhumanist singularity with open arms and would probably go full cyborg, Ghost in the Shell style, given the opportunity.

[BobBobberson]

I see what you did there, trying to justify the existence of Yamaku. At the very least, it's believable. Traditionalist gonna be all conservative and stuff, as usual.

[Mirage_GSM]

Actually, Emi not wanting augmentation is something I'd believe in a heartbeat. She doesn't really need them. She's already faster on her prosthetics than most healthy people.

[nemz]

Actually, Emi not wanting augmentation is something I'd believe in a heartbeat. She doesn't really need them. She's already faster on her prosthetics than most healthy people.

Technically she already has them... just a crappy lowtech version. IRL sporting events are starting to place strong restrictions on prosthetic athletes because they already are good enough to be sometimes concisered an unfair advantage.

For what it's worth I suspect Rin would turn them down as well, at least with regards to hands. She wouldn't know what to do with them if she had them! Other augments though I could see happening though, like mindlink gear so she can use automated painting equipment to create images exactly as she pictures them and almost as fast as she can conceive of them in the first place, or just an appliance to record her dreams or even a constant livediary for later playback.

Shizune seems like an obvious candidate as well, though nothing visible... probably a similar package to Akira's. Hell, she'd do it just to piss Lilly off.

Hanako I could see really loosing herself to augmentation, perhaps even becoming obsessed with staying as cutting edge as possible... building a better her from the ground up. Quite possibly full body replacement, brain-case and all. The only thing holding her back would likely be Lilly, really.

That's just how I see them though... it's your story, tell it however you like.

[Bi-Polar Hernandez]

Now I can't help but hear the Nurse as Sarif, considering they both have only one augmented arm and everything.

[Kayo12]

Part 3/6

Class goes by fast and I barely pay attention. It's a good thing Mutou is my home room teacher. His laid back attitude towards teaching is the same as my attitude towards learning.
After class just before I'm about to leave, he asks me what I think of the magazine and augmentation in general and I tell him I haven't made an opinion yet. He nods and tells me to take my time, that augmentation has perplexed mankind for years and that he doesn't expect me to come up with a solution in a couple of days.

A couple days, huh? At this rate, I may need more time than that.

The bell rings and I head towards the roof through the abandoned stairway for the lunch Emi promised me. The door at the top of the stairs screeches in protest as I open it and I find Emi and Rin sitting on a bench, just beginning to take out their boxed lunches and begin eating. Emi looks up and excitedly waves. “Hey! You made it! See, Rin? I told you he'd show up!“

Rin looks up, a pair of chopsticks between her toes. She sees me and nods before turning back to her food with a hungry gleam in her murky eyes. I get the idea she wouldn't be all that concerned whether I showed up or not.

I thank Emi for the food and take it. Looking at it, though, the sticky mess looks anything but appetizing.
“This looks terrible! Did you really make this?”

Emi giggles. “Yes, but it's all I could get together in such a short time! Don't worry, it's healthy!“

“It doesn't look like it....”

She puts a pair of chopsticks in my hand for me and closes my fingers around them. “Eat! The worse food looks, the better it is for you!“

“That's a lie!”

“Eat!” she urges me again before digging in herself.

I hesitate at first but then reluctantly try the food . I'm surprised to find how tasty it is. It's actually delicious and it brightens my mood considerably. The three of us don't talk, merely enjoying the presence of each other on the rooftop and the relative silence away from the busy school down below. It's a nice change of pace for me, an opprotunity to clear my head of all these issues and push them to the side for a little while. The three of us end the lunch hour on our backs, watching the clouds float by while we sip on juice boxes.

Despite the relaxed atmosphere, I keep coming back to the issue of augmentation, the thoughts digging their way back into the forfront of my mind.

“Whatcha' thinking about?”

Emi leans over me a few inches away, blocking out the clouds above. Our noses almost touching, a curious smile blossoming on her face.

I blink a few times. “Stuff,“ I cryptically respond.

“What kinda stuff?” she pesters.

I pause. “Personal stuff.”

Emi's face scrunches up in thought. “Is that what was bothering you before?”
I nod.
“Well, come on!” she says. “Tell me! Maybe I can help?”

I think about it for a while before I speak. “You promise me you won't get mad?”
Emi blinks a couple times. “Um, well, okay. Sure.”

I sigh and brace myself. “Why haven't you gotten augmented, Emi?”

She looks surprised by my question and pulls away, lying back on the gravel roof of the school. “That's a weird question, Hisao. Why would I want to be augmented?“

I lean up on my arms and look at her. “Because then you wouldn't have to bother with your prosthetic legs anymore. You'd be able to walk and run whenever you wanted and never have to worry about infection or getting hurt. You'd be able to even feel your toes, if you care about something like that.“

Emi looks up at the sky for a long time, as if testing out the idea on the tip of her tongue.
Then she closes her eyes and shakes her head adamantly. “No, thanks. I'm fine.”

I'm surprised to find she has the same opinion as Lilly on the subject, in far less words. Emi dismisses the idea so quickly and thoroughly. With her drive and determination, I would have thought that if anyone at Yamaku approved of augmentation, it would have been Emi. “How come? Why don't you want to be augmented? If you were, you'd be even faster than you are now. Just think about it! Without augmentations, you'll never be faster than someone who has them!"

Emi lays on her back, her legs moving slightly, her heels clicking against the gravel rooftop, as if she were running in midair with tiny little strides. She smiles and tilts her head at me, sticking her tongue out. "You can't compare the two, Hisao! Why should I feel bad about not being as fast as someone with augmentations? That's like being sad about losing a race to a guy on a motorcycle! It's cheating!"

"You think augmentation is cheating? Is that why you don't want them?

"Yeah, but my Mom made that choice for me."
"Why did she do that?"

Emi blinks at me and remains silent for a long time, turning her eyes to focus on the clouds above. “When I lost....” she stops and then reconsiders her words.
“When I lost my legs, my Mom decided to get me prosthetics and not augmentations. She knew someone who had augments and he had a hard time with neuropozyne addiction.“

I shake my head. “It's not an addiction, Emi. People with augments need neuropozyne, but they're not addicted. I need my heart medication, but I'm not addicted to it.“

She turns her head towards me sharply. “Do you know anyone who needs that stuff, Hisao? Do you know someone who can't live without it?“

She shuts me down with her glare. “No.” I reply curtly.

“Then you wouldn't understand.” She goes back to the clouds. “My Mom decided she didn't want that for me and I'm glad she didn't have me augmented. I don't want that junk in my body for the rest of my life. Every day, a new injection? Every day looking to get the next fix? No, thanks, Hisao. Let other people destroy themselves that way. They don't even really know what neuropozyne does to you in the long run, so I'd rather have a little trouble with my legs now than deal with that stuff in my body. And I don't like the idea of having metal attached to me permanently. With my prosthetics, I can at least take them off once in a while if I get sick of them.“

"Okay, I can get that, I guess. But what about Nurse? He has augments and the two of you are pretty much best friends. Do you see him as an 'addict'? He seems pretty well adjusted and he just got done using his augments for my checkup! Don't you think, in his case at least, that augmentation is worth it?"

Emi shrugs as if Nurse had no bearing on the subject. "Nurse and I don't agree with each other on everything, Hisao. But he's my friend and he knows not to bring up the subject of me getting augments. As for him...well, I can make sure you eat right and exercise, but what other people do to themselves...it upsets me, yea. I don't like to see my friends do things that I think will hurt them, but Nurse is an adult. He had those things attached to him before we ever met, so there isn't much I can do about that. Doesn't mean I have to like it. He and I can get pretty heated when we start arguing about augmentation, so we usually try to avoid the subject. He knows how I feel about it."
She shrugs. “Augments...I don't know. Like I said, somehow it'd feel like cheating.“

“What do you mean by cheating, though?”

Emi blinks, her eyes distant, and she doesn't talk for a while. “It'd be like I was letting someone important down because I took the easy way out. Like I was trying to forget and make it seem like it never happened.“

I'm about to ask who she'd be letting down, but Rin suddenly speaks up, never taking her murky green eyes off the sky.

“Nomiya introduced me to an artist with augmented eyes once. He looked like he had headlights in his face, like he was a car pretending to be a person. It was very creepy. He was nice, but I didn't like him.“

Distracted, I turn my head to face Rin. Am I totally outnumbered here in Yamaku on this issue? “You mean you wouldn't want to be augmented either, Rin?“

Rin tilts her head and catches the long straw from the juice box set next to her between her lips, taking a few slow sips before turning back towards the sky. She blinks slowly a few times. “If I had fake arms, would I have to teach them how to paint or would they already know how to do stuff? Like, would they be programmed to paint like me or like someone else? Or would I have to teach them myself?“

“Um, no. You'd be able to use them just fine. But then again, you wouldn't have to stop painting with your feet just because you had arms.“

“What would I need them for, then?”

“Well, normal stuff. Picking up things, dressing yourself, eating. You wouldn't need other people to help you all the time.“

She looks confused by my answer. “I can do all of that right now. Well, except for the dressing part, I have trouble with that. But Emi helps me, so I don't see the big deal.“

Emi smiles and gives Rin a playful nudge.

“But it would make everything simpler" I say. "Think about it; how would things be different if you had arms?“

Rin looks in deep thought, her face a million miles away. She goes perfectly still for a long time, still enough that I start to get worried. Somehow, Rin has the ability to just...be, I guess is what I'm trying to describe.
I'm afraid I just broke her.
For a while, Rin simply exists and nothing more.
Then she suddenly looks very distressed and shivers all over, shaking her head, her hair flopping around. “No. No, no, no, I don't like it. It'd be weird. Too much of a change. I...I've never had arms. Emi had legs once, so it'd be fine if she wanted them back. How can I get something back if I never had in the first place? They wouldn't even be my arms, they'd be arms someone made for me. They'd be their arms and I'd feel like I was wearing someone's arms all the time. Like when you wear a shirt and you know it's not your shirt and you spend all day wondering who's shirt you're wearing? Would they even listen to what I told them to do or would they argue with me?“

“They'd be your arms, Rin. I'm sure you would get used to them. But, wouldn't they make your life better?”

Rin looks up at me and her eyes focus for a fleeting moment. “Better? I don't think so. I don't think it would make life better at all, just make it easier. Those aren't the same thing. Having an easy life doesn't mean it's a better life, right?“

Me and Emi look at Rin, both of us a little astounded. “Rin,” Emi says, “that's really...um, that makes a lot of sense, actually.”

“Does it?” Rin asks curiously. “It didn't sound like it to me in my head. Then again, nothing ever does.”

----------------------------------------

[nemz]

Emi thinking of the antirejection medications as a drug fix is interesting... I suppose it would make sense for her to also be a straight edge on things like caffeine and any of the 'herbal supplement' sort of things one might find at a GNC.

Still, why didn't Hisao bring up the nurse? Sure, he may well be the 'addict' Emi is talking about, but at least he's a viable answer.

[Kayo12]

Good point, Nemz. Thought I had forgotten something.
Edited for my oversight.

[Kayo12]

Part 4/6

The school day continues and I still haven't come to a real conclusion on how I feel about human augmentation. I used to be so excited about the idea, but now I have all these doubts and conflicting opinions running through my mind.

Home room is a breeze as always. Everyone splits off into groups for work, pushing our desks together. I ask Hanako if she'd like to join me, Shizune and Misha in our group, but she takes one look at Shizune and backs off, shaking her head slolwy. I tell her that it's all right and that I'd be happy to help with her work if she needs any. She smiles and thanks me, going back to her own desk and her solitary task.

With Shizune and Misha alongside me, we begin our group assignment. I've learned better than to talk or get distracted while working with Shizune, but I keep finding myself looking out the window and wondering about how much better things would be if I were augmented. I try to imagine being handed a golden ticket that would give me all the augmentations I ever wanted. I could run faster than Emi for hours and never get tired, I would have ears that could hear a cat stalking three rooms away, eyes that let me see through fog and smoke and that are sharper than a hawk's and muscles that would let me lift trucks over my head. I bet I'd look cooler as well and have a pretty girlfriend. Most importantly, I'd have a heart that would do what it was supposed to and wouldn't kill me.

*SNAP!*

My eyes shoot open and I jerk in my chair, waking up from my daydream with a panicked start. Shizune is glaring at me, her fingers just next to my ear, having delivered the mother of all finger snaps, jarring me back to awareness. Misha laughs, that strange warbling sound she makes filling the classroom and attracting unwanted attention from students and Mutou alike. He flashes us a stern look and we hunker down to avoid his disapproval.

[What is wrong with you?] Shizune signs.

I'm not very good at signing yet; Misha has only just started teaching me in our free time, but I'm getting the hang of it.

[Nothing. Just thinking,] I sign, my movements slow. I watch Misha to see if she gives me any corrections or prompts.

Misha lifts her hands and animatedly begins signing. [What are you thinking about, Hichan? Is it about a girl?]

I glare at Misha for a moment, then look up towards Mutou. He doesn't seem to notice us and I doubt he would know we weren't talking about the project anyway.

I turn back to Misha and shrug, shaking my head.

[Well, maybe if you were working on our assigned task and not daydreaming, thus wasting all of our time, you'd have more free time to figure out exactly what is bothering you,] Shizune responds, tapping her pencil on the papers before us, her eyes narrowed and an eyebrow raised.

[I me know what thinking about,] I respond quickly.
Damn it, I missed something there.

Misha smiles and signs the proper pattern to me and I nod in thanks.
[I know what's bothering me.]

[Well? Then tell us!] Misha urges me on.

Shizune rolls hers eyes and sighs in frustration, trying to focus on the work in front of her.

I pause and think for a moment, my hands dancing uncertainly. [Mutou asked me a question and I've been trying to figure it out for myself.]

[What was it? What was it?] Misha excitedly returns.

[He asked me what I thought about....] I stop in mid sign.
I have no idea what the sign for augmentation is. I don't even know if there is one!

I take my pencil and write the word in a margin and pass it to Misha. She takes it and reads the word, her eyes going a little wide. She flips the paper over without answering me, shaking her head 'no'.
I'm not sure how to take her reaction, but Shizune looks and sees her change in attitude.

[What? What is it?]

Misha waves her hands around, very flustered. [Nothing! Nothing, Shichan!]

Shizune grabs the piece of paper from Misha, the two struggling for a little while before Shizune wins the tug of war. She holds the paper in front of her face and reads, not moving or making any sign of reaction.

Shizune takes a long pause and breathes in deeply, letting it out very slowly. I'm not sure whether she looks angry, upset or just annoyed.

She sets the paper down and looks at me very crossly. [Why are you interested in augmentation?] she asks.

[Mutou wanted my opinion for science club.]

Her eyes begin glowing with a feral light. [It's an assignment?]
[Well, no, it's just sort of a fun thing we've been doing.]

She looks a little disappointed, her shoulders slumping. Then she shrugs and adjust her glasses, twisting the arms a little back and forth. [Well, an assignment is still an assignment, even if it's just an informal one. Is he asking because you've been augmented?]

I'm not surprised she'd come right out and ask that sort of question. Most people would think twice before digging into someone's personal business, but that sort of thing never seemed to bother Shizune.

[Well,] she continues when I don't answer, [are you?] She leans towards me and I automatically scoot back. I'm not sure how to take her sudden interest in me and the way she looks at me up and down is making me nervous.

[No, not yet. But I like the idea of augments.]

Shizune smirks, adjusting her glasses again, looking disappointed with my answer. [Considering you hang out with Lilly so much, I would have thought you would agree with her backwards opinions on the matter!]

I grimace slightly at Shizune's treatment of Lilly, even if she's not around. [Well, we had a little argument about it.]

Shizune perks up, her eyes glowing with interest and she leans towards me again. [Really? What happened!? Tell me everything!]

I do my best to recall the argument Lilly and I had using sign. I have to resort to writing at several points, but it seems Shizune has heard it all before. When I finish recounting the incident, she seems disappointed that the two of us made up after the argument, but she shrugs and seems to brush it off.

[You should be careful, Hisao! Letting yourself associate with someone as stuck in the past as Lilly could have detrimental effects on your future.]

[I take it you're pro-augmentation then, Shizune?] I lamely return.

She chuckles, her teeth bared excitedly. [I should hope so. My family is very closely involved with augmentation technology in Japan. In fact,] she proudly states, [my Father has over 40% of his body replaced with augmentation prosthesis!]

I'm shocked and a little appalled by her statement and how casually she says it.
“What?” I say aloud.
Misha smirks and snickers into her hands to cover her laugh. I keep my head low to avoid Mutou's curious glance. Pretty soon he's going to catch on to us if I don't keep it down.

[What?] I repeat. [What happened to him? Was he in an accident?]

Shizune waves her hand, dismissing me. [Of course not! All of his augments are elective!]

[Well, are they for his job or something?]

Again, Shizune signs in the negative.

I'm stunned by the revelation. I heard there were people who got augmented when they didn't really need it, but I never thought someone would go to such great lengths!

[But that's....] I hesitate, trying to find the right sign to express my meaning.
I give up and write on a piece of paper, 'But that's like self-mutilation!'

Shizune glares at me and rolls her eyes. [No, it isn't! My father is augmented because he wants to be! Who has the right to tell him what he can and can't do with his own body and money? It's his own business and it doesn't concern anyone else!]

[But isn't that taking it too far? What kind of augments would he need anyway?]

Shizune begins signing, ticking them off one by one. [Both legs, retinal prosthesis, infolink, artificial rib cage, synthetic skin grafts, spinal column reinforcement and his left hand and right arm. He even has an imbedded ceramic blade augment, although that one to me is a bit immature.]

Shizune's Father sounds like a psychopath! Who would do that to themselves without a good reason?

[So he had augmentations for...what? For the fun of it?]

Shizune shakes her finger in denial. [It's not about what's fun! It's about the future! My father firmly believes that human augmentation will eventually become the normal state for mankind. He believes that with all his heart, and while he and I don't get along very well, I believe it as well. If there is an advantage, any advantage at all, in work, in school or in life, it should be exploited to it's fullest potential! To do anything else would be to deny our own human evolution and send us back to the stone age right alongside the cavemen! That may be fine for someone like Lilly, but I for one refuse to be left behind!]

Shizune becomes more excited as she goes, signing faster than I can follow. Misha has to help me at several points to understand what Shizune is trying to get across. Translation done, I'm taken aback by Shizune's statement, by the cocky and confident smirk she has on while saying it. Playing devil's advocate, I start to see things from Lilly's side of the argument a little bit.
[And what about people who don't want to be augmented or can't afford it?]

Shizune glares at me, her cheeks flushing. [You're beginning to sound like Lilly,] she accuses me. [She turned down augmentation. That's her choice! A stupid, foolish choice, I should add! If people like her don't want to become augmented, they need to accept the fact that they will be forgotten! As for those who can't afford it, eventually augmentation will become inexpensive enough that it will be available to everyone. At that point, if they still won't accept augmentation, then they will have to ask themselves what side they belong to concerning the issue. Every war is the result of a difference of opinion! Maybe the biggest questions can only be answered by the greatest of conflicts!]

I don't like it when Shizune talks about Lilly like that and her treatment of people who won't get augmented seems hypocritical of her.

[Yea, well,] I shoot back, [you're not augmented! You seem so eager to push it on other people and sing it's praises, what's your excuse?]

Shizune looks stunned, her eyes wide behind her frames. Misha, who has been watching the conversation unfold nervously, looks away and shrinks from the two of us.
Shizune's face turns red as she stares at me, her lip twisting into a tiny, conflicted grimace.

Shizune picks up her work from the desk and drags her chair away from the two of us, facing away from me and towards an empty table where she begins working again, her back straight and movements ridged with suppressed anger, indignantly ignoring me.

What the hell did I do this time?

I'm confused at first before I turn towards Misha. [What's wrong with her!?]

Misha looks back and forth between me and Shizune, conflicted emotions all over her face. She raises her hand several times to begin signing, but puts them back down slowly. Eventually she works up the nerve to answer.

[Shiichan can't have augments, Hichan.]
[Well, why not?]
[She has neuropozyne allergies. It would kill her.]

Wow, I am really, really bad at talking to people about this stuff!

I remember reading that there are people out there who have an adverse reaction to neuropozyne. Everyone who has augments needs neuropozyne to keep their body from rejecting the implants. For those people who can't handle the drugs, augmentation is impossible.

I look over at Shizune and quickly realize that, having a Father who is so absorbed by augmentation, it must be a heavy burden to be unable to be augmented yourself. I imagine it's not something Shizune likes to be reminded of, that no matter how far technology goes, she'll never be able to have augmentation surgery for herself.
Her words about people being left behind seems to apply to her as well. She must be afraid of being left out and alone.

[Is it bad?] I ask Misha.

Misha looks over at Shizune silently working on her papers, bent over them and ignoring the world around her diligently.
[Shichan says that her Father gives her a real hard time about it. He tried to have her augmented for her deafness when she was really young and she almost died. Since then, he's kept pushing to find some way to have her augmented, but it never works. It's one of the reasons they don't get along very well. Shichan's Father is...very intimidating.]

[I bet he is with all those augments!]

Misha shrugs. [Maybe, but he's also really rough on Shizune about it. She doesn't like to talk about it a lot and that's why I really didn't want you to ask her about augmentation.]

I think for a while about what Misha says and about Shizune's problem. Some people could be augmented and don't want it like Lilly. Others, like Shizune, want it more than anything in the world, but can't, whether it's because of their own health or money.

Or because their parents don't believe in augmentation, I remember.

I turn towards Misha. [What about you, Misha? What do you think about augmentation?]

Misha shrugs. [I don't really have an opinion one way or another, Hichan. I don't need them and I don't see why I should get them. I have bigger problems to worry about than augments.]

Misha looks over at Shizune and then back at me.

[It's okay,] I sign, [you can go over to her. I can finish my work on my own.]

Misha smiles and nods in thanks, joining Shizune at her little table. Shizune looks up surprised, but smiles when she sees it's Misha, the two sitting very close together and working at their task.

I move over and ask Hanako if I can work with her. She seems very pleased to see me and we spend the rest of the afternoon working in companionable silence. I don't say anything. I'm not in the mood and every time I open my mouth it seems to open up old wounds, both for myself and others.

[Roamin12]

I enjoyed this chapter, although it would seem as though Hisao all of a sudden became very adept at sign once they started arguing some. Just saying, as it doesn't mention Misha needing to tell him any of the words.

[Kayo12]

Altered and fixed, thanks for the catch. Must have gotten too into the flow of the back and forth and I forgot all about Misha.
Oh, God, Misha, I'm sorry!

[nemz]

Aww man... I expected those sentiments from Shizune but for her to hold them and not be able to act on those beliefs has really gotta hurt. Geez, she must REALLY hate Lilly.