Chapter Text
Experiments, a natural occurrence that helps humans develop as a society, and Japan is no exception.
A city known for its technological uprising, and how it’s helped contribute to its citizens and neighbouring countries. It was common to see new tech discoveries plastered all over the ginormous screens that glow throughout the industrial town. Though sometimes, it felt unbearable, because it's all you saw on screen.
These experiments and new findings filled every human’s mind — and it was their exact brain that led to the strangest, yet most twisted discovery yet; the creation of humanoid dolls.
The concept seems fascinating at first, but there’s no silver lining when it comes to saying these dolls were made to kill the very same species they were based on.
‘ASU-NARO’, once a small organisation that upheld strange medicinal values and influenced every corner of the city, was elected into power not that long ago inevitably. But ever since then, the city has been in a limbo between discord and tension.
"To the me I want to become, asunaro/tomorrow I will be." — Their slogan, one people didn’t comprehend at first, but gradually learned off by heart as it followed everyone around like an impurity. Its meaning couldn’t be dissected from the get-go, however came to light as gradually the dolls integrated into society.
These dolls were based on victims of their cruel trials, ones who unjustfully died under cold hands who treated them like products rather than human lives. Every sensation, every thought they pondered in their last moment, transferred and downloaded into their database which was their new, foreign ‘mind’. The vow reflected on their morphed perception on the concept of metamorphosis.
Though, it didn’t feel any different than waking up after a troublesome yesterday.
The only thing divergent was what the organisation intended their life purpose to be: Some of them wanted to be boxers, the others just brave enough to step foot outside, but they were now all given a shared task — Their systems on a risk of shutdown if they did not get rid of their human ‘partner’ each person having their own to assassinate.
It doesn’t come without a reward however, every candidate of this game is placed on a ‘Survival Rate’, and their percentage shoots up if they fulfill their mission appropriately. The rate itself doesn't serve much of a purpose, being more of a social construct, but it does serve as fuel for anyone who wants to come out on top and take matters into their own hands.
However, it was more of a distraction for the dolls, like a tedious notification which appeared often but could be turned off with the flick of a setting. They just went on with their ‘normal’ lives, because what else could they really do? It’s not like the human eye could distinctively tell them apart, only the strange metal collar that was shackled to each contestant's neck could. Nonetheless, the ‘vow’ did undeniably let them continue forth their life, even if it could become a bit rusty.
These weird challenges weren’t even enforced, so they didn’t see much point in acting upon them, so most were living an ordinary albeit decent life.
“When’s some fuckin’ good shit gonna broadcast on this thing…”
A young man by the name of Kurumada (9.9%) sat slumped on the ragged sofa in his humble abode. He groaned as he flicked through countless channels on their cheap tv, unfortunately not finding any sort of entertainment as his finger jittered repeatedly on the ‘down’ button.
“Experiment this…Discovery that…Is that all they can mouth ‘bout these days?”
His eyes were glued to the screen until he heard faint knocks on the birch flooring, turning his attention directly towards an adolescent fixing up her appearance. She was aggressively brushing through her coloured hair as she patted down her yellow turtleneck hoodie, also holding a plastic pink mirror up to her face.
Kurumada scoffed at the kid’s antics.
“Man, where the hell are you goin’?”
He smirked mockingly. The girl replied with an unsatisfied pout, rolling her red eyes towards the open kitchen on the left side of the home.
“I’m going out, duuuh! Don’t you see I’m tryna look good, or are ya blind?”
Her pitchy voice whined as she combed through her hair once more for good measure, she then hovered the mirror closer to her face as she stared at her reflection while batting her eyelashes. She perhaps hoped for a positive response regarding her makeup from the glass, instead she was ‘kindly’ remarked by the stone-cold man on the couch.
“You look like a clown doin’ all that, Anzu.”
He scoffed, and Anzu (8.0%)’s breath hitched in her throat. She couldn’t utter a word, her bubbling frustration towards his annoying banter lodging itself into the back of her mouth.
“W-well Kugie likes it!! That’s all that matters to me! If I'm a clown then so be it!”
She threw the flimsy pocket mirror towards him, which he caught without even reacting — A common way they passed things around the house. She put her hands up to her hips, attempting to seem confident.
In reality he huffed at her tense form, at least he could find some sort of source of amusement even if it meant riling up someone he considered his ‘involuntary-sibling’.
“Ah, your girlfriend, yeah?”
She almost hissed at his teasing tone, her hands drooping back down to her sides. She stomped her feet as a way to unleash her rage as her red face aggressively made its way towards the front door.
“B-be quiet!! So what, s-so what if she’s my girlfriend?! Got an issue with that…!?”
Kurumada waved his hand around dismissively as if he were trying to smack away a pesky fly out of the house. Which he clearly thought Anzu was, grinning while doing so.
“Nah, not a problem. Just don’t act like a damn fool like you did here, alright?”
Anzu puffed and shook her head angrily. Brushing a hand through her bangs again, for good measure. She looked back at him, clearly not taking his words to heart as her eyes still excitedly glimmered at the thought of Kugie, or at least wasn’t trying to…Even if it twitched a bit.
“Psh, as if. Trust me bro! I’m the coolest girlfriend eveeeeeer!”
Kurumada almost instinctively covered his ears from her high notes, fortunately he just sighed through it, creating a distraction for his ears to hear. He ruffled his hair with his fingers and instantly began to retort once more the moment he heard the front door click open.
“ — Just remember, kid. These streets are ruthless, be careful.”
An unfamiliar, warmer, yet authoritarian note came out of the man’s mouth, he meant every word. It wasn’t just some silly threat, but rather advice for the young, stubborn girl who he considers a ‘trouble-magnet’.
“Yeah yeah, I’m just gonna hang out at my girls, I ain’t gonna die.”
Anzu didn’t quite digest his words, instead doing a 360 and becoming the nonchalant one. She just extended her arm up to the sky and waved enthusiastically, skipping on her way out.
“I’ll be back soooooon convertibleeeee!”
Then the door slammed shut, mixed with the sound of him scowling at that god-forsaken nickname she gave him.
Kurumada then let the silence fill the air for a moment, letting the calm simmer before he returned to the fight between him and his boring tv.
“That kid’s gonna get herself killed one day.”
He sighed, resting his arm behind his head, tapping his foot off the panels as he glanced blankly at the screen. Each switch of channel either consisted of showing off new ‘technological advances’, boring debates about of course technology or just blatant ASU-NARO propaganda. There wasn’t much variety, and Naomichi hated it.
“Oh ASU-NARO is just the greatest! Woooo look at all the great shit they’ve done for us!”
He imitated a mouth with his free hand, wailing it around as he mocked the stern tone of the reporters praising the twisted organisation.
“...Fuckin’ scumbags.”
He wanted to tear them down to the ground, but ultimately that wasn’t a choice. The reduction of liberty came in tiny chunks, and Kurumada noticed every little detail — Less emissions of entertainment such as his job, boxing. He was supposed to have a match soon, however that was postponed for unknown circumstances, without a rescheduled date in sight. It was probably due to this new authority wanting control over every little thing that they could get their bloody hands on.
Gosh he hated it so much, firstly they took his life and ‘transferred’ him into a robotic shell, and secondly they just took away anything fun.
“What is the point of living if you have to abide by other people’s rules, and not yours?” was a common thought he pondered whenever his mind wasn’t focused on the bland TV. Inevitably there was no room for your own rules, when the rules shoved down your throat were just so persistent.
There wasn’t anything else he could quite do besides chilling, and he envied Anzu’s adolescent freedom, because it wasn’t her turn yet to bear responsibilities like he did. Though he kept his mouth shut, keeping that jealousy to himself. So of course the man felt disheartened when they began taking away his passion, and inevitably his source of income. He dreaded the idea of working a 9-5 even if he had some decent savings…
He kept scrolling through until a red headline appeared with the title of ‘BREAKING NEWS’. He broke free from his melancholic trance, and he narrowed his eyes once he reached the news channel.
“ASU-NARO Official Sou Hiyori murdered…?!”
His eyes widened, but he didn’t have enough time to react once a brown-haired woman interfered with the broadcast, glitching and burning onto his screen.
“We interrup████████ your broadcast ████████ breaking news.”
“DOES THIS SHIT HAVE TO MALFUNCTION NOW?!”
Naomichi screamed at the scrap, hoping his voice would somehow motivate the television to work smoothly, this came with no avail.
The woman on the screen had piercing eyes; one a bright yellow, and the other a contrasting crimson red. She wore a strange melting crown on the right side of her head, and her long acorn hair protruded up like octopus tentacles. She seemed full of malicious intent, her eyes looming down as if they were locked on their prey. Kurumada clenched his jaw at the sight of her.
“Hiiiii everyone~ ████████ Sue miley! After careful consideration, ████████████████████████ Has now begun! ████████████████ finally, though eventually, enforcing the rules of our wonderful game! ████████████████ We are now entering the ‘SMILEY’ phase! There will be three phases, and this one will bring a smile to our contestants faces! ████████████████ Want a kick of retribution! From now on, there’ll be ████████████████████████ across the city! Defeat them, and ████████████████████████ reward! Stay tuned ████████████████ exciting events that will concur! ████████████████-bye~!
Then the intermission shut itself off, a window appearing in his lenses in front of him. It showcased the survival rate of all the candidates, which he dismissed swiftly as he bore no regard for them, and also his already-embedded target — A young girl named Kanna Kizuchi. She had unevenly chopped green hair accompanied with green eyes, and she had a plastic bucket on the top of her small head. He looked at it blankly before closing the tab for what felt like the thousandth time.
He had no interest in going after her, but his heart began to race from the words that stoic woman muttered that he was able to decipher.
That dumb task they were given at the beginning of their artificial lives? It was going to slowly start to become a reality one way or another, and soon that annoying notification won’t leave each candidate's mind if they want to survive. Naomichi took a deep breath from that bitter realization, he didn’t have the guts to kill a kid…He literally takes care of one, that’d go against his morals.
He may not be the nicest, but he sure isn’t a child-killer. However he doesn’t desire to die either, leaving him puzzled. So for now he diverted his attention to the other confuzzled statements he could make out while he felt the cold collar tighten around his neck.
The woman mentioned ‘defeating’ something ‘across the city’ along with a ‘reward’. He pieced these words together to form an assumption that some sort of unknown force, or rather some creatures, were going to terrorise their city from now on. The idea made his stomach churn, however evoked some doubt as to how true those claims were. Then he remembered; if ASU-NARO is able to make highly realistic humanoid robots…Something only seen in fiction…Their words should be taken to heart, and he already found himself on the defensive, his muscles cramping as he clenched his fists tightly.
He then made another realization.
Anzu never saw the report.
Anzu doesn’t know about the dangers outside.
That helpless child can’t defend herself, and he knows that well.
…She’s dead meat.
He instantly bolts up from the sofa, his magenta eyes wide as he scans for any kind of outdoor upperwear he can find. His irises land on a grey hoodie hung up on the wall, and he rolls with it. He’s well suited otherwise, so he scurries to put on the first pair of decent shoes he could find while complaining out loud to himself:
“No way am I lettin’ anyone get their hands on that kid! …That percentage is MINE!”
He couldn’t ever put a finger on why her percentage was in the top 10, when she couldn’t even throw a punch. Nonetheless, he still felt inclined to help her out, still throwing a little common remark into the mix, not quite sure if he meant it or not.
He was a competitive spirit, and being second place didn’t suffice him enough. Especially when first place was living a secure life while the others fended for themselves, it left a bad taste on his tongue.
Anyway, he didn’t have a minute to spare to envy other people’s lifestyles or to deal with his inner conflict, so he burst straight through the front door into the tense, though fresh air.
He wasn’t the most eager to put his life on the line, but you got to do what you got to do for the hustle — It supposedly comes with a reward anyway. Besides, he’s got fists of steel to back him up if anything goes south.
And, at least he could be able to do something he enjoyed, like beat the hell out of a few people and gain something in return.