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myOtaku.com: Neko Nana Mode


Wednesday, April 25, 2007


As requested...
Note: This is part of a larger chapter but can sit as a slight look into the characters of my novel.
(It's also long)

Biku stood quietly in the corner of the sterile, florescent lit room. Vermillion sat sternly across from a battered young man who had surprisingly survived the explosion. The two stared intensely at each other waiting for the other to break. Biku had been in interrogations before but none were like this one, so set in mind games. Since coming into the room, the smile Vermillion wore was one that made Biku feel uneasy. Though, recently, many things about Vermillion have mad him feel uneasy.

Vermillion leaned back in his chair and sighed, “Right, well, that’s gotten us no where.” He opened the brown folder that sat in front of him and slowly flipped through the papers, “You have information. We need information. You want to live. A deal, perhaps?”
The man continued to stare silently blankly at Vermillion.
“You train for this stuff don’t you,” Vermillion paused and looked at the top paper in the file, “Mr. Yardgon. So I guess regular mind games won’t work.” He got up and rounded the table, stopping behind the man. He leaned in close and placed a hand over the man’s data ports, “I wanted to just go in and hack your ghost for the information but I figured you being a perfect soldier an all, you’d have a suicide bomb set as a last resort.” He whispered quietly into the man’s ear, “What I want to know now, is what you are afraid of.” Vermillion straightened and twirled to the man’s side placing a hand on his shoulder, “Of all the things you’ve seen and done, what do you fear most? Probably isn’t pain. Definitely not death. What could it be?” Vermillion circled the table several times before returning to his seat. He looked at the man, his smile brighter than before, “We’ve been holding you for a few days now. I’m sure you want to just talk, no information, off the record. Maybe you could tell me about your hometown. What schools you went to. Small talk.”
The man shifted slightly, probably numb from sitting for so long.
“What makes me wonder is how a young, promising man such as yourself would join this renegade group. In truth, I hold nothing against the Federation in general, it’s just that the Union pays better.” Vermillion reached into his jackets inner pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He offered one to the man, he refused. Vermillion returned the pack to the pocket, “I don’t smoke much either, but I find that sometimes it helps others in your position.” He leaned forward, resting his chin on the back of his hands, “I think a lot, did you know that? And sometimes I come up with great ideas. It may be a bit sudden, but I think you need a little exercise. A walk around the area. What do you think?”
The man shrugged.

Vermillion stood up and clasped his hands, “Good.”
The door opened and a guard came in taking the man from the room. When the door closed, Vermillion ran his hand over the file making it disappear. He looked at Biku, “I suggest you call it a day. You won’t like what come next.”
“And what would that be?” Biku asked as he came out of the corner.
“If I tell you, you might try and stop me. I said you won’t like it.” Vermillion tapped a few buttons on the panel by the door. The door opened, but instead of the hall it went into an empty room, “If you are that curious, I won’t stop you. But I will not allow you to interfere.”
Biku shook his head and followed Vermillion into the room.

The new room was much like the old one, just without the table and chairs. There were others near by, but Biku couldn’t tell who. He could also hear faint sounds, like people whispering in another room. Vermillion stood next to him staring intently at a blank wall. Ever since the other incident, Vermillion has been acting more aggressive. Almost as though Kain had permanently taken over. Yet, whenever his daughter is around he always returns to the same man Biku met months ago. It is true that many thing have been going on that have destabilized most of the current galactic activity, but Biku never figured Vermillion would let it get to him.

Vermillion looked over at the door as the guard brought the man in. He then walked over to the man and put an arm around him, smiling again, “Remember when I asked what you feared? Well, truth be told I kinda knew already.” He brought the man to the center of the room and faced the man toward the wall he was looking at earlier, “Most of us are alike, you know. Deep down we all fear the same things. I have a family too, you know.” At that, the man stiffened. The uneasy feelings returned to Biku. “And one of the things I so dearly try to do is protect them. I’m sure you have the same feelings. A loving wife and daughter. Same as me.” Vermillion’s eyes narrow like a predator about to pounce his prey, “It’s just that I do a hell of a better job at it than you.” He motioned to the wall and a small window appeared.

Through the window was another, smaller room. In it sat a beautiful woman with a young girl in her lap, reading a book. In the back corners of the room stood two guards. The man clinched his fists, “It’s just an illusion.”
Vermillion laughed slightly, walked over to the window and tapped on it. The woman and girl looked up. Within seconds the girl was out of the woman’s lap and at the window, “Is that you daddy?” The man stared in shock, “Daddy, please get us out, I’m scared.”
The man was now shaking in vivid anger, “What the fuck is this?”
Vermillion turned to look at the man, “Just what it looks like. We took the liberty of finding your family.”
The girl banged on the window, “Daddy, say something. I’m scared and mommy is too.”
The man walked up to the window, the girl smiled and placed her hands against the glass. He put his hands on hers, “You wouldn’t. They really aren’t here.”
The girl’s smile disappeared and the fear returned, “I can’t hear you daddy. Please, I want to go home.”
The man looked at Vermillion and back at the girl, “This is bullshit.” He pushed off the window and began to pace.
The girl began to cry causing the woman to take her back to the chair. Biku watched dumbfounded. What the hell is Vermillion thinking? This is not right. Vermillion glared at Biku, almost as though he could hear his thoughts.
The man stopped pacing, “They can’t really be here.”
Vermillion leaned against the window and looked hungrily at the prisoners, “I’m a very impatient person and I also don’t take kindly to people calling me a liar.”
The man turned sharply and glared at Vermillion.
Vermillion shrugged, “Fine.” He nodded to the guards.

One guard tore the daughter from her mother and the other stood towering over the mother. The daughter’s crying grew louder and turned into pained screams as the other guard started to slap around her mother. The man grew rigid, biting his lower lip. Biku started to feel sick. Vermillion looked at the man, “I give you credit, but come on, what if they really are your family.” He tapped on the window. The guard that was assaulting the mother pulled out a knife and cut open her shirt began to grope at her chest, “The more you resist, the worst it gets.” Biku looked away from the scene. “I’m a reasonable man. You know. So I’ll tell you what is next. You’ve got five seconds to agree or I’ll let them have the fun I promised before taking the family.”
The man looked at his family; his wife struggled against the guard as he continued to molest her while his daughter was flailing against the grip of the other guard in sheer horror. Their painful, agonizing cries continued to fill the silence. The man himself began to cry.

Vermillion walked up to him and looked him square in the face, “Times up.” He looked at the window, “Rape them.” The window disappeared, but the ear piercing screams of the daughter could still be heard clearly.
The man fell to the floor, weeping, “Okay, okay. Please just stop it. Please.” He looked pleadingly at Vermillion.
Vermillion rubbed his chin slowly, the screams now mixed with grunts of sorrowful pleasure, “Fine.” He looked at the window, “Stop. Sedate them and return them to their room.” Within seconds the screams died. Vermillion looked at the man, “If you set off that bomb of yours, I don’t think I have to tell you what happens.” The man stood up and accepted the cord Vermillion held out, placing it in one of his ports. The two stood there quietly as Vermillion downloaded the information. Once finished, the guard by the door took the man away.
In a flash, Biku had Vermillion by his throat; dark waves filled the room, “What the hell are you doing?” He growled, “How can you stoop so low?”
Vermillion laughed sardonically, “I told you you wouldn’t like it.”
Biku tighten his grip, but Vermillion didn’t seem to be affected, “They were innocent people, and to beat them, to RAPE them, what the hell are you becoming?”
The door to the room opened. Anika, Omoikane and the two guards from the other room walked in. Omoikane looked at Biku, “So he followed you.”
Vermillion stepped back, his neck becoming like mist, leaving Biku’s grasp, “That was a good performance. I almost started to believe it.”
Anika motioned to the guard who was assaulting the mother, “I think he was too into it.”
Omoikane sighed, “If you ask me, I still feel sick.”
“What the hell is going on?!” Biku snarled.
Vermillion looked at him and smiled in the same disturbing way as before, “It was all a play. Once the window closed, our two actresses just went about making the sounds. If you’re worried about the family, they are currently in the mess hall having a late lunch.”
“A play.” Biku glared at the group.
Omoikane crossed her arms, “Did you really think that Vermillion would really do something like that?”
Anika shuttered, “I had a hard enough time acting. I could never condone the real thing.”
The smile left Vermillion’s face leaving a very serious look, “Things are happening behind the scenes that even the government doesn’t know about. While I may never use actual victims, I will, however, use what ever resources I have at my disposal. In this case, to people with holographic bodies. If Nagie would agree to similar acting, or if someone takes my place as the bad guy, then either of us could have been in that room.”
The dark waves dissipated as Biku shook off his anger, “What are you going to do with the family?”
“Find a nice place where they can live in protective custody until things get resolved. As far as the father, he should be reuniting with his family about now.” Vermillion smiled, a regular smile, “Did you think I’d keep them separated?” Biku grit his teeth and left the room

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