deernet | 02 | video - text

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02 | video - text | un: ichimonji

CW: Human experimentation, terrorism, torture, medical/surgical horror.

[Hope you like bright, blinding florescent lights. The scene opens up in a place that somehow manages to look both sterile, like a hospital, while giving off the vibes of Doctor Frankenstein's lab. There are computers and machines littered about that are a strange mix of old, retro and weirdly anachronistic and advanced. The tools laying around are a mix of surgical and power tools, and the whole place hums with an unsettling, high pitched whirring enough to make the skin crawl.]

[The center of the room a huge, circular table and strapped down to it is a body covered by a sheet. Several strangely clad men filter in, all dressed in white. They'd look like doctors if not for the blank looks in their eyes and the strange face paint they're all wearing over what little is visible of their face. There is something methodical about the way they spread out around the table, and begin picking up tools. One of them looks on with a clipboard and another heads to another table with an impressive spread of metal parts, and begins sifting through.]

[After a moment, one of them pulls off the sheet an reveals that it's Hayato strapped down to the table. He looks around with a wild look in his eyes and begins to call out, scream at them.]

Let me go! I'll never join you, you hear me?! I'll-

[It's like they don't even hear him, and they go about prepping the table like they're about to perform some kind of ...procedure. He continues to struggle and they continue to prep like he isn't there.]

[After a moment, the one with the clipboard begins to speak. His voice is just as monotone as expected, cold and clinical, void of emotion. He's reading off a list.]

Name: Ichimonji Hayato. Skills: Superior Athleticism, with a sixth degree black belt in Judo, a fifth degree in Karate. We will remodel this man into a cyborg, and he will be the one to finally destroy Kamen Rider.

[The rest begin to lean in, knives ready. Hayato's furious screaming starts to become hysteric.]

Stop it! Stop this!!

[And almost like a cue, they begin. One of them moves in to inject him with something, but the screaming doesn't stop for sometime. The memory fades out after a number of deafening minutes into the operation, where the doctors ruthlessly begin cutting him open and taking him apart, piece by piece. No one comes to save him, and it all goes black.]

[Not long after the memory goes up there's an edit to the post:]

how do i get rid of this someone tell me howdo i take it down please PLEASE

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Shit dude.
And they seriously couldn't do shit about your face with all that science shit?
You got ripped off man, you should definitely sue.

...In all fucking seriousness you want to grab a drink?

Edited 2022-06-01 01:37 (UTC)

[It's been some time and he has not yet gotten the post to go away. For what itself worth, Johnny's reply manages to get a laugh out of him.]

Yeah they said they were going for face as messed up as yours.

More than anything. Want to see a cyborg "get fucked up"? Because it's going to happen tonight.

That's good way to lose a bunch of teeth.
Just let me know beforehand if they're steel plated and I'll grab a crowbar.

You aren't doing it alone, bud. I'll gladly drink you under the table.

That sounds like a challenge. Whoever gets thrown out first, looses.

Don't think I'm going to go down to a cyborg son of a bitch like you.
I don't need enhancements to hold my booze.

Let's see you put your money where your mouth is, Lawrence. You'd better not disappoint me.

[They're going to get so fucked up. Sorry Racoon Room.]

Oh it's on.
We don't accept failure in this dojo, bud.
Whether it's fighting or drinking.
It's a way of life.

[ There's so little context for what's happening or why, and K doesn't understand any of it, but he recognises Hayato — and that's why he keeps watching, increasingly horrified. Ever since the tournament he's suspected Hayato isn't human, is possibly something more like himself, but this... What the hell even is this? It's far beyond any human augmentation he's ever heard of. ]

Why did they do that to you?

[ The implication seems to be that they created a cyborg slave in order to destroy an organisation of some kind...? That text is quickly followed by: ]

I'm sorry, you don't need to answer that. What happened to you is terrible enough without it being publicly broadcast like this.

Whatever caused this isn't a regular network virus or glitch, I know that much. I've been attempting to look into it. I wish I could be of more help.

[It's a little while before Hayato replies back. His initial meltdown over it going up has calmed a little, but this is quite literally his worst nightmare- having this in particular exposed for everyone to see. Any semblance of control he had over how people perceived him has been ripped out of his hands for good, and it's not something he's going to recover from for a while.]

[He keeps it to text when he finally replies.]

I see. Thank you for trying.

[He suspects he won't have any luck, after all. He doesn't know if this is just one of Trench's whims that they're caught up in, but he knows things are rarely as easy as just being able to delete a post.]

[He thinks, maybe if he talks about it, it'll go away. That's always how this town works.]

It's alright. I'm sorry you had ...to see something like that.

Those people were apart of a group called Shocker. They're terrorists. The definition of evil if one exists. They wanted me to be a weapon for their cause.

I shouldn't have watched. But I recognised you, and... I apologise. This must feel so invasive.

[ But Hayato seems willing to talk about what happened, and in K's experience that generally helps in situations like this — so he's willing to listen.

A weapon for their cause. Damn if that doesn't strike an uncomfortable chord. ]

You were able to free yourself? Why did they want you, specifically?
I can relate to being used in such a manner. Unfortunately. But I was designed for the purpose; I'm an android. [ It also serves as a belated explanation for why K had defended Hayato and Penny during the tournament, in case it hadn't been clear before. ] What was done to you against your will is unconscionably barbaric.

[He takes a moment to place the username and finally realize that he was talking to the man who'd shouted to them during the tournament. That person who was working the commentary booth with Penny. That's right, he'd been very curious about him.]

[What a way to finally talk.]

Unfortunately, as you can see, I'm used to far worse invasive circumstances. Don't worry about it too much, yeah?

[He's far from upset with K over having stumbling across this post and not being able to tear his eyes away. He's done the same in a few earlier cases, this week. Whatever this glitch or virus is on the network, it's been ruthless.]

I was. The man they built me to destroy was the one that pulled me off the operating table, probably moments before they were going to brainwash me. Poetic justice, or something. I've been his partner ever since.

As for why me, specifically, I think I caught their attention, being in the right place at the right time. I was there, during one of their particularly terrible plots, trying to protect their victims, and I guess they liked my moxie.

[K's admission gives him some thought, and he remembers something. Penny had been particularly concerned about whether or not his mind had been tampered with, when he'd told her this story. Knowing that K's an android like her, he's starting to see a pattern. Those implications give him a pretty awful taste in his mouth.]

It was. It's a shame to see how often that manner of thinking hurts others across our worlds. Holding hostage someone's free will, regardless of who they were or how they came to be, is unforgivable.

Edited 2022-06-01 06:03 (UTC)

I'd hoped to get to speak with you more at the tournament after what you said defending Penny — I was curious. And now you know why. As much as I hate that your memory was shared against your will like this, it's good to be able to talk with you now.

[ Good for both of them, he hopes. The innate understanding that's possible with other AI and synthetic beings is so important to him; it makes him feel less alone. In his home universe, he'd been despised by humans for being an android, but also despised by other androids for being a blade runner forced to kill his own kind. Before Deerington and Trench, he'd led such an incredibly isolated existence. ]

And I'm very glad he could save you before that happened. That's truly some poetic justice.

I don't disagree. But there's something about having autonomy to begin with and then having it taken away... it just seems worse, to me, than my own circumstances. Though both are far from ideal.

Was it difficult adjusting to your body afterward? Do you still think of yourself as a human?

Please don't feel obligated to answer any of my questions if you don't want to. I'd like to know more about you, but not at the expense of your comfort.

The feeling is mutual, believe it or not. I'd meant to find you, myself, but the excitement of the tournament made things a little tricky. Thank you, by the way, for speaking up for both of us. I genuinely don't think Johnny meant it as badly as it came off, but it did cross a line.

[He knew it was Johnny cheering for him, but that's not something Penny is going to know without having seen them shittalk each other at the bar all the time. That kind of talk shouldn't be directed at a young lady like Penny to begin with.]

[That said, Hayato does relate to that feeling of loneliness. He's but one of a small handful in his situation who understand. They all feel isolated from humanity in their own way, unable to tell people who they are, unable to get close out of risk of putting loved ones in danger, while having to fight and put down the "Monsters" that were brainwashed, with bodies like them but their minds warped. It wears on the heart after a while.]

I'm very lucky, considering before hand he only knew me as the pesky journalist trying to expose his secret. These things come full circle in the funniest ways.

You might be right about that, I hadn't considered the alternative. [He's had so little opportunity to talk to anyone who might have K's experience.]

Don't worry! I can handle being on the other side of an interview for once. I'll just ask you some questions of my own afterwards.

If I'm being completely honest, it was a nightmare. The operation wasn't complete, and as a result my sense of touch has been completely broken for the past fifteen years. I couldn't feel pain, really, which was helpful for my work, but at the same time one miscalculation with my strength could break an arm or worse. It was very isolating, trying to keep a facade that nothing about me was different while Shocker continued trying to take the world apart from the shadows.

As for whether or not I feel human ...that's not an answer I have. I've spent a long time trying to understand what it is, but I just can't pin it down. It changes for me often, depending on the circumstance.

It was no problem. A few years ago I don't think I would've dared speak against a human. Where I'm from, that's a good way for androids to end up dead or worse. But I'm my own person now and won't stand for that treatment, or seeing others like me treated that way. I've been getting to know Johnny a bit better and agree with your assessment... but I still won't tolerate him speaking to any of us that way, unless you're both okay with it. You're good friends with him?

You were a journalist. Is that where you picked up your photography skills? I remember you shot Mako and Wu's wedding. That was very kind of you to do for them.

I'm sorry you've had to deal with those kinds of difficulties. I've experienced similar, but it was by design. A high pain threshold and enhanced strength. When I started physically interacting with people more outside of my work, I also had to learn how to correctly modulate my strength. Are things better for you these days? When you say you've had a broken sense of touch, do you mean all touch, or only when it comes to registering pain?

[ Because goddamn, poor Hayato if he isn't able to experience pleasurable sensations now either. ]

That's understandable. There's nothing wrong with not having clear cut answers to that question. And regardless of everything else, you're always Hayato. I think that's the part that matters most.

I consider us good friends. Johnny is very rough around the edges, but he reminds me a great deal of a friend from home. That's why I'm confident that he does have a good heart deep down even if he's sometimes terrible at showing it.

This is going to sound strange, but I find him refreshingly honest. He was one of the first people to find out about what I am and it didn't really change things between us. In fact, when he says things like "You cyborg son of a bitch" it's almost like he's normalizing it. He doesn't dodge around it like its some loaded subject, he treats it just as normal as anything else about me. Does that make sense?

[This might not have even been intentional on Johnny's part, but just the same, it's important to Hayato. Anyway he is very !!! about K knowing about his photography work.]

They're a lovely couple, those two. I was very happy to do it. And that is where I picked it up!

It was all touch. An inescapable numbness that I came to regard as it's own kind of pain. After so many years I learned to live with it, but it never got easy. Things are different for me now. I think it must be because of the blood and whatever our bodies go through when we come out of the ocean, but I've gotten a degree of feeling back for the first time since the operation. Getting used to pain again was a shock, but it's worth it for the trade off, I think.

You're very right about that. "I'm always Hayato" is an angle I've come to lean on the most these days and I've had many people reaffirm that for me, since I've come here. I'm really grateful for that! I don't think I would have ever been given the opportunity to just be Hayato and not have that clash with the fact that I'm a cyborg, otherwise.

[well. how do you say Holy Shit and also apologize for the invasion of seeing something so personal? hm. he considers just scrolling by but maybe offering a suggestion would be better.]

I will look into it, but it seems whatever is happening with these memories on the network has an influence behind the technological.

Perhaps a mage of some sort would have better luck obscuring it?

[He's had some time to settle down, so when he responds he doesn't sound near as panicked as he did on the post itself.]

I'm starting to think it was one of Trench's whims. This city seems to be allergic to letting people keep their secrets.

That's a route I hadn't considered. I'll look into it, thanks.

Edited 2022-06-02 21:31 (UTC)

Given how often it wants us to face ourselves, one way or another? Yes, I think I might agree with you there. Gods forbid there be a dull moment or a little mystery in our lives.

Of course. If you require further distraction I would hardly be against an outing of some sort.

[he wants to offer something like come by the lab! but uh. given the memory maybe that isn't the most tasteful suggestion.]

[Sheds some new light on that interrogation he put you through when they first met, huh? It probably speaks a lot of the fact that Viktor passed his test.]

At least try to space these things out! I've only been here a few months and it feels like this place is trying to wring it all out of me at once!

I'm getting dragged out for drinks tonight by another friend, but depending on what state I'm in by morning, I'd be happy to meet you for tea again.

[oh yes, the context helps answer quite a few questions he had. honestly he's impressed hayato even gave him a chance, given this. just hugest Yikes possible.]

This is my fourth month here and I can only wholeheartedly agree. Admittedly I feel we may simply be asking for trouble of a more violent kind if we go on like this. I believe the saying is knock on wood?

A shame I cannot offer you coffee if that state is dire. Tea then, should you feel up to it.

[There is time between him and this memory, a good fifteen years, and he has made friends and allies out of scientific types since then. He is capable of trusting them, but not before he screens them first.]

Or maybe "Speak of the devil, and he'll appear". I feel like you're right. The Pthumarians are probably watching. Ugh.

I'm good. The last thing I want with a potential hangover is also being stuck on the ceiling or something else equally asinine.

You should hear from me by 10. Hopefully.

[kudos for well adjustment, hayato. even with the friend interviews, which fair.]

Watching and no doubt eager to look for material. At least some of them.

I will keep an eye on the omni. If it helps I've found the Earworm drinks are both intense yet offer very little in the way of a hangover. Frankly I find it a little suspicious, but most things in the Trench are.

[He does his best!!]

You know, the idea of being some otherworldly entities plaything really does piss me off.

Huh! I'll keep that in mind. That place always strikes me as a little noisy, but no hangovers is a pretty good sell. Of course, I'm testing tonight if I can even get one to begin with. Stay tuned.

Do not get me started on the Moss King in particular, if we are speaking of games.

It is, though surprisingly it is well staffed and guarded. Very little in the way of brawls and general drama you would expect from such an establishment. Regardless, enjoy yourself.

[ooc; if you wanted to do a thread i'd be game but otherwise handwave some tea hangout is good for me!]

[Maul feels damn sorry that this is on display for the man. That looks absolutely horrific and he wouldn't want anyone to have seen it either. The only time Maul went through anything remotely similar, having his lower half reconstructed with part of the system being wired right into what was left of his spine, mercifully his mother had made sure he was unconscious for the procedure. At least that had been done to ultimately improve his quality of life, even if it had to be done in a painful way.

This looked like a group of sadists playing around with someone's body like it was a shiny new toy they had found.]

I would have killed anyone who did that to me. Did you get the chance to?

[That is certainly a good read of the situation. The experimental nature of pretty much all of Shocker's monsters, including him and his partner, had always lent itself to a child playing god, which is not at all an incorrect assessment of Judo, the Great Leader. He is, and always has been, an entity incapable of understanding humanity.]

We burned that place to the ground.

[He won't outright say it, since he didn't exactly go on a revenge spree murdering them all or anything. They were planning a large scale attack, and they had to be stopped. Some of them probably escaped but they sure did set fire to a place packed to the brim with tank ammunition and didn't look back.]

[Maul approves of what he reads. Anyone who would treat another person like that, to just cut up and be turned into something against their will, deserved to die a most painful death.]

That is a fitting end to those who would use you in such a way.

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