Cyber Shogun Revolution

by Peter Tieryas

  Power came into the bridge as the BPG started to warm up. It was an older-styled bridge without the usual augmented controls. Instead, there was a seat full of buttons and handles to drive the mecha. Reiko checked the diagnostics to see if there was anything faulty in the machinery. There was some circuitry that needed maintenance and the left arm wasn’t working properly, which would explain why it wasn’t currently being used. But she’d be able to make it function by rerouting the energy through the chest widget and the alternate clavicle conduits, which were mainly put in place in case the main lines failed. The Labor took two minutes to warm up, but she did a test articulation, rotating it forward, then up and down. The arms were functioning as expected. She checked the interface again and saw the Labor was called the Nagumo. It was sturdy and sufficient for their objective.

  “What should I do?” Bishop, who had followed behind her, asked.

  “Get on the communicator and try to get a message out to call for the cavalry,” Reiko replied. “And contact your sister-in-law too.”

  Labor mechas had interchangeable arms, which meant they were able to swap out a standard-issue hand with a magnet, crane, and power drill as well. The drill was on the Nagumo’s right hand, and its left hand was still in its normal state.

  Reiko looked at the nearly assembled mecha and hesitated, not because she had any scruples about her mission but because she hated destroying a mecha, especially one that looked so elegant.

  “You getting anything?” Reiko asked Bishop.

  “I’ve sent out a few emergency bursts. There won’t be any reception, but it should have gone out.”

  “What about your sister-in-law?”

  Bishop shook his head. “Nothing yet.”

  “Strap yourself in.”

  Reiko stepped forward. The Labor mecha was heavier than she was used to on the Inago and it took a minute to calibrate herself. Her motion caught the attention of the crew members on the ground. Reiko knew she didn’t have much time. She moved toward the unassembled mecha and smashed its head, then its chest, pounding it with its fists. As it hadn’t been fully stitched together, the arm dropped onto the ground. Another strong punch caused the torso to cave in, the wiring sundering apart. The mechanisms supporting the mecha broke apart and it began to topple backward, crashing into the containers behind it. She took the drill in her arm and drove it into its head, destroying the bridge. When she began drilling its chest, a gelatinous substance that reminded her of the biomechs’ skin seeped out. The goo reacted to her drill, suddenly becoming hard. Her drill snapped in half. She tried using her fist to penetrate, but her fingers ended up getting dented.

  “I think,” Reiko began, “this mecha we broke incorporates biomech technology.”

  “Huh?”

  “Take the best of our mechas and combine it with the best of a Nazi biomech. You’d have something indestructible.” She pondered its implications. “Our forces won’t stand a chance. We have to destroy the others.”

  The Nagumo stood up. Even with a half-broken drill and weak hands, Reiko felt they should be able to cause damage to the other unassembled mechas. But as she emerged from the warehouse, a mecha approached her. Unlike the one she’d destroyed, she recognized Pris Watanabe’s mecha: the Sygma.

  “I’ve seen that mecha before,” Bishop said. “That’s General Watanabe.”

  The general’s mecha, Sygma, was colored a bloody red that looked eerily impervious to attack. Its helmet had elephantine features, with tusks that curled toward its face. The chest plate appeared to be made out of titanium rib cages, and all the limbs were bulky in size. The knuckles and shoulder pads had spikes on them, and there were special blades on its forearm for attacking. The Sygma wielded a massive chainsaw it had to hold with both arms, while its fusion sword was sheathed. Reiko also knew it had a trunk blade that emerged from its retracting proboscis to attack enemies that got too close.

  “You think you can defeat her?” Bishop asked.

  “No,” Reiko answered immediately. “But maybe we can ask her to let us go.”

  “You think she would?”

  “Let me try.”

  Reiko pinged the Sygma on audio only. Pris Watanabe showed up on her communicator.

  “I’m suffering a malfunction with the Labor’s controls,” Reiko lied. “I’ve lost control of it. Possible viral infection. Please help.”

  There was no answer. Instead, the Sygma directed its chainsaw straight at Reiko, slicing off the Nagumo’s arms. It whirled around, stuck a chainsaw through the Labor’s engine so they could not escape, then put the saw to their head, which Watanabe used smoothly to decapitate them. It was like a dance, only Reiko was the victim. She held on to her seat, and Bishop was strapped in too. The drop came quickly as they crashed into the floor, safety foam filling the bridge to try to cushion the damage. Neither of them could move. Reiko looked over at Bishop, who looked back. He didn’t say anything, but she could see he was sending a message with his hands. They didn’t have long, as someone burned a hole into the side of the mecha head, and several soldiers rushed in with guns pointed at them. Reiko and Bishop unstrapped themselves and followed the soldiers outside.

  Two figures emerged from the Sygma’s kneepad, where they took a ladder down. Reiko recognized one as Pris Watanabe, the ethnically Japanese pilot who’d shaved all her hair, including her lashes and brows. Next to her was a woman who matched the height and build of Bloody Mary but wore a white pilot mask and white leather.

  “Reiko Morikawa?” Pris asked.

  “General Watanabe,” Reiko said back.

  “It’s been several years since Mechtown.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Why did you destroy our mecha?”

  “I should be asking what you’re doing assembling these mechas,” Reiko defiantly demanded.

  “Do you know the true story of what happened to the late governor Daigo Tamura?”

  “What true story?”

  “About his assassination,” Pris asked.

  “He was assassinated by terrori—” Bishop began.

  “Shut your mouth before I rip out your tongue,” Pris warned, unsheathing her sword and pressing it against Bishop’s neck, causing a line of blood to form. “As I was asking, do you know what happened to the late governor?”

  Reiko looked over at Bishop and saw the confusion in his face. “I do,” she admitted.

  “Then you know this entire government is illegitimate,” Pris said. “Do you know what Governor Yamaoka did to his enemies? To all of Governor Tamura’s henchmen?”

  “Whatever their fate, they deserved it. He betrayed us to the Nazis.”

  “I have no love for the late governor, and I don’t condemn the reasoning behind his assassination. But Governor Yamaoka put my mother and father inside pig cages and dropped them alive into the ocean, along with a hundred other officials.”

  “Th-that’s not true,” Reiko said.

  “I accepted their deaths as a loyal citizen of the Empire and because I believed the deception behind Governor Tamura’s death. But I was told my parents were given poison and a painless death. If they had betrayed us to the Nazis, I had to abide by the decision. But now I understand that this wasn’t about collusion. This was about maintaining power,” Pris said.

  “Who’s power?”

  “Governor Yamaoka, of course,” General Watanabe said. “We believe tradition makes us strong when it’s just a leash meant to bring us to our knees.” Pris pointed at Bloody Mary. “She told me the truth. I won’t be under the yoke of the Sons of War any longer. If you know what’s best, you should join us.”

  Reiko thought about the night of the assassination again. Then of the corpses at the Alvarado Sento. “My condolences for your parents. I had no idea. But I could never join a terrorist group who’d harm innocent civilians to make a point.”

  Pri
s nodded. “You don’t even see the invisible chains that leash you.”

  She raised her sword, about to cut their heads off, starting with Bishop.

  “Not him,” Bloody Mary said as she approached them.

  “We can’t leave him alive,” the general stated.

  “We can if it serves our purpose,” Bloody Mary replied. To Reiko and Bishop, she said, “You two make for an odd couple. I wondered if you’d come to thank me for sparing your lives.”

  “You killed hundreds of people at the Sento!” Reiko yelled.

  “One murder is the same as a thousand. Your delusion is that you believe there’s such a thing as an innocent civilian.” Bloody Mary stiffened straight up and said in a manner mocking speechmakers, “We’re going to commit tremendous atrocities to make our country great again! How tragic it is that you choose to close your eyes to wanton violence in exchange for—what is it? The freedom to waste your time?”

  “An assassin with a social message,” Reiko muttered. “How original. Why don’t you spare the rest of us and share your grievances on SOCIAL like everyone else?”

  Bloody Mary laughed.

  “Watch the way you speak to her!” Pris yelled, kicking Reiko.

  “It’s okay,” Bloody Mary said. “I do have a SOCIAL account, and every once in a while, I do post a kill or two. But interacting through fake avatars on the kikkai doesn’t compare with directly seeing the way my actions affect people.”

  “You mean your victims,” Reiko said, sensing the joy in her tone. Bloody Mary was genuinely giddy, but it wasn’t because of their conversation.

  The whole situation thrilled her.

  “You like to stand on your high moral ground,” Bloody Mary said. “But you’re not even aware of your part in nearly starting a war.”

  “What war?”

  “In Texarkana, eight political figures were assassinated. Governor Yamaoka tried to blame me, but I had no part in it. Yamaoka wants a war with the Nazis, and he was going to blame you two for it.”

  Reiko wanted to shout back in denial. But she couldn’t—at least not with conviction.

  “You knew?” Bloody Mary inquired amusedly. “And yet you still choose to remain loyal. Can’t you tell your feet from your hands?”

  “How did you find us?” Pris Watanabe asked him.

  “The Tokko know all about this place,” Bishop lied.

  Bloody Mary sighed. “Leave it to a man to botch everything. Bring Sugimoto here.”

  The soldiers dragged Stanley Sugimoto to them. He was wearing a thick belt that had a tuna gaff, ruler, and flashlight.

  “You had followers,” Bloody Mary stated with a neutral voice, referring to Bishop and Reiko.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just needed to step out and check the tuna. That lady shot me in the leg.”

  Bloody Mary inspected his knee, then took the tuna gaff from his belt. She pointed the sharp hook end at Sugimoto and slammed it straight into his leg, causing Sugimoto to scream. He cursed her and shouted numerous expletives.

  “So this is how you found us,” Bloody Mary said to Reiko, having destroyed the tag. “What’s the point of having eyes if you can’t see the obvious?” Bloody Mary took out the gaff and this time struck Sugimoto in his right eye, causing it to burst. Bloody Mary took the gaff back out and thrust it into his forehead multiple times until he died.

  The soldiers surrounded Bishop and Reiko, ready to fire, but Bloody Mary stopped them.

  “But they destroyed the Speer,” Pris protested. “If you let them live, they’ll report back on us.”

  “That’s the point,” Bloody Mary replied. “I want the public to know what they know, and what better way than to send them to cyber purgatory.”

  “What’s cyber purgatory?” Reiko asked.

  “You’ll find out.”

  “At least tell us why you’re doing all of this,” Reiko said, motioning to the mechas that signified their impending attack.

  “You still don’t understand?” Watanabe asked Reiko. “We’ve both taken part in many battles, but what was it all for? The glory of men. I thought Governor Tamura’s death would make a difference. But Yamaoka isn’t any different.”

  “If you gave Governor Yamaoka a chance . . .”

  “We did,” Watanabe replied firmly.

  “Do you mind if I ask a question too?” Bishop asked.

  Bloody Mary shook her head. “The time for questions is over.”

  “How come she got to ask a question?”

  “One question equals one limb,” Bloody Mary said to Bishop. “Which would you like to lose?”

  Bishop became quiet.

  Bloody Mary and General Watanabe went back to their red mecha, the Sygma.

  “Don’t tell me you were going to ask her name,” Reiko said.

  “How’d you know?”

  “Because you’re an idiot.”

  “Guilty,” Bishop said. And as they looked at each other, she felt deeply sad realizing this might be the end for both of them. “If we survive this, I’ll have to take you to Ise-Shima for some really good Ise udon.”

  “So you didn’t like the one we had last night?” she asked.

  “It was decent for Los Angeles. But my dad used to take me to the best places when we traveled to the main island.”

  The soldiers injected both of them with needles, and Reiko felt everything become disoriented.

  II.

  Reiko woke and found herself hooked to an IV. Next to her was a woman whose body was wrapped in bandages. There was a liver placed in a glass jar full of liquid by her side. Several limbs were frozen inside a glass case, and the whole area smelled of liquid septic treatment and isopropyl alcohol. The ground wasn’t very hygienic, splatters of blood and human tissue littering the area. They were in a warehouse, and Reiko’s arms refused to listen to her brain’s request to move. She tried lifting her legs to stand, but they too remained unresponsive.

  “Ah, you’re finally up,” a man in a surgical mask said. He was holding a blood-drenched organ which he placed on the table. “I have a few questions for you, more for confirmation than anything else. If you answer truthfully, the experience will be as pain-free as we can manage. You can’t talk right now, so if you can just blink once for yes, twice for no, that will make this much easier to manage. First off, are you a blood type A?”

  Reiko wanted to ask which hospital she was in, but she blinked twice.

  “Very good. You’re not a type A, and I mainly wanted to make sure you understood me. Now I know you’re very confused about what’s going on. You don’t need to worry. The less you think, the better it’ll be. Does your family have any history of diseases that our doctors have not been able to handle?”

  Reiko blinked twice again.

  “Excellent. You’re doing really well. This is going to be a tougher question, as we weren’t able to access your personnel files on this, which were all marked classified. Do you work for the government? Don’t answer that one, because I already know you do. The one I really want to know is, were any organs in your body replaced?”

  Reiko tried to remember, but her memory was a haze.

  “It’s okay,” a nurse next to the doctor said. “I’m reading your parental history. It seems they were accused of committing treason and speaking in favor of the Nazis. Is this true?”

  Reiko shook her head angrily. They were cleared of all wrongdoing! she wanted to scream.

  “She’s still dry,” the doctor, who had serpent scales on his coat, said. “Give her some more, on me.”

  The nurse placed something on Reiko’s head. She felt something sharp stab her temples and electric pulses surge through her body. Were these organ and body harvesters? She’d trained for this kind of situation, hadn’t she? She tried to remember how she was supposed to get out of it.

 
; The doctor brought out a sharp blade that was glowing red. They fastened her arms to a table so they were perpendicular to her body.

  “I like your artificial arm,” the doctor said. “I see quite a bit of scarring where it meets the shoulder. Where’d you injure this? Don’t worry. You should be able to talk now.”

  “W-what—what are you doing?”

  “We’re recording your emotions, your memories, your feelings while I conduct my operation,” the doctor said. “You can try to resist, or not. The most important aspect is to be authentic so the Cyber Bubble will record it and relay it to audiences. But even if you pretend otherwise, it’ll be part of the recording.”

  “O-operation? Cyber Bubble?”

  “I’ll be cutting your arm and replacing it with hers,” he said, pointing to the woman lying next to him. “She’s shown a special type of proclivity with mutations in chromosomes that—”

  Memories were being triggered in her mind, like it was a store selling glimpses of her past. It was a mashing of mysteries and her parents were very understanding, encouraging her to follow her passions rather than chase after a letter on a piece of paper. Grades don’t matter, they’d said to her. Only do what you love.

  A mecha emerged from the ground in the shape of her mother, who then split into two parts, one morphing into her father. Her father did a kabuki dance on one foot and the two jumped on a big chicken that flew up into the air. Other virulent chickens yelled at the two of them, doing their best to bring them down. The whole planet became filled with their angry squawks.

  “Don’t listen to them!” she begged her parents. “Don’t listen to any of them!”

  But everything disappeared and there was someone walking her way. At first, it looked like a biomech miniaturized to the size of a human. It held an enormous ax that it could barely hold up. She tried to withdraw, but her legs were encased inside cement blocks. Reiko panicked, hitting the blocks with her fists, doing what she could to try to escape. As the figure got closer, she prepared for the worst. The screech of the ax as it hit the ground vexed her. It was actually Bloody Mary, not a biomech. Bloody Mary was covered in blood from her face mask to her boots and Reiko braced herself for an attack. Blood was darker than in portical films, not that bright red but a darker hue that soaked into her organic suit. But Bloody Mary didn’t see her, walking past her. Behind them were hundreds of people, helplessly fallen on the ground. Reiko tried to yell at them, “Run! You have to run!”