InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Fool's Redemption ❯ The Most Important Question ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2 - The Most Important Question

The sunlight was fading quickly from the room, and Kagome's uncle quietly rose to switch on a tall floor lamp standing in a corner.

“You already know I joined up with the HREO when I was at the university,” she began.

“Remind me again what that stands for,” her uncle interjected as he returned to his seat.

“Human Research Ethics Organization. There were only a few of us at the time, and I was their tenth member. The reason the organization formed in the first place was due to the growing concern about the potential for human biological engineering after that huge surge in medical and technological breakthroughs a few decades ago, right after the second war. Some scientists were getting cocky, thinking that if they could cure most illnesses from the human body, why not see if they couldn't improve upon a few things as well. Of course, that was strictly outlawed, but there were rumors that some scientists were going ahead with their plans anyways.

“Just after I graduated, we were approached by a couple of top officials in Eona who had some suspicions about a large laboratory within their jurisdiction. They told us that it was very possible that human engineering was taking place there, but because of some very well placed red tape by another official, their hands were tied when it came to dealing with the situation. They couldn't even launch an investigation until they had some sort of proof that there were crimes being committed within the facility. So that was where we came in. They were unable to do anything, but the same rules didn't apply to us.

“They said that if they were able to collect enough evidence of genetic tampering from within the lab, then they would be able to shut the place down. Since we were a private organization and supposedly working on our own initiative from a tip supplied by the government, we were able to bypass the red tape. It was decided that since I had a degree in biology, I would be the one to infiltrate the facility and gather the evidence needed. My credentials were doctored up a bit to make me seem more appealing to them as a prospective employee. It was easy enough to get a job in the facility, but because they were so suspicious of newcomers and having their secrets revealed, it took almost a year of working there before they trusted me enough to show me their `special projects', as they liked to call them.

“Even then, I don't think they really trusted me. They made me participate right away in carrying out some of their worst experiments. I think they thought that if I was someone not to be trusted, forcing me to participate in all these horrible things would break me before I had the chance to do whatever it was I was there to do. Somehow, I managed to get through it, though. I had to abandon my emotions at the door when I came to work everyday, or risk giving myself away. I had to be as cold and uncaring as the rest of them.

“The people we ran our tests on weren't humans, they were specimens.” She spit out the last word with disgust. “With most of them, the experimentation began before they were even born. A huge part of the research involved extensive genetic re-writing, blending, and selecting on embryos, mostly using the DNA from animals.”

“That would explain those distinctive features, especially the ears,” her uncle said thoughtfully, more to himself than between the two of them.

Kagome continued. “If the embryos were still viable beyond that point, they were then implanted into female hosts so they could be carried to term. If the baby survived into early childhood, they were raised in a nursery with any other surviving children, and were left to grow up normally until about the age of six. After that, they were just lab rats. All kinds of things were done to them: experiments to increase growth rate, improve brain learning speed, increase strength and pain tolerance, decrease the effects of fear, increase the speed and effectiveness of healing, and what I thought was worst of all—experiments to remove an individual's free will.”

“A mindless, living weapon,” he noted quietly.

She hung her head. “Thank God most of those experiments never gave those scientists the results they wanted. But every failed experiment only meant that there would be another, and another, until they achieved whatever it was they were after, or until the test subject wasn't able to take anymore and died. Those experiments were horrific. Injections, implants, surgeries, probes...” Her eyes stared forward blankly, widening a bit as she spoke.

“You're tired,” her uncle said gently. “We should stop.”

Kagome held up a hand. “No, it's ok. You should hear the whole thing. It's just that part's always difficult for me.” She took a deep breath and continued on.

“It took four months because I had to be so careful not to get caught, but I finally got all the evidence we needed. The officials took the information we had given them and within a week they had formed a solid case against not only the lab, but also against the official who had set up all the red tape to prevent anyone from trying to interfere. It turned out he was involved with funding the lab's research. He had a fascination with the possibility that humans could be manufactured as weapons.”

Her uncle exhaled through his teeth and shook his head in disgust.

“They informed us they were going to make a move to shut the place down, and that's when I pleaded with them to give me the chance to get him out. They were hesitant at first—they didn't want to risk either of us getting killed. But I pointed out that because of the way he looked as a result of what had been done to him, he would probably never be accepted into society. People would be afraid of him. He had never lived outside of the lab, had never interacted with other people. A world that was still getting back on its feet after nearly destroying itself was no place for him to learn how to be a human being. What's worse, he could have potentially ended up in yet another research facility since he was the lab's only living `success story'. Other labs may not be allowed to copy the work, but they were certainly free to study the results.

“That's when I contacted you. I knew you'd take him and make sure he got to live in a place where he would be accepted. Once you gave your okay, I told them that you would get him out of the city and offer him refuge, and finally they agreed to let me set up his `escape' the day before they were to going to raid the place. You know how the rest of it goes. Most of the scientists didn't live to see all of their hard work dismantled and destroyed.”

He nodded grimly.

She sighed. “In any case, after the lab was shut down, I was taken into hiding for my own safety. The official who had funded the lab was really powerful at the time and knew I would end up exposing him. I can't blame him really, for wanting to shut me up. He was completely ruined at the trial. Instead of defending him, his attorneys tried to divert the focus of the trial to the deaths of the scientists, saying it was my fault for letting `that monster' out and that the wrong person was on trial.

“I used to think they might be right. If it wasn't for my insistence, all those people might still be alive. A part of me still wonders if they deserved it, and if it really was my fault. But it is comforting to know that they won't be hurting anyone else the way they hurt him… and everyone else they kept there.”

“Just how many did they have in that lab?”

“Twelve of their special cases, at the height of their `success'. But most weren't strong enough to survive, or most were simply put through too much, and their bodies couldn't take it. He was the only one who survived.”

“I remember seeing the angry crowds outside the trial hearings when the pictures of all the bodies, especially the children, that had been stored inside the lab were made public,” he said quietly.

She nodded sadly and continued. “It was six months from the time the lab was shut down until the trial started. And then another six months for the actual trial itself. I was kept in hiding all that time, except for when I had to testify in court. The official was a corrupt bastard, and most of his dirty little secrets were revealed during the course of the trial. Ultimately, it was those things, and not his involvement with the lab, that sent him to prison.

“But he blamed the organization and me for getting the ball rolling. After the trial, he had people looking for me, waiting for me to come out of hiding so they could pay me back for my testimony against him. So my superiors kept me hidden. I lived in a little compound on the edge of town for two years with a coworker and her nephew.

“I couldn't go outside, even in disguise. Everything I needed was brought in for me. I still worked for the HREO, but all my work was done over a computer line. I couldn't go out and spend my paycheck even if I wanted to. It felt like I'd been sentenced to prison too.

“I knew I couldn't hide forever though, and eventually the people looking for me found out where I was. We had no warning. They set fire to our house in the middle of the night. It was a miracle we all made it out alive. Luckily, the director of the organization has a lot of pull within Eona now, and he was able to make it so that it was reported I'd died in the fire.

“Regardless, it's still not safe for me there, in case someone recognizes me and realizes that my death was faked to make it appear the official's men had actually accomplished their goal. So that left me needing a new home. Someplace where that man's thugs couldn't find me.” Her expression brightened a little and she grinned at him. “And it just so happens that I have an uncle who runs his own city that's supposedly thug-proof. So I thought I'd drop by and take a look around. Maybe hang out for a while.”

He snorted. “Don't be cruel to an old man. I promised your father I would keep an eye on you, and after years of being denied that opportunity, I am insisting that you stay, at least for a little while. Don't get me wrong, everyone here is free to come and go as they please. Just know that I will cry very loudly and very pathetically if you do leave. You don't want to make an old man cry, do you?”

Kagome smiled. “I guess I have no choice then.”

“Excellent!” her uncle exclaimed, clapping his hands. He pulled a small communicator out of his shirt pocket, pressed its display, and waited.

“Yes, sir,” a female voice came from the device.

“Where are you?”

“Control room,” the voice replied. “Are you ready for me?”

“Yeah.”

“On my way.”

Her uncle put the communicator back in his pocket. “They gave me one that fits in my ear, but then I walk around all day looking like I'm talking to myself.”

Kagome laughed again, but her uncle suddenly grew very quiet and thoughtful.

“You know,” he began, “you haven't asked about him once yet. About how he's doing now. I would think that would be rather important to you.”

Kagome hesitated. “I guess… I'm just worried,” she said finally. “The last time I saw him, it seemed like we were both trapped in a nightmare. Seeing him again… it's something that both excites me and terrifies me at the same time. I want to ask his forgiveness, for all the things I helped do to him, but,” she fidgeted nervously with a bracelet, “I'm worried about how he might react.” After a long pause, she asked quietly, “So. How is… he?” She didn't know what name he went by now.

“Good. Since he arrived here three years ago he has done extremely well for himself. It was a little rough going at first, though. He was very much like a child—he was terrified of everything. But he adapted amazingly fast. He spent a lot of time venting all of his pent up rage by smashing rocks that we needed to have cleared for a new greenhouse, with his bare fists no less! That boy's strength is incredible, but I suppose that has a lot to do with what happened to him early on. After he got most of the anger out of his system he mellowed out and settled right in.

“He's worked hard to earn his place here. Really hard. He's smart too, and an extremely fast learner. He makes a point to learn as much as he can about everything he can. He has a bit of an attitude problem, but no one seems to mind it, and he's extremely popular with everyone here. No one has ever given him a hard time about the way he looks either. In fact, with the kind of people who live here, he actually fits right in,” he chuckled.

Kagome smiled, relieved that his transition had been so smooth.

“It's probably because of all of those things that our citizens installed him as our third prince just over a year ago. But that didn't change him at all. Still works just as hard as he did before, and still just as likely to mouth off.”

“Prince?” Kagome asked.

Her uncle laughed. “You know how I'm called the 'king' here? Well, that title was given to me by the citizens of Alduray. It was just a silly little thing they started back when I first began building the city, but over time it just stuck, and people continued to address me that way. I asked them not to, but they all insisted. Eventually I just stopped arguing with them and let them have their way. The position of prince came about as a way for me to reward my hardest working citizens. Again, the people were the ones who coined the title `prince', not me.

“There are a few small perks that come with the position, but for the most part the princes are normal citizens just like everyone else. They have the same jobs, eat the same food, socialize with the same people and do the same things as the rest of the population. I make sure they remember their position is one they earned by gaining the respect of the city, and that it's not enough just to earn respect, they have to maintain it as well. The citizens tend to treat them a lot like rock stars, so it can be hard to keep one's humility in that kind of situation, but there's never been any trouble with any of them, including the ones who have come and gone. There is very little hierarchy here, which helps to deter those who might only be interested in gaining power.”

Kagome nodded. “I see. It sounds like he's doing well then. What name does he go by now?”

Her uncle paused for a moment, then said, “Surprisingly, he decided to keep the one he was given in the lab. When I told him he could choose a different one, he immediately refused. He said the name he had suited him.” The older man shrugged.

That surprised her. “He's not a demon,” she muttered, still angry with the long dead scientists who had given him the only thing that, during his time in the lab, had truly belonged to him: his name. Inuyasha. Dog demon. It had been meant to degrade him. She couldn't imagine why he would want to keep it.

“I'm going to be honest with you, though,” her uncle added in a somber tone. “When I asked him if he knew who had helped him escape, he said he did but that it didn't matter. He said he didn't care which one of `those sadistic bastards' he owed his freedom to, that they were all the same in his eyes. He wouldn't discuss it any further.”

Kagome flinched at those words. “He saw my face before he got out. He doesn't know anything more about me than that?”

The older man shook his head.

“Then I'll just have to approach him very carefully, won't I?” she said, putting on a resolute expression.

“Would you like my help?”

She held up a hand. “Thank you, but I want to approach him on my own, at the right time.”

He nodded his approval.

A light knock at the door caught their attention and they turned to find a young woman, only slightly older than Kagome, standing in the doorway. She had long black hair pulled into a high ponytail, and wore tight jeans and a gray, long sleeved shirt.

“Ah, good. You're here. Kagome, this is Sango. She will be taking care of you for the next couple of days. Getting you settled in, showing you around, that kind of thing. I'd do it myself but I'm up to my neck in trade negotiations right now.”

“No problem,” Kagome told him, and then turned back to the girl at the door. “It's nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Sango returned the greeting with a bright smile. “I'll take you up to your room. Where's all your stuff?”

Kagome stood and held up her small bag. “This is it.”

Sango gaped slightly at her, but then shrugged. “We'll take care of that later on,” she said with a tiny glint in her eye. Kagome didn't have time to ask what she meant by that. The older girl had already turned on her heel and disappeared from the doorway. Kagome turned back to her uncle.

“Thank you, again. For everything you've done,” she said.

The older man held up his hand. “Don't mention it, Kagome. You're the only niece I've got, so I have to take care of you.”

With a smile and a bow, she trotted out of the room and back down the hall. Sango was waiting for her at the other end. “Sorry to make you wait,” Kagome said sheepishly.

“No need to apologize. I was just giving you and your uncle a chance to say goodnight.”

“Thanks,” she smiled up at the older girl.

“Now let's get you upstairs and settled in. I was told you've been traveling all day. You must be exhausted.”

Continued in Chapter 3 - Rise and Fall