Chapter 1

She opened her eyes and immediately squinted because of a light directly above her. She turned to her head to a side on the cold steel table, seeing an arrangement of knives and tools that look like they had been used not too long ago. A scientist walked up to the table with a smile on his face. The spectacles he wore were on the tip of his nose and his hands were gloved. He waved some people over and more scientists came holding either a clipboard and pen or a needle. The young girl tried to move her body but it felt heavy and even turning her head to look at the scientists was agonizing.

"Doctor," one of them said, "This is incredible! This is one of the 20 cyborgs that actually functions properly. The other subjects that have failed are considered to be obsolete and are preparing to be discarded."

"Good," the doctor said. "This one at least looks fine and is alive. But we need to make sure this cyborg in top condition for the war."

Where am I? She thought to herself. What's all this talk about cyborgs?

She felt the prick of a needle in her skin and she groaned as they withdrew blood. "Check for abnormalities," the scientist directed. "In the meantime, we need to do a scan on her to make sure everything is okay."

She tried to open her mouth to speak but she couldn't say a word. A woman came up to her and was recording her observations. She looked up each time and then her eyes settled back on the paper as she wrote. She turned to the doctor. "What's the subject's name Doctor Yamachi?"

"The weapon's name was originally Sorano Hitomi," he said as he flipped through some papers on his own clipboard. "19 years if you want the age."

"It's not necessary doctor." She looked closely at Sorano. "She seems like she lost all capabilities of speech," she commented.

"Probably from shock," Doctor Yamachi tried to explain. "She will talk eventually. Not like it matters- we only need a cyborg to obey and fight."

Sorano looked around slowly not knowing exactly what's going on. A scientist walked up to her with another needle. "This won't hurt a bit," he said.

She began to struggle because out of fear and all scientists moved to hold her down. Sorano tried to kick them but they were had a firm grip on her. The needle was in her arm and the liquid it contained was placed into the bloodstream. Her vision began to darken into pitch black as the scientist disappeared from view.

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Sorano opened her eyes in a room with other people. There were six of them doing nothing but just watching her closely. She got up from the floor of the room and looked at them wearingly. "Who are you people?"

"Hi," said a guy. "I'm Jiro. I'm cyborg number 34. And you are?"

"Sorano," she said. "My head just hurts." She sat on a crate and started to look for a way out of the room. She saw none and sucked her teeth as she stood up and stretched her arms high above her head. Her crystal blue eyes had finally adjusted to the dim lighting. The guy had red hair and a black shirt. His mahogany eyes concentrated on her still because he was observing her. She raised her eyebrows when he cocked an eyebrow at her.

Jiro tilted his head and looked at a tattoo on her left arm. "Your cyborg number is on your arm," he told her. "You're number 1-3-7. And I guess I should introduce you to the others in here as well." He looked at the rest in there, gesturing to each one. "This is Masakazu. Over there is Raidon and Kane. That guy is Zinan. And this girl is Akina." They all mumbled hi to her. "And this cyborg here is Sorano."

Sorano waved at them politely and walked over to the door. She tried to open it but was locked. She gave up trying to pull or push the door open when it wouldn't budge. "What are we doing in here for?"

"We're waiting to go to the military base. There, we'll be program to fight in the war." Jiro explained.

"I'm nobody's tool," Sorano mumbled. "I make my own decisions."

"Brave words," Raidon remarked. "But you don't have a choice to fight or not. That's the same for Akina's case. She's not willing to fight, but she'll be programmed to."

"Then why don't we fight back!?" Sorano exclaimed. "We should be able to take them!"

"Forget about it kid," Masakazu muttered. "We were meant to be weapons and that we will be. We'll never be accepted as humans again."

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Sorano looked down at the cuffs on her hands as she stood between Jiro and Akina. They were in one of the rooms of the military base, standing in a straight line side by side looking straight ahead, keeping their fears hidden. The room had computers of all sorts and scientists walked about talking and setting up equipment for them. A guy looked at a list. "Number 37, it's time to be for your programming." Akina walked up slowly and sat down in a chair. They strapped her down and they put wires into her.

"This is so unfair," Akina mumbled, near tears. She bit her bottom lip has the guy took a wire and placed it in her neck. "I didn't ask for this."

"It will be all over soon." One guy said. He turned to the rest of the cyborgs. "We have the second machine up and running. Number 1-3-7. We're ready for you." Sorano narrowed her eyes but didn't move. The guy turned to the line. "Which one of you is Number 137?" Sorano raised her hand up and the scientist looked at her. "Come."

"I don't deserve any of this," Sorano said. "Nobody deserves this. I'm not a tool to be used by anyone."

Guards walked up to her and grabbed her arms. "Come one," one grunted. "Don't waste our time. You are nothing but a weapon of the military now."

Sorano kicked him in the ribs by a sudden impulse and he crumbled to the floor clutching his sides. Her hands were still cuffed but she was doing okay without them. The second guard pulled out a gun and started to fire at her. She avoided the bullets and with a kick to the hand, the guard dropped the gun. It slid on the floor and she rushed over to it. She gripped the gun and pointed to the scientists. They all stopped moving.

Sounds of footsteps hitting the floor got louder and Sorano ran to a bunch of crates and machines. More men with guns rushed in and tried to bring her down. She jumped up on crates each one higher than the next and grabbed on to a railing high in the room. She pulled herself up and managed to avoid being shot by someone below. She opened a window and jumped out into the ocean beneath her.

"She's gone," Jiro muttered. "She really escaped. I didn't know that she could fight."

"Me neither," Masakazu agreed. "Can all cyborgs do that?"

The general fired three shots into Masakazu's head and he fell down to the floor in pain. "Anyone who talks about escaping," the general said as he watched Masakazu moved on the floor a bit, "will die." He fired more shots at the body on the floor until it became still.

He turned to the guards. "Cyborgs are a top military secret. Go locate her before word gets out. And our chances of destroying all robots are gone."

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"Sorano," a voice called out, "Please wake up."

She opened her eyes and stared into a pair of brown ones. "Who the hell are you!?" The guy backed up from the couch as she immediately bolted up. Sorano pulled out the gun and pointed it at the boy who saved her. He was a bit taller by a few inches and couldn't be much older than her. He had black hair that was slightly messy and his brown eyes held a look of mere amusement.

He raised his hands up in a no-offense-way. "Hey calm down. Don't you remember me? Your childhood friend, Kaname? Sorano, don't you even try to shoot me."

He does look sort of familiar to me, Sorano thought, maybe I can trust him. "Are you really my friend?" She began to lower her gun.

Kaname frowned. "Yeah. That's why I know your name. That's why I know you. Why would I lie?"

She immediately shot a bullet that narrowly missed his head, penetrating through the wall. "Because you might work for the military."

"What are you talking about?" He asked. He slowly walked towards her cautiously, his eyes remaining on the gun. "Look, I'm only trying to help you." His hands wrapped around the gun. "Do you trust me on this, Sorano?" He gently lowered the gun as her eyes stared intently.

It began to slowly come back to her head as if she had amnesia. Those eyes…Those wonderful brown eyes… "Are you Kaname Anayami?" Sorano asked.

He nodded as he pulled the gun away from her. "So you do remember me. I was almost scared for a second." He raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "Do you know your name?"

"I'm not stupid," she snapped. "Just because you are doesn't mean I am."

"Yep," Kaname smiled, "That's definitely you."

She looked at her hands. She remembered the military and the experiment on her. She questioned herself if she was dreaming or was even a human. She looked back up. "Do I look human to you?"

Kaname gave her a funny look. "Why are you asking me that? Did something happen to you while you were missing five days ago?"

She ignored him and looked away. Her dark blue hair hung by her face as she looked down at the floor. "I was missing for five days?"

"As a best friend, I demand you tell me what's wrong So-So," Kaname commanded.

"Nothing," she said. "I'm just tired. I have a big day ahead of me. That's all."

"You could sleep in the extra room I have here," Kaname said. "I'll get you some clean sheets." He walked into the hallway.

She noticed that she wasn't wearing the clothes she had at the military. What was a pleated skirt and a halter top was now oversized pajamas that dragged on the floor and covered her hands. "What happen to my clothes?"

"You were soaked," he yelled from the back. "You figure out the rest. But I kept your underwear on if that makes anything better."

"Gee, thanks." Her voice came out sarcastic as she placed her hands on her hips. Sorano came to the back to meet Kaname. "Where am I sleeping?"

"In that room," he pointed. "The clean sheets are on the bed. By the way, I see you got a tattoo. But I always thought you would get a dragon instead of a number on your left arm."

She rolled up the sleeve and saw 137 on her arm. She swallowed hard and pulled the sleeve back down. "Goodnight Kaname."

"Goodnight."

She got on the bed and went underneath the bed. She put off the light and looked up at the ceiling. "The weapon's name was originally Sorano Hitomi." "We'll never be accepted as humans again." "You are nothing but a weapon of the military now." She held her hands in front of her face and looked at them. They looked human to her eyes but her mind saw them differently as if they were weapons to be used. "What really happened to me back there?"