Summary: In a Tokyo that's left behind after a virus devastated humanity, Eli carries on her life in a manner that her previous self would've never foreseen, complete with a family that's even stranger than the circumstances that humanity is now left in: a bounty hunter named Umi and a surgeon named Maki. That is, of course, until it brings her on a head-on collision course with the most powerful person in the Tokyo District, who holds the keys to what she's been working towards in the palm of her hand.

Post-apocalyptic AU, Soldier Game trio centric.

Notes: This idea's been brewing in my head for quite awhile now and I finally had the chance to sit down and write this. Originally inspired by the anime Black Bullet, I finally got the ideas I needed from the Thief Eli and Victorian Nozomi cards in SIF.

Main Pairings: NozoEli, KotoUmi, NicoMaki, and slight RinPana

The title was inspired by fripside's song of the same name. (I listen to too much Nanjolno for my own good, not gonna lie)

T rated for language and a bit of violence.

Originally posted on AO3.

Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from my own ideas.

Case Report # 1107.
Time: 1637
Date: 29/08/2022.
Entered by: Nishikino, Keiji.

Test trials complete. The "Edenra" gene has safely been implemented in the test subjects and all trials are proceeding as planned. Subjects already beginning to show signs of increased stamina and physical strength. Some decrease in mental function noted, will continue to monitor. The success of these trials will be the first step into creating humanity's first super-soldiers.

Tokyo District – May 2030

Eli checked her watch for what had to be the fifth time in so many minutes. Technically, there was no need for her to do so, as she had already set an alarm on her cellphone that would ring in exactly one minute and thirteen seconds, but she felt unnaturally nervous about the job she had that evening, and her habit of obsessively checking for time was one she hadn't found a good reason to break, especially when there was a bundle of nerves currently gathered somewhere in the vicinity of her stomach.

The neckline of her turtleneck tank top felt unusually tight and she resisted the urge to scratch it. It was funny because this was her preferred method of dress and usually one she felt comfortable in, especially for the kind of job she usually did. But tonight, the woolly material felt scratchy and was not aided in any way by the sense of unease that was currently prickling against her skin. She shook her head, pushing back blonde strands of hair and tucking it behind her ear.

Forty-seven seconds.

Concluding that it wouldn't hurt anyone if she left early, Eli made her way towards the door, her heeled boots making some noise against the floorboards. Neither of her roommates were home tonight though, and she paused only to grab her gloves off a hook near the doorframe and sticking them in her belt before locking the door behind her.

Fifteen seconds.

Eli decided to do herself a favour and turn off the alarm on her phone. As meticulous as she was, especially about time, when her effectiveness at her job was counted and measured in seconds and milliseconds, she preferred that she didn't alert everyone else who resided at the large university campus that she was leaving.

The warm May evening smacked her in the face as she descended the stairs behind the university hospital's residence and the smell of some sort of flower hung heavily in the air. She wrinkled her nose: Eli didn't particularly like flowers or the darkness. But her usual sort of clientele liked to function in the evening—and if she was honest, she could hardly blame them. But I suppose this is what I get for doing what I do.

Tonight's client, though, intrigued her. Eli didn't advertise her career in the papers nor did she send her resume to anyone: her reputation spoke for itself. She was used to being reached by phone only—not that she gave out her number lightly. But people who were genuinely interested in her services knew where to find her… or at least who to call. If any of them had dubious origins, she wasn't obligated in any way to accept their offer—if they were pushy, well, she could always call Umi if they got too out of hand. Staring down the cold amber gaze of the bounty hunter tended to be a rather sobering experience for most people.

But the man that had spoken to her the previous day didn't sound like her usual type of client. Eli was used to working for businessmen, weapons dealers and the occasional bounty hunter or private mercenary force, but she had done her research into the origin of the number that had called her and she had been quite interested in why the government had seen fit to finally call her. If truth was told, she had been tempted to turn down the offer, but her curiousity had gotten the better of her—at least, that was what she told herself to avoid sounding desperate—especially when she'd heard the second half of his deal. She was beginning to regret that decision, but it was too late to back out now.

The usual security guard stationed at the entrance of the campus gates gave her a wave as she slipped through the pedestrian gate. The streets outside were deserted at the time, which lent some sense of calm into her.

She checked her phone one more time to make sure that she had the right address, even though she had already committed it to memory. The building the man had told her to go to was right in the heart of downtown Tokyo, although that had just made her more wary instead of assuaging any concerns she might've had. If he's working for the District, why would he need to see me at an office building instead of at the District Building?

That was only part of the source of her unease.

The other had to do with what had popped up on the news a few days prior: a man had been killed in broad daylight near the biggest scramble intersection that still remained part of Tokyo. No one had seen the sniper that had shot him, and authorities were still investigating his death, because as far as they were aware, the man had been jobless and was on the point of being evicted from his apartment—in other words, a nobody.

Of course, that had been the official story, and of course, Eli hadn't bought it. It didn't take her long to find out that the man had worked for one of the biggest private military corporations of the Tokyo District, Fudo Future Corporation, as an "information specialist". The title didn't mislead her for a single heartbeat: she knew exactly what he did and who he worked for, and she could think of several different reasons why he might've been at the top of someone's hit list.

Eli played with the earring that dangled off her right ear as she walked; even now, careful as she made her way into the busy centre of the Tokyo District. It wasn't uncommon to stumble across a drunk—or rather, it wasn't uncommon for a drunk to stumble into her—and alcoholics were the last kind of people she wanted to deal with tonight. The man over the line had been purposefully vague about the details of what exactly he wanted, although he had taken special care to assure her that she would be placed at the top of a security list should she accept. She had also noted that he sounded a little desperate. Desperate people, from her experience, were more disposed to being a little more genuine than the people who promised her things they had no capacity to give. The familiar flutter of nervous butterflies awoke at the bottom of her esophagus, but she quashed it: the man on the other end of the line had sounded very much like he had an important job to complete that he couldn't find anyone else for.

Eli cracked her knuckles as she reached the office building in question. She tended to enjoy important jobs.

The lobby of the office building was well-lit, if deserted. A single receptionist sat behind a polished wooden desk, her light brown hair contrasting badly with the wooden wall behind her. She looked up from behind her glasses as Eli approached.

"You must be Ayase-san," the woman greeted. If it hadn't been for the silence otherwise, she might not have heard her. Briefly, Eli wondered why anyone would hire the world's most shy secretary for their company, but she pushed the thought aside: the government wasn't hers to run. "Please wait a moment while I call the chief."

Eli narrowed her eyes. Not only had their receptionist been briefed about her identity, it was clear they had already been waiting for her. The chief? But the woman was already speaking into her phone, so she took a step back from the desk and waited, resisting the temptation to look at her watch.

The numbers of the elevator started to flicker, counting downwards floor by floor. When it reached the lobby, a single man stepped out, dressed in a dark grey suit and wearing dark glasses, even though it was already nighttime.

She watched as the man looked her over once before approaching her, noting that he was also wearing gloves. The chief… of police or security?

"Ayase Eli-san," the man said, extending a hand in greeting. She took it, meeting his gaze equally as he spoke, instantly recognizing his voice as that of the man who had been on the other end of the line the previous afternoon. She found a dark brown, serious gaze behind the glasses, but she let go extremely quickly: it was against her instincts to let herself relax around government officials or anyone who claimed to work for any sort of security company. "I'm Jun Kouchou," he introduced. "Would you step this way for the debrief?"

She looked at him intently underneath blonde bangs, slightly amused at his strange way of introducing himself, understanding that this was not a request, but a statement. She held his gaze for a few heartbeats longer before stepping into the elevator, crossing her arms as he pushed the button for the fourteenth floor: a seemingly random number in a building that had over forty.

The hallway lights flickered on as they exited onto the landing. The man walked in front of her, opening a door directly next to the elevators. He made a gesture for her to enter first.

Eli was briefly reassured by the weight of the trench knife she kept hidden on the inside of her boot. If Kouchou planned to attack her, he would be in for a surprise—living with a certain Sonoda Umi had its perks: one of them was that the bounty hunter had made absolute sure that she knew how to defend herself. She had been forced to use that particular knife on more than one occasion, and she sincerely hoped that Kouchou, whomever he actually worked for, had done his research.

But the room he had shown her into was empty, save for a large conference table surrounded by chairs. The blinds were pulled, but a fairly sizable amount of light from the street below filtered in through the gaps in the plastic.

She took a seat opposite him, one arm resting on the table, wondering whether she should open her mouth first or wait for him to speak.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions about why we called you, Ayase-san. The long and short of it is, we needed someone with your type of expertise on a short notice."

Furrowing her brows, she rested the back of her hand against the side of her chin. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the incident at the scramble a few days ago, would it?" She watched him carefully as he paused.

"I see you've done your research. Then, I presume, you know that I work for the District?"

She didn't reply, simply waiting for him to continue. To his credit, Kouchou didn't seem fazed whatsoever about her lack of a response.

"Then I'll elaborate. I work for information security for the Toujou family. We're... concerned about a recent development in the Osaka District. Toujou-sama has a meeting with the district head of Osaka tonight. We'd like you to investigate the meeting site he's chosen, who he's with, and what corporations he's been dealing with."

She felt her heart rate skip a beat or two. There was not a single citizen in the Tokyo District who hadn't heard of the name "Toujou"—they were the current ruling family of the district, although the senior Toujou had died a few years back, leaving his only daughter to inherit his position. She was young—around Eli's own age—and there was still a lot of dissent as to whether she was actually competent enough to rule the district. Her current agenda included legalizing the rights of those who lived in the outskirts of Tokyo who had been affected by the Edenra virus, which had led to a fair amount of opposition from the citizens and politicians alike.

Eli was silent for a few moments. "Just to clarify," she reiterated. "You'd like me to be there at the District meeting tonight to find all this out?"

"That's correct," Kouchou replied.

She sat back an inch or two on the chair. "I don't work for someone without context," she said. "I'm sure you know of—or employ—a lot of people who do what I do. Why would you trust this kind of information to an outsider?"

Kouchou finally decided to look at her in the eye. "I assure you, Ayase-san, we wouldn't be hiring anyone from the outside if we didn't suspect that there are a few leaks, if you catch my drift, from the insider network. We decided it was safer to hire someone who has no political ties to either district. Your reputation," he added, "precedes you."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not concerned if I take this information to Osaka tomorrow morning?"

A muscle in his jaw jumped. Eli didn't back down, however, from the expression in his dark eyes; she had long since learned that the quickest way to someone's real intentions was to piss them off. "I think you'll find that that would be rather difficult for you to do," he replied, losing some of the smoothness in his tone.

A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth. "I'm sure," she said. "I'm not interested in taking any of this to Osaka, but what kind of leaks are we talking about?"

Kouchou glanced both ways, as though he was afraid there would be cameras recording the sound of his voice in the room, though Eli had no doubt that the particular room they were in at the moment had been swept numerous times before she'd even walked through the door. "We suspect he's been funding some of the recent Ceresis attacks. As you know, the Edenra virus was produced by a physician eight years ago in the Tokyo District with funding from the government then to initiate a super soldier program."

Eli didn't need his history lesson to know what he was talking about. The Edenra virus had begun as a medical program, supposedly for a new brand of steroids that would make a soldier or athlete faster, stronger, and better than their counterparts. What its creators hadn't accounted for, however, was the effect of the serum on its subject's brain tissue—very quickly, it robbed its victim of anything more than a basic control over his or her motor functions. The steroidal effects turned its victims into twisted abominations that vaguely resembled various animals: the result of recombinant DNA engineering gone wrong.

The Edenra virus had been unleashed one day into the heart of downtown Tokyo when one of its victims had escaped from the university laboratory. Very quickly, it was discovered that the virus in the serum the physicians had used to help administer the steroid had the capability to be spread human to human by bodily fluids. The virus had devastated Tokyo—and its surrounding countryside—within days.

Edenra overrode human DNA in a rapid advance of metabolism: the constant within the variable. The variable itself was the time this needed to happen in—from the time of injection, a victim's human lifespan was measured anywhere from seconds to years. The fully transformed victims of the Edenra virus, who resembled nothing more than twisted forms that only vaguely resembled humans with dark, burnt skin, were christened the "Ceresis". Its only redeeming factor was that because of the sped-up metabolism that the virus produced, its victims' lifespans were short—relatively. After enclosing Tokyo and establishing boundaries of what remained of the cities, the first "natural" deaths of the virus's victims began to be reported within a few years.

Eli resisted the temptation to cross her arms. "I know the history of the Edenra virus," she said slowly. "What does that have to do with the ruler of the Osaka region?"

Kouchou gave her a grim smile. "That's what we'd like you to find out." Standing, he looked at his watch. "It's almost time for the meeting."

She stood too. "I haven't said I would do it. So far, you've only told me how I can help you. I haven't heard anything about how all this benefits me. In fact, I think antagonizing the ruler of the Osaka District paints a rather big target on my back, don't you think?"

He turned to face her fully. "I know you're not interested in money. I assure you that the utmost precautions will be made to preserve your anonymity. Special consideration will also be provided for your personal safety—a courtesy we're willing to extend to both Sonoda Umi and Nishikino Maki. The incident at the scramble, while outside of our jurisdiction, will not be repeated." He paused for a moment. "But you seemed rather interested in the information we had to offer you yesterday, did you not? Information you can't access yourself, that is."

Eli felt the fingers of her right hand clench into a fist, icy stillness settling over her limbs as she breathed in. There were few things that remained in this world that she was prepared to risk her life for, and the information the district had—information that she couldn't access without help—was one of them.

She gave him a curt nod, and Kouchou nodded back, before opening the door for her. He seemed to have relaxed, now that she'd actually agreed to take the job. "We picked this building because of security concerns with the district building," he told her as he pushed the button for the elevator.

The ride up to the top floor of the office building was silent. Eli had the prickling sensation that Kouchou was still trying to size her up, but she refused to give him any food for thought. Arms crossed over her chest, she stared at the dark wall opposite that of the window, thoughts sprinting at a million miles per hour. The district thinks they've been compromised. Osaka's funding the Ceresis attacks. The Tokyo that had risen from the aftermath of the Edenra virus was a new one, but it was one mostly founded on security, especially after the rise in private military corporations and the popularity of Ceresis bounty hunters. There were the inevitable concerns that the Ceresis could devastate the area again, but for the most part, Tokyo's citizens lived in relative harmony. Just what the hell is going on here?

The ding of the elevator disrupted her thoughts. Stepping out, she noted that they were on a floor with no doors lining the walls except for one at the very end of the hallway. Several more security guards stood just outside the door in question, as she and Kouchou approached.

"If you have any personal weapons, I'm going to have to ask you to hand them over now," one of them said gruffly to her.

Eli scowled at him, not willing to relinquish her only method of self-defence.

"I assure you that you will not come under any attack while you are in this room," Kouchou said beside her. "Anything you give up now will be promptly returned to you at the end of the meeting."

She pressed the trench knife into the man's hands, but not before giving him an ice-blue glare as he patted her down one more time, but finding only a small portable OSD. Not only was it not sufficiently large enough to be considered a weapon by any stretch, her job would be considerably more difficult if he deemed it unsafe for her to have. While that doesn't inconvenience me in any way, his superiors might feel a little differently about that. After inspecting it for a few moments, the guard gave it back to her.

Kouchou opened the door for her, and Eli stepped into a darker room, its blinds also pulled over the windows. This time, no light from the street below peeked through its gaps, and armed soldiers lined the walls, making the room seem much smaller than it actually was.

Surrounding a central table were senators she recognized from television, all of their chairs facing a large video screen mounted on the opposite wall. One or two of them gave her a glance as Kouchou led her past them, but they didn't seem interested in her presence.

It was only when they reached the very back corner of the room that Eli couldn't stifle a gasp, and she quickly moved her hand to cover her mouth. There, standing in the corner, speaking to yet another senator, was none other than the ruler of the Tokyo District.

Toujou Nozomi was famous for having inherited the position after her ailing father—a prominent Tokyo politician in his prime—had died, at the tender age of twenty-one, only four years after the Edenra virus had devastated the world. Whatever the media had to say about her and her "unusual" pursuit of political policies, Eli couldn't deny that whenever the young woman appeared on television for any reason, she carried a certain air of charisma with her, and she seemed unusually adept at convincing politicians and businessmen alike that her policies were the right ones. Eli was certain that that ability—along with the necessary smarts to avoid being assassinated—was one of the only things that allowed her to keep her position.

Tonight, she was dressed as she always was when she appeared for televised events: a floor-length mauve gown complete with a hat adorned in feathers and flowers, and her long plum-coloured hair in a braid carefully arranged on her left shoulder.

She turned away from the senator as they approached, a smile spreading on her face. "Ah, Kouchou-san. She came," she observed. Kouchou bowed as he stopped in front of her. Eli took the cue to do the same, aware that even if she didn't think as highly of the woman as she probably should have, she was still in the presence of the most powerful person in the Tokyo District.

"She did," he replied. Eli noted that he shifted his weight from foot to foot: he looked slightly uncomfortable with this particular observation.

"You were convinced she would not," Toujou murmured, although an amused smile quirked at the corner of her lips.

"I… miscalculated the situation," he admitted, eyes fixated on the wine-red carpet.

"No," Toujou corrected. She turned her emerald gaze to Eli, holding her gaze with an intensity that she was not prepared for. "I think you miscalculated her." She extended a gloved hand. "Ayase Eli-san," she greeted. "Thank you for accepting."

Eli took her hand, surprised by its warmth. She struggled for a moment to figure out what to say—there was a piercing quality to Toujou's verdant gaze that seemed to render her usual way of dealing with strangers redundant before she even tried. It was uncomfortable: it was as though the young woman in front of her could peel away the walls she'd spent years building around herself within seconds.

But before something coherent could make its way out of her mouth, another security guard tapped Kouchou on the shoulder—Eli guessed that it was because he was afraid to touch Toujou directly. "The meeting's about to start, Toujou-sama."

"Of course," she replied. She turned to give Eli a small half-smile. "We can speak later, Ayase-san. It's a pleasure to meet you in person." There was a trace of authenticity to her words as she turned away to sit at the head of the large table in the centre of the conference room.

As Kouchou led her to a spot hidden away from the large video screen, Eli wondered whether that small hint of emotion in her tone was genuine or if it was merely the product of being raised and trained to speak to politicians that way on a daily basis.

The computer in front of her was already on. "You'll have access to the server that we're hosting the video conference on," Kouchou said. "Do you need anything else?"

Eli pulled out the OSD from her pocket and pulled on her gloves, wriggling her fingers in the cloth until they fit. She plugged the miniature device into the computer and waited for it to register. Whatever else she felt about the situation at hand—the deep rooted awe at the heart of her unease—seemed to disappear. This was her element: what she did best.

"No," she replied.

"Osaka will be live in five," someone said behind her. The soft buzz of conversation between the senators seemed to dim, but she wasn't focussing on their conversations anymore. From where she was sitting, she couldn't see the video conference screen at all, hidden behind a large selection of cables, wires, and several soldiers.

She booted up several programs she'd written already on her OSD. Each server was different, of course, but shortcuts she'd already made for herself were always a plus.

The screen crackled to life, filling the previously-dark room with a luminescent glow. From the corner of her eye, Eli saw Toujou stand, along with the rest of her senators and advisors.

"Evening, Toujou-sama." An oily sort of voice seemed to emanate from the speakers. "Rather late to be holding this important conference, don't you think?"

Tenjoin Ryosuke was the leader of the Osaka District. Previously a businessman who owned a large corporation manufacturing weapons, he'd quickly seized power when his armaments sold in droves after the initial Ceresis attacks. Eli was pretty sure he felt no actual obligation to provide adequately for the citizens of his district, but like all politicians who had gained the limelight after a successful business venture, he only played the part because he liked the power.

But if Toujou was fazed by his feigned annoyance, she didn't show it. "We've already discussed the reason for the timing of this call, Tenjoin-sama," she replied evenly.

Eli's fingers were already on the keyboard. The server that hosted this particular video conference was no doubt private—but everything was relative. If Tenjoin was half as smart as the businessman she expected him to be, she had no doubts that he would be keeping an eye on anyone trying to access his end of the server by using the conference itself.

Piggybacking off the network function itself, it didn't take her long to discover the internal address he was using. From there, it was a short hop onto the network on his end. She had discovered a myriad of other interesting factors in the process, but Eli was quite sure that if someone had noticed her presence, she would've been booted off already. At least, that's what I would do if I was him.

She cracked his firewall within thirty seconds, giving herself five minutes before one of his tech specialists noticed that that particular firewall was gone. The password for the circuit to his security cameras was similarly dispatched, and images from his security feed began to pop up on her screen. She scanned them quickly, looking through the hundreds of small cameras Tenjoin had installed in his government office building.

Finally spotting the one for his conference room, she did her best to get a shot of the clearest picture before logging out of his security system. She ran a program to enhance and enlarge the image she'd gotten before saving it. Eli noted, with a small degree of satisfaction, that the action had taken her less than a minute. From the way the man was still droning on in the vid screen above her head, neither he nor his tech team had noticed her momentary presence.

Moving on to the next item on the hit list…

She didn't think Tenjoin was stupid enough to bring all of his private business files with him to the conference meeting. Still, it couldn't hurt to check. Toujou probably could recognize all the men in the still of the video feed she'd gotten, but just in case…

Eli scanned his security protocol, but nothing popped up—at least for the conference room. She narrowed her eyes. She could, of course, hop back into his security system, but she didn't have the leisure of time to rewatch all his security tapes for some hint of an answer. She gnawed the back of the knuckles on her right hand, trying to think.

A bright light on the image she'd taken caught her eye. A laptop, partially hidden by a large man at the back of the picture. It wasn't much to go on—for all she knew it could be the laptop where Tenjoin played video games on—but it was something. Let's hope he's connected it to the same server as the rest of his building. Using the same address as his video conference to hide her presence in his network, she found the identification for his laptop almost immediately. Unfortunately, in the background, she could hear Toujou wrapping up the meeting—she wouldn't be able to get very far into his files at this rate. Silently, she prayed that Toujou had the brains to keep the meeting going as long as possible, but it would be unsafe for her to stay much longer without detection.

Eli was able to nab a quick shot of the titles of his files before she had to log herself out. There was no need to enhance the letters on the screen, but as she scanned the names, Eli realized that she had no idea what the file folders meant. They were titled seemingly random names; she spotted the words Scarlet Snow and Red Fog.

But even if they were meaningless to her, she had no doubt that they held a completely different meaning to her current head of state. As the video screen shut off, she heard someone approach her.

"Well?" Kouchou asked without any form of preamble.

She handed him the printout of the two images without giving him the benefit of a response.

He scanned them over quickly—more than once, she noted. Eli was so absorbed in reading his body language that she didn't hear Toujou approach.

"Did she get them?" The question was gentle, unobtrusive, yet knowing in some secretive manner: exactly the way Toujou usually presented herself in press conferences.

Kouchou handed her the files wordlessly. Eli watched Toujou's facial expression closely—the small smile she usually wore whether she was speaking slowly turned serious. There was that same intensity in her green eyes that she'd regarded Eli with earlier as she looked them over. Eli noticed the fingers of her left hand clench ever so slightly around the paper as Toujou turned to face her.

"Thank you," she started. "This… this is exactly what we needed."

Eli tried to read the emotions in her gaze, but it was impossible. "About what you wanted," Toujou continued, in a soft murmur. "I can't give you what you want right now, Ayase-san. It will take me some time to find and access the information we promised you. But it will happen—within a week. Kouchou will call you when it's ready. I hope that's acceptable to you?"

Eli very much wanted to tell her that it wasn't, but she was aware of who she was in the presence of, and who she was speaking to. She had absolutely no desire to get charged and arrested for something that had spiralled out of her control the moment she'd walked in through the doors.

"Fine."

Remembering to snag her trench knife from the security guard by the door as she left, she cast one last glance back into the conference room. Toujou was huddled with a knot of her advisors and politicians, no doubt poring over the information she'd just gotten. Eli grit her teeth. Of course. This is exactly why they hired me—because none of the information that I got means anything to me. I wouldn't be able to tell anyone anything because I know next to nothing about all of this. Eli didn't deal with politicians—mainly because politicians usually considered themselves above the line of work she did. Businessmen were a different matter, but she didn't recognize any of the men in the image. Of course, she could spend time searching through her own personal files for them, but like the information Toujou had promised her, she wouldn't be able to access a whole lot of it without the police coming after her.

Striding out the front door of the office building, she barely acknowledged the farewell that Toujou's secretary gave her. The milky streaks of dawn present in the indigo sky surprised her—had it really been that long?

Eli decided to take a walk. She wasn't a fan of downtown Tokyo and never would be, but she had no particular destination in mind that morning. She checked her watch: 0553. Maki had probably forgotten her keys to their apartment again, but she could sleep in her research laboratory if she'd finished with her latest autopsy early.

Without her being aware of it, Eli found herself at the broken piers that lined Tokyo Bay. The bridges that had once spanned across the water were now broken, and the outskirts of the Tokyo District lay beyond that. Far at the edge of her vision, she could see the neat lines of the long, guarded walled fence that kept the Ceresis at bay.

A chill dawn breeze had picked up, but strangely, she wasn't cold as she stared out across the choppy waters.

Where are you?

"Namidite.

That was the name of the metal that finally repelled the Ceresis. It has no effect on healthy humans not infected with the Edenra virus. However, it reacts almost instantaneously with the rapid metabolism of the Ceresis, melting what remains of their limbs and leaving them as easy targets for the bounty hunters that sprung up in and around Tokyo.

Namidite received its name because it was first discovered off the shores of Japan. What remains of civilization is only possible because large, walled fences made of Namidite were constructed around the major metropolitan areas that are still standing. It is guarded day and night by bounty hunters and private military corporations who frequently go beyond the fence, as well as the national army. The area of these fences were originally calculated by how feasible the walls were to patrol and maintain, although in recent years, expansion beyond the original perimeters has begun.

But whether these walls we've built are meant to keep the Ceresis out, or to keep humanity bottled in tiny areas because we're too afraid to step outside again, I don't know." —Ayase Eli

The Ceresis were inspired by the Twisted from Parasite Eve/The Third Birthday.

*OSD = Optical Storage Device, a small portable data storage unit, often used to transfer data between computers. (Borrowed from the Mass Effect universe since I figured we were going to be slightly futuristic here)

I also probably butchered some science along the way, but I promise I totally studied for all of my pathophysiology exams. I just don't remember anything. :')