The Truth about Shion

Chizuru and Shion began their jog back to the transport vehicle. It wasn't a long journey but after only a few steps, Shion found herself becoming out of breath. She must have been more seriously injured than she initially thought. Maybe it wasn't even physical damage but a mixture of confusion and shock after seeing something that looked like her father being part of some kind of crazy experiment. 

The fact that no one could know who her parents were made it even more anxiety provoking. She wanted nothing more than to tell Chizuru, but would she be ruining her new relationship?

 After she had spent so many years alone and without love, would she be willing to risk it all? If Chizuru couldn't keep the secret would Shion be able to kill her? Shion honestly wasn't so sure she could do it anymore.

Chizuru could tell that something was weighing heavy on Shion's mind. Whenever she got all quiet and had difficulty concentrating, Shion was deep in thought. Based on the way she was acting, Chizuru could tell that Shion was immensely bothered by something.

Chizuru stopped running and Shion followed suit. She turned to Shion and asked the burning question that she had since they encountered the man who looked like Adam. 

"Shion? I wasn't going to ask you about this, but since we still have some privacy with comms down, that thing acted like he knew you or at least he knew your name. Did you know him?"

Shion took a moment to catch her breath before answering. Her mind was racing as she tried to come up with a believable excuse, but she couldn't think of anything that would seem legitimate to her brilliant partner. She thought about it more, "If I tell her now, no one will hear me". 

This may actually be as good a time as any since there didn't appear to be any soldiers following them either. Shion would have plenty of alone time with Chizuru too, so it was making it more attractive to tell her the truth.

 Shion looked at Chizuru, and with a wavering and uneven voice whispered, "That man looked like my father, Adam. He was not him, but looked like some kind of cheap clone. I don't know how that thing knew my name."

Chizuru accepted what Shion said gracefully at first, then the more she thought about it the gravity of what Shion just admitted sunk in, and she just sat on the floor. 

Shion turned away from Chizuru, "I guess this is it, right? You will have no choice but to kill me now, right? If you are going to do it, can you at least take it easy on me and shoot me once in the back of the head so they don't torture me instead? Come on. Take your shot." Shion hung her head and stood ready to feel the sting of death.

Chizuru sat quietly, putting the puzzle pieces together. When Shion talked about her adoptive family, she never used their names, there were no pictures of Shion or her family anywhere online, and her parents were killed around the same time as Adam and Kana. Shion said she grew up in the military academies but didn't say which ones. She came in with a lot of combat experience yet there was no record of her having done battle before. In fact, there was no information at all about Shion before she joined OTS. 

Shion seemed as if she knew those farmers at her promotion ceremony too, but Upperclass did not fraternize with Lowerclass so how? How else would she know them unless she grew up around them? Even the ravenous way Shion ate was unusual for Upperclass. Those little quirks which Chizuru adored were not necessarily normal for someone who was born to the Upperclass. Everything was making a scary amount of sense.  

Chizuru was shaking, but she managed to get out a few words, "I won't and I can't kill you. I'm actually happy that you told me. I still love you Shion, no matter what, but let me make sure that I'm understanding you correctly. Adam Cohen is your father? Adam Cohen?"

Shion turned to look over her shoulder, "Yes, that Adam. My mother was Kana Tanaka."

"But that makes you..."

"Yes, I am not what I claim to be. I'm a hybrid. Unlike the rest of you, I was not made in a lab. So in other words, I am a natural born child of the illegal union of Upperclass and Lowerclass.”

Chizuru's mind went back to the face of Adam's daughter at their execution, and remembered something that her handler had told her, "You are not the only spy we have. In fact we have a few who are so heavily invested in this mission that nothing else matters to them but their revenge." 

She thought back on all the times Shion had defied all odds, when she beat Chizuru at OTS, when she became a hero the first time on the battlefield, and what she had just done with the door. Then she thought of that first race and the look in Shion's eyes, and thought about the determined look that Adam had even during his own execution. The looks were identical.

Chizuru wanted to be more upset than she was, but how could she when she had been keeping a secret just as big? 

Shion was crying heavily, at this point and she couldn't breathe through her respirator anymore. She leaned against a tree and knocked the mask from her face.

Chizuru gasped as she started to run to Shion, "Shion no. You'll die."

"No Chizuru, I actually won't. I am neither upper nor lower class, but a hybrid. A true one too, I have just as much toxin resistance as a Lowerclassmen or more.  I am the biological daughter of Adam and Kana, both a miracle and a curse. I'm the real reason why my family was killed. On a more serious note, I am curious. How the hell did you know my father's full name? I can only think of two reasons. Either you know my father, or you know about Project Adam. If you know my father either you helped kill him, or you are my ally. Which is it?"

Chizuru was unsure how to start, so instead she walked up behind Shion and hoped that Shion would remember when they met. She placed her arms around Shion and felt Shion flinch. She must have thought Chizuru was going to kill her. "I love you. I won't hurt you ever. I have a story to tell you. Please listen. Once upon a time, there was a young and stupid soldier. The soldier was nearly killed but was saved by the kindness of a man who should have been her enemy. You see, the soldier was there to stop the man from stealing food, but when the soldier saw the man's starving child she understood why the food was stolen. After that, the soldier could no longer accept anything as truth without knowing both sides of the story. Fed up with all the lies, the young soldier abandoned her loyalty and decided instead to fight for justice. Do you remember the meal we shared when you were young?"

Shion remembered the young soldier her father had saved, but could it really be Chizuru? That would be too much of a coincidence. Was she trying to fool her? 

Shion replied suspiciously, "How do I really know it was you?"

Chizuru answered calmly, "Underneath the bench I sat there were three initials carved into the wood. A, K, and S. I saw them when I fell off the bench."

Shion let out a sigh of relief and turned to face Chizuru. Before she could speak, Chizuru grabbed Shion's face and kissed her. "This has to be fate. I fell in love with the daughter of the man who saved my life. I'm so lucky".

 The sky began to darken and the smell of sulfur began to grow in strength. "Smog storm!" Shion yelled, and began frantically kicking leaves away from the floor. Smog storms were deadly, prolonged exposure would have the same effect as prolonged exposure to radiation. All living creatures were killed within mere minutes of exposure. They had to find shelter, now!

Shion began stomping her foot around until she hit something that felt hollow. "Dig here" Shion stomped her foot. Chizuru dug away a thin layer of dirt and leaves which revealed a handle and a trap door. She pulled on it and the two of them hopped in sealing the door behind them. Inside the shelter were some rations, water, and a bare mattress and pillow. LED lights gave the room a dark but relaxing glow.

Suddenly, Shion's knees gave out. And she fell to the floor. "Looks like we are going to be here awhile," she whispered from the ground. 

Chizuru picked up Shion and laid her on the bed. "What is this place, Shion?"

"The Rebellion has these places all over so we can hide at a moment's notice."

"That makes sense, Shion, there is so much that we don't know about each other. Since we are gonna be stuck in here, why don't we do some talking?"

"Sure I have a lot to ask you too. And we actually have a whole bunch to discuss about some intel I found too."

The two looked at each other awkwardly, unsure how to begin the conversation.