Katy Shimizu, slave of thunder

That lost evening thundered as if God himself wanted to punish us.

Why would the heavens seek to punish a poor district family like mine?

“Mrs. Shimizu, you know how things stand…”

We were sitting together with two men in shirts—contagion investigators, just like I am now.

“This cannot go on any longer. We’re truly concerned about your health and your daughter’s.”

I couldn’t recall their faces, but I could remember the pain in my legs and chest. The rotting flesh in my body throbbing relentlessly, turning my very existence into torture.

I didn’t want to eat. I didn’t want to keep listening to those men. Unable to find another way out, the only escape I could imagine was death.

“Get a hold of yourself, Mrs. Shimizu. You both need treatment, or you will both die. Look at yourself! Look at your daughter’s body! We can still stop this!”

Lying on the sofa, drained of strength, I was terrified to see the S-Flu creeping up my mother’s neck and cheek. Seeing her condition, I could hardly imagine the hell she must have been enduring.

“I’ve failed, Mr. Ato…” my mother finally spoke, her voice weak.

“What do you mean?”

I could remember how hard it was for me to breathe, not to mention the disgust I felt for my own body.

She picked up a white envelope from the table and handed it to the investigators.

“Here’s the money. I had to sell everything…”

“W-wait…”

“There’s only enough for one operation of that magnitude. Removing so much of our bodies, even with the metropolitan government’s aid, makes it impossible to afford two procedures…”

Her words forced me to sit up, unable to accept what I was hearing.

Judging by their expressions, the men didn’t seem happy with her decision either.

“You know what you must do. The quarantine team is on its way…” she smiled weakly.

N-no… This can’t be.

Shortly after, the three of them left our humble dining room. I assumed they locked themselves away to discuss the details of her betrayal. That selfish woman had chosen to sacrifice herself for me rather than let me stay by her side until the end… I would never forgive her for it.

Despite the pain and the thunder, I rose from the sofa, breathing like a pig due to the inflammation in my throat and limping as if I’d lost my legs in a war.

I tried to eavesdrop on what they were saying, but I couldn’t understand them.

It frustrated me. I’d rather die than live, knowing my mother sacrificed herself for me.

So, when I heard those off-road vehicles arrive at my door, I could think of only one thing to do: run.

Run endlessly through the rain, despite the pain in my rotting legs.

Without air, without hope.

I hated my life. I hated my fate. I hated my mother.

I hated the thunder with which God judged me from above—the shouts of the quarantine team agents.

“Run! Run and don’t look back!” Beyond the streetlights, beyond the drones. Lost. Abandoned by my own mother, who now wanted to separate us.

Not even the sting of falling hurt as much as the emptiness in my heart.

“It burns! It burns so much! Get up!”

“Don’t resist, Katy Shimizu!”

“Help me! Mommy, help!”

I couldn’t do anything. That bastard of a mother had set the perfect trap for me…

Just as she planned, I was caught and subdued like a criminal in the filth and the rain. Subjected to an operation I didn’t want, stripped even of a human brain.

I hated her. Hated that she condemned me to live with such a burden.

As if that weren’t enough, she still managed to torture me further. The S-Flu took years to kill her, leaving her in a medically induced coma for an unbearably long time…

Practically in a vegetative state, my mother finally found rest this past February, in Jiguroka Hospital in District 4.

“Now you can rest, Mom. You accomplished everything you wanted…” I fought back tears as best I could, staring at my guilty implants, standing next to the glass coffin containing her disease.

The darkest day of my life.

“Shit… Rest well, Mom. I’ll live as long as I can. Isn’t that what you wanted…?”

Frustrated, I ignored the doctors in the room and ran straight to the bathroom, desperate for a place to cry in peace.

I cried my soul out, indifferent to whatever the world might have to offer from then on.

It was as I exited the bathroom that I met him…

I never imagined that the young man in the lab coat, rushing to the same hiding spot, equally frustrated, would become my partner months later…

…

The scene dissolved into darkness, but the feeling lingered—panic, frustration, and guilt clawing at my chest.

“Mom!” My voice cracked as I bolted upright in bed, gasping for air. Another nightmare. Again...

I scanned the room, desperate to anchor myself to reality. The faint hum of the city outside, the shadows cast by distant streetlights—they reminded me I was safe. Yet the fear wouldn’t let go.

Still trembling, I let my tears fall freely, blaming me for everything they could.

“Help me… Please…”

I clutched the covers tightly, trying to stifle my cry. Alone. In the dark.

Despite all my efforts to live normally again…

Despite having accepted my artificial side—for her.