Irina Kaft

In that dark hell, it poured down in torrents.

…

Only that last mission could give me some semblance of peace.

Only the light of my hologram could guide me through the madness.

“I’m coming, Dad!” I screamed, wild with desperation. “For Katy!”

The ink on my arms faded under the downpour, as if the storm was washing away the last remnants of my sanity.

Beneath the summer storm. I sprinted like a madman, muttering all kinds of nonsense. The abandoned streets of that outer district could do nothing but surrender to the storm.

“Wait for me! I can still save the world!”

Judging by the scene I found at Hero’s doors, perhaps luck hadn’t entirely abandoned me.

Shielded by umbrellas against the lights, I stood before Irina Kaft and Ilya Reutermann, who were holding car doors open for two suited executives.

They froze when they saw me—a trembling lunatic, soaked to the bone—standing across the street. I laughed and laughed.

“Today’s my lucky day!”

My shout echoed through the streets.

“Here she is, the only one in the division with spinal implants who wasn’t affected by the weapon. Good evening, Irina,” I shouted, consumed by madness as if introducing her to an audience only I could see. “Good evening to you too, Reutermann. I don’t think we’ve met since you witnessed my mentor’s death…”

“Tore…” murmured the man from Division 1, who, along with the stunned old men in suits, couldn’t understand what was so funny about shouting in the rain.

“Isayama, what are you doing here?” my boss finally asked.

I could barely control myself. Neither my breathing nor my trembling limbs…

“What am I doing? I just wanted to show you firsthand the results of your efforts…”

“Tch…”

“Reutermann, who is this lunatic?”

“You killed too many of my people… My old self knew his time would come sooner or later, especially after that night at Jiguroka Hospital, Ilya.”

Seeing the scene I was creating, countless black umbrellas began to gather around me. They didn’t look friendly.

The closer I stepped to the four by the car, the more intimidating the bodyguards became.

“Eliminating the competition by attacking their spinal implants. Silencing anyone who dared to dig too deep… Tell me, Irina, does Touji know you’re not trying to eradicate implants from the world? That your only goal is total hegemony…”

“Touji Kaft knew perfectly well…” she said, shocked by my appearance.

“Of course, because all that protesting was just a diversion, right? Oh, hold on a little longer, brain of mine!”

Laughter overtook me again.

“Shinpei and Katy were doomed from the moment they became contagion investigators… Yamaguchi-sensei and I just dug too deep…” I advanced slowly toward them, smiling, trembling, enough to unsettle Hero’s executives. “But my father. He died in the name of Hero Enterprise’s marketing strategy.”

“Security…”

“Isayama, stop,” said the elegant one. “It’s over. You can barely stand…”

“Admit it, Irina. Admit that, at least this dying man got it right…”

“I-I…”

“You killed Shinpei. My father and my beloved…”

“Isayama, stop talking about things you don’t understand…”

“Irina, having him here could damage the company’s image…” Despite Ilya’s words, she tried to listen to me.

“Admit that you created the virus to boost your sales. That you attacked selectively, whenever it suited you…”

“That’s right, Isayama.” Her words allowed me to breathe, albeit shakily. I could barely stay upright. “Hero Enterprise will dominate the implant market, and you’ll die from the biological weapon…”

“Thank you…” I tried to hold back tears, terrified that the monster I had imagined was real.

“What are you doing, Irina?!”

“Look at him. He’s not leaving here alive…”

“It doesn’t matter…”

“Fake radical groups. Commercial interests. Espionage against rival companies…” I swayed but tried to make eye contact with the men in suits. “Oh, and the drones that have been watching me, and the quarantine team I saw with Ilya…”

As I pointed, sure enough, one of those drones hovered above us. Their faces betrayed hesitation.

“Gentlemen of Hero,” I said, gasping for air. “The metropolitan government knows everything, too, don’t they? They invested a significant sum of money back in 2299…” I continued, referencing the drones.

“Security, get him out of here.”

“Damn it… It’s frustrating to solve everything only to have to die…”

“Get him out of here. That’s an order…”

“You’ve lost.” I raised the light on my wrist.

“Get him out of here!” one of the executives shouted nervously.

All four of them, including my two colleagues, entered the building, giving me one last serious look.

“You’ve lost, Irina!” I laughed, pointing to the hologram on my wrist.

“It’s recording!” Someone struck me from behind, but they couldn’t stop my madness.

“That’s right! It’s over!” I shouted from the ground, just before a blow to the face shattered my teeth.

Soon, I was surrounded by radicals who had only one goal: to kill me.

Kicks, blows, punches, strangulations… I tried to shield myself, but despite the blood on my filthy forearms, I could do nothing but face my pitiful end with as much dignity as I could muster.

In that whirlwind of violence, they even tore my shirt from my back.

“Quick, check who he sent the video to!”

Whoever was on the other end hung up without saying anything, disappearing into complete anonymity. I hoped he’d at least shed a tear for me.

A frustrated kick to my temple left me nearly unconscious…

The cold rain lashed against my face, and the voices around me grew fainter.

I tried to fight, but my body wouldn’t move. Strangely, I felt no pain.

The blows stopped suddenly on that harsh summer night. On that day, I became prey to my equals—humans killing humans, as if the S-Flu no longer existed.

My vision blurred as the weight of my failure crushed me. All that remained was the echo of her smile, lost in some forgotten corner of my mind as I was dragged away from Hero’s doors.

It was in a dark alley where I last saw his thin, rain-soaked face. Touji looked at me, serious, as if I’d disappointed him…

Even so, in my pitiful state, only one thought crossed my mind.

Katy’s hologram… I never got to see it…

BANG

The gunshot echoed through the storm, cutting through the humid air like distant thunder.

The sound faded into the night. Black. Far from any happy ending.

…

Isayama Tore met his end, painting the sidewalk and walls around him with the remnants of his brain matter.

…

I’m sorry, dear reader, if at any point you thought this story would end differently. I learned as a student in the hospital that this world is crueler than it appears on its surface. That death spares no one.

I only wanted to prevent more unnecessary tragedies. You’ve known this since the day you met me.

I’m not a hero or a brilliant person. I just wanted to rid myself of the burden of having killed those children with my vaccines…

I couldn’t save Joshua Cam or Mr. Todo either. Neither Kenzo Miura or Shinpei.

I couldn’t do anything while my father died before my eyes, nor when I held my bleeding mentor in my arms.

I couldn’t save her either…

Perhaps this ending was the only one someone like me—pushed to the edge—could ever conceive…

In truth, I didn’t fix anything. I only planted the seed of the investigation, just as all those I failed to save had planted me.

June, Year 2308.

Isayama Tore.

S-Flu (Spanish Flu D): 601,236,332.

Humanity: 1.