Broken Brothers

"After the war came to an end an assault on the factory and company that orchestrated everything was the final target. The factories were destroyed and the employees either killed or arrested. The President of the company disappeared and his whereabouts remain to this day unknown. The war was over, but the path of the machines was forever altered.

"Some believe that fighting is the only way to prove that you lived, but existence is a struggle of more than against another…"

Herbert Stein, Machine Historian -

"No…no…everyone…they're all dead!" Satoru slid down against the back of the elevator. Everyone that he knew was gone now. They were dead and he could do nothing to prevent it. He couldn’t even save Kazuhiko when he needed help. All he had been able to do was freeze when the time came. 'How could I let them…Kazuhiko… Chiyoko… Natsuko… Tadashi…' He could see them flash before his eyes, only making it worse for him to remember. They weren’t with him anymore.

The elevator came to an end, opening up to a new room that was untouched. Satoru didn’t want to leave. He had no will to push himself forward anymore. The doors hung open waiting for him to exit. Time slowly passed as soldiers stormed through the facility eliminating any resistance that they met quickly. The people that stood up to them were becoming fewer by the minute.

In the distance there was a footstep that went unnoticed by Satoru. A figure appeared finding Satoru still collapsed at the floor of the elevator. "So this is where you are, Satoru. You look pathetic there crying over those who are already dead."

"Kiyoshi!" Satoru immediately recognized the voice without needing to look up. Once he knew that Kiyoshi was near it gave him the strength in his body to move again. He stood up walking out of the elevator seeing Kiyoshi standing off at the other end of the room. "Damn you! You knew them as well. How can you do this?"

"Its quite simple. It must be done," he said looking around the room. Kiyoshi stepped forward a little watching Satoru. "Machines were a mistake. They should have never been created."

"You're wrong!" Satoru said, throwing out his arms. He walked around the room starting to circle with Kiyoshi as they kept their distance. "Machines are more! They have a life, a spark of a soul!"

Kiyoshi knew that he would be having this argument with Satoru. It almost made him smile knowing that he was actually in these shoes this time rather than defending him. Nonetheless time was bought by indulging Satoru. "And what have they done with that life? They've tossed it away just like mankind. You know the creators of the atom bomb regretted its creation when they saw the destructive power of it. The same was with the creators of the machines. They regretted it, but one naïve individual thought that they could be more and walk side by side with us. We stepped on the toes of God and this is his punishment to sinner and sin!"

Satoru wanted to stop, but he didn’t know what Kiyoshi was planning. He knew that there was more going on that he didn’t realize and until he figured it out he had wade through his time. However, the debate he was having was a subject that he never thought he would be having with Kiyoshi. Until a week ago he thought that they were more or less thinking similar, or hoped. He didn’t know Kiyoshi anymore. "They didn't regret it! They all saw the potential in them."

"How history lies in the face of the truth. History is written by the winners, not the losers." Kiyoshi wondered how Satoru would react if he actually knew the truth. Satoru only thought that he knew, but it was just simply what he had been taught. Everyone thought the same thing thanks to the education system. "The truth becomes buried."

"How can you know? What proof do you have?" Satoru tried to figure out what Kiyoshi was playing at with this supposed history lesson. He was acting like he knew something. The way he was sounding it was part of the reason for what he was doing. Satoru grew curious at what Kiyoshi knew that made such a difference for him.

"I never did tell you what my real name is, did I?"

"Huh?" Satoru almost stopped his pacing. He forced himself to continue while staring at Kiyoshi trying to understand the strange change of subject. Kiyoshi suddenly bringing up his name seemed completely random, but Satoru knew that it had to serve a purpose. It was not like Kiyoshi to do something without meaning. "What are you talking about?"

"It's not Nakahoshi," he said, monitoring Satoru to see the look of shock and surprise that would soon appear. "We had to change our name after the incident with my grandfather. My grandfather was Shichiro Hashimoto!"

"It can't be!" Satoru couldn’t keep walking anymore, stopping in mid step almost upon hearing Kiyoshi's declaration. He couldn’t believe it for a moment and even afterward he was not sure if he should believe it. If it were true then it would explain so much about the way he was acting. Satoru wasn’t sure what to believe. This might simply be another lie, but it was almost too far-fetched to make for a good lie.

"Yes, I'm Kiyoshi Hashimoto the grandson of Shichiro, the partner in the creation of Issac the first machine." Kiyoshi raised up his pistol from the back of his suit pointing it at Satoru. This was almost over and it was time to wrap up things with him. "It was Shichiro that made the base theory for Adam against the wishes of his partner who was too blinded by his naivety to see the danger that they possessed."

The gun pointed at him made him narrow his eyes, piercing back at Kiyoshi. He didn’t have the chance to grab for anything on him. All that was left was to draw things out. "All of this was your doing then?"

"Yes, I even played the military and government using their fears of the machines and offered them a permanent solution." He began walking around the room again while Satoru remained still. "They were so frightened and looking to regain power that they would do anything. It's quite sad actually." Kiyoshi came back to where he had entered with his gun still pointed at Satoru. He gave the signal to the soldiers that he had to wait to arrest Satoru quickly. "Now take him!"

"What?" Satoru said in surprise, hardly having a moment to react as soldiers poured out from several entrances. They swiftly grabbed him, restraining him as Kiyoshi walked towards him. "Ugh…Kiyoshi…why do you still need me?"

"Sadly, I didn’t inherit my grandfather's talent with computers and Adam still remains incomplete." Kiyoshi withdrew his pistol, placing it back where he took it out. He stopped a few centimeters away from Satoru staring at him being reminded of how similar this appeared. He lifted his hand up to Satoru's face, rubbing his cheek, giving him a smirk. "You are going to be helping me if you don't want to see any more people you love die."

"What are you talking about?" Satoru said knowing that most of the people that he knew were already dead. There were only a few people left in this life that he cared about. He couldn’t lose them as well, but he couldn’t help Kiyoshi in his plan to wipe out every machine on the planet. Satoru was running out of options.

"Satoru!" a familiar voice from above said, pulling everyone's attention away.

Satoru looked up the best that he could, seeing Asami standing confidently near the ceiling ready to strike. "Asami!" She let go of her handholds allowing herself to fall quickly through the air coming to a crash on the floor cracking the tiled ground. The thin layer of dust shot up by her impact filled the air around her as she dashed towards the nearest soldiers.

"Get her now!" Kiyoshi ordered all of the soldiers to take her down. He knew that she was a bigger threat than Satoru was in what they were capable of doing.

The soldiers that had been restraining Satoru let him go, opening fire on Asami as she bounced around the room dodging gun fire and single handedly taking out the military force that stood in her way. Satoru took the opportunity to finally settle things with Kiyoshi without others getting in their way. "Kiyoshi! I'll stop you with my own hands!" He pulled the pistol that he had at his thigh out firing it at Kiyoshi.

The shot missed Kiyoshi, but made it clear to him that Satoru was getting serious. "Big words for you Satoru! I'd like to see you try." Kiyoshi was a little surprised that Satoru had the guts to actually fire on him. He reached for his pistol as well running to the side firing it back at Satoru looking for a limb injury rather than a fatal kill. It would mean nothing to him if he ended up killing him.

"I won't let you continue with this insanity!" Satoru shouted back to Kiyoshi trying to make his shots count. He was running out of the bullets. Satoru became desperate rushing towards him, tackling him to the ground and knocking their guns out of their hands across the floor.

The two rolled around on the floor fighting the others' hands. Satoru punched him in the face and Kiyoshi returned in kind. They met a momentary stalemate with them struggling over holds. "You're the one that is insane to think you can love a machine and have it love you back!"

They tumbled around while Asami finished up the remaining soldiers leaving unconscious bodies or corpses strewn about the room. When she saw Satoru struggling with Kiyoshi she ran over to them. She pulled Kiyoshi off of Satoru putting her arm tightly around his neck not crushing it, but making it difficult for him to breathe. Satoru stood up patting down his clothes staring at Kiyoshi. "Asami…he's mine. Let him go."

"But Satoru…" Asami said looking at him confused. She didn’t want him to get hurt anymore than he already was now. He had a minor cut on his lip and across his forehead, but if the two continued it would only get worse. She couldn’t stand still while this happened.

Satoru wasn’t going to let Asami handle this. Kiyoshi was his friend and only he could deal with him. This was his problem to solve and not for her to be involved in. It was something that he had to do. Satoru undid his vest, throwing it to the ground as a sign of being a fair fight. "This is something between us. Don't interfere!" he shouted at her to let him go. Asami looked back at him in shock, releasing her grip.

Kiyoshi rubbed his neck glad to be free from the machine. He was a little worried that she might have actually killed him. Satoru was the only one that actually had any influence on her, making him a little grateful for that at this moment. However, the moment didn’t last long as he stepped forward. "You'll regret not having her kill me!" Kiyoshi took a swing at Satoru hitting him in the ribs knocking him back a step.

Satoru coughed coarsely from the impact trying to recover quickly. He took another step back to give him a little room. "You're my best friend, if there is going to be anyone to kill you it'll be by my own hand and no one else!" Satoru spun his leg around knocking Kiyoshi off his footing and then tackled him to the ground pounding his head in the ground a couple times.

The pain split through his head as he turned Satoru over, punching him in the face. "Still best friends after all this, you really are an idiot." The two grabbed each other's throats no longer caring about what happened. They had gone beyond worrying about their own well being and simply looked to kill the other. The rage of emotions ran over any reason that they might have had blinding them completely.

Satoru threw Kiyoshi off of him realizing that he wasn’t getting anywhere struggling over each other. Kiyoshi slid across the floor coming to rest near one of the guns that had been knocked free. Satoru looked around frantically seeking the other, soon finding it. He dove for the gun as Kiyoshi fired a round, missing him. Satoru grabbed the gun in hand still sliding across the floor staring at him for a split second exchanging determined stares. "Kiyoshi!"

"Satoru!" Kiyoshi squeezed the trigger as Satoru did the same while sliding across the floor.

Asami ran towards Satoru hoping to protect him before he was killed by Kiyoshi. "Satoru! No!" She was too late to make a difference as the shots rang out through the room echoing, cracking her heart. Satoru came to rest, slamming into the corner of the room not moving while Kiyoshi remained still. Asami didn’t stop running, reaching Satoru soon after. "Satoru! Satoru!" she shouted trying to get a response from the still body. She lifted up his head resting it on her lap looking around not sure what to do.

Tears fell down her cheeks, still unable to wake Satoru and began to fear the worst. Asami looked down at him, pushing his hair off of his face. She hung her head over his staring down at his motionless face hoping for a sign. Her fear absorbed her so completely that she couldn’t think straight, only sadness. Asami tried to pray that he was still alive not knowing who would answer her call.

A weak cough from Satoru's lip broke his silence bringing a smile back to Asami's face. Relief quickly washed over her as she helped him up seeing that he was still alive. Satoru insisted on standing, but she worried where he was injured, not certain if he could stand. However, she couldn’t convince him otherwise and lifted him to his feet, finding that the bullet only grazed his shoulder.

She walked him over to where Kiyoshi was lying bleeding out on the floor from the bullet wound that he took. Satoru stared down at him, not sure what he should feel for the friend that he had known for so long to be dead at his own hand. Kiyoshi rolled over on his back breathing heavily. He looked up at Satoru still with anger in his eyes. "Satoru…damn you…e-even she…won't be…"

"Kiyoshi…" he said, feeling weak suddenly. Asami grabbed him up quickly looking worried that there was more than just the bullet wound affecting him. "Asami…I'm alright. We have to get out of here." There was nothing left here for him. He had to reach the surface.

"But Satoru…what about everyone…" Asami said knowing that he had to be thinking about everyone that he knew was still being left behind.

"No…let's go." Satoru didn’t hesitate in pushing forward. They had all given their lives for him and he wasn’t going to waste their sacrifice. It was the only way that he could honor them now. The phone in his computer device suddenly rang off catching the two of them off guard. He looked down, pulling it to answer the call. "Huh? Hello?"

"Satoru, Yuu here. I found out what they are planning and who's behind it."

Satoru breathed a sigh of relief afraid that there was something else. Yuu was just late getting the information. Satoru didn’t need it anymore. "Already know Kiyoshi was Hashimoto's grandson."

"What? Really?" Yuu said, a little surprised. It was information that put some pieces together, but it was not related to his call. "No, the machines! The machines are planning to attack the summit and kill all of the world leaders!"