Mizuki

A short, black-hair girl was standing in front of big ,wooden door . The writing on a label said;"R13 Investigator of BHD, Tokyo area". The girl pushed the door and silently entered into the room.

R13 was sitting in the middle of the room. It must have not been a long time since he got up off his bed as he was wearing  a velvet bathrobe and sipping his morning tea. After a few minutes  he realised that the girl was standing in the doorframe. "You are the clone that The Bureau assaign to me, right? What was your name again? Mizuki? " -The investigator asked.

" My name is Mizuki, yes. But I am not a clone. Clones are Beta class citizens created in artificial wombs. Perfect genetic copies of preexisting individuals. I'm a Biobot. A gamma class citizen. We are made from carefully selected cell's and DNA's strains. Our design is much more flexible than this of the clones."

"Well, that would explain your cat ears."

"I was told that you are a cat person, sir."

"It doesn't mean I want to see unmatching animal body parts in my underlings."

"I can go through a body alteration process to get more feline attributes if that would please you more sir."

"So you are like a robot? Every part of your body can be exchanged without a problem?

"No, sir. As I said before, I'm a biobot, genetically our bodies are just like those of other humans. The body alteration process is, lengthy and very painful to us. But we are here to serve the alpha class citizens such as yourself. Also, robots are no longer used outside of construction sites. They require a lot of maintenance and are an obselete technology. Shouldn't you know all of that, sir?"

"But of course I know all of it, I'm not  five."

"Then I don't understand why did you ask such a redundant question. You should be aware that we are short on time"

"The question was not redundant. I wanted to see how you will react to such an obvious question. If we are going to work togather, I have to know how you act. But you are right that we have a job to do. So let me dress up and we can go."

R13 finished his tea with a single drought and got up off his chair. While he was going toword the closet the bathrobe slip down his arm reviling muscular but scared back. He opened the door of the closet and took a pair of black trousers and a white shirt out.

"Is that a spider silk sir?"- Mizuki asked curiously.

" Oh. You've recognised it at the first glance?"-R13 sounded  surprised" Impresive. Are you into fashion?"

"No, sir The Biobot Research Facility does not allow us to indulge ourselves with such matters. I conducted a meticulous examination of this topic after supervisor Y8 suggested me to do so. He claimed that you are a very... extravagant person."

"Yazon did? Well, it is in his style. He probably tried to set you up against me. He always tries to make my underlings have a bad opinion of me. From what I've heard he had some kind of a rivalry with my previous incarnation."-R13 said while buttoning his shirt.

"Previous incarnation?"

"Oh, I guess they don't tell that to anyone who isn't at least a Beta class citizen . It is a classified information after all. Would you like to know it?"-he smiled mischievously as sparkles shined in his eyes.

"N-NO!"-she promptly refused-"Sir, if I were to obtain such knowledge I would most certainly be punished for that!"

"Tell me if you ever change your mind."he winked at her "Shall we go  now? Otherwise,  our <prey> can run away."-she agreed to that proposal.

They left the building and got into the  Kyoto Magnet model T one of the last personal cars ever produced. Private means of transportation have been outlawed over 130 years ago as a mean to lower the congestion on the roads. R13 as an employee of the Bureau was allowed to have one to helpe him in exercising his duties. 

They got into the car and fastened the belts. After clicking a button the batteries were connected to the circuit and the electricity flew through the magnets in the undercarriage. Car hovered over the road.

A minute later they were on their way; Mean Speed: 400 miles per hour Destination: Shibuya district of Old Tokyo; center of religious fanaticism and unauthorized social groups known as "families" Mission: investigation of the religious sect known as Blue Hedgehog Group.

********

After a fifteen minute ride they arrived in the infamous district of Shibuya. Mizuki has never been in this part of the city. Matter of fact, she has never visited old Tokyo before. The neighborhood was totally run down. Crumbling skyscrapers were a testament of the inferior architectural abilities of the people of the 21st century. Shattered glass and pieces of concrete were laying on the street, the air smelt of rust. 

"Mizuki"R13 started "I don't know how capable you are, so let's use this opportunity to test you. You will go into the sect hiding alone and try to deal with them on your own"

"That would be against the protocol!"

"So is disobeying your superior isn't it?"

"Sir, I feel like you are trying to make me do your job."

"Is that a contumacy?"

"Sight. No, sir. I'll go alone, as you wish."-she got out of the car.

"Wait. Take that." He handed her a small object that resembled a flashlight "It's a light taser. It can temporarily disable any person. You just need to flash it in their eyes"-she took it.

Mizuki went down the roadway and then turned right entering the blind alley. At the end of it there were stairs leading to something that was known as a "club" a few centuries ago. According to the information which she had received earlier that day it was the meeting place of the sect.

 She stood atop of the stairs looking down at half-opened metal door. After a few seconds of hesitation, she took the first step downward. She was careful not to trip, the smell of urine and the ubiquitous presence of the shards of glass discouraged her from falling down. Finally, she reached the entrance. She put on a hat to cover her cat ears, and slipped through the door into the building.

Inside prevailed dimness, only a few faint lightbulbs were shading some light onto the rundown room. Where would those people even get lightbulbs? Has they robbed a museum? But the people gathered at this venue were even more bizarre!

At the very front of the room on a stage an old man was sitting in a chair. A real old man with wrinkles, white beard and bald head! Mizuki has only seen those in children's book when she was still little. To think that such creature still existed in the world was unimaginable to her. Modern medicine has eliminated ageing long ago and yet here it was an elderly person.

Spread around the room there were also couples of adult people standing around with the children. Were those their children? Did those women choose to give birth to this kids and take all the risks involved with pregnancy instead of having them been developed in artificial wombs? And who was taking care of those younglings? No one in the room seemed to be qualified for such task. Mizuki felt as if she was watching a freak show.

The old man stood up an said:"Brothers and Sisters! Let's the Blue Hedgehog keep you safe!" "And Let's the Yellow Fox make your life plentiful"- the people answered.

The elderly man continued:" Our Great Protector has taught us about the evil of science! The Humanity has rejected the Gods and now all of us must suffer. We suffer in poverty, but the fate of the Servants of Science is far worse than that.  They have lost their souls!"- The audience was mesmerized by the speech. The man continued-" Long before we were born HE has fought against the soulless egg men as they were slowly ripping  souls out of our ancestors. But even his heroism could not stop them! Humanity has lost that battle... but the war is not yet over! We must continue his fight brothers!"

While the old man was preaching Mizuki sneaked up on the stage and prepared her taser. She positioned herself in such a way that the flash of the device would disabled everyone else in the room.

 "That is enough!"-she interrupted the preacher- "You are all under arrest for engaging in antisocial behavior. My microcamer has registered everything"- said Mizuki and took off her hat.

"Look at her ears! It's a demon of science!"-shouted someone in the audience.

"Stay still everybody and nobody will be harmed" -warned Mizuki, aiming the taser at the audience and the elder.

"I knew you would come. The servant of the fox has told me so."-the old man mumbled "Your technology has no power in the home of the Great Protector. Surrender now!"-the preacher shouted.

"I've warned you."-Mizuki pushed the button on the taser and... nothing happened. A big man stepped on the stage and knocked the girl out.

***

When she wake up she was chained to an old chair in some small room. The only source of light was a dim lamp. The Elder was sitting in front of her and another person was standing in the corner wearing a brown robe with a hood. 

"You were right brother Felix. They did send a misfit. I'm sorry for doubting you earlier."-the old men said to the shady figure. 

"You should have more faith in me father Theo." - The mysterious man stepped into the light and reviled his face it was R13.