The light that opens eyes

Katayama Shinji woke up with a start. He didn't know what he had been dreaming about just before, only that it was a nightmare he wouldn't wish for his worst enemy to experience. His head was aching terribly. It was so dark in the room he sat in that he was unsure whether his eyes were open. His throat was incredibly sore as if he hadn't drunk for days. He could barely move his numb limbs. 

"Shit, where did I end up?"

As he muttered, a blinding light suddenly lit up in the room.

"My eyes were indeed open!" - Shinji shouted as he tried to cover his eyes with his numb hands.

As he carefully opened his eyes, he saw a muscular man standing behind the bars of the room. The man was tall and wore a brown uniform with the badges of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces all over it. He had the face of a veteran which was dotted with scars. His lineaments indicated a serious demeanor, however, his eyes were somewhat swollen compared to a Japanese person. He was probably a high-ranking official. Shinji quickly came to the realization that he was in a military prison camp.

"Prisoner 679. Katayama Shinji. Race: Japanese. Hair: brown. Eyes: black. Age: 19 Height: 173 cm. Weight: 54 kg. Previous occupation: high school student. Previous criminal record: none. Prison sentence: 20 years of conscription" - the man grumbled. -  The accusation... redacted?!" - he continued with a confused look, but his demeanor quickly turned aggressive. "WHAT HAVE YOU COMMITTED AGAINST OUR DEAR MOTHERLAND, YOU LITTLE SCUMBAG?! HOW DARE YOU BETRAY YOUR EMPEROR AS A JAPANESE?! THIS IS BLASPHEMY!"

As the man uttered these words, Shinji's eyes opened wide in realization. Suddenly, he remembered everything. He tried to stand up and rush to the prison door, but he felt a sudden shock in his stomach as he did. The man pushed him back with an electric staff.

"Don't you dare move a single millimeter, you little piece of shit! No food for you today, and I'll tell the rest of the staff to give you half as much from tomorrow! Traitors like you won't feed on the products of the hard-working people of our great Japanese nation," - the man said in fury, then leaned closer toward the grids of the prison cell, sticking his nose in and clenching his teeth as he continued. - "I'm going to make your life bitter. You are going to be an excellent meatshield in a war. Prepare for the worst!"

The man stormed out with fury. Shinji was still barely conscious of what was happening around him, and the shock pushed his limbs back into numbness. He wouldn't try standing up for another ten minutes. Then as he carefully tried again, a voice called from his left side. It was a calm and soft-sounding voice of a female. However, her Japanese sounded somewhat unnatural.

"A Japanese high schooler in prison for an unknown reason... So they even persecute their own kind now. Poor guy, you also have your whole life taken away from you. And yours is Japanese life..."

"Huh, who's talking?" - Shinji asked.

"Prisoner 517. Cheon Sang-Hee. Race: Korean. Hair: black. Eyes: blue. Age: 17. Height: 160 cm. Weight: all I know is that I haven't eaten for about 78 hours. I must be really thin now. What else do they usually add? Oh yeah-"

"Enough!" - Shinji shouted. "Enough..."

"Criminal record: none. Status: political prisoner. Accusation: aiding Korean rebels. That's what they say. Every. Single. Time," - she continued. She started to sound more and more emotional. "I wanna break free. I can't let my life be taken away. Even if mine is a Korean life."

"All lives are worth the same!" - Shinji answered.

"You can only say that because yours is a Japanese life. If I were to do so, I'd be tortured and killed like an animal. Perhaps they'd continue torturing my dead body for scientific purposes too. You are lucky to be born Japanese... At least you could go to high school."

"What are you talking about?! All citizens of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere are equal by definition of law!"

"Or so they say. But have you seen a Korean, a Chinese, or a Vietnamese before? Of course not. Because then you would know how we are only second-class citizens, we are only subjects of exploitation! I don't blame you though... It's easy to be eaten up by the propaganda they spread."

Shinji was beyond surprised. He couldn't instantly believe what she just said. Yet it felt so emotional, so true.

"It can't be..." - he said in despair.

Then suddenly, fragments of his memory flashed before his eyes. He knew why he was there.

"Now everything makes sense... I do know why I am here."

"Huh, you do?" - the girl asked. "Have you really committed something?

A smirk appeared on Shinji's face.

"Hell yeah, I did. No wonder it is redacted information. There must be a reason why nobody should know about it. It is why I ended up in this prison too. I caught a glimpse of its preparation. I don't know what it is about, but I couldn't get myself to participate in such a thing," - the boy said chewing over these thoughts.

"What could be such a secret that gets a Japanese teenager in prison?"

"Confidential state secrets. I was supposed to work on a minor project, but I incidentally took a glimpse of part of the rest of it. They have assumed that I'm brainwashed enough to help them in the development of that project without getting into the rest of it. Before I had seen those documents, I probably was. But as I noticed them, I had a gut feeling that first time in my life I had to do something that was wrong. So I took a peek. And I am glad I did. Because that was the first time in my life that I had done anything right."

"Just who the hell are you to know about Japanese state secrets?!" - the girl whispered strongly.

"I am just a student who was considered smart but obedient enough to be trusted with this information. Oh how wrong they were," - Shinji's smirk started to get malicious. "You have my thanks, Korean girl, for opening my eyes."

"Sang-Hee. Ca-call me Sang-Hee. Wasn't my intention, bu-but thanks!" - she replied hesitantly. "You sound determined, what are you planning to do?"

Shinji grabbed the bars of the cell and narrowed his eyes. He focused it on the door that stood about ten meters from his prison cell.

"We are going to escape this prison and uncover the secrets behind the Emperor's plans.  Project A.M.A.T.E.R.A.S.U. must not be carried out!"