Chrysalis [Saga | Kasey]

From the collection stolen away from Amadeus, and all of the looted remains from dissolved fractions. The leftovers, though pricey, were enough for the job she required. Prototype designs and machines not yet approved and regulated for the industry that the Ketsujo Corporation was. Everything had been carefully, meticulously over years and years. The first snowflake fell by Sato's doing, only to be rolled into an avalanche in the hands of the young woman. Having the means to act, or having the materials was not enough. They needed someone who had been driven, someone motivated for the change. Sato was too weak for it.

But Kasey braved it, to her dying breath.

She was the monster Sato had created. In his mindless drive to step on others to get what he wanted. He had used everyone as a another rung on his ladder to climb to the top. It was only in doing so that he realized without support, he would fall as soon as he got there. While she may have helped him grow, she was not his support. She was his replacement.

The dim lights of the sensors and alarms that slowly pulsated to let the others know they were still operational. The soft blue hues that illuminated what materials she had. The men that wore suits, bits of them replaced by technology, and others of them spliced with other strange organic materials. Some were the surviving memories of failures, just as Kasey was. Others were pawns, trained to serve. Some earning their keep with years of service, while others subjected themselves to the gamble that was her prized doctor.

Kasey was aware of the strange irregularities that lay before her, but she hadn't the faintest of any idea of the origins. All of it was a guess, hearsay, rumors, assumptions. She was not one to swear to a myth, but by the hand of her own god, she would will her reality. If someone needed her help, she would lend her aid. Such was the will of her Maker. The Great One.

But all of those years, endlessly slaving away at a false cure to regulate a dying child. A female who had risen to the mantel of Japan's First Hero, was a failure. Her body discarded, turned into ash, and by the hands of her father. That same man the one that had created the nightmare that had taken the name Army of Bones. Now again, history repeated itself. Ketsujo was tasked with a cure to replenish a body that weakened itself with its own power. Breaking and deteriorating at the use of their own strength. There was no emotions to could her judgement. There was no thinking about love and care, or about her wishes. It was not her daughter. Kasey was going to do whatever it took. And unlike him, she would not allow herself to fail before the Kobayashi Clan. No, this time she would succeed. This time, she knew far more than any of the qualified individuals around her.

Kasey was a unique circumstance. She had ensured, healed, and regenerated from limits none other had found themselves. She subjected herself to live experiments to further her own understanding, as well as observed others. She may not have been a doctor, but she knew far more than anyone else on the limits of quirks, and how they operated.

Lucky for her patient, she had already had tools for her preservation. A liquid, stemmed from the common anomaly found in all regeneration and healing quirks. A perfect cell, one that would repair and replenish the body. It may not have been fast acting, or painless, but it did its job. A consistency compared to honey, it remained in the buckets, the tubes, and the tank beside her, all ready to be deployed at the given command. She knew what it was like to be subjected, she knew what it was like to be on the receiving end. The moments to watch in a controlled environment, to avoid suspicion. The hours spent in that room. Even with the video feed, the calls to allow her to reach out, she feared the worst. But the woman would endure. The silver haired harlot would watch over The White Queen. She knew far better than anyone else could.

Not just about her condition, but her position.

The tube filled with the thick liquid. It perhaps would have been safe to consume, to breathe, but it was not one she wanted to subject her to. A struggle to breathe as each inhale felt like you were drowning. A long lasting discomfort. It was not pain, but there was no reason for it. The chemicals that were fed through the mask were nothing more than to ease the pain, the strain of the goop and slime that filled the tube. All she needed now, was to relax.

"How much longer?" She asked, observing, looking over at the only one she could trust with her life.

"Not much. It's like before. I estimate at least the end of the day, or at least within the next twenty four hours."

He waved his hand at the others to have them resume monitoring as the two of them would wait and see. They had the cure in their hands, the only question was if her body would take it. If it was rejected, it wasn't going to fail her outright. It would only be a moment longer. More splicing, more mixing, more prototypes.

But she knew.

She was almost there.

The smell of tobacco. The smokey haze the lined the room as she stood over a single man. The light of the cigar perhaps the only organic light beyond the few screens that lit the room. The goggles that were on her head as she held her hands over his body. She was the only one he trusted. She was the only one he needed to trust. Her abilities allowed her to act in place of a dozen souls, and with them, only be a single liability. A man whose livelihood was built on weapons, death, and corruption. The closest ally he had, vanished to another country thanks for Kasey's own personal interest. She never expected it all to be intertwined. Her name was all but forgotten, but was not something she could bring herself to name. Amadeus. A man who had built a weapon empire, had trusted his greatest's business rival's own choice doctor. A woman who had entered his lair off the promise of being a tailor. The greatest lie ever told, and she was helping him build a new body. That was years ago. But before her, in this tube lay a woman. All she could smell was the finely wrapped cigars of a man who made himself into the perfect human, only to take his own life in his fit of depression, drowning his lungs in liquor. Was this to be the same end? Was all of this futile? Or was there something to be learned from this all?

She took her steps forward. To the few around her, an observation that could not be made by screens and monitors. One that needed to be seen. She lifted her hand, placing it against the glass. For once, she peered into the woman, not to see who was truly there, but to see how much they had in common.

Was she too, running from her past? Was that not the reason she had helped Amadeus in the first place?

. . .

"Actually it's Musei. Sato is-" the whited haired man stood rather nervously. He didn't take to private interactions without the aid of others very well, but he understood the nature of his job. He was the new head of it all, and he had witnessed the horrors, and endured them personally.



". . . Anyways. It's not like I haven't been singed from a client before." he would offer a bow, only to direct the woman to the facilities, all of it deeper and deeper within. All of it hidden from public eye, nothing more than a entrance carefully tucked away in a small building one would assume would be some private entertainment. Perhaps an arcade, or a workshop. None would suspect the passage way to a private underground.

"Can I get you anything to drink? Or a meal perhaps? Better to plan ahead, things do take a while to get from top side, to down here. But, the plus is no one is around to bother us." A nervous smile from the man. With it, small distant greetings from other subordinates. All of them masked individuals. From simple face coverings and scarves to elaborate carved and engraved masks. Their attire ranging from brightly colored bomber jackets to muted colored kimonos and robes, along with fine tailored suits. Everyone down here had their own unique attire, and with it a personality to match. The only thing in common, was that they were all carefully chosen.

"So, how are you feeling, yes?" The woman would greet her, the same mask upon her face, the same violet hair that fell from her head. Black bandages wrapping body, like a darkened mummy. A loose robe over her body, as a white katana lay in her hand, the long blade sheathed, and nearly half her height. For now, it acted like a cane as she shifted her weight. "There's no need to be alarmed. If it makes you feel better, we can escort a few of your own personnel here through the other tunnels if that would put you at ease."

She would smile, but all of it was possible. Small entries for those on foot, and other passageways for vehicles. It was like a second society, all of it tucked away under layers of concrete and dirt. They were most careful in their construction.