Contingency [Training]

Age : 35 Posts : 1113

Eleven nights had passed. Eleven nights since Uriko had last seen him. There were rules, failsafes that had been put in place for such an occurrence; and it had been far too long already. If their leader disappeared without any warning, contact or explanation, contingency plans were to be upheld. Leadership would fall to an uncontested successor, or to a contested successor with the popular vote. In this case, the kunoichi knew her position. But without the absent Heiki, the Shantakai - for now - were through. What they had so far accomplished and all that they had yet to achieve, discarded like an unwanted gift. This was not procedure, however. The sole inheritor of the organization's legacy had decided this. She chose something clear and finite. There would be no confusion about the state of the Shantakai. Destabilized once, disbanded now.

Uriko was seldom, if ever, struck by loneliness. Her former leader's absence left a... gap in her life, to be sure, but she did not miss him. The pair had both understood the arrangement, one based on mutual needs and goals. What the female nukenin really lamented was the lack of someone to help her with her current 'procedure'. Cursing the isolation of a criminal's life, she recognized that had Heiki disappeared whilst he was meant to be taking care of her, the consequences would have been far greater than just a delayed experiment. She looked over at the equipment, still sitting quietly on the empty bed opposite hers. In the days since Heiki's departure, the woman had not taken up an alternative residence. She remained based in the room above her 'acquaintance' Osa, the craftsman. The order that had been placed had been cancelled, the designs thoroughly dismantled by Uriko's own hand. Somewhat begrudgingly, the kunoichi knew she had to compensate the man for his time, and did so accordingly with a purse laden with coins. He seemed more than satisfied.

The soft padding of footsteps could be heard around the silent shopfront as the female nukenin made her way downstairs. The expression on Osa's face fell briefly before hurriedly perking up. "Mornin'." He called gruffly, offering a strained smile before turning to shuffle away. "Wait." The woman's command echoed in the shopkeep's ears. He would never dare disobey. As the kunoichi approached, he faced her and kept as straight-backed as possible, awaiting further instruction. "I have ordered someone to kill you, Osa-san." She stated wistfully. It didn't even sound like she cared. Osa, on the other hand, looked terrified. "M-my lady?" He stammered, his posture sinking as he absorbed the words. "Not yet. But soon, if you do not assist me." She explained, gently pushing a hanging ornament to the side and watching it swing. "Any-" Osa gulped loudly. "Anything." He offered. His demeanor had changed since Uriko's arrival nearly a fortnight ago. His will had broken and he no longer had the stomach to resist the woman's orders. Across from him, she smiled.

The short, stout man held the needle aloft. "You're... sure about this?" He questioned, squinting at the murky liquid in the syringe. "If you do your job properly, Osa-san, then yes." Uriko replied. "Do not forget that my contact is watching this residence keenly. Your actions are being observed and you will not live to see twenty seconds beyond any mistake." She added, coldly. "Succeed, and I will consider you forgotten to me. I may even see to a modest financial reward, too. Do we understand each other?" She asked, her expression plain and impossible to read. "...Yes." Osa muttered resignedly. While he would truly love to see the back of the kunoichi for good, the stakes were indeed high. She would be under his care and he could easily end her life, but his victory would be very short-lived. "Then we begin." Uriko murmured quietly, taking the first syringe and injecting herself into a pulmonary vein in her neck. She didn't even wince.

[Continued Below, TBC]

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Age : 35 Posts : 1113

Pain wracked the slender form of Uriko Nagase, and she could no longer tell whether she was awake or unconscious. Her chemical prowess had worked almost too well - the refined form of the rabies virus was threatening to take her beyond where medicine could reach. There was both comfort and concern that she could no longer feel or control her legs. The fierce agony she'd felt in them before had dissipated, but so had every other sensation she would usually sense from them. Her mind descended into torment as the loss of yet more limbs left her in a catatonic state. Beads of sweat cascaded from her features, only to be caught as they fell by a cool, damp towel. Osa, the craftsman that Uriko had 'enlisted' to care for her, was doing his utmost to keep her from slipping into a coma. At times, he held her body firmly down the the bed as she writhed and spasmed in pain. Other times, he took advantage of quieter moments to administer the medicine the kunoichi had provided. Right now, the woman lay motionless but clearly under great duress. All he could do for now was clear her feverish brow.

The world swam before Uriko's bleary, half-open eyes. Try as she might, the room would not come into focus and she lacked the energy to even open her eyelids a little further. Just one small but powerful thought remained in her head - the refusal to yield, with the promise of reward so near. She clung desperately to that purpose, the only light in a sea of torture. Her vision darkened. "Ah-AHHH!" She screamed, her head quite suddenly erupting in pain. It was as if an axe had cleaved half her skull apart, yet the pain was always as intense as it's first incision. She screamed again, her one good hand shaking as it tried in vain to muster the energy to grasp something - anything. She could see... images, in her mind. Like an erratic slideshow they flitted into her sight before vanishing a moment later. Not one of these depicted a pleasant scene and served, it appeared, merely to remind the woman of past injuries - physical and emotional. And then - bright light. She sat bolt upright and took a huge intake of breath. A trembling hand held her shoulder. "Are you safe?" It would have seemed an odd question to anyone other than Uriko and Osa. The woman nodded, her eyes wide and her body shaking. "Then hold still." The man murmured, reaching for a second syringe, this one filled with a faintly yellow liquid. He promptly slid it into the woman's forearm and pressed the plunger. Three... two... Darkness.

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"I may protest." The female voice sounded, for the first time, a little uneasy. "You ignore it, understand?" The man sat beside her nodded tentatively. "You're doubting - don't. My body can take this. I've spent years hardening my whole body, internals included. I've applied all the medical techniques I can to ensure safety, I've given you the tools to stabilize me and, I've immunised your body so that you won't die before I do." Uriko intoned. On the chair at her bedside, Osa nodded a little more firmly. "If you die..." He began. "Then so do you, little man. We've been over this." The kunoichi snapped, tired of his misgivings. "When I come to, you check that I'm stable. I don't need extra recovery time. You'll inject the next virus then and there, correct?" She asked, somewhat threateningly. Osa nodded, almost vigorously this time. His eyes, however, remained as wide and terrified as the day the two had first met.

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There was a lukewarm liquid running down various parts of her body. While her skin was not yet numb to this sensation, Uriko felt totally incapable of addressing it. The rabies had tested her with brain swelling, wracking aches, paralysis and fatigue. With this strain of the smallpox virus, she faced an altogether different threat. Sharp but constant pains seared from her skin deep into her flesh. Inside, her kidneys had begun to weep blood just as the rest of her outer body. The putrid smell of disease permeated every corner of the room as the kunoichi's skin blistered and rotted. A large bucket was already a quarter full with vomit. To move but an inch brought fresh, fiery pain and a new wave of naseau. Mercifully, her muscles were like dead weights around her legs and arm and movement had long since been off the agenda. While just as uncomfortable as her previous experience, the smallpox virus was at least less likely to carry fatal risk - just. The woman was aware that she would suffer for longer though, as the disease passed out of her system with the help of her caretaker, Osa. He had taken to wearing a white mask over his mouth and nostrils. Uriko knew it was for the fetid stench, an attempt to stop him from adding to the vomit bucket. Had she been able, the female nukenin would have struck him for such an insult. It was her last thought as her mind slipped into unconsciousness.

She awoke to a far cleaner sensation. Crisp, white sheets. Unblemished covers. Osa sat beside her, clearly pleased with his work. Uriko however, was not. This could only have been achieved one way. "You..." She rasped, spluttering before she'd even finished the word. Across from her she could just about see the previous bedspread, covered in blood and dried skin. "... moved me?!" The woman coughed, a trickle of blood escaping her dried lips. "I-" Her next words were cut short by a wave of pain and nausea as she leaned over to the man. "Uhhh. Ah!" She moaned pitiously. Osa looked her in the eye and cocked his head. Uriko instantly understood. "No, I... no more. I..." She trailed off, her face contorted as she wrestled with the notion of seceding from the experiment. Closing her eyes tight, she nodded. For the first time, her expression seemed fearful. The cold needle penetrated her now brittle skin, and Uriko's heart skipped a beat.

Anyone who set foot in the small room could easily have mistaken it for a morgue. It stank of death and disease, the gruff man sat on a wooden stool looked haggard and tired and his ward... she was corpse-like in appearance. Skin a sickly pale colour and her whole body withered. Except the sores. Large patches of inflamed skin bled freely onto the linen below. Indeed, the slow dripping sound it caused as it fell from the underside of the mattress was the only noise that penetrated a deep, disturbing silence in the room. Wearily, the man leaned forward and pressed his ear to the woman's chest. After a few moments, he lifted his hand and put two fingers on the bedside. Tap. Tap. Tap. His digits drummed a rhythm so slow it almost fell in sync with the blood drip. The man was quite clearly monitoring the female's heart pace, which seemed at a near fatal level. The man appeared calm however, and reached over to a small felt bag. Withdrawing a tiny, beige pill he pressed it against the wooden stool surface and gathered the crushed remains. Carefully, oh so carefully, he pushed the woman's lips apart and dropped the powder in. Acting quickly, he grabbed a small glass of water and tipped a little of that inside too. Finally, the near-dead figure responded, a quiet gulp came from her direction as the water went down her gullet. And then, silence.

[Continued Below, TBC]

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Age : 35 Posts : 1113

The final stages of any disease were, for some, the worst. While the healing accelerated, it often aggravated the worst affected areas and this led to frustrating side effects. In Uriko's case, she had to have her arm lashed to the bedpost to prevent compulsive scratching. She had already re-opened one large wound before Osa managed to stop her. And the itching possessed her, almost completely. It wasn't a pain like the ebola had brought in its early stages, but instead a primal compulsion. Coupled with her relative immobility and the remains of her searingly painful patches of marred skin, even the healing process was agony for the woman. Osa arrived intermittently now, staying by her bedside whenever necessary and leaving when not. Uriko had mixed feelings about this. She loathed the man, his cowardice and his weakness, but she required his aid for the time being. Having him gone for part of the day was a blessing and a curse. He was currently trying to soothe the swollen areas of the kunoichi's body with ice-cold water. While it did the skin good, the contrast in temperatures caused a deep pain to flare up, and the woman roared with every droplet that touched her.

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It had been many years since Uriko felt as she did now. She did not like the sensation, nor the circumstance, but she accepted it quite readily, given her recent ordeal. To be in another's debt... Just the thought of it was irksome. But the woman could not deny Osa's involvement in preserving her life. Nor his (albeit somewhat unwilling) permission for the the woman and her former companion to use his spare room. The latter was of little consequence to the kunoichi, she could have lodged elsewhere but Osa's home was convenient. There was no honor amongst Uriko's kind and Osa knew it. The man was already preparing himself for death. Surely he knew too much and had involved himself far too much. When the familiar sound of footsteps sounded out from the floor above, he shivered. The female nukenin was finally out of bed, her disease-ridden few days behind her and more deadly now than ever before. The thought only just occurred to the little man - she would want a test subject. His face fell and he slumped against the wall, sliding down until he was sat in a heap. The past few weeks had taken such a toll - he hadn't the energy to feel any worse. He knew that had he been less of a coward, this could have been ended more than a fortnight ago.

"Osa-san." Came a familiar voice, though much closer than the man had anticipated. When he looked up, Uriko was already at the shopfront, waiting for him. Wordlessly, he rose and shuffled over to the counter. The pair of them stood, gazing at each other and wondering. The kunoichi tilted her head and furrowed her brow. Osa stood still, totally placid. "I'll give you two days. Move home, move town, move country. If I find you, then I will kill you." She whispered plainly. Though her voice carried no menace, Osa knew it was a threat he could take to heart. Quite frankly however, he was simply amazed that she was not going to end his life right now. He clutched his chest, drawing longer and longer breaths as he realised he would live. His focus dropped to the floor, unable to concentrate on Uriko and take this information in. When he had controlled his relief, he looked up. There was no sign of the female nukenin. She had gone.

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