RUSTY ANGEL
Night was fast approaching. The horizon darkened to an orange-yellow hue that heralded the end of the day.
Vast, dark factories in the distance spewed plumes of smoke that obscured the night sky, preventing the stars from casting their faint eventide glow.
Dust rose as massive cranes and bulldozers finished the hard work of crushing and removing the robotic debris and piles of garbage that constantly fell from the sky, scattering and piling it all up into huge jagged mountains of compressed refuse that in turn formed an amorphous dump of interconnected highways and roads that blended into the surroundings, making the place resemble a desolate labyrinth filled with the stench of sulfur, ammonia and general decomposition.
Iron City's central landfill, or "Scrapyard" as it was more commonly referred to, was house to all the garbage dumped by the gargantuan structure set high up in the sky. The name of this unfathomably large, saucer-like shaped object was Zalem; a utopian, mysterious floating city that seemed to be connected to the stratosphere by a wide tube located above it.
Beneath its surface grew a colossal garbage heap, ironically known as "Mount Zalem," which was constantly reshaped by new garbage expelled from the gaping hole in Zalem's lower center, creating the landfill around which the Iron City settled.
Amidst the beeping of machinery and the deafening clang of steel crashing in the distance, a lone figure made its way through thick clouds of dirt and fog, whirring merrily past piles of rubble and stacked rickety cars. As its shadow slowly materialized, a tall, thin man emerged from the dust. Though well-built and fair-skinned, he was not exactly athletic, looking middle-aged, probably in his late thirties or early forties. A small silver mole marked the center of his broad forehead, and his dirty blond hair was combed in a high brush cut. He wore a set of glasses without temples over his kind blue eyes and dressed in a neatly pressed brown trench coat with white shirt underneath and green tie, giving him the overall look of a senior university professor.
In his hands he held the small head of a robot, from which he was constantly removing the few useful parts, such as eyes and other circuits, and stuffing them into a small brown bag strapped to his hip. Daisuke Ido was his name, a cyber-medic whose main hobby was rummaging through the city's garbage dump in search of interesting scraps and junk, a pastime that might seem unappealing to the average person, but could bring considerable rewards to those with enough patience, luck and daring spirit, or failing that, a death wish. Ido knew this all too well, being an experienced scavenger who had had his fair share of lucky streaks in the past. Hence, every Monday or Tuesday he would descend upon this despicable place and wander around looking anything useful or interesting enough to sell or keep for himself.
Grumbling under his breath, Ido threw away the empty metal skull, frustrated that in all his searching he had been unable to find anything of relative value or even the slightest bit interesting. Tough luck. It seemed his good humor hadn't paid off this time.
Stopping by a pile of stacked rusted cars, at the edge of a stone steps leading down to a sea of junk, Ido watched the crimson sun peeking over the steel mountains, slowly descending until it disappeared behind the piles. He smiled at the beautiful sight, silently praying to the universe and thanking it for another day of life.
Ido was in the middle of his prayers when, as he briefly opened his eyes, something else caught his attention: a distant object buried in one of the hillsides not far from where he stood. Straining his eyes, he tried to focus on what was in the distance... Before he knew it, Ido leapt off the steps and rushed towards the adjacent mountain and through the waste, not caring what or where he stepped on. In his haste he stumbled many times, almost cutting himself with the various irons spread around, but still managed to get up and carry on, always with his eyes fixed on his goal.
At last, after dozens more bumps, stumbles and slips, Ido reached his destination, bending down to start digging, trying to unearth the porcelain face sticking out among the surrounding rubbish. It was fortunate the cranes hadn't reached that place, because those heartless machines didn't discriminate between crushing metal and squashing poor unwary devils like him. Just in case, he tried to hurry.
"Huff, huff, really...?" wiping his sweat, Ido dug further, throwing away garbage and sharp pieces of metal like a dog trying to dig a hole. "It can't be... I can't believe it!" With one last tug, a small, limbless torso finally emerged into view. Ido became entranced, barely able to believe his eyes.
What he now held in his hands was the female body of a cyborg, whose delicate features resembled those of a young girl around sixteen or eighteen. Although her synthetic skin looked, and felt, soft as porcelain, it was actually made of such a fine and durable material that her features had been perfectly preserved despite the harsh environment; her big eyes, tiny nose and particularly pronounced octopus lips were all perfectly intact. At first, Ido thought of all the money he could make just by selling the pieces, but quickly dismissed the idea. He didn't need money at the moment, and it would be a waste to sell such a piece of work to any random beggar on the street. Based solely on his professional guess as a cyber-doctor, he could determine the model to be about a hundred years old, maybe even more. It was incredible.
Reaching into his inside pocket, Ido pulled out what looked like a stethoscope attached to a small green-screen electronic device. Putting it to her forehead, he did a quick scan of the cyborg's head. The device would check the extent of the cyborg's internal damage. If the components within were unserviceable, he would probably have to preserve only the skin, the eyes and... Ido's heart skipped a beat, watching in amazement the rising and falling green lines on his device. "What the..." he muttered, believing it to be a system error. The stethoscope-like device was designed to deal with cyborgs internal components, checking its useful life, traces of radiation, rusting and such... but it also had the option to scan the neural signals of human brains. "No way... this is..."
Those up and down readings were undoubtedly neural wave signals. Brain waves. Which meant that the "shell" somehow still contained a functional living brain! Although to call it "functional" would be an understatement, being more akin to a dormant state, probably a prolonged stasis of some sort. When Ido peered into the carcass through a small opening at the head top, he caught glimpse of a strange greenish gel completely covering the brain, most likely a protective bubble made of something he couldn't identify, and that reacted to the touch of his scalpel like it were alive. Ido had seen this technology before and believed to know what it was, but he would have to study it further to confirm his suspicions. Just to be sure, he ran another three quick scans on the head, all coming out positive.
This was beyond his wildest conceptions. A fully living brain! Tossed away like another piece of garbage!
Oblivious to the sounds of the approaching bulldozers, Ido began laughing joyously, dancing back and forth and spinning with the body until he lost balance and fell down. It looked like his good mood has paid off in the end. Though unsure what it all meant, whether it was fate or sheer dumb luck that had led him there, nothing changed the fact that the cyborg girl now asleep between his arms was truly and undeniably alive... well, kind of.
Looking down at his own trembling hands, sat among the sea of junk on the side of that trash mountain, tenderly holding the armless cyborg girl as if she were a doll, Ido Daisuke knew without a doubt that this was the finding of a lifetime.
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By the time he arrived home, nightfall reigned.
Ido's cyber clinic was located at the Eastern part of the Iron city, on the high-rise building of a relatively quiet residential area called rue des tempêtes (tempest street).
Above the metal front door, a single rickety wood sign read in thick black letters: Daisuke Ido. Repairs: Cyborgs, androids, robots, tuning and maintenance for all models! Max Headroom 2.0M.
A plump old man paced the dingy room, beer in hand. Dark furrows of age hid his slanting eyes, while a circular metal plate split the top of his skull horizontally, leaving a sparse grey hair that extended behind his head and ears. "Now why'd you go and bring back a hunk of junk like that, Ido?" he spat at the taller man, who worked excitedly on something on a table.
With his back to him, Ido smiled knowingly, "Junk? Not at all. She's perfectly human, I'll have you know," he typed out some numbers on the small keyboard connected to the cyborg girl placed in the middle of the operating table before him, on which a surgical lamp was shining. She was connected to an artificial heart that pumped the necessary nutrients and oxygen to her brain, while the other wires coming through her open bottom and the electrodes in her head were in charge of analyzing her internal components and the state of her brain, respectively. Beforehand, Ido had personally installed all the necessary hardware to make her basic functionality efficient, such as voice stabilizers, audio inputs in both ears, balance stabilizers, and so on. "Based solely on the parts, I estimate her model to be at least two or three centuries old! She needs a lot of tuning. I left you a list of materials to buy on the kitchen table."
Gonzu, which was the fat assistant's name, wiped the sweat from his brow, "Yer a real kook, y'know that?" he said, nervously gulping down a cold beer.
"You flatter me. You see, through a series of external and internal coincidences, her brain has been preserved in what I would call a "perfect hibernation state", encased in a stasis bubble of nano-gel material. Really old stuff, but quite efficient, I must say. Never seen anything like it before. Unfortunately, the gel disintegrated the moment I tried to access its code so I didn't have time to study it. Some sort of self-destructing virus, perhaps? I don't know. Fortunately the brain was left intact, and not only that, but it seems that her synthetic skin, which is made of some sort of ultra-resistant synthetically modified polymer, still retains traces from before she was left in this state, retaining what appear to be old burns of some kind, and..."
Ido suddenly stopped, watching enthusiastically as the cyborg's eyelids began to twitch, threatening to open at any moment.
"Look, she's awake!" Gonzu checked the readings on a nearby computer, noting that everything was in working order.
Ido's face lit up with excitement, approaching the recently awakened girl, "Hi there, I'm Ido! What's your name?"
Opening her honey-colored eyes, the bald cyborg blinked one, two times, looking around and struggling to articulate as she processed the former question. She had trouble blinking because of the rust on her eyelids and the shapes were fuzzy, but she could still make out what appeared to be doctors due to their outfits. "n-naa... ym? Hmm..."
Gonzu tried scratching his metal bald but suddenly felt stupid for even trying, "I dunno Ido, looks like she's lost her memory," he said, watching the girl squint her eyes and seemingly struggle with her own mind. "Strange thing, I don't see any brain damage that would indicate amnesia."
Ido didn't seem impressed by the statement, and even smiled wider than before, "Relax Gonzu. She's been asleep for a pretty long time, I'm sure she'll remember when her brain fully reawakens." He gently held the girl's head, patting her as if to reassure her.
"What? Are ya keeping her?"
"Well, I'll need to fully restore all her body parts and functions, and my budget will probably go down more than usual given the magnitude of what I'll need. But first..." Ido remained thoughtful for a few seconds, scratching his cheek. Thinking of something. "Ah! I've got it! As of today, your name is Alita."
Gonzu arched an eyebrow, "Alita? Wasn't that the name of your pet cat that died last month? Yer gonna name her after a pet?"
"No worries, it's just a placeholder until she remembers her real name."
Alita smiled tenderly as Ido placed his palm on her cheek, and at that moment, all the fuzzy memories plaguing her faded away, replaced only by the present moment. Feeling the doctor's calm caress, she felt at peace.
Sighing, Gonzu raised his hands in the air, then stood up and walked away. Every time an idea popped into Ido's head, there was no stopping him. He needed another beer.
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In the daylight, Zalem was a sight to behold when viewed from a high point; Its slender, downward-curving dome shape would blow the imagination of any earthling who laid eyes on it.
The city was connected to the ground by a series of massive pipes that stretched across the Scrapyard, each belonging to so-called Factories; processing centers whose primary function was to collect resources from the surface so they could be processed, refined, and ultimately transported to Zalem. But to whom or to where these supplies actually delivered? No one knew, and honestly, no one really cared anymore. That's the way the cookie crumbled, and it had been that way through countless decades for the inhabitants of Iron City.
Trudging up a steep mountain, Ido pointed off into the distance, "See that? Our home is right there! People call it "the Scrapyard", nice name, huh?"
On Ido's back, Alita was tucked into a custom-made rucksack, peeking out her little face and bald head from under a green beanie. A rather convenient and practical form of transportation due to the cyborg's temporary lack of limbs, which in turn made her lightweight. Due to the outdated nature of her previous ones, Alita's original honey-colored eyes had been replaced by a much more modern pair of crimson irises that allowed for sharper and more detailed field of vision. "Huff, and that huge thing up there in the air? That's Zalem, a floating utopia!"
For most of the journey, Alita had remained silent, not having much to say and therefore limiting herself to admiring the view. She didn't know how or why, but Zalem in the distance looked to her like an overturned volcano. It didn't look like a pleasant place to live, much less a "utopia," as Ido constantly called it. It was nothing more than an upside-down volcano with many wires surrounding it and a wide ascending column in the top center, holding it all up like a chandelier city. A really ugly chandelier that did nothing but scar the pretty blue sky.
"Are you awake?" Ido asked, a bit concerned by his companion's lack of communication.
"yeah..." Alita said in a low tone, which reassured Ido a little, but not too much.
"Good. I want to know more about you Alita, I'm sure you had your own name, family, and home before you ended up like this. I can't wait for you to tell me all of it when you recover!"
Alita squirmed to settle into her space, watching a butterfly fly by, "my... real... name... I dunno," she replied, sounding crestfallen and clearly affected by having her mind a blank sheet of paper.
Ido swallowed hard, "Well, no rush. Guess you're staying as Alita for the time being, haha."
"yeah..."
"Hmm... Oh, we also have to fix that speaker of yours! Let's see... I ventured out this way hoping to find something usable for your frame, but... it's been slim pickings... DAMMIT!" Ido kicked a can, furious at his own uselessness, "DAMN, DAMN, DAMMIT! I hate to make you feel so vulnerable like this!" After a few quick breaths, Ido regained his composure. "But don't worry, Alita, I'll make sure you get a proper body again. Whatever it takes."
Alita's eyes widened in surprise, touched by Ido's seemingly selfless kindness. She couldn't deny that he was a bit odd at times, but Alita soon realized the doctor had a truly kind heart. While others would have taken advantage of her disabilities, Ido had cared for her and continued to do so despite the hardships. Not only that, but Alita had often seen from afar how he was just as kind to all his patients as he was to her, no matter the situation.
They continued on their search for a while longer, occasionally finding useful things like a "Larynx Programatron"; a rare find that Ido gladly took for Alita since her damaged voice was still somewhat robotic and needed a fix.
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Ido made a few adjustments to Alita's silver throat as she lay face up on the operating table. The Larynx Programatron was now fully operational, and all that remained was for the girl to try it out.
"Okay, try speaking now. The voice box will allow you to tune your tone when you speak, but it might take you some tries until it works."
Alita moved her mouth up and down, thinking of something appropriate to say before finally deciding on something simple. "iii... dᴏOo," she frowned. It still came out sounding fake. Robotic. The modulator was emitting strange sounds, changing pitch each time. Chuckling, Ido encouraged Alita to try again. "𝙰aa...Lii...TAaaa.... A...LI...t𝘢𝘢𝘢𝘢!" Alita smiled brightly, sensing herself approaching the right pitch. "Ali... taaa! ii... doo!" she repeated, over and over, enjoying every bit of the moment.
Ido beamed with pride, watching the young girl slowly perfected her voice with each new try.
Happy with the results, both spent the whole afternoon trying and perfecting different voices for Alita until it was time for bed.
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As night settled, the Iron city slowly alight in neon colors as its inhabitants emerged from the darkness to conduct their shady nocturnal activities. Dressed in torn clothes, with their bodies partially or totally replaced by rusted metals, gaunt men and women gathered in the streets and around bonfires to either to engage in trafficking, eat and chat, get high, or directly kill or fuck each other. Terribly low social class, they lived in destitution and surrounded by a climate of crime and unhealthiness, a hellhole where prostitution, illegal trades, drug dealing, human trafficking of all ages and street transplants were rampant in every corner and alleyway. Cybernetic enhancements were commonplace, including the replacement of arms, legs, hands, complete bodies, and even manly limbs. In the Iron City, anything went if it suited the collective and desperate desire of the masses, all in the absence of morality, human decency and a hope long lost.
Inside a dark alley, surrounded by huge pipes and factory fumes, a tall, beautiful woman was leaned against the stone wall, smoking carefree. Elegantly dressed, she wore high heels and had her blonde, bob cut hair tied back by a red headband. Her generous breasts peeked through the transparent dress, clearly intentionally, and from her index finger came a small flame produced by her silver artificial arms, beautifully decorated with rose motifs that extended down the arm sides, palms and knuckles, and which she used to light her kiseru pipe.
The lady was about to take another puff when she became aware of a presence near her. Lurking in the shadows. Stalking her intently like a hungry predator.
A client, maybe? Men were so predictable, often using surprise tactics intended to scare her so they wouldn't have to break the ice and could get right to the sex.
Idiots, she thought, rolling her eyes.
Although wary, she was not necessarily afraid. She had the means to defend herself if someone tried to attack her, and not necessarily with her arms, which were delicate in themselves. She knew other tactics for self-defense, such as her "thunder leg martial arts" taught by one of her former lovers a few years back.
"Who's there?" she asked at the darkness, feeling confident, but a few seconds passed by, and no answer came back.
Could it have been her imagination? Probably, she thought, ignoring the presence and resuming her smoke. A sudden breeze hit her from the left side, causing her to look around.
In a matter of seconds, the young woman's head was completely obliterated from her shoulders by an unknown devastating force, leaving her standing there like a beautiful headless doll. Soon after, the still lit kiseru fell from her lifeless silver hands, hitting the ground next to a street strainer... drenched in blood and murky water that soon put it out.
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From his chair, Daisuke Ido finished the last adjustments to the new pair of shiny silver arms now belonging to Alita, who watched patiently as the doctor worked on her outstretched limbs.
Ido smiled, "And that's it, done. Go on, give them a wiggle," he encouraged, wiping his hands with a sanitizer.
Alita did as she was told, slowly closing and opening her slender fingers as she became accustomed to the new sensations crossing her body. "Such beautiful hands! Thank you, Ido!" the girl exclaimed happily, admiring the patterns on the sides. Lacking memories and having started her new life practically without any limbs, she found the sensation rather strange, but at the same time, the feel of the metal was somehow familiar to her, as if her body had always been made of such material... instead of flesh.
A month had passed since Alita's miraculous awakening. Now she had a thick bob of black hair growing atop her head, with a strand dangling in front of her eye; it was a sort of semi-synthetic wig Ido had created from the tiny hair follicles in the cyborg's skull, and that he had managed to revive after healing the burned scalp, allowing him to recreate Alita's old hair almost exactly. What's more, with the miraculous use of implants, stimulants and modern procedures, he had even managed to make it grow "naturally", so that even if shaved off completely, it would grow back in a few months. Before long, the wig would no longer be necessary.
To get around, she was attached at the waist to a four-wheeled scooter, very practical for getting around, but a bit inconvenient when she wanted to sleep since Ido had to unhook her from the scooter every night and rehook her the next day. Because of this, it was agreed that Alita would learn taught basic mechanic so that she could at least do the detatching herself.
"But weren't they expensive?" Alita asked curiously, feeling the cold palms on her cheeks.
Ido laughed it off, "Not that much! I got them from a dismantler. But now you need proper legs."
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Snuggled between blankets and stuffed animals, Alita slept on a small couch next to the kitchen. Suddenly awakened by a creaking noise, she discreetly turned around to see Ido, his back to her, taking his coat and hat from a rack. How odd, she thought. It was the dead of night, and no person in his right mind would dare go into the city at such hour, let alone to a place like the Iron City, where one could be robbed, raped, murdered, and sold five times in a row... at plain daylight.
Could it be that he was going to look for parts at the dump?
But why at such hour?
Did he not want her to go with him?
Why was that?
These and other questions went through Alita's mind as she watched the doctor reach for the doorknob.
"I'll have you more and more beautiful with every extra part..." he murmured, giving her one last sidelong glance before closing the door behind him.
Alita couldn't deny that she was curious about all of this, but it was also true that there wasn't much she could do in her current state, legs were still missing after all, so she would have to wait a bit longer until a more proper way of movement was available for her. She knew that Ido would soon be back with an extra piece for her, hopefully a pair of legs, so it was only a matter of time.
With this in mind, she rolled over again and went back to sleep.
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Late nights in the Iron City were filled with the putrid stench of death, sex, drugs, and vice, all of which reached Ido's nose and made him jealously cover himself with his cloak as he slithered through the stone pathways and staircases, passing by cyber clubs, gambling areas, decadent bars and the highly popular "love zones". Tightly clutching his wheeled suitcase, he walked among the jumble of multi shaped passersby, disfigured by all the transplants and modifications they had chosen to undergo whether out of necessity, personal taste or, most often, against their own will. Anything purely organic was highly prized in these rotten places, causing those who passed by Ido to view him with equal parts contempt and desire. Well aware of this fact, he was ready to strike down anyone remotely suspicious who dared to approach him, all the while trying to avoid alleys and dark places as much as possible, though it wasn't as if crowded streets were any safer.
Right now, everyone was a potential enemy. No exceptions.
Alert for any possible danger, Ido continued on his way, soon getting lost inside the virulent crowd of cyber-whores and metal-men cluttering the neon bathed streets.
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"Hey, Gonzu!" Alita called out excitedly, hopping on her new legs around Gonzu's mobile instant ramen stand, where he served his famous Triple Ramen, Zalem Skewers, among other things.
Due to the physiognomic change suffered when cyborgized, the biology of a cyborg used to be different from that of a flesh and blood human, having then two options to feed themselves: 1. Eating special food designed for cyborgs, being the most common and affordable option among the masses. 2. Installing an Artificial Food Processor, i.e., an artificial stomach, inside their bodies, which allowed them to eat and digest all the food available on the food pyramid, but logically, this second method was more expensive and mostly inaccessible to the common people.
Seeing Alita, Gonzu gasped, "Oh! Why, if it isn't Alita! I can hardly recognize ya anymore! How are those new prosthetics working out for ya?"
"Awesome! It feels great to be able to move on my own now!" Alita swung her legs, showing them to Gonzu, who clapped his hands in amusement. When he wasn't serving as his assistant, old man Gonzu used to sell ramen outside Ido Daisuke's clinic, since that was where he usually had the most customers, most of them patients and acquaintances of Ido himself; trustworthy people who just wished to live in peace in the few ways they could manage.
Sitting on the benches around the stall, several elders and cyborgs began to congratulate and whistle at Alita, who smiled and shyly greeted them back. She had become known among the crowd as "the cyborg child" and "Dr. Ido's adorable robot daughter," as she quickly made friends with everyone she met thanks to her always cheerful and curious personality.
"Just make sure you don't go out at night, girl," Gonzu suddenly warned, pointing his chubby finger at her, "there's a serial killer on the loose; and all the sicko's victims are women. Be careful."
Hearing this, Alita stood thoughtfully, as Gonzu offered her a free bowl of ramen.
A serial killer...
A nocturnal serial killer...
Now that she had legs, it was time to investigate.
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Alita uncovered the clinic's cubical curtains, removing her shoes before entering. In a corner, Ido performed spinal maintenance on a cyborg patient. "I'm home!"
"Ah, Alita. How are your legs feeling?"
"They're great, thanks!"
"Good," giving her a smile, Ido turned back to his patient. "This is simple metal fatigue, sir."
As Ido turned to grab his tools from the nearby tray, Alita noticed something that made her world shake, but she fought to remain calm. "Hey, Ido, what happened to your arm?" she inquired, feigning innocence.
Ido had his right sleeve up... a bloody gash bandaged tightly around the arm.
"A-ah, this?"
He hurt himself going out last night, Alita thought, feeling fear for the first time in her life.
Ido quickly covered himself, "Just scraped myself on something, clumsy me, hahaha."
Liar. "Are you... okay?"
"Oh come on, don't you see? Run along now and let me work. I'll see you at dinner."
Uneasy, Alita left the room.
What was the doctor hiding?
What was Ido, her kind savior, hiding?
Alita needed to know.
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Ido's shadow was sometimes lost in the darkness of the alleyways and crowds, making it difficult for Alita to keep up with him unnoticed and forcing her to walk quickly but quietly, whilst also keeping her distance.
As she followed the doctor's back, words echoed in her mind.
I'm sure you had your own name, family, and home before you ended up this way. I can't wait for you to tell me all of it when you recover!
Your body is still incomplete as it is. I'm hoping to give you proper organic parts pretty soon.
Ido is all I have now. I don't want my memories back, I'd rather be with him, Ido went around the corner into an alley, and Alita followed, I'm fine being plain old Alita! But...
All of the sicko's victims are women. Be careful.
But... "I just want to know the truth!"
After a while longer, Ido finally reached a residential neighborhood where he stood behind a wall leading beyond to a wide flight of ascending stairs, surrounded by a cave-shaped tubular roof that gave it the form of a mouth. There, hidden in the shadows, he awaited patiently.
As quietly as she could, Alita climbed the outside stairs of a nearby house, positioning herself behind a wall pipe just above the doctor's head.
Several minutes later, a female figure with long, eye-length hair came down the stairs behind Ido, who peeked around the corner before setting his briefcase on the floor.
He's going to ambush that woman! Alita thought in horror, watching as Ido opened his briefcase to reveal a weapon resembling a huge hammer, divided in two joinable parts; handle and head, which he swiftly connected, moving into an attack position.
NO!
When the woman drew close enough, the doctor leapt in front of her, raising the giant hammer with the intention of dropping it right on her head.
"NO, DON'T!" Alita jumped from the hights, landing behind Ido and grabbing the hammer before it was brought down.
"AAGH-A-ALITA? WHAT ARE YOU-"
"I FIGURED IT OUT, IDO! I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN KILLING PEOPLE TO GET THE BIOLOGICAL PARTS FOR MY BODY!"
"WHAT!?"
A struggle broke out as both tried to gain control of the weapon. Taken aback long-haired woman staggered backwards.
"PLEASE! STOP KILLING PEOPLE FOR MY SAKE!!" Alita yelled in desperation, trying to sieze the weapon, but Ido kept overpowering her in strength.
Finally, Ido managed to snatch back the hammer, looking around to look for his target but finding no one. The woman had disappeared. "Damn it! She's gone!" Blazing with rage, he slowly turned back to Alita, raising his weapon at her, "ALITA!!"
"WH-WHAT?!"
HE WAS GOING TO KILL HER!
Alita covered her face with both hands and braced for impact, but instead of feeling the hammer smashing against her head, she opened her eyes to see a pair of huge nasty fingernails hovering dangerously above her face; held at bay by the handle of Ido's rocket hammer.
"ARE YOU OK, ALITA?" Ido yelled, struggling with the woman's raw strength.
The madwoman swerved the hammer and leapt from her position, revealing her hideous face: she had the eyes of a psychotic beast, with sickly pale features and grotesque black nails on her hands and bare feet. She hopped at incredible speed around the enclosed walls, trying to find an opening to attack while screeching like a wild animal.
"IT'S HER, SHE'S THE SERIAL KILLER!" Ido skillfully deflected an incoming barrage of slashes, but soon lost his balance when one of them sliced his hat, and making him drop the weapon, "UGH! NO!"
Before the beastly woman could finish Ido on the ground, she was tackled back by...
"ALITA!!" Ido watched in horror as his beloved girl pushed back the murderess like some kind of football linebacker.
'I WON'T LET YOU HURT IDO-' before Alita could react, the woman escaped the grip again, slamming the girl in the back with one foot and sending her headfirst into a nearby wall... making her unable to avoid crashing into the vertical concrete due to the force of the blow.
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The room was warm.
A blanket covered her small body and she was holding a cup of tea, sitting on what looked like a couch.
She was a child, or rather, Alita knew that she was in the body of a child. Was this a memory from her past? The scenery around was a blur.
There was another person sitting next to her and, from the tone of her voice, Alita could tell it was another girl just like her, although her voice and face, except for her chin-length blonde hair, were barely audible, let alone visible. It was then that she realised she was in a dream, as she couldn't really move and was only picking up what the girl saw.
Fortunately, the child turned her eyes to look straight ahead and caught a glimpse of a slender woman wrapped in a blanket similar to the two girls. She had short, almost white hair and soft features. From the circuits peeking out of the blanket around her neck, Alita could tell she was a cyborg.
The woman poured herself a cup of something hot, probably tea, and seemed to be having a friendly conversation with the two girls. After a few seconds, the sound seemed to adapt to Alita's ear, or child-Alita's? Either way, it allowed for clearer hearing.
"Hey, have you ever been scared, ☰▙▄ ◗▞▚?" the blonde girl asked, but the name fell out of her mouth like static.
The woman flashed a sad smile with tired gray eyes, turning to look at both children, "Yes, that's right," she replied, sitting down on a couch near them and lowering her head as if thinking about her next words. She looked tired, and Alita felt sorry for her. "When a situation is more than I can comprehend... well, that strikes fear in any warrior... But remember this, you two: the real danger is not facing the fiercest enemy, no... The greatest danger is being overcome by your OWN fear."
Rising to her feet, the blonde girl clasped her hands behind her back in mocking innocence. "And if we get scared, what do we do~?" she asked presumptuously, clearly dissatisfied with what she was being told by her teacher.
The woman smiled again, looking up as her eyes regained a gleam that made the blonde recoil, but filled Alita with excitement instead. "Even if you're faced with something you cannot comprehend, ACCEPT IT! Observe calmly and don't let fear, anger, sadness or despair take over. Instead, secure your position and, when you've done that, strike forward!"
Now I remember...
The surrounding walls collapsed and the darkness swallowed Alita just as the woman locked eyes with her... and smiled.
.
.
.
Feeling her body move on her own, Alita used both hands on the floor to launch herself into the air feet first and avoid crashing into the wall, next somersaulting in midair and landing on the ground behind the killer.
The mad woman and Ido stared at Alita with equally astonished eyes, impressed by her sudden display of agility and skill.
"A-Alita" Ido murmured, still lying on the ground. His mind was racing at a mile per hour.
Wrenched from her astonishment, the killer resumed her attack, charging head-on.
Kumai Sharin Kyaku.
When she came within range, Alita somersaulted over the killer, hitting her in the back of the head with just enough force to send her face first into the wall. A little revenge for earlier. For some reason, Alita thought it was a shame she was not wearing a blade on her forearm... though if she had, then the battle would have been pitifully short-lived.
She felt so... free. Feeling the air on every part of her skin, through Alita's mind quickly crossed all the ways she could finish off the enemy before her, each one more fun and exciting than the last. She was no longer herself, feeling like someone else entirely. Someone adapted for combat and capable of destroying anyone and anything, big or small, metal or flesh, that stood in her way.
Recovering from the blow, the killer, her face now full of blood, tried to attack again, this time by climbing onto the roof and jumping all over the place once more, employing the same tactic she had used before against Ido. However, this time it was in vain. Alita could see everything. Every move, jump and change of course of the woman was crystal clear, and she didn't even have to follow her with the eyes.
It was all so easy.
So boring...
The woman attempted an attack from behind, it was dodged effortlessly, thus beginning a forbidden dance between the two combatants in which the killer clawed faster and faster as Alita dodged with fine, calculated movements, hands placed teasingly behind her back as she somersaulted backwards and ducked faster than the eye could reach, her smirk never disappearing from her face.
Ido watched from a distance, spellbound. He knew those moves, having read about them once in an old library from the last century. It was a type of martial arts designed especially for cyborgs in zero gravity, but could be employed in normal environments... What was it called?
Yawning, "Alita" made a half-hearted attempt to dodge a claw, delivering a downward kick that knocked the killer off balance and onto the ground. A powerful stomp to her back shattered her spine, making her scream. Tears in her eyes, the woman tried to crawl away, but a merciless final stomp crushed her head, ending the fight. For good measure, Alita scraped her shoe clean of brains and blood.
Alita, or whoever was personifying her, heaved a sigh, looking with gloomy eyes at the bloody mess now lying on the ground... until a sudden dizziness began to set in.
"What?" Alita asked, bringing a hand to her head. She was startled to see the ghastly bloody mass strewn across the floor before her. "Yuck, what is this? Gross!"
"Alita..." Ido called, almost unconsciously. Seeing the borderline cruel performance from earlier, he hesitated for a few seconds.
Hearing the faint voice, Alita turned to the doctor still lying on the floor. "IDO!" she ran to him, checking to see if he didn't have any wounds, "ARE YOU ALL RIGHT, ARE YOU HURT?"
Ido stood thoughtfully, taking a closer look at the worried cyborg girl. Those movements... That was Panzer Kunst - Martian martial arts!
Panzer Kunst: Of the many types of martial arts developed by humanoid cyborgs, this was considered the strongest and most effective, only learned by a few, yet nowadays known by none.
"Come with me, Alita," Ido finally said after a few moments, standing up and beginning to walk towards the dead killer.
.
.
.
Sat on the stairs outside a huge grey building, Alita awaited. Her left leg was shattered and broken down, product of the past fight. It had busted shortly after they started walking, causing Ido to have to carry Alita on his back the whole way. It was a good thing she wasn't the heavy type.
Currently, Ido was inside the Factory 33 complex, where he presumably worked, receiving the rewards for the crazy woman whom she had killed.
Or that he claims, Alita thought, fiddling with the exposed components of her broken leg.
According to Ido, Alita could not enter the factory unless she worked there, or went to ask for work, so waiting outside was the only option for her. She noticed that the place was very ostentatious, with a handful of round stone statues placed on both sides of the long and wide downstairs, one of which also rose in the center section.
She was bored...
If she were to be brutally honest, Alita couldn't remember a single thing from the past fight, as if her mind had gone blank during those few minutes and had just let her body move freely, as if in some sort of supreme instinctive mode.
Could it have been some kind of vestige of her past? Was she once some kind of super cool warrior-girl who punched bad guys and gave hope to the innocent and weak?
No clue.
Right now, the only thing she could do was imagine... Or maybe.
Alita glanced up at the huge letters attached to the factory wall above her head.
FACTORY 33.
Bingo.
.
.
.
"Beep, so the killer was a mutant who went out of her mind, eh? Given her looks I guess I can see why she had such a vendetta against pretty women, beep." The cylinder-shaped robot, designated as twelve, imputed the corresponding codes on the computer, verifying the necessary info before throwing the small bloody bag inside the cremation chamber. "You've been on the warpath hunting down all these wanted targets lately, Ido. Can't say that I'm impressed because I don't have emotions, but it's still very impressive, beep."
Ido didn't say a word. His vision was lost in space.
"Well, here's your bounty payout: 100,000 chips."
Without a word, Ido took the bag of money and turned to leave.
"What? Not gonna buy any female parts this time?" the robot asked, but Ido was long gone.
.
.
.
"Many ages ago, there was an agency called the "Police" that managed crime in cities. Ok, you can move them now. How do they feel?"
Alita moved her newly restored legs up and down, testing them, "Great!"
"But in the Scrapyard, the Factory puts out the bounties on criminals and sends out Hunter-Warriors, like me, after them. So we go, kill who we must kill, take their heads as proof, and then we get rewarded."
"I'm sorry for getting the wrong idea, Ido," Alita answered cheerfully, playing with her legs. "I thought you liked killing women for sport."
"Heh... Here I thought I was saving you, and then you go and save me... Thank you, Alita." trough his round glasses, Ido smiled warmly at Alita, to which she reciprocated.
"Anytime." Well, he was the one who gave me this life. How could I have been so dumb as to not trust him?
Ido's voice became severe, "Just don't try pulling off moves like those with this body ever again! It's too much strength, and these parts weren't designed for them. Ok?"
"Yes, sir!"