Kumojiro walked down the dimly lit, narrow hallway, as the door closed behind him. The pounding music from the main room faded into the background. He was quite grateful for the relative quiet, though the faint buzzing of cheap fluorescent lights and the rancid scent of decay permeated the air. It was really bad.
He turned a corner and felt a slight chill crawl up his spine as he found himself in an isolated alleyway, clearly not intended for public eyes. Grime coated the walls, the floors littered with thrash and discarded waste.
The foul smell wafting from the piles of garbage hinted at what lay within, and it didn't take a genius to understand that hint. His nose wrinkled involuntarily.
'Inhumane bastards. How many people have to suffer before someone does something? Cops still haven't done anything about it. Seems this burden falls to me.'
After his encounter with that girl, his resolve had only hardened. He couldn't let things like this go on. The thought of what might have happened to her if he hadn't arrived sooner fueled his anger.
She could have been one of those forgotten bodies rotting away in a trash bag, forgotten.
Just as he pushed these thoughts away to focus on the task at hand, Kumo heard something strange. He looked around but saw nothing out of place until he heard that same noise. It was more clear now.
'A whirring sound?'
He turned toward his left, instincts sharpening as he focused on the sound.
Out of nowhere, a massive arm burst through the wall, and Kumojiro barely managed to duck, leaping backward.
'Behind the wall? Like he was expecting someone coming...Or was this just a pure coincidence?'
Through the crumbling wall emerged a hulking figure, easily over six and a half feet tall, built like a human tank, with gleaming, cybernetic arms shaded in green with snakes spray painted on it. The brute's eyes were unsettling, empty of any hint of life or thought. Not like Kumojiro's own empty gaze, this man seemed to lack even the capacity for self-awareness.
Before Kumo could fully process what was happening, the man swung a brutal right hook. Kumojiro raised his arm to block, preparing to counter, but the moment the punch made contact, it sent an electric shock through hi body, momentarily stunning him.
The brute took the opportunity, reeling back with his other arm and throwing a vicious punch to Kumojiro's abdomen, knocking him backward.
Kumojiro gasped, clutching his midsection, feeling the lingering effects of the shock dissipate.
'What kind of cybernetic arms are these? They don't look cheap like some cheap stuff...no low-grade ones definitely wouldn't have a built-in shock like that.' Kumo wondered, while carefully watching his opponent.
'The first punch carried a shock, the second didn't. It must have a recharge period of sorts. Well, I won't give him the chance.'
Straightening up, Kumojiro stowed his katana and drew two kunai, one in each hand.
'Let's test those arms's resistance to penetration and slashing. And it'd be great if I didn't get hit by one of these shocks again...'
The brute luunged at him again, swinging his fist the size of a small boulder toward Kumojiro's head. Kumojiro saw it coming, noting the lack of precision as if the man were mindlessly flailing.
He sidestepped the blow, letting it smash into the brick wall behind him, sending fragments flying. Taking advantage of this momentary vulnerability, he slashed his kunai across the man's ribs with one hand while thrust upward at the arm with the other.
The first kunai cut a gash across his side, and the second barely penetrated the material of the arm, but it was enough to show it wasn't invulnerable.
The brute seemed unfazed, not flinching even as blood trickled from his side.
'Not even a simple change of expression?'
The brute raised both fists above his head and brought them down in a hammer strike, aiming to crush Kumo.
With a swift backstep, Kumojiro dodged, the force of the blow cracking the pavement. Now he was certain on one thing.
'The alloy is lightweight and durable, but not indestructible. My sword might even be able to sever it.'
As the brute charged once more mindlessly, Kumojiro reached for his katana, his eyes narrowing. He dropped low, ducking beneath a wild swing and pivoting around an overhead strike, gathering momentum before swinging his blade down in a clean arc, severing the brute's arm.
The man yet again didn't even react, instead attempting another punch with his remaining arm.
Kumojiro spun to the side, slashing the man's Achilles tendon, bringing the man down to one knee. Still silent, the brute showed no pain, no resistance.
'Creep.'
Without an ounce of hesitation, Kumojiro delivered a final, decisive strike, plunging his katana through the man's chest. Blood sprayed from the wound as the brute collapsed, lifeless.
Kumojiro stood over the fallen figure, breathing heavily, examining the unsettling lack of response. Even in the face of death, there had been no signs of pain or self-preservation. It wasn't just a lack of emotion, something deeper was missing.
There must be something in his brain. An implant, perhaps? Something to disable pain, to override emotion? No...this is worse than that.' He thought, staring down at the body.
He knelt beside it, a grim decision forming. He'd need to take one of those cybernetic arms to D...and perhaps the head.