Chapter Text
Commander Eunhwa. The only one of us who is also one of them. Killed in action, underwent conversion, retained her memories, retained her rank. The Ark’s greatest soldier. Elysion’s poster girl. The rumours that go around about her and Ingrid are filthy.
She’s shorter than I expected her to be. She looks so intimidating in the propaganda reels: she’s always standing on top of something, usually a heap of dead Raptures, looming up over the camera with rifle in hand, dominating the battlefield around her. Seeing her now, I realise that she’s shorter than any of us, even the Soldier Owls. She’s dressed in the crisp red-and-black uniform of Absolute, the elite commando squad which all Elysion Nikkes are taught to view as the pinnacle of all military valour. I’m so used to seeing her on screens that it’s a shock to see her in real life. I think I believed on some level that Elysion had made her up.
‘SALUTE!’ she bellows, and our arms all snap up. She walks along the line, close enough that we can all see those famous violet eyes of hers, eyes that we all know from a thousand battle-footage video close-ups. Surely, I think to myself, surely she didn’t have violet eyes when she was human. Surely she gifted those to herself during the conversion process.
‘Present ARMS!’ Our arms jerk outwards, guns in hand. Eunhwa prowls to the end of the line and back again. There’s a disdainful expression on her face, as if she’s vaguely disgusted by everything she’s looking at.
‘Order ARMS!’ Our weapons jerk back down.
‘PLATOON!’ Eunwha stops halfway down the line and rounds on us. ‘Why are you here?’
What answer does she expect? Because you ordered us to come down here? I remain silent. All the other Nikkes do, too.
‘Why are you alive?’ Eunhwa’s glance rakes across the line, as though our continued aliveness is a source of personal offence to her. ‘Every one of you died. In your homes. In hospital beds. In gutters and alleyways. Every single one of you died. So why are you alive?’
One of the other Falcons hesitantly raises a hand, and when Eunhwa gestures for her to speak she says: ‘Because of Elysion, commander. Because Elysion gave us a second life.’
‘Very good. Elysion gave each of you a second life. Elysion designed and built those bodies that you’re all walking around in. Elysion gave you the lungs you’re breathing with. Elysion gave you the hearts that beat inside your chests. Each one of you is a marvel, a miracle of Elysion technology. And why did Elysion do this, platoon? Why did Elysion invest so much capital in each of you? Was it a charitable donation? Did Ingrid, our mother and our maker, just feel sorry for you? I ask you again. Why are you alive?’
‘To fight the Raptures, commander! Ingrid remade us so that we could fight the Raptures!’ It’s the same Falcon again, and her face bears the excited look of a child who thinks they’ve just aced the class quiz. Eunhwa smiles a cold smile.
‘Correct again, Falcon. To fight the Raptures. To reclaim the surface. To be the shield that protects humanity in its hour of need, and the sword that cuts its way to a better future. You aren’t glorified showgirls like the Tetra IDolls. You aren’t assembly-line weapon platforms like the Missilis Products. You are soldiers. You are warriors in humanity’s last and greatest war, pitted against humanity’s last and greatest foe. And do you know what winning this war will take?’ Her violet eyes flash. ‘It will take everything! All your courage, all your strength, all your fortitude! This is no time for half measures. This is no age for cowards or shirkers. Our backs are to the wall, platoon! Humanity has nowhere left to run to! If we falter even once then we are lost!’
I have to hand it to her: she knows how to command an audience. She holds our collective gaze as if daring any of us to look away. We hear stuff like this from the officers all the time, but it all sounds different when it comes from her. I’m pretty sure she really means it.
‘I am here, platoon, because word has reached Command of troubling slackness in this sector. Of a pervasive air of grumbling and discontent. It is said that you question your orders. That you complain about your commanders. That you express ingratitude for the gift of life that has been given to you, and dissatisfaction with the conditions in which you now live. And yet if it was not for Elysion, you would all be worm food. You would all be mouldering in the earth. Would you rather be dead, soldiers?’ She rounds on the nearest Nikke. ‘You, Eagle. You have been given the honour of fighting for Elysion. You have been given the priceless opportunity to stand in the vanguard of those who will reclaim our ravaged world. When the surface is won, future generations will look back upon soldiers like you as heroines to whom they owe everything. They will revere you as a goddess of victory. But perhaps you feel that we did wrong by you, Eagle, in giving you that opportunity. Perhaps we should have just left you rotting on your deathbed. So tell me. Would you rather be dead?’
‘No, commander!’
‘Because you can be, Eagle! I’m in a wish-granting mood! I can give the order! We can execute you right here and now! So tell me! Honestly! Would you rather be dead?’
‘NO, COMMANDER!’ The poor Eagle looks terrified. Eunhwa thrusts her back into line.
‘If you do not do your duty, soldiers, and do it to the fullest, then you dishonour Elysion. You bring shame upon the company that gave you life. You bring shame upon Ingrid, our mother and our maker. And you bring shame upon me. I lead Absolute, and that means I bear the standard for all Elysion Nikkes everywhere. I bear it proudly, because I believe that it means something. It stands for something. It means that I am living for something, and when the day comes it means that I will die for something. Would you take that meaning from me, soldiers? Would you have me proven wrong?’
‘NO, Commander!’ we all chorus.
‘So the shopkeepers are mean to you! So the commanders ogle you in the briefing rooms! So fucking what? Toughen the hell up! We have a war to fight and a world to win! LOAD!’ We all mechanically obey, our hands jerking down to our ammo belts – but these are live rounds we’re loading. What on earth is going on?
‘I’ve been looking over your simulation room logs, platoon. They make unimpressive reading. But then, it’s easy to get lax in the simulation room, isn’t it? Shooting virtual Raptures with virtual bullets. No real stakes in there. Maybe that’s why you all keep letting yourselves die so many simulated deaths. So I thought you would benefit from some live fire training. A chance to demonstrate your real prowess, using real weapons, firing real bullets. A chance to prove that you’re worthy of those Elysion uniforms you’re wearing. AIM!’
There’s a flash, and a wave of holographic Raptures appear on the shooting range in front of us, beamed from hidden projectors in the walls and ceiling. Hastily we level our guns. The two men take this as their prompt to flee the room, before the bullets start flying towards their all-too-human flesh.
‘Your human lives are over. The women you once were are irrelevant. You are soldiers, now, and the fact that you still exist is by the grace of Elysion alone. Your commitment to Elysion must be absolute. ABSOLUTE.’ She taps the squad insignia on her uniform, before stepping forwards through our line and turning to face the holographic Raptures. ‘In its mercy, Elysion gave to each and every one of you a second chance, and it is now the duty of each and every one of you to show that you deserve it. You owe your lives to Elysion. You will fight for Elysion, and if it is necessary then you will die for Elysion. FIRE!’
We all fire. All down the line, different parts of the holographic Raptures light up red to indicate hits. Eunhwa claps, and the holographic Raptures vanish and are replaced by another wave.
‘AIM! FIRE!’ We scramble to unleash another volley. Our shots are hastier this time, the red hit markings fewer and further between.
‘Faster! AIM! FIRE! AIM! FIRE! AIM! FIRE!’ We blaze away at the holograms as fast as we can. Eunhwa watches the red marks blossoming along the line with a look of cold contempt.
‘You grumble because you’re weak, platoon. But weakness is a poison. It starts in the brain and it spreads through the body and ultimately it kills you and everyone around you. Elysion honours your strengths, but it has no use for your weaknesses. Your commanders have been too lenient: they see your girlish faces, and they feel compassion. I do not. I remember the steel beneath the skin. I am here to burn all the weakness out of you.’
She claps again. A new wave of holographic Raptures appear in front of us, barbed tendrils waving over their heads.
‘Odd-numbered Eagles, you’re section one. Even-numbered Eagles, section two. Odd-numbered Falcons, section three. You can work out the rest. Sections one through six. Defend your position!’
The Rapture holograms screech and surge, and we open fire.