Chapter Text
1 Year prior
Project Starlight log: Day 1
Project Starlight has been given the green light by the military and granted a budget beyond anything we could dream. Project Starlight’s purpose is to use modern robotics to create authentic, accurate omnic copies of the active MEKA pilots. The military has deemed this project crucial to their success. They were clear the first creation was to be of the lead, Hana Song. Project Starlight will acquire all available data on the subject and request monthly medical examinations. While I hope Project Starlight will never need to be called upon, our team is ecstatic to push the limits of modern robotics.
- Chief Scientist, Kim Yu-Jin
Modern Day:
Hana was struggling in battle against the Gwishin, she had managed to destroy all but one but took heavy damage to her mech and fusion cannons. The final Gwishin had wrapped its tentacle-like appendages around her mech, ripping off the functional fusion cannon disabling her weapon systems. She could hear the creak of metal as the omnic applied pressure to the mech causing the structure to fail. The glass of the cockpit began to crack as a menacing red-glowing eye was all to be seen. Hana was running out of options and out of time, without action soon she would die and Busan would be attacked so she turned to the one person who could help.
“Dae-Hyun, I need your help.”
Over the commlink she could hear him reply, shocked she asked for help at all.
“Really? Okay, Okay… The reactor is getting too unstable so you can’t stay out there too long or you’ll blow the whole thing.”
The reactor… Why didn’t she think of that before?
“The reactor! We could overload it! Just like the hoverbike!” She exclaimed as the idea washed over her like a tidal wave.
Dae-Hyun’s reaction was less than favorable “Are you crazy?! This isn’t a stupid race!”
“I know, but if we don’t do this thousands of people will die.”
Finally, Dae-Hyun agreed seeing the urgency in the situation. “Ok, buy me some time.”
“Let’s do this!” She shouted using her broken fusion cannon to punch the omnic.
The distraction was long enough for her to grab her light pistol and fire the clip into the red eye, allowing a long enough window for Dae-Hyun to send the reactor into critical failure.
“Ok the reactor is going critical, you have 60 seconds before it blows.”
“That’s not fast enough, we’ll be in the city.”
Hana racked her brain for a solution until she came up with the only way she could set it off faster. She may not survive but she had to do it for the city.
“Uh, Hana, what are you doing?” Dae-Hyun asked over the comms concerned.
“I’ll see you at the finish line." She said before ejecting from the mech.
The now exposed reactor was shining green as it went super critical with the omnic still in a death grip with the mech. Hana aimed her light pistol at the reactor firing a single shot that made impact causing the reactor to explode in a brilliant green destroying the mech and the omnic with it. The shockwave hit her body sending her barreling towards the ocean at terminal velocity, she didn’t know if she would survive this but she was content knowing she saved her city.
The impact with the water sent a shockwave of agony through her body as it felt like every bone had been broken at once and every part of her body was underneath as hydraulic press. She tried to scream only to find water filling her lungs instead. She couldn’t swim up as she could not move her arms and her brain was sent into panic mode upon realizing it could not breath.
“I guess this is how I die.” She thought, fighting through the darkness that wished to consume her.
She had no choice but to be content with the fact she likely would never leave here alive and never see her friends again but she felt a strange sense of peace. The last thing she saw before blacking out was the dark outline of a human coming towards her.
Hana did not know it but that figure was the rescue diver who had pulled her broken body from the water and onto a stretcher. The stretcher was loaded aboard a military helicopter inbound for the nearest military hospital. The copilot reached for the on-board commlink linked to the region’s military headquarters.
“We got her sir. She’s in critical condition but alive.”
The comms cut as a uniformed man at a desk opened a file on a tablet. His glance didn’t waver from the file as he reached for his phone, hitting a hotline button. The phone rang until another voice at the end could be heard. The uniformed man reading the file spoke into the phone.
“Kim Yu-Jin, it is time to execute Project Starlight.” He then hung up the phone.
~~~~~
At the nearest military hospital, Hana was wheeled into the emergency room. Doctors and nurses rushed trying desperately to stabilize her yet she was fading fast.
“Her injuries are severe, multiple broken bones, a skull fracture, punctured lung, internal bleeding are just some of the few. Even if she were to survive which is unlikely, she would be paralyzed for life due to the spinal break we detected. As it stands her odds at survival are less than 2%.”
The lead doctor read over her file, his face showing concern the further he read. He did not have time to ponder as the director of the hospital entered the patient’s room.
“Madam director, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I’ll be taking over from here doctor. You’re all dismissed.”
“With all due respect Madam Director, if we don’t operate now, the patient will die.”
“I said you are dismissed, do you need me to repeat myself.”
“No madam.” The doctor and his team left the director alone with Hana.
She walked up to Hana placing a hand on her head.
“The military still has use for you, you’ll make it through this.”
She removed her hand signaling for her staff to bring in a machine which was fastened to Hana’s head. The machine began to light up indicating it was performing a scan of her brain and mind.
In an underground facility in the mountains outside of Daegu, Kim Yu-Jin watched as his magnum opus was removed from its vacuum tube. Project Starlight had spent the last year creating a perfect replica of Hana as well as in the process of creating ones for the rest of the MEKA squad. He did not expect the project to be called upon so soon yet this was why it existed. The omnic copy was rolled into a chamber where it was then connected to the main data base of the facility. Kim Yu-Jin watched as the file containing Hana’s mind was downloaded into the main computer. The file was a mere copy of the real Hana Song as the human version had likely succumbed to her injuries yet this clone would believe it was the real version. Robotics had come so far since the Omnic Crisis, this omnic looked identical to Hana with an advanced silicon skin that could only be identified from real human skin in a lab. The body functioned nearly identical to a human body as to make the asset and everyone else believe she was a real human.
Kim Yu-Jin clicked a button on the computer and watched as the file transfer began, uploading the mind into the robotic body. The transfer had to be done within this facility as the tech required to do so existed here. Later she will be transported to the hospital where the real Hana Song is located and given a cover story as to how she survived. As the download read 100% Kim Yu-Jin phoned for a helicopter to arrive at the base. Hana’s body was unloaded off the machine and placed on a stretcher which was wheeled to the landing pad. She was loaded onto the helicopter as it charted a course for the hospital.
Back in Hana’s hospital room the director watched as Hana’s heart monitor flatlined signaling she had lost the fight to her injuries. The director summoned her staff ordering them to cremate the body immediately and to ensure no living soul saw them transport or burn the body. With the room now empty, the director got to work crafting a cover story in the hospital logs as to how the patient survived their injuries and what ‘treatments’ were used on her. As the director of this military hospital, the doctors would believe without question what she put into the logs, the cover story for the public would be easier to create as the masses would eat up anything relating to Dva.
As the helicopter arrived at the hospital, the new Hana was wheeled into the room and placed on the hospital bed. She had been changed into a hospital gown with casts placed on her arm and leg to sell the illusion when she was activated. The staff bowed, leaving the director and Kim Yu-Jin alone together with Hana.
“Activate her, I wish to see the results of this Project of yours.”
Kim Yu-Jin pulled out a laptop connected to Hana’s diagnostics and pressed a button. They could see movement in Hana’s face until her eyes opened slowly.
“W-what happened, where am I?” She asked, scanning the room.
“Miss Song, I am the director of this hospital and you were brought here after you sustained injuries in your fight with the Gwishin.”
Hana recalled the fight. Fighting the Gwishin solo, losing her mech in the explosion and the moment she hit the water. She looked down at her hands noticing one was in a cast which reaffirmed the feelings of having her body shattered but she didn’t think a single broken arm would cause the amount of pain she felt.
“How am I still alive?” She asked, clearly remembering inhaling water.
“Our staff was able to stabilize you. You had some severe injuries so we recommend avoiding physical labor for the next three weeks. You stay here for the next couple days to monitor your recovery.”
Hana put her hand on her head, this didn’t feel real. She couldn’t understand how she was alive but everything after blacking out was missing.
“Miss Song, my name is Kim Yu-Jin. I will be the one in charge of your care for the foreseeable future.”
Hana turned her attention to the man in the chair, he wore a white labcoat with a pair of glasses on his face. He seemed vaguely familiar but only vaguely.
“Miss Song, can you tell me the last thing you remember?”
“I remember… hitting the water, struggling to breath then nothing. That was the last thing I remember before waking up here.”
“How are you feeling at this moment?”
“Surprised I’m still alive. I thought for sure I was dead, everything hurt like getting destroyed by the final boss in a game. I don’t feel any pain anymore though, it’s all still so weird.”
Kim Yu-Jin jotted something down in a notebook before standing up and pocketing the book back into his bag. As he put the chair back in the corner of the room he heard the doors open and a young man enter the room and rush to Hana’s side. He decided to observe for just a moment longer to note the asset’s interactions.
“Hana, oh my god, do you know how worried I was.” Dae-Hyun said, taking her hand into his.
“The plan worked Dae-Hyun, we saved the city.”
“But you could’ve died, I feared the worst when I lost contact with you.”
“I’m fine Dae-Hyun, I’m still alive, you worry too much Dae-Hyun.”
“Well, if you stopped getting into trouble then maybe I wouldn’t have to worry so much.”
“No promises.” Hana said, pulling Dae-Hyun into a hug.
Kim Yu-Jin was satisfied with what he had seen, the asset appeared to be acclimating well to the situation as it was designed for.
“Hana, I will see you again sometime. Have a nice day.” He bowed, leaving the two alone.
He walked down the halls towards the exit where a car waited to take him back to the base in Daegu. He climbed into the back of the awaiting SUV and pulled out his laptop from the bag. He opened it up as the car drove away pressing the power button as he did. On screen he could read the asset’s diagnostics and data regularly transmitted to the server. He opened up a file and began to write.
Project Starlight log: Day 380
It has been a little over a year, 380 days to be exact, since Project Starlight officially launched. We did not expect to be called upon so soon yet that was our purpose. The asset has been activated taking on the identity of the subject in question Hana Song. The subject obtained fatal injuries in the line of duty yet we were able to acquire a brain scan before the passing allowing us to upload a complete copy of the subject’s brain into the asset. The asset is unaware of their true nature and fully believes they are the subject in question. I had the opportunity to question the asset after their awakening and found it to be functioning at its intended capacity with memories and social functions intact. We will follow up with the subject in a month’s time to review the project’s progress and the functionality of the asset.
- Chief Scientist, Kmi Yu-Jin
~~~~~~
Back at the hospital Hana lay in her bed having a conversation with the rest of the MEKA squad over video call
“Do you know when you’ll be back? The team is worried about you?”
“They said they’d let me go in a couple days. Besides, I still need to beat you in Streetfighter again.”
“You wish, I’ve been training, you’ll surely lose this time.” King proclaimed with a smug look.
“If I win then you owe me a new Pachimari.”
“Deal.”
The screen then shifted to Yuna which left Hana delighted, she needed to talk with her.
“Hi Yuna, how’s everything at the base?”
“It would be better if you were here, being down a member isn’t good for our image. Plus, what you did was reckless, you could’ve died.”
‘Ugh, you sound like Dae-Hyun, he gave me that same lecture.”
“And you deserved it, what would we do if you had died?”
“Guess you’d be the MVP then Yuna, lol.”
“Not funny Hana, I’ll see you in a few days.” The video call cut.
Hana sighed, placing the tablet Dae-Hyun had brought onto the bed-side table. At least MEKA missed her and they were doing fine. She got up to open the curtains as Dae-Hyun returned to the room carrying lunch.
“Hey Hana, I got you something.”
“Thanks Dae-Hyun!” She said, taking the bag from his hand.
She opened it up, finding a roll of gimbap from a local place she loved. She felt overjoyed as she lifted a slice of the roll, placing it inside her mouth. She expected it to taste amazing yet her face fell into confusion as the strong flavors the shop was known for didn’t appear. Dae-Hyun, noticing the change in his friend’s face, asked out of concern.
“Is everything okay Hana?”
“Did they change their recipe lately?”
“Uh, no, not that I remember, why?”
“It’s just… this roll has no flavor. Here, try it.” She said, handing the bowl to him.
Dae-Hyun took a bite and shrugged. “Tastes fine to me, are you sure you’re alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Maybe I’m still a bit off from the accident, I’m sure it’ll be fine later.” Hana said, taking back the bowl.
She continued to eat the flavorless roll with her mind racing with questions she could not answer and a fear of what might happen.
The rest of Hana’s hospital stay was uneventful except for the director of the hospital herself checking in on Hana. She was honored to be considered important enough that a high-ranking official would visit her personally. Hana was sent home with specific care instructions such as not performing intensive manual labor yet did not receive any information why her food was entirely bland. She thought it was possibly the hospital food that was bland and she hoped it was because she could not imagine losing the joy of her favorite foods. She continued to be lost in thoughts as she was wheeled into a helicopter preparing to return her to the MEKA base. She was relieved to be finally going home yet Hana remained unaware of what was to come for her. From the lab near Daegu, Kim Yu-Jin was watching Hana’s diagnostics on screen preparing for the month to follow.