“No, I’m not.” Which was somewhat the truth, he wasn’t really anything-born. If he had to really say how he was “born”, he’d simply reply, lab-born. (Unless he was talking to a human, that is, then he’d be Japanese-born.)

“Are you Japanese?”

He nodded once. “Yes.”

“Oh…!” She got really close to his face. “Say something in Japanese! I’m taking a class at the University of Louisville, so lets see if I can understand you!”

“Alright then.” Takeshi straightened in his seat and faced her. His eyes going directly to the sunglasses she wore, he didn’t even notice her long dirty blonde hair or her small yet muscular frame. No, he was more interested in the sunglasses. “Watashi wa no anata onajiy? na imasu ka?” (Are you like me?)

She chuckled twice menacingly and looked over the top of her sunglasses, staring at him with neon green eyes. “Hai. Watashi wa no onajiy? na anata desu.” (Yes. I am like you.)

Takeshi didn’t hesitate, he moved as she tried to stab him with a special knife given to all Japanese androids by the Emperor in case one of them encountered another country’s androids. The blade was specially tuned to adjust to the wiring in the android and caused them to short circuit. This woman android – the first Takeshi had ever even heard of being created – had been given the knife to destroy him.

“Damn!” He cursed himself for not seeing it earlier. If the Emperor really wanted the infantry destroyed, he’d do everything possible, even something as crazy as creating women androids to trick them. “Who are you anyway?!”

The woman android giggle and tossed the purple sunglasses away. She straightened out her light pink kimono top as only a self-conscience girl could do. She patted down her skinny blue jeans with her free had and looked back up at Takeshi. “I’m First Lieutenant Chikara Kigurai of the Thirtieth Soldier Infantry Division – also known as the Deadly Flower Division.”

“The Deadly Flower Division?” He glared at her. “It was said that that division was put out of commission for disobeying orders. How is it that you are from there?”

Chikara giggled yet again – which was starting to get on Takeshi’s nerves a bit – and said, “The old Deadly Flower Division was decommissioned.” She smirked; snake-like fangs grew from her teeth. She bared them and hissed at him. “We were created to replace them. The Thirtieth Soldier Infantry Division has been reborn.” She swayed from side to side as she slowly walked towards him. “And our orders are to destroy the Lightening Division for going AWOL.”

Takeshi couldn’t move, surprised at what he saw. The Emperor had been discussing human-animal androids shortly before the Lightening Division went AWOL, but no one had thought he would go through with it. Chikara looked into his eyes, catching him in the deadly gaze of a cobra. Yes, she was definitely a human-animal android.

She jumped at him, keeping her grip on his gaze. She jumped onto him and bite into his metal neck even easier than human flesh. Takeshi finally came back to reality and managed to push her off of him. He grabbed the area where she had bit him with his hand and looked at what was on his fingers; acid. But it didn’t eat through his fingers, and that in itself was confusing, he knew it was acid. Even his enormous brain/computer had told him so.

“What is this?” He demanded.

Chikara giggled again as she returned to a full-human android. “Acid, as I’m sure you know. The difference between this acid and true acid is that this stuff is natural. Emperor Ayaui found it in the countryside outside of Kyoto.”

“What does it do?” His eyes narrowed, he didn’t like where this was going at all.

“This particular acid will find the motor skills part of your body and shut them down. You will fall uselessly to ground in about thirty seconds.” She smirked again. “And then I can kill you easily.”

Takeshi took a breath and tried to brace himself for the coming shut down of his motor skills, believing that he could weather it and escape. He was wrong. After twenty seconds, he fell to the ground, useless, as Chikara had told him he would. She walked over to him and knelt down beside him, pointing the knife at his throat for only a half second before shoving it completely through.

She stood up and watched as Takeshi convulsed and short-circuited. Smoke came out of the area of his neck where he had been stabbed. She grabbed the knife and slipped it back into the hidden holster she’d been carrying it in. She smiled triumphantly as his eyes turned to a faded blue, signaling his destruction.

Chikara pulled a cell phone from her pocket as she grabbed Takeshi’s ticket to New York and walked towards the bus. Anyone who saw him from a distance would think he was a bum with a smoke. She put on her sunglasses as she climbed onto the bus and dialed the first speed dial on her phone.

She waited for a moment before saying, “Major Kosui? …Yes, this is she.” She waited a moment to be told to give her status report. “Sergeant Mizuhara of the Lightening Division has been dispatched of this world.” She waited again for a question from the Major. “Yes, he did give me some information… He was heading to New York City. If I’m lucky, then that means that our runner from the Lightening Division was meeting his comrades there. I’m going there to intercept them.”

She waited as she was given a firm “no” and given more orders. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be sure to meet up with her when I get there… Yes, ma’am.” She nodded as if her superior was in front of her. “I’ll be sure to give her your orders… Okay then, goodbye. First Lieutenant Chikara Kigurai signing out.”

Chikara clicked the “end” button on her cell phone, disappointed that her job was over, but at least satisfied that she took down one of the Lightening Division’s best. (One down, twenty to go.)