Sign of the Dragon (Tatsu Yamada Book 1), Niall Teasdale [books for 20 year olds .txt] 📗

Nakano’s place was single-storey and you rapidly got the impression that the residents there were a little different. The front door had a ramp leading up to it. Nakano did not need that, but he lived with his younger sister, who did. The door was opened by Nakano to reveal a typical Japanese hallway with a step up before you entered the house proper. This was where you removed your shoes, except that the step had a ramp set against it. Tatsu sat down on the step to unzip and remove her boots anyway.

‘Uh, when I asked you to wear a dress…’ Nakano began.

‘You were hoping it’d be opaque?’ Tatsu asked. The dress in question was a purple micromesh tank and you could certainly see the shadows of her body through it.

‘Oh, uh, it’s almost opaque.’

‘Wait until it gets a light shone right on it. You were hoping for something longer?’

‘Longer. Definitely. Maybe a little less low-cut.’

‘I have a limited supply of dresses. This was the most respectable I could find.’ Which was not entirely true. Teasing Nakano over the dress request just seemed like something she had to do.

‘I guess I can’t complain. It was me who asked you to come.’

‘Good point.’ Tatsu got to her feet. ‘Now, where’s the person I actually came to see?’

‘Mika’s in the lounge. Come on through.’

Mika Nakano was not exceptionally short; in fact, she was about the same height as Tatsu, but she was stick thin. Her legs especially had absolutely no muscle development. She sat in an electric wheelchair in a T-shirt and shorts, both so baggy against her emaciated form. Her face had somehow managed to retain some weight, though it made her head look too large for her body. She had large, very dark eyes with very long lashes, a small flat nose, and perfectly average lips which looked made for pouting. Her black hair was quite full and curved around her face to end in fronds on her upper chest. When Tatsu checked her MedStat data, she got red and yellow back; the girl was probably terminally ill and stressed about it. She was a beautiful girl badly let down by an emaciated body.

The smile she gave Tatsu was bright and warm, however; her spirits seemed good. ‘Hello, I’m Mika Nakano. You must be Tatsu Yamada. Nii-san is always complaining about your outfits.’

‘I wouldn’t say always…’ Nakano mumbled.

Tatsu stepped forward to shake Mika’s hand, noting the shake as Mika raised her arm. ‘It’s nice to meet you, Mika. Call me Tatsu. I got to complain about his outfit last time. He came to Chiba in a suit that screamed “please mug me.”’

‘That’s Nii-san. Please, sit down. Can I get you any refreshments? The tea is fresh.’

Tatsu shook her head. ‘I don’t really need anything.’

‘No, because you’re… Uh, but that’s why you’re here, right? To persuade me that becoming a cyborg is a good thing.’

Tatsu shook her head as she took a seat on the sofa beside Mika’s chair. ‘I’m not here to persuade you of anything. I’ll answer questions and provide information. Going full cyborg is a personal decision and you’re the only one who can make it.’

‘Why did you?’

‘Ah. Well, I’m a bad example. I was in a coma when they decided to perform the procedure. That being said, I prefer being alive to the alternative, so I can’t say I disagree with the decision.’

‘Okay. That actually tells me something… I have a neurological condition. I’ve had it since birth.’

‘It wasn’t detected in-vitro?’

‘No. It’s an obscure one and they’ve never isolated the genetic causes. It’s got a very long name. It’s slow. I was fine as a kid, but it’s slowly destroying my nervous system. The current estimate is no more than two years before it kills me.’

‘So, you have some time to make your decision. That’s why you’re in a wheelchair?’

‘No,’ Nakano said. ‘That was the war. It is why she can’t have less extensive cybernetics to let her walk again.’

‘And I’d likely have trouble walking by this point anyway,’ Mika added. ‘And it’s starting to affect my work.’ She lifted her right arm. Her palm shook noticeably as she tried to hold it steady. ‘I’m an artist. I do graphics for websites, some manga work, that kind of thing. At this rate, I won’t be able to for much longer. So, I have incentive. I’ve just… I’m not sure…’

‘Mika has the same fear as everyone else regarding robots. Being inside one…’

‘Okay,’ Tatsu said. ‘Well, the first thing is that it doesn’t feel like being inside a robot. When I woke up after the procedure, I didn’t know what had happened. I don’t think there’s any difference between the experience of being a human and what I have now. I may be remembering it wrong, but they engineer your body to feel like your old one. But better. There’s a period of adjustment. Your new body has to learn how your brain does things. You need to get used to what your new body can do. That said, you should be able to walk right out of the gate, so you’ll see an immediate improvement. You may notice fine motor skills take a week or two to settle. After that, depending on the specs for your body, you may be better than ever.’

Mika sipped her tea. When she concentrated, her hand was steady, more or less. It was clearly an effort. ‘What about the social aspect? Cyborgs… Full-body cyborgs aren’t…’

‘Considered human?’ Tatsu suggested.

‘I… wasn’t going to put it like that.’

Tatsu flashed her a grin and then shifted to a solemn, thoughtful expression. ‘When I became this, the prejudice wasn’t as strong because Rasputin hadn’t started focusing on Japan. And I went straight into the military who cared more about what