Cut My Strings

Clink clank. The sound of metal clashing. A body sliced clean open. The blood flowing on the dirty, worn cement. This was the life of the underground. The smell of rotting bodies in a nearby dumpster. What made this body on the ground stand out was how fresh it was. How messy of a sight it was. This was not done by a calculating, cold gangster. This was not the victim of the local fight club. This was a murder of a much more violent nature. The cuts were uneven and sloppily done. The intestines of the man oozed out of his stomach. His heart and throat was impaled by a different weapon.

Yet it was all done by a little girl. A little girl that saw nothing but red.

Her lab gown was painted crimson as she silenced another adult. What cruel words the woman said to her. A freak of nature? Stay away? Why were all adults so mean? Groans and cries escaped the zombie's mouth as she pried the shuriken out of the dead prostitute. The mask muffled her cries. She couldn't stand having it on her face. She didn't like any of the add-ons that was sloppily forced onto her body. She could feel the crushing weight of the weapons as she stumbled back onto her feet.

It was cold too. November weather brought a chill to her spine. The twelve-year-old patted her face and felt the mask that suffocated her. The nails were bothering her. She wanted to scratch at them but she couldn't. She shuffled slowly down the street. O.A.D.U. paid no mind to the bloody trail of dead bodies she left. Why would she? She was a killer by design but not at heart.

At heart she just wanted to be normal.

@"Maximum_Fatalis"

The subject froze in place the moment she heard the man's voice. She stopped and stared at him. Her body trembled lightly from the cold. The only thing that warmed her exposed limbs was the fresh blood. Her feet were scraped up and dirty. She wore no shoes. Her dry hair was in a messy bun. Her eyes were hidden by the lenses of the mask. There was no mouth piece to speak through. A careful listener could hear subtle pained groans in between heavy breathing cycles.

"Adult....hostile...."

Her fuma shuriken slid over in front of the small girl. It behaved as a shield that partially obscured Don's view of her. The spikes in her wrists poked out just a bit as her hands lowered towards the ground. She was not attacking, but her slouching and generally defensive position communicated an emotion even more powerful than anger: fear. O.A.D.U. glared at the stranger. All the adults she had known in her life hurt her. They tortured her and turned her into this freak. Why should she trust this man?

"I'll kill you..."

To make matters worse, just the sight of a grown male brought up thoughts of her father. Her father....she hated him. A growl escaped her lips as she inched slightly closer. She was prone to aggression at the moment. The wrong move could make her lash out against the demon.

@"Maximum_Fatalis"

The demon laughed at the bio-android's attempts to be threatening. Then again, a tiny zombie with a bunch of weapons stuck haphazardly onto her body probably wouldn't faze a hardened demon ex-soldier. She was ready to fight. This blade was sharp and would cut through his--hm? Why was he taking off his jacket? Was this his signal to fight? Would this be a hand-to-hand match? Her head tilted slightly. That was when the jacket was tossed at her. It landed right in front of her. Why did he throw his jacket at her?

She moved as if to sniff it but remembered the stupid mask nailed to her face. Her hands again clawed at the mask. Her breathing problems took up the forefront of her mind. The girl went into mild hysterics as she tried her best to regulate her breathing once more. The instinctual panic feature that carried over from her humanity served as an obstacle. Her spikes scratched at the metal mask. They couldn't even so much as leave a dent. Even if they could, it would serve to damage her face and possibly maim her badly.

Once she relaxed, the claws reclined into their slots as she moved her hands away. Alice hesitantly picked up the jacket and tried wrapping it around herself. She found that this was an issue with the fuma shuriken that extended out from her back. She was left with the choice of leaving the blade out and being cold or collapsing the giant weapon entirely so that she could put on the jacket. After several moments, the sharp star-shaped weapon folded up and moved back into the slot on her back. She put on the jacket and stuck her arms through the sleeves. It was much bigger than her. The not even 5' tween was swimming inside of his jacket.

"Why...?"

The inside of the borrowed clothing item would be stained with blood. Alice tried not to lose her alertness to the overwhelming comfort and warmth she felt wearing the jacket. This could be a trap after all.

@"Maximum_Fatalis"

She suddenly sneezed. Her nose was clogging up. She had to breathe through her mouth. This terrible mask was making it harder to do so. That was when the man offered to take off the mask. The weapons were a bonus; it was the mask she wanted off the most. It was a symbol of hatred for her. A symbol of fatherly betrayal. Fathers were supposed to protect daughters. They were supposed to love daughters. What loving father would let bad people do horrible stuff to his daughter?

What kind of father would nail a metal mask to his screaming daughter's face?

She learned not to trust strangers, but she couldn't even trust her own loved ones. Why did Mommy never show up? Did her mother know where she was? Did her mom even care? She had no family, no friends, no support. Alice became O.A.D.U., a cold killing machine that escaped from her owners.

Yet this random stranger was offering her help?

The girl showed reluctance. Everything he stated was true, but could she really trust an adult? She sneezed once more. This time it led to a coughing fit. The mucus within her body was trapped. She couldn't let it leave or else she'd have a slimy mask on top of an uncomfortable one.

The test subject took Donny's hand. Anything was better than this.

@"Maximum_Fatalis"

It seemed that where they wanted to go wasn't too far away. Within a few moments, they turned towards a building. The sign and exterior walls were about as worn as anything else in this area of the city, so she didn't expect much. Her eyes scanned the sign. It read Damascus Arms Inc. Arms...she was entering a weapons shop. No wonder he had the means to fix her. Even so, the girl remained on high alert. There were many things that could go wrong with this, and she didn't want to be backstabbed by another adult.

She didn't expect the inside to be so spacious and beautiful. Wow, he took really good care of this place! Her eyes widen in surprise as she glanced around everywhere. Her head turned frequently to check out every aspect of the showroom as she was led into the back. It felt nice being inside somewhere that wasn't the lab for once. She didn't know why this space was so big, but those questions could be saved after this stupid mask was stripped off of her face.

Alice sat down in the chair. Her eyes glanced worriedly at the demon as he grabbed various tools. She shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. She really wanted the mask off, but her fear levels were rising. This was quite the task that she was entrusting to a stranger. She went into another sneezing fit. The suffocation was real. He examined her face. The girl forced herself to remain still as he took off the nails one by one. Her eyes teared up a bit in pain, but she took the operation like a champ. She waited patiently for him to be done.

When he announced that she could do the honors, her hands immediately stopped gripping the sides of the chair and touched the mask. This time it felt loose. She pulled it off with ease and gasped for air. Scars that the mask and nails left were all over the girl's face. She had a giant x-shaped scar that covered her whole face. Her facial features were visible now. She had round, red eyes that held pure joy and excitement over the mask's removal. Since her face just had slimy snot on it and wasn't covered in blood, he could finally get a good sense of her pale skin color. She had a cute but sickly appearance; clearly the scientists were not mindful of her health.

Her hands ripped several tissues out of the box, and she blew her nose. She cleaned her face off of the snot and emptied the contents of her nose. The girl carefully folded the used tissues up and dropped them into the trash can that was by her chair. Her eyes then glanced back at Donny. Her face broke out into a smile. Alice leaped out of her chair and bolted over to hug the demon.

"Thank you!"

Her arms clung tightly around him. Light sniffling could be heard. That cold was still prevalent, but at least it could be treated normally now that the mask was off.

@"Maximum_Fatalis"