Experiment 013 | Tokyo Ghoul

004 | training

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As the deep purple and red-streaked object emerged from Shinohara-san's briefcase, it shaped itself into a long butcher's knife directed straight at me. Amon-san took several steps back, quietly watching us from the side of the room.

"Here," Shinohara-san used his foot to push a metal pole he found on the ground towards me, "you'll be using this for now."

"She's using that against a quinque?" Amon-san frowned.

Shinohara-san replied curtly, "Just wait and see."

I bent down to the ground, gripping the firm, cold metal in my right hand tightly. Mother had told me about those things, a quinque, made from a ghoul's kagune, meaning that I'd have to be more careful about this fight than any normal one. Ghouls were something I'd been accustomed to ever since I could recall. Mother drilled every single detail about them into my brain. Their biological information, kagune types, weaknesses and strengths, dietary habits, how to fight them effectively and distinctive physical characteristics. Textbooks and lectures about them became my routine bedtime stories.

Her perfect little killing machine. An experiment that did not require care, emotions nor comfort, only the daily affirmation of love from a seemingly perfect mother.

As Shinohara-san made the first move towards me, I remained still, watching him carefully. Just as he was about to strike down, I leisurely raised my right hand, blocking his quinque with mediocre effort. I must admit though, his quinque was much stronger than some of the ones Mother and other scientists used to train me with.

As expected from a Special Class CCG Ghoul Investigator, Shinohara-san was fast, strong and skilled in combat. But so was I. Years of relentless training resurfaced in my memory as I blocked every incoming hit. Amon-san seemed relatively impressed by my abilities from the side-lines.

"Your combat skills are impressive, but how much longer are you going to stay on defense?" Shinohara-san commented, raising his hand for a much stronger hit.

As the quinque collided with the measly metal pole, it sent the pole flying across the room and out of my hands. The quinque didn't pause there either, heading straight for the center of my head.

"Shinohara-san you could seriously injure her!" Amon-san exclaimed with a slight hint of panic in his voice.

THWACK!

The loud sound of the hostile quinque against my flesh echoed throughout the room, except that there were no blood splatters or wounds created.

Eyes widening, Shinohara-san stared at me from behind the quinque as I caught the weapon in my empty right hand. Slowly, he regained his calm composure again and moved the quinque away quickly as I switched to offensive.

Now, it was my turn.

Without hesitation, I thrust my foot towards his face, but the hit was blocked by his quinque. This time there was no metal pole. I was fighting against him and his weapon with my bare limbs.

My continous attacks allowed no time for Shinohara-san to attempt a hit, so he remained on defensive. His quinque acted as his shield until it couldn't take anymore and a slight, mocking crack appeared.

At this, he raised his hand, and my fist halted abruptly, only seconds away from his face.

"I see the experiments truly did succeed."

Lowering my arm, I paused, continuing his explanation.

"Boron carbide skin. Tough enough to shatter a ghoul's teeth if they try too hard to bite through it. Although at this point, too many hits from a kagune or quinque would break through it. However, it gives me a lot more powerful impacts too."

"I see," Shinohara-san nodded, placing a hand on his chin as he remained in thought, "Despite your destructive power and your constant shield, you need to work more on your agility and speed since strength is already something you possess."

"Are these the experiments they were conducting? Some type of unbreakable skin?" Amon-san spoke up, walking forward as the match ended and we both relaxed.

"Not necessarily that only."

Amon-san and Shinohara-san turned to me, signaling me to explain furthur.

"My human bones have been replaced with titanium material that is hollow in order to allow me to be able to move them easily and quickly despite of their weight."

"This idea originated from the superior capabilities that a ghoul has compared to a human. Of course, you have quinques to fight against their kagunes, but ghouls also have enhanced physical capabilities, tough bodies and high regenerative abilities that humans lack. In order to make up for this, these experiments were conducted, but they have yet to find a way to obtain a ghoul's high regenerative capabilities. Therefore, they shifted their focus onto 'unbreakable bodies' that could handle multiple ghoul attacks instead."

"So in a way," Amon-san summarized, "you're like a metal, human puppet?"

I shrugged, "You could put it that way. Honestly, the real me passed away 16 years ago. If you count how many years it has been since I was physically born, then I would be 19. The person you are talking to at this moment is a mere matured clone, figuratively of course, of the child I was."

"They aim to create an army of robots then?"

Shinohara chuckled as I blinked plainly and retorted, "This isn't a sci-fi movie, Amon-san."

"Right, sorry. Was it... painful?"

"Excruciating," lifting my hand, I opened and closed it several times, "Every several months, they had to cut me open to replace these bones with longer ones as I grew and they would inject drugs into me in order to enhance my physical capabilities and senses to keep up with a ghoul's until they were able to replace the skin and organs. It doesn't matter anymore though, I can't feel pain now. I can't feel anything."

Shinohara-san crossed his arms, seeming satisfied, "I think that we've done enough for today to be able to assess your current skills. For the mean time, we'll find a training partner for you while the higher-ups decide what position to give you."

"Training partner...?" I echoed, puzzled, "You're not going to be training me?"

"I am still your mentor, but I also have work to do as a ghoul investigator, therefore, I'm assigning someone else as a temporary replacement until you're permitted to do active work out on the field."

Amon-san reached out to Shinohara-san, "Wait, you don't mean that you're going to partner her with-"

"Akumu-san," again, Shinohara-san disregarded Amon-san's comment.

"Yes...?" cautiously, I answered.

"Be here at 10am tomorrow morning. I'll be introducing you to your part-time training partner."

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