Sabaibā

Part 1

Phantoms, beasts that kill without cause or warning, infected the earth. From what we can tell they are not living organisms; yet they have sources that we call their core. The size of the phantom is what determines the amount of cores inside. It all started a couple of years ago; life was, boring, but going smoothly. But... one day that all changed. The first phantom appeared in the Northern Hemisphere; its size was about fifteen feet tall and twenty-three feet long. Nothing could stop it, bullets, missiles, nothing. Thankfully it stayed away from populated areas, but even then hundreds were killed by the beast, and no one could stop it. For three years, the killing went on without end. The saliva was  taken from the victims of these attacks. It was then studied and tested.

              The Superiors, a group of lead scientists, developed the first human Kämpfer. A Kämpfer is a genetically modified human organism that has been combined with part of the phantom. They are the only ones capable of hurting and killing the monsters.

       The phantoms are known to be made up of "negative energy". The saliva contained traces of epinephrine, adrenan, and cortisol. These three chemicals are the basis for negative emotions in humans. Children were taken from their families and shipped off to the labs. There they received high doses of these chemicals in special pods placed in their skin. These children, like me, are the Kämpfer.

   All I know is that my team and I were created purely to fight. There are five in our team; those team members being Riku, the tallest of our team and incredibly skillful with katanas, and Natasha, my fighting partner. Then there's Carter, Niko, Eri,and me. Together we are squad Delta. I came to the Kämpfer recruitment facility when I was seven, with no recollection of my past. All I knew was that I was born for the sole purpose of fighting the phantoms. 

      Everyday here is the same; we wake up, train and go to bed. Everything is planned out for us, including our sleep, food and activities. Here at the facility, we have three different classes of Kämpfer. The first class being Class S; these Kämpfer are the best of the best and always on the front line fighting the phantoms. The second class is Class B; this class is generally good. Then there's my class, Class A. We are barely even eligible to become Kämpfers. In fact, the only reason they let me in, is because my genetic code accepted the pods. Then there's our rank number. Our rank shows what number you are out of all the Kämpfer alive at that moment. For example, mine's not great, but my rank number is 513 out of 521. 

  Being nearly the worst at everything really takes its toll on you here. The constant whispering and harassment is irritating, but nothing can be done about it. I can't stand up to the S Class... never. In my squad, being the handicap isn't easy; maybe two of my squad members treat me as an equal. The others look down on me for my lack of skill and ability. However, my fate sure took a turn, thanks to one person.

    The day started as always. Get out of bed; fall in at the bottom of the cramped barracks, and walk to the dining hall. After breakfast, which usually consists of eggs and ham for protein, we go to basic training. The word "basic" for me here is usually quite the opposite. Basic training is a five mile run with other controlled workouts. And being rank number 513, these workouts are never easy; the one hundred push-ups and sit-ups are painful and tiring. And the constant harassment from being the worst never helps either, especially when I already know I'll never amount to anything when I can't fight a phantom. When the workouts are done, the REAL training beings. We organized into squads and make a beeline to the simulators. The simulators simulate real phantoms that have attacked in the past; how many you kill is what determines what rank number you are. I have killed 241 out of 482, so as you can tell, I'm not the best Kämpfer in the world, and because of that, the harassment never ends. 

     I've tried to memorize the movements of the simulated phantoms so I can beat more of them; the problem is, is that there have been so many attacks, you almost never do the same simulation twice. What's worse is how intense and difficult the simulators are. They hook up to our nervous system, so we are able to feel every bite, scratch, stab, and bruise we get. You see, our mission as Kämpfers is to neutralize the phantoms without being hit once. If you are scratched or bit, you will turn into a phantom, then you will also be neutralized. There is only one person who has ever survived a phantom bite. However, it's rumored that he's dangerous and kills for fun, just like a phantom; but he has been said to have run away.

        The rest of the day is pretty simple, we go to normal high school classes like Physics, Algebra, etc. The only difference in classes is one we call "Phantom Studies". It mostly gose over the phantoms we will encounter in the filed. After classes we have three hours of free time to hangout with other Kämpfer or to study. During this time I just sit on a bench or walk around the mall, alone. Not even my partner wanted to join me to even simply walk around with me, but at this point, I've gotten used to it. I don't mind anymore.

      Everyone in my squad has a code number and a code name. As you found out earlier, my code number is 513; my partner is 237, and she's not too happy about being my partner. Her name is Natasha, and she's really fun and tries to be nice to me, but it's obvious she doesn't like me. She usually takes over during combat since I'm not able to do much. I would describe her as determined but can sometimes go a little overboard with her emotions. My other squad mates like me to an extent. Carter has been my friend ever since I came to the recruitment facility. Always joking and making a fool of himself, Carter is relatively popular among the boys. The girls? Not so much. You see he can never keep his eyes off the girls and is relentlessly trying to get a girlfriend. Honestly, I kinda enjoy watching him literally chase after them in the courtyard. Then there's Niko, she's always cheering me up when others are bringing me down. She has an obsession with anything that has to do with cats, she even has a cat plush on her bed. Niko may be small, but boy can she pack a punch. She is one of the very few here who are able to use guns, and with a quick tongue and even quicker trigger finger, you don't want to get on her bad side. I've actually had to stop her from almost shooting Carter! But in her defense, he was being a pervert. 

   Eri, she's very quiet and shy. She loves to help people but in a way where they won't know it was her. Lastly our squad leader, Riku. He doesn't talk much. He's what you'd call the "strong silent type" and all the girls go crazy over him. As I mentioned earlier, Riku is amazing with swords. He's obviously not the best because he's in our squad, but he is still incredibly talented.  As for everyone else here? Well they barely even treat me as human.

     Once it's time for bed we go to the bathhouses, bathe, and freshen up from a hard days training, just to get up tomorrow and do it all over again. The beds in our barracks retract into the wall for safety and Kämpfer containment, which I'm still kind of confused about but I have to go along with it. The beds are equipped with alarms, oxygen, and other sorts of technology. So as usual, we get into our beds and fall asleep in a matter of moments.

   Sleep is beautiful; it allows us to dream. They are usually interpretations of our deepest fears or desires. It allows us to let go of the negativity and terror of the real world. It seems I had been asleep for maybe four hours.... when it happened.