The Power of Motivation

Dr. Mizuki Watanabe had decided that she did not much care for the out of doors. It was dirty for one, and the noises were strange, and the air difficult to get used to breathing. The water tasted funny as well, and she was hoping that she would not contract some strange disease or parasite from drinking it. Yes, her departure from Geneva Prime had not been a comfortable one, but she pressed on regardless. She and her compatriots all were driven by powerful motivation.

Ryuunosuke was easy to read, of course. He was like a child, grasping constantly for power, station, attention. His passions made him unpredictable, but they also made him easily manipulated. Through a combination of calculated flattery, performance-enhancing drugs, and sexual favors, she had brought him to the point where he would do almost anything for her, so long as it did not directly clash with his ambitions. He probably was under the impression that they were in love, or some such foolish concept. Now, however, he was focused singlemindedly on finding some legendary Karian artifact or other, thinking it would grant him the power he so craved. As if these backwater rustics could possible have fashioned anything to challenge Cheldrun technology. Still, she had nowhere else to go at the moment, so she accompanied him on his little quest.

Tricks-the-Wind, the swarthy little Zipsum man, was just as easy. Probably more intelligent than Ryuunosuke, but less dangerous, the Karian was a coward and an addict. He was ostensibly serving as a guide through the wilds, a laughable concept as she had never encountered before a Karian so adapted to city life. He had actually been the first to complain of the bugs! Still, his motivation was clear, and stronger than he knew how to break: Sikolo powder. A powerful stimulant that she, Dr. Watanabi, had recently perfected, distilled from some of the native plant life. She had gone through over a dozen test subjects before she got the formula right. One of those had even been a Zipsum. No matter. Tricks would go where the only source of Sikolo powder went. He did not know that it was she who manufactured it, of course: that would not do. He was under the impression that Ryuunosuke simply had a large supply on hand, which helped to keep him in line.

The Gogajin trudged along beside them, silent as always. He had not given his name, and the others called him Donkey Man. His motivation was fairly obvious as well. Trapped in a foreign world, wounded and alone, they had given him succor and helped him to escape. Now he led them toward his village, though the only way he knew to describe the distance was 'far'. They were going there to learn more of the legends regarding the blade Ryuunosuke sought. He knew, however, that this was the price Ryuunosuke had demanded to get him out of the city, but that he still owed her for saving his life in the first place. And as long as one such as he owed her a life debt, she knew she had him as firmly as iron shackles. She glanced at his bulging muscles. Firmer.

Then there was Mathhew, the Mechified. He was the only member of the group that presented an enigma. Almost as silent as the Gogajin, he mostly kept to himself and treated every suggestion Ryuunosuke made as a command. She simply could not figure out why: he was even bigger than the Gogajin, bigger than any other person she had ever seen, and covered almost entirely in modifications. He could rip a man in half with his bare hands. She knew this for a fact. Not that she had ever deigned to watch such a barbaric sport as the Black Lotus ring presented, but she had been given the bodies afterward for her experiments, and had been told the grisly details. Matthew had been the Champion until Ryuunosuke had made his appearance in the ring, and by all rights should have hated the man who had defeated him but let him live. Instead he seemed to quietly accept the man as his superior and allow himself to be dragged halfway across the planet. Dr. Watanabe's eyes narrowed as she looked at him. She did not like not being able to understand this one.

As for she, herself, her motivation was clear: safety. Born to a lowly Allskin family, she had the intelligence and the opportunity to go as far as an Allskin can. The thing was, she just did not care. She had never really found anything truly worth caring about. She learned about them, certainly, learned to fix, manipulate, create, everything from biology and medicine, to psychology, to her true specialization, chemistry. But she did these things because she could, because it was easy and it helped her to pass the time, not because she actually cared about any of it. Her skills combined with her relative moral flexibility led her to fall in with the Black Lotus ring, where she was provided with facilities, resources, test subjects; in short, the best that the most influential criminal element in Geneva Prime could muster. She worked for them, developing drugs, healing their wounded and interrogating their prisoners because she had nothing better to do. Then the insurgency started, and the warring in the streets, and finally the Explosion. After that Goshi soldiers were crawling everywhere like ants, and they had developed a policy of shooting first at anyone who looked even vaguely suspicious, and not even bothering with the questions. Most of the top brass of the Black Lotus were killed and it became obvious that the city was no longer a good place to be for... well, anyone, but especially someone connected to the Underground. So when Ryuunosuke had brought her the injured Gogajin, and then described his plan to leave the city, she made her decision.

A whiff of some strange fragrance caught her attention, and Dr. Watanabe looked over to find that they were passing a field of bright pink fragrant flowers. She bent down and plucked one; clear sap oozed from the broken stem. She smiled. Perhaps there was something she could do on this trip after all. There was literally a whole world of wildlife out there that had not really been tested for chemical properties. It could be interesting to see what she could discover, and she might even use some of her companions as test subjects. Perhaps the Gogajin, once his usefulness had run out. Yes, something to amuse herself until she decided what to do next. She had no concern about being able to turn the others to her purpose once she decided what that should be. All she needed to do would be to give the proper... motivation.