In Namie Seiko Yoshida and her husband Tsutoshi offer a prayer for their late daughter Miki, who was killed by the tsunami while at work at a post office, in Ukedo district, 5km north of the nuclear plant – Photograph: Kimimasa Mayama/EPA
Mikiko Jahn and Brigit Monroe stepped out of the ruins as the older couple drove away. They’d placed flowers on the foundation of what used to be their home across the street.
“I had dinner with them every weekend. I’d just introduced my fiance’ Ichioka the Sunday before the accident.”
Brigit, Mikiko’s psychologist, touched her forearm and felt it trembling. This visit was dangerous, but Mikiko insisted on going home for the anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Five years ago, the reactor 3 hydrogen explosion injured eleven and killed one, except Mikiko was only presumed dead. Her injuries were catastrophic. The government covered up the events around her reconstruction as the first synthetic organism. Cybernetic brain implants regulated all of her emotions until this morning when Brigit ordered the firmware upload.
Now Mikiko could feel…everything.
“Ochan. Otousan.”
Brigit put her arms around Mikiko and let her sob for hours.
I authored this for the What Pegman Saw writing challenge. The idea is to take a Google maps image and location and use them to craft a piece of flash fiction no more than 150 words long. My word count is 150.
Today, the Pegman takes us to Fukushima, Japan. I couldn’t believe it. For just over a month, I’ve been writing a science fiction/espionage series about a woman horribly mutilated in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster which began with a devastating earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011 and set in this very location.
Mikiko’s latest published adventure is The Most Dangerous Predator but the events here occur after Woman Under Repair but before Woman in the Shadows.
It’s tough to compress everything that’s happening in this scene into 150 words and have it be a complete story. As readers of her series know, soon after the accident, her “designer” Dr. Daniel Hunt had several cybernetic chips implanted in various parts of her brain to regulate her emotions. Being horribly mutilated and then being the object of numerous, highly invasive surgeries, literally being rebuilt from scratch using synthetic materials based on artificial DNA would be emotionally intolerable to just about any human being. The chips regulate those emotions, allowing Mikiko to endure her state and her transformation with relative calm. Her emotions can be programmed to even allow feelings of well-being and happiness under the most horrible circumstances.
Brigit Monroe is Mikiko’s psychologist and in her opinion, sooner or later, Mikiko must learn to regain at least some control of her emotions and especially to be allowed to experience grief over her loss, not just of her original body, but of her former life. Even Mikiko’s parents don’t know she’s alive, and because she is regarded as most secret by both the Japanese and British governments, she can never tell anyone she survived.
So I wrote this. In a longer tale, perhaps a novel, I would expand upon these events quite a bit. For now, this is the best I can do. The photo at the top has a caption that tells the real story of the people depicted. At the bottom, I’m including another photo of a real person memorializing those lost in the tsunami, but one I hope will express how Mikiko eventually embraces her new life.
Oh, “Ochan and Otousan.” are the best I can do using Goggle to have Mikiko say “Mommy and Daddy” in Japanese. If anyone out there can offer a correction, I’d appreciate it.
To read other stories based on the prompt, go to InLinkz.com.
On Fukanuma beach, Sendai, a woman throws a bunch of flowers – Photograph: Ken Ishii/Getty Images
What a wonderful, powerful, tragic tale. Thank you for sharing this.
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Thank you for reading it and commenting, Cara. If you’re interesting in learning more about Mikiko, click on this link which will take you to the latest story in her series. Scroll to the bottom to find a list of the stories I’ve written about her.
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Great story, James. Good job condensing the longer piece.
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Thanks. Editing it down was a bit of a chore but it seemed to work out.
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Ambitious concept, but you really did pull it off in 150 words. Great storytelling!
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Thanks.
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I think this is maybe your best story about Mikiko, partly because it lets us connect with her emotionally.
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True. An expanded story would involve more details about her emotional transition, Penny. Thanks
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Dear James
A tear-inducing story, which had so much of everything (emotion, technology and hope) packed into it.
Grace and peace
Kelvin
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Thanks, Kelvin. From my point of view, there’s so much more to explore in Mikiko emotionally.
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Absolutely. I look forward to reading stories based on that exploration.
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Thanks, Kelvin. I’ll do my best.
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Dear James,
Quite a combination of emotion, tragedy and technology. Nicely done. Good editing.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you, Rochelle.
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How very tragic. Nature is relentless and unchangeable, isn’t it?
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Yes, it sure can be. An earthquake and tsunami are what they are, forces of nature. However when they intersect with humanity, therein lies the tragedy.
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Agreed.
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I agree with what others have said – this is so successful because it connects emotionally with what is usually a tough, emotionless character. Good writing James
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Actually, I don’t see Mikiko as emotionless at all and often not very tough. Her thoughts and emotions have been manipulated by both the cybernetic implants and as part of the adaptation process, but especially if you read the latest story, she manifested a short term physical change basically because she’d panicked.
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so realistic and really showed us the recovery and how it might feel at this point – and th ephotos you found made this feel so real – enjoyed it
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The photos were the true inspiration because those people are going through in many ways what Mikiko is experiencing.
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🙂
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Good story. I say “Go for the novel”.
Scott
Mine: https://kindredspirit23.wordpress.com/2017/12/04/what-pegman-saw-fukushima-japan/
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Thanks. Have to finish the basic story line first, Scott.
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Too beautiful for adequate words. Great story.
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Thank you, Jelli. In the meantime, Mikiko has killed five kidnappers, maimed one, threatened to kill three gang bangers, thinks she’s malfunctioning because she remembers actually enjoying homicide, but then has to travel back to England for a showdown with her nemesis Hellspite in order to rescue his hostage, who just happens to be his half-sister. Did I say her life is complicated?
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Wow, … too much cough syrup to understand those twists. Great story!
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You have to keep reading so you can keep up
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