By Seth Mason

They were in an office somewhere beneath Shiro Bayushi. One of Kazama's assistants had led Ichimo through strange, twisting halls, until he was both lost and unsure how deep they were below the ground. Or how high up off of it.

"Ichimosan," Bayushi Kazama finally said from behind his massive desk. "I did not bring you here to stare at your back while you stink up my office."

"Hai," the Soshi said quickly, rising to his feet. The Champion's son, Bayushi Dairyu sat comfortably in a chair in front of the desk. Beside him was another empty chair which Ichimo took quickly, trying not to leave any trace of his unclean skin on it.

"Who were your parents?" Dairyu asked quickly.

Ichimo looked at the Bayushi for a moment, a little surprised at the question. After a second, he replied, "Soshi Ujina and Shosuro Takuko." He didn't ask why, knowing speaking out of turn could earn him a beheading or worse.

"And their parents?" Kazama said, steepling his hands in front of him.

It continued for hours. The Scorpion Champion and his son seeming to go back and forth, probing the technician with questions that at first seemed to have a pattern, then completely went off track. Kazama would ask of Ichimo's first birthday. Amazingly, Ichimo remembered, and then Dairyu would ask what presents he received. Just as Ichimo would find himself more engrossed in the memory, Kazama then asked him about his first car. Then his dinner two days before.

Then it was done. Kazama stood and dismissed Ichimo, his assistant seeming to appear from nowhere in the doorway.

Bayushi Dairyu looked sadly as the Soshi man left. "Very few have such clear memories, such a strong sense of self, father." He stood and folded his hands behind his back, sighing. "Such a pity to strip it from him."

The next night, Soshi Ichimo left his house to go running for the last time. The sun was setting on the western horizon, and the air was cooling enough to make the exercise comfortable. Ichimo had done this for the last fifteen years of his life, more out of the love of the ritual than the health it brought him. Very few people knew of Ichimo's loathing of the chaos in his life. He was an officer of the Emperor's Law, and every time he was called to duty, there was a device meant to destroy something sitting inches from his face. He never knew if he'd see the sun set again, but when he did, he would chase after it until it was gone.

He heard footsteps behind him, then, and casually turned his head to see who it was. There were a few other regular runners he crossed paths with now and again, but this was not one of them. Just as he saw he was in trouble, the six men had caught up to him, and the one in front grabbed him roughly, pinning him to the ground.

Another of them ran up and injected something into his leg, all of this happening in the space of less than a second. His military training forced him not to scream or cry out as he was assaulted, and as his vision faded, he realized that was what they had wanted.

"What will he remember?"

"Nothing."

Memories danced in the man's head as he stumbled down an alley. Two men had spoken as other had ... done something to him. He was cold, the sun had set long ago, and he staggered as the faint memories flashed across his mind like white heat. Whoever had done this to him had left him with nothing. No clothes, no money... no identity.

"He will be the perfect weapon."

Weapon? To fight what?

A voice, anchored in reality, called out from the other end of the alley. "Hey! Are you alright?"

The nameless man realized that he had cried out in anguish and pain every time one of the halfgone memories came to him. A shadowed figure ran down the alley after him, and just as all the strength drained from his legs, he was caught.

"What did you find?" another voice called out from where the first started.

"A man, Tokei," the first called back. He looked into the stranger's half closed eyes. Pure white. He knew what it meant. This was the Scorpion Champion's "package" he had been waiting for

"The crosswire's connected to the... spark pad... the spark pad's connected to the... agent..."

Soshi Ichimo muttered the tune to himself as deft fingers probed and pulled on the twisted piece of machine and explosive in front of him. Behind his blast mask, it was getting a little warm. He had arrived on the scene about twenty minutes prior with his bomb squad, and quickly informed them to clear out the small government building when he had found it.

"The agent connected to the..." the Scorpion man's finger slipped a little, and flicked against a small exposed wire connection. Ichimo froze completely on reflex, and slowly moved his fingers back to the tangle of wires. He suddenly realized he had also stopped breathing. "Damnit," he whispered. "Lost my place..."

Outside, the Scorpion sqaud had herded all of the workers onto the far side of the street, and began to worry. Their captain had been too long in the building, and several of the men looked to each other in apprehension.

"I'm going in," Bayushi Hakawa said suddenly, pulling a blast helmet on and walking into the lobby of the office building. None of the other officers said a word to him as he crossed the street. Hawaka reached the door and opened it slowly, fearing any disturbance might disrupt his superior's delicate work. As the Scorpion gunso entered the building, he heard his captain's voice.

"No, no. I want the reservations available in two hours, you hear me? I don't care who you have to kick out or dissapoint," Ichimo's tone was light, though somewhat frustrated.

Hakawa came into the lobby and saw Ichimo sitting down on the floor, his helmet tossed to the side, talking on his celluar phone. The Soshi noticed the other bomb technician and nodded in greeting, then spoke again into the phone, "Look. I'll make this simple. Right next to my foot is a device that could probably level your fine little gaijin establishment, roundeye. Don't play with me." The person on the other end of the conversation suddenly broke into a tirade of yelling that Hakawa could hear across the decentsized lobby.

Ichimo narrowed his eyes, "Good try, kid. But I am the local magistrate. I'll be there at 7:00. Bye," and with that, he folded up his phone and put it in his pocket. "Sorry to keep you guys," he said to Hakawa, "but I just remembered it was my wife's birthday. Had to get those reservations done while it was on my mind. Let's go," he kicked the steel and wire ball across the floor to Hakawa, "Get that for me, will ya?"

The Bayushi jumped back reflexively and gave his captain a dark look. Hakawa would probably never get used to his commanding officer's attitude.

"Don't worry, Bayushisan." Ichimo said, pulling a gray claylike ball from his pocket and tossing it into the air a few times. "I've got the boomboom right here."

Outside, two figures watched the Bomb Squad van pull away after order had been restored to the building. They were both dressed in black from neck to boot, and their masks were reserved, though clearly the trappings of Scorpion nobles.

"Him," the taller man said, his voice betraying age along with authority.

"Soshi Ichimo," the other replied, opening a folder before him. "Not the candidate our results seemed to want," he said.

The taller man turned and walked off, "I don't care, Dairyu," he said, dismissing him with a backwards wave of his hand. "Bring him to the Project as quickly as possible."

The younger one nodded to himself and looked up at the building. "Yes, father," he whispered, and walked the other direction.

EARTH: 3 Stamina: 5
WATER: 2 Perception: 4
FIRE: 3 Intelligence: 5
AIR: 4 Reflexes: 6 VOID: 2
Shadow Points: 2

(Skills and techniques in parenthesis were learned since Ichimo's memory wipe. As Hiroru, he is slowly remembering flashes of his life as Ichimo, and more and more of those previous skills will become known to him. He will also very likely develop a personal vendetta against the Scorpion Clan.)

School/Rank Shosuro Assassin Rank 3

Skills: Demolition 4, Explosives 5, Driving 3, Kenjutsu 3, Iaijutsu, 1, Law 3, Medicine 2, Sincerity 2, Poison 3, Stealth 2, (Stealh 5, Kenjutsu 4, Defense 4, Ninjutsu 3, Lore: Toturi's Army/Little Jigoku 3)

HONOR: 1.8
GLORY: 0.0 (Ronin)

ADVANTAGES: Precise Memory, Great Destiny