Chapter Two - Sympatico

Chapter Two -- Sympatico

Miyatsu was fascinated by Aiko's small beach house, although by most standards it was modest. The tiny verandah at the front faced towards the nearby beach and was screened with trees. While the city of Kagoshima was within easy traveling distance of the Centre, the outlying suburb where Aiko lived was still largely undeveloped. The neighbors were scattered over a wide area, with blocks of vacant land in between the houses.

Aiko unlocked the door and led Miyatsu into the combined living room/kitchen, switching on the lights as she did so, then began taking food from the refrigerator and finding plates as Miyatsu looked around. He stopped by the bookcase, examining it closely before carefully taking out one of the books.

"The scientists on Shima had lots of these, too," he remarked.

Aiko glanced across. "Well, our work was broadly similar, so we'd have similar books."

Then she realized that the book in Miyatsu's hands was not a science text, but one of the fantasy novels she was fond of. She watched him for a moment with the book. Something was odd. The unfamiliar way he held it, and the fact that it was upside down as he gazed at the cover, alerted her. She had become so used to listening to him talk intelligently that the thought he may not be able to read was startling.

The idea was confirmed when he said, "Why do humans spend so much time staring at these things?"

Aiko walked over to the bookcase, trying to get her head around this. Of course, he was an animal, genetically-modified, but still, an animal. And animals couldn't talk, let alone read. Yet he was obviously intelligent. It seemed the people he had known hadn't bothered going to much trouble for him: sparse living quarters, boring food, no companionship, no entertainment, he had the bare basics and not much else.

Yet presumably Sakaki had spent a great deal of money on him and must reasonably expect to receive a good return on his investment. She struggled against a wave of sympathy; no, it was more than that, she felt pity. She suppressed it, knowing there was a possibility that Miyatsu would pick up such a strong emotion, particularly as she was standing beside him.

Kneeling, she reached to the bottom shelf of the bookcase and pulled out a child's picture book, a much-loved story from her childhood. It had simple words and a picture on every page. It had been given to her, she remembered suddenly, on her seventh birthday. Going to the couch, she motioned Miyatsu to sit beside her. With him curled up catlike next to her, she read him the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

*

The meal was a huge success. Miyatsu sampled a little of every food she offered, sometimes only a bite, other times going back for seconds, or in the case of vanilla ice cream, thirds. During the meal Aiko had discovered another defect in his education -- he'd never been taught to use eating utensils. As a consequence of this, Aiko had also used her fingers. This had been no drawback with the chicken wings, but got messy when it came to eating ice cream. She had gotten around the problem by using cones.

Also, she'd never had such a deep and meaningful conversation about the motivation of Goldilocks. She and Miyatsu had solemnly come to the conclusion that the fictional child was an attention-seeking brat, with no empathy or concern for the rights of others.

"There! Is that right, Aiko?" Miyatsu moved aside so she could see the paper he had been shakily writing upon.

She'd written his name in bold characters at the top of the page, and he had been carefully copying it. His hand, more accurately a modified paw, was not really adapted to fine motor skills. Although the front toes of his forelimbs had been elongated to give him fingers and an opposable thumb, they were short and clumsy, lacking the fine pincer grip of a human hand. Also, the wickedly sharp retractile claws tipping each finger didn't help, as they tended to extend whenever he gripped the pen in concentration, getting in the way. But despite the problems, he'd persevered. The result was not neat, but it was legible.

She considered it. "Good. Very good. You just have to remember that each of those little 'drawings' represents words. Tomorrow we'll access the Centre's library, and I'll begin teaching you how to read."

Miyatsu beamed. "Would you read to me again now?" he asked.

"I've got something better," Aiko replied. She opened the doors of the television cabinet. Stored beneath the DVD player were stacks of recorded discs. There was a wide selection of movies there, including many classic animations, again favorites from her childhood. Considering Miyatsu's limited life experience, she felt it best to start him off with something simple.

As she searched through the copies for something cheery, musical and feel-good, she asked, "Have you ever watched a movie?"

She was not greatly surprised when he asked her what the word meant...

*

Rain was drumming on the roof of the cottage as the last of the credits rolled and faded out.

Aiko yawned and stretched, wondering where all the water had come from, considering there hadn't been a cloud in the sky all day. She stood and walked to the window, moving the curtain aside to look out. The road outside her home was wet and shiny in the streetlights, with rain still falling steadily, making the puddles jump and quiver.

"You can't go back to the Centre in this," she told Miyatsu, who was still curled comfortably on the couch, his front paws tucked neatly beneath him. "That couch folds down into a bed. Would you like to spend the night here? We can walk back in the morning."

Miyatsu stared at her, his blue cat-eyes wide. "I could sleep here? In your house?"

"Of course. You'd get drenched going back in that rain. If you help me with the couch, we can get you settled for the night."

His smile was like sunshine breaking through clouds, and Aiko felt warmed by the glow of happy emotion radiating from him. "Aiko, this has been the best day of my life!"

She smiled back. His utter enjoyment of such a commonplace evening as a night in front of the television made her realize just how few humans in his life had ever bothered about what he might want.

I'll speak to the boss on Monday, she thought resolutely as she went to get a spare blanket. Miyatsu deserves better than he's been given so far. He's going to make Sakaki even richer doing the rounds of the fighting tournaments. The least Raikatuji-san can do is give him a decent standard of living.

*

The morning dawned clear and bright, the last few wisps of cloud blown out to sea overnight. Aiko was finishing breakfast with a cup of tea while Miyatsu showered. She had been a little surprised that he would use the human device to keep clean; during the night she had dreamed of him sitting on the couch, washing himself with his tongue like the huge cat he resembled so much!

But presumably, with his size, such a method would have been too time-consuming. She sipped the last of her tea with an amused smile, wondering if he ever had problems with hairballs. He hadn't liked the taste of the hot tea she had made with breakfast, drinking instead warm milk, lapping it from a bowl with his long pink tongue.

Aiko's mind was still on Miyatsu's similarities and differences to cats in general and Genetically Modified Animals in particular as they walked along the beach to the Centre later that morning. She glanced behind her. She'd taken off her shoes to walk in the damp sand, and the differences in the tracks their feet left side by side were glaringly obvious. Her eyes traveled to his hind legs. Miyatsu walked upright on his toes. His front feet, as she'd observed the evening before, had been modified into hands, the toes elongated to form fingers and an opposable thumb. She could just make out the tips of his sharp hooked claws, retracted at the moment. Strength had been what his creators had aimed for, rather than delicacy of grip. Presumably he could crack the shell of a walnut in one hand, yet be unable to peel a boiled egg.

She glanced up at his face. In the bright morning light, his pupils had narrowed to cat-like slits. But last night, under the gentler electric light, they had resembled a human's rounded pupils. She remembered her vow of the night before to speak to the boss. The dilemma of a being which was sentient yet defined as an animal weighed upon her.

She was still thinking about that as they reached Raikatuji wharf. A few of the Centre's research boats were moored there, quietly bobbing at anchor.

"How did you come to be here at the Raikatuji Centre?" she asked as they turned at the wharf and began to walk inland.

"Sakaki arrived one day on Shima," Miyatsu replied. "He wanted to see me fight and had bought along some animals to be my opponents. Up until then, I'd never fought anything. The scientists had performed a lot of tests on my psychic abilities, and I'd learned to levitate and shield from light. And of course, all the time, I was teaching myself the human language. When Sakaki arrived, he seemed very interested in the fact that I could talk. He told me he'd funded my creation and wanted a strong psychic fighter. I beat a Gigantos and a Rhyhorn fairly easily. I'm afraid I hurt them more than necessary to knock them out, but I was surprised they'd attack me, and I overreacted to defend myself. Of course, now I realize that they were just doing what their human master told them."

Miyatsu frowned. His emotions revealed to Aiko far more than his words did. His feeling of distaste was obvious to her. "Sakaki told me that he would teach me much more than I could learn on the island. He's been good to me, but still, I've been unhappy. The majority of humans are afraid of me, and I don't like it when people talk about me to Sakaki when I'm there, as if -- as if I had no more understanding than an animal!"

They were close to the Centre now. As they walked between the trees that separated the beach from the buildings, they saw a commotion of cars and people. Centre security officers were milling about, and Sakaki could be seen talking agitatedly to a pair of them, anger evident on his face. Sakaki's pet feline Koneko stood nervously by her master's side, eyes wide at the noise and fuss.

"I wonder what's going on?" Aiko said.

Miyatsu shook his head. "I've never been able to read Sakaki's thoughts or emotions. He has a natural shield that I can't get through. But he looks upset."

They walked out of the tree line, into full view of Sakaki. When he saw Aiko and Miyatsu, his eyes widened, then he grabbed the arm of the security officer at his side, pointing. "There they are! Quick, arrest that woman!"

"What?" Aiko gasped as several officers pointed their stun tasers in her direction.

A flash of orange and black blurred her vision for an instant as Miyatsu leapt in front of her, his fur bristling, making him appear even bigger.

"Hold your fire!" Sakaki yelled. "Don't hit the animal!"

"Sakaki, what are you doing?" Miyatsu cried, his tail lashing back and forth in agitation. "Why are you threatening Aiko?"

Sakaki regarded them for a moment. "Miyatsu, where were you? Security couldn't find you anywhere at the Centre, and your bed hasn't been slept in. I thought you'd been stolen."

"Stolen? No. I was with Aiko."

Aiko moved from behind Miyatsu to face Sakaki. "That's right, sir," she confirmed. "Miyatsu came to my house for dinner and slept over because of the rain. I didn't realize you had security watching him." Her tone as she said this was accusing. The man was treating Miyatsu like a child, making sure he stayed in his room at night.

Sakaki gazed down at Aiko, frowning. He needed no psychic ability to recognize that she seemed very protective of his expensive fighting animal. His let his face relax into a relieved grin, and he opened his arms wide as if to embrace both of them.

"I was worried about you, Miyatsu!" he said. "I imagined all sorts of things had happened to you. What a relief to see you were in such good hands with Miss -- ?"

"Doctor," Aiko corrected. "Fujimoto Aiko."

"Of course, Dr Fujimoto, how could I forget? You're one of my gene researchers, aren't you?" And Sakaki took her hand, squeezing it gratefully. "Good of you to look after Miyatsu for me. I appreciate it."

Aiko watched him uncertainly. That broad smile never reached his eyes. With her innate empathic ability strengthened by renewed contact with Miyatsu, the good humor Sakaki was exuding appeared forced. She knew Sakaki had to be shrewd; he was too rich not to be. Aiko wondered how much of the bonhomie was calculated.

Miyatsu, however, was convinced by it. His body visibly relaxed, the bristling fur smoothing back against his body as the fight-or-flight reflex ebbed. "Sakaki, you should know by now I can look after myself," he said. "No human can force me anywhere I don't want to go."

Sakaki put one hand on Miyatsu's shoulder. "Yes, of course. I must learn not to be so overprotective." He glanced at Aiko. "Thank you for returning Miyatsu, Dr Fujimoto. I'll take over from here. Miyatsu, seeing as I'm here, how about we work on that shielding strategy you were trying yesterday?"

Miyatsu shook his head. "No, Sakaki."

"No?" Sakaki was visibly surprised at the refusal.

"Aiko has promised to teach me to read today. You should go home and enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'll work on fighting techniques for you again on Monday."

Sakaki shot Aiko an appraising look. "She's teaching you to read, is she? Dr Fujimoto, do you think it -- wise, to give Miyatsu such advanced knowledge?"

"Yes, sir, I do. I believe if Miyatsu had more entertainment in the evenings and on weekends, he would be far happier, and less eager to leave the Centre. I want to teach him to read, and I think it would be a good idea to let him have a television, or at least a radio, in his room. Also," she added, trying to quell her nervousness as Sakaki was staring at her in a far from friendly manner, "he should have a more varied diet, not just processed staple food."

"Indeed. This is your recommendation as a scientific expert, I take it? You'll be telling me next I should begin paying my animals!"

He turned away from her abruptly. "All right, Miyatsu, I'll leave you with Dr Fujimoto. Come to my office at nine on Monday morning, Doctor," he added, glancing over his shoulder at her. "I'll discuss this in more detail with you then."

As Aiko watched the crowd begin to disperse, she wondered if she would still have a job on Monday.

*

"Come in, Dr Fujimoto. Please, have a seat." Sakaki waved Aiko to a chair in front of his heavy mahogany desk. Koneko, as usual, was by his side. She stared at Aiko for a moment, then blinked, yawned disinterestedly, and began to wash one paw.

Sakaki stepped around Koneko and reseated himself. He steepled his fingers, watching her impassively. Aiko tried not to squirm. She felt rather like a child sent to the headmaster's office for misbehaviour.

"I thought you'd like to know that I've implemented your suggestions concerning Miyatsu," Sakaki stated, still without expression.

"I know that, sir. I visited Miyatsu this morning. He was very pleased with the improvements you made."

Sakaki smiled thinly. "It's in my own best interests to keep my most expensive fighting animal happy and healthy. As soon as he's fully trained, I plan to take him on tour. So he needs to be in peak condition. However, Doctor, that is not what I wished to talk to you about." His expression grew stern. "I was -- disturbed -- by your actions on the weekend. Not by the fact that you spirited Miyatsu away from the Centre without telling anybody where he was going. That is beside the point. As Miyatsu quite correctly stated, he can't be forced to go anywhere, certainly not by a mere human. Conversely, if he wishes to leave the grounds, I'm not going to stop him.

"No, it was your behaviour when you returned him that concerns me. Doctor Fujimoto, if you have any suggestions regarding Miyatsu's welfare in future, I would appreciate it if you'd communicate them to me in private, either personally or by email. I understand you are the expert regarding animal health, but I really don't approve of being told what to do in front of Miyatsu. With any of my other animals, you may of course speak your mind freely. But obviously Miyatsu is a special case. Being sentient, he understands a lot of what's being said. I don't wish to -- unsettle him -- by seeing his human master being argued with by an employee. Do I make myself clear?"

Aiko flushed, but managed to keep her face expressionless. It had gotten Miyatsu better conditions, and she still had a job; all in all a good result. She nodded acquiescence. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Sakaki's severe expression changed to one of smiling good humor. He leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other and clasping his knee with both hands, the epitome of relaxed elegance. "I think I've been severe enough on you for one morning, Doctor. Tell me, in your professional opinion, what did you think of Miyatsu's abilities as a fighting animal?"

Aiko shook her head. "I haven't seen Miyatsu in action, sir."

"No? You didn't come to my little exhibition on Friday?"

"I had some urgent work to finish, so I'm afraid I missed it. My friend Ogawa Suzu did go, however. She seemed most impressed." And Aiko tried not to smile, knowing that Suzu's good opinion of the exhibition had little to do with animals and everything to do with the boss's presence.

"Oh, that is a disappointment. I had hoped, with your eye for detail, you might have a few pointers on how to improve his performance. Although I must admit, Miyatsu appears next to faultless at the moment." He stood up enthusiastically. "He's practicing some moves in the stadium now. Come with me, we'll watch him together. You can give me your opinion."

*

Miyatsu was facing a genetically-modified snake when Aiko entered Sakaki's viewing box. The Orochi was huge, at least three times as long as Miyatsu was tall, and heavily-armoured with scales besides. But it was weaving its heavy head uncertainly from side to side, clearly not happy about being in the same ring with the psychic feline.

Sakaki chuckled. "That Orochi has been beaten by Miyatsu before. Looks a bit apprehensive, doesn't it?"

Miyatsu's ears flicked toward the sound of Sakaki's voice, and he glanced up at the box. Aiko felt his gladness at the sight of her for an instant, but the Orochi took advantage of Miyatsu's momentary distraction to strike. Miyatsu saw the movement and flung himself in a dramatic backward somersault, avoiding the worst, but still catching a glancing blow on the side from the Orochi's head. As Miyatsu doubled over, Aiko gasped and flinched as the slamming pain bridged the pair's psychic connection.

"Focus please, Miyatsu," Sakaki said into the microphone. He glanced at Aiko, clearly mistaking her sudden intake of breath as concern. "It's all right, Dr Fujimoto, Miyatsu has been practicing a new technique. See that slight wavering in the air about him? That's a psychic shield, a variation of the telekinesis he uses to levitate. Very little can get through that. It blocks most projectiles and cushions blows. Fire, and things such as lightning and laser beams are about the only things that can get through the barrier unaffected. Another variation of the shield and Miyatsu seems invisible, as he blocks light reflection."

Aiko breathed out slowly, but indeed the pain Miyatsu had suffered did not seem as great as the Orochi's blow should have delivered. It was a dull ache now and fading rapidly. Aiko resisted the urge to rub it, surprised anew by her level of connectedness with him.

Miyatsu was levitating a meter or so above the ground now, and dodging rapidly as he did so, up, down, left, right, always twisting away a bare instant before the Orochi struck. The big serpent bellowed in frustrated rage, twisting and turning in a futile attempt to catch its agile opponent.

Sakaki was smiling, his eyes narrowed as he concentrated on the battle. "Good, good!" he breathed. "Now, oops, almost got you, be careful. That's it!"

Another spectacular somersault and Miyatsu was suddenly behind the Orochi, landing lightly on all fours next to the snake's tail. He straightened to stand on two feet in a fluid movement, and suddenly Aiko was aware of a powerful thrum of unleashed psychic energy.

The Orochi bellowed again, this time in fear, as Miyatsu hoisted the massive creature into the air by mind power alone, let it hang suspended two meters above the ground for a breathless moment, then with a crash that seemed to rock the stadium, released it to fall back to earth, knocking it out.

Aiko shook her head, feeling dazed. For an instant it had been as if she were Miyatsu. She had seen through his eyes and had felt the effort needed to lift the Orochi telekinetically. She felt as breathless as if she had been running a marathon.

Sakaki was on his feet in the box, applauding. "Well done! The best yet!"

Aiko gazed down into the arena. The snake was collapsed on the sand. Miyatsu looked back up at them; they could both see his chest heaving as he panted to get his breath back after the exertion. Abruptly he disappeared. A moment later Aiko jumped as a pair of hands covered her eyes.

"Guess who?" A psychic voice rang in her head.

She lifted the big paws away, laughing, and turned to face Miyatsu, who had levitated up to the box.

"How's your side?" she asked, gesturing to the spot where the Orochi had hit.

Miyatsu shrugged, another habit Aiko discovered he had in common with humans. "I was shielding. It'll be fine."

"You could have broken a rib," Sakaki said severely. "You have to remember, block out extraneous noise when you're battling."

"What means that word, ex... extray...?"

"Anything outside of the arena," Sakaki answered. He turned to Aiko. "So tell me, Doctor, what did you think?"

Aiko wanted to say what was uppermost in her mind, that it was a monstrous barbarity practiced upon creatures that had no say in their own destinies for the enrichment of a few humans. But she could not do that, not to her employer who paid her wages and certainly not with Miyatsu watching her with eager eyes. So she consciously suppressed her negative emotions towards the sport and concentrated instead on the true skill that had been involved.

"It was an amazing feat," she answered honestly. "The way you dodged and avoided that Orochi, Miyatsu, and then hoisted it up, with the strength of your will alone! I've never seen anything like that before. Are you allowed to vanish during a battle? If you'd done that earlier, the Orochi would have had no chance to hurt you. And if it couldn't see you, it would have been easy to beat."

"It was easy enough anyway," Miyatsu announced nonchalantly, but Aiko felt how her praise had warmed him. "Besides, it wouldn't be – what's the word, Sakaki, for playing by the rules that aren't spoken?"

"Sporting. It wouldn't have been sporting," Sakaki answered. "Not that it matters, this particular Mamba was genetically altered to have heat sensors in its nose, another little experimental improvement of mine. It would have known where you were at all times, even if you were invisible."

The big snake was conscious again now. It was being tended to by a pair of human handlers Sakaki employed, and it flinched at the treatment of its wounds. Miyatsu glanced back, then vaulted gracefully over the edge of the box to land on the sand beside it.

The two humans backed up warily, but the Orochi curled upon itself protectively, as if it expected another beating. It made a sound like crunching gravel in its fear.

But Miyatsu knelt beside its head and put one hand on its forehead, gazing into its eyes. The distressed noise the Orochi made stopped; slowly it relaxed. Aiko saw Miyatsu stroke its prominent eye ridges regretfully. The Orochi sighed, a sound like a breeze through leafy trees. Then it turned and slowly left the arena, its body leaving a great looping trail in the sand as it followed its handlers back to the stable.

"What did you just do?" Sakaki called down.

Miyatsu looked back up. "Orochi is a simple creature, but it can receive a little psychic emotion. I touched it, to make it easier to 'hear' me, and told it I was sorry I hurt it. I told it I thought it was very brave, and I felt honored to have the opportunity to match it in combat."

"Why did you do that?" Sakaki asked curiously. "You never have before."

Miyatsu shrugged. "I'm beginning to realize that the feelings of other creatures' shouldn't be disregarded," he answered. "The Orochi had no choice in fighting me, and I felt its fear. I don't enjoy making others suffer. The least I could do was to make it feel better about being beaten. I didn't want to be like Goldilocks, breaking things without any care for the feelings of others."

"Goldilocks?" Sakaki shook his head as if he thought he'd misheard. Raising his voice again, he said, "Well if you've finished the hearts-and-flowers routine, shall we continue? I've got a Gigantos for you next."

Miyatsu nodded. "Have you made any 'improvements' with this one that you haven't told me about?"

Sakaki smiled slyly. "I may have."

Aiko settled back to watch in anticipation. Gigantos was her favorite GMA. Or at least, she amended, it had been before meeting Miyatsu again.

*

Aiko noticed a strange coincidence during the next match. Glancing at Sakaki now and then, she was startled to see a -- a similarity was the only word for it -- between the intensity of her employer's gaze and the concentration displayed by Miyatsu.

The more she thought about it, and watched them, the more sure she was. Although their faces were not at all alike, the expressions both displayed were identical, and the body language of each was eerily echoed by the other. The way they turned their heads, a certain tilt of the chin, a narrowing of the eyes when concentrating, all combined to give her a strange idea, one which she decided to check.

Casually, her eyes on the match below, she asked Sakaki, "Sir, would it be possible for me to examine Miyatsu's genetic profile? I might be able to come up with improvements... in, in diet, perhaps, if I know how his metabolism functions. At the very least, I can make sure he is at his optimum so far as health is concerned."

Sakaki nodded. "Certainly. I'll transfer the information to your computer this afternoon. And please, don't call me 'sir' all the time," he added, once more turning on his easy charm, "you make me feel like my father! Call me Sakaki."

Aiko smiled. "If you'll call me Aiko. I have the identical problem with being called Dr Fujimoto."

"Aiko. That's a nice name -- 'beloved girl'," Sakaki said. "Your father is Fujimoto Yutaka, isn't he?" he continued. "I remember him from the early days of the project, when my mother was running Raikatuji Corporation. What's he doing now?"

Aiko glanced at him in surprise. "You worked on the Miyatsu project? You couldn't have been very old."

"Ha, flattering the boss! Very good! You'll go far, Aiko," Sakaki laughed. "No, I didn't exactly work on the project. I was in primary school at the time. I used to go in to the restricted area and watch the kittens growing in their containers. Unfortunately, my friend down there is the only one who survived. The others succumbed to anaphylactic shock before they could be decanted."

Sakaki's eyes narrowed as he watched Miyatsu spin out of the charging Gigantos' way. "I'd give a lot to discover how Miyatsu survived when the others failed," he murmured.

Then, remembering his original question, he prompted, "So, where is your father working now? Is he still living in Miyatsu city?"

"He's retired now, sir -- Sakaki. He moved to Kyoto with my mother."

"He was an excellent scientist, I recall. It was a shame when he left the project, he never got to see that Miyatsu survived. Ah, there goes another opponent!" he exclaimed as Miyatsu defeated the Gigantos.

*

Sakaki was as good as his word, and Miyatsu's genetic profile appeared on her computer screen not long after Aiko returned from lunch. She spent the rest of the afternoon studying it.

Miyatsu was the product of genes from three different creatures -- forty eight percent came from the extinct leopard Panthera pardus adersi, twenty seven percent was from the psychic GMA Coati, and, as her father had told her so long ago, the remaining twenty five percent was human.

Aiko stared at the information on her computer screen for a time, musing. The amazing thing was that the chimeric blend of genes had managed even one successful clone. The techniques of the time seemed clumsy, but Aiko wondered, given the limited resources of her father's era, whether she could have done any better.

The human donor was identified only by an anonymous number, plus the fact that he had been male. Aiko waited until Suzu had left for the day, then phoned her father. After the usual exchange of greetings, she explained the purpose of her call.

"Dad, do you remember who donated the human cells used to create Miyat -- er, the kittens in the Miyatsu project?"

Her father's expression on the mobile phone's screen was one of concentration as he thought back over the years. "I do recall, as a matter of fact," he answered. "We needed a young, healthy volunteer. Raikatuji Sakaki, the son of the company owner, used to visit the lab after school. He volunteered. We took some stem cells from him, and combined his genes with the others -- the kittens had something in the order of twenty or twenty five percent human DNA, if I remember correctly. We think that's why they failed to thrive, though. The combination of three different species' DNA was incompatible. I left the project when it seemed all the kittens would perish."

Aiko thanked her father and hung up, her head spinning with the implications of what he had told her. Her suspicion had been confirmed.

Genetically speaking, Sakaki and Miyatsu were as closely related as brothers.