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Congratulations, they said to me, you're a SOLDIER. You're the best of the best, you're a well-oiled machine trained to protect and serve Shinra Company. But oh no, you're not /quite/ good enough for Mr. President yet, so we're going to make you just a little better.
They line us up. Naked of course, but not like it matters - we're all men here and we're all the same. Tin soldiers, put up in a little line with our guns and our swords to do battle with whatever force they throw at us. We're not individuals any more. Individualism - Shinra laughs at that concept.
They lead us into something that looks like a locker room. Showerheads are perched above us at regular intervals among the walls, their metallic gleam long since rusted away. The lights above glare into our eyes, flickering slightly. A 1st class SOLDIER who led the line barks orders at us; one person per showerhead. He paces back and forth in front of us, stopping in front of me. His eyes bore into me, and I don't blink, instead staring back at his eyes as hard as I can. They're pure black, I note, barely a flicker of light from them. Except there's an edge to them, the slightest rim of acidic green, giving them a strange glow. He breaks his gaze and walks out of the room, leaving us to stand there in our perfect lines, facing the walls.
The pipes rattle beyond the walls and the showerheads creak as liquid flows and rains down on us. It's clear, and only slightly tinged a light greenish color. It hits our skin, wetting our hair, running down our legs to the drains under us. Is this it? I think. Is this the infamous treatment they give us? And yet as soon as the thought comes, I am immediately numb, devoid of feeling. Am I standing? I panic slightly. I can't feel anything...
And suddenly -
I can. The world is thrown into sharp relief and I can feel everything. The sensation is so sudden that I drop to my knees (I guess I /was/ standing), landing hard. Hypersensitive nerves shoot signals to my brain and I clap my hands to my head in pain, wincing. I can suddenly feel my heart pounding at my ribcage, like it's begging to get out. My pulse is racing upward faster and faster. Blood rushes through my ears, and I can hear nothing. Not even the yell of anguish that I know escaped my lips. The water - or whatever it is - drums against my skin, each drop sending lancing pain throughout my body as my nerves overreact to every sensation. And then, it's just too much, and all I can see anymore is nothing. Black is all I'm aware of as my eyes slide shut and I fall forward from my kness, sprawled on the floor as feeling slowly leaves me and I float into unconsciousness.
But it doesn't. I wake up quickly and suddenly - and in a standard Shinra cot. Still naked, but at least dry. I glance over at a clock on the otherwise bare wall and note that it's only an hour past when they dragged us into that wretched room. I sit up. Swing my legs over the edge of the beaten up cot. Stand up. No more pain, but my muscles are sore, and my brain is in overdrive, processing everything at hyperspeed, and sorting things out. Things I didn't know I knew are flashing at me, and I hold my head, stumbling over to the bath area of the bunker. I turn on the faucet and splash water on my face, looking up at myself in the mirror. I look like shit, I think, noting dark circles under my eyes. My eyes.
I look closer at my reflection and stare hard at myself. Peering at my eyes. They're the same colour. Same tint, same shade. But they're strange for some reason. I move closer, pressing my nose up against the glass. And abruptly it comes to me - there's a strange glow to them now and the slightest edge of acid green.
It's then I realize - I am a tin soldier.