Kurotsuchi Mayuri watched the woman's eyelids flutter as she awoke. She stared upwards through the translucent liquid that filled the tank.
With a little sigh of irritation, he retracted the breathing hoses, then reached in to pull her up to a sitting position.
She looked at him. He could see the dawn of intelligence in her eyes, the sudden focus that came with perception and consciousness. Good. On schedule.
"Who am I?"
"You are my daughter Nemu."
"And that?"
"A failure," he said, spurning the corpse with his foot.
This time she would function correctly. He was sure of it.
---