tale of the nine-tailed

born in 2000, north pyongan province, to parents who were both researchers for the mutagenic defense bureau—a department more feared than respected.

her family carried a rare hereditary mutation known as multi-sensory bio-electric physiology, a trait that blurred the line between science and myth.

her bloodline was the basis of local folklore: descendants of the gumiho—nine-tailed fox spirits said to manipulate life energy.

her powers were no myth. as a child, she could sense electrical impulses through skin, light up the air with arcs of current, and manifest semi-ethereal “tails” that shimmered like aurora threads when activated.

her parents, loyal to the regime, offered their children to the bureau’s child conditioning program—a decision made “for the nation”.

the program trained mutagenic deterrents—children raised as living weapons, conditioned to obey commands without hesitation.

lee haneul, her older brother, was protective and outspoken. his defiance marked him for harsher treatment.

ruri adapted. she smiled when told to, obeyed orders without expression, learned to make stillness look like peace.

her ability to suppress emotion became her survival tool.

the bureau ran drills in isolation tanks—days suspended in water, electrodes attached to her spine to study nerve conductivity. she learned to disassociate from her body to survive the pain.

overuse of her power led to nerve scarring and chronic bio-electric feedback, a condition that causes constant low-level pain and heightened sensory sensitivity.

at sixteen, she and haneul escaped during a transfer. he was shot multiple times shielding her near the yalu river. she made it across the frozen water, alone.

wandered through rural china for years using false names, working as a cleaner, a florist, a translator. avoided registration checkpoints. learned to disappear.

her mutation’s glow dimmed with time, her “tails” reduced to faint light trails only visible under stress.

in 2022, she surfaced in district x, south korea. registered voluntarily in d.m.h.o.

currently works as a park ranger at dream forest nature park, where she maintains trails, guides school trips, and tends to injured animals.

neighbors describe her as kind, quiet, sometimes distant. she never removes her gloves in public.

she declines interviews, cameras, and any contact from the d.m.h.o., who repeatedly offer her recruitment.

her official refusal: “i’ve done enough fighting for one country. i don’t need to do it for another”.