Mamushi/Mamushi's Old Biography
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Eva Ilse Ströheim, b. 1977 in Munich, Germany. Orphaned at the age of 4 when the bullet train from Tokyo and Kyoto encountered two warring villains. Her parents died in their attempts to protect their daughter; 57 other passengers also lost their lives, including the daughter and grandson of Toshiro Saito. He pulled Eva from the wreckage, and they remained together during the days following, being questioned by the police and government authorities. The little girl’s papers had been destroyed, and as she was too traumatized to speak, the authorities were going to turn her over to the German embassy when Saito stepped in. Few words were exchanged, and Saito became Eva’s guardian. He had been greatly impressed by the little girl’s strength of character, and having so soon lost his own dearest child, he felt that their meeting was not entirely coincidental.
Under his patient hand, Eva came out of her shell and gradually rejoined the world around her. Saito gave her the name Amiko, and from there on treated her as if she were his real daughter. The years passed uneventfully, Saito watching his little girl mingle with the other children from school. Though she was gaijin, she had adapted to the lifestyle and language with alacrity, and as their bond grew Saito could only be more impressed by the potential he saw in this girl. He began giving her little tests, culminating in an offer that would change Amiko’s life forever.
“Would you like to learn Gatotsu?”
Intrigued, the girl of eight said yes, and her training began. The sword fighting art had long been in the Saito family, and Saito had intended to pass it along to his grandson. With the death of the little boy, Amiko became his only living legacy and he drilled her relentlessly. When she wasn’t in school, Amiko was training. She seemed born to the sword, possessing a natural talent that allowed her to progress swiftly through the lessons her grandfather put before her. Some she struggled with, but others she breezed past. When her fourteenth birthday had come and gone, Amiko was second only to her grandfather.
It was then that her real family reappeared. While Saito was good at keeping his whereabouts hidden, the House of Ströheim was the best of the best; with numbers and talent, the House located the Saito family and demanded the return of their prodigal daughter. Saito refused at first, but he did not want Amiko to suffer, and relented. Heartbroken, the girl obeyed her grandfather’s wishes and prepared to accompany the Germans back to her hereditary homeland. Saito’s final gift to his protégé was a katana that had been an heirloom within the family, a survivor from the Meiji Era’s cull of the samurai class and all they stood for. Clutching the ancient sword tightly, Amiko kissed her grandfather goodbye, unknowing at the time that it would be the last time she’d see him.
Once within the halls of her ancestors, Ströheim agents began stripping her of her identity as Amiko Saito and started drilling into her the great meaning and purpose of the House. Dating back to the Crusades, the House of Ströheim existed in shadow and secrecy, filling the ranks of Europe’s elite forces with highly-skilled men. The noble families of Europe, from the Dark Ages to the modern era, knew that if they wanted to best, they tried to contact the House. It prided itself on its loyal soldiers of unsurpassed skill, and Eva – as she was rechristened – was to be the next step in that process. Broken, put back together and broken again, they shaped her mind and body to their whims, using advanced medical techniques to amplify her normal human strengths. Genetic alteration came via serums and drugs, the final results being a hyperactive metabolism and regenerative abilities frightening in speed. The drawback to this feat of medical science was a fractured mind – unless sedated, Eva was a sociopathic beast, having injured and even killed some of her “handlers.” The heads of the House demanded improvements, unwilling to destroy one of their own. Several methods were tried and discarded; the only success came when psychologists managed to unearth the memories of Eva’s life as Amiko. The rigid discipline of her bushido training “calmed the beast” as one doctor put it, and it was allowed to be wholly excavated. The House wanted it weapon bad enough to allow the outside influence of Saito to balance her out.
Now rational and aware, Eva began to resent her keepers. Her rebellion was kept in check only through threats; while fully aware that her grandfather could hold his own, Eva knew he was still an old man, and the House would be willing to throw soldiers away to kill him. She started cooperating, and was given further training in other skills.
In 2004, the House decided it was time, and its leader sent Eva to Paragon City – he had heard that the Fifth Column, long enemies of the House, had set up a base of operations in the American city. Eva was to infiltrate and report on its activities. She arrived, she registered with the city as a hero by the name of Mamushi, and began hunting down the Fifth.
By the time she had secured their trust, the Fifth’s reign in Paragon was over. The Council emerged and began its culling of the regiment, and Mamushi escaped into hiding, waiting out the chaos.
