The Shinjuku Ghetto is more often than not a place you try to avoid. But there I was, a Britannian, walking through the Ghettos. I should probably introduce myself: my name is Alden Pelham. I'm 17 years old and I attend Ashford Academy. And at the moment, I'm deep in an Eleven-infested rathole. What was I doing in said rathole? Not much, really: just taking a shortcut home.

I made sure I would 'blend in' as I took a shortcut through here: with just a zip up hoodie over my school uniform and a pair of scuffed up jeans, I looked like an actual Eleven...which wasn't actually something to boast about, all things considered.

As I walked through the slums, I looked up and down at the Elevens, living in perpetual filth and decay...as was their right. But I couldn't tell them that: I had to blend in, or they'd gang up on me and...erm, I'd rather not think what they would do to me. I hummed along to the radio until a breaking news segment interrupted my favorite song:

"We apologize for the interruption. Now, his Royal Highness, Prince Clovis, Third Prince of Britannia, will address the nation..."

To be honest, I never liked Prince Clovis: and it wasn't because of his policies, he was doing a damn decent job. He just came across as a total pansy.

"To all my imperial subjects, including the many cooperative Elevens who choose to serve the Empire of Britannia..."

I realized that a couple of Elevens were looking at me funny because I had stopped dead in my tracks to listen to the broadcast. I broke into a swift walk, putting as much distance between me and the gawking Elevens as I could.

"Do you not see my pain? My heart was ripped from my chest, only to be torn apart! (A bit melodramatic, Your Highness...) The remnants are filled with rage and sadness (You're laying it on way too thick...) However, as ruler of Area 11, I will not tolerate terrorism of any kind!"

Wait, terrorism? I opened up my cellphone and looked at the news feed: a bunch of extremist Elevens had blown up a medical facility. I did my best not to react in front of the Elevens. This was low, even for them...

I could hear screeching tires as I walked past a warehouse. Immediately, my survival instincts decided to override my sense of horror as I jumped backwards.

Have you ever watched a truck zoom past you at 80 miles per hour while it's only a couple inches away from you? It's pretty jarring, to say the least. The truck plowed into the warehouse with a deafening 'crash'. That would have been a capital time to give your insurance company a ring.

I had two options before me: I could either walk as far as I could before the police started asking me questions as a witness, or I could hop into the truck, see if the drivers were alright, and do something that was both probably stupid and potentially awesome.

…

Option number two it is!

I found a ladder and climbed up to the top of the truck. "Oi!" I shouted. "Is there anyone in the vehicle? Do you need help?"

That's when I heard it: a voice, coming from somewhere unknown, echoing in my mind:

"It's you...Finally, I have found my..."

...this was probably not a good time to start developing schizophrenia. The voices in my head were ignored as I looked for a way into the truck. The wheels squealed as the truck abruptly started moving again. I swore as I fell over, slipping through a hatch in the truck's roof and falling on my face. "Hey!" I protested as my nose began bleeding. "Stop the truck! There's an extra passenger in here, and HE WANTS OUT, DAMMIT!"

There was an large, odd-looking spherical object made of metal inside of the truck's cargo. Since there was no ladder in sight, I decided the best course of action was to use the object to climb back up. I planted my foot on the ball when I heard speakers from outside the truck:

"Stop! Surrender yourself now and you'll get the chance to defend yourself in court!"

My eyes widened as the realization that my day- if not my life- had officially gone to hell sunk in. As if to underline the fact, sounds of machinegun fire filled the air. The truck swerved side to side, bouncing me off the walls like a rubber ball. This was turning out to be quite a shitty day. "Give up now, or we'll shoot to kill!" warned the loudspeakers. I curled up into a ball and cowered. When I woke up this morning, dying was the last thing I thought I would be doing. I heard hissing air as a door from the truck's cab opened.

Through the doorway stepped a rather...er, shapely young girl about my age. She had piercing blue eyes, red hair that was spiked up (what was the deal with that?), and was wearing a magenta jumpsuit that zipped up to her neck. She was talking to someone (probably the driver) about using something. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I hoped it would get me out of this nightmare alive. For some reason, she looked familiar, but my panicked brain was unwilling to piece together where I had seen her before.

I turned my head to see...HOLY SHIT!

A Knightmare Frame!? Where did she get that? When I was much younger, I had been crazy about Knightmares and had memorized the various models, so I immediately recognized it as a Glasgow. The current models were the Sutherland and the Gloucester, but the Glasgow was still a damn formidable weapon. The back of the truck opened up as the Glasgow jumped out, ready to face the army copters following the truck. It was at that point I realized that the people in the truck were freakin' terrorists.

And then I realized something else: the military was following the truck...that I was in...

"Shit..." I whimpered, terrified beyond all belief. "I'm doomed..." I could hear another voice being sent through speakers, mentioning a Sutherland...oh God help me, they've deployed Knightmares of their own, I didn't stand a snowball's chance in Hell!

There was gunfire, and the truck swerved again as my face decided to make friends with the wall. My nose was gushing with blood as I moaned and shakily got back up on my feet. This was a good time to check my phone and see if I could call for help. I reached into my pocket, only to find bits and pieces of plastic and broken electronics. This day just kept getting worse. There was only one way I could escape this scenario: wait for the truck to stop and bail. I sat down, bracing myself against the spherical object to prevent further tumbling about. I closed my eyes, praying to God to make it out of this mess alive. Eventually, the truck came to a stop, and a side door opened up, pouring a tiny bit of light into the cargo trailer. I began to stumble towards the exit when a Britannian soldier came out of nowhere, doing some sort of gravity-defying jump/spin kick that struck me square in the chest and sent me crashing into the wall for the umpteenth time. The soldier grabbed me by the throat. "That's enough of your mindless murder!" he snarled. From the sound of his voice, he didn't sound very old.

"Wait, this is a big misunderst-glurgh!" The soldier tightened his grip around my throat, and my head was swimming from the lack of oxygen. "Planning to use poison gas? Don't play dumb with me!"

"G-get the fuck o-off me!" I choked, kneeing the soldier in the gut. Doing so was probably a major crime, but I'm screwed anyway so what's one more offence?

The soldier stumbled backwards as I gasped for air. "I didn't get in this goddamn truck on my own accord!" I yelled, glaring at the soldier. "I'm a Britannian! Why would I kill my own people?"

The sound of hissing interrupted our little stand-off as the device- probably the poison gas that Mr. Spinsalot was referring to- began to open up. The soldier whipped off his gas mask and put it over my mouth, using the crook of his elbow to cover his own. The device opened and light shone from within revealing...

A girl?

The girl looked rather peculiar: green hair, yellow eyes, and wearing what looked like a straightjacket. She fell out of the pod, and I rushed to catch her. That's when lights turned on, pointed at me and the soldier.

"Stinking monkey." snarled a voice. I turned to see a man who looked to have quite a bit of authority standing in front a group of Britannian soldiers. "Being an honorary Britannian will not excuse you!"

The soldier ran towards the officer. "But sir, I was told that this was poison gas." I didn't like where this was going. "Are you questioning your orders?" snarled the officer. I realized they had declared the cargo to be 'poisonous' for a reason beyond just hiding the true nature of it: it would spell trouble for the Britannian Military if it were unleashed.

"However," said the officer, "In light of your military achievements I'm going to be lenient." He handed the soldier a pistol. Oh, this was not going to end well.

"Private Kururugi, take this pistol and execute the terrorist."

Well, fuck.

The soldier named "Kururugi" seemed upset by the orders. "But he's not a terrorist! He's a civilian that got caught up in this." It was at that moment I felt the urge to give Kururugi a bro-hug. The officer, on the other hand, was not so kind.

"You insubordinate little...THAT'S AN ORDER! Didn't you swear your life and loyalty to Britannia?"

Before today, I would've sided with the officer. But in the light of these events, and seeing how the government was ready to lie just to save their own asses, I felt like I had to reconsider my opinions of my nation's government. I was about to die at the hands of the army that I thought was sworn to keep me safe.

"I won't do it!" said Kururugi. Once again, the urge to hug grew. Kururugi turned to look at me. "I won't shoot a civilian." Forget hugging. I wanted Kururugi to be my brother-in-spirit.

"Very well..." said the officer as he pressed the barrel of the pistol against Kururugi's back and fired.

The officer turned back towards me.

"You picked a bad day to cut class." he mused. "W-would you believe I was on my way to school when I got tangled up in this mess?" I asked, laughing nervously. The officer chuckled. "Collect the girl, then kill the student." he ordered.

And without warning, the truck's cab exploded. Thankfully, the blast was mostly directed upwards. I briefly looked towards the sky, thanked the good Lord for his charity, and hauled ass out of there.

Outside, I could hear screaming and gunfire. It dawned on me that the government was so hell-bent on keeping this girl a secret that they'd declare genocide to do so. The Elevens weren't the savages. It was the Britannians, who pushed propaganda down the throats of the masses to maintain the public's loyalty. They lied to the citizens, who didn't suspect a thing, and taught them to view the Elevens- no, the Japanese- as less than human. And I had believed it all. I ran down the corridor and felt the girl stir in my arms. I looked down, into her half-closed eyes. "Who are you?" I whispered, terrified and confused. "Why are you so important to them?" The girl gave no reply. "They're willing to kill thousands...just to keep you a secret..." I continued, not really expecting any reply.

I couldn't carry her much longer. I put her down in front of a stairway leading upwards. "Stay quiet and wait here. Do not let anyone see you." I said. The green-haired girl nodded wordlessly. I went up the stairs, ducking behind a crate. Peeking my head around the corner, I watched silently as a few soldiers shot down a Japanese civilian. The officer was there. I grimaced. I had gotten out of the frying pan only to land in the fire. I could hear the sound of a child crying, and shuddered as gunfire roared in response. I stepped to the side, retreating back into cover, and my heel knocked over a discarded a glass bottle. Immediately, all guns were aimed at me. If I got out of this alive, I swore I would never litter again.

"An appropriate place for a terrorist to die..." chuckled the officer. I gritted my teeth in anger. "You did well for a student, but that's to be expected, given your Britannian heritage. However, my young man, today is your final day on this earth. I hope you said farewell to your parents this morning."

The officer pointed his gun at me. I shut my eyes as I waited for my life to come to an abrupt end.

"He mustn't die!" cried the girl as I heard footsteps. There was a gunshot, and I opened my eyes, finding that I was very much alive. The girl, on the other hand, was not so lucky. Already two complete strangers had died to save me. This wasn't right...this wasn't fair.

"A shame." said the officer. "We were supposed to bring her back alive...oh well."

"You bastard." I snarled, giving the officer the middle finger. Might as well be defiant 'til the end. I wished I could've done something with my life, but it was too late to do anything now.

Suddenly, I felt the girl's hand grip my wrist. Time froze as I could hear the girl's voice in my mind:

"You don't want it to end here, do you?"

"What?" I asked, unsure of what was happening. Visions flashed before my eyes.

"You seem to have a reason for living. If I grant you power, could you carry on? Let us make a deal: in exchange for this power, you must agree to make my one wish come true. Accept this contract, and you accept its conditions: while living in a world of humans, you will live unlike any other. A different providence, a different time. A different life. The Power of the King will condemn you to a solitary life...are you prepared for this?"

I thought for less than half a second. I wanted to change things, I wanted to expose the truth of Britannia's cruelty.

I wanted an uprising.

"I accept the terms of your contract!" I shouted in reply. There was no turning back.

I stared at the officer and his cronies, one hand placed over my right eye, which now felt like there was something throbbing behind it.

"Allow me to ask you a question: how do you think a Britannian who hates his nation should live?"

The officer pointed the pistol at my forehead. "Are you some kind of radical?" he asked in reply.

I smirked. "Why haven't you killed me yet? I'm just a child...or have you finally figured out that those who live by the sword are doomed to die by it as well?"

The vision in my right eye was tinted red. I pointed my finger at the crowd of armed soldiers and their officer, and said: "I demand that you...yes, all of you...DIE!"

The officer's eyes took on a faint red glow as he began giggling like a lunatic. "I hear and I obey!" cried the officer. The officer put the pistol to his temple, and the other soldiers followed suit. "Fire!"

Multiple gunshots rang as each soldier and the officer offed themselves on my orders. Their lifeless bodies collapsed to the floor. My stomach turned as I put a hand over my mouth, fighting the urge to vomit. I had killed them...I had commanded them to commit suicide.

I shook my head, trying to thinking clearly. With this power, I could make the change I so dearly sought. But was it worth the price of my innocence?