Program: Unknown

- Chapter One -

"No."

"C'mon, Infinity. You need a break from all that working."

"Nah. Don't worry about it, Pally." I shoved my books into my locker, forcing it to close before they could drop out. The bell rang again, indirectly telling all the humans in the building to get the freak out of this jail hole.

"'Sides," I continued, "Going anywhere equals money and I don't have any."

"The only thing that you wouldn't need to worry about would be your grades after you're dead from overworking..." he muttered, following me as I headed toward the school doors.

Chung Seiker, AKA Pally, was your average happy-go-lucky peace-loving hippie. His long blond hair, bright sapphire-blue eyes, and delicate, almost feminine features, was the envy of many girls. Because of his inhuman strength and kind personality, he was popular with both guys and girls.

"Two weeks ago, you were busy. Last week, you were—"

I sighed. He makes it sound like I want to work every day. Who in their right mind would want to work? I don't want to work either, but there wasn't really a choice for me.

"This week, you're—"

Ignoring Pally's nonstop muttering, I pushed open the doors and walked out.

"Pally, for the love of god, shut up."

"Infinity..." Puppy dog eyes. Really huge puppy dog eyes.

I looked the other way. No, I'm not falling for this. Not falling for it. Not... falling for it.

"...Fine." Skipping one day of work wouldn't hurt right?

"Yes!" Pally grinned, pumping his fist up in victory. Slinging an arm around my shoulder, he began dragging me—knowing him for years—toward the nearest manga store.

The manga store was usually very busy and it would take forever to even squeeze through the glass doors.

Usually.

Today was an exception. An exception that I will gladly be in since I was the one who was being dragged here.

As soon as we walked through, Pally immediately bounded over to the girl at the counter.

"Ara!" She turned at his call, her face shyly lit up when she saw who it was.

"S-Seiker."

Shoving me in front of her, he grinned broadly.

"Ara, this was the guy I was talking about," Pally gestures at me excitingly. "This is Elsword, but he likes to be called Infinity!"

"H-hello!" she squeaked, bowing hurriedly. "It's n-nice to m-meet you!"

Jeez. Was I that scary? About the answer to that question, let's see...

When most people see me, their first thought would be to ask if I was in a gang. No, I'm not. My eyes are naturally crimson red and so was my spiky, fiery red hair. Okay, I might've dyed parts of it jet-black. But it really doesn't help my cause when I like to wear leather jackets and pants.

"Yeah, yeah, it's nice to meet you too." I shrugged and then flicked her forehead when she still hadn't moved. "Oi! Don't bow to me! It's annoying!"

"Ah! Y-yes!" Her head shot up immediately, her gold eyes wide in surprise.

Wait... Gold eyes? Was she wearing contacts or something?

"Don't worry, Infinity is a great guy once you get to know him." Pally elbowed me and mouthed, 'be nice.'

Looking from Ara to Pally, even idiots could tell there was something between them. And I wasn't an idiot.

"Che." I really don't have time for this... This chaperoning. If I couldn't go to work, then I'll go visit Elesis.

"You know what Pally? I think I'll go visit Elesis instead." I rolled my eyes at Pally's puppy dog eyes. He is a great friend and everything, but sometimes he gets a bit annoying.

As I walked away, I could hear him apologizing to Ara.

"I'm sorry about that, Infinity has a hard time trusting people."

And for a good reason, I thought bitterly, kicking a pebble into a puddle of rainwater.

The streets were busy. Shop vendors shouted out what they were selling, trying to coax in potential customers. Cars zoomed by, nearly running some people over when they sped past the red light. Pigeons squawked overhead in the sky. Trains passed by in the distance.

I kicked another pebble in frustration. I really should've just went to work. I shouldn't have listened to Pally. Money doesn't grow on trees... And I needed a lot.

Soon, I reached an all-too-familiar building. Tall and large with many rooms and windows, the gigantic hospital loomed over me.

"You came to visit her again, Elsword?" Ariel, the lady at the front desk, asked as soon as I stepped through the automatic glass doors.

"Yeah."

"She is in the usual room." Ariel wrote me a visitor pass, her auburn ponytailed hair bobbling up and down as she neatly printed "Elsword Siegehart" on a sticky note and stuck it on my shirt.

"I know." The doctors never moved my sister because she was in "stable condition" or whatever.

Room 252, her room, was on the second floor. Today, instead of taking the elevator like I usually do, I used the stairs to waste some of the extra time I accumulated.

"Huh?" On the last step, my phone vibrated in my back pocket. I flipped it open.

1 NEW MESSAGE RECEIVED.

TIME: 4:12 PM

FROM: Unknown

With narrowed eyes, I opened the text, hoping it wasn't a virus. This phone had cost way too much money.

MESSAGE OPENED.

SENDER: Unknown

SUBJECT: Question

CONTENT: Yes or No?

What's this? A prank? Hmm…What do they mean by yes or no? Then I smacked myself in the back of the head, ignoring the strange stares I got. …And why do I even care about this again?

Huh. What's the point of jokes if they aren't even funny? Pranks these days. I rolled my eyes and shoved it back into my pocket.

I now stood at front of her room, my hand resting on the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, I walked in—Only to be hit in the head with a vase.

"Ow!" Not this freaking thing again! She had did this last time. And the time before that... And the time before that. "Elsa, stop it!"

"Not a chance." She dumped another vase on the floor, 'hmph'-ing when it only broke into two pieces. "If this keeps me preoccupied during my "wonderful stay" in this boring hospital then I'm not stopping anything."

Elsa Siegehart, AKA Elesis, was my older sister. By only three years, mind you. Complete with scarlet red hair and eyes that seemed to pierce your soul, her aura completely screams, "Mess with me and I'll burn you into ashes". Scary. My sister is a very scary individual and I respect her for that.

Well, enough so that I still come and visit her, even though she throws vases at me.

"Yeah, both the doctors and I think—" I jumped to the side as she picked up a large shard and threw it toward the open door. "—we would like it better if you don't throw things at me."

"Hmph," she crossed her arms, "So, what do you want?"

Geez. Yeah, I missed you too, Sis.

"How much longer will you have to stay here?" I hopped onto a nearby stool and propped my legs on her bed.

"Get off." Elesis smacked my feet off the mattress before heaving a sigh, slumping back into a pillow. "I don't really know. The doctors here are so fussy..."

My sister was paralyzed from the waist down. We don't know what caused it; the doctors don't either. She just woke up one day and couldn't move her legs. To be safe, the doctors told her to stay here so they can check up on her every few hours. Recently, they have found a operation to fix it, but money becomes a problem.

For me, earning money for it is pure torture. I'm juggling so many part-time jobs, I can't even count them on one hand. A cashier in the early morning, a pizza delivery boy during lunch time, a waiter at night, etc, etc.

"So I've heard from the doctor's son that you've been causing trouble in school..." she trailed off and gave me a meaningful look.

I gulped. And cursed whoever told her that. Stupid tattletales.

"Talk."

"Well you see..." I began.

So I explained very thoroughly why a certain person's head was in the toilet. The leaky toilet needed a friend. The bully needed a friend.

"...so I set them on a friendly date with each other."

I didn't get why Elsa felt the need to bonk me in the head with a vase.

Afterward, I stood outside in the lobby, not wanting to go home so early.

I wish each day could be like this. No work, no strange illness. Just me and Elesis, living our lives in peace.

My phone vibrated again.

"The hell..." It was the same message.

TIME: 5:16 PM

MESSAGE OPENED.

SENDER: Unknown

CONTENT: Yes or No?

If this was a prank, it sure was an annoying one.

What will the yes and no mean though? For some strange reason, Elesis's face popped into my mind. What if this was a cure? What if this was the government asking for my permission to give the medicine?

No, it can't be. But my fingers had the mind of their own. Before I even realized it, they had pressed the REPLY button and typed in my answer.

REPLY?

RE-SUBJECT: Question

CONTENT: Yes.

My finger hovered over the SEND button. Was this really wise? No, but who cares right? My hopes were use to be being crushed.

MESSAGE SENT.

TIME: 5:20 PM

The sun cast faint orange-red streaks across the sky. It was only minutes away from settling into a cold, dark night.

Sadly, my house was about five blocks away from the hospital.

I hurried home, mindful of my surroundings. Hopefully I'll be able to make it before the sun sets. At night, the streets were dangerous. Drug dealers, rapists, and drunkards will literally litter the streets.

A blast of chilled wind came from behind. I shivered and pulled my leather jacket tighter around my body. It was close to spring but winter hasn't left its freezing touch just yet.

Footsteps were heard from behind.

Maybe they were just drunkards staggering back home? I snorted mentally at the thought. Yeah right. My luck was never that good. A cautious person from previous occurrences, I ran without looking back.

Cause, you know, being ganged up on and robbed was not on my agenda for today. Or ever actually.

On the last block, I stopped, panting for breath. Running was something I wasn't too good at compared to my fighting skills. Considering I fight dirty as hell, it's kinda obvious that I rather stand around and fight.

Peering back behind my shoulder, I was relieved to find no one there.

CRASH!

I had took one step forward and froze, scanning everywhere around me. It was too dark to see clearly and the flickering lamp light wasn't much to go by on.

BONG!

My eyes snapped in that direction. It was an abandoned alleyway, close to a dumpster no one uses anymore. Creeping closer to check on what made that sound, I poked my head into the alley. The lamp light flicked off. No one was there.

As I turned to go, the lamp light returned, bathing the alley with a soft glow. By a strange impulse, my head turned to look back. My eyes widened.

A pale, thinly-dressed girl lay unmoving on the ground, propped against a trashcan bin. Her long silver hair was draped around her body, giving her a doll-like appearance.

"Oi, you okay?" I rushed over and knelt in front of her. Thankfully, there was no blood or injuries on her pale skin.

Taking a closer look at her, I frowned. She didn't seem like she was breathing. Wait, was... Was she dead? I panicked and grabbed her hand to check. Still warm. I breathed out in relief. She was still alive.

Softly brushing away her silver bangs, I went to check her temperature, but a blue gem was embedded there. Ouch. A piercing, maybe? I winced and instead shifted my fingers to measure the temperature of the skin around it. So she didn't have a fever... Then why would she collapse?

What I didn't realize back then was her reaction to my touch.

A blinding light shot out from her blue gem, wrapping around my ear.

"The hell!" I clutched my ear as it throbbed painfully. It felt like someone was stabbing it with a thousand needles.

What in the seven hells was going on?!

"CODE BATTLE SERAPH: REBOOTING SYSTEM. STATUS: ON." Her voice startled me out of my thoughts and my arm dropped. It was a loud monotone, almost exactly like a... robot.

The pain in my ear was fading, but a strange weight was now clinging to the curve. I reached up and touched onto something strange. A thin circle of cool metal was clasped on, piercing through the skin. So... I now have an ear pierce to match my apparently gang-like look?!

No, focus, Infinity. This is not the time to think about that!

My attention was back again on the silver-haired girl. The sapphire blue light faded and disappeared. Then her eyes opened and, before I could even blink, slapped me.

SMACK!

A hand smacked my cheek, leaving a stinging red mark. My head turned sideways from the force.

"HEY!" I glared at her, my hand cupping my bruised cheek. "What was that for?!"

She didn't answer. Instead, her gold eyes delved into mine as if prying into my mind. Finally, she spoke in that same robotic monotone.

"Are you my new Master?"

A/N:

Yeah, I'm not dead. Just slow at updating. The next chapter for Same Yet Different is more than halfway done... But I have no clue when it'll be done XD

Sorry for all the OOCness.

Till next time~