Dawn Of The Artificial Age
Prologue: The nightmare begins.
A VIP plane flew steadily across the orangy yellow sky heading to it's destination of Japan carrying a very important occupant. He wore a checkered flat-cap and jacket with a red tie a white button-up shirt covered by a knitted yellow skin tone tank-top grey trousers and black shoes.
Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart sat patiently waiting for the plane to land guarded by a dozen military officers for protection drinking the odd brandy here and there to pass the time as he watched the sky change colour.
"Would you care for another drink sir?" An officer kindly asked passing the bottle of brandy nearer to his direction as Alistair slowly finished his second glass.
"No no" he replied moving the glass away from his mouth and placing it onto the small table beside him "Don't want to drink too much!" he chuckled "The last thing I need is to meet this Mr Shido without knowing if I'm standing on my head or my toes!"
He searched through his pockets bringing out a crumpled copy of The Sun and read through the news articles.
Alistair was now in his mid seventies and retired but in his prime he had been the head of UNIT (United Nations Intelligence task force) a secret organisation dealing with anything to do with aliens and the threats that they could prove towards mankind. In his day he'd fought against Yeti,Daleks,Cybermen,Axons,The Master ,Silurians and many many more in fact far too many to count!
He had served his time as Brigadier before stepping down in either the seventies or the eighties. No one not even Alistair himself was quite sure when this had occurred and spent his remaining years as a teacher at Brendon Public School before completely retiring save for the odd occasion here and there like the return of the great intelligence in 1995 and unofficial UNIT business in Malebolgia in the united states back in 2000.
It was a rare occurrence but UNIT would on occasion send Alistair off on an important mission here and there feeling that his was the best qualified for the job and despite his distaste for how UNIT was run in the modern era he instantly took the job with his most recent mission leaving his stranded in Peru!
This time he was on a mission to investigate a teacher at Fujimi Academy "Koichi Shido" The japanese government had become suspicious of Shido's activities within the past few months and felt that the time was right for him to be investigated immediately contacting UNIT with Alistair being immediately sent on his way much to his Wife's dismay.
...
The plane soon touched down late into the dead of night and Alistair was hurried off the plane immediately being greeted by two male military officers dressed completely in black.
"Sir Alistair!" One officer spoke up as the two soluted "It's a great honor to meet you sir!"
"Yes yes that's all very well" Alistair shrugged desperately wanting to get this job over with "But please can we leave the greetings and head to this-um-" Alistair placed his hand on his chin puzzled
"Fujimi Academy sir!" The other officer interrupted him while the other glanced in his direction with a "don't do that!" kind of look.
"Yes well how far away are we?" Alistair asked.
"Well sir from where you'll be staying it's about a fifteen minute walk away!"
"Ah yes-" Alistair remarked noticing the blackened sky "I'll be staying at that hotel. Well-" Alistair cleared his throat and began to walk forward "We'll head off to the hotel and as soon as we arrive in my quarters we'll go over the files we have for this Shido!"
The two officers glanced at each other nervously "I warn you sir" one of them spoke up "The things that he and his father have done will shock you"
"Oh yes I imagine" he replied trying not to sound sarcastic. After all nothing that this Shido had done could be as bad as The Master or The Daleks!...could it?
...
They reached the hotel with the staff appearing rather worried by Alistair's appearance as he was being followed by half a dozen guards for protection. He collected his key headed up the stairs which was rather difficult at his age even with carrying a walking-stick and was reluctant to have his security helping him up the stairs.
...
Upon entering the room they were greeted by a single bed near the end of the room a wardrobe near to the door an old 4:3 TV nearer to the window where the curtains stayed shut and on the left side of the room next to the wardrobe was the door to the bathroom.
"Well!" Alistair murmured removing his flat-cap and jacket placing them onto a coat hanger "Better looking than most Hotels I've been too abroad"
"Bring out these files at once!" Alistair ordered gesturing his hand towards the bed.
A large thick envelope was thrown onto the bed. Alistair carefully opened it up and looked through photo's and several pages detailing the Shido family.
"Creepy looking fellow!" Alistair remarked at the photo's of Shido "So your suspicions is this Shido is contacting alien life forms?"
"That's what your UNIT lot seem to believe sir!" an officer remarked "I know that UNIT is experienced in alien activity and you've got a good record but-"
"But what?! Alistair interrupted raising an eyebrow.
"Well the idea that Shido could been contacting aliens seems a little...well how do I say it far fetched?"
"You'd be surprised with how many supposedly ordinary people have been able to contact aliens my friend!
"There have also been rumors-" the officer spoke up "That he threatened the chief of police. The police chief Tadashi Miyamoto had been investigating fraud and corruption relating to the Shido family until he suddenly stopped his investigation all together!"
"I see" Alistair remarked "As those documents stated this man's father is a director at the school perhaps we could also have a word with him?"
"We tried to arrange it sir but we couldn't get a hold of him. He's the sort of person that hides away in the shadows behind the scenes plotting events that are to come. It's honestly a miracle that we could get to have a word with the teacher!"
"Hmm I see" Alistair grumbled under his breath "Well tomorrow first thing we'll head to the school and have a word with this Shido!"
After this little discussion had ended the guards left Alistair to his own devices only coming back inside occasionally to check if he was alright or if he wanted a bottle of imported brandy.
"What could possibly go wrong?" Alistair thought as he settled himself into bed hoping to get a few hours sleep.
...
Early next morning Alistair was driven to the school guarded by his security as they drove through the front gate which took a little longer than expected after having to show their ID tags to the staff. The sun shined brightly upon them and the cherry blossoms bloomed as they drove into the parking area's.
Various cars and bikes stood parked and the area was completely silent save for the faint howl of the wind.
"Right let's get this done!" Alistair exclaimed clicking open the door of the car as his security exited from the other side he struggled to get free as his legs tingled with pain and refused help when asked for assistance. After finally leaving the car he made sure it was locked and they all headed to the main building of the school.
"I'll go back and guard the main gate sir!" One officer stated as he removed himself from the group and began to walk back to the direction that they had just come.
"Very well" Alistair replied "Just contact us via radio if anything happens"
"Yes sir!" The officer turned to salute him before turning around and continuing his walk.
They observed the school as they walked closer. It was built up as three large buildings that were closely connected together and contained hundreds of students.
"Good morning sir Alistair!" A man greeted as they walked closer to the building.
"Ah good morning!" Alistair greeted offering a handshake "You are?"
"Deputy head Akira Kotonoha!" the man replied "From what I've heard about you sir it is an honor to meet you!"
"Well I don't know what exactly you've heard-" Alistair remarked knowing UNIT had most likely thought up some sort of cover story for him "But please may you direct us to this Mr Shido?"
"He's in the staff room!" Akira replied "Although I do wish you could tell us exactly why you're wanting to speak with him"
"I'm sorry Mr Kotonoha but that is top secret and I'm afraid that yourself and any other teachers shall have to leave the staff room as myself and my men have a word with him.
Akira glared at Alistair nervously sensing that something wasn't right about this entire situation.
"W-well!" he stuttered "If you'll kindly follow me!"
...
Alistair and his security were hurried through the school. There wasn't too much to say about the inside of the building. Just your typical school with many classrooms staircases and in desperate need of an elevator.
There was an eerie silence to the whole building with the odd voices here and there coming from the classrooms and a faint clanging sound coming from the outside.
Bzzzz
One of the security officers radio cracked loudly startling everyone.
"Sir!" the security officers cried out over the radio "Someone is attempting to break into the school!"
"What are you talking about?" one of the officers mumbled not trying to create too much attention
"Some staff members have just shown up!" the officer continued "This person I-I think he's drunk he just keeps walking to the gate in a dazed kind of state over and over again!"
"What are the staff doing?"
"They're trying to sort the person out-"
"Make sure you can keep the situation under control if you have to and if necessary fire a warning shot into the air!"
"Y-yes sir I-" the officer was suddenly interrupted by a horrible ear piercing screaming coming from one of the teachers causing all of them to stop and listen intenscly to the radio.
"What on earth's going on?" Alistair and Akira both mumbled to themselves.
"One of the staff has just been bitten!" the officer shrieked "I-I don't know why but the bite has kill-no no wait he's alive he-" the officer suddenly screamed along with the other teachers "He's biting the staff!"
A warning shot could be heard through the radio and the echoed throughout the school.
"What's happening man!?" The security officer shouted through the radio.
More screams could be heard along with a couple more gun shots.
"S-stay away from me!" the officer shouted with his voice become distorted "Halt or I'll fire!"
A faint groaning sound could be heard coming closer and closer to the officer and five rounds were heard being fired.
"H-how-" the officer stuttered breathing deeply in panic "He's still Ali-"
But before he could finish his sentence a final ear piercing scream could be heard.
"What's happened?!" the officer exclaimed.
The horrific screaming stopped before behing replaced with a loud deep breathing sound.
"WHAT'S HAPPENED?!" The loud breathing sound continued for several moments before the officer shut off his radio and ran down the corridor followed by Akira leaving Alistair alone with two guard's.
"I'm going to see what's happened sir!" the officer shouted as he ran further away into the distance and down the stairs.
"The staff room's not too far from here!" Akira shouted "You should easily find it!"
"If anything happens officer make sure Mr Kotonoha is safe!" he exclaimed "And thank you for the directions!" he shouted to Akira.
"Sir" One of the officers spoke up "If whatever is happening outside is a danger to you we will have to evacuate you even if it means compromising the mission!"
"I understand" Alistair nodded folding his arms "But in my opinion it is your safety that concerns me more rather than my own"
"T-thank you si-"
The officers and Alistair were suddenly flung nearer to the wall as a student ran past them at lightning speed.
"Kids these days!" Alistair remaked waving his stick in the direction where the student had ran "In my day we treated our elders and members of authority with the deepest respect!"
The sound of the intercom suddenly rang out across the school.
"ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF!" the voice of the headmaster shouted "AN OUTBREAK HAS TAKEN PLACE ON SCHOOL GROUNDS!"
"Outbreak?" Alistair murmured as his security guards moved closer towards him.
"ALL STUDENTS ARE INSTRUCTED TO FOLLOW STAFF TO SAFETY AT ONCE!"
"We need to get going sir!" An officer exclaimed pushing Alistair back towards the corridor.
"Now wait just one mome-"
"I REPEAT AN OUTBREAK HAS TAKEN PLACE ON SCHOOL GROUNDS ALL STUDENTS ARE-"
The voice of the headmaster was silenced by an ear piercing scream before the intercom was abruptly silenced.
An erie silence followed for what seemed like minutes.
"I think sir-" an officer cleared his throat nervously "We should-"
The officer's words were drowned out by the sound of screaming panic as students rushed out of their classrooms. It was complete chaos!
Students were trampling on each other smashing into each other punching each other and Alistair and one officer kept close to the walls whilst his other security guard was swept up in the crowed.
"Help me!" he cried before disappearing.
"Should I fire a warning shot sir?"
"Don't be a fool!" Alistair shouted over the panicked crowd "That'll only cause more panic! Now I suggest we creep against these walls and when this crowd dies down we'll head for the staff room!"
"B-but sir-"
"No buts!" he exclaimed "If this Mr Shido was in the staff room like we're hoping then he'll have one hell of a time trying to get out of there now!"
...
It took several long excruciating minutes and they were both almost thrown into the crowd at times but soon Alistair and his last remaining security officer reached the door to the staff room with students still running at a breakneck pace around the corridors.
Dead students who had been trampled to death lay on the floor with blood pouring out the windows were smashed and the continued screams could be heard downstairs.
Alistair careful put his ear next to the door listening for any indication that there was life inside the staff room and to his absolute horror he could hear the same deep breathing sound that he had heard when one of his officers had been attacked outside.
"I think we may be in for a spot of trouble!" Alistair said removing a hidden pistol from his pocket.
"Sir you shouldn't-"
"I never walk around without it" he murmured making sure the cartridge was full "You never know when you may need to defend yourself!"
The officer gulp nervously and tilted his head to the door "So what's the plan sir?"
Without another word Alistair knocked on the door loudly three times "If there's anyone in there open up!" he knocked again three times "Open up!"
The loud deep breathing and groaning still continued and appeared to becoming closer to the door.
He signalled for the officer to listen to what he was about to say "Now we're going to bash this door down and if we have to use the guns and that is a big if we only use them if there's no alternative!"
"Yes sir!" the officer replied.
The officer took several steps backwards and ran towards the door crashing his shoulder into it. The door lock inside broke at the sheer force causing the door to open.
Alistair signalled for the the officer to keep his gun at the ready as he carefully grabbed the door-knocked and opened the door with a faint creek.
As they entered they saw no one at first. The staff room was rather small with several chairs spread around the walls and a large TV was currently not in use. On the other side of the room stood a kitchen with a kettle and tea-cups and shelves for food storage.
"There doesn't appear to be anyone in here sir?"
"Be on your guard" he mumbled raising his gun slightly higher into the air.
There was suddenly a loud groaning around and from where the door had smashed into the wall came what appeared to be two people. They slowly pushed the door leaving it pulled too. These were presumably teachers but they looked absolutely grotesque. Blood stained all over their clothes their eye's appeared not to be moving their skin had a strange grey tone to it and they walked slowly towards the two.
"Keep back sir!" The officer shouted as he pushed Alistair behind him for protection and raised his gun at the former teachers.
"What on earth is this?!"
To be continued.
Authors Note: Well I hope you enjoyed this prologue and I will begin writing the first chapter soon and dont worry the cast from High School of the Dead should hopefully be aprearing in the next chapter if not the one afterwards.