Greetings from SeekerMeeker! If you have been here before, I have updated this chapter! If not, then I hope you are more than welcome to my latest project! For everyone who has reviewed and liked my stories in the past, thank you so much! I give a shoutout to Inceptor57 for helping me greatly with all your support! Well then, panzer vor!
[On a side note, I have updated this chapter so many times that I hope that I am not going to update it anytime soon, other than a serious grammatical error or something that I must revise and edit. I hope I can go on with the next chapter. But I do it because I care. It is meant to be a quality story, and I hope to keep it that way.]
Girls und Odyssey
Chapter 1: The Double Discovery
June 21, 20XX
9:00PM Wednesday, Eastern Standard Time
Washington D. C.: The White House
"Mr. President."
"Yes?"
"I have an urgent report from the FBI-wait, ahem! I mean, I received a classified message from the Area 51."
"Yes-wait, Area 51? What are they up to now? I know some, but it is mostly hidden even from me."
"Yes, but this time, they need your help."
"But what exactly do they want me to do?"
"They admit that one of their experiments . . . Well, how can I say this? Let's just say that a freak accident happened, no one got killed, but something went off."
"Why haven't I heard this? And why am I hearing this now?"
"You know Area 51. It's top-secret even from you."
"And why?"
"Something to do with Tankery that you and many Americans have officially voted to terminate years ago."
"What does that have to do with terrorism and ISIS and homeland security?"
"A lot more than you expect."
"What do you mean?"
"I cannot say more. They're going to give a little bit of information, directly from Area 51, and they want you to come secretly . . ."
June XX, 20XX (all except month CLASSIFIED)
11:00 PM Thursday, CLASSIFIED
CLASSIFIED LOCATION
"Welcome to the drop zone, Mr. President."
"So, we're in the-"
"Shush! Mr. President!"
"Sorry."
"Ahem! Here they come!"
"Greetings, Mr. President. I am one of the directors of the classified Project Portal."
"Project Portal . . . What is it? Part of the Area 51?"
"Classified, but a secret weapon that mysteriously detonated, but yes, it's in Area 51."
"And?"
"And the power is not gone, but disappeared somewhere. Our scientists have not been able to get it back."
"Do you have a way to find it, and how did this happen in the first place?"
"All classified, President. But one thing is for sure; we have to improve our relations with East Asia."
"Which part of East Asia? And why there?"
"All of them, just in case, because the 'power' that we're looking for is somewhere there."
"Huh, so China or Korea or Japan has this 'power,' but it's easier said than done to find it."
"Very correct, but we have found something we can pinpoint. We know what to find; you just need to find the nation that has this point."
"What do you mean?"
"This is all we'll say, based on the Eastern Standard Time, the 'point' will flash from this special device. You will wear this at all times; it will show up at this exact date. Remember: the date only shows the Eastern Standard Time from your White House area."
"And it says . . ."
"Hold it there, President. You cannot say it right now, but you can see that it's set in the Eastern Standard Time. Which means that you have to convert it into one of the time zones in East Asia. However, only on that day will we find out, or earlier."
"Huh, I wonder what you guys are up to. But please: exactly explain what I need to find."
"It is unfortunately top-secret, even for you. But let's just say that we have a weapon on the loose . . ."
At the same time, except by Japanese Standard Time
Somewhere off the coast of Tokyo . . .
Ooarai High School carrier
"President . . ."
"What, Kawashima?"
"I've been wondering about the graduation . . ."
"Don't even mention it!"
"Ah, Momo-chan, you're crying."
"I AM NOT!"
A few desks and piles of paper on them filled much of the floor of the well-lit office, where the Student Council worked tirelessly for the sake of the whole school. Well, not all of them.
"President," said a buxom, pretty girl with dark brown hair tied in a ponytail. She was working fervently to finish signing a pile of paper as high as a toddler in front of her.
"President," she said again. "When will you work hard for once?"
"Oh, not yet," the petite redhead (reddish-brown, to be more precise) with twin ponytails answered. She kept pushing herself back and forth in her chair, playing around. "It's such a long day."
"Not exactly long," retorted a girl with short black hair. A single eyeglass framed her right black eye. She, however, was checking another pile, glaring at the manuscripts after manuscripts.
She growled.
"Too much paperwork!" she roared, flying into a rage, forgetting that she was holding a few of them. They floated in the air as a result.
"Hang in there, Momo Kawashima," the redhead told her warmly, sitting properly in the chair.
"Hang in there my butt," Momo retorted, reaching down to pick up the remains. "I am too stressed out already!"
"Eh?" the ponytailed girl joined in. "I am stressed out, too. It's just that you're more vocal about it."
"Argh!" Momo roared. "I-I can't stand it!"
"Why don't you just sit back," said the President, reclining in her seat, sighing. "And relax?"
"You relax," Momo retorted back. "I will just go and deal with these shenanigans!"
The President simply shrugged, and reached out for her bag of dried sweet potatoes. She rummaged in it, and raised an eyebrow.
"Odd," she said. "I thought I had another piece or so in there."
"President Anzu Kadotani!" Momo roared, causing her eyeglass to hang by her ear. She quickly fixed it, blushing.
"Ah, I understand," Anzu said, sighing as she reclined in her chair, and smiled back at her old friend. "It's too early for a piece."
"Not that!" the same girl screamed. "It's just that it's business as usual again!"
"After winning back our school," Anzu remarked. "Twice."
Everybody in the room sighed in relief. They knew they did the unthinkable. First, their school won the 63rd Senshado championship in Japan. Second, when the MEXT official renegaded on his promise, their school had to win a lopsided battle that was a close-call victory, allowing the school to remain open, twice. Now, it was indeed business as usual again.
Anzu reached into her empty bag again, forgetting that there was nothing in it. Realizing that, she shrugged and threw an "imaginary piece" into her mouth, and pretended to chew something. Momo stared at her and sighed, while the ponytailed girl giggled in the background.
"Oh, President and Momo-chan," she continued to giggle. "You two are lively today."
"Well! With all the paperwork and shenanigans, it's a lot!" Momo roared. "And stop calling me 'Momo-chan,' for crying out loud!"
Anzu smirked.
"Yuzu," she said to the ponytailed girl. "This Momo of our girl needs some break, doesn't she? Right, Miss-chan?"
"Thank you-wait, NOT YOU TOO, PREZ!"
Anzu and Yuzu both giggled, watching their own PR manager grind her teeth in frustration.
"Argh!" she roared, as she slammed her pile of paperwork. Some sheets flew in the air, again.
"Ah, Kawashima," Anzu said, reclining in her chair with a sleepy voice. "Calm down. We have plenty of . . ."
Anzu suddenly became silent, staring at something.
"Prez?" Yuzu asked.
Yuzu and Momo stared at their president. The petite girl slowly stood up, leaving her comfortable chair behind. It groaned as she left it, wishing her to come back. She stared like a hawk at something on the ground, then crouched down. Yuzu and Momo stared at their own president's strange and sudden change in behavior.
"Prez . . ." Yuzu started to whisper, but Anzu put her finger to her mouth to hush her vice president. Anzu then looked back, and pounced on something like a cat. Grinning in victory, she lifted up her prize.
Yuzu and Momo both stared at her in disbelief. Their own president just caught . . . a piece of dried sweet potato.
"President . . ." Yuzu groaned.
"Another day," Momo grunted.
"And a piece for me!" Anzu cried in victory.
"Is that even edible?" Yuzu questioned. "I mean, you did intend to eat it, don't you?"
"Actually," Anzu said, dropping the piece into a trash can. "No."
Both girls stared at their own president.
"No?" asked Momo.
"I want some fun," she answered. "Pretending to be a cat was some fun, after all."
Her own friends sighed at their president's childish antics.
"But for something serious," she replied, her tone suddenly changing. Yuzu and Momo both flinched; they knew that if she became serious, she meant business.
"I found these papers," she answered, picking them up. "The piece was on top of the five sheets. At first, I intend to think about washing the piece, but these sure interested me more."
"What are they?" asked Momo, fixing her monocle. Yuzu took the papers, and the two read them. Both gasped.
"Aren't these . . ." Yuzu stammered.
"Wow," said Momo, whistling. "You have some insight there."
"Right?" Anzu replied, grinning ear-to-ear. "It was no accident that we found them. We know what to do next."
"Huh?" asked her two friends.
"Call them in," said Anzu. "Tell them that the Student Council has an urgent meeting with them."
"I will!" said Momo, clearing her throat. "I'll call in her alone and-"
"No, no," Anzu corrected her. "Bring all five of them."
"All five of them?" the other two stuttered.
"Miho and her whole team," said Anzu. "No questions asked."
Yuzu and Momo both stared at her, then at each other. Yuzu silently nodded at her, and the two quickly left the office.
Anzu watched them go. Once they were gone and out of earshot, she stretched out her body, reclining back into her seat. The chair sighed in relief, her body against its soft cushion layers. Anzu put her hands behind her head like a pillow, and looked up at the sky.
"Another sunrise," she whistled. "Miho Nishizumi, what will you do next? Or more precisely, what will you be next?"
So, this is actually a combination of two chapters. Originally, the first part was the US government's side, secretly trying to find this "Project Portal." The second part is the Student Council discovering "five sheets" that are somehow apparently crucial. These two points will collide together in some way or another, which is why I decided to fuse them together into a single chapter. Anyway, stay tuned for more! Panzer vor!
So, on the next chapter, the mystery of the "five sheets" and even the "Project Portal" will be solved (but a little bit with the latter). And yes, there will be tanks, but bear with me; I only know a little about military tanks. I know more about America (hint for the story!) than tanks, but stay tuned!
Side update: I decide to change the date from "April" to "June." I later learned that the Japanese start their summer break on June 20, so I changed the date to that, in order to be consistent. Furthermore, by putting them at this time, they can avoid missing out on school; I am no fan of missing out on school, even in fiction.