The lecture room was silent as Mr Popora stood behind his lectern, giving a lesson on Ghoul Crimes Phycology. The hall was almost full today. Students ranging from First Years to Graduates were attending this speech. Even a few Assistant Investigators, the most senior Post Graduates in the Academy were slouched against the back wall. Donato Popora was a very well respected teacher in the CCG Academy. Everyone knew he was a ghoul, and that through the powers that be, he had been pardoned and allowed to teach the future generation of Investigators. Third Year Student Noro Schneider clapped along with the rest of the crowd as Mr Poporas' presentation ended. Noro applauded politely, ignoring the snickers of "The ghoul gets a pat on the head every time he leaves class" or "What's a filthy ghoul doing in this academy?" Noro didn't care if he was a ghoul. He was one of Noro's favourite lecturers because he knew more on ghouls than any human teacher ever would. Noro Schneider was a top of the class Third Year student at the CCG Academy. In only two weeks, he would undergo his Graduation Exams, which would place him in the Post Graduates cycle of the Academy. There, after one year he would become an Assistant Investigator, then enter the CCG as a fully-fledged Rank 2 Investigator. After class during lunch break, a group of Graduates approach him, casting taunts at the young man. Noro tells them to piss off. He's in no mood for petty fighting. One of the bullies takes this harshly and grabs Noro by the collar, slamming him into a wall. "That'll teach you to grow up, little boy". The Graduates laugh as if the big 22 year-old had said something really funny. Noro is about to punch the offensive man in the nose when a figure dressed entirely in black steps out of the darkened walkway next to them. "Is there a problem here gentlemen?" The lead bully, whose name was Takashi Randel, immediately dropped Noro and turned to shakily bow to the man. "M...m…Mister Kaneki! I didn't see you there!" Kaneki sighs, looking down at the young Graduate with disdain. "Of course you didn't Takashi. Otherwise I might be losing my edge… Now get lost before I report this behaviour to the Principal". The Graduates all but run away in terror as Kaneki leans on the wall next to a bedraggled Noro. "Thanks sir". The Black Reaper smiles. "No problem Noro. How are your studies going?" Noro gives him a vague answer, saying that everything was just fine. Kaneki nods and stares up at the sky in silence. Noro discreetly inspects his teacher. Mr Kaneki was something of an Enigma to the students of CCG Academy. He has shown up when Noro was in his First Year with ID that gave away nothing other than the fact that he was CCG and given authority to teach here at the Academy. Noro genuinely liked the silent and reserved man. Mr Kaneki gave off an aura of command and experience. He taught Ghoul Biology and Quinque Training, as well as organising field trips to Cochlea and the CCG Headquarters. The young man had come to suspect that his teacher was once, or still was, a Ghoul Investigator. Many Investigators at both the Ghoul Prison and HQ greeted him by name. I wonder what rank he was. Probably a senior rank. First Class maybe. Yeah that sounds about right. He wore the investigators cloak instead of the standard staff uniform of the Academy, even though the Principal had asked him many times to not wear that clothing. Suddenly, Kaneki turns and looks at Noro. "What's your home life like Noro? What Ward do you come from?" Noro blinks. "Uh… The 9th Ward Sir. What about you?" Kaneki looks distant for a moment, as if reliving old memories. "I was born in the 20th Ward. But I live in an apartment in the 1st Ward. About 6 blocks from here". Noro raised an eyebrow discreetly. He can afford to live in the 1st Ward? The Academy must pay handsomely. "If you don't mind, could I borrow you for a special class this afternoon? Noro nods slowly. "Sure… what class is it?" Kaneki stands, heading for the staffroom. "I'm taking a group of selected students to Headquarters. I have some evaluations I need done". Noro waves him goodbye and sits down to eat his lunch. "Evaluation... Have I done something wrong?"
After 5th Period had ended, Noro excused himself from Investigative Processes Class and made his way to the Administrative Building. Kaneki was waiting in the front parking lot with a group of other students. Some of them he knew. Justin Amber was an American in Third Year who Noro spent many hours with during and out of class. Tashi Vaughn was possibly the Academy's' best student. She was an Assistant Investigator and was sure to be Valedictorian once the final exams were done. The others Noro knew little about, other than the fact that this group was made up of Thud Years, Graduates and Assistant Investigators. "If you're all ready to go, let's get over to Headquarters shall we?"
As the Academy bus parked outside the main lobby doors of the CCG's Headquarters, Noro and the others looked up in astonishment. Even though they had all seen it before, the sheer size of the building was awe inspiring. "Come on, we don't have time to gawk. Kaneki leads the way through the lobby and Reception, where the students are ushered into an elevator. As they fly downwards, Tashi asks their teacher where they're going. "Mr Kaneki sir? What exactly are we doing here?" Kaneki sighs. "Fine… I've been evaluating each student's abilities and skills, and I've chosen you lot to go to the next stage in this operation". He says nothing more as the elevator stops and they all file out into a long, whitewashed hallway. They walk along until they come to a doorway marked 'S0 R&D'. Kaneki steps inside and closes the door after the students come inside. "Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Doctor Shanzagi. He's the lead scientist on this S0 program". The Doctor smiles at the students. "Welcome to HQ people. Today you are here because Ken Kaneki here has deemed you all fit to become part of his division". Noro frowns. "Division? What does he mean sir?" Kaneki sighs. "In case any of you didn't know, I am a Ghoul Investigator myself. I have been put in charge of an important division that needs excellent recruits such as you guys". One of the Graduates folds his arms. "We aren't doing anything until you tell us everything… Sir". Kaneki smiles fractionally, honestly scaring many of the students. "I guess it's only fair… My name is Ken Kaneki, and I'm both your teacher at the Academy and a Special Class Investigator". Noro and the others gasp. "Wait… Sir. Are you the Black Reaper? The half-blood?" Kaneki sighs, his single Kakugan suddenly showing in his left eye, making some of the young students step back. "I'm sure you've heard rumours about me. Yes, I did defeat the traitor Kishou Arima. Yes I am an artificial half ghoul a=made by Dr Kanou. Yes I'm the leader of the S3 Division and the Reaper Squad, S0. Does that answer all the questions you all were about to ask?" The room is silent, the young adults only nodding dumbly. "Good. You're here because I need a specific process in choosing members for S0, the Reaper Saud. I'm saying that if you succeed in the coming evaluations… you will all become investigators by next week. You will enter the CCG as Rank 3 Investigators, though the Graduates and Assistants among you will be placed as Rank 2 Investigators. Any questions?" The stunned group is silent until Noro steps forward. "Are you saying that you'll have an Elite Unit… made up of junior investigators? Why wouldn't you choose other Special Classes or Associate Special Classes sir? "Because if you pass the standard I set, you'll all undergo Frame 10 surgery. You will have kakahou encased in a frame of Quinque Steel implanted in your bodies. I assume you all know of the Quinx Squad?" Tashi, Noro and the others nod dumbly. "You may also know that I was their first leader and Mentor. However, I wish to extend upon the Quinx Squad. You people will become the second generation of Quinx. Half Ghoul Investigators… But not ghoul enough to lose your humanity or taste for human food". Noro and the other students are surprisingly calm. "Ok. I accept your offer Mr Kaneki". Kaneki frowns and looks down at the man. "From now on it's Special Class Kaneki to you. Got it?" A chorus of 'Yes Sir!' shakes the room. Kaneki watches as the students file into the inner laboratory to begin their training, never to return to the academy. "I have a good feeling about this program. Quinx Mark IIs'… Yes. This will do nicely"… If this worked, then Kaneki and the S0 Division would have a team of highly trained and powerful investigators of Special Class Calibre at his command. "I hope you can see this is happening Kaiko… You'd better watch out". Suddenly he smacks his forehead. "I'm going to have to play this Haise style again aren't I? Damn. I'd gotten so used to acting myself again"… He smiles, knowing what Touka would say. "You'll scare them off with your dark demeanour"… He walks out of the lab and heads upstairs to pay a visit to Juuzou.
Urie shields his eyes against the Berlin sunset as he steps out onto the balcony of their hotel. A hand clamps heavily down on his shoulder and he spins around, automatically going for his Quinque, which wasn't there. "Easy there Associate Special Class. I'm not the enemy here". Special Class Shinohara smiles at the leader of the Quinx Squad and ushers him back inside. "Sorry Special Class Shinohara. I just haven't gotten used to having a celebrity around is all". Shinohara frowns. "A celebrity? Surely being around Ken Kaneki would have banished those kind of thoughts Urie". Urie fails not to smile. "Yeah… I guess so". Nishio comes into the room with a newspaper and a bottle of expensive Belgian Beer. "Hey guys have you read today's top story yet? I think you might find it useful". Urie catches the paper mid-air and curses under his breath. "So this is where our funding is going? Expensive alcohol". Nishio grins. "You ever learn about the fact that Ghouls have better hearing than humans?" Urie gives him the finger and lowers his head to read the front page article Nishio had mentioned. Gründer der CCG übernimmt das Kommando des Berliner Büros . Ehren Deutschland wiederhergestellt? (Founder of CCG takes command of Berlin Office. Germany's honour restored?) "Shit". Urie reads over the article quickly. He leans back on the sofa, sighing loudly. "Old Gramps Washuu has taken command of the CCG's Berlin Office. Hell, I didn't even know we had a Berlin Office". Mitsugi places his hands on the glass and looks at that very office in the distant city centre. "Kaneki had said he was well and truly involved with V. If we want to scout around this city, we're going to need to stay on the good side of the investigators here". Saiko also looks up from her reading of German tourist brochures and joins them at the sofa lounge. "We might as well say hi while we're here. I'm curious as to what this German CCG is like". She smiles for a moment, then immediately begins stuffing potato chips into her mouth. Urie screws up the paper and throws it towards the bin in the corner, but Nishio catches it, removing the front page and tucking the rest under his arm. "I'm going to read the sports news" he says, retreating to his bedroom. Urie sighs, pulls out his laptop and logs into the CCG webpage. He drags the menu down, selecting the Classified Files section, where he knew the interesting news from home would be. An article grabs his attention fairly quickly. He reads through it quickly, pushing the computer back and slumping over the edge of the couch. Shinohara drags over the laptop and begins reading it aloud. "Commander Washuu has just authorized the commencement of the Gen 2 Frame program, codenamed: Quinx Mark 2".Everyone in the room goes silent, listening in rapt attention. "Leading this program is Special Class Investigator Ken Kaneki, who is using the program as a means to structure his Reaper Squad, S0 Division. This will se a group of 6 students from the CCG Academy undergo intense evaluations, physical training, and mental methodology in order to discover if they are fit to go ahead with the new Quinx technology. This Quinx Mark 2 is based, of course, on the original Quinx Program. However, the first Quinx possessed 5 Quinque Steel frames surrounding the Kakahou, while the Quinx Mark 2 model will have 10 Quinque Steel frames. While these frames will be much thinner, allowing the technicians to come much closer to the line between human and ghoul, the successful candidates will undergo Frame 10 surgery, which will give them the average battle strength and prowess of an SS rated ghoul! This program is intended to be an extension of the original Quinx Program, so don't feel bad you guys in the Quinx Squad, you're about to get some younger siblings". As Shinohara finishes, Urie is shaking his head. "That bastard Kaneki. He's really trying to surpass Doctor Kanou isn't he?" The man is actually smiling underneath his words. Now he frowns. "Kanou must be shaking with rage. I'm sure he's accessed the article by now. But why bother? Kanou never managed to make a more successful One Eyed Ghoul than Kaneki"… He stands and goes to join Nishio in the bedroom who is fast asleep. "Better get some sleep people. We've got a long day tomorrow"….
Noro felt like he was in a dream, but he knew he wasn't. The truth was that he was lying on a cool metal table in a laboratory beneath the CCG headquarters. He can hear voices, but the obscure drugs the doctors had used on him prevented him much coherent thought. "Are you sure this is the one?" A new voice approaches as if from across the world. "I'm certain. The Special Class stated specifically that Noro Schneider was to be given 'that' Kakahou". "Fine. If it's all ready to go, let's begin". Noro feels an uncomfortable sensation slide into his chest as the technicians surrounding him insert the Kakahou of a ghoul into his body. His vision swims, and his entire world is swallowed whole by blackness. A distant shrieking sound causes Noro to open his eyes. He pants, looking around the room he stands in. White checked walls cover a circular atrium chamber. In the rooms centre, a young man sits tied to a wooden chair. His hair was snow white, and his nails were pure black. As Noro takes a step forward, the prisoner jerks his head up violently, clutching his ear. A slithering sound reverberates throughout the chamber and into Noros' own ears. "Have you ever had... a Centipede in your ear?" The white haired man is looking straight at him. Noro takes a fearful step back. "Who…Who are you?" The prisoner sighs, and suddenly Noro is standing right next to him. "You don't know me? I'm saddened, Noro Schneider". "I don't understand. Do I know you?" The prisoner laughs, and something slithers out of his ear onto the ground. A Chinese red centipede. Deadly. "These are my memories Noro. If you're going to take on a piece of my Kakahou, you need to understand me completely…" Noro freezes. That voice was familiar somehow… The prisoner smiles now. "Now we're getting somewhere… Do you feel it? Do you feel my pain?" A sharp, invasive sensation assaults Noro's brain, and he falls to his knees clutching his own head. "I feel it! I feel it please make it stop!" All of a sudden the pain disappears, replaced by the younger man again. The prisoner breaks out of his bonds, falling upon a corpse that lay at his feet. As Noro watches in horror, the familiar voice returns. "Ghouls need to eat to survive… I had to learn this the hard way… I finally embraced my ghoul side, but discarded my humanity in doing so. Do not make the same mistakes Noro…" As he watches, the whit haired prisoner clutches the sides of his head as long, armoured Kagune rip out of his back. It looked disturbingly like a Centipede… The ghoul wreaks havoc with his Kakuja, ripping apart other ghouls and devouring them. "I thought it would make me stronger… Oh how I was wrong…" The voice laughs in Noros' head as the scene changes to an underground sewer. The white haired prisoner is back, this time stumbling towards the grotesque field of bodies that lay at the feet of another white haired man. Noro whispers. "Kishou Arima…" The prisoner engages the Reaper in frenzied combat for a time, even damaging the infamous Quinque, Ixa. But at last the ghoul is defeated, stabbed through his single Kakugan with Ixa… "And so my story ends… Or does it? I used to wish I died that day… What came next was… painful. I was chained. Changed, lied to and stolen from. My entire being was locked away under a false coating. Again Noro's vison blackens and he is standing atop a tower. As he turns, the prisoner is still here, but now his hair is half black, and he wears the coat of a Ghoul Investigator. As the battle plays out, the investigator is beaten down and wounded badly. As he lay there, pinned against the wall by another ghoul, the voice returns. "And so here we witness the final days of the false coat. Watch closely, for you will need this understanding if you are to survive…" Noro does as he is instructed and observes. The investigator's hair suddenly turns jet black. He jumps into the air and dismembers his attacker. The investigator looks wild, and a single Kakugan gleams in his left eye. Noro takes a step back as the One Eyed Owl leaps down and begins playfully battling the investigator. At last the Owl retreats, leaving the investigator alone. Another scene change, and now Noro is looking at the same man, albeit neater, before the entrance of Cochlea. The man now wore glasses, and a coat of black. Noro gaps. "No… Was this really… your story? Mr Kaneki…" The vision sweeps away, leaving only blackness. Out of the darkness materialises the same man Noro had just witnessed. Ken Kaneki. "Do you understand me now, Noro?" The young student nods. "I.. think so. I'm having a part of your Kakahou implanted within me… and I'm going to be different to the other Quinx Mark 2's… Frame 10 surgery won't work on me correctly". Kaneki nods. "I'm glad you understand. With my Kakahou inside you, the Frame 10 Surgery won't succeed. Coming that close to ghoul hood with my ghoul side will push you over the edge into being the same as me. An artificial One Eyed Ghoul. My ghoul side once devoured my humanity, so I'm making sure you can keep a hold on your humanity. Only then will you be effective as my second in command…" Noro nods in affirmation. "But what will the CCG say? I won't be human with a ghouls Kagune. I'll be both human and ghoul". Kaneki shrugs and turns to dissolve back into the darkness. "They let me live didn't they? Don't worry kid. I'll be here when you wake up"… Noro gasps in a deep breath of air as light comes flooding back into his vision. He opens his eyes and thrashes in his bonds on the table. He could feel the ghoul part of him hungering for flesh, for blood. But his human side pushed it down, then stopped. That won't work… Kaneki said I needed to understand… to accept". Noro suddenly has another vision. He is walking forward to shake the hand of the white haired Kaneki in the chamber. "Let's go… We're in this together after all…" Noro suddenly feels a calm sort of equilibrium overcome his being. At last his ghoul side and his human side had synchronized. He opens his eyes again to stare into the faces of the technicians and doctors huddling against the wall in fear of another outburst. "It's ok doctors… I'm at peace". One of the doctors slowly unbinds him, letting Noro sit up on the bench. "What is it like? Having… you know". Noro looks at the screen the man was looking at. It showed the current RC levels of all the new Quinx. Many of the other students were listed high above the average RC level for a human. But him? Noro had an RC level of 2700… Above his own name was Ken Kaneki. His RC reading was read out by Noro himself. "3480 huh… What a guy. He has a higher RC cell count than most ghouls…" He turns to the technician who had spoken before. "It's…different. I can feel the ghoul part of me. But thanks to Kaneki, I've accepted the ghoul, but not abandoned my humanity… I feel. Strong"… As they are clapping each other on the back, Kaneki walks into the lab with the rest of the students. Taisha rushed over to Noro, taking his hand in her own. "Are you alright? I heard that they were doing a different method on you…" She stops talking as she sees his RC count on the screen. "You… you're actually part ghoul... Like Special Class Kaneki?" Noro nods. "Sure looks that way doesn't it?"…