I was thrown in a war that I had no idea of. I was forced to fight an enemy that was stronger in every way.
I have seen death. I have seen suffering. I've lost the count of the people that I saw murdered before my eyes.
This war. It's normal for humans to be in a war. We have been fighting against each other for so long. For us, we fight and murder each other. It's what we are.
But this war. This war isn't like the wars we ever had. This war is killing us as humans. This war is a gender war.
Perhaps I should start with the begin. As I have lost track on how many times this goddamn story played in my head. The war began to take form when something was invented. A machine that changed humanity in the very core.
A machine called Infinite Stratos. A high tech exoskeleton. It could defeat any kind of attacks. Outgunning every army. Faster than every plane. Possible of taking down nukes in the blink of an eye.
There was one major setback that determined our future as humans. Only women could pilot the thing. As patriarchal society, I'm not saying our lives was perfect. People suffered. Women were subjected. Mistreated. I couldn't stand that. And I learned to respect women.
But as matriarchal society, things became very dark. It was played harder. More dark. I lost count of the times men were nearly beaten to death. At least, in the countries were those blasted machines were released.
I had the luck for not being born in a country that supported Infinite Stratos. I'm Belgian. I had the luck not being born in one. Still, the effects were notable. Girls beating boys up. Humiliating, mocking, sometimes even torture.
There was one difference between us and the men in Germany, France or the UK. When you got hit, you just fight back.
I didn't know why I was so lucky. Belgium was one of the few countries that didn't follow. Must be because we didn't participate in any great war. There was one thing. Our wars changed. Foot soldiers, men, were sacrificed like canon meat. Quarters were never given. Executions happened on a whim.
There was one thing I noticed. Women were abusing males they didn't even knew.
I had the luck to be born in a family where it wasn't the case. But that luck ran out.
I saw an angel that night. An angel. I never believed in a God. What kind of God would allow an mechanical Angel to kill my family?
It was an Infinite Stratos. There was no doubt. I remember my mother pleading. To let her sons to live. The angel scoffed and decapitated her. I remember the blood coming from her head, splattering over my two younger brothers.
I remember their cries before one was pulled in a claw and crushed to death. The other was shot down like a dog. She walked to me. The sword wasn't even clean. I saw her coming. Ready to take my life. For no other reason than she just wanted.
I couldn't believe an Angel could decide that a human could live. She said this in a language I barely understood. "You're a filthy, pathetic form of life. You may thank our kindness we have allowed you to live for so long. Your ilk should have been dead long ago."
She raised her sword and brought it down. I closed my eyes, waiting for the cold metal to take my life. But it never came. It never hit. In front of me was something standing. I looked at it and saw what saved my life.
A Devil. There was no mistake that what I saw before me was a Devil. But the ideas of what was right and wrong. Well, I guess that's where your position is. I think that at that point the Devils were the good ones.
I saw the Angel's mouth falling open. I saw her looking at what stopped her. She stood back and I heard her speaking. I can still remember the voice asking. "What do you think you're doing? Stopping a woman of high society. An upper class member. How dare you step in?"
It was a man. Or no. Not yet. His voice was more like a teenager. "Yeah, you might be right. In every country, in the country you came from yeah. I had no right. But not in this place. In this country of Europe, it's not the Infinite Stratos who call out the shots. At this place, Belgium doesn't follow the fucking IS program. They don't follow it. Not because of weakness or low budget."
The woman scoffed. "So what's the reason this failed state doesn't take a chance to grow? To become a great country that has the right to bear the name developed." The man snickered.
"At that, we agree. Belgium is indeed a failed state. But they don't follow the program, because of a simple reason. Why should we make a program where we have missed a decade while we have a few unique programs that have been developed for three decades? Where we have learned to counter the Infinite Stratos. That is built out. And where the ones following the program are males and where they don't have to follow the Alaska Treaty. We have our own rules. And you have sentenced yourself to your demise."
It took a while and I could follow. I didn't get everything, but what I understood was that the man was speaking of the reason we don't have Infinite Stratos. After that, the woman began to laugh.
It was cold, it was chilling, it was, it was, it was like she lost her sanity. The man wasn't affected by it. But I was. I have never been so afraid my entire life. It was like my heart pumped like a machine in full power. Like my blood froze. Like my body just could die from the fear.
"And what do you think you can do? There is no way you can stop me. There is nothing that can stop an Infinite Stratos except another one." That man sighed and looked back.
"No, you'll die here. By my hand and I will show how wrong it was for you to come here." The woman looked incredulous to him. "How dare you? In this world, women are the ones who have the upper hand in society. You have been stuck in your old ways. Accept that we are the Divine gender and that we have to kill lower beings like him." The man crossed his arms.
"You know. When you hear you speak, you remind me of a certain group that was active close to a hundred years ago. They spoke as humans as lower beings. I'd guess that the part of that is stuck in your head. It's true that women are in top of society. In this place as well. But for the ones who are under my faction and under my control, those men have the right to stand up. We don't have to take shit from nobody. And it are your fellow women who are in control that came begging to me that my army, my friends, my lads, my group, would act up in case Infinite Stratos would be used for war. Truth is, we were prepared for that to happen. An Infinite Stratos is a fucking weapon. Weapons are invented to kill. The thing is that even with the gender rules, in the end, the ones with power are the ones who control. And me and my faction, the Hackers are the ones who control this place. And now, you have got in my country, came to my place and you just killed a few persons. You're going to die." The woman launched herself at him.
I saw energy coming from his hand. In the second, the woman's eyes were open and she fell down. The man had his hand on her body and he somehow cut her. I couldn't believe what I saw. That Angel got defeated by the Devil. But for once, I thought that the man was the kindest of the two. He took her throat and he cut her open. Letting her bleed out.
After that, the downed Angel was on her knees. I saw a blade attached to his wrist coming out and he plunged in the body. Over and over and over again. Like he wanted to make her pay. And I found she deserved. Every last bit of it. After that, the man walked to me. I looked in his eyes and sat on a knee. I could see his look. Nobody had ever looked to me like that.
"I'm sorry I was too late. That fucking pilot got here first." He said. The tone he carried. I couldn't find anything of harm and pain. He smiled and took me up under my arms. I got lifted of the ground and I could see the Devil.
He was fairly for his age. I'd guess he was just seventeen or eighteen. His head was covered by a hood and he wore a grey sweater and a jeans. He had a few scars over his face. One covered his cheek. Another ones on the chin and one at the forehead.
"Are you… Are you a Devil?" The man nodded. "Well, I have been called one. But when you think about it, I'm not a bad Devil." I shook my head. "Well, I guess you aren't. You saved my life. That machine woman killed my." It struck me than. I realized my mom and brothers were gone. I couldn't help, but cry. I had to cry. Like I couldn't do anything else.
He took me up in a hug and patted my head. "Sshh, it's okay. It's okay. Cry all you want. It helps." He soothed me and I have been crying like hours. I couldn't believe it. I was too young back then. But I know I realized how fucked my world really was. After a while, I was calmed down and I asked to put me down.
He did and he went to sit on his knees, so we were facing. "Look, kid. At this point, you have two options. One. You can stay here and my best guess is that you are placed under care from the government which is actually shit for a boy. Two. You can come with me. I'm not saying it's better, but it has an advantage."
I crossed my arms and tried to look tough. "That is?"
"You will live a life in secret. Hidden from the world. You will be never get acknowledgement, you will be treated like how you should be treated. You will be hated, branded and called unspeakable things, but when they call you like that, you have the right to take their lives. You will have never any women you should acknowledge. You will never have to stand down. You will be one of the few men that doesn't have to bow his head for the Infinite Stratos."
I gave him a look. "I hereby your accept your order." I told him. He sighed and took me on his shoulders. "Well, we best get going then. A war is coming and we will be fighting." After that, I came with the Devil, but it didn't think it was a bad choice.
He picked me up and sat me on his shoulders. He carried me, he took care after me. I learned that man's name. Kerlongsj, but for me, that's brother. I call him brother. I learned fast. Just like Kerlongsj, I became a hacker. I met his friends. I met his group. I made my own group. I learned to fight.
Sometimes parties, sometimes training, but things changed. Really fast. There was a plan. It was made by Europe.
Supposedly, because our home isn't part of any Infinite Stratos and they don't know of us, our place was called terrorists. Doesn't matter when. We were always seen like that. They attacked us, expecting our army couldn't stop them.
They didn't expect us. There were a few days of war. But unlike last time, we were holding our ground. They sent countless Infinite Stratos to us. We had our losses, but theirs were higher. I didn't fight. I wasn't allowed. But then, things changed.
Brother, had to talk. He had to speak. To those blasted pilots. They came with ideas, with deals. From all over the globe. They insulted us, they were cruel. If they were lucky, they left with nothing intact. If they weren't, they were executed. The war became larger. More grim.
The good thing. We weren't fighting alone. We had allies. We had friends. In the Middle East, we had friends that stopped largest parts of the army to come. In the North, some countries were fighting in their own way. It came down to it that we were holding ourselves.
The bad thing. At one point, things went to shit. They had some special woman. They fought my brother. And that angel took him away. After that, without brother, we didn't have anyone. His friends, his group was gone.
We lost. We got in hiding. Some of us made it to the North. Some to the Middle. I don't blame that. That Devil was the only thing keeping us together. With him gone, I had no chance. Most of us were dead. We were killed.
I got a shock and I lost time. I fell in some sleep after they told me that brother was gone.
When I finally got my senses back, I was sitting a chair. I saw people. Gotten insane by the atrocities. I saw what they did. Pilots now ruling the place I loved. The place were Devil died for. At some point, they decided to kill us all.
After that, I saw a pilot coming to me with her blade raised. She had killed a few men who were working as staff. Even the women. Some women didn't accept the Infinite Stratos. Women got hated by men. Women who did nothing, who were believing in equality.
After that, the woman walked to me. I didn't have to pray Devil would help. He was gone, he left me in the place.
Everything that happened got back and I made a fist and destroyed the pilot. She fell down. "IS scum." I gritted. It wasn't my first time that I killed. Just the first time Devil wasn't there. I fell down and sighed. I had the idea Devil was still there.
The reason why brother was also called Devil was because his full nickname was the Flemish Devil. Right now. I had to pick up his work. I had to stand up. They threw me from his shoulders. I had work to do. I had an army to assemble. If they could wipe the hackers from this place, they had the right for that. But they had to know. The pilots had to go as well.
After all, Angels cannot exist and do their work if Devils aren't there to hinder them.
Okay, that was weird. I got the idea of this short fic after I played Wolfenstein. I know, it's weird, but I couldn't help it.
If I can be honest, I had the idea of making a dark fic, maybe one time again. But this time, we aren't going to look through the eyes of Kerlongsj.
Those who can figure it out, well, let me know in the reviews. Those who cannot, I'm not spoiling.
This can get an update, that doesn't depend on me.
As for the request I got for a lemon spin off, I ask for a few hours or a day patience.
Saluut.