Disclaimer: I don't own the work known as Infinite Stratos.
Christmas, a day of celebration and sharing.
Or is?
Despite of all the good intention, certain fat man in red suit may have accidentally corrupted the spirit into something of "expecting somebody to give" rather than sharing a little of what you have to others.
Not like that matter... humans are animals and animals are selfish but at least some people tried.
~*Vantier Project: Gremlin*~
~Chapter 0: Christmas Night/ Unwanted Gift~
An Asian looking young man grumbled under his breath as he walked home.
Time seemed to fly so fast that even before he notice it, a year has passed since he entered university but yet he could barely recall his life at the campus. All the stress from the examinations must have gotten into him.
Either that or because there is nothing notable worth remembering about.
The young man noticed a middle-age man lying face first in front of his home with a suit case lying around while people walk by without batting an eyelid.
{Is this what they call planking?'}
The young man thought to himself. Not being very up-to-date with latest internet fad, he did not know the exact detail about planking but apparently it involved lying flat.
But the way the man was planking seems problematic... It looked as if he fall face first and he dropped his suitcase while doing so.
The young man sighed and walked over to the man on the floor and gently shook the man.
"...Oi, Mister, are you alright? Do you need an ambulance?"
"D-do you have any food to spare? I seemed to have forgotten my wallet..."
The young man sighed again and helped the man up.
"I'll see what I have..."
"Thank you for your help..."
The man thanked the young man who just waved it off.
"No need, I was about to have dinner myself..."
"So lad, what's your name?"
"Nemo..." The young man replied.
"..."
There was a brief silence between the two before Nemo added: "After the Captain, not that fish."
Nemo only gave his English name as his Chinese name is far worse than being "Nobody" or a being a cartoon Clown (fish).
His parents clearly went overboard on that one. How the hell did they even thought of that name anyway.
The man looked around the house and found something that perked his interest.
It was a box for a video game which the man was familiar with.
"Quantum Break Locker...You played this game too?"
"I am a big fan of it. I think that it is one of the best games ever released in recent years..."
"I see... I am a big fan of it too..."
The man smirked as he went to his suitcase, opened it up and fished out a hand-held game console from his bag. It resemble a certain wide-screen portable game device, below the screen was a strange looking helix logo.
"Behold! T4E, or Trial for Error for short, was a special portable gaming console optimized for the game and also..."
With a few swipe on the screen, the man show an icon to Nemo.
"Quantum Break Locker! 2nd Phase!"
Nemo gasped. He heard the game was in development for quite some time but he never heard of it being released.
"Because of your hospitality, I will giv..."
The lights in the house suddenly flickered before going out completely along with other electronics in the house.
Except for the T4E which only changed its screen to read:
[Electromagnetic interference detected. Unknown signal detected, Devester Standby.]
"Seems like the rumours are true after all..."
The man smirked as he quickly looked out of the window with Nemo follow suit.
It is hard to see due to its dark paintwork but Nemo could briefly make up a fighter jet like figure hovering in mid-air. With a blue orb in the middle, it resembled kit-bashed a model of modern fighter jet with sci-fi space fighter.
"Devester deploy."
The man mumbled while Nemo looked at the screen of T4E that now read:
[ETA: 5 second]
[ETA: 3 second]
"What in the world was that?"
Nemo questioned the man as they both stared that the unidentified flying unit.
"There is a rumour floating online about the Government has developed a high-tech counter-IS machines which had gone rouge But I never thought it is true."
"That sounded like something from a bad sci-fi story..."
[ETA: 0. You have control]
Both Nemo and the man winced at a loud crashing noise. Everybody outside looked around for a while, confused by both the sudden blackout and the crash before assuming their own business.
"I really need to improve on its landing algorithm..."
The man mumbled as he stared at the screen of the game device on his hand. Nemo looked in amazed as the screen changed to something suspiciously similar to a certain game mentioned earlier on but only with more function added to it.
"Anyway, regardless of the validity of the rumour, that machine had to be stopped."
"Why?"
*Swoosh!*
"That machine is releasing Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) that disrupted the function of all electronic devices within this area. That included hospital equipment and pace-maker implant."
*Zoom!*
{If that is so, why isn't the T4E affected?} Nemo pondered in his mind but his focus was on the screen of the man and he was distracted by something more serious than that...
"You are really bad at this aren't you?"
"I may be a fan but I never claimed that I am any good at it..."
After the eight failed attempted at trying to hit the unidentified flying object, Nemo finally had enough and grabbed the controlled from the man.
Nemo gave a suspicious side-ward glance at the man.
"The control is similar to Quantum Lock Breaker right?" Nemo questioned.
The man nodded, confirming that there is a link between the game and whatever thing that the man is trying to control.
The man watched as Nemo guided the unit towards its target and landed a solid hit on orb of the mysterious unit.
The orb cracked as electric and spark fly.
As if appearing out of thin air, revealed a different looking unit with its fist in contract with the cracked orb.
It was a full black humanoid like unit, with chest armour resembling the hull of a fighter jet, gauntlet-wearing clawed hand and a pair of legs that end with talons and a sphere for each sole, combine with a sharp angular over-sized headgear and below it was a white mask with a pair of green eyes, it resembled a robotic knight.
The loud clash caught everybody's attention as they ran back home, combining with the blackout there was little doubt in their mind that it is a terrorist attack.
Through the screen, Nemo estimated the alien jet to be around the size of a human, much smaller than actual plane
Bits and piece of the Plane's wings flew and suddenly start firing beam at the newcomer. Judging from the attack pattern, the attack appeared to be automatic which could only lead to one conclusion about the plane. It was a drone... an automatic drone pre-programmed to perform certain task.
Having years of practices, Nemo could easily dodge the attack but reality is a cruel mistress. Even with his experiences, control of the unit is still limited and Nemo could not help but take a single hit.
The HP bar quickly dropped by half.
While Nemo is manipulating the machine, the man took out a headphone.
"Nemo, say Devester. Lockdown."
"Devester Lockdown?"
[Calculating current values...] a small line of word scroll by casually as the man walked over and grasped the headphone on Nemo's head, the sudden pressure on his ear forced Nemo to looked away from the game device's screen and at the man.
"Here, I forgot. An accessory that improve the game's performance."
The Man smiled.
The price of that momentary distraction was a present in form of missile by the Fighter jet. The loud explosion forced Nemo to look back on the screen. Thankfully the HP bar did not drop, as strange blue wave like pattern rippled through the Robotic Knight's body as the entire unit seemed to be frozen in time.
"Quantum Lock...But be careful Nemo, that function eat energy like crazy."
True enough, the energy bar of the unit went down quickly from near full-bar to half by the time Nemo unlock the unit from its stasis. Although it was not mention but judging from what happened earlier, Nemo could deduced three information about that Lock mode:
1. It appear to be its version of IS's absolute Defense function. Ultimate defense which drain large amount of energy
2. The unit need time to prepare for the Lock mode.
3. The unit is incapable of any movement while being "locked".
Resuming control of the unit, Nemo found the unit appear to be very responsive to his command... In fact, it was as if he is controlling it with his own thought.
With the unit freed from its restrain, the unit dance through the beam freely and proceed to literally tear the unit part.
First, it was its exhaust, then its wings, then its cockpit, until the entire unit was in pieces, leaving behind the blue core which the robotic knight crushed it under its feet.
With the threat being dealt with, Nemo could now focus on the problem on hand.
The reason behind the responsiveness of the unit is simple: Neuron interface. There are not many people capable of making such an advance interface so it is actually possible to deuced the identity of the man through elimination since there are actually not many males engineers specialized in that field.
While Nemo is pondering, the man was already prepared to leave the house.
"Wait! You leave your suitcase!"
The man sighed and forced a smile on his face.
"Treat that as my birthday present to you. Merry Christmas Nemo."
"Wait...Are you serious fine about leaving such a valuable item behind?"
The man gave a tired expression.
"I am a Legacy (Those who leave behind the greatest wealth). If my achievement leave nothing behind for people to remember me, then regardless of how valuable that thing is, it is worthless to me."
"And what do you expect me to do with this? I have no use for this"
"Listen Nemo, according to the rumor, those machines are sea-bounded, incapable of attacking anything on land, if they are capable of sending a unit here, it is only a matter of time before they can send a fleet here for an invasion... If the government could not do anything about it, somebody had to do something about..."
"But Mister... I am a slacker (Hidden Hermit of Society) not a Legacy(Dumb virgin). I had no plan to become a hero."
If you readers are confused by the terminology, allow me to explain what the words Legacy and Slacker actually means in the context:
Both are actually ideology.
Loser/ Legacy are a group of people who traded their desire for children for the advancement of science and technology.
It was their last laugh.
At the world which viewed men as nothing but talentless oppressor who tried to keep the brilliance of females like Tabane down.
At the world who insulted them for shunning the rat race called the mating game.
So long as science existed for humanity, their achievement will forever remain behind, as mockery to those who left their genes behind: Who is the real loser now? The one who live on as legends through their work or the one who merely pass down their gene but will always be forgotten and remain nameless?
In Europe, there are men who share the same sentiment, but find the label of Loser unfitting for such noble pursuit. They labeled themselves Legacy instead, for they are more than just men who pass down their gene but a legacy that will remain forever.
Slackers, on the other hand, accepted the label of a failure/loser. Since you will always be seen as failure, why bother working hard for a world that will never appreciate you? Might as well take the time and invest in activities that interest you?
People may not appreciate you but at the very least, you appreciated yourself for living your life to the fullest.
To summarize:
Loser/Legacy has ego and pride the height of Burj Khalifa while Slacker has the pride of an earthworm...
Being on opposing end, it is little wonder why both could not see eye to eye.
Now back to the story
Nemo protested but it was too late as the man who long gone.
Nemo looked out of the door and saw the man sprinting cartoon-ish manner. For somebody that age, Nemo was surprised by how fast that middle-age man can run.
As if an invisible entity had pulled a loose string, Nemo watched as the robotic knight unraveled like a ribbon and a fox plush toy appear in the suitcase.
"So...this is actually the machine's true form ..."
Nemo stared at the adorable stuff animal long and hard. It is so cute and girly that Nemo's felt that his masculinity is being threatened.
Nemo sighed.
"I really don't want this..."
He recalled what the man had said earlier.
He closed his eyes to process that information again.
If the rumors are true, then there might be trouble in the future...
{Sound likes a hassle...but something that had to be done.}
Nemo looked at the T4E in his hand and shrugged
{Since it is inevitable, might as well prepare for it.}
The mixture of curiosity and excitement made him feel fired up, a sensation which he had never felt for a long time.
It felt like a challenge and as a gamer, he could not turn down such challenges.
"So be it. Let the game start..."
Meanwhile, in the middle of North sea...
Hidden behind the veil of fog were two military ships: A Type 42 Destroyer and an Invincible class Air-craft carrier both side by side. All but two slots of the Air-craft carrier are filled with Panavia Tornado Fighter Planes.
There is little surprise where the missing ones had gone.
In the control room of the Destroyer, a blue hair girl, wearing a white Navy uniform, stared at the black blank holographic screen. Her eyebrows were knitted, stating her clear displeasure.
"What is the meaning of this? R602?"
A holographic screen pop up with the face of a handsome boy in similar white navy uniform appeared. Although he may wear a smile on his face but his tone of voice hinted the boy's fanatic mind.
"C-Captain. before opening fire, please answer the following question: Why we are incapable of attacking any targets on land?."
"Heehee... Simple, due to the electronic noises on land, we can't send or receive any signal from them and without any command, the self-contained AI of our subordinate units are too primitive and unfitting for an actual combat..."
The girl pounded her chest proudly. "That's why I command you make a unit with pre-programmed instructions and EMP generator to shut down those electronic nois... heh?"
The boy smiled as the girl's face slow changed into an expression of realization.
"In order to send video feedback, the second unit, unlike the first, had no Electromagnetic shielding which probably explained why the second recon unit crashed somewhere as soon as the first unit activate the EMP." The boy explained. "Since the first unit had not return after 2 hours, it is best to assume that it too had crashed somewhere due to the electronic interference, most likely from its own EMP."
Both the boy and the girl looked down in shame. Despite of their claim of superiority over the apes, this level of mistake is embarrassing.
"Let's just leave before any humans notice us...being this close to human civilizations is too dangerous."
"Aye, Aye Captain."
A mechanical ring appeared in front of the bow of each ship.
As the ring move through them, the ships slowly transformed from battleship into Cruise Liner and sink into the water.
To be Continued
Next: Welcome to ISA/Life as usual.
Author Note:
About Vantier Project: Gremlin
This may be my second story published here. In reality, this story had been in work longer than the first story, Generation Shift. Generation Shift is just treading water here, as in experimenting and testing some function of .
With that being said... I am not giving up on Generation Shift yet. It is on hiatus because I have been trying to find time to work on the rewrite of the story. Re-incorporate some elements which are left out to give the story some shock value and sense of mystery.