IS VIRUS

Episode 2: Getting Ceci on Soki

Part 1: Awaken, my spirit!

Flashing back to 13 years ago...

A house in the country side...burning down...

Somehow, all the grass around it dried up.

And to its left, a newly dilapidated wooden windmill and a barn-turned-furnace. Flames bellowing from its every orifice, blood and animals parts littered everywhere, farming tools rubbled deep into the ground.

And to top it all off: an elderly woman was holding a small child by the neck. He struggled to break free of her grasp, but she was too strong. He was crying, wailing, calling for help, but he was all alone with her. She revealed her kitchen knife from her apron. She was about to kill the small child. She was already choking him. His screams eventually silenced. She swung her knife at him...

"AAAAAGH!" Sokoto screamed as he suddenly burst out of the boulder, drenched in sweat. He took five full minutes to recover his breath. Yeah, it was that bad. His eyes were still widened from having his in-dream avatar experience hell in real life. He rubbed his hand over his face, trying to dry his head off and recollect himself. But this was nothing new to him.

"The same dream...over and over again..." He's been struggling to cancel the nightmare's replay function for 10 years, it seems like, "Wonder what it means...such a srtange dream..."

A gentle wind brushed across his hair, finally bringing him back to present day. He stared at the environment around him.

It was a clear morning on a beach that's blanketed in crisp, cool air. A very refreshing sensation that cannot be found anywhere where buildings, lights, and cars litter the atmosphere. The sun's rays welcomed the island into the new day, awakening the nature and wildlife to stimulate the senses. Sokoto opened his heart to the warmth and comfort of the newborn sun, reassuring himself that he will get out of this sticky situation, just like he's always done.

That is, once he processes every single event of yesterday.

Which included the completely unnecessary embrace good god grapple laser string thing what were you thinking.

"Haa, man, hahh..." Sokoto rubbed his forehead in false exhaustion, "I'm overthinking this...let's rewind to scene one and try and sort this out."

He climbed out from the crumbled boulder shelter and began his day like usual. He dunked his clothing in the water and cleaned them out, then laid them on some boulder rubble to dry. He scouted the island for anything he could use as a makeshift spear. He ripped some bark off of a sturdy tree and chaffed off enough to make fifteen frail knives, enough to last him a few weeks. He put his self-learned hunting skills to good use, throwing one knife to the water with incredible velocity. He patiently waited, staring at the spot where the knife struck the water like he was expecting an unwelcome tentacle.

Instead, he saw a blushing spot of muddle darkness. He immediately ran toward the spot, ignoring the added effort needed to trudge through water. He dived own under and retrieved his most recent kill. Actually, kill's'.

"I NO SPEAK ENGURIT, BUT I SELL FISHY VERY NIIIIGH!" He rubbed his first ever double kill in the world's face. He will definitely sleep well tonight. He ran back and grabbed any edible greens he could grab without being poisoned. He swiped some stones and a bunch of tree bark and made a small fire.

Roasted fish on salad, a natural dish, and a very rare delicacy.

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!" That rare. He hadn't had this in over a year.

After his euphoric meal, he continued tending to his clothes, his body, just about doing anything to take his mind off of the whirlwind of action he thrashed inside last night. When his curiosity finally peaked, he sat on the sand and stared at his new accessories. For half an hour.

"What the heck are you doing on my arm?..." Sokoto asked the charm bracelet, "You don't even have any charms." He turned his wrist to check out the bracelet, but he only found one charm on it. It had a picture of the face of the woman he fought yesterday. "GLEK-What the heck are YOU doing on my arm?!" He tried to remove the charm, but when he touched it, "Yowza!", a 3D projection of the most recent battle with that person displayed from that charm, from the first strike to the last hit. At first, he marveled at the new display replay technology; he saw everything he did, and he looked like a super-powered fighter that could do anything!

Until the grappling hook incident.

"Hey, what-OH! OKAY! OKAY, WE'VE SEEN ENOUGH! TURN IT-OH! OH MY GOD, STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP!" He whacked the bracelet a few times before it finally shopped the show. "Oh...oh man, I almost puked..."

He stood up to stare at the sun, now shimmering all its glory upon the island.

"I wonder if that woman wants to kill me right now...Heheh, probably tearing up her curtains in anger, I'll bet!"

Actually, no. He's way off target.

She was still sleeping in her bed...flashing back to just 12 years ago.

King's Cross terminal station in the London Borough of Camden. Completely in shambles.

Nothing but fire, glass, metal, and rubble.

The whole building looked like it was trying to contain an inferno. It was a volcano who ruptured its main vent. Inside it was concealed countless dead bodies and shredded trains. All of them burning up.

Almost all of them. Somehow, a lone girl had survived the crash. She was knocked out from the impact of the crash and had just awoken to the sound of a metal bar collapsing outside. When she finally came to, the first thing she saw were two dead bodies, a man and a woman, whose heads were crushed by the debris. She could only look on in curious confusion. And when she finally realized-

"MAMA! PAPA!" Cecilia shrieked in horror as she broke free of the nightmare's grasp, her entire body drenched in sweat. She was panting heavily, almost to the point of hyperventilation. Yeah, her nightmare was that bad. Her eyes were still shaking, her hands were tightly gripping her blanket, and though her brain was functioning fairly well, it behaved as if it was on emergency factory reset mode.

"No...not this again..." Two years since she graduated from the IS Academy, she's been having sporadic visions of the train accident. But this is the first time she got a close-up first look at what actually happened, "Someone...anyone...make it stop..."

"Lady Cecilia?" A maid stepped inside the room right when Cecilia wasn't-

"AAAAAGH!" -expecting...it...huh. "CHELSEA, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?! I COULD'VE HAD A HEART ATTACK!"

"But...we thought you had a heart attack five times throughout your spiritual civil war."

"Huh?!" Cecilia was stunned. Was she screaming throughout her sleep? More importantly, it's past midday! How long has she been out of it?! "Was I...was I really that..."

"It's ok, milady," Chelsea sat beside Cecilia, trying to comfort her, "Everything's been taken care of. We've erased all records of that squabble last night."

"You have?"

"Ah, yes. I though it best since you were so battered up from that struggle."

"That's fine...Tell them I'll be up and about in an hour."

"Will do," Chelsea got up to leave, but before she touched the door-

"Oh, and Chelsea?"

"Yes?"

"Gear up. We're going to train today."

"...Uh, yes, milady." She finally left.

And with that, Cecilia was all alone again. She collapsed back onto her bed, putting her arm on her forehead. She couldn't even tell where she was anymore, let alone what just happened or what happened last night. Who was that blonde-haired, hyperactive homeless bum? Even though he barely had ten minutes with that IS, how was he able to fend off three of the fiercest warriors in Japan? And on a side note, how'd he get both of their ISs to the next stage?! Blue Tears wasn't supposed to have a second shift, so what gives?!

And then, there's...that. That thing that made her fever rise...

"*sigh*...Am I barmy?..."

Fifteen minutes later, she finished her morning routine and headed out to meet Chelsea.

'So, I'm back in the bunker area,' she thought to herself, 'Right, then! Arena 6, I believe...' She wasn't planning on revisiting the Academy like this She had just about finished her tour on duty when she received two recommendations to become a chairwoman of the IS Committee and oversee the construction of the IS Institute near Clifton, Nottingham. But to do that, she'd have to come back to Japan to receive her certificate and become a full fledged member. Problem is, HE happened. That arrogant, freeloading, irritating, tongue-chewing-

"Uh...you're doing it again..."

"I-what?!" Cecilia staggered when one of her colleagues caught her doing the death glare again.

"You're making that face again. You must really hate that guy, don't you?..."

"You wouldn't believe it if I let you see my soul. The way he molested my own flesh without hesitation-"

"Ok, horn dog!" Someone pushed her out of the locker room and into Launch Pad 6-2, "Take out your frustrations on your training dummy, ok?"

After a brief period of outright confusion, she finally settled down and called out her IS.

An aqua aura emitted from her earrings as they glowed. The glow covered her entire body; half a second later, she was in full power.

"Whoa," her operator commented, "How did you evolve the Blue Tears?"

"I'd rather not delve into that topic," Cecilia said before planting her feet on the takeoff platform, "For now, let's start the program." Her operator began booting up the systems, checking status until everything it ready to go. When the green light for launch lit, Cecilia braced herself, "Time off!"

The platform rocketed her into the Arena sky. Before she reached the end, she kept into the air and flew to meet Chelsea in midair combat.

"Are you sure you're up to this, milady?" Chelsea asked her mistress slash best friend, "If you haven't shaken off those awkward feelings yet, you shouldn't bomb-rush yourself into a suicide mission."

"Is that an insult to your master?" Cecilia played along with the word play, "I'll have to teach your how to respect those with supreme authority."

"Not on the battlefield, you won't," Chelsea responded, readying her IS's sabre to attack.

But Cecilia struck first. She immediately sent her two drones after her. They both shot, but Chelsea could only manage to block one hit. She was stunned by the other. Cecilia fired on her. Chelsea took one shot and used its impact to avoid the oncoming fire.

And with that, mistress and maid were locked into a heated battle. All the data recording in the operating rooms was on high alert, as battle specs, inputs, outputs, and all kinds of data were being tracked. Outside, the two best friends were going mad.

Well, just Cecilia. Chelsea was staying calm the whole time. Cecilia, on the other hand...

"Just you wait, you thieving rat! I'll have your head on a golden plaque!"