Everything that exists must one day end, so I've been told.
Humans are no exception, but what about me?
Will I ever meet my end?
How will it come to pass?
Why is it like this?
If there is a god, they're a real bitch.
...
The wind brushed against the metal as the jet like flight unit soared high above the clouds. If one were to see the sky, they'd remark how lovely it was, like sapphire. However, Chiaki did not move her gaze from the scanner by even a millimeter. For a while, there was only peaceful silence until Chiaki heard a familiar beep followed by a holographic communication feed. In the feed was an image of a short blue haired girl wearing a red scarf.
"This is command. HOPE squadron, come in." She said.
"C11 reporting, all units have pierced the stratosphere. "Chiaki reported, "Autopilot systems green across the board."
"This is operator M1. All units confirmed." the girl said.
"We've passed the 50-kilometer threshold and are proceeding toward the target." Chiaki said.
"Understood." M1 said, "Once you reach their anti-air defense, proceed to manual-attack formation then destroy the Goliath-class unit by any means necessary and gather what data you can."
"Understood," Chiaki replied.
Out from the sky's horizon, a beam of red light ripped past the clouds, followed by a path of destruction. Caught in the light was a flight unit next to Chiaki. Chiaki didn't flinch, even as she heard her comrade's final scream of agony through her headphones. The flight unit exploded, resulting in its broken parts descending in flames, leaving only five remaining units.
"H12 down." Chiaki reported to the remaining units, "All units, activate manual mode and rely on visuals to evade."
"Already engaged." A robotic voice from inside the flight unit said, "Free movement activated."
"Origin point of long-range lasers confirmed." A fellow flight unit pilot said.
Even with free movement, another flight unit, close to Chiaki, was targeted and struck down.
"B11 down." Chiaki said.
"Our Ho229 cancellers are ineffective." The other flight unit pilot reported.
The remains of the struck flight unit descended down through the clouds and over the ocean.
"Alert: enemy units sighted ahead." The robotic voice said.
Chiaki pressed a button on the controller of her flight unit, to contact M1.
"Requesting permission to engage." Chiaki said.
"Permission granted" M1 swiftly replied.
Chiaki looked up from the scanner to see the face of her enemies, hovering in the air thanks to the jet packs on their backs. Even from far away, she could instantly recognize their distinct monotone pallet and glowing red eyes. Without a thought, she aimed and fired at her bear shaped enemies. Each one she shot down only laughed at their destruction as they fell to the ocean below. They were a ridiculous excuse for an enemy, yet one by one they managed to strike down all her fellow units with the laser.
"C11 to operator M1." Chiaki reported as she began to fly over some floating rubble, "All allied units down. The operation is compromised. Awaiting further orders."
"O..o..operator to C11." M1 said, "We need you to rendezvous with unit K1 and begin gathering data on the local terrain."
"Understood," Chiaki said.
Once she flew past the rubble, she headed straight into the remains of an old rusty factory. As expected, there were more enemies inside, however, they would not stop Chiaki in reaching her assigned rendezvous point. The enemies continued to fire bullets of explosive energy, only for Chiaki to evade each and everyone one while directly firing back in retaliation.
Chiaki continued firing until no enemy remained. However, one managed to aim the red laser at her flight unit. Quickly taking note of this, Chiaki jumped out of the flight unit before it was blasted into pieces. She fell down to the ground and managed to land stylishly on her black heeled boots, while the remains of her flight unit landed in a burning mess a few meters away. Following alongside her was a floating white cube-like machine with robotic arms and two antennas that looked like rabbit ears.
"Activating short-range attack gear." The cube-like machine said with the same robotic voice as before.
Chiaki dusted off her gothic black combat dress before reaching for her katana and drawing it.
"Alert: Large enemy group detected," the cube-like machine said.
"I'm aware," Chiaki said as she turned to face a hoard of enemies that had surrounded her.
Seeing her enemies up close on the ground only made her detest them more. To think such a juvenile thing as a monochrome teddy bear would be her sworn enemy. As much as she had grown used to dealing with them, they were still very annoying with their battle cries that were more like phrases one would hear from a joke of a stuffed animal.
Ignoring the noise, Chiaki gracefully cut through the robot teddy bears with her powerful katana. The cube-like machine also aided her in combat by rapid firing small bullets of energy at the enemies. All her enemies could do in retaliation was swing their claws around which proved very much ineffective. The more enemies that came to replace the ones Chiaki dispatched, the more oil would be spilled. Eventually, it seemed none remained.
"Enemies destroyed." the cube-like machine said.
"Not yet," Chiaki said as she felt the spacious room shake.
Following the small quake, a large black paw punched in through the wall. Chiaki managed to backflip out of harm's way in the nick of time. The large paw extended out its claws before breaking apart the rest of the metal wall with one swipe.
"Is this our target?" Chiaki asked her accompanying machine.
"Negative. This enemy is unrelated." the cube-like machine responded," Proposal: Dispatch it as swiftly as possible."
"Very well," Chiaki said as she raised her katana.
The paw swung around blindly forcing Chiaki to rely on her stylish flips to dodge its unpredictable movements. As she narrowly dodged a swipe, the cube-like machine fired energy bullets alongside her to widdle down the enemy. Once Chiaki managed to rest away from the enemy, she prepared a counterattack by aiming for the wrist joints of the paw.
As she was going to strike, a handful of missiles flew in from the outside and collided with the paw causing it to break apart upon impact. Chiaki moved her gaze from the neutralized paw over to where the missiles originated from. There, descending like an angel from above, was a young boy looking to be around her age piloting a flight unit. Just like her, he wore gothic black clothes and a blindfold visor. Compared to her previous allies, he was a bit bulkier in the arms and legs. Most noticeably, his sharp silver-golden hair had a rather big antenna sticking out at the top.
"I'm sorry if I surprised you," the boy said as he landed the flight unit before her, "Are you C11?"
"Yes," Chiaki said.
"Great. I'm K1" the boy said, "I'm here to provide support."
"Copy that," Chiaki said.
"This mechanical arm wouldn't happen to be the targeted Goliath class machine would it?" K1 asked.
"Negative," Chiaki said sharply, "Just another defense system."
"Then we'll just have to find the target," K1 said, "Right?"
"Affirmative," Chiaki said.
"I have a flight unit, so I'll scan around the perimeter," K1 said, "Is that okay with you?"
"Go ahead," Chiaki said, "I'll work my way inside from the ground."
With those words of affirmation, K1 ascended into the air while Chiaki jumped out over the torn down wall. Outside, the area was full of smoke creating a thin layer of smog. Swiftly, Chiaki ran through the maze of staggering cranes and miscellaneous pipe systems. If she wasn't so focused on running, maybe she could have admired the luscious green weeds growing out from every crack in the rusted place. All she focused on was finding the targeted Goliath as she ran without a single break or feeling of tiredness.
Along the way, she would, of course, run into more of her monochrome enemies. Without fatigue, Chiaki used her heavier katana to dish out more than enough damage to destroy several enemies in one big slash. No matter how much the enemies swung their claws, mocked her, or gathered in groups they were below even a small challenge for her.
Just as Chiaki gained some ground by climbing some metallic stairs, the familiar beep rang from the cube-like machine. Like last time, a holographic communication feed was projected by the machine. This time, however, the feed showed K1.
"C11? Um, miss?" K1 asked.
"My map data is ready to send," K1 said.
"Send it," Chiaki replied and ended the feed.
Using the newly obtained map being projected by the cube-like machine, Chiaki could easily run directly to where the Goliath class target was. She ran past more cranes and pipes until reaching a degraded and broken staircase. Not a single thought crossed Chiaki's mind as she gracefully leaped across the huge gap in the staircase. Waiting on the other side was a circular area perfect for an ambush. Chiaki was well aware of this as she raised her lighter katana for a swift close ranged battle against multiple enemies at once. As soon as her enemies hopped into the ring, she disposed of them. In total, twenty enemies entered the ring and the same twenty were destroyed. As Chiaki sliced off the last enemy head and crushed it under the heel of her boot, K1 contacted her.
"You know, miss. I'm kind of glad you're here." K1 said, "I'm still really new to all this... So having a more experienced partner is reassuring."
"Emotions are prohibited," Chiki coldly stated.
"S-Sorry, miss..." K1 said.
"Additionally," Chiaki said, "stop calling me "miss"."
"Oh," K1 said.
"It's unnecessary," Chiaki said.
"Okay, just C11 then," K1 said before ending the feed.
Moving onward, Chiaki entered back into the factory. Inside there were more rusted pipes and metal scraps along with huge tubs of smoldering lava. While most of the lights were broken, the fiery glow of the lava along with a functioning flashlight in the cube-like machine made it easy enough to see. Even the enemies could not take advantage of the shadows as their eyes glowed bright red. Once Chiaki spotted them, she swiftly disposed of them. Eventually, Chiaki received another communication feed from K1.
"This place is really big," K1 said, "I heard humans used to use it as a weapons factory, but now it's infested with those machines. Based on what I found, the enemy repurposed the facility to increase their numbers."
"So we must destroy it," Chiaki said.
Chiaki continued through the factory until she heard some sort of scrambled speech echoing throughout the factory.
"It sounds like the enemy is accessing random nonsensical data from the old world," K1 said, "There's no meaning behind anything the enemy does."
The scrambled speech continued to play as Chiaki dispatched more enemies. Eventually, she made it outside again right where parts of the factory were flooded with water. Though Chiaki ran for several meters, she did not run into any more machines. Instead, she was met with ominous silence until she spotted it. Sitting pleasantly amongst the lower wreckage of the flooded factory was the targeted Goliath. It looked like any other normal enemy aside from being the size of an apartment complex. The beast seemingly knew it was the biggest of the other enemies as it wore a gold crown and scarlet cape like a king.
For a moment, the two looked at each other before the enemy stood up. Considering it looked like all the other enemies, Chiaki figured it's left glowing crimson eye was the weakest point. Thus Chiaki ordered the cube-like machine to shoot at the eye until it was defeated. As the cube-like machine fired, the enemy retaliated by swinging its clawed paws with more precision than the previous paw. Chiaki tried her best to dodge each swing, however, she could not avoid every swing. Luckily, the closeness allowed her to scrape up each attacking paw with her lighter katana. Adding to her luck, K1 flew over the factory and down towards the fight. Using the missiles and guns on his flight unit, K1 attacked the left eye with more power than the cube-like machine. Together the two continued to fight the Goliath to hardly any visible signs of success
Just when it seemed they made substantial progress, the enemy swiftly raised its paw to strick Chiaki when she was the slightest bit unbalanced. Catching the enemy's dangerous attack, K1 flew straight into the paw and knocked it back only to be swatted by the opposite paw. The paw swatted K1's flight unit up high into the air whereupon he fell out and into the enemy's crown.
"K1!" Chiaki shouted.
Following her scream, Chiaki regained herself and attacked the enemy with even less remorse till it could no longer use its paws. One beat up paw rested before her like a bridge allowing her to crossover onto the enemy's shoulder. There she jumped onto its muzzle and then the crown.
Chiaki found K1 inside the ring of the crown, yet he was not conscious or in one piece. His body was riddled with scratches and he was missing both left limbs, yet he did not bleed. After all, both K1 and Chiaki weren't humans, they were androids. Even so, Chiaki rushed over to K1's. For while K1's injuries didn't bleed, they revealed more than enough layers of damaged metal and circuits to warrant concern.
"I have to repair him," Chiaki said as she raised his head, "Pod, get the staunching gel and despair logic-virus vaccines. Then access the-"
"Inadvisable," the cube-like machine responded, "the subject's vital signs are too poor to attempt field repair in the current-"
"Be quiet!" Chiaki interrupted, "Do as I say."
"C11..." K1 weakly started up again, "just go..."
"I won't!" Chiaki said as she lowered her head to his.
"We...we're sold...iers," K1 said as he took Chiaki's gloved hand, "We take pride in... our service..."
Following those words, an empty flight unit landed in the crown.
"Ho229 fight unit. Command 677 received," the cube-like machine said as it fitted into a spot on the flight unit, "Usage rights transferred from K1 to C11. Requesting acknowledgment."
"Please..." K1 said.
"Alright," Chiaki said.
Chiaki proceeded to leave K1 and enter the flight unit. The flight unit powered up and flew off to face the enemy yet again. With its paws broken, the enemy was easy to attack. Added with the greater firepower of the flight unit's weapons, Chiaki was able to defeat the Goliath once and for all within less time than her previous attacks.
The beast groaned as it's crimson eye dimmed, signaling it was going to die. Chiaki watched the eye dim out completely before flying back to K1.
"What are you doing?" K1 asked.
"Saving you," Chiaki said, "Contact Command. Request assistance"
"No," K1 said as he looked at the surrounding water, "it doesn't look like that's going to be necessary..."
From out of the water rose three other Goliath enemies just like the one they defeated, minus the crown and cape.
"Of course," Chiaki sighed.
"I doubt we can defeat them all like this but..." K1 said before pulling out a peculiar ebony cube from his chest, "my black-box is ready."
"...Right," Chiaki said before doing the same.
"Requesting destruction of enemy hostiles via black-box reaction," K1 said.
"Request accepted," a female voice said.
"C11... I'm proud that I got to fight alongside you," K1 said.
"It was an honor for me as well," Chiaki said.
Chiaki and K1 nodded to each other before pressing the two cubes together. Instantly, the cubes lit up and turned into a massive explosion encapsulating and destroying both Chiaki, K1, and the three surrounding enemies.
...
"Chiaki, what's going on?! What's happening to us?!"
"It hurts!"
"Upupupu looks like they found you, what a shame"
"No, everyone! Haj-!"
...
Chiaki woke up to find herself in a sterile white room and her circuits unusually hot. Sitting in a chair at her bedside was a woman dressed in a sleek white coat. She had very long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and a pair of dim green eyes. Once the woman noticed Chiaki was awake, she smiled.
"Welcome back, cuckoo bird," the woman smiled.
"What are you doing here?" Chiaki asked.
"Checking in on you of course," the woman said, "I heard you had a difficult mission today and you had to use the black-box reactor."
"Then how can I remember all of it?" Chiaki asked.
"Lucky for you K1 was so kind as to upload your data to the bunker before the reaction," the woman said.
"I see," Chiaki said, "I should thank him I guess."
"what a wonderful way to start your partnership," the woman said clasping her hands together, "Oh you'll look so cute together as a duo."
"Does he know already?" Chiaki asked.
"Nope, I'm leaving you the honor of informing him, "the woman said, "So try to smile when you tell him."
"yes, ma'am," Chiaki sighed.
"Sweetie, we're not in public. You can call me Chisa" the woman said, "or miss Yukizome if you prefer."
"Yes Chisa," Chiaki said.
"good girl," Chisa said as she patted Chiaki's head, "Now get ready to meet your partner with enthusiasm"
"yes," Chiaki said.
"He's waiting in his room," Chisa said, "See you later, cuckoo bird."
Chisa waved goodbye before leaving the room. Following this, Chiaki stood up in her new android body. She was almost tempted to pull out something from her nightstand drawer, but she decided not to and left the room.
Past her automatic bedroom doors was a blindingly white hallway. It looked like any other hallway aside from it curving around like a standing wheel and the multiple windows revealing areas of the outer space surrounding the earth. Although the hallway was curved around like an axis, Chiaki could easily walk on it. She walked past a few doors and windows until reaching a pair of doors marked "K1". Taking a deep breath, Chiaki entered.
Inside the room, while being the same size and color as Chiaki's, was drastically different. The room was covered wall to wall with pictures depicting different plants, animals, and human things like food making it look much more lively. As expected, K1 was here admiring one of the photos depicting a traditional Japanese house from the feudal era. Floating around him was a black colored cube-like machine just like Chiaki's minus the rabbit ear antennas. Soon enough, K1 looked up from his photo to see Chiaki starring at him.
"Oh, hello," K1 said with his antenna pointed up in surprised, "I didn't hear you come in."
"K1, thank you for uploading my memories to the bunker," Chiaki said with a bow.
"Is that what I did?" K1 asked, "I can't remember anything beyond our first meeting."
"I see," Chiaki said, "I also came to tell you that we will be continuing to work together."
"Really?!" K1 asked.
"Yes, it was a direct order from the commander," Chiaki said.
"I look forward to working with you," K1 said proudly.
"Alright then," Chiaki said, "We should go meet with the commander to receive further instruction."
"Yes, miss," K1 said.
"Don't call me miss," Chiaki almost puffed her cheeks.
"Sorry," K1 said.
"Let's go," Chiaki said.
"yes mi... C11" K1 corrected himself before the two left to see the commander.
...
In the heart of the bunker was a large cylinder room full of female looking androids. There the different androids stood like statues as they watched a videos presentation on one of the largest wall screens.
"For the longest time, the earth was relatively peaceful until one young woman orchestrated the fall of humanity" a masculine speaker spoke in the presentation, "She used whatever means necessary to ensure mankind would suffer a torturous and despairing extinction."
The screen revealed a picture of the aforementioned criminal with her name 'Junko Enoshima' printed on the side.
"She nearly achieved this with the biggest most awful and despair-inducing event in human history commonly referred to as The Tragedy," The speaker said," However, a small portion of humanity survived and managed to flee to the moon."
The screen brought up a picture of the moon and earth.
"While the survivors waited and prepared on the moon, killer machines in the image of Junko's icon for despair, known as monokuma, increased in number on the earth's surface," The speaker said, "Aiding them were Junko's many despair-lusting followers that would do anything to exert her despairing will."
The screen pulled up multiple pictures of the monokumas as well as Junko's followers committing horrendous acts of violence.
"Years later, the surviving remnants of true humanity launched their planned counter-attack, deploying an army of androids from a network orbiting bases" the speaker continued, "But after more than a dozen large-scale descents upon the enemy, we still haven't managed to repel the enemies."
With those words, the pictures disappeared to be replaced by the Project HOPE logo.
"That is why you, the Hope forces, exist: to break this stalemate once and for all," the speaker said, "You are our ultimate weapon and you must put an end to this war."
"Understood, sir," Chisa responded confidently from the overseeing deck.
"I wish you good hunting," the speaker said.
"Glory to mankind!" Chisa said with her left hand firmly laid across her chest in salute.
"Glory to mankind!" all the other androids said in unison and performed the same salute.
"Glory...to mankind" the speaker finished just as Chiaki and K1 entered.
"We're here for further instructions Commander," Chiaki said.
"I see" Chisa turned to them with a strict face, "As I'm sure you are already aware, you two will be working together as partners. I need you to head to the surface, rendezvous with the Resistance, and do some recon."
"Doesn't HOPE have a dedicated Resistance contact already?" K1 asked.
"We haven't been able to get in touch with them," Chisa said, "So we'll need you to look into that as well."
"Understood," Chiaki said before the two partnered androids left.
...
Since the two androids would be descending down to earth, they would need to use the flight units located in the bunker hangar. Chiaki and K1 easily found two flight units and climbed inside. Inside the flight units, the autopilot guided them through space and to the earth down below. Once they passed through the hemisphere with some turbulence, the androids we're met with a wide area of green amongst the ruins of a city. The flight units landed on one of the buildings allowing the two androids to get out before automatically flying back to the bunker. Instantly, K1 rushed to the edge of the building to see the view.
"Wow!" K1 said, "It's so beautiful here on the surface."
On the surface, natural and manmade elements combined to create a strange sort of harmony. While most of the roads and buildings were crumbling away, strong vibrant trees and plants grew out of them. Grass and water were prevalent in places they would never have been if humanity had not left the city. Even animals enjoyed the city ruins from the birds flying in the sky to a red fox running around in the grass and a moose walking along the road full of rusted cars.
"I can tell this is going to be an amazing mission," K1 said with a cute smile.
"Perhaps," Chiaki said as she too looked out to the city ruins.