AN: Crappy Political Intrigue and Unusual Racism is a go!
Also as for the technology stuff… Yeah still figuring out how to adapt different steps in the timeline related to military equipment like tanks and aircraft.
Now for some backstory explanation.
Reploids are generally sort of a thing that everyone uses, but Cain realized how easily they could be abused early on after Sigma, the first of the high-end Reploids in this timeline, was built and fled the Britannian homeland to Australia, taking X, Sigma, and most of his data with him.
Thus the Australian government doles out Reploid technology roughly equally to appease the various superpowers but keeping the ability to repair and produce the most advanced stuff internally due to fear of a massed Maverick uprising a la X1/Maverick Hunter X (The events of which haven't occured yet but will, plan is roughly between R1 and R2), conceding only a few high end Reploids like the command members of Repliforce to be commissioned by various powers for development per year if they can afford it as another means to placate them. With the rest being built solely for the Maverick Hunters, who have an international mandate to reduce the costs incurred by various nations (and to provide a scapegoat that isn't them when things go horribly wrong).
Naturally the Britannians were quite pissed about all this and continue to grumble about it, but since Australia is neutral in CG despite its vast natural resources, and it remains so until Lelouch threatens to nuke the world in R2 if it doesn't submit to him, it means they have a military that's capable enough to make Britannia and China think twice about invading (Because Schneizel just rolls the EU even before you account for Akito's change.) in the canon, especially considering New Zealand is an Area and it's a relative stone's throw away.
Anyways this chapter was more experimental and may be re-written after posting to account for that.
Also admittedly I could've listed JYB as the voice for both Zero and Lelouch in this fic (The Reploid not Lelouch's other persona)...
But as much of a missed opportunity that is, Lucas Gilbertson is probably the better voice for Zero. Plus we can only do so many same name jokes before it gets old and having their voices be the same would be pretty bad from a plot perspective.
August 15, 2017 ATB.
G-1 Mobile Command Center HIMLS Prince Lelouch, Shinjuku Ghetto, Area 11.
"Please! You can't! We may have different mothers, but you and I are still blood!" Clovis implored futilely.
"You can't change the world without dirtying your hands a little… It's just not how reality works. Besides isn't this what that man wants us to do?" Lelouch replied darkly and slowly pulled the trigger as Clovis screamed in terror.
And then he saw a pair of golden eyes staring back at him, a wry smirk on an otherwise impassive face.
August 16, 2017 ATB.
Ashford Academy Grounds, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11.
A light clap rang out as a rolled-up poster collided with Lelouch's head while he dozed off at the Ashford Student Council's table.
"Wake up Lelouch! I know you were sleeping! Your hand stopped moving!" Milly remarked before whacking him on the head again several times.
"Well you don't have to beat me up over it do you…?" Lelouch grumbled as he looked up at Milly.
C2 glanced over from where she was sorting something on the bookshelves. "Humans and their innuendos…" The Reploid muttered as she tugged at the hem of her skirt while bending over to locate a misplaced record book, having been forced by Milly to wear the Ashford girls uniform because of her position as the record-keeper.
Everyone looked at her briefly before Milly started guffawing. "Oh man I just realized how that sounded! It really is pretty dirty when you think about it!" She clutched her gut as she doubled over from laughter.
Lelouch simply groaned as Rivalz joined in on the laughing while Shirley sputtered, Nina looked mildly confused at the rest of them from her side of the room, where she was organizing some of her notes from some of her Mentors' lectures back in the homeland.
"Serves you right Lelouch, not only do you ditch me, but you come back with an unemployed Reploid of all things, and boy is she snarky." Rivalz prodded with a smirk.
"He's right… About the karma stuff I mean… What was up with you yesterday?" Shirley asked, giving Lelouch a mild glare.
"Oh… Well…"
"That's enough you guys, let's not get sidetracked here. If we don't get a fix for the club activities budget there won't be money left for anything at all!" Milly stated as she tapped the poster against her left palm.
"We have no money in the discretionary budget…" Lelouch muttered under his breath. "You spent all of it on parties so we can't just allocate that to the club activities budget…"
"And if it comes to that point." Nina whispered to herself.
"The Equestrian Club will be pissed! We don't want them coming in here on horseback!" Rivalz joked as a horse neighed outside.
"Rivalz! Can't you be more serious about your responsibilities?" Milly asked as C2 watched a member of the Equestrian club pass the meeting room on horseback.
"I find his timing for jokes mildly amusing by their coincidence… Regardless they would be unable to enter on horseback without risking severe injuries to themselves and their animals by either jumping through a window or trying to navigate the doorways." The Reploid droned as she picked up another log book.
"Killjoy…" Rivalz grumbled.
"It is not my fault key elements of my emotional programming related to humor are corrupted, nor is it my fault your jokes fall apart when simple logic is applied." She replied after popping open a plate on her arm to run a self-diagnostic check as the chief Reploid tech at Ashford advised her to do every so often.
Shirley glanced between the two and decided to change the subject. "You know, it would've been nice of you if you'd reminded us of this mess a day ago!"
"I would say a day later, then we would've given up! Even with Lelouch's new personal assistant." Rivalz joked.
"Good idea, we can still do that." Lelouch chimed in.
"GUTS!" Milly shouted, causing everyone but herself and C2 to cringe in response.
"That wasn't even that loud, why did you all flinch like that…?" The Reploid asked with a hint of indifference in her tone as she looked through a series of finance reports, spotting several rounding errors that needed addressing.
"It's because we're not sure if she's going to scream it half the time…" Nina mumbled.
"Are you trying that guts spell again?" Rivalz asked as he fiddled with a pen idly and sent it flying into the side of Lelouch's head on accident. C2 recording the entire thing as Lelouch glared at Rivalz.
"Yep~! I want you people to start putting your all into this~." Milly chirped as she leaned on the table.
"I don't really don't think that your magic's going to do a whole lot…" Lelouch replied flatly.
"Actually, it's got me going madame president!" Shirley spoke up while raising her hand.
"Supple and willing~, that's what I like~." Milly purred, C2 face-palming as Nina blushed at her desk.
"I trained hard in the gymnastics club!" Shirley boasted as she posed dramatically with her arms.
"That's not what I was getting at." She replied, eyeing up Shirley.
"Huh…?"
"You're a ten." Milly stated, Shirley looking down at herself after beginning to realize what Milly meant by that. "From what I've seen in the girls bathroom anyway. You've been filling out in all the right places huh?"
"Ho ho." Rivalz chimed in, causing Shirley to blush and wrap her arms around her chest as Lelouch sighed in resignation while C2 just ignored it.
"Wh… What are you talking about you perv!" Shirley cried out indignantly.
"She is admiring the physical growth of your breasts, hips, thighs and buttocks, even though they are within a size range typical of many 17-year-old human females." C2 droned out as she tested an emotional response program in an isolated simulation, indifferent to the effect her words had on Shirley.
"WHAT!" Shirley shrieked as Lelouch slammed his face into the table while Rivalz nearly fell out of his chair in surprise, Nina squirmed awkwardly but continued her work.
"If anything, I am surprised she didn't make a comment about Miya Hillmick…" C2 monotoned.
"Ah yes her! I wouldn't be surprised if within two years hers are bigger than mine!" Milly chuckled.
"Kill me now..." Lelouch muttered to himself, muffled by the table.
"I have yet to inform you of the state of the discretionary budget." C2 stated emotionlessly as the violet-eyed boy made a noise.
"And what would that be?" Milly crooned.
"We are approximately two thousand sterling in debt due to damages sustained by the kitchen during the Fried Chicken Day festival, and thus I have pre-emptively cancelled the Potato Day festival scheduled for August 19th, this will save us at least an estimated forty thousand sterling in window, television and computer repair costs." C2 said.
"Ouch." Rivalz hissed.
"Potato Day wasn't that bad!" Milly defended futilely.
"It was worse." Lelouch remarked. Remembering the amount of corners cut to make the school look presentable because the entire affair had been enough to have Clovis show up and ask what the hell was going on.
Thankfully Milly had him and Nunnally discreetly evacuated beforehand.
"I looked up the footage of last year's on the internet after Lelouch mentioned it… The school resembled one of the ghettos after the cannonade was fired…" C2 replied. "There shall be no potato cannons this year. At all. Especially since law enforcement has banned them in the entire settlement due to your antics anyways."
Milly clenched her fist and fought the urge to cry.
"In the computer lab?" Rivalz asked her as he leaned back in his chair. "I thought Reploids could link their brains to the internet.
Shirley whacked him on the head. "Do you even pay attention in class!? Reploids can't wirelessly link to the Internet or eachother because it's too risky given how easily Maverick viruses propagate that way! They teach this in the middle school classes everyone knows this!"
"Right... Sorry my bad..."
Lelouch slammed his head into the table again.
"Quit being melodramatic Lelouch." C2 ordered as she glanced over at him. "You'll give yourself a concussion at this rate."
"You should listen to her Lelouch, or I'll tell Sayako to put her in charge of your physical education schedule!"
"Hoh!"
"Not like that Rivalz." Milly said as Lelouch resisted the urge to scream.
"Geez, our president is just a dirty old man on the inside… Sullying the meeting with her filthy mind!" Shirley complained as she Rivalz, C2, and Nina walked to one of the classrooms, with Lelouch a few seconds behind them, the Reploid only tagging along because it was a lecture on Reploid AI. Her metallic footfalls drowning out those of everyone else within earshot, and her large footpads inadvertently smashing several toes along the way.
"I was more concerned by the general idiocy." C2 stated as she looked over at the others.
"Yeah well… That's Milly for you…" Nina replied in her typical sheepish manner.
Rivalz chuckled. "Look on the bright side! We got the budget balanced, didn't we?"
"Only because I cancelled about half the festivals that end in riots." C2 replied as the four of them stepped into the room.
"Yeah… But…" Rivalz sighed and gave up.
"They used poison gas!?" A male student asked in shock as he and two other students watched the news on a portable computer. Similar scenes playing out across the room as others had tuned in.
C2 blinked. "Is that what they're calling it…" She felt a twinge of indignation.
"Man, that's freaky! Shinjuku is only thirty minutes from here!" The other male student watching at the closest computer replied.
"Oh my god! I saw smoke rising over in Shinjuku! That must've been the gas!" A violet haired female student gasped.
"Idiot, if smoke rises its clearly the result of something burning… Conventional logic dictates that chemical weapons are heavier than air payloads deployed via projectors in varying concentrations as required for optimum effectiveness… Moreover, most are odorless and colorless and those that aren't tend to be vapor rather than smoke, I think…" C2 thought. "Wait… How do I know this…? Ugh… Probably a memory file that's not corrupted… Huh, legitimate annoyance…"
Lelouch walked in behind them, the Reploid exchanging a knowing glance with him.
"Are they saying anything else about it…?" One of the other students asked.
"Shinjuku…?" Shirley asked as she looked at Lelouch, who already had a cover story ready.
"I heard about it in real time from a friend. That's why I called you yesterday." He replied, lying with the same ease with which he would pick up a bottle of water.
"Hey, check out that footage of those dead Elevens!" Somebody piped up.
"Oh! Don't look at that!" A female student replied, clearly sounding upset.
"At least someone sees them as human, I think…" Lelouch thought to himself. "But this is strange… Why would they cover it up…?" He then played out the memory of Clovis's death in his head, something he'd avoided thinking about in detail and covered his mouth as the urge to vomit surged forth.
He'd killed his own brother. Even if he was only genetically related due to that man. It was still Fratricide… And the image of the murder replayed through his mind again and again, and again until it became mixed with the death of his mother.
With Nunnally's terrified form laying on the ground, twitching as her mother's corpse bled out atop her.
That forced Lelouch to run out of the room as several people, including C2 glanced at him. "I doubt he is so squeamish as to vomit from the sight of corpses on TV…" The Reploid shrugged and continued watching the news as she stood off to the side while more students filed into the room.
["In other news, Europa United admitted to heavy setbacks in their ongoing conflict with the Soviet Union after reports of large numbers of Soviet 5th Generation Knightmare frames engaging and defeating European formations in open combat while backed by heavy combined arms support began to leak from military correspondents close to the frontline despite EU military censorship efforts. Premier Nikita Khrushchev responded to inquiries by stating 'Our new Katayushas will bury the imperialistic Europeans under a tide of steel.', as of yet there has been no statement from the Britannian Ministry of War regarding the Soviet mass deployment of Sutherland counterparts."] The newscaster announced as images of German Panzer-Hummel frames and Leopard MBTs firing at unknown targets was played on screen.
Rivalz whistled. "Geez, it's almost like the entire world is going insane because somebody threw Knightmare Frames and Reploids onto the battlefield…"
"Didn't we do that…?" Shirley asked hesitantly.
"Well yeah... But..."
C2 looked away as she remembered how she'd cut loose the previous day.
In hindsight it wasn't something she was particularly proud of, especially given how brutally she slaughtered many of the Reploids she'd terminated.
And the Britannian troops… Well it was a good thing that she couldn't vomit. Otherwise she'd be joining Lelouch
["Next up, new information about an SA-rank Maverick that reportedly attacked Britannian troops in Shinjuku during the terrorist incident yesterday, Commander Sigma of the 17th Autonomous Unit of the Maverick Hunters will address reporters on the situation after these messages."]
"Oh, great…" C2 thought as she deadpanned at the screen.
August 16, 2017 ATB.
Administrative Subsector G-2, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11.
"That ex-civil servant is such a fool…" Jeremiah muttered as he and Viletta passed through the entry checkpoint at G-2 subsector of the main administration sector.
She turned her head slightly to look at him. "So, are you referring to Bartley…?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The killer has breached our heaviest security twice already… This perfunctory inspection of his is a farce." He grumbled.
"Margrave Jeremiah… Now that Prince Clovis is out of the way we Purebloods can…" Viletta started as he put up a finger to shush her.
"Let me make that call. We still need to woo everyone over first." He replied calmly, mentally planning out his political moves, unaware that a massive wrench called Colonel had already torn much of his plans to shreds before they could be realized.
"Of course Lord Jeremiah."
"Good, call up Kewell while I'm inside and have him assemble a squad."
Ashford Academy, Area 11.
Lelouch rinsed his mouth the best he could to remove the taste of acidic bile. "Are they hiding Clovis's death to fend off anarchy…? But if that's the case, when they finally do announce it…" He turned off the sink and stared at his own face in the mirror. "Hmph… I guess that I'm not as tough as I thought I was…" He admitted, a tired grin on his face. He dried his hands off and promptly left the boys restroom.
Walking back to the classroom, he nodded at C2 as the Reploid did diagnostics on herself again outside it.
"Kallen! It's been ages!" Somebody exclaimed as Lelouch entered the room.
"Are you alright?" Another girl asked.
"Sophie's been worried sick all this time." A third female student said.
"You're okay though right…?"
"Can't imagine why." Lelouch thought, Shirley had mentioned once that her roommate, Sophie Wood, was a lesbian. In modern Britannian society sexual persuasion, gender identity, or what have you really didn't matter much actually, or at least not to most people, nor did skin color really matter unless one just so happened to have been born outside the Homeland or core Areas according to the great 'religion' of Social Darwinism.
It wasn't uncommon for Britannians of African, Slavic, Asian, or Hispanic descent to sneer at numbers of Western or Northern European descent actually.
It was social strata and whether or not one was considered a Number that defined your place in Britannia… Which meant for most of the people under Britannian rule, they were considered less than human most of the time.
The conquerors ruled and enjoyed all the rights, while the conquered lived as worms being perpetually crushed underfoot, only given rights subject to the whims of their supposed betters.
Britannia hypocritically claimed to be progressive because Britannians enjoyed greater societal status and more liberal freedoms but also blatantly stomped on the rights of the Numbers, the peoples they conquered. Even more hypocritical was for the nobility to praise these rights but deny further advancement in the social strata to the common populace.
Where Reploids fell into this spectrum was... Odd to say the least. As Britannia had long viewed Reploids as one of their innovations because their originator, X, had been unearthed in the homeland, with many viewing Australia's stifling of the spread of related technologies as a slight against Britannia, many Britannian Reploids shared this theory as it was entirely related to Britannia fielding them actively in combat and that by doing so the Australians were denying Reploid evolution to spite Britannia.
As for the social strata, that also applied to Reploids as well, if they were built in Britannia, by Britannia, or for Britannia they were viewed much more favorably by most Britannians, with the exclusion of the Pureblood groups.
In theory at least, the reality was it just depended on who oversaw the Reploids under their employ, some were treated as little more than wage slaves while others were viewed no differently than human employees
And the only nation that Britannia had conquered which had Reploid technology was Japan... Which meant Japanese Reploids were viewed as even more expendable than Elevens because barring the most critical damage they could be patched up and then tossed into the danger zone again.
All of it sickened him to no end.
"Yeah, the doctor said I just have to go easy for a little while." Kallen replied, placating the worried girls.
It then hit Lelouch about why the girl in the truck had been so familiar. "Kallen… That's what that terrorist in the truck said when he asked about using what he thought was gas…! Of course, that's why she was so familiar. But to think she could pass off as both a Britannian and a Japanese… Baron Stadtfeld did marry, or at least attempted to marry, a Japanese woman while he worked at the consulate prior to the invasion from what I overheard while staying with the Kururugis… It's not impossible to think they could have had children together… But how does she get through the Ghettos without being harassed if she's able to pass herself off as Britannian...?"
"Anyway, they say if I stay home any longer, I'll never catch up." Kallen said as Lelouch sat down, eyeing her while C2 walked back into the room.
"What's up buddy? See something you like?" Rivalz asked before lowering his tone and trying to use his hand to muffle the sound of his voice. "You've got a thing for her don't ya?" Rivalz asked, not nearly quietly enough as he managed to attract at least Shirley's attention.
Lelouch continued watching Kallen. "Just thinking because this is a rare event… She hasn't been here at school since the term started…" He explained.
"Kallen Stadtfeld… They say she's sick or something, and that she barely showed up at school last year either." Rivalz remarked, putting a hand on his chin in contemplation. "Still… Her grades are at the top of the class… And she's a member of the Stadtfeld Family, which means she's well-bred and rolling in money. Man, you sure know how to pick 'em."
"Well-bred my ass…" Lelouch thought, remembering the events of yesterday. "She really acts more like a Knight of the Round playing nice for appearances than a nobleman's daughter."
"it's not like that." Lelouch replied calmly.
"You don't have to hide it, a touch too sheltered though if you ask me." Rivalz stated offhandedly.
C2 giggled suddenly off to the side before covering her mouth as Lelouch, Shirley, and Rivalz looked at her, the Reploid's face flushed red. "My apologies, I just managed to get some of my emotional routines back operational and was testing them out when you said that…" She apologized as Lelouch gave her a light glare, warning her to watch it as she began tapping on the manual diagnostic screen embedded in her arm again as the Teacher walked in to begin the lecture, the class quieting down and taking their seats.
The Reploid sighed upon realizing that she could just tune out the most of the lecture because she wasn't a student and then just go screw around on the school grounds after it ended.
Honestly that sounded like a productive day to her.
August 16, 2017 ATB.
Unknown Location, Code R Lab, Area 11.
"As you know full well, while the project was successful in giving us usable data on these 'Super Reploids' independent of what Doctor Cain is releasing publicly, we have run into fatal issue."
"The death of Prince Clovis has deprived us of much of our funding… Therefore, this research division is being gutted." Bartley explained to some of the assembled programmers, engineers, and technicians of Code R, who all began murmuring or muttering at once. Several glancing at the partially assembled simplified C2 copies laying on workbenches behind them, one of them undergoing tests for a prototype monoeye system.
"I've set up a secondary unit in Narita for you, move everything out there and continue work on the Irregulars with Colonel Madd of Repliforce's R&D division. While we may have no memory of it, the fact is the other staff officers and I left Prince Clovis on his own. I'll be called out onto the carpet for this back home… If his majesty learns these experiments had gone on without his knowledge…"
He let the implications of the response to them basically cutting a sapient machine apart without their consent hang above the team. Only a handful like Fenette had actually cared to think about it beforehand.
"Understood… We'll start prepping Immediately." A researcher replied before going over the full extent of the accumulated photos printed out from C2's memories, including one depicting the interior of the same lab Bartley recovered her in, but showing about a half dozen Robots and four humans showing the stunned Reploid her own partially completed reflection in a mirror.
Bartley frowned at the last picture and for a brief instant it was replaced by a black and white photo of a young woman resembling the Reploid they'd been studying in an old battlefield nurse's outfit running from an early, rhombus shaped, tank, of the kind utilized by Britannia in the trench battles that took place during the Napoleonic war.
He blinked and shook his head as the picture returned to normal.
"General Bartley are you alright?" Joseph Fenette asked nervously.
"I'm fine, go back to your family, you'll be joining the rest when you're called up by Madd for either the Irregular development or the mass production lines."
"Yes My Lord."
August 16, 2017 ATB.
Lamperouge Residence, Ashford Academy, Area 11.
C2 watched Lelouch cut Nunnally's food for her, initially not comprehending the young girl's blindness when she'd arrived the previous night, although she'd been out of whack after she almost killed Sayako with her C-Drills on reflex when the Kunoichi put a blade to her throat, not anticipating the Reploid because she'd lagged behind Lelouch slightly after stopping to look at a passing frog out of curiosity.
She'd earned more than a bit of respect from the siblings' bodyguard/maid for that, who'd also been appreciative of her helping out with some of Nunnally's schoolwork so Sayako could handle other duties while Lelouch cooked.
To be honest it scared her now how easily she'd reacted with violence, she wasn't against pulling the trigger if there was no other practical choice but… To identify everything that made a hostile move towards her as a threat to be eliminated was a bit much, as Lelouch had informed her…
She called him a hypocrite for that even though it didn't disprove his point.
"Miss Sayako is teaching me about the art of origami. Fold a piece of paper the correct way and you can make birds, boats, almost anything." Nunnally said to her brother as she took a sip of her soup, some rolling down her chin as Lelouch picked up a napkin.
"Ah, easy there, you don't have to tell me everything all at once you know." Lelouch said as he wiped off the spilled soup. "It's not like I'm going anywhere."
C2 blinked, this was a side of him that she was still unfamiliar with. Which was the real Lelouch? The indifferent student, the cocksure rebel, or the doting and protective elder brother…
People were multifaceted after all from what she read in a psychology book while bored, some put on acts to show others while some wore their hearts on their sleeves.
Humans continued to confuse her as much as her own programming did. Well at least she wasn't droning in monotone anymore.
"Yeah you're right, thank you." Nunnally replied, a genuine smile on the young girl's face.
"You're welcome." Her brother said as C2 shifted about awkwardly, feeling out of place in this situation but sticking around as she'd been invited to spend time with them nonetheless, Lelouch had previously implied that she would be Nunnally's protector should he or Sayako come to harm.
At the very least it was a directive and purpose for her weaponry that she wasn't getting a bit squeamish about as her emotional programming began repairing itself…
Nunnally giggled. "I'm so happy. 'Cause last night, you scared me a little."
Lelouch had a guilty look on his face, reaffirming the theory that C2 had about this being as close to his real face as one would get. "Did I? I'm sorry, I just have a lot on my mind is all." He replied, a half truth to be sure, but not a lie.
"Hey."
"Huh?" Lelouch looked at his sister, raising an eyebrow.
"They say if you fold a thousand of these cranes your wish'll come true." Nunally explained as she held up a pink paper crane to show to her brother. "So if there's anything at all that you've been wishing for."
"No, not really. What about you?" Lelouch asked, causing C2 to cock her head to the side as she watched the two. "Do you wish for anything?"
"Hmm…" Nunnally 'looked' over to the side, as if contemplating. "I wish the world was a gentler place… For people and Reploids alike, it's not fair to anyone if it's just for one or the other..."
C2's eyes dilated as an old memory played through her mind.
Unknown, Unknown date and time.
"Thomas, you didn't have to come out here…"
The bearded man smiled softly. "I wanted to talk to her one last time in person Noele… I think it's only fair since I let you and X do the same…" Thomas Light said as he walked over to C2's stasis pod.
She blinked at him. "Hello again, Doctor Light." C2 said as she looked at the man from where she was lying down.
"Hello my dear." He coughed suddenly and waved off her display of concern. "I'm fine, just my old bones suffering from too much dust and heavy metal exposure from years of designing and building Robot Masters."
C2 nodded at him. "What did you wish to talk to me about…?" She asked.
Thomas Light sat down on a chair next to her pod. "You see my dear, it's about what me and your mother, Doctor Lalinde want you to do… We want you and my final son, X, to realize our dream for a peaceful world where mankind and robots can finally live in true harmony." He looked down at his feet.
"I must keep this brief, but my remaining time on this world is short, I can barely turn a screw let alone handle a welding torch anymore, so my time as robotics engineer is almost at an end…"
He shook his head and began to speak again. "Your mother chose the name C2 for you because of how it relates to X. X is a variable, it can mean anything, a symbol of limitless potential. And C, the basis for your name, was a very important programming language, you could call it the mother of all modern programming languages actually…" He chuckled lightly.
"And it's notable for its ease of use and ready expansion as a mid-level programming language, which in turn makes its own potential limitless as well. However, one important part of programing languages is to define variables." He explained with a smile on his face.
She nodded at him. "I see, so my own potential is limitless… And I am to help define X's role in future events...?"
He nodded at her and coughed heavily again as Dr Lalinde handed him a glass of water. "Thank you Noele…" He took a sip and turned back to C2. "My dear, when your mother seals you away, it will likely be the last time you will ever see her, as it will be for X and I when I close his own pod up…" He paused to consider his next words carefully.
"Once the ethics development programs have determined you are sufficiently ready to be accepted into society it will release you… But I will not lie to you, I'm afraid that may take many years, decades perhaps. I doubt you'll see us either of us, or any of your siblings, ever again…" Doctor Light admitted sadly. "It's also partially because of my own failings that you are to be sealed away this long… Had I acted more decisively to stop Albert… Perhaps mankind wouldn't be afraid of machines like you and none of this would be necessary…" The man said with a frown on his face, lost in old memories.
C2's dermal sensors detected something wet on her cheek, and she made some choked sobs.
"Don't cry for us my dear, the fact that you and X have the chance to make a world of difference for all man and robot-kind is what drives us to keep going despite all we have lost over the years. When you awake, you will have the power to change the world for the better. Even if it means you have to fight for it." Doctor Light said with a sad smile on his face.
"Thomas. Blues and Rock are here…" Noele said as she walked over to him before wiping off C2's cheek, gently smiling sadly at her final daughter.
"Very well then…" He stood up and used his cane for support as he smiled softly at her, gently putting a hand on her cheek before he stood up and walked away. "Goodbye my dear… May you fulfill your greatest purpose and make the world a gentler place for future generations…"
Ashford Academy, Lamperouge Residence.
"Miss C2…? Miss C2…?" Nunnally repeated, concerned.
"Huh…? Oh… I apologize… I was distracted." She said, confused as to why her dermal sensors were alerting her to contacts on her 'skin'.
"Is something wrong…? Lelouch said you'd started crying, but Reploids can't cry…" Nunnally said, with all the confused innocence a girl her age should have.
C2 wiped her face with her hand, looking at the wet sheen on it, confused. "No… Just remembering something… And normal Reploids can't cry… So I guess I'm a special one…" She explained.
Lelouch raised an eyebrow as Nunnally spoke up again, seemingly accepting that explanation. "Well, since you're listening now… What would your wish be…?"
C2 looked down at the table before raising her head and smiling softly. "I'd think I'd wish for yours to come true."
"For your sake, and for everyone else's, I will help Lelouch crush Britannia…" It was jarring, but these were just too vivid to be dreams created by idle processes and too specific to be input by the Code R programmers, but she shouldn't count those theories out until she met this 'X' and got definite answers.
"Who is Doctor Light… Doctor Lalinde... Who is X… Why can't I remember who they are, just these fragments?! DAMN YOU CLOVIS!" C2 thought, the raging fury inside her mind unseen by Lelouch and Nunnally.
She watched Nunnally take Lelouch's hand before linking their pinkies together. "Oh right! Sayako taught me this the other day. It's called a Japanese promise. Cross my heart hope to die, eat a thousand needles if I lie, pinkie promise song~!"
"I thought it was called a Japanese promise…" C2 mumbled in confusion, earning a glare from Lelouch.
Lelouch turned back to Nunnally and made a face. "Well that's scary, I may have to eat a thousand needles someday."
"That's right, so I better not catch you telling lies okay!" Nunnally warned in reply.
"Don't you worry, I'll never lie I swear…" Lelouch said to placate his sister. "Not to you anyway." He added mentally as natural violet eyes met artificial yellow ones when he exchanged a glance with C2.
"Good… She has no doubts about what needs to be done, the crooked systems running this world will fall, and something better built in their place." He thought grimly, in preparation of what was to come.
But first, he needed to clean up, help Nunnally finish her homework and then put her to bed before working on his own assignments.
A typical day in the Lamperouge household all things considered.
August 17, 2017 ATB.
Tokyo Settlement Highway, Area 11.
A group of Sutherlands rolled down the highway, in formation around a single APC, about seven units plus the transport.
Jeremiah frowned as the convoy closed in on the ambush site.
"No signs of us being spotted… Time to bring that fat bastard down a peg and make him answer for his incompetence." He muttered as he prepped his frame to engage the escorts.
"Now!" He ordered, eight Purist faction Sutherlands suddenly jumping onto the highway and swarming the off-guard escort units.
"Too easy, they should've been more alert. Idiots." He thought as the frame piloted by Kewell shot the head off the last army Sutherland left standing, the disabled frame crumpling to the pavement.
Jeremiah didn't want to kill any Britannian soldiers over this, it's bad enough that they were now down another seven Knightmares, if anyone were killed it would bring the full weight of the SIB down on the Purist faction like a hundred ton Anvil, they'd be ruined and every last one of the knights on this raid would be lucky to receive a dishonorable discharge instead of an outright execution.
He flicked on his external speakers. "I hope you can see how determined we are now." He said, as he used his frame's stun Tonfa to carve open the roof of the APC.
"Oh yes, I'm quite able to see how determined you idiots want to get lined up and shot for attacking the transport convoy carrying a Royal's remains. You do realize that is a capital offense no?" Someone replied from inside the APC.
"That's not Bartley…" Jeremiah thought as he zoomed in on the APC's interior, sure enough, sitting on a troop bench was Colonel, and literally no-one and nothing else, whom had the smuggest look possible on his face as he snapped his fingers, Repliforce Gloucesters, Sutherlands, Ride Armors and VTOL gunships promptly swarmed out of seemingly every conceivable nook and cranny both ahead and behind the group, training their weapons on the now outnumbered and outgunned Purists.
"I call checkmate Gottwald, Bartley is already on his way to the homeland with Prince Clovis's body, I had them transport it to the airfield off the books in a convoy of normal transport trucks, looking like a simple troop movement. A Knightmare escorted convoy like this would attract too much attention after all, as it clearly baited you lot, and it's not like this is a funeral procession either." Colonel explained as he looked up from under the brim of his crush-cap like helmet.
"Now I suggest you power down your frames and surrender, anyone who refuses will have their Knightmare disabled." He warned as he stood up and placed his hand on the handle of his energy saber.
Jeremiah snarled but acquiesced to Colonel's demands, clicking his tongue in irritation. The Purist Knightmares shutting down and their pilots exiting their machines with their hands raised.
"I hate you…"
"The feeling is mutual." The Reploid replied with a smirk on his face.
August 17, 2017 ATB.
Ashford Student Council Clubhouse/Ballroom, Ashford Academy, Area 11.
"I didn't even know this room existed…" Kallen said as she looked out the window of the Student Council's clubhouse/ballroom, Lelouch and C2 standing across from her.
"It's the clubhouse for the student council, they built it as a ballroom for various special occasions." He explained as the Reploid fidgeted a bit.
"And we won't be disturbed inside here?" Kallen asked as C2 glanced over at the rear of the building.
"Yes that's correct." He clarified.
"Uhh…" C2 mumbled nervously, she opened her arm and began working on a diagnostic of her emotional control program.
"Yeah, you two aren't the first ones here… Oh well you'll find out soon enough…" She thought as she looked for the system errors that were causing it to stop working at times, which had led to several embarrassing situations earlier, twitching slightly as her facial control program bugged out. "Goddamnit! Every time I fix one of my programs it seems like something elssssssssssssss…" [ERROR ERROR ERROR].
Both of them glanced at C2 as she spasmed a bit before Lelouch opened a panel on her right 'ear' and pressed a button, engaging diagnostic and repair mode as the Reploid's active processes began to shut down to avoid further data corruption, her eyes dimming as her diagnostic programming began looking for the source of the error.
"Is she okay…?"
"She's been having several issues with her programming… And I'm about ready to have someone from Arcadia or Abel City come in and check on her since the technical chief can't figure it out." Lelouch muttered with a sigh. "I'll have someone move her to a diagnostic station in a bit after she reboots."
"Hmm… That makes it less likely then, the Reploid I saw in Shinjuku was in perfect working order as far as I could tell." Kallen thought.
"Here it is!" Shirley announced from somewhere in the room, startling Lelouch and Kallen, both turning to see Shirley stand up on the Balcony at the top of the stairwell. "I found it! Look! This is it right!"
Nina walked into view as well. "What a relief, you found our lab data!"
Lelouch and Kallen both screamed internally as they saw Rivalz stand up as well. "Ugh… Good, my ass is killing me…"
"Perhaps I shouldn't have kept cutting C2 off…" Lelouch thought, realizing that she'd probably been trying to tell them about whatever this was.
As if to add the cherry on top, Milly walked in driving a cart full of food.
"Were you able to find it?" She asked as she rolled the cart to a stop, Lelouch and Kallen staring at her, bewildered. "I finished up on my end, shall we dig in?"
"Aww wow!"
"Way to go Milly!"
The student council president giggled. "You adore me, I know, I know."
"Uh… What is all of this…?" Lelouch asked, confused.
"Lelouch don't you know? I thought that's why you brought her, we're inducting Kallen into the student council. C2 should've told you if you didn't know already." Milly explained, much to Kallen's shock.
"Well C2's been having some issues with her programming lately. She just suffered a critical system error before you came in and I had to put her in diagnostic mode." Lelouch explained, tapping the inactive Reploid on the shoulder.
"A shame, I'll call up a technician in a minute to come look at her and see what the matter is, since we're also inducting her as well even though she's not a student. Anyways it was actually my Grandfather's idea to put Kallen on the Council." Milly replied as she began to set a table.
"The headmaster's?" Lelouch asked, mildly confused as to why Ruben K. Ashford would do this.
"He thought it best, with her poor health she'd have a harder time with regular club activities." Milly said before turning to Kallen. "Oh, I'm Milly. President of the student council, pleasure to meet you."
Kallen was still stunned by the fact that she'd been inducted into the most powerful of the clubs by no less than the headmaster of Ashford himself, she'd deliberately avoided clubs because they just got in the way of her activities with the resistance.
"Oh thank you… The pleasure's all mine." Kallen replied after getting her bearings again.
The others jogged over to introduce themselves as Lelouch booted up C2 in safe mode after checking the completed diagnostic, the Reploid shaking her head as her eyes lit up again as she looked around, dazed.
"What was that about?" He asked her.
"There was an extraneous A in a line of code… I'll be fine." C2 whispered back as they watched the others introduce themselves.
"If you say so." Lelouch said with a shrug.
"I'm Rivalz, the secretary! If there's anything you need help with, I'm your man!"
"Hi! I'm Shirley, and I'm a member of the swim club, welcome!"
"Uhm… Hi there, my name's Nina…"
The faint whir of a motorized wheelchair filled the room as Nunnally drove in, two pizza boxes and a tray of cakes on her lap. "Shirley? I'm sorry, but do you think you could set these on the table for me?" She asked.
Shirley rushed over. "Oh sure! Thanks Nunna!"
"Nunnally, what are you doing here?" Lelouch asked, giving Kallen pause as C2 took a step forward, swayed a bit and then flopped onto the ground with a clanking thud.
"I'm fine. My balance program is just resetting slower than everything else." She said as everyone looked at her in concern. "I'll be back up in a minute or so."
Milly shrugged and then looked at Kallen. "This is Lelouch's sister, Nunnally, and you've met C2, his personal assistant who he just picked up somewhere." She explained as Shirley picked up the food and moved it to a table while C2 slowly sat up and rubbed the back of her head idly.
"I'm still in the middle school group, so I can't be on the council yet." Nunnally said as Shirley walked away.
"That's alright! You're an honorary member in our book, just like C2!" Rivalz said as he and Nina walked over to Nunnally, the bespectacled girl making an affirmative noise.
Nunnally addressed Kallen directly. "Hello there, it's a pleasure to meet you Kallen."
"Thank you, you as well." Kallen said softly. Lelouch and C2 exchanging a glance as the latter discreetly grabbed a slice of Pizza and began to nibble on it.
He'd have to ask her about that later. He knew Reploids could ingest and process food into energy in a pinch to fuel their backup catalytic engines but they had no sense of taste… So why did it look like her eyes were glowing more brightly than normal while eating a slice…?
He shrugged and turned his mind back to the subject of Kallen. "I have to admit, she'd be a pretty good actor if she wasn't secretly a terrorist. Not many people can pull off the 'well-bred' nobleman's daughter act that well while simultaneously being such a firebrand elsewhere." Lelouch as he looked back at Kallen.
"Right! Shall we kick this off with a toast?" Rivalz asked as he set a bottle of champagne down on the table and thumbed the cork.
"I do not believe any of you are legally capable of drinking except Milly, and that's only in a number of states in the homeland…" C2 mumbled to herself.
"Huh…?"
"Champagne?!" Shirley asked incredulously.
"But we're on the student council, we shouldn't…" Nina stated softly as Rivalz raised the bottle to pop the cork in a ceremonial fashion.
"Aww come on, loosen up you guys!" Rivalz replied as he prepared to pop the cork with Shirley attempting to grab the bottle.
"No way! We're gonna get in trouble! Do you want to have to explain this to the staff!?" The ginger cried out as she attempted to wrest the alcohol from Rivalz while Nina covered her ears and began shivering like a Chihuahua.
"I would suggest sparkling apple juice as a legally and morally acceptable substitute…" C2 sighed as she watched the commotion. "And I am ignored… Typical…" She mumbled as she watched them pass by her.
"What's going on…?" Nunnally asked, only being able to hear the noise of Rivalz and Shirley struggling over the bottle at this point.
Milly just handed her a glass of orange juice. "Here Nunny." She said, not explaining what was going on to the confused blind girl.
"Thank you… But that doesn't answer my question though…"
"Lelouch! Heads up!" Rivalz shouted as he threw the bottle at him, which he barely caught given its weight, Shirley going after it.
"You're not getting away with this either Lulu!" She cried out as she tried to take the bottle from him, Lelouch, still confused as all hell, being knocked over as he simply reacted on instinct by moving the bottle away from Shirley's swatting hands.
The cork popped out of the bottle as the carbonation built up from all the shaking and flew towards Kallen, who slapped it away, C2 catching the cork and crushing it in her iron grip after tracking the object's course and velocity.
"Oops..."
And then a spray of Champagne spewed out of the bottle and drenched Kallen's head and uniform.
Awkward silence reigned in the room for several seconds before it was broken.
"What just happened…?" Nunnally asked, having only been able to hear what was going on for obvious reasons.
"So, we're in agreement that this is Rivalz's fault?" The Reploid asked.
"Yep."
"Of course."
"Absolutely."
"He's the one who brought it so of course!"
"HEY!"
"I still don't know what's going on…" Nunnally mumbled softly.
August 17, 2017 ATB.
Maverick Hunter Regional Command Office, Tokyo Settlement, Area 11.
Zero and X chortled alongside several other Maverick Hunters as they watched an amateur Maverick Hunter, who'd been passing by the area at the time, talk about how he watched Jeremiah Gottwald getting a new one torn by Colonel after the Purists raided the decoy convoy.
"Oh man, you've got to admit, the Purists make plenty of humans look bad, in more ways than one!" Zero remarked with a smirk as he sipped on a can of oil as another burst of laughter issued from the crowd.
"Yep. As much as Repliforce's freedom to operate bothers me, you have to admit it's fun to watch the Purists get taken down a notch." X agreed as Vile sipped on his Bourbon nearby, X wondering what the point of it was given that Dr. Cain hadn't replicated his own sense of taste when building the Reploids off Doctor Light's work.
The door hissed open and Sigma walked in.
"Commander!" X shouted before standing up and saluting.
"At ease X." Sigma replied with a chuckle. "I have a new assignment for you and Zero that's rather important."
X and Zero looked at eachother and then back at Sigma.
Sigma gestured towards the door, at which point Iris walked in and saluted.
"Major Iris of Repliforce, reporting." The female Reploid said.
"Commander, what's this about… We're working with Repliforce now?" Zero asked, confused.
"You and X are being assigned to keep an eye out for and potentially hunt down this new S-rank Maverick that Vile encountered in Shinjuku if needed, Major Iris here is to be your liaison with Repliforce." Sigma replied, Vile glowering at him past the Bourbon. "I trust that this isn't an issue?" He asked.
"No sir." X and Zero replied simultaneously.
"I look forward to working with you both!" Iris said as she gave them a salute, which they returned.
"And what about you Vile?" Sigma asked, raising a brow.
Vile glanced over at him. "If pretty boy and boy scout here can't deal with the bitch, then I'll handle her. Besides didn't the media call her an SA-rank?" He replied as he took another sip.
Sigma frowned and shrugged. "The media got it wrong on purpose to spike ratings, and admitted as much after I pointed out how the ranking system actually worked, if she was actually an SA-rank she'd have handily defeated you without much real trouble." He looked at the other two. "Report for briefing at 1400 hours."
"Yes sir!" They both said and saluted as Sigma returned the salute before leaving the room with Iris in tow.
X promptly elbowed Zero. "Say, I saw that look on your face when you were watching her. You seemed certainly Irisnterested." He jabbed coyly.
Zero sputtered as X and several other Reploids began laughing and even Vile took the opportunity to chuckle at Zero's expense.
"X!"
Ashford Academy, Student Council Clubhouse/Lamperouge Residence.
Shirley and Milly watched the washing machines run with Kallen's sullied uniform inside them.
"We have clothes for her?" Shirley asked.
"Lelouch said he was on it…" Milly sighed, exasperated as she watched C2 hang Rivalz from a tether-ball pole as punishment.
"Does he really deserve that?" The ginger asked as she turned and watched her friend begin a renewed round of protests while the Reploid kept an entire slice of pizza hanging from her mouth.
"Yep, what he did is technically illegal." Milly conceded. "But we're not going to report him to the police because this is Rivalz after all, it's hardly the dumbest thing he's done this year."
"But why is C2 giving Nunna a hose?" Shirley asked with some concern.
"Some things are better left unanswered Shirley."
"But she's…"
Rivalz promptly screamed as cold water was sprayed all over him while Nunnally squeaked in fright.
C2 just stood there smugly, hands on her hips.
"See, there's Karma at work Shirley." Milly said, smirk on her face.
"Ohh… Now we're gonna have to give him one of Lulu's spare uniforms…"
"Well at least she's displaying some form of emotion."
Inside a shower, Kallen washed herself off. "This is why I hate Britannians." She mumbled. Bringing fucking alcohol to a party full of minors. What fucking decadence.
Although given Shirley's disapproval it seemed like that was something that Rivalz did on a personal initiative. Still, her point stood.
Outside, she heard Rivalz scream, followed by that Reploid, C2, laughing for some reason.
Before she could contemplate what that meant, she heard a knock at the door. She drew the curtain back to check briefly.
"It's Lelouch, I've brought you a change of clothes." He said from the other side of the door.
"You can come in, I've drawn the curtain already." She replied.
The door hissed open and Lelouch stepped in, mildly off guard before remembering that she was taking a shower. "Ah sorry about this, they're a little over the top I know." He apologized as he walked in, averting his eyes even with the curtain between them.
"That's okay, nothing wrong with cutting loose once in a while you know?" She replied, while there was certainly nothing wrong with that, the fact alcohol had been present around a blind and crippled middle schooler was enough to make her nervous when remembering how some Britannians treated Japanese women.
Although it was hardly unique to them, since Tamaki had told her about how he'd beaten up some punks who'd bragged about how they sexually assaulted some Britannian student who'd wandered into the ghettos once before running when a Maverick Hunter patrol responded… Tamaki was a jerk and a moron, but he still had lines he refused to cross.
The fact that an angry mob of off-duty soldiers and police had went into the Ghetto the next day and gunned down every Japanese man and boy they'd seen, for which she was thankful the Ghetto had been mostly empty, had been a harsh reminder that the Japanese were walking on eggshells regarding reprisals against Britannians.
She supposed that anyone could be a scumbag.
"These are some of my clothes, hope that's okay." He said as he put them down in the clothes basket.
"It's cool, don't worry about it… That was fast, you went all the way to the boy's dorm?" she asked.
"Actually… I live here. It'd be hard for my sister to live off in the dorms, the headmaster of the school lets us live here as a favor…" He replied candidly.
"Interesting… Why would Ruben K. Ashford let some random kids, and a Reploid, live in what would normally be considered an estate mansion…"
"I see…" She replied softly.
"Anyway, talk to you later." He said as he began to walk out, catching Kallen by surprise.
"It's stupid, and I might get myself arrested or killed, but this is probably the only private moment we're going to get to talk about Shinjuku." She thought.
"Hey wait!" She called out, causing Lelouch to halt. She stuck her hand out of the curtain. "Can you hand me that pouch over there?" She asked.
"Sure." As he picked it up, he noticed it was weighty and had the sound of a mechanism in it, plus he felt a switch on the side. "Undoubtedly a switchblade... Hopefully Sayako is ready for the decoy plan…" He thought, having anticipated this beforehand.
It paid to be paranoid about things sometimes.
Other times it made him look like an ass, but he didn't really care.
He walked over to the shower and looked away as he slowly pushed the pouch past the curtain. Faking surprise when Kallen grabbed his arm. "You really are a live wire aren't you." He said good-naturedly.
"Were you the one in Shinjuku." She asked, it was less a question and more a demand for an answer.
"What do you mean?" He replied, keeping his facade up.
"Don't play dumb, you brought up Shinjuku the other day. Why." She demanded sharply.
"Why do you ask, is there something wrong with me warning you to not talk about Shinjuku?" He asked, sounding confused.
"Don't answer my question with a question!" She gently leaned down to pick up the pouch. "Yes or no, that's all I want to hear out of you." She warned as she pressed a button on the pouch, causing the blade to pop out.
Lelouch stared down at the knife before the phone rang suddenly. "A little earlier would've been nice…" He thought. "If I don't answer it, someone'll come." He said plainly as Kallen grit her teeth.
"That okay?" He asked as he picked up the phone, seeing her nod slightly. "Hello? Ashford Academy Student Council." He said, turning his head away suddenly. "No this is…" He said as Kallen moved the blade closer to his arteries. "Oh, it's for you." He said, offering the phone to her, leaving Kallen stunned. "He says he knows you."
Her expression hardened as she set the knife down and took the phone, putting the old-style handset up to her ear. "Hello?"
["Glad you're still alive Q1."] The voice from Shinjuku said, leaving her stunned. "Was I wrong?" She thought as she kept her grip on Lelouch's arm.
["1600 hours, the day after tomorrow. The observation deck at Tokyo Tower. Come alone."] He said to her.
"Who are you?! How did you arrange that ceasefire order!?" She demanded, only to have the other end hand up on her. "Hey! Don't hang up!" She exclaimed, even though she knew it was pointless, drawing the curtain open unintentionally.
To his credit, Lelouch kept his eyes averted, looking towards the door.
"Did you say ceasefire?" He asked. "Sounds like you keep dangerous company."
"Oh… Uhm… That was…" Kallen stuttered. "SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! OF ALL THE STUPID THINGS YOU HAD TO SAY KOZUKI!" She thought in a panic.
"Lemme guess, you're talking about a game? Something online? You don't seem to be the type to do tabletop wargaming or active combat sports like paintball or airsoft." Lelouch posited.
"Uh… Yeah… You got me… 'Cause I've been shut up in my house so long…" She replied coyly, releasing his arm slowly.
He rubbed his wrist gently, checking for any cuts. "Oh about what I was warning you about. When I told you not to bring up Shinjuku before. Seriously, some of the guys will try to show you footage of what happened that day and it's pretty damn grim, I already overheard one girl asking them to turn it off during class earlier." He said, continuing to keep his gaze above neck level.
"By the way, you know I could see you if I chose to look right? You didn't have to open the curtain like that." He pointed out as he turned to leave. Leaving Kallen mildly stunned.
She squatted and immediately closed the curtain, covering her chest with her arms and blushing furiously.
"Uhm, I won't tell anyone… Later..." He said awkwardly as he left the bathroom.
"I was wrong…" She muttered, face burning beet red from embarrassment. Neither Lelouch nor C2 were involved, a malfunctioning civilian Reploid and some lazy student couldn't be the two mysterious figures who'd saved the Kozuki resistance group and tore apart most of Prince Clovis's Royal Guard corps in the process…
"The council doesn't require much actual work I guess, beyond occasional paperwork we'll sometimes plan school events." Lelouch admitted as he and Kallen walked to the ballroom some time later, the latter wearing some of his casual clothes.
"So you mean like the culture festival?" Kallen asked, she still wasn't sure if it was Britannians rubbing in the defeat of Japan or the Ashfords actually trying to keep some semblance of Japan alive.
Knowing Milly it could just be a weird fancy.
"Yep like that, along with the crossdressers ball, the absolute silence party, costume week, and swimsuit day." Lelouch replied. "We had to cancel several minor festivals for budget reasons, mostly because they ended up with some idiots causing massive amounts of property damage."
Okay one of those were weird and perverted, one was just perverted, one seemed innocent enough, the remaining one was just wierd, and the stuff about property damage was just... Why. "What's up with that?"
Lelouch gave a pained grin. "Blame our president for that. You'll be spending a lot of time with her, hope you're ready." He warned her, hearing news chatter in the background as he walked in.
"Wait is Rivalz wearing one of my spare uniforms…? That damn Reploid!" He thought with more than a bit of annoyance upon realizing why she'd strung the other boy up from a pole.
"Lelouch! It's just awful!" Nunnally cried out upon hearing her brother's voice.
"What is?" He asked. "So they finally broke the news. Which means they've probably rounded up some poor fool to be their scapegoat…" He thought, C2 sending a glance back at him, which he responded to with a nod only a Reploid was capable of perceiving at that distance.
"Prince Clovis has been found dead." Milly explained grimly.
"They're saying he was killed!" Rivalz added, Lelouch faking his own shock and Kallen being far more genuine with her own.
"Clovis?! Dead!?" She thought. "How… This couldn't be his work too… Could it?!"
Defeating Britannia on the field of battle was one thing. But assassinating a Royal?!
Lelouch's face hardened, Kallen's remaining in a state of shock as she processed this new information. "Do Ohgi and the others know?"
The news feed cut to a press conference with Margrave Jeremiah, surrounded by both Britannian Officers and members of the Purist Faction, and to the mutual shock and dismay of both Kallen and Lelouch, Colonel of Repliforce stood just to the side of the Margrave, his towering figure unmistakable when surrounded by the much smaller humans.
["Prince Clovis has been taken from us! He fought for peace and justice against all who would dare take up arms against Britannia! He died a martyr! We must all bury our sorrow… And carry on his will."] Jeremiah asserted.
Kallen's eyes widened slightly, remembering that voice from the Sutherland that had constantly hounded her two days ago. "Bastard…" She thought, also noticing that he didn't mention Elevens at all.
"He didn't directly mention Elevens…" Lelouch thought as he watched the news feed, narrowing his eyes. "Must be Repliforce's doing in cleaning up the racial language in the speech. The Purists would just rile everyone up by making a comment like that."
["Breaking news! The man suspected as the murderer has been captured."] The newscaster announced. Causing the entire room to lean in slightly to listen better. ["According to this report, the suspect is an Honorary Britannian from the Foreign Legion."]
"What the?!" Lelouch whispered as the screen changed to show an aerial shot of Suzaku being escorted from his barracks by at least half a dozen Britannian soldiers and military Reploids in a straightjacket and cuffs.
["Private Suzaku Kururugi, a former Eleven and Honorary Britannian is considered the prime suspect in the murder of Prince Clovis."] They reported as the soldier on Suzaku's left hit him for trying to say something.
Kallen's eyes widened. "No way… The former Prime Minister's son…?"
C2 on the other hand narrowed her eyes as she looked up from the portable diagnostic station she'd been hooked up to. "Interesting, I'd assumed he was killed but apparently he survived and was located by an infantry squad who was unaware of the circumstances, and thus he probably was taken to the rear for medical treatment instead."
["I repeat, Private Suzaku Kururugi has been arrested on suspicion of murder!"] She announced again as Lelouch gazed in utter horror at the screen.
August 16, 2017 ATB.
Ashford Academy Girls Baths, Ashford Academy, Area 11.
"Sorry about earlier, we tried to have a great welcome party for you, but it never really went anywhere." Milly apologized as she, Nina, Shirley and Kallen soaked in the baths, C2 sitting off to the side with a towel wrapped around her body after removing much of her torso and plating and the white bodysuit, still nervous about showing off the artificial skin on her torso as her feet kicked at the water, large ripples forming around her bell-bottom leg shrouds.
"Oh yeah? I didn't see anything wrong." Kallen replied softly.
"After the news about Prince Clovis being assassinated, even I didn't feel like partying." Milly admitted, shrugging a bit.
"Well I guess it's alright… But… W… Why invite everyone for a bath? And why ask me to come along?" Kallen asked, keeping up her 'sick rich girl' act. "I was just in the shower after all."
"Ooh this is just a sort of informal gathering." The blond explained, holding up a finger as if to help accentuate her point. "A little meet and greet in the flesh. So to speak." She said teasingly. "Of course C2 here doesn't have flesh but the point stands."
C2 screamed internally. "Why do I have the feeling that there are at least two people in my memory banks who'd get along famously with Milly…"
"Besides if you'd gone home wearing Lelouch's clothes, there'd be at least one person who'd be very worried about it." Milly pointed out. Causing Kallen to blush as she realized that the logical assumption her family would make was that she'd had sex with someone. "Right Shirley?" She purred.
Or it could be about Shirley's obvious crush on Lelouch… That worked too…
"Madame President! Why are you bringing that up!" She replied indignantly, covering her chest and blushing furiously. "Although, now that I think about, Lulu was acting weirdly when the news was brought up, like his mind was somewhere else…" She added, changing mood seemingly at the drop of a hat.
C2 blinked and mumbled something about human females being 'odd'.
"Well Nunna was listening too and she sounded pretty upset." Milly added, somewhat aware of why the two Royals in hiding were concerned but not saying anything.
"Oh… I thought that was kind of strange, it's so obvious how differently he treats his sister from the way he treats me." Kallen said, continuing to cover herself, being as conscious about her body as C2, unlike the rest of the girls on the council, who were more familiar with eachother.
Milly giggled. "He loves his little sister more than anything!" She said, to which C2 nodded in affirmative.
"Indeed, I spend the last two nights in their residence, so I can vouch for that." The Reploid said as she shifted her leg in the water, testing the waterproofing on something more easily repairable than her internal systems.
Milly nodded at her before giving Shirley a look. "Must make it pretty hard for someone~." She teased.
"Wh… Why are you looking at me when you say that!" The ginger exclaimed, flailing her arms in frustration.
"Because you react to her teases, thus making you the prime target for them." C2 noted as she slowly slipped into the water after taking off her towel, the other girls noting how lifelike and smooth her artificial flex-ceratanium skin was, especially compared to the shiny hardened ceratanium that made up the plating on her gauntlets and lower legs.
"Who the hell made that X guy so lifelike yet keeping him and thus all succeeding Reploids out of that proverbial uncanny valley?" Kallen mused internally.
"She's got a point." Milly said as she looked back at Shirley after mentally comparing the various breasts around the room, including C2's artificial ones. "But, really, with that kind of killer body you're such eye candy Shirley, it should hit him in the face like ba-ba-BOING, shouldn't it?" Milly implied as she made a bouncing gesture with her hands.
"I'm fairly certain Lelouch is too busy caring for Nunnally to even consider having a romantic life, let alone a sex life." C2 noted, Milly shrugging in response.
"Could you not look at me like that!" Shirley yelped as she covered herself again.
"What? Oh come on, it's no big deal." Milly replied, pouting a bit.
"Yes it is! Anyways, you're the girl with the well-built proportions, aren't you?" Shirley attempted to deflect.
"Oh…?" Kallen mumbled.
"Oh, am I?" Milly asked dangerously as she stood up, showing off her body shamelessly.
"Uhh… Maybe you should just sit back down…" Shirley suggested nervously, realizing Milly had effortlessly shut her down.
"Yes, exactly… Wait… Is that you Nina? You seem so different without your glasses." Kallen noted as she glanced at the smallest girl overall.
C2 blinked, if she didn't have facial recognition software she'd probably have not been able to recognize Nina either.
"Doesn't she! I've been telling her to get contacts since forever!" Milly said, putting her hands on her hips as she turned to look at Nina. "You little cutie~" She teased, squeezing at Nina's cheeks.
"Unh, Milly cut it out!" Nina squeaked.
"Since forever?" Kallen asked, confused as to how the two knew eachother.
"We grew up together. My grandfather worked at a company owned by Milly's grandfather." Nina explained.
"They developed Knightmares." Milly added as she contemplated her Grandfather's close partnership with Doctor Albert Einstein, who'd fled Europe when the Soviets learned of his theories and had only enjoyed security from being kidnapped by Stalin's NKVD while working with the Knight of Six.
"Ashford…" Kallen's eyes widened in realization. "You mean the ones that developed the Ganymede and Ios series!?"
"Wow you sure know a lot about Knightmares! Those models were cancelled at the Prototype stage. With only a handful of Ganymede units being built." Milly said, putting a hand on her chin in contemplation.
"Shit!" Kallen thought before coming up with a readily believable cover story. "Uh I must've read about them somewhere. That's really all I know about them." Kallen said, laughing somewhat awkwardly.
"Yes… Real convincing…" C2 thought sarcastically as she disengaged one of her forearms to check the seals properly on the gauntlet, Nina looking increasingly interested in the mechanical and circuit links. "Is it true that the Ganymede you have on the campus was the Knight of Six's personal unit?" She asked Milly.
"Yep! It's the very same unit used by Empress Marianne!" Milly announced proudly, puffing her chest out as Kallen's jaw dropped.
"Holy crap!" The Redhead thought, stunned by that fact.
"Well anyway, they never made it into production, the research costs just kept growing and growing until the company finally went bankrupt, the designs couldn't keep pace with the improvements utilized by the Liverpool and Glasgow and they were simply too complex and vulnerable for actual combat or even police use."
"I'm sorry Milly… It's all my grandfather's fault…" Nina mumbled to herself, looking away from C2.
"I'm telling you that's not true. Grandfather went broke because he was so extravagant and we were barely able to break even with the MR-1." Milly explained as she leaned back into the water and relaxed.
"Extravagant?" Kallen asked, this she had to hear.
"Mhm, he'd throw wild parties that went on for days. They were legendary, it was always party time. Huh, well at least his party connections paid off later after Empress Marianne was assassinated, that's how he moved over to this country and became headmaster of this school, in addition to getting ownership of a Reploid maintenance company. We also still have a few factories left, but they produce only MR series Worker Frames now, although we did recently get a military contract for a new type of Knightmare based on the series if I've been overhearing my grandfather's talks with my uncle correctly."
"The Ashfords were close associates of the Empress? So that explains why they were thrown under the bus when she died, without her they simply couldn't compete. Also why they have her personal Knightmare on hand…" Kallen thought, regretting not paying attention more to the interactions of nobility and the peerage.
Which would honestly bite her squarely in the ass if something were to happen to her father...
"Wow, you sure inherited his love of parties huh madame president." Shirley said, somewhat amazed by this.
"Well I guess so. You can only be this carefree when you're students you know?" Milly suddenly remembered something. "Oh! Kallen! Are you free the day after tomorrow? After School?" She asked.
"The day after tomorrow…? I'm not sure… Oh! No I can't! I'm busy then! Uhm so-."
"Oh? Going out?"
"Well at 4pm I'm going to Tokyo Tow-" She began coughing suddenly, C2 raising an eyebrow as she reattached her arm,.
"Hmm… Well okay! We can just do it now! I wanna get your measurements!" Milly exclaimed in response.
"It begins." C2 thought as she looked for a quick exit route.
"HUH!?" Kallen yelped in alarm.
"We make costumes all the time for special events you know." Milly explained as she gave Kallen a wry smirk.
"You don't mean like cosplay do you…?" She asked hesitantly.
"BINGO!" Milly replied.
"Uh no thanks. I'll pass." Kallen replied, she'd never liked cosplay anyways, finding it geekish and stupid.
"Aww don't be shy. It's just us girls here after all~. So Shirley!" Milly ordered.
"Sorry Kallen…" Shirley got up and lunged towards Kallen as C2 darted from the bath in the commotion.
"That little! Oh who am I kidding I would've done the same if I was her." Milly conceded as she watched the Reploid flee.
"I've got her pinned!" Shirley announced as Kallen thrashed about, trying to get out of her grip, the two girls standing up now, Kallen's face beet red.
"Mmm… Not bad at all~." Milly appraised as she looked over Kallen.
"Ahh! Stop this right now!" Kallen yelped indignantly, trying to get out of Shirley's grip without hurting her. It didn't help that the other girl was an athlete.
"You're pretty strong Kallen!" Shirley grunted as she kept her hold on the red-head.
Milly chuckled. "You have a nice body too~. I'd never guess you were so sickly." She purred as she made grabbing gestures with her hands.
"Shu-… Please stop this!" Kallen squeaked in horror.
Shirley giggled. "She's getting worked up again."
Milly smirked dangerously. "Now then! Surveying time!" She announced as she headed over to Kallen.
"What about C2? Isn't this mandatory Milly?" Nina asked, using the opportunity to try and distract herself from her wandering mind before the uncouth thoughts got worse.
"Sayako will handle her." Milly replied as she reached for Kallen.
"Sayako?! What's she going to do against a Reploid!?" Kallen thought as the other girls closed in on her.
C2 glanced back as she heard Kallen shriek behind her. "I appear to have… Oh… Greetings Sayako…" The Reploid mumbled as she detected the Kunoichi on her proximity sensors.
"Greetings. Mistress Milly has mandated I keep you inside the baths." Sayako replied as she dropped down from above, where the Shinozaki clan ninja had come from was beyond her.
"I'm not going to escape am I… Typical."
"Your power supply's effectiveness lowers the longer you operate continuously from what I've noticed, perhaps due to damage you've suffered, and I doubt you wish to drag the attention of law enforcement to this building, nor do I, so come peacefully." She promptly drew a pair of kunai and took up a fighting stance.
C2's eyes glinted dangerously as she put up her fists, her face as impassive as usual. "To quote several dozen famous film characters… Make me."
Sayako lunged towards C2 as the Reploid ducked to the side.
"Got all of that Nina?" Milly asked the greenish haired girl.
"Yeah… I still think that was a bit much though…" Nina replied as she glanced over at Kallen, who was curled into a ball in a corner of the baths.
"Eh, she'll get over it, Shirley did didn't she?" Milly said, waving off her concerns.
The sound of shoes on wet tile echoed in the baths as a somewhat roughed up Sayako dragged in a disabled C2 and dumped her into the water after turning her back on.
"Thanks Sayako, remind me to give you a raise for that!" Milly giggled as the Eleven maid bowed and walked away.
Kallen's mortified face turned to one of horror as she realized the maid was more than she seemed and then flipped to mild anger as she looked at C2, whose eyes lit up and realized she was surrounded by the other girls.
"So this is to be my fate then… I blame Lelouch." She muttered.
"Why are you blaming Lelouch?" Nina asked, confused.
"Why shouldn't I blame Lelouch? He didn't talk you out of this."
"That's a fair point." Milly said and shrugged before looking at Kallen. "So Kallen, wanna get payback on C2 for ditching you in hopes of saving herself?"
Kallen grinned, to be honest, C2's attempted flight irritated the hell out of her. "Of course."
"I am not okay with this." C2 mumbled as Milly, Shirley, and Kallen moved in on her. "I demand a lawyer."
"Sorry, this is what you get." Milly giggled as the three of them lunged towards C2.
Tokyo Settlement Highway.
"Hey Zero…?" X asked as he and Zero charged their ride chasers at a station near one of the on-ramps to the main freeway.
"Yeah X?" The red Reploid replied as he sipped an E Can.
"You ever get the feeling that stuff's going on that we have no relevance too…?" He asked hesitantly.
"X, you worry too much, there's always stuff going on that most people will have no relevance to." His partner replied matter of factly as he hopped back onto his ride chaser as the Mechaniloid attendant unplugged it.
"Yeah, I guess so." X acknowledged as he hopped onto his own bike and the two continued their nighttime patrol.
["X, Zero, we've got a pack of rogue Mets taking potshots at passing foot and vehicle traffic from the seventh floor of a building undergoing renovation near Halsey and MacArthur, the two of you are the closest."] Iris reported from the Maverick Hunters' regional command center.
"Roger that, we're en-route. Tell the Settlement Police to keep the crowds clear while we clean it out." Zero copied as both engaged their lights and sirens, vehicles pulling to the side as the Maverick Hunters passed by.
"It's days like this that you feel sorry for the Mavericks huh X?" He asked his partner.
"Don't get cocky Zero, we're not sure if they have any friends." X warned goodnaturedly.
Zero smirked. "You've got that right." The red armored Reploid replied as they drove off into the night.
AN: So eh, you get episode 3 and the Stage 3.25 Picture Drama adapted. Not much to say since the planned divergence really starts slamming in around Narita, or at least the bulk of it does, course I'll try to make up non-anime scenes when I can but the narrative demands sacrifices.
Again, at least until I finally murder it and take a more semi-original route.
Cocks .357 and points it at the narrative. Soon you bastard, soon.
Also imagine X and Zero are using their X8 VAs, Sigma of course has his VA for Maverick Hunter X and the packaged OVA's dub, same with Vile, while Iris and Colonel are using their unused redub actors.
Because fuck the X4 dub with a twenty-foot pole as released.
Also, friendly reminder that no matter what form she takes.
C.C.'s truest love will always be pizza.
And Reploid feet are frigging huge relative to their body size.
I guess part of it has to due with most of them being based on X and him having boosters in his legs and feet.
God I just realized how rambly these get.
