[Year: 2043
[4 years after the events of Phase 22
[Location: Tokyo Japan, loop 7
{A/N: I may take a few liberties with name's and what not...not sure yet and oh yeah, I don't own Guilty Crown}
Chapter 1: Selection
*BOOM*
Kurt lifted his arms up temporarily to shield himself from the blast. Debris raining down on him, urging him to run and dodge falling bits of rubble. Looking around he found what he presumed to be the source of the blast, a building that had been partially leveled and was in flames. Rushing over, he could hear faint yelling from behind a large pile of rubble. He quickly began trying to remove the rubble, throwing some pieces, tilting other pieces over so they would roll away. He wasn't sure why he was doing this, hell he didn't even know why he was near such a dangerous place to begin with, but for some reason he knew that whoever it was yelling behind that rubble was hurt and important to him somehow.
He was almost through, the voice was clearer now, feminine, he continued to dig through the rubble with more fervor than before, he /knew/ that voice from somewhere, but he just couldn't remember. Just as he thought he was getting to the last of the rubble, there was another explosion, and his world went dark.
[-]
Kurt bolted upright in his bed, breathing heavily and in a cold sweat. His eyes darted around his room quickly and he felt himself relax slightly. "Damn it, what is with me and that dream lately?" he asked aloud to no one in particular. Sighing, he got out of bed and headed for the only bathroom in his small studio apartment. He looked at himself in the mirror upon entering the bathroom. His dark brown hair an unkempt mess, continuing to look himself over, he sighed. "Well...at least the acne's under control for once." he again commented to no one. turning to the shower, he turned on the water and undressed, hopping in and letting the steamy water run over his pale skinned, lanky body. He wasn't tall, about 5' 11, and not particularly muscular, not that he was chubby or anything, its just that having more muscle mass than brain mass wasn't high on his priority list.
He just stood there in the shower, lost in thought about the dream. That's the third time this week, what the hell is wrong with me? Maybe its one of those tales of future events...or maybe...oh shit how long have I been in the shower? His thoughts were interrupted as he jumped out, shutting off the water and grabbing a towel, darting back to his bedroom. A quick glance at the clock revealed that he was in danger of being late. Quickly throwing on black jeans and a white t-shirt, he walked over to his desk and grabbed his wallet and phone. Finally headed towards the door, he grabbed a pair of dark-rimmed sunglasses and put them on. Time to get to work. His apartment was situated in a complex on the edge of an area known as Loop 7. It was the only place he could really afford after moving from the United States. His mind drifted back to the day he had first gotten the offer as he made his way towards the train station.
Kurt sat in a small cubicle, typing away on an old keyboard. At the time he worked for a technical support firm in Baltimore. He had just recently graduated college and he was still working off some of his loans. He was just finishing up what seemed like the thousandth report on a case when his supervisor walked up to him. "Kurt, can I talk to you for a moment?" "Sure thing George, just let me..." a few more mouse clicks ensued, "...Done, okay so what's up?" George, the slightly overweight bearded supervisor adjusted his rimmed glasses. "Theres a man here looking for you, said something about your 'TERP' project idea or something like that, anyway he's in my office waiting for you."
Kurt simply nodded and headed to the aforementioned office. When he entered he saw a man with silver hair and odd markings on the side of his face. Not wanting to be rude he started to introduce himself. "Hello sir, I'm..." "Mr. Kurt Greenfield, yes I am aware of who you are, and I must say your TERP idea is very interesting, please sit." Kurt did as he was told, quickly noticing the uniform, and they began talking...which would eventually lead to an offer that Kurt took as his new job...
...that was 4 months ago...
Kurt sighed as the scenery moved outside of the train, four months of the Japanese language, customs, and history later and here he was, on a train to a job that still seemed too good to be true.
[-]3 weeks prior[-]
"Bungi? What are you doing here?" A raven haired girl asked a familiar silver haired man. "Just visiting, Tsugumi, is Ayase home?" Tsugumi nodded, letting the man into the shared apartment. Just as he entered and the door shut behind him, the girl in question wheeled down a small ramp from what looked to be a kitchen. "Shinbungi? You certainly don't visit often..." she commented bluntly. Shinbungi only chuckled lightly to himself. "And you certainly haven't changed much...well I shall get straight to the reason why I'm here then. I'm here because there's a project getting underway that has to do with a former occupation of yours." "What? Endlave pilot? You do know I haven't piloted an Endlave in three years...not after what happened..." "I am aware of this of course, and I'm not asking you to pilot anything, not right away at least, but what I am asking you to do is to come on board as an advisor." Ayase thought to herself for a moment; "Why me though? I'm sure there are other pilots who could help." A slight smile found its way to Shinbungi's lips. "True, but no one has quite the varied experience you have or the skill."
"Even if that were true, I'm not just going to accept your offer without any details." she retorted, Tsugumi piped up; "Yeah! and I want these details too!" Shinbungi only held up a hand at the over eager raven haired girl. "I'm sorry Tsugumi, but this offer is for Ayase and Ayase only..." this caused both girls to just stare. "...Aya-nee only? But wherever she goes I go!" "In the past that has been true, yes, but I already have someone with a similar skill set to your own...so to be blunt I won't be needing you." Shinbungi let the statement settle in on the shocked faces in front of him. "N-not...need me? B-b-but..." Tsugumi was at a loss for words, she'd always been with Ayase in the past during...well everything. "What is this even about? What is so special about this project that requires someone other than Tsugumi?" Ayase asked, wheeling herself into the main living room where they were now sitting. "The exact details are classified until you accept, but I can tell you that this is a sort of goodwill project between us and the United States."
After hearing this, Ayase fell quiet, thinking to herself. She needed work, that much was certain, and while she hadn't piloted an Endlave in years, a personal vow of hers after her actions in Funeral Parlor, truth be told she wouldn't mind at least working with them again. Tsugumi was in an uproar. "So not only do you not need me! but you're telling me that its something secret I can't know about? And its a goodwill project with the Americans!?" Ayase sighed, Tsugumi was like a sister to her, and they always worked together on things like this...but maybe thats what was holding her back, Tsugumi already had a job as an assistant robotics teacher at one of the local academy's. She nodded to herself, her mind was made up. "Alright Shinbungi, I'll accept your offer."
This earned a confident smile from him and a stare from Tsugumi. "B-but Aya-nee!" "Relax Tsugumi, I'll be fine, besides you already have a job, and I need one..." Tsugumi just walked over and hugged her. "Are you sure? I could always..." "I'll be fine...don't worry." Ayase smiled at the raven haired girl, who nodded. "O-okay...if thats what you want." Shinbungi stood up, "Good, well I have other matters to attend to today, I will contact you with some details but your full briefing will have to wait until you start, three weeks from now." Ayase nodded and the man left.
[-]Present[-]
Kurt stepped off the train at a station on the outskirts of Tokyo, adjusting his sunglasses, he looked around a bit, just as he was about to wonder if maybe he got off at the wrong station, a man with a similar uniform to the one Shinbungi was wearing stepped up to him. "Are you Mr. Greenfield?" He asked, to which Kurt nodded. "Good, come with me." and without waiting for a response, he walked off towards what looked like a parking lot. Kurt shrugged and followed him. They indeed walked to a small parking lot, and there sat an idling black limo. The man opened the rear door and Kurt took it as a hint to get in. He sat down and looked around the interior of the limo as the man shut the door.
The limo pulled out of the parking lot and began its journey. Surprisingly, Kurt was by himself. They entered what appeared to be a highway of sorts and they traveled for a better part of an hour, finally arriving at a warehouse that for all intensive purposes, was in the middle of nowhere. They pulled around to the front of the building and the man let him out of the limo before escorting him inside. After going through some basic security checks like ID, metal detector, pat down, and the like, he was escorted to an elevator. Upon entering the elevator ascended three levels and let out at what looked like an observation platform. Stepping out he walked to a railing overlooking the current emptiness that was the warehouse, and his jaw hit the floor. "Holy shit this place is big..."
"I'm glad you like your new working environment, Mr. Greenfield." Came a voice that caused Kurt to whirl around to find a familiar silver haired man. "Wha? Oh its you Mr. Shinbungi...yeah I knew I said I was gonna need space but..." He turned back to the railing, "Damn..." "Yes...I figured since you're going to be building Endlave's...you'll need plenty of room to build and test them in secret..." "Right...remind me again why our respective governments picked me again?" "Because your simulations of the digital models you put on the internet were far more impressive than our current contractor could come up with." Shinbungi stated flatly, "Now, at the moment your 'team' consists of only one other person...a former pilot who will work with you as advisor and co-designer..." Kurt nodded. "Sounds alright...so when do I meet him?" this caused Shinbungi to chuckle. "Don't worry, it will be soon enough..." As if on cue the elevator dinged and opened.
Ayase wheeled herself out of the elevator to what looked like an observation platform. There she found two men looking at her, one she easily recognized as Shinbungi, but the other she did not. "Mr. Greenfield, meet Ayase Shinomiya, your advisor and co-designer." The other man just looked at her. "Hey!" she quipped "What are you looking at?!" "N-nothing...sorry..I was just...uh...nevermind..." The man seemed to nervously adjust his collar, Shinbungi chuckled; "Well I have other things I must attend to, I'll leave you two to get settled, you'll find that there is already a holo lab set up on the ground floor of the warehouse that you can use for the time being." "Wait! Aren't you going to brief me on what it is we're doing?" Ayase called after the leaving Shinbungi. "I'm sure Mr. Greenfield can bring you up to speed." Before should could ask anything else, the elevator shut and he was gone. "I hate it when he does that..." She grumbled.
{A/N} So how was it? Next Chapter will be available soon ish...
-The17thScripter
