Disclaimer: I do not own or in any way have any affiliations with Zone of the Enders except for the fact that I like it and I feel like writing a story about it. The idea of Orbital Frames does not belong to me but to Konami.

Chp. 1 Change is a Bitch

Wassup y'all. Name's Damien Cortez Lorenzo . My real name, that is. I wasn't much, just some shmuck who lived on the east coast. A kid with a possible future but I had to take it into my own hands. A good family but I never realized it. Wonderful friends but I shunned them. I was your average kid with issues of his own that he should have taken care of when he had the frigging chance, not when it was too late. And when I mean too late, I mean too late. But then again, you never know what happens tomorrow, you never know what might come your way.

I was the type of person that considered himself an atheist and a man who could not stand the fact that his fate was controlled in someone else's hands. I don't mean to be prejudice again those that believe in God, by all means, believe what you will. It's just that I'm the type of person that rather believe in his own strengths and skills other then relying on someone else to help. That, nine times out of ten, not only gets me in trouble, but makes me one hell of a stubborn mule. It gives me a sense of pride that I can rely on my own skill but also gives me a sense of weakness. It's a catch-22 basically.

But so far I've learned to deal with it. It gets in the way, but hell, what can you do but go on. Shit, I sure as hell wish I could now.

It was a clear morning. February 23rd, 2004, about 7:40 in the morning, when I left my quaint little house to head to school. Going up Duncan road, over to my friend's bus stop, I was wearing my usual wardrobe of blue baggy pants, a dark blue shirt with black dragons lining the bottom edge of that shirt, a big black coat and nice, spiffy, black combat boots. Oh and I mean the military issued ones. The ones that I, ahem, borrowed from my dad who happens to be in the military.

Anyhow, I'm just strolling up there like usual with my c.d. player blaring in my ears. When I get to the bus stop, which is the corner edge of this quaint little yard, I drop my mesh book bag and wait for the bus. Now this is in February and in North Carolina, it's a bit chilly there in the morning. So I'm freezing my ass off, like the past three months I've been here, and I turn to my left and see one of my best friends walking up the street like a slug, wearing his usual dark clothes and jacket. Then again, what else is new.

I considered him one of my best friends not because he was loyal or chivalrous, ready to aid me at any moment I might require. No, he was one of my best friends because he was a down-to-earth black man. Both me and him had many things in common and we spoke like men who knew each other for ages. We'd cuss at each other, argue, debate, laugh, anything and everything that resembled friends. I guess I didn't realize how much he was of a friend until he was gone. Then again, not many people realize that until it happens.

"Sup David." Will spoke nonchalantly.

"Sup man." I spoke just as indifferently.

Yeah, at first, this is how we start our mornings. Then we get into conversation about some things.

Will started first. "You saw 'Witch Hunter Robin' last time?"

I turned to him and grinned, "I swear that is the shit man. I mean she frigging lit her hands up like if she was nothing."

"Of course, not before getting pinned against the tree from bombarding…… What was she shooting at her?" He asked.

I shrugged my shoulders and looked down the street. "Hell if I know. I do know one thing. They were like fucking blades on that tree."

"True, true." Will spoke eloquently. Then looking back down the street he came from, he saw his younger brother Darren. He ran his hand through what was left of his extremely low-trimmed haircut and yelled out to Darren, "Hey!"

"What?!" Darren yelled back.

"You got any lotion?! I'm ashy!" Will yelled.

I turned to the side and murmured, "Ashy ain't the word, buddy."

"Hee hee hee. Hairy ain't the word for you either." Will shot back grabbing the lotion bottle from his brother. Then getting his necessary amount, he gave the bottle back and started to rub the lotion onto his arms.

Me on the other hand was still freezing my ass off in the cold air. It was now 7:50 a.m. and that meant the bus driver was over five minutes late. That gets me pissed off.

Derran, wearing just a short pink shirt and long black pants, walked past me and stood around like an idiot. Honestly , I considered him an idiot with that stupid pink shirt, which reminded me.

"Darren?" I asked.

"Sup?" He replied.

"What the hell is up with that pink shirt man? I mean, it's pink." I asked him.

"Let's not get into that again." Darren turned to me, "Remember last time we spoke about that?"

I thought about it for a moment and said nonchalant, "Nope."

"Whatever." Now he resumed to his usual standing around.

Yep, the mornings was always this boring. But what do you expect? A circus? I'm a man who adores his sleep and when I don't get enough sleep, I get very…..normalized, I guess would be the word for it.

Soon, the sound of a vehicle came from down he street but it was only some S.U.V coming along. I was just about to put my headphones on so I could listen to some Linkin Park when Will asked, "You finished taping those DVD's man?"

I sighed, a little peeved that he would ask right when I want to listen to my music but answered him, "Not all three of them. I got finished with Excel Saga soon after you left and then had Berserk going as I slept."

Will got that look of worry on his face but I reassured him.

"Don't worry man, I checked it this morning. It's alright." Truth be told, I never did check it. This was our main mode of communication really, basically we lie our brains out to each other. Unless, it really mattered. That's when we could tell when we were lying, if at the moment we needed to lie. It's hard to put into words and it's a rudimentary form of speaking but for the most part, when the time comes, we can trust each other.

"Just wondering, cuz I ain't paying for another day of late fees. That shit's 1.50 per movie, per night. That adds up quite quickly too." Will pointed out. Another thing about him that I found funny as well as interesting is, he worries about money. I'm not talking about balancing his money and using it efficiently, I'm talking about if someone owed him 15 cents, he would get that 15 cents back.

I looked around for the school bus and only found a 'half Twinkie' rolling down the opposite way. Now it was 8:00 and it's still cold and annoying. Finally, like a beacon of Hostess goodness, the full Twinkie bus labeled 526, came around the corner and stopped at the first bus stop.

"Finally." I whispered to myself. Then again, this was how it always was. She was late most of the time, and then the time you think she would be late, she comes around earlier. Aggravating but at the moment, it was the only mode of transportation.

I walked up to the edge of the street, as did Darren, Will, and three others that rode our bus. The loud and annoying, Megan. The louder and larger Elizabeth, and the boy that nobody notices till something happens or you just don't notice him…….forgot his name. Anyways, the bus rolled its way up the street to us and we got on. Me and Will took our seats on the second row from the front and everyone else, bah! They took their own seats wherever they could find them. Yeah, we had our own damn seats!

But soon in the ride, I got bored and decided to listened to my music. Reaching for my jacked-up headphones, I was a hair close to music time. Until Will tapped me on the shoulder.

I sighed as I stuffed the headphones back in my pocket knowing that if I tried to listen to my music and him at the same time, it won't work, so I turned to him. "What man?"

He looked at me and calmly stated, "You remember that time you 'supposedly' had that dream about that three-hundred dollars in that can of Pringles?" He emphasized on the supposedly.

I groaned aloud and responded, "Dude, that was like one of those one time things. And I honestly did have that dream about finding that money." (Yes this actually did happen.)

"Yeah well, even though I don't really believe you namely because you said that about two days later, your mom was missing some money." He pointed out shaking his finger.

I banged my head against the seat in front of me and answered, like the past who knows how many times we've had this conversation, "That was a coincidence, and the amount we found was nowhere near the amount she lost. Supposedly, she lost about twice that amount." I turned to the window, cause I have the window seat, I can't live without that window seat, really don't know why, but then remembered something else. "Oh, and apparently it wasn't that much of a big deal because in about two or three days, she was quiet about it. She hasn't mentioned it since then and that was about two or three years ago."

Will shook his head and said, "Nah, more like one year ago."

"And the point of this conversation is?" I spat angrily.

"I had a dream too." He said, solemnly.

My face said more then my mouth as I turned back to him.

"I'm serious! I had one of those dreams and it wasn't pretty." Will said apparently worried about it.

I groaned again because usually, this was the time that I get about 25 more minutes of precious sleep time. Damn, I loved that sleep time. Don't get it much now. OH, drafting away from the story. Sorry.

"So oh physic one!" I said irritated, "What do doth seeith in me future?"

Will glared at me and said, "Bacon!"

Now this was a little inside joke between the two of us.

"A pack of Bacon!" I shot back at him.

Basically, Bacon was a word that Will started using a long time ago and for the longest time I had no frigging clue what the hell he was saying.

"Bacon sizzling in a skillet!" He stabbed back.

"Damn." I cursed silently.

It was really weird at first because when he started using it, it just dumbfounded me. As do a lot of other things but this one took the cake.

I mused for a moment at myself and then said, "A pack of Bacon sizzling in an ivory skillet with a silver spoon!"

Will cringed back in false agony, "Ah! Touché! "

Basically, Bacon meant anything and everything we wanted it to be at that moment. It was weird but when two 16 year-old high school students get bored, you'd be surprised the things they can come up with. But now I got interested in what Will was going to say earlier. Little did I know that it would change my life in so many ways.

Will got that serious look, a look that was extremely rare for a man of Will's caliber, and looked straight forward. "Well, it's basically like this." He braced his arm against the seat as the Bus lurched to the and as the driver righted it, Will started on his little premonition.

"It was weird. It was almost like what the day starts for us on the weekdays."

I cocked a brow up in confusion then he said, "You know, as the school day starts. We head up to the bus stop, we talk, bus comes, we get on, so forth and forth."

By now, I was half-way to sleeping. Will noticed this and said, "Well then if you don't want to know how your life may end then don't listen to me."

That would have gotten my attention, if only this wasn't the 21st century and me being a 16 year old kid who really didn't care about death at the moment. But Will caught my attention with his story because his mind came up with something creative other then ways to sniff his hamsters rear-end….I won't get into that.

"And then?" I asked curious.

Will looked around, trying to ignore me. Though once seeing as I was serious as well, he decided to continue. "Anyways, I remember that we were riding on the bus just like this and we were talking when you pulled out your headphones to listen to your c.d. player I guess."

This was getting more boring by the second, there wasn't anything weird about this dream so why tell me about it?

"I do remember one vivid detail from that dream." Will stated.

As I reached for my headphones so I could drone him out, I asked, "And that detail was?"

"They were broken." He said flatly.

That's when I froze and realized that something was up. One thing was for sure, Will ain't no Miss Cleo and I know he wasn't at my house the other day so he couldn't have known that I broke them. Right? I don't recall telling him on the phone either.

I grabbed my headphones but didn't take them out. If what Will was saying was true, which would have been very different then your usual day, then what about that comment he made earlier? The whole 'losing your life' shit.

Closing my eyes for a moment in an attempt to get the sleepiness out of them, I clutched my headphones tighter and then asked, "Anything else about this dream that was different? Maybe I don't know, the date or perhaps someone was doing something stupid like usual? O.k. maybe not usual but you know what I mean."

He tapped his index finger on his chin, then started stroking it.

"Damn it Will, could you please stop doing that?" I demanded irritated. It was another thing between to the two of us. "You're not going to get any hair there by stroking it." Being Puerto Rican had it's advantages. Hair growth comes a lot quicker and a bit more then for other people. He always hated that about me.

"I'm not doing anything." Will pointed out. He continued to stroke his chin and then said, "I'm entering my thinking stage."

"Will you have no thinking stage. Neither one of us do." I said sarcastically. For the most part, it was true. We did have the proper faculties, it's just we never really used them. We were lazy and it required a bit too much energy to use our facilities. Of course, that explained our grades, though not really bad, not good enough either. Oh well, wouldn't really matter in a few minutes.

"Ha ha ha." Was Will's sarcastic answer, then after attempting to remember parts of the dream, which was difficult for him having the memory of a goldfish, he did get something. "I remember that your headphones were broken on the right side. Does that count?"

As I turned to Will, I realized that this was one of those 'oh shit' moments that my mom tells me about all the time. I pulled out the headphones and showed them to Will who in turn didn't like what he was seeing. They were indeed broken on the right side like he said they were.

Both me and Will started laughing awkwardly. Will though was talking through his laughter, "Wow, isn't that a interesting coincidence."

"Oh yeah!" I replied, "That's a big coincidence. In fact, I'm curious."

Will finally stopped laughing and shook his head, "Yeah?"

"How did this dream end?" I asked ever so curious.

Will waited for the bus to stop at an intersection and said, "Oh, well if I remember correctly, a car came and hit your side."

"Ah." I said now trying to scoot away from the window seat, you know, just in case. You can never be too careful.

The light turned to green and the bus lurched forward. And go figure when I turned to look out the window, a truck came from across the street,, screeching to a halt mere inches from the side. In turn the bus halted to a stop as well.

I nearly jumped out of the seat and almost tossed Will out the way. When I got up from a near crippled position on the floor, I looked around and saw that half the bus passengers was still upside. It seemed funny at first. The dream nearly came true. But now realizing that my life could have ended there, I proceeded to do what any grateful human person would do. I turned to the driver and started yelling.

"The hell's wrong with you damn it! Shit I almost bit the dust!" I knew technically it wasn't her fault but I had to let off some steam.

"Ah shut the hell up!" I heard from the back.

I turned to where the voice sounded from and barked, "Bite me asshole!" Didn't know exactly who it was but at the moment, didn't give a flying fuck at the moment either.

I climbed over a few struggling bodies and sat back down looking outside the window. There was a truck there with the engine steaming. Must have overheated? But why did it try to run the red light?

I felt a hand grab my shirt and nearly pull me back down to the floor. I whipped around and saw that Will was under Crystal, my next-door neighbor and senior, trying for dear life to get out from under her. I laughed as I helped him up and then sighed as he sat back beside me.

"Damn bitch. Your dream nearly came true." I said rubbing my head from a bump I must have gotten.

Will coughed a few times and turned to me. "I swear you pissed off someone up there."

I laughed wholeheartedly considering that was most likely true. I wasn't one for divine beings as I said earlier. But it was an odd coincidence, like everything else today that most of Will's dream came true. Slouching in my seat, getting into a relaxed position for my upcoming nap to school, if we ever got there in time, my eyes slowly shut to the ever near darkness. This event meant something. At first I had no idea what it was. Of course, you can never predict divine intervention, if it truly exists, nor can you understand it's true meaning at first glance. What I do know is that whoever decided for a truck to hit me must either have one of two things. Some serious bad aim, or a very sick sense of humor. Reason I say this is because all I remember from that day was the screeching of tires, and me opening my eyes to window again only to see a second truck veer out of what seemed like nowhere and ram the first one at high speeds. One thing was for certain, I got my nap. Darkness seemed to consume me right then and there.