Chapter 2: The Infinite Stratos Academy

IS Academy – Infirmary room - 04:40 A.M

Inside the infirmary, early morning, Chifuyu could be seen sitting on a chair crossing her arms next to a patient's bed, while Maya stood behind with a troubled-looking face. Resting on the bed with a blanket covered over was Tobia Arno wearing a patient gown, and having his right eye and forehead bandaged; he was still unconscious, but what weird about it was that despite seeing bandages over his head, all of his body was fine, there weren't even IV hook up to him; what was to his right was a heart-rate monitor which show that his heart-rate was perfectly normal, and he seemed to be only sleeping, contradict of what people expect to see of a critical condition patient just 5 hours earlier.

When the teachers brought Tobia to the nearest infirmary the night before, he looked like a man on the verge of death after falling from god knew where at Mach 1.5, and created a huge crater in the main IS arena, they even feared that he may not even make it through. However, when the doctor took a throughout test on him to decide what to do, he was shocked to see that the bloody boy had neither injure nor broken bones, and his pulse and breathing were still normal; that surprised the teachers because when they first saw him, they were sure the boy was badly injured and his breathing was very weak. Anyway, since he was seemed perfectly healthy, all the teachers felt relieved and went back to their duty, while Chifuyu and Maya stayed back to look after him.

Chifuyu had had Maya investigated the IS that came with the boy 2 hours earlier, and she had just come back to report, and she handed Chifuyu a data pad.

On it was the image of a wire-frame of the Crossbone Gundam in its IS standard form, it was a sleek silver armored suit; it had a red V-shape antenna with white tips, a dark navy blue jewel in the middle with a skull and crossbones symbol etched on, helmet; and a kind of complex machinery with a performance chart that went off the charts in terms of the limit at the supply and condenser cap category. Chifuyu then zoomed in on part of what she assumed to be the core of the IS, it has an emerald color and had a small purple hue flame around it, and the power output reading of more than 5000 kW, which caused her to raise a brow. 'A nuclear powered IS?' she pondered to herself.

Unlike when she saw it a few hours before, the sword was truly on the caliber of a Noble Phantasm. She turned her eyes towards the boy and reassessed her initial evaluation. This kind of IS was truly too shocking. Could this machine really be considered a mere IS anymore? It would be too much of a joke to say otherwise. No other company or corporation she had ever known could created such a machine with that . In fact, her mind drew a blank when she tried correlate it to a certain individual that she knew that may be able to create it.

Shaking her head, she then turned back to the report, "Did you manage to discover anything about its background?"

"I'm sorry Orimura-sensei, but I couldn't find much, other than some minor details and the overall shape of the IS and its core, I couldn't find anything else, even the core designation code. It seems that the IS has a security program capable of denying our access and hacking." Maya replied with an apologetic tone.

"What were those that you manage to find then?" asked Chifuyu, interested in the point that Maya had brought up.

"Yes, Orimura-sensei, there are markings on the IS which show that the name of the unit is Crossbone Gundam and its model number is XM-X0. It seems to belong to a military corporation named Strategic Naval Research Insitute or SNRI for short. Those are what I could find." Maya answered while pointing the details on the datapad.

At that moment, both of the teachers were wondering about what was this military corporation that both of them had not heard about. Looking again at the performance chart, the power possessed by the newly found IS that was created by this unknown corporation was really worrying.

"But I'm really surprised that the pilot for this new powerful machine is a male like Ichika-kun. Does this mean that there are now 2 male pilots in the world?" asked Maya, which earned her a sigh from Chifuyu. 'Even though this news would truly shock the world, but we still didn't know anything about the pilot and his purpose yet, and that machine of his and who was behind the design.' Chifuyu thought to her self.

"Urghh...hmmm"

As the two women were still deep in thought, they noticed that the boy they were watching over was waking up so they turned over.

Tobia Arno POV

"Aghhh..." Slowly opening my eyes as I began to regain consciousness, I felt a sharp pain in my head for a bit but it ended quickly as it came; when I fully opened my eyes, I noticed that my right one and forehead were covered by bandages, but I didn't care and proceeded to assess my current situation. The first thing that I saw was an unfamiliar room with two women on my left, both of them seemed to be focusing on me, I then looked down and saw that I was wearing a patient gown like the ones I could easily recognize. From what I was seeing, I could tell that I was in some kind of infirmary or hospital. 'I thought I was in space before with the Ghost Gundam having a malfunction, why am I here? Am I saved?'. I tried to remember what had happened after the flash of light that enveloped my Gundam but couldn't, so I turned to the two women on my left side trying to confirm what had happened.

"Sorry, but could I ask? Where am I? What has happened to me?" I asked politely while slowly trying to sit up, feeling a sore aching my back, then I moved my eyes at the two women. "And who are you?"

While the green-haired woman looked at me worriedly, the other woman with black hair looked at me with a stern and indifference face, clearly being on edge about me.

"You are currently in the infirmary of the IS academy. And we are the teachers here, I'm Chifuyu Orimaru, this one here is Maya Yamada." The black-haired woman answered with her name and pointed at the other one behind her. "About what happened yesterday, you were free-falling from the sky over the academy and ended up crashing into the training arena. We saw you in a bloody mess so we brought you into the here, but it turns out you are alright." She continued.

"I see, thank you for taking care of me, if I may ask, what is this IS academy and at the crash site that you picked me up, was there anything else?" I asked Chifuyu, trying to gain as much information as possible before telling them who I am; as I have noticed that they are quite fixated on me, it was clear that they were also trying to gain information from me, but they only were trying to be calm and patient. But my question seemed to cause her to peek up a bit, as she knew that I was trying to hint about something.

"Yes, there was also your IS at the sight if that is what you are asking... but it's weird that you don't know about the IS Academy? Despite owning one?" Chifuyu looked at me questionably, the other who stood behind her, Maya also has the same look.

I was taken aback by her question a bit. She mentioned this IS and the IS academy, but I had never heard about these two things before, and "your IS?". 'Did I own such a thing?' I thought, expecting the women to say that at my crash site was supposed to be my Gundam, but instead, she told me it was an IS, whatever it may be. But I think deeper, 'Could this IS that they said is my Gundam and this place is a mobile suit training academy?'

"Sorry, I don't know about this IS academy of yours, and when you said about my IS, did you mean my mobile suit?" I asked her again, trying to assert my assumption, but only to be replied with a weird look, clearly not understanding my point. "We are talking about the same thing, right? A 16 meters tall humanoid machine?" Again, with another weird look, I could feel something was clearly wrong. The two women, Chifuyu and Maya, after hearing my statement, turned to each other with a surprised face, murmuring and debating about something.

"Where are we? What year is this? And tell me what is this IS you are talking about if not like what I said?" I asked them again, this time clearer and more assertive. I had a really bad feeling about this whole situation, somewhat trying to make out the picture of the state I'm currently in.

"We are in Japan, the year is 2035. The Infinite Stratos Academy, or IS Academy for short, is an academy, an educational corporation, where IS users from around the world come to learn how to effectively pilot the machine and nurture their talents. About the IS, you should take a look at this to confirm it yourself." Chifuyu answered, and handed me the datapad she was holding while having a doubting look on her face. I believed she had also felt something was wrong.

I took the datapad, it was a weird model that I had not seen before, and as I looked at it, I could see a hologram of my old Crossbone Gundam with some parts of the inner frame and armor missing, which was weird, as it had already been dismantled 2 years ago and put back together with parts of the Phantom Gundam to create the prototype Ghost Gundam, so I was fully expecting to see the Ghost Gundam instead. I also saw that they hadn't been able to extract much information about it rather than its name and model number, and its core? I was started to look at the image of my Crossbone Gundam supposed "core", as I was more expecting to see the normal sight of an ultra-compact fusion reactor of a mobile suit, however, I saw an emerald-colored orb with purple flame surrounding it. And above all else, I saw that the height of my Gundam, which was originally about 16 meters, was not only 1.8 meters tall, the side of merely a human, I quickly flipped to the other pages, to only see what seemed to be some type of armored powered exoskeletons that I guessed were what they meant IS.

My eyes immediately widened in disbelief, from what had happened to my Gundam and the year I was currently at. I tried to reason with myself, for being at Japan, it could be that even though I managed to evade flying into Earth at the last second when I shut down the reactor, the Gundam lost it power and got pulled back into Earth orbit and ended up at this academy that I didn't know about; but for the size of my Gundam and the year, which was not even in Universal Century calendar, to be so different like that was so out of this world for me to comprehend. Was this a joke? Was I dreaming? Or could it be...?

"Miss Chifuyu, if may I ask, does the name Earth Federation, colony Side 4, Moonbase Granada or Jupiter Empire ring any bell to you?" I looked at her again with a serious face, hoping that she or miss Maya would know about them. But she didn't... they didn't, none came up with an answer, they only looked at me with their wide eyes, as I was met with complete silence. Suddenly everything became clear to me, all the pieces were falling into place, despite me still trying to claim to myself that it was only a hypothesis. I raised my hands up to hold my head in irritation, thinking that maybe, just maybe, that I had traveled to another world. 'Was it the effect of that flash of light?' I thought, desperately trying to find an answer.

"I think it's enough for us to answer your question, boy. Now tell us, who are you? Where did you come from? Who do you work for? And what is that IS... no, that mobile suit of yours?" As I was still pondering over my own questions, I was met with more questions coming from the black-haired woman, Chifuyu. She now seemed to be really serious about getting the information out from me, while Maya was noting down what I had said during the conversation.

I looked at them, and I thought to myself for a moment, wondering if I should tell them everything or not; if I could, it would greatly lessen my burdens and ask for potential help, but if I'm not careful with it, the information may very well soon turn into weapons of mass destruction. I had to be careful and think logically, they may think that I was joking or they could take it seriously and had me detained and my Gundam locked up. I still hadn't known about their personalities yet, so whatever I said would be a big gamble on my part about my safety and the stability of this world. These ISes of their, they seemed to be quite a dangerous piece of machinery, capable of warfare, so my Gundam would very well be set into that category for these two women.

"Before I answer your questions, I would like to know, what do you use these IS for? And what are your stands about them? If you can answer me honestly, I will answer you." I tested them, trying to examine if they were the type of people to be trusted or not, they may lie, but as I had met many bastards who told the world their beautiful lies to please the masses, I had grown accustomed to it and could point out the dirty deception inside their words.

Chifuyu looked straight at my eyes with a stern glare, which sent a chill down my spine, but I still looked straight back at her, trying to meet them with my determination. I knew that whether or not do I answer them, they could still be able to detain me with ease, so depended on their answer and action, I would consider whether or not to trust them to tell the truth, or brought myself down to hell together with the secrets because, without me, they wouldn't be able to bypass the biometric security of the Crossbone Gundam... I hoped.

"Hmmm, quite demanding of you, considering your position to be like that eh. Fine, I will tell you, it's not like you can run from us or anything." Chifuyu tried to provoke me by reminding me of my position, but she seemed to have given in. After that, she told me everything that I need to know truthfully and I asked a few more minor questions which she also replied, thanks to it, many of my doubts had been cleared. From the conversation, I had grown to trust her a bit more and deemed her safe to tell her about me and answer her other questions, though I did speak half-truth for some answer and held back many other secrets that I felt was not safe to speak up. After hearing my answers, we had a moment of silence and thinking, Chifuyu then spoke up.

"I see, so in short, it seems like you came from another parallel universe similar to ours and somehow got transported here during a testing incident by this SNRI corporation of yours which involves the machine that came together with you. You really got me curious, Tobia Arno." Chifuyu said with a smirky grin.

"Yes, but for how did I get here is still a mystery, though I do have some guess for now about the answer to that, I'm still not quite so sure," I replied back to her, this time though, I had sat up and removed the bandages to better see around. Chifuyu was seemed to about to ask me about what I had known, but decided not to in the end, but rather, she asked something else that I was also questioning myself.

"Then what do you intend to do after this, Tobia Arno? She asked. I raised a brow at her question for a bit and thought to myself about what I would do in this new world. Truthfully, I was deciding to retrieve my machine to try to return to my world, as I guessed that the reason for me to end up here was due to the Minovsky Drive and the Phantom Light, but I had a worry that I didn't know where to go after retrieving it, and if the Gundam in its current stage could even be tested since I didn't know whether the Minovsky Drive was still in the Gundam or not.

"If you're still thinking about it, I will give you a proposal," Chifuyu told me, which captured my interest. "Go on," I replied, focusing on her, and causing her to smile back.

"I can offer you two choices," Chifuyu said while raising up her right-hand index finger. "One, you can retrieve your machine, after that, you're on your own, and we won't tell the world anything about your appearance." She then lifted her middle finger. "Or two, you could enroll here as a student of IS academy while we think of a way to send you back."

Ahhh... so she knew my weakness already, and it was obvious that which choice I would make regarding my current situation. She knew that if I were to be on my own, I would have nowhere to go without any personal identity in this world, meaning that I wouldn't be able to work nor rent a house and my Gundam would be fully exposed to the public, and sooner or later; and as Chifuyu had explained that only female is able to pilot an IS, the government would swoop in and capture both me and the Gundam, basically, a dead end. On the other hand, she proposed to me to stay at the academy, and knew that I would take the bait because of the free shelter and working facility that I could use, which she would be able to monitor me and take a closer look at my Gundam while I work on it; essentially, kill to bird with one stone. What a cunning and clever woman, the type that I feared the most. 'Trying to keep up a poker face around her would be damn hard.' I thought.

"So, what do you say, Tobia Arno." She said, not even in a questioning tone with that grin of her.

"Tchhh, you fully know my answer already, why even bother to ask." I clipped my tongue.

She smiled back and stood up. "Be in class before 0800, Yamada-sensei will prepare for you a uniform and she will guide you to class with a brief schedule, all your learning equipment will also be prepared, don't be late, student Arno." She said as she and Maya walked out to the door, this time, returning back to her neutral face. She stopped when she heard I said something while Maya just went out.

"Wait, going to class? This is not what I was expecting, besides, I am already 22 years old, how can I go to class?" I retorted back in a suprise.

"Hah, looks back in the mirror, you maybe 22 back in your world, but right now, you look nothing more than a mere 16-year-old brat. It seems like when you traveled to this world, you also reversed your age huh." Chifuyu replied with a smug on her face and walked outside.

"Why you! It's not like you're that much older than me in reality!" I lashed out a bit, feeling my head popped, and Chifuyu just laughed it off before closing the door. After a few minutes, I got myself out of bed and did some stretching and body check, I did also take a look in a mirror, and it was true that I was now younger, with quite a similar look to my dad in his old picture, which shocked me a lot. 10 minutes later, Maya came back with a folded up uniform in her hand and a backpack containing learning equipment and books. I then put on the uniform, which felt a bit short? But I didn't bother much, then Maya looked at me with a delightful smile.

"That's great, Arno-kun." Maya happily exclaimed with clasped hands, "Now we will have two male students and Orimura-kun will surely feel more comfortable with you here."

"Orimura?" I asked, turning to Maya.

"Ichika Orimura." Chifuyu answered me as she walked in, "He's my dense little brother who is also a student here, by somehow managed to activate an IS. I told you already right, that IS is only able to be operated by females in this world. I don't need to explain to you how this would go for him and you, would I?" Chifuyu stated.

With a sudden realization, I widened my mouth in a gasp. "Ohhhhhhhhh...shit."

"Now if you have understood already, hurry up and prepare for class. Since you properly haven't eaten anything yet, go with Yamada-sensei to the cafeteria to have something for breakfast, I will get back to the office to get the paperwork done." Chifuyu hurried me off.

"Yes...miss Chifuyu," I replied.

"It's Orimura-sensei for you, now you're a student of this school and under my class, remember that!"

"Yes, Orimura-sensei." For some reason, I felt that my pride was cut short. And after that, I went with Maya to the cafeteria.

Chifuyu Orimura POV

As the boy Tobia Arno had walked out of the room, I have many thoughts that ran across my mind about what is about to happen in the near future with his new appearance together with that IS. When I was listening to his explanation, I thought that he was crazy to be able to make up such a story, but from his serious tone to his logically explained account, I couldn't help but believe him to be telling the truth; though I could tell that he was still hiding something from me, I don't need to pursue any further with already enough information about him, and he also had that IS to prove his point, but could she still able to call it an IS?

Its appearance alone was already strange for her as it was less bulky and sleeker than most ISes. The arms and legs were slightly shorter and they looked more proportioned to a human's body, and even though it did have four thruster binders formed together in an X-shaped array, it had no stabilizer unit like the standard models like the Uchigane or Rafale Revive.

Overall, rather than Infinite Stratos, it looked more like a mechanized suit or a set of body armor. The closest similarity it shared with the IS was that it had a core and exoskeleton inside the suit. From what the boy, Tobia Arno had told her, the IS that she had seen was actually a giant 16 meters tall mecha, which she still found hard to believe, then again, crazy things do happen, for her brother's case was a prime example for that.

She then took out her phone and tapped a few numbers which the phone recognized as one of her contacts' numbers. A woman's name then appeared on her screen before she touched the dial pad and then brought the phone to her right ear.

"Hey, it's me. The thing I asked you a moment ago, it's possible?"