Author: HyperiorV
" " – Talking
' ' – Thinking
[ ] – SFX, Soundtrack, Camera Positioning, Extra Descriptive Details
( ) – Grammatical Clarification Notes, Extra Details, Author's Asides

Act 2.00 An Orange Slice of Life

[World's End]

There is a light at my world's end.
A violin melody begins as the camera looks upward to see a blue ocean with the sun above. The camera rushes upwards, bubbles passing by as the screen pulls to white. The white then turns to a godly yellow, revealing Lelouch in his emperor uniform.

There's nothing left now to defend.
His cape flows in the wind and Lelouch opens his arms to the heavens as the camera zooms towards his eye. Lelouch's red geass turns green, before a golden geass sigil flies towards the camera. With each flap of its wings, the background changes. First to Lelouch Vi Britannia's float (where he died during the Zero Requiem), the insides of a Gothic Christian church, and finally industrial ruins with corpses on the floor. In the center of each frame stands Zero.

It flies off in the wind.
Flashing images appear to the beat. Zero's mask briefly flashes before flashing pictures of Lelouch, Suzaku, and CC in different periods of their life. Behind them is the World of C.

First it shows Suzaku as a kid, then wearing an Ashford School Uniform, Lancelot Pilot Gear, the Round Table Suit, the Knight of Zero Suit, and then Suzaku as Zero.

Then CC flashes by wearing different uniforms: Brown Rags (child slave), Prisoner, Zero's Mistress, Empress, and then Casual Sundress.

The Violins kick in as beat continues. Finally, it shows the main character: Lelouch (kid), Lelouch Lamperouge (school), Zero, Lelouch vi Britannia (emperor), and finally LL (casual attire).

I can't get by pretending it's okay.
Lelouch and CC are at Jeremiah's orange farm. They help him pick oranges and place them into a large, motorized cart on railing. Jeremiah activates it, but it bursts forward and violently flies off, crashing into several trees. An older Anya with her hair let down turns around in expressive shock, panic, and then anger. Jeremiah makes a funny and embarrassed look.

I can't help us, so this is our last day/Can't heal anything with just kindness.
The scene shifts showing the cast in a hanger. There's the Gawain Ghost, the Green Lancelot Albion Frontier, and the large Mordred Frontier. Lelouch types on his computer in the bright foreground. A wire detaches from his computer to the cart. Anya busily fixes the engine with a wrench, another computer, and other tools around her. Jeremiah brings more supplies, coming from the left of the screen while CC comes from the other. She carries homemade food on plates and has a pizza in her mouth.

The Guitar Rift Begins.

Everything was stolen from me,
Next, the screen settles on an image of a chessboard. None of the pieces have moved yet. On the wall are four crests. One is a skull with a geass symbol. Next to it is a golden helmet with olive branches and a geass symbol on it. Above both of them is an upside-down geass symbol pointing upwards. The Bishop obscures the mid-bottom image. Two hands reach out from the shadows to move their pieces.

In a world that wouldn't change.
An old but muscular military man sits in a pilot's locker room. It's dark, cold, and blue. He looks sadly a picture frame that the camera doesn't quite see. He then gets up and heads towards the door confidently. As he opens it, a red, shining light shines from his (leg's) shadow in the form of upside down geass.

What's this song that I have been singing? / What's this song that I have been hearing?
A handsome French talk show host in a Pink Tuxedo appears on a TV. An image of Zero circled and crossed out is edited on the screen. He angry slams his fist on the table. Graphs of stock prices and images showing knightmares fighting in the desert pass by.

A song of colors turned to gray.
The screen turns dark for a few frames before zooming out on Zero's mask [facing left and downwards]. The screen zooms out further to reveal his location on a cliff as he watches the sun go down [Left side].

Everything is bright.
The screen fades the black before illuminating once more. The location changes to the thought elevator ruins. In the place of Suzaku is a tranquil Lelouch (wearing his casual clothes; white t-shirt, cross necklace, black pants), facing the opposite direction [Right and Upwards]. A star shoots across the sky and the sun begins to rise [Right side] as Lelouch opens his eyes. A brief silence appears.

It's time to let my shattered dreams.
The camera transitions to light, before revealing a clear sky with a blue sea below. A white and black Shinkiro with appears from the bottom of the screen as it breaks the waterline. It travels upwards while passing by several knightmares including: the Tristan Divider, a sharp, black, and ferocious-looking Shen Hu, an Akatsuki Command Model Zikisan/Meigetsu, the Zangetsu, a green Lancelot Frontier [CC's Pink Knightmare], the Morgan Frontier and finally the Gouka Byakuen [Orpheus Zevon's Knightmare]. Their pilots' heads also appear translucently on the outer edges of the screen by their knightmares.

Become this world's reality. It's the end for me.
The Mordred appears on the right side of the screen. Then the screen travels to the right and shows the vastly improved Mordred Frontier.

The screen pans to the right, showing the various knightmares and pilots of the Glinda Knights. A matured Oldrin Zevon stands in front of them. The pilots (in order of proximity to Oldrin) include Nonette Enneagram, Oiaguro Zevon, Leonhardt Steiner, Marika Soresi, Sokkia Sherpa, and Tink Lockhart. Their knightmares include the Vincent Gram, Oldrin's Lancelot High-Grail, a Bradford, a Zetland Heart, a Sheffield Eye. Behind them are the mass produced knightmares; the Gloucester Glinda, the Sutherland Glinda, and several Vincent Glinda Knightmare Frames. The Caerleon-class airship, the Grandberry is behind them.

The screen pans to the left revealing several more knightmares from Britannia and their pilots, before the Babel Tower II in Tokyo Settlement. They are led by Cornelia. To her side is Gilbert G.P. Guilford and Claudio S. Darlton. There's also an aged bearded man with a Captain's hat and the secretary of state, Beatrice Franks. The knightmares include purple-themed variations of the Vincent [Vincent Ward, Gram, Snipe, Blaze, and Command Model], and a purple and white Primrose knightmare behind Cornelia. Behind them is the Logres Class Airship, The Marianne.

The screen then travels downward, revealing the Black Knights in casual attire. They pose for a photo in front of the first Café Zero Ikaruga in the Japanese Forest.

There is a light at my world's end.
A montage of smiling people flies past the camera. This is the same one as the original R2 opening. There are many differences though. Some of the characters are replaced or appear in different sections or are wearing different clothing; All of them are wearing casual clothing.

Anya looks at her phone at a picture of a young Lelouch in a white suit. She then turns while putting her phone down and flies towards the camera. Anya broadens her brows and smiles; showing even more emotion than in the original OP. At her side is Jeremiah. Kallen, now wearing a school uniform, takes up her typical pose. Then Benio Akagi reaches out towards Kallen. Several other teenage schoolchildren appear behind her. A blond-haired Britannian with enormous round shining glasses. At the same time, Kagari Savitri appears behind Benio with an annoyed look, pulling her offscreen. Ohgi looks behind him to Villetta Nu. She wears a blue dress, and carries a baby, which she looks down on lovingly. The baby has a toy Gurren and Lancelot.

Todoh and Chiba hold hands pass to the left together. Shōgo Asahina and Diethard do not appear {RIP}. Then Rakshata, followed with Tamaki and Kento Sugiyama pass by as normal. Tamaki has a "Zero Love" badge on him, while Kento has a cooking apron with a pizza-label on him. Followed by Yoshitaka Minami who looks behind him at Kaguya Sumeragi, who soars jubilantly. Then the three female Ikaruga operators pass by in casual clothing. An older, beautiful Tizani, flies face forward, innocent and optimistic as ever. Then Li Xingke in a sharp black Uniform appears from behind her. He's followed by his comrades Zhou Xianglin (winking) and Hong Gu (grinning).

There's nothing left now to defend.
Guilford has sunglasses on and Cornelia has a purple and white cloak. Cornelia frowns while Guilford smiles contently. Lloyd and Cecile then come together, holding hands before popping below the screen. Milly has a reporter's uniform/dress on and holds a mic. An older, Rivalez now wears a black leather biker's coat over his Ashford Uniform. Ms. Alicia Lohmeyer {RIP} is replaced with Nina, who looks more mature and confident as she adjusts her glasses sharply. {Log Horizon Style} Though she wears a brown-red cross vest that clashes horribly with her green and white lab uniform.

Now I can see. /We come together.
Then Gino appears smiling before dropping it as he goes off-screen. A worried Kanon now looks behind him at Schneizel (replacing Nina), who looks tired before grinning. Rolo {RIP} from the original opening is replaced by Nunnally, who smiles innocently and understandingly. Finally, Sayako wears her typical maid uniform and smiles gently with her eyes closed before two plushies obscure her. After they part, Sayako reveals herself wearing a grey, yellow, pink ninja suit {different from the original} before jumping above the screen.

There's nothing left for me!
Zero (Suzaku) stands upon a stage as two stage lights turn off, leaving him in the darkness.
CC stands upon the stage as a red light shines on her. Her frown turns into a smile as a green light shines on her next.
Finally, the violin kicks in. Lelouch grins as various colors surround him and blend into a white that illuminates the screen.

[View from directly behind] C/God, shrouded white and blue priest garbs, prays in a temple resembling a thought elevator as a blue star streaks across the black sky with a line behind it. The screen then zooms on the line. Then the stars disappear as the line glows brighter and it rotates to a horizontal line. On the line, the title card appears, glowing in gold.

Code Geass R3: Rei of the Rebirth

Act 2: An Orange Slice of Life

A trumpet sounds; "Duh nuh nuh… nuh Nah!" "Lah la lah la la la!" a choir echoes.
A stagelight shines down revealing a Lelouch's glass chessboard. It shows the glowing-green white queen, king, and bishop and castle, at the beginning of the board. The screen then fades to white and then black.

"Orange's Orange Farm", Southern Farmlands, United States of France

Sunday, December, Year 2 of Light Sum

I dream of Lady Marianne. She takes my hand and brings me upwards. I reach out to enclose hers with my other hand, but she dissipates into a blackness that surrounded me. Out from the darkness, an orange appeared in front of me. It turns red, then pink, then black, then white, then briefly red again, and finally orange once more. I reached out for it and… I woke up with a start.

I groan. What a bizarre a dream I had in my sleep.

Out from the kitchen, I smell bacon and other delights. It's CC's turn to cook. Of the three cooks in the house, she's the best. I suppose I and Lelouch can't hope to compete with a millennium old immortal. On the other hand, Anya had been banned after accidentally starting a 'small' cooking fire. Lelouch had attempted to teach her, but "incidents" kept occurring. It was lucky that CC had installed automatic sprinklers the week before. Of course, now I can enjoy the calculations behind those actions.

I quickly got dressed and headed into the bathroom.

[Jeremiah has orange sleepwear. His room is white with orange lines across the base of the floor. His room is decorated with statues and art collections from the ship, particularly some of the more fragile Britannian relics and heirlooms that need to be maintained. One of the pictures includes a hazy painting of a princess sleeping below an orange tree with a knight waiting below. An orange horizon lit the skies. On the desk is an old picture of a young Lady Marianne. When he returns from the bathroom, he wears a plain white shirt and blue jeans like at the end of R2.]

My stomach rumbled in anticipation as I left my bedroom. As a punishment for my mistake yesterday, I had atoned by cleaning up the destruction left in the motorized cart's wake. I had also forbidden myself from joining last night's dinner, despite the insistence of my Lord. At the very least, I was able to sate most of my hunger with the fresh oranges I picked up.

I opened the door to Anya's room. On it is a pizza circled and crossed out. I enter and gaze inside. On the first wall from the left, there was a green seal plushy and a billboard with pictures of from Anya's childhood. In one picture slightly obscured from view, an apologetic, laid back, and middle-aged man and his wife stood above next to a young Anya.

The second and largest wall had pictures of knightmares and battlefields from Anya's time as the Knight of Six. Posters of modern knightmares like the Lancelot Albion, Gurren SEITEN, and even the various new Chinese ones off in the bottom right. In the middle and slightly above the two iconic knightmares was Anya's design for her own. The Mordred Frontier. In the desk corner in the back was an architect's table next to several computer monitors. Around the desk, designs and papers were scattered around in three disorganized, yet messy piles.

Finally, the third wall contained recent pictures from after we have arrived at the farm. I drew closer to the wall and inspected them. They mostly contained pictures of her friends and the new student council from Ashford Academy/University. A casual Kallen and Gino, glaring at each other. And the former lord's friend Rivalez, who stood behind them on his silver motorcycle, though he was still slightly obscured. But there were also several others that I did not recognize. Next to Anya was a blond-haired Britannian girl with massive round and tinted glasses seriously regarding the camera with a nod. A middle eastern and Japanese girl inching towards Gino. An enthusiastic white and pink haired Japanese girl. A Japanese and Britannian couple. And various other club representatives.

I also spotted pictures of her, me, [mostly] LL, and [very few] of CC on the farm. Unfortunately, I'll have to remove the more recent pictures with LL, later. It wouldn't do for an unplanned visitor to come upon those photos. At least she stopped posting images online onto her blog.

I tore my gaze from the photos and looked at Anya's unkempt bed. She still needs to learn to make her own bed after getting up. She's no longer the Knight of Six. She doesn't have attendants and maids to clean up her messes like before. But as expected, the bed is empty. She must be sleeping in the first hanger, below the house. A twinge of guilt struck my heart as I remembered yesterday's events. I'll try to make it up to her this morning.

I walk into the living room. Spread out are lavish decorations and furniture that clashes terribly with the plain surrounding walls and floor. Once, owned by dissenting nobles as peerless treasures; now reduced to common household furnishings. In the middle of the room was a solid oak center table with an elegant chessboard. The clear chess pieces glowed in the morning light.

I reach for the accursed chess set and grasped the white king. I flick the head open and push a hidden button on the white king three times. The board glowed white as I next took the white knight, and the white and black castle.

LL had cleverly programmed all of the property's functions to these remote-control chess pieces. Each of them had multiple functions aside from their hidden buttons, which could be activated by placing them on different parts of the chessboard. While had been very confusing the first year he installed it, Anya and CC picked it up almost instantly. And I felt an odd satisfaction now that I had mastered it this past season. At least, the non-lethal functions, anyway. However, there were still a few odd and secret ones that were activated by very specific placements of the pieces. I doubt I'll ever master those.

I placed the black bishop into the white graveyard, lighting it up green before moving it to several places on the board, including the starting place of the white knight. As I did so, several holograms appeared before me, showing the camera feed throughout the bunker buried below our home. Finally, I place the black bishop into the position of the white knight, revealing a hologram of the knightmare hanger.

My gaze rested on the hologram showing the bunker's hanger below us. My expectations were not betrayed. In the hanger, Anya snored away, drooling on a large knightmare's leg appendage. On the ground was a blanket that had fallen off her.

I smiled kindly, thinking of the past.

Anya reminds me of you, Lady Marianne. I will remember you as the one I loved and respected above all others. And the mother of my lord. You too, used to work tirelessly on the Ganymede; the prototype for all future knightmares to come. When you fell asleep, I was always there to put a blanket over her sleeping body. And when you died, being attacked under the direction of another jealous consort; I was also there to put a shroud over you as well. I suppose you could call Anya your child. She's like you in so many ways. She's grown up to be rebellious and hot-headed as you. But also, as warm and kind, if not a bit more. She even calls me "Jerry", like you used to. And she's grown up to be a beautiful young woman. Compared to two years ago, she stands taller and prouder. But she's also literally and figuratively let her hair down; just like you.

But you are from/in the past. LL would not want me to think about that. Now I have a future together with a new lord. And Anya and CC.

"Lelouch… You're so sweet." Anya moaned happily.

I pressed the button on the Black Bishop and slid it upwards across the white graveyard. "Rise and shine, Anya!" My volume boomed across the hangar.

Anya groaned tiredly. "Let me sleep, Lelouch and Nunnally. I'm… NUUHH!?" She then looked shocked and woke up fully with a start. She looked around before hastily wiping off her saliva on the Mordred Frontier's leg. I raised an eyebrow. I hope she didn't have a knightmare, …sleeping on her knightmare.

"CC is still making breakfast." I informed her.

"…Oh …Great." She said sarcastically.

"Aside from having locked you in the hanger, CC hasn't had any time to set any 'traps' for you. If you hurry, you might be able to wake LL up for once."

Anya hurriedly exited the screen. I chuckled as I entered the kitchen. For the past year, Anya and CC had a "small" competition between each other to see who could wake the former lord up first. Not including the days that LL and CC were traveling across the world or Anya was in Japan at Ashford Academy/University. Initially, the skirmishes started small. Locking the bedroom doors. Spring loaded or door-leaning cooking supplies. And sometimes the odd contraption. However, they soon became less and less constrained to just the mornings. In the past month, it had escalated into an all-out war. Thanks in no small part to CC's continued "victories".

Fittingly enough, my lord had largely remained ignorant. I myself was happy to help each side get back at each other. For small favors of course. I've been needing a tune up and repairs for my mechanical body.

I placed the black castle in the white graveyard, turning it green. Then, I moved it across the board, unlocking and opening the doors between the bunker's hanger and the house for Anya.

"Thanks Jerry!" She shouted excitedly as I saw her run quickly through the camera feed.

I picked up the white castle and pushed its button. The wall retracted smoothly, revealing the secret stairway that led into the bunker below. Its purpose finished, I clicked the button on the king four times to deactivate the chessboard and return the pieces back off the board. Its lights go off. The less I use this thing, the better.

I entered the dining room, heading for the coffee machine. "Good morning." I greeted CC, who was busily working on breakfast. I crushed a small orange in my hand and let its juice seep into my golden chalice.

CC twitched her mouth in disgust. "I heard the bunker door open."

"Anya must have hacked the system again," I lied. "She's very good with machines and electronics, after all." I took a sip of my traditional "orange" coffee…
"Not that good," doubted CC.
…and I immediately spat it out. Inside the coffee I tasted it. Lemons. How I hate them! I don't know where CC is hiding her supply. Maybe if I ask LL or Anya…

"Jeremiah," interrupted CC. "Do you mind watching over the bacon? I'm going to go wake Lelouch up again before his breakfast gets cold."

"And why would I do that? Shouldn't the cook manage their own meal?" I pointed out bitterly.

C smiled devilishly. "My next three meals will be your favorite. Otherwise your next three drinks will be spiked."

My stomach growled. I waved my hands in defeat as I moved to the oven. "Oh, alright. I suppose it wouldn't be very traditional for you to lose." CC walked swiftly towards Lelouch's bedroom.

I'm sorry Anya. I have failed you. The sound of footsteps came rushing up the stairwell as Anya entered the room. She spotted me at the stove and gave a face full of shock and despair.

"Uhhhhn. Not again. Jeremiah, you traitor!"

I suppose my parts won't be getting a tune-up anytime soon.

"You were close. CC just left too," I replied in amusement.

Anya jumped onto the kitchen table. Sitting there, her eyes dulled in dejection. She took out her cell phone and began tapping away.

[OST: Neon Genesis Evangelion: "Waking up in the Morning"]

Upstairs, CC pushed LL off the bed with a thump. It drew an exclamation from Lelouch as the lord finally roused himself. "It's about time you woke up, Demon!"

"Oh, it's just you, CC." he mumbled tiredly. LL had been up late last night finalizing a new program for the mechanical cart.

"What the hell does that mean? Can't you appreciate that I came to wake you up, personally? I don't hear any words of appreciation for your Witch."

"Alright, fair enough. Thanks, CC. Uhhhgggg. Let me sleep a little more. Ummu."

"Hmnrrrgggg! Jesus, get up! It's time to get up, Lelouch!" she shouted.

Whooosh. Above him, Jeremiah heard the sound of the blanket being forcibly removed, followed by chuckling.

"…LL, you pervert! I didn't mean to get THAT up," teased CC.

"…Jeremiah. The bacon." Anya muttered, not even looking up from her phone.

Whoops. I swiftly removed the burning bacon from the pan and added a few more onto the pot.

"I can't help it! It's morning! I need to… I need to take a wiz or… something."

"Please don't point it at me."

I smiled as the bickering upstairs continued. "It's so nice of you two to wake him up every day. And LL doesn't appreciate it." I teased Anya. "…Is that so." Anya replied in a monotone.

"Hurry up! Your breakfast is getting cold!"

"It shouldn't matter anyways. I can't get food poisoning or anything."

"Just hurry up, LL!"

LL walked downstairs in his typical white shirt and black pants. Anya's eyes lit up at the sight of Lelouch as she quickly checked her long hair. She frowned, realizing that she had forgotten to brush it down in her haste to wake Lelouch up. This action was not unnoticed by CC, who smirked triumphantly at Anya as she entered the room. LL tiredly rubbed his eyes, oblivious to such details. "Good Morning Anya. Morning Jeremiah."

"Good morning, Lelouch." Anya said sweetly, before narrowing her eyebrows and frowning in the general direction of CC.

"Morning." I raised my cup with an eyebrow raised toward CC.

"What? Don't I get a greeting too?" CC asked Lelouch.

"Weren't you the one who 'greeted' me this morning?" he responded sheepishly.

"That's because you keep on sleeping in! See, the coffee is cold! I'll go remake a new batch."

A batch without lemons that is. CC winked at me as she returned to the kitchen, gold edged coffee cup in hand. However, this action was not unnoticed by Anya, who glared at me. But between the wrath of the eternal witch and the former knight of six, I'll choose the latter.

"How's the weather?" I brought up, trying to change the subject.

"It won't be pleasant." Lelouch admitted, sitting at the table. "Soon there's going to be a storm headed right at us. We're going to need to harvest the crops quickly before it hits."

"A pity that SOMEONE broke the mechanized cart, yesterday," viciously snarled Anya as she passed me and then sat next to Lelouch. A phantom pain struck my heart.

"Relax, Anya, that wasn't really his fault." LL stated calmly.

Anya glared at CC as she entered the dining room area with silver platters. Each main plate had a serving of pancakes, syrup, and bacon. However, she had specially prepared side dishes as well. "...Yeah. I know." Anya stated dully.

She came to me first, delivering a proper "orange coffee". On my side plate she offered a hot cross bun, and my daily orange. For Lelouch, she offered Lampropsomo (sweetbread) and the last slice of King cake. And for herself she added a religieuse (French éclair).

However, as I began to eat my food, I saw CC intentionally place Anya's plate far away from LL; at the other end of the table. On it was a simple pretzel made from leftover dough and my burnt bacon. Anya's eyes dulled as she reached over to grab her plate and took her traditional photo of her breakfast. "Recorded," she said in a drone. Her eyes flamed up and then darted to CC, who had taken Anya's seat next to LL. A vein popped over her forehead as she took the other seat next to LL.

Across the table, I bit into my orange; watching the antics unfold.

"How come Lelouch gets the last piece of cake and I get the burnt bacon?" asked Anya through gritted teeth. She was doing her best to conceal her anger, but even a tired LL noted it.

"Well you might be able to get some better food if you learnt from Lelouch how to cook, properly."

"Damn you, CC!" cursed Anya.

"Enough you two! Your bickering has gone on long enough!" shouted Lelouch. He slammed his fist on the table while his green Ceass glew. Outside, thunder and lightning rang out, followed by downpour.

Finally, the king moves. There goes my morning entertainment, I suppose.

"CC! You need to treat Anya better! She's a part of this household and she's been through just as much as either of us!"

CC rolled her eyes in disbelief at that statement. But then a brief surprise took her face as Lelouch took Anya's poor meal and replaced it with his own.

"Oh, all right. I was just having a bit of fun," admitted CC. "I'm just getting a little bored of not doing anything. I'll make it up to her by making her some pudding this evening."

Anya's face brightened. Until LL turned to face her as well. She gulped in fear.

"That goes for you too, Anya." He reprimanded. "You need to get a grip on your emotional outbreaks."

"And Jeremiah." He added, facing me across the table. I felt sweat crawl along my back. "I know you've been egging them on for benefits. If you have any future plans continuing this, stop them. Just ask me, CC, or Anya directly if you want something."

"Understood." I affirmed. Guilt took over my heart. I have forgotten to take my lord's opinion into consideration. It's something that even a retired servant should know.

"Well then, I'll be washing the dishes. Don't forget your repairs on the Airship, LL." dismissed CC, leaving for the kitchen.

"I think I'll start on the harvest early." I said afterwards. "Me too!" added Anya, getting up and following me outside.

"Such childishness." I heard Lelouch state as I the door behind us closed.

*Note: New Part will be added here eventually, explaining that "Lelouch thinks CC vs Anya is because of Anya's Geass PTSD. He's been aware of their fighting but has turned a blind eye to it, though recent events have forced his hand. He resolves to find a way to fix their relationship. CC enters the kitchen, LL challenges her to get a favor; "to ask her anything (about her past or relationship with Anya). CC accepts the duel.

Next Time: Act 2.25 A Knighting for the White King

Aside 0.40: Chessboard Basic Instructions Manual

From: LL

To: Jeremiah Gottwald

Jeremiah. After your last incident operating the chessboard, I have decided to leave you instructions on its basic operation. Keep this paper below in the bunker or not at all. If I find it anywhere else, your next five drinks are going to be spiked. And I know how much you hate that. After that, your chessboard privileges will be revoked for a month. If there are any changes, I'll send you another message.

Activation

All of the house's controls are operated by remote control chess pieces. The chessboard is also related to their functions. Simply pushing the button on the black or white king once or twice only aesthetically activates the lights of the pieces on the board. Double pressing it resets the lights. Triple pressing it activates the board.

Black vs White

White chess pieces are for daily operations and opening doors, turning on lights, etc. the Black chess pieces are for defense systems.

Green vs Red

For example, placing the white or black castle piece in the white or black graveyard changes the light and function from "open" [white=green] to "close" [black=red]. Try not to put either King in the graveyards. But if you do, reset the light by removing it and tapping twice to reset the coloring.

Piece Basic Functionality Summary

B/W King: 1 push: Activate/Deactivate the board's lights. 2 pushes: Reset the light. 3 repeated pushes on the white/black king at its original place. Press twice or more in the graveyard to deactivate the board.

- White = Energy saving mode
- Black = Emergency mode

W Castle: House Doors, Shutters, Lights, Shields
B Castle: Bunker Doors, Shutters, Lights, Shields
B Knight: Bunker Hanger
- Color: Activate/Return knightmare drones
- Place on King's/Queen's position to further control options. Ask Anya for more info.

W Knight: Menorah Hanger
- Red: Activate Menorah
- Place on King's/Queen's position to further control options. Ask me for more info.

W Bishop: Cameras, Speakers
- Place the piece in the white graveyard [Or its original place]
- Place the piece on the standard piece positions to view them. Placing it in the position of the white or black queen position will show you all cameras of the property.

B Bishop: Gefjun Disturbers, Surface-to-air missiles.
W Queen: Farming machine operations
B Queen: Automatic Sakuradite Explosives.
- Green: De-arm
- Red: Arm
- Addendum: As of my reprogramming of the board in the house, you also need to confirm explosions by pressing the button three times instead of one. Please don't blow me anything up again.

Kings, Queens, and Pawns:

Placing a piece on the King or Queen position will designate several of the pawns with functionality equivalent to that piece (*once replaced). If two pieces are on the King and Queen positions, then the pieces will be split in accordance to the positioning of the board. Furthermore, pressing the button of a piece in the King and (to a lesser extent) Queen position will activate all of its corresponding functions on the property. Double pressing it while red deactivates it for maintenance. And triple presses while red result in self-destruction.

Spacing and Tiles

Each tile represents a part of the property surrounding us or a certain system. In particular, placing a piece in the beginning position of a normal piece will activate its functions in certain designated locations, often correlating to the corresponding piece.

Canceling

If you accidentally activate one of the defense systems, turn the piece red and double press the button to cancel. That will temporarily deactivate the defense systems, but only if you do so in time.

If it continues, place the piece in the graveyard and press it any number of times. That will deactivate the system for repair. If it still fails, place both kings into the graveyard and push their buttons three times respectively. That will deactivate all of the properties systems. However, placing both kings and queens in the graveyard and with a certain code/formation will ignite the main Sakuradite storage.

In addition, the chessboards in the bunker and the Menorah, as well as my own personal set, automatically override all functions of the one in the house. And each other, given the proper code. Don't try to do it yourself, even if Anya or CC tell you how. Succeeding or failing the code may cause one of them to ignite its hidden Sakuradite bomb.

Summary

Aside from activating and deactivating the board, don't push buttons three times. Avoid using the black pieces. In particular, the black bishop and queen. Don't worry about knocking pieces over, but don't slide them. Don't assume/always assume that the board is active if the lights are on. Reset it before use. Don't disappoint me.

- LL

Addendum:

Jeremiah. You know what you did. You know what's coming. I won't say any more about that. At least you kept the paper in the bunker like I told you. So, you can read about how to fix your mistakes. After a month, that is.

However, part of the blame is still mine since I didn't properly take your abilities into consideration. As of now, pressing any button more than three times for any of the boards will also cancel any operations. In addition, the living room chess table will now require button confirmation and will have slats between each tile.

- LL

Author's Epilogue

I was going to write this as "Act 1", but I realized that the school act would be a better "Act 1" instead. Unfortunately, I haven't written it because I was occupied with Act 2 and have come up with several more ideas about the new Act 1. So, I'll insert Act 1 (and it's Sub Acts) once it's done. I've also decided to split some Acts into parts so I can release them sooner. Act 2 has two more parts that are mostly done. Expect the next one in around two weeks.

I've watched key parts of Eva. So prepare your butts for some motherfuken Eva references. {And JoJo ones} I've prepared several punches to the gut, plenty of pain and suffering, and a confusing ending. Though slightly less so because I don't have ANY budget lol.

I was also considering adding Shirley and Rolo as side characters, but Shirley wouldn't be really relevant to the plot and Rolo being alive would definitely break canon. Instead I'm going to use their characters much later for something else… something… "better".

Thanks for Reading

- Hyperior V

Retrospective Analysis

Anya's Room

A room often reflects the state of someone's mind. The three walls represent Anya's three sets of memories: Anya as a kid, Anya controlled by Marianne, and Anya as she is now. However, a room has four walls… The second wall also represents the state and chronology of the knightmares; the Gurren and Lancelot are the "highest" (height is often used in framing to mean superior) while the designs for the Mordred Frontier are higher and to the left of them, which represent Anya's aspiring dreams to make the Mordred better. The mess implies confusion.

Jeremiah and Lelouch

A reminder that Lelouch is now called "LL" (L2), though he is casually called "Lelouch" by CC and Anya in private or safe locations. However, Jeremiah keeps calling him LL out of paranoia of someone else hearing or forgetting the difference entirely. Jeremiah also acts more casually with Lelouch after having spent a few years together on the farm.

Waking up

"Every time I close my eyes… I wake up feeling so h*rny!" JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5 ED

There won't be as much symbolism in the early parts, so I decided to stick some references in. CC's waking of Lelouch up is a direct reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion's Alternate Reality (Shinji's Instrumentality) in Episode 26.

In addition, CC's and Anya's competitiveness over LL mirrors Villeta's attempt to stop Lelouch from ditching class, while also setting up a bit of lighthearted jealousy from Harem anime. I couldn't make it too interesting, because I'm not that good of a writer; so I made it so that CC and Anya were too busy last night. But I might be able to write a one-off aside of their normal fighting another time.

Holy Food

For CC's extravagant breakfast, I had her make several different holy foods. Though I'm not exactly an expert on this stuff so I had to Wikipedia this stuff.

The main dish was pancakes. Sound simple, but it actually has a symbolic relationship to the sacred tradition of "Lent". Pancakes were traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday to symbolize the end of rich eating before Lent the following day. The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer for Easter through prayer, doing penance, mortifying the flesh, repentance of sins, almsgiving, and self-denial. I was going to give the dish to just Anya, but it made more logical sense for CC to make it for everyone.

Anya's simple pretzel also is associated with Lent. Southern French monks also thought it looked like the shape of a child's arms folded in prayer. Anya's association with Lent is important for the next part of the Act. CC's Religieuse is a type of éclair common in France, made to resemble a nun, which is the meaning of its name. This just references the previous CC. Nothing really else.

Jeremiah's Hot Cross Buns were a food traditionally eaten after the Good Friday Liturgy, to break the fast required of Christians on that day. This reflects Jeremiah's one evening fast/punishment for destroying the motorized cart the previous day. Jeremiah was going to have Fanesca - a soup eaten during Holy Week in Ecuador. It contains twelve types of beans representing the Apostles and salt cod representing Jesus Christ. Then I realized that that isn't a side dish and removed it. Maybe another time.

Lelouch's Lampropsomo is a type of Tsoureki bread, flavoured with ground cherry stones, served at Easter in Greece; the name signifies the Light of Christ {Remember; Lelouch is C's "Light at my World's End}, and red-painted hard-boiled eggs are inserted as a symbol of Christ's blood; often three eggs, symbolic of the Holy Trinity. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Tsoureki bread, is a sweet holiday bread made with flour, milk, butter and sugar and commonly seasoned with orange zest (orange scrapings). Appropriate, considering that they're living on an orange farm.

The "King Cake" is associated in a number of countries with the festival of Epiphany (arrival of the three kings that visit Jesus) at the end of the Christmas season; in other places, it is associated with the pre-Lenten (fasting) celebrations of Mardi Gras/Carnival (the "fattening" celebrations). The three kings reflect CC, Anya, and Jeremiah to a small degree. The King Cake itself also references Lelouch's geass or "The Power of the King" and his own previous status as Emperor of Britannia and the World.

Anya (Part 1)

Alright. You may hate me for adding Anya to the Lelouch bowl. Especially when he's already "got" CC. I assure you that 1) LL doesn't know about it and assumes its only motherly/daughterly affection, not romantic. 2) Furthers an Interesting Dynamic with CC, and show how much CC likes LL. 3) Spoilers 4) Super Spoilers. I had a fun and easy time writing their dynamic when I gave her a role as the second slice of life/drama pillar. Maybe she and Benio will help me with Act 1.

In terms of design, appearance, and personality, I had Anya "grow up". She's just hit her adolescence, which is another of the reasons for her current personality and for her actions in Act 2.33. But she's also much more pretty. And at the legal age of 18 now. Her let down hair also reflects Marianne, but also looks more appealing me to personally. I also really didn't like her ponytails. Though I might retcon it based on flame symbolism.

Like in the end of R2, Anya wears a red bra under a blue mechanic's apron that goes in front and behind her; held up by brown straps. She also has a golden bandana (made of actual gold). Rather exposing clothing. As mentioned earlier, Anya has hit puberty; she's taller, has a bigger bust/butt, and has long hair. She looks similar to Euphemia.

Aside 0.40 Chessboard Operations Manual

The fact that the Black Queen activates the Sakuradite Explosives is a reference to the explosion-creating [Stand] from JoJo's Bizzare Adventure Part 4; [Killer Queen]. The Green verses Red represent another theme of this story; that of the geass. However maybe I should have added "Blue" and "Yellow" options? If it comes up, I'll change it. And of course, as you'll see with a lot of the details I add, the chessboard is a "Chekhov's Gun" (TV tropes).

Also, yes, I implied that Jeremiah's incompetence created an explosion that caused Lelouch to experience his second death as a codebearer.

Extra

"And why would I do that? Shouldn't the cook manage their own meal?" - Jeremiah. - The phrase reflects how CC and Lelouch abandoned the world.

Jeremiah's problems with technology is ironic, given that he's a cyborg. But also provides a small addition to his personality. It also reflects how he's not really cut out to be a leader.

The incoming storm is simple foreshadowing. It's also rather appropriate given the themes of the enemy they will be facing.

I couldn't fit this in; "Oh Lelouch. You have something on your face." Anya took her napkin and wiped the syrup off LL's face. However almost as soon as she put the napkin to his face, she blushed in confusion and retracted her hand. The screen slid across Lelouch to CC, who barely narrowed her eyes in jealousy. *CC then "one ups" Anya somehow, flashing her ring.*