-A Ghost in the Mist-

London was so much more than Ren imagined. After they had left their apartment they first caught the late afternoon tour bus that visited the major landmarks. Ren's mother had made it her great ambition of making sure that they got off the tour bus to take pictures at each stop. Ren's father also didn't hold back, buying the cliché and tacky souvenirs at each tourist shop they stopped by and reserved dinner at one of the most expensive restaurants in downtown. Ren wanted to hide his face in embarrassment, he didn't want to look like a tacky tourist, but most of all Ren was still thrown off at his parent's new spending habits. First it was the loft and all its grandeur, and now his dad was not only buying souvenirs that would probably fall apart within months but also a dinner for three at a super fancy restaurant. Dinner was pretty eventful in its own right. They ate a stereotypical French style restaurant that not only served good food in good portions but also knew how to empty a man's wallet in the course of two hours. Ren's father insisted and knew already what Ren was about to say as they were leaving the restaurant.

"You only live once, or I believe that's what your generation is all crazy about." he said with a grin.

"That doesn't mean I'm crazy about it, but you're right about tonight." said Ren.

"You're not usually the conservative type you know? I'd call you liberal in opinion but ever since we got to London you've been acting differently." said Ren's mother.

"It's a lot to take in. You know I was happy in New York in that shabby apartment with our life there. I know you and Dad want to bask in your success and you have every right to. I guess I just have to get used to it." said Ren.

"Hey its partly your success too to bask in. So stop being the family budget officer and just enjoy. I bet you enjoyed the five course meal we just had." said Ren's father.

"Don't remind me." said Ren grimacing at his stomach. Even though he knew he shouldn't have eaten everything on his plate, his body moved on its own accord betraying his thoughts entirely.

"At least that restaurant knows it has one mighty satisfied customer." laughed Ren's mother poking Ren's belly.

"Mooom." Ren drawled out again.

"So where to next? Cause I really wanna head home soon." said Ren.

"We have one final stop to make…" said Ren's father as he opened the door for Ren's mother then for Ren before he got in the car and started the engine.

-A Ghost in the Mist-

"The British Library?!" asked Ren as he stood at the bottom of the steps leading to its entrance.

"Yep, the British Library!" said Ren's mother taking another picture of Ren looking star struck at the classically designed building.

"Honey, could you take my picture? I want to go for a dramatic pose with Ren." said Ren's mother.

"Sure." Ren's father laughed and took the camera from her.

Ren snapped out of his gaze of adoration right after the camera flashed and took a picture of Ren's mother making a Shakespearian pose next to Ren.

"Why don't we go in? There's no point standing out here all night." said Ren's father.

"Alright, come on honey. I know looking at it is all good but better to go in."

"Ok." was all Ren said. The awe that Ren had felt before had died down but now was replaced with a hint of anxiety.

"Hey, I thought the library closes at nine right? It's almost midnight." Ren said checking his watch.

"Honey, I'm a world famous author and your dad is a prestigious professor of literature and composition. I'm sure the library's just begging for us to come after hours." joked Ren's mother.

The doors of the library opened to reveal the main atrium decorated with ornate gold molding designed with patterned gold leaves. After a quick walk through a short hall way, the main library came into view. Book shelves surrounded the family as Ren looked up at the domed ceiling. The building was deserted, with only a few desk lamps on in random corners and one on the main desk in the center of the room. The books, shrouded in darkness, were the only observers to the family of three as they walked through the shelves taking note of their surroundings.

Ren was starting to feel his chest tighten again, any trace of his previous elation was slowly disappearing with every step he took deeper into the library.

What's going on? This is freaking nuts! I've never been this anxious before. Get it together Ren, you wanted to come here remember? They soon arrived near a set of stairs that spiraled into the upper levels.

"Why is it so dark? I thought there would at least be some people here." said Ren. But when he turned around he was all alone.

"Mom? Dad?" No response. Ren turned to his left and to his right. He could barely make out the set of stairs that led to the second floor and another that led to the fourth floor. He checked behind him, the way they came from was no longer there. Instead there was now a wall where the path they were walking on once was in view.

"Seriously guys, this is the worst joke ever!" Ren was beyond irritated now, but at the same time Ren couldn't help feel a little afraid. Ren was worried about his mother and father but at the same time he had a feeling that they were involved in some way with his current predicament. He'd have to find them and ask them himself. Ren slowly took a step forward and tried to peer through the darkness when he felt something solid at his feet. It was a box tied with a red ribbon and a label that said "Happy Birthday Ren Ichihara."

Ren was curious but cautious as he opened the box. Inside was a 9mm hand gun and a couple ammunition attachments. Ren picked up the gun, he had never used a gun before but somehow he felt very well acquainted with it.

What do I need a gun for? This is seriously starting to creep me out.

In an instant the lights came on and Ren found himself no longer in the rustic open space of the library and instead in a metallic hallway. Suddenly, some of the wall panels opened and out came robot android armed with machine guns and began firing at Ren. Ren thought he was a goner, but once again his body was moving on its own. He had the gun out the moment the robots emerged from the wall and he was already firing away. He rounded a couple of androids before his gun ran out of ammo. He reached in his pockets to reload but quickly dodge rolled out of a hail of bullets. He reloaded and unloaded two more ammo clips before all of the androids were down.

What the fuck is happening to me?! How is my body moving on its own like that?! First things first, gotta find a way out of here! I can ask questions if and when I make it out alive.

Ren walked over to one of the fallen bots and picked up some ammo before he reloaded his gun. Ren walked cautiously down the hallway, his steps echoing loudly as he moved. A loud beeping noise soon filled the hall and had Ren back in a defense stance. The bottom of the walls lifted up slightly and out came little rover bots that had explosives attached. One bot got close to Ren and started beeping erratically.

"That doesn't sound so good." Ren said before dodging the bot and avoiding its explosion. Ren took out his gun again and aimed for the bot next to him and pulled the trigger. The bot exploded, but what Ren hadn't anticipated were the bots next to the bot he was aiming for. The result was a chain reaction causing a compounding explosion throwing Ren some distance away. Ren hit the wall hard before falling like a rag doll to the ground below. Ren coughed up some blood as he tried to get up. The walls next to him were opening up and more bots were coming out.

"Didn't see… that…coming…" Ren got up as quickly as he could. He took out his gun again and aimed for a trio of bots in the back of the group. They exploded without incident and Ren quickly again dodged the bots in front of him before they exploded. Ren saw more bots coming out from the walls in front of him.
"Gee, there's no end to them is there… I might have to make a run for it." Ren knew there was a lag of a couple seconds before each bot exploded. If he could time it right he could get through the line ahead of him. Ren was getting physically fatigued, he wasn't sure if he had it in him to run any more. But he had to if he wanted to escape and find his parents. He took a second to breathe and prepare as the bots began to creep up on him. With a burst of energy he ran into a sprint, the bots exploded in succession behind him throwing him ironically forward only helping Ren. After the final bot exploded Ren had the wind knocked out of him again but this time from behind. He would have face panned if it wasn't for his newly noticed reflexes forcing his body to do a forward handstand flip. Ren landed on his feet somehow and wobbled a bit before he regained his balance.

"I've just about had it…Seriously I need to frickin' find someone, anyone...I just want to get out of here."

What scared Ren even more than the barrage of robots, the gun in his hand, the explosions, the intensity of it all was that even though he wanted out, a part of him wanted in. A part of him craved the excitement, the mystery, to embrace the danger of the moment. His heart was racing, banging in his ears, his palms were sweaty and clammy as he struggled to walk. The hallways that seemed to go on forever soon split into two corridors.

"So a left and a right huh? Wonder which way I should go?" Ren thought more of the lines of luck instead of any strategy. Both hallways looked the same in appearance, and he suspected that both hallways were probably rigged with more traps or worse. Ren felt his body being tugged to the hallway to the left, that similar instinct from earlier was kicking in again. Ren walked into the left hallway, he was able to pick up more ammo from the destroyed bot parts and keep his gun at the ready. He scanned the hallway carefully waiting for a new wave of bots or worse. And as if to confirm his suspicions the hallway began to shift again, this time instead of robots coming out of the walls it was a row of swinging blades that alternated their movements in succession.

"Oh you've got to kidding me!" Ren exclaimed as he dodged the first row of blades that came from his behind. He didn't see the blades that came from the left wall until it was too late. He was able to dodge but not before the blade grazed his left leg, the swish of the blade and the little splash of red on his right leg confirmed the cut. Ren hissed in pain, but didn't have the time or the peace to check out his injury at the moment. His focus now was trying to find a path through the swinging blades. He worked on his timing and keeping track of the rhythm that the blades swung. He dodged another two rows and jumped an additional before he came across two blades that were moving impossibly fast. He knew there was no way any normal person could jump through that and survive, something was gonna end up getting cut off and Ren preferred having all of his body parts. Ren looked at the blade a little closely. They were all coming out of the walls, but each of the slower blades never fully made it out of the walls, the blades that were moving the fastest were completely exposed and Ren was able to spot a hinge on each one.

"Maybe I can shoot them off. Hopefully that'll stop em'" He took out his gun and aimed for the first blade, he fired a couple of misses before he finally hit the hinge. The blade quite literally fell out of the wall, but the blades in front began moving even faster. Ren noticed the more blades he was able to stop the next set became faster and more erratic in timing. He fired more misses, he knew that he had to conserve ammo, he had a feeling that this whole mess was far from over. He took a breath as he aimed and steadied his body and his mind. He pulled the trigger and stopped another set of blades, but he saw the walls ahead of him opened up and out emerged human sized androids equipped with fully automatic rifles. Ren froze, he seriously didn't know what was going to end up killing him first whether it was going to be those robots or the swinging blades in front of him. He was convinced that death had come for him tonight, as it did in many of the books he coveted from Edgar Allan Poe. The bots however didn't raise their guns yet, they were still but they were active. Ren got the feeling that they were watching and waiting. As soon as he shot the last hinge, they would raise their guns and open fire. He was starting to run out of ideas, even if he could pull of a succession of head shots there was a high chance that one of the bots would kill him with an automatic rifle. He had to focus, if he wanted to live and tell off his parents for playing the worst practical joke ever if he could still call it that. People say that when you're about to die or when you feel you're about to that your life as it was flashes before your eyes, every single moment you savored and every moment that you loved as well as the not so treasured moments. It was just the opposite for Ren, the life he felt that he would've had flashed before his eyes; becoming a successful author, having a life of his own, finding the man of his dreams, starting a family. He was starting to give up hope as he searched for who knows what that can get him out of this death trap. A faint red blinking distracted Ren from his thoughts. At the back wall at the end of the hallway he spotted a single red blinking button. Ren thought that his prayers were answered maybe that button could stop the bots or the blades or hopefully both, but what if the button activated something else more horrifying. Ren was willing to risk it at this point, and his inner instincts didn't seem to object as he raised his gun and took aim. It was gonna be one hell of a shot, he would have to fire through swinging blades and even after that the button was all the way at the end of the hallway. He once again took another steadying breath and aimed. He pulled the trigger and the gun fired. The bullet traveled through the blades, miraculously making it through the swinging metal, and hit the button dead on. The blades stopped, just as Ren predicted, and the bots began to activate, but what Ren didn't predict was one of the panels of the side wall opening revealing a hidden path. Ren had to make a run for it, it wouldn't be too long before a barrage of bullets would be coming his way. He dashed into the passage way, it was more narrow than the hallway that he was previously in but the appearance was the same. The path had a lot of sharp corners and turns, Ren was having a hard time keeping up with the dizzying set up. The bots were hot on his tail and were firing away. Ren was thankful that there were a lot of turns, he was narrowly able to dodge the bullets that came his way. The path soon widened again and after a final turn Ren entered a solid metal room and at the back of the room were a row of bots with guns held at the ready. He quickly searched the room for something, anything to take down the bots. He could still hear the horde of bots coming from behind. He felt a draft and turned his attention to the top back wall and he saw a vent. The walls of the hallways before were completely solid and save for the areas where the bots came out from but they were just little enclosed spaces to store things. This was the first time that he saw any evidence of ventilation. Ren needed to find a way to make it up, but there wasn't anything to stand on and he was way too short to even jump for it. He had a quick idea, his inner instinct again, he took out his gun and shot a couple of the bots below the vent. As those bots began to fall Ren took a quick jump stepping onto a bots head and quickly climbing the falling bots like a flight of stairs before he took a final jump and reached the vent. He quickly kicked it in and made it into the vent before any of the bots and their bullets were able to reach him. He took a sigh of relief as he heard the bots trying to jump up the wall to reach the vent but the sound of crushing metal told him that they weren't making it up anytime soon. He cautiously crawled through the vent. He felt a breeze up ahead and saw light peeking through one of the grates up ahead. What he saw as he peered below the grate was something he never would have imagined to be in a library. It was some sort of command center, levels upon levels of computer array and people typing away at their computers, talking on the phone, even some conducting meetings in an office made entirely of glass. This was no ordinary office environment. The logo that appeared on the big monitor was something that Ren had never seen before, and the people below resembled MI6 by their mannerisms and the stereotypical suites that they were wearing. Ren moved closer to get a better look but when he did he felt the vent below him shift and began to twist forward. Ren tried to steady the vent, he couldn't have been that heavy he thought, but that made the vent shift more until it broke sending Ren free falling down below. He landed on his side and gave a groan of pain. The entire area quieted down and all the focus was on Ren as he took in surroundings. He was aware of the attention that was directed on him but he was too exhausted to care.

"Hi honey! Glad to see you could make it!" Up above on a nearby balcony stood Ren's parents: Yuko and Clow looking pleased and proud and of course relieved. Ren gave a glare that was mixed with relief, which on a normal day would have been funny to Ren but he had been through some serious shit. A pair of red heels appeared in front of Ren's face. He looked up to see a woman in a clad red suite adorned with small butterflies and complimented with a short black dress. She had black hair and a pair of brown eyes that were focused on his own. Ren got up and stood as straight as he could as the woman examined him. He didn't feel intimidated at all when she returned to look into his face with a look of intensity as if she was trying to find something in his eyes, instead Ren gave a glare of his own trying in his condition to not back down. After what seemed to be an eternity, the woman gave a large grin and patted Ren on the shoulder, a complete 180 of her initial attitude.

"Congratulations on passing the exam. Welcome to M.I.S.T. The name's Ada Wong."

Master

Intelligence

Superior

Transcendence unit

(A/N: Finally, prologue's over. Logan and Hesh will be making their appearance in the main story. Look forward to it!)