Author's Gab: Changed my profile notes, by the way, if anyone's remotely interested...

The doors opened with a pneumatic sigh as the two subjects designated as Subject N. and Subject R. entered, clad in drab grey garb. The room was a circular room containing a single, large screen off to the side of the wall where it was currently the map of the world. It was the Lamperouges' operation room, the place where many a disgraceful mission had been briefed to them over the past months.

As the door closed behind them, Lelouch glanced discreetly at Nunnally, who had put on that experimental Mind's Eye portable device that allowed her to navigate the corridors of the facility with ease. It was an innovative upgrade to the old head devices, yet it seemed to be deliberately limited as only a few areas had the required cameras installed.

His sister seemed to have noticed his gaze as she turned slightly to "look" at him, and smiled minutely. Lelouch did not offer his own and instead looked away immediately.

Presently, a computerized voice issued from the large screen, making the siblings straighten in rigid attention - as they had been trained to do.

"Designation?"

Lelouch spoke up first. "Subject R. Code number 00000. All status green."

Next, Nunnally said her turn in a subdued tone, "Subject N....Code Number 00001. All status...all status green."

With an acknowledging beep the screen lit up, the map distorting into a panorama of images before reforming into a strange, bird-like symbol. The room dimmed slowly as the screen image flashed green.

"At 2200 hours, the scanners..."

"...picked up a strange signal, sir. We activated the partial cloaking defense, as mandated by protocol, but it seems that they know exactly what and where to search for." The tech's face on the commpad was nervous as he reported to the head of General Affairs.

"Distance?" the hunched man asked. He hareturned to his messy office, having already turned on a number of screens on the wall. One in particular showed an x-ray view of the turtle-shaped facility.

"About a mile and a half south, and holding, sir. So far, there has been no action taken by the Coastal Defense, nor has there been any word from the intruders themselves."

The man threw himself into his chair and propped up his feet on the desk, and looked up at the screens. They now showed images of the facility's exterior. His eyes flickered to the tactical map displaying the apparent distance before crisply saying, "Do not open communications. Will wait for Portland's orders. Until then, escalate status to yellow. Discreet. Do not alert heads from sleep."

"Yes, sir." The man's face disappeared from the datapad.

The man's hooded eyes contemplated the images thoughtfully, after which he abruptly stood to leave the office, taking the commpad with him as he did.

"Suspicion formed. If it is them, then..."

The briefing had ended, if indeed it was one at all. All that the two had heard were just the bare-bone facts that the facility that they were in was being threatened by an unknown attacker. There were no orders to sortie, no special operation for the two, only a dull silence as the screen's image returned to the world map.

Lelouch noticed his sister relax visibly, an action that he probably likewise did. For the moment, they both had likely thought, there was nothing for them to do.

But what was there to do? Lelouch wondered as he gazed at the world map on the screen. If it is indeed such a threat that they claim it to be, then what could the two of them do, as mere Devicers of a single experimental Knightmare? It wasn't as if they were able to pilot aquatic units...

The boy visibly started as he considered that possibility. But there was no way...no indication... He turned his eyes
from the screen again as he looked at Nunnally, who was "staring" at him silently.

"What is it, Nunnally?"

"Lelouch, just now, you were thinking if we would have to pilot an aquatic Knightmare, right?"

"Wha-well, not really. There is that distinct possibility, however, it is well within their power - but that's not the question...how could you tell, Nunnally?", the boy stuttered with amused resignation.

"Oh, Lelouch, for you to have to ask that question...", said Nunnally, showing him one of her rarer smiles.

The experimental "behemoth of the seas" functioned exactly like what they had been advertised to, which is to say, as a mere mobile laboratory. Its only real, possible way of defense during times when it would be theoretically threatened would be to engage its mediocre stealth systems and attempt a strategy of escape.

And it had really been just that at the beginning, but the overall Head's penchant for perfection had necessitated a few "makeovers" as the years in the project went. Per Portland's orders, the Head of General Affairs had been forced to latch several anti-air and anti-surface static defenses onto the facility's exterior, as well as provide ample crewman for the job of manning said defenses.

Which was all well and good, the man thought as he stood on top of one such defense holding a pair of binoculars to his eyes. The man scanned the horizon, the strong sea breeze whipping up his bluish bangs violently all the while.

He'd spotted the suspicious dots in the horizon with just his bare eyes, with the binoculars revealing further what they really were. Two warships, ID signal undoubtedly masked to avoid the attentions of nearby Area 12's Coastal Defense Unit. Or perhaps...they did not need to hide said signal?

"Dangerous thought."

The man brought up his commpad again as the worried face of his assistant appeared on it once more. The man was sorely tempted to light a cigarette to ward off the unfriendly cold that had wrapped around him.

"Sir! Mr. Portland doesn't seem to be responding! We've tried contacting his office for some time now, but - "

"Nothing we can do. Just leave message, we can handle it. But may need to wake crew. Unfortunate, but we must activate the Leviathan cord.", the man interjected.

The tech was apparently taken aback as he replied incredulously, "Are you sure about that sir? But won't they just follow us where we go?"

"Cannot track us at that deep of a sea-level. Main reason: we are too close to Area 12. Cannot risk exposure to the Coastal Defense if we attack. Safe and prudent way is best."

"I understand, sir. Initiating Leviathan protocol immediately." The tech was already logging off.

"Set course for nearby trench." the man stopped him. "Oh, and one other thing. Prepare one of the subs."

"Sir?" The tech did not seem to understand this as well.

"After submersion, I will head out to investigate." the man intoned as he turned off the commlink.

After some time, the facility seemed to come to life under. True to its moniker, its insides rumbled distantly ike some forgotten sea creature, causing the whole facility to shake. This would be a forceful wake-up call for the people asleep at this time, but it couldn't be helped. The facility was making haste to escape into the depths.

As he was very slowly being pulled down by the facility under him, the man cocked one final glance at the distant Area 12 seaside dotted here and there by mangrove and coconut trees, frowning slightly. After that, he descended through a nearby door, closing it shut after him with a resounding clang as the static defenses also took their turn retracting behind him.

"Attention all members. Leviathan protocol is being established. Please secure for yourselves..."

Dr. Rouche Aiyme turned in her bed, pulling her pillow over her head. Can't even get some decent sleep around here... She was oblivious to the shaking that was happening around her that had already displaced her newest goldfish from its aquarium.

"...section eighteen and section twenty-five are to be evacuated of all members in five minutes. If you have any..."

Dr. Rimes Duran sat up from sleep, fumbling around in the darkness for his experimental Mind's Eye helmet. After putting it on, he looked with confusion at the announcement streaming across the screen of the laptop near his bed. Leviathan protocol?

"...safer to be inside your quarters during the descent..."

Lelouch hugged Nunnally close to him as they lay on the cot, his sister wearing a puzzled look as the room around them shook. Unconsciously, she grasped his shoulders harder, causing him to hold her tighter in return.

"...expected depth will drastically...."

Inside his workshop, oblivious to his assitants panicking around him as they secured several important equipment, Dr. Roderick Valdez hugged a metal cylinder and slept.

The facility, like a gigantic sea-turtle returning into the sea, descended as slow as its bulk could allow. Gradually, the structure receded into the water, countless bubbles forming and foaming as it did. With a screeching sound, the last of its exterior disappeared into the crashing waves, leaving no indication whatsoever of the gigantic entity that had once existed there. The screeching sounds like a whale crying a sad song soon receded as well, until the only sounds to be heard were the sound of the waves crashing into each other under the vast Pacific Sky.

The Innocence Breaker, Charles Augustus Portland, grunted as the computer voice over the intercom ended its announcement. For almost two days the Breaker had spent endless hours sitting at his desk, combing the world wide web on his terminal. He had ignored all the messages sent to him by the staff, from the usual daily reports to the emergency announcement just now.

Yes, it was an emergency, as Portland had already absorbed the information, but he was fairly confident his second-in-command in terms of facility protection would be able to
take care of it. The man had a penchant for independent action anyway, and he was not proven wrong when he heard the intercom announce the Leviathan protocol.

Yet what had caused this apparent disinterest the Breaker had acquired towards the administration of the secret Lamperouge Project? Surely such a man famous for his methodical methods would not sink into carelessness now, when the fruits of his labor had already ripened? When month after month, the special action reports would stream in, describing in voluminous detail the massacres the two subjects had executed under his command? Secretly now, all around the world, the military leaders were wondering at this curious setback in their outlying outposts: who could have caused such devastation in a short period of time, without even a chance for retaliation? Portland had gloated over this fact, that the weapons he had created were every much as efficient as he'd envisioned them to be, able to ambush a heavily guarded Britannian convoy passing through the mountains effortlessly, or wreak havoc on a European Union satellite camp. It had whetted his pride to see the intercepted reports sent to him, of confused survivors and irate generals making sense of the information to be had. Doubtless, next time, Portland would have to be more careful n the planning, as although he would be safely insulated in an emergency of failure, he did not want his weapons to fall freely into another's hands.

And therein lay the problem, the issue that Portland was now mulling over in his mind. So far he himself had been planning operations spread over the entirety of the world, targeting remote, outlying places belonging to the Britannian Empire, the European Union or the Chinese Federation. The unaffiliated countries were even more of a bonus, allowing the subjects to strike with impunity. Yet in spite of these successes, the man was not satisfied, for the attacks, after all were merely his own lust for breaking made manifest - both of the world and of the two subjects. In truth, he was supposed to accept directives from the projects' secret patrons, entities he had not heard from since the project's start.

His empty inbox spoke volumes of its patrons' disinterest in this project, a fact that Portland had noted some time ago. But he still clung to that hope of receiving that one solitary letter, explaining that his role was now over, that he could start fishing for a new project and leave the siblings in capable hands; or at least a message that meted proper orders for once. It was not to say that he had grown bored, no, he was merely impatient, for the Breaker was not known to tolerate inactivity.

Abruptly, the gears clicked into place, his eyes widening as he stared at the comm device on the wall. I see...so that's maybe...And with that, seemingly coming to a single, terrible conclusion in his mind, the Innocence Breaker chuckled to his heart's content.

So then I'm...but if that's the case...

After coming down from his laughter the man exited his web browser and typed in a new message, to be transmitted to the heads' terminals when they would wake the next day inside a facility deep under the blue Pacific Sea. The man had on a perpetual smile as his thick fingers tapped on the keyboard, eyes gleaming like a sated predator.

(Extracted from an anonymous web chatlog transcript)
***User "Puddinlovr" has entered the chat.***
[PuddINlovr]: hello...
[PuddINlovr]: ds thing on?
[PuddINlovr]: where r the usual folsk?
[PuddINlovr]: folks^
***User "WS4life" has entered the chat.***
[PuddINlovr]: k, hello
[PuddINlovr]: nice 2 meet u
[PuddINlovr]: havent seen u here b4
[PuddINlovr]: u new?
[WS4life]: Yes.
[PuddINlovr]: howd u kno about ds chatrum?
[WS4life]: I was once part of the "crowd".
[PuddINlovr]: from d institute?
[PuddINlovr]: wow, who myt u b?
[PuddINlovr]: o w8, maybe new graduate?
[WS4life]: No, I graduated sometime during the development of the third-generation Knightmare frames.
[PuddINlovr]: ffffffffff
[PuddINlovr]: dang we batchm8s
[PuddINlovr]: if so, mite h8 u
[PuddINlovr]: h8 a few peepz from back then
[WS4life]: Wait, you're telling me you're from that batch too? I also hate a few people from there.
[PuddINlovr]: lololol mayb its me
[WS4life]: Maybe.
[WS4life]: There are some people I still have the urge to murder for blatantly copying my designs back then.
[PuddINlovr]: ...
[PuddINlovr]: so anyway
[PuddINlovr]: u read the rules?
[WS4life]: Yep. No insults, no flames, just talk. No delvininto issues about the country or the state of the world. Pure relaxing chat.
[PuddINlovr]: k
[PuddINlovr]: and no trolling 2
[PuddINlovr]: we h8 dat here
[PuddINlovr]: almost time 4 dem to come
[PuddINlovr]: ill introduce u
[WS4life]: No need, I can do it myself.
[PuddINlovr]: u sure?
[PuddINlovr]: i can introduce rly well
[WS4life]: Not from what I'm reading, but thanks for the offer anyway. I like to do stuff on my own.
[PuddINlovr]: oooo mr. independent
[PuddINlovr]: oh wait
[PuddINlovr]: mayb mssss??
[WS4life]: I don't want to have to answer that right now.
[PuddINlovr]: k, but its cool if ur a miss, we hav lots of misses come too
[WS4life]: Is that so?
***User "Ganymeluv" has entered the chat.***
[PuddINlovr]: ya
[PuddINlovr]: oh here's 1 in particular
***User "wingsofcc" has entered the chat.***
[Ganymeluv]: hello...
[PuddINlovr]: hey
[PuddINlovr]: got a new guy/gal
[wingsofcc]: Hi everyone!!!! ^___^
[Ganymeluv]: o really? is it one of the crowd?
[wingsofcc]: Hi hi hi whoever u are...welcome!:)
[WS4life]: Hello there.
[PuddINlovr]: claims to be my crowd
[Ganymeluv]: interesting
[wingsofcc]: let's save proper introductions for later shalwe? :D
[WS4life]: Yeah, that's fine with me.
[PuddINlovr]: yeah
[Ganymeluv]: so polite, new guy
[Ganymeluv]: wait
[PuddINlovr]: lol
[Ganymeluv]: guy???
[PuddINlovr]: its wat i was askin
[wingsofcc]: =D
***User "proflazer" has entered the chat.***
[PuddINlovr]: well find out eventually
[PuddINlovr]: lol
[WS4life]: Maybe.
***User "albinox241" has entered the chat.***
***User "cat4fite" has entered the chat.***
(end excerpt)