Prologue Volume: Chapter 1
45 Sensei
. . . . Cache cleared. Returning to level 1. Forty-five sat up greeted by a dark room. There had been some sort of interaction she had during her routine cache clearing which had brought her here though the details were unusually foggy. The T-doll quickly closed her eyes again as though in thought, she checked a few memories finding nothing of note.
A few words appeared in her cloud. "We long for the seven wailings. We bear the koan of Jericho." A mysterious phrase. "Huh, let's save this in case I'll need this later-" The T-doll for now did not have the time to look through her cloud for now. She had to gather some intel on her circumstance.
Before her was a desk which she found herself in a rather plain office chair. A few papers were laid on the desk neatly stacked. Forty-five slid the top paper off and looked over it.
The papers probably will not give much detail. Yet, every little bit of info she could get her hands on will help. Having most languages within her cloud, her eyes quickly deciphered the language.
Which was Japanese, a few seconds of scanning later she put it back. Nothing of note, an invoice for some expenses. Getting to her feet she sat up and pushed the seat back into place. "Now how did I end up in Japan? What a mystery-" Forty-five checked over her belongings.
Fortunately she had her SMG on her waist. She grasped the gun and flipped the safety off before setting it back on her belt. Counting her magazines there were more than enough between all of her pouches. In addition there were plenty of smoke grenades as well. Someone even left her a credit card.
If whoever had brought her here had malicious intentions, they could have disarmed her. Forty still had her hand ready to take up the SMG within a second. She took one more glance around the office, the silence broken by the elevator to the room's engine humming to live. Forty-five strode to the elevator door.
There seemed to be a connectable port on the thing. Did these people have no mind for security- indeed there were dozens she could connect to from here.
After a moment passed the door opened and a white dressed lady stood in the elevator ready to get off when she paused at the sight of an unknown visitor.
"Boo-" 45 said, though the lady in the elevator did not look amused as they got off. Now off of the elevator the lady in a white uniform with a halo visually scrutinized the T-doll. "Don't you know it is impolite to stare?" The T-doll said with lightly feigned offense.
Her appearance was not the cleanest she knew. Civilians unfamiliar often had two faces to her tattered form. From Contempt for those who despised T-doll for their existence and the look betraying the elf with a halo. One which was of confusion or apprehension.
The owner of this office had not expected any guests awaiting her. There was the thought lingering on her mind. The president had arranged for an adult to arrive and this lady looked rough. Someone who was not of Kivotos lacking a halo.
The lady shifted her glasses up. "Forty-five? Does that mean anything to you?" The T-doll shifted in place an enigmatic smile on her facade. She slightly shook her head. Forty-five, was still hesitant to the elf's possible motives.
Then Forty-five walked over to the entrance and flicked the room's lights on. "Perhaps, though, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?" Under her breath she muttered. "Scheiße, I'm talking to an elf with a halo in Japanese." One second ago she was in 404's base doing her routine and now she is in some foreign land left in complete darkness to the details of her arrival here.
Rin leaned in at the second sentence. "Did you say something else?" Forty-five shook her head. Then walked back to the desk she had found herself at first. The elf followed behind and stood up straight.
Sharp of hearing, UMP45 made a mental note of the characteristic, along with the pistol she spotted on the elf's belt. Forty-five did get the sense this elf was used to catching chatter. A lot in the field of administration always did try to catch scheming behind their backs.
The Elf didn't get a sense of hostility from Forty-five at least. Though she did feel this lady was a bit of a sneak. Yet, if this was the adult who the president had sent she she has work with her.
Putting a hand down at the desk the sharp-eyed girl before Forty-five spoke. "I'm Nanagami Rin. An officer from the General Student Council." She took a breath and again evaluated Forty-five, "Can you now tell me who you are?" Perhaps this gesture will break the ice between the two of them.
None of the info given meant anything to Forty-five. Yet, Nanagami had revealed her hand, it was only polite to at least give her name in return. A small detail to get more information out of this officer.
"Hmm-" Forty-five nodded, "I suppose so. I am UMP45." The elf, Rin, visibly seemed to relax. Ah, a reaction the T-doll often saw in battle. There must have been an ongoing crisis if her name carried such a positive reaction. Rin pulled her hand back and stepped away from the desk and walked into the center of the room.
She adjusted her glasses and turned to Forty-five. "You must be the adult the Student Council President sent for." Her tone had shifted from being interrogative to deferring. Such a shift in a moment the T-doll could not help but notice. "I suppose you must be confused as to why you are here?"
UMP45 had gotten used to the reaction. The look of a salvation she often encountered when 404 arrived to bail G&K and forces out of hopeless battles. The T-doll potentially could get whatever answers she wanted.
In the other mind Rin inferred, which was all she could do now. Forty-five must have gotten no details of Kivotos or issues they were facing. In this scenario, being an open book to allay this adult's suspension or confusion could only help. Rin mentally prepared for a barrage of questioning.
Confused, an apt word. UMP45 leaned over and put a hand down at the desk as well. "I suppose you won't mind giving me some answers then Nanagami?" The officer nodded. With affirmation given the T-doll sought to uncover some details to this mysterious situation she had found herself in.
Firstly the question bounced around her mind, how? 404 was an elite, if informally so, group of T-dolls who had many reasons to not let her go so easily; Nine and Four-one-six especially.
There was the obvious question. "Could you give me some details on my arrival here?" Hearing some details about how she got smuggled away from under 404's nose could be interesting. Though as Rin glanced to her side and back to the T-doll she suspected her answers were out of reach for now.
Rin answered, "I do not know how the president got you here. I was only entering my office and didn't expect to see you here." Forty-five hummed and put a hand on the paperwork. There were no tells Rin was lying.
Sounds like this president left Rin as much in the dark as Forty-five was. Perhaps she'd find answers at this President's office or residence. Though Rin did imply the room was her work space.
Forty-five pulled her hand back from the desk, she queried. "So, this is your seat then?" Rin nodded. "Ah, so you have a bit of paperwork to deal with then." The bit was an understatement: the desk was absolutely covered in stacks of papers needed to be dealt with. Forty-five felt a bit bad for Rin.
404 was a group that did not have a paper trail attached to it because of its nature. Though working with G&K she saw how much paperwork ran down, not only humans. Even T-dolls got run down by bureaucracy.
Though with a slight shake of head Rin was not going to sit down. "That is not the concern, Miss Forty-five. I didn't expect the president's choice to look so-" She stopped mid-sentence. "No, that's not the pressing matter." Battered, run-down, the nonchalant tone despite her looks so light and unbothered.
Forty-five eyed Rin. "No, please go ahead and finish your thought." Rin walked to her desk. Appearing a bit reluctant to finish her slip. Obviously Nanagami felt her comment could be out of line. And yet, only hiding her thoughts now will leave room for more potential misunderstanding.
Turning to face the T-doll she spoke, "I did not expect someone who looked so scarred." Rin fiddled with the cuff of her sleeve. "Forgive my comment." She earnestly hoped her thoughts did not offend Forty-five.
Forty-five shook her head. As long as it wasn't discrimination. There was no offense taken in the observation from the T-doll. "It is forgiven- though I won't give you the story on these. The story is a bit too long." Rin nodded. She'd not even begin to explain if pressed on the matter. In the end, until this body, with the exposed wires and metal, was discarded she will keep getting comments like this.
And Forty-five will keep brushing them aside all the same.
Moving the questioning along the T-doll continued. "There was another concern you mentioned- What was it~" Rin nodded now was the opportunity to present the thought she originally intended to. Her shoulders recently have been burdened as a result of a missing person.
Yes the matter that had brought this adult here and had been brewing disaster. "The General Student Council President has disappeared." Ah, not a big surprise those who get close to 404 do tend to disappear.
One less lead for Forty-five, not a complete loss though. The T-doll did begin to get clarity. If she got time to search her cloud she'd likely find data overwritten or partially deleted in the cache clearing. "Give me details on this student council president." Rin nodded, taking a breath.
"I see, the president did not give you any details either." Rin straightened out her jacket. Likewise UMP45 also got comfortable leaning against a wall. "The Student Council president oversees the entirety of Kivotos." A point to present the scope of the issue. She needed to convey this was not an issue affecting only a local school or small area.
Forty-five took a second to process the information. "A student council has oversight of this entire area?" There was a bit of skepticism in her tone and a slight head tilt. Rin had hit the nail on the head. Forty-five really knew nothing of Kivotos. Leaving the President's intent even muddier to the vice-officer.
"Kivotos is the Academy City. There are thousands of academies and your assumption is correct. Though to clarify we the Student Council do not administer each academy, instead our efforts are in ensuring the city has running power, transportation, and we aid in arbitration between academies." Rin took a breath.
A recent development had broken this system, and left her, as the vice officer straining only to delay complete disaster until Forty-five's arrival. "Without the president present we do not have the authority required to keep Kivoto's infrastructure in operation." A catastrophic oversight in the chain of command.
She thought first of the movement of goods. The operation of the train system had failed which had a ripple effect. The transportation provided a cheap method of moving not only people. Freight which operated power plants were on lines which ceased functioning without commands coming from the president. Her position because one futilely bandaging a dam in total collapse.
Not only were people stranded without their public commute, freight was now being pushed onto roads not designed to handle the additional traffic. Which compounded the issue of trying to maneuver the Student Council's thin policing forces to combat the rise of theft. Rin pushed aside the thoughts.
Rin had paused the air silent. "You are the one the president said has the answer to our current crisis." Forty-five had agreed to this. The exact details of what happened in level 2 eluded the T-doll.
She had to process the details which were conveyed to her now. She was unsure if she could take all of this at face value. Though, were Rin lying about all of this: the masquerade will quickly unravel if she were making this up.
"Hmm, can you give me details on our current position?" Forty-five had gathered what information she wanted from Rin to illuminate her current status. Provided the information was valid this was a good start to start her investigation from. Now she merely tested if Rin was truthfully in a crisis. A poke like this to possibly tug at a weaved lie.
Rin smiled slightly. "So you will help us." Forty-five nodded. There were no benefits to shunning them at the moment. And so Rin got straight to the situation report. "Very well, I will give you a brief overview before we head down, though-" Rin emphasized the though. "The situation has been rapidly developing. I may not have the recent news."
Rin spoke professionally, pushing Forty-five to believe Rin was not making things up. Now she had to be attentive to this sitrep Rin provided. She moved from her position being anything but professional in the face of matters. Rin noted the slight shift in Forty-five, her word seemed to have gotten through to her.
UMP45 got away from the wall and the air was still for a moment. "Sanctum Tower, the administrative center for Kivotos has an object that has been placed at the president's request." Rin, hummed. "A helicopter should be able to get us there quickly." UMP45 nodded, a helicopter they'd move fast enough.
This assumed the situation hadn't changed since the last report Rin had received. "Do you have any other topics you want to ask about Miss Forty-five before we leave?" There were many questions the T-doll could still ask. The object though was the most significant thing she could seek answers from.
The questions had to wait for now. There was a time limit the T-doll was running on Rin did not know of. "No, let's get a move on Nanagami." If there were no other significant topics to talk about they had to go before anything else could potentially go wrong, Murphy's law.
UMP45 started toward the elevator door. Rin cleared her throat. There was one more thing she had to inform Miss Forty-five of before they departed this office. Likely, there are representatives from the other major academies present on the bottom floor and Forty-five needed this info they met with them.
The council officer spoke. "There's one more thing I must bring up." Forty-five paused and turned back to Rin. "The student council president also left you with the position of teacher." What? Well at least this officer had given the information in order of importance. This president sounded like a silly girl.
UMP45 paused, "For all of the academies in this city-" Rin nodded. UMP45 could only wonder what the president was thinking. What could she teach? How to kill, perhaps how to hide? "I see, is there anything else you want to say Nanagami?" Rin paused.
Forty-five kept thinking. Even if she had dummy-links ready and could manage them to a high level there is no way she could teach at a thousand academies or schools at the same time. Let alone manage lesson plans for each student. Even if she attempted this her neural cloud likely couldn't within the strain for memory storage and usage.
"Yes," Rin couldn't get a read on this individual, who kept such an unreadable expression. "the president also made you the advisor to Schale, an extrajudicial club with authority over all of the academies. Meant to help resolve issues the academies are not able to address themselves."
Well the position changed everything. If this president effectively gave her free reign over the city Forty-five, could understand how she could agree to come here if in a slightly reduced capacity for logic. Though she still had questions. "You will essentially be a figure above the Student Council to help us through this current crisis and any future occurrences as well." So she was to be steward for this city and keep an eye out for anything which will destroy or threaten the peace of this academy city.
UMP45 mused, what a change of pace. From leader of a group of ragtag mercenaries to teacher and an authority above power to a government. "I am sure you will need some time to adjust to the position from your prior role. If you need any help you can turn to me." Rin spoke alongside the footsteps of the two walking to the elevator.
Forty-five hummed. "I will be fine." Rin almost froze from the lack of emotion which came from those words. "I've dealt with situations worse than this." Was the officer this easy to read? "So you can wipe away your concerned expression." Perhaps- things will be fine. Rin put some trust in Forty-five's words.
Adults from outside Kivotos were mysteries to the students and right now the vice-officer had one thought on her mind. This one was slightly scary. She is certain though the President will have picked the right one for the job. "Hey, Nanagami." Rin turned to Forty-five as the elevator started down. "Is it alright if I call you Rin?"
Rin paused as the sight of Kivoto's came into view from the elevator. "Yes. You can." A bit of confusion came to her. Though she felt a bit more at ease, respite from the issues at hand.
Love and hope comes to Kivotos. I have not reviewed GFL's story too closely recently. If there are any issues regarding T-doll details, let me know.