Prologue Volume: Chapter 2
Schale Tower
A/N: Update; Cross-posted to AO3 due to FF instability.
This is a view green zone residents didn't even get, UMP45 committed the pristine sight to memory. Her task is to protect this, if only the rest of 404 were here. The elevator shaft they descended down blocked the sun at regular intervals. Rin took a breath of the cool air. "What do you think, Forty-five Sensei?"
The elevator continued whirring down the shaft, Forty-five shifted about in place. "My opinion? The view is great. I won't be given the full tour will I?" Rin's face hardened, a frown.
"No," Rin was going to have to mind, Sensei wasn't she, "perhaps once the current issues have been dealt with. You can sightsee in Kivotos on your own time." She didn't have time on her hands to deal with an in-depth tour. The Student Council will have their hands tied with work. Reversing damage the President's abstinence has caused will take time. Once Forty-five reached and restored control of the Sanctum Tower. The teacher will be on her own until the issues are fixed.
The elevator came to a halt. Regrettable, once things slow Rin will have to take the chance to reach out to Forty-five. The two exited the elevator. They found themselves in front of a group of students which had been waiting in the reception. How long they had been waiting, no one knows. The group ran up to Rin.
A girl with a mechanical looking halo and twin tails stepped forwards, pressing past the rest of the group. "Acting president, what took so long! We have been waiting since you went up. Where is the real president at?" A bit of frustration in her voice, she noticed the short haloless Forty-five by Rin's side. "Huh, who is that with you?"
Rin shifted her glasses and UMP45 held her hand up in a stop gesture. This got the group to then quiet down for the moment. She had to come to manage these girls. So now was Forty-five's chance to assess how they reacted to her. "UMP45, I am an adult and the one the president left to fix things around here. Heh, I should tell you the president is currently MIA." Twin-tails paused at the news.
"MIA?" The one with the mechanical halo asked for clarification. So these kids will not know any military terminology. Noted, if she wanted to speak in coded language. The T-doll could then hide things in plain sight from them, Forty-five nodded a light smile.
"Yes, the president is missing in action." The mechanical halo student took a second to process this. Meanwhile Rin lightly tapped the T-doll on the shoulder. Getting Forty-five's attention.
The acting president looked at the group of students which had gathered. "I should clarify who this group is." She gestured across them, the mechanical halo student, one with big black wings. One with a white wing in their hair. At the end of the line there's one with sharp ears like Rin's. "These are all representatives sent from the major academies." She frowned slightly, a bit of distaste in her voice.
Rin then reached for a phone. "We should get in contact with the other council members and get an update on the situation at Sanctum tower. Don't mind the annoying one." Mechanical halo had a look of shock on her expression. Rin went to the reception's desk and pressed a button on the phone.
After a second there was a click. "Momoka?" A small hologram displayed what looked to be another girl with twin-tails. These ones were big and puffy and this one had a pair of horns with two triangle hairpins decorating her hair. "Can you get a helicopter ready to take us to the Schale club room?" Momoka, on the display froze and pondered for a moment.
"The Schale club room? That's in the outskirts." She munched on some chips while speaking. "Things have gone crazy over there right now." As Forty-five suspected things will not be easy. Rin's face hardened a bit and she grasped at the table. "A suspended student escaped the Correction's Bureau and rallied some gangsters. The area has descended into anarchy."
Rin went over the information coming in and nodded. Giving Momoka a hint to continue. "Reading the report, they want revenge against the General Student Council. The vandals are rampaging though the streets. They even managed to get their hands on a crusader tank." Momoka finished going over the report and set it aside on her end. "They are headed towards the Schale building. They must know the General Student Council controls it." Rin felt the weight on her shoulders return.
A doorbell rang through the call. "Ah, that must be the food I ordered. I'll talk to you later, bye bye!" Momoka ended the call. Leaving Rin to deal with this new obstacle to the plan. Forty-five turned to this group. She couldn't take on the whole riot by herself.
Forty-five looked at Twin-tails with the mechanical halo. "Excuse Rin here." She spoke to a moderately downcast girl who had been brushed off by the acting president. "She has been under the weather~. Why don't you introduce yourself?" Forty-five held out her hand.
The girl perked up at the mention. "Hayase Yuuka. Uh, nice to meet you-" There was a bit of confusion on Yuuka's part at the gesture by Forty-five. "I'm a student from Millennium. Confused she held her hand in a similar position, and Forty-five took the hand then shook it. "Are you from Kivotos?" The gestures were very foreign and strange to Yuuka.
The T-doll shook her head. "No, I just arrived here. The confusion is mutual, I will clarify. The Student Council President also made me a teacher here. So let us all get along." Rin looked to the group including Forty-five and tapped her heel against the floor. Forty-five deferred to her with a light shoulder shrug.
"Now is the be the time for some introductions while the helicopter arrives." Rin pushed her glasses up. "To clarify, Forty-five is the advisor to Schale. Formed by the president the advisor can recruit students from all schools." Forty-five smiled.
The T-doll she looked towards the group. "Then can we can have some volunteers from these representatives?" Rin gave her a nod then turned to sorting some papers out while they waited for the helicopter to arrive. Forty-five moved to fix this new complication, before Rin and Forty-five flew out. The T-doll wanted to begin to develop a tactical sense for how this impromptu team will perform.
From their reactions, looks, and demeanors none of those looked to disagree with the plan. "Yuuka, can you tell me a bit about Millennium?" This was an opportunity to gather more intel on this strange land. Even if all the details she got were surface level.
The student eagerly nodded. "Millennium is one of the big three academies in Kivotos! The other two being Trinity and Gehenna." UMP45 made note of the names. She frequently will be dealing with them in her position. "We have a big focus on science and technology at Millennium and a lot of the latest inventions in Kivotos come from our academy."
All useful things to know. Though she saw a chance to reveal her nature as an android, there needed to be an appropriate time. If she ever needed parts, Millennium is the place to go to. The T-doll now had some place to turn to in the case of a breakdown.
"Thank you for the details~ though I also need to know about how you perform in combat." Forty-five looked out to the blue skies outside. A deceptive peace really, if these girls had time to protest the council instead of protecting their academies. She had seen all of them came here armed.
Yuuka nodded, showing her two SMGs. Those halos must be magic if this math student can manage the recoil on both of them, the T-doll thought. "I work on the front and make use of cover." She then holstered her two SMGs on her person bringing out her smartphone. "Also I can summon a barrier using my phone. I can deflect a lot of incoming fire using this. This was just developed last year and-"
Forty-five held up a hand. "Thank you for the explanation- though such specifics aren't needed right now. I appreciate the enthusiasm though~" Yuuka's expression reddened, she had begun to go on to ramble. "Speaking on another matter, you representatives are also here to seek relief for your academies." Yuuka nodded. Forty-five walked down the line in front of the much taller angel winged girl. "As I move down the line here, please tell me so I can present details to the General Student Council."
Forty-five thought at least with the barrier technology there will be the possibility they do not end up riddled with bullets getting off of the helicopter. Making sure the relations between the General Student Council and these academies do not end up deteriorating is another priority so these resources remain open.
Yuuka looked to Forty-five, "Millennium's generators have begun to fail as a result of the lack of resources. If the trains start up again I am sure they will be operational in no time." While the power grid was functioning normally, rationing was next if their power bank's reserves were depleted. There will be a lot of unrest and discontent Millennium students if they went to rationing and grid limits.
Forty-five gave a hum. "I hear you Yuuka. I will submit the complaints to the General Student Council once our outing here is finished." Then turned between the two angel winged girl next down the line. "Are you two from the same academy?" The two nodded. "Then as Yuuka did- though."
Forty-five looked outside. "Make it quick and give your issues in a concise manner~" The tall raven-like girl and the shorter one in mostly white turned to each other. There was a short pause before the shorter one shrugged and gave the role of communication to the tall dark girl.
She gave a curtsy bow a slight rise of her skirt. "I am Hanekawa Hasumi of the Justice Realization Committee and besides me is Morizuki Suzumi of the Trinity Vigilante crew." Then stood up straight. UMP45 held out her hand. Seeing the gesture before Hasumi quickly shook hands with Forty-five. Who then also held out her hand for Suzumi who also returned the handshake. Greetings done in a nice and orderly fashion for the Trinity girls.
Hasumi held a hand to her heart. "Trinity General School is one of the most prestigious academies in Kivotos. Hosting the Tea party and our grounds host numerous famous businesses. We deal with enforcement in Trinity and since the crisis began there has been a spike in violence and theft." Hasumi brushed her wings slightly while gesturing out. "We think this may be caused by increased traffic."
Hasumi sighed. "Both foot and vehicle. The commute to the building has become slow and crowded. So vehicles get surrounded by thugs and students get held up on their way." Hasumi's wings slightly twitched. "Though there is not much the General Student Council can do. Restoring the railways will relief the spike in crime our district is currently facing."
After a brief silence Forty-five looked at Suzumi. "Do you have anything to add?" The white angel wing on Suzumi's head swayed. After a moment she put a hand to waist and shook her head no.
Suzumi watched as Forty-five slowly walked by. Then reached towards and lightly tugged on the T-doll's sleeve. "I do not have much to add." Forty-five paused in her step, listening. "The others are official members of the council, Hasumi brought me along. To back up her claims."
The Vigilante girl had a bit of tiredness on her. Her hair wing was a bit ruffled and her school uniform a bit of grime and wear to it. "We haven't had this amount of requests for protection come in ever." She slightly raised her wing. "If I can help in any way during this. Let me know." Forty-five gave her a smile and gestured towards their weapons.
"Then please give me details on how you two perform in combat." Forty-five put her hand into her jacket's pocket as she spoke. "I will need to know if we engage the enemies once we set out." Hasumi and Suzumi nodded.
Bringing up her sniper rifle, Hasumi started. "I fight in the back from the enemies and pick off targets with precision shots." The angel girl said with a smile. "I hope that may be an aid to us." Forty-five had begun to devise a plan. With Yuuka, Forty-five at the front and Hasumi providing sniper support they could pin down, then finish opposition with ease.
Suzumi then stepped forwards grasping her assault rifle. "While she may fight in the back I can also throw flash-bangs and quickly put down enemies." Which is what if wanted from an AR. Though if they had a little bit of support that'd be great, even if this team could quickly put down the opponents the group was still at risk of being worn down fighting a mob.
After the last words from the Trinity girls Forty-five spoke with the final one in the line up. "I assume you are from a great academy." This one had red gloves, glasses, and a red halo. The one spoken to nodded and adjusted her glasses. She had a pistol and a large bag with medical supplies.
How convenient the arrangement of things will be if this girl knows how to use those medical supplies. "Hinomiya Chinatsu of the Gehenna Disciplinary Committee. I am from Gehenna Academy which empathizes student freedom." She drummed her fingers against the bag of medical supplies. "Our problems are similar to Trinity's so I won't waste time repeating what has already been said. The only differing detail is our campus has sustained far more damage than typical. If the GSC could possibly cover for some of the excess damages that would be a relief to our accountant. Thank you." Forty-five held out her hand for Chinatsu and the two exchanged a handshake. Forty-five stared for a moment.
A switch clicked inside of Chinatsu's head "Ah, I do not fight typically." The girl reached down and quickly pulled out a needle from her bag. "I usually offer medical assistance when it is needed." Then just as quick, she put the needle back into it's place.
With her medical support Forty-five could come up with a formation. Yuuka and herself will be the front line, Forty-five's smoke grenades and Yuuka's barrier will bear the brunt of the aggression the team will face. While Hasumi and Suzumi both provide the firepower required to push through any obstacle and in case anyone besides herself gets injured. Chinatsu will be able to provide her medical expertise, when it is needed.
As the introductions finished the helicopter landed. "All of you have come here today to air your academy's issues. Know you do not have to step on the helicopter with me or the acting president. I cannot make any promises though know if you volunteer to fight for Schale today. You will not be fighting to preserve the past or make a better future." Yuuka and the Trinity girls perked up at the words.
Forty-five stepped toward the helicopter whose blades kicked up a wind. "This will be a fight to push away those who will see the destruction of Kivotos. Who will shut down the power plants, will destroy your academies as you know them." Chinatsu nodded. "Let's get on the helicopter and protect the Kivotos we know." Rin followed behind the representatives from the academies with a light smile as they crowded aboard the helicopter.
Aboard the helicopter Forty-five noted there are no rappelling lines on this helicopter. Meaning their LZ better be clear, if not there will be a firefight getting off. Though the worse scenario was the helicopter getting shot down before the landing. While Forty-five was covering various scenarios the students had idle conversation among themselves as they flew.
Hasumi felt the winds of the flight through her winds. The breeze against her face and she smiled. Despite what was going on the ground the moment was nice. "This is nice." Her thoughts voiced aloud standing a safe distance from the edge of the open cabin. "If only this were for nicer occasion."
Yuuka stepped by grabbing a grip. "Millennium is experimenting with drone helicopters. If the process goes along smoothly." Yuuka pitched her voice above the noise of helicopter's blades. "Then we will be offer guided air tours of the Millennium campus." And in the distance one could see smoke rising from the riot in the outskirts. "I'd be happy to show you on a tour." Yuuka extended an offer to the Trinity representative who nodded with a smile.
"I'd be happy to take up that offer." Her large wings extended out a bit with some excitement from the prospect. Though she restrained her enthusiasm enough. The Trinity Vigilante was listening to music in her own corner while Chinatsu tapped her feet. The teacher seemed to be in thought and she approached Forty-five with a few careful steps within the crowded helicopter cabin.
She lightly tapped on the T-doll's shoulder getting her attention. "Hey, Sensei-" Chinatsu paused while Forty-five turned around to face her. "What are you thinking of?" Forty-five lightly tapped on the stock of her SMG, a vague hint for the school girl.
"Our formation once we land. I should announce that-" Forty-five stepped to the front of the cabin in front of the cockpit door she smoothly stepped between the girls. "Young ladies~ if I may have your attention for a moment." The cabin turned to Forty-five the exception of Suzumi. A quick tap on her shoulder by her fellow Trinity student got her attention and a quick gesture got her headphones down.
"We are going to be landing soon and engaging with a riot of unknown size- I do not know the tactical capabilities of you girls so I will let you handle yourselves." She pointed at Yuuka. "That said we will have roles in this engagement. Yuuka will be with me in the vanguard." Then glanced to the Hasumi and Suzumi. "You two will follow behind us and cover either flank." Final though not least she smiled. "Our rearguard will be Chinatsu and Rin. Should anyone need to fallback they will be there for assistance, any questions~"
Yuuka held a hand up and Forty-five pointed to her. Yuuka put her hand down. "Sensei, you don't have a halo." Forty-five nodded. "As someone who is not native to Kivotos I know you likely do not have knowledge of our halos do." Yuuka took breath and held out her hand and caught some of the wind outside of the helicopter. "Our halos give us physical protections that resists bullets." Then held her hand to her chest. "Well, I am sure you are capable Sensei. Perhaps you should leave the fighting to us?"
The scars and apparent prosthetic limbs spoke to that. Forty-five shook her head. "No. At least for this battle I am going to be fighting alongside you." The helicopter landed. "Let's get out there then." The landing zone was not hot so they could disembark in an orderly fashion. "Get into formation and move out." The school girls got into a somewhat ordered line. "Rin- give us directions to the destination."
Rin nodded. "We're headed down this street in a straight line. The Schale building will be the tallest." The Student Council member pointed to a tall skyscraper beating out the rest in height. "That is where we need to go." Forty-five focused on the structure and nodded confirming she got her directions straight.
Now the team started down the street. On the side of caution, Forty-five lagged a bit behind Yuuka as they navigated a damaged street. 'Damaged' was relative to what she was used to, this place appeared a little rundown. Damaged street lights and cars mostly, some pavement was blown out though a lot of the buildings still have their windows intact. Perhaps the city code or the inhabitants in general thought bulletproof glass was a worthwhile investment, there were a few spent casings on the ground.
They came up on a group of helmeted hooligans, armed. "Wait." Forty-five took Yuuka's hand; who looked confused at the movement and she gestured for the midline to stop as well. "They do not know we are here." She glided Yuuka and herself into cover.
Yuuka nodded and then glanced at their hands pulling them apart. "So are going shoot them from cover?" Forty-five peered over the edge and observed the helmet gangsters ahead. They were looting from some debris and stories. Their group was not on lookout for any sort of approaching force. So Forty-five's forces had a chance here.
She pointed towards one further away from herself and then moved to the edge of the overturned car they were ducking behind. "Grab that one and I will pull the other one." The silence held the air for a moment. Yuuka got to the other edge of the vehicle and Forty-five lunged at the helmet gangster from behind. There was a brief struggle as Forty-five got the gangster's gun out of their hand and pulled her back.
Forty-five locked her arms around the gangster's neck who was thrashing about longer than a normal human. Though her opponent lost energy and gradually their halo faded a note was made to her memory that this showed the opponent had fainted. She glanced over to Yuuka and her ally was having a bit of difficulty subduing the gangster.
'Yuuka obviously isn't trained in take downs' She mused to herself and made her way over to the struggling student. Though not before the helmet gangster got a desperate shot off from her gun. In response the helmet gangster got her allies attention but also T-doll's boot to her head. Knocking the light out of the helmet's halo.
Forty-five gave Yuuka a dry smile. "Nice wrestling match- a shame I had to cut it short." Forty-five noted the approaching steps of the gangsters and got to the edge of the cover and quickly shot an approaching gangster stalling their approach. While Yuuka scrambled to the edge and quickly recomposed herself shooting at the gangster on the other side.
"What is going on- guh!" Their group of four gangsters had lost two members before the gunfight really began. And out of cover the two remaining ones shot rifles blindly while barraged by bullets. The Suzumi and Hasumi began firing after Yuuka and Forty-five, plainly put the two were taken down before they knew what was going on.
Forty-five got up yelling. "Next group of gangsters will likely be on alert from the ruckus we caused- Suzumi, toss a flashbang into the group and we will mop them up. Got it~?" She adopted her usual smile. The first batch had gone well though their stealth was gone, the T-doll knew they were not going to keep it.
The team moved up in a dash with Suzumi nod and sure enough the helmet gangsters had defensively covered the approach. Suzumi tossed out a flashbang, blinding and deafening the gangsters while UMP45 and Yuuka pushed into cover behind light posts and fallen debris. Forty-five pulled the pin on one of her smokes and tossed afterwards. Smoke rapidly billowed out, blinded, ears ringing, and disoriented the gangsters stumbled forth out of the smoke clouds coughing. "What the- what is that smoke? Ah!" That wasn't a normal smoke grenade.
The group of gangsters were shot at as they panicked running to whatever cover they could find while being picked off by accurate sniper fire and suppressed by SMGs. Though unlike the last batch they at least got a few shots in though those were wildly inaccurate as the gangsters hacked out bitter, arid smoke and shot concrete.
They soon lost their halos as well. Forty-five stood up and Yuuka moved ahead. 'We need to get to the building before they start to stand back up.' They were not finishing off their opponents and even with a rearguard- they'd be hard pressed if they were attacked from two sides.
As they pushed up to the next helmet gangsters they halted and Forty-five waved Yuuka back. "We haven't needed to make use of that barrier yet- do think that it will hold up against a tank shell." Forty-five had enough experience with tanks to not wing it so quickly. An MBT and an unusual masked gangster ahead with a unique. Yuuka gave a confident nod. Rin came up from the back line and approached Forty-five.
"I received intel on the one who started this riot. Wakamo, she has fox ears and wears a mask unlike the helmet chain gang you've been dealing with." Forty-five looked up to Rin and motioned her forth. The suspect was right before them, having stolen a tank. "That's her. Be cautious, she is a repeat offender. Forty-five gently pushed against Rin.
The light rumbling of the tank moving into position gave Rin her cue. She made her way to the backline as the Forty-five contemplated on how to deal with the tank blocking them, Hasumi stepped forward. "Sensei, I can take out that tank. I will need a clear shot though." Forty-five paused.
Between Yuuka and Hasumi a path to push that tank aside became a possibility by her calculations. "I'll take your word- we'll do a similar maneuver as before. Suzumi tosses out a flashbang while Yuuka gets her barrier ready. Once we clear out the tank's support, take your shot." Forty-five strode up to Hasumi. "Though- I will be. Upset, if you do not take out the tank." She said in her usual tone, though the dark winged girl felt a bit of a chill in her spine. In spite of the teacher's voice she felt a tingle down her spine.
"Y-yes, sensei." The Trinity student stumbled over her word. The team got prepared for the push at the edge of cover. Forty-five motioned at Suzumi as though she was throwing her smoke out. Suzumi tossed out her flashbang and the group ahead of them fell into chaos. Wakamo was a bit out of range of the initial barrage as the hoodlums she assembled tried to get used to the tank controls.
"Hmm, what is this?" She watched the chaos unfolding, almost stirring excitement in her. "The students council's dogs. She readied her rifle aiming at Yuuka and firing a barrage at her yet the effort was wasted as the bullets ricochet off of a blue barrier. "Ah-" The tank crew was left confused.
On the flank, Hasumi readied her shot while Suzumi and Yuuka fought off those supporting the tank. Wakamo again went to shoot when she felt bullets strike her from the side. One burst, she glanced over to see sharp yellow eyes peering out from over cover. Her attempt to aim at the one shooting was frustrated as bullets pounded into her shoulder. When the tank blew up. "How amusing-" She stopped her effort to shoot. Her job here had failed, the Student Council had moved faster than had anticipated.
The one behind this development in front of her. Did it anger her, no she stepped back, and ran towards the last group of this riot. They will be able not hold without a tank backing them up. Though she still had to see who was behind this sharp shadowy figure that left her heart pounding. The mastermind gone, Forty-five to see the outcome of the action.
To much relief for her neural-cloud, no one was apparently injured. In spite of the fact that they were dealing with a tank. "Any injuries?" All of them shook their heads. Chinatsu and Suzumi went over to the tank and drugged out a few unconscious students from the disabled vehicle with at most minor bruising or cuts. They lost consciousness in a few well placed shots and their bodies could withstand blasts. The T-doll made note in memory that their resilience was above T-dolls in some ways.
Hasumi saw the tank was a Crusader, ones commonly used at Trinity. How common thugs and vandals got their hands on an expensive piece of equipment is concerning. Currently, she witnessed a vehicle was destroyed beyond repair the tank will likely be hauled off by city services to be scrapped once this mission was finished. Something to report to The Tea Party the news likely spoil the taste of their tea for the evening.
Yuuka approached Forty-five. "The lack of injuries is thanks to your planning Sensei." The tank shot had flown wide in smoke Forty-five had deployed. While her barrier will have held, absorbing such a shot will still have hurt the Seminar treasure. The T-doll hummed and continued down the street towards Schale Tower.
Forty-five reloaded her gun. "Praise won't get you far from me. And save it until this riot is completely routed. Who knows~ the enemy may have a gun emplacement around the corner-" Yuuka followed behind again taking point. While the teacher had a point in concluding the mission she didn't need to be so pessimistic. Yuuka surmised, the scars, all of prosthetics on Forty-five were the vague points she grasped onto for this attitude. The Millennium student calculated their victory is nearly-assured: barring the aforementioned development.
Towards Schale Tower a few hoodlums were loitered. They were waiting for a tank to roll up and support their stakeout in front of the tower while Wakamo rigged the structure to blow. The idea of hitting back against the Student Council for leaving them out to dry after skipping out on classes and doing a few minor infractions. Destroying school property was a regular accident and replacing things wasn't too difficult. They were almost bored since the security forces withdrew from the area.
Then Wakamo came running. "Hey, where's the tank?" One of the group asked yet didn't get an answer as the wanted outlaw ran into the Schale Tower. "Wakamo?! Wakamo!" They shouted after her, to no response, and then looked down the road where the tank was supposed to be coming from. The group broke off from their position and went to investigate. Part way down the two in front got peppered with bullets.
The group of five went down to three running scattered to cover. One got pelted down from the back while trying to make a dash towards a turned over vending machine. The two which remained. "What the hell? We were just waiting for our support and now we're hiding from. The Student Council, maybe Wakamo sold us out." The delinquent peered up out of cover across from her last ally was firing down the street and then collapsed from being shot by volleys of accurate fire. Lying against the concrete blockade she had taken cover behind. "Damn." Was all she muttered, tossed down her weapon, and put her hands up.
The last rounds were fired in the riot suppression and the patchwork team approached Schale Tower's entrance and glanced around. This is where they parted ways for now, Rin and Chinatsu came up to the tower. Rin, having seen the area fully secured, approached Forty-five. "Sensei, head into the basement. You didn't catch Wakamo, did you?" Forty-five shook her head and Rin nodded. "Very well, I have to report this and go through some reporting to the Council on the situation. Head into the basement I'll follow behind shortly." Then the T-doll moved toward and into the missions destination.
Forty-five took in the facade of the structure. Not the tallest building, there is still an air of decorum to the architecture, placed center underneath one of the giant halos in the sky. Care and design, a sight uncommon outside of the green zones. Certainly not an office she foresaw herself occupying. She pushed through the glass doors at the entrance to a deserted lobby. Turnstiles in front having lost power she vaulted over them. Silence and a moment of respite.
Forty-five ran a quick diagnostic of herself. Her battery while still high had depleted from giving commands. If she did not find a way to replenish her power there will arise the need to jury-rig a power supply in the scenario this object the president left behind did not resolve this. Their didn't appear to be anything unusual in the digital space either. Yet, far more possible connections and civilian radio frequencies, more than she was used to. Cache is in a good state, though needs verified.
She moved toward the stairwell when she stopped. A familiar masked figure stalked up to her and she pulled up SMG in response. "What do you want?" Forty-five's question stopped them in their tracks. The figure stopped and the mask tilted to the side and her hand tremored. They took an audible breath as they stepped back. Seemingly having incapacitated Wakamo Forty-five lowered her gun at the absurdity.
Forty-five stepped toward Wakamo. "Well~ are you only going to stand and stare-?" The criminal stepped back with a squeak. This figure who Wakamo assumed worked for the student council was more dangerous than even she was. Wakamo wore a mask to cover the vulnerable heart of a young lady. Yet, her passions were not looked upon well by the council and her abilities left her locked up in the end. And now she is stricken by the steely eyes of this strange lady before her. She turned tail to the fire escape.
The criminal could not let herself be caught so quickly having recently freed herself. For now she has to go and in time she will return to see her. This left Forty-five to mull over what happened. "What a silly girl~" She will have to adapt and fast once she actually starts acting as a teacher. Youths did not act rationally and suspected unusual encounters like this will be a norm, not an exception.
With the unusual encounter finished she scrutinized the rest of the first floor. To see if there was anyone else hiding in wait in the building. Then she discovered a shop, currently abandoned, appeared to be a convenient store. Viewing the shelves she noticed ammunition magazines in various calibers and then reached to pull one off. .45 ACP sealed in cutesy packaging. She grabbed a few to replace the ones she spent, the Student Council likely will not mind. And then she went over an aisle and found a pack of smoke grenades.
Not the customs one she used, though fixing them up will be simple enough. She pocketed the pickups and then went back to the foyer. Forty-five started down the stairs to the basement. The emergency lights were on so it was not too dark, her sole eye's optics provided a bit of enhanced clarity. Rin had gotten here ahead of her. "Hey Rin." The officer turned to Forty-five tapping her feet. "Don't be so impatient- I was in the shop. Can't run out of ammo now can I~" Rin's relaxed a bit.
Going over to a tabletop she grabbed a tablet and walked back to Forty-five. "Take this," Forty-five reached out and grasped onto the tablet. There didn't appear to be anything unusual to the device, it'll will likely change once it is powered. "this is the Shittum Chest. The President left this behind for you. We have no idea on how to activate it. The components, creation, OS, and function are all completely unknown."
Rin stepped back and went to the stairs. "Our efforts to activate it all failed. This is up to you Forty-five." The officer straightened out her jacket and adjusted her glasses. "If you can't do it… My job is done. Take the lead." Her part in the events are finished and Kivotos likely is as well if the president's plan did not work.
The T-doll carefully handled the Shittum Chest and looked over it. There were no apparent power buttons though something clicked. Forty-five got the chest to power on the lack of an apparent power did not matter. Her touch had activated the device and a blue screen came up with text. "… Connecting to Shittum Chest… Please enter the system password." No digital keyboard came up, a port digitally, and Forty-five connected to it. From memory she sent the password through the connection and the text came onto the screen in red. "We thirst for the seven wailings. We bear the Koan of Jericho." The system processed for a bit.
… More text came across the screen. "Digital ID confirmed, password accepted. User identified as UMP45. Confirmed. Welcome to the Shittum Chest, UMP45 sensei." The password despite the unusual circumstances things went through. The Shittum Chest closed the open port though more started opening and establishing connections to the tower. "Converting to the operating system Arona to finish the verification process and generation of verification certificate." Then the OS system text cleared.
The screen faded and changed to the view of an isolated classroom. The wall in the background had partially crumbled, revealing a sunny blue sky, the sun shimmered down onto the shallow waters surface. The pristine view had one girl in it asleep at a desk. "Hmm… strawberry milk." She drooled at the thought. "No, I cannot possibly drink all of that. Hehe~" Forty-five tapped on her through the touchscreen.
The act seemed to stir the girl slightly. "Nnn~ please just a little while longer…?" They muttered though Forty-five sent a few taps through finally getting the girl to open her eyes, as blue as the skies beneath light blue and pink hair. The girl stood up from her desk. "Mmh." A yawn and she shuffled to the front of the screen stretching. "What's going on?" Her eyes focused on the other side of the screen. "Ah-" They locked with Forty-five. "Huh- you're here? Forty-five sensei, how long have I been asleep!?"
The girl inside the chest panicked and quickly looked around. "Calm down. I recently arrived you didn't keep me waiting~" She consoled the girl who quickly calmed then gave a courteous bow and scratched at the back of head.
Arona fixed the camera moving it back, then stood front and center in the classroom. "Um, so… I have to introduce myself. I didn't do that yet, did I? My name is Arona! I'm the system manager that lives in the chest. And your AI companion." Arona paused for a moment while processing the details from the Shittum Chest. "Oh, I need to verify your fingerprint to finish the protocol." Arona got closer to the screen. "Touch here to finish the setup and if you could tell me what happened while I was asleep that'd help!"
Well this Arona was a little talkative wasn't she? A second later pressed her against where Arona had indicated though noticed the AI looked a bit befuddled. "Wait a second, this screen doesn't have a fingerprint scanner does it?" Arona gaped, how could Forty-five sensei tell so fast?
"Umm-" Her face reddened. She had been caught so fast. "Well I don't have all of the latest features! If you want a better AI companion then you can find another tablet-!" Forty-five shook her head, amused from the flustered nature of Arona, she gave a soft laugh.
Then patted the head of Arona. "Well that makes two of us-" Arona looked at Forty-five sensei wondering what she meant by with the statement. She looked a bit closer and carefully went over the fingerprint and then the reality clicked. Forty-five was an android and an AI like her! She beamed as the embarrassment passed and going through a quick check over of Forty-five she realized what the Sensei implied. She was even older than Arona. "Anyways," Forty-five then explained what happened outside the chest."
Forty-five could join Arona in the chest. "Don't worry about it, Sensei. I am sure you'll be able to do your work and I'll be there to support you! From the sound and looks of things Sanctum Tower isn't working without The President present. I wish I could tell you more about her. Though I don't know exactly how she disappeared." Then the chest began rapidly connecting to the tower. "I'll get the tower running!" The lights turned on.
There was no issue with the power, the tower hadn't been processing commands. "Forty-five sensei, I restored access to Sanctum Tower." Though the tower situation was resolved there were still many questions she had. "What will you do, Forty-five. I can transfer control over to the General Student Council or you can keep control. The future of Kivotos is in your hands." She could transfer it now though she wanted to confer with Rin.
"Let's hold onto the authority for now. There's a few things I want to ask Rin." Arona nodded and Forty-five put the chest into her jacket. The location was nice and snug for Arona while Forty-five went back to Rin who looked relaxed. Rin quickly met Forty-five part way now with the tower online. There was a moment of silence between the two.
Forty-five gave Rin that enigmatic smile. "So the tower is reactivated-" Rin nodded in acknowledgment of the fact. "Tell me one thing, Rin. What do you plan on doing with it if I hand you control?" The T-doll did not want to imagine handling the controls of an entire city of this scale. Whatever deal the president had cut with her though will be lucrative at minimal. Rin nodded the question was a reasonable one and expecting to be given power with no answer to its use was irresponsible.
Rin thought for a moment. "Forty-five Sensei, I will keep things running as they were." Rin earnestly answered, for all of the struggles Kivotos is their home. Forty-five nodded and Rin continued. "Even if problems arose the president did not give up." Rin thought back and all the president did was for them and a safe Kivotos. "And I will do the same and carry on the GSC's role as it was." With a good answer from Rin Forty-five felt fine delegating the power.
She held out her hand and Rin, now familiar with the gesture, took it. "Fine answer Rin- I trust you with control over Sanctum Tower." Forty-five tapped at the Shittum Chest inside her jacket. Arona had heard the conversation and transferred control of the tower to the GSC. 'Hmm, I could have inserted myself more into this bureaucracy. Only, I don't want to be bothered with additional paperwork.' Her prior work had nearly no paper trail.
Even trying to insert herself as little into the system as possible. Forty-five knew this can only lighten the incoming paperwork a bit. Something on Rin's person clicked. A device that usually conveyed updates from the president. It'd been inactive since the Tower went dormant. "Thank you on behalf of the GSC." Rin bowed. "With this we will be able to manage the city and reverse its spiral into chaos."
The room hummed with activity with the tower reactivated. "This tower will be your office, Forty-five sensei. Familiarize yourself with its layout, as this will also serve as your residence." Rin spoke as she went back upstairs and turned her head to Forty-five. "Please follow me, I can give you a quick tour."
Forty-five giggled. "Huh, only a quick one then~ I thought we'd see the entire city from here." Forty-five followed her up. There was a moment where they paused by the lobby. The representatives were still out front, the turnstiles were now active. A bit of security though not much for a building that is a target for those with a vendetta against this General Student Council she will be working with. They went up a few flights of stairs steadily ascending the building until they came to an office.
There is a keycard lock in the front and Rin swiped her own against the reader. There was a click and the door unlocked. "This space has been empty for a long time. Now there is finally an owner for it." They walked into a space partially unboxed. There are a few cardboard boxes littered about. The space wasn't too organized and a bit homely. Forty-five liked the presentation as it was similar to what 404 had. Rin walked over to desk, a few papers littered the desktop and she straightened them out.
Forty-five approached from behind and looked over them. "Forms and more." The papers were applications for Scale on paper. "Just don't give me more than what you need to~" Forty-five stepped over to the desk and leaned against it. "I am not good with paper." That was a lie as the leader of 404 she dealt with papers all the time. Yet, that did not mean she liked going through them.
Rin put her on the desk. "Understood, I'll try to shield you, Sensei." She tapped her hand against a slight smile. "Know though that if you are found slacking off. There just might be more papers sent your way." Forty-five gave a thumbs up, a fine deal for her in the end. Rin went back to the Schale room's door. "Shall we send off our volunteers?" The T-doll nodded and followed after Rin as they went back outside where the riot team still stood by.
Forty-five walked ahead of Rin. "What are you all waiting for- get out of here we can't have you loitering~" Some of them pouted, some indigent, some were quizzically confused. "Ah, don't look like that, really, I came out here to express my gratitude." She said in a sincere tone. 'Ah these girls cannot take a jab.' Her personality as warped as it was from the preset, these students will just have to adjust.
Yuuka came out of the crowd. "Jeez, sensei is that how you address your students?" Forty-five nodded, "That's one thing you can work on. I didn't catch many points you could improve, yet that will be one." The T-doll girl tilted her head then went to a light smile.
Forty-five took a step to Yuuka. "Before you start talking about improvements there's a few drills you need to do." Forty-five glanced down the street where several rioters were gathered waiting for pickup. "That little dance you had blew our cover-" Then turned to Yuuka they locked eyes for a moment. Yuuka turned away as her heart began beating out of her chest. "I am Forty-five first, not just Sensei." While there will be an effort on her part to accommodate these girls she will not change herself.
Until her desire to bring those to justice who used others and her as pawns is fulfilled. She will stay like this, with her new found position the T-doll can also help prevent these girls from being used. "A-anyways, Forty-five Sensei." Yuuka got her words back in order. "I want to apply to Schale."
Forty-five nodded. "If want to work with know you might end up called up at night~" Yuuka nodded and the T-doll lightly giggled. "Very well, I won't stop you from signing yourself since you know what you're getting into." She glanced around the other representatives. "I assume you all want to join as well." With nods from the rest Forty-five lightly smiled. There is no possibility that she will have to pull Schale out of a state of no personal by herself and Arona.
Hasumi held up her phone. "The incident is blowing up on social media Forty-five Sensei." Some social media was blitzing across the screen. "You'll be the talk of Kivotos. I have to say goodbye for now, perhaps you can visit us in Trinity soon, Forty-five." Suzumi nodded and the two from Trinity left.
The T-doll saw that Suzumi was one similar to herself in a way. She turned to Chinatsu. "You didn't get to show off your talents much." The T-doll gestured to the medic bag. "Hmm- I'll have to give my apologizes for that~"
Yuuka began to leave and that left Chinatsu. "No, your performance was quite impressive. I'll have to report it to our head prefect. You're welcome to stop by and visit if your work takes you to Gehenna academy." The medic saw herself off. They took taxis and Yuuka appeared to have gone further off for pickup from somewhere.
That left the T-doll with herself and Arona. She walked back into Schale Tower and back to the club room. Rin had already left, leaving the room empty. The T-doll looked around a bit and found a keycard for the room. Fortunately there were already a few made, so she shut the door to the room and locked it.
'We may need more keycards. I will have to get in contact with Rin over that.' Forty-five went over to the window overlooking Kivotos. The sun had fallen down to the horizon casting an orange light against the halos that dotted the sky. A lone blimp floated and appeared to have a halo. 'What the hell? Even inanimate objects have them.' If that was the reality here hopefully they gave a similar level of resilience to the structure. The office otherwise presented an easy attack for anyone irked by the GSC.
Not her style exactly as someone used to working with subterfuge. The T-doll felt a ping from one of the open on the Chest. Investigating it the port was similar to an open for her. She shut her eyes and sent her consciousness into it. A moment later she found herself in the classroom that Arona was in. The little AI jumped at Forty-five and the T-doll caught her. "Woah there. Aren't you excited to see me?"
The little AI looked up to Forty-five. "Welcome Forty-five Sensei! Things got a bit hectic out there." She stepped back as spoke. "I think everything is good now." Forty-five looked around this digital space that appeared desolate though homey. Sort of similar to the space 404 had worked out of. She sat down at a desk.
The T-doll leaned on her elbow. "I suppose I have you to think for the power right?" Her power reserves hadn't fallen and actually had been rising. The Shittum chest AI nodded. "Thank you it'd have been a real shame if I ran out and went to sleep until someone could figure out how to charge me~" In that scenario her core's backup power likely would have failed before the girls here could have figured out a solution. An unfortunate end fortunately averted.
Arona's eyes beamed. "I have extended the Shittum chest's remote charging ability to you! There's more than enough power." She smiled. "Though I didn't know that you would be an AI like me." So Arona didn't get even the most vital information from the missing president. "Perhaps I can visit your digital space sometime?" The young AI assistant asked energetically, bouncing in front of Forty-five.
The T-doll shook her head. "No, my space is a bit cluttered." An understatement at best. Forty couldn't fathom the task. Tackling the clutter of memories piled up in her digimind required a lot of attention. The rejection deflated Arona a bit. Forty-five stood up from the desk. "Don't worry once I get it cleaned up then I'll let you in.
Arona perked up with the promise "Ah I can't wait! Anyways, if you need any help I will be here to help." Arona looked to the horizon in the distance. "Kivotos has a lot of students that need help. I'm sure you can take on anything, Forty-five sensei. Though I will be here to support you in case you need it!" The T-doll nodded.
Then Forty-five began sending herself back to her body. "Well, now I've got to go back to work now Arona. Tschuss~. It was nice talking to you." The AI looked a bit confused. What was that language, not one native to Kivotos. She needed to ask Forty-five what she spoke next time they had a moment.
Back in her body Forty-five looked at the paperwork on the desk. There were a few things labeled for immediate attention and then she looked to the closet when it had been left open. There were uniforms for Schale there in various sizes. Forty-five removed her clothes and tried them on until she found one which fit. Then she hung her uniform in the closet and touched on the 404 armband on the jacket. She wouldn't forget her original mission. The new uniform donned, she went to the desk and got to work.
After several hours of working into the night the T-doll rested back against the chair. Not out of physical fatigue but out of necessity. Most of the papers had been dealt with and now she could perform a cache clearing. 'It'll be nice if I wake up in the same spot.' And from the outside observer the T-doll seemingly went to sleep…
… Data recovery in progress- several files marked hidden. File access restored, playback video y/n?
'Hmm so there were files hidden. Y.' Thus a scene unfolded before Forty-five found herself on a trail near silent. The movement of the electric rail quiet as could be the only sound was of her footsteps moving her between cars as she found herself in the train from her prior cache clearing. Forty-five held her gun close as she went through the threshold into another. This car had someone in it. A wounded civilian from appearance. She lowered her gun and a blue eyed girl turned to the T-doll with weeping wounds.
"Forty-five." She spoke with respect to the T-doll. "I'm turning to you for help." Her voice was low and quiet. "Only you know responsibility, obligation, and adulthood so well. And the result of the choices that extend beyond those." The silence consumed the air for a moment.
Forty-five adjusted her gun strap a bit. "Are you implying that you want my employment? Is that why you summoned me here fraulein? You know that there comes a price associated with giving other such obligations. What will there be for me if I help you?"
The girl gripped her hand. "I will give you unrestricted access to the land you go to. I'm sure you won't abuse such a position." The wounded girl shifted against the seat, wounded as Forty-five approached her offering a bit of support to girl. A beautiful smile flashed. "So please, free us from this terrible fate and make the choices that will lead us to a new reality. So please Sensei." …
Forty-five sat up. Some hours had passed during the cache clearing. And now she work to do for the president and 404.
A/N: Love and Hope. Thank you for the reviews, while there will be no mention of any in particular. Know they are being read and they do matter. As an aside, Goz was pain, and the current drill is too. To those who had this far here is the roadmap. This prologue took longer than expected, life happens feel to point out any errors.
Now the story will go right into Abydos. Forty-five will have to save the school from being lost to creditors. That writing will take sometime, afterwards will be the first interludes. The event and relationship stories will be covered between major events. Those will be fun particularly summer events; featuring a T-doll staying as far away from salt water as feasible.
