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Come In, Yeti Actual [Chapter 7] [updated 19 Aug]

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 9:10 am
by 651
After a critical evaluation of everything written so far, I've decided that a total rewrite rewrite of the current "Act I" cutting about 60% of its total volume (which would salvage it) was something beyond my ability. Or rather, it was beyond my ability to grit my teeth and do it. This piece of fiction can be safely considered abandoned. - July 29th, 2014 HAHA DISREGARD THAT I DRINK MILKSHAKES

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The following is (hopefully) going to be a rather long piece of fanfiction that could be shortly described as "Katawa Shoujo happening in the Deus Ex universe". It should not be called a pseudo route, though, because the setting as well as the storyline (as it sounds in my head) is different from what could be expected of a pretended KS continuation. While finding one's love, coping with disabilities and wondering about the purpose of life are the activities the characters will be involved in, the focus of the story is different.

Disclaimer: as an amateur writer whose native language is far from English, I'm not fully aware of the quality of my writing.
Therefore, any criticism you can offer is welcome.


Useful links (reading these makes the fic a bit more understandable):
Another crossover made way earlier.
The Deus Ex Wiki. Useful for those not familiar with the setting. Crucial articles: Mechanical augmentation, PEDOT technology, Neuropozyne.
Deus Ex universe timeline. Useful even for the most devoted fans.

Backup account on Pastebin in case these forums go down.

14 Apr: Oh my, someone actually drew a piece of art based on this. "Someone" stands for one of my favorite KS-related artists. Thank you so much.

Image
(It was based on a draft of a scene that had to be scrapped later on. For those wondering, it can be found here.)


Index:

Prologue (Dreams and Waking) - Part 1 Part 2

Act I (Ascension):
Chapter 1 (Stumblin' In) - Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Chapter 2 (Sneak a Peek)
Chapter 3 (The Flow) - Part 1 Part 2
Chapter 4 (Lovebirds)
Chapter 5 (Business) - Part 1 Part 2 and on
Chapter 6 (No Rest for the 'Wicked')

Apex

Act II (Freefall):
Chapter 7 - Part 1 Part 2


Credit goes to:
KS Generals on a certain imageboard
Sabin for initial inspiration
Max Payne for beating me with a spare cybernetic leg prosthesis into writing
Doodler and Lucky for art
Biff for naming a corporation, anon for naming two episodic characters, Justice for naming a major character
Leaty for giving Iwanako a semi-canon surname
Another Random Guy, AACGA and anon for moral support.

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover fanfiction)

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 11:25 am
by Mirage_GSM
I'm sorry, I gave up about four lines into reading this.
I have no idea

a) which parts are supposed to be direct speech and which aren't and even more importantly
b) who is doing the talking in each line!

Correct use of punctuation for the English language is:

"Direct speech," narration, "direct speech."

Also, you might want to use double-spacing, so your story doesn't read like a brick wall, but I didn't even get so far that it mattered^^°

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover fanfiction)

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 12:03 pm
by Dumanios
It's not bad, all things considered. It's just really difficult to know who's talking to whom and all that.

Double Spacing is nice too.

I'm only familiar with Katawa Shoujo, and have heard precious little of the Deus Ex series (other than that it's very good, and that I didn't ask for this). I've been kicking around a KS/Code Geass crossover, but other than a some pairings, I've got nothing really set.

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover fanfiction)

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 1:43 pm
by 651
Thanks for the feedback.
Fixed the punctuation (sigh... knew it would be a good idea to google beforehand) and a few spelling errors, added double spacings.
Will also focus on indicating the talkers, this seems like a major problem lately.

Off-topic:
Dumanios wrote:I <...> have heard precious little of the Deus Ex series (other than that it's very good, and that I didn't ask for this).
Give it a try. The original (released in 2000) is worth it. Voice acting lacks actually being acting, but still.

Okay, time to start the real thing.

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover fanfiction)

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 4:56 pm
by Mirage_GSM
Well, this reads a lot better now. Good job fixing stuff this quickly.
This is the second Deus Ex crossover here. Not surprising given the nature of KS.

For now let me just say that I think Emi would be the very last person to trade augmentations for a lifetime addiction to drugs..

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover fanfiction)

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2013 11:19 am
by 651
Mirage_GSM wrote:For now let me just say that I think Emi would be the very last person to trade augmentations for a lifetime addiction to drugs..
That's why the hesitation. Additionally, there can be various circumstances.
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Weekly progress report (kind of): produced a fair amount of paper on 7-9th. Decided the best way to tell the story is to set the events leading to the start of KS in the Deus Ex universe.
Almost finished the prologue. It's a pain correcting it, though. So far there's only about a half of it ready for upload (meaning it's above Repercussions of Evil level). The other half is TBU throughout the week.

So, there you go.

The year is 2022. It is a time of great innovation and technological advancement. It is also a time of boring English lessons and terrible hip-hop references.

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Previous | Index | Next

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Prologue. Dreams and waking.

"Gerund, on the other hand, is often used to..."

No, just no. Every brain has its limit and needs to cool down before hitting it. Can't you understand, teacher? I am not into English at all, especially today. Please leave me be.

I steal a glance at the teacher and notice she's totally caught up in her lecture. All right, time to drift away.

The classroom is boring as usual. All of my neighbors are scribbling notes hastily with a look of enlightenment on their faces. Sometimes it's impossible to understand them. Being enthusiastic over a dull subject in a dull room. Huh, they probably think the same of me on Math and Science.

How come boring people tend to gather near the windows to never use them properly? I mean, there are cool guys in this class, but sweet popsicles, they sit all the way on the other side, and all you can stare at from there is people, yellowish walls and the whiteboard. These boards make the place look like it's not 2022 outside. Boo, the school can't afford touchscreens although the market has been established for like ten years already. There must have been forty crises since then, and the prices certainly haven't dropped a single bit. I make a remark "Geezer mode ON" in the notebook, noticing something's wrong with it a few seconds later. It's in English. I'm not supposed to know English.

I find myself staring through the window at a little park below. Winter made it look pitiful without leaves. Just the black skeleton of former beauty, pointing to the sky, waiting for the sun to whine bright enough to herald the Spring. Then the snow will melt, turning to refreshing water to fuel the revitalized plants. Guess that's what our existence is about: there is no spring without winter, no death without life. For every time anything is taken from this world something is brought here anew. Plants go to sleep and awaken every year. Animals die and are born, although at a slower pace. Only humans succeeded in breaking the rule as we kept destroying things for no reason. Then we restored balance by creating new things, again without a reason. They say that you have to be happy to create. That one sharing one's own life is performing the act of creation. Is this our cruel nature, then? Destroy to please self, throw away all you've gained and be destroyed to please others in the end?

Wow. Where that came from, I don't even know. Cleaning the frown, I switch to earlier thoughts.

So when the spring comes, this park changes drastically. It may not appear so right now but whoever takes care of this place keeps ensuring that the vegetation is rich, so bushes evolve to impenetrable hedges and the trees' rich crowns keep the park shielded from sight of anyone above it. Privacy, that's what students like about it. Generally, it's the lovers' collective nest: you come there to confess, to hang out during lunch breaks or even on a date if you are witty enough to think of something interesting to do on school grounds. Creativity is a rare treat among us, to be fair, so the majority of park dates based on the same idea. A lewd one. And that's cool too, as long as you find your way through the bushes and keep the noise down nobody's going to notice. After excelling at the former many fail the latter, leading to a wide variety of results. I mean, single people come here too, because the shadow's nice and grass is green and all. Sometimes even teachers come... Oh boy, there's a huge grin on my face. I'm barely able to pull a calm mask on. Come to think of this, if anyone happens to watch me right now, changing faces so fast, I'm probably looking like a weirdo. Never mind, everybody's studying their best.

The bell rings, sounding the end of classes for today. You know, sitting next to the window has one contra, namely being the last to leave class. Right now it works to my advantage, though. There she is, the princess of my cloud castles. She's leaving, and as she walks through the door, I can't help but keep staring at her back. No grin this time, she's way too pure to induce it. Innocent character, swan grace and dreamlike beauty compressed to form one person, can you imagine that?

And of course a clique of my dear classmates has to crush my dreams.

"Yo, Nakai, you asleep or something? We're going to the movie!"

"Nah, not interested," of course it'll bring more questions, so I continue. "See, I have an extremely important mission here."

Guys are all ready for my fake reasons.

"Bet he got extra duty for being Einstein."

"Or maybe spent all your money on kinky manga, eh?"

Some are cracking already. Time to go for it.

"Wrong. I received a message from Iwanako asking to meet her later. Seems like you guys are outright losers."

The company bursts with laughter.

"All right, let him have it his way. If Nakai got caught for a reason dumb enough to not tell us, that's something. But this I swear – if you shoved your hot naked ass into the principal's window and kept it secret, I'm beating you hard."

"I'm clean as a breeze, guys."

The clique drops a few more puns and moves away, totally convinced that I did something awesome and strictly forbidden and am therefore being punished. Congratulations, Master Ruseman, your plan worked out perfectly! The most effective lie is a truth skillfully told, is that how the saying goes?
Making my way to the staircase in the back, I pull my tablet out. A little note is stuck to its back. Not like I haven't read it ten times already, it just smells like her. Like I'm close to her, hearing that sweet voice again, breathing the same air she is. Dreamlike beauty, they say. Well, today certainly looks like a dream, and a lucid one at that.

Fwoosh, a stream of fresh air mixed with bright light stuns me for a second. Oh, I've just opened the exit door.

It's wonderful outside. A light snow hasn't stopped since morning and covered the ground with a soft blanket. White is the ground, white is the sky, and white-clad are the branches connecting one with another. Cars are grinding snowflakes to dirt somewhere, but right here and right now in this small park, there is just serenity, not disturbed even by the wind.

I feel warmth slowly leaking out of me, a surprisingly comforting sensation. As my body cools, I feel the endorphine hurricane inside my head die down, clearing space for calm confidence: yes, I am confessing to her today.

Here comes the sound of rustled snow.

"Iwanako?" I ask, turning around.

She stumbles as if struck by my voice and freezes in place. Mild wind plays with her hair, shaking snowflakes off. My heart starts racing. I can't bring my eyes off her, and when she finally summons enough courage to look at me, her eyes meet mine and a heavy blush spills all over her face. An idiotic smile is my only response. She smiles back, and seeing her struggle to make a step forward I do it first.

"Hi... Hisao," she clears her throat. "I'm so glad you came."

My heart skips a beat. I take another step.

"Look, if someone's given you the opportunity to seize everything you wanted in one moment, would you just let it slip?"

That came out worse than expected, but the light in her eyes confirms she understood. My heart jumps in excitement.

"I just..." he casts her eyes down and starts an obviously prepared line, "you were gazing at me all the time and I-I-you are such a nice guy, so will you be my... my boyfriend?"

I take the last step.

"Hisao?"

But legs won't agree with my intentions. They are weak and heavy as lead. Not expecting this, I almost fall on the ground, regaining balance the last second. Wow, Hisao, this excitement kicked the breath out of you. Iwanako looks worried and I try to say it's okay, only to find that my throat isn't working. I try to step back, and inhuman pain rushes through my body.

"Hisao!"

My face must be expressing all the suffering I'm going through because her eyes reflect it. She closes the gap between us and grabs my hands, trembling, almost more terrified than I am. This is the point where legs finally betray me and grounds hurls away from underneath my feet. Sky crowds away everything else from my view. Light turns dim and Iwanako's cry is muted in my ears, as if it was coming through a pillow. Even my heart isn't beating anymore. The time must have stopped. But no, snowflakes are still falling down and leaving cold bites on my skin. Is it broken, then? Am I dying? Dreamlike beauty, they say. "This is one hell of a cruel awakening" is my last thought before the world fades completely.

***

My name is Hisao Nakai, and I don't know what to think anymore. Life hasn't been quite the same as usual for the last four months, but this is just over the top. I mean, staying in the hospital all this time? Sad but bearable. Having the doctors discover you have arrhythmia and it's obviously chronic? Sucks, but could be worse.

This is close to ridiculous, though. I should've expected it after yesterday, I guess.


Yesterday the doctor asked what am I going to do after release. I didn't get his meaning at first. Of course, I aimed to continue my life, since there was a lot of catching up to do already and no need to add any more.

At first people came to see me pretty often. In fact, more than half of the class have been here. Not that I had been such a popular guy, just managed to get along with most of the crowd well enough for them to consider me a friend. It isn't hard these days, they say. Well, it isn't hard to forget "friends", too. Guys from the clique were the only ones to pay a second visit. Some of them were persistent enough to keep coming for two whole weeks, and each visit meant a nice day filled with jokes, puns and high-fives flying all around. However, they couldn't come every day, and between their visits I kept lying idly on my bed, staring into the green ceiling or outside the window just to see the usual picture.

Nothing ever happened, seconds were slowly slipping away, and to count all eighty-something thousands was un unrivaled mental torture. Surfing the Web helped for a while until I realized how senseless my existence is, lying here doing nothing, giggling at content made by other users who have a purpose or at least something to do for a living. From then on my tablet seemed transparent as I couldn't focus neither eyes nor mind on it, always feeling this cage of a room, always hearing the time ticking away.

My parents were low on money because of my condition and had to work their hardest, so they really didn't have time to visit. We called each other every evening. Well, I was always waiting for the call because otherwise I would appear weak or dependent. That time I called father myself, unable to stand my only escape from the reality being taken away, and told him about my struggle. His answer was as trivial as could be: "Read some books, then," yet the books became the main reason I didn't lose myself here.

Then, there was Iwanako. She kept coming once in a few days and every time I saw her enter, blushing, my heart rate would jump once again. Her visits were like opening that exit door, a breath of fresh air, a flash of blinding light. The green confined space of my room seemed just too bleak against her shine. Her presence made me forget about the catheter in my vein and the alarm button under my fingers. We talked about this and that, laughed at school news she brought, even argued about deep philosophical dilemmas I managed to dig out of the book, but never touched what we talked about in the park. Sometimes I would take a deep breath and start only to be interrupted by another small tale. Or she would forget herself and give me a longing stare, then I would feel the urge to break the silence with something irrelevant.

The time we spent together was short (she never stayed for more than an hour) but therefore felt more precious to me. She closed the door, and I knew it was time to wake up. Then after more than a month I never fell asleep again. Iwanako just stopped coming, and I never had the courage to call her. Social networks? Didn't want to even come close since my accounts became pools to pour their into. All these messages reminding how bad my health is supposed to be were the last thing I needed to see, even for the sake of contacting her.

Anyways, all that time I had been living to the hope of getting back and blending in. Of course questions about my plans got me upset.

"Well, walk out of the hospital, catch a taxi, get home and look up our timetable got this trimester," I answered. "I mean, it's what I'd do before."

"Returning to high school, of course," his tone had a suspicious amount of I'm-afraid-I-can't-let-you-do-this in it. "That's what you are supposed to do. Sadly, it will be a little problematic."

"I understand-"

"I am terribly afraid you do not. With your current condition, we cannot risk leaving you without constant medical supervision for at least a few more months."

"That's all right, I can come here regularly."

"Hisao, may I show you your prescription?"

He powered up his tablet without waiting for an answer. Row and rows of text filled the screen. Dosages, side effects, contradictions, all barely fitting in two pages of not so large font.

I just stood there dumbfounded.

"This should keep your heart rate stable enough outside the hospital. However, there's no way to predict how your body will react to those medications. This list needs to be adjusted. Don't want to lose you neither to another arrest nor to liver failure, now do we?"

"For," talking with a dry throat was hard, "for how long?"

Doctor gave me a serious look.

"Until someone finds a cure. Please try to understand, your life is in your hands quite literally. We may have bought you ten or twenty years, but you can easily waste all our work. You cannot go back. Not yet."

"So, uh... What do you propose?"

I had received my sentence with no reaction whatsoever. Maybe you think I was alpha as could be, but in reality I was too shocked to think of anything.

"There are a few special schools in our country, specialized in taking care of disabled children. One of these-"

"Wait, am I disabled now?"

Talking on autopilot doesn't always mean you say something meaningful. I nodded quickly under the doctor's heavy stare to state my understanding.

"As I was saying, one of these schools might have a place for you. Namely Yamaku Academy, with Genetesis Inc. being their major benefactor."

"Sounds familiar."

"Indeed, you must have seen the logo of the Japanese medical colossus numerous times already," we both smiled. I finally started coming to my senses. "They have a facility situated right next to Yamaku which serves all its needs. All the cutting-edge medicine, technologies and highly qualified personnel one could ask for can be found there. And a bit more, because sometimes there is a cure not registered yet. Places like that produce a fair amount of patents. Even the first human augmentation documented in our country was performed at Yamaku Hospital, as I recall. Of course there's 24-hour nursing staff at the school as well. This is what is offered to you, and if I am to say anything on this matter," that was funny because he'd said a lot already, "then this is as close as you get to easing your condition or maybe even curing it. This type of places is where such miracles happen that my face goes green."

I could do nothing but let out a humph. How was I even supposed to react to such an avalanche of news? Maybe it wasn't supposed to be news, but still. I needed to think for a week to make this decision, probably. Besides, I didn't know how Mom and Dad would react to it, so I laid it all out right there.

"I had a talk with your parents over the phone already. In fact, they were contacted by Yamaku before I even started thinking of this matter. You see," he cringed ever so lightly, "having full access to the medical network, they sometimes take the liberty of picking their clients. Anyway, Genetesis representatives are visiting you tomorrow. They can tell you much more about Yamaku. Call your family when you have a chance."

"Okay..." I mumbled to his back as he left.

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover) [Updated March 11

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:41 am
by 651
Whew, the prologue's up.
By the way, your critic is still appreciated. I get this feeling there's something off with my writing.

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Previous | Index | Next

====

I hated it. I hated this place. I thought it served the purpose of telling people the terrible truth in a soft manner so it wouldn't hurt that much while it only hurt more. "You are a shadow of yourself, sustained only by a mountain of pills, a worthless cripple who should be isolated with the likes of its own in a secured location for a medical corporation to perform experiments on," that's how I heard his words at the moment.

He could of been blunt, which was even more depressing because apparently, I didn't deserve it in his eyes. And I know for sure his tongue isn't silver all the time; all staff here knows regular human speech despite being sugary.

Hell, there was one nurse so over the line I just couldn't stand her. Once she was on the night duty, and I couldn't close my eyes. Silence was just freaking me out, so I asked her to take the heart monitor off the mute. She was rather surprised and tried to get my reasoning through way too polite questions. Being tired of it, I blew up:

"You wanna know why? Aight, this beat in my chest feels kinda dope, so if I get it playing, it's cash. Know what I mean? Like rolling in a caddie dropping the bass, ICU style. Chicks dig this stuff, know what I mean? Besides, if I suddenly die here, I might even ignore it, you know? No doom-dooms in the chest, well, not like it's the first time. Imagine the rustle in the heavens: "Hisao ditched death, what a douche! Who does he think we are?" Upon hearing a long beep, though, I'll know for sure it's time to go. Convenient, eh?"

She was laughing aloud by the end of my tirade, and her motherly attitude was completely gone from there on. She even called me Joker instead of Nakai. Joking death, what a douche indeed.

Remembering it brought me enough joy to throw the gloomy mood off and call Dad.

"Good evening, Hisao."

"Hi, Dad. Doctor told me about Yamaku."

"Oh," I sense a pause in his voice. "So are you looking forward to it?"

"Dad. I have friends back here. This Yamaku, how far is it?"

"Well, not close, but still not half Honshu away. Look, son, can I be straight with you?"

His voice sounded extremely tired so I agreed. Had had my load of beating around the bush in the hospital anyways.

"Good. Honestly, me and Mom couldn't imagine what to do when you're released. We have to work, so home schooling is out of question. We barely have enough time to look after Yoshio", that's my little bro. Poor boy, I wonder how he's holding up there. "Your meds don't exactly cost nothing, so we can't hire tutors neither. Yamaku, though... If Genetesis themselves are overseeing the place, it must be a medical heaven. In a good sense, of course. You'll be safe there."

"But Dad, I had friends! People I cared for!"

"Hisao, ask yourself if they cared for you because honestly, I don't recall you speaking of any visitors in the last three months."

"I won't even be able to see you if I'm far away!"

"That's not true, actually. Genetesis pays for all students' treatment and education and government has support initiatives of its own for families with kids in such institutions, so hopefully we'll be able to lay off some work and come see you once in a while."

Bro would be getting to see his family too.

"I'll need to sleep on it," I answered with an empty voice, unable to yell. I felt surrounded.

"Listen, Hisao. It's your choice. If you don't want this, we will think of something, I promise. But for now... it's the best we can give you."

His voice felt as void as mine. Surely he wanted to say sorry, so I never gave him a chance. He had nothing to apologize for.

"Okay, I'll decide tomorrow. Genetesis are going my way, so I'm a bit curious what they'll have to say."

"Oh, are they already? They called us too, seemed to be nice people."

"Right. Well, I love you all. Don't say anything to Mom, I'm not ready yet. Bye."

"Bye."

Short beeps in the phone were much more organized than the audized beating of my heart. Which was really dope, by the way.

Having a hive of thoughts to go through, I grabbed my tablet and headed to the recreation zone. Curiosity visits at first, a useless habit later, it had evolved into a ritual of some kind. One could come to the R-zone to watch TV or to meet people and socialize. Except every channel had a live stream on the Internet and the wireless covered every corner, making the television just an excuse. Yet so many used it to meet others it raised doubts about Japan being a country of cowards among. To think and have ideas inspired by the constant human buzzing was the usual reason to come here, although yesterday I walked down the beige hallway hoping to find a certain person, the one who taught me the proper usage of the R-zones.

It needs to be said I had two major enemies here, namely loneliness and complete indolence, so to hit two birds with one stone I took up reading just like father had advised. It proved to be a good activity for the brain, but the body still suffered. So as soon as I was allowed to stand up, I started strolling the room corner to corner like a prisoner. And a prisoner I was, both of this place and my own fragile body. At some point it became clear there wasn't much stuff on the floor I could trip over, so with a little practice it'd be possible to read while walking. Soon I was doing this. It never brought any sense of going back to normal, but at least my body was busy, at least I wasn't letting it decay further, and realizing this alone made the headaches lighter and the sleep deeper. As a bonus, the doctor stared at my cardiograms like puzzles until I told him what was going on. That was the only time I saw him pissed, by the way.

When spring came and staff let me spend some time outside, I abused the new possibility to its limit. I grew bored of the room long ago and started going to the hall. In fact, I strolled there so often people started greeting me and trying to make conversations, which was exactly against my will. Despite having been neighbors with them for a couple of months, I barely knew any of them and planned to keep it that way since the books were nicer, so I gladly took every chance of escaping outside. Fresh air was appreciated, too.

One of my getaways came to be particularly satisfying. A sunny morning in the background under still naked but ready to go green trees with almost nobody around? Awesome. A fresh book straight from the torrents? Double awesome. Feeling a heavy stare on yourself? Well, not so much. Annoyed, I took my eyes off the text and laid them on the stranger sitting on the bench in front of me. He didn't even flinch, continuing to study me as he was earlier. Male, thirty-five to forty, brunette with a lot of hoar and an extremely short haircut. Wide chest, short thick fingers, gray eyes, square chin. Yeah, this one doesn't look like a patient. I wondered what observations he had made.

After a few seconds he broke the silence:

"Watched you for some time. You into books and walks?"

"Yeah. You into sitting and staring?"

"True. Not much else to do in my condition anyway."

Something in his tone invited me to continue.

"Is that so. Are you me, by any chance?"

"Unless you were having problems with broken ribs lately, no."

"Nothing like that, I'm afraid."

"Nailed it. What's your reading?"

"Lem's "Fiasco"."

"Woah there. Hard stuff for a highschooler."

"Hard place for a highschooler."

"Fair enough. Any thoughts on it?"

Pretty amazing how fast we were able to make a conversation, given my obviously ultrasocial personality as of late. We just playing verbal pong, throwing short forced phrases at each other in bored tones. Having decided he would get more that he had asked, I started:

"Well, apart from possible scenarios of social evolution and a fresh take on first contact problem, it appears to tell about human relations: you either are repelled from a person, attracted into a stalemate of a sort when you can't get closer of further, or you destroy your vision of said person, losing a bit of yourself in the process."

"Huh. Ever been to a recreation zone?"

"Sorry?"

"That place where people watch TV. Each wing has one. Come there and watch."

"What, the TV?"

"No. Well, maybe that too, but it won't amuse you as much."

With that he stood up and left.

Of course I went to the R-zone that evening and watched people lie to each other and themselves. It felt… amusing, just like he said, so the next day I found him on the same bench and we talked some more, and the again day after day. He told me a thing or two about his life.

Being a firefighter wasn’t that hard, he said. Waking up every morning to the possibility of being dead by dusk was somewhat easy to get used to. Not so easy for the family, though. Kids quickly learned there was more to his job than “daddy saves people”, wife wouldn’t want him to go, especially after the accidents. It was just some minor burns at first, but getting a concussion during training made her worry much more. The last time his team among others was dealing with a huge fire in a warehouse when a local gas line exploded, so now he was sitting in the yard talking to me.

These stories I had to pull out of him word by word, but it was well worth it. Every time he would derail into short anecdotes from his everyday life, and those somehow brought me inspiration. Maybe it was normal life I needed to hear about to deal with my situation.

He was much more eager to discuss books or news. (Yeah, I formed a habit of going to the R-zone every day to watch the news on my tablet. No idea why I couldn’t do it in my room.) He had an opinion on everything, and an original one. It didn’t mean I agreed with him all the time, so we had gone through a couple of pretty heated disputes.

A fresh point of view was exactly what I needed.


So yeah, this is close to ridiculous. I'm sitting here on a bench with my mouth slightly opened, observing two figures standing in front of me. Two figures in black suits. A man and a woman.
"Hello, how may I be of service?"
Impressive, Hisao. Where did you learn all these manners, I wonder?
"Shotaro Endo,"
"Megumi Tada,"
"Genetesis Incorporated. We were looking for Hisao Nakai."
Two suited representatives for one potential student. Are you sure you aren't overplaying it?
"You've, uh, found him," I shift to the side to clear enough space for both of them. "What will we be talking about?"
"Yamaku, of course. It's our job to go and advertise the place so good that if we would be selling fast food, there'd be none left by the end of our rant."
Endo is actually a pretty cool guy under his dress code armor. When he starts talking, it's so smooth you don't want to interrupt this train of finely woven phrases. Megumi's able to do this, only to continue this train like nothing ever happened. They are good at this, must be one experienced team.
Our topic quickly slides to all the pretty things the Academy can offer, and while the pair does their best to get me interested in the place, I drift away. After all, it doesn't even matter what they say. If yesterday morning I was quite sure in my answer, today I am adamant.


The recreation zone. A huge tumor on the hall’s body. Wide screen on one wall, wide windows on the opposite. Couple dozens of chairs, several sofas along the windows. There he was, relaxing in one watching people chat and pay no attention to the TV whatsoever. He started visiting cardio some weeks ago, stating the traumatology was “plagued with boredom”. I wonder how always he managed to get a sofa for himself alone despite or R-zone being filled with people to the point when some needed to stand.

“Hola, big man.”

“What up, boy,” we never learned each other’s names. “Anything on the news?”

“Figured I’d ask you.”

“It’s set to 2nd channel, only stupid shows in prime time.”

“Yeah well, anyway, I need your advice.”

“Advice?” his brow lifted. “You know what they say about taking advice from strangers?”

“I’m taking the risks. So, the doctor said I’ll need to be monitored for who knows how long after getting out of here and won’t be able to return to my school. He plans on throwing me into a school for cripples, with babysitting nurses and such. I called my family, but they don’t have the cash to afford anything else.”

“So?”

“So? So I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll be leaving everything behind, every friend I had, that’s why. Admitting I’m a useless freak!” I started boiling. “And if I refuse and go back, I might die before graduation, how’s that?”

“Go for it.”

“Huh?”

“Go to the new school.”

“Care to elaborate?”

He let out an audible sigh.

“Am I better than you?”

“What?”

“This is what I ask myself upon every event,” he meant fires, obviously. “Am I better than those I save? Why do I deserve wearing this inflammable armor while they burn alive? What good can come out of my job if every time there is a chance of not saving them? You are taught standard answers before being thrown into the action. Nobody cares how solid and convincing they sound, you are expected to believe. Many guys crack on first days. I didn’t. I found my own excuse. These people, they are good at what their work, and I’m good at mine. They aren’t supposed to handle fires and never had the proper training, I did. So if they die in flames, it’s an unfortunate event. If I die at work because of poor equipment or anything else, it means more unfortunate events.”

“Cold and selfish.”

“I know, right. Now, what are you good at?”

I kept silence. It’s not like I was a failure, I did some rugby, excelled at Science and have gotten deep in literature lately, but nothing like what he was talking about.

“As expected. High school exists to show you your real self, thence the clubs, councils and everything. You don’t know who you are yet and dying before finding out is boring, so that’s the first reason not to return. Now to being a useless freak. Are you not? Did you do anything useful here?”

“No, but-”

“No buts. You are, and so am I, for the time being. The difference between us is, I will eventually stop being useless, not being a freak. It’s all because of the job. Public sees you as a hero, always shows you gratitude thinking you expect it. You don’t, you are doing just what you were trained for. To me, reception girls are real heroes. I won’t ever be able to stomach such a trivial job. Suddenly, my impatience becomes a part of my charm. Hell, even the fact that I don’t augment myself despite having enough money to stick cybernetics inside every member of the family including my dog becomes something people WOW about. Wow, he’s so brave he doesn’t need those! Boy, if stores had reliably fireproof skin in stick, I’d be all over it, and people would still WOW. Wow, he’s ready to suffer a lifetime addiction to help people!
So I shut the world out and live as I like. No friends except co-workers and family, no damns given about what others think. You, on the other side, look pretty ordinary to me. Say, is you condition something flashy?”

I suddenly realized I still hadn’t told him what my problem was.

“No. I guess I can mimic being normal in a while.”

“See, you’ve already submitted to being a freak,” wait, what? Oh man, that’s not what I meant. Or was it? “but that doesn’t mean you are alone. I’m not, for example.”

“I am.”

The saddest part was me knowing his answer’s general idea beforehand.

“That’s because you keep telling yourself you are normal. Remember the first time you came to the R-zone? How you saw people through? You are one of them, desperately trying not to know what’s going on. Doesn’t feel like you ever were a recluse, yet nobody comes to see you, else I would’ve heard something. Doesn’t that alone make you alien? In a desperate attempt to block this fact out you don’t talk to anyone here because they are freaks, just like you. Isn’t that miserable? You’ve mentioned friends, where are they? All I see in your world is just us two, books and TV. Remember Kafka’s “Castle”? You need to start living a full life not to become its protagonist. It won’t be as before, not a single bit. You’ll have to start anew. Might as well take the chance you’re given.”

He kept saying harsh words, but they were resonating with my thoughts. He was so right and I had been such a fool over these months. My voice shrunk to a whisper:

“It’s not like I’ve ever asked for this.”

“Oh no it is not. Before you get lost in self-pity, though, let me tell you about a girl I found under a crumbled framework of a house once. Both of her parents were dead, mommy’s body laying over hers. Can you imagine a four-year-old kid watching her mom burning to the bones? Did she ask for it? Did she ask for suffering through this to survive and live her life alone with both her body and her soul disfigured? Answer me, boy! Oh, you can’t? Then stop crying and GO DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO!”

He shouted the last words from the top of his lungs, making everybody look at us. A cocky grim found its way to my face. What were they staring at? The all were late, even half an hour ago there still had been a chance to see my misery, but definitely not anymore.

"I have decided," I hissed.

"Good. Any news on the web tonight?"

Not a hint of anger remained in his voice.

"Sure, plug in."

I powered up my tablet, and we just sat there listening to the voice in our earphones.

"Controversy arose with newfound strength as the police confirmed the recent series of murders throughout Japan to have been performed with obvious usage of human augmentation."

"Heard that, big man?"

"Uh-huh. Controversy. Best thing for business."

"How so?"

"Benefits all parties involved. You know, people aren't used to thinking, they would rather take sides."

"So a big fight is the best way to wake them up and make them choose?"

"Story of the mankind, boy."


I smile remembering this. Yeah, my choice is done.

"You don't need to try this hard, I'm coming in any case."

Endo stumbles in the middle of a phrase but quickly catches up.

"Fine then. We will do the paperwork and call your family in three or four days. Thanks for making this easy. Megumi, we have a couple of hours off, how about a date?"

He quickly forgets about me, turning to his companion.

"Like you will ever have a chance. Goodbye, Nakai."

"Aww, how boring. Goodbye, Nakai."

I'm still trapped in the hospital doing nothing, but at least now there is a new life ahead. This is something.

"Yeah, you will definitely have more questions, so take this for the time being," Endo runs back to me and hands over a single-use e-book. "I'm off. This woman... Megumi, wait! Stop breaking my heart already!"

As he runs off again, I can't help thinking how I will always react to these words with a smile now.

***

"Boss, it's Dyson calling."

A chilly black night hangs in the sky. Three men sit leaning to the side of a van parked in a littered back alley. One of them is just about to stand up and make a few steps forward.

"Hello, Derrick," says an imperious voice in his ear.

"Reading you loud and clear," Derrick's voice is dry and tired.

"Other teams have found the carriers."

"No luck this far, I assume."

"They fried themselves."

"Jesus Christ. Are you sure that wasn't remote controlled?"

"Absolutely. They are fanatic about this. Any more concerns about my intel's reliability?"

"Okay, you win. What do we do now?"

"Lie low and wait. I'll have our analysts go through the events once more. They couldn't have just erased the data or thrown it away."

"Dyson," Derrick takes a look around and continues in a lower tone. "I don't need to know this, but do you know what we are after?"

"I know it's worth enough for our beloved competitors to do such a messy cleaning operation it gets in the news and strengthens the purists' ranks in the whole country. If they go to such lengths for it, I want in."

"Whatever you say, boss. We'll get going, then," wind disturbs the skirts of his trench coat, and he shivers uneasily, "it's getting pretty uncomfortable here."

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover) [Updated March 15

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:32 pm
by Mirage_GSM
Reading Hisao talking this ghetto slang is kind of disturbing...

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover) [Updated March 15

Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 12:55 pm
by 651
Mirage_GSM wrote:Reading Hisao talking this ghetto slang is kind of disturbing...
I know it's really inappropriate to give in to sweet little weaknesses, but it's so tempting sometimes.
A lesson is learned, though.

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover) [Updated March 15

Posted: Wed Apr 03, 2013 2:23 am
by 651
Remember kids, real life is bad for your writing. Video games and internet are too.

====

Previous| Index | Next

====

Chapter 1. Stumblin' In.

Hammers and anvils. Sounds rhythmically banging on my head. The alarm was invented by sadists. I open my eyes to see the dark ceiling. No way, did I screw up with the timing again? Also this doesn't look like my hospital room. I find it hanging on my neck along with the high school and realize I'm quite stupid because that's where it's supposed to be. Then the ceiling falls down on me, crushing both to sharp little pieces and pushing them deep into my chest.

I wake up for the second time. My face is buried in the carpet's nap. A reflex inhalation chokes me with dust. Coughing is hard as my chest still hurts from the fall. Not only the bones, something inside also feels to have been hurt. Will have to be more careful with impacts, some parts in there are heavier than meat.
Well, way to start a new day. Less than three minutes in I'm already on my feet, sweaty and hurt. Some promising schedule right there. Maybe that's the price for yesterday's beauty.


I stood at the bus stop, blurry stripes still flowing through my head. Green for trees, gray for asphalt, motley for people. Many stripes for occasional buildings. Lying on a hospital bed it’s easy to forget what speed is, plus I had never travelled far by monorail before. In my opinion it still was a carriage crawling a windy path above the traffic. A shiny yellow cigar levitating above the rail as it tore through the air at almost one Mach? Definitely something new. Maybe I wasn’t that angry at the Academy for insisting on coming as fast as possible after all. At the very least the ride proved enjoyable.

I took a look at the surrounding crowd. Every face expressed concern and waiting. No matter how various their clothes were, people thought “The bus is late for sixty-one second. Sixty-two. Sixty-three” as one. If a painter was to depict them right then, the drawing could’ve been a river of rainbows flowing between stony pillars with a giant clock on top. I had thought of this image back home, but it appeared applicable here too. Maybe the cities are just all alike. Same blocks of steel and glass, same wide streets between them, same pedestrian overwalks.
“Route 14 has arrived, departing in three minutes. Destination Yamaku Hospital”, a robotic voice announced, inviting us to board.

Even buses here were the same long gray boxes on wheels with hard seats inside. As the AI started plotting our way through the traffic, I impatiently looked around. All this talk of a new life had made me expect a radically different environment. Maybe schoolgirls with attention deficit disorder and bored managers still were there, but the overall atmosphere could be merrier. This place smelt of money and car exhaust, and I’d had enough of these in the previous lifetime. One can dream, though.

I reached into my sport bag for the tablet and pulled out the promoting e-book instead. Ah, might as well read it.
Skyscrapers floated by, corporate flags flapped in the wind, the sun searched for its way inside the bus reflecting in one window after another. With every block the buildings got lower and the people less formal. Solid confidence of the business district gave way to the careless seething of life to be swept away by it. Neon signs appeared, steadily waiting for darkness to turn on. Marts, clubs, kids on the playgrounds. The ordinary city life flew past the window. A teenage couple riding a bike. My potential life passed by and I was too busy reading to give it more than an eye's corner notice.

The e-book told the story of the Yamaku Academy starting from early 50's when a group of anonymous benefactors started a foundation dedicated to helping war orphans. Over time the foundation grew large enough to survive until the end of millennium with its focus shifting to disabled kids. Orphanages and schools it supported became heavily specialized, Yamaku being no exception. While the benefactors were doing their best to support the educational chain, the new century brought changes for the best. A certain corporation took interest in the foundation's activities and enlisted as a major benefactor. Even more, the said corporation lobbied numerous acts through the Diet. That probably explained the unusual amount of support my family was about to receive.
Anyway, the Academy itself rested on the top of a namesake hill, with the hospital at its feet. Nothing new on the part of medical capacities, everything you could ask for was already in place. Even augmentation had a green light as all the expenses got covered by the Genetesis. It was noted separately that the “friendly atmosphere within the Academy proves most suitable for social rehabilitation”. Well, not that I was planning to augment myself, but having nice people around certainly couldn’t hurt.

Of course, the last section consisted of pure advertising with ringing slogans and shiny photos. The latter were quite pleasant, to be honest. The hill overlooked a small satellite town with no industrial monstrosities to be seen around if you left the futuristic hospital out of count. By “futuristic” I mean “a glass trapezium standing upside-down”. Two VTOL landing pads didn’t help creating a retro image. Other than that the town looked like it didn’t change a bit over the last half a century. Two-story houses separated by quiet lanes with few to no cars to disturb the nature and quite a lot of parks made me think that maybe I’m in for a change after all. I was just about to take a video tour of the surroundings when a “Cannot read corrupted file” error appeared. Annoyed, I lifted my gaze to notice that we’d completely left the city and by the looks of it are pretty close to…

“Aura Mart. Next stop Yamaku Hospital, terminus.”

Actually, the terminus could’ve been easily set right there because everyone left inside stood up and prepared to exit. I caught a couple of suspicious to hostile stares. A little girl studied me with sincere interest until her father had to pull her outside. He gave me a scolding look afterwards. What in the world had I done wrong?

“Hi there. Heading to the Academy?”

At least someone didn’t leave. A guy about twenty-five years old stood above me with a friendly smile. He was an obvious foreigner, his light skin and accent gave it away.

“Maybe. Why should I?”

He sat beside me as the bus took off. More than a few girls would call him hot because, you know, those gray eyes, that brushed back light hair showing a tall forehead, thin lips and a strong jaw line created one of the faces they fall for. His bent back spoiler the pretty picture though.

“Not much visitors at the hospital on Sunday evenings, and if you were headed to town, you’ve already passed you stop.”

“Familiar with the surroundings, aren’t you, Mr…”

He laughed a little.

“Right, sorry about that. Name’s Martin Meers, I work at the hospital. And you are?”

“Hisao Nakai. You’re quite fluid in Japanese, you know.”

“Comes with the family, I guess,” a concerned frown crossed his face for a split second to be replaced by a wide smile. “Father was a huge otaku, met a hot cosplayer at a convention and got lucky.”

“So you’re American, right?”

From what I’d heard only they are crazy enough to raise their children ready to live in Japan.

“Yep. Moved here to get a decent job. I suppose there’s no need to ask what brings you here.”

“A girl.”

The most effective lie is a truth skillfully told.

“An interesting condition. You aren’t planning anything funny, are you? Ah, whatever. Just get done before curfew to avoid trouble.”

I couldn’t help but giggle.

“No, I’m just a brokenhearted young fool.”

“So you’re here for long after all?”

“Yamaku Hospital, terminus. Please do not forget personal belongings on board.”

“I’ll be seeing you around, then.”

A question formed in my mind as I hopped out.

“Since you work here… I have an advertising booklet, what do I do with it?”

“Corporate property, huh? Drop it at the Academy’s checkpoint.”

With that he dashed off.

I took a look around.

Some place this hospital is, I tell you. The bus stop's placed near the fence marking the grounds. Maybe an improper name, though; vibrating strings stretched from one thin pole to another are not your everyday sight to classify them properly. Heavy metal gates look out of place in this openwork construction. Beyond them lies a whole sea of carefully cut grass. A single road crosses it, leading to the main building in a couple hundred meters away. About halfway there the road branches as two paths run left and right from it towards the landing pads.
The building itself looks a lot larger than it does in the e-brochure. Its icebreaker-ish contour looks alien on the green field, as if it was dropped from the sky.

"Definitely belongs to the city", I thought passing by the last poles. Surely, I could stand there and watch the sunset color its walls with gold and scarlet, but my destination laid further.

I got surprised by the pace my legs took. Turned out here in the country where the air was much clearer my body felt pretty okay. Or was it the idyllic feeling that freshened me? With summer madly blooming around, singing birds instead of growling cars and a nice park on both sides of the road it could've easily been so.

In a few minutes I noticed the corner of another fence. Now that was something solid. Massive brick pillars held spans of thick black rods, each one ending with an arrow tip, reminding of a place of power Yamaku used to be centuries ago. Usurper's seat turned to a house of healing sounded kind of... ironic, I guess?

Turned out I didn't cover even half the distance. By the time the massive gates appeared in front of me, I got out of the last breath. Blood rhythmically pulsed in my temples. Obviously, striding the hospital's back yard hadn't been a hard enough exercise to bring me to my feet.

Wiping sweat from my face, I stepped in. The park hardly noticed the fence and continued growing inside, becoming a shield against curious stares (not like anyone lived on this hill, though). Here the green walls gave way at last, revealing the low buildings. Yep, totally from the last century.

Hello to my new home.


Having plunged deep in thoughts, I hardly notice the time and the fact there's nobody in the showers on my floor. Only a loud knock on the door stops me from slowly and methodically drying my hair.

"Yo Sleeping Beauty, you've twenty minutes to the bell!"

Recognizing the clear voice, I rush to the door. Holy hell, I swear I wasn't lagging.

A thin tall figure waits in the hall, smiling my way.

"No one would mind if you took your sweet time to put some pants on, Nakai."

Well yeah, I'm standing here in my boxers and a T-shirt with a towel around my neck but after all it's a male dorm and I'm panicking a little bit here. He on the other side is all packed up and ready to leave. It's a wonder how perfect the uniform suits him. I've tried it on yesterday only to discover it was designed for mannequins rather than men. Then again, his spine is straight as a stick all the time, so it's not a problem.

"Whatcha staring at, honey lips?" It's really unclear if he's serious or not. "Anyway, you should find a couple of laggers left in the kitchen. Ask them about the rules and whatever. Don't eat them though and move your lumps swiftly. Don't wanna be late on your first day."

"Right, Daigo. See you then."

He's already turned his back to me and started eating the distance to the stairs with his long strides, so the only response I get is a hand held high.

This guy. Guess I'll tell about him while running around the dorms like crazy and shoving food down my throat.

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover) [Updated April 3r

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 9:29 pm
by Nanao-kun
Looks nice so far.

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover) [Updated April 3r

Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 3:34 pm
by 651
Man, this is going slow.

====

Previous| Index | Next

====

The check-in at the gates turned out to be long and boring. By the time they were done sunset had turned to an early dusk, forcing me to seek refuge in the dorms rather than go sightseeing. Sleep one, local landmarks zero.

Entering the dorms I bumped into a couple of girls leaving. Some lovely girls, I say. The taller one had a close to brown overtanned skin tone and long dark hair. She held her handless left arm on her companion's waist. Guess I shouldn't have been weirded out by a bandaged stump like I was, given the nature of this place. The other girl was hard to get a look at with her back and neck bent to the point where her shoulder long hair completely covered her face. She leant heavily on her one-handed friend, which made me think she was sick for a second. The first wide yawn proved otherwise. What do you have to do to literally fall asleep off your feet?

"...why do you like hanging out with the boys so much..."

"Hi handsome!" the fully conscious one shamelessly interrupted a quiet conversation they were having with a loud enthusiastic greeting and an evaluating stare, but continued walking without a change of pace.

"...because I keep telling you, they act soo silly."

"I know, right? They are adorable!"

The last word spoken in a loud whisper followed by sweet giggles made me realize I was an idiot just as adorable, standing there unable to even say hi. Having failed at conversation already, I stepped inside ready to make a disaster of the whole evening as fast as possible.

All right sleepyhead, so maybe "silly" an understatement. I mean I'm a guy myself, but to play fighting games with a straight face you have to be twelve. To have a fighting game duel on a large screen right next to the main entrance with like fifteen people holding fists, you have to have a dorm full of twelve-year-olds. Nonetheless, the hall was filled with spectators watching an epic fight between Ryu and Blanca. My arrival went unnoticed, so I silently leant against the wall awaiting the end.

The players were quite skilled, if a scrub like me could judge. Both of them had won a round already and nearly emptied their health bars in the final one. Two figures chased each other in a deadly dance accompanied by intensifying rattle of the arcade sticks. In a situation like this every mistake is critical, so you want to play defensive and wait for your opponent to go stupid. That is, as long as the timer allows. Four seconds to the end the fighters clashed, making a drumbeat of button mashing. I didn't understand what happened, but one of the players sprung up yelling in excitement:

"Get wrecked, get WRECKED! WHO'S THE SICKEST NOW, HUH? High five to all my bros, we're winning tonight!"

This majorly overweight guy pranced around the place like he's just won a million. Where had I seen him before? Where had I heard this deep voice appropriate for a wrestling announcer?

"How you feeling, Daigo? How does it feel to get STOMPED?"

Daigo sat unphased in his chair. Sat? Lied? With his body half slid down and legs stretched out he looked relaxed to the max.

"Feels alright. Never seen this move counter hit before, or it'd be you in the dump now."

"Point three seconds time frame, man. GRAND LEAGUE stuff!"

"Oh, you go straight to hell with that. Come on, lift me up."

Fatty took him by the elbows and just pulled him out of the seat. I noticed Daigo's long figure remained straight as a stick.

The match probably remained the last thing keeping people in the hall that evening, because in a few minutes everyone except Daigo and a short thoughtful boy left. These two appeared fixed on greeting me unlike the others, who surely made eye contact but after a few hellos left me standing there. Indeed, I could've easily been waiting for someone, and a new student would have asked where the hell is he supposed to go long ago.

Enough acting. I took a step forward and introduced myself.

"Hello there. My name's Daigo Kurosaki and my companion here is Takashi Maeda," was the answer. "May we help?"

"I'm, uh, new here."

"Oh, but of course!"

"Drop it. Everybody knows you're no Satou."

Takashi's voice was annoyed and nasal as if he managed to catch a bad cold this early in summer, making a comical contrast with his buddy's clear, respectful, almost diplomatic tone. The way he sat on his chair backwards, supporting his head with one fist, completed the image of a generic "so bored" net dweller.

"Come on dude, I'm trying to make an impression here!" Daigo's officious attitude evaporated in a second. "Aright, which class?"

"I'm assigned to three-three."

"Look who's got dubs," shortie's voice sounded a little poisonous. "Welcome to the club."

"Is it bad?"

"Depends. Kurosaki, will you?"

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, the clique's chill and all but your future rep is... overenthusiastic. Don't let her rope you into anything on the first week. She has no right to but will try anyway. Other than that you're in for some queer girls, hard-headed guys and Takashi. Nothing suicidal."

"Pfft," someone obviously considered himself a threat.

"So you know a good deal about my class."

"Job obliges. You know, being a rep myself. 3-1's no joke, they number us for a reason. Old council helped too, and producing a school newspaper throws anyone in the flow. That, and it's simple to remember sixty people in our parallel."

Hoping to squeeze more information out of him, I fired the easiest question away:

"Old council?"

"Nah, if I start rambling you'll have an unfair advantage. Everyone forms their own opinions. You go in alone and merge into the society, that's the rule here. No hints," his clear green eyes squinted and lips formed a thin accusing line, "which is exactly what you're trying to get out of me right now, huh. Nice try, won't work."

Did he X-ray me on the spot? Because I'm pretty sure I'm in control of my facial expressions.

"Respect though. Fresh meat doesn't usually catch the game this early. Stay away from Hakamichi in any case."

"So much for unfair advantages."

"Her surname? Is it, that's the question. Maybe I'm toying with ya."

"You sound not much nicer."

"Maybe, or maybe you've yet to meet the real harpy. Maybe if I tell you to stick close to another newbie in dubs it's a joke, maybe Miki's not a bad girl after all."

"Stick close to a girl? I'll go for a joke."

"Oh don't you play all holy. Wait. Wait..." he noticed a shameful blush creeping to my face, "no no no. Don't tell me you haven't... Kisses? Hugs? Anything?"

I just shook my head. Takashi giggled in amusement.

"The bet's all mine now, boss man."

"You hold your horses," a passionate fire lit up in rep's eyes. "Nakai, you've just cost me money, so better show your real colors soon. And you don't count the
chickens yet, slacker. We double the stakes on whether he brings a girl to the festival, deal?"

The duo drilled each other with stares for a second.

"Deal."

"All right Nakai, you're my protégé from now on and in hell I'm losing this one."


That was they guy who knocked on my door this morning.
I admit, it was hard not to get charmed by his cocky nature and bright smile. I even forgot to ask how much time did I have, but luckily he showed me to my room without silencing for a second so in the end I knew more about the festival than I'd ever need.

***

Of course I'm late regardless to the efforts. My gasping is the only sound to disturb the empty hall. What do you think, stairs are hard. Even harder with this strangling necktie. I seriously need to remember how to wear those since there was some experience back at the old school. Loosening it a little, I slide the classroom door open, ready to fire my excuses away.

Which turns out to be unnecessary. The first thing my eye catches is the absence of any teacher, followed by that overtanned girl from yesterday waving her stump in a greeting way. Her second number lies across the desk sleeping peacefully despite all the surrounding noise. Finally, there's Takashi opening his mouth to say something. Something acid, I assume.

"A little lost~?"

However, the voice comes from another direction. Its source looks very proud of its ability to produce sounds of such volume they can break glass. Or maybe of pink drills she's wearing so skillfully.

"I, I hope not. Is this, uh, class 3-3?"

My brain apparently uses separate routines when talking to different genders.

"It sure is~, come in!"

Closing the door I notice her neighbor making weird gestures. Pink-haired repeats them adding some sound:

"Are you that new student? of course you are. Take your seat please, introductions can wait for later."

How does she make the dullest words sound playful?

They both point at the same desk. Second row, near the window. Considering we only have three rows, that's pretty nice if you scratch the possibility of going deaf thanks to the drill-haired megaphone sitting right beside me. Speaking of which, that must be sign language her neighbor's using. Does everyone here know it?

The moment I touch down and prepare to become the (obviously) second deaf student in the room the door slides aside once more. Inside steps a crutch with a hand holding it, then a reluctant leg. Wait. This is no leg. At least not something I have growing down from my butt cheeks. Imagine a plastic prosthesis imitating your natural limb, mat gray rubber muscles that weave your thigh, a shining composite knee cup covering a complex joint, fatigue resistant polymer web connecting artificial muscles to a flat heel and dull fangs instead of toes. This is the first time I see augmentations with my own eyes, not on the web. It's... fascinating and repulsive at the same time. I catch myself staring at the skirt line. A little more, Nakai, and you'll convince me to get us a girlfriend. A quick look around ensures I'm not the only one caught in the sight, though. With a thrust the limb throws in the rest of its owner. A short brown girl on cybernetic legs regains balance and throws a "Hehey!" in our general direction. The class, having held its breath until now, explodes with applause.

"Molly! Woohoo! Molly, welcome back! Hey! How've you been?"

Some guy even stands up to help her but gets dismissed with a wave of hand. She's moving on her own, clumsily since her limbs don't seem to be able to compete with natural ones. Regardless, her face looks quite cheerful. Some legs are better than no legs, I guess.

"Miura," says the tanned girl as Molly passes her seat, "Miki Miura."

The way she says her surname sliding to a "meow" is kind of cute.

"Kapur. Molly, of course. Nice to finally meet you, oh, and who that might be?"

I open my mouth and

"He's today~ish," the megaphone shouts.

"Ooh, introductions? Niiice."

Hey, I'm right here after all. I open my mouth the second time.

"Now that everybody's here, can I start at last?"

That dry harsh voice clearly isn't mine. All heads turn to check who's there. A skinny man in his forties wearing an old suit and an annoyed frown comes to the teacher's desk. His dark hair make my mess of a hairstyle look completely tame, while dark circles under his eyes and unshaved face don't help building a friendlier appearance.

"Hey. Can you get me seated?"

Molly's having trouble. Crutches are handy only to a certain extent; you can turn the chair to face you, but sitting down when your legs act on their own will still be problematic. As much as I'm engrossed, helping her looks like a natural thing to do here, so I nod and stand up in response to her whisper. This place. I'll have to break a few habits to blend in.

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover) [Updated May 11th

Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 4:10 am
by Mirage_GSM
Lot's of jumping between tenses.
A little more, Nakai, and you'll convince me to get us a girlfriend.
If you're going for past tense, talking internally to oneself doesn't fit.

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover) [Updated May 11th

Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 7:29 am
by 651
Mirage_GSM wrote:Lot's of jumping between tenses.
I thought using past tense for Sunday events and present for Monday was only natural. *** separates different time periods.
If you're going for past tense, talking internally to oneself doesn't fit.
This happens on Monday and the paragraph is written in present tense.

Re: Kenji's Conspiracy (Deus Ex crossover) [Updated May 11th

Posted: Mon May 13, 2013 8:58 am
by Mirage_GSM
So that was intentional?
Any special reason to change narrative styles between two sections of the same chapter?