Present Day: March 5th 2093.
Colony: New-Tokyo; Shibuya Ruins.
5:55 pm GMT+8.
Hiromi's breathing sounded ragged and heavy. And his vision was getting blurred. He knew if he did not apply pressure to the wound soon, he would die of blood loss.
But the voice that just called out his name and code number sent chills down his spine. He was certain it was a Centrial. Hiromi couldn't help but remember how he had lost his parents to one a few years back and was soon hyperventilating.
His mind was getting foggy, and when his head tilted, the headband he had on came loose. It covered a strange mark he had on his forehead. He got it five years ago—when THEY took his blood. His wasn't the only blood that was taken. Despite that, Hiromi had seen no one else with the same mark.
There was a key-Chain connected to the headband. It fell to the ground with a clanking sound, and the cH* Cube attached to it lit up; then produced a hologram. It was of a beautiful woman that looked not much older than Hiromi was.
"I'm sorry Reiko. It looks like I won't make it back home today..." Hiromi said. losing consciousness soon after.
***
*cH-Cube: Used on recon missions to display holographic images of ruined cities. Invented by the Academy. Easy to acquire.*
***
Earlier that day.
New-Tokyo; Minato Refuge.
7:50 am.
In a small room that was mostly empty, furniture wise, but still filled with mechanical contraptions and clutter, a boy with black hair and a fairly good-looking face could be seen lying in an odd sleeping position. His rear was sticking out as his head faced the open window. His hands seemed to hide a mechanical helmet of sorts under a semi-transparent sheet.
"Get up... I know you're awake!" said a stern female voice.
Hiromi shut his eyelids, knowing how annoying she could get; and pretended to be asleep. He could hear her pacing around the room, until suddenly she stood before him, wielding a Kendo-Blade in her hands, about to strike the first form.
Based on the Shinai used in conventional Japanese Kendo, the Kendo-Blade was a basic tier blunt-force type of weapon that civilians could carry around for self-defensive purposes only. It was about 120 cm long, with metallic, circular ridges around it. The ridges would emit a blue light whenever someone swung it; this produced a menacing sound when the surrounding air vibrated. The Academy invented it.
Hiromi instinctively got up and dodged the swing with seamless ease. As he exclaimed;
"What the hell Reiko?!"
"So you WERE awake, huh? Figured." She said, swinging more strikes at him. "What did I tell you about staying up all night gaming?!"
Reiko's swings were fast and precise, and she emitted an intimidating aura, like a seasoned warrior in the heat of battle. Hiromi dodged the strikes with less ease this time. And stumbled, as the tiny room barely gave any room for movement.
"It's not what you think, Reiko!" He said nervously. "I didn't stay up all night gaming, I just woke up really early... at midnight. Midnight is oftentimes classified as morning, right?"
Her eyebrows twitched the moment she heard those words. And Hiromi regretted saying them almost immediately after. He knew she was most upset when she tilted her head slightly and gave him a condescending look that seemed to say; 'you're so dead kid'. That was when she would get serious. Her fists tightly clenched the blade's handle, and she looked at him, with eyes fuming with rage.
"Midnight?!" she said as she approached him. "Were you up since then?!"
< ⚠ Warning ⚠>
< Threat detected >
< Use of self defense highly advised! >
"Don't bother, Code... Damn, this is going to hurt…" Said Hiromi with a bittersweet grin on his face.
With a grimace, Hiromi closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impending world of pain he was about to experience. The last time she was that upset, she beat him black and blue, and he was sore for days. Her skill with the Kendo-Blade was second to none.
Suddenly, he felt her arms around him.
"Why do you keep doing this to yourself, Hiro?" Reiko said with teary eyes. "You know you're all I have left, right?"
The melancholy in Reiko's voice was fairly clear; as Hiromi felt her hands grip the back of his blazer with such force—he was certain her knuckles turned white.
"I'm sorry, Rei… I just want us to move out of here; and live in a better Refuge*. You're always working so hard, just to send me to the Academy* and provide for us both. I want to help too. If I won the tournament, we'd get 200 Bytecoin! That's enough for us to even buy a Floating-Ship* wouldn't that be amazing?" Hiromi asked his sister excitedly.
***
*Refuge: A region of a colony where a major city once stood.
*Floating-Ship; A type of ship based dwelling. They were quite popular in the colonies, as they offered both defensive and offensive capabilities. Most, however, could not afford to buy them, as they were too expensive.
***
Reiko could feel the vigor oozing from Hiromi's voice. His words were kind and subtle, but firm as well. As she looked into his brown eyes, she could see his child-like innocence resonating from them; brimming with resolution and ambition. Once, she too had dreams. But as she looked at him, all she saw was a fledgling ignorant of the cruelty of the shackled world they lived in. Because of that, she wanted to protect that innocence more than anything else.
"You're right, that would be amazing. But I don't want you fighting in those tournaments anymore Hiro! That's why I enrolled you into the Academy*, so you can do what you do best; and find solutions that can help save humanity through harnessing the Energy-Cores*." Reiko said.
*Energy-Cores were invented nearly five decades after humanity's initial annihilation. Eight scientists from around the world came together and created an almost infinite artificial source of energy.
No one knows for sure how they came about, but the scientists later collectively came to be known as The Eight. The founders of the Academy. The Energy-Cores were the lifelines of Colonies. They enabled everything; from powering the machines all around to filtering the very air they breathed.*
"Then you should know I'm good at fighting too, right, Rei?" Hiromi said. A slight frown was visible on his face; as his lips curled up.
"Enough Hiro! We won't discuss this any further!" Reiko said as she headed for the door; cutting the conversation short.
As she walked away, Hiromi noticed the scar on the back of her left shoulder. He felt his chest tighten as he saw it. It had been so long that seeing it again brought terrible memories to his mind.
"Rei... that scar you have on your back, did you get it that day?" He asked nervously. "Did... I give it to you?"
Reiko grimaced and bit on her lower lip. She forgot to cover it up during the argument. She didn't want to remind him of that time. It took him so long to open up to her again after it happened.
"This? Think little of it... It wasn't your fault!" She replied firmly as she smiled at him.
"Get ready to leave for the Academy* you're going to be late if you stay any longer!" She said with a grin. Quickly changing the subject.
"Sure thing! But it's on you, if I'm late!" Hiromi said with an awkward toothy grin.
*The Academy: A place where students learnt how to harness power from Energy-Cores. There were two major factions behind the scenes within the Academy; the Warrior-Class*, and The Novelty-Class*.
*The Novelty-Class: They harnessed the power of Energy-Cores, to run machines, create new weapons, as well as carry out research for further development. They used a type of Energy-Core known as a Blue-Core which was stable and less likely to cause harm unintentionally.*
*The Warrior Class: They harnessed power from Energy-Cores, to boost their physical abilities. These boosts made them seem superhuman to ordinary individuals, but were nothing compared to the mighty Centrials' abilities. They handled recon missions. And used a type of energy core, known as a Red-Core. It was more volatile than the Blue-Core was.*
***
< ⚠ Warning ⚠ >
< Thirty percent of blood lost. Pulse detected to be over 120 beats per minute. Blood pressure dropping rapidly. Breathing Irregular! >
< Emergency First Aid Advised! >
Hiromi could barely hear his Inventory System's warning as he regained consciousness.
"I… hear you, buddy. This… looks pretty bad." Hiromi said, stuttering, and barely coherent. "Display… First Aid Inventory!"
< Kazuya Hiromi >
< First Aid Inventory >
< Triple-A: 1 Shell(s) >
< Anti-Inflammatory: 1 Shell(s) >
< Supplement: 0 Shell(s) >
< Blood-Alternatives: 0 Shell(s) >
< Beta-Nano-Bots: 1 Shell(s) >
Hiromi looked at his Emergency First Aid Inventory, and an idea came to his mind. It was a risky gamble, and he hated betting on his own life more than anything else, but it was his only hope for survival.
"Activate… Triple-A* plus Beta-Nano-bot* procedure!" Hiromi said as he stuttered.
*Triple-A: Avant-Garde Adrenal-Stimulating Anesthesia. A Special Grade emergency first aid tool invented by The Academy. Difficult to acquire.*
*Beta-Nano-Bots: Micro Bots that run on complex algorithms found on Inventory Systems like Hiromi's Code. Effectiveness highly depended on the type of system. Also invented by The Academy. Difficult to acquire.*
***
< ⚠ Warning ⚠ >
< Use of Triple-A, Beta-Nano-Bot, Emergency First Aid Procedure, ill-advised in the present state Hiromi! >
< Do you still wish to continue? >
Despite being classified as a Special Grade First Aid tool, the Triple-A did more harm than good. It caused rapid cell-division, to facilitate healing. The process was excruciatingly painful and resulted in the shortening of one's life span.
The Academy only permitted its use under high-risk, life-threatening dire situations. And even then, its use was still ill-advised, as it was still in the experimental phases. And it was illegal for anyone to use without permission.
The only place its use was legal worldwide was in the New-Berlin Colony. For reasons undisclosed to other Colonies.
"Yes… send the message to The Academy. I… Kazuya Hiromi, code number #00156, authorize my Inventory System to start Triple-A, Beta-Nano-Bot, Emergency First Aid Procedure. Requesting permission… to continue!" By then, he was barely hanging on by a thread.
A message prompt appeared in front of Hiromi, through his Inventory System's HUI*
*HUI: Holographic User Interface. A hologram based interface. Invented by Hiroshi Tanaka, and Riley Tarot—Hailed as the founders of Modern Day Inventory Warfare.*
< Permission Granted Code #00156 >
< Note: Any effect this may have on your body and well-being shall not be held as the Academy's responsibility >
< Do you still wish to continue? >
< Yes > < No >
"Damn jerks… Yes!!"