Present Day: March 5th 2093.
Colony: New-Tokyo; Shibuya Ruins.
6:33 pm GMT+8
A slight breeze was blowing, and the uncanny sound of the Cleaners* was fairly audible. It was a loud wheezing—howling sound. One that sent chills down the spine of whomever heard it.
***
*Cleaners were enormous orb shaped Vacuums. They were placed in strategic locations around each Refuge. These locations were known as End Points.
The Cleaners, as their name suggested, produced a suction power thousands of times greater than that of Gale-Force winds. Red-Cores powered them and obliterated anything that was drawn into their voids.
Primarily their principal aim was to get rid of debris in the ruined cities such as Shibuya. However, if a human was in one of the ruined cities when the cleaners got to work, chances of survival were less than five percent.
***
"It appears neither one of you, nor I, has much time to spare." The female Centrial said. "So, which one of you would like to die first?!"
Her tone of voice, rhetorical and condescending. Yet still radiating power and dominance.
"Why you damn…"
Takashi's words were cut short. As it appeared as though she vanished for an instant, and reappeared right in front of him, with her hand covering his mouth. He felt a chill engulf his body as her deathly cold, pale skin touched his. For an instant, he couldn't react at all, as she leaned in, and whispered in his ear;
"I dislike humans who swear." She said, as she chuckled slightly. "Could you not do that?"
Upon hearing her words, Takashi finally got his body to react; and swung the blade in his right hand at her with all his might. He was so overwhelmed that he forgot to use a Boost.
She did not bother to evade his attack and let his blade strike at her. The distinct sound of metal touching metal echoed as Takashi struck the brunt of his blade at her neck.
Hiromi watched in shock, as Takashi's blade landed an attack on the female Centrial. A feat he believed to be inconceivable.
"I thought you claimed to be of a different breed." She said. "Is that the best you can do, code #00345?"
Hiromi was in disbelief. Even if Takashi neglected to use a Boost, was the difference in power that great, that even a blade swung at her neck did no damage at all? Were the Centrials that much superior to humans? Those questions flashed through his mind, as the horror of what Centrials truly were dawned on him.
The blade snapped in half, as the Centrial held its edge in her bare hands with incredible force. She then hurled the broken edge over at Hiromi. He barely dodged, and it slashed his left cheek. Had he not reacted quickly enough, Hiromi would have lost an eye.
Takashi took a few steps back, looked at Hiromi for a second, he then said to the Centrial;
"I told you your fight was with me! Didn't I you monster?!" He exclaimed. "That weakling can't do a thing!"
Hiromi didn't fancy Takashi's choice of words, but he knew they were true. There was nothing he could do to help, especially since he was all out of Boosts.
"Beta!" Takashi exclaimed. "Display Offensive Inventory!"
< Dazai Takashi. >
< Offensive Inventory. >
< Boosts: 7 >
< Grenades: 1 >
< Dual-Wielded-Daggers: 2 sets >
…
A slight grin formed on Takashi's face.
< Would you like to see more options, Takashi? >
"No Beta!" He said. "I already have a Combo in mind. Besides, with the number of boosts I have right now, I can't use Combos higher than level three!
The effectiveness of a Combo highly depended on the number of boosts a user had. The more powerful a Combo was, the greater the number of boosts required to execute it. However, some Combos used in emergency first aid could be executed with none. This was a feature that was implemented by the Academy, to limit how people used the power of Energy-Cores.
The sound of the Cleaners got even louder, and soon there were turbulent winds blowing all over. They needed to leave the Ruin* soon, and enter a Refuge somewhere; or it would be too late and for them to escape from the Cleaners.
*Ruin, an uninhabitable place; where a major city once stood.*
"I guess you were right after all Centrial. It seems I have little time as well. I need to get back to the Academy, and teach that weakling Hiromi, a lesson!" Takashi exclaimed.
"Offensive Boost Combo! Kinetic Vision*; Level 1, Phasing Blade*; Level 2!"
< Boosts: - 3 >
< Boosts: 7 —> 4 >
Takashi's eyes adjusted, and two daggers appeared in his hands.
"Hey Hiromi!" Takashi said. "I was saving this skill to use it against you and your little class of Novelties at the Tournament. It looks like you'll be getting a little preview. Then again, even if you know it's coming, you can't stop this skill!" He had a confident smirk on his face.
It dumbfounded Hiromi; how Takashi could be so confident while facing a Centrial. It didn't appear he was bluffing, but whatever that skill was, it had to be amazing; he thought.
"Hey Centrial! You better put up your best defense. This one's going to hurt!!" Takashi taunted.
The Centrial took out a long—thin silver colored blade from her hooded coat. It appeared Takashi's taunts made her cautious.
Takashi spun the daggers in his hands for a few seconds while intently observing the Centrial.
< Kinetic Vision Adjusted To Target. >
A grin formed on Takashi's face. He wasn't certain he could beat her; at the least he'd hurt her enough for her to remember him for a while to come.
He suddenly dashed forward and headed for the Centrial. She was the first to strike, as her blade had a longer reach. Aiming for his side, she thought she had him. But he evaded the attack at the very last second by lowering his center of gravity.
She threw a punch at him, but he evaded that too at the very last second by jumping up and twisting his body peculiarly. Reaching her eye level, and their eyes met. It seemed she had a mask on, hiding her face under the hood. And despite calling her a monster, even he had to admit she had beautiful eyes.
Astonished by Takashi's incredible physical prowess, the Centrial let her guard down. And as he swung the dagger at her, she winced as she felt a sharp pain rip through her arm—pulling down the hooded coat she had on, as well.
"I told you to put up your best guard when defending against this skill!" Takashi taunted as he grinned.
As the hooded coat came off, her long red hair and beautiful scarlet-red eyes were exposed. The mask still covered her face; but it stunned Hiromii and Takashi when they saw her. She looked no older than they were. Yet she single-handedly overwhelmed them until that moment.
"You actually wounded me?" She asked. "They did not inform me of your existence Code #00345 Takashi Dazai. It seems at the moment, you're an even greater threat to me, than my target is!" The Centrial said with an unfazed grin as she licked the blood off the wound on her arm.
"Of course I'm more of a threat that weakling!" Takashi exclaimed. "Are you sure I'm not your target instead?!" Takashi's hysterical laugh resounded.
Just as the turbulence produced by the Cleaners got more intense, the Centrial said;
"My name is Aria. Know this; of the humans that have heard my name, none have lived to tell the tale!"