Kadia Nagata's Story

INITIATING BOOT-UP DRIVE

//Verifying OSID… ACCESS GRANTED
//CONFIRMED ID: AEGIS 4.0 - MODEL #1 - JIDO SHIKO
//CHECKING CIRCULATORY SYSTEMS: CHECK //REWARMING FLUIDS: CHECK //EPIDERMIS PIGMENTATION: CHECK //PERSONA DRIVER: CHECK
//INITIATING WAKEUP PROCESS… 56%

The pinwheel revolved in Jido’s retinas; he laid there aimlessly, watching the numbers slowly increase until the process was complete. His eyes dilated and blinked a few times, just to check their operational status. The android’s neck pivoted to view his surroundings. He was resting on top of white bed sheets, his limbs frozen rigidly in place and his back straightened on a streamline axis. ”And… lean forward.” As if he acted upon audible command, the student sat up and glanced down at his chest. At the moment, a black chord was embedded in his opened chest cavity, while the cover which protected his internal circuitry was hanging outward on its hinges. His integrity was an amalgamation of flashing LED lights, rotating gears and silent circuits, all centered around one central port. Said port was currently occupied by the transporter of electricity, which was currently lodged firmly inside of him. With a single motion, he gracefully yanked the power chord out and let it fall with a thump on his sheets.

”Oh, I have school today. It’s Monday, right?” Doubt and unsurety lingered in his voice. He had been asleep for the entire weekend, after all. Jido had gone through a process which he upheld on a monthly basis, a way of charging his internal battery. Since it does seem strange for a student to go complete off the radar for two days, he commonly refers to the timespan as ’that time of the month.’ His friends are left in such disbelief and awe, that they are unable to formulate a response and simply skip onto another subject. The android’s joints still felt stiff, he had to go through a few exercises before finally feeling fully awake.

Jido pressed the chest compartment back into place then quickly dressed himself. After slipping on his jacket and straightening his tie, he briskly walked down the stairs to the bottom floor. The robot and his guardian were lucky to live in a decent house. It was the government’s way of thanking the remaining members of the company which produced the Aegis 3.0 Assembly Line. The fleet of animatronics prolonged the events of the disaster, even though it was only by a little, they still bought the fleeing upper class some time. They were only able to transport his creator’s lab assistant and himself, and now they both lived in the ‘better’ part of New Haven. It was on par with what used to be classified as middle class. But now, it was considered to be a privilege to thrive in such arrangements.

The second floor consisted of a kitchen and a living room, connected by an open hallway which leads to the entrance. The android stopped by the kitchen first and was greeted by his guardian. The middle-aged man was sitting at the table, sipping on a cup of newly brewed coffee. ”Ohayo, Sir.” Jido fluently bowed then treated himself to some of the beverage. ”Ello, Jido. You better hurry up, and make sure your cavity is properly locked. Wouldn’t want your chest to unhinge in the middle of class, now would we? I’m sure some of your friends would leak themselves on the spot.” The man chuckled then took a sip, while indulging himself with that day’s newspaper. Jido let out a sigh at the man’s pun, but anxiety kicked in and forced him to double-check his cavity. After crafting himself a basic grilled cheese sandwich, he proceeded outside of the door with his satchel hanging on his shoulder. ”Oh, and remember to verify you cache later today. Haven’t done that for a while, right?” Jido shrugged and took a bite from his creation, ”Will do.” The man raised an eyebrow at the boy, ”Your fly’s undone.”

”No it’s not!”

"I see your pigmentation drive is fully operational. Voice is a little high there, though. Might want to recheck your pubescence emulation system."

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Jido had arrived at the station, breathing heavily as he gasped for breath. ”Damn axels… He muttered to himself while attempting to circulate oxygen through his mechanical imitation of lungs. The android had already finished his meal on the way, but a hand was still tightly wrapped around a coffee cup. Unfortunately, the monorail was pulling away just as he set foot on the platform. ”Guess I’ll have to wait until the next ra-”

“GOTT VERDAMMT!

The android cocked his head and swiveled towards the shout. His eyes rested on another student in the same uniform as himself, who was also in the same state of unrest. ”She missed the monorail as well. Oh well.” The android glanced at the expression of the other surrounding humans. It was amazing how none of them suspected of his origins. He had to hand it to his creator, that woman was as brilliant as she was elegant. But at this point, she was presumed dead. She was no longer a directive in his life, only a mere figment of the past. He was programmed to go through life at a brisk pace, remain on par with human beings and sink into their endless crowds. It was a subtle and leisurely existence for an android, at least he wasn’t forced into decimation like his brethren. The student simply took timed sips of his beverage while waiting for the next scheduled transport to arrive. As the next monorail came to a screeching halt, its doors slid open to give leeway for the flow of commoners. Jido remained standing and hung tightly to one of the ceiling grips. Civilians shuffled and bustled around, trying to make as much room as possible in the clumped car. It was thanks to pinpoint calculations of the laws of gravity and motion that the automaton’s beverage didn’t spill on anybody. He could only grunt and keep a stoic complexure as he felt his personal space be intruded upon. ”...Too many chests rubbing against my back right now. Just stay calm. Think of tomorrow. Yada… yada… This is why I hate the late rail.”

After finally arriving on campus, Jido briskly paced his way to his building. He let his chest expand, now that he had been given his own breathing room. ”That was a hassle. A painful one at that. Welp, time for classes.” With a few tactful weaves of the hallways, he ended up at his classroom door. ”And I made it on time. Nice.” Jido eased the sliding doors open, then advanced into the classroom. ”Ohayo. Robocop is in the classroom.” Such a title was truly ironic, since it was only coined due to his calm nature. His friends knew nothing of his robotic origins. ”Sorry about being unreachable over the weekend. It was… that time of the month again. I had to lay down a lot.” And he said all of this with an unbroken facade. Not even his lips quivered in temptation to make an expression. ”Sorry Lindholm-san, didn’t get to finish that book yet. You know, the one about Japanese deities? Kinda interesting how creative people were back then. I will do so this weekend. I’ll return it to you shortly.” He slung his satchel over the back of his desk seat, then plopped himself down comfortably. Four members were already present. The titan of a student known as Hiruka, the clumsy Saiko, the super jock Dmitri, and the easily flustered Kjerstin. The extents to which he was affiliated with them varied. For the most part, he was on good terms. ”I believe Nagata-san and the rest of our class should be arriving soon. Who knows, maybe we got some new students?"

Sitting at his table, Hiruka just quietly sat with his chin in his palm while gazing outside of the windows, waiting for his classmate to arrive. Although he got along quite well with the others, there's only a person who he's dying to meet everyday when he got to school. And of course, that person is no one other than his best friend, now also his crush, Kyoru. He let out a sigh. Must be sleeping in again, that's so him. He thought than turned his head back and watched as the cloud slowly drifted on the blue sky. From their class's aptitude, there's nothing that they could see other than clouds and sky anyway.

As time passed by, his classmates arrived one by one. The first one was Kjerstin, the Norwegian girl. She's always been a hard-working person but somehow she seemed a little bit quiet. But Hiruka and the girl was in good terms, even though they're not that close. She's quite intelligent too and sometimes she can be, well, easily flustered. As she walked in, she whispered something that Hiruka didn't really catch, but he guessed that she was saying hello to him and Saiko. She went straight to her seat and settled down quietly.

A while later, another person arrived. Hiruka can already guessed who is it before they enter the room. Dmitri... That guy has never really got along with the rest of the class though. Hiruka has tried to scrap up some conversation with him before but all he received were some annoying yells. Though, that wasn't seem to bother Hiruka much. He shrugged as Dmitri just barged into his seat while putting his legs onto of the table, and that is when he realized that the guy didn't change shoes before entering class. Hiruka let out a quiet sigh. Oh well, he's just a typical don't-mess-with-me guy. The class won't be that colorful if there aren't any guys like him.

And, there's come another person. As the door slide, an oaky hair poked in and then an average-height boy walked in. ”Ohayo. Robocop is in the classroom.” Jido greeted. Sometimes, Hiruka did wonder why did they nickname him like that. Maybe because he was always been a calm person? He just quietly shook his head then looked on and gave the boy a smile as Jido made his way into his seat which is right in front of Hiruka's, "Ohayo, Jido-san."

”Sorry about being unreachable over the weekend. It was… that time of the month again. I had to lay down a lot.” He said with a blank expression. Yeah, the guy has always been nowhere to be seen during the time that he called "that time of the month" in a monthly routine. Hiruka wondered why did Jido always seemed to have vanished from the face of the Earth during those two days and where did he disappear to. What is even stranger is that the boy always gone missing on weekends, not weekdays.

Hiruka shrugged and stop thinking about it. Everyone has their own secrets and Hiruka absolutely have no intention to be curious about them. "I was thinking about hanging out at a new karaoke place I've just found out with Kyoru-kun back then and I intended to invite you too. But you was being unreachable during the last weekends so... yeah. Maybe next time we could go together?" Hiruka smiled. Despite that Jido was kinda odd sometimes, he was a really good friend. ”I believe Nagata-san and the rest of our class should be arriving soon. Who knows, maybe we got some new students?" Jido spoke.

"Kaida-san should be here soon. And yeah, hopefully there will be some new students today. I've heard that there was going to be a batch of them so I wouldn't surprise if we're going to have a new friend or two." Hiruka replied. He then leaned his back onto his chair as he put on his headphones while waiting until the all of his classmates to arrive.

As he set his eyes outside of the window again, his thought drifted along with the clouds. He was thinking about what would he do after he finished high school. Should he continue with college? Just the money that they sent him every month combined with his wages at several places that he works at are already more than enough to scrap up a living for him already. But he has always been fond of technology and computers, so perhaps he could follow that major? He couldn't decide just yet. He gave a quick glance around his class. Come to think of it, now that I realized I'm really a giant.

Well yeah, both him and Kyoru were the taller than any of their classmates. Some of the girls even nicknamed them the Double Tower of their class. It's nothing really to be proud of, but it was nice having people looking up to you, right? As time passed by, more students arrived and the classroom was getting crowded. And finally, his best friend arrived.

Just seeing him can already make Hiruka's face got reddened a bit already. Kyoru was smiling brightly while greeting his classmates. Hiruka's heart almost skipped a beat at the scene. "Ohayo, Hiruka-kun." Kyoru smiled to his friend while went to his seat, which is right next to Hiruka's.

"Y... Yeah, ohayo..." Hiruka spoke with a smile, trying to be as normal as he could. Both of them then chat to each other about all stuffs like they always did. And Hiruka couldn't feel happier. With that said, the time went by until all of the students and their head teacher arrived, marking the beginning of today's session.

Quite honestly he hadn’t thought about his past ever since he arrived at New Haven. What was the point of dwelling on the past when the future looked just as bleak? Nehemiah sighed with an unamused expression as he watched the TV in front of him blare on about destruction and chaos. Was there anything else the news could report on besides the negative? He was going to be late for school that much was apparent as the time clicked away without him making a single move to get ready. Finally a knock jarred Nehemiah from his thoughts and he glared at the door.

“Yes?” he responded.

“You’re going to be late for school Miho,” a female voice as gentle as the voice of an angel came from beyond the door. “Besides, it’s the beginning of a new year at the Academy.”

“Don’t remind me,” Nehemiah retorted as he pushed up in the bed into a sitting position. “The thought alone is why I’m still in bed.”

“Nehemiah Namikawa, get out of that bed this instant!” his mother warned as she knocked one last time, “you have fifteen minutes.”

Nehemiah could hear her footsteps as she made her way down the corridor and into the kitchen. As much as he loathed going to school, he knew his uncle would want him to better his education and go to college. This pathway was simple to accomplish, but it’s easier said than done. If it isn’t one thing with the teachers at the Academy, it’s another with the various cliques and awful excuses for human beings that attend the school. His friends had all dispersed after past events. Some went to America, some went to the UK and some just moved to different parts of Asia too far to remain in contact. Even online communication wasn’t enough to keep them all together. One by one they dropped off the radar until only a select few remained. Nehemiah sometimes wondered if it was worth the hassle to make new friends. It irritated him that there were so many missed opportunities, but he wasn’t even sure if he was ready for more relationships to form. Sliding into the shower, he let the warm liquid ease his troubled mind, and when the bathroom was filled with steam, he made his exit. Towel dried and ready to go, he partook of the chore known as getting dressed. One by one he pulled on a piece to his outfit, and when he was done with that, he began to accessorize. A necklace around his neck, a bracelet to add attention to his perfectly manicured hands, it was all meant to show that he was a guy just like any other guy but his facial features betrayed what he was going for.

The ride to the Academy was a peaceful one. Nehemiah sat on the monorail with his head tilted back and his eyes closed. He was blissfully aware of his surroundings but he didn’t care in the slightest. The bell dinged signaling that his stop was next. Gazing out of a nearby window his mind began to delve into the world of divination. It was scary when his mind decided to wander into the future of others around him. This time it was no different. He sensed death, darkness; it all came rushing at once. The stench was unbelievable and as the monorail rolled up to his stop, Nehemiah scrambled to get off before puking on the lovely marble that supported his feet. On lookers seemed worried for him, one even managing to touch his shoulder and ask if he was alright.

“I’m fine,” he replied panting slightly. He would be fine. It wasn’t the first time this had happened. He was afraid to tell anyone. He didn’t know what this was, or how to control it, or if it was controllable. He didn’t have time to worry about it though as the clock was ticking and he’d be late soon if he didn’t arrive at the Academy.

Putting himself back together, he hurried off towards the Academy. Passing familiar faces, he smiled and waved and as he neared the famed steps of the Academy, he couldn’t help but wonder what this year would hold.

“Hi Neho,” a familiar voice rang out as Nehemiah turned just in time to be tackled with a hug by a overly exuberant young girl. Nehemiah laughed softly before pulling the girl off of him realizing her to be one of his friends that moved away.

“Mia, what are you doing here?” Nehemiah asked in surprise.

“Well you see my dad moved back while my mom stayed in California, so I had a choice to make and it wasn’t easy. Dad was called back on assignment,” Mia replied still with a unnerving grin on her face.

“Guess that means you’re back for a while huh?” Nehemiah replied as the conversation began. The two talked for a while, walking down the hall and entering the Academy. The conversation lasted the entire walk until Nehemiah had to go to class.

“Catch you later Mia,” Nehemiah said giving her a friendly kiss on the cheek before entering the classroom and finding his table.