The Three Codes & The Ace
"This…. isn't right."
Flip. Flip. Flip. The rough sounds of paper being tossed filled the space.
"Commander, sir," the officer standing by the console muttered, glaring at the relentless flipping. "What isn't right? And… would it kill you to stop murdering those papers? It's loud. Really loud." He folded his arms while leaning lazily against the control panel. "Also, where the hell did you even find paper? Since pre-H.T.A. Civilization, that's some serious antique shit."
The commander didn't bother responding immediately. His steady slender fingers brushed a loose strand of black hair from his face. With a single, practised motion, he tied his long hair back with a black thin elastic-band, into a ponytail. That revealed his bold, rare features. He was a beautiful man.
His cold, piercing gaze was focused on the papers in front of him. "I paid a fortune for these. Lose one, and your head does down for it."
The officer blinked. He chose to shut up, silence over wit. Smart move.
The commander strode across the room. He walked toward the massive virtual screen. His boots echoed against the steel flooring in a continuous thud as he walked on with the papers in hand. with a precise tap on the left corner of the screen, a digital projection flared.
It revealed a detailed image of a lady. She was striking and chillingly fearful. Two mechanical arms jutted out from her shoulder blades with jagged metal edges gleaming menacingly. It was disturbingly sleek and real like an obscene mockery of wings.
"Hmm," the commander hummed, rubbing his smooth, hairless chin as he scanned every detail of the projection.
"Still hung up on the CODE YELLOW case, huh?"
The commander sighed softly. "Of course, I am. Sight three, confirmed, but only one captured. Two more of these; Mecha Jins, are still out there. These things…." He paused and gestured to the screen. "These things are not just dangerous and deadly, but they are walking weapons. As worse as it can get, an advantage is they may be able to stand toe-to-toe with CODE REDs."
The officer scratched the back of his neck. "Errr… I heard something. Uh… Jae and Sora were handling a case about a crash 7 years ago, they had a sketch paper that looked kind of like that. I think they ran into a young man and sort of took him to school or something. Might have some connection."
The commander didn't look at him. His eyes were focused on the screen with an uptight expression on the face. His jaw tightened, but he chose to say nothing. He didn't put much stock in vague leads.
He reached for his left palm and tapped it. The skin-like band on his palm lit up, it was faint but unmistakable. In a blink, a holographic interface opened mid-air.
Beep-beep-beep!
The commander's attention snapped to the right side of the massive screen display. A glowing blue virtual button blinked in the corner. Without hesitation, he tapped it and the buttonwas replaced by a speaker icon. "Speak."
"Commander Ace," came a voice from the intercom. It was strained and urgent. "This is District Commander, 7th Zone. We've got a CODE RED issue. I repeat: CODE RED!"
The commander's jaw tightened. Not again. "17 men from my unit will be dispatched. Officer Nasuke here with me will lead them to you. Do well to contact the 5th, 6th, and 8th Districts since the 1st, 2nd and 3rd are yet to recuperate. Authorise reinforcements. Let them mobilize all available soldiers."
"Commander… what about the captured machine-human? The one that has been locked in the underground containment zone for years now? Isn't it time to let it out for situations like this? This is life or death, sir, and a lot has died already."
The commander's eyes darkened.
The officer, Nasuke noticed the shift but said nothing. Commander Ace didn't even acknowledge the question, instead he returned his focus back to the screen.
He swiped through the interface, bringing up a classified file marked in bold black letters: CODES. Three colours dominated the screen; red, yellow, and gray.
The red represented the CODE RED cases. CODE RED meant threats born from the Denki Mizu; the electric water, that had reshaped the world after the earthquake seven years ago.
When the ground broke from the earthquake, this water surfaced, taking about 0.5% space of the country. From living rocks to monstrous, oversized bacteria twice the size of an infant, these abominations emerged from the blue, stagnant lake, no larger than a village pond, of electricity in water form.
The water, though dangerous, had become a strange blessing for the country, providing limitless electrical power. It still does. Yet no one dared touch it. Its existence is an enigma. A year after its discovery, it started making these things; animate rocks, bacteria the size of a pillow, and three more creatures no one had names for.
So, the H.T.A.; High Techs Advanced Civilization that began after the earthquake 7 years ago, had created an agency, the New Earth Force, that replaced the army, navy, the police and all. It merged it all into one to help save the country, the world and this agency had simply called this threat by the Denki Mizu CODE RED.
CODE YELLOW. A newer classification of worldwide threats, born from Commander Akagashi's work. Three Mecha Jins: full human, part machine hybrids, had been discovered six years ago during his leadership. This project to study and find them had cost him his life, but after he caught one. A female; Mizai, who never seemed to age and was kept in the underground containment zone up until present.
Now, his son, Commander Ace who took over as the head of Japan New Earth Force as early as 25, now 28, bore the burden of continuing that work.
With the backup of the whole force and of course, with the favouritism of the Prime minister, he is working with a head plan of using these Mecha Jins as their ultimate battle arsenal.
CODE GRAY. This was a code name for a case reserved for the unknown. The unimaginable. It had never been used. Never discussed. It was a code name to be used when a sudden situation greater than the CODE RED, AND YELLOW transpires.
___
Commander Ace exhaled and closed the screen files. His tone dropped. "Follow my orders. No more, no less. That's all for now."
The intercom went silent. The room returned to its cold stillness, save for the faint machinery hums.
"Commander," Officer Nasuke hesitated.
The Commander raised a hand, shutting him up before he could even say a phrase. His eyes remained on the now darkened screen. "They'll understand when the time comes." his hand brushed the edge of the papers, now on the desk. 'Not yet. It's not yet time to let her out.'
The officer didn't push further. He knew better.
"Prepare the 17, Officer Nasuke, and get there as soon as you can."
"Consider it done. I'd take my leave now, Commander, sir."
Silence. Finally. A brief moment of solitude.
But it was short-lived.
Beep-beep-beep!
The commander's eyes narrowed in annoyance. Good heavens, who was this again? It better be useful. He tapped the icon and the intercom crackled to life.
"Commander, this is Officer Jae speaking. I think we have a CODE GRAY."
Good lord! "You think?" Commander Ace's voice dropped to being sarcastic. "what do you take that code for? A joke?"
"Commander… well.."
"Speak, officer!" he barked. His patience was wearing thin already and so was his urge to not end that call right away.
"It's a CODE GRAY. Like we have been trained and have studied, this code is for the unknown, something we do not know and far greater than the worse we know. This is it."
!!!
He was gob-smacked. 7 years and this code has been nothing but a title, a theoretical concept. And now… "Briefing words?" If there could be situations as the Denki Mizu and the Mecha jin, then it's possible there is and there will be greater ones.
"It's a picture. It's a young adult. But it's CODE GRAY."
Ace: "…."
"Excuse me?"
The commander furrowed his brows. A picture? Ace didn't even know whether to just end the call or… "Location?"
"Commander, you don't need to come down here. Check the registration system. No.71021. Name... Ten Shaw. Take a look at the face image the HTA-ID captured of him."
....