The End Of Beginning

What was going on?

A sharp, short and piercing chime rang through the school's intercom. Then the voice followed. It was mechanical, clipped, and layered with an artificial undertone.

"All students are to remain in their classrooms. Do not leave your seats. This is a Level 5 security lockdown. Repeat: All students remain in place. Do not move."

Ten barely reacted at first.

The words rolled over him like empty noise because his mind was still swimming in a thick fog. His thoughts were still stuck on the scanner band around his palm, the flickering glitches in his vision and the nagging questions scratching at the edges of his skull.

But there was tension in the hallway.

A few students who had been loitering near and around froze. Others started murmuring under their breath.

"The New Earth Force? Here?"

"Level 5 lockdown? That's serious shit…"

"Think it's the Denki Mizu problem and it's near the school?"

"No way. If it was related to the Denki Mizu, they'd have already evacuated us."

"Could be… the other one then. A Mecha Jin trying to blend in...."

One of the students glanced at Ten. A flicker of something crossed his face. Not recognition, not quite, but something else. Uncertainty.

Ten's fingers twitched.

"Wait, wait, wait." He had just woken up from a coma. He didn't even know what was going on. But the New Earth Force? What was that?

A deep hum filled the air. It was low and vibrating, and almost imperceptible but felt deep in the bones. The sound of something massive descending.

Outside, the sky darkened, no, blotted out.

A swarm of drones, dozens, maybe hundreds, hovered above the school. Their neon-blue optics scanned and swept around. Their synchronized formations shifted like a living entity.

Some were massive, spherical machines with their bodies encased in plated armour and military insignias glowing on their surfaces. Others were sleek with their forms narrow and insect-like and their jointed limbs equipped with weapons that pulsed with unreadable energy.

Another chime rang through the school's intercom. This time it was sharper and urgent. "All students, this is your final warning. Remain in your classrooms. The school is on full lockdown."

A whirr sounded through the halls.

Ten turned and watched at the glassier like walls of the school. Those transparent, reinforced, but disturbingly weightless glass, as if the walls weren't actually there at all.

The drones. The armoured vehicles that had pulled up to the front of the building. The black-and-green uniforms of the New Earth Force, their figures rigid, disciplined, moving with unshakable precision.

Ten inhaled sharply. Was this even a normal school anymore? It wasn't. Suddenly, the glass walls flickered, then turned black. No, not just black. Screens.

Oh, so those glass walls were screens?

A static hum. A distortion wave. And then, projected across the entire interior of the school was a face.

A man.

His features were sharp, composed, yet almost artificial in their symmetry. Not a single hair out of place. His uniform wasn't fabric; it was plated, mechanized, built from metallic fibers that flexed like real muscle. The emblem on his chest bore the insignia of Japan's New Earth Force.

When he spoke, his voice came through every intercom, every speaker, every screen at once. "Students of Aoi Akeboshi High, This is Commander Ace of the New Earth Force."

The name stabbed into Ten's skull. Commander Ace. Ten had never heard it before. But the moment the man spoke again, his next words sent a ripple of cold, raw dread through Ten's veins.

"We are here for one person." The screen glitched. The man's face distorted, then reset. "Ten Shaw."

Ten's stomach twisted.

"Ten Shaw, you are classified as CODE GRAY."

The screen shifted and suddenly, it was his face staring back at him. His ID photo. Except it wasn't normal.

The eyes in the image, his eyes, were glowing. Not just glowing. Two rings spinning slowly like they were alive. One was deep, unnatural blue, one red and the other corroded, bleeding veins if crimson.

Ten froze. His chest tightened. That… that wasn't right. His eyes weren't like that. They had never been like that.

His fingers dug into his palm. His vision was fucked, yes. Decomposing, yes. He couldn't trust his own sight anymore, yes. But did he have blue and red rings in his eyes? No. So why the hell was the system showing that?

That was a lie. A fucking lie. Were they trying to frame him, maybe?

His pulse hammered in his skull. His body was already moving. The warning repeated, but Ten wasn't listening anymore. He turned and bolted for the exit.

The hallway stretched before him, distorted through his rotting eyes, but there was no time to question it. He shoved his way past a few students, ignoring their shocked looks as he bolted for the main entrance. He had no plan, no idea where he was going, but the instinct to escape was wild.

Footsteps.

The pounding of his own feet against the floor echoed in his ears as he sprinted down the hallway, his breath came in shallow bursts.

The bright lights from the machinery outside flooded through the school's transparent walls, and Ten's vision stuttered. His eyes, his deteriorating eyes, flared with pain, trying to make sense of the light and the shadows that spun out of control in his mind.

The lights. The machines. They triggered it.

He couldn't see. The light was too much. He knew it. Every time the light hit, his vision shattered. Like pieces of a broken mirror grinding together.

His world shifted into total darkness. His heart raced. His legs pushed him forward as fast as they could move, but his sense of seeing was failing him. It was slipping away like sand through his fingers.

Everything was becoming black.

But it wasn't unconsciousness. No. His mind was still working. He could hear the chaos behind him: shouts, commands, the loud whirr of the drones.

He collapsed to his knees, his arms shaking, trying to steady himself. He could hear his own labored breath,.

His life, his whole life flashed before him. How had he gotten here?

The faces of his parents came to him. He saw himself as a baby in Seattle, reaching for his mama's hand. He saw his first steps, his father laughing as he clumsily took them. First day of school. The birth of his sister as she stole attention from everyone with her giggle. Then, his father's deep voice; always so busy, always so distant, telling him about his latest scientific breakthrough. The proud moments when his mom was promoted, her name in the papers, on TV.

And then, there was that Christmas; the one time his dad came home with too many toys to count. The happy chaos of unwrapping gifts.

Then he was eight, celebrating his birthday, surrounded by friends. His mom pregnant again, and then, Dax. His baby brother. The joy of his first award in basketball. The rush of adrenaline as he hit the winning shot, the crowd going wild. Winning the nationals, his skills in cricket bowling getting him a spot in promotions for big brands. He was on top of the world.

But then, his father's death. Moving to Japan, a new life, a new world. The shift. He became the exam every kid in Japan aspired to pass. His skills in basketball and cricket were unmatched, and the country adored him for it.

And now… this. This moment. Running for his life. His vision failing. His body breaking down. His eyes rotting. How did it all fall apart so fast?

His vision shattered. Everything drowned in brightness. His world wasn't white; it was black. Utter void. His senses short-circuited, reality peeling away at the edges.

Then the noise warped. It was muffled and distant, like he was underwater. The chaos blurred, the commotion died down.

Two voices. Not human. Not organic. It was robotic.

"IS THIS THE ANOMALY?"

A pause.

"SCANS MATCH. IDENTITY CONFIRMED."

"ANOMALY 10001?"

A longer silence. Then, a decision.

"IT IS HIM. MASTER WILL NOT ACCEPT ERROR."

The last thing Ten heard before his body gave in, before the void claimed him…

"THEN 'KIDNAP' HIM."