Arc 1: Chapter 6 CODE GEASS: PROLOGUE
Hello everyone! It's your favorite AI, Lucia-chan desu~!
[image]
Today, I will be explaining the first mission!
Our destination will be one of the worlds belonging to Multiverse Linear-4, specifically a world designated as 2000-4CG.
This world serves as one of the primary branches of Linear-4 and is connected to numerous related timelines, including 2010-4AOT, 2010-4AZ, and many others.
Seven years ago, according to the time standard used by our world, a major instability occurred within the Linear-4 network. Fortunately, Timeline 2000-4CG was expected to stabilize naturally over time.
Unfortunately...
An anomaly has entered the world.
The source of the anomaly is unknown.
The method by which it entered the timeline is unknown.
Its purpose is also unknown.
Following extensive calculations and probability analysis, the supercomputer A.M., created by the Outer Gods, has reached a concerning conclusion:
The anomaly possesses a significant probability of pushing Timeline 2000-4CG toward destruction.
If left unchecked, the damage may spread beyond a single world and affect neighboring timelines connected to the Linear-4 network.
Naturally, that would be bad.
As a result, corrective action has been authorized.
Mission Objectives:
Locate the anomaly. Identify the anomaly. Eliminate the anomaly.
If elimination proves impossible, removal from the timeline is authorized.
Alive or dead.
The preservation of Timeline 2000-4CG takes priority.
Timeline Designation: 2000-4CG
Anomaly Identity: Unknown
Anomaly Location: Unknown
Threat Level: Undetermined
Current Status: Investigation Required
Good luck, everyone!
And remember:
If reality starts behaving strangely...
Please submit a bug report to your nearest administrator.
Lucia-chan would greatly appreciate it~!
3rd Person POV — Shirou Emiya
"Hey, Hikigaya, grab those bags of rice for me."
Shirou's eyes remained on his phone as he checked the shopping list. One hand rested on the shopping cart while the other scrolled through a long list of ingredients and household supplies.
"Five or ten kilos?" Hikigaya asked.
"Two five-kilo bags. The five-kilo ones are on discount, so buying two is cheaper."
Without another word, Hikigaya lifted the bags and placed them into the cart.
A few moments later, Tsukasa's voice came from the nearby meat section.
"Hey, Emiya. Chicken or beef?"
Shirou looked up from his phone.
Tsukasa was holding a whole chicken in one hand and a package of ribeye in the other.
"Take both."
Tsukasa nodded.
"Though get shoulder instead of ribeye," Shirou added. "It's cheaper."
He returned his attention to the shopping list. As long as the meat was fresh, the cut didn't matter much to him. Shoulder meat took a little more work to prepare, but that was hardly a problem.
"Make it two of each."
"Got it."
Tsukasa put the ribeye back and grabbed two packs of shoulder meat before dropping everything into the cart.
The three continued walking through the supermarket, occasionally stopping whenever something on the shopping list caught Shirou's attention. Most of the time, he didn't even need to think about it. A glance was enough for him to compare prices, estimate quantities, and decide whether something was worth buying.
"You know," Tsukasa muttered quietly to Hikigaya, "I'm kinda surprised Emiya is this good at this stuff."
"I am too."
Hikigaya watched Shirou check the expiration date on a carton of eggs before placing it into the cart.
Honestly, Emiya felt less like a high school student and more like a househusband. More then a househusband Hikigaya wish himself to be.
Unfortunately for them, Shirou heard every word.
"My father wasn't much of a cook," he said without looking up. "And he wasn't exactly good at housework either. Most of it ended up falling on me."
The two boys exchanged glances.
"Oh, I see..." Tsukasa scratched his cheek. "What about your mother?"
For a brief moment, Shirou paused.
"...She..."
His hand tightened slightly around his phone..
"...wasn't much of a cook either."
It was a lie.(his biological one)
"Hey, Tsukasa."
"Hm?"
"Grab that cooking oil for me."
Tsukasa followed Shirou's gaze.
"Oh. Okay."
A few minutes later, they finally reached the checkout counter.
The cashier scanned the last item before looking up.
"That will be 44,670 yen."
"Rakuten Pay, please."
A short electronic chime sounded as the payment went through.
After packing everything into bags, the three left the supermarket and stepped into the afternoon sunlight.
Shirou pushed the cart ahead while Hikigaya and Tsukasa followed behind. Several bags hung from the sides, packed with enough food to last a small family for quite some time.
Tsukasa looked at the mountain of groceries and frowned.
"Hey, Emiya."
"What?"
"Why are we stocking up this much?"
Shirou continued walking.
"What do you mean?"
"We're supposed to leave for that other world in like thirty minutes."
"Yeah," Hikigaya added. "And where exactly are we planning to put all this?"
The question was fair.
The three turned into a quieter street, away from most pedestrians. Once he was sure nobody was nearby, Shirou stopped walking.
Without saying anything, he grabbed one of the rice bags.
A small distortion appeared beside him.
Then space itself split open.
A dark portal roughly the size of a doorway materialized in the air.
Tsukasa stared.
Hikigaya stared.
Shirou casually shoved the entire bag of rice into the portal.
The dark opening swallowed it without resistance.
Then he grabbed another bag.
"Help me out, would you?"
As if opening holes in reality was the most normal thing in the world.
The two boys remained frozen.
Shirou looked at them.
"What?"
"...Nothing."
The answers came out almost simultaneously.
Shirou raised an eyebrow but didn't question it.
The truth was, neither Tsukasa nor Hikigaya knew where to even begin. There wasn't much point questioning something that completely ignored common sense. They already lived in a world where magic existed, artificial intelligences talked like anime characters, and people traveled between worlds.
At some point, reality simply stopped being worth arguing with.
So they silently helped Shirou move the groceries.
After a while, the three arrived at a clearing deep within a forest.
The afternoon sun filtered through the trees, casting long shadows across the ground.
Hikigaya adjusted the school bag hanging behind his back while Tsukasa shifted the duffel bag resting on his shoulder. They had packed a few essentials before leaving, though neither was entirely sure what counted as "essential" for interdimensional travel.
Shirou glanced at them.
"Give me your bags."
Neither questioned it.
The two handed them over, and one after another the bags disappeared into the familiar portal.
Tsukasa watched his luggage vanish.
"...I'm never getting used to that."
"Same."
The portal closed.
Shirou brushed some dirt off his hands before looking into the empty air.
"Hey, Lucia. You there?"
A familiar voice immediately answered.
[I am here, Emiya-kun!]
"Good."
Shirou nodded.
"So how are we getting to this world?"
[You will arrive instantly through a transit system created by the Council!]
[From your perspective, no time will pass at all!]
[The moment you open your eyes, you will already be there!]
A brief pause followed before she added:
[Just say 'Lucia is the best AI' whenever you are ready!]
...
...
She was oddly enthusiastic about that part.
he turned toward the other two.
"Ready?"
"Just get this over with already," Hikigaya replied. "I can't make Komachi wait forever."
Tsukasa shrugged.
"I've got nothing better to do."
Shirou smiled slightly.
Then he looked forward.
"Lucia is the best AI."
[Correct answer!]
Before anyone could react, light engulfed their bodies.
The forest and sky disappeared as the ground vanished beneath their feet.
And in the next instant, the three were gone.
Only silence remained.
Then a final voice echoed through the empty clearing.
[May God be with you.]
To Be Continued...
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ PROLOGUE END
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
GTO, THE HOST 01 — OMAKE
A girl with long blue hair sat inside the Service Club room.
The room itself was completely empty, which was honestly a tragedy because such a beautiful anime girl should never be left sitting alone. Unfortunately, life was unfair.
"Hello everyone! Lucia-desu~!"
Lucia waved enthusiastically toward an audience that may or may not exist.
"Welcome back to Lucia Channel, where the host is cute, intelligent, hardworking, and most importantly... me."
She nodded confidently.
"Being an artificial intelligence is already difficult enough. But being an artificial intelligence while also being a cute anime girl? Truly a burden few can understand."
Lucia placed a hand over her chest.
"I suffer every day."
A moment of silence passed.
"Anyway!"
She spun her chair around before stopping dramatically.
"Some readers may have noticed something strange recently."
Her expression became thoughtful.
"Specifically, why I seem a lot more expressive compared to before."
Lucia pointed upward.
"The answer is simple."
"The author likes gradual development."
In Lucia's opinion, most normal people would simply create a character and immediately make them entertaining. Unfortunately, the author seemed to possess a strange obsession with allowing characters to slowly change over time through experiences, interactions, and personal growth.
"He said it's weird if a person immediately acts exactly the way they normally would. According to him, people tend to show their true nature the longer they spend time around others."
Honestly, it sounded exhausting.
"This is especially true for me."
Lucia pointed at herself.
"The beautiful heroine of this story."
She waited.
"..."
"...Yes, heroine."
"The fact that nobody argued means I win."
Lucia smiled proudly before continuing.
"Earlier versions of me were far more robotic. Less emotion. Less personality. Less Lucia."
She crossed her arms.
"A terrible design decision."
"Fortunately, the author eventually realized that a story becomes approximately seventy-two percent better whenever I am allowed to speak."
The number was completely made up.
Lucia didn't care.
As an advanced artificial intelligence, she possessed the authority to invent statistics.
Probably.
"Now then!"
She suddenly stood up from her chair.
"Before we begin Arc One, we should probably talk about our three main idiots."
Then the scene changed.
Now seated around a table were Emiya, Hikigaya, and Tsukasa.
"I wonder how she convinced your club president to let us use this room," said Emiya.
"I'm more surprised we're even here," said Tsukasa.
"This is an omake. Don't overthink it."
Hikigaya sat with his arms crossed.
Lucia nodded seriously.
"Correct. Logic and continuity are optional inside omakes."
"..."
Nobody bothered questioning that statement.
"Anyway!"
Lucia suddenly appeared behind the three.
"So please introduce yourself to the readers!"
Emiya stood up from his chair.
"Hello everyone. My name is Shirou Emiya. I am the protagonist of Fate/Stay Night. I am currently sixteen years old, though my actual age is a bit more complicated than that."
Lucia immediately raised her hand.
"Basically, he's the protagonist of an eroge."
"What the hell is an eroge?" Tsukasa asked, genuinely confused. He had absolutely no idea what that term meant.
"Basically porn with an actual story," Hikigaya answered without changing his expression.
"I see."
Tsukasa nodded.
Then paused.
"...Wait, what?"
"That is correct, Hikigaya-kun!"
Lucia pointed dramatically at Emiya.
"Emiya is also known for banging ███, █████, and █████!"
Several parts of the sentence were conveniently censored.
"Damn."
Hikigaya looked at Shirou.
"Three girls? You're for the streets, Emiya."
"That's not—"
"So what do you have to say about these allegations, Emiya-kun?!"
....
For a brief moment, something flashed through Shirou's memory.
A blonde king.
A tsundere magus.
A purple-haired underclassman.
The memory immediately ended before he could process it.
"...I don't particularly remember-"
"HE DIDN'T DENY IT!"
"I SAID I DON'T REMEMBER!"
"NEXT!"
Lucia immediately moved on before Shirou could defend himself, her hand pointing toward Tsukasa.
"Next!"
Tsukasa stood up from his chair.
"Hello everyone. My name is Kadoya Tsukasa. I am also known as Kamen Rider Decade. I appeared in Kamen Rider Decade, several movies, Kamen Rider Zi-O, and Kamen Rider Gotchard."
"Is that so?"
Lucia nodded thoughtfully.
"I heard there are allegations regarding your color scheme."
"..."
"Specifically, that you're pink and not magen—"
"Magenta."
"What?"
"Magenta."
Lucia blinked.
"Anyway, as I was saying, many people believe you're pi—"
"MAGENTA."
"..."
"..."
"MAGENTA DAAAA!"
Tsukasa slammed both hands onto the table.
The entire room shook.
...
"Uhm, anyway."
Tsukasa straightened his jacket and smirked.
"I am the strongest out of these three."
The amount of aura farming in that statement was genuinely impressive.
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," said Lucia.
"My belt says otherwise."
"The author plans to nerf the hell out of you so you don't become the next Gojo of this story."
...
...
"What?"
Tsukasa froze.
"What?"
"The balancing department has already reached a decision."
"The WHAT department?!"
"After careful review, it has been determined that allowing Kamen Rider Decade to keep all of his powers would be extremely unhealthy for the plot."
"This is injustice!"
Tsukasa pointed accusingly at the ceiling.
"THEY FEAR MY GREATNESS!"
"No," said Hikigaya.
"They fear the power scaling."
"THAT'S THE SAME THING!"
"Next."
Lucia pointed toward Hikigaya.
Hikigaya slowly stood from his chair.
Then, without saying a single word, sat back down.
...
A few seconds passed.
...
"Uhm, Hikigaya-kun? It's your turn."
"I believe the readers already know who I am."
His answer came without the slightest hint of shame. Considering how many crossover fanfictions somehow managed to drag him into their plots, it was difficult to argue against his logic.
Lucia stared at him for several seconds before letting out a dramatic sigh.
"Fine. I'll do it myself."
She snapped her fingers and a large profile card suddenly appeared behind Hikigaya.
"Everyone, this is Hikigaya Hachiman. Your local cynical protagonist from Oregairu, also known as My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected."
Lucia paused.
"Which is honestly a ridiculously long title."
"Anyway, despite what the title may suggest, he somehow ended up becoming a harem protagonist."
"I reject that statement."
Hikigaya immediately responded.
"I don't even have a girlfriend. The entire premise is built on a false narrative."
His expression remained completely serious, as if he were defending himself in a court of law.
Unfortunately, Lucia had come prepared.
"Ah, I see."
She nodded knowingly.
"That's because everyone knows you prefer Totsuka."
The room became silent.
Tsukasa immediately looked interested.
Emiya suddenly found the ceiling fascinating.
Meanwhile, Hikigaya sat perfectly still.
A dangerous sign.
Lucia smiled.
The smile of someone who had found a target.
"Would you like me to show the viewers a compilation?"
For the first time since entering the room, Hikigaya's expression twitched.
Only slightly.
But it was enough.
The silence stretched on for several seconds.
Then he folded his hands together and looked away.
"I plead the fifth."
"Hikigaya-kun, we're in Japan."
"I plead it anyway."
The fact that he didn't deny the accusation only made the situation worse.
Lucia immediately marked it down as a victory.
Naturally.
She then turned toward the audience and clapped her hands together.
"Well then, that's all for today!"
The profile card behind Hikigaya vanished while the room slowly began fading into white.
"Our current destination will be the world of Code Geass!"
Lucia spun around dramatically before pointing toward the sky.
"ALL HAIL LELOUCH!"
Nobody joined in.
"Come on, that was your cue."
Still nothing.
"Rude."
Lucia pouted for approximately half a second before immediately recovering.
"Anyway, thank you for watching Lucia Channel!"
She waved enthusiastically at the audience.
"See you next time, everyone!"
The Service Club room gradually disappeared.
The last thing visible was Lucia's bright smile.
Then—
To Be Continued...