Chapter 1
For the high schoolers of one Earth, it was one in the afternoon. The middle of History class. For Tsubasa, it was the most boring class of the day. His hand slowly doodled out another drawing in the margin of his paper. It was meant for taking notes, but it was obvious how that aspect of it was being used.
Tsubasa was a strange sixteen-year-old. His bangs were white, while the rest of his hair was black. Tsubasa wasn't sure had his hair managed to have two colors naturally, but he didn't put that much thought into it. What did it matter? Hair was hair. If it was black or red or green or rainbow, it was of no concern to Tsubasa. It was just on the top of your head.
"Oh," Tsubasa thought to himself, "the teacher is pausing. Better look like I'm writing some notes down." He held his pen a few centimeters above the paper, and started moving it about in a writing motion. Tsubasa tried to pay attention, but by the middle of the class, he was too tired and too bored to actually try. His grades were okay, for an advanced class. They weren't great, but they weren't terrible, either. He'd probably pass the test, if he put a little effort into studying for it. It wouldn't be that bad, he usually did fairly well on all his essays. It was surprising how well he could fake knowing something, and convince the audience that he knew it well.
The girl two seats in front of him said something, sparking a laugh from the class. The girl was Rena, another sixteen-year-old, in the same grade as Tsubasa. Rena had blue hair, and was a cute young girl. Currently, she wore a light-blue shirt with a white vest, and pants with an Element Slot for water resistence. The teacher started talking to Rena, and they engaged in a discussion. She knew what she was talking about.
Tsubasa was infatuated with Rena, plain and simple. He didn't know what it was, he just loved looking at her, loved it when she spoke, loved when she would just glance at him. Although, he thought, for some reason, she hates me.
Tsubasa was correct. For some reason, Rena, and in fact, most of the people in their grade, hated Tsubasa. He didn't really know what he had done wrong. He was the son of the town mayor, but that was no reason to hate him, right? He didn't act snooty or stuck-up or anything like that. Tsubasa tried to get by without the money of his parents. Tsubasa liked being out more than being in the mansion of a house he called home. He just felt better in the city, on the roads.
There was a clatter on the floor, and Rena bent over in her seat. She looked around to try and find where she had dropped her pencil, and for a moment, caught eyes with Tsubasa. Her eyes, her clear blue eyes pierced right through Tsubasa's head. For most people, those blue eyes were full of life, but whenever she looked at Tsubasa, they turned icy. Tsubasa moved backwards in his seat, a little disturbed by the intensity of the glance.
In that moment, Rena looked away, found her pencil, and regained her posture. Nothing had ever happened, and she was back to taking notes from the teacher's lecture.
Tsubasa sighed. History still hadn't changed.
~~~
It was the end of school. Tsubasa slowly trudged along the sidewalk of Apacer, as the Hydrogen elements in glass-covered holes in the sidewalk illuminated his way.
Elements were an integral part of everyday life for Tsubasa, and the rest of the people on the planet. They were energy for the people. They provided power to people's homes, and were used in all parts of the world. At night, they Hydrogen elements would glow brighter, providing light for the people who were out that late. More powerful Elements went through treatment in power plants, then used to give power to the cities. Elements themselves were only about the size of a marble. Most of the time, Elements were just found in shards. Broken, shattered, they were still useful for little things like portable appliances, but couldn't be of much use for bigger purposes.
Elements were also used in warfare. While there was no war currently going on between the countries, nor had there been one for many years, Elements were now being encorporated into weapons. The big technological advance was the invention of 'Genweapons.' Genweapons was a contraction for 'Hydrogen Weapons.' They were weapons that could use the abundent Hydrogen element to convert energy into lasers. Tanks were armed with Gencannons, and soldiers used Genblades for hand-to-hand combat. Genblades had a small fragment of Hydrogen in the handle, and on activation, could project a field and fill it with highly charged Hydrogen particles, capable of cutting through many substances.
The product of all this was that armies and weapons could be produced cheaply, with very little time. Studies had been done into artificial intelligence, and more and more, robots were used for footsoldiers. Able to be mass-produced and trained instantly, wars could be efficient and economically benefactory to the nations involved - with no loss of human life.
Interestingly, most nations did not build their own armies. Most armies and weapons were provided by Seth Arkh, a man who owned a great industrial city on its own plot of land. He made a business of building weapons and new technology, and then sold it to the nations. Seth Arkh was a very rich man, and was supposedly non-corruptible. He would never take a bribe from any country to sabotage another's weapons. He was above it.
Tsubasa walked home. He didn't feel like stopping by the cafe. He knew that most of his classmates would be there, and they would just give a blank stare at him before turning back to each other.
"Atleast I have my health," he said to himself. There was no need to get caught up in High School drama, he thought. "This could happen to anyone, and it happened to me. Big deal, I won't see them in a few years when I go to college, anyway."
Tsubasa continued on his walk home. He was in the suburbs now, where the middle-class and higher lived. He was only a few blocks away from his house, now.
The gate of his house was pure white, with a small television console on the wall next to it. He pushed his finger to a small pad on the console, and the gates slowly slid open, satisfied with who he was. Tsubasa walked up the path to his house, and noted the new flower bushes that had just been planted. They were red roses, and they looked pretty healthy to Tsubasa. The planters were doing a good job, and were a generally happy group to do their work. There was a small fountain off to the side, with some ducks wading and enjoying themselves. The lawn was cleanly cut, and a nice bright shade of green. It was watered and checked for weeds daily.
Tsubasa walked up the steps to the front door of his house. Just as he reached for the handle, the door opened suddenly. Two men in business suits stepped out quickly, without even noticing Tsubasa. One was tall, with white hair. The other was above average in height, with brown hair and a nice smile. The man with white hair turned around, and called out to the open house, "I hope you'll reconsider my offer, Mr. Reger. The Elements mined here are an integral part of my production quotas. Without your business, I could never keep up. Oh, and thank your wife for the sandwiches she made for us."
The man with the white hair turned to the shorter man, "Come, Alexander. We still have things to do before we get back to Seref City." Finally, the man with the white hair noticed Tsubasa, still confused why all these things were happening just outside his house, "Oh, excuse me." The two men stepped off the patio, and walked down the path. The man apparently called Alexander always stayed two steps behind the white-haired man, Tsubasa noted. Finally, he remembered the door was still open, and stepped inside. A man was standing by the door, looking somewhat conflicted.
"Oh, dad. Who was that man?" Mr. Reger looked at Tsubasa, and shook his head.
"Pay it no mind, Tsubasa. How was school?"