Trigger Time

Chapter 1: Time Before FEAR, Creation of Havoc

I was laying there a fair while when I heard sirens go off. I looked up to see soldiers of some description picking me up by the shoulders and taking the gun off me. I let them, of course, because I knew it belonged to them. They blocked off the roads leading here and they carried me to one of their trucks.

* * *

The ride was a very long one, so we must be outside of town by now. About an hour or so after they began driving, they stopped and opened the back, revealing we were on a platform high up from the ground. Two soldiers started guiding me across a narrow walkway, and I looked at them both before speaking up.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked them. One of them turned to me and spoke.

"Sawamura Tokimasa, eighteen, a graduate from Shigezo Academy, and a friend to one of our own, Misawa Yuji. He spoke very fondly of you during his lunch breaks. Our Director wants to see you for a debriefing." The soldier looked straight ahead again, not speaking again until we got to our destination. "Good luck," he said and walked away with his silent friend. I walked into the office and was stopped dead by a dart narrowly missing the side of my head as it hit the .

"Sorry about that, I was expecting a knock instead of you just barging in." The voice belonged to a woman in her early thirties, wearing a black uniform with a calf-length black skirt. I turned, dislodged the dart from the wall and handed it back to her. "I'm Tsuruga Kanami, but you can just call me Director."

"There's no need to introduce myself to you, seeming as you know a little bit about me already," I said to her, crossing my arms slightly.

My name is Sawamura Tokimasa, but most people just call me Toki. I am eighteen years old and I live by myself, though it wasn't always like that. My family disappeared a few months ago and as far as I know, they were forcibly evacuated just like most of the citizens. It's not bad; it's just kind of lonely sometimes. I'm stuck between jobs but only because careers are scarce in Ribingu City, what with all the deaths and all. And today, I just witnessed my friend's possible death and have been dragged into something I knew very little about.

"Sawamura? Are you listening?" The Director's voice brought me to my senses and she was scowling a little.

"Sorry. What were you saying?" I asked, rubbing the back of my neck in slight embarrassment.

"I asked you whether you're alright, you know, considering what happened. I assure you, Misawa Yuji is all right. We will be able to mend his damaged arm." She leaned against the front of her desk, looking at me with concern

"I'm okay with that. Yuji's always been a stubborn guy, so he wouldn't die that easily," I explained to her.

"Well, do you have any questions for us?" I actually had thought of a million questions to ask, but only one had stuck in my mind for that moment.

"Who are you people?" She looked at me, amused slightly. She walked to stand behind her desk, pushed a button and a hologram appeared. It was a blue-silhouetted man with a very familiar voice.

"Hello again, Sawamura Tokimasa. I am the FEAR Corps AI, Kyōfu. I am integrated into everything at FEAR, including the tutorial programs. FEAR Corps is an organisation created to make Ribingu City liveable again. No one but the soldiers of FEAR Corps knows the reason why. Your friend, Misawa Yuji, found out about our cause and joined as a normal soldier, and when I sensed his NITE Pistol was disconnected from him he was in trouble. I had sent out an emergency team to collect his remains when you picked up the gun. I synced with your thoughts, gave you some instructions so you could fight back and helped you to defeat a Basic Deformed. To learn more about what Deformed are, look it up on the database. I will now commence a complete synchronisation with you and register you into the database."

The projector began scanning my right eye, which was completed in a few seconds. "Thank you, Sawamura Tokimasa. As of orders by the Director, you have now been assigned as the Special Deformed Retaliation Squad Leader. Your codename has been set to ELITE-1." I looked at him shock, but Kyōfu just disappeared. Instead, I looked to the Director for answers.

"I was impressed by your skills with a firearms weapon," she told me . "I think with a little training I can get you to lead a squad that will defeat the Deformed once and for all. I've assigned you to the Elite Division, but you'll get to be independent from them and pick your teammates yourself. Until you pick three permanent members, you will be assigned to missions with some options for future team members." She sat down in her chair, pressed a button on an intercom and spoke into it. "Can the Elite Division Lead Engineer please collect your new recruit?"

In nothing but a moment, a male engineer entered the office. There wasn't much to say about him, he looked like your average engineer. The only noticeable thing about him was his watch set onto a gauntlet of tools, which took up the space of his entire forearm.

"Good afternoon, Director," he announced, bowing slightly. "Sasada Naohiro at your service." He turned, inspected me and turned back to the Director. "Is this the kid?" She nodded and he turned back to me. "Well then, let's get started." He grabbed my arm and dragged me out the door; still confused about the whole situation I was in now.

We walked down a couple of stairwells, Naohiro giving me a little tour of the place. It was a while before we reached the Elite Division. It was a small group of scientists and engineers, bustling around the workbenches and computers. Naohiro turned to me and beckoned me forward. I walked to the bench up the back of the room, and saw a large blue revolver.

"All I need to do to it is put the AI functionality into it, and it'll be ready. I hear you're good with guns," he said to me, to which I nodded. "Well, then you should make good use of this. Return tomorrow for the complete gun and a trial course. Before you leave, however, we want you to name the gun, as we're not very creative with names ourselves."

I thought for a moment, and as if something outof a memory, one name was stuck in my mind very clearly, and I uttered thewords, "Trigger Havoc."