8 「Afterschool」

The Old Tokyo Tower was where the meeting was to be held. After they had finished their lunch in the courtyard at school, Kallen had contacted her friends. She found assets for the Resistance, people with abnormal abilities that would give them an edge against the Britannian Empire.

Ohgi was skeptical. While he hadn't been given the full run down of their powers, he hardly believed the idea of the two having such abilities. Though he had to agree, if this was all true, it would be something to be quite amazing.

Not only that, but it could also explain the cease-fire which had been arranged and the death of Prince Clovis la Britannia.

The question was, why would they want to meet at the Tokyo Tower which had been turned into a Britannian Victory museum? That was virtually suicide.

The resistance Leader figured that it was a way to get them in one place, and then contact them again to move them once everyone was accounted for. It was a logical assumption, one which he came up with his chat with Kallen who gave a rundown of the "Lost One's" psyche.

Zero and the Lost One, quite the line up.

After the meeting at the courtyard, Graham had made his own preparations. Having pulled his friend aside, they began to plot with one another. The personality of Zero was something that Lelouch already had in mind.

It was something that caught him by surprise though, that he was able to come up with this without talking with him first. Just when did he come up with this? Did his power allow him to read minds?

Lelouch was a bit thrown off by this, but he knew his friend would be honest with him. He had never lied to him before, even if somethings were better kept secret. Though at the same time, he had noticed the use of half-truths and manipulative words being inserted into his vocabulary. His friend instead of making secrets to manipulate others, he used the truth. He used ah's and oh's to awe others to his side. Much like how he was a genius tactician and won people over through 'miracles' which came natural to him.

"Why did you say so much of the truth to Q-1?" Lelouch asked as they were at the secondary destination. Watching the tower through the use of a remote control drone which was equipped with an illegal state-of-the-art ECM. "And where did you get the hardware?"

"Same reason why you would have wanted to silence her," Graham responded as he looked over at the man who was his childhood friend. This made Lelouch nod slowly, as he knew they were different two sides of the same coin. "And an old friend of ours..."

When he had said this, he became rather curious of who he was in contact with. Who would be giving him this expensive piece of equipment that they both knew? He could only draw some conclusions.

"So you want to reignite the flame of the Japanese Empire?" Lelouch inquired as he watched the screen on his friend's sleek and shiny remote control.

"A monarchy is effective, as long as it believes its people are more than just cogs in a machine, without its people it isn't an Empire. An Enlightened Empire, it fights Defensive and Liberation Wars, it won't start meaningless wars." Graham spoke of his ideals, how he would organize and execute his future wish of an autocratic government for the people.

It was admirable, Lelouch thought, but there was always the human element which could be unpredictable. In the grand scheme of things, it was always the inner workings which threatened a nation integrity rather than an external force.

Entire nations have fallen for the grandiose desires and greed of the few.

Kallen stood in front of one of the museum's exhibits, looking over the display with false intentions. The rest of her cell were separately arriving to avoid suspicion. Her eyes looked over the crowds, she didn't see Graham, nor any man with a mask.

The assumption that there would be a secondary meeting place, would likely be true.

The leader of the resistance cell looked around as he was flanked by two other members of his group. There was a feeling of unease here due to the choice of location.

Suddenly the loudspeaker sounded overhead. "Miss Kallen Stadtfeld of Ashford Academy, a lost item has been turned in for you."

The four of which were present seemed to be surprised by the sudden announcement. Kallen went on her way over to the lost and found desk of the Museum. Once she arrived, she came across a woman with blond hair and blue eyes. She smiled kindly at Kallen, "You are Miss Kallen Stadtfeld I presume?" She took out an unidentified burner phone out from under the desk. "Is this yours?"

Kallen almost instinctively nodded, "Ah.... Yes Ma'am, it is. Thank you very much," It was as if she had automatically recognized it, as she had blocked out the hesitation which would have made her seem off at receiving the item.

Soon after receiving the item, she left the museum and moved to a more secure location where she met up with the others. When that went as planned, the phone rang. "Zero?" Her eyes gazed over the caller ID.

"Yes? Hello?"

That's when the voice of the man who had given the orders during the Ghetoo Massacre spoke up. "Ride the outer tracks of loop line #5. Bring your friends."

"Eh?"

Lelouch then hung up on her, not giving any other orders in which she could follow. It was just plain as that. A demand, a simple condition to fulfill.

This however left her rather dumbfounded, why did they use this direct method to speak to them instead of Zero's supposed telepathy?

The others followed the lead of Kallen and did exactly as they were told.

The moment they entered the second to first car, it seemed rather crowded, as if those from the car in the very front had been intentionally emptied. Of course, they didn't pick up on it at first.

However later on, just as the train was about to enter the tunnel up ahead. A voice rang out in the heads of the resistance members who attended the fifth track on the rail. "Come to the forward car," it was Zero's voice clear as day and it was in their heads.

Many of them were shocked, the resistance leader Kaname didn't know what to think, but it clearly wasn't an auditory hallucination. The four of them moved to the next car over and to their surprise, there Zero and The Lost One stood at the very end of the very empty car.

Zero was dressed in his canon attire, his face masked. He looked like a masked nobleman, clearly not Japanese. He was facing away from them. Standing beside him was Graham under the guise of The Lost One, he on the other hand was facing them.

The Lost One was dressed in a Science Fiction getup similar to that of a Cyberpunk Samurai. He wore an ovular helmet similar to that of a member of Daft punk. The inner robe-like part of his armor seemed to be similar to Graham's bento, being a dark naval blue with golden branch-like embroidery. On the other hand the metallic armor pieces were black with a black and gold of the Oda Clan medallion.implanted into the shoulders.

At his left hip there was an object that looked like a katana styled hilt, holstered in a sleek blocky scabbard, that had an electric blue LED glowing line down the center. On his right hip however was a holstered energy pistol.

He was clearly Japanese, at least from the aesthetic.

"Was it really you in Shinjuku?" Kallen asked with her arms out to the side, as if announcing her presence with a hint of dominance in her voice.

They were met with silence from both of them at first until one of the people spoke up.

"Say something already!"

"From what you saw outside these walls, what were your impressions?" Zero announced with his dramatic turn to face them, leaving an impression as the others seemed to take a step back in surprise.

"Eh?"

"The difference! The difference of the Settlement and the Ghettos! I wanted you to appreciate the difference!"

Kaname stepped forward hearing this, "Yes... There is a difference between us and the Britannians!" He agreed, acknowledging what he was saying. "A desperate difference!"

"That's why we fight as the Resistance! For a better to–" Kaname was cut off before he could finish.

"Terrorism won't bring down Britannian rule. It won't bring back our Japan." Graham said, his mask distorting and overlapping his voice, it made him sound like some sort of celestial or demonic being. "The Empire of the Rising Sun."

"Bring down...? Empire...?" Kaname and Kallen's eyes rested on the clan emblem which was on the shoulder piece of Graham's armor. The Lost One was masquerading as a member of the Oda Clan? Or was he really a member of such a historic clan?

Oda wasn't a surname, it was a Clan Name. Kallen recognized this, but didn't know if she could believe it. Maybe he was just using it as a Symbol? As the Oda clan had once united Japan under a single banner, the Tokugawa Shogunate. The path that eventually allowed the restoration of Imperial Rule centuries later through the Meiji Restoration.

"Terrorism is merely a childish nuisance," Zero would pick up where Graham left off.

"What is this? Are you saying we're just kids?!"

Graham looked over at Zero, a holographic sweatdrop appearing down the side of his helmet, within the black visor piece. It was as if he was expressing himself with an emoji which Japan was rather famous for, considering the word itself was of Japanese origin.

"Do not mistake your enemy!" Zero continued, "It is Britannia itself that is your enemy, not its people whom are treated as expendable cogs in a machine!" He was using some sort of grandiose tone with them, using awe and charisma to bring them over to their side.

"What is needed is War! Only war will bring back Japan! Make up your minds! Take the Righteous Path!"

The idea of another war sounded devastating. Kallen was visibly disturbed and voiced her inniatal opposition against the idea. "This is absurd! This is easier said than done! How can we trust you if you don't show us your face?!"

Kaname noticed that she was focused on Zero, as if she already knew who was behind the mask of the Lost One. Raising a brow, he looked over at Graham who had taken his scabbard from his hip and rested both hands on it as if it was a fancy curved walking cane.

"She's right! Take off the Mask!" He joined beside her, along with the others who flanked him on either side.

"Fine... I will show you, what I will show you is my power, not my face. If I can show you the impossible, you will trust me a little, won't you?" Zero asked with his silver tongue, again attempting to awe them.

Just then the screen above their heads showed the emergency announcement, Suzaku was being found guilty of murdering the Britannian Prince and attempting a coup d'état against the Viceroy's administration. It was just as Graham told Zero during their planning session prior to bringing them on board.