New day... but still the same old routine.
Change rarely came in the life of fifteen-year-old Jonathan Blake. Every morning he instinctively awoke at almost exactly 6:30; he hardly needed his alarm clock anymore. He always left the house for school at just after seven, the exact time seldom varying by more than a few minutes from day to day. So predictable was his daily schedule that he could tell you, down to the minute, what he would be doing and where at any given time of the day. He walked the same route to school every day; if you were to follow him for a week you would probably never see him stray more than a few inches from the path he walked the day before. This sort of monotony is a key staple in young Jonathan's existence, as we will continue to learn.
Another aspect of his personality becomes apparent, as we continue to observe his carefully-paced walk to school. As people pass by, some wave to Jonathan, while others say "Good morning," or other such greetings. Most of the time, Jonathan will simply look at the ground and pass by without responding; on rare occasions, he may manage a smile and a tentative wave before quickly turning away and walking past. A more telling example would be to take in a somewhat broader view of, say, his school lifestyle. Jonathan has always shown himself to be exceptionally brilliant, easily one of the best performers in his class. That being said, however, he tended to keep mostly to himself, never joining any clubs or playing sports. He was never among the "popular" kids in school, though as far as he was concerned, that was just fine with him. Jonathan simply wasn't interested in being "part of the crowd", and made every effort to stay out from under the spotlights, doing as little as possible to attract attention to himself.
With his belief that nothing would ever change so deeply entrenched in his mind, he would never have believed that everything was about to change...
The day passed as they always did, and soon enough Jonathan was walking home. He had made it nearly a third of the way when he noticed that something was different. He slowed, glancing around and wondering what exactly was bothering him; soon enough, he realized it: there were no other students walking along the streets with him. Usually, there were a fair number of students walking or riding home from school at about this time, but today the sidewalks were virtually deserted. He continued along the concrete path, wondering where everyone could have gone. He hadn't been paying much attention to popular events lately - not that he ever did, but occasionally he would find something interesting to do if he was particularly bored - and he couldn't quite remember any of his classmates mentioning that there was anything big going on today...
Oh... It must be that new game that Lee was talking about during English. Steven Lee, a junior at Jonathan's school, was a gaming fanatic; it's a wonder, Jonathan thought, that he does so well in class when most of his attention seems to be focused on video games. If there were anyone who would know about a popular game being released, it would be him... Jonathan actually stopped, completely losing his focus. His attention was captured by a television behind the window of a shop alongside the street... or rather, by what was being displayed on it. Usually, he would have noted it and moved on, but something caught his interest.
In the center of the screen, on a surface of what looked like some kind of illuminated glass, a pair of figures were engaged in a fierce battle. One of the combatants, garbed in blue and white and sporting a futuristic-looking headset and visor, traded lightning-quick punches and kicks with a girl clad in red and white. Both looked incredibly life-like, Jonathan noted, each moving smoothly as they fought; he could see, upon closer inspection, that each of the fighters had a pair of odd cord-like strings that trailed and swung around them as they moved. After a few seconds, the camera zoomed out... and Jonathan blinked in surprise as the shot panned out to show a large arena-like setting around the battleground, and a simply huge audience watching and cheering. The view shifted to show a second view of the battle, which Jonathan could now see was taking place on a large, circular field in the center of the arena. And at opposite edges of the table, he saw a pair of large silver chairs, in which sat two young people a boy in one, a girl in the other each wearing what looked like a headset of some sort with a transparent visor, each focusing on the battle in front of them. When the camera shifted views yet again, he finally got a glimpse of the scale of the battle: each of the figures was only a foot tall! He looked even closer; it looked far too realistic to be computer animated. The battle seemed to be coming to a close, as the two figures facing each other from a respectable distance for a few moments before simultaneously charging at each other full-tilt, the blue-white one aiming a powerful punch while the red-white one took to the air in a devastating kick. Both blows landed at the same time; both combatants seemed to freeze momentarily, before the blue and white fighter fell to the ground. The crowd roared in the background, as a closing message flashed onto the screen:
Don't miss the United States debut of Angelic Layer, the phenomenon that has taken the world by storm!
Customizable Angels and accessories available today at most major electronics and gaming retailers!
It took Jonathan a full five seconds to remember that he had been walking home. That... was awesome! His mind whirled as he thought about the technology that had to go into making a game like that work. I couldn't see any cables or wires connecting them to anything... I couldn't even see any controllers, keyboards, or anything like that, either! He quickened his pace somewhat, in a hurry to get home. Intrigued by what he had seen, Jonathan wanted to learn more about it. And maybe - just maybe - he would try it out for himself.
Author's Notes: This was just an idea that popped into my head one day, possibly the product of a strange obsession, and more than a little boredom (spending over 200 days at sea will do that to you). This is a bit short, but it should be enough to get the ball rolling I've got good things planned for this one; all it needs is time, effort, and more than a little stubborn determination. If you've taken the time to read this far, thank you; I'll do my best to make this story worth reading.
Angelic Layer is a creation of CLAMP, not me (obviously). Any characters and/or settings from the anime and/or manga are also their creations. Characters featured in New Horizons (other than "canon" characters from the anime and manga) are my creations, and are not to be used in any other works without my prior consent. All rights reserved, whatever those are. Why are you still here? Go read some more fanfiction!