A/N: This is set in the far future after the events of Angel Beats! and loosely inspired by my unfinished Angel Beats! Fanfic "System Error: Self Evolving Program".
Disclaimer: Do I look like I'm some multimillion dollar company to you?
Starting Windows XP, standby...
User: Admin
Password: *****
Welcome...
Angel. Non-Player-Character. Admin user. Machine. Student Council Vice President. Tachibana Kanade.
Names. Titles. Nouns.
Things of the past.
She took aim. She fired a shot. One of the shadowy, misty creatures disappeared, only for another one to take its place.
She waited, letting the barrel of her rifle cool lest it affected her accuracy. Once again she took aim, and fired a shot. Once again a shadow disappeared to be replaced by another. Repeat ad infinitum.
The white haired, golden eyed girl spent every waking moment of her life like this. Barricaded at the top of the tallest building in the school world, firing at any shadow that got too close to the entrance. She was expending thousands of rounds every day in this futile exercise. If she stopped, though, the shadows would eventually break through the barricade of chairs and tables blocking all the windows and doors, and she would be devoured.
Of course, she was merely delaying the inevitable. She was burning through rounds fast, and unfortunately the people who were capable of making more ammunition were all long gone. All that was left in the world was her, a rifle, and several million of the 'Shadows' that have long plagued the world.
She had been through the cycles before. Since she was a programmed NPC she didn't just 'move on' once her purpose was fulfilled like a human would. From what she was told by her creator, the cycle was the same before she was programmed too.
This world (some called it 'purgatory') would take in frustrated young adults and give them the chance at a normal life and for them to overcome burdens of their past. Yet every time these young adults would somehow band together and begin to demand answers, make weapons, and eventually try to rebel against God. If the cycle lasts too long the Shadows would begin to emerge in an effort to cleanse the world. The humans would then unite with the Angels they claimed to fight in order to fend off the attacking Shadows.
The Afterlife Battlefront. The New Afterlife Battlefront. The Heaven's Unwanted. The Human-Angel Alliance. Every time they had prevailed against the Shadows, and made peace. Every time, except the last, when the Shadows finally managed to overpower the combined might of the humans and angels. It was a bloodbath.
Most interestingly, though, the world somehow seemed to know that everything had gone wrong. No more humans had spawned in the world ever since that day, nor any NPCs. Objects that got broken stopped magically repairing. The weather stopped changing. The clouds froze into place in the sky. It was like purgatory just said, "The server is down. Nobody may log on any more."
Perhaps a new purgatory had opened in another world. Perhaps the universe had run out of misguided teenagers to process. Perhaps their souls went directly to heaven now. Regardless, the Angel's purpose was now fulfilled, and even if she were to permanently die, it would still be in peace.
Or so she thought. In reality she was still fighting to the bitter end. Hence why she held onto a rifle, sniping down at the shadows from a vantage point.
She stared down the 1P21 scope of her rifle, calculating the depression, distance, bullet drop, wind speed, and any other obstructions to her shot in nanoseconds. She had found one of the best advantages of being a programmed machine to be her fast and accurate calculations, making for a perfect match for the Dragunov SVD sniper rifle she held in hand.
Slowly squeezing the trigger, she heard the crack of the supersonic round flying out of the long, thin barrel and soaring through the air. She felt the recoil against her arm, reduced by the muzzle break but nonetheless a strong kick. She saw yet another misty black creature disappear into smoke. And once again it was replaced with the body of a student.
She took aim again, and again took a...
Wait! What?
Quickly turning the rifle back she caught the glimpse of something she had not seen in a long time. It was the sight of a school uniform... the school uniform of the students of purgatory. Only moments after she had seen it, though, it vanished. Swallowed up by the sea of black, smoky Shadows.
For the first since the incident her mind went into Overdrive mode. Her FLOPS increased drastically, as every computer still connected to her mind began to whir furiously, while time around her began to slow down.
It's impossible! she thought. No human nor NPC has spawned for nearly a year! Why would they suddenly start spawning again?
It must be a trick. An illusion. A bug. Even a machine like myself will begin to grow delusional if kept in operation for so long, especially since I have not had proper maintenance since my Creator left... I could be merely seeing things.
If there really is a person there, then I have to save them. My mission is to help humans move on, and to preserve the stability of this world. But if it's just an illusion I would be putting myself at unnecessary risk.
I have to make sure.
She took aim, setting the exact same co-ordinates as her previous shot, and squeezed the trigger. A crack and recoil, followed by a puff of smoke creating the smallest gap in the sea of black mist.
And there, clear as day, was the body of a student, a young man lying unconscious in the courtyard, surrounded by Shadows.
It's a person.
No sooner had she confirmed this that the Shadows began to again envelop the unconscious student.
She fired again, dispelling another Shadow. She fired again, and again, no longer paying heed to the overheating of the barrel. She unloaded round after round at the Shadows, trying to push them back. As soon as she emptied her clip she replaced it with another, and fired ten more rounds at the Shadows that threatened to eat up the unconscious boy.
But even with her engaging in rapid semi-automatic fire, the Shadows seemed almost unhindered, creeping closer and closer to the boy between every shot she took.
"Tch..."
The girl, usually expressionless, grimaced at the relentlessness of the Shadows. With staying at long range safety no longer an option, she attached a bayonet to the end of the rifle. Not the ideal close quarters weapon, but she was short on time. With time being of the essence she decided also to take the shortest route down...
She jumped over the railing, and let herself plummet to the ground. Even as the cold air swept through her hair her mind never stopped whirring, performing countless calculations every second, trying to get her timing perfect.
And at just the right moment a pair of white, feathery wings sprouted from her back, slowing her down just enough to not sustain injury. As soon as her feet had touched the floor, though, the wings were gone. They had served their purpose, and keeping them around expended RAM that could be better used elsewhere.
She sprinted towards the boy, who was still unconscious amidst all the chaos, gathering speed at Olympian rates, racing to reach the boy before the Shadows did.
Just as the foremost Shadow began to reach out for the body, the Angel thrust her bayonet against it like a spear. Despite appearing gaseous she felt as though she had stabbed a sandbag rather than shadows or smoke, making it difficult to pull back before the Shadow disappeared into dust.
She lunged at the next closest Shadow, once again feeling the bayonet sink into the thick, rough texture of the creature. Before this one disappeared, though, another Shadow began to assault her from the side. She only narrowly blocked its attack, following up with slashing the bayonet blade horizontally against the monstrosity, slicing it clean in half.
With the immediate Shadows eliminated, the Angel girl once again aimed at the sea of black, but this time no longer through the scope, nor taking the time to do complex calculations of distance and obstructions as she unloaded another clip in a manner of seconds. She was firing at point blank range, after all, and it was near impossible to miss.
But even this wasn't enough to make the Shadows back off. A rifle only shot in one direction, and there were millions of the ever generating Shadows, and they once again began to surround the unconscious schoolboy, this time with the Angel with him.
I have to clear the Shadows quicker... she thought. Even if I risk overheating.
The Angel slung the rifle onto her shoulder, no longer relying on the firearm as her main weapon as she murmured the words...
"Guard Skill: Hand Sonic."
Like magic responding to an incantation, a blade appeared from her wrists in a way that had not since before the incident. Since before the last human she had seen. Well now she had someone new to save.
She began to slash and slice the swarm of Shadows that surrounded her. Against her sharpened, Hand Sonic blades they felt less like sand bags and much more like butter, as she carved through them in droves.
When she had finally cut out an opening in the torrent of Shadows she immediately turned around and heaved the boy's unconscious body onto her back. Despite the fact that he was a fair bit larger than she was, her passive Overdrive ability allowed her to carry him with relative ease.
But even though she was capable of carrying him without worrying about her strength, the need to balance a body on her back severely restricted her movements. She could now only make the occasional swipe at the Shadow nearest to her, but a second swipe would risk toppling the boy over. This allowed the Shadows to once again slowly engulf her and the boy, even as she cut them down.
Slowly she began to fight her way back to the building, carrying the unconscious boy all the while. It was now that the boy finally began to stir. Not quite awake yet, the boy nonetheless began to murmur and shift.
He's alive! she thought. At least... relatively speaking. That alone means that I did not risk it all for nothing.
With her mind distracted for just that shortest amount of time, however, her reactions were slowed, and she barely glanced off a swing from one of the shadows, causing her to lose balance and fall over.
The Shadows wasted no time on mercy as they began to grab both her, and the boy. The Angel struggled to get back up, but even with her Overdrive and Hand Sonic she was unable to overpower the hundreds of Shadows that had piled up on top of her.
She felt her hearing begin to dull, and the sky get blotted out by the blackness. Her muscles began to feel weaker, and she felt more and more disconnected from the computers that sustained her Guard Skills.
No...
She turned towards the boy's body. He too was beginning to disappear into the blackness, as Shadows began to sink into him.
No... I can't let this happen...
The boy, not yet awake, but definitely with his senses intact, was visibly squirming. His face was twisted in agony, and he was letting out screams... screams that registered only as weak hums to the Angel's dulled senses.
No... it can't end like this... not again... not again...
"Kanade?"
No.
"Kanade, are you alright?"
No, no I'm not.
"You're worrying too much, my love."
No. This is wrong. This is all wrong.
"It'll be alright. I'm here with you, Kanade."
Stop it. Stop it, please.
"What's wrong, Kanade?"
Stop calling me that.
"What do you mean, Kanade?"
I'm not Tachibana Kanade! You know I'm not! I'm just a machine! I'm a program that you created to fill in the hole in your heart! I'm just the ghost of a girl that you loved a long time ago, but you will never see again! A sickening, twisted reminder of your failure to hold onto her! Stop pretending I'm the one you love! Stop making me act like her! Stop talking about the Afterlife Battlefront that I never met and never will meet! Stop making me eat Mapo Tofu and pretend it's my favourite food!
Stop calling me "Kanade"!
"... I'm sorry. You're right."
...
"I shouldn't force my expectations onto you, or force you to be someone you aren't."
...
"But at the very least, can I ask you for a favour?"
...?
"Please... protect everyone for me."
...
"Please. Vice President."
... I promise.
"... Thank you. I'll be graduating now."
...
"Goodbye, Vice President."
... Goodbye, Otonashi Yuzuru.
"Guard Skill: Harmonics."
The Harmonics Guard Skill was created by the original Tachibana Kanade, allowing her to clone herself. The initial version was bugged, which had resulted in the clone holding aggressive mentalities and failure to merge after use. The Harmonics Guard Skill had since then been updated, with the issues fixed.
Also, it was upgraded.
With a burst of light, the Shadows that had piled up on top of the Angel melted away as she had erupted, and from her body, a dozen clones of herself emerged, battle ready and eager to protect.
Each one of them began to carve through in different directions, non-verbally co-ordinating their attacks, using each other as platforms to launch themselves into the air, and swoop down at the Shadows from above. Clones then cloning themselves, the clones of which would then spawn even more clones. Dozens became hundreds, hundreds became thousands. In nothing more than half a minute she had already reached two-thousand clones of herself turning the black tide.
But to celebrate now would be doing so too early. She was still outnumbered, and the more clones she had the more taxing it was on her hardware. Seventy six clones was the maximum number she could sustain without risk even at the best of times, and she was far beyond this amount. She would have to hurry and get the boy to safety before she fainted.
Turning back to the boy, she had found that he had since woken up, and that he had his eyes darting around in confusion.
"Wh... where...? What is...?" he began to question.
"No time," was all she answered. The boy merely stared at her in confused shock. There was so many of her that he didn't know which one he should be looking at, but what he thought wasn't her concern at the moment. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him up in haste, ignoring he yelp of pain he let out as she bolted towards the building.
Before she even got to the entry, however, she began to feel the pressure of her next obstacle: The entrance was barricaded. That was what made the building safe up until this point. If she broke through the barricade the building would no longer be safe. But if she didn't break it down, she could exactly enter.
"Where are we going...?" the boy asked. "What's happening? We're going to crash into the wall!"
"Guard Skill: Harmonics."
Once again, a burst of light, and again a dozen Angel clones shot out from her body like shotgun pellets. In almost drilled unison the clones got into position, some kneeling down, some holding hands, others using their bodies as platforms to form an ramp using their bodies.
And even without looking at the boy's face, she knew that his mind was nothing short of blown at the moment.
Not giving him the time to pause and digest she sprinted directly at the clone-body ramp. It was a final race against time, as she began to feel her vision growing dark again, and her body feeling heavy. She was no longer sprinting as fast as she was before, and if she couldn't make it to the ramp within the next few seconds she knew she would suffer a stroke, dooming both her and the boy to being swallowed by shadows.
Just a little bit closer... just a little bit closer...
Each step she took she staggered a bit more, until eventually she was all but tripping over herself. It was only when she finally stepped onto the ramp, though, that her knees gave way and she finally collapsed forward, pulling the boy with her.
But that was all that was needed, as the dozen clones that made the ramp collectively swung their linked arms upwards, trampolining their two bodies far into the air.
Her clone count had reached seven thousand eight hundred and ninety one, a new record for her. She probably went a bit too far in that. But then, it was to save the soul of a student... that was what she promised her creator she would do. It would all be worth it.
As she sailed toward the sky she could swear she heard the boy screaming, but it was overshadowed by the painful ringing in her ears.
Don't worry, friend... she thought. She would have said it out loud, but she hadn't the strength. You can't die in this world unless you're caught by the shadows. We can survive a three hundred meter drop.
Ah... that's right. I haven't explained anything about this world to him yet. He's probably dreadfully confused. I should clear things up for him. I haven't even introduced myself yet. How rude.
I hope he'll listen to me when we both wake up.
The last thing she saw was the school ceiling hurtling towards her. Her vision faded to black. Then it flashed to blue.
A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
MEMORY_MANAGEMENT
If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need.
If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.
Technical Information:
*** STOP: 0x00000001A (0x000000000000403, 0xFFFFF6800007EBE0, 0x40C000010014A867, 0xFFFFE6800007EBE0)
Collecting data for crash dump...
Initializing disk for crash dump...
Beginning dump of physical memory.
Dumping physical memory to disk: 40
Starting Windows XP, standby...
User: Admin
Password: *****
Welcome...
One would usually open their eyes slowly in this circumstance, but since she was a machine her eyes flickered open quite quickly. She found herself staring up at the sky, blue, with the white clouds going by at a leisurely pace.
It was like waking up from a dream. A very long dream.
She looked to her left. The Dragunov SVD rifle she had carried was a little damaged from the fall. She'll have to tend to that. She liked keeping her equipment in perfect condition.
She then looked to her right, and found a boy, sitting with his legs crossed, staring right back. It was the first time she had seen another living, thinking being for most of a year. And yet she didn't feel any bit excited. Rather, it felt like a return to business as usual after an unusually long vacation. An unpleasant vacation.
Can't even get excited to finally make some new friends. Still just an emotionless machine... she joked to herself wryly.
"You're awake..." he stated dumbly.
She said nothing in response.
"So... now that you are... do you mind explaining things to me?"
Of course... they always seek answers first.
Though he's probably more confused than most students when they first arrive. Most of the others spawn during peaceful times.
"Do you remember having a life before this one?" she asked as she began to sit up herself. The boy nodded.
So he's not an NPC... nor an amnesiac.
"So is this Heaven...? Or hell?"
"Neither. It is purgatory."
"Purgatory?"
"Yes. This is a place where souls overcome their past, and I am the Angel here. I will be here with you to help you until you leave."
A/N: I've wanted to rewrite some sort of Angel Beats Fanfic based off of my old one for a very long time now, but never got down to it. I was originally planning all sorts of different long, convoluted plots, but I've ultimately decided to get this one out. Why? Because it's a one-shot, and therefore easy to finish in one go.
One of the first inspirations of this work is Nanata from System Error, and I always wanted to write a spin off with her as the protagonist. I was planning a whole separate work up until the previous days too, before realising I'd never have the motivation to so much as building up all the characters.
For me, NPCs were always an interesting concept that could have been spun in so many different ways, and so both of my Angel Beats! fanfics have had NPCs as their protagonists. In this we have an NPC that was made by Otonashi Yuzuru to resemble Tachibana Kanade, serving as an "Angel" long after the original SSS had all moved on.
One of the other ideas I've had was to basically have this as a launching point of a longer fanfic, where I take in other people's OC ideas and I work through each of them one at a time (or something), but for now I'm going to leave it as a one-shot. If enough people want this to continue (and I find motivation/time) I might plough on, but I don't think that'll happen.