Infinite Stratos: Phoenix

Time to disappear...

"I was wondering when you'd show up." I replied, sitting back down.

"I was headed this way when Chloe showed me the newscast and your defense of the Academy." Tabane replied, walking further into the room and sitting down herself. I smirked and shook my head. Houki and Ichika greeted Tabane while the rest of the room looked on.

"Wait! You're Tabane Shinonono, the creator of the IS?" Keiko exclaimed. The rest of us had a good laugh at that, as we were used to Tabane's antics.

"Yeah Kei. This is the Tabane Shinonono, child genius and inventor of the IS. Tabane, my daughter, Keiko." I said, making introductions with a wave of my hands.

"Ahh, I've been meaning to meet you Keiko. I'm interested to do some tests with your DNA. Since you are the first and currently only child of whom both parents are IS compatible." Tabane said, a somewhat creepy smile on her face. Keiko gave her an uneasy smile.

"We'll see, Tabane. But let's get back to what we were talking about. Theta? Shall we explain a few things?" I asked, glancing at the little A.I. on my shoulder. Theta nodded back and we both looked at the rest of the room.

"Ask away." We said.

A while later and many lengthy explanations later...

"So basically, I've got some psychotic core somewhere inside me that can act as a pilot in extreme cases and Theta was put in as a precaution against any hostile actions the core would take. Did I miss anything?" I clarified before asking. Tabane shook her head, as well as most of the rest of the room. Laura raised her hand though. "Yes, Laura?"

"Where did you get the IS to begin with?" She asked, returning her arm to the slipping ice pack on her head. I sighed and glanced at Char before leaning back in my chair.

"Have you ever seen the 'other side' Laura? One other person in this room has that I know of." I replied with question, glancing at Ichika. He was looking at me with a knowing look. Laura, confused by my reply, shrugged.

"I can't answer that without knowing what you mean by 'the other side'..." She started before Ichika spoke up.

"He means Death, Laura. That is the other side he's referring too." He clarified, looking at me before down at his lap. Houki took one of his hands in hers comfortingly. I gave Char a loving smile before looking at Laura.

"Both Ichika and I have clinically died in our lifetimes. He died during a school outing defending everyone. I died, defending Charlotte from her own father while on the run. Both times, we came back. Unhurt and better than before. Ichika's Byakushiki gained small upgrades. I gained a brand new suit that will never fall behind in the tech race." I paused. "While this seems like someone crazy talking, our deaths made us stronger. I don't recommend trying this method for yourselves. Besides coming back alive with better tech, we've both met someone on that side as well." I said, stopping so that everyone could process this new information before dropping the big bomb.

"Who'd you meet? God? A deity of some kind?" Cecilia was the first to start spewing questions. I locked eyes with Ichika before asking him, "WK, right?" He nodded.

"Besides Tabane, who knows about Shirokishi, also known as the White Knight?" I asked, looking at the rest of the room.

"Outside of the story behind it during the Shirokishi incident after the initial unveiling, not much." Rin spoke first this time. The rest of the room nodded in agreement with her, except for Keiko.

"Who was the White Knight?" She asked, looking between Tabane, Ichika and I. Ichika and I looked at Tabane for this one.

"No one but myself knows the true identity of the White Knight. It was requested of me to not disclose their identity without their permission. The Shirokishi, or White Knight as it is also known as. It was the first IS ever created. Most of today's IS platforms are based off of it, albeit loosely. The 'incident' Rin mentioned was what made the IS known as it is today. All at once, several of the major nations were simultaneously hacked and launched thousands of missiles targeted at Japan. The White Knight was able to intercept and destroy all of them before disappearing and never reappearing again." Tabane explained.