C.O.D.E - X | Decoding Mission: APOLLO

Chapter One

"You're not so different from me, Mega Nox!"

Said the extremely cheezie villain on the screen as Kota questioned why he agreed to see this movie in the first place. It was a waste of money and tickets. However, his sister had begged him to sit in and observe her date from the row behind. He understood why. After her last boyfriend, she wasn't taking any chances in a movie theater. Even if it meant making her lovely brother sit through two and a half hours of torture.

It was all worth it to keep Kati safe though.

As he sat back and watched the bad superhero movie, he silently thought about what grade he'd get on his next assignment in school and his current group project for History. He hoped none of his classmates were slackers.

"Not so different? I'd dare say otherwise!" Came the reply of the hero, Mega Box or whatever his name was. Kota didn't pay much attention as he lazily watched his sister and her date. "Why, of course we're similar! We are both Androids who tire of these pathetic humans!" Came the villain's stupid reply.

"Tire of them? Hah! I seek to protect them! You may claim them useless, and I agree there may be no use for their existence. However, why must there be? This world is not built upon the necessity of anything, only that everything exists. To be rid of them for not being useful, we must apply that to ourselves, Brother." The hero went on as Kota removed his glasses to clean them. It was just some 'dramatic' rooftop scene after all.

"What do you mean?" Asked the villain and just before the hero could reply, everything went dark. As the room flooded with darkness, he could hear several people screaming in surprise as phones were scrambled for and ushers came down the rows with flashlights.

"what's going on?" asked a nearby girl to her friend, who seemed just as lost as she was. "I think it was a blackout." Kota replied to them just as an usher stood in front of the screen. One of the girls looked to him with a smile as her friend turned on her phone's flashlight. As the usher explained what was going on, Kota felt reassured as he was correct about the blackout. He also felt rather giddy that everyone was being told to head for the exits. On his way out, he jogged up to Kati, who seemed scared as she clung onto her date's arm whilst he led them out of the theater.

Seeing that Kati was okay, he relaxed a bit more and slowed his pace. Probably not a good idea to sell himself out to her date. Did not need to know her bro was spying. Once outside all moviegoers were handed a special card that would allow them free tickets in the future, however, when he saw the expiration date, he simply put the paper in his pocket.

He was half tempted to throw it out but knew Kati would likely enjoy having two of the things. She loved seeing movies on the silver screen after all.

"What do you think caused it?"

The sudden question caused Kota to jump and look to the culprit, who turned out to be none other than one Carmen Gonzalez. Her amber eyes were full of curiosity and her dark brown hair hung over her shoulders, perfectly framing her face. He couldn't help but take notice of her boyfriend, Jack Parker some feet behind her, talking to Lisa Blake as she put her girls on display for him. Why Carmen stayed with that cheating jerk was beyond him.

"Oh... Um... Couldn't say?" Kota replied in his shock. Was Carmen Gonzalez seriously talking to him? He thought she hated him after he beat her at the last Mathematic Decathlon. Carmen was known for priding herself on her smarts. The whole school knew it. And the whole school knew she hated him for constantly ranking highest in everything academic. She was always second best to him as it seemed, and she hated it. He, however, couldn't care less about that stuff.