Pandora’s Core:

(three scene version)

WARNING:

This is a screenplay x story for an ANIME movie series. Make sure to envision it in that context before reading this or else you might be confused about what is going on.

In short, this story is a story of Sahar Schehera (Uzal Delilah) and how she gets to the position she is in the beginning of Pandora in the Crimson Shell.

The dub: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGmo0REk8K8&list=PLKP9vDuTPRNq-Ac5OX0Y2-CXkHVLu1rl0 The sub: https://kissanime.ru/Anime/Koukaku-no-Pandora-Pandora-of-the-Crimson-Shell-Ghost-Urn/Episode-001?id=121754&s=default (Ignore the ads on this site)

This is a prequel to the series, not a sequel.

Thank you for reading.

Act 1

Scene 1 (Brown theme)

Scene opens on a factory for computers. It’s all dark, with exception to the sparks of metal made

Opening Credits

We see Sahar working in the factory for a few seconds

Cuts to her walking down the street in front of a sunset.

We see Sahar in jeans, a sweatshirt, and a t-shirt. She is dirty, but seems too tired to care about it.

Cuts to her in a cot on the ground playing a pink handheld game. She is in a dark, small room with alot of stuff in it.

Cuts to her walking down the road in front of a sunrise

Sahar Schehera (SS) (thinking)

I should have bought some more food yesterday. I guess I’ll treat myself to this just once.

Sahar walks into a big restaurant with a moderate amount of people in it. She sits near the entrance.

She starts to pull something from her backpack but pushes it away as a waiter comes to ask for her drink. As he walks away she takes it out again.

It is a circuit board with alot of wires on it along with a camera and a pointer. She tries to fix it.

Sahar looks up to see a brown haired girl in the booth next to her with two odango hair buns on the tops of her hair and a bland expression. She is looking at Sahar’s circuit board.

Sahar is surprised that someone else is also interested in programming and engineering, and decides to go back to fixing the board.

After a while, Sahar looks for a quick second again to see if the girl is still looking, but she is looking behind her instead. Sahar goes back to work.

Sahar turns on the circuit board and a light flashed for a second, and then a small metal stick points to her face. She moves her head around the camera’s field of view and the stick points fluidly to face anywhere she moves.

SS (to herself)

It, it works! I can’t believe it!

In the background toward the kitchen, there are short screams and loud voices. Sahar can hear people nervously muttering in the booths behind her.

Confused, Sahar looks up to see what's going on in the kitchen, slightly concerned.

Just as she looks up to see what it is, a small but powerful explosion comes from the ceiling near the kitchen. Sahar is pushed back in her booth, and every sensible person in the restaurant screams.

Ears ringing, Sahar looks up to see everyone running near the door she is close to. Sahar frantically starts packing her stuff away.

The brown haired girl runs toward the explosion. Sahar notices she moves very robotically.

Sahar hears gunshots, and moves under the table. She sees the brown haired girl kick one of the terrorists who made the explosion into the wall.

SS (thinking)

Who is that girl?

Sahar crawls closer to get a better view of her, but still tries to hide behind tables and chairs. She finally gets to see what the brown haired girl is doing.

The brown haired girl takes out her weapons and knocks some of the terrorists out with it. She moves quick to dodge the bullets, and uses her weapons like boomerangs to knock people out from a distance. The gunshots stop and the brown haired girl looks around at the kitchen. She quickly runs away right before someone hidden in the back of the kitchen fires where she was standing. The person from the back comes into the kitchen and starts firing at where the brown haired girl is. She hides behind a big, metal container on wheels.

Sahar looks at ceiling tiles missing in the roof of the kitchen to see a huge downward-pointed laser hidden in the ceiling, waiting for the brown haired girl to walk under it.

The brown haired girl turns around and pushes the metal container toward the terrorist. It goes flying into him and knocks him down. It starts going toward the wall, and the terrorist uselessly tries to stop it from hitting the wall and crushing him. At the last second, the brown haired girl stops it by putting her weapon between the container and the wall. She disappointedly looks down at him from the top of the container. The terrorist starts to take out his gun but the brown haired girl knocks him out with her weapon before he can do so.

The brown haired girl looks around to see if there are any more terrorists. She starts walking out of the kitchen.

SS (thinking)

What should I do? I have to help that girl, but those people up there might make me a victim. I can’t do anything...

Faint voice inside SS’s head

They can stop your heart from beating, but not from loving

Sahar picks up one of the guns and starts firing it close to the people who are going to fire the laser, but not at them.

Above you!

The brown haired girl looks up and jumps into the ceiling where the laser is.

Sahar hides behind a turned-over table, and starts shaking in fear.

The brown haired girl knocks out all of the people on the laser and turns it off. She jumps down.

Is it over?

The brown haired girl walks over to the overturned table Sahar is hiding behind.

...Yes.

Sahar drops the gun and gets up. She looks around to make sure there are no more enemies.

S-s-sorry f-for staying. I'm going to go back to my house now.

Sahar starts walking away.

What's...your...name…?

Sahar stops and looks toward the brown haired girl. Sahar notices her voice is slow and chopped up into words she says once a second.

My name is Sahar Schehera. Yours?

Ari - ON: C1

You're… an android?

Are...you...orphan?

Uh, Yes...I am.

The brown haired girl (who is called Ari for now) walks over to Sahar.

Saw...your...circuit...board

Oh yeah, you did.

Ari holds out her hand.

Hold my hand

Your...hand? Um…

Sahar puts her hand in Ari’s

Ari starts running.

Woah!

Sahar gets pulled out of the restaurant and around the corner. Ari kicks away a trash dumpster behind the restaurant. Behind it there are two small, white, and rideable robots with three wheels, like a tricycle.

Get...on

Sahar and Ari get on the robots. Ari clicks some buttons on her robot. A seat belt fastens on both of them. The robots start driving fast across the street.

The atsecommas drift around a corner and into the subway. They skidded around a group of people and started driving towards the train tracks. On the train tracks, Sahar could see the train coming right at them. But a few seconds before they would be hit, the robots jumped on the wall and started driving on the ceiling. As the train drove by below them, a part of the ceiling opened, just enough for one of the atsecommas. Ari and Sahar whiz into the tunnel as the door closes behind them. For what seems like a minute they are driving in complete darkness.

A dot of light then appears ahead of them, and starts to grow as they move toward it. They come into the light, and Sahar sees that they have drove into a long, glass tunnel. There are tunnels outside of theirs criss-crossing above and below them. Sahar looks above to see they are in the huge, upside-down, glass pyramid structure. The camera from above Sahar zooms out of the pyramid, the block, and then shows the city. Shining with light. The opening logo comes into view, and the city background gets covered by clouds.

Scene 2 (Purple theme)

We hear a flash of lightning in the background. And at the second flash of lightning the background changes to a rainy day and the logo changes to white, and then they both change back. At the third flash of lightning the background changes to that scene and the logo changes to white. The logo fades away.

It cuts to the outside of a house on that same rainy scene with the sound of people arguing inside it. A few seconds later, a woman stomps out with a suitcase and a rain jacket to cover her. She heads down the road.

It then cuts to the outside of a funeral home on the same rainy day. Inside there is a 30 year old man and his father alone in front of a casket with the man’s mother. They are there for one another.

The man and his father leave the funeral home and go to their car. They get in and drive out of the parking lot and down the street. They pass the woman with her suitcase on the sidewalk.

Cuts to a sunny day in the city. The man is personalizing the cubicle in his office. The woman is opening the door to the apartment and dropping her stuff in it. The man then sits at his desk and starts working on the papers on his desk. The woman unpacks her stuff and decorates her new home. The man waves goodbye and leaves the office. The woman walks in the supermarket. The man walks in the door of his apartment. The woman loads her food on the checkout. The Man goes to his computer and programs something. The woman slowly walks home with her groceries. The man has dinner. The woman puts the groceries on the shelves and the fridge. The man gets ready for bed. The woman eats some dinner before bed. The man goes to bed. The woman goes to bed. The screen splits to show both the woman and the man, and it shows what they do everyday except faster and more broken up in the day. We see the woman try to get a job but fail every time, and the man get stressed at his job, etc.

It finally stops when they both walk over to a coffee shop. The line is quite long. They get on a few spaces away from each other. The woman gets a coffee first and finds the last table open to sit at. The man gets his coffee and tries to find a place to sit. He walks over and asks if he can sit at the table. She says yes. They talk for a bit and have a fun time. They exchange numbers and agree at an undetermined time and place to meet again. They meet again at another spot and have fun timet there. They meet once again at another spot and share a kiss. After a few months, they get married, and then buy a house. The only people at the wedding are some friends from the man’s work and the man’s father. The couple is sad about the turnout, but happy they are together. They then decide to have a baby. For nine months, they wait for the baby, which they find out is a girl. They quickly rush over to the hospital when the baby is going to be born. During labor, the woman can’t take it, and her pulse lowers. The doctors quickly get the baby to safety as the doctors take care of the woman.

SS (narrates until the end of the scene)

My name is Sahar Schehera. My father’s name is Seigen Schehera, and my mother’s is Hatsue Schehera. I was born on [birthday] , which was also the day my mother died.

Hatsue is being helped by the doctors, and when the monitor shows a flat line, the doctors stop.

Seigen walks in and goes by Hatsue’s body for one last kiss.

When I was being cared for by the doctors, they found out I had a rare condition called Canitiesia where my hair turns gray abnormally quickly, and should be my full hair color when I turn 22-23ish. There is no cure, but doctors informed it only changes the color. Not the length, thickness, or frailness. So it shouldn’t be a problem.

The doctor talks to Seigen about Seigen’s daughter. Seigen nods to acknowledge him.

Even though I didn't have a mother, my father did just as good a job raising me. My father was a very caring and accepting person, but with a sad childhood. He must have thought he had a curse, because one by one, his family members died. First it was his younger sister, then a year later his aunt, then his brother, and so on, until all that was left of his close family was his father and his aunt. When I learned about it, I felt so bad for him, but at the same time, scared for him. It was then I realized why he tries to be so wholesome. His interests were programming, mechanics, and magic tricks. My father never told me how he did his magic tricks, but he did tell me how to program and work a circuit board. Because of him, I grew up bilingual, knowing Japanese and programming logic.

We see Seigen taking care of Sahar as a baby. He feeds her, changes her diaper, puts her to bed, and so on. We see him also showing Sahar a small, old computer, and teaching her how to type on a keyboard.

He didn’t quite teach me on a new computer, but rather on an old terminal from the mid 80’s. In fact, he’d let me go on it for hours at a time, because whatever I did to it, he could fix it. He scavenged circuit boards and mechanics from thrown away electronics, and showed me how to work them together to make a basic calculator, and how to fix it if it broke. I didn’t quite understand it all when I was a toddler, but it helped me understand computer logic, and built the basis to under more complicated topics when I got older.

We see Seigen play a harmonica while playing a small piano. Sahar as a toddler is clapping along.

My father wasn’t all about technology, though. He also had an interest in music. He learned a few songs on the harmonica, but then later started to play the piano too. His piano skills weren’t as good as the harmonica, but I still liked how it sounded, no matter how many times he messed up. My favorite was probably “Lullaby”.

We see Seigen teaching Sahar about basic math and japanese using flash cards.

My dad home schooled me in pre-school and forgot to sign me up for kindergarten, so he home schooled me for that year too.

We Seigen is in the store, frantically buying a backpack and some school supplies while 6 year old Sahar is walking beside him.

My dad also almost forgot about first grade too, and got me what I needed the day before the first day of school. He made sure to tell me to make alot of friends, because I’d need them later in life. Little did I know I had the same “curse” he had.

Sahar comes home through door smiling, and then later in the year sad, and then later in the year happy again.

I couldn’t keep a friend for too long. There wasn’t a good reason for it, either. One day they would just start hanging out with other people and proceed to leave me out. My dad had thought this might happen before I went to school, but only realized this when the first grade was ending.

We see the teacher handing scored tests out, and Sahar looks at hers and sees she has a 101%. We then see Seigen teaching Sahar some new programming languages, like html and css, but Sahar doesn’t catch on too well.

On a good note, I excelled at math and could do every problem the teacher gave me. The school gave my dad the offer to move me up 1 or even 2 years ahead of math, and he accepted a 1 year move-up ahead. Little did I know it was my dad who had taught me all of the coding and math as instinct for me when I was younger. When I was 7 or 8, My dad rushed me to learn web development, which was much different from the programming logic he taught me as a kid. He eventually stopped teaching me when I was 8 or 9 because he knew it was a lost cause.

We see the lights turn on and 8-year old Sahar run into her dad’s room, scared. Seigen gets up and Sahar shows him the ends of her brown hair are gray.

When I was in third grade, the condition on my hair made it start turning gray. At the time, I was scared I was going to look like a grandma as my hair started to turn more gray, but my dad comforted me, saying it wouldn’t lose its shape or length, just the color. My dad was very good at comforting people and telling them they would be ok, even in the hardest times, because he had probably had the worst time out of anyone I know.

We see Sahar grow up and keep using the fifteen year old computer for programming. We see Seigen take it apart and work on the mechanics of it as 8-9 year old Sahar helps paint the computer.

As I grew up, he started to teach me languages like C and the new C++, which I only got better at and more interested in. We both got more parts and added them onto the basic computer, and effectively made it a functioning, up to date one. I say “we” fixed the computer, but in actuality my dad fixed it, and I just painted it and helped put in the screws at the end.

We see Sahar having a birthday party with her dad and a friend or two. Seigen gives her a present, and Sahar opens it with a smile. It’s the new handheld game. She proceeds to hug her father. We then see her play in her room intently, and her father check in on her and walk out.

On my tenth birthday I got a new handheld game that had just came out, and I played it to extinction. I knew every map and character you could collect. I remember my dad coming into my room one day mumbling to himself: “I should have expected this”. I mean, it was the first gaming platform I had, so I was excited as ever to use it.

We see Sahar get taught by her father about C and C++ more in depth, and Sahar practice it more on the computer. She starts to write programs.

SS
When i was 10 going on 11, my father really taught me about C and the new C++, and I just ate it up. I eventually started making programs with it too.

We see 10 year old Sahar look at the ends of her hair with a nervous face.

As I got older, the more the ends of my hair became gray. I remember asking my dad if I could dye it brown, but he told me I should I leave it the way is because it’s who I am, and I should be happy about it. At first I didn’t like it, but it began to grow on me over time, and I left it the way it was.

We see 12 year old Sahar run the mile. When she’s done, her teacher goes up to her and asks if she wants to join the track team. She then joins the track team and has fun talking to some girls on the track team.

After I ran the mile for the first time in middle school, my teacher offered me to join the track team, and I obliged. At first I thought I wouldn’t do well, but after a few weeks of practice, I did much better. I did good enough to attract two friends, Chiyo Doko and Mashi Nara. They were probably the longest lasting friends I've had, and I had good memories with them too. They were the first friends I actually hung out with and went to places with. And the best part was that they didn't care about my gray hair.

We see Sahar running over to her dad and showing him a game she made on the computer with the programming languages she knew. Her father is very impressed and plays the game with her.

SS
It was around this time I finished my game I was making with C++ that I showed to my dad, which he was very impressed at. He and I played it when we were bored up until I was in eighth grade. I thought about showing it to my friends, but I didn’t think they would like programming, so I never did.

We see Sahar hanging out with two girls at a restaurant, having a sleepover, playing video games, and running with each other. They take pictures of themselves at these events and share the picture so they all have it.

They stayed my best friends from 6th grade to 8th grade, but when eighth grade ended and high school was in view, that all changed.

We see Sahar and her friend wave goodbye to one of her friends, who is moving away. We then see Sahar walk into high school, and her other friend walk away with another group of girls. Then we see Sahar’s former friend and a group of other girl whisper and laugh to each other as Sahar walks by.

Because of her mom and dad’s work, Chiyo Doko had to move far away, farther than I could hope to go by plane. And Mashi Nara didn’t have any conflict, except with me. Once high school started, she joined another, less inclusive group of girls. When my dad asked me where my friends had went, I told him they all were gone, just like all the others.

We see Sahar walk the halls of school with no friends to talk to, and then come home and sleep in her bed for hours. We see her code in a dark room on the computer she and her father built. She tries to run something, but the computer gives her and error message instead. She drops her head on the table.

When those friends dispersed, I knew it was just like before. I had come to the realization I couldn’t escape my curse. It would just keep going, like my father’s. If there was a period I felt sad and worthless, it was that one.

Seigen goes up to Sahar and hugs her. He then talks to her, and we see the light from the window with shades over it get lighter and lighter. You can eventually see most of the room because of the outside light, even though the shades are still closed. Sahar’s eyes open wider and her tears stop.

But I still had my dad. I must have forgotten he knows what it’s like. My dad had a weird way with words that no one else did. He could tell you everything was going to be alright and you’d feel as if he broke your dirty glass of a reality into a sparkling field of view. Because he was there to comfort me, my mood lifted at the end of sophomore year and i got back on my feet.

We see Sahar walking through the halls, still with no one walking with her, but she has a smile on her face. We see her go into a room after school and meet with the teacher. Sahar joins the Engineering club and is the best in the club. They think about what they should do for a project, and then decide to make a small car that can ride any track as long as it’s bright green, and gets better each time it goes around the track. They win an award in their school and their names are put on an awards board for Brightest Future.

My dad suggested I go with the engineering club, so I asked the teacher and joined the club with a warm welcome. When I showed everyone what I could do, everyone including the teacher was astonished. We decided to do a smart car project, where we would program a car that would drive on any track as long as it was bright green, so it could distinguish it. For this I decided to look into Assembly and C++, and eventually coded that into the car. The kids in the class could make out what the C++ was doing well enough, but went completely speechless when it came to the assembly. We ended up doing very well and earned our place on a plaque in our school.

We see Seigen asleep on the couch with the TV on. Sahar comes downstairs and is confused when she sees him. Cuts to the next morning. Sahar sees Seign still on the couch. Sahar wakes him in a rush. Seigen gets up, looks at the clock, and hurriedly runs up the stairs, almost tripping on them. It cuts to Sahar a few days later sitting on the couch with her dad, and he is talking to her. Then they hug and we see Sahar's welled up face.

But after my dad helped me get back on my feet, he started to stumble on his. He had liquor bottles in the trash more often, and went to work later too. I decided to sit next to him and talk to him about it. I wanted to help him like he helped me. I expected him to brush it off and tell me he was fine, but that's the exact opposite of what he did. He asked me to help him.

We see Sahar picking up the beers and liquor out of the fridge and putting them in the trash. Seigen sits down on the couch and takes a big sigh. He then asks Sahar something. Sahar runs off and comes back with the car the engineering club built. She shows him how she built it and how it works. They then run it around the track. Seigen looks at Sahar and tells her something. He then points at her heart.

So I helped him. We cleaned up the last remnant of liquor and started afresh. And during that time, he said something I’ll remember for my entire life.

“You know, anyone can stop your heart from beating. It’s effortless and cruel. But no one, no matter what, can stop yours from loving.”

The screen fades to black.

He also said he would have to be very careful about himself, and his brain might not handle it well. It didn’t. His quote he told me again was the last thing he told me before leaving for work that day.

The screen fades from black to see Sahar climbing up the stairs and going into her bed. It fades to black again and then from black again to see her wake up. She looks at her window and sees blue and red lights coming from it. She quickly gets up and manages her way downstairs (I mean, she just woke up). She opens the door to see a police car outside and a policeman in it. The policeman walks up to her door and takes his hat off. He starts talking to her. We finally see the front view of Sahar’s face since she woke up and there are small tears streaming down her face.

When I woke up, the police had already been there for hours. They told me my dad had went to a bar after work and became very drunk. So much so that he broke his skull while slipping on the floor. The damage to it was unrepairable.

And I had just turned 18.

Screen fades to black, but slowly.

I had two options. Cut school and get a job so I can pay off the house, or go to school and get my highschool diploma, but also get my house taken away. I chose the safer option, and got a job.

We fade from black to see Sahar on the computer looking for programming jobs. She walks to a tech shop and talks to the manager. She leaves and goes to another tech shop. She leaves there again and so on. It nears sunset and Sahar is still walking around. She looks at a map she has in her hand with alot of circles crossed out with red X’s except for one circle. Sahar walks by a tall building with a yellow lightning bolt symbol on it called the Septance Center. She turns and walks to the front door of a big factory. She knocks on the door. Someone opens it and asks her a few questions, then lets her in. Cuts to Sahar walking out of the factory at night and walking to her home. She gets inside and walks up to her bed. She curls up in bed puts her head under her pillow as the screen fades to black.

I thought because I was good at programming and engineering I could get a job about that. But as expected, none of them were looking for jobs or to hire. There were 20 in a one mile radius from my house, and I crossed off all of them. Well, except one. Of course it had to come to that one. After talking with the people who ran the technology factory, they decided to hire me. I asked them if I could get a higher position after I showed them my programming skills, but they denied me and told me I needed experience and hard work, not skill. So I left with a job in connecting circuit boards, mother boards, and hard drives to the inside of a metal or plastic box.

The screen fades from black into Sahar's brightly lit bedroom with Sahar in bed, a few months from she got the job. It then fades to white.

And that was my life now. Or what I thought my life was going to be for a while. Until I happened to meet Clarion.

Scene 3 (Indigo theme)

The white screen goes a little fuzzy around the edges. Then two black fuzzy, egg-shaped shadows go across the white part of the screen. The top and bottom of the screen go fuzzy black too and close on the center, leaving the screen black.

Cuts to inside a huge garage-looking place that has nothing put two doors. One human-sized one and another taller and wider one. Sahar and Ari park the atsecommas in the garage and got off of them.

What are these robots called?

...Atsecommas.

Come...this...way.

Sure.

The smaller door opens automatically and they both go into a white and nicely evenly lit hallway.

Ari? Where were we?

...The...Septance...Center.

Oh, ok - WAIT - The Septance Center? The one in the middle of town that has the symbol of the lightning bolt going through the circle? We’re there?

It's...not...lightning.

Wait - You were made here?

...Yes.

So, you're an android? That's some impressive tech to get you going at that speed and move with that agility.

...No.

...No?

Not...an...android.

Oh, you aren't? I'm sorry I assumed so. I just thought so because how you moved. So you're a cyborg?

...Yes.

So, why did you bring me here?

...He...will...tell...you.

He?

...Just...wait.

Oh, okay.

The two keep walking down the white hallway until they reach a metal door with a scanner above the door. Ari stops a few feet in front of the door and looks up at the scanner.

Ari - O.N. C1

One…extra.

Ari steps aside so Sahar san see the door fully. The scanner then whirrs for a few seconds and stops. The light above the scanner turns green and the door opens from bottom to top. Ari walks through first and Sahar follows. Behind the door is more white hallway, except there is a door at the end of the hallway and one on the other wall next to it. Ari walks to the end of the hall and turn to face the door on the side. She opens the door and waits for Sahar to enter too. Sahar enters to find a tall, steep, weird looking metal staircase. With no railing on the side either.

Ari starts walking up the stairs, but then stops at the second step. Sahar also starts to walk up, but then stops at the base of the stairs when she sees that Ari has stops. After a few seconds, Ari turns around.

...Get...on.

Oh! Okay.

Sahar gets on the step below Ari, or on the first step. A red, flat sheet of light then shoots out in from the base of the floor behind the first step, making a quieter fire alarm sound. Sahar turns around to see it. A sheet of metal then shoots up, replacing where the light was. Another beeping and sheet of red light sound comes from behind Sahar again, and she turns around and goes up against the sheet of metal already there. Yet another sheet of metal shoots up and places itself between Sahar and Ari. Sahar hears one more beeping noise, and then two sheets of metal come up on either side of her, boxing her in on the first step. A voice from a speaker system above her then goes off.

Speaker Voice

We advise you to crouch where you are in order to avoid any injury from the stairs while it is moving. Thank you!

SS (thinking)

While the stairs are moving?

Sahar sits down as the voice instructed. The staircase shakes. Sahar starts to feel as if she's moving up.

SS (thinking)

The stairs are moving. How odd.

The stairs start moving faster and faster. Sahar can’t see how fast she’s going, but she knows she’s going faster. Suddenly She hears a thump up ahead, but doesn’t feel it. She thinks about asking Ari, but decides against it. She suddenly slides toward the right side and presses up against it.

SS (thinking)

I guess we’re spiraling to the left

The stairs keep going in a spiral for a minute, and then it slowly come to a stop. The walls around Sahar disappear, and she sees the new room she’s in. it has the same theme as the room where the stairs started, except a the bottom the stairs, there is an elevator door to the right, and a metal sliding door to the left.

...Are...you...ok?

Yeah! I’m fine.

...Through...here.

Ari walks past Sahar. She turns to the left and the sliding metal doors open automatically. Sahar gets up and follows Ari through the metal door.

Sahar walks through the door and into a bog room. All around are inventions or prototypes that are either half-way done or finished, and not yet stylized. The walls are the cleanest white, with exception to a few parts whish look like something had exploded there. To the back of it there is a big metal desk with a computer and alot of other paperwork and gadgets on it. There are also other, smaller desks, lined around the outside of the room, with monitors or more gadgets on them in the main desk there is a man on his computer.

...Here.

Oh good! You’re finally here.

He turns from his desk and walks towards Sahar.

Nice to meet you,...

Reino Septance (RS)

Reino. Reino Septance.

Wait - You’re Reino Septance?

That I am!

My father used to talk about you sometimes and say you made really advanced technology!

Did your father teach you everything you know about programming and engineering?

Yeah! He did - Wait - how do you know so much about me?

I have a monitor in Ari so I can see what she sees, and I saw you were making a facial tracker and analyzer. But what I was more impressed about was that you made that using scrap metal and spare boards from the factory you worked at! Do you have it in your backpack?

Oh, yeah! I think I do.

Sahar reaches into her backpack and pulls out a plastic container, which she opens up. She takes out the face tracker from inside.

Look how small it is too! It’s only two boards, a base, a camera, a battery, and memory for the code! Where’s the on switch?

Near the battery.

Reino turns it on and starts testing it.

Oh wow! That tracked my face quick. And it follows me too! Does it work from a long distance?

I actually don’t know…

Reino places it down on a table and runs away from it. He then runs to the left while still facing the camera, and it tracks him.

Oh wow! It even works from back here! That’s almost as good as Ari’s camera!

...hm?

Wait, really?

Sahar, how hard or long did this take you?

Umm… not too long, and it wasn’t too hard either, just annoying.

Reino walks back.

You also saw something Ari didn’t, knew what to do, and had the courage to do it even though you didn’t know who Ari was.

SS
Oh, thank you! That’s really nice of you.

Reino walks up to Sahar and holds out his hand.

Welcome to the team.

Wha - What?! You're hiring me based on a machine I made out of scrap and some dumb luck courage I had??? Are you even allowed to do that? Shouldn't you at least give me a test or something?

You want a test? Ok, I'll give you a test. Come over here.

Sahar turns surprised. Reino walks over to a computer on a desk, and Sahar follows him. Reino starts looking something up on a computer

There is a test all new employees get before they work here to prove they have what it takes.

W-what’s it about?

It is a folder full of C files that you have to check for errors and fix. That might seem easy, but it surprises you and you realize you do alot more than you expected. It’s also timed, with a limit of 1 hour. Most people fail and still get the job, surprisingly. The people who fail usually know how it’s supposed to all come together and work, but don’t quite know how to make it that way.

And the people who pass?

Everyone who passes gets accepted, yes, but most people who pass take up to an hour - which is the time limit - to solve it.

Reino opens a window on the computer and pulls up a chair for Sahar. Sahar starts reading the directions on the window while Reino starts a timer.

But...you aren’t like most people.

Sahar hears his comment and looks up at him in surprise.

All of the directions for the test are in the READ ME at the top of the opened folder. You have an hour. Your time starts now.

Reino starts the timer and walks away to his own desk. Sahar keeps looking at him for a second and then quickly realizes she needs to complete the test, and starts reading the directions.

Reino sits at his desk and does some work, and then after a few minutes, looks over at Sahar to see how she’s doing.

Above the computer there is a floating imagery of files of code doing certain functions, and other pieces of code connecting files with other files of code which are also doing functions. This imagery is a hologram from Sahar which is moving and adding new stuff to it as Sahar is reading the code. (The point of this is that Reino can see that Sahar working hard by visualizing and maganining all of the code as she sees it, and therefore, knows how to fix all of it and pass the test.) Reino smiles, knowing he made the right choice.

Ten more minutes go by, and someone walks into Reino’s office.

Has Ari come back yet?

Sahar and Reino turn around to see medium height, short brown haired woman in a suit and high heels walk into the room.

Oh! Fumi!

Reino stops Sahar’s timer and gets up to talk to the woman.

Fumi Yamada (FY)

Who’s the girl?

Sahar! Come up here. I want you to meet one of my co-workers.

Sahar gets up and walks toward the woman and Reino in the center of the room.

Fumi, this is Sahar Schehera. Sahar, this Fumi Yamada.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too! Are you a daughter of one of Reino’s friends?

No. She’s someone Ari found while fighting the terroists at the restaurant, so I decided to take her in! She’s taking taking the test now.

You found her and decided to recruit her? How old are you again, Sahar?

...18.

And where do you work?

- Now don’t pressure her too much -

The tech manufacturing factory on the other side of town.

Reino! What makes you think she’s fit for our standards?

She made this.

Reino picks up the facial tracker Sahar made and shows it to Fumi.

Wow, this is impressive. How well does it work?

I went go to the other side of the room and it still tracked my face.

Oh wow! Making such an impressive piece out of scraps!

...Thank you!

Sahar, you can go back to testing. I’ll talk with Fumi

I look forward to seeing you around!

Reino, could I speak with you about -

From the entrance, a medium-short, plump man with black hair and with also a suit on comes through with some papers in his hand.

Eisen! I’ll speak with you in just a second.

Who’s the girl?

She’s taking the test.

The test?!

You two go downstairs. I’ll explain more when I get down there in a minute.

Oh ok.

Fumi and the man in the suit walk through the door as it closes behind them. Reino goes to the desk and gathers his computer and some papers.

What was the man’s name?

His name is Eisen Nakano, and he is my head of treasury. And Fumi is my secretary.

(Starts walking toward the door.)

I resumed the timer, which is on my desk, so if you finish before I get back you can go over there yourself and stop it. Don’t stop it before you’re done! I have cameras! Good luck - see you when I get back! Ari, follow me.

(ARI, who has stayed by the door the entire time, walks through the door with REINO)

...Coming.

The door closes behind Ari. Sahat is left in the room alone. Sahar continues to work on the test.

After around 15 more minutes, Sahar takes one last look over the code, and goes up to the desk to hit the stop button on the timer. Just as she does, Reino cone walking in the room.

You're already done?

Oh, yeah.

Reino walks up to the timer and looks at the time on it.

26 minutes? oh wow.

Thanks!

Reino walks over to the computer Sahar was working at and looks at the code.

Was this hard?

Yeah, that one was hard.

After another minute of Reino looking at the computer and Sahar awkwardly standing there, Reino slowly gets up from looking at the computer and looks at Sahar.

You passed…

With flying colors.

...Really?

Of course really!

You’re actually the youngest person to solve that test ever!

You should be so proud of yourself!

O-oh wow. Thanks!

Then Reino changes his tone and leans down, closer to Sahar’s face

So, now the decision is up to you. Do you want to join our company, or stay at minimum wage until retirement?

Sahar is frozen in place, not knowing what to say for a second. Then, she changes her expression and smiles.

I’ll join!

Reino holds out his hand and Sahar shakes it.

Then let’s get your stuff!

What?

I mean, we can’t have you going back and forth from your house everyday! You don’t even know how to drive!

- So… I -

You will be living here.

Sahar blinks in place for a few seconds. Not yet comprehending what Reino just said.

What?! Are you sure that’s ok?

There are ten rooms on the floor below us, including mine, because I live here. Of course it’s ok. Everyone else has a stable income, house, and way to come back and forth to work everyday. You don’t. Once you work here for a while you can choose to go back to your own house, since I take it your dad already paid it off and it’s pretty much yours to keep.

Oh right.

I’ll send you off with Ari.

Down the moving staircase again?

Wait - she - ARI!

Ari, who has been silently standing by the door the entire time, looks up and faces Reino.

You sent Sahar up the Septance Staircase?!

...Should...I...not...have...?

*sigh* She was supposed to take you in the elevator. Do you want to go on the staircase again?

Umm...sure! Can I ask question?

Ask away.

Is Ari a full-bodied cyborg?

Yes, she is.

Who was she originally?

Uhhhhh...I’ll tell you more when you get back. Make sure you stay safe at your house too.

Oh, okay.

Sahar starts walking toward the door. It opens and then she remembers something she wanted to tell Reino.

Who were the people that attacked th-

That’s quite the original hair dye design, by the way.

Huh? Oh, this is natural. I have a rare condition where my hair turns gray abnormally quickly.

Oh right! I remember meeting someone else with the same condition. Sorry to assume.

That’s ok!

The door closes. Ari gets on the second step and Sahar gets on the first.

...No...walls...this...time…?

Won’t I slip off?

...I’ll...leave...one...up.

A beeping sound rings and a wall comes up facing away from Reino’s office.

...Hold...on...tight.

Sahar leans up against the wall with her arms around it.

Another beeping sound alarms, and the floor under them splits and opens. A sea of light fills the room from where the floor once was, so instantaneously bright that Sahar can’t see it for a second. The staircase then starts descending down and away from Reino’s office. Sahar adjusts her eyes and sees what’s outside of the staircase.

She sees staircase is going down through perfectly shaped holes in the floors, and can see what’s going on in the floors because of the thick glass protecting the people on the floors from walking into the chasm made because of the 20 meter space between the elevator shaft she is spiraling around and the floors that go all the way down.

To Sahar, it’s magical.

So, no seatbelts or anything, huh?

...No…

Sahar laughs and smiles.

SS (thinking)

It looks like life is on my side today.

That’s it!

That’s all I can show of the story so I don’t give too much away and spoil it :P*

And thank you for reading!

I hope you enjoyed it!

*Cause I’ve kinda spoiled alot already