A Glitch in the Collective Consiouness: Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Being a prince wasn’t as easy as it appeared. On one hand, you’re born into nobility and wealth, but on the other hand a lot of things are expected of you like staying sane and keeping calm. I should have probably not shouted and raved like a mad man about where the fuck am I and who the fuck are you all while under the influence of alcohol but it was already far too late for that.

Grimacing, I picked up my cup of black tea and took a sip before returning back to work, piecing together pieces from the various scrap electronics in the safety of my bare but spacious work area, complete with the view of a sprawling city in the background.

Thankfully, I was working on my latest project here instead of getting tossed in the loony bin. It was a nice change of pace compared to the palace deep in the boonies. The Cascade was a sight to see and all the fresh air helped me accept my situation. I am now Odysseus eu Brittania, crown prince of the Holy Britannian Empire.

There’s a joke here somewhere about how Brittania is neither Holy nor British, given how we disgracefully lost our homeland to a midget, but it’s definitely an empire and oh boy does it live up to its name.

Controlling the entirety of the New World and colonies spanning huge swathes of the Old World with a population of half a billion citizens, with many more second class “numbers”, Britannia was for the lack of better terms the empire. Its sheer size is further augmented by its technological edge as well as superior military in the form of mechas called Knightmare Frames made it the de facto top dog in this world with only the Chinese Federation, a super state comprising most of continental Asia, and the Europia United, another superstate comprising of old Europe, as its competitors. There are also other minor states but they’re irrelevant to the grand scheme of things

With so many advantages, why hasn’t Britannia conquered the world? The reason for that is simple really and that’s because Britannia is trapped between two fronts. Focus on Europe and risk China picking itself up or focus on China while it's still down and risk Europe being given the chance to recover and fund insurgencies. Well that and general incompetence here and there but not too much as Britannia is generally a meritocratic nation… where the citizens are given advantages. It’s not to say that Britannia was losing but it's just that winning was going to take a long time, time that Britannia doesn’t have since Lelouch is getting ready for a rebellion.

Oh boy, where do I start with Leloach? That neurotic, traumatized man with a hate boner for Britannia so big that it’s only rivaled by our now shared father’s ego. Exiled at a young age by a monster of a father just after the death of his mother and forced to live through a brutal war of conquest, It’s a wonder the man could actually operate at all. Any lesser man would have broken but not Lelouch. In fact, it only hardened his resolve and he’s just a bomb waiting to explode.

Once Leloach gets his geass, Clovis is fucked, the Eleventh Colony is fucked, Cornelia is fucked, Euphemia, bless her pure heart, is fucked, Shneizel is fuck, our midget of a uncle is fucked, our father is most definitely fucked, and the empire is fucked which means that I will be fucked as well. There will be no reasoning with the man who lived and breathed for the sake of revenge.

Clenching my fist, I paused as I took deep calming breaths, clearing my mind of all things as I stared down on the open circuit to check for any imperfection and finding none. Satisfied, I reached for my box of scraps as I continued assembling my latest work.

No, stop, we’re not going back to that doom spiral again.

Let’s go back a bit and see things from a different light. Things could be different, maybe Lelouch couldn’t pull off his miracles here but the memories of his half brother beating Schneizel tells him otherwise. It’s fun to watch Code Geass and root for Zero in their fight against the empire but it's hard to enjoy it now that I’m living the story as I speak, especially when I’m on the villain's side of the story.

I held no illusion that Britannia was a benevolent empire. It’s a truly cruel and brutal society that thrives in conflict. Britannia is better off dead, forgotten in the annals of history but as it stands, I’m a Britannian and as a man with a sense of self preservation, I refused to roll over and die. Britannia has to live if I wanted to stay alive and if I want it to remain intact, I had to plan.

I had options and some time. Clovis has yet to die despite my prolonged stay in Elysium so that means Lelouch had yet to meet the witch. I had to find a way to stop Lelouch from getting into contact with the witch but that would only delay him from revenge. Still, baby steps are better than being frozen by indecision and fear.

There’s also the matter of his fathers quite frankly insane plan to unite the world. Yeah, let’s remove free will so there will be no more lies in this world. He needs to die, plain and simple as that. Unfortunately, killing him might be harder than it seems as there’s still VV to deal with. His uncle that can give out mind altering powers like candy to literal children if the needs arise.

I might actually need Leloach to have his geass as he’s the one ballsy enough and smart enough to deal with the midget but I don’t want Lelouch to go crazy with Geass. I simply don’t trust him not to enslave me or kill me, after all, where was his mercy for Clovis who was looking for him all this time?

Sorry Nunally but Leloach has to go. Lelouch was an enemy, plain as day and he needs to be removed one way or the other. He needed to get to Japan and somehow convince Clovis to stop torturing the immortal witch so he could stop her from giving Lelouch his Geass. After that it's just a matter of killing his father and stopping his uncle before they can enact his plan; easy enough.

Now, one might think that such a goal would be impossible. I could feasibly stop Leloach since he has yet to reach his true potential but Charles is another matter and that is not accounting the immortal shota just yet. I was no great general or strategist nor am I a great statesman that can sway people; I am just me.

There’s a hundred different ways things can go tits up and even my knowledge could only take me so far. In fact it would be a liability given I’m in a world of psychics and the Britannian secret service is staffed with them. I simply can’t move willy nilly, else I might alert my own father. I had to make my move carefully.

I could go to Japan now but how could I even convince Clovis to have over his project? I have political clout as the heir but it was soft power. Clovis had actual, tangible power with his rule of Area 11. I don’t have power as it stands so… I have to put rescuing the witch in the backburner for now

Given all this, it was clear that I needed a way to enforce my will, a way for me to have an edge once things started going to shit. I needed a way to amass power while not directly threatening my father. Thankfully, I just had just that in my hands. Grinning, I screwed in the last screw to my scrap metal creation as it sparked to life, lights blinking as it started to float.

There before me was a simple Tau Drone which soon joined its brothers and sister dancing around me. It was not the mighty Railgun or the Crisis Suit that made the Tau Military so deadly, it was the humble drone and its ability to do everything so long as one has the imagination and time to modify it. Simple, Light, Easy to construct and Modular, this was the ultimate assistant.

How did I get a hold of such technology?

When I got pulled into this world, something else got mixed in as well. While I do not have memories of a time when I was a Tau compared to having Odysseus' own memories, I do have the knowledge of the Tau Empire in its entirety just locked away in my brain. As concerning as it was, I did not question how I got it. There were other concerns that needed tending to like the fact that I now have access to such technology.

Thankfully, Odysseus, despite being called mediocre, was a fairly smart bean as the Harvard Diploma framed over at the wall could attest to. He was just simply not motivated to go any further because why should he strive for excellence when he would in theory inherit the empire. Odysseus you naive son of a bitch, if only you knew.

Anyways, I had my cover, as flimsy as it was. While I could choose to downplay my knowledge, why hide it when I can be bombastic? Hiding in audacity and all that, spewing out bullshit till people are too confused to even question me. If it worked on Schneizel, it’ll work with most people.

Even with all my knowledge, In the grand scheme of things, what would a few curious baubles be for dear old Charles when he’s so close to attaining his goals? Why, my inventions would help him in fact… up until it's finally time.

Reaching out, I decided to make another drone but found the bottom of my box. Grunting, I looked around wondering what next to strip apart only to find my dark and empty room staring back at me. I had stripped it of any useful gadgets, from old consoles to the old fashioned computer, to even the microwave and minifridge that used to sit by the kitchenette attached to my bedroom. There was just nothing here except a tiny laptop and my phone.

Even after having almost stripped the entirety of my room of any electronics, I could only build a few and it’s already past midnight. This was… slow and inefficient, I was not leaning into the strength that the Tau had.

Cleaning up, I reflected upon what truly made the Tau such a deadly force. Their tech was not as advanced, in fact it was still below the dogmatic Imperium despite the millennia of decay. Their tech was neither as durable and long lasting as that of the Imperium nor was it cheaper to make as well; the orks had everyone beat in that area. It had neither the psychic might of the Eldari’s teach nor the reality warping capabilities of the Necrons. What it had over the other races is the fact that it can be mass produced and easily replicated.

The Orks might be cheaper but the Tau are standardized. The imperium might be rugged and reliable but the Tau tech can be replaced. Only the Necrons with their techno magic and the Eldari their warp bullshit truly beats the Tau with their tech but the Tau is simply just reliable and can be made by just about anyone. The problem is… he needs factories and if he wants factories, he needs money.

“A1, can you give me the copy of the document concerning the research grant Schneizel helped me get?” I asked out aloud before a clunky, smoke belching, dish shaped drone made of an old fashioned car air filter floated up holding the documents in its claws.

Grabbing the file, I read it once, questioning myself if allying with Schneizel would be a fruitful endeavor. A hundred million sterling pounds, a not too insignificant amount of cash. For an average citizen, this was an astronomical amount of money but for my needs, it was not enough. The scheming bastard just gave me enough to continue my research on anti gravity but not enough to help me start a manufacturing base for it. I simply needed more cash.

It was one thing to have the knowledge and another to have a factory to make use of that knowledge and what I have as simply was not enough to get all the things I needed. I wasn’t just going to be making parts, I wanted to make an entire army and this wouldn’t get me a production line for a car factory. Guns, armor, metals, electronics, drones, the list goes on. There were so many things I needed to build and so little cash at hand.

Staring at my table, I tried to figure out what I can do to get more cash but I was getting blanks. I’m not sure I could get that loan from a bank…or can I? Odysseus had friends, lots and lots of friends and some of them own banks. Why didn’t I just call my friends?

Grinning, I reached out for my phone and picked out a number. Looking at the name, I remembered vaguely that it was a banker that I knew. With a target in mind, I called them and got myself an answer.

“Yoo, this is Odysseus. Long time-!” I called out only to cringe as the dial for a dropped call greeted me back. Shrugging, I dialed another number as I muttered, “Oh well, at least I get to see just who my true friends are.” Oh how I wished I was wrong as I started to call one friend after another.

A/N:

I should be making Absolution chapters but I kinda want to practice a bit. Seeing if I can do this again and it seems like it's an easy thing to make.