Fade In

**"Fade In"** is the first episode of the Animatron Studios anime series *Vanishing Point*. First drafted in February 2012, the episode is based on Ryan Nurse's original concept for *Vanishing Point* - a top-down adventure game - and adapts the entirety of what would have been its plot. The episode introduces the series' four main characters - Kiyoko Inoue, Kamui Matsuda, Cobra, and Hanako Kobayashi - and sets up the over-arching storyline.

The first draft of "Fade In" was published to deviantART on 27 February 2012, becoming Nurse's first original published script. The second draft was uploaded on 13 August 2013, in two parts. Both drafts received very little attention, and "Fade In" remains the only *Vanishing Point* episode to have been published, though "Infiltration" was later adapted as part of Project 20:15.

## Plot summary

The episode starts with a cold open, in which Kiyoko wakes up in a holding cell with her memory gone; she questions who she is and why she is there. A short time later, a man dressed as a guard arrives and lets her out, ostensibly to take her "for processing", but does not explain anything to the confused girl, merely telling her to "follow my lead". They make it out of the holding facility unchallenged, but when the security officer notifies lead researcher Dr. Morgan Oeyama of the man's actions, she angrily tells him that the man is an impostor and the alarms are sounded; the pair flee but become separated.

Elsewhere in the facility, a second girl uses the opportunity to break out of her cell, killing the guards who attempt to stop her before freeing a third girl, who introduces herself as Hanako Kobayashi. Hanako profoundly thanks her rescuer, who is also amnesiac and can only identify herself as "Subject 13". The pair escape from the holding facility, killing the security officer, and Subject 13 explains that the facility they are in conducts human experiments, noting that she has superhuman strength. Hanako, feeling that "Subject 13" is not much of a name, dubs the girl "Cobra" after a tattoo on her arm.

Kiyoko, having gotten lost, runs into Dr. Morgan, who refers to her as "Subject 14" and tells her she is currently in a research facility for the Shinsuke Corporation. Dr. Morgan tries to get Kiyoko to come with her, but the frightened girl refuses and flees. Meanwhile, her rescuer meets up with Cobra and Hanako, and introduces himself as a detective named Kamui Matsuda, who had been hired by Kiyoko's family to track her down after she went missing. Hanako reveals that she was kidnapped by the City Patrol, a mechanized police force operated by Shinsuke, and suggests that Kiyoko may have superpowers similar to Cobra's; Kamui, disturbed by these revelations, sets off with the two girls to track Kiyoko down.

When they finally find Kiyoko, she has seemingly turned invisible, confirming that she does indeed have powers. Kamui tells Kiyoko who and where she is, as well as his own identity, but when he promises to return her to her family, Cobra objects, claiming that Shinsuke will continue to pursue them and that they must work together to unravel the company's plans instead. Kamui reluctantly agrees, and the four set off towards the facility's exit doors, only to find them closed with seemingly no way to open them. They are then cornered by Morgan and Keizuke Yoshimoto, who is commandeering a "Black Phoenix" City Patrol mecha.

Morgan gives the escapees one last chance to surrender, and to the shock of the others, Cobra agrees. However, this is merely a ruse, and she proceeds to incapacitate Keizuke's mecha, steal the remote control for the doors from Morgan, and then savagely beat her unconscious. Having escaped the facility, the group celebrate, but when Kamui again tries to take Kiyoko home, she refuses, insisting on joining the investigation. Kamui agrees, and invites the girls to stay at his house in the meantime (Kiyoko and Hanako to protect their families, and Cobra because she has nowhere else to stay). As they make their way towards central Tokyo, Cobra notes that if she was Subject 13 and Kiyoko "Subject 14", then there must have been twelve previous test subjects.