1.

Debut IS is a multi-purpose powered suit designed for outer space use, and is capable of flight in atmosphere (capable of hovering too) IS was known to the world when a single IS provoked the military forces in the whole world (10 years prior to the beginning of the novel)and succeeded in fending off ferocious attacks(conventional) from several superpowers - the incident is later became known as 'The White Knight Incident. It was revealed in this incident that IS is superior to any conventional weaponry, in terms of firepower, agility, and durability. It could take down a state-of-the-art air superiority fighter in a dogfight with an ease, and take on a MBT head on and demolish it instantly. Simply said, IS could render any conventional weaponry obsolete. Conventional weapons can't seem to penetrate IS shield, and on top of that, even scoring a direct hit on an IS with conventional weaponry became a challenge, due to its agility. In short, the delicately maintained military balance of the world vanished altogether.

2. Changing the World Right after the debut of IS, World superpowers demanded an establishment of new international treaty (later became known as "The Alaska Treaty") which effectively banned the militarization of IS. (It's still a mystery how those superpowers (which didn't have IS back then) succeeded in making Japan to comply with the treaty. My guess is that they threatened Japan with massive nuclear war which would practically end the world unless the demands were met. (Even if IS and pilots survive, there's no point if there isn't a world to live in) In fact, the government of Japan didn't have anything to do with the invention of IS, and the WK incident, because IS was created by a single scientist - Shinonono Tabane, a female scientist and genius (with extremely weird personality) who happened to be Japanese (again, with no tie to the government) Anyway, the demands in the treaty were met and were put in effect, somehow. The main features of the treaty are as follows; 1. Countries are essentially prohibited from employing IS in any kind of conflict or war. Possession IS as military-grade unit is, however, allowed since they are the only means of deterring and defending against armed aggression involving IS.)

2. Any and all information and technology related to IS is to be disclosed to the world and shared openly. Any further R&D (beside the initial batch of technology information provided by Sinonono Tabane) is put under same restriction upon its actual field-testing, but if the field-testing of newly-acquired technology is done inside IS Academy, the researchers/developers are allowed to keep their technology confidential. 3. Trade of IS core is prohibited under any circumstance. 4. Japan and its government is responsible for creating an integrated IS pilot training facility and is required to accept any and all admittance of pilot candidates from any foreign countries, provided they are endorsed by legitimate government body or foundation. (This is the result of the inventor - Sinonono Tabane - being of Japanese nationality, and the government responsible for her should take appropriate action to ensure the balance of IS pilot in the world is kept in check. It basically means the Japanese government ended up paying all the money to build and maintain such facility reluctantly. The treaty banned deployment of IS in armed conflict, but as this so called 'treaty' tend to lose its effect during a war (especially on the losing side) every country ended up building up IS force inside its military, which functioned as an effective deterrence to prevent involvement of IS. The treaty also specified all information and technology related to IS be made open to the world, so no one country would monopolize this super technology. As a result, every country in the world (at least the wealthy ones) could study and commence research&development of IS. But there was one thing that was never revealed - the manufacturing process of IS core. IS core is, in its essence, IS itself, because the powered suit (frame) is just an inanimate object without the core installed. The core is responsible for every function of IS, from power supply to operation of all abilities (such as articulation of frame, barrier, sensor and weapon) Only Sinonono Tabane has the knowledge of core creation, and so far she has created 467 of them, but recently she began refusing the creation of additional cores, and withdrew herself into a recluse (practically becoming missing). Currently she is on the top of international wanted list. Trade of any kind involving IS core is prohibited under Alaska Treaty, and existing 467 cores are evenly distributed (in a general sense) throughout the world to maintain power balance. The rest of world's scientists kept their R&D, and while they still can't recreate the core yet, they became able to 'process the core,' which means they could

transplant existing core to newer, more powerful frames they developed. So, while the total number of core remains unchanged after 10 years of debut, IS itself faced major development, undergoing several generation shifts. Currently, the last phase of 2nd generation ISs are in service, with a few 3rd generation ISs undergoing final test phase. (Cecilia's 'Blue Tears' and Rin's 'Senron' are 3rd generation test-type IS)

3. Flaw in IS and the change in social structure Since increase of IS force by quantity is not possible (due to limited number of cores) many countries concentrated on what they could do - increasing the quality of IS, and the quality of the pilots. Now, these wonderful IS actually had a critical flaw - It only reacts to female. And that practically meant the social structure would undergo a major change in terms of gender - almost to the point of being the opposite of the medieval times. Of course, women still needs men to marry, bear children and so on, so males somehow survived this brutal challenge, but still, the weight of men's voice in society hit the rock bottom. The educational system also faced major change. Since early training for IS pilot candidate became important (to the point of deciding the future of one's country), many schools from junior high and up started incorporating IS related education curricula. Now, because accepting male students to these schools would be just a waste of money, they became girls-only school. With increasing number of these kinds of schools, conventional co-ed schools faced shortage of female students, which resulted in increase in the number of boys-only school as well. (Elementary school remained as co-ed, probably from ethical reasons) The result? Majority of boys and girls(especially IS pilot candidates) are spending their early teen period without(almost) seeing opposite sex of similar age, and that leads to these kids not getting used to socialize with similar ages of opposite sex. fact, these set-up causes many female characters(mostly students) in this In story to appear as 'Tsundere' - although they have different characteristic individually. A: they basically have high pride due to change in social structure.

B: they have very low immunity to opposite sex of similar age due to educational background. 4. About the IS Designed as outer space use, IS contains very powerful sensor package, called 'Hyper-sensor' which directly transfer the data collected from IS to pilot's brain. As a result, the pilot of IS experience her normal five senses enhanced to an unsurpassed level. Due to the nature of space navigation sometimes requiring acquisition of extremely faint visual cue from great distance, an optical sensor system of IS is highly developed, providing the pilot with highly enhanced vision. For an example, even when the sensor is greatly limited for atmospheric operation, a pilot hovering 1000ft above ground could distinguish individual hair from eyebrow of person standing on the ground. Basically, IS provides omnidirectional vision, covering every angle around the pilot, greatly enhancing her situational awareness. Additionally, the pilot isn't required to move her head for target acquisition, since visual data from every possible angle is already provided by IS. However, due to the difference in perception of sensory input between IS and human body, the pilot is required to convert the sensory data to a format she can recognize. (For example, a pilot would digest the visual data from front arc - which is natural for human with ease, but might have trouble digesting visual data from behind, straight up, or down) This conversion process requires time, and the faster she adapt, the higher the proficiency of IS operation. Although the IS is designed for outer space use, it does not have the appearance of full body suit - such as those found in conventional space suit. Since IS and its pilot are protected by energy shield, there is actually no need for full body-armor type suit. So even though the visible armor seen in IS actually do protect the pilot, it is not as effective as the energy shield. There are, of course, some ISs (or almost any IS with defensive Equalizer) equipped with extended armor or hand-held shield which actually do provide fairly high protection, but still, the main method of defense for IS is its shield and agility (to evade attacks). Generally, IS shield is powerful enough to block most conventional weaponry,

but it could be momentarily pierced by powerful weapons - especially those from another IS. The shield itself is restored as long as there are shield energy remaining, but the frame (powered suit) and other equipment (such as armor, Preset or Equalizer) could be damaged and destroyed by these attacks. Once damaged or destroyed, it can't be regenerated - at least in the middle of combat. (They are fully restored during maintenance process) Also, every IS comes equipped with a special defense mechanism named 'Absolute Barrier.' It's more of pilot safety feature than practical defense mechanism, since when activated, it consumes extreme amount of shield energy, to the point of completely depleting shield energy with just one or two activation. In exchange for that, it provides an absolute defense against any kinds of attack. (It is speculated that the absolute barrier could defend IS against a direct hit from a nuclear weapon) The Absolute Barrier is activated by IS, not by the pilot. When the IS senses an attack that threatens pilot with critical injury or even death, it automatically activates the Absolute Barrier, protecting the pilot. (Which means when IS senses the attack as non-fatal or superficial, it wouldn't activate the Absolute Barrier even if the resulting attack damages equipment or wounds pilot slightly. While not so practical as a combat defense mechanism, it is ideal for pilot protection. IS equipment is divided between Preset and Equalizer. The Preset is integrated into IS itself, and can't be changed without changing the frame altogether, so it is practically the deciding factor of IS type (CQC, Versatile, Long range combat, sniper, etc.) Equalizer is an additional equipment that is installed to Expansion Slot (Bus), which every IS comes equipped with. Expansion slots enable IS to be equipped with various Equalizers, such as additional conventional weapons, spare ammo, armor parts or physical shield for better defense, additional thruster for increased speed or maneuverability, etc. These Equalizers could be installed into IS via Expansion slot, and could be called out when needed. (mainly there are primary type which is called out automatically when pilot calls out her IS, and secondary type which isn't initially called out, but could be called out when needed(such as spare ammo or sub-weapon)

Each Equalizer requires an empty slot, and the number of available slot is unique in every IS, depending on basic characteristic and initial performance level. Equalizer is not a permanent modification, so previously existing Equalizer could be changed when needed (requires time to uninstall and install) There is package type Equalizer specifically designed for certain IS which utilizes all empty slots with multiple equipments to fit a specific assignment. (For an example, a bombardment Equalizer package might consist of 3 parts combined - heavy cannon + stabilizer + point defense system)

5. IS World Tournament - Mondo Grosso There are world-class tournament involving ISs from many countries from the world. Taking place once in every 3 year, the 'Mondo Grosso' is a World Cup for IS. Each country admits one IS and pilot - called representative pilot. The tournament is processed in an arena, with a basic rule being 1:1 match The participants could use any kinds of weaponry - except for the kinds banned due to being unethical. (Although Absolute Barrier prevents serious injury or death of pilot, it doesn't protect pilots from the kinds of weapon which is designed to rather torture opponent than actually inflicting injury.) The match ends when either sides' IS is depleted of shield energy (practically becoming non-combat capable), which usually happens when a IS receives critical attack and is forced to activate Absolute Barrier. The inner stage of arena (where two ISs duke it out) is surrounded by protective shield (the same kinds used by IS, but stronger) to prevent injury to gallery from any stray shot.

6. IS pilot training center and IS Academy Since every country is undergoing independent IS R&D, many wealthy countries have their own training facilities. However, according to Alaska Treaty, Japan was required to build and maintain an IS pilot training facility and accept request for admittance from all over the world. As a result, IS Academy, a top-class IS pilot training center which doubles as high

school, was created and began accepting request to enroll from both domestic and abroad. Since the winner of the 1st Mondo Grosso was a Japanese (Chihuyu Orimura, older sister of Ichika to be exact), and also because the creator of IS was Japanese (although she had nothing to do with its government), many pilots from both domestic and abroad wanted to train in Japan, resulting tremendous competition rate for IS Academy, the best facility in the country. But the most important reason for the popularity of IS Academy is that it is the only certified testing facility where the technology tested there could be kept confidential.

7. Personal IS and Designated Pilot. (Personal IS) Since there are only 467 IS in existence, it is impossible for 1 billion+ potential candidates to actually 'own' an IS. (Estimated from half of world total population - 6 billion for gender + 1/3 of that for right age group) Naturally, the ownership of IS is limited to either government body or a few major IS R&D corporations. However, it is possible for a pilot under such organization to be assigned a designated IS for extended period of time. Basically, IS has its own consciousness capable of decision making process to a certain level. Also, aside from outer input from R&D, an IS is capable of self-evolvement by optimizing itself to the pilot. The optimizing process is called 'Fitting' in which the IS analyzes its pilot and transform itself to be more efficient for the pilot. Apparently, this process is not practical for ISs with multiple pilots (such as IS configured as trainer), so this feature is disabled on most ISs, with the exception being Designated IS. Designated pilots, on the other hand, could benefit from optimization with their personal ISs, putting them in an advantage compared to those without personal ISs. Once an optimization is complete, the IS could be stored in a Closed Form and be worn by the pilots in a form of accessories, and the pilots can instantly Call In there IS when required.

However, use of IS without permission of the organization in which the pilot is currently under is strictly prohibited by international law, and violation of this law is punishable as a serious crime. Normally, pilots with their personal IS are either; 1. Government approved IS representative (1 for each country) 2. Designated test pilot of major IS R&D corporation (number depends on the quantity of IS held by such firm) 3. Government approved IS representative candidate (could be more than one, but not all of them are given personal IS) Acquiring a personal IS is considered as the utmost honor for any IS pilot due to harsh requirement and sheer rate of competition. More info about IS IS has its own self-consciousness, as mentioned before. Whether it is a set of complex AI with self-evolving ability, or something more close to human soul, a living entity is currently unknown. Every IS has its own characteristic, but it also has a unique, special ability called 'One Off' that could be unlocked as it evolves. Once an IS is optimized for a pilot (by initiating 'Fitting' process), it transform itself to a form to better suit the characteristics of the pilot. This transformation process is called '1st Shift,' and the resulting form is called '1st Form.' As the IS and pilot gain more experience - maybe by getting to know each other better by spending more time together - the IS could optimize itself even further. There have been several confirmed cases of '2nd Shift' and '2nd Form' The interesting part is that upon reaching the 2nd Form, some ISs begin to exhibit special abilities, one per IS which is a unique characteristic. This special ability is called 'One Off Ability'(or simply One Off) and no two ISs seem to have same abilities. Attempts have been made to artificially generate same One Off for multiple ISs in controlled environment, without success. It seems the One Off is decided purely by the combination of pilot and IS factors alone.

Although One Off begins to manifest itself from 2nd Form, very few ISs have actually shown manifestation of One Off in reality, making this ability quite rare. As time passed, numerous One Off abilities by various pilots were discovered, and after extensive R&D, scientists were able to artificially recreate some of less complex abilities. Notable examples of equipment created from the harvested technologies are; - Pilot Controlled Remote Intercept Drone - A.K.A. 'Bits' (the nickname is probably inspired by popular fiction work) - Shock Cannon that compresses and warp nearby space to create barrel and shoots the resulting shockwave as a projectile.

It is speculated that the research of One Off abilities enabled further development (and practical application) of advanced weaponry such as laser or particle beam possible, although the application is limited to IS, meaning conventional platform would not benefit from this result) These technologies were then incorporated as the focus of design in developing 3rd Gen. IS. As a result, 3rd Gen. ISs are equipped with basic weapon which more powerful than conventional ones.

Currently, IS is facing a generation change, with 2nd Gen. models being slowly phased out and a few 3rd Gen. models being introduced. The 1st Gen. IS was more of prototype that were designed and built for various experiments to estimate (back then) newly-acquired IS technologies. The 2nd Gen. IS was designed from the data collected from 1st Gen, and is used throughout the world as stable platform. The 3rd Gen. IS is designed with application of technologies harvested from reserach of One Off abilities as focus.