Collaboration with Glorifiedscapegoat.
Shion hurtled out of sleep. He felt like a drowning man suddenly breaking the surface of a deep lake. His heart pounded, his body ached, and for a moment he couldn't believe that he was still alive.
Was he still alive?
Shion didn't recognize the dull, dingy place before him. It looked like some sort of dungeon. The walls were thick gray concrete, so dark and cold-looking he wouldn't be surprised if his hand came away damp when he touched one.
Shion shifted and realized he was lying on a rough, concave bed, almost like a hammock. But—no—when he sat up, he realized that it practically was a hammock. The bed was some kind of collapsible canvas cot, of the type a camper might bring on trips.
Where was he? And why did his body feel like he had just been hit by a truck?
His head pounded with every beat of his heart, making the world fuzz at the edges of his vision. The muscles in his neck felt taut and sore. Shion touched the side of his throat, and his fingertips met the cottony texture of bandages. His clothes were gone, replaced by a pale green jumpsuit in the style of a janitor's uniform.
Shion remembered him and Nezumi leaving the cabin. Nezumi looked so sad, as if he might break, but Shion couldn't do anything to help him, because his own heart had been in shambles. They stepped out onto the porch, the sun glinted like daggers off the fresh powdered snow, and then Shion felt a terrible pain in the side of his neck and a cold, bitter numb spreading through his veins.
Shion's breathing shallowed. We were attacked.
The Lab. He and Nezumi must have been found and ambushed. The pain in his neck must have come from a tranquilizer dart, or some other neutralizing agent.
Where is Nezumi?
Shion swung his legs off of the cot, ignoring the groan of his locked joints. He had to pause for a moment when he stood. His body trembled badly from whatever cocktail of drugs the Lab had shot him with, and bright spots of light bloomed in his vision as his body warned him not to overtax himself.
A low toilet stood to the right of his bed, completely exposed and confusing to his eyes. Shion turned away from it and settled his attention on the door at the far end of the room. Though the door was the same gloomy gray as the walls around it, Shion could see it outlined in pale yellow light. Shion stumbled for it—and yelped as his head smacked into an invisible forcefield.
He blinked at the air in front of him and reached out a hand. It squeaked across the surface of a very hard, clear pane of glass. The clarity was so perfect that it appeared as though there was nothing at all separating Shion from freedom.
This was not just a dungeon; it was a cage.
Panic crawled up Shion's throat. Nezumi had not known the details of what happened to the subjects in Horizon Labs, but he knew it was bad. Enough that his parents chose to kill over capture. He would be experimented on, prodded and injected and caged again and again like a lab rat.
No. I won't let them.
Where is Nezumi?
Shion's nerves screamed in worry. He needed to find him. He couldn't take the thought of Nezumi somewhere else in this building, hurting and frightened, and alone, and wondering if Shion was also feeling those things.
I'll destroy the glass.
After what happened at the Yoshidas, Shion was wary of using his powers, but in this case, he thought destruction would be permissible. It was either the glass or his whole life.
Shion focused on the wall of his cage and tried to resonate with it. A low hum started in the back of his mind as his powers began their work—and then Shion gasped and stumbled backward.
A wave of intense nausea had him doubled over and dry heaving on the cold concrete floor. It felt like his organs were vibrating. His brain was expanding and pressing against the inside of his skull. It would leak out of his ears if it didn't stop soon. Shion grasped the sides of his head and moaned.
Only then did it occur to him to stop using his power.
Once he let go, the pain faded, leaving his body trembling and limp. Shion lowered himself to the ground and lay with his forehead turned against the gritty concrete.
"Ouch. Tried to use your powers?"
Shion remained curled on the ground, unsure whether the voice was real or imagined, and lacking the strength to investigate.
"They drug us. You won't be able to use your powers, whatever they are. If you try, you'll puke your guts out, like I did the first time I tried."
"He's in pain, Rin," said a second, gentler, voice. "Give him a minute."
"Hey, I'm being helpful here. Explaining things and shit."
Shion closed his eyes and focused on his breathing as the voices began to bicker in low tones. He was certain now that they were not figments of his delirious mind. He wasn't alone down here.
Shion wasn't sure how comforted he ought to be about this.
Once the nausea faded, he gingerly picked himself up off the floor and turned around. The glass enclosure included more than just his own cage, he realized. There looked to be six cells in total, three of which were occupied, apart from Shion's.
To Shion's left was a preteen of indeterminate age and gender. Their hair was dyed a dry light brown and was long enough to curl under the bottom of their ears and brush their eyes. The wavy curtain of hair was too much for such a small, birdlike face, and Shion thought he might be able to make out streaks of dark brown at the roots. A sharp trill of fear lanced through his stomach at the detail: A stylistic choice, or a testament to how long the child had been imprisoned?
The cage directly behind Shion held a woman. He felt by looking at her broad shoulders and tall stature that she was youngish, late twenties or early thirties, but he couldn't tell for sure. A mirrored mask was secured over the top half of her face. She approached the glass separating them, her hand resting on the transparent pane, and Shion could see himself reflected in her mask. A dark brown stain stood out on the bandages around his neck, where the tranq must have buried into the flesh above his collarbone. He looked haggard and frightened and terrible.
In the last cage, diagonal to Shion's, was an old man. The gray hair on his head was sparse in comparison to the long beard snaking down his chest. He sat on his cot, half-stooped, and watched Shion with kind, sad eyes.
They were all dressed in the same pale green jumpsuit.
"How are you feeling?" the woman asked.
Shion opened his mouth to speak, but only a rasp came out. He grasped his bandaged neck and winced. It was too sore. Whatever the Lab shot him with, it felt like he'd been throttled and then kicked in the larynx.
"You mute?" said the preteen, not unkindly.
Shion shook his head. He pointed to his throat then slumped his shoulders.
The kid didn't seem to fully understand, but they shrugged. "Your power have to do with your voice? Sonic scream, maybe? Not that it matters anyway," they mumbled as an afterthought, "since you can't use it."
Shion shook his head. He tried to think of a way to communicate 'telekinesis' without words. He settled for holding two fingers on either side of his temples and hoped for understanding.
"Mind stuff, huh? We're the same, then."
"It's difficult to gauge whether they're similar or not without knowing how they work," the old man said. His voice had a dusty sort of sound to it, as though he were on the verge of a cough. He smiled, and Shion felt a little bit calmer despite the circumstances. "My name is Akihito, but please call me Aki. There isn't a name for what I do, I don't think… But a mere touch of my skin can kill a person."
Shion's eyes widened.
Aki nodded, his eyes apparently strong enough to read the shock and pity on Shion's face despite the distance between them. "I was part of the first trial for Horizon Labs." The old man sighed, and the genial expression on his face drooped. "I had thought my life was over back then, so I volunteered without knowing anything about the program. The price of my ignorance has been steep…."
Shion's heart ached for him. That sounded like the worst possible power one could manifest. How could a person live like that, barred from even the smallest of physical comforts? They'd have to live in constant isolation and fear.
"Aki's power would be cool, if it weren't so sad." The kid's mouth twisted to the side. "Mad Scientist says it's actually that his skin delivers a heart-stopping electric shock, rather than him being, like, poisonous, but either way it sucks, and it's Horizon's fault he has to live with it."
Aki's gaze dropped to the ground. It was quiet while everyone dwelled on their private hells.
"I'm Hitomi," the mirror-masked woman said after a moment. "My power… Well…" She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not sure it's a mental thing, since I don't mean to do it. It just happens. But, um…"
"Her gaze turns people to stone," the child cut in. "Apparently. I'd love to see her do it to Dr. Frankenstein, but he keeps the mask locked up tight."
Shion's eyes widened once again and flew to Hitomi. The woman sighed and twisted around to point at the back of her head. The mask was synched shut with a combination lock.
"They shaved all my hair off to make it fit…." Hitomi's voice warbled.
"At least it isn't over your mouth, too. And you can still see through that thing, right? Imagine if it was full-on bondage; that seems right down the doctor's alley."
Hitomi looked at the child. Her mouth pulled down in a disgusted, disapproving frown. "How do you even know about things like that?"
"I'm more experienced than I look. Most kids are."
Hitomi's frown deepened.
Shion's brows drew together as he glanced between the group. It appeared that they knew each other well, so they must have been here together a while. With the range of ages between them, he doubted they knew each other before capture. But those questions would have to wait until he got his voice back. He had so many questions for them once he could voice them.
"Guess it's my turn."
Shion's attention swiveled back to the child. They smiled drily and slipped their hands into the pockets of their jumpsuit.
"I'm Rin. I'm a pyro. Kinetic. I'm pyrokinetic; it's not just that I like to light fires. But I do like to do that, too, which is why I ended up in here."
Rin's expression darkened and turned faraway, but a moment later, the sardonic half smile returned to their face. "Right, so you should probably be aware, there's this creepy scientist guy who comes down here and does tests on us. It sucks ass, but there's nothing we can do about it on account of him putting the kibosh on our powers."
Dread curdled in Shion's stomach, threatening to bring back the nausea. He clenched his jaw and swallowed it down as best he could.
Nezumi, Shion's heart keened. Where did they put you? He needed to know if he was alright. He needed him.
"Also," Rin said, glancing at Hitomi and Aki before their gaze settled back on Shion, "I'm pretty sure we're all supposed to be dead. So that's fun."
A hollow ring vibrated throughout the room and silence fell like an ax upon the cellblock. Shion glanced between his cellmates' faces for a clue as to what the sound was and realized it must be bad. Hitomi went rigid as stone, her lips parted in a rictus of terror; Rin's eyes widened and locked onto the yellow-haloed door at the far end of the room. Aki's eyes went to the door as well, though his expression wasn't one of fear; there was thunder brewing on his brow.
"It's Lab Coat," hissed Rin. They darted to the glass separating them from Shion and placed their hands flat against it. "He's coming—the mad scientist guy. Listen, he's probably coming for you, since you're the new prisoner." Rin winced. "Sorry. Just don't engage him too much, OK? Pretend like you're already dead. It'll be over faster."
Shion pressed his hands against the glass where Rin's hands were, desperate for the comfort of another human being. But he could only feel the dispassionate cool of the barrier seeping into his palms. His throat ached to beg Rin to tell him more, to stay by his side.
Stay! Please! Please don't leave me!
But the hollow ring got louder and turned into the unmistakable clang of footfalls, and Rin backed away from the wall until they were wedged into the opposite corner of their cage. Shion turned to Hitomi, but she had curled herself into a ball behind her canvas cot, as though she might escape notice if she stayed below sightline. Aki's gaze never left the door.
Shion was alone.
The footsteps were deafening now.
He stumbled back from the wall, his bare feet scraping clumsily against the concrete. His heart pounded so hard he could feel it in his throat, and that left no room for breath. His vision swam. He was going to faint.
The door at the far end swung open. For a moment the room was bathed in buttery yellow light, and a tall, gaunt man slipped inside. He closed the door quickly, but gently, behind him, as though the light was a dogged pursuer he was eager to cut off, but whose feelings he didn't want to offend. His white lab coat fluttered about his calves as he strode toward Shion's cage. The material was spotless and so bright against the grainy backdrop of the dingy room that it felt as though the coat defined his entire being. Shion understood now why Rin had said, 'Lab Coat,' as though the title was a proper noun.
"Good morning," the man said. His voice was bland, and Shion couldn't read anything in his expression. But behind his thick spectacles, his light eyes sparkled like the cold, clean edge of a questing scalpel. "How are you feeling?"
The man held a small, pasty white cylinder in his hand. It looked almost like a soup thermos. Shion feared what it actually contained. He shivered.
"Oh," Lab Coat laughed. "That's right; you can't speak yet, can you? Your throat was rather swollen when we checked you in. Beastly shot by Ms. Takaya. Rest assured, I gave her a serious talk about unnecessary force and the deadly consequences of acting out of emotion rather than logic. She won't be shooting you in the neck again."
The man paused and canted his head to the side. "I, however, might have to gas you from time to time to get my work done. I'm afraid it takes a while to break you VCs of your wildness. S-class threats, especially. I've been working on 301 for a year now, and he still bites during dental exams." Lab Coat turned to Rin and said with affection, "Cheeky little thing."
Shion glanced sidelong at Rin. Their face was placid as a doll's. They didn't even blink, and Rin only dared to breathe once Lab Coat's gaze drifted back to Shion.
"Now, stay just where you are." Lab Coat approached Shion's cage. "I have a gift for you."
The man crouched down and placed the cylinder in a small slot at the left hand corner of the enclosure. Shion hadn't noticed it was there. A light fwap and then a clunk and the cylinder popped out on his side of the glass. Some kind of meal slot, then.
Lab Coat stood, brushing a few strands of oil-dark hair back from his face. "Go ahead, it's alright. It's just juice. You won't be able to keep any solid food down until the tranquilizers work their way out of your system."
Shion didn't move.
Lab Coat didn't seem bothered or surprised. He folded his hands neatly behind his back and smiled. It was an unnerving grin, tight and wobbly, as if it were on the verge of splitting into laughter.
"How did you find the cocktail by the way? I made it specially for you. A combination of paralyzing agents and sleep inducers. When it hit you, did you go down immediately, or was there a few minutes of consciousness before you were dragged under? I tried to make it so that you'd feel as little pain as possible and you'd go right down, but tranquilizer darts are tricky little things; you have to get the dosage just right or else your target ends up in a permanent sleep… I guessed at your weight, but I didn't know exactly, and I was afraid of overdoing it. I might not have prescribed a high enough dosage…." Lab Coat tilted his head and raked his eyes over Shion's body. "You're about 115, 120 pounds?"
Shion swallowed. The man's eyebrows shot up and his mouth twitched at the corner, pleased.
"Was my estimation correct? Well, no matter. Now that I've got you, I have all the time I need to get to know you, in and out. As soon as your throat's healed up, we'll start getting acquainted. For now, though, get some rest—and drink your juice," he said sternly. "You'll get nowhere on a hunger strike. I'll just strap you down and feed you intravenously until you're healthy again. Ask VC-5; he knows." Lab Coat nodded toward Aki and tutted.
Shion dropped his gaze and tried to center himself by tracing the striations in the concrete with his eyes. The buzzing beneath his skin felt less like it would tear him apart when he didn't have to stare at the cruel, smiling face of his future.
"But you seem like a good, well-mannered boy," Lab Coat murmured. "I think we'll get along fine."
His voice sounded close. Shion thought he might be up against the glass, but he didn't look. Even without seeing the man, he could feel his eyes on him like tiny hooks latched into his skin, salivating to tear into the flesh and unravel his humanity.
"I'll see you again soon, Shion." The man spoke his name like a caress, and despite every instinct to keep still and act numb, Shion folded in on himself. Lab Coat chuckled. Shion turned his face aside to stare at the white cylinder laying like a pale body in the corner of his cage.
Lab Coat's footsteps retreated. Shion didn't hear the door open, but a moment later, the telltale rattling of the man's steps up the staircase signaled he was gone.
Shion stared at the container of juice until his trembling limbs couldn't take the stress anymore. He backed up until his legs hit the cot and he slumped down on it.
"It's OK," came Hitomi's voice a moment, a minute, an hour later. Shion couldn't be sure. His mind was scattered and clouded and everything ached, most of all his heart.
"That wasn't so bad," Hitomi continued, her words like gentle static in Shion's ears. And then Rin's voice, low but crystal clear: "This time."