Another month, another chapter, thanks for the feedback, will put it to good use.
"Words" Speaking
'Words' Thoughts
"Words" Demon Speech
'Words' Demon thoughts
Scene change
The sound of birds chirping woke me up.
Looking around, I notice the noise coming from my Nullpad. I picked it up to see the text. "6:30 am, wake up and get ready for the day Sigma-5'' then a smiley face.
I press the cancel button to stop the alarm as I sit up in bed. Sunny is already up and walking to his closet, probably to get dressed.
I followed suit, went into my closet, got one of my white uniforms, and put it on.
I still have the uniform I wore yesterday and my pajamas, not knowing where to put them.
"Hey, Sunny?" I call as I see him emerge from his closet. He looks up to me with his emotionless gaze.
"Umm, where do I put my dirty clothes? I can't just leave them on the floor…" I ask sheepishly.
Sunny nods and walks over to me. He goes inside the closet, beckoning me over.
He pulls the hanging clothes to the side, revealing a handle connected to a large square on the wall, opening it to show a large dark hole that goes down.
"Oh, this must be a laundry chute. Cool, thanks Sunny!" I say as I put my dirty clothes down the chute.
Sunny nods as he exits the closet and walks to the door, and picks up the tray of dishes from last night. I follow quickly behind as he leaves our bedroom.
No one else is outside the bedrooms, presumingly already in the dining room.
I talked to Sunny while on our way, but he only responded with either nods or shakes.
We arrive at the dining room to see the Seven others already in line or eating. Sunny rushes to the deposit window and deposits his tray, then he rushes to the end of the line where I let him go in front of me.
When it's Sunny's turn, he got a bowl of granola, a grapefruit, and a glass of milk.
"Hey Sunny, want to eat with me?" I ask.
The monotone boy looks at me and shakes his head before leaving the dining room.
"Dang, I was hoping after last night, he'd be willing to eat with me…" I said, feeling a little defeated.
I got food, which was a mix of berries, nuts, and yogurt, along with some orange juice. With my food, I walked to Mathias, Akiza, and Tikvah, who were sitting together.
"Do you mind if i-?" I began.
"Spencer, you don't need to ask if you can sit with us. You can sit wherever you like." Akiza told me before I could finish. As she sips what looks to be tea.
"Oh, okay," I said, sitting down to eat.
"So, how'd you sleep, Spence?" Tikvah asks as she eats oatmeal with raisins.
"Fine, had a weird dream but nothing that scary. Don't really want to talk about it, though." I replied.
"Probably for the best," Mathias tells me, with a serious yet worried tone.
'Right, he can read my mind…' I remember.
"Are you ready for your placement tests?" Akiza asked me.
"Yep, Makoto told me they shouldn't be too intense, that the real tests begin next week. Honestly, I am a little worried about them." I said, kinda scared of the dangerous tests next week.
"Good, fear is a normal and powerful motivator to keep you alive. As long as it doesn't consume you, you should be fine. But that's a week away, for now, focus on doing your best and proving your capabilities." Mathias tells me in a motivating tone.
"Right," I reply.
The rest of breakfast went without a hitch. While I was in line at the deposit window, Makoto and several guards walked into the room.
"Okay, it's time again. Remember to do your best, everyone. Spencer, come with me, and I'll get you to your placement tests." Makoto says as everyone finishes depositing the dirty dishes.
Everyone walked to the elevator, where the nine kids, along with the eight guards and Makoto, entered the large elevator.
Makoto pushed five-floor buttons as the elevator lifted upwards.
First was the nineteenth floor, where Mathias, Akiza, and Penny were let off with three guards. I waved to them as the door closed, As they waved back.
Next was the fourteenth floor, where the twins and Tikvah exited, also with three guards.
"See you later!" I exclaimed as the door closed.
Next was the twelve, where Makoto and I left Sunny and Ryan with two guards.
"See you at lunch!" I said to the last two as the door closed.
"So, first, we're going to test your intelligence. Follow me." Makoto said as he walked down the hall.
We walked in silence to a door with the number 06 on it.
"So this test will be very much like the one you took back at Grace Field. However, you will be wearing a helmet to monitor your brain. Over the next week, the test will get more challenging until we find your limit. After that, your tests will push you beyond that limit." Makoto explained.
I nod as he scanned the door open. Inside was a room with monitors, scientists, and a glass window. Inside the glass window was a small one-person desk and a chair.
The scientists notice our entrance and start typing on keyboards. The door to the other room opens. Makoto gestures for me to go into the room, which I do with no issue.
Inside I notice a metal helmet on the chair, with a cable connecting it to the ground.
The door behind me closes as the intercom turns on.
"Okay, Spencer, put the helmet on and fasten it tightly. Then sit down, and the test will begin." Makoto tells me.
I put on the helmet and buckle it. When I sit down, I see the same scanning pen-like back in Grace Field. I picked it up, causing the screen on the table to turn on and the voice to come in through the helmet.
"Sigma-5. Preliminary Intelligence test. Answer every answer within ten seconds. Begin." The robot voice told me.
The screen on the desk displayed the first question as the voice read it out loud to me.
"The two adjacent shapers are a regular hexagon and a regular pentagram. Find the angle ABC." the robot tells me.
I quickly find the proper answer and scan it.
'This really is like the questions back home…' I thought as the next question was asked.
"Subject A bought a computer for twenty percent off, the amount paid is defined as P. Including an eight percent sales tax on the discounted price, which of the following equations described the original price of the computer in terms of P." The robot asked.
The questions continued, but none made me second guess or falter. I answered all one hundred and one questions with the same confidence as I did not even a week ago at home.
"Preliminary test, complete." The voice said as the screen went black.
The intercom inside the room turned on once more.
"Excellent job Spencer, all questions were answered correctly. The next test is a full physical. Come out, and we'll head over to the testing area." Makoto said.
I unstrapped the helmet, put it back on the seat, and approached the door. The door opened, revealing Makoto once more.
"Come now, while you have a thirty-minute break, we still need to be at the doctor's lab soon," Makoto tells me as we walk out of the room.
Looking around, I notice the scientists from before, jotting down notes or typing as they look intensely at the screens.
Makoto and I reached the elevator in silence. Once we enter, Makoto presses the number ten.
When the door opens, it revealed the floor that I woke up on yesterday, but Makoto leads me down the other side of the hallway this time.
We approached a door labeled Infirmary.
As Makoto takes out his Null, I hear a voice inside yelling, but I can't make out what it's saying.
When Makoto opened the door, the yelling came out full blast.
"Archimedes! I've told you before! No playing with the samples! I need those for important experiments!" A voice of a man yelled.
Makoto enters, not batting an eye at the screaming. I quickly follow the man, going behind to see a tall man with short black hair with white sides. The man was wearing glasses and a lab coat along with red rubber gloves.
Flying around him was a white dove that had a noticeable red splotch on its feathers. The bird had a tube of red liquid in its cliched talons as it dodged the man, desperately trying to grab it. His chin and cheeks had hair stumbles like he handed shaved in a couple days.
"Come back here, you dumb bird! I don't have time for this!" The man exclaimed.
"Doctor, how's it going, minus Archimedes being difficult again. " Makoto greeted.
The 'Doctor' looked up from his pursuit of the white bird and smiled at the man who just entered.
"Ahh, Makoto, good to see you. Is it time already? My sense of time is so obtuse! The Doctor said, and the bird landed on his shoulder.
In a quick motion, not breaking eye contact with Makoto, the Doctor grabbed the bird in his rubber hands and took the red vial from its talons. The dove let out a cry in disappointment before flying away to pitch on the curtain rack.
"Almost. We still have twenty-five minutes until we need to start. I figured we should let Spencer get to know you before the test, however." Makoto explained.
"Ahh yes, very good, very good. Now, where is the new subject?" The Doctor asked.
Makoto moved to the side and gestured to me. I walked up to the man as he smiled, which looked a little malicious.
"Hello there, little one. I'm Doctor Ludwig. And the bird brain over then is Archimedes. I am an ESPer who graduated and became the medical Doctor and surgeon here at Sigma labs." Ludwig tells me, extending a hand to be shaken.
As I shook his large gloved hand, I asked. "So, are you the one who did the surgery on me the other day?"
"Yes, that was me. Not a very difficult procedure, but it's something that must be done." Dr. Ludwig tells me as Archimedes Flies over and lands on his master's hand.
"Is he okay? It looks like he's hurt." I say, concerned for the blooded dove.
"Bahh, that's nothing. Archimedes likes the color red. He will often break vials of blood and splash around in it. Crazy bird." The Doctor says as he pets the white avian.
"Oh, okay," I say as I look at the bird, happily chirping at the attention.
"Well enough small talk. Let us practice some medicine." Ludwig says as he places Archimedes on his desk.
First, the Doctor had me sit down and relax as he took some vital signs. First, he took my temperature, then blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration. Then he measured my weight and height.
The Doctor tested my eyesight and my hearing, making sure I didn't have any disability. Then he took a look at my nose and throat.
Next, I was tested while running, getting on a treadmill, and being hooked up to several devices that measured my heart, lungs, brain, and muscles as I ran. The final test was drawing some blood. I sat down in a chair as Doctor Ludwig took a couple vials. Archimedes tried to take the vials from the Doctor before he put them into the refrigerator.
"That's it. Your physical health is complete. I still need to check your blood, but everything else seems to be above average in terms of health. Here, take a cookie, have it after lunch." Doctor Ludwig says as he takes out a large chocolate chip cookie and hands it to me. He smiles again, the same weird grin he had earlier.
"Thank you," I say, taking the cookie and putting it in my pocket. I tried my best not to look scared at the creepy Doctor's smile.
"Come now, Spencer, I'm sure the others are at the dining hall eating lunch right now," Makoto says as he starts to leave.
"By doctor Ludwig, by Archimedes," I say, waving at the Doctor and his pet.
Doctor Ludwig waves as Archimedes chirps.
When the door closes, I let out a sigh of relief.
"He was...kinda creepy," I say.
Makoto stops in place and bursts out laughing.
"Hahaha, yeah, Ludwig is different. He's not very good at human interactions. The Doctor is not malicious or mean. He is just weird." Makoto tells me.
I look at the elevator ahead of us. Thinking back to my schedule and thinking about what's to come.
'After lunch will be an interview, a psychological evaluation, and a morphogenetic test… what does 'morphogenetic test' even mean or entail?' I thought as the two of us entered the elevator.
"You probably know this, but after lunch, I will be conducting an interview slash psychological evaluation. It's not something to worry much about. We just want to know if you have some underlying mental issues, get a psychological profile setup for the future, and see if we can figure out your gift. Afterward, we will test how strong your connection to the morphogenetic fields is as well as some early gift tests." Makoto explains as we descend back to the twenty-first floor.
Makoto let me off and said he'd come back for me at one-thirty. As the elevator doors closed, I looked at my watch and saw it was eleven thirty-eight.
I walked to the dining room alone and scanned in. What I saw inside shocked me.
The twins were on the ground, lying on their backs. C and K were looking up at the ceiling, with their food trays next to them.
Akiza and Mathias sat across from each other as they ate; however, they had somber expressions.
Tikvah was crying on one of the chairs while Penny sat next to her and patted her back.
Ryan was eating as fast as he could. I could see a bruise on his cheek along with a bloodied cotton swab in his nose.
Sunny was nowhere to be seen.
"What, what the hell happened?" I ask, trying to comprehend what I was looking at.
Akiza, Mathias, Penny, and Ryan looked up at me when I asked the question, while C and K remained on the floors and Tikvah continued to cry.
Mathias walked up to me and said. "Get some food, and we can fill you in. Everyone is alive, so don't worry, this is just a normal look for a test day."
I quickly get my lunch, a bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado sandwich with orange juice, coleslaw, and a pickle.
I sat down with the two oldest, still worried and curious why everyone was acting so off.
"The tests we go through here can be brutal, pushing our mental, emotional, and physical selves to and beyond the limits. Some days are better than others, but we do get days that are… much less forgiving." Akiza explained to me.
"Aki and I did a joint test, where we were separated and had to solve identical escape rooms together. Some of the clues of the room were in one or the other, so we had to use the morphogenetic fields to solve it, where I read her mind, and I sent her the information." Mathias said.
"Penny had to solve an escape room with the threat of a limited oxygen supply. She made it out without any issue, luckily, but she said it came too close for comfort." Akiza tells me. The orange-haired girl continued to console the youngest girl as Tikvah continued to cry.
"Tikvah had a decision game where she had to choose from two options, she hasn't told us much, but she said she SHIFTed from another timeline." Akiza continues
"SHIFTed? Then that means!" I say in alarm.
"Just because the Tikvah inhabiting her body is from another timeline does not mean she's any less of our sister. She doesn't remember much from the other timeline other than Penny was dead, and she had the same decision game on the same day like today and chose option one." Mathias clarifies.
"Wait, but Penny is right here. How can she come from the same day?" I asked.
"Not all timelines are the same, Spencer. I've seen timelines that are very extreme from the one I am in. For example, C and K SHIFTed together from a timeline where Ryan killed Sunny in an area fight. By the way, Sunny is fine. He's just eating in your guys' room." Mathias says.
"Speaking of the twins, they had a drug experiment, so that's why they look like that," Akiza says as I look at the two dark-skinned girls.
"Drug?" I question.
"Hayy. Sister… Do you see the white face?" C asked in a wistful and spaced-out
Voice.
"I doo, I also see the faces and the red hands," K responds in the same tone.
"The kind of drug that makes you hallucinate and fly high as a kite," Mathias answered.
"Hehehehehe." The girls giggled at the same time.
"Huh… is that safe?" I ask.
"They should be fine. As long as they don't get scared, the trip should wear off before lunch is over." Akiza tells me.
The sound of the drop-off window opening brings my attention to Ryan, who finished his lunch and was returning his tray.
"Ryan had to fight a Tamed. That's why he's all beat up," Mathias tells me as Ryan leaves the dining room.
"One of those big demons? How is he alive?" I ask in shock.
"They don't have our battle with the big ones. The Tamed they set on us tend to be a little bigger than the Masks. And Ryan is our best combatant, but it seems this one got a few good hits on our fighter." Akiza says.
"They have us fight those things? But they could kill us…" I say in utter disbelief.
"That's the point," Akiza says bluntly. "They want us to push ourselves beyond what's possible and shift if need be. Fighting the Tamed or even each other brings that stress."
"It sucks, especially when we have to attack each other, but they heal us fully afterward and allow us time to heal mentally. Everyone here has learned to not hold grudges, at least for the most part." Mathias says, eyeing Akiza.
Akiza blushed and pouted at Mathias's glance, crossing her arms and turning away from him.
As Mathias tries to apologize to the red-headed girl. I began to think of my own experiments yet to come.
'Will I have to fight a Tamed, or will I be put through the same dangerous choice game as Tikvah… what's gonna happen to me…' I thought as I ate my lunch. 'Wait, We've gone over everyone but.'
"Wait, you didn't tell me what Sunny's experiment was…" I say, bringing the two teens out of their conversation.
"Oh, Sunny had a knowledge test, kinda like the one you had but harder and having consequences for getting an answer incorrect. Specifically, an electric shock that increases with every incorrect answer." Mathias tells me. "He did well, thank god. He's a smart kid, so he only got a couple answers wrong."
"Well, that's good, I think…" I say.
After that, the conversation died down, opting to eat in silence, minus the mindless drabble from the drugged twins.
'I should be finished soon, so what should I do after I eat? Should I go to the library? Or maybe go talk to Sunny about last night… no, I think I should wait till tonight to talk to him. So what should I look at in the library…' I thought as I finished up my sandwich.
Once I finished, I took out the cookie Dr. Ludwig gave me and slowly ate it. It was delicious, reminding me of the sweet treats Mama made every so often back home. After finishing the cookie, I put my tray in the drop-off and headed towards the door. I wave to Akiza and Mathias, who wave back. Tikvah had stopped crying at this point and had started to eat. I waved with a soft smile at her and Penny, who also waved back. The Erika twins still laid on the floor. However, their glazed eyes had cleared up.
I made my way to the library, trying to think of something I could research.
'Let's see, just think of this as starting from scratch. I need to escape Sigma labs with everyone else here. First, we need to find the trackers, gather supplies, make a plan, and discover what it's like outside. I already checked for any visual indications of trackers but found nothing. Gathering supplies will be difficult with Roj watching everything, and I can't do much but make a mental list in an hour. I still don't have enough knowledge of this facility to make an escape plan. And I know nothing about the outside other than we are far southwest of Grace Field, over a thousand miles at the least.' I thought as I entered the library.
I took a seat at the table and took out my Null, opening it and going to the map of the facility.
'So Sigma Labs is a twenty-seventh floor underground research laboratory, going down almost one thousand feet. Each floor has several labs dedicated to areas of research, mainly ESPer testing. Connecting each floor is a staircase and two elevators. Sigma is completely self-reliant, not needing supplies from outside, except deliveries from the human world.' I read in my head as I scroll through the map.
The areas I have access to are only on the subject living floor on level twenty-one, except the female bedrooms. Each floor is full of both adults and the Masks, along with some having Tamed in them.
'The first issue with escape is getting to the surface. Us subjects aren't allowed to enter either elevators or the staircase… how are we going to do this?' I think, disheartened by the seemingly impossible task.
'Mathias must have a plan… if I think about it, he will hear my question. Hopefully, he has a way of discreetly talking to me.' I think as I put the Null away and look at the books, searching for a specific author.
"Come on Minerva, Minerva, Minerva!" I say out loud as I look for my ally writer.
I pick out the book from the shelf and look at the title, Ugo's Adventures.
'So the books he had at Grace Field are here too.' I think as I flip through the pages.
'Does he have books here that aren't at Grace Field?' I think as I put the book back.
I continued to look for Minerva's books, trying to find one I have not read in the hopes of finding something new. However, before finishing, a chime rings through the room. I looked at my watch and saw the time.
"One twenty-five," I say out loud as I walk towards the door.
I arrived at the elevator where the other stood, waiting for it to open.
I stood next to Mathias and thought, 'do you have an escape plan?'
Mathias turned to me with a serious expression before smiling.
"Look, I know. At the moment, it seems like we're sTuck, but trust me when I say wE, will suRvive." He says, emphasizing certain parts of a word.
'Look, At, sTuck, wE, suRvive… Later. I guess that means we'll talk about it later then, huh.' I thought as I nod and look at the opening elevator doors.
Once again, Makoto and the guards stand there waiting for us to enter. We do so, and Makoto once again presses a series of floor numbers going up.
This time Makoto and I got off first on the twentieth floor, leaving the rest behind.
The white hall was once again identical to the others. The doors were numbered rather than labeled.
We walked down the hall, and in front of the door numbered fourteen, Makoto scanned with his Null and opened the door.
Inside was a monitor room much like the one earlier this morning. However, there were only two people inside, and with fewer monitors, the glass window revealed a room with two comfortable-looking chairs and a coffee table with what looked like pastries and mugs.
"So, we are going to have a simple interview. I'll be asking you some questions after you finish the survey I give you. For now, we just want to get a psychological profile of you to see if you need medication or therapy for any mental illnesses you may have." Makoto told me, as a scientist handed him two clipboards with papers on them.
Makoto handed me one of the clipboards along with a pen, "Just check the boxes that apply. The scales usually go from never to every day." Makoto told me. The man in his thirties led me into the room and gestured for me to sit on one of the soft chairs.
I sat down in the soft and squishy chair, finding a nice spot to comfortably lean back and look at the papers on the clipboard.
'Little interest or pleasure in doing things.' No, never. 'Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless.' I mean, I have in the past couple of months, but Emma has made me feel better. A few days.' I read in my head as I filled out the survey.
Over the next several minutes, I completed the survey, most of the questions related to depression, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and PTSD. The next page had questions like, 'take pleasure in causing physical or mental pain in people.' Or 'having issues empathizing with peers.' All seem related to psychopathy.
Once I finished the surveys, I placed them on the coffee table. Makoto took the clipboard and flipped through the pages.
"Good, good. It seems you're healthy mentally, not overly depressed or anxious, not psychopathic or sociopathic. And no signs of being on the autism spectrum or ADHD. the interview is going to get more details, but your initial test is good." Makoto says, smiling.
Makoto put the clipboard I used on the ground. "Now, can you just tell me some basic things about yourself?" Makoto asked.
"Okay. My name is Spencer. My birthday is March second, two thousand thirty-four. I am eleven years old. I lived in Grace Field house with my Mama Isabella and thirty-eight other children." I said.
"Good, now tell me about your early life, who were your closest friends, what did you like to do most? What did you like to do least?" Makoto asked.
"Well, my first memories are of me playing with my best friend, Emma. Norman and Ray were also my closest friends, the four of us played together, but Emma and I were closer. My favorite things to do are puzzle-solving, playing with the younger kids and Emma, cooking, and playing the piano. I guess my least favorite things are being alone, unnecessary violence, and having to make quick decisions." I told the man, who jotted some notes down in the clipboard.
"Mmh hmmm. Okay, do you have any fears? Anything that you are embarrassed about?" Makoto questioned.
"Ohh, umm. I guess I never liked bugs, especially spiders. And uhh, embarrassing… I used to play house with Emma, where she was the mom, and I was the dad. Back then, we were just kids and thought those were names, not understanding connotations, now we kinda look back and laugh, but I kinda miss it." I say with a blush.
"Arachnophobia, and crush…" Makoto summarizes, causing me to blush further.
"Can we go on to the next questions?" I ask with urgency.
"Hehe, alright. You got top scores in the daily tests. How did you do this? And what subjects did you like most?" Makoto asks with a smile.
"Well, I do like reading, and I have a good grasp of logic. My memory is pretty good too. My favorite subjects are chemistry and psychology. The tests themselves were mainly logic, math, and memory-based problems. However, if there was a question that I didn't know, I have good intuition and go with my gut." I told him.
"Can you explain that 'Gut feeling' a bit more?" Makoto asked.
"Well, it usually is this, weird throbbing in my head, and a thought of, 'That's right.' It also happens when I have to make decisions, like if I will go somewhere or ask something." I detail.
"Can you give an example?" Makoto asked.
"Well…" I say apprehensively.
"Don't worry if it's about your escape attempts. Every ESPer tries." Makoto reassured.
"Okay, well. One day, Sister Krone was talking with Mama. Krone was reading a letter from HQ, telling her she became Mama of plant four. By order of "Grandma." Whoever that is." I say.
Makoto nods for me to continue.
"I could tell Mama wasn't sincerely sad about her leaving, and Krone wasn't excited at all. She was silent, but not out of shock, more like fear. I guess there was something else on the letter, or Krone figured something out I couldn't. Mama said for Krone to pack her bags and go to the gate, where Grandma was waiting. Then I quietly got away and went outside. I stayed hidden and walked towards the gate." I told the man.
Makoto remained silent, intensely listening to my story.
"See, Krone made a deal with me. She told us some important things about our situation, like where our trackers were, that the trackers don't ID us specifically, That Mamas and Sisters have bombs in their chests, that she has never been outside and didn't know what it was like. She also told us that there was not that much security for the farm outside of the wall and that thirteen years ago, there was an escape from another farm. And she said something about लᘯ⠝ێ." I said.
At the mention of लᘯ⠝ێ, Makoto's eyes widened in shock and quickly wrote something down.
"Okay, for your information, लᘯ⠝ێ is the being who made the promise one-thousandth human years ago." He told me.
"Ohh, that's good to know, I guess." I said, "Well, back to the main topic. While I walked to the gate, I thought that maybe Mama found out Krone told us those things. I was afraid Krone might rat us out to try and live, so I was really stressed." I told Makoto.
"I found a bush next to the gate that was thick enough to conceal me. I waited for a few minutes until I saw Krone approaching. Krone told Grandma that I knew and that some others might know as well, but an elderly-sounding woman said that it didn't matter as long as everything was under control. That's when I thought about getting closer, to see this 'Grandma' and the demons, I mean Masks, that might be there. I was halted by an intense headache and visions of my pale corpse, a red flower blossoming from my chest as I got closer. I quickly stopped myself from crying out and backed away slowly." I told the man, trying to be as detailed as possible.
With a nod, Makoto writes down in his paper.
"Grandma then said she couldn't let Krone get in the way of Isabella or herself. She said that the plantation, Isabella, and the children were special, making the best offerings for the Tifari in history. That Isabel was her pawn, and Krone did not have her abilities. Then the gate closed, and Krone started laughing. I quickly and quietly got out of there, planning my next move with this knowledge." I said, looking at the man's eyes.
Makoto nodded, his eyes looking at me with an analytical look, trying to figure something out.
"Hmm, it can't be a SHIFT. He wouldn't keep memories if it was his first time. It also doesn't cause a headache. Along with the test Spencer might have…" Makoto whispered as he wrote things down.
"Okay!" Makoto said, looking up at me with a smile. "I think you might have a form of precognition, but we'll have to run more tests. I think this concludes the interview. Now let's get you to your test to see if my hunch is right." Makoto said as he stood up.
I followed the man into the monitor room, where the scientists were typing on their computers. Makoto then led me back into the hall, going in the direction of the elevator; however, we passed it.
We reached door number three. I went inside to see a monitor room again; however, the three inhabitants didn't look like the scientists I'd seen before.
The most noticeable was a man who looked a little older than Makoto. He had a large frame and was tall, maybe around six feet or more. He had a long sharp goatee and prominent sideburns that were black with strands of gray. His hair was tied into a bud on the top of his head, but he still had long hair flowing down his back. He wore a red lab coat over a black t-shirt along with baggy red pants.
He was talking to a shorter girl who looked to be around Mathias and Akiza's age. Her hair was red like Akiza but shorter, only reaching her shoulders. The young girl wore a white shirt under a red vest under a green lab coat. Her legs were visible as she only wore a short black skirt. Around her neck was a necklace with a big jade ring.
The last person was a girl whose age was between Makoto and the short girl. The woman was standing at a table and worked with a weird metal box, having tools haphazardly on the table. She had curly light blond hair that flowed down her shoulders around her sizable chest. She wore an unbuttoned pink lab coat, revealing a black strapless bra and a very short white skirt. Her stomach and legs were free of any clothing, letting them be exposed to the world.
The older man and the redhead turn to Makoto and I and smile, walking over to us.
"Ahh, Makoto, you are here. I see you brought the new youngling." The old man said in a deep and wise voice. He looked down at me and smiled. "I am Iroh, the eldest ESPer here. I lead the morphogenetic field research team. It's nice to finally meet you, Spencer." Iroh said, outstretching his hand.
I take his large hand in mine and shake as the girl smiles and walks up to me.
"My name is Chise. I am the most recent graduate from the ESPer subject program. I work under Dad- I mean Iroh as an assistant." Chise said, correcting herself.
Iroh gave a hearty laugh and smiled at Chise, "If you want to call me Dad, that's fine, just not when the non-ESPer researchers and the Masks are around, okay Chise?" Iroh said.
The young redhead blushed and nodded. Causing Makoto and Iroh to laugh once again.
Just then, the woman at the table cleared her throat and started walking over to us with the metal box under one arm.
"If you could all stop jerking off, can we get this over with? I don't like playing with little baby dicks." The woman said crassly.
Iroh and Makoto sighed at the woman's language.
"Dorthey, we talked about your language in front of the youth," Iroh said disapprovingly.
"I can't help it if I don't have any soap for my dirty mouth. Not to mention the baby dick will learn them eventually, why not get acquainted with cussing?" Dorthey said.
"Because it doesn't help with anything and is a bad habit," Chise said in a deadpan tone.
"Shut up, flatty." Dorthey insulted.
I watched the interaction with surprise at the woman's language and felt a little insulted with what she called me.
"She has a point though, let's not waste any time. We have work to do." Makoto said as he took the box from Dorthey and walked to the door into the other room.
I followed the man as he went inside. The room looked a lot like the testing room from the intelligence tests from earlier, except there were two seats across from each other. Makoto put the box on the table and pressed a button on the top of the box, causing it to expand into a metal screen with a console on one end, and on the other side were four buttons with lights above them.
"Come sit on that side, Spencer, and put the helmet on just like this morning," Makoto told me.
I sat on the side with the four buttons and strapped on the metal helmet. Looking down at the panel in front of me.
"So here's how it's gonna work. All you need to do is press the button of the corresponding light, which you believe will light up next. You only have three seconds between the lights' so act quickly." Makoto tells me.
I nod in response. Makoto also gives a nod and then a thumbs up to the window. I see the three adult ESPers nodding in response as Iroh presses some buttons on a keyboard out of my sight.
My watch beeps and flashes various colored lights for a second before going back to normal. 'What was that?' I wondered.
"Okay, three, two, one, start!" Makoto counted down for me to start pressing the buttons.
There was no way I could predict what lights would turn on, so I had to go with my gut feeling. I pressed the most left button, guessing that was it. The light above said button shines, indicating I was correct.
Over the hours, I continuously press the buttons, not getting one wrong. For some reason, I started sweating and panting.
'Why is this so exhausting? I'm just pushing buttons?!' I thought as I continued the test.
Suddenly there was a loud beep, and all the lights started flashing. Startled, I pulled back and jumped a bit.
"Sorry about that. I didn't realize you were still in 'the zone.' That's the end of this test. Well, we'll discuss more with the others." Makoto said as he stood up.
Once again, my watch beeps and flashes brightly before returning to its previous state.
I took off the helmet and nearly collapsed in trying to stand.
"Opps, come one here, let me help," Makoto said, pulling me up to my feet.
"Sorry, I just feel exhausted," I say with a sigh.
"Not surprising, you just used your gift for several hours straight! Being your first time, it's no wonder you're tired." Makoto replied as he helped me to the door.
The door opened to Iroh and Chise waiting to greet me while Dorthey quickly typed something at the computer.
"Well done, Spencer, you got all the lights correct! Your Morphogenetic Talent must be some sort of precognition, to what degree is yet to be seen, but this is a good start." Iroh said with a large grin.
"Yes, precognition is incredibly useful, no matter what degree it is. Over the next week, we will test for your level of precognition." Chise told me.
"Level of precognition?" I repeated in confusion.
"It depends on how far into the future you can predict. If you can predict within seconds to hours, it is short wave precognition. If it is days to months, it is medium wave, and if it is years and beyond, it is a long wave." Iroh explains.
"The tests are done. Get Baby Dick out of here so I can work without minors here." Dorthey said crudely.
Makoto sighed in response. "Fine, it's almost dinner, so Spencer should go and get food. He needs it after the exhausting day he has had." Makoto said.
"Exhausting, HA. Bahahaha. Baby Dick doesn't even know the meaning of exhausting until he has had to do an escape room before fighting a Tamed and then going straight to a shock test." Dorthey said with spite.
"Don't listen to her Spencer, while she is right, it's going to get a lot harder from here on. As long as you do your best, you will survive." Chise said with a smile.
I chuckled nervously as Makoto led me out the door, giving one last wave to the occupancy inside.
"Well, they're colorful," I said blankly.
"Yes, all us graduates are quite colorful. You still have yet to meet one, but she is out on a diplomatic mission and won't be back for a week." Makoto told me as we approached the elevator.
"Good to know," I responded.
I look at my watch as we get into the elevator, wondering what happened to it during the tests. Makoto notices me looking at it after he presses the twenty-first-floor button.
"If you're wondering what happened to it during the tests, we disabled the morphogenetic suppressant feature in the watch so you could test at your best," Makoto tells me.
"Morphogenetic suppressant? So it makes my GIFT and SHIFT abilities weaker?" I speculate.
"Exactly, it's on there because having ESPers have access to their full potential could risk a breach." The man explained. "Furthermore, there's morphogenetic resonance. It's a phenomenon where ESPers lose their powers temporarily as it is absorbed by a more powerful ESPer, making them even stronger."
"That explains a lot, actually. It's been harder for me to predict what people do next and why Akiza said she could only use her GIFT on one person at a time." I say.
Makoto dropped me off on the twenty-first floor for me to go get dinner. When I arrived at the dining hall, I saw everyone there again, all looking like they ran a three-kilometer sprint.
I got in line to get my food, seeing Sunny once again rush out the dining hall with his tray.
'What happened to you, Sunny? Why do you hide from everyone?' I thought as I looked at the black-haired boy.
Once I got my dinner, which was some curry and white rice and grapes. I sat down with Tikvah and Penny.
"Hi, girls." I greeted.
"Hi, Spencer." Both girls speak at the same time.
"How was your first day?" Penny asked.
"It was fine. The tests were not that hard except for the gift test. I met some of the graduates like Dr. Ludwig, Chise, Iroh, and Dorthey. Other than that, not much." I reply, taking a bite of my curry.
"Oh yeah, most of them are cool except Dorthey. She's not too nice." Tikvah answered.
"I think Ludwig is funny, and I love playing with Archimedes," Penny commented.
Over the next half an hour, we talked about all the graduates and what they're like. Penny says Chise only graduated a year ago and was always nice to her and the others.
After dinner, I headed to my room to get my bedclothes and a towel to go take a shower. When I arrived in my room, Sunny was busy reading a book on his bed, seemingly in his own world and not noting me. I let him be and get what I needed from my closet before heading to the bathroom.
I enter the white-tiled bathroom. This is not my first time in but my first time to shower here. The shower stalls were pretty standard one-person staples that could lock for privacy. I put my towel and pajamas on the holding rack outside one of the stalls and entered.
Inside were three showerheads, one on the tiled wall and one on each side of the stall. A temperature control handle was on the wall, along with three dispensers for body soap, shampoo, and conditioner.
Over the next ten minutes, I took a nice warm shower, cleaning the sweat and grime from the day, as well as my mind from the anxieties of what is yet to come.
I finished my shower and opened the door to the stall to grab my towel, but I couldn't reach it.
A hand suddenly grabs my towel and hands it to me. I peeked my head out to see who it was, finding out it was Mathias.
"Dry off and get dressed. We only have about five minutes for me to explain the escape plan." the older boy tells me in a serious tone.
I quickly dried off and put my PJs on, standing in the steamy bathroom with the teenage boy as he begins to talk.
"As of right now, we don't have much. Makoto and I have been working on getting intel and supplies for the entire time we've been here, but we still don't have everything." Mathias tells me.
"Are you sure we can talk about it right now? What if Roj hears us?" I ask.
"For one, there aren't any cameras in here, and for two, I have this," Mathias says, taking out a small box with an antenna out of his pocket.
"One of the few devices I've gotten my hands on, it loops audio and video recordings as well as pausing our tracker in the place we last used this. As of right now, Roj believes I am in my room." The green-eyed boy tells me.
"Good, so what can I do to help?" I ask.
"Right now, I and the others can do most of the gathering info and supplies. Makoto has a few stashes we will use. But what I need you to do is help Sunny." Mathias tells me.
"Help him?" I asked, confused.
"Yes, when we escape, we will need everyone on board doing one hundred and ten percent. Sunny, however, does not have the heart or desire to escape. Something in his past broke him, and I can't help even if I know what happened. Sunny repressed the events so thoroughly he cannot remember it. Only you can help him. You have to make him remember and accept what happened and help him piece himself back together." Mathias tells me with a sad expression.
"He doesn't want to escape?" I repeated.
"His soul doesn't believe he deserves freedom, and he's scared. He feels so alone that he will not leave his personal bubble. You have to save Sunny before we escape." Mathias clarifies.
"When do we leave?" I asked.
"We plan to leave in February, before my birthday. That way, I won't graduate and get the bomb in my chests that other graduates have." Mathias says.
'Like Sister Krone.' I thought, remembering the large dark-skinned woman with the scar on her chest.
"Yes, now stay here for a moment, and allow me to go back to my room, then go and talk to Sunny some more. You have some questions to ask him." the eldest ESPer subject says as he leaves the bathroom.
'February… that gives me about four months to help Sunny with whatever happened to him. It must have been before he arrived here at Sigma… well, no time like the present.' I thought as I got ready to leave, getting my dirty clothes and leaving for my room.
When I entered, Sunny was still reading his book. I put my towel and clothes in the chute and walked up to Sunny.
"Afternoon Sunny, how was your day?" I ask.
The clift-faced boy looked at me and gave a shrug.
"So-so? Yeah, same… whatcha readin there?" I question.
The black-haired boy put a bookmark in and showed me the cover.
'..."Faraway" by William Minerva!' I read in my head.
"Do, do you mind if I look at it for a second?" I ask.
The boy nods and hands me the book. First, I look at the summary, 'James Ranger, an orphaned young man, journeys to the town of Faraway after receiving a letter from his dead sister informing him that she is waiting for him there. When he arrives, the town is covered in a thick fog, along with creatures in the vague shape of Humans attacking him. Now he must find out the truth of his sister's death and the sins he has forgotten from his past.'
The story seems dark, a psychological horror novel. I look at the back of the cover to see the owl in Minerva's other books.
The circle once again dashed with a message. 'C. L. O. V. E . R… the Clover bookmarks must be important somehow. Glad I gave it to Emma.' I thought as I closed the book.
"Thanks," I say, handing the book back to Sunny. However, he simply takes it and puts it on his nightstand. He then looks at me inquisitively as if waiting for me to engage in a conversation with him.
"There is something I've been wondering…" I say with caution.
Sunny gestures to the side of his bed for me to sit.
As I sit, I compose myself and what I'm going to say.
"Last night, I had a really weird dream. You were in it, except it was not really. It was a younger you, maybe around eight, and you were completely black and white. There were others too, an eight-year-old boy with short hair and a colorful checkered shirt named Kel, a young girl the same age in a large shirt with an eggplant stuffed animal named Aubrey. A boy who looked to be eight as well with green hair named Basil. Another eight-year-old girl with a beanie called Gillian. A boy my age with striped pajamas called Hero, and a girl my age with long purple hair named Mari. And they called you Omori." I explained. Sunny became tense at the mention of the names, still remaining expressionless but having an aura of anxiety around him. "Mathias read my mind and told me to talk to you about it, so what was with that?" I asked.
Sunny looked at me for a moment, contemplating how to explain. The fourteen-year-old then opened the drawer on his side table and took out a folder. Flipping through some of the pages, he finally stopped and handed me a piece of paper.
I took the page and studied it. The page seemed to be a profile of sorts, with information on Sunny like his height, weight, birthday, and biological sister, Mari. I continued to scan until I got to the part Sunny was trying to get me to read.
"Morphogenetic Individual Fictitious Talent." I read out loud before reading the rest in silence.
'Subject Sigma-9's is designated as Absolute Dream. He has the ability to lucid dream beyond the ability of a normal lucid dreamer. His dream world, what he calls Headspace, is one of many worlds Sigma-9 has created. Inside he creates characters with identifiable personalities, both friendly and hostile. Any individual who can dream will be pulled into Sigma-9s dream world, where they can only control themselves and are subject to Sigma-9's rule. An injury sustained in the dream world feels real and can leave lasting phantom pains in the subject after waking up. Those that perish in the dream world will lose all higher brain functions and remain comatose. Sigma-9 has been seen hallucinating beings from his dream world, according to him. It is within the realm of possibility that Sigma-9 could project these hallucinations onto others, pending further testing.'
"Ohh, that makes much more sense now. It wasn't my dream. I was pulled into yours. But, why didn't you recognize me?" I ask.
Sunny takes the page from me, putting it back before flipping through the folder once again. The black-haired boy takes out another page and hands it to me.
'Omori is Sigma-9's dream persona. While Sigma-9 sees the dream through a bird's eye view, Omori takes his place and goes through the dream. Other repairing beings include his friends from the Grand Valley plantation. Beings known as Kel, Aubrey, Basil, Gillian, Hero, and his biological sister Mari.' The paper says, along with other beings like the Three originals, Captain Spaceboy, the list went on.
"I see then that means it's not you who has control of your dreams, but Omori…" I speculate, causing Sunny to nod.
"Well, I guess I'll see you soon?" I say as I get up.
Sunny responds with a thumbs-up as he gets into bed.
I follow suit, laying down in my bed, ready for the next adventure in Sunny's dreams.
"Goodnight, Sunny," I say as the lights go out.
'Another day here at Sigma. I hope Emma, Ray, and the others are doing okay… I really miss them.' I thought as sleep overtook me.
My dreams that night were once again in Sunny's world, however like I said before, they are private and will not discuss them with anyone but his friends.
Chapter 16, end.
And so another chapter ends. The new characters did have some inspiration. Dr. Ludwig is based on Medic TF2 (according to the comics, his last name is Ludwig.) as I main him. Iroh is based on Iroh from Avatar, the last airbender, a comfort character for me. Chise is based on the girl of the same name from Ancient Magus Bride because I think she fits here. Dorthey is loosely based off of a character an old friend made. The book Sunny was reading, while also being a reference to his game, is also based on Silent Hill 2, one of my favorite games of all time. In a recent replay, I noticed how the story of SL2 and OMORI is similar, so I included it as a reference. Summer is ending soon, so expect chapters to come out slower once again.
See you next time.