The first thing he's aware of is a bright white light. So so strong on small new eyes; making him scrunch his face in discomfort. Then a soft voice coos gently at him. He doesn't understand the words, but they sound kind and quiet. He blinks slowly, wrapped in a blanket and handed off to a woman with bright blond hair, a flash of bright blue at the tips just brushing her shoulders.
Everything here is bright, isn't it?
She smiles at him, and a noise across the room signals the departure of the one who'd wrapped him. "Hello, my baby," she murmurs, and while he still doesn't know what she's saying, it's a pleasant sound, and he likes the feel of her arms. She sighs happily, looking at nothing to her right. "Such dark hair. I suppose his father must be that Korean man I took out for drinks, hm, Ryu?"
He fights an arm free of the blanket, wrapping chubby fingers around a slender one; disappointed that her attention has turned away from him.
"Yes, yes; sweetling. I'm here." She smiles again, running a finger along his cheek. "You're rather cute, you know. Much more than I expected you to be. I wonder what other expectations you'll go beyond, hm?" A chuckle. "Maybe that's what I'll call you. Beyond." She turns back to the nothing at her right. "Ryu, I want to test something. What kind of behavioral patterns might emerge in a child that sees death from their earliest moments?" There's silence for a moment, then she giggles a sweet, musical giggle. "That's precisely what I want to do. This is something I've wondered about for years now, but it wouldn't be right for me to do that to someone else's child. Come on, now. I'm still young; I'll have plenty of time to watch him grow."
He almost thinks he can hear a raspy sort of chuckle from the nothing-to-her-right, but is quickly distracted by a slight discomfort in his eyes. He squeezes them shut, annoyed by the sensation, and starts to cry.