Chapter Text
“We’re here.”
The vehicle rolled to a stop.
Shou Suzuki, seven years old, pulled himself up to look out the window, wide blue eyes trained on the building rising out of the earth before them. It was enormous, though not anywhere near as tall as the skyscrapers inhabiting the rest of the city. Shou could see one of its wings branching off to the side, and tried to imagine how many rooms could possibly fill this one structure.
His father didn’t drive much. Shou had definitely never ridden with him anywhere, his dad was wealthy enough to get a limo for every outing, and Shou himself was more often than not just left at home. Even in the rare instances he was taken somewhere, it was by one of his dad’s employees, and they were almost never any fun.
This time though, they were both in a small black car. It was still nice, though. The seats were leather. He hadn’t been allowed to take snacks with him.
“Don’t talk while we’re inside,” Touichirou instructed from the front. He reached around to unfasten Shou from his carseat. “This is important.”
Shou nodded. He didn’t understand entirely what his work was, what it involved, but he had always thought it consisted of a lot of meetings. Offices, business suits, men seated around a long table, bagels, whatever it was rich dads did.
They got out of the car - Touichirou stepping out, Shou jumping to compensate for how short he was - and started on the cement walkway to the front. There was no markers, no signs, no plaques in sight to explain just what this building was. The only indication of what it was at all was an engraved symbol above its steel doors. It was dark out, so Shou couldn’t see it very clearly, but what he could make out was a triangular outline. A logo, maybe? Not one he recognized.
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Shou’s fingers locked into the hem of his shirt, mind buzzing with questions as his eyes flitted around the room. This was the first time he had accompanied his father on anything business related. Come to think of it, this was the first time he’d been out with his father anywhere. Though, Shou thought, it made sense that he’d be with him now, with how his mother had left two weeks ago and didn’t come back. Touichirou didn’t tell him what happened and Shou didn’t ask. All that mattered was he apparently wasn’t able to find a babysitter.
Touichirou was speaking with who Shou assumed was in charge of the facility. A man was dressed in a black suit and thick rimmed glasses, sporting a neat little triangle stamped over his heart. He looked nervous. There was something off about him too, and Shou immediately felt a sense of distrust towards him.
“We have a lineup of candidates selected,” he said. Shou observed how his hands twitched around his clipboard. “The chambers have undergone all the required testing, we have a handful of scientists and physicians on standby. Everything’s ready to go, you just say the word.”
Touichirou remained as still as ever. He took a moment, long enough for Shou to wonder if he had heard anything, then snapped his dull blue eyes to gaze directly into his employee’s. “I have an idea.”
“Wh- what is that?”
“My daughter here,” Touichirou waved a hand towards Shou, beckoning him closer to them. Shou sneered at the title, daughter, but kept his mouth shut. “She hasn’t shown any development of ESP yet, but I highly doubt my power wasn’t passed on to her. Considering my wealth in it.”
“You-,” the man looked down at him. “You’re saying…?”
“I’d like to offer her as an additional candidate. I can assure you, she has more potential for success than the others.”
“Success for what?” Shou asked. His question went without acknowledgement.
“So that’s why you brought her…” Something was scribbled down on the clipboard. “If you’re confident in your decision, we can get started right away. The prep room is down the hall, third room on your right. There should be a gown in there for her to change into for the first trial. One of my assistants will collect her when she’s ready.”
Touichirou nodded, barely a movement at all, and nudged Shou in that direction. Still speaking to the other adult, he continued. “I’d like to see what we’re working with. Are the other candidates prepared?”
“Yes, sir.”
Shou didn’t like the feeling settling in his gut but followed the man’s directions anyway, taking in the strange environment as he padded through the blank corridor. The walls were stark white and composed of rectangular panels. He ran his hand along them curiously as he walked. They were smooth - almost like metal. The whole place looked like something out of a sci-fi movie, and Shou wondered if that was what they were going for. It’d make sense, given the suits and weird way everyone here acted.
He found the room without much trouble. A small plaque to the right of the door frame, marked with the words Prep Room, and Shou was glad for once that he had gone through early tutoring for reading. It definitely made things easier, as much as he hated sitting still and listening to his tutor drone on about pronunciation. His father had thought it was important for him to learn academic skills early. Shou could care less; why start schooling earlier than he had to? But he obeyed Touichirou and that was that.
He pushed the door open. Like the man said, there was a gown neatly folded on a table pushed flush against the far wall. There were more things in the room though: numerous pieces of equipment he couldn’t even guess the uses of, a file cabinet shoved into the corner, more gowns stacked on top of it. He took the gown after some struggle to reach it, and shucked off his clothes to replace them with it.
Some time passed, and without a clock or anything in the room, he couldn’t tell how long it was before he heard a jarring bang on the door. “Suzuki-kun.”
“I’m ready!” Shou answered, crossing the room in a few quick steps. The door opened, and as he expected, another man in a black suit was waiting on the other side. He forgot his father’s instructions to be quiet for a moment. “What’s going on, anyway?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” The man motioned for him to follow. Shou did.
They passed more rooms, a few with windows (that were above Shou’s height), all marked. Most of the words were outside of Shou’s vocabulary, the others he didn’t get a good chance to look at because his escort wouldn’t slow down long enough for him to.
Finally, they reached a set of double doors, locked by a card reader. The man swiped his identification through the slot and they unlocked with a solid click. Shou followed him through.
The room was massive on the inside. The ceiling somehow seemed even taller in here, the white of its walls offset by silver machines lined up along all sides. In the center of the room stood a group of people dressed similar to Shou. Most of them were kids around his age, with three teenagers and one older woman thrown in as well. The kids seemed just as confused as he was, but the elders were looking expectantly at the employees scattered around the room.
Shou spotted his father and the manager some distance away. Touichirou held a folder in his hand, eyes scanning through it as the manager gestured to the gowned group before them.
“-these four volunteered. They all signed wavers. They understand the risks, but they want to develop psychic abilities to further our goal.”
“Good,” Touichirou answered, closing the folder. “And the rest?”
“Volunteered by their parents. A few of them have esper relatives, and like you’ve said, we believe that psychic abilities may be genetic, so we’ve got high hopes for them.”
Shou’s escort cleared his throat.
Both Touichirou and the man finally seemed to notice their presence. “Ah, good, looks like we can get started,” said the manager. He directed his gaze back to Touichirou. “You’ve filled out all the paperwork?”
“Yes.”
“Good, good,” he replied. He motioned for Shou. “We’ll start with you first.”