Chapter Text
According to the laws of physics, teleportation was ten billion per cent not possible. In the natural world, thermodynamics would not allow the bond between molecules to become interrupted without displacement or severance. In other words, even thousands of years into the future, teleportation was a no-go.
And besides. In the stone world, where something as simple as a phone took months of preparation, teleportation was just unrealistic.
Teleportation
Where was he? The air pressure felt different, somehow. If he had to guess, he was currently suspended eight or so thousand feet in the air. Maybe even more. How was that possible? Could he be on a mountain? But it wasn’t cold at all...
Senku rushed to stand. He smacked his head against something cool and distinctly metal. Pain shot through his scalp.
Could this be the doing of Tsukasa? No, even if he’d been kidnapped in his sleep, not even the strongest primate high schooler could hope to build a metal imprisonment so high up. In any case, for Tsukasa’s interests, it would be much easier to simply kill him and be done with it.
Tsukasa’s Fault
Perhaps this was simply a very lucid dream. In the 1700’s, nightmares were classified as diseases that formed under intense stress. Being significantly more susceptible to threats compared to adults, they were especially prevalent amongst small children. Nightmares were said to be used to subconsciously train the brain to respond to danger from an early age.
Senku himself had only ever come close to a nightmare whilst dreaming up a scenario where he’d forgotten a very important scientific formula. He was eight-or-so years old. His father popped before him and flashed an obnoxious thumbs-up, drool dripping down his chin, eyes drifting apart. “It’s ay-okay, Senku!" he'd chimed. "Yer just like me, now! Durrrr…”
A shiver ran down his spine.
In conclusion… being stuck in a tiny metal room hardly seemed like the kind of nightmare his brain would be interested in conjuring up.
Realistic Nightmare
He touched the wall. The average male human hand measured 7.6 inches from palm to fingertip, and by feel, Senku estimated that the room was an approximate three-feet by three-feet. He pressed an ear against the metal. Nothing.
There must've been some soundproofing material around the room, then… if not, the metal would have to be almost an inch thick to dampen any outside noises.
Who could’ve…?
Senku’s expression twinged. The air was beginning to grow stuffy. In a three-foot by three-foot sealed metal room, he’d only have around seven hundred-or-so litres left of breathable air.
Not great, he recognised. However… a bigger concern was the buildup of a certain somethin’ called carbon dioxide.
Lesson One: CO₂!
Carbon dioxide is a colourless, odourless, non-flammable gas that naturally occurs in the atmosphere. Produced by the body’s metabolism, it’s a normal component of exhaled breath! Extreme levels of carbon dioxide can disturb oxygen levels and act as an asphyxiant…
In around an hour, the CO₂ leaking from his every exhale would reach dangerous levels and cause him to lose consciousness.
If that happened…
“Ha… I’m totally screwed,” Senku mused, running a hand through his hair. He closed his eyes, pressing his palm against the cool metal ceiling. He imagined a checklist appearing before him, engraved into the steel. Senku Ishigami’s Guide To Surviving An Airtight Box!
Step One: Reduce Oxygen Consumption!
Senku shuffled. He lay sideways with his knees tucked up to his chest, eyes fluttering shut. He took a breath, held it for five, exhaled for five, repeat, at a careful rate of seven breaths a minute.
Rapid breathing would use up more oxygen than he could afford. If Senku wanted to survive... he'd have to make use of the basic laws of human consumption!
Step Two: Lower Core Body Temperature!
Thermoregulation describes the ability to maintain a stable internal body temperature. Excessive sweating uses up oxygen, and in a survival situation where taking in too deep a breath meant losing minutes, there was no room for error. If Senku had any shot of survival, he’d have to sit and wait patiently like a dog for one of the villagers to notice he’d gone missing. Tracking him down, however… especially when even Senku wasn’t quite certain of his own location…
He could worry about that later.
Carefully, Senku shuffled his way out of his outermost layer of clothing and pushed it to the corner.
Step Three: Stay Calm!
Panic impairs decision-making. Especially in emergencies… when escape seems impossible, the ability to stay calm determines whether a person lives or dies. Unfortunately, the brain prioritises quick, instinctive reactions over rational thought- causing a little something called an acute stress response.
Or, more commonly… the fight-or-flight response.
Senku’s primal, lizard-brain was currently ringing an annoying little alarm bell in the back of his mind that shouted, panic! Do somethin, we’re gonna die! the very same way it had done during the petrification.
Think. How can science get me out of this situation?
By staying stock still, Senku could keep his heart rate as slow as humanly possible. A slower heart rate meant less oxygen consumption… which meant more time.
This was the easy part. Senku had survived 3700 calm years of petrification, after all; some shoddy metal box was nothing. His plan was foolproof.
Now, all he had to do was wait.
Gen was certain- he was in love.
Not like he was any stranger to the feeling. Over the years, he'd experienced big loves and small loves- none of which stayed by the following morning and faded like the passing tide. Many of those simpler heartbreaks were akin to a minor papercut or a scraped knee- others, the ones he’d bothered to let in closer, were comparable to gushing wounds. Some dug out a special, them-shaped cavern deep within Gen he’d fill with magic or booze.
But Gen, the bachelor, moved on swiftly and seamlessly. Before long, his eyes would be set on the next man or woman to intrigue him. And that was just fine. He even liked it that way.
Those feelings of passion and anxiety- even the physical symptoms, a racing heart, sweaty palms, flushed cheeks… he couldn’t quite get enough of it. The thrill of chasing someone unattainable kept the boredom at bay. Staring at the line of their jaw, eyes trailing down to the hollow of their neck, and down, down, to an exposed collarbone if it were summer. Then, he’d move in close, take their hands and confess to never having experienced such strong and intense feelings before, and please, I’d do anything for you!
He’d memorised the same script. He knew just how many weeks to wait before making a move, and just how long he should hold a kiss for. Where Senku had logic and science, Gen had the human experience.
These days, those uncertain, wobbly feelings had returned to him yet again, strong enough to sway his days and nights- towards someone perfectly unattainable-
-and the subject of such affections had been missing for three days.
The first day passed without being very noteworthy at all. Some assumed- Gen especially- that Senku had run off to grab some mystery chemical and was occupied with something particularly interesting. By the second day, some of the villagers had begun to panic, running around like a flock of startled pigeons to spread the news of dear Senku’s kidnapping.
The third day, the village had an air of gloom hanging over it. Sheesh, they gave up quickly…
Losing Senku was pretty bad. Tsukasa could be coming to slaughter them at any second, after all. Who would they cower behind if not the world's smartest man?
Who would Gen cower behind?
He was sure Senku would’ve disapproved, with the way Gen had gone running off without even the faintest idea of where Senku could be. Diving headfirst into things unprepared… how disappointing. Hadn’t he learned a thing? Logically, it was stupid.
Logically, he should’ve turned back.
Senku did not make mistakes. Mental calculations were a breeze - especially for a man of science such as himself. A three-foot by three-foot room contained seven-hundred and sixty-four liters of breathable air. CO₂ build-up would contaminate most of it and render him unconscious within the hour. By fifteen minutes, he would’ve experienced at least some level of air hunger or discomfort. This, he could say with absolute certainty.
Yet, three hours had passed, and Senku was still alive.
Senku gnawed at his thumbnail tenaciously, beads of nervous sweat pooling against his skin. That can’t be right. I should be beyond dead by now. So, what’s…?
He slapped himself. Nothing came of it besides embarrassment.
Realistic Nightmare
Senku pressed his back against the metal. He took a deep breath, and with all his might… kicked at the wall adjacent to him. Pain shot up his ankle. He grabbed it and whined.
Maybe, somehow, he was already dead. If Tsukasa had managed to sneak his way into the Kingdom of Science and deliver one very fatal karate-chop to the back of his neck…
Tsukasa’s Fault ??
Senku’s face paled. Was this hell? Or, more accurately, a kind of afterlife? Although he’d never been the religious type, a hell of flame and fire had never made much sense to him at all. It would be more plausible to assume every hell was custom-made, and what better hell for a man of science than to be forced to sit in a cramped box for all of eternity? Being denied his ability to experiment… and hypothesise-
Or, more realistically, this was a coma-induced dream.
REM intrusion- the disturbance of an individual’s normal wakeful consciousness- caused things like hallucinations and lucid dreams. Some coma patients who experienced REM intrusion would go on to have entirely separate lives within their own minds.
That was solved, then. This was a REM intrusion. Although… that begged the question…
How did he fall into a coma?
Senku shuffled through his memories, plucking them out one by one, and like a filing cabinet, stored them in their respective categories- useful, and not useful- until he was left with the events before Incident Metal Box.
Nothing of interest had occurred. His very last memory, curiously enough, was of him venturing out to grab a-
He jolted. Could he have slipped? Somehow… could he have whacked his head on a rock at a very specific angle and induced a coma? Although-
His face grew white.
“That’s… so embarrassing,” Senku muttered. Only 47% of people going through near-death incidents had ever experienced some form of REM intrusion. And even then! He’d never read an article about a coma patient experiencing dreams of being trapped in a tiny metal room-
Which meant he was the first.
How exhilarating, he thought with a groan. And for once in his life, he did not mean it at all.
There was something almost appealing about being in love with a man who did not, in the slightest, love you back.
Senku was, and had always been, a man of science. The emotion 'love' strayed the furthest possible distance from logic, driven simply by hormones and the desire to reproduce. Gen was certain that, upon realising his feelings, Senku would've begun on a tangent about the evolutionary disadvantage of limerence and its shared uselessness with the gallbladder or the tailbone.
Yeah. Senku would hate something so illogical.
But that was perfectly alright.
A man of science, Gen assumed, did not have the time nor the patience to indulge in useless things like love, which was, of course, perfect for Gen. The end goal was not to be loved back. In fact, the longer Senku continued to be his perfect, oblivious self, the longer Gen could spend chasing after Mr Unattainable! Every time he'd gotten what he was pining for, that relationship would simply fizzle and wilt away to make room for the next. So, why bother at all?
Still… none of whom he’d pursued romantically had ever been this much work before. Senku, who would run from experiment to experiment, had subsequently run from his greatest responsibility- the village. And arguably, Gen. Although, to run from someone, first, you might understand that you are being chased.
The world’s smartest man versus social conventions.
0 - 1
Yeah. Greaaat.
And although he’d been dropping hints left and right… Somehow, Senku hadn’t picked up on any of them! Seriously, he’d only stayed in that crappy village for Senku. What gives? Did Gen really seem like the type to stick around for any reasons that weren’t totally self-serving?
Maybe Gen was into the gullible type, or something... That seemed plausible. Which, of course, led to the question- why did Gen Asagiri, world-famous Mentalist, choose to bestow his affections towards someone so emotionally… blah?
Well.
…well.
Gen squinted, peering into the dense underbrush.
“Oh, Senkuuu! It’s time to come back, noooow!” he sang. “You’re worrying everybody! It’s really quite inconsiderate of you to just vanish like that-”
Blip!
The notes of green and brown surrounding him suddenly warped. His vision flickered and went dark.
“Wh… w-what…?”
Did I just go blind?
He moved to stand. His head thwacked against something hard and metallic.
“Ouch-!”
Metal? Why would there be…
He touched the ceiling. Metal. Brushed a hand against the wall. Metal. Writhed and squirmed around- why’s everything metal!?
My vision’s just fine, then. Whenever I am is just completely dark...
“What the hell!?” Gen shrieked. He thrashed around, swinging his limbs mindlessly.
He felt around with clammy hands, and immediately realised two very important things- one, the room was a very awkward size. It forced Gen to bend his knees ever so slightly to be comfortable, and he couldn't sit up without slouching, or his head would hit the ceiling. And, two:
“It’s… really stuffy in here.”
Okay. Okay! This was fine. He’d gone through worse. He'd be fine.
Ugh, thought Gen. Senku would know what to do. He always does...
Fundamentally, the line that separates humanity from any other animal is willpower.
An impossible thing, like a woolly mammoth being hunted down by something as small as a caveman, came from an extreme desire to survive that stemmed from millions of years of genetics. No animal with reasonable intelligence would look at something carrying the weight of eight adult elephants and think, hmm, looks yum!
The food chain dictated that humans, fleshy primates with little body hair and the ability to make fire from rubbing sticks together, were at the very bottom of the food chain in a land of giants.
With nothing more than the power of the human spirit, slowly, they climbed their way up the ranks of the natural hierarchy. Fourteen-thousand years later, they conquered the animal kingdom.
And just as humanity conquered the natural world… Senku was going to escape.
The ability to survive the impossible. That was coded in his very DNA. Mothers who witness their children being crushed by cars gain supernatural strength. Normally, even through intense training, a person could never hope to lift a car; however, a combination of adrenaline and sheer human willpower made it possible. The impossible becomes possible through simple science and human biology.
If anyone could do it, it’d be Senku.
Thermal expansion occurs when metal is heated, increasing the kinetic energy of particles and causing them to move apart. This expands the metal’s dimensions and decreases its density.
Somehow… if I could heat the metal… a weak point in one of the welded joints might snap. Would that be plausible?
He closed his eyes.
Lesson Two: Thermal Expansion!
Thermal expansion describes the tendency of matter to change in volume in response to a change in temperature. To calculate the expansion rate of metal when exposed to heat, use the simple formula ΔV=βV₀ΔT! With this, things like bimetallic strips and thermostats are made possible!
Assuming he could bring the metal up to a temperature of 100°C… using β for steel…
β=36×10−6
ΔV=(36×10−6)(27)(100)
ΔV=0.0972 ft3
He opened his eyes. Even if he had the equipment necessary to heat the room to boiling point… with him still being stuck in said room, he’d die far before the metal could expand enough to weaken in any substantial way.
That… and 1.1 millimetres of movement wasn’t great.
Could he cool it? No, even if he had liquid nitrogen on hand, shrinking the walls by a millimetre or so would do him more harm than good…
Thermal expansion
Inside a sealed room,... The impact of pressure changes would be far more likely to weaken the metal than thermal expansion would due to the Ideal Gas Law. A buildup of pressure would push against the walls. In engineering, this creates stress on any seams or welds. Weak points.
Then again, there’s the problem of Senku’s fleshy body. The air temperature would be forced to grow ridiculously hot, and Senku would die long before his escape. Furthermore, since he was so high up, even more heat would be required in order to-
He paused. Eight thousand feet up. Why was it so hot, then? Shouldn’t it be cold? The higher up, the thinner the atmosphere, right? This whole time, Senku had been sweating, and due to the awful insulating abilities of metal… he should be freezing, shouldn’t he?
Then…
The greatest scientists would be ashamed of Senku for overlooking something so obvious. The primary cause behind low air pressure was the rising of warm air. When air is heated, its molecules move faster and spread out, reducing air density. Therefore, if he wasn’t somewhere high up… then he’d have to be somewhere quite unusual.
Like… industrial chamber unusual.
Vacuum chambers were used to test satellites or electronics in space-like conditions. Being stuck somewhere like that would certainly explain the low air pressure and high temperature.
However…
A vacuum chamber would pull the oxygen out of my lungs… Senku thought with a quiet huff. There wouldn’t be three seconds of breathable oxygen, let alone three hours.
He could be in a hypobaric chamber. They were usually used to study the effects of hypoxia on the human body. By allowing an individual to acclimate to conditions that cause nausea and dizziness, a person could train for activities such as mountain climbing or space travel.
How low is the air pressure, exactly?
If he had a water bottle and a tube, theoretically, he could DIY his own barometer and estimate the air pressure. However, after frantically patting his pockets, Senku found himself empty-handed.
He slammed a fist against the wall just to be certain he hadn’t, all of a sudden, gained supernatural strength.
Again… nothing of it came besides embarrassment.
During most of Gen’s magic shows, at one point without fail, the time would come for Gen to be sealed into an enclosed space.
Sometimes it was a box waiting to be sawed in half. Other times, a cramped container waiting to burst out and chime, Hey, presto! Every one of those performances, Gen ended up wedged into a space far too tight. Those dark, closed-in spaces made Gen’s skin crawl with nerves. Having his arms squashed to his sides… restrained… unable to move a muscle until the time called for it-
Gen shuddered at the memory. Most of the breathing techniques he learned to calm his mind back then were completely useless now. I’ll be out soon! He’d told himself. Just a few more minutes, breathe, in and out, don’t panic, Gen! That’d make for terrible magic.
Half the point was that he would be out in a few minutes.
Gen had never allowed himself to be stuck in a tight space for more than a few minutes.
“Ommm… IamcalmIamcaaaaalm… ommmm-”
In and out and in and out- that was the secret to staying calm in any emergency! Psychologically, breathing impacts the autonomic nervous system, regulating those little involuntary processes most of the population tend to forget about- like heart rate and digestion. Deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system and promotes a sense of calm.
Gen was calm. After all, he never had to wait long before Senku came to the rescue-
Although… wasn’t Senku still missing?
“Ommm… ommmm-!”
He was fine! He had to be- a man like Senku wouldn’t just put himself in danger on purpose, and there was no way he’d somehow slipped and tumbled down a cliff face, right? Right!?
He was fine. Everything was just fine. Gen bet he’d only have to wait an hour at the most. Then, he’d be back to doing whatever it was he was doing to pass the time at the village.
He’d be just fine.
3 hours later
“Heeellp! Somebody!” shrieked Gen, hands cupped around his mouth. “I’m trapped! It’s really scary and dark in here- I can’t see anything- I’m getting pins and needles in my legs- hello!?
Silence.
“…Anybody?”
Gen whacked his fists against the walls. The metal clanged in response. The sound echoed and reverberated around the room. Gen crumbled into a ball and sulked. He’d spent the last few hours pushing the thought aside, but... in the midst of Gen’s whining...
What if I die here?
His chest tightened. With the inability to stretch out his legs or sit up straight, he’d be forced in a sort of half-sit until he succumbed to thirst or exhaustion. He’d die completely isolated from the outside world in such an awkward, embarrassing position, and-
Gen’s ears rang.
I… don’t want to die here.
Yeah. Obviously, who would? But despite the logical side of his mind that usually dictated Gen’s every move… that little thought continued to grow in volume, persistently knocking and demanding entry into Gen’s psyche. Puffs of air from his breath fogged up the metal under him.
Hold on, wait. I really don’t want to die here-
His stomach churned. The ringing in his ears grew deafening. Gen grabbed at his chest. His body shuddered. The fine hairs on his arms stood on end, and-
He retched.
Gen slammed a hand over his mouth.
There’s no telling how long I’ll be here for. It’d be mortifying if Senku found me covered in my own vomit…
He swallowed those thoughts back down.
Let’s think- that mind of yours isn’t just good for magic tricks, Gen! You’re a psychologist! Do some… psychologing, or something!
Gen felt around the corners of the room, pressing and checking for any gaps or blemishes. The room was strangely perfect. There wasn’t a single lump or defect, and it seemed clean enough to eat off. Almost professional.
What does that tell me?
The metal was machine-pressed, then. Somebody had invented a metal-making machine in the stone world and was using it to keep Gen hostage- but… why?
…maybe Tsukasa got upset I switched sides and kidnapped me?
Gen clicked his tongue. Ugh, that brute! I told him I was a shallow, self-serving man! He can’t seriously think I betrayed him when I was never on his side in the first place, right?
Gen’s face paled. He crumpled back into a ball.
…this is seriously too much.
There was only one reason anybody would go to such lengths to kidnap a man of science like Senku.
If extraterrestrials were responsible for the petrification… his scientific advancements may have unintentionally gained their attention. To them, one pesky human that had managed to escape was trying to rebuild civilisation, and for whatever reason (world domination?), they weren’t going to allow that.
Another theory was the government. Perhaps they were planning on conducting various illegal experiments on Senku’s brain and were keeping him contained in the meantime.
Senku breathed out a sigh. If he had something strong enough to jam into the corner of the room… like a screwdriver, maybe. Or something larger, like a crowbar…-
Blip!
A medium-sized crowbar materialised in Senku’s hands.
“-shit!”
Senku jumped and pressed his back against the wall.
Wait, what? Wait- hold on- is this divine intervention? Is God real? Does that make my afterlife theory from earlier more plausible? How would that even- the laws of physics and matter-… teleportation- in no way should that ever be possible-!
His expression went blank, chest heaving
Maybe the atoms aligned? And, coincidentally, a crowbar was sitting above me and slipped right on through?
No… even that was a stretch.
Divine intervention, then?
Senku paused, squeezing the crowbar. A look of determination crossed his features.
…he could thank God later.
He swung the crowbar against the metal walls with a shout. The impact sent a vibration up Senku’s arms. There wasn’t quite enough room to swing the crowbar with much momentum- but, nonetheless, he continued his relentless assault.
I’m not making even a dent… what the hell kind of metal is this?
He shoved the chiselled end into the corner using his body weight. If I could break just one of the seams…
He slipped. In slow motion, Senku’s head rocketed towards the wall, and a loud dong rang through the air.
He clutched his scalp with shaky fingers.
Gen had found that there were often three stages to a panic attack.
-
Onset of the Attack
Many experience panic attacks in the middle of the workday, while brushing their teeth or doing laundry. Those mundane little moments are when an individual is at their most vulnerable, after all! And although these attacks usually occur when there isn’t anything obvious to be afraid of at all… There were certain cases of them being triggered by particularly stressful or taxing situations (such as being teleported into a metal box without warning).
“Waaaa! I’m so lonely, and scared... and regretful of my actions! Please, Tsukasa, I didn’t mean it! I was spying- cola isn’t even that good, really. I’d never let him win me over! Oh, the bamboo telescope? I was obviously trying to gain Senku’s trust so he’d hand over all his scientific knowledge! Goodness, have you no faith?”
A sickly sweet smile stretched across Gen’s features, even as beads of sweat collected against the skin of his forehead.
“…if you could let me out, now… that’d be great.”
Silence. His vision swam.
“…Tsukasa?”
-
Desire to Escape
The moment the attack begins, many look for either a distraction or an immediate way out. This phase involves a strong, overwhelming urge to flee. At this stage, many begin to show blatant signs of desperation and will exhibit quite reckless behaviours. For example, if an individual were stuck in a room where the only way out was via a window... that window would most definitely be shattered within the minute.
Gen slammed his body against the metal, a searing pain shooting through his shoulder. He clawed and raked his fingernails down the walls. These incredible cases of human desperation, where an individual is drawn to their breaking point... Gen had quite the time writing about. Too bad Senku never appreciated it.
He struck the wall with a fist. Only when an angry, dark bruise formed on the skin of his knuckles did he pause to catch his breath.
-
Physical Symptoms
Sweating. An impending sense of doom. An increased heart rate. Nausea, chills, trembling, chest pain-
There were an infinite number of symptoms to identify an attack, besides the usual gasping for air and feelings of breathlessness. Headaches, dizziness, dissociation and detachment… those less common symptoms were usually ignored in favour of the more stereotypical ones. All of a sudden, it felt as though a heavy weight had been placed on Gen’s chest. His lungs were unwilling to take in any oxygen, and the little breaths of air he managed were mitigated by a deep, wracking sensation that started in his stomach and trickled through him-
And the great Gen Asagiri was rendered completely immobile.
… Is this what dying feels like?
Senku stared at the crowbar sitting across from him, knees tucked up to his chest.
“Oh, man!” he exclaimed. “I’d really love to get out of this box!”
Nothing.
“Really craving some fluoroantimonic acid in a sealed Teflon container right about now!
Still, nothing.
“…Yeah, worth a shot.”
Senku sat back, scratching the back of his neck. He’d figured if idly wishing for a crowbar caused one to pop up out of thin air, then he could wish for other things, too. Of course, it could be that there was a set amount of items he’d be allowed to wish for… and he’d used up his only wish on a crowbar.
Senku gritted his teeth. That sucks…
Or, maybe the aliens that had most definitely kidnapped him were only going to give him a few things at a time. Yeah, that made sense. His next item should be important, then.
Water’s obviously what I should be prioritising if running out of oxygen isn’t a possibility… then, food, and… something to call for help.
He scoffed. Wishing for a phone probably won’t work. Wouldn’t hurt to try, though.
Senku closed his eyes, held his breath, and thought:
Phonephonephonephonephone!
Then, opened them.
Might’ve just been that one time, then.
Senku tugged at the strand of hair falling over his face. If there were just one more person in here with me, this would all be so much easier… Chrome might’ve had some chemical tucked away that he discovered while foraging. Kohaku’s brute strength would be useful. Though even she wouldn’t be able to break metal… Some kind of magic trick involving certain chemicals or fire might’ve been helpful. However, that required Gen, and-
Blip!
Yet again, the air pressure shifted.
“Hey, hold on a second-!”
Nausea churned in Senku’s stomach. He covered his mouth.
Ugh, I almost passed out. That would’ve been bad. I can’t lose consciousness until I figure out where I am...
A quiet sniffle brought Senku’s attention back to the present moment. He stared at the familiar figure before him, curled up into a tight ball, face buried in the fabric of his sleeves, and thought for just a moment that he resembled a frightened pill bug.
Senku cleared his throat and spoke up.
“…Mentalist?”
Gen sat up. In the darkness, it was difficult to make out most of his distinct features. However, the sensation of Gen’s hand sneaking up to rest on Senku’s chest wasn’t lost on him.
“Senku? Wow. I really am losing it…” he let out a nervous laugh. “I never realised hallucinations could be so realistic…! Look, you even have a heartbeat! Badump, badump, badump…” he sniffled once more, moving to wrap his trembling arms around Senku’s body. “But even if you’re not actually here… It’s eally-ray great to see you in my last moments…!”
“…I am here.”
“Wow, you even sound like-”
Gen paused. He grabbed at Senku’s face. He grabbed at his nose. Gen jabbed him in the eye with a finger.
“Ow-”
“Senku- you’re here!?” shrieked Gen, pressing his body against the wall. “You’re really, really here? Why didn’t you say something earlier!?”
Senku felt along the metal. This room is identical to the one I was stuck in… what’s the point of holding both Gen and me hostage? This makes no sense. What situation would require the two of us?
“How long have you been in here, exactly?”
“Uh-” Gen cleared his throat, gaze drifting sidelong. A bead of sweat trickled down his cheek. “Maybe a few… hours? Four hours? I don’t know. It’s kind of hard to keep track of time- hold on, how did you get here-!?”
“That so?” he breathed out a chuckle. “This place is a total mystery, isn’t it? What sort of experiment would require both a scientist and a psychologist? It’s totally illogical.”
“…experiment?”
“It seems like whoever’s brought us here has less-than-noble intentions.”
Gen covered his mouth with a sleeve as he thought. “…I really don’t like that look on your face. You’re planning something strange, aren’t you?”
Senku smirked. "For once, no. If this is the doing of aliens, we're toast. I doubt even logic and science would be much help against an extraterrestrial..."
“Is-” Gen faltered. “Is that really it? Hold on, couldn’t Tsukasa have-”
“No, this isn’t something he’d do. There’s no point in kidnapping a person he could just kill. That’s a total waste of time and resources. It’s much more likely that whoever did this has no interest whatsoever in efficiency."
Gen’s throat clicked as he swallowed. The fabric of his clothing rustled as he moved in closer. "...you are the real Senku, right? It's just difficult to believe you're not some kind of elaborate hallucination. How do I know you're not a figment of my imagination?"
Senku shrugged. “You don’t.”
“…that doesn’t really make me feel any better-”
“Hallucinations,” Senku continued. “Are the result of extreme stress. There have been many reported incidences of the elderly experiencing hallucinations of their dead loved ones before the end of their lives. The specific term is terminal delirium. It's a fair conclusion to make, really. There's not even the slightest hint of logic in this situation. Your brain may very well be stressed enough to have begun to play make-believe, and dreamt up the person most likely to bring you comfort in a time of crisis-"
Senku stopped. His gaze drifted to the man sitting across from him.
“I have three working theories,” Senku began, effectively moving along. He stuck three fingers up. “One. We’ve died, and this is hell.”
Gen shook off the abrupt change in topic. “…Wow. How optimistic.”
Senku lowered a finger. “Two, we’ve been kidnapped in our sleep, and whoever made this place has my level of intelligence and the moral compass of a certain dictator… and we’re going to experience some level of torture.”
Gen’s face paled as he smiled. “Right, right. Torture. Makes sense. Tell me, dear Senku… how exactly did you arrive at this conclusion?”
“Well," Senku began. “There’s no real reason to trap us somewhere so soundproof unless that soundproofing is to muffle our impending screams.”
He laughed brightly. “Oh, Senku. I just love how honest you are. However…” Gen gritted his teeth. “You’re being a little too honest with me right now…”
“Lying to you would benefit nobody.”
“Yeah, but… still. You could say something along the lines of…” Gen collected his hair in his hands, pushing it up to the ceiling. His voice deepened. “Mentalist… We’ll ten-billion-per cent get out of this alive. With the power of science! Don’t you worry!’, at this point it’d even take a pat on the shoulder…”
“..I never said we weren’t going to get out of this alive.”
“Yeah, well, I’d actually much rather be dead than be tortured!” Gen smoothed his hair down, huffing. “Honestly, Senku… I don’t understand how you think at all.”
Senku moved in closer. He gave Gen a gentle, albeit somewhat awkward, pat on the shoulder.
“I’m not going to let anything bad happen. So quit worrying. I can’t see what expression you’re making exactly, but I can tell that you’re scowling...”
“How can I not worry? We’re stuck in an impossible circumstance. I mean… where would someone even get metal like this-… how can you be so sure we’re not going to-”
“Because,” Senku cut him off. “It’s me we’re talking about.”
Gen breathed out a slow sigh. “Yeah. I figured you’d say that…”
“By the way… what was that third theory?”
“Huh?”
Gen shuffled through his deck of cards. His eyes narrowed in concentration so as not to drop one. Retrieving it would be a pain in the darkness, and, with the way their legs were tangled…
“The third one. You said you had three working theories, but only listed two.”
“No, I had two theories.”
Gen laughed. “Aha, what? I’m pretty sure you said-”
“Two.”
“Okay,” Gen murmured. “Two it is…”
He split the deck in two, the cards clicking gently. “Okay, Senku! Pick a card.”
“Oh, sure.” Senku paused. “Uh. Where-?”
“In front of your face.”
An awkward moment passed as Senku reached out to feel the air. Once he’d located the deck, he plucked a card from between Gen’s fingers.
“Mentalist, I’m not sure there’s any point in card tricks when it’s this dark-”
“Most of magic is the psychological aspect, Senku! You don’t need to see the magic to feel it,” he shuffled the cards again to give his restless fingers something to do. “Did you memorise your card?”
Judging by Senku’s silence, he guessed he was giving him a flat look. “…oh. Totally.”
“Great!” Gen beamed, and with a gasp, reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear. “Oho, what’s this? It seems as though I’m pulling something out from behind my ear!”
“I’m sure you are.”
“Is this your card?” Gen whipped out a card, the ace of spades, and dangled it in front of Senku’s face. Senku sighed through his nose, stirring. He moved in closer. Just for a moment, Gen’s heart stuttered in his chest.
“Someone could’ve slipped a hallucinative plant in the ramen,” Senku muttered softly. “This whole situation could be the result of a shared psychedelic experience-”
“You think we’re tripping?” Gen spluttered, baffled. “I can’t believe my magic bored you so badly that you’re considering something so-”
“It’s feasible. If someone from the Tsukasa Empire snuck in… either that, or we have a traitor in our midst.”
“Hold on, now, don’t look at me!”
“How did you know I was looking at you?”
“Well, I didn’t, but now I know you were…” Gen huffed silently. “This whole situation is just insane. What are we even supposed to do in a situation like this-? We can hardly see an inch in front of our faces, we’re stuck in some kind of… sealed metal box, nobody knows where we are-”
“I’ve figured my way out of worse situations.”
“Well, I’m sorry, Senku, but I don’t think you can get us out of this one.”
The silence that followed was uncomfortably un-Senku-like. And then, with the apathy that followed anything not including science, “Why?”
“…Why?” he parroted.
“Why-” he asked again, “-don’t you think I can get us out of here? The petrification followed a series of impossible events. I discovered the cure. Tsukasa possesses impossible strength, and the Kingdom of Science hasn’t fallen yet. Through science, we’re going to defeat him, too.”
Another round of uncharacteristic silence from Senku followed. “Haven’t I proven myself enough to you?”
“Now, Senku, we both know you’re not asking this out of insecurity.”
He snorted softly. “No.”
“Then-?”
“You’re shivering,” he replied. “You’ve been shivering since I got here. In the hours that passed, you haven’t stopped. At first, I thought it was adrenaline, or maybe you were getting cold, but it’s clear to me now that there’s something you know that I don’t. So, what is it?”
Gen looked away. He pressed his body up against the metal in the hopes that, if he tried, he could phase right on through and disappear. “…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You do.”
“I don’t.”
“Mentalist-”
“Senku,” he smiled warmly. “Out of everyone in that village, you’re the one I have the most faith in. It’s not an issue of knowing something you don’t or a lack of confidence in your abilities- simply…” Gen laughed dryly. “I’m a total coward.”
For the first time since the petrification, Senku seemed utterly confused.
“…huh?”
“I realised this back when you made that lightbulb. You were a beacon of hope in a world of darkness and despair. Three thousand seven hundred years of silence, and the first voice that spoke was yours. With the power of science, you lit up that little village figuratively and literally,” Gen swallowed. “And no matter what impossible situation we find ourselves in, not once have you ever given up… I can’t say that for myself. I gave up the moment I broke out of that stone.”
“Mentalist, why are you-”
“Are you still not getting it?" Gen asked, voice shaking and not in the purposeful way it usually did. “The human body can’t stay stationary for thousands of years. Even though we don’t remember the day we were born, the body remembers. From the moment I was petrified to the moment I was revived… my body knew the sensation of being confined even though I didn’t-”
“Implicit memory-” Senku confirmed. “-lives in the unconscious mind, affecting how an individual performs tasks without thinking about them. Because of that, on occasion, trauma can be stored. The body keeps the score.” Senku breathed out a quiet chuckle, clothes rustling as he sat up. “So. The petrification gave you claustrophobia. Is that what you’re saying?”