Opening Scene — The Ruins Still Smoke
Night hung heavy over the scorched remains of Division Thirteen. Where once glass and steel glimmered with sterile perfection, now only twisted rebar and dusted ash marked the land. Kyoto's winds whispered through the ruin, carrying with them the scent of burnt circuitry and blood.
Nagisa Shiota stood among it — silent, still, his breath visible in the cold air. His once-clean shirt was streaked with soot, and his hands trembled not from exhaustion, but something deeper — the echo of failure.
Hakumura crouched nearby, digging through broken panels and crushed metal plates. The glow of his small flashlight illuminated the wreckage.
Hakumura: "Nothing. The fire burned through most of the data cores. Everything we came for — it's gone. Damn that Hanei for setting off the bomb from earlier. Now we have no information against the enemy."
Nagisa said nothing for a long moment. The faint hum of distant sirens echoed from the city above.
Nagisa (thinking): All that risk… all those things… and still, nothing to show for it. If I were still teaching, I'd tell my students that even in failure, there's something to learn. But standing here, in this silence — I'm not sure what lesson this is supposed to be.
He walked through the rubble, eyes half-lidded with fatigue. Then, something caught his attention — a metallic clang beneath his foot. He knelt, brushing away dirt and charred debris. Beneath it, a faint outline: a hatch.
Nagisa: "Hakumura. Over here."
Hakumura hurried over, kneeling beside him. Together they cleared the rubble. The hatch was old, reinforced, marked by symbols that didn't belong to any current UMA branch. A smaller plaque read: SUB-LEVEL 0 — ACCESS RESTRICTED.
Hakumura: "A hidden section. Not on any of the blueprints."
Nagisa: "Which means it's important."
They exchanged a look — equal parts fear and resolve.
Hakumura exhaled slowly. Hakumura: "If there's still data left… this might be the last chance we get."
Nagisa nodded, pressing his palm against the biometric lock. It was cold and cracked, but faintly responsive. With a quiet hiss, the hatch released.
Below them — darkness.
Descent
Their flashlights flickered as they climbed down the ladder. The air grew denser, humid, tinged with the metallic tang of old coolant. Beneath their feet, water dripped rhythmically from corroded pipes.
Nagisa moved first, cautious and quiet, his senses alive. Hakumura followed behind, the echo of each step stretching through the silence.
Nagisa: "We shouldn't have missed this the first time."
Hakumura: "Because it was meant to be missed. Division Thirteen was the distraction."
Nagisa turned slightly, studying him. Nagisa: "You sound certain."
Hakumura: "I remember when I was stationed here. They used to talk about 'the well' — a place where only the highest scientists were allowed. Said it was where they 'made the miracles work.'"
Nagisa frowned. Nagisa: "Miracles?"
Hakumura: "That's what they called it. The process of bending human will. They said the body was weak, but obedience could make it eternal."
The words echoed through Nagisa's mind like poison. He thought of Koro-sensei's lessons — of how growth came through understanding, never control. He tightened his grip on the flashlight.
The Shadow
They reached the bottom at last. The corridor stretched far, bathed in a pale blue glow. Old terminals hummed faintly, half-powered. The floor was littered with shattered glass.
As they began to move forward, Nagisa froze.
Nagisa: "Wait."
Hakumura stopped. Hakumura: "What is it?"
Nagisa turned his head slightly, eyes narrowing. In the faint reflection of a cracked monitor — movement. A figure.
He swung his flashlight. Nothing. The beam hit empty air, dust swirling lazily. But something — some instinct deep in his bones — screamed that they weren't alone.
Nagisa (thinking): Someone's here. Watching.
He scanned again. Nothing. Only the quiet pulse of old machinery. He shook his head slightly, forcing himself forward.
But above, in the smoke of the ruins, someone was watching.
Dr. Hanei
Among the twisted remains of Division Thirteen, Dr. Hanei rose from the rubble — his white coat torn and blood-soaked. One arm hung uselessly at his side; the other clutched a metal support beam for balance. Blood dripped from his temple onto the ash-streaked floor.
His breathing was shallow, but his eyes burned with feverish light. Below him, he could see two faint beams of light descending into the hatch.
He smiled weakly.
Dr. Hanei: "Still alive… and still foolish enough to come back."
He staggered forward, his mind fracturing with each step. The world swayed before him — until his vision blurred into memory.
Flashback — The Courtroom
A younger Hanei stood trembling in the center of a grand courtroom, his hands shaking as three towering figures loomed above him behind a long table.
Judge 1: "Candidate Hanei, your test results are impressive. Your comprehension of neural synchronization surpasses the standard."
Judge 2: "But he's unstable. His family's death has left him emotionally compromised."
The third figure leaned forward, voice cold, deliberate. Judge 3: "Sometimes instability creates genius. Let him work for UMA. His mind is useful — even if it destroys him."
The boy stared blankly ahead. His eyes were dull, his face drawn thin by grief. His parents' deaths still echoed in his head — their screams in a fire caused by military negligence, buried under classified lies.
Young Hanei (thinking): They took everything from me. And now they offer purpose as a leash.
He clenched his fists.
Young Hanei: "If I serve, I'll serve better than anyone. You'll see. I'll rise higher than all of you. It's my only purpose now."
A faint, satisfied smile crossed the judges' lips.
Judge 3: "Then we shall see what your 'purpose' becomes, child."
Present — Blood and Obsession
Hanei blinked as the memory faded. His lips trembled into a broken smile.
Dr. Hanei (muttering): "Purpose… respect… that's all that matters. They'll see… they'll all see."
He began to limp toward the hatch, blood trailing behind him, whispering to the shadows as he descended.
Below — The Forgotten Lab
Nagisa and Hakumura entered a massive underground hall. It was cleaner here — untouched by fire, preserved in eerie perfection. Rows of capsules lined the walls, each labeled with serial numbers and the same phrase: "Cognitive Vessel Series."
Hakumura: "I've… never seen this part before."
Nagisa: "This is where the real experiments happened."
They approached a central console. The screen flickered, static crackling before stabilizing. Lines of data scrolled rapidly — memory logs, audio fragments, classified reports.
Hakumura inserted a backup drive, recording what he could. Hakumura: "We can take this back and decrypt it later—"
Nagisa: "Wait. Look at this."
The screen displayed a file marked "Division Zero: Architect." A profile image appeared — blurred, incomplete — but one word was clear in the text beneath it: HAN— before static cut in.
Nagisa (whispering): "Hanei…"
Hakumura's face paled. Hakumura: "He's alive?"
Nagisa: "He was when we left. But if he's anything like the people who built this place, he won't stay down easily."
The Confrontation
A sound — metal scraping against the floor — echoed from behind. Both of them spun around.
Out from the shadows stepped Dr. Hanei, limping, blood smeared across his face, his eyes wild and burning.
Dr. Hanei: "Looking for answers? You're standing in the grave of humanity's future."
Nagisa steadied himself, voice calm. Nagisa: "You've lost everything. Why keep fighting?"
Dr. Hanei: "Because they're watching!"
He slammed a hand against the wall. Lights flickered to life, and holographic projections shimmered above them — ghostly images of the same three figures from the courtroom. Their faces were obscured, but their silhouettes were unmistakable.
Dr. Hanei: "My leaders. The ones who gave me purpose. I'll prove to them that my work isn't over."
His hand trembled as he reached for a small detonator at his belt.
Hakumura: "He's going to collapse the sub-level!"
Nagisa stepped forward slowly, his voice quiet but piercing. Nagisa: "Hanei… you said once that respect was your purpose. But what about the young kid you were before that courtroom? The one who just wanted his family back?"
The words hit Hanei like a knife. His eyes twitched.
Dr. Hanei: "That child died with them!"
Nagisa: "No. You killed him yourself — because it was easier than forgiving the world that broke you."
The detonator shook in his bloodied hand. For a moment, his face softened — confusion and sorrow flickering like light beneath cracked glass.
Dr. Hanei (whispering): "You sound like… him."
Nagisa: "Because I had a teacher who believed no one was beyond redemption. Even the lost ones."
Silence. The holograms flickered, distorting.
Hakumura: "Nagisa, we need to move—"
Dr. Hanei: "No… stay."
He lowered the detonator slightly, but his eyes clouded. Blood dripped down his wrist. Dr. Hanei: "If I can't rise… then I'll make sure the world remembers me as the person who tried."
He pressed the button.
Collapse
The ground trembled violently. Pipes burst, sparks showered from the ceiling. Nagisa grabbed Hakumura's arm, dragging him toward the ladder. The floor split open, waves of heat surging upward.
Hakumura: "He's still down there—"
Nagisa: "He made his choice sadly now."
They climbed, debris crashing around them. As Nagisa looked back one last time, he saw Hanei kneeling before the burning console — surrounded by the holographic judges, now flickering like ghosts. He wasn't smiling anymore. His lips moved, whispering something Nagisa couldn't hear over the roar of fire.
And then — light.
The explosion consumed the lower chamber, sealing it forever beneath layers of stone.
Aftermath — On the Surface
Hours later, dawn broke once again over Kyoto. Nagisa and Hakumura stood near the ruin, their faces illuminated by the rising sun.
Smoke curled upward like silent prayers.
Hakumura exhaled shakily. Hakumura: "He could've left with us."
Nagisa: "He didn't know how I guess."
Hakumura glanced at him. Hakumura: "You think we got enough from the data to stop the rest of them?"
Nagisa held up the damaged drive — cracked but blinking faintly. Nagisa: "Maybe. Maybe not. But it's a start."
He looked out toward the horizon. His reflection shimmered faintly in a puddle, beside Koro-sensei's old smiling face in a half-burned photo from his wallet — a reminder of who he once was.
Nagisa (thinking): We keep learning. We keep teaching. Even through failure, even through loss.
He turned to Hakumura, his voice quiet. Nagisa: "Let's finish what he started — the right way."
As they walked away from the ruins, the wind carried with it a low hum — like laughter, faint but warm, echoing across the broken land.
To Be Continued...