Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The bedside monitor echoed softly in the silent room. Kanasei's vision swam in and out of focus. A sterile scent burned faintly in his nose.
His eyelids fluttered.
"Ahh…where am I…?"
His voice came out hoarse.
He was lying on a hospital bed. His head felt heavy and...wrapped.
Completely wrapped. Thick layers of bandages covered everything except his eyes. He lifted a hand weakly and rubbed them.
Wait…
Is my left eye exposed?
Memory crashed back into him.
The wall, the impact, the fight, the crash.
Kanasei pushed himself up—
Pain detonated behind his forehead.
"Ow…"
"Rest, now."
The voice was distorted, glitched and layered. As if multiple frequencies spoke at once.
"Don't damage your head further."
Kanasei lifted his gaze.
A man stood across the room with his back turned. He wore a pristine white lab coat over a dark navy formal shirt. Black slacks. Polished black shoes. His posture was straight.
His black hair was slicked back neatly, slightly long at the ends.
He appeared to be working on something mounted to the wall. A display panel filled with holographic projections and flowing data.
The equipment in the room was unlike anything Kanasei had ever seen.
Nothing looked ordinary.
Not the monitors, nor the IV system. Not even the walls. It felt like a laboratory, not a hospital.
The man turned.
Kanasei's breath caught.
Half of the man's face wasn't…stable.
It flickered black, white and gray. Like corrupted footage.
A living monochrome glitch distorted the left side of his face, swallowing one eye entirely. The same distortion consumed portions of his hands, phasing in and out of visibility.
He walked toward the bed.
Two additional hands, formed entirely of glitching static, manifested briefly behind his back.
The man reached the IV stand. He inserted a syringe filled with bright cyan liquid into the bag. The fluid bled into the clear solution slowly.
"What's your name?"
He didn't speak.
The glitched hands behind him formed intricate, precise signs. Symbols manifested in midair above his shoulder—fragmented text, jittering slightly. A synthetic, distorted voice read the text aloud.
"Uh…..Kanasei."
Kanasei swallowed.
The man nodded once. He stepped back toward the console.
"What was that just now…that you put in the bag?"
The man didn't turn around.
More hand signs and hovering text.
"A regenerative compound."
Pause.
"It will accelerate your healing progress."
Another flicker.
"It was developed by Anahera. You may thank her."
Kanasei's eyes widened slightly.
Evergarden. The healer. One of J.A.G.E.R.'s most famous heroes.
Which meant...He wasn't in a normal hospital. He was in their custody.
"And what's…your name?"
The glitched hands paused mid-motion. Then moved again. The hovering text stabilized. and the distorted voice spoke clearly this time.
"My name is Jikken."
Kanasei's stomach dropped.
He knew that name.
The scientist. The Support specialist of J.A.G.E.R.
The hero known as Monochromatic.
Kanasei looked around the room more carefully now.
Every surface was seamless. Metal that wasn't quite metal. Screens that floated instead of mounted. Machines humming quietly with restrained power. None of it looked mass-produced. It looked engineered.
"Would you mind if I asked a few questions?"
The distorted voice layered itself calmly through the air.
Kanasei glanced at him.
"Nah."
He shook his head slightly, wincing at the lingering pain.
"Go on."
Jikken turned fully toward him.
A hologram flickered to life above his palm.
Kanasei saw himself. A full three-dimensional projection rotating slowly in midair. Data flowing beside it.
"Structurally," Jikken signed.
The glitched hands moved with exact, economical precision. The synthetic voice followed.
"Everything appears normal."
The hologram shifted and zoomed in. It now focused on Kanasei's head.
"Except for your eye."
The projection expanded. Layers peeled back.
Skin became translucent. Bone faded. Brain tissue illuminated in faint neural pulses.
"More accurately," Jikken continued, beginning to walk in a slow circle around the bed, "your entire cranial system."
The hologram darkened.
Green. Luminous. Root-like structures bloomed into visibility.
They originated from the left eye. Thick near the source. Branching outward. Threading through the brain like invasive vines. Then descending down the spinal column. Spreading into the nervous system. Arms. Legs. Torso.
Kanasei's throat tightened.
"What you have isn't a superficial mutation," Jikken said evenly. "It's integrated."
He extended his fingers.
The hologram magnified further.
The root structures pulsed faintly.
"Something in your eye has implanted itself throughout your brain."
A small pause.
"And it's continuing to spread."
The projection collapsed back into a neutral rotation.
"My question," Jikken signed, "is simple."
His visible eye settled on Kanasei.
"How did this occur?"
"And what is it?"
Silence filled the room. Kanasei stared at the hologram, and the glowing roots.
He shrugged.
"I dunno."
His voice was quieter this time.
"One day…I just started transforming."
He flexed his bandaged fingers slightly.
"Into it."
Jikken studied him for a long moment.
"I see."
The hologram dissolved into scattered pixels.
"There is no trace of artificial implantation."
"No surgical tampering or external catalyst detected."
A faint flicker rippled across the glitch on his face.
"Interesting."
Kanasei shifted slightly on the bed.
"And…I would like to request something."
The hands moved again.
The distorted voice remained calm.
"Would you consent to an interview?"
Kanasei frowned slightly.
"What for…?"
"To document the incident and clarify the sequence of events."
"And to determine the threat classification of both yourself and the deceased."
That last part hung in the air.
Kanasei exhaled slowly.
"…It's about the fight."
"Yes."
He hesitated. Then nodded.
"Alright."
He leaned back slightly.
"Just tell me when."
Jikken inclined his head once.
"Very well."
Jikken reached into the inner pocket of his lab coat.
He withdrew a small white pill.
Then, from a nearby counter, he picked up a narrow glass vial. Inside it cyan energy shimmered.
Not liquid. Energy.
It sparked softly against the glass like contained lightning.
Kanasei's eyes narrowed slightly.
It looked identical to what had been fed into his IV earlier. Only condensed.
Jikken removed the cork. The sound it made wasn't normal. It chimed. A faint, crystalline resonance filled the room as sparkling particles drifted upward and vanished.
He tilted the vial. The cyan energy poured out in a thin stream of light and coated the pill. The white surface absorbed it instantly. The pill turned bright cyan, then began to sparkle faintly.
Jikken retrieved a small metallic square case. He placed the pill inside and snapped it shut.
The glitched hands appeared again behind him. The distorted voice followed.
"I'll discharge you now."
Pause.
"This does not indicate unrestricted activity."
He walked toward the bed and extended the case toward Kanasei.
"You need rest. One to two weeks before engaging in any strenuous action."
Kanasei hesitated. He slowly pushed himself upright, head still throbbing. Then took the case. It felt cool in his palm. He stared at it, confusion flickering across his face. Before he could speak—
"It's another regenerative compound."
Jikken had already turned away.
"Similar to the one administered intravenously."
He resumed interacting with a cluster of hovering holograms.
"Use it only if necessary."
The glitch along his face flickered faintly as data scrolled in reflected light.
Kanasei sat there for a moment. Not entirely sure what to say, nor what he was supposed to be doing now.
"You may leave."
Jikken didn't turn around.
"You're allowed to explore the facility."
...
"However, you'll require an escort."
...
"Or, you can go home immediately instead."
Kanasei swung his legs over the side of the bed.
The floor felt strange beneath his feet. After everything, he stood. He wobbled slightly, but managed.
"…Thanks."
He raised a hand in an awkward half-wave.
"Bye. For now."
The door in front of him slid open with a quiet mechanical hiss. Bright hallway lights spilled into the room.
Jikken didn't look back. Kanasei stepped through, and the door closed behind him.
— — —
Kanasei stepped out into the hallway. The door sealed shut behind him with a soft hiss. He stared down at the small metallic case in his hand. He shook it lightly. No sound. He slid his hand inside his jacket, the zipper resting halfway up his chest, and tucked the case into the hidden inner pocket.
When he looked up, the hallway stretched in two directions.
Left and right.
Identical metallic corridors lined with embedded lighting and seamless walls.
He rubbed the back of his head.
"…Great."
He had no idea where he was. No idea where to go.
After a moment of hesitation, he chose right.
He walked, sneakers echoing faintly against polished flooring.
His thoughts drifted back.
Grasp.
He said he was sent by someone.
Sent.
By who?
And why me?
"YEEEEEEE—HAAAAA!!!"
The scream tore through the hallway like a live wire.
Immediately followed by—
BWAAANG!
An electric guitar chord exploded through the corridor.
Kanasei flinched.
At the far end of the hall—where it turned left—someone slid into view. Boots skidding sideways across the floor.
One hand dragging across the ground to control the momentum.
In the other, a blue and white V-2 electric guitar.
He was tall. Broad-shouldered. Muscular.
He wore a black leather coat, unbuttoned and tied at the waist, over a white shirt. Black commando pants. Heavy black boots.
A cyan mohawk slicked back instead of spiked up.
Blue star-shaped shutter glasses rested over his blue eyes.
Microphones clipped along his collar. Mini speakers mounted along his belt. A keyboard slung across his torso. Radio equipment wired into the coat. Guitar straps crossing his torso. It looked like he had raided an entire music studio and strapped it to himself.
And he was grinning. Widely.
He spotted Kanasei and lowered the star-shaped glasses just enough to peer over them.
The grin sharpened.
"Well, well, well~."
His voice carried a rhythmic bounce.
"Who do we got here?"
Before Kanasei could answer, the man practically sprinted forward.
Then slid again, stopping inches in front of him.
Leaning in. Pointing dramatically.
"Aren't you the guy who popped Mr. Hands' head?"
Kanasei froze.
"…Mr. Hands?"
The man giggled.
"You are~! Hehehehehe~!"
He straightened abruptly.
"My name's Gaku. Nice to meetcha!"
He thrust his hand out enthusiastically.
Kanasei hesitated only a second before shaking it.
"…Kanasei. Nice to meet you."
Gaku nodded rapidly.
"Oh yeah, I know."
His grin widened.
"You've made a name for yourself here."
Kanasei blinked.
He had never been famous.
Gaku glanced left, then right. Suspiciously.
He leaned in slowly, one hand cupping the side of his mouth like he was about to reveal classified information.
Kanasei instinctively straightened.
Was this about the fight? About Grasp? About whoever sent him?
"Hey…"
Gaku lowered his voice dramatically.
"…was my entrance cool?"
Kanasei stared at him blankly.
"…I guess?"
Gaku's eyes widened behind the star-shaped lenses. He did a silent fist pump.
"Yesss…!" he whispered triumphantly.
He gave Kanasei a firm pat on the back, hard enough to make him stumble half a step forward.
"C'mon, let's get going!"
He turned and started striding down the corridor like he owned the place.
Kanasei raised an eyebrow.
"Where to?"
Gaku spun around while still walking backward, completely unbothered.
"Don't you wanna explore the facility?"
He spread his arms dramatically.
"J.A.G.E.R.'s facility?"
Kanasei stood there for a moment. Then sighed.
"…Yeah. Sure. Why not."
Gaku grinned and turned back around.
Kanasei caught up easily with his longer strides.
The hallway lights reflected faintly off Gaku's guitar as it bounced against his back with each step.