"Hello, Olivia." I replied with a small yet welcoming smile as I leaned back against the wall.
"I'll give you guys your privacy. The doctor said as he left the room. The two police officers remained in the room, their faces masks of solemness and security. Their hands hovered over their firearms in case any problems arose.
"We came here to...discuss things." Olivia said as she sat opposite me. "You saw a student die firsthand, shouldn't that be...worrying to you?"
Upon hearing her question, my entire body seemed to go numb. Sure, my reaction to seeing the student's corpse turn cold and bitter was shock, but I wasn't exactly traumatized by what I had seen. I had actually walked away from the scene with little to no mental damage.
"I don't exactly know." I replied, feeling a strange churning in my gut. This was akin to the experience I had with my father, how I hadn't hesitated to stick a knife in him—whether consciously or unconsciously. Thinking back to the shadowy figure I had encountered in the manifestation theatre, it had only appeared in the mirror's reflection after I arrived at Shinso's establishment, and it seemed to call a name unfamiliar to me.
Well...humans are difficult creatures to understand, eh?" Olivia's smile disappeared.
...
Within another sterile room a few doors down, numerous test tubes and samples were neatly sprawled out on the counter. Among them were my urine and blood samples, along with other collected fluids from other patients, including seminal samples for analysis and testing. In the corner was the student's corpse laid out on a medical bed, a white sheet concealing its appearance.
The stern doctor typed vigorously at his computer, inputting numerous codes and diagrams relating to my samples, along with some samples of the student's corpse. He suddenly pressed a button on a nearby console, activating the communication device adjacent to the screen.
"The cell structure of the student's corpse...it's fascinating, but at the same time...it's horrifying."
After typing for a few more seconds he continued to speak to another medical professional on the other end of the line. "The gametes and somatic cells known for inheriting phenotypic quirks that had been passed down, they're slowly degenerating."
On the screen before the doctor was the zoomed in sample of a large amount of cells, all purple and green in color. Tiny black spots painted the cells, slowly expanding and eroding away at the molecular structure.
"Doesn't that happen after someone dies? The traits and quirks that they inherited from their parents slowly die off as their body degenerates?" A woman's voice sounded on the other end of the communication channel.
"True, but the current processing I'm observing is sped up dramatically." He leaned in closer, pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"The gradual acceleration of this biological process can only be pinpointed to something out of my knowledge. I already had a team perform an autopsy and I received some...peculair data."
He reached beside him, taking out a sheet of paper with notes written on it. "The internal and external body temperature of the corpse have decreased at a fast rate, one that's unlike anything we've previously perceived as medically possible."
"When examining the corpse for possible signs of death, we didn't find any external or internal wounds following an radiographic analysis. All bones and internal organs appear intact, but have showcased the usual traits of a corpse."
A pungent, foul smell broke the doctor from his reading, causing him to look up and raise his face mask. "Consider yourself lucky that you're not present at the moment."
The smell was emanating from the corpse in the corner of the room, the white blanket having now turned an unsettling shade of brown. The doctor tensed a little, but he forced his body upwards, walking over to the corpse of the student. When he removed the sheet, his heart sank to his feet when he saw what occurred.
The boy's skin had turned a deep green color, his eyes, nose, and mouth slowly oozing with semi-transparent, yellow pus. The boy's teeth had faced a surprising amount of decay as if he had been there for months—maybe even years. The skin on his hands had already begun to wither away, revealing thin tissue, muscles, and some bone protruding from underneath.
Sprawled across the boys' now green skin were fungi—mushrooms—which sprouted from the boy like plants. They reeked like rotting flesh and bodily excrement.
The doctor remained still, his gaze fixated on the corpse as he struggled to process what he was seeing.
He darted back to the console and spoke up, his voice an uncharacteristic frenzy. "The boys' corpse is beginning to exhibit signs of decay at an alarming rate! I need a team here, now!"
...
"It's not everyday someone sees someone else die." Shinso's father chuckled, leaning against the wall. He was quickly greeted by a jab to the side from Shinso, causing him to let out a low grunt and rub the spot of collision.
"Sorry..."
Aizawa, who had remained silent for the most part, spoke up. "I've dealt with murder before, except I have better experience with detaining the criminals rather than running investigations. If you saw a student suspiciously drop dead before your eyes, I wouldn't really consider it murder."
"Then what is it? Why was I put in cuffs if I didn't kill him?" I asked, a small surge of injustice brewing in my heart.
"You were the only one who saw the event occur. You were needed to give a full account of the events, a firsthand perspective beyond what security cameras could analyze." Aizawa replied, leaning back against the wall, his gaze still fixed on me.
"I was assured I'd receive my data in a little while, but I'm unsure if I'll be let go after."
At that moment I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. It was Mr. Ryujin. "Don't worry, kiddo. It'll only be a few hours. They won't let you stay here overnight, the beds here do more harm than good!" The man with horns let out a low chuckle.
"I hope you're right..."
At that moment the door opened, and the doctor barged in, looking directly at me with a serious, no-nonsense expression. "Come, now."
"Good luck." I heard Shinso and Ayumi say as I left the room.
I was led into another room similar to the medical one, except the lights were dimmer, and I could see countless analysis screens and samples. "Your tests are done, come."
He led me over to a screen in the corner of the room. It showed a collection of red and white blobs, along with other biological particles of various sizes.
"The death of the student was what we perceived to be...supernatural in a way. The boy's quirk was electrical generation, which sparked the possibility that he could have fried himself." The doctor un-ironically used a pun.
"He has...experinece with his quirk. I can tell. He was good at harnessing electricity to his advantage, often short-circuiting lights and using focused attacks. Someone with precision like that...I don't think he did that to himself."
I turned towards the screen, raising an eyebrow. "Although I'm curious as to why you'd bring that up."
"Well..." the doctor's voice gained a sudden sense of hesitancy, he found himself slightly unable to reveal what he was about to tell me.
"The boy you saw drop dead...his corpse has been exhibiting strange happenings, most biological factors and processes have been speeding up, and the decay of his body is occurring at a much faster rate."
He turned towards the screen, pressing it and zooming into one of my bodily cells. The cell was purple and green, with numerous translucent blobs that resembled jellyfish, drifting them like dust. "These are Perogenic Quirkitoids, the almost invisible cells that harness the DNA of the parents quirk-factor."
His eyes narrowed. "Your Quirkitoids are transparent, a sign indicating your lack of one. They'd usually contain colorful cells that are filled with the necessary quirk-accommodating genetic codes and signals.
"You said the corpse was degenerating faster...and based on what you're saying...you think I did that?"
"We originally suspected you had a quirk, but the tests we ran indicated you didn't have one to begin with...or maybe your quirk habitually activated, but the genetic, exterior signs haven't manifested."
"But my Quirkitoids are transparent...I don't have a quirk."
The doctor turned towards me, his lips twitching slightly. "Science is the essence of life, and it works in mysterious ways."
...
"What did he tell you?" Ayumi asked as I entered the room, gazing at me with her curious, black eyes.
"He thinks I have a quirk, but the genetic mambo-jumbo he brought up said elsewise. Though, based on what he proposed, I could have one."
"Didn't you have an auxiliary quirk exam when you were a kid?" Aizawa asked.
"No, I don't remember my childhood. If I did, I could validate that."
"We proposed doing one now, but genetic testing has evolved greatly in the last twenty years, meaning science could outperform traditional means of investigation." One of the police officers, the one with the rat-like features, spoke up.
"What were the previous means of investigation?" I asked, turning towards the officer.
"A neurological stimulation activity, or an NSI. Utilizing mental cues and stimulation, we could promote specific codes and algorithms within the quirks dialect, prompting it to activate...although not that much."
"Although..." The officer with water-like hair spoke up, sighing. "Your IV testing has been completed, and the genetic information you gave us makes us think you don't have a quirk."
"Isn't it worth a try? Students don't drop dead like that." Ayumi spoke up, her eyes flickering with ambition, accompanied by a residual pang of hesitancy.
"We could conduct that test...but your friend here is under close surveillance in the meantime, and due to the IV blood extraction, over-exertion of his body could be dangerous."
"Dang it..." Ayumi couldn't help but pout.
I stepped back onto the soft counter, taking a deep breath as I closed my eyes. "I'll take a nap, when I wake up we can do this."
My eyes slowly drifted close as I let out a long sigh. This time, I saw illusory, blurry images, accompanied by groans and yelps. I saw my kitchen, although the picture was hazy, and my father standing beside the knife I had used to attack him, kicking it aside.
He suddenly let out a surprised gasp as illusory, crimson and black energy engulfed my perspective, sending me elsewhere. Within the vortex, a shadowy arm composed of darkness stretched from the abyss, scooping me up as if I were a small animal, before setting my unconscious body onto the bench in the park. Shinso's gaze flickered to me, and he cocked an eyebrow.
Was that how I ended up in the park? Why did that energy hear, and that illusory hand? Does it have something to do with that cloaked figure I keep seeing?
My eyes opened, and the room was dark, except for the small blinking lights of numerous medical equipment. The overhead vents were the only constant sound in the room, aside from my shaky breathing. Suddenly, the door opened, causing the light from the hallway to flood into the room. The officers, accompanied by Ayumi, Shinso, Aizawa, and the others, entered the room.
"Morning, sleepyhead. You ready?" Mr. Ryujin asked, standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. I heaved a sigh of relief, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel something churning in my gut as I stood up and slipped on my slippers.
"Yeah..." I rubbed the tiredness out of my eyes as I left the room, walking down the hallway beside Mr. Ryujin. The man stopped at a metal door, his expression suddenly changing as he looked towards me. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Did the...doctors know we're doing this?"
Mr. Ryujin nodded. "They did more tests and they think you're in healthy physical condition...although."
The man pulled out what appeared to be a small black box from his pocket, showing it to me. "I had the U.A Support Department cook this up."
He opened the lid of the box, revealing to me what appeared to be a dog collar. I was immediately taken aback by the item. "A...collar?"
"A neurogenic suppression collar. So if you do have a quirk, and it gets too out of control, you'll be zapped asleep."
Mr. Ryujin gave me a slightly assuring smile as he handed me the item. I took it with shaky hands, taking a few moments to analyze the item before putting it around my neck, feeling it clip together with a series of mechanical and clockworked grinding sounds.
"You're ready, kiddo." Mr. Ryujin reached out and punched a code into a panel by the door, before pushing it open. All the lights in the room turned on one by one, revealing the training area. The room had padded walls and padded floors, and numerous slabs of stone and training equipment lining the walls. It closely resembled the U.A Gamma Gym.
"All this in a police station?" I couldn't help but feel my heart leap out of my chest. This room was much higher quality and anticipated.
"It doubles as a hospital and a training dojo." Mr. Aizawa said, standing behind me with the others. Olivia stood beside Aizawa, while Ayumi and Shinso leaned against the wall, looking at me with calm smiles.
"Wow..." I looked back into the room, before stepping in.