In a dark, worn-down building, Riku sits tied to a chair with ropes, blindfolded. Her body trembles with fear as a cold sweat drips down her face. Suddenly, a door creakes open to her right, and a dim light spilled into the room.
“Hmmm! Hello? Who’s there? Please help me!” Riku called out in desperation.
“Don’t worry! It’s me! Haha!”
A figure slowly stepped into view. It was Nishima. His face was sharp and wild, with a smile as sinister as a demon's.
“W-what do you want with me?”
“You?” Nishima grabbed her face tightly, his glove digging into her cheeks. “I don’t want anything from you… Well, not directly.” His grin widened. “I just want your BASTARD OF A FATHER to come clean. To finally admit how he lied to the island and DRAGGED MY FAMILY'S NAME THROUGH THE DIRT!”
He abruptly released her face, and Riku gasped for air.
“What happened? What… really happened to your family?” Riku asked, her voice trembling but tinged with curiosity.
“WHAT AN AMAZING QUESTION! I’ll tell you the truth. That way, you’ll understand just how evil your father really is.” His grin stretched wider, brimming with malice.
---
5 Years Ago
A building named Nova Nuclear Facility stood tall in the medical sector of Daimon Island. Its massive white structure loomed over the surrounding buildings like a giant. Inside, hordes of scientists worked tirelessly on various experiments. In the center of the facility stood a towering generator, rising five floors high, with teams of researchers working on it at various levels.
On the top floor of the facility, a large observation room overlooked the generator below. Two scientists stood inside the room. One was a woman with silcky black hair and sharp blue eyes, wearing a long white lab coat. Beside her was a man with brown hair, a fuzzy beard, and tired black eyes who also wore a white lab coat.
Behind them, two children darted around the room, laughing and chasing each other. A young teen with black hair and dark eyes, and a little girl with light brown hair and bright blue eyes.
“Haha! You can’t catch me!” the little girl taunted, scurrying around the room.
“Playing a game of chase, are we?” the brown-haired man asks, smiling warmly.
The boy paused, turning to the man with a dramatic sigh. “Yeah, Dad. Emi’s got way too much energy.”
“Ahaha” the woman chimed in with a bright grin, “thankfully she has such a good younger brother to keep up with her.”
“YEAH! ATSUKI’S THE BEST!” Emi cheered.
Suddenly, the door to the observation room burst open. A younger version of Mayor Hoshiga strode into the room, dressed sharply in a suit.
“Hideo, Aiko. I trust everything is going as planned.”
Hideo stepped forward. “Mayor Hoshiga? We weren’t aware you’d be visiting today.”
“I had some free time. I thought I’d stop by to see the progress myself.”
“I see. Well, Aiko and I have been working nonstop. We’ve already managed to create one full capsule of compressed radiation. It’s undergoing examination now. If this works, it could unlock endless possibilities for both the medical and industrial fields.”
Mayor Hoshiga peered through the window at the massive generator below, watching the bustling scientists with interest.
“Can you compress the radiation further?”
“No, sir! Absolutely not!” Aiko stepped forward quickly, her tone firm. “This level of compression is already dangerous. If we push it any further, there’s no telling what could happen.”
“Yes, but if you could pull it off… The advancements we’d make could surpass anything imaginable.”
“Yes, but it’s too dangerous!” Aiko repeated with a frustrated edge.
“You two are the best radiation scientists on this island. I picked y’all because I knew you were capable. But if you don’t follow through… Well, you can kiss your jobs goodbye.”
Without waiting for a reply, he turned on his heel and headed for the door. On his way out, his eyes caught on Atsuki and Emi, who had frozen in place under his gaze. He gave them a brief smile, a quick wave, and then disappeared through the doorway.
Aiko turned to Hideo, her face furrowed with worry. “We can’t do this, Hideo. It’s too dangerous.”
“I know, but if we don’t… we’re done. We won’t have the money to take care of the kids.” He glanced at Atsuki and Emi, their laughter now a distant memory. Aiko and Hideo exchanged a look, a deep concern passing silently between them.
---
The Next Day
Morning broke on Daimon Island, and the streets bustled with life. Atsuki and Emi walked together, backpacks slung over their shoulders.
“Hey, Atsuki! Can we stop by Mom and Dad’s work real quick?”
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“They told us not to go there today. We should probably listen to them. It sounded important.”
“Yeah, but I got them a really super cool gift!” Emi grinned mischievously.
“Oh yeah? What’d you get them?"
“Uh uh! Nope, not telling!” Emi stuck out her tongue. “It’s a secret.”
“If it’s a surprise for Mom and Dad, there’s no harm in telling me.”
“Nope, nope, nope!” Emi shook her head quickly. Her grin widened as she clasped her hands together. “Please, Atsuki? Pretty please? I wanna give it to them now!” She ended her plea with wide puppy-dog eyes.
Atsuki sighed, caving almost immediately. “Fine. Let’s go.”
“YAY! YOU’RE THE BEST, ATSUKI!”
Back at the Nova Nuclear Facility, Aiko and Hideo stood in the observation room once again, their faces pale with unease. Below them, scientists operated the massive generator cautiously.
“We shouldn’t do this.” Aiko’s voice was thin.
“We don’t have a choice, Aiko.”
He stepped toward the control panel, his hand hovering over a slider. With a reluctant exhale, he pushed the lever forward.
“All right… compressing it further!” he called out.
The scientists below immediately backed away from the generator, their movements hurried. A deep rumble filled the room as the machine roared to life. The sound grew louder, deafening. A green light began swirling within the massive core, growing brighter with every passing second. Suddenly, Atsuki and Emi burst into the room, beaming with excitement.
Aiko and Hideo’s faces shift from nervous to full-on panic as they whip around to face the children.
“KIDS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” Aiko shouts desperately, her heart pounding as fear overtakes her.
“We wanted to surprise you!”
“GET OUT OF HERE NOW!” Hideo yells, his voice booming with fury and alarm.
Atsuki freezes, his face shifting to confusion and fear. “Dad? What’s going on?”
But before Hideo can respond, the building begins to rumble. A loud beeping noise echoes through the room, piercing through the quiet hum of machinery.
The ground beneath them shakes violently, throwing Aiko and Hideo to their knees. The tremors grow stronger by the second as the blaring alarm intensifies.
“NO!” Hideo shouts, scrambling to his feet. His mind races, years of emergency training kicking in, but dread weighs him down. He lunges toward Atsuki, shielding his son with his body.
A massive explosion tears through the facility, sending fire and green smoke roaring into the air. The force is deafening, a sonic wave that ripples throughout the medical sector. A portion the building collapses in an instant, and the streets tremble under its weight.
Inside, Atsuki is slammed backward by the blast. His head strikes the floor hard, and everything goes black.
When Atsuki comes to, the first thing he feels is the unbearable weight of something pressing down on him. His vision is blurry, his head ringing with pain. Slowly, he manages to push the heavy body off to his right.
It’s his father.
Hideo’s body is melted beyond recognition, his skin fused with the charred remains of his lab coat. A sickening green substance burns away chunks of what used to be his face.
Atsuki lets out a blood-curdling scream.
“AGGHHHH! AGHHHHH!”
His mind claws for its next thought, its next breath, but all he can see is ruin. He twists to his left and freezes in horror.
There, lying motionless, are his mother and Emi. Their bodies are in the same state, their skin melted, their clothing fused with blackened flesh. Emi’s tiny frame is burnt into the floor, her once-bright presence now swallowed in the horror.
“Mom? Emi?” Atsuki’s voice is small and frightened “No… NO!”
The sight claws at his mind, shattering what little resolve he has. He tries to crawl closer, but the pain in his body flares, his face is burning, the searing agony of a green substance corroding half of it.
He screams again, a sound so raw and visceral it echoes through the remains of the room.
“AAAGHHH! AAAHHHHH!”
Suddenly, Atsuki’s own body begins to glow with a faint green light. It grows stronger, pulsing deeper, as if something inside him is igniting. Slowly, the pain subsides. His screams die down as numbness washes over him.
Looking down at his arms, he notices his skin shimmering faintly, the green light seeping into it like vapor. But his mind isn’t focused on that, his gaze drifts back to the melted corpses of his family.
“Mom… Emi… Dad…”
A strange numbness overtakes him, but it does nothing to stop the weight bearing down on him. His eyes widen. His heart races. His breath grows erratic.
“AAAAHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHH!”
Outside, the facility is in ruins. A mass of green smoke rises from the medical sector of Daimon Island, blotting out the sun. Police gather on the streets, forming a blockade around the chaos.
Within the wreckage, Atsuki stumbles through the devastation. The elevator is destroyed, so he weaves his way down through hallways filled with burnt corpses. Their faces are frozen in fear, their bodies contorted in the final moments of agony.
The world is quiet except for Atsuki’s shallow breathing. When he finally emerges outside, even more melted corpses litter the streets. The smell of burnt flesh is unbearable, but his numbed senses barely register it.
He continues walking aimlessly, his mind hollow, surrounded by death.
---
Present Day
Riku sits bound to the chair, her face pale with terror, sweat soaking her skin. Her breathing is shallow and uneven, and her heart feels like it might burst.
“And that,” Nishima says, his voice venomous, “is the truth of what happened that night.” He glares at her, anger radiating off him like heat.
“Your father lied to the entire island. He claimed that my parents were the greedy ones. That they pushed the project too far. He pinned it all on them to SAVE HIS OWN DAMN CAREER AND LEFT MY FAMILY RUINED!”
Riku’s mouth is dry, her lips trembling. “But why… what does that have to do with me? Why do you want to kill me?”
“You.” Nishima leans closer to her, his wild smile returning. “Your father’s the reason my parents and sister are dead. He dragged my family’s name through the dirt. Now, I’ll make him feel what I felt. You’ll share the same fate as Emi.” His eyes gleam with cruel satisfaction.
“Please!” Riku pleads, her voice frantic. “Please don’t do this! I didn’t do anything to you!”
Nishima ignores her desperation. Walking behind the chair, he begins dragging her across the room.
“QUIET NOW! We have places to be.”
“LET ME GO! PLEASE LET ME GO!” Riku thrashes and kicks, her screams echoing through the empty building.
Nishima doesn't stop. He drags her into the darkness, her body struggling helplessly against the bindings. Her cries fade as the shadows swallow them both.