Part 1

Hidden C. E. I. S. Weapons Development and Testing Facility / Central Labs

Dr. Satoru Saionji peered out of the reinforced phonite nanocrystal walls of his personal office with an unreadable expression. He held a mug of coffee which had long turned lukewarm in his left hand. 

It was now twilight. The suns fading red hued rays bathed the room in an ethereal glow, tinting his glasses crimson. The eyes behind them were akin to dark pools - deep and unfathomable. His gaze was steady and unfaltering. 

It held an unbending will.

A solid conviction.

But there were also other things. 

Despair.

Hatred.

Obsession.

Madness.

What had come first? Even he had forgotten. That is, after all, inconsequential.

The holocom terminal on his stark office desk activated. A woman's figure appeared. The security system indicated her to be just outside the door.

"Satoru, we need to talk." she demanded.

A faint smile appeared on Dr. Saionji's lips. He operated the terminal through voice commands and gave a short reply.

"Come in."

The office door promptly opened and revealed a somewhat agitated looking Lisa Keynes. She entered the room and headed straight for Dr. Saionji with hurried steps. 

"Hello there Lisa. What can I do for..."

Lisa didn't allow Dr. Saionji to finish his bland greeting and grabbed his suits collar. She then slammed his back to the office wall while glaring at him. 

Dr. Saionji looked regretfully at his mug; the contents of which had spilled on the floor.

"Now look at what you've done. That was genuine stuff. Not one of them coffee flavored concentrates. Really hard to come by nowadays." he complained with a hint of jest in his tone.

"Who cares about your damn coffee?! I'm gonna have you explain yourself Satoru. What was that?" Lisa retorted.

"What was what?" Dr. Saionji asked back in a clueless manner.

Lisa scoffed at his reaction and tightened her grip on his collar.

"Don't give me that nonsense Satoru! You know what I'm talking about - Kou Mikagami. That guy's ability... That kind of effect without using auxiliary amplification equipment is unprecedented! And you also failed to mention him being a pyromancer in your report. An esper with a direct particle conversion ability is quite the rare find. I need you to give me the full details." 

A trace of surprise appeared on Dr. Saionji's expression. It was so natural that one would be hard pressed to tell if it were genuine or not.

"He did now huh? Pyromancy... Mm... Quite interesting." he muttered with slightly furrowed brows.

Lisa's expression turned increasingly furious by the moment. She once again slammed Dr. Saionji on the wall, causing him to cry out in pain. 

"Urrgh! Aha... Ahahaha... You're as rough as usual milady. Not that I mind. I do fancy myself as a bit of an M." he teased while grimacing because of the impact.

"Listen you idiot!... The higher ups did give you a bit of leeway. But that doesn't mean you have free reign, especially in matters like this. I don't know how you managed to convince that little lady from Central to keep this under wraps. But it's not like she's the only one monitoring your actions. You of all people should be clear about the importance of these types of abilities in a latent esper. Withholding something this crucial could result in severe sanctions." Lisa warned.

The faint wry smile on Dr. Saionji's lips didn't disappear after Lisa's chiding. On the contrary, it became even more pronounced. His countenance remained nonchalant.

"What exactly did I withold milady? Him being a pyromancer is also news to me. My preliminary report contained the most factual and accurate info we managed to glean about him at the time. I even included all records pertaining to his time in Raylington Academy. Only... He did go through quite the traumatic experience due to the Alliance attack. The manifestation of this particular ability may have been spurred on by that event." he calmly explained. 

Lisa looked unconvinced.

"Still... He should not have been assigned to this part of the project. With this, his value would only be put to waste if we allowed him to stay as a mere test pilot for experimental weapons. His talent can only be harnessed fully if we train him with the purpose of ultimately assigning him to the front lines. The Wyvern squad could be a great fit for him. We only have a bunch of precogs and empaths there after all." she suggested.

Dr. Saionji raised an eyebrow at her response.

"I have explained this to you countless times. Simply relying on conventional methods will not help us win this war. Some boors from High Command deem weapons development unnecessary at this point in the hostilities - a near useless expense even. I only see them as narrow minded idiots whose propensity for penny pinching will eventually cost us the final victory. 

The Alliance overwhelms us both in the strength and size of our forces. Our only chance is to develop something that would allow us to bridge that disparity in one fell swoop or at least act as a powerful deterrent that would allow us more breathing room. If we really want to hedge all our bets in the Elysium project, achieving results in our research here is of paramount importance. Kou Mikagami staying here to lend his talents is, likewise, undoubtedly necessary. With him and the other personnel assigned here, developing such a weapon system is no longer just some far fetched pipe dream." he countered.

Lisa still remained unmoved. She was about to retort but was interrupted.

"Why are you getting all impatient milady? It's not like an esper piloting one incomplete prototype model will have the capacity to influence the war. This will be the case even if he does sport a rare direct offensive ability. A tiny pebble can only cause minute ripples. A slightly bigger pebble won't do much more." Dr. Saionji pointed out. 

Lisa's brows tightened in consternation. Her expression became quite conflicted.

"Is it because of the report you received from one of your former royal guards. What was her name again? Daumiera?" Dr. Saionji probed. 

Lisa's grip on his collar tightened even more. Agitation and rage painted her face.

"You have no idea what it's like for me! You...!" she vented out.

"Of course I don't. You have no idea what it's like for me either milady. Don't go acting like you're the only one who has issues here." Dr. Saionji interrupted in a piercing cold tone. 

Lisa's expression changed to that of awkward shock. The hands gripping the professors suit collar slackened and slowly fell to her sides. She averted her gaze in shame and frustration.

Dr. Saionji straightened his clothes and gave Lisa a cold gaze. 

"I recommended you as their instructor because you're the one most familiar with high-phonon particle control methods out of all personnel staffing this project. I expect you to do your job without mixing in your private circumstances. Opinions and suggestions from you are welcome but will still undergo reviews from the proper channels - mine included. As this can just be treated as a minor incident, I'm inclined to overlook it this time in lieu of our past acquaintanceship. You may return to your post." he concluded.

"Yes sir." Lisa reluctantly agreed. She turned towards the door and started walking out. 

"Milady... Don't let your demons undermine your duty. Please remember that you are already part of the C. E. I. S." Dr. Saionji added before she stepped out of the room.

Lisa turned around and gave him an accusing gaze. 

"Please Satoru. You don't have the right to lecture me about handling my demons. After all... yours come straight from hell."

She went out of the office with those parting words, inducing a fit of soft laughter from Dr. Saionji. 

"Hell huh? How appropriate..." he muttered under his breath.

Part 2

"Mmm... Hmm..."

I'm currently making a stern face as I make an effort to concentrate while sitting on a toilet seat inside a cubicle in the barracks lavatory. Sounds of running water and people coming and going came from outside the door. And no, I'm not taking a dump. 

It has already been a few hours after that crazy forest fiasco. We were immediately shoved into recovery capsules and treated accordingly after we got back to the facility.

Once I got reasonably fixed up, I immediately shut myself in here. 

Why? 

Because I needed to get to somewhere private in order to do some discrete experimenting. And all I could think about was the toilet to do just that.

After all, there shouldn't be any security cams installed that would capture the inside of a toilet cubicle right? Dear goddess, I do hope so...

Truth be told, I feel that these precautions are actually too late. My actions may have already attracted too much attention. That flashy spell barrage earlier already caused the other pilots to look at me with complex gazes. Only Kent seemed to be unaffected. But he may be just holding it in because we were bunk mates. 

I don't know how the scientists and engineers in this facility will react towards my earlier actions. If I take Dr. Saionji as reference, they may be hankering to have a go at experimenting with me already. Right now, I just don't want to add any more incentive to that line of thinking. Thus, I found myself in my current situation.

A tiny flame floated just above my open palm, flickering intermittently. I was trying to ascertain just to what extent could I actually assert fine control over mana that has been refined and discharged outside my body and had undergone substance conversion via magic. The current results left me in awe.

I attempted to make shapes out of the flame and succeeded quite swimmingly. I made it circle around the cubicle in varying speeds. That was also done rather easily. I changed the flames intensity a few times and found it relatively simple.

Thus, the results are quite clear: Near perfect. 

Almost total control. 

And I did all this without even relying on chants. 

Of course this is just a tiny fire ball we're talking about here. I still don't know if I could replicate the same result with a higher density of mana. But for someone who previously didn't even have the ability to cast a single stable attack spell without the use of magic tools, this result is enough to shock me speechless.

Come to think of it, why did I actually elect to cast Flame Bolt in that fight with Ms. Keynes' nanomachine construct? I just somehow felt that I could pull it off. 

But why? 

I properly know the extent of my abilities. At least, I think I did. I'm not so sure now... 

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Could it be the result of heightened emotions? 

No... Unlikely.

If so, why can I still exert such fine control over mana even now? 

So just what exactly happened to me? To be honest, thinking about it scares me.

I feel like a stranger in my own skin.

Rather,  that's exactly the case isn't it?...

Damn... 

If I do find a way to get back to my previous world, would I still be myself? I'm Myst Evrard right? That's who I am right?!

Goddess, this is so messed up!...

"Kou? Are you in there?" a panicky voice suddenly called out from outside the cubicle door.

"What's up Kent?" I asked.

"I really gotta go man! The rest of the cubicles are taken. Are you finished in there? Please say you are!" Kent hurriedly replied.

Smiling wryly, I opened the cubicle door to find a blue faced Kent who unceremoniously shoved me out of the toilet in an apologetic manner.

Part 3

Hidden C. E. I. S. Weapons Development and Testing Facility / Mess Hall

Instead of worrying about things endlessly, I decided to go with the rest of the test pilots for dinner. I need to clear my head a bit and go about this step by step. 

I'm still scared of the implications of my earlier experiments. But I can't allow myself to fall into a negative spiral and end up not accomplishing anything. I have first hand experience regarding that sort of thing after all... 

For now, some lasagna.

You gotta hand it to the chef though. This stuff's good.

I moved towards the back of the hall and took a seat on a vacant table. I'm not too much of a people person y'see. I'm still not comfortable mingling with the rest of the test pilots. And some of them seem to be taking a distance from me too. But, to my surprise, Kent took the initiative and approached the table I was in. 

"Uh... Hey man. May I?" he asked a little nervously.

I assented. He immediately took a seat across from me. 

"Uh... Hey Kou?" he called out. 

"Mm?"

"Well... I just wanted to thank you for earlier. For saving me y'know..." Kent sheepishly said it while scratching his cheek in mild embarrassment. 

"Are you talking about the thing from training or the toilet crisis from earlier?" I arched my brows and asked in a teasing manner.

"Wha- ? No! I mean yeah! I mean... C'mon man..." Kent responded in a fluster. I laughed and waved my hand dismissively. 

"Don't mention it. I mean, it turned out to be part of training anyway. Ms. Keynes just trolled all of us. You were never in any real danger." I replied.

"Still man. Thanks. I really appreciate it." Kent insisted. I just nodded my head in acknowledgement.

Hm? 

What's this piercing amount of killing intent I'm feeling?

I turned towards my right only to find Yuuna staring daggers at me from the table opposite us. Why the sudden hostility young lady?

She suddenly stood up and moved towards us. 

"May I as well Mr. Mikagami?" she asked; gesturing to the space right next to Kent. 

Her tone was polite enough. But something in her smile made me feel that there will be hell to pay if I so much as indicated refusal. Of course I agreed right away.

My instinct warned me of the dangers of offending a maiden in love. 

But there's just something I'm a bit peeved about regarding this situation... 

Just why am I being treated as a love rival in a cheesy romance drama?! And over a member of the same gender even!

And, for the record, I'm a hundred percent straight! I wanted to clutch my head in exasperation. 

Once she was sure there was nothing funny going on, Yuuna finally calmed down. We continued to casually talk about this and that. She snuggled herself close to Kent all the while. Contrary to her innocent look, she's quite the assertive young lady. 

After a while, two more people decided to join our merry little group. Gus and Greg unceremoniously sat down beside us and barged in the conversation. Gus was just bored while Greg wanted to confirm some things with me. As expected, it was about my actions in the forest.

"I didn't know you also had an ability Kou. Blasting fire out of your hands... It's way cooler than mine." Greg commented.

Hmm? Wait a minute... 'Also'? 

"You have one too?" I probed. Greg nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah. Mine's not really as direct. Since I was young, I had this ability to reduce my body weight. I seem really athletic despite my obvious... uh... girth right? It's because of that. I have this hunch it's why I was recruited despite my... uh... questionable records." he added.

Weight reduction? There was a type of spell that did that if I remember correctly. Greg can do it instinctively?

"What about you guys? Have one too?" Greg suddenly asked the rest of the group. 

Isn't he too direct? Fortunately, no one seemed to be offended.

"I kinda have the ability to predict events several seconds into the future. It doesn't always kick in though and not really all that reliable. It also isn't always accurate either." Kent confirmed.

Future Sight! It's not really magic. It's a phenomenon that occurs when one is highly in tune with world mana. 

There was this seemingly profound explanation about it in one of my moms books back home. Something about the world dreaming endlessly and people being able to get a glimpse of those dreams.

People like this were rare in the world I'm from. Some of them even became sages and seers of considerable repute.

"Wow! I never knew I was in the company of such fantastic people. Amazing!" Gus suddenly cried out.

"You don't have one? An ability I mean." Greg asked. Gus nodded excitedly. 

"I don't have something like an ability. I just got scanned by some machine and my application was approved." he elaborated.

"You applied for this post? You didn't get scouted?" Greg asked further.

"Uh huh. I graduated from Waldenholt Academy y'see. But I didn't want to get sent to the front lines immediately so I didn't apply for becoming a full fledged space marine. 

I'm still far too young! I have a lot of things I want to try and do. There's still plenty of beautiful women to chase after! Who cares about honour, glory and serving the Confederation? I just want a long, fulfilling life. 

So I used some of my old man's connections and got myself a spot as a test pilot. It was hard giving up on girls in military uniforms. But I dig lab coats and jumpsuits too, so it's all good." Gus explained.

The rest of us had incredulous looks plastered on our faces after Gus' lighthearted answer. Once again, I became awed by this guys overzealous optimism towards inane matters. 

But we're actually technically part of the military though. But I suppose it's true we're not going to be active combatants. Dr. Saionji told me as much too. 

"Um..." Yuuna called out in a timid voice and raised her dainty hand. We turned our attention to her. 

"I also don't have amazing powers and stuff. My family has a bit of political influence, so I made use of that to gain a spot here like Mr. Rommelin. I think they tested my aptitude for high-phonon particles or something. That's what I heard from my cousin. She's also a part of this project." 

High-phonon particles again. Looks like I need to look into it more. 

"Are you guys sure you should be this open regarding this stuff?" I asked.

Greg snickered and raised an eyebrow at me. 

"Pfft. Look who's talking here. You're the one hogging the most attention. And besides, I have this sneaking suspicion all of us aren't exactly the normal sort at all. Betcha the staff here's already clear with all that." he exclaimed.

"But aren't you bothered by it at all? You said you were scouted right Greg? And if your suspicions turn out to be true, then aren't we just being treated as glorified test subjects?" I inquired. Greg paused for a bit. A bitter smile appeared on his lips.

"Well... I'm originally from '7th Heaven' y'know. Compared to living in that dump, this is actually way better." he answered.

Yuuna suddenly stood up in a surprised manner. 

"Eeeh! You're from Verdius?!" she exclaimed. Greg nodded, still sporting a bitter grin. 

"Yup. You know what happened to the artificial colonies in that sector when war broke out right? We were hit pretty hard because of being right in the middle of the border between the Alliance and C. E. I. S. All important industries and key people were evacuated off-sector after striking a deal with the Confies. They left us 'dregs of society' to fend for ourselves in a virtual husk of a sector in its death throes. You can only imagine how 'pleasant' that must have been." he recounted darkly.

"People still live in Verdius? B-But I was told all of the people still living there were already relocated by the government to several resettlement areas after the ceasefire." Yuuna stated. 

"Heh... Guess we're not considered 'people' then." Greg spat out. Yuuna sat down dejectedly after hearing him. Kent gave Greg a hostile glare. The atmosphere suddenly turned stiff. 

"Now don't misunderstand. I'm not blaming anyone in particular. That's just life after all. It's not like we can choose the circumstances we're born in. Sorry if that came out wrong Ms. Suzushiro." Greg explained himself hurriedly.

Yuuna raised her head and managed to give Greg a reserved smile.

"N-No. I'm sorry too. For reminding you of something awful... And please, just call me by name. Being called 'Miss' feels kinda off." 

"I'll do that then Yuuna. Pleasure to be working with you by the way." Greg responded and gave back an amiable smile as he held out his hand. 

"Pleasure to be working with you too Greg."

Before Yuuna could respond, Kent had already grasped Greg's outstretched hand in a firm handshake. Greg could only smile wryly at his actions.

Haha. Thank the goddess. The atmosphere turned light again. We continued to chat about various stuff until an hour or two before lights out.

Heh... That was unexpectedly enjoyable. Talking about each other freely like that does feel refreshing for me. It's not like I hate being with people. I just find interacting with others a little taxing on my nerves somewhat. I'm the extremely self conscious sort after all. I'm just used to bluffing my way most of the time.

I remembered everyone's lively expressions earlier. 

"Yeah... This doesn't feel bad at all." I mused. 

- Chapter 14 End -