Kaito didn't move. For a few seconds, he couldn't. The air around him felt… wrong. Not heavy, not light — just different. His ears rang slightly, like he had been hit by something loud that never fully ended. He blinked. The room slowly came back into focus. Metal walls. Dim lights. A low hum from machines he didn't understand. Kaito pushed himself up from the floor, one hand pressing against his side. "…What was that?" His voice sounded normal, but everything else didn't.
He looked down at his hands. Nothing looked different. No burns. No cuts. But something felt off. He flexed his fingers slowly. They responded… but there was a strange delay, like his body was catching up with something else. Kaito frowned. "This place…" He turned around, trying to understand where he had fallen into. It looked like some kind of hidden lab. Everything was too organized to be random. Screens lined one side of the wall, most of them dark. A long table stood at the center, covered with equipment he couldn't name.
And then— "Dad…?" The word slipped out before he could stop it. He didn't know why he said it. But it made sense. This didn't feel like a stranger's place. It felt like something that had always been there… just hidden. Kaito walked forward slowly. The floor was smooth, metallic. His footsteps echoed faintly. As he passed one of the inactive screens, it flickered. He stopped. The screen came to life on its own. Lines of text scrolled across it — fast, unreadable at first. Then it slowed. Kaito stepped closer.
"…Subject stability…?" He squinted. "Neural response… adaptive… integration…?" None of it made sense. He reached out. The moment his fingers touched the screen— The entire room reacted. Lights brightened. Machines powered on. A sharp sound cut through the silence. Kaito pulled his hand back. "What did I just—" His body froze. That feeling again. But worse. Much worse. Kaito staggered back, grabbing the edge of the table for support. His breathing became uneven. "…No… not now…" It wasn't like before. This time, it wasn't just anger.
It was something deeper. His chest tightened sharply. A sudden rush of heat spread through his body. Kaito dropped to one knee. "Ah—!" His vision blurred. For a moment, everything went white. Then— It hit. A surge of energy shot through him, fast and violent. Kaito clenched his teeth. His hand slammed against the floor. A crack formed beneath it. He froze. "…I didn't even try…" He stared at the damage. That shouldn't have happened. Not like that. Not that easily. Kaito slowly stood up again. His breathing was still rough, but the pressure had started to fade.
"What is happening to me…?" He looked around the lab again, this time more carefully. There had to be something here. Something that explained all of this. One of the screens changed again. This time, it displayed a file. A name. Kaito stepped closer. He read it once. Then again. "…Kaito?" His name. On the screen. He felt his chest tighten again, but not from the same feeling as before. Confusion. "Why is my name here…?" He reached out again, slower this time, more careful. The file opened. Multiple entries. Dates.
Records. Observations. Kaito scanned through them quickly. Most of it didn't make sense. But one thing stood out. "Phase… incomplete…" He read it under his breath. "Requires final integration…" His hand dropped slowly. "…What does that even mean?" A sound came from behind him. Kaito turned immediately. Nothing. Just the hum of the machines. But he knew what he heard. Something moved. Or maybe… something activated. He took a step back. "I should leave…" This wasn't his place. Whatever this was — it wasn't something he should be touching.
He turned toward the direction he fell from. The opening above was still there. Dim light from his room faintly reached down. Kaito stepped toward it. But then— Another screen lit up. Different from the others. Brighter. Clearer. He stopped. Something about it pulled his attention. He turned back slowly. "…One more look." He walked toward it. The screen displayed a video file. No label. Just a timestamp. Kaito hesitated for a second. Then he tapped it. The screen flickered. And then— A figure appeared. A man. Standing in this same lab.
Kaito's eyes widened slightly. "…Dad?" The man looked tired. More serious than Kaito had ever seen him. He was speaking. Kaito leaned closer to hear. "If you're seeing this… then it means something went wrong." Kaito's heart skipped. "I didn't want you to find this. Not like this." The video glitched slightly. Kaito didn't move. "I tried to delay it as much as I could… but there are things I can't control anymore." Kaito swallowed. This didn't sound right. "There are people watching. People who won't stop once they realize what you've become."
The screen flickered again. Kaito's chest tightened. "You have to be careful, Kaito." Silence filled the lab. Then— The video cut. Kaito stood there, staring at the blank screen. His mind struggled to process everything at once. "What I've become…?" He looked down at his hands again. They looked the same. But they didn't feel the same. Not anymore. A quiet sound came from above. Footsteps. Kaito froze. "…Mom." He stepped back quickly. If she found him here— He looked around, trying to figure out how to close the opening.
The floor panel above started shifting. Slowly closing. Kaito didn't wait. He moved fast. Jumped. Grabbed the edge. Pulled himself up. He rolled onto his room floor just as the panel slid shut beneath him. Silence. Kaito stayed there for a moment, staring at the ceiling. His breathing slowly returned to normal. Then— A knock. "Kaito?" His mom's voice. "You okay?" Kaito sat up quickly. "Yeah… I'm fine." A pause. "Are you sure? I heard something." Kaito glanced at the floor. Nothing showed. Everything looked normal again.
"Yeah. I just dropped something." Another pause. Then— "Okay… just get some sleep." "…Alright." Her footsteps faded. Kaito exhaled slowly. Then looked down at his hands again. "…What did I just get into?"