A catastrophe. So many disasters. I never gave much thought to the meaning of the word itself. I've always thought that bad things only happen to the unfortunate, yet I've never found myself in that category. A catastrophe can be understood in several ways: a natural disaster, a ruin in economic terms, or even the loss of important objects or people. A misfortune, so to speak. Uncontrollable and unpredictable, that's what a catastrophe is. I never thought I could use it as an adjective to describe a person.
***
"I'm young and I love to be young"
"I'm free and I love to be free..."
My screams filled the room along with those sweet notes.
"To live my life the way I want..."
Another scream.
"To say and do whatever I please..."
I couldn't take it any longer. I just laid on the mattress, not even sure if I was still alive.
***
Several days after my transfer to the new laboratories, things started to get worse than before. The first day I got there I was still angry about what Ishida told me and refused to walk by myself, so a couple of scientists had to carry me into what was going to be my new room. I was wearing a blindfold, but I could guess by the sound of our footsteps and the smell of water and earth that we were underground.
I was immediately tied to another bed and left alone again. I was starting to regret my previous actions; yelling at Dr. Ishida, the man who held my future in his hands, could have provoked many problems. I never saw him without his usual smile, it felt like ripping apart a mask he was wearing.
I felt afraid, but in the pit of my stomach, I could still sense the feeling of anxiety that grew inside me like a parasite.
The guy who was kidnapped along with me was in my same situation, but unlike me, he had a lower probability of survival. Not that I had that much myself anyway.
I waited in that little room for what felt like six hours. There wasn't so much space, just enough for the bed, a metallic table, and a few machines that I never saw in my entire life. The walls were built with white bricks, so clean that I could nearly see myself in them.
After those painful hours, the door opened again, revealing Hayato Ishida ad another scientist.
The young man scratched his head and smiled softly at me before leaning against the wall and crossing his arms "Sorry for making you wait, I had some stuff to take care of before coming here."
"Oh, so you finally showed up just to apologize?!" I spat out in anger. I couldn't control myself anymore. All the hatred and fear I felt in those two weeks finally exploded.
Dr. Ishida lowered his head and nodded "No, that's not it."
"Then say it already!" I screamed in anger while glaring daggers at him.
Ishida bit his lower lip and let out a low sigh "It's just that I won't be able to see you for a few months."
It took all my willpower to not smile and laugh at him. My muscles immediately relaxed, a little spark of hope ignited inside my chest. I was overjoyed by the idea of not seeing him, and maybe, due to my father's connections, I could have paid my way out of that place.
"I received a call from Moscow yesterday, it was one of our correspondents around the world, saying that there's some business that I need to take care of. I'll need to stay there at least two months," he explained with a sad expression.
I couldn't believe my ears. Finally, after two long weeks, a new opportunity presented in front of me.
I didn't answer, I feared that my voice would betray my serious expression.
Suddenly, Dr. Ishida jumped up and clapped his hands "But don't worry! Your new supervisor is already here and is willing to be your friend too, just like me!"
A little smirk spread across my face. If there was a thing that I learned in those two weeks was that Hayato Ishida was a really peculiar character and that everyone in the laboratory respected him, but at the same time they had to bear with his eccentric personality. There's no way that my new "supervisor" was like him. And everyone except for some kind of crazy idealist would have fallen for the large sum of money I was ready to offer in exchange for my liberty.
I tried to raise my head a bit, but my neck ached for all the hours spent in the truck.
Eventually, Dr. Ishida walked towards me and stocked my hair "I'll miss you, even though you probably won't. But I already gave the orders to your new supervisor, so I can be sure to count on him. Oh, by the way, he's a bit strange, but I'm sure you'll find yourself comfortable around him after a while."
But I needed more information about that man if I wanted to pay my way out of there.
"Who's he?" I asked, faking nonchalance.
"Uh, his name's Osamu Mikami and... mmm... what else... ah, yes, he previously worked as a surgeon in one of New Tokyo's hospitals. We already worked together a few times, he's pretty good at everything he does, so I trust he'll do a good job." he said with a blank face.
I pondered his words for a few seconds. If everything he said was true, then that Mikami was somewhat smart, and no one with a brain (well, except for Ishida) could refuse the money I was going to give.
Suddenly, the young man snapped his fingers and took a flip phone out of his pocket. It was an old one, the type you only saw in films. There were still buttons on it, I never saw one in real life. I looked at it strangely, why would a scientist use some antique like that?
Hayato Ishida winked at me and smiled "Are you looking at this? It's strange, right? It took me a few hours to learn how to use this. My grandma had the same model like this one. Cool right?!"
I nodded, slightly relieved that he wasn't angry for what I said during the ride in the truck. The last thing I needed was having that man not as my enemy, but as my furious enemy.
"W-Why? Why are you using that thing?"
"Aha! I knew you'd like it! Well, you must be aware that these days every single cell call is monitored by the police, right? But it only works for what uses the same phone line as theirs, and that's why these models were banned. I don't really want people to stick their nose into my business, so I decided to use these untraceable devices to communicate with my colleagues." he explained.
I hated that man with every inch of my being, but I had to admit that despite his childish behavior he was pretty smart. I feared him for the power he had over me, but at that moment I couldn't help but think that Dr. Ishida wasn't that oblivious as he seemed.
After that, he started talking with someone over the phone "Aha... yes, yes... eh eh, I know, could you please come here?... Uh-huh, right, bye!"
"Good news, Yuuya! Osamu Mikami is coming here!"
I gulped loudly "W-Why?"
"Mostly because I ordered him to do so."
My eyes widened in revelation. I always suspected that Ishida was a big shot in the organization that kidnapped me, but I never thought that he could just make people follow his orders when he wanted to.
Only then I realized that I didn't know anything about them or what they did. For two weeks I merely lied on a mattress without a single clue of what was going on, not even knowing the reason for my imprisonment. Yes, Ishida told me a thing or two, but that wasn't comparable to a real explanation. At first, I thought that he was some kind of mad scientist that worked for the "greater good", but that wasn't quite it. By saying that they had more laboratories around the world, he admitted that there were many other people like him. And that meant that it wasn't just a little group of idealists, but a proper organization.
But that didn't get my hopes down. I would have escaped as soon as my new supervisor and I remained alone.
While waiting for Dr. Osamu Mikami, Ishida started blabbering about the time he went to Italy and blown up an entire house while trying to cook lasagna [1]. Being around him felt strange though. Given the situation I was in, his behavior was utterly strange. It felt like being around a friend, yes, a psychotic friend with severe personality disorders, but still a friend. But at the same time, it felt dangerous. Ishida could have looked like an innocent cute guy, but by only bringing me here he proved those assumptions were totally wrong.
Eventually, we heard a knock at the door.
I closed my eyes shut, slowly reliving the moment when I first found myself in front of Hayato Ishida.
A tall, blonde, man made his way into the room. He must have been a few years older than Dr. Ishida, but somehow he looked way more adult than him. His stormy gray eyes were fixed on me, while his lips were pressed shut.
I glared at him, but he just turned to Ishida and clicked his tongue "Is he Test Subject number 1?"
I was left baffled by his accent, that didn't fit with the origins of his name. He could have been Russian, or maybe German.
Dr. Ishida nodded happily before clasping his hands together "I'm really looking forward to working with you again, Osamu, but first, why don't you introduce yourself to our dear Yuuya?"
The man shot me a quick look before running a hand through his blonde hair "I'm Osamu Mikami," he then noticed the icy glare that Hayato Ishida was shooting him and sighed loudly "...and I'm looking forward to supervising your progress."
I didn't answer. He didn't look like the other young man. On the contrary, there were like polar opposites.
"You haven't started the transfusion, right?"
"Yep, the multilocus genotype [2] had yet to be identified, but we're ready now."
"I see. The replacements are ready?"
"Yeah."
"In the last document you sent me there wasn't any specific explanation. I deduce that the process remains undefined."
"Uh-huh. I've found nothing else, so I'll leave it up to you."
"And what about Subject Number 2?"
"Oh, yeah, that. Well, let's not talk about it right now, I'll explain everything later."
"Fair enough. Anything else I need to know?"
"Mmm, now that I think about it there is some news. First of all, the new laboratory downstairs is finally ready, and second, you'll soon need to transfer our dear Yuuya to Chamber 5 after the first half of the second period."
"Nothing more?"
"Apart from watering my cactus once a week no, there isn't anything else."
I didn't understand a single word they said, but it didn't sound like something good. Then, the two men turned to face me.
The only thing I could do was stare at the ceiling above my head, trying to ignore the demons in the room.
"Yuuya."
I turned to face Dr. Ishida, who was wearing a sad smile on his face "I have to go now. I'll be back soon, but I want you to know that I'll miss you."
I just stared blankly at him, unable to hate him less just because he was going to miss his little lab rat.
Suddenly, he reached out to pet my head like he used to do every time we met. That time I didn't even flinch, knowing that he was going away from me was enough to get me hyped.
"Goodbye, we'll see each other soon. It's a promise."
I wanted to say "I hope not", but being on the wrong side of that man meant death, so I just nodded and closed my eyes, trying not to smile.
Eventually, Hayato Ishida packed his things and made his way out of the room with the other scientist who stayed silent for the whole time after murmuring something to Dr. Mikami, who closed the door after the two colleagues left.
We were now alone, but even before I could start persuading him, he clicked his tongue and snapped his fingers.
Then, a wicked grin made its way to his face.
Little did I know that was the Devil's smile.
***
[1] Lasagne, singular lasagna, are a type of wide, flat pasta, possibly one of the oldest types of pasta. (Wiki)
[2] A multilocus genotype is the combination of alleles found at two or more loci in a single individual. (Wiki)