Prologue

Two Stars are Born

I can’t breathe. Every breath I took from the cold air hurt my lungs, and the grip of fear that strangled my throat made it worse.

I huddled my body tight while rubbing my palms for warmth, but there was nothing I could do for the soles of my feet on the cold metal floor. All I could do was stare at the bright white line of light that came from the door in front of us while I waited.

Waited? Waited for what?

What is it that I wanted? Help? For someone to free me? To escape? And end up as another dead body outside?

I didn’t know what to hope for. The most I could do was stare at the white line and hope it never opens...

But if it didn’t then I would probably be trapped behind these cold iron bars forever.

How long has it been since we were all brought here? An hour? Probably two? Maybe more, maybe less. There was no point thinking about it.

It was silent, there haven’t been any screams in a while, but the heavy thumps in my chest filled my ears.

A soft voice spoke from behind me, “Psst, psst hey!”

It was too dark, and I couldn’t make out the face of the one who called out behind me. The only source of light was the sliver from the door in front of us.

“Wh-what’s your name?” Out of nowhere, they asked me a question.

Taking in breath, I tried to reply. But when I opened my mouth, “A-ah.” Was all I could squeak out.

My throat was parched, and I swallow. I opened my mouth again, but before I could say anything, an anguished scream grabbed our attention. The light through the door turned red, and when it creaked open, a wave of heat brushed against my skin. It had a disgusting burnt scent to it that made my stomach churn.

My eyes fixated on the motionless body dragged out by a man in a white garb.

As they cast the body aside, another cage opened, and the white garbed man dragged another one of us into the room. The cycle that’s been going on for the past hours continued.

My back pressed against the cold bars.

Whatever strength we had to resist was stripped away after “one of our own” became a red splatter on the walls outside of this warehouse. A red mark on the clear white walls. A clear symbol of what would happen if we fought back.

It was a nightmare that became our reality, and no one was allowed to resist.

“Well?” The other voice persisted.

My nose twitched and my lips shivered, I try again to answer the question, “I-it’s 201.”

“I asked your name, not your designation, silly!” That person beside me forced out a cheery tone, but it was clear from their quivering that they were just as scared and nervous as I was. It brought me no comfort. How could anyone be cheerful in this situation?

“I don’t… I don’t have one.” I responded.

“We can’t have that. Everyone needs a name. How about I name you?”

“Huh?” Is this person… crazy?

“What if your name was—————?”

Before I could make out what they said, I instinctively covered my ears as another ear-piercing shriek came out from the other room, accompanied by another flash of light and another wave of blistering heat.

“Do you like it? It’s just like mine!” I heard the cheerfulness in those words, but my mind was occupied by the scream.

“Incompatible with the test subject… another failure.” Lamented a voice from the other room. It sounded deep and tired.

A flurry of thoughts came rushing through my head.

“Another failure.” I repeated under my breath. That’s what he said, right? “Failure?”

It’s been three years.

Three years since they took us all in.

Three years of training. Every day covered in dirt, until we fell from exhaustion.

Just yesterday we stood atop their podium, with heads held high under their gold and red flags, praised and deemed worthy to bring about a new world, and how we would “protect the peace.”

After three years, this is where it all led to.

I see now… we were merchandise… test subjects… and now we’re forced and trapped into listening to a cycle of screams and silence, until it’s our turn. The moment the trigger was pulled — No, the moment we set foot on this empty facility in the middle of this abandoned town — it was this moment that we became disposable.

I bite my lip and tears started welling in my eyes. I was so… angry… sad…afraid.

The door opened to let the next body out, and my “peer” was dragged out with a vacant expression with a light in his pupils slowly fading.

My breathing grew heavier in spite of the cold air.

The Implementation. The “Star Project.” All of it, leading to…

I grab the iron bars and shake it with what strength I could muster, there was a sharp pain in my chest. I felt a warmth roll over my cheeks before dripping to the cold metal ground, “I don’t… want… to die.”

Distracted by my own thoughts, I heard the metal creaks. It was very hazy, the room filled with a light that strained my eyes.

“Don’t cry…” A man with white locks and a beard said as he wiped my tears from outside of the cage, “We’ll leave you for last, so be strong.”

The cage behind me opened. It was hard to see, but I saw the face of the cheery voice who named me. With golden hair and a nervous smile that faded into the light of the other room, and the door shut completely.

I was the last one.

Sitting in total darkness as the sliver of light had reduced to a thin line I could barely see. I hold myself tightly again, warming myself against the cold. The last tears on my face dripped on the thin, blue medical gown that I wore, and quickly turned cold.

I wonder if… if I was going to hear ‘another failure’ again.

All I could do was wait and find out.

Will I… hopefully I won’t become one of his failures.

Even though it was hard to see… they… had a smile on their face. What was it again… the name they called me? I think… I think it was…Fe… Fe—something. I think it was F—

Loud voices started violently filling the room, and the iron bars in my cage started to rattle.

“What did you do?!”

“You took the wrong needle!”

A streak of dust fell against the line of light from the door, it felt like the building started to shake.

“That was stage five serum!” one of them suddenly yelled.

“That stage was experimental!” yelled another.

The whole building tremored. The cold, dim room quickly grew brighter and hotter until suddenly – the walls broke down and shattered, and with an ear-bursting snap, the ceiling broke in half.

From the other side of the wall came soft, gentle steps, and a body engulfed in a hazy yellow glow, with glowing golden eyes that gazed with an empty distant expression.

Their blue gown was tattered and bloody, and their cheerful voice was gone.

Cowering in the corner were what looked like a group of scientists, frozen in place with teary eyes and covered mouths as many sharp metal instruments hovered above their heads, wrapped in the same golden glow.

One of the scientists made a break for it, but before he could take another step forward, one of the scalpels shot from the air and pierced the back of his neck.

As he dropped on the floor, I covered my mouth and tried not to let my insides spill out. The bile in my mouth forced me to tears, but I push it back down my throat. It left a bitter taste that left tears in my eyes. But when I looked up, I saw those golden eyes vacantly staring right at me.

Keeping silent was probably the natural reaction, but…

“Ah—” I blurted out in fright.

I said something in that moment, I definitely said something. There was no doubt in my mind that I accidentally said something. But I couldn’t remember what words escaped my lips, because I was mesmerized by the golden light in front of me.

As our eyes met, the metal tools fell down and let out a clang. As if waking up from a trance, they slowly looked at the blood on their hands and screamed.

The glowing stream of light flared up and started to swirl around them.

The spinning golden haze lifted everything up from the ground. Within the colorless, concrete walls formed a storm of golden fire and lightning.

Sharp metal crashes filled my ears as the other cages slammed against the one that I was trapped in.

I watched as pieces of the building smashed through the many scared scientists, turning them into a puddle of blood and viscera.

But despite the horrific sight, my gaze focused on the spiraling fire in front of me, shrinking and concentrating. It was as if a star had formed right in front of my eyes, and in the center of the fiery whirlpool was the one with golden hair, covered in blood and tears.

As electricity crackled and the golden light surged and grew brighter, they reached out to me, and from the iron bars, I reached out as well– then with one final burst of light, nothing remained.

The golden test subject was gone.

The roof collapsed and the debris rained and crashed through the cage I was trapped in. The surroundings grew deafeningly silent. No voices, no screams, not even my heartbeat. Nothing left but the crackling fire and the sharp ringing in my ears.

The light that came from cracks of the roof was stifled by the flowing dust.

With the walls torn down, and my cage broken, all I could think of was to run away from the hell I’ve been thrown into. Though dust clouded my path, there was light through the cracks on the wall, and a trail of bloody footsteps.

Of the many who wanted to escape, only that one succeeded. Hopefully… hopefully I too will be able to…

I gathered the strength to move. But as I got up, I immediately fell back down.

My vision grew blurrier. Was it the dust? I try again, only to fall again.

…I crawled… it wasn’t so far… there were no walls left to lock me in. The cage that kept me in was broken. I was free…

But… from the ground, I felt a warmth…

My eyes slowly descended to where it came from. I realize that the rubble that broke me out… became the very thing that kept me in place. My leg… was buried under the rubble...

“Ah… ah…”

Suddenly, it felt increasingly harder to stay awake.

Once more, I look forward…the clouds of dust were setting, and I’m so close… I try to reach out my arm, where the shaft of light pierced through the scattering dust.

But as it settled, I saw… a single arm pop upwards from the rubble, a hand that was facing towards the sky, reaching for freedom.

And behind it laid a mountain… of failures.

That image burned into my mind, but Hell wasn’t over just yet.

*

The dust settled, and though my consciousness was fading, I faintly heard the pained grunt of one the scientists. His lab coat was tattered, covered with dust and blood.

“No! No, no, no, no!” yelled the scientist who wiped away my tears. There was a stream of red flowing from behind his white locks and beard.

The rubble shifted as another voice coughed out, another scientist with black hair, glasses and a large piece of rubble in his chest, “P-professor Tetsuya…”

Tetsuya… so that was his name.

“You! This is all YOUR fault! Look at what you’ve done! My life’s work, ruined!” He shouted as he lifted the other scientist by the collar, his other arm trembled furiously in the air.

But when he was about to throw his red, tightly gripped fist, the black-haired scientist pleaded weakly, “P-professor, th-there is still one last tube over there.”

He looked to where the other scientist had pointed to, where he saw the broken vials and shards under the rubble, where a clear, prismatic fluid flowed on the floor.

“They’ve… merged… Both stage four and five…”

“M-maybe you could… make more—”

“Make more? From that?! That substance was a miracle to come by! Trying to recreate it is…is…” The bearded professor yelled in a fit of rage, but his voice quickly softened as he dropped the other scientist.

His eyes… focused on me.

I watched the other scientist convulsed on the ground, clutching the piece of debris on his chest, before letting out one last gasp of breath before succumbing to death.

But him… the man scooped up the blue and yellow fluid on the ground with the syringe. At the sight of this, I realized that I was still up next.

“Maybe…” He said as he marched through the scattering dust and flames toward me.

I neither had the will, nor strength left to fight. But I was already at death’s door. I wasn’t going to be one of his “failures.”

And yet… he still grabbed me by the arm. I let out a sharp, hoarse scream through my aching throat as the muscles in my trapped arm were torn apart from under the rubble.

In spite of the excruciating pain, I caught a glimpse of his eyes. They weren’t full of anger or hatred, but they were full tears. The man was on the brink of falling apart, and I hated it.

He stabbed the needle in my arm and looked up to the sky.

With a brittle tone, he spoke, “The previous subject could have been the one, but now... you. I need you to be strong, okay? May you be the fruit of all my endeavors, my prosperity, my charity, and my redemption... May you reach the stars… and be what they need… to protect the peace.”

I felt my body grow hotter and hotter. And a sharp current from my arm sear through my flesh and all over my body.

My blood boiled, and my skin burned, as if I was set ablaze from within.

My head felt like it was going to burst any second… maybe it did. There was a loud ringing in my ears. I wanted it to stop. I wanted to reach my hands, to escape… and be free.

I didn’t want to die, but all I could do was watch as the pale blue fires devour me entirely.

But then… the ringing in my ears softened and cleared, and eventually fell silent. The pain inside me stopped, and it felt like a sense of relief washed over me... it felt like I was submerged in water…

And when I opened my eyes, all I saw was the night sky, full of stars.

Then—