The Guardian Dome reflected the moonlight shining from the full moon above, with gray clouds surrounding the lunar sight. Inside, in a sterile, windowless room, small in comparison to a regular bedroom, Niata lay on a bed covered in white sheets. Individuals stood around his body. He slowly opened his eyes. The world was a blur, but as he blinked, the figures sharpened into focus: his brother, a female doctor, and Detective Tiamoth.
He slowly widened his eyes. "Aunty!" he yelled, quickly sitting upright on the hospital bed. He lowered his tone, his gaze falling to the white sheets as his heart began to race. His hands, slick with sweat, gripped the fabric tightly. "What are you doing here?"
"Mom used her privilege to force her way in," Toro said, pointedly looking in the opposite direction of his mother.
She walked closer to Niata, her face stone serious. Niata's eyes widened even further. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms tightly around his body.
"You had me worried," she spoke warmly, her voice a calming balm.
Niata wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he said.
Aunty wouldn't just come here like this, Niata mumbled within his own thoughts. She should be back in Lefsil, in her own hospital, doing her own surgeries and medical stuff.
She let him go and returned to her prior position, standing firm. "What happened?" she asked, her voice sharp.
Tiamoth turned towards her, stretching the back of his neck. "I had sent Niata and the others on a mission to deal with a third stage Derivative, Dr. Sanchez."
"Speak like a regular person, please," she said, raising her eyebrows.
"Well, a stronger Derivative than normal," Tiamoth clarified, approaching a chair on the left side of the bed. "To accelerate his development and see his capabilities."
"It hasn't even been sixty hours, not even a full two days, and you send my boy into a battlefield?" She rushed at Tiamoth as he was sitting down, grabbing his ear between her thumb and index finger, and pinching hard.
"Agh!" Tiamoth yelled.
"Are you stupid?" she yelled. Toro, still looking away from his mother, smirked.
Even the second best detective in the whole world cannot withstand the pinch, Niata thought, dead-eyed and shaking his head from left to right.
"I knew they'd survive!" Tiamoth yelled as he tried to pull his head away. "I read his manual! I knew he could heal! I knew Toro, his brother, would join the battle!" He finally broke free, stood up, and walked away from Dr. Sanchez.
"So you read their minds," she said, squinting her eyes as she followed him.
"I may have the ability, but I don't use it," Tiamoth insisted. "I just read their self-written manuals." He went to a seat on the right side of the bed and sat down, shielding both his ears with his hands while side-eyeing Dr. Sanchez.
"Niata's tests show that he has no internal or external injuries, and thanks to his unique biology, he healed," she said, standing right next to the sitting Tiamoth. "If he had lost a limb, there would have been hell to pay. I don't care if it's your first time being an Overseer or if you're a detective." Her tone seemed to draw all the energy from the room.
Niata looked at the digital clock suspended on the wall in front of his bed. It showed: 6th of Sextus, 28:20.
Niata's eyes squinted. I've been out for more than a day? he asked himself. It's less than two hours until midnight... might as well have been dead, he thought.
"Niata, the Origin Stone unlocks Essence capabilities once every four years," Tiamoth said, looking at Niata while scratching his head. "It is used on the first day of Primus for the other students who applied. But I saw your written biological capabilities, accompanied by the signature from your father, Professor Sanchez. There was no denying it was true, so I had to bend a rule. It wouldn't have worked on you last cycle as you were still sixteen years old. We had to wait until this month." He stood up, burying his hands in his black pants.
"I know the rules of the Origin Stone, and I am truly thankful," Niata said, looking down and clutching the white sheets. His eyes became teary. "Waiting four years would have put me beyond the age scope of the Stone. It would have been harder for me to find the truth without power," he said, a shaky smile on his face.
Dr. Sanchez bent down, reaching out to hold Niata's hand, soothing it with her thumb. "It's in the past now, Niata. You are in the Program," she said, her own smile warm as she looked at him.
Toro, who had been silent, turned abruptly, his face heavy-hearted, and rushed out of the room.
"Where are you going, Toro?" his mother called out, her head quickly turning towards the door he was rushing to.
"Some research!" he yelled back just before the door slid open and shut rapidly behind him.
Tiamoth looked at the door, pausing for a moment. "Your brother is always busy with research," Dr. Sanchez said with a light chuckle. She stood up straight, looking at her phone.
"Work calls. It's going to be a long drive," she said, walking to the door. She stopped with her hand on the handle. "I expect news every day from you, Detective."
As she disappeared through the door, her voice echoed back into the room. "And you, Niata! I'll be calling you and your brother every day!" The door slid shut, cutting off her voice.
"I guess it's also time for me to go," Tiamoth says, standing up from the chair. "No hard feelings, right? You don't hate me because of the mission." He offered a small smile.
"Not really," Niata said. He raised his head and looked at the detective. "Wait, I have a question," he called out softly.
Tiamoth paused at the door. "Shoot ahead, kid," he said.
"It's regarding a case that was never solved." Niata took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the digital clock ahead. "My parents were killed eight years ago. My mind is blank for the childhood I had, and for them. So I believe my mind was erased, or at least Toro believes so."
"Yes?" Tiamoth nodded, listening intently.
"So it had to be an Essencer that killed my parents. I need help finding them, please, Detective Tiamoth." Niata brought his palms together, fingers pointing skyward, and bowed his head slightly.
"No need to bow," Tiamoth said with a low, half-hearted wave of his hand. "The case is still active. It was transferred to New City from your hometown seven years ago by Professor Sanchez, though I am not responsible for it."
"Uncle...?" Niata's eyes widened as he raised his head.
"I have to go, kid, I have much to do," Tiamoth said, turning and walking to the door. "But I will try taking over the case."
"One last question, sir," Niata asked quickly. "Can you really read minds?"
Tiamoth paused, his hand on the door. "Yes, though I need to be touching the back of your head." He disappeared after opening the door, his voice echoing from the hallway. "I never use it."
I read he can open portals, teleport, and has weird eye powers, but he can't enhance his physical capabilities or do other cool things Essencers do, Niata mumbled to himself. Yet the Origin Stone was used on him. Probably a weird, unique side effect of his Cursed Attribute. Yeah, that's it.
A male nurse wearing white entered the room and walked to his bed. "Your clothes," he said, placing a stack of folded clothes on the bedside table. "You may leave after wearing them." He turned and left, the door closing softly behind him.
"Thanks," Niata whispered to the empty room.
If I have the biggest police force looking into the case, then my chances are much higher, especially with Detective Tiamoth, the second greatest in the whole world, Niata murmured, a small, determined smirk forming on his face.
The thought solidified a feeling that had been building since he woke up. The full weight of the last two days crashed down on him all at once: the nightmare, the memory gaps, and the battle that nearly killed him. But underneath it all was a profound sense of victory. He had survived. He was in the Guardian Dome. He was in the Program.
The smirk faltered, his lower lip trembling as an overwhelming wave of emotion washed over him.
Tears streamed down his face, soaking into the white sheets as his trembling fingers clenched the fabric. They weren't just tears of sorrow, but of relief. Of hope.
'I'm here,' he whispered, his voice cracking. His breath hitched, his chest tightening not with fear, but with the sheer, heart-pounding realization that he had finally arrived. He was a Guardian now, powerful and full of potential. This was the true beginning of his quest.