An Unfortunate Accident

The light was annoying. Not sunlight, but that harsh white fluorescent light that gives you a headache even in your sleep.

The "Boy" opened his eyes.

For a moment, he didn't know where he was. The ceiling wasn't the ceiling of his dorm room. This ceiling was... dark purple.

Then he remembered. The hospital. The doctor. The talking needle.

He lifted his hand to touch his face. Instead of burnt skin, he found a strange layer, smooth and cool like polished plastic.

The "Boy" got up from the bed. The bed wasn't comfortable; it was a "neon orange chair" that had somehow transformed into a bed. The room was still filled with those glaring colors.

He stood on the bright red floor and walked towards the only thing that looked normal in the room: the bathroom mirror hanging on the wall.

As he touched the left side of his face...

"Your wound is disgusting, clean yourself."

A robotic voice came from the bandage that was glowing with a red light.

"No way..." The boy checked his reflection. The right side was the same: black hair with a red streak and brown eyes.

But the left side... the hair was intact, the eye area was intact, but the cheek area (zygomatic region) was covered by the bandage glowing red.

"Your wound is rotting fast, but don't worry, it's not..." The bandage flashed with an intermittent red light, emitting a robot voice that was provocatively sarcastic: "Alert: Your tissues are rotting fast! But don't worry, your wound isn't rotting faster than your social life!"

The boy sighed and pressed his finger on the bandage, trying to silence it. "Are they still using this old version? I thought they pulled it from the market because of bullying lawsuits."

"Get your dirty hand off, it's worse than your wound," the robotic voice commanded.

"Dark jokes and sarcasm... that's one negative, but I remember there was another." The boy tried to remove the bandage.

But he stopped. He felt it. The other negative was worse than before: an annoying itch on the left side of his face. He tried to rip it off quickly before it intensified.

"The jokes are fine, but the itch isn't funny when it hits you."

The clinic door opened, and the scarred doctor entered, reviewing a clipboard.

"I have good news and bad news, and—"

The doctor looked up at the boy, who was trying to peel off the bandage while scratching it at the same time.

"Did the itch activate this quickly? Don't you know you shouldn't try to remove it without a doctor's signal?"

"Why did you put this bandage on in the first place?!" The boy looked at the doctor.

"It controls bleeding, sterilizes wounds... and it's cheap," the scarred doctor explained with a smile.

"I bet on the latter being the reason you used it." The boy looked at his reflection while continuing to peel off the bandage. "Why does it even have these negatives?"

"Don't you know?" The scarred doctor raised an eyebrow. "Its inventor's slogan was: 'Medicine is boring... let's make it more infuriating!' That's what she said when she released her first batch of medical inventions."

"I knew it was her!.." The boy checked the left side of his face. It matched his right side, but the texture was smoother.

"Do you know her?" the doctor asked while signing papers.

"Who doesn't? Everyone saw her ad when she released those bundles."

The boy took out his phone and pressed play on a recording.

"Why make boring devices? It's better if they're dangerous... and fun!" The robotic voice played.

"I couldn't delete it." The boy put his phone back.

"Just buy a new one, everyone does." The doctor handed a paper to the boy. "Your sick leave paper for three days. Do what you want."

"Are you sure this will be accepted?" the boy asked skeptically while reading the paper. "Sick leave papers from unofficial hospitals get rejected."

"Why wouldn't it be accepted? All its content is... the truth. Also, this is an official hospital now. Get out," the doctor replied while heading to the door.

"Official, huh?" said the boy, following the doctor. "Won't lose anything trying."

The "Boy" walked out of the "Blue Cat" building into the cool morning air of the Central Island. The city was now bustling, filled with employees and students heading to their work.

The "Sick Leave Paper" in his hand meant he didn't have to be at the academy. He should have taken the train back to his dorm on the "Service Island."

But he didn't.

He walked away from the train station, heading towards the heart of the island.

He reached a massive, open plaza surrounded by newly built glass skyscrapers.

The place was clean, perfect, and teeming with people.

"I know it's been years since that day, but it's a shame they didn't leave any traces of it." The boy sat on a bench looking at a group of skyscrapers still under construction, leaning back while staring at the machinery.

"At least they're still under repair..." he muttered to himself, looking around. "I guess everyone forgot about the 'Gas Explosion'... it was a weird 'accident'."

He closed his eyes, allowing his imagination to recall a memory he had kept since he was between 11 and 12 years old... when the sky began to fill with black clouds. He thought, like everyone else, it was another storm. But unlike usual, no storm alarms went off, no safety systems were deployed. The sky above the island where he was didn't have black clouds; they were only here, on one island, in one specific area. He felt curious and started climbing a building like the rest.

Warning alarms began to sound around the islands, synchronized with the sound of mechanical, emotionless laughter like a rusty machine, then a fierce roar coming from the Central Island. He began to see a black-haired boy hovering in the sky.

He didn't see much from down below, but he realized what was there... while everyone ran away as scientists jumped off the island... He was smiling. Everyone around him who wanted to pull him back retreated and left him.

But he stayed watching without seeing, yet he felt that life-or-death battle. Chaos... Pure chaos that lasted two hours... only.

For a whole day, entry to the island was banned, then it was broadcast via phones and screens what had happened. A girl with black hair and pale silver eyes spoke. Her words were clear to everyone: "No need to worry. 'Forget' the matter. Consider it a gas leak accident. 'Believe'... it was just an accident."

Then the screens turned off after people were relieved.

The boy opened his eyes and looked around as he stood up.

"I wished I was here during the gas leak 'accident'." The boy said as he continued walking towards the station.

At the same time...

"Miran" stood on a crowded platform on the "Central Island." The morning air was cold, but he didn't feel it. He didn't feel anything because the painkiller was still taking effect. His face was entirely covered by a white scarf, while inside the scarf, around his nose, were bandages. He had left the "Blue Cat Hospital" directly, minutes after the "Boy" left. Miran ignored the curious glances of passersby as he took out his phone. While walking down the street, he dialed a number. He headed to a nearby bench. The phone rang once before the line opened.

"How did the procedures go?" The voice came from the other end, calm, in a low tone.

"I wasn't awake for the whole operation, but you could say it went like this: bag taken, the one I gave the bag to killed, and both men killed..." Miran said while leaning on the bench.

"In short, are you saying that...?" the voice on the phone said.

"The operation was successful," Miran said.

"Well done. The second payment will be sent to you directly. And you mentioned you weren't awake—did you actually lose?" the voice said.

"Not against him, but against another guest," Miran said.

"Who is the guest?" the voice asked.

"Just a student, not important," Miran said while looking at the sky. "But why did you give that organization 'The Nectar'?" Miran asked.

"It's not real Nectar... Nectar is no longer a product that can be produced, at least not without the original blueprint." The voice continued. "But, whether fake or real, to everyone, it's just Nectar. Now I will watch the moment of collapse... that moment when he realizes that what he achieved wasn't a profit, but that he earned his moment of collapse due to an 'unfortunate accident', like everyone before him."

"Accident, you say?" Miran repeated.

"What can be said? It's just an accident, no matter how we evaluate the situation," the voice confirmed as the line closed.

Moments later, a payment notification arrived on Miran's phone.

Miran stood up and walked towards the station. While browsing news headlines in the city.

"Nothing happened," Miran muttered to himself as he put his phone back. "I guess the unfortunate accident will be delaye—" But before he could finish his sentence.

"Fire!" a passerby screamed.

Miran looked forward. He saw some people looking up in the same direction he was. All he saw was thick smoke.

He started running towards the place... after running for a while, he arrived... Then he saw Espers trying to extinguish the fire with water and dirt. On the other side, firefighters were using a huge water cannon... but the fire wouldn't go out. Instead, something else happened.

Boom! A deep, extended sound. It was an explosion inside the building. The fire turned into a blue blaze.

"Does the building contain chemicals!?" a firefighter shouted in shock.

"Whatever the method, huh?" Miran said while looking at the building burning from the inside.

(Is the fake Nectar alkaline metals?... or did the bag contain accelerant chemicals?) Miran thought as he watched the large building begin to be consumed by expanding blue flames, while people who were filming retreated, and nearby firefighters started moving away.

Miran remained watching the scene in silence.