The Ghost of Nemuro [Part I]

“Come in? Are you okay? How is it looking?”

“I’m sorry. I failed to stop them. They’ve been released. You have to go catch them before they cause too much damage.”

“Understood. I will mobilize immediately.”

The Nemuro Prison transfers me away to Tsubasa University’s research facility in Sapporo with my hands and legs both cuffed in the transparent material. Upon arriving at the facility, they transfer me through several halls and corridors before eventually leading me into a large, cubic room with two sets of doors operated from afar allowing access in and out. The guards throw me in and exit out the double security doors, and I slowly spin around in a full circle to absorb my new room. black floors are covered in small ovular protrusions, and the walls are equally black with diagonally ribbed carvings all around. On the opposite end of the room sits an entirely transparent cubicle with a mattress placed in it. The top eight feet of the wall appear to be glass with ample room behind them wrapping around the perimeters of the room. As I fully turn around, my eyes narrow when they meet a familiar set of eyes.

Dr. Yamamoto stands there behind the glass, peering down on me, though the left half of his face seems to be severely scarred. His mouth opens as he speaks into a microphone, his voice emitting from speakers hung right under the glass in the room. “We meet again, Mr. Ishiguro. It seems our fate may have been intertwined.”

He carries a new intensity in his voice, though I suppose surviving Miro’s escape might change a person like that. I try speaking back, assuming a microphone has been hooked up on my end as well. “What brings you here, doc?”

He answers with a stern voice, only the eye on the unscarred side of his face blinking. “I’d been nominated to be the lead researcher of this project given my history of… working with you, and with the recent destruction of Tokyo Xenoprison and the rest of Tokyo which I’m sure you must’ve heard about by now, I just so happened to be in need of new employment. Your little trick was quite funny last time, Mr. Ishiguro, but do know that it was only a fluke. I know you likely requested to be transferred into this research facility from the Permafrost Panopticon in hopes that it would make for an easier escape, but allow me to quell that delusion right now. You have only made your situation more hopeless.” He clicks a button on the interface before him as the debilitator on my head clicks open and falls to the ground. “Go ahead. Try to escape. I’ll wait.”

I raise an eyebrow at the doctor as he frees my Restless Spirit, wondering what tricks he has up his sleeves. As he suggests, I try phasing into one of the walls, and it seems as though nothing stops me from phasing through. As I speed up into a run, I find myself hitting a barrier of some sort. Patting around, I trace the perimeter of the room with my hand kept on this barrier. It completely surrounds me.

Having made this discovery, I phase back into the room as the doctor greets me once more. “Welcome back, Mr. Ishiguro. I’m sure you’re intimately familiar with this material now, but the hyperuniform hexa-crystal is a uniquely dense and compact material that has been specifically engineered to counter your Restless Spirit. The HuH-C has been under development by Tsubasa University ever since they first expressed interest in you as a study subject, and it completely surrounds this entire facility, even the floor and ceiling. We’ve run over thousands of tests shooting various subatomic particles into HuH-C using a particle accelerator, and so far, none have been able to pass through or disrupt its molecular structure; you’d have to be an actual ghost to phase through it, Mr. Ishiguro.”

Despite the doctor’s demonstration of how impossible my escape would be, I don’t regret my request to transfer. The systemic lifelessness of solitary confinement in Nemuro Prison had pushed me near my breaking point, yet even now as I stand in this impossible room and stare up at Dr. Yamamoto eye to eye, I feel my own restless spirit rekindle with an unrelenting determination that washes away the dulling dread I had built up in Nemuro. You will not have the last laugh, doc.

Although I do feel my resolve returning, the sense of uncertainty does not fade away. I’ve escaped prison twice and have been returned to it twice by now, and I don’t know how the third time would be any different. I try to ignore these doubts again, yet my active effort to ignore them again only seems to validate them. I’m sure I’ll find a way out one way or another, but what if my will breaks? What if resolve is a limited resource that I’ll deplete and run dry? What if I’m only human, and my psyche can only take so much?

The doctor continues. “For the next couple of weeks, we’ll be doing some basic tests of your Restless Spirit including its duration, precision, and carrying capacity, and then, we’ll move on to more specific tests.”

I tilt my head at the doctor. “More specific tests? Like what?”

“That is not for you to know yet.” He presses another button on his interface as a door swings open on the cubicle at the end of the room. “Enter the cubicle and rest for tonight. Testing begins early tomorrow. Oh, and, as usual, for total transparency, lack of cooperation will be met with electric shock, manually administered directly from the floor this time.”

I enter the cubicle as directed and lay on the mattress, already beginning to formulate my plan of escape. Aren’t they getting a little too confident leaving me with Restless Spirit at all times? I mean, sure, I can’t use it to escape this room at all, but aren’t they underestimating my capabilities as a person? I try tapping against the HuH-C cubicle and fidget around with it before going to sleep tonight. I wonder how it responds to brute force. Wouldn’t that just make this my simplest escape yet?

I strain myself, sustaining Restless Spirit for the researchers as they conduct their strangest and cruelest stress test yet, measuring how far a piece of my body can be stretched while deatomized using a HuH-C pincer and a mechanical arm they’ve set up in the room. The past couple of weeks passed as the doctor had said it would with these basic tests as I continued to inspect the HuH-C for any weaknesses every night, though I failed to find any even along the hinges and corners. Deciding that I’d rather not find out what the doctor means by specific tests, I try to brute force my way out of the cell when night comes.

Tensing my legs and arms, I throw my whole weight onto the HuH-C door, targeting the side the hinges aren’t on. The cubicle shakes as the impact sends me back onto the mattress. I try again, charging into the door, yet it still won’t budge. I feel my arm and shoulder begin to bruise as the mattress sends an electric shock into me through my feet. A voice project from the speaker. “Please stop bashing against the cubicle.”

I look around the perimeters behind the HuH-C panels to find nobody there, realizing that the room has been planted with surveillance cameras that watch my every move. Activating Restless Spirit, I continue flinging myself against the door of the cubicle in a fruitless rebellion as electricity continuously surges beneath my feet. Even so, I get up again and bash away at the door. If Miro’s escape had proved anything, it’s that persistence will surely lead to success eventually. Though I tire and slow, I do not submit to the operator's protests as I pound the door with my arms and bang against it with my head. Even if I’ll be shocked, I’ll only stop when my body gives out. As I pant and pound once more against the door, the electricity seems to jump in strength, and I fail to keep my eyes open.

Dr. Yamamoto starts the next morning by apologizing to me. “I’m sorry for what happened last night. I neglected to inform you that you would be on twenty-four-seven surveillance by a dedicated team when that should’ve been part of my transparency policy. It slipped my mind, but then again, I think you should’ve expected it. Moving on from that topic, today, we’ll begin a series of tests that we call the Ability Assessment Tests. If you perform well, I may have good news for you, Ghost.”

Did he just call me Ghost? Isn’t it usually Mr. Ishiguro? Why did he decide to call me by the nickname the public knows me as? I don't even refer to myself as that. Well, whatever the doctor means by good news, I doubt it’ll be anything but that.

- - - - -

Ability Assessment Test #1

Description: Ghost will be covered in oil and set on fire while Restless Spirit is activated.

Hypothesis: Ghost will be unaffected by the flames.

Results: The pain from being set on fire was so great that Ghost’s screaming could be heard through the walls even after we muted his microphone. Additionally, Ghost was unable to perform any simple tasks while on fire as he only rolled around, trying to put the fire out. However, once the fire was put out and Restless Spirit was suspended, Ghost was entirely unscathed underneath.

Comments: While the hypothesis seems to be technically correct, the agony of being lit on fire is quite the caveat. Perhaps painkillers will help.

- - - - -

Ability Assessment Test #2

Description: Ghost will be given painkillers and then covered in oil and set on fire while Restless Spirit is activated.

Hypothesis: Ghost will be unaffected by the flames and the pain will be nullified enough that he will still be able to walk and perform simple tasks.

Results: The painkillers seemed to help as Ghost not only was able to perform a set of simple tasks while on fire, he was even able to run and perform tasks that require careful precision and focus.

Comments: Ghost seems to possess superhuman durability and tolerance for pain, especially when Restless Spirit is activated.

- - - - -

Ability Assessment Test #5

Description: Ghost will be directly blasted with a sonic boom while Restless Spirit is activated.

Hypothesis: The sonic boom will pass through Ghost, and he will not be able to hear the sonic boom at all.

Results: While the shock wave passes through Ghost as hypothesized, he appears to be able to hear the sonic boom as the sound leaves him dazed and disoriented. Upon inspection, after Restless Spirit was suspended, Ghost suffered no damage to his ears whatsoever.

Comments: This test was a great success. He may even be ready for the job once we provide him with a noise cancellation device.

- - - - -

Ability Assessment Test #12

Description: Ghost will be simultaneously blasted by two opposite currents of wind each traveling at Mach speed.

Hypothesis: Ghost will be unaffected by the wind.

Results: Ghost was completely incapacitated and unable to do anything except to endure the blasts of wind. When Restless Spirit was suspended, Ghost was completely unharmed.

Comments: Ghost will need more training and assistance for this task.

- - - - -

I tremble in my cubicle as the lights flip on, my eyes slowly shifting over to the doctor, wondering what cruel games he has in mind for me today. I notice a strange lack of other researchers as he speaks into the microphone. “I have good news for you, Ghost. As you might know, you’ve garnered quite the notoriety in the past decade ever since you first escaped Osaka Prison.”

I respond, trying to put more conviction into my words. “I- I suppose I have, yes, though I don’t pay any mind to it. Fame and attention aren’t particularly desirable for a fugitive. What are you getting at?”

He paces around a bit behind the HuH-C panes. “Then you managed to escape from me in Tokyo and then subsequently evaded the police while cornered in the middle ocean, and then after that, you had the honor of being placed in the most secure prison in Japan in the Permafrost Panopticon. They’re starting to call you The Ghost of Nemuro, a modern Shiratori Yoshie. I disagree with that comparison considering Yoshie was an antihero who brought about major reforms to Japan, and you, well, you’re only a monster. But, that is exactly what I’m here to discuss with you today, Ghost. I have an opportunity for you to redeem yourself and turn your legacy of villainy into one of heroics.”

I’m not sure what the doctor might be suggesting that would provide me with such an outcome, but knowing him, I’m sure I’m not interested. “I decline. Thank you, but I don’t need an opportunity to redeem myself. I’ve never done anything so egregious in my life to warrant a need for some sort of redemption.”

Dr. Yamamoto sighs audibly enough for the microphone to pick up on it. “Please, Ghost, allow me to finish. As you likely know, Tokyo Xenoprison was destroyed a year back, and all of its prisoners have been released. When Miro rampaged through the city destroying families and livelihoods, an anonymous xenohuman swooped in and saved the day, and that inspired me to initiate my next new project. I’ve realized that the best way to fight these villainous xenohumans is with other xenohumans. Many of the other prisoners that escaped that day are still out wreaking havoc on society, and Ghost, I want you to be the first counter-villain agent, an unofficial branch of law enforcement specifically trained to fight xeno criminals.”

I squint my eyes at the doctor. “You want me to help you go fight all those prisoners that have escaped Tokyo Xenoprison? This project just sounds like you want to instigate xenohuman on xenohuman violence!”

His face of stern intensity bursts into an array of passion. “Ghost, Ghost, Ghost! You misunderstand! Do you think I really went through the effort of proposing this idea to the government just because I want xenohumans to fight each other? Don’t you see?! I’m offering you the chance to be remembered as a legendary villain turned hero! You’ll be rich, famous, and, most importantly, a free man! This is how you can fit into the system! This is empowerment to xenohumans!”

“This is how xenohumans will fit into the system!? How is being exploited and used to fight each other in any way or form fitting into the system!? You must think I’ve gone mad if you think I’ll help you out those xenohumans back in prisons like The Permafrost Panopticon!”

His emotions settle as he stands still, staring down at me. “How do you expect the system to adapt for you if you’re not willing to integrate into the system? Everyone is just a cog in the machine. Ghost, don’t you want to see your daughter again? If you say yes, I’ll get you your first job within the next week, and if it goes well, you’ll be released on parole immediately. Like I’ve said, I’ve been negotiating this project idea for a while now, and trust me, convincing the government to even let you have a chance at this wasn’t easy. Imagine five years from now, your daughter will be able to proudly tell everyone how her father is the legendary hero known as Ghost. I’d think you’d have gone mad if you didn't take this offer. I’ll let you think about it.”