Zeka stared at the door that the scientists had just entered the experiment room seconds ago, and Liora watched him in silence. She tried to make a move to make him enter the room with less fear, but Zeka actually entered before she said anything.
Zeka looked at the inside details of the experiment room. It was white, quiet, and surprisingly very calm. And the scientist was there, waiting patiently for the subject to finally settle down.
"Experiment number 1009, also known as the son of the cursed father."
The scientist said in a very cold tone, as he continued.
"Do you know how hard it is to succeed in one of my experiments? Of course you don't."
He started walking toward the young boy, who was frightened and waiting in fear for any sudden moves, knowing well he'd do nothing about it.
"Well, either way, you'll be my pawn for my own safety. And you, you can't do anything about it except accept it."
The scientist didn't move further; instead, he reached Zeka's hand and, without a warning, he forced him to touch his own chest. Unlike the rest, where he told the kids where to put their hands, the scientist immediately jumped to the point, waiting to see if it was going to happen or not, if this kid was actually good material or just a wasted potential.
And after seconds of silence, nothing major happened, yet.
And suddenly a sharp pain came across Zeka's heart; it was a heart attack, and without even realizing, he was already coughing blood. Zeka knelt on the floor, trying to collect himself again after the confusing, weird attack that happened out of nowhere. He was completely shocked; he expected a small headache or just a pain in his hand like the rest of the kids, but he was the only one who happened to get this tier.
W-what is this... why am I... so dizzy... my chest... I can't feel my body... Zeka breathed heavily as his mind went through an overwhelming number of questions that kept stacking one after another.
"The heart tier, huh? So you weren't a wasted thing after all, but even better than I expected. You're not just a normal one, you're a rare one, very, very rare."
The scientist said as the smirk on his face widened when Zeka got the heart tier. It's not just something expected; it's an event, an event that never comes twice, or is it?
Meanwhile, Liora was watching from the outside in silence, her eyes wide open and her hands covering her mouth, as if she felt the sensation of whatever was going on from just watching.
Once Zeka calmed down, even though the pain was still there, still too much for him, the scientist spoke with a sharp tone.
"Six days, six days is all you need to survive, and you'll become a high threat to everyone, including your future 'friends'."
The voice of the scientist was too cold and sharp, but you could still see the smugness on his blurry face, still unknown to anyone who had ever been close to him.
Zeka left the room, his hands trying to hold his own body and trying hard to regain more control over his weak body. Liora was there, watching him suffer, and she didn't say a word; she only observed him for moments before entering the experiment room after him; after all, she was the last one.
He stood on the other side of the window watching Liora entering the room with confidence, and unlike with him, the scientist took all the time in the world guiding Liora to her seat, and then it happens again, Liora's activation was at the heart, just like Zeka, it gave chills to the weak boy who was standing outside but he realized she'll go through the same pain he just went through, he leaned toward the glass trying to say something or warn her about how painful it is, but Zeka's eyes widened when he leaned on the glass.
She was... Fine? At first glance, you can see her holding her own chest in pain, but she didn't cough blood, she didn't look dizzy, and she could breathe clearly, as if it was just a 'heart attack,' not activation.
Zeka felt jealous of the situation. Why isn't she in pain? That doesn't make any sense to me; that's unfair.
Zeka kept staring at her in disbelief, thinking she was way stronger than she looked, but it still felt wrong to him; she didn't give a lot of reaction; all she did was hold her chest and then quietly stood up without any words, as if she was an angel who could fight anything in the world without reacting to it.
Liora walked outside the room, clearly faking the hold on her chest, trying to feel less guilty after watching Zeka nearly die during his own activation. Zeka looked at her, really looked at her, trying to figure out: what exactly is she?
"What's wrong? Jealous? Come on, if you were strong enough, you wouldn't overreact like that!"
Liora spoke in a playful tone, trying to make everything look fine and just forget whatever happened in there, but Zeka was still feeling the pain; he didn't even pass the suffering, and she was already acting fine, he felt betrayed, but he ignored questioning her, Zeka only watched her for moments before she took action and stood in front of the door where the rest of the kids were behind.
"The scientist said six days, right? Whoever dies first loses~."
Liora added, almost immediately changing the atmosphere so they could act 'normal' again, and a bet she was clearly teasing about.
Zeka, for a moment, froze in place at her joke, and suddenly he giggled. The joke was dark, but it was actually a good bet to him, while Liora was surprised; for the first time, she saw his pure positive side laughing at a bet that might actually happen to one of them, but she didn't care about what was next; she only watched him. And just moments later, Zeka's stomach started to feel weird, and Zeka suddenly started to vomit on the plain floor with a lot of burning pain inside his throat; the acid was too hot, and his body was breaking apart slowly without him realizing it.
Liora's eyes widened at the sudden move, and she tried to comfort him by tapping on his back with soft thuds.