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BIOSHOCK AU DRABBLE SUPER HAPPY EXPERIMENTAL HAPPY TIMES
They hadn't had a very interesting life; it wasn't boring, but by virtue of their unremarkable nature, their family was essentially at the bottom. Hajime's parents were perfectly content with their lifestyle; Hajime wasn't. Like every child in Rapture, he wanted to succeed-- wanted to make the city his own, climb the tiers of society until he was at the very top. Just like Andrew Ryan; just like Frank Fontaine, Sofia Lamb, Sander Cohen-- they were the greats. Rapture was a city of greats.
What was he, if he was just scum on the bottom of the barrel? They worked hard, but in his eyes, he was about as bad as a parasite.
Hajime didn't know how they'd found him. They were a normal family living in Apollo Square, but this wasn't like the Little Sibling Program; it was just him. A chance to better himself, and to see through to ADAM's-- and his own-- full potential. He'd jumped on the agreement. His parents were hesitant, but he hadn't listened to any argument. Another few days later and he was on his way out, bidding his mother and father goodbye with a fond farewell; telling his mother not to worry, he'll see them again some day soon.
that was the last time he ever saw them
They took him to a medical lab. Different from the Medical Pavilion; it mostly involved research, treating conditions that couldn't be easily fixed with an ADAM injection. And among the other patients were two other kids around his age-- it was... probably because of that they became such fast friends. Nekomaru Nidai-- a loud, boisterous kind of guy, who was here for a heart condition, along with his friend. And Nagito Komaeda, a quiet sort of kid who apparently had some sort of lymphoma. Most people were pretty sure it was nothing the ADAM couldn't fix after all.
He felt sort of bad-- they were both so sick, and yet both of them had been so friendly and open to his presence when he'd first arrived, when the bright hospital lights had worried his nerve. He'd... lied. Told them he had some kind of hereditary condition. That he was here as a special case study. It wasn't technically wrong.
He didn't want his new friends to know that he was someone so boring. So uninteresting. A parasite. He wanted to leave all of that behind. He wanted to be someone else.
Someone else.
He didn't get to talk to Nekomaru as much. He had another friend; he told them stories about him sometimes, though only Nekomaru could visit him much. He sounded inspiring, and Hajime would've liked to meet him. But Nekomaru still looked out for them. Encouraged them, made them feel at home. One day he woke up and he was gone. After that he and Nagito were the only kids in the lab.
Sometimes he read him books; there wasn't much in the lab for kids, but there were a few old things that someone had brought in. Nagito was bedridden often, so Hajime would climb onto the edge of his bed with whatever they had and read it aloud. Sometimes they talked back and forth, making up their own ideas of what should have happened or what might happen; sometimes Nagito was quiet, and Hajime just recited what was written. Sometimes they played games, made up little things that they could do without getting in trouble with the scientists.
He often thought that Nagito hurt a lot more than he let on. But he was always smiling , and Hajime tried to do the same.
One day it wasn't just injections and transfusions that made Hajime feel like throwing up, that made his head hurt with people that weren't there but at the same time made him feel like he could jump mountains-- One day they brought him into a different part of the lab. The doctors told him it was for surgery ; and they were going to make him the most special kid in all of Rapture.
They laid him down on the cold metal table, hooked him up to tubes and IVs, and told him to sleep, and that he would wake up feeling like a new person.
He believed them.
Bright lights, a buzzing sound, and a sterile smell.
A pounding inside his head like something trying to fight its way out, wet air against bandaged stitches barely keeping the insides in.
His eyes hurt. His throat hurt. His head hurt. He could feel his blood pumping through every vein and artery and that hurt.
These are the first things he could remember.
No. That was wrong. He could remember a lot of things. Visiting the Limbo Room after a day in Hepheasteus. Holding hands with a little girl in Arcadia. Shuffling through boxes at the fishing port, kicking aside an old dead fish that fell out of someone's catch.
They were the only memories he had. It wasn't until a day later that someone had informed him they were someone else's.
He spent a lot of time laying in that hospital bed. His hair was getting longer. They ran a lot of tests. They said he was unstable. That there were unpredicted side effects.
His name was Izuru Kamukura, and he was the truest embodiment of the Great Chain. The ultimate accomplishment of man.
He felt very sick.
He worked very hard. He threw lightning from his hands. Created ice from his palm. Brought fire to his fingertips. They said it was going better than they had ever expected. That he was learning very quickly.
They praised him. And he was glad.
He caught himself in a reflection of metal and saw his eyes glow red. His head was oddly shaped and his face had sags and bumps. His skin pulled loose from the way it wrapped around his muscles.
He asked them why but they did not answer.
He had a friend. That was what the boy had called himself. A friend. His name was Nagito Komaeda. He was there because he was sick.
He said his name was Hajime Hinata, and that he was his friend.
Komaeda had something quiet and dangerous about him, and when he spoke it was confusing and loquacious. But Komaeda met his own confusion with patience. And Izuru asked him questions that the doctors had not answered. About who he was, and about Hinata. He didn't have many answers to offer. But they felt more genuine than social philosophies and scientific ideals. Sometimes he sat on the edge of his bed and read one of the books aloud when Izuru was too bedridden to move. It was nothing he didn't know already, but he appreciated it.
Komaeda looked like him. And he didn't like being Izuru.
They put him through more tests. Gave Komaeda more drugs. His friend was still getting sicker.
He didn't like the praise much anymore.
He turned invisible once, and snuck into a restricted area. Created a decoy in his bed with the powers they had given him and snuck out late at night when everyone had retired.
He found notes on the research the lab was conducting. It was nothing he hadn't read before. A lot about ADAM, a lot about EVE. Physiological reconstruction, as well as mental. Almost every little nook and cranny on what it could change. It was pretty thorough.
Komaeda was dying. Given a chemical that could heal some things but only sustained others, and exacerbated dementia that was already there. Hinata had lost his old life already, when he woke up to bright lights and buzzing sounds and sterile smells, robbed even of memories for the sake of freedom and science, but what he highly suspected was merely warfare.
He was angry. The papers turned to ashes in his hands.
He wanted to leave.
What was he, if he was just scum on the bottom of the barrel? They worked hard, but in his eyes, he was about as bad as a parasite.
Hajime didn't know how they'd found him. They were a normal family living in Apollo Square, but this wasn't like the Little Sibling Program; it was just him. A chance to better himself, and to see through to ADAM's-- and his own-- full potential. He'd jumped on the agreement. His parents were hesitant, but he hadn't listened to any argument. Another few days later and he was on his way out, bidding his mother and father goodbye with a fond farewell; telling his mother not to worry, he'll see them again some day soon.
that was the last time he ever saw them
They took him to a medical lab. Different from the Medical Pavilion; it mostly involved research, treating conditions that couldn't be easily fixed with an ADAM injection. And among the other patients were two other kids around his age-- it was... probably because of that they became such fast friends. Nekomaru Nidai-- a loud, boisterous kind of guy, who was here for a heart condition, along with his friend. And Nagito Komaeda, a quiet sort of kid who apparently had some sort of lymphoma. Most people were pretty sure it was nothing the ADAM couldn't fix after all.
He felt sort of bad-- they were both so sick, and yet both of them had been so friendly and open to his presence when he'd first arrived, when the bright hospital lights had worried his nerve. He'd... lied. Told them he had some kind of hereditary condition. That he was here as a special case study. It wasn't technically wrong.
He didn't want his new friends to know that he was someone so boring. So uninteresting. A parasite. He wanted to leave all of that behind. He wanted to be someone else.
Someone else.
He didn't get to talk to Nekomaru as much. He had another friend; he told them stories about him sometimes, though only Nekomaru could visit him much. He sounded inspiring, and Hajime would've liked to meet him. But Nekomaru still looked out for them. Encouraged them, made them feel at home. One day he woke up and he was gone. After that he and Nagito were the only kids in the lab.
Sometimes he read him books; there wasn't much in the lab for kids, but there were a few old things that someone had brought in. Nagito was bedridden often, so Hajime would climb onto the edge of his bed with whatever they had and read it aloud. Sometimes they talked back and forth, making up their own ideas of what should have happened or what might happen; sometimes Nagito was quiet, and Hajime just recited what was written. Sometimes they played games, made up little things that they could do without getting in trouble with the scientists.
He often thought that Nagito hurt a lot more than he let on. But he was always smiling , and Hajime tried to do the same.
One day it wasn't just injections and transfusions that made Hajime feel like throwing up, that made his head hurt with people that weren't there but at the same time made him feel like he could jump mountains-- One day they brought him into a different part of the lab. The doctors told him it was for surgery ; and they were going to make him the most special kid in all of Rapture.
They laid him down on the cold metal table, hooked him up to tubes and IVs, and told him to sleep, and that he would wake up feeling like a new person.
He believed them.
Bright lights, a buzzing sound, and a sterile smell.
A pounding inside his head like something trying to fight its way out, wet air against bandaged stitches barely keeping the insides in.
His eyes hurt. His throat hurt. His head hurt. He could feel his blood pumping through every vein and artery and that hurt.
These are the first things he could remember.
No. That was wrong. He could remember a lot of things. Visiting the Limbo Room after a day in Hepheasteus. Holding hands with a little girl in Arcadia. Shuffling through boxes at the fishing port, kicking aside an old dead fish that fell out of someone's catch.
They were the only memories he had. It wasn't until a day later that someone had informed him they were someone else's.
He spent a lot of time laying in that hospital bed. His hair was getting longer. They ran a lot of tests. They said he was unstable. That there were unpredicted side effects.
His name was Izuru Kamukura, and he was the truest embodiment of the Great Chain. The ultimate accomplishment of man.
He felt very sick.
He worked very hard. He threw lightning from his hands. Created ice from his palm. Brought fire to his fingertips. They said it was going better than they had ever expected. That he was learning very quickly.
They praised him. And he was glad.
He caught himself in a reflection of metal and saw his eyes glow red. His head was oddly shaped and his face had sags and bumps. His skin pulled loose from the way it wrapped around his muscles.
He asked them why but they did not answer.
He had a friend. That was what the boy had called himself. A friend. His name was Nagito Komaeda. He was there because he was sick.
He said his name was Hajime Hinata, and that he was his friend.
Komaeda had something quiet and dangerous about him, and when he spoke it was confusing and loquacious. But Komaeda met his own confusion with patience. And Izuru asked him questions that the doctors had not answered. About who he was, and about Hinata. He didn't have many answers to offer. But they felt more genuine than social philosophies and scientific ideals. Sometimes he sat on the edge of his bed and read one of the books aloud when Izuru was too bedridden to move. It was nothing he didn't know already, but he appreciated it.
Komaeda looked like him. And he didn't like being Izuru.
They put him through more tests. Gave Komaeda more drugs. His friend was still getting sicker.
He didn't like the praise much anymore.
He turned invisible once, and snuck into a restricted area. Created a decoy in his bed with the powers they had given him and snuck out late at night when everyone had retired.
He found notes on the research the lab was conducting. It was nothing he hadn't read before. A lot about ADAM, a lot about EVE. Physiological reconstruction, as well as mental. Almost every little nook and cranny on what it could change. It was pretty thorough.
Komaeda was dying. Given a chemical that could heal some things but only sustained others, and exacerbated dementia that was already there. Hinata had lost his old life already, when he woke up to bright lights and buzzing sounds and sterile smells, robbed even of memories for the sake of freedom and science, but what he highly suspected was merely warfare.
He was angry. The papers turned to ashes in his hands.
He wanted to leave.