Academy City, a massive conglomerate of educational institutions comprising twenty-three school districts, offers specialized curricula designed to develop superpowers, primarily by recruiting students from outside. Beyond educational facilities, it boasts research labs geared toward students, manufacturing and commercial operations, international exhibition halls, an international airport, and all other amenities necessary for daily life within the city.
To outsiders, this place represents the pinnacle of global technology, where students receive elite education to become pillars of humanity.
Yet light and darkness are ever intertwined; the brighter the surface shines, the deeper the shadows lurk beneath.
The Talent Workshop, located in Academy City's Second School District, is a research institute ostensibly dedicated to cultivating geniuses and great minds.
Of course, that's just the facade... or rather, what it used to be. Now... they harbor far more ambitious plans.
"Is she going to be okay? She'll recover and come back healthy soon, right?"
In a stark white corridor, a girl watched the receding hospital bed, her voice trembling as she questioned the man beside her.
The girl had long honey-colored hair and wore simple clothing. Her features were lovely, her skin as smooth and lustrous as polished jade. She appeared to be around eight or nine years old, but what drew the eye most was her unusual gaze—eyes like something out of a shoujo manga, sparkling with an otherworldly star-like quality.
Those eyes not only avoided clashing with her appearance but enhanced it, adding a dreamlike allure.
On that hospital bed lay her only friend up to this point. As she watched it grow distant, an emotion welled up within her—one unprecedented... or perhaps long forgotten.
Fear!
She stared at the bed, and inexplicably, its retreat felt like the widening gap between her and her friend, stretching farther until... it vanished entirely.
That's why, against her usual demeanor, she turned to the man beside her, who wore what looked like a capsule helmet.
"No, this is farewell to Dolly."
The man's words were brutally blunt. To him, both the girl beside him and Dolly on the bed were mere test subjects, tools.
He had no inclination—nor saw any need—to concern himself with a tool's emotions.
"Ha..."
In the instant she heard those callous words, the girl's heart skipped a beat. Her pupils contracted sharply, and a surge of grief from deep within stifled her breath.
"Her body surpassed its limits long ago. Even with Academy City's scientific prowess, we can't extend her life any further. Dolly knew this herself, didn't she?"
The merciless words continued; the man was merely stating facts—facts that, to him, were nothing more than words on a page.
But for the girl... what did they signify?
........
Academy City, Fifteenth School District. A vehicle from the Talent Workshop pulled up in front of a research institute with a sign in bold letters, named "Prometheus Institute."
"Thank you, gentlemen!"
Greeting the vehicle was a boy who appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. He had black hair and black eyes, with features so strikingly handsome that no words could do them justice, and a temperament laced with a gloom and wisdom beyond his years.
A faint smile graced his face, his eyes gleaming with an unusual light.
He was the protagonist of this story, Samuel.
"No trouble at all, Director Samuel. Do you need help bringing it inside?"
Stepping out of the vehicle was a director from the Talent Workshop, around thirty years old—a high-ranking figure within the organization.
Yet he dared not underestimate Samuel due to his youth or harbor any schemes.
Because those who had tried before... well, the grass on their graves was probably as tall as he was now.
"No need."
Samuel smiled and waved his hand. Several men with blank expressions and lifeless eyes unloaded this delivery from the vehicle.
The hospital bed rolled past Samuel, bearing a girl with short brown hair. Her face twisted in pain, her breathing faint and irregular. If not for the slight rise and fall of her chest, one might mistake her for a corpse.
This girl was none other than Dolly, transported from the Talent Workshop.
Upon seeing her, Samuel's smile finally gained a touch of sincerity. With a gesture, the men pushed Dolly into the institute.
"Heh heh... Um... Director Samuel, we should keep in touch more often, collaborate frequently."
"Of course! From now on, the Prometheus Institute and the Talent Workshop will be partners... allies."
"Hahaha... Excellent..."
The elated man failed to notice the shift in Samuel's tone when mentioning the "Talent Workshop," nor the mocking glint in his expression.
Watching the Talent Workshop vehicle depart, Samuel turned and entered the institute.
A simple reception hall led, after a few turns to the right and rear, to the second basement level. After more twists, he reached a door.
This was a door secured by retinal scan, beyond which lay a white tunnel.
As the tunnel extended, a peculiar blue hue emerged ahead. Drawing closer...
It was as if crossing some threshold; the world suddenly opened up into a scene that would astonish any outsider.
A vast, brightly lit cavernous space filled with various state-of-the-art machines. Though modern, they carried a black-tech vibe.
Crystal-processed cubes resembled the latest semi-transparent computers, yet lacked any visible keyboards or mice for input.
At the center stood three rectangular pillars, crystalline columns adorned with complex, chaotic patterns that nonetheless exuded an eerie beauty.
The hospital bed came to a halt here, and the "men" revealed their true forms.
Their simulated skin rapidly dissolved, exposing highly technological mechanical bodies beneath. Blue light strips flickered across them, evoking a sense of pure science fiction.
"Stand down!"
At Samuel's command, the robots retreated to the tunnel entrance, standing rigidly like sentinels.
"The pinnacle of potential among Academy City's thousands of electromagnetic espers—the original clone of the future Level 5 Railgun. Though extremely unstable, that very instability is what makes her so promising!"