"Wake up, brat!"
He bangs on the crystal.
"You're my meal ticket."
I slowly open my eyes. I hope this is all just a dream.
Standing in front of me is a man. His red eyes twitch and dart. His shoulder-length blond hair is a mess. He wears a cracked visor on his forehead and a belt crowded with tools, syringes, and a small black device with chipped edges. His breath smells like smoke and antiseptic. He keeps rubbing his thumb across his knuckles like he is counting money.
"You're finally awake," the man says. "I thought you'd died from the shock."
I stare at him, wishing I'd awakened my quirk. Maybe then it would have helped. Maybe I wouldn't be here if it had shown up.
I want to kill this man.
He laughs in my face.
"What's with the glare?" he says. "You are not escaping. Do not worry, your buyer is almost here."
I ignore him and look around.
Crystals surround me. They aren't clear, but I can make out some shapes. Mostly, I see my reflection. I have sharp eyes. The other kids at the orphanage never liked looking me in the eyes. They said it felt like I was cutting them when we made eye contact.
It doesn't happen with adults.
Not that it matters now. These crystals are my prison.
Through the reflection, I see it.
I'm not the only one here.
The rest of the orphanage is trapped too.
All of us are imprisoned inside these crystals.
The man taps the black device on his belt. A faint hum runs through my cell and his voice becomes clear, as if he is inside with me.
"Still trying to escape before I sell you?" he asks. "You cannot. These crystals were made by replicating a hero's quirk. Perfect for keeping people locked up."
Replicating a quirk. Experimentation.
I mouth the word to myself. I think it means when people do tests on someone. I am not fully sure.
He watches me, amused. He flips the device in his palm, then points it at another crystal and the hum shifts.
"It is valuable tech," he says. "You are suspended in time. No aging. No hunger. The field still lets you move a little, just enough to keep you awake and miserable. The government uses this in prisons now. These crystals are insanely strong. Look over there."
I turn my head. I can move my neck and my fingers, but it feels tight.
A kid is wrapped in fire. Flames roar around him.
"He is trying to melt the crystal," the man says. "It is useless. Only flames as strong as Endeavor's could melt them."
He is right. The fire licks at the surface, but nothing happens. The kid collapses, flames flickering out. He is exhausted.
I would give anything for a quirk like that.
Too bad mine does nothing. I am basically quirkless. I have a quirk factor in my body, but it has not shown up. It is useless.
I keep glaring at the man.
He attacked the orphanage.
All the adults are dead.
I might not have liked them, but they took care of us.
"Why attack orphanages? Why kidnap us?"
He taps the device again and I hear a soft click. Two-way sound. He wants to hear me. He smiles like this is a game he is winning.
"Heroes will come," I say. "This has to be on the news. All Might will come."
"HAHAHA. All Might?" he scoffs. "He has bigger things to deal with."
His eyes shine with excitement.
"Japan is in chaos. The Russian Confederation is attacking right now. My intel says Stormwind is on the way. If Russia wins, the strongest quirk users will be drafted straight into their military. Not everyone agreed to the truce here either. People like me keep working. Buyers still pay during war. In fact, they pay faster when borders move."
"Who are you?" I ask.
"People call me the Broker," he says, pleased with himself. "I move stock. I do not waste time on hero games."
Stormwind?
"Who is Stormwind?" I ask.
"Oh right. You would not know. You are only six, and Japan blocks foreign news."
He chuckles.
"Stormwind is as powerful as All Might. He is a wind manipulator taken to the extreme. He is coming with an army of five thousand advanced quirk users. Think of five thousand heroes moving in sync, with Stormwind leading them."
He pockets the device and leans closer to the crystal. I see little scars across his knuckles, thin white lines from blades or wire.
"Do you know how the crystals were made?" he asks, voice soft like a secret. "They took a hero who could create stasis fields and they experimented on her."
Experimented. I taste the word. I know cutting. I know pain. I do not know why anyone would do that to learn things. Is that what experimentation really means?
The Broker laughs.
"All Might found the site and attacked. The whole place shook. The hero died on the table. The lead researcher escaped and sold the process on the black market. Even All Might could not save her. That is the funny part. Heroes love to arrive late."
He turns away, already bored.
"I need to prepare for the buyer. Not everyone follows the truce. Some of us have deadlines."
Then he is gone, his footsteps fading.
I am stuck here again. The other kids try to talk to each other, but I cannot hear them. None of us can hear anything unless he turns on the device. We are sealed in complete isolation.
I have been here so long.
Days. Weeks. Months. I cannot tell.
No hunger. No bathroom. I can move a little, but it is tiring and slow.
I hate these white crystals.
I did not even mind when the Broker was talking to me. At least it made time pass. Even if I hate him.
Even if I will kill him, no matter what it takes.
Something strange prickles under my skin.
A new sense.
I think something woke up in me during the attack on the orphanage. I felt it when the walls shook and the glass screamed. I still feel it now, like a thin thread pulling at my hands and my eyes.
I press my palm to the crystal. It feels wrong and far away, like it does not belong. I try to understand it anyway.
I run my fingers across the surface and focus.
I have to escape.
A faint line shows itself under my touch. I trace it with my nail.
Screeeech.
A crack forms.
Oh my god.
I almost cry.
There is a chance.
I can escape.
"Who made that sound?"
The Broker is back.