1 Flashback 1 - Abnormals

It's a canon chapter but it isn't necessary to the plot or anything. You can skip it.

1951, in Her Majesty's Prison Belmarsh, South-east London, England.

Down in the deepest levels of one of England's most secure prisons, Ruben Doyle, Current Director General of the MI5, could be seen discussing with a cuffed man in a soundproof, bulletproof and windowless room. Behind Mr.Doyle and the mysterious man with grey hair and russet, reddish-brown skin, one could observe 5 other men armed to the teeth and ready for war, they were all pointing their loaded automatic rifles towards the grey haired man. A passerby would certainly think the treatment of this man to be overkill, however it was perfectly justified, for the danger he posed was much beyond what a human should be capable of, in fact calling him a calamity wouldn't be an exaggeration.

"What brings you to my humble abode, Ruben?"-Arthur Grey

The grey haired man was far from feeling threatened by the weapons aimed towards him. In fact, were it not for his face lacking any emotion, he would have seemed amused.

" Well Dr.Grey, it just so happens that I need information, a lot of it. You were the lead scientist in Abnormality research before ending up in jail for human experiments, frauds and extortions."-Ruben Doyle

"You need information, you say? Just be upfront about it, what do you want to know?"-Dr.Grey

"You seem quite cooperative."-Ruben

"Do you know how boring prison is? Even if I don't look like it, I'm a pretty hyperactive guy, doing nothing is a pain you know.If it gets me out faster then I'll cooperate."-Dr.Grey

"Ah...That makes sense.Can you give me a short but precise answer for the following question. What are Abnormals ?"-Ruben

"... Abnormals are humans born wrong, or right, it depends on how you look at it. An abnormal is a human that is born with a special ability that breaks the laws of physics and the common sense, from superstrengh, superspeed to telekinesis. One might think that being born with superpowers is a good thing and they would be right, if it wasn't balanced out by all those problems."-Dr.Grey

"What do you mean?"-Ruben

"Ruben, are you familiar with what we call [The Will of the World]?"-Dr.Grey

"Somewhat."-Ruben

"Well that makes this easier, the world has a way to balance when it comes to humans. We are the smartest beings on this earth and yet we are also what stops us from reaching our fullest potential. In the middle ages and even before, Religion was used to stop those that had revolutionary ideas, if our discoveries were inconvenient for the ruling class, we were executed, even these days, racism, sexism, wars with no purpose, I'm honestly impressed by the amount of times we proved to be our worst enemy. It is all the will of the world, if it is not then how come we who are so intelligent, are also so foolish, so greedy, so prideful, so jealous, so gluttonous, so slothful, so lustful and so easy to anger? Then again I don't believe in this theory, as, much like god, we cannot truly prove its existence."-Dr.Grey

"You got sidetracked."-Ruben

"Ah, my apologies, I tend to do that a lot. Back to abnormals, along with their powers come certain...eccentricities, both physical and mental. When it comes to physical ones,Someone being much too tall, much too small, having an unnatural hair color,the way it manifests is surprisingly diverse. Something that they all share however, is the tattoo, we all have one somewhere on the body, they are related to the abnormal's power or to their personalities, so they normally do their utmost to hide it. Speaking of personalities,their eccentricities manifest in very different ways, some are innocent like simply being unable to speak at a normal volume, or being unable to remember one's own birthday. And then there are some who I pity, unable to feel any kind of emotion, or feeling an inexplicable urge to strangle children. That also depends on their powers, it seems like they would always have a trait that would make them use their power. The man that has the power to kill people with a touch will also be the man who finds it fun to kill people. That person who can heal people will naturally be very kind. There are many examples out there. "-Dr.Grey

"You're an abnormal too, Doctor."-Ruben

"Indeed I am. I have 2 abilities which is a rare case, the first one is called [Paranoia], it makes people feel a certain sense of dread every time they meet me. It has another effect that I find much difficulty in explaining, it is easy to guess considering the name of it though. The second one is called [Kyōka Suigetsu]. Now you might be wondering why the ability's name is in Japanese. It just so happens that this ability is hereditary and that the ancestor that discovered it was Japanese. Putting the trivia aside, the ability is quite handy. It changes the way your brain computes and uses information."-Dr.Grey

"May I ask for a live example?"-Ruben

"Of course, of course, I was looking forward to it. Hey, can the soldiers talk?"-Dr.Grey

"Sure, I haven't given them any orders saying they can't."-Ruben

"Okay then, that guy near the door, do you have any kids?"-Dr.Grey

He addressed the man near the room's door. Although the soldier was a bit surprised and confused by the question he still answered.

"No I don't"-Soldier A

"Hmmm, I see, but do you really not, maybe you knocked up some prostitute somewhere, or maybe you had some adventure with some girl somewhere, who knows, there could be a kid with your genes somewhere. You could be a really shitty dad, and you wouldn't even know about it. Isn't that just the worst."-Dr.Grey

The man thought about it for a very short time.And yet in this short time he had an existential crisis.

"You've got a point but I don't see how that's my problem.Who would I even have a kid with? Natasha? Claire? That one secretary I don't even know the name of ?! Someone else? Why are there so many candidates? What have I even done with my life before? How did you fuck so many people Mark, you're supposed to be ugly?! What if I did get somebody pregnant, London is a small place?I know confidential information, I can't even escape. Mom did tell me I'd get stabbed one day. What if I get stabbed? What if the mother has a grudge against me for leaving her to raise the child alone and stabs me. What if the kid blames me for their shitty childhood and stab me. Is the only option getting stabbed? Oh my god!"-Soldier A

"Remember what I said about [Kyōka Suigetsu], it works with memories too, so you actually might be a dad, have a kid you know of, but because of me you might not even remember him. Hah, wouldn't that be scary?"-Dr.Grey

The soldier was shaking, his voice was trembling, he looked like a man at the edge of a mental breakdown, yet he still asked.

"There's no way you could actually do something like that, right?"-Soldier A

"Ya want me to show you? What's the name of the city you're in?"-Dr.Grey

"London."-Soldier A

"I'll ask you again, what's the name of the city you're in."-Dr.Grey

"...I...don't...know...Why do I not know, I just said it !?"-Soldier A

"That's enough Dr.Grey, give his memories back to Mark."-Ruben

"Eh, but it was getting fun....You're an Idiot Ruben you know that"-Dr.Grey

"Why exactly is that, Doctor?"-Ruben

"What makes you think I'm here in front of you. Maybe I've escaped long ago and you're talking to an illusion"-Dr.Grey

"Wouldn't that mean you had to anticipate the fact that I was the one who came to interrogate you, anticipate every single one of my questions, anticipate the fact that I brought soldiers, put one near the door, and that that same soldier had no children. You also said that paranoia made people feel a sense of dread when you…met...them. That must've been a lie… Was it a lie?"-Ruben

"I̴̭͖͛͛ ̶̼̖̈́d̷̮́o̴̰̓̕n̷͖͐'̶̠̮́̓t̶̫̾ ̷̟̼̿k̶̖̜͘ń̷̢̍ö̶͉͓́ẁ̶̲̠͝,̶̳̜͊ ̵͓̅w̵̡̯͐̓ȧ̸̙͜s̶͆̓͜ ̵̥̤́i̷͇̥͗̎t̵̬͚̾̀?̶͇̐͐"-Dr.Grey

Dr.Grey slightly smiled, then as if all the previous interaction had been a lie, he disappeared.