Mysterious Briefcase

The scarlet color slowly spread over Kaiden's eyelids as his pupils gradually stopped wandering.

His eyes opened.

****

It wasn't the blood-soaked red, but the one cast by sunbeams that tinged his eye rims.

His pupils widened abruptly from the sudden influx of light. He quickly closed his eyes, seeming compelled to squint.

He tried to lift his arm against the glaring light but couldn't.

This time, he managed to raise his left arm a few centimeters, albeit with great effort.

A slight sense of joy washed over him as he saw progress. But the sleep clinging to his eyes seemed to bother him, sticking and pricking between his eyelids and lashes.

His breathing was shallow, filling the room as he called out for the sister.

Just then, the sister entered the room and noticed he had woken up. She didn't hesitate and went straight to the bathroom to fetch the hygiene items.

While Kaiden continued to try moving his arm, he seemed to be able to move it a little further. It was still only a few centimeters, but he knew that repetitions and time would play a role.

He repeated the process, attempting to lift his heavy, burning arm as far as possible. As he did, he also began to sweat.

But the sister was there. She dabbed the sweaty Kaiden with a fresh white cloth and filled the toothbrush with minty toothpaste.

The sister inserted the brush into his mouth and cleaned his teeth with circular motions. Three minutes passed quickly, and then she handed him a cup of water.

Kaiden took it with his slightly foamy mouth and rinsed easily, spitting the water into an empty bowl.

After patting himself dry again, he could already hear the click of the doorknob being pushed down.

With full attention on the door, as they weren't expecting anyone, suddenly a blond man entered, followed by two more.

The peculiar thing wasn't just their slicked-back butler-like hair, but also their attire, resembling a secret agent from a bad American movie of years gone by.

Smooth hair, black suit with tie, gloves, and leather shoes. They also wore black sunglasses and headphones.

The first and last positioned themselves to the sides, while the middle one positioned himself in the foreground.

With his hands stretched behind his back, the middle one seemed to want to show something. In his hands, he held a black briefcase.

From this point on, it really felt like a scene from a bad movie. The atmosphere was uncomfortable, the silence oppressive.

But it was abruptly interrupted when the middle one, holding the briefcase, began to speak.

With a strong yet composed and calm voice, he stated that they were here on behalf of the government and the lab.

As he spoke, the other two agents, dressed in black, slowly began to open the briefcase. Meanwhile, the middle one continued.

"Kaiden Lain, on behalf of the government, we congratulate you and look forward to further cooperation," he said, leaning slightly forward.

Kaiden, who understood nothing, sat motionless, water dripping from his mouth, while the sister was still confused, holding the bowl in a way that the dripping water splashed onto her soft hand.

Startled, she pulled her hand back and asked shortly after what all this was about. After all, Kaiden was a patient in the hospital and needed to rest.

Unauthorized access by strangers who weren't family was prohibited.

However, the tall blond man seemed unfazed by these accusations and even looked somewhat condescending.

But he didn't waste any time and looked back at Kaiden. Seemingly coming closer, he half-opened the mysterious briefcase and placed it on Kaiden's bed. Kaiden had so many questions and decided to finally voice one.

But just as he was about to say the first word, the three of them, in the same synchronized pace, with wide, swift, almost frantic yet still calm steps, walked away. They left Kaiden and the sister speechless.

Questioningly, Kaiden looked at the sister and asked if she knew who these figures were.

When she denied it, he asked her again to open the briefcase. This time, there was a hesitant yes from the sister's full red lips.

"Of course, I can do that."

With a slight smile, she went to the bed. She opened the briefcase, and a bright light seemed to emanate from it.

The sister seemed shocked and couldn't believe her eyes.

It was a serum with a chip inside of a syringe, reflecting light all over. Inside, there was also some kind of document.

Not only that, but the syringe was intended for an awakening. Also, a document revealing an individual's potential was inside.

Why the sister was so startled and dropped the foam-covered water bowl from her mouth was because there was a bold red zero on the document.

She picked up the document, wrapped in packaging with that zero, with trembling hands and still couldn't believe her eyes.

Finally, she began to read. Dear Mr. Lain, we are pleased to inform you that you have passed the test criteria with flying colors.

Your current potential is at 96%, which is an extremely remarkable achievement.

We are pleased to inform you that from now on, you are a part of our new empire and may serve the power of our homeland. Do not worry about your health; the state will cover all costs and bear additional expenses if necessary. We thank you in advance.

Kaiden couldn't believe his ears, while the sister still couldn't grasp it.

While Kaiden's thoughts revolved around the assumption of costs, the sister's thoughts were on different matters.

96%!

This is history; I get to witness something like this, she thought.

Kaiden and the sister looked at each other and seemed to want to exchange words at the same time. Their mouths opened, and a storm of shouts broke out. Talking completely past each other, the still very excited sister became a bit quieter and seemed to want to interrupt Kaiden.

However, the overjoyed Kaiden still didn't realize the luck he had. He said with full euphoria that the treatment costs as well as prosthetics would be covered by the government.

The sister, who was waiting for his joy with closed and expectant ears, seemed confused.

Sure, it was good that he didn't have to pay for anything, but there was something much better.

Shortly after, as her confused gaze moved toward the opening of Kaiden's eyes, she asked in confusion if he hadn't understood the number she had just read.

Kaiden, who looked even more confused, asked what the 96% meant. Then, like thunder, the realization struck the sister again. She kept forgetting and still took for granted that he knew everything.

How could she be so foolish? After admitting her mistake, she seemed to lean forward slightly and reached her arms towards the edge of the bed to support herself.

Her tender, now slightly pinkish lips now enlightened him.

"It's like this, in your envelope, there's a red zero, which means you're a special case.

In addition, extra agents or whatever they were came here to give you this information. And the number is the most astonishing part."

With a racing and increasingly rising pulse, she seemed to run out of breath.

Kaiden, the number 96 means that you have immense potential and therefore not only have a very high likelihood of gaining a strong power, but you'll also quickly become familiar with it and find it easier to handle than most who awaken.

It's said that if you have potential over 80%, you automatically belong to the top 10%, but you have the number 96%, so even if you have extremely bad luck, you'll at least make it into the top 5%.

Kaiden's mouth seemed unable to close. To receive such information, he couldn't even dream of it in his most beautiful and fantastical dreams.

In just a moment, he could connect A to B, realizing that he could be swimming in money. Even though it's not generally seen as good to be greedy for money, one couldn't blame these thoughts on poor Kaiden.

After all, he had the opportunity to live a better life than ever before, together with his brother, even if it wouldn't last forever. After all, everything had a price, and so fate was sealed. Life for money.

But once they had calmed down, both looked again towards the briefcase. The somewhat glaring, yet enchanting liquid seemed to draw them in.

While both looked at it with smiling faces, the sister seemed to ask him if they should proceed. The timing was perfect; not only was Kaiden almost motionless, but he also needed to focus on regeneration.

So the sister approached the black, yet enticing briefcase and took out the syringe. As she did this and came closer to Kaiden, she explained to him how the process would proceed from now on.

She would inject him with the sharp needle and let the microchip along with the serum flow into his body. This might cause some pain, as his entire body would be strengthened to the maximum in a few seconds.

As she continued to talk to him, she also explained that he didn't need to worry, as she worked as an assistant in a lab from the beginning of all this until recently, and thus injected many people with this serum.

The final steps were taken, and the somewhat nervous yet confident Kaiden tensed slightly and closed his eyes.

A slight scream occurred as the sister inserted the somewhat large syringe into Kaiden. But actually, it didn't hurt at all, he thought.

As the syringe, which went into the neck, was pulled out, and everything flowed in, Kaiden seemed calm, almost too calm. It was once again an uncomfortable silence. However, the sister broke it as she began to count down from three.

3, 2, 1...

****

As the number 1 left the sister's beautiful lips, a slight pulsation seemed to emanate from his neck. Followed by heart-rhythmic impulsive beats that spread from his neck to his whole body in seconds.

It was so bad that shortness of breath set in, his lungs crushed so he couldn't breathe, no, his whole body seemed to be crushed by mountains, but as quickly as the pain came, it seemed to vanish again.

Completely drenched all over his body, he seemed to take a large, yet heavy breath.

While Kaiden was just coming to, as he was about to faint, it happened. Cuts, burns, blades tearing from the inside pierced him.

It was as if thousands of chainsaws were tearing him apart, and this for an eternity, while he was immortal. Shortness of breath set in again, but this time the whole universe seemed to be on him.

It felt so terrible that his whole body turned red and his eyes were about to pop out. But this time, it wasn't just a brief moment, but half an eternity.

The sister, who stood beside him, looking at the clock with a concerned look, also seemed to lose a few drops of sweat.

Her frantic sequences of steps on the floor set the tone.

The eyes, which threatened to jump meters, still seemed to be pushed down with the same beat as the sister's from the eyelids.

With a heavy and loud groan of effort, the eyes, which were about to burst, seemed to close.

The slow breathing and its sound filled the room bathed in fear and sweat, and its silence.

Relieved, the feminine voice then said,

"He did it, he's awaked."

****