ch2: institution

Walking along on a winding gravel path through a playground for the children inside of the institution to play.

"Hello, mister Briggs."

"Good afternoon director."

...

Many of the youngsters on the playground were very respectful to Mr Briggs. Some of the children had monstrous abilities, so John knew that the director had an ability so powerful it could make all of these beasts treat him with respect.

Arriving at the main building, John could see a double door made from reinforced iron. "This gives off creepy vibes you know." John pointed out to Mr Briggs. "Yeah, but you'll get used to it, after all, you're going to stay here for quite some time" the director answered.

"Anyways, let me show you around," Briggs said as he put his hands on a scanner to open the door.

Going inside John's first impression of the building was a... Comfy prison? while the interior was decorated to give a friendly and warm feeling, the high tech security devices made it feel like a prison. Every door had its own hand recognition lock. The hall was filled with camera's and attendants to keep an eye on the children. The only hands able to unlock the doors would be those of the owners of the rooms, and those of the institution staff. "Well? What do you think?" Mr Briggs asked. "I think it's more welcoming than my old house." John answered earnestly. "That's great. We do our best to make it comfortable for you kids, it's nice that it gets noticed sometimes." Mr Briggs said as he continued walking. "Here is your new room, give me a bit of time to change the lock settings." He stated as he started typing on the lock display. A few moments later Mr Briggs instructed John to scan his hand. John did as he was told, his handprint got recognized by the lock and it opened.

Opening the door he noticed his new room was undoubtedly bigger than his old one. There was one bed on the far left, two wardrobes on the right, a sink and a toilet in a little washroom on the right next to the door and even a little bureau with his own computer left from the entrance.

"I'll give you a few minutes to get yourself set up. If you need any help, there will be staff members around." Mr Briggs said as he walked away. Finally John was alone. The last few weeks he was under high surveillance so he didn't have any time to himself. As he closed his eyes he finally could test what he wanted to test for days now. He tried the new feeling he felt, it felt as having his ability revised, the sensation was very hard to describe. But what happened next was unbelievable. A crimson red mist came out of his body. Just like the shadow ability Carl used. John felt something had changed so he opened his eyes and saw the red haze around him. "What!! Did I steal Carl's ability by killing him?? "John asked himself. He tried controlling the crimson collard blood like mist. It flawlessly bended to his will. With the discovery that his ability was more than just a useless flashlight, he had a new plan for life. And it was at that moment a future crime lord was born inside of him.

"All of you may go to the cafeteria to eat now." Mr Briggs voiced through the audio system. John finished his business and exited his room. Following some of the other kids to the cafeteria, he was approached by a boy almost the same height as him, with brown eyes and brown skin colour. His short hair was deep black and a bit curly.

"Hey newbie. How did you end up in here?" he asked. "Killed a guy." John said coldly, as he couldn't be bothered with other people trying to befriend him. He knew that they just tried to be friendly because they didn't know what his worth was. As soon as they knew of his worthlessness he wouldn't get noticed by anyone. But the black-haired boy didn't give up. "My name is Marco. I got here because I blew up a building. I couldn't control my ability that good." The boy said with a smile. These types of issues happened daily in this world. Some people had ability's too strong to control, with regular accidents as a result. One out of eight people in this world were basically walking bombs. "And what does that have to do with me?" John snarked back at him. "Well... It doesn't have anything to do with you. It's just... small talk." Marco answered. "If you hadn't noticed already I'm not interested in small talk." Said John as he walked away. "You'll open up to me eventually!" Marco yelled after him finally leaving John alone.

Inside the cafeteria, there were a few tables with seats, on the left there was a kitchen where food was prepared and handed out. Taking a dish, John had it filled with mashed potatoes and sausage. He walked past all the other tables to find one where he could be alone. He didn't have any intention to make friends in this place. He knew what people were like, only seeking their own benefit. Someone with a useless ability wouldn't benefit anyone of course. However, now John knew his ability wasn't useless, as it could steal the ability of the people he killed. But he wasn't going to reveal such power to others. It would do more harm than good. If people knew about his ability they would try to use him for their purposes and if they couldn't they wouldn't let anyone else get their hands on such a powerful individual.

"First I need to get stronger." John thought to himself. He would have to control his new shadow ability and find targets to steal abilities from. Of course, this all had to be done without getting suspected by the director or anyone else. If the truth of his ability came to light he would hang.

After sorting out his mind and eating his meal John went back to his room to get some sleep. This time he didn't hope he could leave the misery of life behind. Instead, he was excited about what the future would bring.