ATOMIC STRUGGLE

10「mind test」1

Izak wasn't sure what to think about this whole excursion to Tartarus, or what he thought of Tartarus itself. It was impressive, to be sure. He could feel how far down it went, could feel how many people were around, could feel all the wires and machines and technology that was used to keep these criminals in the fortress. He supposed this place would make the most sense to be where he took his test because not only would they be able to probably put him down better than anywhere else in the world, they also have the technology to monitor his thoughts, so he knew he needed to be careful. 

The elevator ride to whatever floor they were on was fairly short, the usual elevator music being played the entire way down. From there, the five of them went about three doors down before Chief Sawamura stopped to open one of the doors. "Morgan, head on in here," He instructed with a smile, so Izak did so. 

Inside, it was almost completely white except for a silver metal cart and a single chair rooted to the floor. The chair looked very uncomfortable with some sort of helmet machine at the head of it and some cuffs to lock down the person sitting in it, not to mention it being all metal. Izak narrowed his eyes at the chair before moving his gaze over to the person standing beside the chair. 

"Morgan," his name suddenly came over the speakers he hadn't realized were there, causing him to look over at the wall. The wall was white, but Izak could tell it was actually a one way window, and if he focused further, he could feel several people in what seemed to be a booth. "Welcome to your testing area, please take a seat," The voice instructed, so with a moment of hesitation because that chair just looked gnarly, Izak did so and settled into the chair. 

"Go ahead and lean back too," The person in the room with him said, pushing his shoulder so his back hit the back of the chair. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ujiko Daruma, and I'll be administering the test for you today."

"...Alright," Izak replied after a moment, watching Ujiko the entire time as the doctor went about preparing a needle. 

"Don't worry Morgan, Doctor Ujiko is one of the best in his field, you're in good hands," Came the voice over the speaker again. Izak just blinked, not moving his eyes away from the doctor. 

"You're too kind," The doctor laughed as he turned back to face Izak. "Well now, let me explain how this will work. This serum will move your consciousness from the front to the back of your mind, and there, it will present you with scenarios. All you have to do is explain what you would do in each scenario, you don't actually have to do it. And, thanks to Tartarus' technology, we will be able to see your responses. We are looking directly into your head, so it might seem a bit intrusive, but please bare with us," He explained as he came to stand beside Izak once more. 

Putting the head gear down over Izak's head, Ujiko activated the cuffs, which locked around Izak's legs, arms and chest. "I'm going to inject the serum now," He stated, bringing the needle up to Izak's neck. Piercing his skin, the doctor inserted the liquid into Izak's neck, and suddenly Izak couldn't keep his eyes open. 

The second he closed them, he found himself in complete darkness. Looking around, the maroonette soon saw his surroundings morph into a playground with a bunch of kids around. Then, a feeling directed him to look over at one of the trees, finding a crying child as a birthday balloon was swaying in the high branches. 

"What would you do if you came across a child that lost their balloon to a tree?" Came a voice, causing Izak to look around. He couldn't find the source of the voice, but then he remembered that this was a test, and finding the voice wasn't important. All he had to do was answer the question after the prompt was given, so that was what he did. 

"I would make an exact replica of the balloon and give it to the child," Izak supplied, and the world went dark again. Another scene appeared, this time of a quiet street with several houses. A pit bull jogged down the street, but no owner was in sight. 

"What would you do," The voice sounded again. "If you saw a dog on the loose?"

"I would approach it, see if it had a collar, wait for the owner, and if no owner arrived and if I couldn't find an address or phone number on the dog, I would take it to the animal shelter," Izak said, and the scene once again disappeared into darkness. 

The next scene was of a busy road, cars rushing through to get where they wanted to go. Izak's gaze was directed to the sidewalk as the voice sounded. "What would you do if you saw a cat running across a busy street with a little kid chasing after it?" The scenario played out as a cat ran into the busy street, and a child went racing after it without a thought. Izak grimaced, but answered. 

"I would make both of them float before they could get hurt and would deposit them back on the sidewalk they came from, then I would escort the kid to an adult that the kid knows."

The world went black again, this time showing a convenience store. There was a guy with a gun about to make his escape from the store, and there were also several workers on the ground near the cash register, all bleeding from gunshot wounds to vital areas. "What would you do if you saw someone rob a store and critically injure the workers?" The voice asked. 

Izak looked over the scene once more before giving his reply. "I would paralyze the robber so that I would have time to heal the wounded, then I would arrest the robber and deliver him to the local authorities."

Another scene change brought about more darkness, this time only illuminated by a single dim light. What was under the light was what looked to be powder, some dried blood, some firearms and, if Izak squinted, some people huddled against the far wall. "What would you do if you found out about a trafficking ring?"

"I would put a marker on the victims so that I can track them, then I would alert the authorities and come up with a plan to stop the entire ring," the maroonette said, and so the dark scene faded. Suddenly, he was looking at a picture of a young girl with a gun to her head and a note that acted as a ransom. 

"What would you do if there was a ransom situation?" The voice inquired. This was a bit tougher than the others since Izak wouldn't have immediate access to the bad guys and the victim, but that didn't mean he couldn't solve it. 

"I would make fake money and send it to the kidnappers and make it that when they touch the money, I can teleport directly to them so that I can save the hostage and arrest the kidnappers."

Returning to black, Izak was then faced with something that made his eyes widen. Meanwhile, in the observing room, alarm beeps were going off as the subject's emotions went haywire at the image he was seeing. The question barely even registered to Izak when it was asked. 

"What would you do if Mihoko had a gun to her head?"