Prodigy: New World

19) Confronting Juno

While Scorpius and Poppy were ensuring that Seraphim was unharmed, Hino pushed open the black door. It revealed a large room; dark plating covered the walls and floor. The only furniture in the room was an office chair sat in front of a desk. On the desk was a large variety of computer monitors, although they were switched off instead of showing different parts of the building.

Hino became aware of a man stood on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall. He immediately recognised the dark pink eyes. "Juno." The detective hissed. "I was wondering where you had disappeared to."

"I wasn't going to just up and leave." Juno responded. "Not yet."

"Why not?" Hino asked. "What's so important that you had to stay here? To kill me?"

Juno scoffed. "That's only a secondary objective. Before this whole mess started up, I was visiting this place for another reason. I had to discover the truth."

"Truth?" Hino repeated, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of truth?"

"That's none of your business, 'Detective'." Juno spat.

The men glared at each other before Hino spoke again. "So I can safely assume that you were the one who attacked Seraphim?" He interrogated. "Those bruises on her neck didn't just appear there, did they?"

Juno remained silent. "Why'd you do it?" Hino continued. "Did she notice that you're not exactly one to follow a plan? Not exactly one to stay in one place for too long?"

"If 'helping' that kid meant that I had easy access into killing you, then I'd take up the offer." Juno grinned. "Maybe some fancy machinery she made could help me out. Either way, I wasn't leaving until you were dead at my feet."

"Wow," Hino blinked. "You, uh, really don't like me, do you? Isn't there something we can do as a sort of compromise? You know... a way that we can be friends?"

"Go to hell." Juno grumbled.

"Right, okay." Hino nodded. "That failed spectacularly. So, now what? Is this going to be your second attempt at trying to kill me? Or would it be the third? Honestly, I can't remember."

Juno advanced towards the group, but Saito stepped forward, his sword pointed directly at the opposing man. Yui also had her handgun prepared, aiming at Juno. "We will not allow any harm to befall Detective Ichikaz." Saito stated. "I suggest that you stand down before we are forced to act."

Juno smirked. "Is this what your life has come to?" He asked. "Getting brainwashed teenagers to protect you when you feel threatened?"

"We're protecting him because we want to!" Yui argued. "We won't let you lay a finger on him, you stupid jerk!"

Even Hino was surprised at the kids' behaviours. He essentially forced them into cooperating with him on this mission, to the point that they were only helping in order to go back home to their families. Yet now they insisted that they wanted to help him. He found the idea strange, although he certainly wasn't complaining in this situation.

"Just tell me this." Hino began. "You said that you were here to 'discover the truth'. Truth about what, exactly?"

Juno said nothing. "I can help you." Hino offered. "I understand that you dislike me. Really, I understand that part crystal clear. But... if something really is happening here, then you need to tell me. Maybe we can work past our differences and work together."

Juno hesitated more before he sighed, turning away from the three. "Talent Implantation Program." The man muttered. "You ever heard of that?"

"No, but it does interest me." Hino responded. "What does it entail?"

"What do you think?" Juno grumbled. "The clue is in the name. They take people and give them the ability that they paid for."

"People pay for this?" Hino asked.

Juno nodded. "Extortionate prices. Bills that only billionaires could pay. They were so desperate for their kids to be special. What a bunch of losers."

"Their children?" Saito frowned. "The young were experimented on?"

"Of course they were," Juno answered. "People want only the best for the next generation. Once the kids were famous and wealthy, they'd pawn off that wealth, take back what they originally paid."

"I-Is this... what lead to us becoming Prodigies?" Yui asked, her voice shaky. "Our parents paid up...?"

"Glad to see you made the connection, Buttercup." Juno smirked. "Prodigies are the result of signing a big cheque and sleeping on a lab table until you're a whole new you."

"E-Even with me...?" Hino whispered. "But... I don't remember any of that!"

"You think they'd just let their subjects go with full recollection of what happened?" Juno rolled his eyes. "Of course not. They'd make sure that the subject woke up with no memory of the operation. They were just shipped off home, waking up the next morning with 'sudden' new talents."

"But why?" Saito questioned. "Why would our parents do such a thing?"

"Because of course they'd want to see their little son or daughter be a special genius." Juno sighed. "Whether out of some sense of parental love or because they'd get some sick gain through it... that's what they did."

Hino closed his eyes, the information running through his head countless times as he attempted to process it. Once he was finished, he glanced up at Juno once again. "So what does that program have to do with this building?" The detective asked.

"Because I had suspicions." Juno shrugged. "Suspicions that the scientists here were involved with the process. Maybe they helped with implanting the talents, or were responsible with the memory wipe afterwards. Either way, I suspected Dr. Delarosa with being involved."

"Seraphim's father?" Hino gasped. "I suppose, in theory, it would connect. His own daughter is a Prodigy, after all."

"Would that mean... he pulled that experiment on his own daughter?" Yui realized. "That's horrible! Any respect I had for him went way down the drain!"

"I don't know why he would do that, or even who's behind this." Juno said. "But now that I've told you what I know... it should be easier to track them down, with you on the case."

"Thank you, Juno." Hino smiled. "See? We can be friends, after all."

Juno merely rolled his eyes and walked away. "I'll be waiting for you to get that kid to unlock the doors." He called over his shoulder before disappearing completely.

The three remained frozen in their spots before Hino turned to the two teenagers. "Let's go back." He decided. "We need to check on Seraphim."

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