The iron door of the Red Sector slammed shut, severing the sounds of the prison.
The hall's ceiling was swallowed by thick shadows, and the floor of grey slate was polished to such a sheen that it reflected the bare feet of the combatants. To Kira, it felt as though he were wading through invisible gelatin; every breath was a struggle.
As Kira walked, his gaze latched onto the details. To his right, two massive men with skin the color of aged copper slowly practiced a sequence of strikes. To his left, a woman with a short buzz cut remained frozen in a one-arm handstand, the muscles of her back rippling under her skin like living serpents.
They all paused for a fleeting second as Kira passed by.
The fighters near the entrance lowered their training blades.
"What is this eyesore?" one asked quietly, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Are they feeding every stray in the Red Sector now?"
"I heard he took down Halden," the second grunted, eyeing Kira from head to toe.
"Though, looking at those bones... Halden probably just tripped and died of laughter."
The air here didn't just exist; it resisted. He wanted to ask why did the guard say he was bought? Why did he remember a white house if he was brought here in a crate? In this new place, those questions faded. His head burned and the thoughts slipped away.
The Man in Grey waited at the end of the hall on a low dais. He didn't look at Kira until the boy stood three paces away.
Kira gathered all his strength and dared to speak first.
"Who am I?" Kira lowered his gaze.
"You are asking the wrong question."
The Man in Grey pulled a short metal tube from the folds of his caftan. He tossed it up. His palm caught the metal, and a sharp ring echoed through the hall.
Kira didn't have time to understand what happened. His right arm snapped upward on its own, fingers curling to block a line of attack that never came. The muscles of his shoulder flared with sharp pain.
"Do you see?" The Man in Grey leaned toward him.
"What is this?" Kira gasped, staring at him.
The Man in Grey smirked.
"That is the problem. Your body lives its own life. It no longer belongs to you."
Kira felt despair boiling inside him. His question about "Who he was" now sounded less like an accusation and more like a plea to disprove this nightmare.
He wanted to straighten his back, to lift his chin, to look this creature in the eye...
But his body betrayed him.
His shoulders slumped on their own, his torso shifted instinctively into a defensive stance, and his gaze fixed on the floor.
"I... I didn't do that..." flashed through Kira's mind. Terror washed over his insides like an icy wave.
Kira opened his mouth. He wanted to scream, to demand an answer.
But his throat tightened as if constricted by steel wire.
The Man in Grey slowly turned a page. The silence in the hall became absolute. The air pressure reached its limit.
"Do you want to understand who you are?" he asked without looking up.
The silence stretched. Kira could hear only the deafening thud of his own heart.
"Too late."
The Man in Grey finally snapped the book shut. The sound echoed in the farthest corners of the hall like a death sentence.
"You are not seeking an answer. You are seeking an excuse for your weakness."
He rose from his chair, and Kira instinctively pressed himself toward the floor, though the man hadn't even taken a step toward him.
"I will not waste time calibrating something that willfully chooses to remain junk."
The Instructor turned, retreating into the thick shadows of the dais as if Kira had ceased to exist as a material object.
"To the Fourth Sector with him. To the 'Culls'."
Kira still found the strength for a panicked movement toward the exit.
But his legs "jammed." Before he could cover even two meters, a guard's massive hand crashed onto his shoulder, crushing his collarbone.
"Wait..." his voice broke of its own accord.
He swallowed, feeling his throat resist every sound.
"You... back then... you spoke..." He lifted his eyes, and in them reflected a desperate realization.
"About the Association."
The Man in Grey paused for a single moment. Then, he continued walking.
The guard didn't even look at him. His fist slammed into Kira's jaw with a heavy, unerring precision.
The world exploded in a blinding white light.
His knees buckled, turning to water.
Kira collapsed onto the cold slate, but before he could even draw a breath, a heavy combat boot crushed his ribcage against the floor, knocking the remaining oxygen out of him.
The guard shifted his weight slightly, grinding Kira into the stone.
"Open your mouth without an order one more time," the guard's voice was flat, devoid of emotion, "and I'll tear out your tongue. Just so it doesn't get in the way of you hearing commands."
Kira was yanked to his feet by his collar. His head lolled from side to side, his vision swimming, unable to focus. to his feet by his collar. His head lolled from side to side, his vision swimming, unable to focus.