Lost Radiance

Shota woke up suddenly. He was sweating and shaking. His heart was beating rapidly.

He fell asleep in the middle of his desk.

He got up from his seat and headed toward the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face.

And quickly returned home and slept for another two hours.

He dreamed of the same thing.

This time he saw the girl running away from him. He chased after her, but when he reached the edge of the forest, he saw that the whole place was a desolate wasteland.

There was nothing left, all he could see was a huge wasteland, everything was destroyed, the sky was red, and there was dense red fog everywhere.

Shota woke up, and it was still pitch black outside. He couldn fall asleep until dawn.

***

The next day, he returned to work as usual, but he was distracted.

His mind kept wandering to the girl. ”Who is she? What does she want? Is she real or imaginary? ”

He tried to concentrate, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

He eventually gave up trying to work and decided to take a coffee instead. One hour later, he headed to his office and sat down at his desk.

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind ”I should test the gloves right now… ”

While drinking his coffee, he remembered how well the gloves performed during their testing phase.

”I will use them now! I don care if they break; I just need to get rid of unnecessary parts. Then we can finally begin experimenting with the electrical energy source! ”

Without even thinking twice, he pulled out the glove from under his desk and placed it in his hand. It fit perfectly. As soon as he did so, there was an electric sensation flowing through both arms. He closed his fist tightly and squeezed hard. There was another jolt of electricity that shot through every part of his body. This time it lasted several seconds.

Then it stopped abruptly.

”Whats happening? Is it broken? ”

For the first time since its creation, the glove was acting strangely.

He examined the glove carefully and noticed that the wires connecting it to the activator were exposed. Most of the connections were melted and burned off. He knew that this must have happened because the device produced too much energy.

He wanted to throw the useless piece of junk against the wall, but he hesitated. After all, this was the product of many years of research. It was the culmination of all his efforts.

So he picked up the glove, sat down in his chair, and began to reconstruct it.

He fixed all the damaged components by melting and burning brand-new ones onto each wire connection. He completed the repair in a short time.

Once it was repaired, he tested it once more. To his surprise, it worked again.

”Thats odd, ” he mumbled. ”Somethings wrong with the glove. ”

He continued to test the glove. But whenever he activated it, there was a surge of electricity surging through his entire body. Once again he had the same experience.

Eventually, he found that the fault lay in the Activation Module. Because he hadn been careful while installing the module, it caused a short circuit. Thats why the device generated so much energy. In order to not damage any other devices in the laboratory, he removed the faulty components and reconstructed the Activation Module.

When he finished making repairs, he tested the glove yet again. Everything appeared perfect.

But then something unexpected occurred.

Instead of feeling the familiar tingle, he felt intense pain in his head and neck. He dropped the glove and grabbed his temples with trembling hands. A headache spread across his brain.

In an instant, he understood what was going on.

With great difficulty, he managed to stand up from his chair and walk toward the door. With each step he took forward, he grew weaker.

The Radiance stone in the activation module started to shine brightly. Its light illuminated the room. It flashed brighter than before, filling the air with an eerie glow.

At last, the lights flickered out.

Everything vanished.

Only darkness remained.

And then he fainted.

***

Several minutes passed before he regained consciousness.

He opened his eyes slowly and saw a faint blue light shining dimly above him. Something was holding his wrist securely. From somewhere behind him, he heard voices whispering urgently. ”Shota, are you okay? ”

Someone helped him sit upright.

”…is he conscious?… ”

”Let me check. ”

”No, wait! Don touch him! ”

He recognized those voices – Professor Kondo and Yuka. Both of them stared at him intently.

They didn know what to do, but they knew they had to stop whatever they were doing. They moved away from him cautiously and called for assistance.

Two doctors rushed into the lab carrying medical equipment. They checked his vitals and immediately injected him with medication. While they did so, Professor Kondo explained the situation to them.

”We found him on the floor unconscious. No one knows how long ago he collapsed, but apparently no one else was here. We think he may have suffered a stroke or seizure due to the high voltage current leaking from his glove. ”

One of the medics nodded gravely and said: ”Doctor Sakuragi, please examine Mr. Kanos condition. ”

She stepped closer to look at his pupils. Her fingers touched his forehead gently.

”Mr. Kano, can you hear us? ” asked Doctor Sakuragi.

”Yeah, yes. ” His voice sounded distant. ”Where am I? ”

”You
e safe now, sir. ”

The doctors carried Shota to the hospital where he spent three days recovering.

On the fourth day, he awoke early in the morning. He saw Dr. Sakuragi sitting beside him.

”How are you feeling today? ” she asked.

”Much better, ” replied Shota. ”Thanks for taking such good care of me. ”

”Don worry about it. Youve been lucky. Your injuries weren serious. ”

”Why did I faint? ”

Dr. Sakuragi paused briefly and glanced nervously at the doorway. ”Well, the truth is that we don really understand the cause of your collapse. ”

”I mean…what happened exactly? Why did I pass out? ”

”Your brain experienced severe trauma from overstimulation. Overload of neural activity has led to temporary paralysis. Fortunately, your recovery seems to be progressing quite well. ”

Sakuragi stood up and smiled at him. ”Now that your health is stable, lets talk. Can you tell me what you remember before you collapsed? ”

”Hmm…well…before my accident, I was working very hard on my Project— ”

”—and suddenly you fainted. ”

”…yes. ”

”Do you recall anything unusual before that moment? ”

”Nothing specific. Just that I worked on the project non-stop for months. And I wasn sleeping much either… ”

”Well, you will be able to leave soon. Until then rest as much as possible. ”

”Yes maam! ”

As the doctor walked away, Shota stared vacantly at the ceiling. He was sure that someone would come along soon, asking him questions like they always did.

After a while, he drifted back to sleep.

***

Professor Kondo entered Shotas hospital room without knocking and waited patiently for him to wake up.

Shota opened his eyes and saw the professor standing nearby. ”Good morning, Professor. ”

Kondo bowed slightly. ”Its already afternoon. Are you awake yet? How do you feel? ”

Shota rubbed his face and yawned. ”Fine thanks. ”

”Great. Well, Im glad to report that your tests are good. ”

”Really? Did I miss breakfast? ”

”Actually, there hasn been any food served recently. Everyone thinks you might return tomorrow evening. ”

Shota looked surprised and puzzled. ”Oh, sorry. I guess I haven eaten lunch yet. ”

”Ahh…don worry about it. Someone brought you some tea earlier. ”

Shota thanked him politely and drank the warm beverage.

”By the way, ” Kondo added casually. ”Did you notice anything unusual yesterday? ”

”Umm…no. Nothing special. I was working late on the project most nights anyway. ”

”Right. Anyway, let me ask you this: Have you ever seen anyone wearing the Radiance glove? ”

”Huh? ”

Shota blinked and frowned. ”Are you talking about the glove I wore when I fainted? ”

”Exactly. ”

”Is there a problem with it? ”

”…We believe someone might have taken advantage of your absence to steal your technology. ”

”Steal? ” Shota repeated incredulously. ”Who would do such a thing? ”

Kondo sighed heavily and shook his head. ”Unfortunately, we cannot say for certain whether it was stolen or not. ”

”The glove itself isn relevant – its the core mechanism inside it that matters, ” Shota said.

”Precisely. ” Kondo agreed. ”Whoever stole it will probably use it to create something dangerous, especially if they discover how powerful our electricity generator truly is. ”