The Five Evolution

Chapter 26: Suspicious Mind.

『"We might be caught in a trap we can’t walk out from..."』

The warden arrived at the main airlock to greet them, displaying a kind of awkward enthusiasm that immediately made Amara feel uneasy.

His eyes appeared permanently shut, like thin lines across his face that somehow still managed to convey a sense of constant assessment.

"My name is Lao Zi, but you may refer to me as the Warden," he introduced himself with a slight bow.

The Warden was a Shaper-ranked Awakener based on the two bars visible on his forehead, the second one already grey, indicating he’d reached his ceiling.

All the students had gone quiet, making it obvious that Amara wasn’t the only one to feel uncomfortable around him. So the Warden made an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Welcome, welcome! Future agents of the Institute." He said with a smile. "At least I hope that’s what you’ll be... if you don’t want to end up here instead of visiting, eh?"

He scratched his neck and laughed at his own joke, making everyone even more uncomfortable.

She got that tingling sensation immediately, the one that accompanied her lie detection. But it felt different this time. Muddied.

He wasn’t necessarily lying about anything he said so far, but he was definitely withholding something significant. And it was a feeling she didn’t like.

Ethan noticed her reaction and leaned close. "Are you good?"

"Yeah," she answered, running her fingers through her hair, an unconscious gesture she only made when nervous.

The warden began leading the entire group of three hundred students through the facility as he launched into what was clearly a rehearsed speech.

"Fun fact!" His cheerfulness seemed forced. "The Clam’s SCP isn’t the only useful resource the Institute has managed to extract from our gracious host."

He turned to a corner and everyone followed. "Once every decade, the Shrinking Clam releases pellets of a pearl-like material, as you’d expect from a clam, right? This entire facility is built in concentric circles around the center chamber where that material is released."

Gaius leaned closer to their group of ten, and whispered. "We call it margaronium. The most precious and durable material on Earth, right down to its atomic structure."

"Magaronium..." Amara repeated.

Gaius nodded. "It makes Diamonds feel like a wet piece of tissue paper." He gestured to the surroundings. "The walls of this facility are infused with it, making them effectively indestructible."

"Holy shit," Hiro breathed. "So this place is basically impregnable?"

"In theory," Gaius said, and something about his tone suggested he didn’t entirely believe that.

"How much is margaronium worth?" Tova asked.

"More than your life," Hana answered dramatically with one hand over her face. "More than all our lives combined, probably," she corrected. "A gram of refined margaronium could fund a small country’s annual budget."

"And how much margaronium does the Clam produce per decade?" Ethan folded his arm.

"Roughly ten kilograms," Gaius said. "Though most of that goes into facility maintenance and Institute infrastructure. The amount that reaches open market is... negligible."

"Which makes the black market value astronomical," Andre added quietly.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"What? I pay attention to econ." He shrugged. "Last I heard, a single gram sold for two hundred thousand US dollars. That was three years ago. Price has probably doubled since."

"Fuck me," Sophia whispered.

"Which is why security here is—" The warden spread his arms wide, as if embracing the entire facility. "Perfection. State of the art. Nothing gets in. Nothing gets out."

His smile widened. "Well, except authorized personnel, of course."

That smile. Amara really didn’t like that smile.

They passed through multiple security checkpoints, each one requiring biometric scans and a clearance card.

Around them, the architecture grew more impressive as they progressed. Corridors branched in precise patterns, and across these corridors, holding cells were visible through transparent barriers.

Some cells were empty. Others contained... things.

Cell 47 contained what looked like an elderly woman knitting. She looked up as they passed, needles pausing mid-stitch. Then her eyes locked on Hiro and she licked her dried, wrinkled lips.

Hiro’s gaze remained on the woman while he tugged on Amara’s jacket. "Amara... Amara!"

"What, Hiro?" Amara turned to face him.

Hiro still refused to break eye contact. "The old lady keeps staring at me."

"Then avert your gaze," Amara offered without looking.

The old lady then winked at him and Hiro increased the speed of his walk, moving closer to the warden who was speaking now.

"Most of our guests are Rogue Awakeners who couldn’t control their abilities," the warden explained as they walked. "Some are criminals who used their powers for personal gain. A few are... well, we’re not entirely sure what they are. Interdimensional refugees, maybe. Experiments gone wrong. The Institute collects them all."

They reached a large station that overlooked what appeared to be the central containment area which was a vast chamber with holding cells arranged in layers.

"I’ll be showing you exactly how we keep these dangerous individuals contained," the warden announced.

"No need to be afraid, people. Rest assured—" his smile widened, "—the suppression system is activated for all prisoners twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year."

In that precise moment, Amara got that feeling again.

Only this time, it was stronger. Accompanied by the unmistakable visual hallucination of a red aura around the warden.

"Bullshit," she whispered.

Ethan heard her. So did Hiro and Sophia, who were standing close enough.

"What?" Ethan asked urgently.

"He’s lying," Amara said, keeping her voice low as she looked up at the warden, who was still smiling that false, too-wide smile. "Something is very wrong here."

As if in response to her words, the lights flickered just once. It almost went unnoticed.

But in a facility that prided itself on being impregnable, on never failing, on perfect security...

One flicker was one too many.

Professor Gaius’s expression shifted from casual observation to sharp alertness. Then his hand moved subtly to something on his belt—a weapon or communication device, Amara couldn’t tell which.

The warden’s smile didn’t falter as he looked at Gaius and nodded. "Just a minor power fluctuation. Nothing to worry about. Happens all the time down here."

There it was again, that same sensation. Amara’s eyes narrowed and one word escaped her lips for the second time.

"Bullshit."