Chapter 167: Ch 167: Staying Together - Part 3

After dreading this, the day was finally here.

Noah did not know why he felt so uneasy about it, but the moment the scientist mentioned the other children, an uncomfortable feeling settled deep inside his chest.

The future he had seen was still vivid in his mind, but there were many parts of it that remained unclear. But now, the first part of it was quickly approaching as the scientists made preparations to let them out.

Still, he had no choice but to follow them.

The scientists led the three of them through a long corridor before stopping in front of a large room filled with children of different ages. Some were sitting quietly in corners while others were talking among themselves, but the moment Noah entered, several pairs of eyes immediately turned towards him.

Alan immediately moved closer to Noah, while Daniel grabbed his hand without saying anything.

"Look, there are many children here. You can all become friends and play together."

The scientist smiled as she pushed them forward, but Noah could already sense the fear hidden beneath her expression. These children were not here simply to make friends. They were all experiments, just like him.

A small boy approached them first and stared curiously at Alan before looking at Noah.

"Who are you?"

"Subject S-001."

He answered quietly.

The boy smiled before pointing at himself.

"I’m Subject E-014."

Noah’s expression changed slightly when he heard the code. These kids had likely not gotten a name yet...or perhaps, ever. They were all disposed of here except Alan and Daniel, who would become the pillars of this world.

Since Noah was in a similar situation, he felt a sudden kinship with these kids, and he wanted to get to know them a little more.

The friendly kid from before approached Noah carefully and held out his hand.

"I am an esper. Are you a guide? You smell really good. Can I have a taste?"

The child asked, and Noah started to feel uncomfortable in his presence. He knew that as kids, this level of playfulness was expected. But wasn’t this a little too personal?

He tried to step back as a way to tell these kids that he needed space when the esper quickly stepped forward to grab his wrist.

"Come on! Let’s play—"

Within a second, someone jumped forward and grabbed that offending hand off Noah’s person, and he looked back, only to see Alan growling at the other esper.

"Hands off. He’s mine!"

This was a declaration of ownership that made Noah nervous. He did not know what to say, but he did know one thing.

"Alan, you are supposed to help Daniel, not me."

Noah pointed out, which made Alan pout and look at him with an abandoned-puppy look.

"But I want to help you out, not Alan. Are you kicking me out? You won’t do that to me, right, Noah?"

Something was wrong with Daniel’s personality. He was far too possessive of Noah when he had no need to be. And he even ignored Daniel...

Speaking of Daniel, the other guide was in trouble as well.

The program was created in an unbalanced way where there were far more espers compared to guides, and unlike Noah, Daniel was not hiding his grade, which made him a tempting treat for any esper.

So the flies continued to flutter around Daniel and try to make a pass at him, even as kids.

"Who are you? You feel nice to touch."

"Are you a guide? Want to be my partner?"

Daniel was getting overwhelmed, and it wouldn’t take long before he got physical as well. Noah needed to avoid having his first impression be ruined because he got overwhelmed. So he quickly slipped beside Daniel and stood by his side.

"Subject G-002, we need to head back now. It is time for lunch."

With Noah acting as a shield, everyone’s eyes turned to him instead, and he could sense curiosity and agitation in their eyes.

"Hey, are you a guide as well? You feel nice but not as good as Subject G-002. Can we have him as a playmate?"

The kids asked Noah since he seemed a little more mature, but Noah just shook his head.

"Not right now. G-002 is a little overwhelmed. You should approach him slowly and get him used to you all."

Most of the kids in this batch had been kept together since birth, so they were used to company and were social. They nodded at Noah’s words, somehow understanding that they needed to take it slow.

"Alright, we will wait."

They nodded, and Noah slowly found himself being pushed as the default person anyone went to when they had trouble.

Both Daniel and Alan did not like this, but if it kept everyone else at the same distance, then they were alright with it.

And just like that, years passed and they all grew up. Alan and Daniel especially grew a lot, and they were slightly taller than Noah at the age of nine. They were all growing up quite well when Noah had a vision.

In the vision, it was all burning, and the facility was being reduced to rubble. But the emotion Noah felt at that time was relief, not distress.

The vision was as abrupt as ever, but the nightmare that followed felt real. And then, the system chipped in.

[A critical point of change in the future has arrived. Would you like to take the leap?]

The system asked, and Noah knew that this was the first node to set the future into motion. It was time for this facility to burn down within a week.

But he needed to send messages out first. The kids here deserved to survive and not only that, but to live a good life as well.

’I will need to be careful from here on out.’

One misstep and his whole operation would go down the drain. But Noah felt reassured in himself.

He would save these kids and himself from the troublesome future.