I stood in the middle of a white room inside a glass enclosure.

General Mayer walked around me. “Take off your shirt.”

I did so and played with the neckline. Astrid stepped forward and took it from me.

With a gloved hand, the general moved my hair off my back. “My god, there’s barely any room left. What the hell is this one for?” He tapped on the large tattoo.

“To keep the energy from coming out of his back,” Astrid stated. “It found another exit point.” She folded her arms. “We’re trying to keep a limited amount being allowed to escape from the hands and feet.”

“And these?” He walked around me and pointed to the four identical ones on my arms and legs.

“Confinement. It’s still in development.” She tapped her finger against her lip. “It works great for his arms, but his legs are too strong. He’ll probably break the ones on his arms soon.” She let out a sigh. “We’re working on refining them.”

“If it doesn’t work, remove them,” he stated. “I have to show the governing cabinet his reports, and seeing the boy covered in seals is embarrassing for the institution. He’s covered in this shit. You’ve had him for twelve years, and we are worse off than when we started.”

Astrid forced a smile. “Eiko is a fighter. What would you have me do?”

The general shook his head. “Sounds like a new way of saying: I can’t handle him?”

“We can handle him,” she replied firmly. “We’re dealing with the power of a destructive type. A fucking powerful one.”

“Northern Pagora has many under our command.” General Mayer lifted his chin.

“Of the Onabi classification?” She gave him a sideways look. “If you can do better, take him. But if he blows up a building, it’s on you.”

“We’re tired of waiting,” he stated. “This country has been at war with itself for long enough. This boy is what we need to end it.”

She shrugged. “As I said, take him.” She pulled her cigar case out and lit one. “He’s the first one to live this long. The others never made it past sixteen. It would be a shame to waste our efforts, but that’s not for me to decide.”

The general narrowed his gaze on her. “The others were girls who weren’t capable of handling magic of this magnitude.”

“They died of suicide, Mayer,” Astrid said plainly. “An Onabi’s pain tolerance and durability are above all other asters, let alone a normal human such as yourself. You throw him into a war; Eiko will end up like the others. They’re not mentally stable.”

He turned to me.

I stared at the floor.

“From the reports, it says he has anger issues.”

“Issues are issues,” said Astrid. “The girls were emotional. Eiko is angry. The girls were easier to handle but less stable. They blew up plenty of shit. Eiko is the opposite. His mental state is stable compared to others of his type. We’re going to continue to work with him.”

“For how long? We can’t wait another ten years.”

“Twelves,” said Astrid with a puff of smoke. “He’s been here twelve.”

“Fucking hell, I know,” stated the general. “We need progress!”

She shrugged. “As you said, there’s only so much real estate on the boy’s body. I can’t fit many more tattoos.”

“Then find another way.” He fixed his eyes on Astrid before marching toward the door. “And cut his goddamn hair. The boy’s a soldier, not some free-loving hippie.”

“I’ve tried,” she snapped. “He blew a damn hole through a wall, so I determined it was not worth the effort.” She breathed in deep. “Fucking hell, Eiko.” She rubbed his forehead. “That went bad if you can’t tell.”

Shaking her head, she handed me the shirt. “Cut your hair tonight. It’s too long. That’s the deal, so don’t make me shave it.”

I glared at her. It was my hair. If I didn’t want it cut, that should be my choice. It was my body. It was mine. My hands started shaking. If she fucking touched it… the tattoos running down my forearms and onto the back of my hands to my fingers glowed blue.

“Dammit, what a fucking day,” she muttered before jamming her finger into my head and knocking me out.

***

Every tear that fell caused the bands to get tighter. Astrid had put them back on after the evaluation. I wasn’t crying because it hurt. I didn’t cry from pain. I didn’t know why I did it anymore, but my chest hurt. I wasn’t broken. I was defective or a damn war object. Having this power didn’t mean I wanted to hurt people. No one understood that. It was so goddamn frustrating.

I wiped my face with my shirt and noticed the blood on the sleeve. I took it off and tossed it across the room. Everything in this room eventually got blood on it. It was why the floors were changed to wood instead of carpet. The couch and mattress had plastic on them. Blankets and pillows were changed regularly. Everything was made to be easily clean because all they knew how to do was cause pain. I wanted out. I needed to leave this room. All the exit points were enchanted by the possessor asters that lived here. Getting through a window would be more challenging than knocking out another wall. The bands would leave gashes in my limbs, but it would be worth it if I could get out.

Laughing sounded through the wall from where I sat in the corner.

“So, you actually met him?”

“Yes,” said Hellanna. “He looked scared out of his mind.”

“Yeah, right. Eiko is dangerous. I’m surprised you agreed to go near him. Being in this room is too close. He could blast through that wall.”

“There are three other walls that lead outside the institution that I’m sure he’d aim for first. I’ll be fine.”

“How can you be sure?”

I pressed my ear against the wall.

“I could sense it. Healers practice on animals before we do humans. It was the same feeling as a scared bunny rabbit trying to escape,” she laughed.

“Maybe.”

I heard movement as the girls walked around the room.

“So, is he as hot as everyone says?”

My chest seized, and I felt my face heat up.”

“What?” said Hellana.

“I’ve heard other asters talk about him. Eiko is rarely let out of his room, but some of the girls have seen him, and they say he ripped.”

Hellana cleared her throat. “He has an enormous amount of energy coursing through his body constantly. The muscle structure simply has adapted to accommodate it.”

“Healer talk for— yes, he has an amazing body.”

“It wasn't bad, alright,” laughed Hellana. “I was there to heal him. I was working, trying to be professional.”

I wrapped my arms around my stomach. I didn’t really want to know that about myself. I quietly moved across the floor to grab my shirt and returned to my spot. Putting it on, I started to listen again.

“My main job is to help Astrid and keep Eiko healthy.”

The other girl scoffed. “Astrid is annoying me right now. I wish someone else were in charge. We got this new guy who does white tattoos, and she completely forgets about the rest of us. She can’t do white tattoos, so she’s obsessed with him.”

“We each have our talents,” said Hellana.

“Yeah, I’ll take being a manipulator over a destructive. They’re treated like shit.”

“Hmm… we all have our part in this war, and their part is a bit more tragic.”

“A bit,” she scoffed. “They’re war machines. They’re sent out to kill, and that’s it. Their kind can’t do anything else.”

“Simply because we haven’t let them have the chance to use their abilities for anything else.”

“You find the positive in everything,” she muttered.

“I simply believe there is more to Eiko than what everyone says. I believed the rumors at first, and then I met him. There’s more to Eiko.”

“You haven’t been here long enough for him to blow something up.”

“Eiko,” said the intercom.

I froze from where I sat, and the conversation ended in the other room.

“Cut your hair tonight, got it?”

I glanced around the room. I didn’t feel like doing it right this second.

“Confirm.”

With a sigh, I climbed to my feet, went to my desk, and took out the scissors meant for a child. I held them up and waved them around. Going to the bathroom, I combed through my hair and fixed my part. I lifted my shirt. This is what girls liked? Was it not a natural thing? I thought for a moment. Most women came with Astrid. Aster abilities were more common among girls. The men who worked here always wore multiple layers of clothes, while I barely put on more than shorts. I ran my hand over my stomach as laughter came from next door. I glanced toward her room. Maybe Hellana moving next door wouldn’t be too bad. I measured how much I wanted to cut, and with a deep breath, I made the first snip.