Rough breathing filled my ears, my own breathing that was steadily growing wetter and thicker. I was viewing the world through a filter of red, obscuring the person standing over me.

"P-please…" I could barely make out the sound of my voice over the pounding of my heart that was steadily growing weaker in my ears. There was a blur of motion and then a white hot pain spreading from my chest.

"I'm sorry. I had to do this. I promise I'll escape and make sure the person who did this is punished. It'll be ok." Gentle hands touched my face as my body began to go numb and I couldn't muster enough energy to respond, to tell them the million of thoughts that were swirling in my head. Then one by one they began to flicker out of existence like stars and the hands receded, or at least I couldn't feel them anymore. The last thing I was aware of was one more whispered promise and then darkness.

I jolted awake with a yell, my senses clouded with the lingering terror of my nightmare. Over the course of the next few minutes my breathing slowed and I was able to fully come to consciousness. Unfortunately it didn't make things any clearer as I realized that I had no clue where I was or how I had gotten here. Closing my eyes, I searched my mind for any information I could possibly remember. Aside from the basics though, there wasn't much.

My name is Hibiki Ueda, first year and known worldwide as the Ultimate Investigative Reporter. The last thing I remember clearly is finding out I was accepted into the government sponsored program for those gifted with Ultimate talents. For three years myself and 15 others would be living in a self-sustaining community designed to specifically promote the development of our talents, or at least that's what the application had said. As for what happened after opening my letter and finding out that I'd be escorted to the facility the next day I can't remember anything. It was like a slate that had been wiped so clean that not even smudges of what had been there was left.

Which is why my confusion was growing by the second as I pulled myself into a sitting position on the bed I had woken up on and looked around the room. It was simple, with a single bed, nothing decorating the walls and no visible windows. There were a couple of bookshelves, one completely empty and the other filled with different books, magazines and newspapers. A look to each side of the bed revealed two identical looking doors that seemed to lead deeper into the room, most likely to a bathroom and a closet. In front of me was a plain wooden door with a deadbolt on it. Slowly I got off the bed, wary that any step I made could trigger a trap, and made my way to the door. I unlocked the deadbolt and carefully opened the door.

A hallway spread out before me, an identical copy of my door across it and seven others on each side of the hallway. At the left end of the hallway was a door marked with a sign marking stairs and at the right a door with a sign bearing a lock with an X through it. My room and the one across seemed to be in the center and directly above me there were two security cameras, one pointed towards each end of the hallway, attached to a set of what appeared to be monitors. As if noticing my gaze a voice began to filter out the speakers on the monitors.

"Our late riser has finally woken up so it's time for everyone to meet their classmates! All students should gather in the lobby on the first floor right now!" The voice was strange, far too high pitched to be reached by any normal means so it must've been altered technologically. Then again everything about this was strange so someone altering their voice wasn't too out of the ordinary. Not seeing any other course of action I took a deep breath and made my way to the staircase.