A dry rustle…

The decayed, crumbling grass slips through my fingers, scattering into dust that mingles with the lifeless desert sand. As I touch this desolate mixture, it becomes painfully clear how hollow the claims of those who see only beauty in nature truly are.

Nature, in reality, is merciless. Not beautiful, but savage. I pick up a handful of the sand and crumbled grass and shove it into my mouth. Leviathan looks on in disgust, her face contorting.

“Ew—Eight, are you eating dirt now?” “…Ptoo.” “If you’re that hungry, I could offer you some milk. Not that I’ve started producing any yet…”

Ignoring her taunt, I gather more sand and put it into an analysis device, watching it process the sample. In no time, the results confirm that it’s entirely devoid of life.

This is strange. Some of the life force should have spread into the surrounding area, yet everything here is completely barren. It shouldn’t have happened this quickly, not overnight.

Puzzled, I turn to the operatives who’d arrived at the site this morning.

“Has anyone come by here?” “We were on the morning shift, and no one was around.” “What about last night’s crew?” “They were monitoring the CCTV all day yesterday. They reported nothing unusual.”

“Then I’d like to check for myself.”

The moment I step into the CCTV room with the operatives, I spot a glaring issue: there are cameras focused on the city’s outskirts and entrances, yet none covering the experimental field itself.

Without footage of the field, I had no way to see how the plants decayed, nor if anyone had entered and tampered with the area. Exchanging brief nods with the operatives, I leave, scratching my head in irritation.

"Was I wrong?"

Impossible. Yet reality was confronting me with harsh facts. I couldn’t believe that, in a world with only 21st-century-level technology, the latest Earth science-based fertilizer could fail so completely.

Someone must be interfering. With this in mind, I gather some sand and put it into three different pots.

“What are you planning to do with those?” “An experiment. To see if I really was wrong or if something else is causing this.” “Can’t you just spread fertilizer over the whole desert?” “If you don’t mind turning the entire city into plant food, then sure.” “…There are side effects like that?”

Leviathan, taking my joke seriously, gives me a worried look. I shrug.

“There could be, which is why I’m experimenting cautiously.”

Until yesterday, I’d have said with certainty that such a thing would never happen. But today, things feel different. Whether it’s some unknown toxin in this land or a mysterious saboteur, signs everywhere suggest that my experiment isn’t welcome.

“It would be better if it were just toxins…”

But what if someone is deliberately sabotaging my efforts to restore nature?

If that’s the case, whoever it is won’t be forgiven. Not by me.

The experiment continued.

A week passed, and the plants in the pots in my lab grew well, without issues, meaning there were no toxins in the sand itself.

But while the lab samples thrived, the field in the city decayed three times, unpredictably, as if mocking me.

“The first day it withered overnight, then it took three days. Now, two days later, it’s dead again?”

No toxin behaves this way, which means someone is clearly sabotaging me. I deploy Evilsroids to patrol the city and set up additional cameras to monitor the field. Yet, after another week, I realize all my efforts were in vain.

The land was still lifeless, the plants rotted.

"Hmm…”

“Isn’t it possible that, you know, maybe something in the fertilizer you made is… wrong?”

“What?”

“I mean… could that be it?”

“No way, Ayla.”

I explain that the same soil, seeds, and fertilizer in the lab are growing perfectly, even the field set up in the city lab. Only the field exposed to open air is decaying—an illogical, inexplicable phenomenon. Clearly, it’s not my experiment that’s the problem, but something—or someone—that’s deliberately ruining it.

Seemingly understanding, Ayla nods slowly.

“Well… I apologize.”

“Apologize? There’s nothing wrong with asking questions if you don’t understand. Anytime—”

“No, that’s okay! I won’t need to ask again!”

Satisfied that Ayla understood, I check on the Evilsroids and the CCTV. Though they hadn’t stopped the sabotage, they might have recorded evidence of the culprit.

Finding the footage, I smirk and head straight for my assistant.

“Hey—! What now?!”

“You did this, didn’t you?”

“What are you talking ab—ow! Stop that!”

I kick my assistant, who had been diligently spreading fertilizer on the field. There were no images captured on the CCTV or by the Evilsroids; they had somehow stopped working at the critical moment. Only someone with the ability to control machines could pull this off.

And the only one I know with such abilities is my assistant—my so-called “slave.”

Frustrated and with mounting evidence, I unleash all my anger on him. After five minutes of tolerating my attack, he finally dodges in defiance.

“Enough! It wasn’t me! My powers are sealed, and your robots don’t respond to my abilities!”

“Hmm… you’re right.”

“That’s it? No apology?”

“Sorry, but you’re just too tempting to hit.”

“Seriously! If you weren’t my professor…”

Realizing that my assistant wasn’t the one to disrupt the machines, I’m left in deep thought. Could there be another telekinetic out there with similar abilities?

Even though he’s my “slave” now, my assistant is no lightweight—he’s powerful enough to disrupt modern society single-handedly. The idea that there might be not one but two or more of these “human nuclear bombs” walking around...

"…This is absurd.”

One is manageable. But two? That could mean there are even more like them—three, four, five… capable of destroying the world with a snap of their fingers. How has the world remained stable so far? With so many impulsive teens around, it’s a wonder it hasn’t ended already.

The fact that the plants decaying isn’t due to another machine-controller like my assistant is slightly reassuring. Of course, that’s just speculation; I’ll only know for sure by meeting them in person.

The experiment continued.

For ten days now…

My eyes grow heavy, but I force them open, aware that this exhaustion isn’t physical. With enough stimulants, I could go a month without sleep if I had to.

Ten days. If I can’t last this long, how could I ever survive grad school?

“How long is this going to take? Are they giving up?”

The field had grown so much that the grass tickled my calves. Next to me, Leviathan, having dozed off on a makeshift cot, muttered in her sleep. With her rabbit-like hearing, I trust that even asleep, she’d detect any intruder.

Flick—!

“Hmm…”

Right on cue, Leviathan’s ears twitch. I snap my eyes open, scanning the area. Despite the Evilsroids on patrol, a chilling silence blankets the field. Checking my smartphone, I find it dead.

“They’re here!”

“Wha—!?”

My voice startles Leviathan awake. She looks around, but no shadows of anyone to be seen. In this vast field, you’d expect at least a rustle in the grass, but there’s only silence. Was the presence I felt someone who could harvest life without a sound?

Wiping cold sweat from my neck, I glance up at the night sky—and meet the eyes of a girl with green hair, floating in a cloak beneath the full moon.

A face I’d never seen before. She must be the culprit.

In that instant, her lips curve into a smile as bright as the moon.