I'm Not the Mastermind, Though (3)
After the Guard Captain's appearance.
I gathered as much information as I could while ramping up my superpower practice.
I'd learned from recent events that escaping this place would require knowing how to use my ability. The only counter to a superpower was another superpower.
But my ability still wouldn't activate.
Am I thinking about it wrong?
Maybe... some variable I haven't considered changed the ability itself.
Like the core had shifted, manifesting a different superpower altogether.
Or maybe, since the original story only showed fragments of Quaker's past, his initial ability diverged from the canon Quaker's.
Either way, I had limits trying to awaken it alone.
So I needed a helper here.
"Hey, how'd you first use your ability?"
"...You're asking me that?"
Mina stared at me from across the cell, her face a picture of disbelief.
Yeah, I get it. It'd be embarrassing as hell if I were a local.
My question was basically like asking a toddler how to walk.
Humans here could use superpowers as naturally as breathing—they awakened them instinctively. I wasn't sure of the exact mechanism, but that was the worldview of the Hero Project I knew.
Even if most powers were weak as hell, everyone could at least use theirs.
"Maybe it's that goddamn slop they feed us messing me up..."
"...You're gonna die anyway. What's the point?"
"You really think we're dying?"
"No one survives that psycho experiment. Rewiring your brain to amp up powers artificially? Anyone can see it's fatal."
Damn, mad scientist shit for sure.
Explained why no one who'd been dragged off ever came back.
No human survives crap like that.
If this were some sci-fi near-future, maybe, but nah—this was a world one step from Gotham, villains rampaging and heroes stepping up.
"Still gotta do what I can."
"...Even when it's all meaningless?"
"Since when do humans only move when shit has meaning?"
Humanity advanced by pulling off dumbass stunts with no logic.
I closed my eyes and extended my arm forward.
"...Why stick to that method? Has it worked like that before?"
"...Probably?"
"Weird answer."
But it's all I knew.
Still, Mina had a point.
Trying different poses or moves sounded good, but how?
Lost in thought for a while, I realized there was one thing I hadn't tried.
That might work.
I picked up one of the few items here: a pillow.
Nothing special about it.
Holding the pillow, I imagined channeling force into my hand.
"...Oh."
The pillow felt subtly lighter, like it was hanging in midair.
It floated just enough that leaning in close barely showed it, but activation was progress.
I'd been too fixated on Quaker.
A young Quaker wouldn't have mastered it yet—no way I could wield it like the original right off.
Blame the panic frying my brain.
Even rushed, I should've built from basics.
"Thanks, kid."
"...I have a name. It's Mina."
News to me.
In the original, she was just "Seeker" until trying to take the protagonist down with her.
Her sharing her name—intimacy uptick?
Good sign.
No rescue incoming? I'd need to bust out myself, and her help was crucial.
"Thanks, Mina."
"...Just practice."
I watched her turn away, flustered, then dove back into training.
Until I collapsed from exhaustion.
---------------------
About a week now?
Counting sleep cycles, so not exact, but time had passed.
I'd steeled my resolve watching countless people dragged away.
No way I wanted my end here.
"...But my power's still..."
Maybe 'cause I'd just unlocked it.
Or Quaker had some procedure boosting his.
My power was narrow and weak: push or pull from my body as the center.
Scientifically, like handling attraction force and repulsion force.
But it strengthened subtly with use—long training might let me handle full gravity manipulation like Quaker.
Then I could live quietly somewhere.
First, escape for any plan to matter...
Let's try it.
I raised one finger, gathering all my power there.
A lukewarm air wrapped around it.
Carefully, I pressed the finger to a shadowy, inconspicuous wall spot.
Then—
Alternated repulsion and attraction to slowly push the wall.
Normally I'd recoil too, but applying attraction to my soles anchored me max while pushing...
"Gotta hand it to those government bastards—efficient work."
If you're kidnapping folks to build secret labs, make 'em sturdy. Slapped together with cement? Easy to punch holes.
Crouching by the hole, I whispered cautiously.
"Hey. Can you hear me?"
"..."
"Hey..."
"...Who is it?"
Middle-aged man?
I paused, then quietly stated my business.
"Don't you want to escape?"
"Impossible..."
"If we all team up, we've got a shot."
Dude's drained from despair.
But survival means pushing through hurdles like this.
"No family outside?"
"Without me... they're probably starved to death."
"Then shouldn't you go check?"
"...Possible? And maybe dying like this is better. Not knowing what happened to my family... sometimes ignorance is mercy."
Better to cling to pathetic hope than face despair... his words.
Might be easier on the gut.
But...
"So you wanna get your brain scrambled and die?"
"..."
No reply.
He doesn't wanna die.
Misses family too.
Just fooling himself since escape seems hopeless.
Makes my skin crawl.
"Your corpse'll be experimented on till it's trash, then incinerated without a trace. Family never knows."
"...Stop. What can I even do?"
His voice, thick with agony, hit my chest.
Pushing hard like this sucks for me too. But quitting's worse.
So I gritted my teeth and answered his breakdown.
"One kid here can scout outside the camp. With her help, escape's way easier."
"...Even then..."
"...How old's your kid?"
"...High school age now."
"She's about that age."
No power, money, or strength for me now.
So bet everything on emotion.
"..."
"Please. How many came here to die? If everyone pulls together, we can make it."
"You've only convinced me."
"I'll convince the rest from now on."
Unlike my old world, outside's hell too.
But no reason to quit living.
"...You've got spirit."
"Just young blood, nothing else."
"True. At your age, I charged ahead clueless too. Got beat bad, but accomplished stuff. Like promising my wife forever in those tough times when scraping by was hard..."
First step down.
I smiled, satisfied.
"In three days, I'll have a full escape plan."
With three dragged out regularly, can't drag too long.
Too short's impossible.
Exactly three days.
Prep everything by then.
"...Fuck it, let's try."
This body's who?
Binged on the mastermind.
A normie like me might not showboat, but I gotta at least try, right?
I immediately started digging a hole in the opposite wall.