experiment, its the only means

of knowledge at our disposal

TIRES SCREECHED on the large empty parking lot as the reckless driving of Nina Oswald, enchanting the guards on duty to their judgy looks.

The '53 Chevrolet's immediate stop forced the body of Kimika Oswald to slide forward, mounting her face onto the back of the passenger seat. She grunted in pain as her mother rushedly unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Shit Shit shit" Nikolina's raspy voice cussed as she slammed the car door shut, "Kimi, sweetie I'm gonna be late!" mama urgently informed the little girl jumping off the pale white seat of the car.

Kimi rubbed her impacted forehead and the faded scar beside her hairline that looked like additional baby hair, from an incident she might've forgotten.

She squinted her big brown eyes as she gazed them upon the enormous buildings that stood before her, pulling her itchy light pink dress down from the jump.

The giant glass entryway thunderingly slammed shut as the two rushed into the colossal building.

The flicker of Nina's high ranking access card was all that was needed for the receptionists and guards on duty to allow her and mini her, through the security measures.

Mama's new heels awkwardly echoed in the chilly empty hallway of the Hawkins Indiana National Laboratory. Kimi rhythmically fiddled with the ruffles of her dress as they rushed further into the unbelievably lengthy hallways.

The cold eerie tiled walls of Kimi's second home, haunted her like a voice in the dark.

The smell of her recently burnt hair, mixed with the scent of cold tobacco, pain killers and chlorine overwhelmed her sensitive nose.

Her only familiar comfort was the warmth of her mothers ringless hand underneath her black gloves, against her restless ones under her white gloves.

The little girl glued her eyes on one of the doctors exiting an enclosed room signed RESTRICTED AREA. As the man sped closer to them, Kimi noticed his wet face and coat, seemingly in a hurry as he was nervous.

"...Why are the men here always so...sweaty?" she whispered, leaning to her mother before--

"Kimi, you can't just say things like that..." Nikolina rebuked as she chuckled at her daughters bluntfulness, "...it must be that darn straightener on your beautiful hair you always want to burn, its just too much at some point!--"

"--Mom!," she whined as she interrupted, "its only the third time this week, its...not a big deal" her tiny voice loudly whispered as her mother teasingly laughed.

As the man passed by them, Kimi turned behind her, slowing down to examine him. She furrowed her eyebrows as the man looked back at her, maintaining eye contact as he raised his dirty lab coat to talk over the comm.

She softly gasped she heard inaudible conversation suddenly, feeling guilty for staring at the man, turning back forward as if nothing happened.

Mom made a sharp left turn as they reached a T section, now this corridor had plain doors, mom quickly skimming the names of the printed tags.

"There's no need to be nervous, you'll be fine" Nina absentmindedly reassured as she felt her daughter rhythmically squeeze her hand in distress.

Mom was right, most of the workers here were trustworthy enough, this was almost like a take your kid to work day, except this time the kid is being used as an experiment for--

"--There's the birthday girl! Come here!" a man in a familiar serene voice called to the girl with more enthusiasm in his pinky than the whole of the lab itself

Kimika let out a small grin, before her new Mary Janes tapped on the tiles as she skipped to the man. The man warmly smiled as the two quickly hugged.

"How old are you again?" The man joked as he over exaggeratedly put his hands on his hips.

She smiled as she rolled her eyes, putting an accent as she told him "Eleven" while twirling her pink dress as her mother grinned from behind her.

"Aw, shes growing so fast, my grey hair is even starting to show" the man smiled at Nina, chuckling at the refrence

Short silence followed as they all calmed down from the happy emotions.

"...Oh! I almost forgot!" The brunette jumped as he turned behind him, to grab a hand sized box wrapped with pink paper, kneeling down to gently hand it to the curious girl.

She excitedly read the glittery sticker numbers '11' as she was handed the small gift, trying to guess what might be in it.
The girl looked to her mother for a sense of reassurance, seeing her warmly smile from ear to ear.

"It's specially made, just for you, June" the man whispered as he watched her humble reaction, flipping the box to the other side as a smile seeped through

"Thank you, papa" Kimi playfully whispered back as she giggled, attempting to rip the box open--

"--Woah! Not so fast...Im gonna have a talk with mama bear over there...and then...I want to show you a little something, is that okay with you?" Martin Brenner gently stopped the girl in her tracks, reminding her of her anxious feelings of this visit.

She turned to her mother for reassurance once again, her mother tucking her dark curls behind her ears as she tilted her head, remaining silent, the eleven year old concluding that the choice was up to her.

Kimi slowly turned back to papa, attentively nodding as she pursed her lips, handing the box to him.

"Splendid" papa smiled.

KIMI GENTLY HELD THE PALE HAND OF PAPA against her sandy brown skin as she ushered, slippers on the cold tiles, feeling the breeze of the gloomy hall on her exposed limbs of the cream white body suit she wore underneath the famous hospital gown.

The faulty lights of the dreary corridor spooked the little girl, apprehensive on what lay ahead of her. The quiet walk was no help for her over-analyzing mind.

She looked behind her, seeing the silhouette of a familiar woman with large curly hair. She lightly grinned as she saw her mother wave at her. Gesturing back, before watching as she left from her view.

The large elevator door creaked open, the girl sharply turning back forward, furrowing her eyebrows as she saw the second door lift vertically.

Papa softly chortled at the girls reaction, finally gesturing his hand that she walk forward into the large elevator. He patiently waited as she exhaled, slowly walking forward into the pale blue.

Her large brown eyes widened as the double layer doors creaked and closed shut.

Silence filled the unoiled transporter, the little girl staring at the ceiling and walls as it descended.

"...Where are we going?" her tiny voice finally broke the cold silence

"To the past, June. We're going to the past" Brenner uttered, the girl furrowing her bushy eyebrows, tilting her head as she heard that incredibly vague answer, lifting her eyes up to the elevator door that finally opened.

Great. More gloomy halls.

As Kimi softly sighed, stepping forward to leave the room--

"Wait! Just hold on." Papa calmly ordered as he held her hand tighter, glancing as her mouth opened, then quickly shut as she furrowed her eyebrows.

Papa chuckled, before stretching to the menu, long pressing on a button with the '?' symbol.

At that, the elevator door closed once again, but then, the wall behind them slowly creaked open. Kimi's mouth made an o shape as the secret door opened to--

"Watch your step, June. There's a staircase down here" papa warned as they walked forward. What stood before them was, well - dark. Oswald could barely see the 'stairs' papa promised were present. But she trusted him anyways, and down the sombre stairs they went.

The girls eyes inquisitively wandered all over the passage. It was darker than the others, it almost even looked abandoned and forgotten, from the cracked tiles and dusty floor.

Papa abruptly stopped at a camouflaged metal door, slightly groaning as he struggled to push the door open.

The door pierced their ears as it creaked open, Papa loudly sighing in relief, finally gesturing that she walk forward.

The girl peaked into the dimly lit room as her muscles tended up, almost paralyzing her as she spotted dozens of scientists with clipboards, turning to fix their eyes upon the innocence of the child.

And in she went.

Her big eyes wandered all over the room as she finally entered it, laying them on a row of computers with small monitors and camera surveillance, seeing what looked like a circle-shaped void. Overwhelmed by the excessive amount of large wires on the ground.

"There's nothing to be worried about here, Kimi, these are all friends." Papa reassured as he gestured that the crew try not to stare too much.

Papa gently directed the dark haired girl further into the large room. A large round metal machine was the centre of attention. Papa directed her to the metal ladder on the vessel in which he directed: "Go ahead. Climb"

So she did, slowly putting one foot above the other. She finally reached the top, leaning forward. What came into view was--

"a...pool?" She flatly asked as she stared down at the dark still water, that appeared endlessly deep and wide, almost like a dark dam in her eyes, furrowing her bushy eyebrows, looking back to papa with her eyes widening.

"Not just any pool, Kimi." He chuckled as she decided to climb back down, "This will help us in further understanding that tiny, brilliant brain of yours; through memory. It's...mostly theoretical, but that's where you come in" papa gestured at the girls head, reaching for her small hand.

"...My own memory? How?" She curiously queried as her head tilted, her straightened hair falling to the side.

"...Science. Thanks to your mothers genius work, actually" Was all papa explained, of course he wasn't about to reveal how exactly the technology worked to the new eleven year old.
He watched her grin as he mentioned her mother, staring up at the unplugged monitors that lay above pool, however still clueless.

"See, It basically targets a specific lost memory that your brain made you forget and...brings it into light again" he finally summarized, watching as her eyebrows raised innocently

"...What's it called? This...project" Kimi turned back to the brunette, him furrowing his brows at the thought

"That's a...great question, we haven't quite named it yet" He finally told after stammering at the question, "How 'bout we talk about all this after we've fully tested it, that okay with you?"

He let out a comforting smirk as Kimi's fringe bounced as she slowly nodded.

HER STRAIGHTENED CURLS were carefully braided down by one of the assistants. The other, soon pulling over her head what looked like a thick white swimming cap-helmet, but with wires connected all around it.

As she sat on a plastic white chair, patiently waiting as more scientists activated the 'cap', her eyes widened, gasping as she spotted a doctor approach her with a monstery syringe filled with clear-orangey goo.

Her jaw dropped in terror, looking up to papa with a pleading face as she fearfully bit her lip.

"This will only pinch for...three seconds, June. You'll be just fine" papa quickly convinced as he watched the assistants ruthlessly pin her down from her fiddling.

Brenner sighed as he saw the girl stretch out her little arm, closing and opening her hand, forcing the brunette to be her stress ball.

A squelching noice was made as the man struggled the pierce needle into her arm.

Kimi pursed her lips and squinted her eyes in uncomfortability, holding her breath to stop her from attempting to kick the assistants in their faces.
Brenner remained in shock as the girl gripped his hand so tightly, himself trying to endure the uncomfortability.

But unanticipatedly, as Brenner looked back to the brown haired girl, who struggled like a child at the dentist, his expression grew from utter confusion to awe.

No one else seemed to have noticed, but what Brenner saw surround the girl like an aura, was a unique form of vast energy, in close resemblance to a mirage, but double the illusion.

His eyebrows furrowed as he began to wonder whether his eyes were deceiving him, or he was standing in front of a highly powerful being, with aptitude beyond whats normal.

Brenner watched, soon noticing that this unknown force quite literally added to the difficulty the injector had pushing this orange substance into her body. Of course, he had no idea.

And neither did the child.

Finally, all of the orange goo was squeezed into her tiny body. And immediately, as the girl opened her eyes, the 'mirage' had disappeared, as if nothing had happened.

"...Remarkable" Martin whispered as the girls heavy breathing started to settle, looking to his red hand, shaking it as he chuckled to himself.

He awefully watched as the girl's wound was bandaged, waiting for her to recover, escorting the girl back to where the 'pool' layed.

The girl had gradually noticed that her vision wasn't as clear as it was before, as it should be. Aggressively blinking her eyes, that only made her vision worse.

"Ready to go in?" Papa's voice weirdly echoed in her ear as she took a deep breath.

Papa stared into the girls heavy eyes as she aggresively blinked, noticing that the orange goo was already kicking in her system, so she was a bit weak to lift her leg into the bath that reached half of her torso.

"Do you want me to help you in?" Papa asked, the girl slowly nodding, before she was softly carried up, curled up in papa's arms. He slowly climbed down into the water, wetting his suit as he did so, looking down to the helpless girl in his arms, placing her down on the water.

Her eyebrows furrowed as her warm body slowly dug into the bitter salt water of 'the dam-pool'.

"I'll be with you every step of the way." papa whispered at the girl who slowly battered her eyes, trying her best to keep them open.

What way? What's happening? She had guessed that the 'cap' had some sort of selective hearing that left her with crucial questions.

She slowly adjusted to the water, surrounded by the reflection of small monitors, none of them in operation just yet.

She tried to ignore the sudden change of impaired vision and hearing by slowly stretching her limbs to the bath, barely reaching the edges of the briny water, shivering as she quickly gained balance.

The density of the water and the cap made it almost impossible to hear, only hearing the soft ripples and the hardening of her breathing as her head began feeling lighter and lighter.

"Just relax, June. Breathe," papas voice echoed in her head as she slowly drifted away from the real world, "Whatever happens, allow it, let your mind take control..." she didn't hear much of that last part, but it sounded important.

Kimika did as told; trying to sit still so she wouldn't feel like she was sinking into the salt water.
Her eyes grew droopier and her breathing slowed down. The only thing remaining in this reality, was her physical body.

She weakly smiled as papa climbed back up the ladder, with his clothes soaked, drenched from the waist down. She closed her eyes for one second, and he was already out of the pool, squinting at the bright lights that lit behind him. Before the ceiling seemed to close in on her, with her in the lonely dark.

"...Let's go see...shall we, June?" Snippets of Dr Brenner's conversation spilled through during Kimi's 'transportation', the girl growing doubtful of the intentions of this theoretical experiment.

What exactly was she seeing? She wished she could wake up and ask.

Her eyes widened as the sound of the whirring monitors echoed the dark pool, turning the camera surveillance of where she was directed to go, on. But her eyes completely shut as it did so, already beginning to trace and shift from left to right under her shut eyelids.

Yeah, It's painfully late to turn back now.

▉ a / n

hi and welcome to the debut chapter of 'erratic esoterica' !!

special happy birthday to campbellcver , tribute to me publishing the first chapter on their bday!!

this does sorta count as a prologue but whatevs, theres like 2800+ words lmfaoo

feel free to ask questions if you have any!

this will make more sense later btw lol

stay tuned for the other parts of this chapter, this is the buildup to it

vote and comment!!

( @pinkalientea 2022 )