The plain room, empty; quiet but for the faint breathing coming from Terrence as his spectacle eyes of deep brown scanned the small room with the walls painted a simple white. Devoid of furniture except the table resting in front of him where an empty chair waited, which gave the confused young adult the feeling he was about to be interrogated. He kept running it through his mind why..why did he actually follow this stranger? For all he knew, the guy could be a dangerous criminal or agent of some organization aiming to use him as a guinea pig for whatever sick experiment.

It was what the man offered and his gaze lowered to his right hand wrapped in a cast and fingers covered in bandages that were luckily no longer crooked, though still struggled to close the hand into a fist. An attempt to do so caused pain to shoot through his arm, making him wince and dejectedly left his hand there and lifted his eyes to the door, where he waited anxiously for someone..anyone to come in to break this unnerving silence with only the faint tick of a clock a brief relief.

His prayers answered with the click of the turning doorknob to where the mystery man from before entered. Everything about this guy screamed suspicious with his typical black suit; grey tie draped along his chest and his face hardly anything special, other than the whiskered beard covering his chin. The black shades covering his eyes made it impossible to discern his thoughts while shaggy black hair draped over his forehead, his face seemingly expressionless as his lips were so thin they looked like a single line. That left hand of his raised to shift the glasses somewhat, while resting between his right arm was a folder.

A clearing of the throat."I apologize for the wait. I'm sure you are confused and filled with many questions.'His voice had a rather heavy accent; one that Terrence had been struggling to work out as his guesses were either irish or german?"I understand that you wish to know why I have brought you here."A brief nod, making is way to the table with a faint scuffing of his feet followed by the low creak of a chair being pulled back.

Only the two of them at this table and one left clueless as he watched the guy cautiously.'And you just drop me off here then leave me for half an hour?! Just what the hell is this place? or why even bring me here? You're...you're not going to knock me out and cut me up to sell my organs?!'He exclaimed in anger while slamming his right hand against the table, clearly trying to hide the hint of fear in his words.

The outburst of his simply caused the man to let out an amused chuckle while placing the folder on the table."Your time alone has given you quite the imagination." Another chuckle escaped his thin lip, which received a dark glare from Terrence.

Clearing his throat once more."First, I will introduce myself as Mr. Grey and secondly, a shame about the state of your hand..truly unfortunate."His eyebrows and lips lowered into a small frown as Terry scoffed at his attempt of pity, something of which he had no need of.'Enough of pleasantries then.'A soft shuffle of the folder resting in front of him opening.

First thing he saw were the hospital report regarding his hand."You've been brought here to be offered an opportunity to partake in a project. One that can very well change your life..a chance to be one of many saviors to save society from the horrendous threat of hollows."A shake of the head at the mention of hollows, though what he said didn't interest Terrence.

Oh he knew of hollows, having caught rare glimpses of them from time to time; something of which he quickly came to learn wasn't something common to the average people. Even though he knew, he didn't care..in fact he practically ignored it all..the hollows and spirits he could see. Acting like none of it happened for he wanted nothing to do with it, wanting to keep it out of his life and especially from interfering in his dream of being a pro baseball player...a dream that had been smashed the moment his right hand was mangled.

Terrence scoffed; leaning back against his chair with folded arms.'That's all very well and good, but I don't care about any of it. The only reason I even bothered to come is cause of what you said about restoring my hand...'His voice harsh and filled with bitterness; doubting this guy could do it when none of the doctors, even the specialist could do anything.

No reply came from Mr. Grey after hearing what Terrence said; just peering at him as if studying him before picking up the hospital report.'Yes, baseball is what you thrive for and I've heard you specialize as a pitcher."The slight shift of his head let Terrence know the man's eyes were on his right hand and pulled it back from the stranger's gaze."I will remind you that I told you of a chance to have it restored..do not mistake it for a sure thing."His tone calm and nearly emotionless.'....how?'Was all Terrence said; still no interest in the savior crap, but he could at least listen when it involved the possibility of getting his hand back.

Shuffling of the papers as the report placed aside for him to push and turn a small packet halfway across the table then folded his hands in front of him."Having read over your report and information regarding the full state of your body. I have determined you a possible candidate for the Shinigami project."He lifted a hand to prevent the young man's questions."Please let me finish. As you know, the hollow threat grows worse with each passing year, making it difficult for the organization to keep up with their growing numbers. After much talk and debating, the higher ups have found a way to turn humans into shinigami hybrids."His words clearly having an effect with the wide, shocked look on Terrence face.

Moving his right hand to rest on the packet."This procedure, as we've research can very well give us humans the capabilities and abilities of shinigami's, however, further research has shown us that only those with specific types of bodies have the capacity to go through with it."He studied Terrence closely, who sat up; confused yet intrigued by this.'And what does this have to do with me? Why would I bother going through with something like this?'What possible reason could he have to want to become this..hybrid whatever?

"Because it is this procedure that can very well heal your hand where even the best surgeons couldn't."And it was here that he fully had his attention as those eyes showed excitement, hope.'I must tell you two very crucial bits of information before you make your decision."His fingers softly tapped against the packet."First, that you are completely free to accept or decline. No one is forced to take part in this procedure. If at any time you do not wish to do this procedure then you may leave at any time."Pausing to make sure he understood before continuing to the most important part, which has made several candidates outright refuse the project.'This procedure has a very low success rate...by that it means a high chance of death."He stopped there; noticing the recognition of shock, a look he has seen on nearly every candidate's face at the reveal.

Finally..after finding out a way to get his hand back; within his reach, but what the man had said next had all but crushed his hopes.'S-so..you're telling me I could actually get my hand restored...then you go and ruin it by saying it'll more than likely kill me!?'Terrence had abruptly stood up while slamming his left fist on the table in a fit of rage, eyes wet with tears. His body shook with frustration; angry at the man for giving him a momentary semblance of hope only to dash it seconds later, but he was mostly mad at himself for actually believing he could get back his dream to go pro at baseball.

Standing there while leaning over the table, his head hanging to peer down at the cast wrapped right hand, where he felt another tinge of pain.'Everything about me..has always been average...my grades were decent, I never really excelled in anything. Nothing except baseball.'He gulped, fighting back the angry tears threatening to spill down his cheeks.'When I..I found out I could pitch and better than adults even...that day I was brimming with excitement and from that day all I could think about baseball. How happy and proud of myself I was that I..finally had something I was good at...no..THAT I WAS GREAT AT!'Punching the table with a grit of his teeth causing a crack to form in the wood.'And...and then cause of that my stupidity...my pride! Gone...everything I've thrived for....all those long days and nights spent training, working myself to exhaustion...all of it destroyed in an instant thanks to this worthless...mangled..hand.'His voice cracked at the end taking everything he had to keep the tears from spilling as he tried to close the broken fingers into a fist only to fail.

Unable to say another word, he simply slid down onto the chair, defeated with his head hanging low to hide the pain and sadness in his eyes.

Mr. Grey remained silent through the young man's outburst, the words of a man with a broken heart. He let out a faint sigh."I apologize. I did not mean to cause you pain nor to remind you of what you've lost. As I said the probability of survival of this procedure is low, the risk immense, but I know how strong you are...I believe you can..no..you will survive.'His once emotionless voice stern, yet serious.'And remember, you have no obligation to go through with it. You are free to do as you wish, though know that if you do decide to partake in the procedure, then I need you to sign this."His hand gently tapped the packet before reaching into his suit to procure a pen as Terrence simply kept his head down, showing no sign he was listening.

Pushing the packet towards him."This is not a contract so signing it will not force you to do the procedure. It is simply an assurance claim which ensures that in the case the candidate does not..survive, that your family will be well taken care of and..compensated for your sacrifice. If at any time you wish to back out after signing this then you may do so. Now, I will leave and all I ask is for you to take an hour to think about it. Whatever decision you make, understand that no harm will come to you nor your grandfather whatsoever."Waiting to see if Terrence would say something and after a few minutes of no reply, stood up with a nod of his head.'The door is unlock so you can leave at any time...think carefully for the choice you make here can change your life."Again no reply and so he quietly stepped out of the room.

With him gone, Terrence once again was alone to be left with his thoughts. His mind abuzz with countless thoughts and questions, leaving him unsure of what to do. After what felt like hours, he finally lifted his head to look at the packet in front of him.

At first he just stared at the papers, the words a blur; battling within his own mind of why he should and why he shouldn't as what he thought to be voices arguing about this whole situation. Soon his vision cleared and with nothing to do and so read it over as it contained everything the man had explained and some parts he wasn't told about.

When finished, Terrence sat back in the chair just staring at the paper, where the pen rested just above it. His mind telling him to leave and forget about this whole thing, but a part of him told...or more like begged him to do it..that the risk was worth it...worth it to get his life back.

The inner turmoil of what to do continued to rage within as his right hand shakily rose, struggling to grab the pen...

[hr][hr]

Gasping out in surprise, the beeping of the intercom snapping him out of his day dreaming; that meeting still so fresh in his head as he sat up. Sitting on the single bed placed against the back wall of the small room, the walls a plain light grey with only a toilet at the far wall, having been asked to wait here for the night as they prepare things.

A voice rang into the room from the intercom that had called him from his thoughts and listened to what this mystery person about giving them one last chance to leave.

Soon the sound of metallic ringing echoed through the hall as the doors slid open and wasn't long before he saw other candidates walking by, looking ashamed and scared. He gulped as he watched them walk by, his leg twitched for he nearly stood up himself to leave, if not for the sharp pain from his hand breaking the briefest lapse of fear.

just this once, Terrence would be thankful for the pain as he intended to use it to help make himself strong again. And so let out a slow, heavy exhale to calm his nerves then looked to the door...waiting for it to begin.