Satoru Gojo

Grief. Pain. Destruction. Six-dimensional horrors. Lukewarm coffee. All these and more, Satoru Gojo faced on the daily. He fought through horrors, barely standing from the pain of it, worst of all, he got gross, physics defying monster goo on his couture.

Allow us to back up slightly. Approximately a thousand years ago, around the year 1100, what we now consider a parallel universe exploded—or perhaps imploded, current science can’t say for sure—next to our own. This caused a rift in the fundamentals of space-time, resulting in the warp gates. From the warp gates disgusting creatures poured, twisted and gross, with more dimensions than the human brain could understand, dripping intergalactic goo that was uncomfortable to behold. Humankind, like roaches, did not die out. Instead, it evolved.

That’s where espers come in. The mutation is rare, but populations without at least one immediately died out, causing it to become more common. Nowadays, most folks have a little physic power rattling around in there, but nothing strong enough to actually work as an esper (or a guide, which we’ll get to in a second). Espers have the psychic power to destroy those pesky cosmic horrors eating the fabric of the universe as we know it. They have godlike power, can level cities in seconds flat. Sounds great, right? Expect for one little thing—see, espers are renowned for being psychologically unstable. Think nuclear bombs who cry during dog food commercials.

That’s where guides come in. See? Told you we’d circle back. Guides take away the pain, the instability inherent to an esper who’s overused their power, which, for most of them, happens every time they step near a warp gate. Both espers and guides are ranked according to their power to attack and to soothe, respectively.

Neat, huh? But... guides are rare—like, rare rare. For every 1000 babies born, about one will be an esper ranked A or above, and about ten will be ranked D or higher. For every 100,000 babies born, two will be guides ranked A or above, and only fifteen will have any guiding ability whatsoever. So yes, guides are overworked, and underpaid, and an incredibly hot commodity. Their job is stand outside warp gates, rain or shine, death monster or creature of unimaginable torment, waiting for the espers to stumble out and throw themselves at them. Guiding takes place via physical touch and an outpouring of psychic energy. In other words, it’s draining. Also, Espers also must have regular guiding sessions to ensure they don’t go berserk and level Tokyo when the vending machine eats their dollar. Due to the rarity of guides, this is... difficult. The ratio of espers to guides is about 67:1, and the higher ranked an esper, the higher rank their guide must be. An unguided esper is a disaster waiting to happen.

Satoru Gojo was the single strongest esper in the world, and he couldn’t be guided by anyone. There had been international conventions. He’d been poked and prodded by every scientist and doctor with even a little expertise in esper/guide dynamics. The Japanese government was trying to figure out if it was possible to neutralize him if they dropped a nuclear bomb directly on his head (it wasn’t). Every guide with a rank of SS or above had taken a go at him, and without fail, his body rejected it. He hadn’t had a session since he fully manifested three years ago.

It wasn’t a terribly hard gate—Satoru would give it a 3/10, probably. Still, he could feel his insides vibrating from the built up psychic energy, and he resigned himself to just... letting it be. An S-rank guide tried to grab his hand, but that only made him nauseous. He shook her off, shoving his hands in his pockets, and watching warily for any more touchy guides who thought they could fix him or whatever. Shoulders round his ears, he stalked away from the gate, trying those breathing exercises his therapist had given him. They succeeded only in making more pissed off with his own inability to calm down. By the time he made it to the cornerstone to grab a juice box, he was practically snarling, his powers trying to tear his brain apart. In his haste to get in and get out, Satoru knocked into someone.

“Watch where you’re going!” a man’s voice called out.

“You watch where you’re going, asshole,” Satoru snapped back. His shoulder briefly brushed against someone else’s as he sped up to get away from that asshole.

Immediately, the pain and the anger melted away. Satoru’s pupils visibly dilated, taking up more than two thirds of his icy blue eyes. A whimpering sound fell from his lips at the sheer relief, and he whirled to find who had done this to him.

“You,” Satoru said urgently, flashing his esper badge, “stop. Are you a guide?”