章 15: Power Stimulation
"Woah..." Paul said, amazed.
The room was glamorous. It was clean and sparkly. It seemed like he was the first one to ever walk into this room.
There were a lot of unique machines that were in full view. Even though Paul didn't know much about technology, they still fascinated him and also considering that the machines were only used by the organization and nowhere else.
"Well, have a seat. I need to prepare something for you to get your drug injections." the man that came in with Paul said.
Paul obliged and sat on one of the available seats near the door. The man was scribbling something on a piece of paper. As the man did his thing, Paul took a long look around the room.
The walls and floor were made of what seems to be a shiny white material. All of the equipment was also white, with a few other colors here and there.
"Alright, I am done," the man finally said, after about 10 minutes. "It's time. I would like you to undress to your underwear and lie in this machine please."
Paul got up and walked over to the machine. It had an open lid and there was a space where someone was to lie down in. Paul took off his clothes and climbed in. It was a little cold, but Paul persevered through the cold by thinking of how he was going to be able to get back at Karma.
The man then went to the side with the controls. The lid closed and the machine started making noise. A scanning light ran over Paul's body in a couple of different ways.
Up-down and vice versa.
Left-Right and vice versa.
Diagonally and sometimes only a part of his body.
After a few minutes, the lid opened.
"Alright, we're done with this test," the man said. "Come out and follow me. Don't put your clothes on yet. Use a towel over there if you need it."
Paul got out of the machine. It was colder getting out than staying in the machine. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself. It didn't help much, but he was still warmed up a little.
The man signaled him to come to a machine much like the one Paul was in before, except the lid was made to open from bottom-up and not from right-left and there was a good amount of a four-layered liquid, each with a different color, that laid on top of one another, as if something was preventing them from mixing on the bottom of the machine, contained in the glass portion of it.
"Alright. This test isn't like the one before. It's far too intense and can break your mental stability," the man said. "I will need to confirm one last time. Are you sure about this?"
"Yes. Yes, I am," Paul answered without hesitation.
"Alright, but if you become anything other than stable then..." the man began.
"Then?" Paul asked.
"Let's just say it won't be good for your goals," the man said.
Paul swore he saw a small smile come from the man's mouth, but it didn't matter. If he is successful, he can help the Boss. He was willing to take the risk. After all, he was prepared for this kind of thing when joining the organization.
The man pressed a button on the control panel of the machine. The lid opened and Paul climbed in. This one was freezing. It felt like his bones were frozen.
"Everything you feel is part of the test. You will be submerged in the liquid and cords with sticky padding will be put on your head and a breathing mouthpiece will be ut on your mouth, so don't worry about drowning or anything," The man said. "You will then go through a large simulation of attaining and using each power. Since you chose all of them, you will have to go through four parts, which is probably going to take a long while. You'll see when you start."
"Alright," Paul said.
The lid then closed, and blackness ensued. After a few minutes, Paul felt the bottom disappear and he was submerged in the liquid. At that exact moment, he drifted into his subconscious and the simulation began.
Paul slowly opened his eyes. It was dark and cold. He couldn't remember when or how he got here. But something in his mind tells him to move forward. As he moved forward, a pedestal laid before him. There was a vile sitting neatly in a hole in the pedestal. It was filled with greenish-yellow liquid. Curious, Paul picks it up and immediately had a craving to drink it. He opened the vile and gulped it down.
Then the effects started.
First, he just felt a slight electric shock run through his body. Then, his body started burning.
*It hurts!* Paul thought. He couldn't shout for some reason, which made his pain worse. His body burned like his bones with melting and his body would disintegrate into a puddle of human liquid.
The pain went on for seemingly hours on end. He wanted to scream, to run away from all of this. But somewhere, deep in his mind, he felt a hatred. A hatred that made him want to destroy. He also felt a feeling of respect. Respect to someone he couldn't quite remember, but the feelings were still boiling inside. These two feelings were what helped him endure this pain.
Then his head started to hurt. Every nerve in his brain started to act up. It felt like his brain was going to be pulled out from his head.
Then he felt extreme pain in his joints, muscles, abdomen. The pain just goes from a few parts to the whole body, then to another set of selected parts. When he thought the pain was over in one area, the pain would come back again.
Paul suffered for what seems like forever. He had no perception of time in this dark world where the only things he felt were anger and pain, with a dose of needing to meet with expectations.
Then, at last, the pain subsided. Paul huffed in exhaustion. His whole body ached like it was about to fall off. Then, from the darkness, came a figure of a boy. When Paul saw his face, he grew angry.
Suddenly, the boy threw a punch. As if Paul's arm had a mind of its own, it blocked the punch and Paul punched the boy with his other hand. The boy went flying back into the darkness, with his foot sticking out. The boy tried to run, but Paul predicted his movements and caught him with incredible speed. Paul then hit with a barrage of punches and kicks that left the boy in a bloodied mess. A smile appeared on Paul's face. This was the most pleasing scene to him.
He began to laugh. Although no sound came out, he continued. Then light overcame him. The lid on the machine opened and his eyes were met with bright light. His eyes hurt and he struggled to gather his thoughts and figure out his situation.
"Ark...My head hurts," Paul groaned, rubbing his head as he struggled to get out of the machine.
"Well, that is to be expected from all that mental pain."
Paul turned to where the sound was coming from. A young man wearing a lab coat was standing next to a desk tapping something on a small device. Then Paul remembered. He had cam here to gain new strength from the colored liquid.
"That's right!" Paul said suddenly. "Can I get my injections now?"
The man looked amazed. No one was as eager as him after having their mind tortured for so long. He chuckled.
"You're very weird," the man said. "Get out of the machine and wipe yourself dry. We will do the injections after I assess your results thoroughly."
Paul climbed out of the machine. He took the towel he used and wiped himself.
*Finally...! I can make it up to the Boss and screw that brat up* the leader thought. *And that butler too...He's gonna pay...Everyone who's on that brat's side is gonna pay.*
After Paul was done drying himself, the man signaled for Paul to come. There was a chair next to the desk, and on the desk were four needles, each with the color of each power.
"This will hurt a lot," the man said. "Side effects will occur and you will be brought to the brink of death. But from what I can gather from the results, you'll survive."
The man then proceeded to give Paul the injections. After the injections, Paul stood up but immediately fell. His body was in pain, but he could handle it quite well now. He got after a couple of minutes and had mostly conquered the pain.
"Well, you are all set," the man said. "You should go into the field to get used to your new powers."
"Alright," Paul said. He got dressed and exited the room.
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