章 4: Raising hell
Being in the cell was way better than being the holding room, Chege could testify to that. Now, he could tell the passing of days. He knew when it was day and when it was night. He might not have access to the outside, but usually, it was lights-out by 10 pm.
At night, Chege didn't rest. After ensuring that he was not being monitored at all, he started practicing his magic.
As a child, Chege had seen many mages do their thing, so he decided to follow their actions. Many had grown up with tomes and tutors to train their magic, but all he had was his gut. He wondered whether he would be able to recreate the effect he felt.
Closing his eyes, he tried to summon the power he had wielded in battle. Since he was not in a high-pressure situation, he realized it was not easy to happen. The good thing was that he already knew how to cast the spell, and so he did. Having nothing thrown at him, Chege had no way of knowing that it worked.
Firstly, Chege had no idea what he was using to form the shield. He had heard somewhere from his magical society that to awaken an ability, one needed to be in a situation where he truly was in need. This would lead to the body and mind releasing mystical powers that were seen as Magic.
Having never been from a prosperous home or in any way related to magic, Chege knew little to nothing about magic. His trade was hunting, and he had caught quite a few weird animals for mages.
Like all non-magicians, Chege found mages were odd enigmas. They seemed to always be engaged in deep thoughts, not unlike scholars. Mage scholars were the worst in this regard yet they walked around with their noses perpetually tilted up in self-importance. It was not uncommon to see people making fun of them.
Chege realized he was now what he used to ridicule. Of course, given the power they commanded, few would have the courage to look down on a mage, and few would escape the wrath of a mage. To commoners like Chege, mages were nothing short of gods, existing in a different world altogether. Now he had caught a glimpse of that world.
To test his shield, Chege tried to move it forward and backward. He used the beddings he had to test whether there was any metaphysical change, only to realize that the bed was moving without him touching it.
"WAKE UP INTERN!!! Go quickly and wake Doctor Keshi up," Doctor Hanni shouted at the sleeping Intern, as an afterthought, he added, "call Doctor Mark too." Seeing some hesitation, Doctor Hanni had to pull his eyes away from the screen that they were glued to and look at the intern. on the intern's eyes, he added, "Tell him it's about the subject, that will get him up."
Doctor Hanni had not been feeling so great about his latest assignment, which was, in this case, to monitor the test subject through the graveyard shift. He wasn't supposed to do any work, as a junior doctor, just supervise. However, not too long ago he had been an intern himself, so he could relate with the dog work an intern had to push through.
Being ever the nice guy, he had offered to share the workload, have the intern take some time to rest. It also didn't hurt that the intern was a gorgeous beauty that he was trying desperately to please, but ended up looking as though he was trying too hard.
His work was to monitor and report. Of course, Chege did not know about the existence of hidden cameras that could broadcast his image without his knowledge. Although he did know about the existence of similar Magical trinkets, such an idea was too far fetched. He didn't think that the civilization he found himself in could have such devices, which were mostly spoken as urban legends.
Having recorded the entire incident, Doctor Hanni was busy recounting his observations to the various doctors. Many had jumped off the bed when they got the news, while others had dragged themselves to get there. Needless to say, both Dr. Keshi and Dr. Mark were the first to arrive.
Watching the replay, neither could conceal their excitement, but for different purposes. By morning, word about this had permeated the entire base. Everyone knew that the new resident could move things without touching them, and shuddered. The monster was already unkillable before, now it was just terrifying.
"Wow, such intelligence!" Doctor Hanni remarked.
"We can conclude that it is trying to keep this a secret."
"Why though, that's the question."
Four days had passed like that. Chege would practice his spells at night, while he assumed everyone was asleep. What he didn't know was that at dusk, all the cameras in his room would be like a theatre, the audience being the doctors trying to understand their captive. His actions caused more questions than answers.
Right now, they had just planned for a guard to pass by while Chege was doing his thing. They had noticed that the Subject did not want to make it known that he had abilities. Creatures having abilities was not something new to them since they had been battling for so long. However, what was daunting was the fact that creatures never tried to conceal their powers before, using them to cause substantive damage to the troops.
Yet Chege was actively trying to hide his powers.
"Doctor Hanni, you are the one that made the discovery?" Doctor Mark asked. Before that fateful day, this unknown junior doctor would not have been found in the same room with such a figurehead, yet now they were being cordial to him.
"Yes, sir." Hanni's reply was full of respect and fear.
"What do you think about this behavior?"
"I think he could be a shapeshifter, sir. A creature in disguise."
"Ah, you too also support that narrative, support your claim then." Doctor Mark loved interacting with young shooting stars. Though getting lucky didn't exactly make one a shooting star, Mark didn't have many options to choose from.
The shapeshifter theory was the prevailing narrative to explain the oddities surrounding the giant's abnormal behavior. 'Normal standard' in this case implied the kind of reactions and behavior they had come to see from other creatures they had fought.
"Sir, for starters, the creature has a striking resemblance to the human race. Despite it being abnormally tall, every organ and physiological structure resembles the humans."
"That doesn't prove anything, it could be just a humanoid organism that evolved along the same lines we did," an opponent of the theory among the doctors gathered intoned.
"Secondly, the creature is showing secretive behavior, showing signs of intelligence. It could be a plant or a spy sent to understand our way of life. Maybe its actions in the night are not limited to just moving its bedding, but it could be doing other things as well." Hanni pressed, excited about this narrative.
Any scientist who had come on such a mission was bound to have some form of imagination, and being a zoologist, Hanni was quite imaginative about animals. Some bought into this story, but many doubted.
"Such a shame to speak of urban legends in such company, the younger generation will show us wonders," An older more conceited female doctor said with derision, "especially when the one asking can potentially change your life."
She had noticed the look of tiredness from Doctor Mark's face when the boy told of the tale. While it was quite exciting to think of the possibility, it was one that most scientists tacitly agreed that it lacked imagination. This was just a tall tale.
"Don't you think it is conceited to think one's self as the smartest species in the universe?"
"I'll settle for just this room." This was Dr. Mark's remark, which caused quite a few laughs from his fans. "Dr. Kagani, let the boy be, lord knows those graveyard shifts are not so easy to get through without an overactive imagination."
With a change of subject and the end of Dr. Hanni's 15 seconds of fame, the educated group continued with their musings, trying to figure out what Chege was trying to do.
On his part, Chege was making good progress. He could feel his entire might growing. After his overextended stay in the base, he felt that time for him to leave had come. This time, he wouldn't try some half-assed escape that would no doubt blow up in his face, he knew better. His captors were well prepared, and while previously he had seen them as saviors, he felt that he'd rather take his chances with his attackers out there.
Thinking about it, Chege couldn't help but wonder what kind of world he had found himself in, where there was danger in every turn. Nevertheless, he knew he would pull through and end up on top, just had to figure out how to. Thinking about this, he began to actively formulate a plan of escape. There was no way he'd die in such a dump.
With this in mind, his training became clear, his mind more focused. Gone was the young wrought with fear and uncertainty. Now in his stead stood a man with a purpose. Chege also decided that he would not forgive this base for the embarrassment he'd suffered in their hands, and once he got a chance, oh what a reckoning he'd rain down on them.
***
Tests were finally out.
Anatomy and body composition, full-body particle analysis, CT and MRI scans, analysis of blood samples and other bodily fluids' samples and many others. All geared up to understand the composition of the Subject.
Next came the cognitive tests and analysis. Mental capacity, Mental utilization, and Mental Acuity. Since there was no established way of communication with the subject, especially after the subject was marked as hostile, there was little progress on IQ and EQ tests. These needed interaction with the subject and a hostile subject made things way worse.
Nevertheless, Doctor Mark and his troupe felt that they had enough to make a move and push for his procedure. If he made it work, a Nobel prize was just one of the things he had in store. To achieve that, one had to push their limits, unworried about pesky issues of morality. After all, he was already being moral enough not finding people to use as his tests, something he was not above doing if it didn't mean the ruin of his good name.
For now, he would operate within the procedures. He had all that he needed, and skirting the law was no longer necessary. Now that he had power, status, and prestige, a small management doctor was nothing more than an obstacle he didn't need to deal with. Who knows, with someone like that on his side, his findings would bear more credibility.
When Dr. Mark next suggested the procedure, everyone turned to look at Dr. Keshi, expecting her normal reaction. To their surprise though, she readily agreed, even requesting to be part of the team to carry out the procedure.
While the young ones were stunned, the elder simply nodded. They wanted to test whether she was an obstacle to be removed or just an annoyance to be condoned. Seeing her play her cards right, it was clear she was the latter, and hence she could be allowed to keep her post.
On her part, once the tests were out, Dr. Keshi knew she had run out of options. There was no way she could stall the superstar doctor any further without risking his ire. While she had the authority, this was not a man you trifled with easily. Despite her fondness for the subject, it was just a subject, she couldn't be expected to ruin her life just to protect it, could she?
Even though she had given her approval, Dr. Hanni noticed the look of sorrow in her eyes as she watched the subject in the monitors.
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