章 17: Chapter 17 - Relief
"Oh, there you are, Turbo. We've restrained and captured all the researchers in the facility, any trouble on your end?" Came a voice, as I heard footsteps approaching.
It was a woman, she looked like she was in her late twenties, with short black hair that framed her face, dark skin and dark brown eyes...I think I've seen her on TV, she's a member of Unity.
"I guess you could say that...one of them got away. He opened some kind of hidden door on the wall, not sure how though," Frowned the guy with super speed, as he inspected the wall.
"Come on, seriously? You had one job, make sure no one gets away. For someone so fast, you can be awfully slow sometimes," She sighed in exasperation.
"Hey! That was really uncalled for, Siara!" He responded indignantly.
"How many times have I told you not to use our real names on these missions?" She frowned as she narrowed her eyes at him.
"I don't see the point, it's not like we wear masks or something...Poltergeist," He muttered, averting his gaze as she glared at him.
"Some of us do, we try to get into the habit of using codenames so that we don't accidentally call those of us who want to keep their identities a secret by their real names in front of our enemies," She pointed out, before noticing me, "Oh, who's this?"
"A victim of these bastards. The guy who escaped ordered him to kill me, and he seemed to be in a lot of pain when he refused," He informed her.
"Um...hi," I remarked awkwardly, as the woman walked over and stared at me.
"You must have been through a lot, haven't you? How long have you been here?" She asked me softly.
"I...I don't know. But I was brought here when I was fourteen. It was in, um...2010, I think? February, if I remember right," I responded uncertainly.
"What?" Blurted out the guy with a wide-eyed look on his face.
"I don't know how to say this, but...it's 2016 now. The 5th of September, 2016, to be specific. You've been here for over five and half years," The woman informed me solemnly.
"Oh...tomorrow's my birthday, then," I realized thoughtfully.
I'm kinda overwhelmed right now...it's hard to get my thoughts in order. For quite a while now, I'd resigned myself to being stuck in the clutches of the researchers here. But now that that's over...I don't know what to think.
"Man, it must have been rough, I can only imagine what you had to endure for all this time," Remarked the guy with a grimace.
"Yeah, it...it wasn't great," I muttered in response.
"I'm sorry, but do you mind if we ask you some questions, about how you ended up here and what they did to you?" Requested the woman, kneeling down in front of me.
"Sure, that's fine."
"For starters, what's your name?" She asked me.
Uh...what was it again? Oh, right...
"Ariodred Phoenix."
"Nice to meet you, Ariodred. I'm Siara Abara, a member of Unity, I also go by the codename Poltergeist," She introduced herself with a smile, before adding, "How exactly did you end up here?"
"My parents were Alter right activists in Larisk, we were about to flee the country because of the situation. But the day before our flight, some men broke into our house, killed my parents and then sold me to this place," I recalled with a grimace.
"Oh, man...that's awful, I'm so sorry," Replied the guy sympathetically.
He mentioned his name earlier, what was it again? Theo something or other, and his codename was Turbo, right?
"It's fine...the memories are a bit fuzzy at this point anyway," I responded with a shake of my head.
"I'm sorry for your loss. We'll do everything we can to bring the bastards who did this to you to justice," Siara assured me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Can you tell us what they did to you here?" Theo asked me.
"I...I'm not sure if I can. There's a control chip in the back of my neck...if I do anything that might be considered disobedient to the researchers, it inflicts pain across my entire body," I remarked with a frown.
"Ohh, so that's what happened earlier. It must have been tough to refuse to follow that son of a bitch's orders," Responded Theo with a somber look on his face.
"We'll get you out of here and to a hospital where we can remove it surgically," Added Siara with a nod.
"Actually, if it isn't too much trouble, could you do it now? Tear it out if you have to, I can heal from just about any injur-...," I began, before trailing off with a sharp gasp of pain as I triggered the chip.
F-fuck...!
"You okay!? Does this mean that even thinking about removing it causes you pain?" Frowned Theo, as I collapsed onto the ground, gritting my teeth as I trembled in pain.
"P-please...hurry...!" I gasped in agony, my vision blurring.
"Leave it to me!" He nodded, as he suddenly zipped across the room, picking up the scalpel I'd used to destroy the sonic wave device, before racing behind me.
I felt a sharp prick at the back of my neck, slicing down, grimacing as he poked his fingers through the slit he'd cut...and then, relief. I sat up in disbelief, as the pain throughout my body abruptly faded.
And the stinging pain at the back of my neck was already fading too. I then hesitantly started thinking about killing that bastard Alok, bracing myself...and nothing happened. It's...it's really gone. The chip, it's out of my neck...
Before I realized it, a slight, choked sob escaped my lips, as I felt a tear running down the left side of my face, my chest tightening as it finally began to sink in...i-it's really over, I'm...I'm finally free.
"What's this black liquid? Did they inject some weird substance into you or something?" Inquired Theo with a frown.
"Huh? Oh, that's my blood, it's black."
"Hold on, what?" Blurted out Siara in disbelief.
Yeah, I guess that's not a surprising reaction.
_____________________________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP
-- 贈り物
が届きました 
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット