Hajime had been imprisoned in the highest security cell that Kugutsu had. He was tied to a vertical metal bed made from a rare but effective metal against mages. The Glephnir device to absorb his mana and constantly drug him with anti-magic substances every 2 hours to prevent his powers from activating. He had a bandage covering his eyes to prevent him from seeing and was restrained with belts also made from Glephnir.
The effects of the drug were terrible: every cell in his body wanted to scream from the pain he was experiencing. He could have died from shock or fainted from the pain if they had injected him with another syringe.
Kugutsu entered the cell. Behind her, there were eight elite dolls surrounding Hajime. All of them were Beta rank dolls with maximum capacity; even just one could stop Hajime, but Kugutsu thought precautions are never too many.
"I know you're awake, little Hajime-chan. You don't have to be afraid. I won't hurt you. As I said, I just want you to talk to me." (Kugutsu)
"Sure... of course... You put me here, tied and blindfolded like an animal... and now you want me to talk to you? No... you won't get anything from me." (Hajime)
"That makes things more difficult for you, Hajime-chan... Don't you want your master and Yukihime to see you in this miserable state?" (Kugutsu)
(Yukihime? How does she know her... No, this is just a way to make me talk.) (Hajime)
Hajime had learned from his last mistake that a single word could be fatal for his group, organization, and objectives.
"Who? I don't know who you're talking about." (Hajime)
"Eheheh... You're not very good at lying, Hajime-chan. I wonder what would happen if Goto knew what you've been doing behind his back all this time... Seeing how paranoid he is, he might even kill the one he cares about most in the world, while he might just discard that thing like trash. Also, your friend has already said many useful things about you and... about you. Do you have any idea what will happen to your loved ones if Goto finds out?" (Kugutsu)
"..." (Hajime)
The woman approached his ear and whispered something that made him furious, trying to bite where he heard her voice, but he was stopped by a doll dressed as a maid, grabbing his throat with one hand and squeezing for a few seconds.
"Oh no, no, no... this isn't good, little Hajime. You might make your situation worse." (Kugutsu)
She said softly and sweetly, but at the same time, it seemed like she was mocking her victim.
"N-no... you won't tell him... if I had told him... I'd already be dead... but you waited... I don't know why, but if you tell him now, he'd kill you too... for hiding it from him... considering his... paranoia." (Hajime)
Kugutsu ordered the doll to release his throat. She was surprised; she didn't expect Hajime's deductive skills to be so precise.
(He's not stupid... and he's made of iron. He's deduced the situation well and resists torture and my provocations. This will be fun, breaking him little by little.) (Kugutsu)
She smiled with a small, sadistic laugh, then opened the cell door but not before turning around and saying to the boy with silver hair:
"I can't wait to break your will tomorrow. Now I'm going to see your friend." (Kugutsu)
She said this before closing the layered metal door, returning the darkness to the cell where the boy was imprisoned.
***********************************
In an underground laboratory, far from the inhabited centers of [Fumetsu], a meeting was underway between scientists and security leaders.
"The Kuro project tried to escape again."
"Tsk, third time this month."
"After isolating her from her sister and the other project, her attitude has been anything but acceptable! She already slit the throats of three of my men!"
"They were incompetents! She may be a perfect genetic specimen, but she's still a kid! Getting disarmed by her is madness!"
"Should we reunite her with the other two projects?"
"No, it's too late now. We've already started the new phase of the experiments. Stopping now would severely test her training. Not to mention, they aren't spoiled children but weapons."
"I agree. What's the point of having a dog if it bites the hand that feeds it? Put her in cell 209 for a few days."
"Understood."
Twenty minutes earlier, a young Kuro, about 12 years old, was trying to free himself from the restraints holding him down.
His body was tied to a table, with belts restraining his hands and feet.
"Where am I?! Liberate me, bastards!!!! Where are my sisters???!!! What have you done to them?!!!" (Kuro)
"Shut up a bit!"
"I'll stick that syringe down your throat!!!" (Kuro)
One of the guards tried to inject something into the young [mage]. Unfortunately for them, he wouldn't make things easy.
"Hold him still!"
The black-haired boy kept moving despite many men trying to hold him down.
Finally, the syringe shattered on the ground.
"Send a shock, damn it!"
The guards moved back a few steps before drawing stun guns from their belts. The first aimed at his leg, plunging the device into his skin.
Clenching his teeth tightly, with muscles contracting, Kuro tried to stay awake, using all his willpower.
His actions were noticed because immediately after, his colleagues also zapped him with their electric weapons.
"Enough already!"
After ten endless minutes, the guards stopped, leaving the half-conscious younger brother of Cloe on the table.
"Tsk, they should just kill him and start over! This thing is out of control!"
"Are you crazy?! Do you know how much he's worth?! The financiers often pay millions for the Kuro project, all to make him the perfect weapon!"
"Yeah, the uncontrollable perfect assassin! He has killed many of ours!"
"So, the money spent by the financiers was worth it. Now let's see what the leaders have decided."
The men left the boy tied up, a grave mistake—no one kept someone under constant watch. The security cameras didn't notice an important detail: Kuro was recovering very quickly despite the injuries.
After a few minutes, he was conscious enough to use some of his [magic].
"[Sneak]."
A small tendril of shadows moved silently and slowly, like a snake, toward one of the straps' locks.
It was a slow, meticulous job, but the boy had been trained to be patient despite his rebellious attitude.
When the guards returned to the room, the straps on his arms had been loosened.
"Prepare another syringe, this time let's not waste it. They cost a fortune."
"Understood."
"How many problems does this little brat cause us? All just because they separated him from his sister and the other experiment? Ridiculous."
"The syringe is ready."
Kuro, trained to be a killer since he could remember, feigned unconsciousness easily.
"Fuck—"
Cloe's younger brother grabbed the syringe after removing one of the opened straps.
With incredible speed and strength for his age, he snatched the item from the guard's hand and jammed it into his own throat, right at the carotid artery.
With a violent wrist movement, the young [mage] widened the wound enough to be lethal if not helped—he'd bleed out too much to be saved.
"Fuck!"
"Not again!"
"Fry him already!"
The other three guards tried to grab their stun guns, but Kuro used this brief window to free his other strap and have his hands free.
"Get down!"
The fastest to draw his weapon was the first to be hit. Cloe's little brother pushed the syringe into his ear, narrowly avoiding the stun gun.
"Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!"
The second received the improvised weapon in the eye. Two of the men were almost out of commission, and one was dying.
"Son of a bitch!"
"Take this little brat!"
The third didn't waste time, firing at the boy's neck—at least, he tried.
Kuro managed to grab his wrist before the weapon could hit.
Despite the size difference, the boy held his ground against the strength of an adult soldier, thanks to the experiments he had undergone since birth and his training.
However, in the end, his efforts were futile.
From the ventilation ducts in the room, gas was sprayed, causing everyone to cough.
"Fuck... damn it!!!"
Within seconds, everyone lost consciousness. The last thing the [mage] saw before falling into the world of dreams was a new team of guards entering the room with gas masks.
**********************
The next day, Kuro woke up in a 4x4 cell, after a siren warning of fog had started blaring loudly inside his new residence.
"Make it stop!!!!!" (Kuro)
For a mage with physical and sensory capabilities dozens of times better than normal humans, this was both a blessing and a curse. The noise was so deafening that it covered his ears and made him fall to the ground in pain. It was a hell where sound ruled, and Kuro was its victim.
"Project Kuro, your recent actions have become intolerable. For your safety, you will be confined to cell 209 until further notice."
"Fuck you! Tell me where they are! Damn it!"
Driven by primordial rage, Cloe's younger brother tried to break down the cell door with his fists, ignoring the damage to his hands.
In a short time, the metal turned red, but it wasn't even scratched by his blows.
********************
In the present, a very similar event was unfolding.
"Let me out!!!!"
Kuro and Cloe both carried many hidden traumas. After being rescued by [New Dawn], they managed to overcome many crises and difficult moments.
The [mage] often dreamed of the other laboratory subject he grew up with—the same one who didn't come out of the lab alive.
While the boy always had nightmares, waking up again in cell 209—the very same cell—being deprived of food and water for days while that siren blared nonstop without mercy, knowing what was happening to the only people he cared about was hell on the first level of hell.
"I'll break down this door and then your heads!!!!"
The cell where he was confined reminded him all too much of 209.
Of course, it was no coincidence.
Kugutsu had him placed there immediately after discovering his origins.
Not out of sadistic cruelty but simply to destabilize him.
From the way he had injured his hands trying to escape, it was obvious that the [Black Corps] had succeeded in their goal.
Soon, someone would come to heal him, but not before roughing him up a bit, of course.
There was no better way to surface past traumas and fears than putting a teenager in a situation similar to those he had already experienced.
From the security cameras, Kugutsu's subordinates were monitoring the situation.
Besides the mage's cell, there was another one under surveillance Kimiko's.