I wake up in a frantic state, gasping for air. It always hurts more the next time I come back. "Intriguing!" I quickly turn my head to see a scrawny man with glasses and long hair covering the majority of his face—his skin pale, with a lanky figure. He dons a red lab coat with a tucked in collar shirt, halfway buttoned. His clothing is somewhat sloppy, displayed through his loose hanging tie. Several mechanical arms complimented his appearance as four are securely latched onto his hunched-over back, and 2 more protruding from his sides. "I have never laid eyes on such an exotic creature that could regenerate as fast as you do. It's abnormal… Even for your kind... I am engrossed! How does it work? Do you know? Bah! Of course you don't… Your kind always seems to be quite reluctant to dwell deep into their abilities, sadly."
Before I could utter a single word, the odd man continued to bombard me with questions and commentary. He even answers his own questions. It's almost like he thinks I'm not even sentient. Like I'm some sort of zoo animal… Who am I kidding? He probably does believe exactly that. Nothing but a supernatural "creature" before his eyes. "Young specimen, it has only been approximately 18 hours since you were brought here. And yet—" He leans in closer to me, his eyes bulging out of his head as if they were trying to pierce my very flesh. In his hand is a small scalpel, edging it so closely to my skin. "Your genetic makeup is something that I have never seen before during my studious years in P11G9 research."
He says this as he slowly trails the scalpel across my arm, cutting slightly deep into it. Blood instantly leaks out, enveloping the scalpel. I tense up at the pain, though for the most part it doesn't hurt that much. His tone seems to fluctuate in and out of crazed excitement similar to a curious little kid and monotonously serious. "Would ya look at that. Already closed up! Bahaha—" He continues on laughing loudly, his mechanical arms sway about as if they were dancing. I look down at my arm and notice it did in fact heal quickly. But I knew that already. Well, sort of. Usually it takes much longer.
Is what he's saying true? I healed in only half a day? I mean usually when I kill myself it's taken a day or two for me to regenerate completely. I've never had my limbs severed though… mostly damage to my head and neck. "W- where am I?" Raining on the odd man's enthusiasm, I attempt to speak. My voice is hoarse, though, causing my words to come out a bit… stale. "That is none of your concern Young Specimen. For you will not stay here with me longer than you need to. Heh heh heh heh. Though I am a bit depressed. I'll hate watching you go. I am quite far from thoroughly scrutinizing your insides and figuring out what makes you, well you!" This guy is fucking insane…
"I hope you aren't scaring my suspect, Dr. Maerlrik." A familiar face enters the room. The woman from before walks up to the bed I'm lying in, staring at me with a slight smirk on her face. Her fingers lightly treads across my foot then up my leg as she makes her way closer to face-to-face contact with me. "Bah! Of course not my beautiful mistress." His eyes glimmered as he smirked oddly, staring at her hand movements. "Don't get weird on me doctor", she says with a quick glare at him.
"Bahaha! No—no, of course not. Heh, wouldn't want another horrid "incident" to occur, mademoiselle." He grinned with a devious smile as if he were trying to mock her. With a now aggravated look upon her face, she grabs me by my chin, tilting my head to face hers. Our eyes lock, allowing her to stare into mines for a brief moment. "So, Sonserrè, is it? How are you feeling? Dr. Maerlrik is one of the best." I attempt to speak before being quickly cut off by Dr. Maerlrik. "You honor me dearly, mademoiselle." His statement gives off a creepy yet charming vibe. I slightly raise myself up in the bed, continuing to lock eyes with her. "I um—I'm fine." I cut my response short, not knowing what else to say. "Great. I'm glad you're fine. All of this was much more of a technicality. If you and your friend hadn't run off, we could've spoken more civilized like we are now." Pfft… Yea as if. She says this, yet had a beaming light raining down on us with several weaponized dicks bulked with body armor. Wait… O'shai! Did he get away?
"I'm going to ask you a series of questions that you must answer cooperatively. I assure you everything will run more smoothly this way. I am sorry, though—to interview you here. Not the exact setting I would've chosen myself, but we don't choose our fates and I personally have some business I need to attend to with haste." She slowly let go of my chin, backing away as she awaits my response. "Where's my friend? Is he alright?" My face is filled with curiosity and intrigue. "Hmhm, I thought it was clear that I'd be the one asking the series of questions here. Once we're done, you may ask away, however I doubt you'll still have any at the end of this conversation." I look away, eyeing a widened holo-clock on the wall. Its sleek frame almost reminds me of one of those long LuFras that only rich people can afford. LuFras, short for Lumin Frames, are new high-end televised holographic devices that can stream anything you can think of. They're practically limitless in function, able to broadcast anything at demand. I've never seen anything like it, though. At least not up close. Almost caught in curiosity of my surroundings, I quickly snap back into focus and turn my head back to the woman, nodding in agreement. "Good. I am Special Agent Clovielle Sena. As you might've already figured out, I am an operative of Complexus Moralis. Nice to officially meet you Mr. Sonserrè Moise." Her arm erects towards me—her hand following with an open palm as she awaits my handshake.
As soon as I hear the word Complexus my mind goes numb and a stream of memories flow through me. Memories that aren't mine. I see memories of a person who knows that something is coming and that the government is trying to hide it. That the same government is behind said evil. Something? It's so much that I clutch my forehead, the headache increasing slightly. I wince in great ordeal, allowing a slight gasp to escape me. "Are you alright Mr. Moise?" Clovielle places her hand on my shoulder. "Ur#%$#h, I'm fine." I let out a deep breath, lying my head back to burrow it into the pillow. "Hmhm, interesting… Well, let's start with something simple shall we? What were you and your friend doing at the garbage dump around the time of our arrival?" Her and Dr. Maerlrik both stare at me awaiting an answer. Due to the current nature of the situation and my compelling urges, my response instinctively comes out as a lie. "We were just hanging out," I say, trying to sound nonchalant as I shift uncomfortably in my seat. Clovielle raises an eyebrow, her skepticism evident. "At a sanitary landfill?" she asks, her voice dripping with disbelief.
I avoid her gaze, my mind racing for a plausible explanation. "…." I remain silent, the tension in the room palpable. "It's no illustrious park, but then again, the parks in Plague Slums aren't really that much better," I finally responded, my voice tinged with sarcasm. Clovielle's eyes narrow as she studies me, her expression unreadable. "I see…" she says slowly, her tone indicating that she's not convinced. She leans forward, her gaze intense. "And what is your explanation of the body we found in you and your friend's presence?" she demands, her voice growing more intense. I swallow hard, my throat dry. "He was already dead. Well, we thought he was already dead. Wait, is he alive—It was um—a coincidence that we came across him," I stammer, my mind racing to come up with a plausible story. Clovielle's eyes bore into mine, her expression cold and unyielding. "Yet, your friend possesses something that belonged to the deceased. To better answer your question, though, yes, the man died," she says, her voice flat. I feel a chill run down my spine as I process her words.
"You said 'possesses'," I repeat, trying to buy myself some time. Clovielle tilts her head slightly, feigning ignorance. "Hm?" she prompts. "You said my friend 'possesses', meaning he still has whatever you're looking for. That means—" I trail off, the realization dawning on me. Clovielle nods, her gaze unwavering. "Yes, he got away. His potency is quite… troublesome. That leads me to my next question. Do you know where this 'O'shai Lawlett' is?" she asks, her eyes boring even deeper into mine. I shake my head, my voice barely above a whisper. "I don't," I reply. Clovielle's smile is cold and calculating. "Hmhm, but you two grew up together, no? Surely close friends would know where one another ended up going if they were to run from something," she says, her tone mocking. I feel a surge of frustration. "I wish I had an answer," I say, my voice tinged with frustration. Clovielle's smile widens. "Hmhm, something tells me you highly wish you don't in all actuality," she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She leans back in her chair, her gaze never leaving mine. "Do you understand the significance of this situation that you're in, Sonserrè? Of the device your friend possesses and what that device contains?" she asks, her voice low and menacing.
I remain silent, my mind racing with thoughts of O'shai and the holo-emitter. Clovielle's frustration is palpable. "You don't, do you? Hmph, yet you're sitting before me, verbally against all questions that will relatively help you in the end," she says, her tone sharp. She takes a deep breath, her expression softening slightly. "I'm aware that you and your friend didn't kill the deceased. I'm aware that you and your friend didn't just stumble across the deceased by chance and I'm aware that your friend did in fact take a holo-emitter from the deceased's body. So, let's save the formalities and enter a more direct approach," she says, her voice firm. She pauses for a moment, her gaze intense. "The deceased man was a former agent of Complexus. He was one of our best operatives and even my beloved mentor. A few years ago though, rumors surfaced that there was a traitor amongst our organization. This traitor was presumed to be that man. Investigator Dante Wurren," she says, her words hitting me like a punch to the gut.
My eyes widened as a series of ever-fading images flashes before me once more. That slight sharp pain rapids in the center of my head as I succumb to numerous memories. Memories of "Dante Wurren". I groan slightly as I grip the side of my head. "That headache seems to be recurring, Dr. Maerlrik." Clovielle Sena looks at Dr. Maerlrik as he turns around and scrounges a tray containing various syringes. "Likely just temporary side effects of his potency. Sometimes the neural components still have to adapt to the resurgence of sensory units reforming in the new limbs he's regrown. Therefore it must be a great strain on his brain." Dr. Maerlrik pierces a needle through my neck. I feel a slight tingling sensation as I'm injected with something. "Hmhm, interesting. Anyways, back to my current statement. Dante Wurren was outed as a man who planned on destroying the very world as we know it.
He wished to pick up where the Anathema Crisis left off and abolish all signs of human life. Or so reports say… What we know for a fact is that he went missing before my superiors could place him on trial for questioning. We have yet to locate his whereabouts. That is until a day ago. He set up a meeting with an estranged associate of ours, stating that he wished to finally clear his name and that he possessed knowledge of a conspiracy on his assigned holo-emitter. Our associate was later found dead, proclaimed by my superiors to be killed by Wurren. Allegedly… He fled and a few hours later we were able to locate him in a trash site deep within Plague Slums." Clovielle's eyes cut deep as she continued to stare at me.
Letting out a faint gasp, I come to not remember a single thing, but more so a sense of feeling from the memories I received from this man, Dante Wurren. The only focused thought floating around my head now was that I needed to find that holo-emitter. I needed to find O'shai. "Hmhm, I'm sure if you truly knew anything, I would've sensed it by now." My thought is placed on abrupt pause as I notice Clovielle rise up from the bed. She makes her way to the door. Before exiting the room, she turns her head back to me and speaks once more. "I'm sure you've heard of the Institutes, yes?" I stare at her, my silence seemingly confirming her assumed answer. "You will be transferred and enrolled into Silverleaf. I doubt you've been attending school." She gives me a smile before departing the room. "Wait…" I try to call out to her, but before I even know it, I hear a snap and everything goes black… As if it were all a dream fading away.