Hysterical screams had shaken the very walls of its confinement. When the screams settled, the cracking of teeth was heard as an eerie replacement for the tremendous noise that had rung through the space previously.
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, why won't it stop? It hurts, I'mhurting.
A man is seen in another room, sitting casually, sipping his morning coffee, which has now gone cold due to his vast amount of work. The room was full of whiteboards and mountains of papers depicting many complicated theories, as well as blueprints for a project they had finished not long ago, but he did not know what they were. Another man who appears much older walks into the room.
"So what's the plan?" the younger man asks sceptically.
"You don't already know?" the older replied.
Both the screams and the cracking have now stopped, and two large steel doors open to connect the two rooms. The two men put on their lab coats and walked inside. The older person looks at his watch and then towards the camera in the corner of the room.
"Retrieving Subject-29 Codename: Illogic at 0700 hours to be put through the newly constructed chamber", he said emotionlessly and sharply.
It hurts, make it stop, please make it stop, no more.
The young boy, who was until recently strapped to some machine, was now being dragged out of the room. A long and heavily reinforced corridor lay between the room and the place he was being taken to, and a huge set of doors was opened, revealing a truly evil machine. The boy was rid of all his clothes, showing a truly broken body - not a single area of his skin remained intact. Cuts, burns, needle wounds and even whole sections of his skin were missing, revealing his flesh and bone.
"He has no need for hair, and it could interfere with the machine", another man, seemingly much higher in status, stated, "Get rid of it".
So a large group of men who were already waiting inside the room which held the machine moved towards the boy. Two of them pinned his arms and legs each, while another grabbed his hair and started to rip it from his head.
The boy had now let out an even more horrifying scream. His jaw dislocated as a result.
Why?why?why?why?why?why?Why?Why?WHY?WHY?WHY!WHY!
"Why are there so many people holding him down? He is a mere boy," the younger man asked mockingly.
"Are you new here? Or were you simply born under a boulder?" the man of higher status asks him, "Kagi, explain to this dullard why we are being so cautious of this, boy "
"Right away, Lord Desmund", said the older man, bowing his head and placing his hand over his heart to show respect and loyalty.
The screams continued in the background while Kagi explained the situation to the younger man.
"You see, Subject-29 Codename: Illogic is a genetically modified human who has been altered to be stronger, faster and more mentally resilient than standard humans are. Therefore, we need many more people to restrain him; otherwise, he could seriously injure or perhaps even kill the people that interact with him," he says sharply.
"So what's the deal with this machine then?"
"It's the epitome of mechanical engineering, a revolutionary machine designed for one purpose and one purpose only - death", Lord Desmund says with an unbecoming smile, interrupting their conversation.
"It is designed to kill in every way possible. It is half the size of this whole space station and requires the use of 87 % of all of the power this space station can generate to run, as well as 5 tonnes of nuclear material," he continues with his smile growing wider and wider as if he is bathing in pure ecstasy.
"So what was the point of raising this kid only to kill him?!" the younger man asks, "Isn't it simply a waste of money?"
Lord Desmund looks at Kagi as if to signal that it is his turn to speak.
Kagi nods and begins to explain again, "In extremely rare cases, Individuals have been granted inhuman power. These individuals all have one thing in common. They experience a moment in which their death is all but assured. Then, they gain an extraordinary power to overcome death. Once they have overcome this moment, however, they do not lose their ability. We believe that with this machine, if every death imaginable were all becoming imminent at the same time, the only way to escape it would be to manipulate time and or space."
"But not everyone develops this power, so how do you know that he will?" the young man asked, yet another question.
"By Tāhmir's name, are you an idiot, or are you trying to act stupid?" Kagi asks.
"I was only hired to look after the boy, sir, nothing more"
"When the need for survival is at its peak and the Individual is about to die, that's when they gain this power, which is also the reason why we have tortured this boy since birth and never shown him death, so he is only aware of it by raw instinct. This will allow him to wish for a painless life. Since he is seeking life all the same, he will, in theory, gain tremendous power." Kagi explains again, exhausted.
The screams of the boy have now ended, and he now whimpers in pain on the floor. The men walk back into the room to join the others.
"Enough now, gentlemen, let us begin the experiment", Lord Desmund says assertively as if demanding it.
"Right away, my lord", they all say in unison.
All the men take their positions by their desks with Lord Desmund taking his place in the centre, overlooking the operation.
Whirring of machines, along with sparks and loud banging, can be heard through the control room. Many different sounds and sights are being experienced by all of the members of staff. Lord Desmund, in particular, is overjoyed by the spectacle, as can be seen by all of those working beside him.
All the lights in the space station have now been shut off, and the power has been redirected to feed this monster of a machine, leaving only the life support systems powered.
"STOOPPP!!!"
Everyone was left speechless.
"I CANT BEAR THIS ANYMORE. MAKE IT STOP!"
It was a known fact that everyone aboard the station knew. The boy never spoke - even when undergoing torture, never once did he speak. He screamed, yes - but no words. He was taught how to read and write, but he never uttered even a single word. This stunned the scientists and engineers even more.
After a pause, they understood what this meant.
They succeeded.
However, from the boy's perspective, the machine was turned on, and he was painfully killed as they had impaled him, crushed him, burned him, drowned him, exposed him to all forms of radiation, poisoned him, exploded and imploded. Every conceivable way he could be killed - he experienced all at once.
In an instant, he was transported somewhere he was not familiar with, a place familiar yet unknown. It seemed to be outer space. He had never actually seen it before, but he was educated enough to understand. He saw orange and blue gas clouds all around him, as well as faraway constellations, though he could not make them out. A truly remarkable sight that could not be easily forgotten. Before long, a dark fog enshrouded him so that he could no longer see that beautiful sight - the first pleasant thing he had ever witnessed - taken.
"RETURN"
An ominous voice echoed throughout his mind and body, reverberating in his lungs. In fear, the boy dared not move; he dared not even breathe or blink, for his instincts told him - he would die. Before he could even comprehend what had happened, he was transported once again. He was back - but the machine was not on.
Is it over? Am I going to live?
"Enough now, gentlemen, let us begin the experiment"
The boy froze, confused and frightened. More frightened than he had ever been before because he knew what that machine did now, and he did not know why it was happening again. It was more painful than anything he could ever imagine, and he feared the very thought of it ever happening again.
And so the machine began once more for the boy. He was once again torn apart, crushed and tortured all over again - but he did not die. Instead, he was back.
What is this? Why amI here again?
"Enough now, gentlemen, let us begin the experiment"
He had returned to before the machine had started; he was now just as confused as he was scared and in pain. Although it was not physical pain he was in because his body was back to its previous state, before the machine.
The boy couldn't explain it. He couldn't even believe it.
Did I die? Am I in hell?
He truly believed he had died and was repeating this cycle of life and death because he was in hell. After this realisation, he stopped. He stopped moving, he stopped breathing, blinking and even thinking. It was as if he were a mere shell. But the pain never went away. He counted every one of the cycles of torture, hoping it would help him redeem himself from his sins, though he knew not what they were.
One thousand seven hundred and fifty-six
One thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven
One thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight.
He had counted for what seemed like years, which, from the boys' perspective, was not far off. After all, the machine did not kill him instantly - it needed to be painful, otherwise it wouldn't work.
His mind began to crumble.
"STOOPPP!!!"
"I CANT BEAR THIS ANYMORE. MAKE IT STOP!"
And thus the machine was stopped and his hell extinguished.
Lord Desmund then asked the boy over the speakers, "What did it say?"
Those words alone frightened the boy as he thought back to that voice. How terrifying it was. He curled up into a ball and began to shake. He shook out of fear and out of trauma. The trauma that he had experienced throughout the past 16 years had risen to the surface due to the vulnerability the machine invoked in him.
"What is with this useless creature?" Lord Desmund asks mockingly, "We built it to be mentally resilient, and it whimpers and cowers at mere words? Pathetic."
"We are sure it worked, my lord," Kagi says, trying to calm Lord Desmund.
"So can we figure out what power he has?" asks the young man.
"Of course"
After long debates, they conclude that it has to be something to do with time or space because anything else, such as an impenetrable body, wouldn't allow for him to survive poisoning, for example, so it is the only possible way he could have survived. They believe that he must have some control over his ability due to the fact that he is alive, but they know he doesn't know how to use it properly, or they'd likely all be dead. They believe that his power could be the ability to allow an Individual to experience the future or the ability to travel into the past. These abilities are among many, but they decided that it would be best to proceed under the impression that he is weaker, so they do not overestimate him and lose such a precious asset in battle.
Lord Desmund handed a clipboard over to Kagi and the young man.
"I want answers to these questions from the creature. Get them," he sternly instructed and left the room.
The machine was now rendered inoperable for safety - Kagi and the young man walked into the room with the boy. He tightened - afraid.
"I won't hurt you anymore, just answer my questions and you're going to be okay," he tried to reassure him with comforting lies. "What is your power?"
The boy didn't know. Even if he knew he couldn't tell them, as he was still terribly scared of what lurked in the fog, and he was too troubled to even bother answering.
"Take him to the interrogation room", he coldly demanded.
A seemingly endless cycle of torture followed by more torture. The boy didn't argue - he didn't speak. Toenails ripped out, fingers mutilated, beaten, whipped, cut, burnt, throughout it all, he didn't move, he didn't even scream - but felt the pain.
The pain was overwhelming for the boy. All the trauma he had undergone was too much even for him. He couldn't bear it. His blood painted the floor and his chair. The white lab coats are now stained with blood and flesh. They prevented him from bleeding out by burning all his wounds shut and using a tourniquet, and they used opioids to worsen the pain the boy endured.
Why? What did I do to them? I only ever lived, is that so wrong? Is my existence wrong? But they made me. So why? Why do they hurt me? Why? WHY! WHY! WHY!
These thoughts sparked a greater change in him. With all this pain and terror, he couldn't bear it a second longer. Next came his skin. They scraped it all off down to the flesh and wrapped him in bandages. Cracking, that was all the men heard - the cracking of his teeth under the weight of his pain. He had bit down so hard that his teeth began to crack. His left eye was gouged out with his own bare hand and fed to him, nearly choking. His genitals were removed with pliers.
They stopped at last.
They gave him medical attention and sent him to a white room, intending to drive him to near insanity to get him to reveal his power. He was there for weeks, given only enough food to keep him alive. His hair began to grow back, and slowly his wounds healed, though not entirely. Lord Desmund had deemed him an unworthy subject and had ordered him to be killed and disposed of.
One single bullet to the head.
A release from his suffering.
A mercy.
A blessing.
He closed his eyes, hearing that he would die over the speakers placed in his room.
He accepted this release.
A gunshot.
I'm not dead? Or am I in the afterlife?
He opened his eyes.
"I won't hurt you anymore, just answer my questions and you're going to be okay."
"What is your power?"
He laughed.
He laughed hysterically.
A laugh so hysterical that it gave goosebumps to everyone who heard it. Kagi was especially stunned as he was the only one who truly saw the face of the boy at that moment. His mouth was open so wide that it dislocated his jaw and tore his mouth at the commissures, sending blood to flow down his face. His eyes were so wide open they seemed like they would fall out.
It was only now that Kagi noticed that the boy's hair had somehow grown back, but it was no longer the same colour. His hair was white, which the scientists assumed was due to immense stress. However, the boy's eye was no longer missing, his toenails in their place, and his fingers in theirs.
It was as if he had gone back in time. But his hair remained.
The boy continued to laugh, and slowly his once black hair began to fade into a gentle and pure white.
The laughter stopped.
"Tell me, Kagi," the boy said through his teeth with such fury it was as though his words burnt the very ears they fell upon, "Do you have a family?"
This sudden change struck Kagi and the others to their core. They had never witnessed such an evil presence. They were terrified. Not because they knew he had a magnificent power but because of the evil those words implied.
After a long pause, he spoke, "Let me go and I'll spare them at the very least, or did you also stain them with the hands that made me bleed?"
…