Remnants of the Earth
INTO THE PAST => Flashback Threads => Thanatos FBs => Topic started by: Rastul on July 03, 2012, 08:28:13 am
-
The room was a rather large white cube. It was geometrically perfect in all aspects, large enough for the comfortable occupancy of one humanoid creature. The edges of the cube and the corners were rounded off, but besides that the walls were smooth and devoid of any marks. Although the cube was white, it did not blind or hurt the eyes; the brilliance was muted, almost with a greyish tinge.
The subject was wearing white robes. They did not look cheap, and sat on his figure with the suppleness of well woven silk. The smoke lazily drifted upwards from the glowing orange embers of a cigarette perched in his mouth. As the curls of burnt tobacco encountered the ceiling, they disappeared with nearly inaudible hisses of static. The same thing happened for the ashes that occasionally dripped from the end of the cigarette. He sat on a white cylindrical stool, slightly stooped over, elbow knee, chin cupped in hand.
With the other free hand, he brushed one of the walls. A black line from the middle of the ceiling ledge descended to about a third of the wall and split horizontally into two lines, tracing the outline of a window. Once the rectangle was traced, the black lines disappeared, and the white wall along with it, revealing slowly a view into the vast outer space. The lights in the room seemed to dim to compensate. He pulled the stool over to the window, and placed both of his arms on the sill, resting his head in the cradled formed. In this way he stared out of the window.
Some time passed.
A confused look flickered across his face. Why was he here again?
-
The girl knew she couldn't mess this up. If she messed up, her life would be over. Perhaps literally. She would either be killed or sentenced to life in this science facility. No, she couldn't mess this up. She had to complete her job exactly how they told her to.
Getting her fingerprint scanned before she entered the white room, Devicia knew that her superiors would be watching from afar. They'd be watching her every move, making sure she qualified for the job. And since she had such a unique ability... there was probably nothing they wanted more than to make her another subject. But they also knew she could be useful to them. She had to prove that she would be useful to them.
As a hole opened up in the wall, Devicia walked in. The second she got in, the hole closed. Her attention was immediately brought to the man leaning against the window. Seeing him in the almost totally white room was not hard. With his dark skin and light hair, it wouldn't be hard to notice him anywhere. Devicia's eyes flickered to the window before deciding it didn't matter. If it mattered, someone would've taken care of it already.
Breath in, breath out, Devicia thought. Calm down. Looking at the man, Devicia calmed her thoughts and started with the basics. "AAAAAAAA1? My name is Devicia. I'm your therapist."
-
AAAAAAAA1 started upon hearing another voice, and turned from the window to gaze, glassy eyed, at the newcomer. The twisting motion of his head caused the cigarette to dislodge from his lips, and it fell to the floor, disintegrating with a hiss of blue sparks. He gave a halting smile that soon spread into a genuine grin, spinning on his stool round and round.
"AA .. A .. A1? I suppose my name is A1, huh?"
Bits and pieces of memory came to him as he spun (and he soon was starting to feel dizzy, so he stopped). He dug through the pockets of his silken pants in sudden inspiration. Nothing. The tabs were gone. Flashback: gout of flame bursting from the palm of his hand, an orderly going up in flames .. did he do that on purpose, or was that just because he wanted to flex his hands? Was he or was he not strapped to a bed?
He shook his head and raised his hand to rub the side of his neck. Although it looked like a habitual gesture, he was checking the status of the port on the side of his neck. Empty.
"I seem to have forgotten my real name, Ms. Devicia." Mischevious grin.
"What do I need therapy for?"
-
The man seemed crazy. Then again, he was trapped in a totally white room with nothing to do all day. Noticing there wasn't another stool, Devicia asked, "Can someone bring a stool in here?" She knew someone would hear her.
Then, turning to the man, Devicia stated, "Your name is AAAAAAAA1. That is all you need to know." Having to come off as other TRIM scientists did, Devicia attempted to keep her stare cold. Even though it was her mission to rescue these people, Devicia knew they were all ridiculously strong. And no one told her what this guy could do.
As the wall opened behind her, Devicia almost jumped. Turning around, she grabbed the stool from the man in black before setting it down in front of her patient. Sincerely not knowing the answer, Devicia simply answered, "You tell me. Has anything been bugging you lately? Emotional troubles? It's my job to help you sort things out."
-
He scratched the back of his neck again. Itchy. Maybe. Force of habit, probably. Still nothing. No tab.
"If my name is A1 .. " A1 frowned.
"Then I must be forgetting things. I'm sure I must have a name, right?"
"What else have I been forgetting?" He turned around to stare absent-mindedly out the window.
-
How am I supposed to help someone who keeps zoning out? thought Devicia. Stay calm. All they want is his brain's reaction to different things. They don't care if I actually help him.
Giving up on the name, Devicia asked, "A1, since you seem to be unfocused, lets start with simple questions. Explain to me what your everyday life is like here at TRIM. Try to be as detailed as possible."
By asking this, Devicia figured, she'd have somewhere to start from, she could get results for the scientists, and she could understand more about the place she was going to be working at for a while.
-
A1 seemed to be floored by this question. He turned his full attention back to her, his eyes widened in some ridiculous caricature of shock. If he had a cigarette in his mouth, it would have fallen into the ground, again. Come to think of it, where did he get it from .. ? He spent the next few minutes digging in his pockets before he remembered that she had asked a question.
"I can only remember everything up until this morning." His tone was serious.
"I woke up, ate the food that popped up through my seat," and here he pointed at his seat for emphasis, "then spent a little while looking out the window. Don't you have any recordings or diaries about me?" He seemed to know he was in some sort of psychiatric facility, at least.
-
What did the scientists do to him? Devicia thought. Did they wipe his memory away everyday? Or was last night a special occasion?
Sighing, Devicia decided to really do her job. "Concentrate. Is there anything you remember? Family, history, special abilities?" Devicia threw that last one in there so she could satisfy her curiosity. "Maybe where you were born or how old you are? Anything at all? They have recordings of you, but I'm not supposed to tell you anything." Or at least she was guessing she wasn't. She didn't know anything, anyway. "You're supposed to remember it yourself. Concentrate as hard as you can." Maybe concentration would create interesting brain waves for the scientists. She didn't really have anything else to work off of.
-
"NNnnnn...."
Syl screwed his eyes shut, placing his fingers on his temples.
"I .. nnn.. I don't think this is helping ..." He peeked at her out of one barely opened eye. "How does one even focus hard?"
Urp. He retched and coughed out a chip into the palm of his hand. It was a small black square, with a smaller rectangle attached on one end to serve as a tab, a blue outline tracing the entire object. Brightening, he held it up for her to examine, spit and all.
"Hey, I think you're right!"
-
Surprised and disgusted, Devica leaned away and asked, "Right about what?"
Getting a closer look (but still being far) at the chip, it seemed that TRIM had put it in him somehow. Unless this guy normally kept chips up his throat. Trying to imprint it in her memory for future studying, Devicia stared at the chip. Even with the spit dripping down from it. The spit disappeared when it touched the ground, anyway.
Starting to understand what he had said, Devicia exclaimed, "Wait... Do you remember your past now?" Heavens say he did. She wanted to get her job done and get away from this wierdo. But what if he wasn't supposed to remember his past? Silently cursing, Devicia decided to wait to hear his response before doing anything rash.
-
Syl stared at the chip in his hand, engrossed by it.
"... Hm?"
He glanced up. "I don't think so." With the other hand, he was rubbing a patch of skin behind his right ear. Exposed circuity and a receptacle was there, and the skin around it was a little red. A procedure had been recently performed, it seemed. He scratched at the plug. Itchy.
"Why are you so interested in my past?" Syl looked at her suspiciously. "Is there anything good about the past? What can you tell me about me from my past?"
-
This man was confusing Devicia. If he didn't remember his past, what was she right about? She never mentioned anything about a chip...
Knowing that he didn't remember his past, Devicia calmed down. "I'm your therapist. Since you don't know much about your present being or your future, it would be easiest to start with your past. That is the only reason I've been questioning you on it. However, since you don't remember, I suppose that won't work."
Not knowing what to do next, Devicia just sat there. She would let him take the first move this time.
-
A1 tossed the chip up and down. He was not exactly sure what to say either. When he woke up this morning, he had the peculiar sensation of white static in his memory. Normally (normally?) when one tried to look back, they would only get a feel of 'can't remember'. But he could remember things. Large patches of his mind's eye were covered in white noise, hallucinations both visual and auditory.
After thinking for a while, he brightened.
"One thing I know is that I'm certainly not allowed to have this!" He patted his pants pockets. "Otherwise I'd have a lot more down here."
-
His logic made no sense to Devicia. Why would he have them in his pockets if he was supposed to have them? Shaking her head, Devicia was truly lost.
Looking around the room, Devicia searched for a camera. None. Of course not. The technology was too good for visible cameras. In the end, Devicia looked at the top right corner and said, "Have I passed yet? Or can I at least come out and ask you guys some questions?" She hoped she had passed. Devicia wanted to leave this room and this man for as long as possible. Or at least get some answers. She had no idea what she was dealing with.
As the wall opened into a door behind her, Devicia quickly looked at A1 and said, "I will most likely be back. Either in a couple of minutes or tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed your therapy session." Stepping outside of the white room, Devicia sighed. Looking at the person who let her in, she merely said, "So?" When he gave her a slight nod, Devicia assumed she passed. Asking one last question to him, Devicia said, "Will I be back tomorrow?" Another nod.
-
A1 watched her depart. Her brief presence and absence was much like the others he remembered in his life. Except .. except she had stayed long enough for him to remember her departure. Prior to this, his memory was written in short, unrelated chapters - faces, events, (screaming) punctuated by white static and noise that separated each event of his life.
He looked down at the solitary chip clutched in his hand. Don't use it. That's what he felt. He felt very strongly that he was not supposed to use it. Yet.
Smiling, he popped the chip back into his mouth and swallowed, then turned to resume looking at outer space.
-
It was only the second day since Devicia started came to TRIM, and the pressure was already starting to disappear. She knew that after today, they'd do anything to keep her. After all, today was the day that they'd be able to see her ability in action. After she passed the test, the scientists briefly explained Syl's situation to her so she'd be able to give better therapy. They said that he was a miracle—managed to live after having intense surgery. So now they wanted to observe his brain waves more and figure out not only all that he could do, but also how to make more like him. Psionics.
Today, she was going to be their subject. Even though they didn't say that, Devicia knew it was true. She was supposed to help him with telepathy. They wanted to see if he could use it to fight. With a knife. They were seeing if Devicia was actually telling the truth about her regenerative abilities. And rather than test it out with a scratch, they wanted Syl to basically murder her. Assuming he could actually fight with the knife. Good thing I'm used to knife fights and pain by now... thought Devicia before scanning her finger.
The door opened and Devicia felt her pocket for her knife. They said she could use it to deflect attacks from her fatal spots. Great. This was gonna be one painful day.
-
A1 brightened upon her entry.
"Oh hey there!" He waved from his position at the window sill, a bit of a silly gesture because the room was certainly not big enough for him to use such exaggerated gestures to grab her attention. He seemed to be in the exact same state as she had left him yesterday, which was not too surprising as he didn't really have any new experiences since then.
-
Why was this guy so enthusiastic? thought Devicia. I'm the one about to be hurt and I feel bad for him... Well, now that I'm in the clear I can finally take advantage of this opportunity. No need to play the emotionless scientist—I'll get my job done and prove that they need me. They shouldn't complain about me not following exact orders then.
Smiling, Devicia finally let down some of her shield. Walking towards the window, she was actually kind of glad they hadn't filled it in. Although she asked them to keep it, Devicia doubted they would. But it made the room less scary for her and probably helped with Syl's sanity.
Looking out at the stars, Devicia commented, "It's beautiful. Do you know any of the star's names?"
-
A1 was unaware of the intended agenda, it seemed.
"It's nice, isn't it?" He grinned at her and looked out the window. Her question produced a long silence, brooding, pensive. His eyes frantically scanned over the multitude of stars, but he found, no matter how hard he tried, that his memory was fragmented. That star was called Asr -- y. This one ----ide. Perhaps ...
A1's finger tapped out a tuneless beat on the sill, impatient radiating outwards from his body.
"Hey ... " He turned to look at her, despondent. "This isn't normal, right?"
-
Still gazing at the stars, Devicia could tell Syl wanted to do something. She didn't blame him; he had been looking at the stars all day. Syl must know that she wasn't there to keep him company, either. Just when she was about to say something, Syl talked.
Confused, Devicia responded, "What isn't normal?" There were many things not normal in his life. The fact that he had to stay in an almost completely white room. The fact that he was a scientifically created psionic. The fact that he was a subject and had no say over what happens to him. But Devicia got the feeling that he was probably talking about something in specific.
-
"That I can't really remember anything." Syl buried his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes, apparently expending a not insignificant amount of effort to put his memories in order.
Evidently, he felt that there was little point in worry about it, and stood up to look at her in the eyes.
"Since you're here today there must be something you want from me, right?" Back to smiling, being friendly.
-
"Ah... yes, I suppose that is a little abnormal. But I wouldn't worry too much about it. What matters is here and now." Devicia was technically his therapist, so comforting him wouldn't be a problem. Even though he didn't seem to care anymore.
Now it was time to actually get to work. Smiling, Devicia said, "We're doing a little experiment today. You should have a little chip? They said that they would give one to you somehow and that you would know what to do with it. It's supposed to give you telekinesis. How well can you control your telekinesis?"
Looking him in the eyes, Devicia didn't know what she wanted. If he couldn't control his telekinesis very well, she'd have to spend more time in this room and possibly have to suffer from unexpected random attack. But if he could control his telekinesis, hopefully she wouldn't have to stay in the room as long but she would be cut and cut again. Well, it was her job to teach him how to control it... even if it meant cutting her to bits and pieces (not that these knives were actually big enough to cut off limbs).
-
A1 looked at her, distrust sprouting in his eyes. So that's what they sent her here for. She had something to do with these chips.
"Yes, I found one on my breakfast tray this morning."
He took it out of his pocket - not the same one he swallowed the other day, though this was not entirely clear, and slipped it into the port on the back of his neck.
His mind exploded. Not literally. But his vision was filled with blue and white static, lightning fractals appearing at the edge of his vision. He was assaulted by various acrid scents: burning, sour, rotten, sweet. Ants crawled through his veins, a snake coiled around his heart, then ..
Nothing. All the feelings receded into the back of his mind. What remained was a very quiet, very deep hum, thrumming in his chest and ears.
He got up from the floor (where he had been doubled over during the past 10 seconds), and steadily looked at her. "What now?"
-
Syl almost gave Devicia a heart attack when he doubled over. Yet he just stood up and acted like it was normal. But he didn't have any memory... how could it be normal?
"Uh... um... right," Devicia said shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "So did a knife appear on your breakfast tray this morning, too? You didn't eat it, did you?" Devicia wasn't good at telling jokes under pressure. "I guess I should explain what's we're going to do. Although I got into knife fights in the street before, my technique isn't great. However, the scientists have decided that I would be the best one to teach you how to fight with a knife using your telekinesis." Because he couldn't kill her. "Because this is our first time, I won't be doing any attacking. Or much defending... just enough to keep me alive. Our goal today is to teach you how to control the knife and to cut me as many times as possible. Don't worry about hurting me. You ready?"
Devicia had experienced a lot of pain over the years fighting in the streets. Because of her ability, she would let the opponent hurt her as long as she could hurt them back, too. But that didn't mean she was happy to be the test dummy. Even though she healed right away and the pain dealt from attacks was numbed, it still hurt. Devicia pulled her knife out and gripped it tightly.
-
"Hahaha!" Syl raised his eyebrows in genuine mirth and he raised his had to clap Devicia on the shoulder. "No, it's right here -- "
He frowned at her next statement. "That doesn't sound too hard." The knife on the breakfast tray lifted itself in the air and buzzed around him at a somewhat startling speed, a large, sharp metallic fly. His hands hung loosely by his sides, but the fingers twitched every so often, manipulating the invisible lines of force to keep the knife moving.
"So I just .. " his tone was conversational as the knife was released from its orbit, flung at her stomach.
-
"Oh shi—" Devicia started before the flying knife hit stabbed her in the stomach. Although she knew she'd get hurt sooner or later, it would've been nice if she had been prepared.
The speed of the knife caused Devicia to fall backwards and her hands automatically dropped her knife as they wrapped around the one in her stomach. Blood openly flowed onto her clothes even before she pulled out the knife. I knew I should've worn the open-stomached shirt, though Devicia as she yanked the knife out of her stomach. More blood... well, at least I was wise enough to wear black.
A stomach wound hurt more than anything else. Devicia had experienced some pretty bad injuries—such as getting shot in the leg and almost getting her arm sliced off (the bone was too hard)—but this one took the crown. Doubling over, Devicia started coughing up blood.
Then it started. The pain started to numb as it healed her—starting at her stomach. She knew how it would work now; it finish healing her stomach and continue to heal outwards until it finally healed her skin. That's how it always worked. Although internal injuries took the longest to heal, it would still be done within a few minutes. Devicia stopped coughing up blood.
-
A1 watched the events unfold placidly, registering no emotion when he saw the knife embed itself into Devicia's chest. However, he definitely looked unhappy when he saw her drop in pain. He was not aware of the potential of injury, but he had been in 'pain' enough times that he could vaguely remember what it meant - damage to the body, 'please make it stop', 'what's going on, why does this "hurt"?'.
The actual mechanism of injury and death was unknown to him: great swathes of misinformation filled his mind, making him uncertain of what memories he could trust. But he was aware of the emotion displayed on her face. He backed up until he ran into the wall of the cubicle, and the knife jittered wildly in the air before embedding itself into the ceiling.
Indeed a stomach wound would be painful. It was the worst guaranteed way to die - the stomach's acid leaking out into the peritoneum and dissolving all the organs.
-
Devicia focused on the knife. That way she wouldn't focus on the pain. It was going back and forth, back and forth... and then into the ceiling. Now there was blood on the floor, wall, and ceiling. The redness of it contrasted with the whiteness of the room. Just like her. Blood matched her eyes. Her vampiric eyes. At least she hadn't started drinking it...
Smiling, Devicia stood up. Her skin was closing, a sure sign that healing was just about over. There. Closed.
"Sorry about that," Devicia started, turning in circles and smirking, showing the scientists that she wasn't lying. "Stomach wounds apparently take longer than most to heal." Devicia stopped so she was facing Syl. "But that wasn't the proper way to start a fight. Oh, and I should be able to avoid being stabbed in the stomach again. It's a little too painful for my liking."
Bending down and picking up the knife she dropped, Devicia wondered how much practice Syl had with his telekinesis powers. Even though he probably didn't remember using it, he may have some instinct from when he had used it. If he had. "Grab your knife. We're going to start this the proper way. Even if it isn't a proper fight." With a slight bow, Devicia stated, "My name is Devicia. Some call me Devil. Some call me Vampire. But my name is Devicia. And yours?"
-
A1 stammered. "A-are you going to fight me?!"
His stance, back pressed against the wall, may have shown fear to the less observant. It was mostly psychological rejection of the hurt he believed he had inflicted on his therapist; his body had subtlety shifted to adopt a fighting stance, both feet firmly planted on the ground, one slightly ahead of the other.
"I don't really like fighting ..."
His nervousness appeared to disappear, and he substantially relaxed his stance, completely distracted by her next question. He ran his hand through his hair, confused.
"My name? I suppose .. didn't you call me A1 before? That's all I've got." A1 shrugged.
-
Devicia felt sympathy for Syl. He obviously wasn't comfortable with fighting (at least at first), but Devicia calmed her emotions with knowing that she wouldn't cause any damage to him.
Shaking her head, Devicia tsked at Syl. "It's a fight. You have to use your real name. And what people call you by. Here's what you should say, 'My name is Syl. Some people call me A1. But my name is Syl.' Or something like that, at least. If you don't give your name away, it doesn't show respect to your opponent. Do you want to try again?"
-
"Syl .. "
He placed hand on his chest.
"So I am Syl. Do I have a last name?"
He fixed Devicia with a curious, inquisitive stare. "Your attitude changed. You seem more .. aggressive." Still, the knife dislodged itself from the ceiling and resumed its orbit around him.
-
Aggressive? Devicia didn't mean to be more aggressive...
"Perhaps. I'm just getting my job done. And I'm sorry, I don't know your last name. I take it that hovering knife means you're ready to continue? I'll avoid being stabbed in dangerous areas like that so don't worry too much about holding back... and it's fine if my legs and arms get hurt." Even though it would be hard to avoid injuries to her head with the speed of that knife, Devicia would have to do her best. After all, they didn't want him to be holding back.
-
"You really want me to kill you?" The knife stopped orbiting him and settled into his right hand, gripped loosely at the handle. Syl looked intently at his therapist.
"Is that what I'm supposed to do?"
-
"Kill me?" No. "I guess so. But there is two rules for this battle you should know: 1. You can only use your telekinesis to attack... and you can the knife; 2. I won't be attacking you so you don't have to worry about defense." This was definitely going to be one painful day. With a sigh, Devicia moved her knife to her upper chest, the easiest place to be able to defend her head, her heart, and now her stomach.
-
"This sort of feels half hearted."
Seeing as the rules (why did not he not question them again?) were to use a knife and the 'telekenesis', he threw his hand forward, the knife flying out of his grip much faster than normally possible. It went for her neck.
The chip awakened strange feelings in him. He could feel tendrils of force bursting from his fingers. They should not have been there. But the chip bored openings in each of his finger tips, from which exuded some invisible string, puppet string, that he could seemingly manipulate with thought.
He tried to use a thread to yank away her knife.
-
Devicia was ready this time. She quickly moved her knife higher and deflected the attack so it only hit her shoulder. Within seconds, the scrape was gone.
"Half hearted? You just flung that thing at me with the intent to kill. I won't die that easily, though. Don't worry. And we'll have a fuller fight another day. Today is just to see your abilities." And how your brain waves work when you attack. "Maybe you could make the blade spin this time? I've heard spinning blades fly faster." Not that he needed help with that one. Still, if she was going to get hurt either way, might as well actually do her job and help him learn to fight better.
-
"When does this test end?"
Syl obeyed her suggestion, putting the knife into an extremely fast spin before flinging it at her again. The knife flew towards her with a back spin, which would cause it to deflect unpredictably on deflection.
"How are you healing so fast?" It was a bit surreal to be having a conversation while casually exchanging (or just giving) death blows. Indeed it seemed a bit too weird to him; there he stood, one hand in pocket, the other one waving around a sharp metal implement at this girl who had recovered from a fatal stomach wound in a matter of minutes ...
-
Blocking his attack, Devicia was surprised to see the knife go in the opposite direction than she planned. The speed of which it was traveling actually caused it to go flying backwards instead of just slightly changing its direction.
"Whenever the scientists decide it should end. And," Devicia started with a smirk, "You aren't the only one with special abilities, my friend. I can regenerate. Why else would they stick me in here?" Actually, Devicia wouldn't be surprised if they used unnecessary people for target practice. But she kept quiet about that part.
-
"I don't know." The knife whizzed towards Syl, but he caught it during its path of flight. He swirled his hand around his head, mimicking a gravity-assisted sling shot, and flung the knife around him, behind his back and out the other side, returning the volley but aiming at her thigh.
"I'm not even sure where I am."
-
"Ah!" Devicia exclaimed as the knife stabbed her thigh. "I suppose I can tell you now. Have you ever heard of TRIM?" She had heard that TRIM was actually pretty well known. She had just never heard of it since she lived on the streets... why nobody had ever done anything about it, however, escaped Devicia's mind.
Devicia pulled the knife out of her thigh. Now her pants had a hole in them. Great. Holding the knife gently, she asked, "Can you pull this knife out of my hand? That is, with your telekinesis powers?"
-
"No .. " Syl wiggled the fingers on his right hand, projecting out the invisible tendrils of force. He wrapped them around the knife blade (and was somewhat surprised when he felt no pain), and jerked his hand backwards, attempting to rip it from her grip.
"I've been here for as long as I can remember. I do remember being in different rooms though .. Large ones, small ones, white ones, grey ones .."
-
So he is getting his memory back, thought Devicia. How much will he remember?
Devicia could feel the pull on the knife, but it wasn't strong enough to pull it out of her grasp. "Try harder. You don't want a fight to be over once the opponent gets a hold of your weapon. Anyway, how about this room? I mean, obviously it's white, but is it small? Big? Medium? How does it compare to the other rooms you've been in?"
-
The tendrils of force to the knife were weak. Syl found that if he concentrated, they grew .. thicker. His influence on the knife was more solid, and he jerked his hand back, harder, as an angler with a stubborn fish.
"It's much smaller."
He pursed his lips in thought.
"As if they wanted to confine me."
-
The knife was yanked out of Devicia's hand, almost taking her with it. "Well... you got that move down. And why would they want to confine you? Do you know?"
It could be because he had to use his abilities with Devicia, but he was in the room before she even came to TRIM. So that wouldn't make sense.
-
Syl shrugged, twirling both knives around him in complex patterns. He found that a minimum of two tendrils was needed to fully manipulate the blades, and so he could still swing them around with just one hand, his palm facing upwards, fingers wiggling as if he was swirling a pair of chinese qi balls.
"I probably did something bad." A touch of maliciousness in his grin. Was it from defiance of his captors?
-
Laughing Devicia said, "So bad they had to take away your memory? Makes sense to me. Why'd ya stop attacking?" Even though Devicia no longer had a knife, she should be able to avoid any fatal wounds. She had been in enough knife fights before to know how to do that much.
-
Syl gave her that intent look again.
"Because I will probably kill you."
He bit his lip. "Then wake up in another room. Can we stop yet?"
-
Looking back at Syl, Devicia replied, "I don't want to die. But the scientists don't care if I die. Not yet. So you'd probably stay in this room."
Since it didn't seem like Syl would start randomly attacking, Devicia started pacing around the room. What corner is the main video camera in again? though Devicia. Ah... right... the top left one.
Devicia walked over to the corner that was left of Syl and looked up. Then, moving her gaze back and forth between Syl and the corner, Devicia continued, "And we'll stop when they stop us. But I do believe we've done enough to prove you can control a knife telepathically—which was the goal of the day. So perhaps we could be done?' Devicia smiled towards the corner that (hopefully) contained the invisible camera. Not that the scientists would be wooed by her charm.
-
Syl visibly relaxed, and placed both of the knives neatly down on the tray. The room declined to suck them up though, somewhat indicating that the trial was not completely finished.
"So, let's talk about more interesting things!" He clapped his hands together. Apparently this was one of the longest periods of time in which he could still retain his memory, and he seemed eager to absorb as much as possible.
-
It was Devicia's job to get Syl to use his telekinesis powers and, currently, she was failing. She didn't want to force him to fight her, especially because that could end up with her death. But if she didn't do her job, that could end up with being fired and becoming the new patient at TRIM.
Having an idea, Devicia asked, "So... can you fly or anything? Like, lift yourself up with your telekinesis powers? And what interesting things do you want to talk about? I'm still technically your therapist so I see no harm in discussing things." That last sentence was her proof to the scientists that she thought it was okay if she did this. She hoped it was.
-
"I don't know. Tell me about you."
Syl stared at his hands, wiggling the tendrils of force that emerged from his fingertips. Apparently his own manifested telekinesis may not have been similar to others - although he did not have anything to compare it to.
"I can't really lift myself up, you know .. " His quirked eyebrow disappeared quickly as he apparently had some sort of breakthrough: he raised his hands and embedded the psionic lines into the wall, and he mimiced an one-handed pullup, raising himself into the air.
The room was apparently impervious to psionic manipulation, for the tendrils quickly lost their grip and he fell down, barely managing to maintain his balance. At first he stared around the room questioningly, but then with increasing suspicion.
-
Not quite sure what Syl was doing, Devicia simply decided to do what he had said.
"I'm fifteen. Lived on the streets my whole life. I was abandoned as a baby and was raised by other street folk until I was six. We were still friends afterwords, but weren't with each other twenty four seven. I've always known about my regenerative abilities, though I don't know how I got them. Guess it was in my blood. Um... my favorite color is red. I'm not a vampire. Anything else you want to know?" Devicia wasn't really used to talking about herself, but she figured she did a pretty good description of her life. She was mainly trying to waste time at this point. And get to know Syl.
-
"Pretty normal, I'd say."
None of this really sounded out of the ordinary for Syl. Then again, he did not spend much time anywhere. Most likely he had had interpersonal interactions in the past, but recalling them was a bit of a strenuous exercise. He pursed his lips.
"I'm thinking of attempting to escape." He fingered the small chip he had retched up the day before - cleaned and in his pocket.
-
Knowing that they were being watched, Devicia responded, "I would have to advise against that. Not only is it impossible," or near impossible, "It would also most likely end in your death."
Even though Devicia came to TRIM to help people, prison breaks weren't quite on the scale of possibility yet. If caught, Syl would most likely die and Devicia would be a new subject. Wasn't exactly what she wanted. No, she was planning on waiting until other scientists trusted her completely—that way she could help without being suspected, therefore not being fired, and be able to continue helping more people. So although she would love to help Syl, the only help she could give him now was to not attempt escaping. After all, he wouldn't be able to do it alone.
-
"Hmm."
Syl pursed his lips. "I think I can do it." The white room they were in shuddered, as if warning him. It seemed to shrink in dimension, and a pair of white appendages burst from the floor, grabbing his wrists and forcing him to sit in some sort of detention chair, ropes bursting from the white backing to wrap around him until he was bound in a strait jacket of sorts.
He grinned. "Guess not!"
Well, at least the testing would be concluded for the day. That was a pleasant side effect.
-
After Syl's incident the day before, Devicia had heard he got transfered to a new room. Apparently they put more troublesome people in different rooms. But since he didn't actually do anything, he only got moved down a floor lower where the walls and floors and ceiling were all harder. And the rooms were smaller. Great.
Somehow managing to get through the labyrinth called TRIM, Devicia finally found Syl's room. Scanning her hand, she walked inside.
-
The aftermath was swift and simple. The chair Syl sat on was mobile: it zoomed out of the room, still holding him, and carried him through a jumble of passages and corridors. After a while Syl lost track of whether they were going left or right, up or down; later upon attempting to recall what direction they had taken him in he swore that the chair had gone up and down at least ten times or so. His memory was once again made fuzzy by a tendril on the chair gently plucking out the chip from the port behind his right ear. Upon doing so, the static hit him harsher than usual, and his head went limp, eyes glassy. He was saved from whiplash by the chair cradling his head.
Later, he woke to a small room. He was completely stripped, and his stomach had a bland, scratchy after taste. When he was asleep, he digestive system had been completely pumped and flushed, ridding the two or three extra chips that he had swallowed prior to an earlier experience, when he was still aware of what was going gone and had made a last ditch attempt to pass on a message to his future self. He sat and thought and thought and thought until he finally came to this conclusion. There was no mistake, he needed to escape. But how?
The sound of a door opening, in his small white cell (thank the higher beings that they had the mercy to keep a window) startled him. He jumped from his place at the window sill and turned to face the entrant, still naked. Apparently the system had deemed it was safer - for the facilities - for him to be devoid of any opportunity to hide any more chips. At least he was fit, lithe, somewhat muscular.
-
Scrunching her face, Devicia immediately turned around. Talking to the first guard she saw, Devicia demanded, "Get him some clothes. Or at least pants. And if they complain... well, tell them I'm quitting." Even though Devicia knew she technically would become a subject if she quit, she had also gained confidence now that the scientists knew they needed her.
Within seconds, the guard returned with pants. And a top. Sadly, they were both white. All this white was going to make Devicia go crazy. After the guard handed her the clothes, she walked back into the room and watched as the wall closed behind her. Then she turned towards Syl.
Tossing the clothes to Syl (and avoiding looking at him), Devicia said, "Put them on. And first question of the day: what's your name?" She figured they took away his memory once, probably because he did something bad, so there was a possibility that they took them away again.
-
He quirked an eyebrow as he saw Devicia request something from a guard. That was the second person that he ever saw in his life - to him, people were just voices and pictures from the wall. Syl ran on the spot, clearly agitated. He wanted to get a look at the guard's face, to attempt to burn the image in his memory forever. He was easily distracted though by her opening question.
"Syl!" He quipped brightly. The clothes fell in a heap to the floor. It seemed that he did not have the good social sense to be embarrassed, for he placed his hands on his hips and stood there, grinning at the entrance of a somewhat familiar face.
"I remember you. Devicia, right? Right??" Knowledge of her name seemed to please him greatly, and he repeated her name a few times, confirming to himself that yes, indeed, he could remember things.
-
"Yes, I am Devicia. But if you want to talk more, you have to put those on. Or else I'm leaving." Devicia felt like she had to treat Syl like a toddler... a toddler that could probably kill her if he had a weapon. But at least that toddler hadn't had his memories erased again.
Since she got to choose what happened in this session, Devicia decided they could at least start the morning with talking. Looking into the center of the room, she was unhappy to find that they hadn't put a second chair into the room.
"Can we have a second chair, please?" asked Devicia to whoever was listening.
-
Apparently there were listeners in the room, for a second chair formed out of the white, featureless floor. It was hard to tell if it had even materialized in the first place, as the shadowless lighting in the room gave no clue to its presence except for a faint grey outline at the base of the stool. The room itself, unfortunately, was small enough that the addition of another stool already somewhat cramped things.
Syl obediently dressed himself, and plopped down on the chair that had risen for him. He kicked his legs back and forth and looked at her with a measure of expectation.
-
Smiling, Devicia sat down on the new chair... though she almost missed it due to its camouflage.
"So, Syl, how much do you remember about yesterday?" Devicia figured she should double check that he had all of his memories. Not like she could do much if he didn't. But it still gave them something to talk about.
-
"Wanting to escape."
Syl's jovial expression damped down and he gazed seriously at her.
"There's nothing for me here. And I don't want to die."