She shifted slightly, her hand grazing cold stone as her consciousness gradually returned to her bit by bit.
Well, this was one way to get in although she hadn't planned to actually be knocked out herself. Why did she have to get distracted Next time, she won't make that same mistake again. If it had been another situation, who knows what would've happened to her.
The events that previously happened came attacking her all at once. Then, the biggest shock value hit her.
"I'm still alive.."
Her head throbbed.
"I really thought I was dead for sure."
She managed to pull herself upright to lean against the concrete walls but each movement ached, and each breath she took sent small electrical stings throughout her waist and chest.
Oh this was great, just what she needed.
Hurriedly, she checked herself over to make sure her limbs were still intact. Arms. Legs. Still there. And there were no broken bones.
The room was small, dimly lit, and had a depressing little bed with a metal frame in the corner. It was your typical prison cell. There wasn't much to see. They weren't very decent people though. They left her to sleep on the floor like some homeless person, and now, her limbs felt stiff from the lack of movement while she was out cold.
She heaved herself onto the bed and laid on her stomach, stuffing her face into the pillow. Memories of the earlier fight with Effen replayed in her head.
Wait. Could it have even be called a fight? It was rather one-sided.
Anyway, that didn't matter. She was in now, so she was one step closer to getting an audience with Xen. However, the main problem is that she's a prisoner and not a welcomed guest.
It should still be possible to talk to Xen though since for whatever reason, he'd always been welcoming towards her, no matter what she did to his people.
In a previous Reset, she killed all the guards stationed at the gates, yet he was still willing to talk to her and collaborate. She also threatened and blackmailed him on multiple occasions; he was still nice to her afterwards.
She didn't really understand why, and frankly, she didn't care. It worked in her favour.
She was just starting to relax when the sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor and stopped outside of her cell. She lifted her head from the pillow to have a look at who it was. Of course, it was none other than the teen executive, Effen.
"Get up."
He spoke as he inserted the rattling keys into the lock of her cell door.
"Huh?"
"We're going to the police station."
The metal door opened with a creak.
"Me?"
"Yes, you. Come on."
She groaned quietly. Every muscle in her body protested against this. She was tired and wanted to stay in bed and sleep all day. Reluctantly, she did roll out of bed.
"Hold out your hands."
He demanded.
She did as she was told. The metal cuffs clicked into place. She watched as the coldness bit at her skin, sharp and unpleasant, and followed Effen out of the cell in silence.
Dried blood stained the walls of other neighbouring cells, dark and permanent. She was used to sights like this, worse even. There were a few other prisoners locked up in these cells who were clearly in rough shape. Their bodies were slumped and bruised.
As they walked further down, a few bones could be seen, littered on the floor where flies buzzed in the stale air. It wasn't anything too interesting though. Just reminders of what happened to people who crossed the Jyuvets.
Honestly, she couldn't criticize the state of the place when she knew she'd also done way worse.
One thing really bugged her though.
Her leg. It ached so bad. Every step she took shot pain up through that leg, her right leg. Maybe it'd be better to just chop it off?
"My leg aches."
She complained, mostly to no one. Probably the birds if they cared - for context, there were no birds down here.
Effen didn't care to slow down when he heard her. She took a few more sluggish steps before coming to a conclusion. That blow to her side shouldn't have affected her this much. She'd taken worse and walked it off within minutes.
"Did I really get out of shape that much?"
The thought irritated her more than the pain.
"Maybe it's the lack of exercise..."
She continued to mutter to herself, then stole a sneaky glance at Effen's back. He didn't react. She just sighed dramatically, then added, half-seriously, half-jokingly.
"I really need a treadmill."
They turned the corner and pushed through a set of doors. The sunlight flooded her vision which blinded her for a moment. A teleportation Eye sounded really good right now - too bad it didn't exist.
Only nine individuals in the world possessed an Eye, herself included, but despite her effort in searching for them, there were always a couple Eye users missing. She was certain they existed... just out of reach.
Her eyes landed onto the buildings lining the street.
"Grey and old. Like Effen."
Instant regret. Her hand immediately slapped her mouth. That.. she didn't mean to say out loud.
Effen had stopped mid-step, causing her to almost collide into his back. He turned around to look at her.
"Uhhh, I meant to say the buildings."
She only smiled innocently. He still didn't say anything, just gave her a judging look, then continued to walk forwards, crossing the road. It was surprisingly sunny outside today, considering it was still in the winter months.
Abruptly, Effen halted once more. This time, she wasn't able to stop in time and face-planted into his back.
"Aye, you really need to stop doing-"
"How did you know my name?"
He cut her off.
Oh right. She didn't think about that. What other excuse could she use right now? She'd heard it before. No, that won't do.
"Uhm.."
She scrambled for an excuse.
"You're well-known for being a teen executive, so like..."
She trailed off with a guilty look, hoping that would suffice. Effen raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. Again, he didn't give a direct response and let it slide.
Soon, they reached the police station and because it was only about a 10 minute walk, it didn't take too long. Upon entering, Effen was greeted by the officers who nodded curtly to him to acknowledge his presence.
"I've got the girl."
He announced.
"If she does anything weird, report back to me."
Quickly after saying that, he left the police station to attend his other business.
An officer came up to her and took her further in, through winding corridors, taking sharp left and right turns until they reached a metal door with a silver plaque that wrote 'Interrogation Room'.
"Take a seat. You'll stay here for the time being. Someone will come in shortly."
The officer shut the door behind him and left her alone in the room.
She lowered herself onto the wooden chair in the centre of the room in front of the metal table.
It was a small room, with black walls and no windows, and a singular light bulb above her head. There were two empty chairs opposite her.
Her eyes swept across the table, noticing the faint scratch marks on the surface that the light reflected on. Above the door, a modern wall clock ticked monotonously.
She squinted her eyes at the door. Waiting wasn't a strong skill she had. She sprawled herself across the table, laying her head down, the cuffs clinking against the edge of her chair.
The door clicked.
A man in a suit came through the door and the light from outside basically poured in, until he sealed the door shut again. The more she thought about it, the colder the room felt.
"Is there no heating in this room?"
Her eyes followed him as he sat down in the empty seat in front of her.
"Perhaps you guys are short on budget. You are an illegal organization."
She pointed out as an attempt to provoke him. The man across from her set down a leather folder filled with paper. Interested, she sat up straighter to take a better look and leaned across the table.
"What do you have there?"
He ignored her question. She opened her mouth, prepared to ask another useless question when she saw a small rectangular photograph of her on one of the papers.
"Hey, that's me."
She smiled excitedly.
"Yes, it is you."
He finally replied.
"Do you know why you're here?"
"Because I'm awesome."
"No, I need an actual answer."
His tone was calm.
"I knocked out the guards stationed at the gates. So what? I didn't kill them."
The pen stopped for half a second, then continued writing.
"Your name?"
"Why does it matter?"
She questioned, knowing full well why it does matter but still choosing to waste their time since they were also wasting hers. She wasn't going to comply, and he also knew that.
"I'll need an answer."
"Not to boast,"
She definitely was boasting.
"But I am pretty well-known myself. Why don't you go ahead and dig up some written information on me from your worldwide database and then come back to me when you're done? Meanwhile, I'll be taking care of more important business."
"Name."
He repeated with a harsher voice. She leaned back on her chair.
"You're not getting it."
For some reason, the silence spoke louder than the words being exchanged. However, this wasn't the kind of awkward silence - it was a controlled silence, the kind meant to make people fill it. But she didn't. Instead, she stared at the ceiling light like it might fall ontop of her.
She could sit here in silence for the whole day, she really didn't mind. She'd done 48 hours before, the full duration to which she was detained for interrogation. She never really understood the point of it, because they never got anything useful out of her.
Another moment of silence passed before another question was asked.
"Your name."
It was less of a question, more of a demand.
"You already asked me that."
"And did you answer?"
She ignored him, letting her eyes wander back over to the ticking clock above the door that seemingly got louder by the second.
"Did you hear me?"
"Yeah I did."
She stared at the scratches on the table with fake interest. He tapped the pen lightly against the table.
"Answer the question."
"Or what?"
She raised an eyebrow, as if to challenge him. There was a short, heavy pause. He reached down, to which the crackle of a radio came alive.
"Room 5, the girl is being non-compliant. Requesting assistance."
A static voice came back to him a short moment later.
[Understood.]
Her eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. So that was how they were going to do things. Perhaps now they'd get somewhere?
"You know,"
She began casually.
"You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be."
And she never got a reply.
A faint shuffle outside the door diverted their attention towards it, and they both watched as the handle was slowly pushed down. She straightened in her chair, adjusting her posture. The door swung open with a sharp creak.
This time, a taller man in a suit stepped in, his shadow stretched in front of him on the floor. The light flickered a couple times.
"Oh good. He upgraded you."
No reaction.
She could tell this guy was different in many ways from the way he carried himself over to the second seat in front of her. He glanced at the file, then at her, and spoke calmly.
"You're going to answer the questions."
She leaned forward slightly. For the first time, her smile wasn't playful. It was tight-lipped.
"No, I'm not."
A beat passed, then, the assistant moved his hand slightly. Something in the room changed before she even understood what it was, before a force hit her sideways on the cheek. Her chair scraped hard against the floor, as she hit the ground, momentarily stunning her. However, the smile on her face never faltered.
"Oh.."
She murmured softly as the stinging pain bloomed across her cheek, sharp and hot. Her tongue pressed against the inside of her mouth. There was blood. Just a little. Her eyes slowly lifted to see the man was already looking down at her.
"We can escalate this further."
She wondered how he could sound so calm despite having just used violence against a defenseless teenage girl.
"Now, answer the question."
Slowly, she pushed herself upright, making the chair legs scraped loudly against the floor once more. The clock above the door was louder than it had any right to be.
"You know what's funny?"
She lifted her head, her voice quieter than earlier now. Neither man answered, and nor did she continue with what she had to say. Because it wasn't words that she wanted to show them.
Before either of them could speak again, she moved. She reached beneath the table and pulled out a gun, aiming it directly at the first interrogator's head. The interrogator froze while the assistant shifted instantly.
"Let's end this now, I'm bored."