Gharnem had gotten used to her new occupation. Most aspects of it at least. What she hadn't quite acclimated to on floor 0 were the screams. The experiments that Gharnem had witnessed were, more often than not, harmless. Percentage-wise, it was rare for any experiment to harm the subject physically. However, the sheer quantity of Experimentation being done on floor zero ensured that no second would go without the extreme noise of prisoners begging for death.
No one was able to stay quiet when the torturous experimentation began.
Except for one.
As the bodies of these subjects were cut open without the prisoners being under any sort of anesthetic, they would scream. Screams so loud that, even through soundproof walls, tears would form in the eyes of the guards on floor one. At the same time, these painful experiments were one of every 5 conducted; when they did occur, even the most exceedingly evil men, considered scum of the earth, cried as if they were innocent.
Except for one.
Pain is felt by most; all feel pain.
Except for one.
Gharnem had witnessed this one being dragged into the empty black box in a straitjacket; her mouth was covered, which Gharnem now sees as an attempt to limit this girl's miracle.
After the miracle-specific prison was complete, Gharnem had very little to do with the little invisible miracle-born; instead, her job had been narrowed down to using her own miracle to isolate the weaknesses in both the other prisoners' miracles and their psychies.
Gharnem had spent a lot of time wondering how the invisible girl's miracle worked; however, given the secretive nature of floor zero, Gharnem was only given clearance to know about the experiments she herself had participated in. It was because of this that she had learned that Dordio had a spatial-manipulation miracle limited only by his own interpretation of the word "alleyway."
Gharnem had become deeply interested in another imprisoned miracle, Kaznah; what had piqued her interest was the description of Kaznah's miracle; it took just one or two sentences to give a surface-level description of any given miracle (their files going into far more detail later); however, the surface-level description of Kaznah's was far longer and more in depth then the others'. Reading:
"Prisoner with the miracle Unfinished business. This miracle lets him make deals with spirits: once he resolves the Spirit's unfinished business, he can use a random ability tied to that business, which he can use a limited number of times. That number is based on the number of years that the spirit had been waiting to pass on (one year usually equating to around 2-3 uses)."
Gharnem's own bio simply reads "Guard/Researcher with the miracle allowing her to find weak points and secrets in both buildings and people."
Gharnem had not yet understood why Kaznah's bio included such a detailed analysis. She had also stopped letting such details bother her, especially now that she is sitting in the warden Kulibren's second office, situated on floor 0.
"Gharnem!" Kulibren exclaims as if he were seeing a childhood friend again after years of separation
"Yes, sir," Gharnem responds, believing the informal exclamation to be Kulibren testing her respect.
"You have a very fun job today." Kulibren declares.
"Define Fun," Gharnem responds, trying to keep her demeanour professional and formal.
"Don't act like you're still mysterious," Kulibren jokes, before continuing to recite the orders he is to give Gharnem.
"I know you are curious about the invisible girl in blackbox 7,"
"Oh?" Gharnem asks, internally reminding herself about the theories that had spouted in her head.
Kulibren slides a file to Gharnem.
"What's this? I'm not supposed to be given complete files." Gharnem whispers.
"Of course, of course; however, this invisible girl has been giving us quite the trouble. In fact, there's a reason I'm only able to call her Invisible Girl," Kulibren says, gesturing to the file that Gharnem now notices is empty besides a visual description and context of arrest.
"Explain," Gharnem says, genuinely confused about what is being implied.
Kulibren begins to give Gharnem context, "You see, this girl, whatever her name may be, has yet to say a single word to any investigator, yet she's been here for a week. She doesn't even make a noise when it comes to our advanced interrogation techniques"
"Go on," Gharnem says
"We assumed her miracle's limit took away her ability to make any noise with her vocal cords; however, all the arresting officers who witnessed her attempted murder have stated that she was in fact talking to her victim before she got taken into custody, meaning she is actively staying silent," Kulibren states.
"So what exactly do I have to do with this?" Gharnem asks,
"Please let me fill you in on the context before I get to the point," Kulibren remarks, his voice rising just above his usual speaking volume.
He calms down and continues to provide context: "While a few researchers were trying to figure out a way to return her to visibility, they noticed blood was dripping onto the floor of the black box. The researchers called me in, so we watched as a transparent fingertip covered in blood started writing out a message for us"
"She went to such an extent just to stay quiet?" Gharnem asks,
"Exactly, and do you know what the message wrote?" Kulibren asks rhetorically
Gharnem notices her face betraying her curiosity about the subject matter. Seeing this, Kulibren continues the story, sparing no detail, "Although she mostly ran out of blood by the end of the message, we were able to decipher the message: I talk to." Kulibren pauses, waiting for Gharnem to grasp the message's implications, but continues talking after noticing Gharnem's confusion.
"While obviously this sentence makes no sense by itself, we gave her a tablet to type out her request; this time she was able to write the intended message out completely."
"And what was it?" Gharnem asks, sounding unintentionally impatient.
"I will only talk to a female scientist, no one else and no men."
Gharnem looks down at the picture of the floating tablet with that exact message written on it.
"So you want me to talk to her?" Gharnem asks
"More than that," Kulibren answers
"What do you mean more than that?"
Kulibren can't help but display his happiness, as a smile forms on his stubly face,
"You are the highest-ranking female researcher not currently on a project, meaning you, Gharnem Salkien, are in charge of all research related to blackbox 7."
"You must be joking," Gharnem says
"The stupidity of this promotion can't be lost on you, can it? I am only a researcher because that's the only way I'm allowed to interact with the prisoners; I can't lead an investigation."
Kulibren laughs to himself for a moment before responding to Gharnem,
"No No No, you're confused; you won't be leading the research; you will be the ONLY researcher on the case."
Gharnem's expression changes; the only reason she is down in floor zero is that she was curious; now she has to investigate the most mysterious miracle-born because of her gender.
"We both know I can't say no. You have the ability to imprison me for anything without a jury; I've heard the rumours about how you abuse your power." Gharnem remarks.
"Aw, come on, Gharnem, you know me better than that. Sure, in theory I could have anyone I want arrested for anything I want, but why would I use such a power on someone like you?" Kulibren's tone is not lost on Gharnem; she knows Kulibren gets what he wants no matter what.
"So?" Kulibren asks
"I'll do it, I'll take the lead."