Time passed, days, weeks, months — Vira had no recollection of how long he had been here.
Enduring the soul-shattering torture.
The machine seemed to siphon something inside Vira; he had no idea what it was, but he just knew it was taking something that belonged to him.
"How's our subject doing, Crane?"
The same man from before walked into the room, a smug look apparent on his face.
"Mr. Calahand...!"
The scientist tried to force a shaky smile as Calahand entered the room; he had nothing but bad news to give.
"Um... the subject is stable, but there seems to be some interference going on recently with the siphoning."
Calahand's face remained blank as he just stared at the scientist waiting for him to continue.
"And... we might have to continue our process normally in the next few days."
Calahand closed his eyes and grimly smiled at the scientist.
"I see... How unfortunate."
The scientist could feel himself sigh in relief; most workers were afraid to answer to
Calahand, he was known to be violent, but somehow was always nice and in a positive mood about it.
It seemed he would survive this encounter.
BANG!
The scientist's body dispersed into dust and ash as Calahand lowered his hand.
"Find me a scientist who knows what they're doing."
No one dared move as the room remained silent.
"Did you hear what I fucking said?! MOVE!"
The room moved like a seething mass of roaches; some scientists were typing away trying to find a solution, and some were going off into seclusion to get away from the current situation.
"Fucking imbeciles... Can someone properly explain to me what is going on?"
"I can... Sir!"
Calahand's eyes fell on the large man approaching him.
"Um... Basically, we are using the subject as our sole source of weapons, which has proved to be very... Consequential."
Calahand raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms.
"Explain."
The scientist twiddled his fingers and looked back at his peers.
"In the beginning, we had substantial and amazing progress with the subject, unlike anything we had ever seen!"
The scientist went to grab a tablet and showed it to Calahand.
"As shown here... There's been a significant drop in Nyxar Energy, and the presence that we felt before from The Concept seems to be weakened to a very pitiful state. If we continue with the process, we'll be getting less and less, while investing more and more."
Calahand's fingers rubbed his temple in frustration; he absolutely despised it when things didn't go as planned, and that seemed like that's all that was happening whenever something involved Vira.
"What do you suggest we do, Winston?"
Winston's eyes widened; his opinions were never heard, let alone truly mattered. He was always a background character compared to everyone else, and this was his chance to prove his brilliance!
"I think we should find another way to make him valuable to the organization, sir. If his worth is diminishing due to his lack of Nyxar production, then let's make him an asset to bring in other sources!"
Calahand raised one of his eyebrows and scratched his chin, thinking about this plan.
"It'd take some convincing, but the higher-ups could be persuaded to agree to this plan, but we'd have to train him, which would cost. How would you say we go about that?"
Winston smirked and replied:
"Simple, we don't. Why waste money on a conditional or false dream? Dump him back to where he came from and let him survive against the Nullborns. If he survives, our drones will pick up the bodies, and he'll get nothing."
Winston set his tablet down and walked towards the window leading into the room, with a strung-up Vira.
"We'll make him our cow, and he'll make us the most powerful organization! Rivaling the higher-ups!"
Calahand flinched at the thought of having equal power to the people above him. Down here, he was the top of the food chain; he could intimidate whom he wanted and threaten whom he wanted.
But up in the higher Orbits, he was nothing; anyone and everyone could walk over him, and he hated that fact.
"I'll let you know how we will proceed with the subject in 3 shadow-falls. Until then, keep an eye on it until I return."
Winston nodded and returned to his workplace as Calahand left.
Down with said "Subject", Vira was coming out of another dream—this time, the recent event involving his mother.
'Why… Why am I still here?'
Looking around, the room was still as he remembered all the times he awoke from his nightmares.
And so was the feeling that haunted him.
Looking down, Vira saw that he was still attached to the device, siphoning something from his abdomen; he had grown used to the absurdity of pain coursing through his body and soul.
The energy that resembled dark ink coming from him seemed to lessen from the last time he had gained consciousness; whether that was for the better or worse, he had no idea.
'Maybe I'm dying… are they planning on killing me after taking whatever's left of this I have?'
Vira looked up above him, squinting to clear his vision and peek behind the glass where his torturers resided, but to no avail.
'I have to get out of here... Where would I even go? Without Mom...'
His thoughts trailed off as flashes of that night played through his mind, only to be interrupted shortly after by a voice echoing through the room.
"Subject 92834, your time with us is nearing its end."
Vira's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach as he heard those words.