Kalon

Chapter One-Hundred-Eight: Bek

Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant

Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation

Solar System: D-447

Planet: Ora

Location: Research Facility

Pain greets me as my eyes open, I feel hands upon my body, rough and uncaring hands, holding me down as I thrash.

"Give him another dose," a voice says.

"It might kill him."

"Not much of a choice," the first voice says, a tone of annoyance follows with "Whose bright idea was it to mix all these drugs?"

My chest tightens and my heart thumps faster as I hear Mallock's voice.

"Found him like this," he says with a chuckle, "Promise."

"Your father will not be pleased if he dies. We don't even know the mechanism behind it yet. It might not function if he is dead."

Mallock sighs, I feel his hand gripping my arm tighter as he leans in, my eyes try to open but I am blindfolded.

"If you die, I will find everything you hold dear and make it my personal mission in life to cause it pain," he says, and now louder he says to them, "Do whatever you have to do. If he dies, so do you."

All of the hands that grip me become more tense.

"Get me a drip going stat," one of the voices says.

"Medigel infusions, here and here," another says, I feel their finger touching different spots of my body. The jab of a Medigel injector follows. Warmth spills into my veins.

"Intubating," another voice says, I feel some kind of tube trying to go in my mouth, I bite at it, and the hand that tries, taking with me their finger. Their blood sprays against my face as they howl. I spit it out and try to bite at anything I can feel like a rabid beast.

"Good doggie!" Mallock yells.

Disgust washes over me, causing me to take pause. No, ignore him. Bek… survive. I feel the jab of another injector. This one is cold as it mixes. Dulling my senses, making everything far away.

"You'll kill him!" one yells.

"Do you have another idea?" another asks, I snap my jaws in their direction.

My blindfold manages to slip off and I take in the room. Stark white with hundreds of instruments and machines lining the walls. Holos of my skeleton, and muscles deconstructed and zoomed in are all over the room. There are at least ten people, my head turns, twelve. Including Mallock. What are they doing to me?

Another jab comes into my arm, my eyes buckle under the heaviness they feel, fighting with everything I have, I manage to keep them open. A surge of energy flows into me as I push my will.

"Stop injecting him!" one screams at another.

Letting out a roar, I thrash and try to loosen the bindings, pulling my thumb out of the joint as I pull desperately at it. My vision is fading fast, I try to use my freed hand to grab one of their tools, but it slips without my thumb, so I poke at their eyes, pushing past the jelly of it. Screams and blood follow, but I do not relent. Grasping at an ear, pulling it between my fingers, I tear it from the body. My hand strikes one of them in the chest, their eyes widen as their chest caves in, and blood spurts from their mouth.

Another jab. Then another. My hand curls as my back flexes, whatever they have given me sucks the wind from me. My ears ring and my heart slows... darkness.

***

My eyes stir slowly, feeling like they are glued from being shut for a long time. How long have I been asleep I wonder? My muscles feel weak as I try to sit up. My hands are bound firmly, material wrapping up my limbs to hold me. My eyes are not bound this time though, so I look around. There are three people wearing white suits and clear face masks. The room is cold. They collect vials of blood out of a bag attached to my arm.

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"Results of test number thirty-two, subject's blood and bodily tissue still demonstrates an abnormal response in the presence of Netherium. There is some kind of diffusion that happens even a week after being taken, though it seems less pronounced. Further study is needed. Results appear promising," a woman says into her wrist device. She holds up a vial of my blood.

"What do you think it means?" a man asks her.

"I don't know," the woman says, swirling the vial, "The diminishing effects are concerning for the longevity of the project. The current regimen of drugs will likely kill the subject."

"Without them though," the same man says, raising an eyebrow, "Perhaps we can reduce muscle density with a modified diet and some reduction in tendon attachment points."

She looks at him, "That's actually not a bad idea, perhaps we can artificially hibernate some of his organ functions as well. That might buy us enough time to study further, or ideally, indefinitely."

"I'll get to work on projections for it," he says, giving her a nod, "Though it will still need to be done regularly, he did regrow his toes after all."

I wiggle my toes, and sure enough, they are there, as though Mallock never cut them off. My head is so dazed. The drugs are strong. I try to struggle, but I can barely move.

"Indeed, add that to the list of tests as well. Further down the road obviously. We can't accidentally kill the subject after all. His ability to regrow appendages is similar to what we have seen in Krothaspawn."

"Do you think the slower response in comparison is perhaps because we've restricted Netheric Mana in the area?" he asks, setting down a vial in a small container.

"I do, though let's not get ahead of ourselves. There are thousands more tests we need to run first," she says.

The door opens to the room, and a rushing of air resounds in the chamber.

"Disinfection complete," a voice says over some kind of sound system, just like Fennec's estate did.

"Ma'am, we've received another batch of test subjects for…" his voice trails off as he looks at me, "Ma'am, is he meant to be awake?"

The woman spins around looking at me, her eyes growing wide. She presses a button on her holopad and the machine to my left whirs.

"He appears to have an increasingly high resistance to sedatives as well," she says into the holopad, "We will need to change the formula again."

Darkness grips me.

***

My eyes are heavy, my body feels weaker than before. How long was I asleep this time?

"Test number four-hundred and forty-seven yielded unexpected results. The accidental contamination of subject zero's blood with Etherium noted a similar effect to Netherium. We still have yet to identify the mechanism. But the preliminary results are… breathtaking. Requesting additional staff and funding, sir."

"Blank cheque, Doctor Hemilla. Do not fail me. Or else you will become the next test subject," a voice says, I recognize it, the man that Mallock called father.

"Understood," she says, there is a beep, and she lets out a sigh. She turns to a man next to her now, "What's the update on the special project from our other benefactor?"

"The freshly made Krothaspawn taking the subject's blood in extremely low doses appear to exhibit signs of regression. However, it's still too early to tell. Ninety-nine percent of them so far have died. His blood is… potent."

"Perhaps we should implant tissue samples next to see," she begins, pausing for a moment, I hear her footsteps coming closer to me "His brain waves… he's awake again."

Sekat. My hands try to move, but I am so weak, I can barely fight, whatever is flushing into my veins is strong.

"Sweet dreams," she says.

***

"You're lucky you know," I hear Mallock saying, his voice is not as far as it feels.

My head is fuzzy. My bones ache, I feel stretched thin, and I can feel my muscles are weakened. How long have they kept me here? My throat is sore as a machine pushes air into my lungs.

"You're not going to ask why?" Mallock asks, he is toying with me, he knows I cannot speak, "So rude, here I thought we were becoming friends after all these months."

Months… despair squeezes at my chest. I have been here for months? What of Luna? Does Arrum live? Did the brothers… Fennec and the twins. What fate has found them?

"Well, I'll tell you anyway," Mallock says, leaning closer, "It's our little secret though. We're not really supposed to talk with low caste Kuwathi about it."

I don't care what his twisted game is, or whatever filth his mouth wishes to speak. I must escape before the next dose of sedatives.

"It's ironic really," Mallock says, I hear him leaning back now, "If your people hadn't sold you. Well, you'd be slagged pretty soon."

My thoughts focus on his words now, what does he mean?

"Poor saps got selected for the Grand Hunt," Mallock says, leaning forward again "I know you probably don't have any idea what I'm saying, it's forbidden for the low caste Kuwathi like yourself to know of such things."

The Grand Hunt, the thing that Kotina and Luna never spoke of. When I had asked Fennec, he told me it was better not to know.

"See, usually it's only one underproducing city each cycle, but…" he holds the word, extenuating it, "We have a new Interim Governor, trying to make his mark and prove himself to his father."

New Governor? When? Why? What have I missed? My stomach is turning. Everything feels wrong.

"I can relate, hard to impress, fathers," Mallock sighs, leaning in again, his venomous tongue close to my ear, "He's going to have the largest Grand Hunt in more than three hundred years."

Mallock claps his hands, standing from his chair.

"It's going to be glorious, everyone and I mean everyone is talking about it. Exciting times," Mallock says, almost giddy "Your city is on the list. Won't be more than a few months until it all kicks off."

My city is on the list, Arrum, Isola, even Yuri and Korra. My chest tightens worrying about them, especially Arrum. He said underproducing cities, is this like… Riza's journal? My hand tries to clench… my hand does not close, the tendons. I think they are severed. My breath catches, becoming faster.

"Oh, that got your attention," Mallock says, tapping his foot, "Well, the first Sentry drone footage should start by the end of the month, I'll put it up so you can watch. The orchestrated chaos and unraveling of order is by far one of the best highlights."

His smile, it sickens me. He said Sentry drones… it is like her journal. I have seen first-hand what becomes of a city when this happens. I can't fall asleep, I need to warn them. I need to warn Arrum.

"It's always a little different, but your chiefs or whatever you call them. Watching them flayed by their own people in the streets. That celebration before the true fall. Oh, frag me it's just beautiful."

What is he talking about? Thinking back, Riza did say that the Inner City had been breached. Luna and I saw as much when we were in the abandoned city.

"Your people are so thick, they never even realize they're being manipulated, for the sake of entertainment no less," Mallock says, leaning over me and peering into my eyes, "Yes, feel the despair, drink it in."

He moves his hand to his holopad, I hear servos whirring next to me, the cold embrace of sleep forcing itself upon me, no matter how much I fight.

"Until next time doggie."

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