Chapter 37 - Manufacturing process

The apparent enthusiasm in his voice only makes my blood boil stronger. I do not know the details of the manufacturing process, but it is evident, simply from the contents of this place, that it is a dreadful thing. In fact, those he has gathered must somehow be involved in making the tuning pill. The more I learn about this place, the more my rage grows, threatening to consume me. As I recall the information I previously gathered concerning the three rooms, I grit my teeth and clench my fists until droplets of blood escape the palms of my hands. My fiery gaze shoots straight towards Soulweaver. If looks could kill, he would have died multiple times by now. Unfortunately, most looks can't. Soulweaver remains unphased by my anger. He turns around and begins his explanation.

"Surely by now you know what is hidden within the three rooms!? Well, even if you do not, it's no matter! The only one that requires our attention currently is the right-most room!! The two others are just here for convenience!! Follow me!"

As he steps towards the room I had initially infiltrated, I follow closely behind. The workers populating the facility make way for their master without even needing to be told. Though it would be more accurate to say that Soulweaver is the one who moves them out of his way. When he finally arrives in front of the doors, they are pulled wide open by one of the workers and the horrific scene encapsulated by these walls is revealed to me once more. Just the sight of it is enough to weaken my state of mind even further. I believed I would be able to bear it, having been exposed to it before, but I was wrong. This place should not exist. I avert my gaze, attempting to spare me the mental and emotional torment.

Unlike me, Soulweaver examines the area with a careful eye. He makes sure to visually analyze every corner of this room. When his inspection ends, he nods and a satisfied smile grows on his face.

"It looks like you've all been taking good care of this place!! Congratulations! What?! A reward!? No way!! Oh? Yes... I could do that... But not now!! We have a very important guest everyone! Welcome Alden, the new member of our big family!"

Upon the end of his sentence, life in the facility comes to a halt. If a worker was carrying an item, they drop it, uncaring for the potential damage they might have caused it. If they were heading to another region of the facility, they stop in their tracks, delaying the completion of their task. At Soulweaver's signal, the mass of workers surrounding us, even those I do not see, begin their applause. The sound of clapping resonates throughout the entire facility. Immediately, they all applaud with perfect synchronization transforming the noise into that of a metronome-like rhythm rather than that of typical applause. This uncanny act leaves me perturbed.

When Soulweaver commands it, the applause comes to an end. The brief interruption is over, and every worker returns to their duties. One of them brings a captive to Soulweaver and lays him on the ground before him. Caressing his chest, Soulweaver looks into my eyes and continues his explanation.

"This is the main ingredient for the pill! I inject them with a cell degeneration toxin to hasten their death without me having to lift a finger, although today will be different since I am personally here!"

At his words, my attention slips momentarily. It seems as though Soulweaver possesses something akin to a 'main' consciousness. This would explain why only the little boy before me is so expressive while all the others resemble walking corpses. In turn, this means that while he does have absolute control over all these people, every single one of them is not necessarily 'Soulweaver'. Could this be a limitation of his ability? I make a mental note of this fact. Without allowing me to ponder longer on this revelation, a muffled scream brings me back to reality. Soulweaver speaks in a soft, but equally crazed voice.

"Shh little one... it's all over... you'll make a fine-tuning pill!!"

The body Soulweaver currently makes use of makes all of his actions much more unsettling. What I see before me is a little boy who has plunged his hand into the torso of a large man whose only response is a slow, monotone yelp. An instinctual reaction in the face of death that was able to bypass the heavy drugs he had been given in this damned establishment. With his hand still buried in that man's chest, Soulweaver pursues his exposition.

"So, you see, when these guys die, I'm allowed to take 'something' from them! Want to guess what that is, Alden?"

"... It's their soul, isn't it? You're taking it for yourself..."

"Ding ding ding! Exactly! I knew you were one of the smart ones!!"

This bit of information does not surprise me as much as it should. This is new, sure, but I had already suspected something like this when witnessing Soulweaver's abilities. The way in which he manipulated several bodies at once was a clue, but the moment I was almost certain was when he established that connection between us. I felt that the link was made deeply. So deeply that I can say with confidence that his ability connected the very essence of our beings. Thus, I was able to speculate that his [melody] had something to do with manipulating souls. He notices my lack of awe.

"Oh? You're not impressed?? How unfortunate, this was meant to be the big reveal!! I had hoped you would get angry again or something of the sort... Oh well, let me show you what happens once I've extracted the soul, perhaps you'll be more taken aback then!"

The 'something' that I now know to be that poor person's soul is taken out of his body as Soulweaver retrieves his hand from his chest. With it, emerges the the pill's principal element. It floats in the air above his palm. It's appearance is strange. It is the size of a fist, spherical in shape and radiates with a blue hue. I squint, trying to gather more information about Soulweaver's peculiar ability.

'Wait, am I able to see this because he's willingly showing it to me or because...'

Soulweaver joyously shouts.

"Haha!!! You can see it! I've only tried this once before so I wasn't sure what would happen, but we are the same now! Your eyes have been opened to the world of the soul! Tell me, what do you see above my palm?!"

I now know better than to not answer the little boy.

"I-I see a ball of light emitting a blue light..."

"Amazing! Fantastic! Incredible! What a joyous occasion! Let's continue the presentation!"

Soulweaver proceeds to extract certain elements out of the ball. My confusion is apparent, as such, he explains that the purpose of this process is to remove all the unnecessary contents of that man's soul. Unfortunately, he does not explain what exactly that entails, and I do not dare ask. It is difficult to describe, but it appears as though he reaches into the sphere with his fingers to then pull on strings that ultimately break under the tension they are subjected to. As this act continues, the sphere shrinks and grows dimmer, until the light it emits is no more than a glimmer. With a sigh, Soulweaver inspects the ball, and he communicates his disappointment.

"Ugh, you see, that is the problem. If I don't remove all of this, they can't assimilate it, but if I do, its potency is much lower! I was nearly pulling my hair out trying to fix this! Thankfully, as the genius that I am, I've just released a new product addressing that issue. Too bad the effect doesn't stick for long..."

'He's talking about the tuning pill version 2...!!'

I am somewhat thankful that Soulweaver is such a talkative person. Thanks to him, I've now learned much more about the pill and its properties. I've also gained insight into his abilities. The capacity to manipulate souls, and to such an extent, is truly terrifying. From what I understand, he can control an incredible number of avatars, while being able to live through any one of them. The switching process is apparently instantaneous, making it nearly impossible to truly kill him without ridding the world of all his avatars. It does not end there. He is also able to not only extract, but manipulate souls in insidious ways. Even with all of this, I am certain that he still hides many more tricks under his sleeve, as all [enlightened] tend to do. This information is useless to me now, but it may be useful in the future, thus I make sure to keep it in mind.

Soulweaver finishes his delicate procedure and orders one of the workers tor bring him something. The worker brings what looks to be like the outer shell of a tuning pill. Then, Soulweaver inserts the man's soul, or what's left of it, into it. The shell glows with a dim blue hue. Proudly, Soulweaver bows to signal the end of his presentation and exclaims that the pill is complete. When his torso returns to its upright position, his expression turns somber. His playfulness disappears, leaving place to a dark and eerie part of him. That version of Soulweaver speaks to me.

"Now that the show is over, let me ask you this, will you still become mine even after seeing this... Alden?"