Chapter 24 - Chat(Part 1)
Point-of-View: X
———————————————————————————
"Wait, for real?" I inquired in surprise.
"Yes, as I've been saying all this time, for real," Sighed Trevor in response.
"I know, but it's just...kinda surreal. I mean, my life is still shit and all, but this is quite a promotion," I replied with a slight, amused laugh.
We'd just arrived at the hidden base where the captured Outliers had just been transferred to, and Trevor dropped some pretty big news on me. Specifically, that I was going to be in charge of the Outliers, and by that, I mean that I'm going to sort of be their prison warden or something along those lines.
While on the plane, he said something like 'we're going to use you to keep them in check', so I figured that I'd be kept in a cell near the ones they're held in and have to use my Nullification to keep them from acting out. But, no, the actual situation was that I wasn't going to be locked up anymore...seems that me coming back to Eden after being stranded at sea has helped me earn some trust.
Trevor said that the reason why he kept it vague on the plane and waited to give me the details until the last minute was because, and I quote, 'you wouldn't have shut up for the entire flight if I'd told you beforehand'. Which is kinda rude, if you ask me.
"It isn't a promotion, just a reallocation. After all, with the Condition that's placed on you, you can't escape without dying in the process," Responded Trevor with a frown.
"Yeah, true enough, though that was always the case, you know...so, wait, why don't you just put the same Conditions on the Outliers?" I inquired curiously.
"We will, but we won't be able to do so until next week. I don't know why though, so don't ask."
"Huh, so until then, I gotta watch them and make sure they don't escape or whatever, right?" I surmised.
"Essentially, yes. They'll be contained in underground cells, that are similar to the room you used to be held in. These cells have been specially constructed to withstand Meta powers, so escape is nearly impossible. But since these Outliers possess unprecedented levels of power, your Nullification will serve as an additional level of defense. Once the Conditions are placed on them, we won't need to take such heavy measures, and we'll then beginning training them to control their Aura and powers, so that we can put them to use for us," Explained Trevor, as he led me down to the basement of the hideout.
"Question, why does Eden have cells like these, anyway?" I asked him, "They've obviously been here since before this whole Outlier situation came about, so what are they usually used for?"
"Hm? Isn't it obvious? To store any captured Harmony members, along with any that may betray Eden."
Huh, didn't seem that obvious to me, but I guess it makes sense.
"Oh, I see. So, anyway, what are the two captured Outliers like?" I inquired curiously.
"I don't know. All I know is that one is a middle-aged man with the Terra Skill and the other is a young girl with the Aqua Skill," He responded with a shrug.
Aw, I was kinda hoping for someone around my age...no easier friendship than with a peer who's in the same boat. Or something like that.
Anyway, as we reached the bottom of the stairs, a wide, long corridor stretched out ahead of us, with holding cells at regular intervals on either side. As we headed forward, we walked past several empty cells, until we reached the end of the corridor.
The two cells at the very end, facing each other, were both occupied. The doors were just like the door in the room I was usually kept in, thick, heavy steel doors with a glass slot in the middle. It was a thick slab of tempered glass, and was like those one-way mirrors, those outside could peek in, but those inside would only see their eyes reflected back at them if they tried to look through it.
The doors also had panels at the bottom, through which a tray of food and water could be slid into the room. There were some fairly recent blood stains on the ground near the panel of the door to the right. I peered in through the glass in curiosity...looks like the middle-aged man is being held in here.
Looking at the walls, it's obvious that he's been trying to break out, but with no success. I'm guess he's been pounding the door too, but it's even more dense that the walls.
Also, have to say...this guy looks pretty repulsive, pacing around the room while shirtless and looking pretty sweaty. He was also looking kinda jittery...he seems like the type who'd be an alcoholic, so maybe withdrawal symptoms?
He had longish red hair that was all tangled up and dirty-looking, heavy stubble on his face, light blue eyes, a hairy chest and beer belly, a pale, pasty complexion and hairy arms.
"Ew...," I blurted out without even thinking.
"Apparently, that one has been attacking those that try to slide food into the room...when they open the panel to send in the food, he attacks them," Trevor informed me, as he nodded at the blood stains by the panel.
"Yeah, I can see that...what about the other one?" I inquired, turning around and heading for the opposite door.
"From what I've heard, too scared to do anything, for now, anyway," He replied, as I peered in.
A young girl, looked to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. She had short black hair with a slightly long streak by the right side of her face, a fair complexion, and dark blue eyes with a look of fear in them. She was short and on the slender side, with a fairly well-developed body for her age.
Poor kid, she's probably terrified as hell. Oh, well, there's nothing that can be done about it, so she's just going to have to get used to it.
"I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to be doing here, I mean...there's no way they can escape, right? And even if they somehow find a way, they'll have to go up to the ground floor to get out of here, there's no way they'll be able to do so unseen," I pointed out.
"Now you know how I feel, having to guard you everyday even though, with your powers and the Condition placed on you, escape would have been impossible," He responded dryly.
"Oh, please, you totally enjoy being around me," I smirked in reply.
"Hmph, yeah, right. Anyway, the main reason you're chosen for this is your Nullification, activate it whenever you have to slide in their food trays...someone will deliver them at 8 AM, 2 PM and 10 PM, so be awake at those times. See that cell over there, you can use it to sleep in. It has a bathroom, as you should already know, and some canned food and water bottles. I'm leaving now, handle this however you please...so long as they don't escape, I have no complaints," He remarked, before leaving, heading back through the corridor.
I was silent for a couple of minutes after he left, as I processed the situation...no way, they've actually given me a degree of freedom, something that I didn't have before. I mean, yeah, it's not like I'm free to go wherever I want or anything, but it sure as hell beats being locked in a room for weeks on end!
Now, then...I think I'll go have a chat with one of the captives, because I'm already bored. Except for cans of food and some water bottles, the room that Trevor said I can use is basically empty...wish they'd brought over all the books and stuff in the room where I used to be held in.
Okay, so, which of the captives should I try to befriend? Never mind, the answer is pretty obvious. I definitely don't want to deal with that disgusting-looking man, so the girl it is. She looks pretty scared, so who knows, maybe me being nice to her will give her Stockholm syndrome or something.
I headed towards her cell and paused outside the door, before reaching for the handle. These doors don't need to be locked, or rather, they don't have locks. They can only be opened from the outside, it's impossible to open from inside.
Also, it can only be closed from outside too. Like, if I open it and walk into the room and then shut the door behind me, it won't actually close properly. See, the handle is, by default, pointing upwards when the door is shut.
To open the door, you have to twist the handle 180° degrees, or till it points downwards. And to close it, you have to twist it back till it points upwards...and since the handle is only on the outside of the door, you can't fully shut the door if you're on the inside.
In other words, technically speaking, the handle also doubles as a lock. Well, whatever, the details don't really matter, the bottom line is that this door can only be opened and closed from the outside.
And so, I twisted the handle down and pushed the door open, before walking inside and closing the door...a simple tug will open it, but she probably doesn't know that, so I'll make it seem like it's shut.
"Wh-what do you want?" Stuttered the girl nervously, shrinking into the edge of the bad at the corner of the room as I activated my Nullification.
"You can relax, I'm not gonna hurt you. I was just bored, so I came to chat," I responded in a friendly tone.
"I-I have nothing to s-say to you people, you killed my mom!" She exclaimed, still looking scared but there was a flicker of determination in her eyes, as she glared at me defiantly.
Huh, interesting...
"You've got it wrong...well, not about them killing your mother, that probably happened, but you're wrong about me. I'm a victim of these people too," I replied, sitting down on a chair across from her bed.
"Huh? Wh-what do you mean?" She responded suspiciously, furrowing her eyebrows and narrowing her eyes at me.
"Well, they placed a Condition on me-...uh, how to explain that...hm, let me put it this way, it's something like a curse. If I don't do as they say, I'll die instantly," I remarked with a sigh.
"What? Wait, I remember...," She muttered, before her eyes widened in horror, "Those men...the ones that brought me here, they...they said something like 'soon enough, you won't be able to defy us, even if you wanted to'. A-are they going to curse me too?"
"Sorry, kid, but I'm afraid so. You must have come across a big, glowing glass ball, right? That thing gave you special powers, and these people are after those powers. This probably won't sound very encouraging, but the more you resist, the more they'll make you suffer...take my advice and just resign yourself, I can tell you from experience that that's the best approach," I warned her.
"H-huh? No...no way! I can't just...just accept this. E-even if they curse me or whatever, I won't just resign myself to it!" She declared, her voice trembling and her eyes glossing over with tears...she's absolutely terrified but isn't letting herself give in to that fear.
Pretty impressive for a kid, but I bet it won't last long, not after the Condition is placed on her...
"Well, if that's what you resolve to do, then good luck, I certainly won't stop you. Anyway, forget about all that. You probably see this organization, Eden, as your enemy, but I'm not your enemy...we're sort of in the same boat, after all."
"I...guess so. Is that why you just walked in here, even though I might attack you?" She responded, as she eyed me warily...she definitely doesn't trust me, not yet, but she's eased up just a little bit, so I should be able to gain her trust bit by bit...
"Nah, you can't attack me, not with your Aqua Skill-...the water powers you developed...-anyway. Give it a try," I prompted her.
"Huh? What do you mean-...wait, it's not working," She remarked in surprise.
"Yup, that's my power, the ability to nullify all other powers. Oh, I'm X, by the way. What's your name?" I introduced myself with a smile.
"X? Like the letter?"
"Yeah, I forgot my real name a long time ago, so I decided to go by X, a random codename they gave me since they didn't have anything to call me by," I sighed wistfully.
"Oh, I see...that sounds really sad, forgetting your own name, I mean. Um, and my name is Adelmira Hartley," She replied, relaxing a bit, though not completely.
"Huh, that's really your actual name? Don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds kinda made up," I remarked in response.
"Yeah, I know, some of my classmates used to say that I have a 'porn star name', whatever that means," She sighed in exasperation, "Oh, and my middle name is Adaliz, so the alliteration with my first and middle names didn't exactly help matters."
"Wow, your full name sounds super fancy...Adelmira Adaliz Hartley," I mused with a slight laugh.
"Yeah, I know, my classmates in school always made fun of it. My mom has weird tastes, she always complained about how her parents gave her such a boring name...so to make up for it, she gave me an excessively extravagant name," She sighed wistfully, before her lower lip quivered, "B-but now, she's...she's gone..."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."
"N-no, it's okay...actually, I've been so scared for the last few days that it's felt like I'm losing my mind. It's...it's nice to talk to someone," She replied with a weak smile.
She's getting emotional, so she's inadvertently being less wary. I think I'm doing a good job of winning her over, this is my chance to press further, let's keep at it...
"Yeah, same here, I've been pretty lonely all this time, I haven't had a normal conversation with someone in...well, maybe ever. No one here talks to me unless they have to, which is usually only when they send me on life-threateningly dangerous missions," I sighed wryly, before asking her, "By the way, what should I call you?"
"Oh, I usually go by the nickname Miraliz, combining the latter parts of my first and middle names, you can call me that," She said in reply.
"I see...well, then, it's nice to meet you, Miraliz," I stated with a smile, walking over and offering her my hand.
"Oh, um, thanks," She responded with a slight, awkward smile as she shook my hand, "And, how should I address you, is Miss X okay?"
"Nah...you can just call me X."
_____________________________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP