Chapter Text
A deep grumble came from Bradford as he raised a hand to his head. He pressed down on the cold cloth that lay over his face, just waiting for the thumping headache to die down.
“This will get your fluids back up. And the second should treat that nausea.” Dr. Tyler said. She was double checking the IV line she set up for the ailing man. “Dr. Rosch is coming up with a drink your should be able to stomach.”
Bradford was strung out on a couch in his quarters. His body was utterly exhausted and fighting him. It had been a few weeks since that frightening encounter with that Chosen, but his body was still treating it like it had only happened yesterday. It left him stress vomiting, increased nightmares, and feeling crappy in general. He could blame it all on those psionics. That Chosen’s and his. A grumble slipped from his lips. That teleport jump they had made had really taken it out of him and his special friend. It got them to safety, but they pushed themselves too far.
He peaked through the slightest crack between his face and the towel and looked at Tyler. “Thanks, doc.” He hoped the anti-nausea medicine would kick in soon. He hadn’t been able to keep down food for the past few days.
Hearing the chatter of his fellow crew, he glanced over to where they were.
Several of the Senior staff were there along with the soldiers that escaped that day. They were there to discuss just what the hell had happened. That ambush came out of nowhere. ADVENT had come down hard on them and with new units. Quickly locking down the PROXIES for capture as they swept through the Skirmisher camps and havens. Capturing a few of their own. Who knew if they were still alive? And then this new Chosen…
New Chosen. He closed his eyes just thinking about her. Made his head hurt. Looked like XCOM had their own regenerating headache. One that seemed more competent than the others, even with their brief encounter. He dreaded running into her again. She was after him specifically. Someone had ratted them out. Only way she would know to go for him.
But something about her left him curious. He almost wanted to meet her again… from a distance. A great distance. He had the comments his friend made that made him entertain the idea.
“How long till John’s back on his feet, Tyler?” Corvo asked in his deep voice. He was head of Tactical Training.
“No clue, but hopefully in a few hours he’ll be moving again.” Tyler said. She nudged the trash can closer to Bradford, hearing a groan coming from him. “Dr. Marin needs to run some tests to see if his psionics are still unstable after the big teleport he made.”
“Speaking of psionics… ” He looked at Bradford. And the man looked terrible. He would have cracked a joke since he loved teasing his friend, but now was not the time. “Where is our Ethereal friend?”
“Down below in Tygan’s lab.” Bradford answered. He pointed down. “Taking a rest in that Elerium tank, and,” he tapped his head a few times, “he’s listening in.”
“Gotcha.”
“I think I’d bee feeling just as bad if I ran into a Chosen.” Jody, one of the Rangers, shook her head.
“She was hounding him.” Laney shuttered. She was still sore from the hits she took. Psionics stung and lingered far too long for her liking.
“And that damn thing knows my name. The Elders know my name now.” Bradford threw a hand to the sky. That had him so irritated. So many channels of communication had to be reworked. “It may know about Asaru, too!” And that irritated him even more. Their trump card may have been revealed.
“Speaking of him, how’s he fairing?” Laney asked. “Hopefully not too bad after everything.”
“Just as bad as me, unfortunately.” Bradford grumbled. “He sends his thanks.”
“Aw…” She slightly frowned, but soon smiled. “No problem! Hope the both of you get to feeling better.”
The conversation switched over to those who had been captured. Jacquard, Avery, Yukino, Taggert, and Wilson. All fine operatives were in the enemy's hands. They were already at work searching for them, but so far, no leads. They reached out to the other factions for their assistance. They needed all the help they could get.
Bradford had his doubts if Jacquard was still alive after the hit he took. That slash was deep, and he lost a lot of blood. Really, he had his doubts any of them would survive for long. He could only imagine that Chosen had extremely thin patience after he had escaped her grasp. He just prayed those psionic blocks Asaru had placed on their minds would hold. But they prepared for the worst. Reworking their access into that Psionic Network, prepping Havens that may have to move soon, finding new safe area for the Avenger to land, and several other things. So much could be compromised.
“Sorry I’m late!”
Lily Shen, their Chief Engineer, announced as she rushed into the room. Though nearly out of breath, her voice still had some pep to it. She brushed past several people as she headed to the computer. Once by the computer, she turned it on and started typing away to bring up some data and videos.
“Got all the footage from that day. Though Laney’s shoulder cam got a bit blurry after she got hit with that psionic blast, but with Insight’s help we managed to clean it up… And she got oddly silent when working…” She had questions for later, but more pressing matters were at hand.
With a bit more typing and a click, the monitor had everything up. Then a projector came from down the ceiling, just above the couches, and cast the same information onto the wall.
“Here’s how they look.”
It was everything from that day. Images of the new units ADVENT had sent out. Shieldbearers. A Priest. And a few others. And then many images of that new Chosen. A clip of her howling angrily, hair splayed out, as she pointed at the Skirmisher that firebombed her was dead center. That made the room fall silent.
“Well, she has a hood like the Hunter.” Andrew, one of the Communication Staff, said. He was looking at the image when the Chosen had first appeared.
“Four arms like an Elder.” Royce, head of the Armory, said. “Ugh, don’t want to imagine the bloody Warlock with four.”
“And a pair of devil horns.”
“Reminds me of the horns on the Warlock. Dhay-Vol sure does sound like bloody devil.” Royce spat.
“Nasty scars on her nose. Didn’t think a Chosen had scars.” Corvo rubbed his chin. A close up on the Chosen’s face showed three jagged slashes that ran across her nose. They were a pale purplish-pink that popped out against that blue skin. What happened to cause that with how those things regenerated? “And an interesting looking gun on her back. Can’t tell if that’s a rifle of some sort or a shotgun like the Assassin’s.”
“She liked using that glaive of hers… I don’t want to imagine what the gun could do.” Laney said. She shuttered again, this time closing her eyes as she remembered how the Chosen effortlessly looped off the head of several Skirmishers’ that day. And nearly bisected Jacquard. She hoped he was alive… but if he was…. She just knew he was suffering some from a torturous interrogation.
“And she’s most likely our new headache, like the other factions.” Bradford said. He was finally sitting up, hand still holding the cloth to his head, as he looked at everything on the wall.
Those purple eyes were so full of anger. He didn’t want to imagine his next potential encounter with that Chosen. She looked so angry when he kept slipping from her grasp. Would she be just as vengeful as the Warlock?
“Sorry I’m late for the party.”
With a voice full of sarcasm, entering the room was Garette LaCroix. He was in more casual clothes instead of one of his fine suits he loved to wear. But he looked disheveled and quite annoyed. He had a broken nose, that immaculate hair of his was out of place, tossed around like a dirty mop, and his right arm was in a sling. “Navla and I were busy taming the barbari—“
As he looked over at the wall, his mouth quickly snapped shut. His eyes went wide, as concern and fear became apparent on his face.
“Oh… oh…” His voice quivered. More fear slipped out as he bit his lip. His face grew pale — if that was even possible with how pale he already was — as his blue-yellow eyes trembled. “They’re finally fielding her. They’re finally fielding her…”
Bradford’s eyes locked onto him. That tone in his voice and look on his face. This former torture technician, somewhat former torture technician, inflicted fear on others. Rarely did he show fear. Even when his barbarian of a friend would threaten to eat him when the man’s mind wasn’t quite right. Which was fairly often. Yorrick had many issues.
“You know this one?” Bradford wanted to know.
“Worked close with her. Jy-Sol. She and Jax-Rai were my favorite two to work it.” He said with a hint of fondness. “More tolerable than the brothers.”
“Why the fuck did you not mention that?”
“Well, you and your Ethereal friend scrambled my brain quite a bit when you all captured me so…” He tapped his lips a few times, before throwing his hand to the side. “I FORGOT!”
Bradford close his eyes and grumbled. The man had a point. He and Asaru were still working on their method for deactivating those brain chips. But something was different about Garette. Most likely it was because he was a PROXY. Extra security and redundancy. And then Garette was also a psionic, so that was its own headache trying to beat that.
“I… I think Insight may have more information on her.” Garette said. “Since she’s Information Broker and all.”
“So that may be why she went silent when helping me clean up data.” Shen commented. Suddenly, the computer pinged. “Hm?” She looked to see what it was. “Uh…” Brows raised, she then looked over to Garette. “She says she may.”
“Wait…” Bradford found something odd. Insight was not at the meeting. She was still in one of the labs, plugged into their system, doing her “downloading and uploading” thing. How the hell did she hear that? His brow twitched as an unpleasant thought came to his mind. “Does she have this place bugged?”
“She says, ‘No, that’s rude. Listening through Garette.’” That was mildly reassuring.
Garette let out an exasperated sigh as he brought a hand to his head. “So that’s why this migraine isn’t going away. Remember, you ask first, point dexter!”
“‘You can talk my ear off later’, she says.” Shen said. “‘But about the Chosen. Her name is Jy-Sol Maker. I may have information on her. I can detect it deep within my memory banks. I was trusted with handling that sort of classified information. But can’t access it as I’m uploading/downloading. Also, it may be encrypted.’”
“When does she think she can get to it?” Bradford asked.
“‘Don’t know if it’s got heavy encryptions. Could be weeks to a few months.’”
He grumbled. “Better than nothing.”
“Still can’t believe They’re fielding her now.” Garette made his way over to the images. He reached out and touched once of them. How long before they met again? “Her out means the Elders are worried about something.”
“I guess we finally caught their attention.” Corvo commented. He chuckled slightly. Finally meant they were grabbing the Elders’ attention. Even if that meant they had to work harder to free the Earth.
“And now we have our own personal Chosen to deal with.” Bradford was still irritated about that.
“You seem extra kind of worried with her being fielded.” Laney noticed “Why?”
“Out of the four, she’s just as level-headed as Jax-Rai and even deadlier.” Garette said.
He explained how the Elders had carefully crafted her, just like the other three. But They took extra care to make sure she did not have the same faults as her siblings. No over inflated sense of grandeur like the Warlock and none of his tendency to overestimate his targets and over rely on his psionics. A sound mind compared to the Hunter’s and none of his terrible habits of toying with his prey and hunting those the Elders employed; less resources wasted on replacing those he killed. And then lessened bloodlust that the Assassin craved, as well as snuffing out that “human condition” that made her hesitant to execute traitors that once worked under her.
In all aspects, Jy-Sol was to be the perfect Chosen. Though she had her “flaws” that the Elders loathed, such as the hints of humanity she showed to those who worked under her. Something They just couldn’t squash fully. But even with those faults, Jy-Sol proved herself to be more than capable and let little distract her as she performed the Elders’ will.
Bradford closed his eyes as he listened to what Garette had told. Just great. This Chosen was going to be a handful just like the others, if not worse.
He shifted his legs off the couch and onto the floor. He nearly got an earful from Dr. Taylor, but reassured her he wasn’t getting up. Just needed to move. He was feeling slightly better. The headache was fading away and the nausea was nearly gone.
“What’s all the information you have on this Jy-Sol, Garette?” Bradford asked.
“Not… a lot I’m afraid…” Garette muttered at first. “The Elders had a very tight grip on any information about her. I just know she was a military leader that lent their services to the Elders once They subdued the planet. She did well directing ADVENT during the early stages and I take it the Elders wanted to ‘bless’ her with this new form. Aaaaand maybe replace one of the defunctive Chosen.”
“Hm…” Bradford rubbed his chin. That made him curious. Over the years, he had read of several military leaders that gave their services to the Elders in exchange for their lives when the Invasion came to the end. He wondered if it was one of them.
“Great, another bloody traitor to humanity. Twice over.” Royce rolled his eyes.
“You can’t assume that.” Jody jabbed at his shoulder. He knocked her hand away. “May have lent their services under the threat of death or death of their loves ones.”
“Don’t care. They’re a traitor and a coward.”
“She’s actually nice to those that work under her. Especially the humans.” Garette looked over at them. “Like Jax-Rai, she treats those under her with respect and doesn’t belittle humans. Another reason why I liked working with her.”
“Oh, another ‘nice’ one.” Royce rolled his eyes again. “Maybe we can invite her over for some tea and biscuits!”
“Royce. Put a sock in it.” Bradford growled. The man only responded with a grumble.
“You’ve got any idea on this guy.” Laney had gone over to the wall. She tapped at one of the odd-looking ADVENT units. The one with a horn on their helmet. The one that took down the Skirmisher that saved Bradford from a Lancer. Claws slashing away at their throat. “Never seen a unit like this. Hell, there was another unit there, different from the usual. Bulky armor and energy shields.”
“There was another at the Fireside haven. Heavy armor and had some sort of cryokinetic weapon.” Jody said, rubbing her arms as she let out a ‘brr’. “Nearly got a nasty case of frostbite. Can’t say the civies and Skirmishers were so lucky…” She didn’t think flash freezing a person was possible, but this new ADVENT unit could do just that. And then tweak just how deadly the cold would be. Frozen meat chunks. She didn’t know a body could shatter like that. Something she wouldn’t forget anytime soon.
“And one at the Silver Grove haven. Was able to make some sort of gas. Sometimes poisonous. Sometimes corrosives.” Wilson said in a scratchy voice. He rubbed his throat. It was covered in bandages, but the skin peaking through was discolored gray. “The stuff burns either way. Like a Viper’s venom.”
“Hm.” Garette looked at the person Laney pointed out. He studied their armor. It was interesting. Custom even for ADVENT’s standard. But he noticed their skin unnaturally dark gray skin and hints of tufts of fur. Something told him this Hybrid had been augmented further.
“I don’t, but from the sounds of it, and looks of him,” he pointed at the one Laney had pointed out, “they are very specialized.” He said. “Speaking of different units, a Priest was also fielding specific for me and Yorrick.”
He found that detail to be peculiar and concerning all at once. Besides the pounding headache he suffered, he hadn’t felt so powerless as those psionic disabling traps locked him down after the Priest had stunned him. If Smoke, that lovable hidden sniper, wasn’t nearby to double tap that ensnaring unit, he and Yorrick would be back under the Elders’ control. Or most likely dead with how they dealt with traitors.
“Insight says she knows that one.” Shen butted in. “Part of the PROXY project. And sounds like the other two described are also Proxies.”
“Really?” Garette’s eyes lit up as he looked at her. “Don’t ever remember seeing them.”
“They came after you guys were taken from Maker. New PROXIES just for Jy-Sol that his Brethren could never take from her.”
“That sounds like Maker… from what I can remember.” Garette nodded. Though his memories of that time were spotty, he could now recall how the other Elders pulled the plug on Maker’s side project. “Still very bitter about that happening… Ga’rox probably spearheaded that.”
They continued to discuss ADVENT’s tactics on that day. They struck with precision as they simultaneously hit their targets. There had to be a mole for them to know about the meeting and then all those havens and Skirmisher camps.
Smoke was still out doing a lot of intel gathering, otherwise she would have been there. She was tracking how ADVENT activity was still high in South America. She gave fair warning to any Skirmisher camps that appeared on ADVENT’s hit list and most listened. With the more stubborn ones, she did her best to assist from a far. So far, she hadn’t seen a trace of Jy-Sol during those raids, but Jax-Rai was there. And her blade thirsted for blood.
Just everything Smoke had relayed to them made them very happy they were on the other side of the planet.
“Hm?” Bradford looked to the side and then down. “What? No, that’s insane!”
The others raised a brow at his sudden outburst.
“Must be Asaru.” Corvo chuckled. He found it funny when Bradford forgot to keep it in his mind. Led to a lot of interesting moments aboard the ship. Especially when the two first bonded.
“What’s our blue friend telling you, Bradford?” Garette asked.
Bradford closed his eyes tightly and grumbled. Should he tell them? Asaru was nagging him to do so. He let out a sharp sigh before breathing in deeply through his nose. “He wants us to find this Jy-Sol.”
“Seriously?” Several voiced their disbelief.
“Oi! Yeah! That sounds insane indeed.” Royce shook his head.
“What has him suggesting that?” Garette was curious.
“Says something about her psionics feel familiar.” Bradford explained the best he could. “Something about it feeling close to a connection you Proxies share.”
“Well, I did work under her.” Garette waved his hand in a nonchalant manner. “We all did at some point.”
“He says it’s something that runs deeper.”
“Huh…?” Bradford went silent. Eyes glowing blue, as they jumped around as he listened to Asaru. Shock came across his face for a second, before his nose wrinkled and lips twisted into a scowl. “What. Repeat that.”
“What did he say now?”
Bradford shook his head. He didn’t want to believe what he had been told. There was no way it was possible. “That familiarity reminds him of the Commander. Commander Jynn Gresham Reeves.”
“What!?”
Everyone looked at him like he was crazy. Well, Asaru was crazy for suggesting such a thing.
“He’s joking? Right?” Someone asked.
“No.” Bradford said bluntly. “He’s not.” He slumped over and rubbed his face.
How he wished Asaru wasn’t so serious. He didn’t want to hunt down that Chosen any time soon. Yes, he wanted to learn more about the Chosen from a distance. But meet her face to face again? Not a chance. But… But the things Asaru was telling him made some sense. Scarily made sense and concerned him. Asaru had been cross-referencing the psionic signature he picked up from the Jy-Sol against several others. Especially a few chips that still had residual psionic energy. There was a pattern. An origin signal that feeds them all that combat date. That origin signal matched the signature to the Chosen quite closely. Explained why all of ADVENT that day were working in sync. Explained why he noticed a few of them recoil in pain when Asaru struck back against Jy-Sol. He must have disrupted the Network.
“He’s about to speak through me.” He gave the others a warning. The blue in his eyes grew more vibrant as wisps of energy wicked around from them.
“I’ve had a great time to dwell on it since the encounter. Researching out archives and many other sources.” Another voice intertwined with his, giving off a slight echo. “There is a strange familiarity in that Chosen that closely resembles what I had found in you PROXIES, the brain chips, and then that ADVENT Asset from that hidden facility ages ago.” As they said that, there was a pained look in Bradford’s eyes.
“Right… that.” Corvo shook his head. That was an interesting find that day. A risky mission found such a shocking find.
“Right, her.” Garette tapped at his lip. “Still in a coma after you freed her.” He was still iffy on the details, as no one liked to talk about it, but it was something that had happened long before he was freed. “Barely can pick up on any brain activity.”
“The familiarity is strong within that Chosen.” Asaru continued. “They are connected to Reeves in someway. I can feel my old bond with her flow throw the Chosen.”
The group murmured. This was interesting. Seemed like something else that proved the theory the Elders were using the Commander to run that Tactical Information Network. So he hadn’t been wrong when he found something tying back to it.
“That means that Commander Reeves may still be alive.” Corvo said. “Sounds like her brain hasn’t been cooked yet. So seems like the Elders are taking care of her.”
“Yes… but I worry.” Asaru paused. More or so Bradford was forcing him to pause. He was rubbing knuckles into his temple. He knew what Asasru was about to say. He didn’t want to say it. He didn’t want to believe it.
“No… don’t…” Bradford said. His voice trembled as he tried to hold Asaru back.
“I will. They must hear it.” But Asaru overpowered him. “I worry, that perhaps… perhaps… this Chosen… this Jy-Sol is Reeves.”
“What!?”
Asaru explained what he meant by that. It went back to that psionic signature. It was a feeling he couldn’t shake. Though his interaction with the Chosen was brief, he just felt the strands of his old bond, his severed bond, deep within her. He wanted to meet her again. To have a chance to pick at her brain. Dig deep and see just who she was. But they had to be careful. They had to figure out a way to sever her from the Elders. Last thing he wanted was Them getting Their hands on him.
“Looks like we’ll be talking to Geist.” Corvo rubbed his chin. “He knows how to disrupt Dhay-Vol’s psionics pretty well. Could set up a trap for the Chosen with the help of the Templars.”
“Hopefully, when Insight gets to it, the information she has on Jy-Sol can help.” Shen said.
“Yes. I’ve already told Navla to get in contact with Geist. He should know all that I have shared with you by now.” Asaru said. “And yes, the information. Insight should work on that as soon as she is done with her ‘maintenance’.” He was curious what classified information the Information Broken may have handled dealing with the Chosen. Perhaps weaknesses they could exploit. The location of her territories. The location of her stronghold. Perhaps they even held the origins of her creation. Was this Chosen the Commander?
Royce let out a snort as he wrinkled his nose. “I see we’ve got our work cut out for us then. Need to get Research and Weapons teams to get our gear up to snuff for the armor those Chosen wear.”
“Hey! We’re working on beefing up the armor-piercing rounds.” Shen said. “The Dragon Rounds are just about done. Venom Rounds are still being worked on. Running into an issue with some of the toxins burning up before hitting the target.”
“Oh, those fire starters?” The sourness in Royce’s voice disappeared as his eyes lit up with excitement. It may have been more work with making sure no one took dangerous munitions out of the Armory without permission, but he was looking forward to them being able to inflict more have onto ADVENT and those aliens. “Huh, finally we can serve Kon-Ris his own medicine.”
“We will discuss future plans on dealing with the Jy-Sol at another time. “Asaru said. His voice drifted away from Bradford’s “For now, I bid you all farewell. I must rest.” His voice fully faded.
“Ah…” As his psionics dissipated, Bradford let out a pained grunt. He swayed back and forth before collapsing back down onto the couch. Just the small connection strained his body again.
Dr. Tyler shook her head. Hopefully, he didn’t cause any further issues.
“Anything I can do for you, John?” She asked as she replaced the towel on his head with a nice, cold one.
“Yeah. One thing.”
“What is it?”
“Just where the hell is Rosch with my drink? I’m starving.”
Volo Xaadac took care of how she handled any information pertaining to their XCOM prisoners. ADVENT figured long ago the Resistance knew how to hack their systems and listen in on conversations. The last thing they needed was a leak revealing where the prisoners were. Though if XCOM wanted to save their comrades, it would be a fool’s run. A suicide mission. They were deep within Jy-Sol’s Sanctuary. The place was crawling with ADVENT patrols and elite guards the Resistance had yet to see.
She followed the last orders Jy-Sol gave to her. She assigned the Watchers, her newest PROXY, to interrogate their prisoners. Claudis, S’Norri, and Dagos all took to their new task just fine.
She rotated three per Jy-Sol’s instructions and made sure to keep the prisoners alive. Which was its own task, as the interrogations were getting more and more brutal with each passing day.
S’Norri looked to have the gentlest touch out of the three. Though some of the gases she produced could eat through one’s skin in minutes. She held that back most of the time. Instead, she relied on intoxicating gases to confuse their senses, along with some emotional manipulation. This allowed her to play the prisoners more susceptible to her gas against each. Making one think the other spilled a secret. Like XCOM had figured out vulnerabilities on the standard Troopers armor. A bullet striking just the right spot on their helmets could easily penetrate it and rattle the brains of the Trooper. And then at other times another would accidentally correct a few details of a “spilled” secret. Like how often they hit the Black Markets and attempted raids on ADVENT outposts. But still nothing about where the Avenger was located.
She eventually requested blood tests be done on all the prisoners to see if any of them had family with in the cities or approved settlements. A few of them did. She passed this on to Claudis and Dagos.
Dagos had frozen several limbs leading to severe cases frostbite. Thankfully, all but one prisoner’s limbs were saved. Taggert lost an arm the day he broke free from his restraints, which had been accidentally weakened by Dagos’ frequent temperature changes. The man, though weakened, fought back. It was a fruitless endeavor as Dagos quickly disarmed him. As he slammed Taggert into the ground, that frozen arm shattered. Taggert howls of pain filled the interrogation block and continued to do so as a pair of guards dragged him away to the infirmary.
Volo wasn’t pleased with what happened. She put in an order for a replacement. Organic or cybernetic, it didn’t matter which. She just felt Jy-Sol would want for that to happen.
But it looked as the incident shook up Avery, who had caught a glimpse of Taggert clawing at the frozen stub as the guards dragged him past her cell. She could take Claudis’ bites and claws and occasionally bone breaking and put up with S’Norri’s intoxicating gases, and the ones that burned her skin and lungs, but the thought of losing a limb because of Dagos’ freezing it frightened her. She started talking. But not about the Avenger or XCOM. Instead, she told of some of the cells they interacted with. Hidden camps. Some were hidden in the cities.
Volo passed the information on to a few strike teams to see if it was true. Half of it was. Half of it wasn’t. This was a start compared to the rest. She kept the threat of Dagos being her next torture technician for the day lingering over her. It seemed to work, though Avery continued to give partial truths.
And Claudis. Ah Claudis. He was the most aggressive of the three. He used his claws and teeth more than his words. Twisting limbs to their breaking points and pulling at muscles with his claws. But even his words knew how to bite. Especially once S’Norri passed on the information pertaining to those that had family in the cities and settlements. Though a few left their family on bad terms, they still cared for them. The subtle threats of something happening to them rattles those few, but they still kept their lips tight. He toyed with the idea of plucking a relative from the city and bringing them here. But that would be a waste of resources. Didn’t need to have a perfectly obedient civilian mind wiped or executed…. For now.
And now, Claudis was currently working on Jacquard, who was finally well enough to endure a round of torture.
“Amazing what the Elders’ technology can do, no?” A deep, guttural laugh came from Claudis. “You were half dead, close to losing your leg, and here you are. Alive and kicking and the is almost good as new.” He was dragging a claw up Jacquard’s left thigh. Cutting through the stitched to his wound. Reopening said wound, letting his claw dig deep and nip at the muscles.
Jacquard hissed, closing his eyes tightly, as that claw dug into the wound. His fingers dug into the handles of the chair, knuckles going white, as he tried to endure the pain. He wished so much that he was still old cold from the surgery or that the anesthesia was still in his system, but he had to endure the pain. He wouldn’t talk. Feeling the pain stop, his fingers relaxed. Hesitantly, he peeked from one eye. Claudis had raised a finger to his chest. A claw hovered inches away from the other wound, ready to dig into it.
“Amazing technology, no?” Claudis smirked.
“No.” He spat in his face. “Since it takes getting a chip plugged in yer body to access it.”
Claudis’ nose wrinkled. He wiped the spit off his face before plunging his claw into the chest one and dragged his finger down. Jacquard hissed, closing his eyes again.
“You know. I don’t get you rebels.” He continued to work on the wound. “Especially someone like you. You left the city and that safety to spit in the face of the Elders. You even left your siblings behind.”
Jacquard’s eyes flew open in an instant, fighting against the pain. “Don’t… don’t you go there.” He frowned.
“How could an older sibling do such a thing? Especially since those yours ones lost their parents at such a young age. If the world never attacked the Elders…”
“Don’t…”
“And those once sickly twins…. Gene Clinics do wonderful work, don’t they?” Claudis looked up with a smirk. “It would be a such shame if something happened to them and undid all that work..”
“GO TO HELL YA WRETCHED MUTT.” Voice full of rage, Jacquard yelled and spat in Claudis’ face again.
Claudis’s finger stop. He retracted his hand. A deep growl from with in his throat. “Mutt?” He reared his arm back, claws on all his fingers sprung forth before he struck Jacquard. Raking his claws against the man’s face. Jacquard cried out as the claws tore through his face. Though he soon laughed. He struck a nerve.
“What? Don’t like being called a mangy dog who blindly follows orders?” He slung another insult and continued to throw out a few more. He didn’t care if it brought more pain. If this torturer was going to dig under his skin, he was going to dig under theirs.
Claudis’ lips pulled back into a snarl, revealing his sharp canines. He struck at him again. And with each insult, he really let his claws dig deep and tear off chunks of Jacquard’s face, which was quickly becoming a bloody mess.
“Claudis.” Jy-Sol’s commanding voice pierced the room. He froze immediately.
Glancing just behind his shoulder, he saw the Chosen enter the cell. Fully healed and wearing her repaired armor, though, with the hood off.
“Master Jy-Sol!” He quickly stood at attention.
“That’s enough.” She looked at his work. Messy. As interrogations could go. She was already sending mental messages to the medical team they would have to repair their prisoner’s face.
“Oh, the blue devil is finally here.” Jacquard spat some blood before laughing. Though he could barely see through the blood staining his eyes, he could recognize that tall figure anywhere. “Calling off your mutt?”
“Claudis!” Jy-Sol noticed him raising his hand again. “Leave.”
Claudis snarled at Jacquard one last time before he finally retracted his claws. “I’ll be outside, my lady.” He made his leave.
Once he left, Jy-Sol went over to Jacquard. She grimaced at the sight. “Emotions can carry us away.” She muttered under her breath.
“I won’t talk. Been tortured before. His claws are like a mosquito’s bite.” Jacquard smiled. A great deal of blood obscured the whites of his teeth “And your brain probing won’t work.”
She let out a slight snort before kneeling. She placed her hand on his face. “We’ll see.” Her eyes began to glow purple.
Jacquard winced as he felt her dig into his mind. He soon grinned when he heard a frustrated sigh slip out. Looked like she was running into those locks. He’d have to thank Bradford and Asaru if he ever got out of here. But then his eyes lit up and then twitched. Felt like several daggers were piercing his mind. Those blocks slowly unfurled and shattered.
“What the!?” Fear took over his face.
Jy-Sol smiled as her eyes grew brighter. A hint of blue took over some of the purple. She could feel that familiarity that struck her the other day protecting this man’s mind. And with a little work, she could pull at it. Make it her own. “Seems like these locks aren’t so secure. Now.”She tightened her grip on his trembling face, “Tell me everything you know about your leader. This Central. This John Bradford.”
Jacquard began to scream as she dug deeper.
“I desire to know more about him before we meet again.”