Chapter 82: Caged Souls

August 23rd

Diana

As my thoughts began to rise from the blanket of pain, they just as quickly slithered back into the agonizing darkness. I don’t remember much, but I was being moved somewhere in a car — I think? The next time my eyes opened, it was someone putting something in my mouth, it was bitter and tiny, a pill that melted on my tongue. I couldn’t grasp any of the facial features of who put it there, except the eyes.

Entirely red with white irises and pupils. Just like the Lieutenant’s had been, like Simon Jugosla. Like mine had been.

Next, my body was being moved roughly, someone was speaking over but the words were mushy to my ears. My arms were being restrained in metal and I was forced to walk into a cell, everything hurt, everything was blurry, but that tiny mattress on the floor seemed like heaven the moment I collapsed onto it.

———

Opening my eyes, my body groaned as it openly became aware of something wrestling inside. I don’t remember much of what had happened, I’d breathed in some pollen from the red spider lily, and it acted as a Mutagen.

Soul-Forfeit… it was a Titanium Grade Mutation.

Looking around my cell, it was barebones and quiet, just a mattress and a toilet. The door to my cell was thick and heavy, the kind I’d seen in my police manuals for high-security prisons. The wall it was placed in was made of a Warp-reinforced one-way window that I bet even a Gold-Grade Shardware arm would be unable to shatter.

Looking at myself, I was still in the dress I’d worn that night, it was practically untouched. The strangest things were the two thick metallic cuffs located on my arms that I recognized, Warp Inhibitor Restraints. I tried manipulating my Gold but the cuffs spiked in a heaviness, like my energy had gone from blowing air out my mouth to trying to make myself puke lead.

To stop a Gold-Grade… these things must have been expensive.

Still, I was alive. But for what reason? Soul Killer has bought me, that was what the host had said… was Annabelle Grazhe — my lieutenant — the Soul Killer?

That… that couldn’t be right. Soul Killer had been active for a century. Was Soul Killer some kind of group then? Everyone treated them like they were one person, then what was the truth here?

Unable to find any sort of reasoning in my head, I slumped on the mattress and searched through my frame. I couldn’t contact anyone, half of all the features on it were disabled and locked. My Datashield had been swapped out and… guh, what was this nagging pain inside my nose?

Being moved to a second location, I was… in trouble. Yet, panic evaded my mind, all I felt was a dull acceptance of the circumstances. If anything, I was more scared of what Anthony would do, and that was enough to drive me.

The only thing I could still look at were my Mutations, which was strange, normally prisoners would lose access to the Implant Analyzing functions of their Neuroframes.

Gene Overview:-

* Electrical Neurogenesis [Cognition] [61%]

* Compact Tissues [Integrity] [65%]

* Mineral Assimilation [Alteration/Integrity] [40%]

* Bioelectrogenesis [Energy/Metabolism] [69%]

* Electromagnetic Vision [Cognition] [58%]

* Mutational Synergy [Alteration] [93%]

* Kinetic Catalyst [Metabolism] [32%]

Tier I Hostile Mutagen: Titanium-Grade Soul-Forfeit has been absorbed.

Additional Meta-Mutations to Mutational Synergy. Reduced Effects of Hostile Mutagen on Adapter; Increased Hostile Mutagenic Tolerance.

Those flowers produced pollen that had Mutagen. I gathered that much, a hostile Mutagen though? I’d never heard of it happening, but it was something my Implant had been trying to reject. Clearly, it had worked.

Right, my body had been moving against its will up to the stage. A mind-controlling Mutagen? That was a thing? I remembered feeling helpless to it, like I’d been trapped in my own body… like I’d given up my soul and it was acting to the whims of someone else.

Soul-Forfeit… Absorbing and cleansing it seemed to be because of my Mutational Synergy Mutation. It had also allowed me to survive absorbing Yvette’s Silver SIM, truly, that mysterious Mutation had been the real centerpiece of my survival all this time.

”Heeeelllooo? Can you hear me?” A speaker began to make noise, I recognized the voice. Simon Jugosla. “Say something if you can hear me.”

”I can hear you.” I muttered through my teeth.

”Perfect, perfect. How do you like your steak? Medium-well? Please don’t say well-done, you should’ve gotten some etiquette from Brian.” The voice was so casual it only made me feel worse about everything.

”What’re you talking about?” I tried to search for the speaker, but any attempts to supply my eyes with Warp Energy was met with a sharp pain in them.

“Just prepping some food for you, don’t want my latest pet going hungry.” Simon’s calling me a pet irritated me more.

“I’m not your-“

“How do you want your steak, Diana?” The voice cut me off, slightly annoyed in tone.

“Not raw.” That was all I was going to let them have.

“Stubborn ain’t ya? Well I’ll make it fit for human consumption, for now… I’ll have this body do some work. You must be feeling so trapped in there, I’ll open up your door, you can talk to some of the other inmates here — they’re a cheery bunch!”

The door slid open, and forgive me for being a little suspicious about this whole thing… I didn’t understand a thing. From Ms. Himiko talking to me yesterday, revealing she was an artificial intelligence, to the Lieutenant being complicit in Soul Killer’s activities. I expected to have some answers, but now there were only more questions.

No weapons, no access to my mutations, I stepped through that door. Walking past the other cells, they were mostly empty with the doors open, and they seemed to be lived in. I stopped, noticing crayon drawings on one wall of a cell, like a child’s… what was going on here?

This was all too familiar.

The corridor opened up to the sounds of people moving about, talking. I couldn’t make it out, partly because my head still hurt… but I really wished I had a weapon before stumbling into the unknown.

The last thing I expected to walk into was a large lounge filled with around twenty people, all wearing crimson jumpsuits and with the same cuffs I had on me. They looked exactly like those kids who were being sold at the auction had…

There were children here, some of them noted my entrance, eyes hopping up to look at me.

“Oooh, look, she has a pretty dress!”

One of the girls approached me, her eyes split between the colors of green and blue like they were fighting for dominance in her irises. “You’re pretty. What’s your name…?”

”Diana…” What was happening here? “Um, where are your parents?”

The child looked away from me, almost angry. “Don’t have them… but we have miss Aliya.”

Was she the one in charge of this? ”Can you… take me to them?”

”Sure!” Her smile bubbled into my heart, and her small hand grabbed mine as she walked me along the lounge.

”What’s your name?” I asked.

”Never got one… but Miss Aliya said I look like an Olivia, Ms. Kaisel just calls me L22.” Olivia brought me over to a circular couch, in front of it was an old looking woman with dark-skin and whitened hair playing with around four children of various ages.

Some of the children looked… wrong. Misshapened hands, fangs for teeth, boils of purple dotted on their face… had they been SIMmed? They couldn’t have been older than seven?

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

This miss Aliya glanced up at me, then down at my dress, then back up at my eyes, her aged face simple and unjudging. “You’re new.”

”I am… what’s happening here?” I needed answers.

”What does it look like? It’s a Cradle…” She looked around to the kids, standing up amidst them with a motherly smile. “Hey kids, I’m going to talk to her, why don’t you all try and learn that song I taught you.”

They all shouted their best attempts at some song, but Aliya grabbed my arm and pulled me away from them. “Don’t want to talk about this in front of the kids… you smoke?”

”Er… not really.” It was a social thing for me.

”Shame, was hoping you stuffed some down your bra. They let us put in orders sometimes for them, rarely.” She took me to a lonely corner, lighting up a cigarette as her finger shone a bright red. Fire ignited from it.

”How’re you using your mutations?” She had cuffs just like me.

”Hurts like a bitch, but the nicotine’s worth it.” She huffed a large cloud of smoke. “These cuffs can’t change what’s already in us, but they can make it painful to use. What year is it outside?”

Year…? How long had she been here? “2497.”

”Shit…” She brought the cigarette up to her lips again. “Swarm’s getting closer, wonder what’ll happen to this joint.”

”What even is this place?”

”Like I said… Kaisel calls it an unofficial Cradle. She’s the big woman in of this joint, one of Soul Killer’s favorite puppets. You know about them?”

”Soul Killer… you know about them?”

”Was a reporter.” Aliya huffed again. “Tried to do the right thing, tell real stories, and dig up some old graves. Next thing I knew I lost everything, my job, my marriage and my kids, was on the street for a year in… 2475? I think. Yeah, I was looking up on Soul Killer, but one day I was just up and knocked unconscious. Kaisel said I wasn’t going to live long, but I made myself useful with the kids, kept them from getting too rowdy — they let me live cus’ of that. So it’s basically been my job ever since to keep these kids stable.”

She looked tired, if I understood right… she’d been down here for 22 years. Biting my tongue, I decided to be honest. “I’m a Police Investigator, I was looking into him when… a flower took control of me.”

”Red bud with a whole lot of petals?” She offered me her cigarette.

I took it. “Yeah. A red spider lily.”

”Yup, that’s how they get you. One huff of that and they can control your body and mind. Make you do things, forget things… it’s how they keep us under control. We’re all just a part of them. Soul Killer.”

“Is that what happens when your eyes become red? They control you?” I tasted the bitter ash of the cigarette against my lips.

”Not just then… that’s just when it’s the most powerful. Though, honestly, I think that whole eye-changing thing is used to strike fear. They can influence the tiniest decisions you make, I don’t know how he does it but… we’re never truly in control.” Slowly, she smiled as her eyes crept red.

I gulped, realizing that Soul Killer was talking to me, using Aliya’s body like a biological Proxy. Her voice was exactly the same, but where there had been jaded exhaustion was now a tone of jovial curiosity. “You’re an inquisitive one! Well… you heard it right. I’m in all of their heads! In a sense, not quite a perfect hive-mind yet, but maybe one day I’ll get there… well, if my boss allows it. As for now, how’re you finding the place? I try to make it hospitable, but I very rarely find anyone who was Cradleborn to judge it’s accuracy, they’re typically too far up for me to… replace.”

”Soul Killer…” I put the cigarette down. “You’re… controlling these people?”

”Control, becoming, manipulating… what’s the difference?” Aliya’s hands raised into the air. “I’m just doing my job, Diana. Same as you… well, not really, but you get me?”

”I don’t.” I wasn’t liking this, first Ms. Himiko and now him? Them? “What’re you trying to do?”

”Understand Implants, how to control them.” They answered honestly. “Whole lot of unknowns in those tiny orbs, don’t blame an individual for getting inquisitive to their secrets. Secrets require experiments, experiments require… bodies.”

”Is this some kind of lab?”

”Please… this is just where I grow my crops. My farm.” Soul Killer took the cigarette from my hands, taking a good puff of the smoke and coughing. “Always hated these, never understood why you’d put such a foul thing in your body, where was I? If they’re interesting, I ship them for further testing, if they aren’t… I sell ‘em. Simple as that.”

A farm?

”Then what am I doing here?”

”Trying to determine which one you are. Wasn’t sure why Mr. R decided not to send that MAL to it’s original destination, but that thing was special. Not just because it was Gold.”

”You know about my Implant?” So The Uncaged were the ones planning to attack the Precinct?

”Oh I know quite a bit about it, but not everything… I know it was quite the prized possession of my boss, and that he had big plans for it. Then he changed his mind. ‘Why’ is the real question. He’s being cryptic, but you’re involved in it. He didn’t say anything to us other than to keep you alive for some of his future plans, but, oh well… we can’t help ourselves if you’re such interesting creatures. You and… what did Skeleton say his name was? Ridley?”

I didn’t want to correct this… thing.

”So that’s why you haven’t killed me? Your boss said so?” This… Mr. R… it was bad enough having Soul Killer and Dogwhistler as cryptic identities, now there’s another one?

”Precisely.” Soul Killer snapped their fingers. “Can’t kill you, so I’ll be keeping you here for the foreseeable future.”

”For what fucking purpose?! And -you’re controlling the Lieutentant?!” I needed whatever information I could. I wanted to punch this bastard’s brain out, but how could I? When this wasn’t even his body.

”Nothing much, just… think of it like a vacation? I’ll be taking care of you, feeding you, observing you. As for the Lieutenant… eh, it’s complicated. I’ve had a deal with her father since forever.”

“Jacob Grazhe?” I bit my lips.

“There’s a reason he was so powerful.” A grin creeped up on Aliya’s face, proud and snivelling. “Imagine it, he gets information from my hidden sleeper agents inside those manchild gangs, and he let’s me run free under his nose.”

I stayed silent, I knew the former Lieutenant was in some shady businesses… but was Soul Killer the cornerstone for the whole operation?

“Hah, you remind me of Juliet. When she got too close to the truth, I had to tear her sister away…” Soul Killer smirked, before clenching their jaw so hard a tooth chipped. “Juliet’s been taken care off since, but Anabelle’s not quite where I want her to be. She has her uses, but she’s disposable.”

That momentary anger was laughed away in an abrupt moment. “Oh well, that’s what experiments are for! Not everyone could resist my flowers the way you did, what’d the Mutation stop at?”

They didn’t know I cleansed it out? I lied as easily as breathing. “74%.”

”Damn!” Soul Killer stomped his leg. “I really was thinking it’d go higher…! Tch, eh, I’ll figure it out soon enough. Your meal’s almost done anyway, then I’ll see what entertainment I can prepare for you… I want to learn everything about your SIM.”

As they said their last message, the red crept away as Aliya’s eyes returned to normal, she took a puff of the cigarette. A confused eyebrow raised. “Weren’t you holding this?”

”You didn’t feel it?” I felt my skin tingle.

”Feel what?”

”Your eyes turned red… Soul Killer was talking through you.” I hated wearing a sleeveless dress like this, my goosebumps were entirely too visible.

”Oh.” She sighed. “Hasn’t done it to me in years. It’s freaky isn’t it? I didn’t even know it.”

“I feel like you should be more scared.” I took the cigarette, I needed it more.

”I was, in the beginning. Now… I can’t fight it, so why fear something I can’t do anything against? They don’t hurt me, they just… change me. In a way, life here was better than it was up there. I don’t particularly like it, but… after all these years, it’s become the life I’ve known more. Who enjoys life in the first place?”

Her words uncomfortably resonated with my heart.

”I… we should fight this.” Someone needed to, what was going to happen to these people? To me? We would be sold, tested on? Live to be either lab rats, cattle or caretakers?

I laughed, something about this… it felt exactly like how it was back at the Cradle. Back with Brian Ulrich.

”By the way…” Aliya put a hand on my shoulder. “…there are some rules. Number one, fighting’s allowed, hell, they don’t care as long as you don’t kill them. Now remember, some of us are… okay, no one here is fine. We’re all fucked in the head and have found our own ways to compensate. Don’t trust anybody, not even me. You never know if it’s them or Soul Killer you’re talking, half the time they don’t know. Number two, meal time is strict, even after these years I still don’t get it, but they calculate our dietary intake exactly. Everyone here is fed something tailored to them.

”Number three. Don’t. Miss. Your meals. I’ve seen what they do in retaliation, what happens if you try to ignore them. You won’t like it. Number four, if you’re someone they’re interested in, they’ll take you away sometimes for testing. It has been two decades since I did it and showed no results then. If you don’t do well, they ship you away to god knows where, if you do… they’ll at least keep you alive. Number five. Aliya isn’t my real name, it’s just the identity I chose here. Call everyone by what they either want you to call them, or by their inmate number — don’t prod more… the name just brings back painful memories. Think up of something new to be called, or else just stick to your number when you get it. Number six. Keep your mutations and Implant a secret, some of us will… try things.”

I nodded, not entirely following everything she said but trying to digest it enough. There was no way in hell I was spending years down here, not even a fucking month… not…

”A name?” I asked myself more, thinking. “Call me Silvereye.”