Chapter 138: Quinn Larisch (Part 10)
I knew that for the doctor to scan my tattoo, he would have to bring the scanner close to my body. With one tattoo on my left tricep and the other on my right thigh, the doctor must temporarily deactivate the wentworth and release the locks restricting those regions. All I need to do is wait for that to happen and then make contact with his skin to use override. It’ll be extremely weak, as the rest of the iris in my body is still dampened by wentworth, but all I need is one chance.
And I got my chance. After the doctor released the restraints wrapped around my upper arm and brought his gloved hands close to use the scanner, I nearly dislocated my shoulder as I forced my elbow to twist, pushing my upper arm slightly into the air and brushing against the doctor’s wrist.
Activating override, I manipulated the doctor’s memories of our conversation to where he would see me as his superior without continuing on with the routine procedure. The process of overriding him was completed instantly, and the doctor, who never actually scanned my tattoo, stood back up while my head reared in agony.
Through quick breaths, I ordered him to unfasten me from the chair so I could re-establish my flow of iris, and he did exactly that. I then requested he hand over the iris scanner to me, and he adhered. Getting a handle on my breathing, I ordered him to sit before asking him to reveal what else he would have done if he had continued the procedure. The doctor explained that after conducting the physical and mental tests, he was required to input any data regarding iris wielders.
Being reminded, I walked over to him and tapped him on the neck, ordering him to change my information about being a dual wielder to a solo wielder. After he changed it, I pushed him aside. I scanned myself, allowing the system to intake all the needed details to my override ability. Touching the doctor on the neck again, I ordered him to return the iris scanner to where he had obtained it, and he followed my request to the letter. Everything else I was okay with the system knowing, so I left it how it was.
Returning to the medical chair and allowing the doctor to sit on the stool, I asked him what else would be done. He answered that the subject was supposed to be knocked out after the iris information was recorded. Once asleep, the subject must be shot with the memory gun, which causes severe amnesia, forcing the subject to lose consciousness of their memories for an extended period. The doctor then explained they must submit the details that the subject was asleep and had lost their memories.
Calling the soldiers at that point, the subject will then be carried out of the room by the soldiers to a large dormitory, where the rest of the subjects will also be asleep. After every subject has been tested, each subject will be transported to one of the eight sectors on the outskirts of the kingdom. The subjects will be placed in varying sectors depending on their scores. Once they wake up, they’ll be forced to fight for their survival against their competitors. After I was gone, the next subject would enter the room within a minute or two.
It was pretty straightforward. I already knew some of this from my parents. Still, I had no idea that my memories could have been tampered with if I let things play out as intended. This bothered me, but I kept my cool.
Leaning forward and touching the doctor, I say, “You will listen to every word until I am done speaking, and then obey what I instruct you to do. Firstly, you will knock me out but don’t give me the usual dosage. Give me a lot less, so I will wake up earlier than everybody else. Do not shoot me with the memory gun at all. Only put me to sleep. Once I am asleep, input the information that I am comatose and have lost my memories. After that, call the soldiers to transport me to the dormitory. As soon as you call the soldiers, you will forget everything I have done and told you, including that I am your superior. You will believe you correctly completed your procedure on me, a simple subject of the trials, and go about your day as normal. Once the soldiers arrive, you will interact with them as you typically would, whether that includes speaking or not. You will begin preparing for the next subject as soon as they take me away and you are alone in the room again.”
Lifting my hand away from his face, I brought a hand to my head and forced myself to bear the immense pain. While I massaged the side of my temple, the doctor walked past me to the cabinets, presumably to grab whatever would put me to sleep. Moments later, I felt a needle inject itself into the side of my neck, and I lost consciousness.
Water was splashed on my face as I was starkly woken up. It was dark and cold, a chilly breeze whisking against my skin as I realized I was wearing only a t-shirt and underwear. My arms were outstretched and chained to branches on either side of me, and my ankles were chained to the tree trunk. Looking around, the moonlight was bright enough for me to discern that I was in the middle of a forest, and based on the moon's positioning, it must be in the early hours of the morning, a few hours before sunrise.
Two men then walked into view, one of which I knew and the other I did not.
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“General Kane,” I said, trying to remain calm. “What’s going on?”
But the middle-aged general did not reply, and instead, the other man stepped forward toward me, “Quinn Larisch, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard great things about what you’ve done for Iasa… it’s a real shame that your hard work was already forgotten and tossed aside like trash.”
This man was primarily dressed in black, and half of his face was mutilated. I didn’t know how to reply, but I assumed I would be okay, considering General Kane was there. I was wrong.
“You worked so hard for this kingdom… this country… only for them to forget you. You were used… taken advantage of. You gave everything you had, and here you are, wound up in the trials. They don’t value your life or your loyalty… doesn’t that upset you? Aren’t you angry?”
I say, “Cut the crap. I wouldn’t be tied up like this if you wanted to ask me such a dumb question. You already know my answer. And considering my old friend Kane is with you, I’m sure he’s already filled you in on what I specialized in during the war. So what the hell do you want?”
The man smirked and cracked his knuckles, “I don’t really appreciate your tone.”
He strikes me in the gut, knocking the wind out of me, “The name’s Zeris, and you should probably be a little more careful about what you say to me. Why’d you override the doc and make him classify you as a solo wielder?”
“I don’t know what you mean. I am a solo wielder.”
Zeris gives me a punch across the face, the side of my torso, and then drives his foot directly into my groin. Unable to hunch over, I bite down on my lower lip and stare at the ground, bearing the pain until it quickly alleviates a few seconds later, thanks to my iris.
Grabbing my forehead and violently pressing the back of my head against the tree trunk, Zeris comes face to face with me and whispers, “You’ve done this job plenty of times. So you know this will be over much faster if you tell me the truth. For one, I saw both of your tattoos. And two, you’re still an amateur in iris, so don’t try to play this off like one tattoo is meant to be a fake.”
Zeris’s eyes begin to glow a harrowing purple, “Become skilled enough, and you can tell how many cores a person has when using orasi. Not only that, but you can also see the speed and rhythm of one’s iris flowing through one's body. You may have been under that sedation drug, but it was obvious that the dosage wasn’t as heavy as the rest, as your iris was flowing much quicker than the other comatose wielders in this group. Now tell me, why’d you override the doc?”
Getting my wind back, I quickly glance at Kane before returning my gaze to Zeris, “To protect my mother. If the government found out I was an unlicensed dual wielder, there was a good chance they would’ve killed her.”
“I know,” replies Zeris, delivering a few punches to my face, stomach, and thighs. “Once I consulted with Kane, connecting the missing shard to your dedication to hiding your existence as a dual wielder was child’s play. Only somebody like you could have the ability to steal one and cover it up so well. And now you’re here, at the trials… at my mercy.”
My eye was already bruised, and it hurt to look at Zeris as I repeated, “Like I asked before… what the hell do you want with me?”
He punches me several more times. Blood was dripping out of my mouth and nose now, but this time around, I didn’t care if I showed him any of the pain I was feeling. I weakly wheezed until my iris lessened the pain. Zeris crouched down underneath me and looked me in the eye.
“You want her to stay alive, don’t you?”
“I swear if you f*cking hurt her–”
I’m slapped across the face by a hand enhanced with iris, making the impact sting much longer than the rest of the punches and kicks I’ve endured.
“I won’t lay a hand on her… but I will have my buddy Kane tell the government some stuff if you decide to misbehave,” says Zeris, tilting his head. “Do you understand?”
“I–... I do. Just don’t– I’ll do anything you want.”
“‘Course you will. Because I’ve managed to buy your father some more time.”
My eyes widened, “Dad is still–?”
Zeris socks me in the stomach, “Yep. But with both your parents alive, it’d be a shame if they never get to see their son return home, wouldn’t it?”
My eyes like daggers, I glare at Zeris, conjuring a disc in each hand, knowing full well that I couldn’t do anything with them, “I know all these tricks inside and out. Get to the damn point.”
After that outburst, Zeris doesn’t retaliate with a punch, kick, or do anything, for that matter. He only waits. And waits. And waits. And then, finally, he says something.
“I admire your spirit… and your will to live,” he says, standing up and taking a few steps backward.
Manifesting a pair of twin daggers, one in each hand, a dark purple iris aura bursts out of both blades as chains wrap around Zeris’s arm. Tossing both daggers in the air, they merge in the air as a flash of purple, white, and black lightning strikes the ground around us. With the chains molding together into a solid handle, a handheld weapon with a blade on each end is forged, otherwise called a 'swallow'. As Zeris caught the handle, purple light sparked off the newly created swallow.
Looking back at me with a fierce purple glow dancing in his eyes, Zeris says, “But I am one of the eight monarchs of Kadil in the world. And if you ever decide to stand against me, I will make you watch both your parents die before you meet an identical fate.”
I was terrified by the sheer display of power in front of me, fear burying itself into my very bones as the discs in my hand disintegrated. It took everything I had not to freeze up or mentally shut down because I knew I had to respond despite the harrowing threat just made to me.
Ultimately, all I could manage to choke out was, “Understood.”