Over the next few hours, several things happened. I was escorted to a sort of combination of hospital and crazy scientist’s lab and I was scanned by several machines and processes, most of which were very uncomfortable and painful, but eventually I was escorted out of the room with a few new bandaids from scratches I had gotten from the fight. I had asked the doctors about the little girl, but they didn't respond, so after the first few times, I stopped.
I was brought back to the cell immediately after the examination and nothing happened to distract me from my thoughts for hours, until I heard the door click and two soldiers walked into my room, hands on their assault rifles, and ordered me to follow them. And so I did, through the straight long hallways, turning through corner after corner until finally we stopped in front of a door with a name tag that read “Site director Dr. Heart” so I will be talking with him again. Why all the drama with the guards though, why not just meet me in my cell?
The guards opened the door and quickly walked me inside the room, where I saw a desk and Dr. Heart sitting in a chair behind it. “Ah, yes. Arnold, please sit.” The doctor said happily, pretending not to notice the guards who were still gripping their guns, ready to shoot at any moment, and gestured to a metal chair positioned in front of his desk.
Not really having a choice, I sat down in the chair and waited for the doctor to speak again, feeling a little nervous. “So, I believe that you might have some questions before we begin?” the doctor asked me, looking me up and down expectantly. ‘I can just ask whatever now?’ I thought in disbelief and immediately got my thoughts in order to start my questioning from the people who had kept me in a cell for who knows how long.
“Ah, before you start, just know that while I won't lie to you, there are some things that you do not have the clearance to know and therefore I will not tell you.” The doctor said, looking and acting like he was slightly annoyed at what he said. “Ah, well that's fine I guess.” I say, a little hesitant now.
‘Well, no point not asking.’ I thought to myself, bolstering my courage a little. “Where am I?” I said, starting off the questioning. Dr. Heart hesitated, “You are in a PCS holding facility in a location you are not permitted to know.” he said after a moment. His answer just gave me more questions. “And what is a PCS? I was called PCS something or the other earlier.” I pressed and leaned forwards, my fear mostly alleviated at this point, with the logic that if they were going to kill me, they would have by now.
“That is… Complicated.” The doctor started, thinking. “I suppose that a good answer would be anything supernatural or anomalous in one way or the other. You for example are anomalous and therefore were put in a PCS holding facility when you were discovered.” Doctor Heart told me finally after thinking for a few seconds.
“And what makes me anomalous?” I ask him, confused. “Well, to be completely honest, we are not exactly sure yet.” the doctor said absentmindedly, as if thinking something over. “What do you mean ‘not exactly sure yet’ you imprisoned me in a cell for weeks and you weren't sure if I was an PCS!?” I demand angrily at the man behind the desk.
Dr. Heart winced a little at my voice, but his gaze turned cold and he looked me dead in the eyes and said “If you knew half of what was out there, you would do the same.” in a dark tortured voice, causing me to still. The noises through the night, those spiders, the portal, that voice, it was all coming back to me and I wondered what else was out there.
“Well, moving on. If you are done with your questions-” the doctor started, but I interrupted him quickly for one last question “Just one more. Who are you guys? What do you work for?” I asked quietly.
“We are the PCS foundation. Or the Protection, Containment and Security foundation. We protect the world from things that are not of this world.” The doctor said seriously, then smiled. “Now then, let's talk about this morning.” Dr. Heart said brightly.
What followed was basically him asking a lot of questions about what I did in the hallway and why I did it, until finally I finished telling him and he paused, sitting back in his chair, clearly thinking something over. “From your actions, I can tell you are a good guy and we reward good behaviour, so I think that it's about time to get you your reward.” Dr. Heart said after a few moments. “I believe that you should be permitted to leave solitary confinement, but I have to speak to my higher-ups for stuff like that and it might take a while, so why dont you make a few requests for something to spruce up your cell?” Heart said brightly, making me sit up a bit straighter.
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“What kind of requests are we talking about? Just anything, or…” I asked, trailing off hopefully. “Well, there are some limitations, but why don't you just ask and I can see what I can do.” Dr. Heart said, chuckling softly.
I took that as a green card and I started a long list of things that I would like, mainly electronics of some kind or the other, but I did mention other things, like a few changes of clothes, a pair of shoes and a set of weights. When I finished thinking of anything else I looked up at Heart hopefully. “Well, I can tell you right now that you won't be permitted electronic devices yet, but I think that everything else will be fine.” the doctor said with a wistful smile at my apparent eagerness at having something to do.
“Well, I suppose anything is better than nothing.” I said, frowning a little. “Yes, that is true.” Heart agreed, then I was escorted back to my cell. A few hours later, I was sitting on my bed, hoping for the arrival of my requested stuff, but apparently it would take a while as nothing came. The lights in my cell went out quickly and I lay back on my bed with a groan of pain from the scratches and bruises on my back making themselves known. “Let's get to sleep…” I muttered tiredly, not noticing the loud shouts and shreeks coming from all around me from throughout the facility.
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In a small office Dr. Heart scratched his beard thoughtfully as he thought about the man now known as PCS-17783-2.
What exactly had happened before PCS-17783 was found and taken from the completely unknown group of thaumaturgy practitioners, which somehow were capable of not only harnessing, but completely draining the power of the main altar in PCS-17783. There were no other survivors from that group either, as they all chose to either kill themselves or get killed by the taskforce.
‘Now though, we might have some insight on exactly what happened and what we are dealing with.’ He thought with a small amount of satisfaction as he went over the interview in his mind. He had arranged the interview purely to gain some insight on Arnolds perspective on the small fight he had and see if he was fit to leave solitary confinement, but the talk was more enlightening than he thought it would be.
First off, his description of the fight and the way he phrased his actions during the fight gave some credit to him actually being a boxer like he claimed, or at least has been involved in some sort of physical combat training like it.
Second, his actions and instinct when he saw PCS-191, who also went by a more fitting nickname ‘the cybernetic child’, showed his true personality and character quite well. He seemed to have a good protective instinct, along with a caring approach when dealing with children like the girl. He also seemed very unconcerned about the artificial and technological nature of parts of the girl, which was interesting though according to him it was more due to cybernetic enhancement being, while not popular, well known and in use in some ways.
That brought up the third, and more intriguing discovery. He seemed to be from another reality or parallel universe. He never directly stated this, but it became apparent after certain questioning. Throughout the interview, Arnold brought up or mentioned things that were, not only nonexistent, but unheard of in this reality. A longer list of the smaller things he mentioned was written on his desk and he poured over it slowly.
Cybercraft, a videogame that was mentioned when asked about what games he would want if he was permitted to have a console that has not been invented or mass produced as of yet. Planet Wars, a movie series that has not been created or mass produced as of yet. X-Case, a video game console that has not been invented or mass produced as of yet. VR headsets, a piece of gaming technology that has not been invented or mass produced as of yet.
The list went on and on, things that seemed from the future, things that haven't been thought up or designed yet. It's not likely that Arnold was lying either as he mentioned these things in such a casual way that they seemed to be completely normal for him and he would have to had been a really good actor along with very knowledgeable or creative about possible technologies and creative enough to come up with plots and ideas that have not been popularized in any way, yet.
It is still a possibility however, so we will need to keep an eye on him in case he was sent as some sort of spy from the organization that took over PCS-17783.
Then there was a part of video from the body camera of a member of the taskforce during the breach of PCS-17783. It wasn't clear and actually surprisingly bad quality, but you could make out a red portal closing, that looked like the one described by Arnold, for just a few seconds.
‘Everything adds up.’ Dr. Heart thought to himself as he went over the facts for the tenth time, “I think that it is time to update PCS-17783-2’s files.” Heart sighed and reached out for a clipboard and he started writing down his new theory.