Ryan's Resolve
Lily regarded me with an expression that was equal parts impatience and intrigue. "Well, first, we'll ask you questions relating to Mana," she said, gesturing to the machine beside her. "The lie detector will tell us if you lie or not. You don't lie, you'll be fine. You lie, you'll get electrocuted."
A cold shiver ran down my spine at the thought, and my mind reeled with confusion. If I was truly as valuable as they claimed, why would they subject me to the risk of torture? The threat of electrocution seemed counterintuitive to their goal of extracting information. Surely they understood the fragility of human life; a miscalculation could lead to my demise, rendering their efforts to remove my traces—my online presence—and abduct me utterly wasted. It was a chilling reminder of the precariousness of my situation—a delicate balance between usefulness and disposability.
"I thought you said I was invaluable," I retorted, searching her eyes for a shred of humanity.
"I did say that," Lily confirmed, her voice as cold as the steel of the machines surrounding us. "But if you're deemed as useless, it's better to kill you off so there's no resources wasted on you. And even if you die, you can go along with others like you who have died and be dissected."
Her words hung heavy in the air, painting a grim picture of the fate that awaited me should I cease to be useful. The reality of my situation sunk in like a knife twisting in my gut. I had become a commodity, my life hanging by a thread contingent on the value of the information I could provide. Questions swirled in my mind as I processed her chilling statement. What did she mean by "others like me"? Did they already torture other people like me, those who could see Mana? Had I unwittingly become part of a series of experiments, a mere link in a chain of unwilling participants in their relentless pursuit of knowledge about this mysterious energy?
"No more questions now," Lily declared, her voice slicing through the silence. "I've entertained you enough."
The finality in her tone left no room for argument. I was trapped in a game where the rules were set by Lily and her organization, a game where the stakes were life and death. As I sat there, bound to the machines that would determine my worth in their eyes, I couldn't shake the feeling of dread that came with the knowledge that I was not alone in my predicament. There were others, like me, whose lives had been upended by the appearance of Mana, and it seemed that our fates were intertwined in ways I was only beginning to understand.
She paused for a moment, allowing the gravity of her words to sink in before continuing. "When did you see Mana for the first time?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the lie detector machine as she awaited my response.
I swallowed hard, the words sticking in my throat as I recalled the day that had changed everything. "The day I posted that Chatter post," I said, my gaze locked on Lily's as I willed the lie detector to remain silent.
To my relief, the machine didn't trigger, its screen displaying a steady line that confirmed my truthfulness.
Lily nodded, a hint of satisfaction crossing her features. "For a cautious person, you sure are impatient," she remarked, her tone laced with a condescension that made my blood boil.
Before I could react, she posed another question, her voice as sharp as a blade. "How many dots can you see?"
The question caught me off guard. In all my interactions with Alex and 'Willow' on EchoChat, the topic of quantifying the Mana dots had never arisen. The white specks were countless, a dynamic constellation that swirled and shifted in my field of vision. They varied in size, some so minuscule they were barely perceptible, while others were larger and more distinct against the backdrop of my daily life. The constant movement made the idea of counting them seem as futile as trying to tally the stars in the night sky.
I hesitated, weighing my words carefully. Alex had never posed this question to me, which made me think it was a difficult one—perhaps even unanswerable. I saw this as an opportunity to hold something back, to keep a part of my experience with Mana to myself. In reality, I estimated there were roughly fifty of the dots in my vision at any given time, but I chose to report a lower number. It was about keeping my options open, a potential edge that could be crucial if an opportunity to escape presented itself. By downplaying my current abilities, I might convince them to underestimate me, increasing my chances of outwitting them when the moment was right. "There's roughly twenty-five," I said, hoping the lie wouldn't be detected.
Lily's eyes flickered to the lie detector, and she paused, her lips pressed into a thin line. After a moment that felt like an eternity, she sighed. "You really want to do this, Ryan?" she asked, her voice filled with a dangerous kind of patience.
"What do you mean?" I replied, my heart pounding in my chest as I tried to maintain my composure. Crap, did my lie fail? The thought raced through my mind, panic lacing the edges of my consciousness.
She didn't answer my question. Instead, she signaled to the man who had strapped me to the two machines earlier, a silent command that set my nerves on edge. The man moved to the machine I feared would electrocute me, his fingers brushing against a switch with a sense of detached curiosity.
The sensation that followed was like nothing I had ever experienced. My body convulsed as a surge of electricity coursed through me, every muscle contracting with searing pain. It felt as though my veins were filled with molten lead, my senses overwhelmed by the intensity of the shock. Time seemed to stretch and warp, the agony dragging on interminably until, finally, it stopped.
I gasped for air, my body shuddering as the aftershocks of the electrocution rippled through me. My vision swam, and I could taste copper in my mouth—the bitter tang of blood where my teeth had clamped down on my tongue.
Lily's face swam into view, her expression one of cold calculation. "You will answer our questions, Ryan," she said, her voice cutting through the fog of pain that clouded my thoughts. "And you will tell us the truth. It's in your best interest to do so."
With that, she turned her attention back to the lie detector, her fingers poised over the keys as she prepared to continue her interrogation. I knew then that my struggle was far from over, and that the road ahead would be fraught with danger and uncertainty. But I also knew that I had to endure, to survive, and to find a way out of this nightmare. For my family. For my friends. And for myself.
As Lily prepared to ask her next question, I braced myself for what was to come, determined to hold onto the shreds of hope that remained in the face of such overwhelming darkness.
The sharp sting of electricity still lingered on my skin, a brutal reminder of the consequences of withholding the truth. Lily's cold gaze bore into me, her impatience palpable in the chilly air of the room.
"Again," she commanded, her voice betraying none of the fatigue I felt coursing through my aching body. "How many dots can you see, Ryan?"
I knew the risks of lying again, but the fear of revealing my full capabilities to these strangers was overwhelming. I had to maintain some semblance of control, some leverage to aid in my escape.
"Twenty-five," I repeated, the lie tasting like ash on my tongue. I willed the lie detector to stay silent, to not betray the truth I was so desperately trying to conceal.
Lily sighed, a sound filled with exasperation and a hint of disappointment. She glanced at the man by the switch, a silent order for him to administer another round of electrocution.
The pain was instantaneous, a violent surge of power that felt like my body was being torn apart from the inside out. My muscles seized, my back arching involuntarily as I convulsed against the restraints. The world around me blurred into a haze of agony, the room and its occupants fading into the background as the searing pain took center stage.
When the current finally ceased, I was left gasping for breath, my heart pounding in my chest like a trapped animal desperate to escape. My vision swam with bright spots, the aftermath of the electrocution leaving me disoriented and vulnerable.
Lily's face came into focus, her expression one of stern resolve. "You know we can do this all day," she said, her voice devoid of emotion.
The threat was clear, and the fear of enduring another round of torture was enough to make me reconsider my stubbornness. I had to give them something, but not everything.
"OKAY, OKAY!" I blurted out, my voice frantic and laced with desperation. "I see thirty... thirty dots."
I held my breath, waiting for the lie detector to betray my deception, but the machine remained silent. The relief that washed over me was short-lived, replaced almost instantly by a renewed sense of dread as Lily prepared to ask her next question.
She studied me for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she weighed her next move. "Can you absorb Mana, and if so, when were you able to absorb it?"
The question hung in the air, heavy with implications I couldn't fully comprehend. I knew the truth could be a powerful tool, but it was a risk I wasn't willing to take just yet.
"Yes," I admitted, the word tasting like defeat. "I could absorb Mana... a day after the Chatter post."
It was a calculated lie, one that I hoped would be plausible enough to pass their scrutiny. I watched Lily's face for any sign of doubt, but her expression remained unreadable.
Her gaze flicked to the lie detector, and for a terrifying moment, I thought my deception had been uncovered. But then she spoke, her tone laced with a dark humor that sent a chill down my spine.
"You lied," she said, pausing for effect as a playful yet sinister smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, clearly savoring the moment. My heart raced, the anticipation of electrocution making my skin crawl with fear. Yet before the dreaded shock could come, she finished her thought. "In EchoChat, when I asked if you could absorb Mana..."
The realization hit me like a punch to the gut. She was referring to our earlier conversation in EchoChat, the one where I had indeed lied about my ability to absorb Mana. It was a test, a clever ruse to catch me off guard and confirm my deception without resorting to the machines at her disposal.
I let out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding, the tension in my body easing slightly as I processed her words. They believed my lie about the timing of my Mana absorption, which meant they didn't know the full extent of my capabilities. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.
"Now, Mr. Carter," Lily continued, her voice taking on a more serious tone. "Let's move on to the next question, shall we?"
I steadied myself for the next round of questioning, determined to maintain my composure. I needed to be strategic, doling out lies and truths in careful measure. My survival hinged on my ability to outmaneuver Lily's probing interrogation.