Extraction

"Shut it off now!"

The sound of the machine coming to life drowned his voice, neon patterns appearing on the body along with some draconian symbols.

"Beginning Extraction"

Panic surged through Caelum's veins as he heard those words, his mind went to different places, each one filling him with dread as he imagined what Berry was going through inside.

"Shut it off now!" He yelled, slamming his fist on the box.

"We can't"

His head snapped to Sepehr who was looking coldly at him, "we can't turn it off" he repeated.

Caelum walked to him with large, menacing strides, "are you fucking defying my orders?!! I said shut that thing down!!" he yelled, making all the scientists in the room flinched.

They had rarely seen Caelum angry and what's more shocking is that he was getting angry over a Rune.

However, Sepehr stood his ground, he looked up at Caelum and spoke firmly, "even if we wanted to,

"Even if we wanted to we can't, the machine was designed to complete the entire process before we can shut it down, I'm sorry Caelum but this is for our own good".

Caelum felt the alarms in his head going off, his vision was blinding with panic, fear and rage. What was happening to Berry? He can't see or hear him, only the gods knew what that thing was doing to him inside.

"30%"

Caelum's fist clenched, blue energy starting to gather around him, his eyes were glowing, he looked ready to tear everything down.

"If you try to get him out with force, the machine will self-destruct and kill him"

Those words from Sepehr were like a blow to his stomach, the energy around him died down, "what?"

"If you try to bring him out by force, the machine will blow him and possibly others here to pieces"

Caelum felt the weight crashing down on his shoulders, he took a step away from Sepehr, "why are you doing this?" his voice was barely above a whisper.

"Cause we need this madness to stop, the mutations, the feral nature, we need it to end! And this is the only way, we cannot afford to let our emotions blind us! We must do what needs to be done!"

"By torturing Berry? By hurting him?! what the fuck is even happening to him in there?!!! Can't you see how bad this is?!"

"You never had a problem torturing Runes in the past"

"That was a long time ago! And that too was a mistake! Never again!"

"50%"

"Caelum look at you! You have become soft all because of this Rune you barely know, you have forgotten the goal"

Caelum yelled, "I have not!! But there are other ways to achieve it, without hurting anyone!!"

"People must get hurt!! It is for the greater good! You're so blinded by your stupid feelings that you can't see that!!"

Caelum scoffed in disbelief, "what has happened to you?"

"I have come to realize the truth, and this is what we must do"

Caelum felt torn, he wanted to tear it all to pieces but he couldn't, it meant he had no choice but to allow the 'extraction' process finish.

Berry would have to endure whatever he was going through inside. He felt his heart ache at the thought, I wonder what they are doing to him, he started back at the box, walking towards it, his face filled with worry and pain.

"I told you not to get attac-"

"Quiet!!!"

The sound shook the room, all the scientists including Sepehr froze in shock and fear. They shifted uncomfortably as he stared down at them with anger and resentment.

"You have done enough"

He looked back at the box, hoping, praying that Berry was alright. I was supposed to protect him.

"70%"

As the numbers grew higher so did the dread in Caelum's heart, what would have become of the pink-haired Rune at the end.

"80%"

The scientists watched with bated breaths, their anxiety high but they had a determined look on their face, ready to see the outcome and hopefully everything would go as they have planned.

But if it did the story would end so no.

The indicators on the box started flashing red, the alarm going off loudly in the room. Caelum felt his heart rate quicken, he spoke in an outraged and panicked voice, "What the fuck is happening?!"

Sepehr and the other scientists were also panicking, they were tapping the screens of their tablet, trying to understand why the alarms went off.

"That's not supposed to happen"

"The systems are overloading"

"Fuck! We can't shut it off!"

"We have to find a way to shut it off or else it's gonna blow!"

Caelum's heart was pounding in his chest. The temperature of the room began rising, the air was also becoming toxic and harder for them to breathe in.

"Fuck! What's happening?!" One of the scientist said in a shaky voice.

"We have to get out of here!"

They all began running towards the entrance of the door, desperate to get out.

In that moment Caelum had no idea what to do, he felt confused, more confused than he had ever been in his life. He turned to Sepehr who had frantically touching different buttons on his screen and cursing.

"No no no! Fuck no, this isn't supposed to happen! We were doing fine! No no, I NEED THIS!!" he suddenly cried out in rage and threw the neon screen to the floor, shattering it.

Caelum was about to speak when the alarm suddenly got louder, he turned to the box, deliberating for a moment before trusting his instincts and clenching his fists.

A large surge of energy coursed through his veins, he felt the heat rising in his chest and the power moving through him.

"Sepehr! Get out of here now!"

He knew it was too risky to try and force his way in but he needed to save Berry. 

Sepehr was in a daze, his mind blocking out the chaos, his face was masked with despair and agony, "this wasn't supposed to happen! I need this!".

"Sepehr get out now!!"

He had no time to spare, the alarms were getting louder and the machines were overloading, he strained with effort and let out a large blast of energy towards the machine.

BOOM