Disclaimer: I do not own Noblesse. The Story in the Characters belong to Son Je Ho and Lee Gwang Su.
All the king's horses
and
all the king's men
Couldn't put me back together again
…
He stared at the metal bars without actually seeing them. The constant sound of water drops reverberated in his ears. Occasionally he could hear the screams of other experiments as they threw themselves at the bars, and beat their heads against the wall. Their shrieks had been devoid of humanity for a long time now.
M-21 was the only one of his comrades who had kept his mind after all these years. For this he enjoyed special fucking attention of these bastards. He gnashed his teeth and tightened his hold on the chains that held his arms above his head.
They wanted to force him to obey. "If you obey the command, you may sit down. If you obey the command you will get something to drink. If you obey the order..." dirty scumbags! As if that will ever happen. What did he have to gain out of this anyway? Nothing. When his comrades were still alive, and not turned into rabid beasts before his eyes, he had obeyed. To survive and to protect them. Now...? Hell would freeze over before he let these monsters have the slightest tingle of satisfaction! Whether or not they tortured him.
Without his comrades, his life meant nothing to him. Death, when it comes, would be a liberation and a better fate than what has become of him and would further become of him if that bastard returned. He bore the blame for what had happened to his comrades. For what happened to him.
M-21 put his head back to try and relieve some stress off his shoulders, which felt like they were pierced through with hot bars. How long did they want to let him hang this time?
Hissing, he puffed out his breath and watched the steam cloud disappear in the freezing cell with half-lidded eyes, and remembered…
~.~.~
"Is that them?" asked an aloof, cold voice. M-21 lifted his head, and gently slipped at M-24s side who sat facing the entrance of the cell. There stood Dr. Crombel with some hooded figures, most of whom wore long white cloaks. The man next to Crombel, who caught M21s attention foremost, however wore fur-lined coat. He was bigger than Combel, his face a rigid mask from where his eyes glowed brightly. M-21 could feel the hair at the back of his neck rise up in alarm.
His comrades and he had been brought to this outdated Union laboratory not long ago. All the people they encountered here seemed to be modified. No, they were not even human ... And now these hooded bodies in front of their cell gave M-21 the same impression.
"As I promised you Elder. Eight people. They are all experiment material with which I can not do anything else at the moment. They are somewhat more robust than normal people and should be useful for your purpose," said Crombel with false friendliness.
M-21 could see the greed in his eyes. Whatever has been planned to be done with them, Crombel was eager to see it. His fear grew.
"Of course" a satisfied smile spread over the mouth of the unknown as he looked at them. "Close the door, Doctor," he said to the person behind him "Try not to kill them immediately. That would be tedious. "
M-21s heart raced. He stood up slowly, and tried to put himself in front of M-24. Perhaps these people were enhanced individuals who wanted to test their powers? In such cases it was always better not to fight too hard. But there was something with these people that made him uneasy and raised within him an urge to protect his comrades. A handful of individuals came towards them.
Then everything happened very quickly. He didn't even get the time to study their faces, many of them were already in front of his comrades and him. One of them threw him with face first into the wall, and pushed his cheek against the cold stone. M-21 felt sharp pain before he was released, just as quickly as he was caught.
Dazed by the force of the impact, he sank to the ground, and pressed his hand against his neck. Blood trickled between his fingers. One bite, one has bitten him. What could this be? He knew that M-24 could bite people to infect them but ...
His head whipped to one side as he heard a strangled cry. M-75 writhed back and forth on the ground. Next to him M-44 wildly scratched his bloody arm. What was going on? Where was M-24? and the rest of his comrades? He wanted to turn around, but his body no longer listened to him. M-21 found himself on the floor and screamed...
~.~.~
He did not know how long he and his comrades lied there. Sometime later, a few scientists came to collect them and put them in separate cells. This was the last time that M-21 saw his comrades.
Left alone in his cell, he had screamed, and scratched his neck until finally his hands were tied behind his back and his mouth stuffed with gag till his throat. Every part of him burned, his veins seemed to be injected with acid, and his heart was bursting. The only reprieve was the unconsciousness that caught him at regular intervals and saved him for a while from reality. M21 drifted in and out of awareness, too weak to even scream eventually and instead listened to his comrades choked voices. And to the hooded beings eager speculations. These bastards had wagered which of them would survive.
Eventually the time came when he had woken up and there was no sound to be heard. Silence. His whole body ached, his head felt as if it had been banged against the wall over and again, he could not think properly. But worst was his heart that stuck out like a piece of glowing iron making every single beat apparent. M-21 lied motionless on the cell floor and stared at the wall, just like now, unable to do anything but wait until the pain subsided.
Through the scientists who regularly examined him, he found out the fate of his comrades. Those who survived had become insane, uncontrollable like wild beasts they attacked everything. Even their own comrades. They seemed to have no feelings left, felt no more pain.
But he had not only survived, he had kept his mind! And he had grown stronger! To the scientist who provided him this information so enticingly, M-21 gave a taste of this precious fucking power by tearing out his throat with his teeth.
Elder monkey was delighted at this and laughed until M-21 spat the blood on his face and told him to piss off. This was the beginning of his torture.
Again he heard a wild scream ringing through the underground corridors. Who was it this time? Tired, M-21 closed his eyes.
Combel and Elder came to see him at regular intervals, watching him carefully, and ordering new tests each time. They were waiting for something. Every time M-21 saw them, an unfriendly remark slipped out. Combel the asshole took it with smile, but the Elder monkey had too brittle an ego, so M21 has already insulted him pretty much with everything and got the blows for it.
His regeneration and reflexes increased. His senses grew sharp to the point where M-21 could smell these crap pits. They had also tested that he could survive without food and water for much longer than a regular modified human.
But there was something they had no idea about. It was this thing in his head, as if something was taken from him, turned into a beast and stuffed back into his mind. This animal, this wolf had been the one to make him pull the scientist's throat out...
Whenever Combel came with the Elder, the thing in his head raced senselessly. It kept a constant contact with him and his thoughts, it was like himself and yet different, and became more like him every day, or did he become more like the wolf? It became difficult for him to determine what action and which sentence came from him and what from the wolf.
In the end, M-21 held no illusions. Sooner or later this thing would have enough of him and devour him completely. He knew the Union enough to guess what would happen next. They would transport him to another laboratory? Erase his memory again and continue to torture him till he was nothing more than an empty shell? Or will he become mad like his comrades did, after completely merging with the wolf?
Strangely, M-21 found the later thought consoling. At first the wolf had seemed like threat, but in truth it has protected him somehow and has held him up, shared his suffering and waited for a better future with him… but he had not been able to escape, he had not even been able to take his own life.
His own despair nearly stifled him. He twitched, the wolf scratching his head as if to free itself, and M-21 took a deep breath and shouted. The other voices that raged and shrieked with him were silent now. He howled till his voice gave out. Then came the stillness where only the dripping of the water was heard. M-21 let his head sink to his chest like a beat up rag doll and half-dozed again.
Waiting.
He could only wait.