So it's already been almost two months since I posted this story. Man does time fly when I do absolutely nothing at all. xD
I hope that everyone's doing well today. I mean, it's friday and most of us should have Monday off. Can we get any more win in a single day? :D ...But then again, there's going to be some people who just aren't feeling it today. If that's you, then I hope that you're dealing with whatever's getting you down.
This is the first split-POV chapter in this entire fic (although it won't be the last). Remember when pretty much every chapter used to be split-POV? I remember a chapter of City of Progress that was like 5 POVs. It seems like such a silly thing to do now. Looking back at City of Progress, my writing has gotten a lot better... at least, I like to think so. Maybe I'm horrible and I just don't know it. xD Always a possibility.
Also, I hope that you guys have something fun planned for Valentine's day! *Hears frantic rushing in the background to put something together* Phew, sometimes it's nice being single. ;) Now that I think about it, I really don't have any responsibilities at all now that I'm a 2nd semester high school senior. Uh... I'm not trying to brag or anything. That realization just came to me. I'm not trying to be mean to you I promise. :(
Anyways, the chapter. A lot of it is just stuff that I needed to put somewhere and didn't have the opportunity to do so before now. So yeah, not a lot of plot. :( And this story is already moving more slowly than I would like. Curse you, 3 big PoVs!
Also, thank you to those of you who have been keeping up with this monotonous fic and reviewing it. :) It really means a lot to me that people are actually taking the time to reflect and respond to what they read. If you have anything you want to say, feel free to write a review! I promise that I won't bite. :)
...And if I do ever say something that hurts your feelings, please tell me. I probably don't know that I'm doing it.
Now, onto review responses:
Shimo no ko: Yep, Silhouette guy is dude from the portrait. :) Heh, something tells me that you might be right about your Mr. Agerate theory... since the way that he stopped mystery silhouette guy from stating his relation to Minerva was definitely intentional. But whether your theory is determined right or wrong won't be seen for a while. Sorry :( Yeah, Dr. Andonuts is supposed to be a little enigmatic. And speaking of which, he's not the only one in the lab...
PSIBoy: Ah, good. I thought that I totally screwed something up by accidentally making the knives opposites or something. xD Yeah, there are only so many ideas to go around, and only a small subset of those actually work in a story setting. It's natural that there would be some overlap. Yeah, Poo's a character that needs a lot more explanation but I'm struggling to find the space for it. It's true that people tend to see their own cultures favorably, so I'll have to find some way to explain that. Nice catch. And they weren't being completely serious when blaming Tony. :) Glad that you found it amusing.
Heh, I don't think that anyone did like Boras' son from that scene. And yeah, the contrast between the chimeras in this fic and the ones in Mother 3 was intentional. :) I try to make this story less whimsical and more realistic, so gene splicing makes more sense in that context. Now that I think about it, I probably should have referenced more GMOs used in regular life on Ceres. This is why it's good to plan things out. Yeah, I know that I'm juggling a huge cast, and I'm going to introduce even more new characters when the plot needs it. Still, I'm working on thinning out the cast (take that how you will :D). I think that I can manage it if I divide the story up into more scenes where each one has fewer characters, but that takes a long time to write. We'll see. :) That's why it's nice to write fanfiction; I don't know if I would risk something like that if I wanted to make money off of this. See you! :)
Different body, different personality.
Once, I would have scoffed at those words. I would have said something like "What's on the outside doesn't change who I am on the inside!" Man, I was a stupid little kid. It's all so obvious to me now.
We act based on how we see ourselves. As a kid, people called me a troublemaker, so I perceived myself as a goofball to justify my lack of regard for the rules. All of my jokes stem from my own self-imposed identity of someone who just doesn't care.
So now that I'm out in the woods, I want to think that I'm more attuned to my inner self, but I'm pretty sure that's a load of bullcrap. We're biological machines. Everything that we do is either directly or indirectly related to survival or reproduction.
My actions change to match the skin that I now wear. Dr. Andonuts is a scientist, and scientists work hard. Therefore, I work hard. It's typical for me to spend eight or nine hours in a row on a project without eating or drinking. And I don't have to force myself to do that; it just comes naturally.
But get me back in my "real" form and I won't be able to complete a chore to save my life.
Oh, psych, Megan thought, looking at a group of giant scorpions inside of a bug cage. Those don't look normal.
She resisted the urge to barf. Such loathsome creatures. She scanned the rest of the room, using her psionics to provide light. Thankfully, she spotted no chimeras besides the oversized bugs in the cage next to her. A psionic aura in the distance beckoned her forward. How much longer would she keep chasing the aura through the chimera labs before giving up?
I told Tony not to do anything stupid, she thought. Did he listen? …Maybe not. I swear, I would be so much harder on these kids if Ana didn't spoil me by acting like an angel.
…Maybe too much like an angel for her own good.
Megan sighed. She would not think about what Agerate told her. Ana was fine. No cause for concern.
"Not going to follow me any longer, Secretary Aniah?" came a voice that Megan recognized from the other side of the room.
Megan looked up, spotting Morgan Lorune. So she carried the psionic aura that Megan chased. A wave of conflicting emotions washed over Megan, leaving her speechless.
"And not even a hello for your dear friend?" Morgan taunted. "I remembered how much you loved arachnids, so I made a point to lead you through here. Those chimeras are rather… vivacious, aren't they?"
Megan looked back at the cage of scorpions. It appeared that a few of them were trying to break the bars with their pincers. Even more disturbing, Megan could detect some bending in the wire. It was clear that their efforts were not in vain.
"Yeah, 'vivacious' is not exactly how I'd put it," Megan said.
Morgan flashed an icy smile. She walked towards Megan, kicking a couple of cans out of the way.
"You look like you've seen better days," Megan said, resisting the urge to take a step back. "And what happened to your psionic aura? It's so… weak."
"That is from overchanneling," Morgan said. "Since your precious friend tried to wipe out my entire village."
"Minerva?" Megan asked with a nervous chuckle. "I'm pretty sure that she hasn't fallen that low."
"Think again," Morgan said, walking up to the cage of scorpions. "It's okay, darlings," she said to the arachnids. "I know how you feel. Misjudged, trapped, manipulated, betrayed. We'll get our revenge soon."
"What happened to you?" Megan asked, recoiling in disgust. "This isn't normal, Morgan."
"Oh, but didn't you say that empathy is one of the most important attributes a human can have?" Morgan asked. "I'm practicing my empathy with the animal kingdom."
"Why did you just disappear two years ago?" Megan asked, gritting her teeth, "Why do you just show up now all of the sudden? And what did you do to Ana?"
"So many questions," Morgan said, dusting herself off. "I will do my best to answer them in a logical manner."
I doubt that anything you do is "logical" anymore, Megan thought grimly.
"Now," Morgan started. "Do you remember the mission that Minerva and I embarked on? To obtain the needles on Aphrodite?"
"Yeah," Megan said. "I learned recently that she can remotely control ectoplasmic soldiers with those needles."
"Ooh, you sound bitter," Morgan said with a dainty smile. The madness in her eyes made Morgan's doll-like appearance all the more disturbing. "You're probably going to be annoyed by what comes next. So you know the Osohe legend, right? That the needles on Aphrodite were keeping a dragon asleep and that anyone who pulls the needles passes their heart to the dragon?"
"…Are you telling me that legend is real?" Megan asked.
"Of course not," Morgan said, waving hear hand dismissively. "A dragon sleeping under the ground? Give me a break, Megan. That's ridiculous."
Megan breathed a sigh of relief.
"However," Morgan said, a smile creeping back onto her face. "We should have proceeded with caution. Those sorts of legends often have kernels of truth, or so the overused metaphor goes. It turns out that the needles were keeping something locked up inside of Aphrodite." Morgan walked up and whispered in Megan's ear, "Giygas."
G-Giygas? Megan thought. No… no. That thing was locked away in Aphrodite?
Megan took a step away, trying to calm her pounding heart. Having a heart attack right now would be downright embarrassing, and with the amount of fat in Megan's diet…
"His little visit a few days ago makes more sense now, doesn't it?" Morgan asked. "And it explains why the needles are powerful enough to control Minerva's soldiers. They were originally inserted to control Giygas and keep it from doing anything. Of course something that powerful could turn blobs of goo into pawns."
"But in that case, who controlled the needles to keep Giygas trapped before Minerva?" Megan asked. "I mean, none of the Osohe were alive to do it. You're not making sense today."
Morgan paused, cocking her head.
"I never really thought about who could be controlling Giygas," Morgan said. "But it doesn't matter. So what do you think Minerva did after releasing Giygas, knowing that it could destroy human civilization in the blink of an eye?"
"I think that you're lying," Megan said.
"She decided to nuke the psych out of Aphrodite," Morgan hissed, grabbing Megan's shoulder and shaking it. "My family lived there, Megan. My best friend dropped nuclear bombs on my family. I had a husband and two sons. Dead. It didn't even accomplish anything. Giygas is still here."
Morgan sighed, her shoulders drooping over.
"That's what I told Ana," she whispered. "I told her how Minerva nuked Aphrodite. That's why she went hysterical. I wanted… to show her the truth, since she's a sheltered little-"
"You will not speak that way about my friend or my daughter!" Megan shouted. "Minerva would never do that, and I don't know what you were going to say about Ana, but I can tell you now that it's not true. They're both wonderful people, and nothing that you can ever say will change that."
"So loyal," Minerva said, sneering in disgust. "It blinds you, just like it blinded me. Don't you think that I worshipped Minerva too? So strong, so understanding, yet so smart and savvy… She was the older sister that I always wanted. I would have died for her, Megan. And what did I get? A batch of nuclear weapons sent to wipe out my planet!"
Looking at the intensity in Morgan's eyes, Megan couldn't help but feel her doubts about Morgan's sincerity fade away like morning mist.
"You… you're psyching serious, aren't you?" Megan asked, bringing her hands up to her heart. "No… You have to be lying. This can't be real."
"I went through that same phase of denial," Morgan said with a smile. "Trust me; you'll see the truth before long."
NO! Megan thought. She couldn't end up like Morgan, empathizing with scorpions and inflicting pain on others because she saw them as privileged. I… need to talk to Adam about this. But I was the one who always knew what to do in our marriage! What happens now that I'm the one who needs help?
"I… see that thought distresses you," Morgan said. "I suppose that I cannot blame you. Very well, I shall leave you alone to mull over the truths that I speak. Farewell, dear friend… If that term even remotely applies anymore. Teleport!"
After a second, Morgan faded from existence. With her aura no longer downing out everything else, Megan sensed a mind shield not too far behind her. Mind shields covered up a psion's aura, but they themselves could be detected, although it took far more skill. With a start, Megan realized that she recognized the mind shield's make. It almost certainly belonged to…
Mr. Agerate dashed into the room, slowing to an eventual halt.
"What are you doing here?" Megan asked, shoving her emotions behind a mask of serenity. "Shouldn't you be teaching something?"
"You seem distressed," Mr. Agerate said. "And I detected another psion here… Morgan?"
"How did you know?" Megan asked.
"Her brother was here. He's gone now."
"What?" Megan asked, blinking rapidly. "She has a brother?"
"Yeah. I don't think that he's completely sane."
"I don't know that I'd rate Morgan much higher, honestly," Megan whispered. "You're right. She admitted to messing with Ana's mind. That makes me so angry."
"Is that the only reason why you're angry?" Mr. Agerate asked.
Megan immediately turned her head, looking the teacher straight in the eye. He couldn't possibly know about Morgan's sob story, right?
"Ah, psych," Mr. Agerate said, shaking his head. "Morgan told you about that, didn't she?"
"N-No!" Megan protested.
"She did. It's all true. The needles, the nukes, everything."
Megan gritted her teeth. Lies, lies… They were both lying. There must be some kind of ploy…
"I… see that you're probably not in a condition to have an extended conversation," Mr. Agerate said, "So I'm just going to say what I need to. I'm leaving. I might be gone for weeks."
"You… can't do that. You have a job."
Why did it require all of Megan's willpower to say such simple words?
"I'm a powerful psion," Mr. Agerate said. "I can always find work, and this is important. I have unfinished business."
Megan nodded, not caring enough to protest.
"I'm… sorry about this," Mr. Agerate said. "About everything. You deserved a better friend than Minerva. Teleport."
As Mr. Agerate faded away, Megan Aniah let her tears of anger flow freely. Morgan Lorune thought that she could just waltz in and turn Megan's world upside down like it was nothing.
And she was right.
Ness found himself standing in a dimly lit dungeon, scattered with bits and pieces of garbage that made the whole place reek. He looked around, seeing that only a single cell was occupied. Taking tentative steps forward, Ness squinted his eyes to get a better view of the prisoner.
It's… Lucas. I must be in Magicant.
"Oh, hello," Lucas said. Even in the dim light, Ness could tell that Lucas' body had reverted back to its inconsistent state, making him look like a different person every second. "I was wondering if that would work. I haven't been able to reach you recently. Your own problems didn't leave your mind with much room to hear my pleas."
Ness bit his lip. Always too weak. Never enough. Ness needed strength more than anything else.
"Why are you here in this dungeon, if this is your mind?" Ness asked, hearing his voice echo off of the walls. "And you're getting worse. I even saw your face before, but now your body is back to changing constantly."
"Oh," Lucas said, sounding unconcerned. "That doesn't surprise me. I'm here because of Fassad. He was the one that Boras mentioned, remember? He trapped me here and he's sapping… something from me. I don't really understand what's going on."
"Fassad?" Ness asked, looking around at other cells. None of them appeared to be occupied. "Yeah. I think that I saw him before. But how can he keep you here? Didn't you say that you could go wherever you wanted?"
"Right," Lucas said. "I can normally will myself to appear somewhere else. But in this cell, it doesn't work for whatever reason."
"I might be able to get you out!" Ness said. "Uh… I just need a way to break the bars. Give me a second."
"It's no use," Lucas replied. "Fassad knows what he's doing. You won't be able to get me out of here."
"There has to be a way!" Ness protested.
"There isn't," Lucas said. "Now, I have a few questions to ask you."
How can he give up so easily?
"All right," Ness replied slowly. "I guess I can answer questions." He looked around the room. "Will there be a problem if somebody finds me down here?"
"No idea," Lucas said. "Now, onto the questions…"
Wow, thanks for the reassuring answer, Ness thought. After a moment, he felt a pang of guilt. His problems are worse than mine. I think that I can cut him some slack.
"What happened to Boras?" Lucas asked. "I tried calling on him, but I couldn't find his cognitive essence."
Ness gulped. With everything that had happened with Frank Fly, Ness had almost forgotten about the empirist leader. Of course, thoughts of Boras came in tandem with thoughts of Ninten. A dull pain started gnawing away at Ness' heart.
"Dead," Ness whispered. "Dead and buried. We fought on different sides of a battle that took place a few days ago. We didn't see each other, but…" Ness took a deep breath. "He didn't make it."
"I see," Lucas said in a neutral tone. "Is that why your mind has been so unstable recently?"
"Wait, that's it?" Ness asked. "You trusted him, felt inspired by him, listened to him, and now he dies and all that you say is 'I see'?"
"Oh, right," Lucas said. "I'm supposed to feel something now that he's gone."
This isn't good, Ness thought. He's even worse than before.
"I need to help you, Lucas," Ness said. "I'm sorry for abandoning you for these past few days. I shouldn't have left you alone."
"This isn't your responsibility," Lucas pointed out. "Judging by your words, I assume that my lack of emotion is getting worse?"
Ness nodded, feeling his heart crawl up into this throat.
"Well, that's not really your fault," Lucas said. "I shouldn't need anyone in the first place."
"Needing someone isn't a bad thing!" Ness protested. "I mean, there's someone in my life who I need."
"Really," Lucas said. "I always pictured you as strong and independent."
Ness nearly laughed.
"So what's this person like?" Lucas asked.
"Her name is Ana," Ness said, biting her lip. "And she helps me get through a lot of my troubles. She's patient, kind, strong, and understanding. With her, I feel that no matter what goes wrong, she'll still be there to help me out. Even if she has to show up battered and bleeding, she'll be there for me."
"She really seems to mean a lot to you," Lucas observed.
"Yeah," Ness said. "And I love her. I sometimes feel bad that she gets saddled with someone useless like me, but I think she's okay with it. I want to be that person for you, Lucas."
Lucas didn't speak for minutes. Ness stood there, fidgeting nervously. Had he said the wrong thing?
"I can see the twisted logic in your words," Lucas finally said. "And I did agree to try things your way. I guess we should… hmm?" Lucas cocked his head. "Someone's coming. You may want to leave."
"Leave Magicant?" Ness asked. "I don't know how to do that!"
"No," Lucas said. "Just leave this dungeon. Visualize yourself going out of this place and you'll be free."
Ness heard footsteps approaching the room.
Thump, thump.
His heart started to pound in his chest to the point that he wondered if it was louder than his talking.
"It's that simple?" Ness asked. "I just think about being outside of here and I'll escape?"
Thump, thump.
"Yes," Lucas said.
Thump, thump.
"All right, I'll try," Ness said, putting on a melancholy smile. "I'll come back to talk to you more. We'll… see each other soon."
Thump, thump.
The footsteps neared the door. Ness didn't know what would happen if a guard found him, and he decided that he would prefer it to stay that way. He closed his eyes and focused on being outside of the dungeon. He didn't picture an particular image in his mind; he just thought about being out.
Ness opened his eyes to find himself standing in an entirely different location.
The scene before him presented a stark contrast to the dark, dingy prison that Ness stood in just seconds earlier. Ness found himself standing on a street made of glass. Fish swam in tanks located directly under the transparent street, streaks of red darting right under where he stood. As he looked further along, he realized that the entire street held an aquarium underneath. And was that music playing? But Ness was outside! The music's vibrations ran up Ness' body, leaving him oddly satisfied.
But none of that held his interest long. Not compared to the buildings.
Instead of the orthodox, straight-lined architecture that was normal to Ness, all of the buildings in front of him incorporated curvature in their design: some were spherical with stands to keep them from rolling while others consisted of general box shapes with wavy lines.
All of them were made out of stained glass, stained glass that formed collages so otherworldly that Ness could only stare and gawk. The light from the sun (should he call it the sun if this wasn't Earth?) passed through the buildings, painting abstract images where it landed on the ground. Since all of the buildings were made out of stained glass, Ness could easily see through them. He looked at a particularly colorful building and saw a woman changing inside.
Ness blushed. Maybe this place wasn't so pristine after all.
Does this place exist in Lucas' mind? Ness asked. Because I don't know how he would have seen something like this.
Ness shrugged inwardly. Surrounded by so much beauty, he found it hard to care.
It wouldn't hurt to explore a little, right? I can always just warp out.
Ness checked his psionic energy and found it slightly depleted; apparently using Lucas' technique to escape certain places required a bit of psionic energy. Still, Ness had plenty of fuel left in his psionic tank. And was he imagining things, or were the vibrations from the music actually refilling his psionic energy?
Well, he would be fine either way.
After wandering around the area for what must have been hours, Ness picked up on a few key points:
First, this place was a city. Skyscrapers taller than anything Ness had ever seen (except for the Gate to Prosperity on Ceres) pierced the clouds, lighting up the sky with an array of colors. Still, buildings were spread out enough to make Ness feel comfortable, even with all of the people bustling around. There were enough trees to make Ness tempted to label the place as a forest. The first metropolitan forest. Ness smiled at the oxymoron.
Second, everyone was a psion, and that meant everyone. Even children too young to be awakened by Earth standards possessed psionic powers. In fact, Ness found as many people flying as walking. Still, something about their psionics seemed… different. Ness couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Third, these people weren't humans. They looked like humans, but they were too perfect. They revealed no physical flaws; Ness spotted no signs of crime or disturbance of any sort. Everyone carried their own attitude and nobody called them out for it. Viewing these people as an outsider, Ness began to feel guilty about every mistake that he had ever made.
Is this a trap? Ness thought. There's no way that something like this could actually exist in Lucas' mind. I don't know what Fassad has planned, but…
Ness heard what he thought was someone addressing him. He couldn't tell because these people spoke a different language (that in itself caught Ness off guard; basically everyone in the universe spoke Eagleish), but he thought that he could interpret the tone. He turned around, coming face to with a pink-haired woman who bore a striking resemblance to Kumatora. Ness' eyes widened as he took a step back.
"Ah," the woman said with a smile. "Is this better? Can you understand this?"
"Er… yes, ma'am," Ness said.
"You are a human, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Humans have fabric already?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows as she looked at Ness' clothes. "And your language is not one that we know of from studying your kind. And even more surprising, you have PSI. I didn't know that humans had the capability to learn our powers."
Ness blinked.
"Err… we have a lot of human psions," Ness said. "And I think that we had fabric a long time ago."
"Where do you come from?" the woman asked. "It's clear that you come from an organized society… China, perhaps? Mesopotamia? India?"
Her words flew right above Ness' head.
"I… come from Eagleland," Ness said. "In a town called Onett."
"And you're from Earth?"
"Yes, ma'am. How did you know?"
"Heh. The human's getting smart with me."
"I didn't intend it that way," Ness said hastily. "I mean… I could have come from Ceres."
"Ceres?" the woman asked. "Hmm… Oh, you mean Ralthevar. But that makes no sense. You humans haven't colonized it. Unless…" the woman's eyes widened. "You came from the future?"
Ness didn't know how well he could go along with that act, but he didn't want to say that he came from an outside world.
"Um… I think so?" Ness said.
"Ah, where are my manners, then?" the woman asked, flashing a smile. "I apologize; the humans at this point in time are a little… primitive. Civilized, yes, but still primitive. It amazes me how much social etiquette carries over between our races, considering that we supposedly evolved independently… but I'm getting off topic. The name's Lorraine. Lorraine Olvna Var Entaire. Who might you be?"
Four names? Ness thought.
"I'm Ness. It's nice to meet you, Lorraine."
"The pleasure is mine," Lorraine said. "I don't suppose that you humans shake hands…?"
"Uh, we actually do."
Lorraine's eyes lit up as she extended her hand. Ness shook her hand delicately, feeling uncomfortable about interacting so intimately with a foreign race.
"Well then," Lorraine said, her eyes dancing with delight. "That was wonderful! I had no idea that our cultures were this closely aligned." She cocked her head in thought. "So what brings you to Faldin?"
"Faldin?"
"This city," Lorraine explained. "Did you just appear in this timeline?"
"I think so," Ness said. "I don't remember much besides waking up on one of these roads." He pointed to the fish swimming under the glass that he was standing on. "We certainly don't have that in our human cities."
"I would imagine," Lorraine said. "Those things were a pain in the neck to install. They look pretty, though. Hmm. Perhaps I should find a way to send you back to your own timeline. Do you want that?"
"Uh…"
Ness was about to respond when he spotted Fassad walking towards him. Even though he had only seen the odd-looking man once, he doubted that he would ever forget him.
"Oh, Lorraine!" Fassad said, looking at Ness with a superficial smile. "You discovered the human, I see. We actually know each other quite well."
Ness took a step back. Should he try to run?
"Ah," Lorraine said. "I'll leave you two alone, then. It's never a dull moment with you, Locira."
"You have my thanks," Fassad said with a bow. "Now, Ness. I think that it's time for us to have a little chat."
Fassad snapped and the entire city faded away, leaving Ness and Fassad to stand on a plane of emptiness. Ness shivered, the vast nothingness reminding him of the extradimensional space that the Ceresian spaceships used to traverse light years in mere minutes.
"Don't be scared," Fassad said. "Nobody's going to hurt you."
"Like I trust you," Ness hissed.
"I don't expect you to trust me," Fassad said. Out of nowhere, a banana appeared in Fassad's hand. "Would you like something to eat or drink?"
"Not if it's poisoned. Boras warned me about you."
"Oh dear," Fassad said, shaking his head sadly. "I thought that you and the empirists were enemies."
Ness gritted his teeth. It wasn't that simple!
"Just give me a chance to explain myself," Fassad said. Without waiting for a response from Ness, he continued, "As you can probably tell, that entire city was an illusion. Fake."
Err… really? Ness thought.
"It is, however, the exact same as a real city that existed almost 3000 years ago," Fassad said. "I… miss that city. Everyone who lived there is dead now. Well, basically everyone." he shook his head, appearing to banish some of his sorrow. "So I'm living in that lie. Minerva trapped me in here and told me to hunt down Lucas if I wanted to escape. However, killing a human child in cold blood isn't my style. Instead, I simply… prevented him from doing any more harm to Minerva's plan. It's best for him to stop struggling, anyway."
"You jailed him," Ness said coldly.
"Yes," Fassad admitted. "Like I said, it was for his own good."
Ness felt the urge to run away, but where would he go? Nothing but emptiness stretched for miles.
I could use Lucas' technique and change my location, Ness thought. All that I need to do is think about getting out of here.
Ness narrowed his eyes. He still needed to put in a few choice words before he left.
"I think that you're lying," Ness said. "You're not as friendly as you want me to think. I saw you talking to yourself about killing Lucas a few days ago. You made it quite clear that you only cared about yourself!"
Fassad flinched, looking stunned.
"You saw that?" he asked softly. His face hardened. "Very well. I don't care a whit about the brat. I captured him and used his psionic energy to fuel the illusion of that city."
"That's horrible!"
Ness felt his heart pounding in rage. Why did Fassad think that he could use people like tools?
"Regardless, I would advise you to stay out of it," Fassad said, thrusting a finger in Ness' face. "I don't know why you even care about the pipsqueak. If you try anything funny, then I might have to kill him. Everyone's better off this way."
"I won't let you hold Lucas captive like that!" Ness protested.
"So stupid," Fassad muttered. "I could crush you, do you know that?"
Ness felt invisible fingers wrap around his mind and squeezed it. Ness gasped, gripping his head in pain. Fassad grinned sadistically and the invisible grip tightened. Ness breathed heavily, trying not to fly into a panic.
I just have to think about escaping this place, Ness thought. Need to get out!
Ness forced the pain to the back of his mind and focused on a single, abstract word: escape. He didn't visualize it; he didn't say the word. He just imagined the concept.
The next second, the invisible grip on his mind was gone. Ness blinked his eyes open, finding himself in his bed on Vulcan. He coughed on the smoky air, hardly feeling the irritation over his relief that he had finally woken up. Ness smiled, but he couldn't stop a sense of longing from springing up in his heart.
It looked like helping Lucas would have to wait.
