A/N: The Remnants had been captured. You know that already if you've read the previous chapter. And this is the part where Kadaj's annoying other-self makes his presence known by bothering him in the midst of a delicate situation. And Ria is being experimented on hazardously. She is under mental and physical torment. And by mental torment, I mean the sound of microphones when they give feed backs, now imagine that sound being magnified a hundred times worse.
Chapter 49: Torment
(3 Days Later) DAY 22
Kadaj's POV
They want me alive. Yazoo and Loz are gone. A b*****d punched my head. And... And... What the hell happened next? Wait... Where am I?
I can hear voices; muffled, like they're in a container of some sort. Gaia damn it, my head hurts! Groaning, I shift about, open my eyes, and... What are the chains for? Blinking despite the blurriness of my surroundings, I'm sure I'm not dreaming or making this up for that matter. I can't see my wrists, but the hard and cold resistance against them says as much that I'm in bondage. What the hell? I try wriggling them. I try shifting to mist, but even that won't work. What's wrong with me?
And I think I just noticed something else. I feel wet. That kind of sounds wrong, but never mind that. Seriously though, I'm wet, and that...shouldn't have been a confused statement...BECAUSE I'M ENCASED IN GREEN LIQUID! I can't move too much even if I want too. Even my legs are held down, but the restraints aren't that strong enough. I try to break free as hard as I can, but why the hell do my legs and arms feel like they're pumped with lead. They seem...too heavy to lift. I blink a couple of times.
How can I open my eyes?
Because the liquid doesn't contain any form of alkali substance. It's pure! Duh?
Shut up, conscience! I knew that!
Turning my head to what little fraction of it I can manage, now I know why the voices I heard were so muffled, like being underwater and encased in a container, because I'm the one who's being held captive. If I'm right, I should be in Shin-Ra's labs by now—being held prisoner. But how did I get here? Oh right, I was stabbed with a syringe... Probably contained a sedative or something...
Yey Kadaj! You just figured it out. Did that guy hit your head that hard that it caused your neurons to become retarded?
Do shut up! You try being in my state and let's see how you handle this!
Uhhh... I am you, you moron. We're one person...
Right. How could I forget my idiotic side...?
Blinking some more, I take in what I can see from my little shell, which is by now that I realized it, a cylindrical glass case—or a giant test tube. Whatever.
Well yeah, I can tell I'm in a high standard lab. Oh great, I'm back in the old days of physical torment, day and night. What do they want from me anyway? I thought that girl got what she wanted when she practically seduced me to get my blood. She's an experiment now, isn't she? Could she be in this building somewhere?
Kadaj, I thought you decided to forget about her...
I have forgotten about her. She's gone from my memory now...
Then why are you thinking of her?
I'm not thinking of her positively, am I?
No, but you're still thinking of her.
Lem'me alone...
The sound of the door opening breaks my reverie with my unforgiving conscience—that stupid part of me that argues about my affection shared with the girl. Enough of that, and more importantly, who the hell is that guy coming towards my tank?
Have you tried noting his clothes?
He's a scientist...
Took you long enough...
Shut up, will you? You've been constantly annoying lately.
Someone's overreacting~
...SHUT. UP. Since when are you this talkative?
Since now...
"The specimen is awake, sir." What do you mean specimen?
The man is soon joined by a much older one and both of them look at me like I'm some kind of animal. Growling, I would've broken this glass if I'm not feeling so weak, and if I'm not in bonds. How could they simply refer to me like that?
"So I see... Finally awake after such an arduous procedure done on him. He needed his rest." The older man seems to agree, nodding his head and they both walk away, taking care to close the door behind them.
What arduous procedure are they talking about? And how long have I been here?
vVvVv
Normal POV
Rufus grinned inwardly. He could've laughed at his victory. He had just finished conversing with Cloud, and cheerily told him the good news of the Remnants' capture. It seemed the ex-SOLDIER was still wary of his motives, but no matter. Cloud wasn't really doing anything recently. He was out of their way, but who knows for how long. They had the Remnants in custody and suspended motion for three days now. And Kadaj had just undergone a 'purification' operation.
According to the scientists, they had been able to draw out the negative Lifestream that comprised the Remnant's body, disabling him from his special abilities and weakening him to the point of near death, but leaving his proficiency in battle unharmed. Well, that was good. As far as things were going, everything was in motion lately, and it was perfectly fine.
vVvVv
A loud pain-filled scream echoed against the walls of the room they had put her in. It was a test to determine her ability to withstand mental torment and she was failing miserably in said test. Another muffled yet shrill scream rang out before the scientists decide to call it off and discuss the matter among them.
One scientist removed the headphones and placed the listening device back on the table as he stared at their specimen, curled up into a ball on the cold floor, eyes filled with fear and pain. Why wasn't it working? They had done everything they could to enhance her. They had decided to let her undergo mental torment first because it seemed tolerable for a specimen experiencing side effects, but this was the second test, and still no improvement.
"Bring her out and into my office," the professor declared, standing from his place and exiting the chamber where all the other scientists—including Cornelia—were.
Cornelia watched with bated breath as her new friend screamed and backed away in terror throughout the procedure. She didn't agree with any of them, and felt sorry for Alexandria, who was now curled up into a ball, and could've been whimpering and trembling too. The girl had told her the story of how she ended up here, and knew with a certain degree that Alexandria was dreadfully missing her lover when he crossed her mind.
The scientists were arguing as to who should go inside and fetch the terrorized specimen. When she noticed they were going nowhere, Cornelia wordlessly entered the dismal room the girl was held in. Slowly approaching the trembling figure, she lightly touched the girl's shoulder.
Ria turned to the woman with tears in her eyes, the pain being so unbearable that she wished to die. Cornelia nodded once at her, looking at her apologetically as she helped her to her feet and brought her out where a wheelchair was waiting for her.
"You're going to Professor Gillard's office. He wants to examine you himself," Cornelia whispered as one of the scientists took charge to wheel the specimen out of the room.
vVvVv
Yazoo and Loz were kept in separate cells—weakened and still unconscious. Their states were very different from their youngest brother who had been taken for experimentation, and the two of them, well... they were yet to be checked up on, and observed to find out what could be made useful of them.
Yazoo was the first to come to his senses, seeing himself in a sparsely decorated room that he instantly recognized as a containment cell for specimen. He couldn't believe it. How was Shin-Ra able to take him down? In the midst of that thought, Yazoo also wondered about his brothers' whereabouts. Loz had still been fighting when he was taken down and he really hoped Kadaj and Loz weren't here too.
Lifting his head with much difficulty, Yazoo noticed he was alone. Tiredly, his head flopped back down onto the pillow. Why did he feel so weak? He felt drained, exhausted, almost useless... What had they done to him? His arms felt too heavy to lift, same with his legs. He tried twitching his fingers, but even that simple a task he accomplished with much difficulty. Absentmindedly, he wondered how long it would take him to regain his strength. Whatever these scums had done to him, he knew it wasn't good.
vVvVv
DAY 23
Loz groaned and awoke to the sound of unfamiliar beeping that told him he wasn't in their little house in the Bone Village. Well sure, he should've figured that out since he had tried to save Yazoo. And he woke up here. How strange.
Unlike Yazoo however, Loz wasn't alone when he came to his senses. There was someone in his containment cell with him. And much like his brothers, he found himself weak and almost useless; a contrast from his former state of strength. Another thing the eldest Remnant noticed was that there was a stabilizing machine near his head.
He tried to get up, but failed, and the sound of his movement had alerted the man in the room that their subject had finally awakened. Turning, Loz easily recognized the man to be a scientist, and the Shin-Ra logo found on his left pocket told the Remnant everything he needed to know.
"What the hell am I doing here?" Loz groaned softly.
"Easy there, big guy. You're badly done and if you want to live, you'd quit trying to tug yourself away from the machine..." The man—who looked as if he were twenty-five years of age—explained.
"What does it do?" Loz asked, partly curious, partly demanding to know why he needed such a machine to live.
"It stabilizes you of course. I just performed a blood test on you," the man remarked, checking the machine Loz was hooked to.
"I don't need that thing," Loz cried out stubbornly, despite being unable to move his limbs.
"Yes you do. Believe me, if the president didn't want you guys alive, we would've left you and that long-haired guy for dead." The man smirked, amused.
Loz's eyes widened upon hearing the man's statement. Yazoo? Loz was positive that this man mentioned Yazoo. Who else would have long hair and be associated to him? But...what about Kadaj?
"You mean Yazoo?" Loz asked innocently, taken aback at the mention of his younger brother's name.
"That's his name?" The man had an odd expression on his face, one of amazement and disgust thrown together. "Quite different."
"What about Kadaj?" Loz asked once more, voicing his thoughts, and wondering where their leader could be. Maybe he escaped.
"Oh, that guy?" The man smirked. "You should've seen the look on his face when he first woke up after that severe operation done on him. Priceless."
Loz blinked. Kadaj...had been operated on? And this man had a loose tongue just like Reno—almost as if he were drunk. He simply couldn't keep his mouth shut and continued to babble about the things they've been doing lately; about the drawing of substantial Mako from Kadaj's blood, and removing the negative Lifestream that made up half of the youngest Remnant's body that provided him inhuman abilities, and left him weak and close to death without the intensified Mako supporting his pathetic life.
"Oh yeah, big guy... We're purifying him for a good purpose. And you know what else? There's this cute female specimen we got in here that's under experimentation too..." The man shrugged. "I shouldn't like her, but... who could not? Man, she's cute! But she's in so much pain right now. Not that I care..."
Loz just blinked, not really understanding what female specimen he was ranting about, but felt genuine concern and worry for his brothers. Yazoo seemed to be in a state just like him, but Kadaj was far off worse. How had Shin-Ra managed to take all three of them at once?
vVvVv
Kadaj was frustrated. He was frustrated that he could've glared a menacing hole in the tank glass. He hated being in here—being all wet and his clothes were soaked, but he could barely feel them. His fingers were quite numb and so were the rest of his body, like something deep within was missing. He felt like half of his life had just been deprived of him. He was still thinking of the operation mentioned by those two scientists. What had they been doing to him was the thought that crossed his mind time and again. His sword was missing too, and that was more than enough to get him mad.
He could barely move and couldn't even devise an effective escape plan. All of the possibilities that came to mind involved the use of his limbs and legs—which at the moment was quite useless since it was in clear bondage and he felt so weak. Growling like a caged animal, Kadaj let out a loud expression of rage that could've shook the tank if it weren't for the breathing apparatus attached to his mouth.
He felt so powerless and that was a feeling he never loved. He felt quite exhausted to. And out of nowhere, he found himself thinking that he was in the same place as Ria was. Where was she? It felt like a long time ago since he last saw her. When was the last time he even kissed her? He couldn't quite remember after chastising himself time and time again to forget about her, trying to convince himself that she was a traitor, but...the look in her eyes that night she left was unmistakable sincerity.
She was doing it for them, so she said, and...he couldn't really stop scolding himself for clouding his judgment with rage. It wasn't really fair on her part. Who would've thought he'd end up in the very same place as her? Not that he'd be seeing her anytime soon, because that was hardly possible since he couldn't even move. He wanted to see her again, and who was he kidding by telling himself that he hated her: himself certainly. He knew it—mind and heart—that he never really came to hate her. He loved her with all of him, and he knew it... No matter how many times he would deny it, there was always that tiny voice in his head telling him that he was lying to himself; telling him that she was really the reason he changed immensely.
And since she was gone, he knew he hadn't been able to do anything right. He was completely malfunctioning and seemed timid and ill-tempered than usual. He rarely conversed with his brothers from that time on, and Kadaj really hated the fact that he could never go on without her. When the hell did he even start caring about her feelings and becoming so attached?
And it was at these thoughts that constantly bothered him did Kadaj give himself to unconsciousness. His eyelids felt like there were sandbags tied to them and he couldn't keep them open for much longer. So he gave in...
