Chapter Six: The Shock of Their Lives

The next morning, Tecna was awaiting Timmy to come with her breakfast. It was by now that she wanted to eat her meals. She and Timmy had continued with their deal that if she ate, he would continue to show her the latest video games. However, Tecna preferred to eat with Timmy because she looked forward to the company and the sound of his welcoming and joyous voice. This morning was different, it wasn't only his speaking voice she was looking forward to. The previous night had been one full of mystery and a strange sensation of peace that overcame Tecna. This was a feeling she had never experienced in her life, and it begged the question of why Timmy went out of his way to do what he did. Or was it just some fever dream she had to escape the horrors of her nightmares. There was only one way to find out, she had to ask Timmy. She had to talk to him, she had to speak to him.

This would be the only time she had ever spoken to anybody after her sacrifice. The only people she ever spoken to were the assistants that first helped her with personal care before she was strong enough to do it herself. But now, she thought if Timmy was willing to go above and beyond his mandate in order to gain her trust, something must be different with him. Still, Tecna was apprehensive, she feared that opening up to Timmy too much would cost her. She had allowed herself to express emotions before, and it came with painful consequences. Somehow, she could feel that Timmy was not like anybody else. He had allowed her to have fun, encouraged her to learn to play video games and showed her a new way of life that she never knew existed. He comforted her the way no one else had. She had only known neglect and abuse up until that fateful day that Mrs. Faragonda introduced Timmy to her. It wasn't like the others before Timmy had treated her badly, they just couldn't connect with her the way Timmy did.

Now had to be the time, she had to know if what happened last night was real and why he did what he did. Tecna's thoughts were broken when she heard Timmy enter her suite with her breakfast.

"Hey Tecna, I got the cooks to make a spinach omelet for you this morning." He told her with an encouraging smile. Tecna smiled back, forgetting instantly what she was going to ask him and took the breakfast tray from him. She savored the cheesy goodness and the freshness of the spinach as she took forkful after forkful. It was another thing that she believed made Timmy different from anybody else. He tried to encourage her to eat, finding things she enjoyed and using that to get her to look forward to her meals. With Timmy, meals no longer felt forced. After she set her empty plate on the table, she looked up at him with a curious, yet hesitant expression on her face.

"What is it Tecna?" Timmy asked her, his voice sounding slightly eager, but more-so worried. The expression on her face told him that she wanted to ask him something but was possibly too afraid to open up this much. It was a huge step for her. Timmy wanted to reassure her that no matter what, she could tell him anything. In fact, he wanted her to tell him everything. By now, he wanted to know Tecna's deepest fears because he was willing to help her of his own volition, and not because he was being paid for it.

"You know you can tell me anything. I won't let anything hurt you." The softness and comfort of his voice tempted her even more to speak, but she shuddered at the very thought of what would happen if she did reveal her secrets to him. However, she took a deep breath, and opened her mouth as the words escaped her.

"Why… why did you sing to me?" She began, her voice quiet, hoarse and timid. Timmy couldn't believe it, after over a month, Tecna had finally got up enough trust in him to speak to him. Though now was not the time to fixate on that, now was the time to learn all he could about her.

"I know that you cry in your sleep." He admitted, "I wanted to help you get rid of your nightmares." However, the second half of his statement was completely disregarded as Tecna's face turned horror stricken. Timmy knew she cried in her sleep and yet he never confronted her for it. If anyone else knew that she had shown such emotions, she was certain that there would be excruciatingly painful punishment.

"Put the collar on me if you must," The statement was on impulse, she completely ignored the fact that he hadn't once reacted negatively to any emotion she expressed, "my behavior is completely prohibited." Now it was Timmy's turn for the look on his face to be stricken with horror as he heard what Tecna was saying.

"What collar?" He asked, his voice shaking at the possibilities of what she had endured. However, now that Tecna knew that Timmy was unaware of what she was talking about, she knew she had said too much and recoiled.

"It's nothing, I didn't say anything." She hoped that he would just let it slide, but he didn't. He made his own move of impulse, placing his hand on her shoulder as she met his gaze. The worry in his eyes matched the absolute look of fear in hers.

"It's not nothing, please tell me about the collar. I need to know." He told her in a voice that was soothing, reassuring, but cracked with deep concern. At the sound of the comfort of his voice and the touch of his hand on her shoulder, she began to tremble. She pulled away, afraid to shed scared tears in front of him. She knew now that he was aware that she had been crying regularly, but what he didn't know was that she had been punished for it.

"Tecna, I won't let anything hurt you. You can cry, it's okay to be scared. You can tell me when you're ready, just don't try and hold it in forever. Believe me, you'll feel much better when you do." Timmy reassured her again, and she couldn't help but face in his direction. Something about what he had said was something she'd never been told before. She had so many new and positive experiences with him that it was hard for her not to begin to trust him. As much as it somehow soothed her, she was equally as confused as she was comforted. This combination of emotions paralyzed her in her position sitting on the couch with Timmy next to her. She was still trembling and couldn't stop for the life of her. She had her legs hugged against her chest and couldn't move, and now was overwhelmed with all these emotions. Timmy moved over to embrace her in a hug, and she didn't resist it. With his response, she knew that she could cry in front of him from now on. Not a second later, he began to sing his song to her, and it was at that moment that she knew that the events of the previous night were real. His soothing voice and his arms around her provided somewhat of a protective shield, a barrier from all the torture of her past that threatened to haunt her. Timmy had no idea what horrors Tecna had faced, but he was so close to putting the pieces together. Now that Tecna trusted him enough to speak to him, it was his obligation to maintain that trust in order to provide for her what she never had. One wrong move and she would never trust him again, it seemed as though she was as fragile as Helia had said she was.

After a morning of video gaming and exploring Zenith's latest technologies with Tecna, Timmy felt the need to go straight to Mrs. Faragonda's office to inquire about the collar that Tecna had mentioned. He knocked, trying desperately to keep his composure at the vision of Tecna looking so shook up.

"Come in." Mrs. Faragonda's voice came from the other side of her office door, and Timmy slowly entered the room. "So, any new progress with Tecna today?"

"Yes," Timmy began, "I've finally gotten Tecna to speak to me."

"That is brilliant news, no one has ever managed to get her to talk to them before. Only the assistants who deal with personal care have ever heard her speak."

"But she said something…" Timmy trailed off with hesitance, "I know you told me to keep what Tecna says to me to myself so that I don't lose her trust, but I honestly have my suspicions that she has been hurt before being found in the Omega Dimension. I have a feeling that Tecna is in danger and we are the only ones who can free her from it. Just please, hear me out."

"All right, Timmy. I'm listening." The elderly woman responded before waiting for him to continue.

"Do you know anything about a collar?" He asked, voice shaking with the horror of what the answer would be. Mrs. Faragonda's mouth dropped open as she was left utterly speechless. Moments later, she was able to gain her composure.

"The troops in the Omega Dimension discovered a small collar around Tecna's neck when they found her." She informed him, "When she was warm enough, they were able to remove it. After it was analyzed, it was revealed that with the remote control, it could deliver medium voltage electric shock. It wouldn't take much for her to be shocked unconscious with too much exposure."

"And you didn't bother to track down the sick psychopath who did this to her!" Timmy shouted, not realizing his own reaction.

"Calm down Timmy," Mrs. Faragonda told him evenly, "We were considering it after Tecna was rescued, but since no one came to claim her, we had no leads. But now that she can speak to you, you can find out from her exactly what she's been through. Then, we can put a stop to it and liberate her for good."

"That was what I was planning to do." Timmy said through gritted teeth, seething at the very thought of Tecna being hurt the way Mrs. Faragonda had described. It was then that Timmy had put the pieces together. Tecna had mentioned the shock collar right after Timmy had admitted that he had seen her crying in her sleep. Then, he told her that it was okay to cry. Was this some kind of cruel punishment for expressing her emotions? No wonder Tecna refused to speak to anyone, no wonder she ran away whenever someone approached her. This was what she had to endure if she showed her fear. After figuring all this out, Timmy immediately dismissed himself to his sleeping quarters, he needed to be alone.