Jessica's muffled screams barely reached Otto in an adjacent room in his chair, as his actuators worked away at cracking her password. She carried on, the chains securing her legs rattling loudly as she pulled on them, and the gag. Jess traced the metal thing running along her spine, unable to find a spot to grab onto. She picked and pried, trying to get it off but it was secured tightly to her back. She struggled for at least twenty more minutes before lying on the cold floor, curling up as she started to cry. There was a deep murmuring behind her and a shadow fell on her face. She looked up at the figure, tears coursing from her eyes. Her head spun as each little sound overloaded her mind, giving her a strong headache. Even the sound of her own breathing was thunderous as she curled into a smaller and smaller form on the floor.
"Can you hear my voice?" Otto said deeply. The woman on the floor sobbed and held her hands over her ears. Otto frowned and walked away, going over to a telephone which was connected to a computer. The actuators quickly resumed working on Jess's laptop as Otto sat down.
She is reacting poorly to the modification. Otto leaned back in his chair, idly watching the streaming video of the reports about his hostage. They replayed his phone call and he smiled at the commanding tone of his voice.
She does seem a bit traumatized by the new sense. I don't know if she's just frightened of the fact that she's a hostage, or if she can't handle it. I do hope she recovers quickly, then I can do some video to prove to the police I do have a captive.
Yes, they seem rather hesitant to believe you in that matter. It will however be interesting to see if she understands spoken word.
True, but for now, we need to make sure we are quiet and take care of her, to keep her from going into shock. He heard Jess whimper from the other room and stood up. An actuator grabbed a blanket and an overstuffed duffle bag, bringing it with Otto.
"What did you do to me?" She signed to Otto as he walked up to her. He stood a short distance away, and crossed his arms. She picked up the paper and repeated her question.
"I gave you back your hearing." Otto spoke, and Jess clapped her hands over her ears. He wrote it down and handed it to her. She read it, and her face paled. She ran her hand along the thing on her back again, and Otto nodded, tapping his spinal connection. Jess looked at Otto, snarling as she wrote.
"I never 'lost' it in the first place. I was born deaf. Take it off." She chucked the pad at him, hard, and Otto curled his lip at her and then read it.
"I don't intend to let such a monumental experiment go to waste, so it's staying on you until I say so, or the ransom is paid." He spoke as he handed the paper to Jess. She winced as he talked, but didn't cower from Otto's voice.
"I don't want it. And I'm not some lab rat. So take it off." She gave him back the pad and crossed her arms, glaring at him. Otto rubbed his temples and walked off, leaving the bag and blanket. Jess immediately spread the fleece so she wasn't sitting on the floor and opened the bag, finding random clothing from her drawers balled up inside. She took the clothes out, folded them neatly and put them back inside. She sighed, but startled herself with the noise. Jess closed the bag, zipping it as quietly as possible and laid down on the fleece, using the bag as a pillow. She wished she could at least change the cloth being used as a gag; it was starting to get gross. Trying to take her mind off of things, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the new sounds, trying to figure out what came from what.