Discovery
Michael. Rose Marie. Mattie. Michael. Rose Marie. Mattie.
The Commandant's gaze burned through her. The other officers hadn't bothered to re-clothe her, so she was still standing in her bra and regulation guard trousers. The spikes of the collar felt cold on her bare shoulders. Blood slid unheeded down her arm, covering the pattern the hybrid had sliced into her flesh. She knew the only reason he hadn't healed it was because he wanted it to leave a scar. He wanted her to see it. He wanted to mark her.
The hybrid was standing back, behind his master, next to a crackling fire. His eyes were locked on her. She could feel the burn on the side of her face.
The Commandant's yellow eyes finished their appraisal. They moved back up to her face. "So. Michael."
Blade shook her head, immediately, "I don't know what they're talking about."
"And you wouldn't be lying, of course."
"Of course." Her voice was stable, still, completely calm.
"So you have no idea who this Michael is, then?" he continued, slowly, "Even though you said the name."
"Yes, I... I did say Michael. I lied."
"Why."
"Because I thought... I thought it would get them off me. Get them away from me. They thought I was lying when I said I couldn't remember if I had a husband, so they were using the collar. I thought... giving them a different answer... would..."
"Would make them accept it?" he completed, raising an eyebrow.
"I guess."
"Hmm." He looked at her for a moment. He glanced back over his shoulder. The hybrid gave a small shake of the head, his expression unreadable. The Commandant nodded, thoughtfully, and then turned back to her, "Well. Good story."
"True story." She replied, firmly.
"Of course. Well, 273... that would be believable... if it wasn't for this." He pulled a small, leather covered book out of his pocket, showing it to her, raising an eyebrow.
Her heart missed a beat, and then came back twice as fast.
"What's that?" She managed, raising an eyebrow.
"You don't recognise it?"
"Not really, no."
"Found under your bedroll."
"I've never seen that thing in my life." She replied, firmly. The slight shake in her voice told the truth.
He nodded, slowly, looking at her. "Okay. Then let's have a look, shall we?"
Her whole body tensed. He flipped over the cover and turned to the first page. He flicked through a few pages of sketched pictures until he got to the first page of writing. He skimmed through it, raising an eyebrow, and then picked out a particularly relevant passage: "If I cannot be Jaina in case of rousing Lucien's suspicions, I must remain Blade. I cannot become Recruit 273. I will not." he glanced at her, "Jaina? That's your real name? Why were you worried about rousing Lucien's suspicions? What are you up to?"
She didn't reply, didn't say a word, and he turned back to the book, opening it on a random entry, "This place is driving me mad. The only thing keeping me sane is my Michael. My children. I have to get back to them." He flicked through, going past a few chunks until something again caught his eye: "Bob is dead. The Commandant told me to kill him. I couldn't. Who will tell his wife. The only entry for that day." He brought the book down, looking at her, raising an eyebrow, "I think we've heard enough, right?"
She just looked at him, shaking her head, slowly. Her heart was speeding up, so fast it was almost a hum in her chest. She knew it was useless. He had already won.
He tapped the book in his hand, "This... this is it. This is the key. Something outside these walls. This is the link."
"No." She managed, slowly, her voice almost breaking.
"This is what you're hanging on to."
"No."
"This is why you can defeat the collar."
"No."
"This is why you can disobey."
She looked at him. She was shaking her head again. She felt sick. She could feel her heart fluttering painfully fast in her stomach. No. This wasn't it. This couldn't be it. After all those years fighting it couldn't end like this.
The Commandant watched her, thoughtfully, "Do you remember what I said all those years ago? That first time I met you? I told you I'd break you. You are nothing more... than the next link in the chain. And now I've found how to break it." He pointed out a line on the page, "Michael, Rose Marie, Mattie."
Her heart stopped and she took a sharp step forwards, "No! Take whatever you want, just, just not them. No. Leave me them. Please. I'll do whatever you want, I'll do what I'm told, I'll obey! Just, please, leave me them!"
He looked at her, then back at the pages of the book, "Michael. Rose Marie. Mattie. Your links. Y'know, the funny thing is, I don't even need the collar to get rid of them. All I need to do is this." In one, flowing movement, he deftly ripped the book in half and then threw it into the fire.
"No!" she darted forwards and the hybrid immediately lashed out, pushing his blade to her neck, stopping her in her tracks.
She fought him like crazy, desperately trying to get nearer to the fire. The flames licked at the pages, catching easily, blackening the leather cover and torching the paper inside.
Her struggles slowly faded. She let her hand fall back to her side. "No." She whispered, shaking her head, slowly.
The Commandant watched her all the way. His burned yellow eyes contained a dash of vicious triumph that would usually have brought up a deep spark of anger inside of her. But now there was nothing. She felt... empty.
"Now. That should keep you a bit more submissive. Take her away. Give her some time to mull this over."
The hybrid dragged her away from the fire, blade still planted firmly at her throat. He didn't need it. She didn't fight. She couldn't bring up the energy.
