Chapter 7
Kyoko didn't know what to do. A simple knife wound could not actually hurt her, since she was a Magical Girl and could just heal herself. Of course, healing herself meant she would be displaying her powers for everyone to see, and she would end up locked up down here right alongside Homura. She hoped that Homura was just doing a REALLY good job at acting, but this had suddenly seemed to be getting way too real.
"Come... on... Homu...ra." Kyoko croaked out. The knife's blade was pushing into her neck hard enough to choke her. "Stop..."
Homura's arm was tense. She could not go any further than she already had without actually slashing Kyoko's throat; if they were going to open it they would have by now. Still, Homura thought desperately, maybe just a little longer. Part of her knew they would not open it no matter what, but there was that vague hope.
She hated it here, being locked up, unable to leave. Being away from Madoka; the girl who she had sacrificed so much for. The girl she had finally managed to save, but was still being kept away from. It was not fair! She looked to the future, and saw herself still being locked up in here, spending day after day pacing around, trapped in her own thoughts. She couldn't take it! She had to get out! No matter what it took, she needed to get out of here!
She screamed, and her arm slashed to the side.
"Crap, what do we do?" Kaiji asked. He was leaning over the computer terminal as if he thought he could actually jump through the screen and into the room they were watching. The camera they were watching through was at the other side of the room. Endou zoomed it in, which distorted the picture a bit but was still a better view.
"It's too late for the gas." Endou said, "If we had started drugging her days ago this whole thing could have been avoided." He shook his head. "I don't understand why our superiors have been so resistant to the idea."
Kaiji looked at him with an accusing expression. "She's a fourteen year old girl!"
"She's dangerous. Am I the only one who sees that?" His face was cold as stone as he looked at Dr. Kaiji.
Kaiji stared back at Endou with intensity in his eyes, as if he could not believe what he was hearing. He respected Dr. Endou professionally, but something about his treatment and attitude towards Homura just rubbed Kaiji the wrong way. She was a human being!
He looked back at the screen. The situation was getting intense. It looked as if Homura really were going to kill the poor woman after all. He could see the blood dripping down from Kay's neck, and staining her shirt. He saw the distant psychotic look in Homura's eyes, and the way her arm tensed, getting ready to strike. He could hear Kay's last choked plea for mercy.
"Damn it!" Kaiji screamed, "Let's just open the door!" His hand moved for the keyboard.
Endou reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Stop that." he said in a low dark tone.
"She's going to kill her!"
"Dr. Sakura knew the risks when she took this assignment. Are you really suggesting we just let our test subject go?"
"If we don't she's going to-"
Both of their heads shot back to the screen when they heard a loud scream from the young girl they had been holding captive.
Her arm slashed to the side, and Dr. Sakura fell to the floor, landing on her hands and knees. Kaiji watched with horror; they couldn't see the knife from this angle, nor could they see Dr. Sakura's face, or her neck - but she was on her hands and knees, staring at the ground. Her back rose and fell with the motion of heavy breathing.
"Pan the camera out!" Kaiji said, but Endou was already doing it.
Homura fell against the wall, burying her face into her arms. She slowly lowered herself to the ground, crying.
"Damn it!" She screamed, "You fucking bastards!" Kyoko was on the ground nearby, coughing and holding onto her wounded neck. "You just had to open the damn door!"
Kyoko brought herself back to a sitting position on her knees, and looked at the palm of her hand. There was blood smeared on it, but she could tell the cut was not too deep. Homura managed to push her away without doing any real damage. Kyoko crawled over to her and whispered her name: "Homura…"
Homura had herself curled up into a ball, sobbing heavily into her arms. Kyoko cautiously put a soft hand on her shoulder. Then, she heard a beep, as the metal door hissed and slid open. The backup door directly behind it remained shut. The intercom clicked on and Dr. Endou's voice came through. "Dr. Sakura, you may leave now."
"No," She said in response, "It's okay."
The intercom clicked on again: "We would like it if you'd obey this order and leave the room immediately."
"Shut the hell up!" she screamed up at the ceiling, not thinking about what character she was suppose to be playing. "I'm not leaving her when she's like this!" She put her arms around Homura and rocked her back and forth. "It's okay, don't pay any attention to them." she said soothingly.
"I'm sorry." Homura whispered in a cracked voice, "I hurt you. I'm so sorry."
"Sssshhh, it's alright, girl. Like I said, if I was in your spot I would have tried something just as crazy. Besides, I'm not hurt, not really, so don't worry about it." She actually could feel a throbbing from the wound, and warm blood trickling down her neck, but she did not think it was too serious.
"I was… I was gonna…" Homura's voice was shaking. "I almost… did it." Kyoko felt Homura's body heave as the confession caused a fresh round of sobbing to escape her. "I… just… I want to go home!"
"Sssshhhh, I know, I know. It's alright, you didn't do anything…" Then Kyoko lowered her voice as much as she could and whispered directly into Homura's ear: "Keep your soul pure." Kyoko hadn't brought in a fresh GriefSeed for her this time around, since she got one just a few days ago, but she still worried about the kind of state Homura's current mental condition might put her SoulGem into.
After allowing Kyoko to hold her for a while longer, Homura started to shake her away. "I'm okay…" she whispered, and Kyoko let go. Homura turned around, and they looked at each other for a while. Homura had wet streaks running down her face, and Kyoko reached her hand over to wipe some of it away.
She understood Homura's pain, for she had felt that kind of grief herself at one point. When she lost her family, she did not have anyone to turn to, no-one to comfort her or make her feel like things were okay. She was all alone, and it caused her to turn into someone who she couldn't recognize in the mirror anymore; someone who she despised. Sayaka had helped her out of that, and now Homura needed Madoka to be here, to be that person for her. Madoka wasn't here though, so Kyoko decided she would have to do her best as a replacement.
Homura looked guiltily at the wound that was slashed across Kyoko's neck. It was not deep enough to be immediately threatening, but it had to be treated. "Thank you… Kyo… eh, Kay…" She stood up. "Here, let me get something for that." She then went into the bathroom to look for the first aid kit that her enemy had provided her with. Then they went back to the table in the living room, and Homura sat in a chair next to Kyoko.
She started off by taking a sanitized towelette out of the first aid kit and wiping Kyoko's wound down with it. Then she found a bandage and some gauze. She looked over a few of the tubes of ointment in the kit, and found a disinfectant. She poured it over the gauze, and held it against Kyoko's neck as she started wrapping a bandage around.
"What I did is unforgivable." The cool matter-of-fact way she said it sounded more like her normal self, and it made Kyoko feel just a little better. "I apologize for what I tried to do. I… don't know what I was thinking."
"I told you it's alright." Kyoko grinned, "Just don't do anything like that again, okay?"
Homura looked at her with a serious expression as she finished wrapping the bandage around her neck, and nodded once. The guilt she was feeling was clear on her face.
"Why don't we talk about something a little more pleasant?" Kyoko said, "Have you drawn any more pictures?"
Homura nodded, then she stood up and went to a chest of drawers on the other side of the room. Inside the chest there were mostly puzzles, and some board games. She didn't understand why they had provided her with the board games, since most of them needed two players and she had been alone here until just a few days ago, but now that she had Kyoko maybe she could get some use out of them after all. In the top drawer she kept her notebooks and drawing supplies; colored pencils, rulers, and erasers. She took the notebook out and brought it back to Kyoko.
"It's not much, just a couple." she said as Kyoko started leafing through. There was a distinct difference between the older drawings towards the front of the notebook and the newest ones towards the back. Kyoko imagined if the escape plan ended up taking much longer, Homura would become a famous artist by the time she got out. Kyoko wanted to crack the joke, but knew it would be out of character so had to keep it to herself.
The very last picture was of a field of flowers; the amount of detail was impressive. Homura had used colored pencils to color in each individual flower, even the tiny blades of grass were drawn in with a certain level of care. Towards the top was a sky, with the blues being dark to the left of the page, and getting lighter towards the right side of the page where the sun would be coming from. Within the sky there were three words written in white bubble letters that were meant to look like clouds. Kyoko could tell a lot of attention was paid to getting the shading just right. The three words were: "Thinking of you"
"You can have that one." Homura said, "I was thinking of my girlfriend when I drew it, but I don't have any way to get it to her. So, you might as well take it." Kyoko got the message.
"Thank you," she said, "I will treasure it. This girlfriend of yours, you really care a lot about her, huh?"
Homura nodded, her expression becoming distant. "I was a different person before I met her. My life was… Well, it wasn't anything to be too proud of. She changed me though, she made me strong, she gave me something to fight for. She made me believe in myself… She means the world to me."
Though Kyoko's impressions of her own past self were slightly different than Homura's, she knew exactly what she was talking about. Sayaka had changed her as well, made her a better person, made her believe in herself again, made her trust people again. Listening to those words from the ravenette gave Kyoko an odd feeling, as she thought how similar she and Homura were. They had always gotten along pretty well, even before the rest of the group got together, but somehow she thought this experience was bringing them even closer.
"She's lucky to have you." Kyoko said.
"I'd give anything to talk to her again, and to be with her… That's why…" She shook her head. "The entire time, I just had her on my mind, thinking I had to get back to her. Otherwise I never would have done something like that to you."
"I understand." Kyoko said, putting a hand over hers, "And I told you it's alright."
They smiled at each other. Homura still felt guilty about the bandage around Kyoko's neck, but she was glad to have her here.
Kyoko could see the guilt on Homura's face and thought, 'Don't worry about it, I'll pay you back once we break you out of here.'
"Haven't you heard anything yet?" Sayaka asked impatiently, pacing around right behind Leiko's computer chair.
Leiko was typing away furiously, the light from the computer reflecting off her glasses. "The answer was 'no' when you asked five minutes ago, why do you think it would have changed since then?"
"Her appointment should have ended a while ago though, right?" Sayaka pressed on, "Is she still in there with Homura or what?"
"How many times are you going to force me to tell you?… I-DON'T-KNOW!" Leiko's typing became more furious as her face scrunched up and she stared hard into the screen, which had those strange symbols flashing by it.
"Well geez," Sayaka huffed, folding her arms, "no need to be like that about it." She then walked back to the couch and plopped down next to Madoka, who was sitting there fidgeting her hands together nervously, worried that Sayaka and Leiko were going to end up fighting again.
"Don't worry." Madoka said to her, "I'm sure Kyoko is fine. She is probably just spending a little extra time with Homura… Or maybe she is already on her way back and Mami just hasn't gotten around to calling us yet."
Mami would be hiding out somewhere near the laboratory to rendezvous with Kyoko once she left. The idea was to contact the rest of the group once Kyoko was out, so everyone would know all is well. So far she had not done so, even though Kyoko's appointment should have ended nearly an hour ago. It seemed to be making both Madoka and Sayaka nervous. Leiko, on the other hand, was characteristically indifferent.
"Something just came through." Leiko said, and not a second later Sayaka had her hands on the back of her computer chair and looking at the screen from over her shoulder.
"What is it?" Madoka was a bit more tactful as she approached the screen. She knew Leiko had issues with people invading her personal space, and tried to be respectful of it.
"Remember that Dr. Endou guy I mentioned? He just sent out an email to several of the higher-ups. I intercepted it, so they haven't received it yet. I'll have to let it through soon, though, otherwise they will realize their communications are being tampered with." Leiko clicked and tapped away a bit more. "Hm, there seems to be a video attached."
"A video?" Madoka asked.
Leiko pulled it up, and all three of them leaned in closer when they saw an image of Homura holding a knife against Kyoko's throat.
"What the hell are they doing?" Sayaka asked.
"It must be an act, right?" Madoka said, though she was frightened by the look in Homura's eyes. It's been over two weeks since Madoka had last seen her, and she had spent every day worrying about her and wondering how she was handling being locked up in such a horrible place. Madoka imagined she was probably scared, maybe depressed, definitely angry at her captors, but nonetheless Homura would maintain her strength through the ordeal. Madoka longed for the day when they'd rescue her, and pictured herself wrapping her arms around a stoic Homura as they were reunited. Homura would probably think of something cool to say, she always had a knack for theatrics in dramatic moments like that. Then, everything would be back to normal, and this whole mess could be forgotten as they continued on with their lives.
The truth is, Madoka was rather naïve, and the image she now saw of Homura brought those hopeful ideas crashing down around her; she saw the pain in Homura's eyes - the tormented madness. She looked like an animal who was backed into a corner, stripped of the option to flee, and had no other choice than to revert to that dark place that prioritized self-preservation, having no other option than to fight. But why Kyoko? Why would she be doing something like that to Kyoko!?
It's an act, just an act!, Madoka assured herself, but the more the video rolled on, the more the reality was dawning on her. It may have started as an act, but it was becoming clear that it had gone far beyond that. "No…" Madoka said under her breath, not realizing she was vocalizing her thoughts, "Homura, stop it…"
Sayaka's knuckles were turning white as her grip tightened on the back of the computer chair. She wanted to scream out several derogatory things about Homura, 'psycho-bitch' being one of the terms coming to her mind, but she wouldn't with Madoka standing right there. Her heart was racing. She too was trying to tell herself it was just an act, but she saw the genuine fear in Kyoko's eyes and it filled her heart with dread.
When Homura screamed: "Do it now! Last chance or she's dead!" both Madoka and Sayaka could hear the desperation in her voice, and the idea that it was just a really convincing act no longer seemed plausible. When the blood started dripping down from under the knife's edge, Madoka could not take it any more.
"I can't watch!" she said, running back to the couch and burying her face into the armrest.
She could no longer see the video, but she could hear Kyoko's plea for mercy and Homura's last desperate scream before the video cut off. Simultaneously Sayaka shouted: "Kyoko! NO!"
Sayaka dashed to the other room to grab her phone. "I gotta call Mami!" She ran right past Madoka, who was sobbing into the side of the couch. Leiko just sat there, staring at the screen and placidly adjusting her glasses.
Sayaka's hands were trembling as she flipped the phone open, and misdialed her first attempt before taking a deep breath and doing it properly. Her heart raced as she heard the phone ringing. "Come on, come on, pick up!" The last thing she saw before the video cut out was Homura slashing the knife across Kyoko's neck, and Kyoko falling to the ground. She couldn't tell how deep the cut was, but she was fearing the worst. "Pick up!"
Then, she heard Mami's voice: "Sayaka, I was-"
"What's going on?" Sayaka shouted, "Did you meet Kyoko yet? Is she alright?"
"Yes, Kyoko's right here, she just arrived, hold on."
Then Kyoko's voice came through: "Hey, princess!" she said in her casual carefree way.
"Kyoko!" Sayaka sighed with relief, warm tears running down her face. Madoka was now standing in the doorway, waiting anxiously, and trying to calm her trembling hands.
"Kaiji, can you come back into my office for a moment?" Endou said into an intercom, while holding down a button on his keyboard that would send the message only to Dr. Kaiji.
Dr. Sakura had stayed with Homura for a while. They had just talked for a while and then played a board game together before Homura said she was getting tired and was ready for bed. Endou was a bit irritated by how long Dr. Sakura ended up staying, but he saved his complaints for another day. He had other things on his mind at the moment. First, he wanted to make sure Dr. Sakura was alright. She assured him that she was fine, also saying: "It's been a long day, I'll give you a more detailed report on my thoughts of Subject One tomorrow morning, if that's alright." Endou granted her this request, for now. Right now, he had more pressing concerns about this psychologist that they had hired. He looked into a few things on his computer, watching over some video footage from Dr. Sakura's meetings with Homura to confirm his suspicions, then called Dr. Kaiji in to talk to him about it
Kaiji came back into the office which he had only recently left and took a seat. "So, what's this about?" he asked.
Endou was quiet for a moment. His hands were folded under his chin in deep thought. Kaiji figured this was going to be a follow-up to their conversation about Glazadrine, which he personally felt was still unneeded. What Endou actually said surprised him: "Kaiji, what are your impressions of Dr. Sakura?"
"My impressions of her? To what extent?" Endou waited him out, choosing not to give any extra clarification. Kaiji cleared his throat. "She does seem to have a special relationship with Homura."
"Subject One." Endou corrected him.
"Yes… Subject One. Anyway, it's kind of early to tell, but I think she has had a positive effect. Listen, if this is about dosing Homura with Glazadrine again, let's just get to the point. If it comes to that, I'm not opposed to it, but we should only be considering it as an absolute last res-"
"This is about Dr. Kay Sakura." Endou said, interrupting him, his voice was cold as stone. If Kaiji knew about Homura nicknaming him "Dr. Mono" he would have clearly been able to see why from that response. "I have a few concerns. Deep concerns."
"What do you mean?"
Dr. Endou turned his computer screen so Kaiji could see it, then started clicking away on the keyboard. "I don't know what to make of it yet, but what I'm about to show you must stay between the two of us. I don't want you talking to anyone else about it. No phone calls, and absolutely NO emails. You can't even make any personal notes on the subject. Do you understand?"
"Endou? What are you talking about?"
"Dr. Sakura managed to make a connection with Subject One rather quickly, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I thought so too, but like I said, it's probably because she's the only person who has really been kind to Homur… eh, Subject One, since she has been brought here." Kaiji was not sure why Endou was now refusing to call Homura by her name, but he decided it was best to be professional and follow suit for now.
"What I'm going to say may sound far-fetched, but I have evidence to support it, so hear me out. You are one of the only people I feel I can trust to show the discretion I require regarding this issue." He pulled up a video from one of the hidden cameras in Homura's room. It was from the day of Dr. Sakura's first meeting with Homura. He fast-forwarded it until Dr. Sakura sat down at the table and asked to see Homura's notebook. "Watch closely." he said, and returned the video to normal speed.
Kaiji watched as the notebook was passed to Kay, but did not see anything out of the ordinary. He shook his head: "I don't get it."
"Watch again." Endou replayed the loop, slower this time. The camera was angled so that it could see inside the notebook as it was passed between them "Watch their hands." He slowed it down to a frame by frame, and Kaiji could see that as the notebook was passed between them their hands brushed together very briefly with the cover of the notebook blocking one side. Kaiji still did not get it though. What was Endou getting at? He just shook his head.
"Doesn't it look as though Kay passed something into Subject One's hand?" Endou asked.
Kaiji just raised an eyebrow. "Play it again." He watched closely, for the third time, and shook his head. "I guess it's possible, but…" He shook his head again. "I guess if she wanted to pass something to Homura, she could have done it in that moment, but what could she possibly want to give to her? They had only just met each other."
"Take a look at this." Endou hit a few keys, and the one large camera angle was replaced by four smaller ones. "These are the camera's in Subject One's room that are not hidden." He started the loop again. "Watch where Dr. Sakura looks just moments before the notebook is passed to her. Look closely, watch her eyes." Kaiji watched, and he could see Kay take a glance at each of the visible cameras. "Now, look at the notebook, notice anything peculiar?"
Kaiji watched, and didn't get it at first, but then it hit him. "She lifts the cover of the notebook, blocking sight from the cameras, just as their hands are passed behind it."
"Exactly." Endou's eyes narrowed, "She purposely blocked sight of their hands."
"Endou." Kaiji said, still feeling skeptical, "Can I be honest with you for a moment?"
"Yes, that's why I'm showing this to you. I need your honest opinion."
"I think you are looking for something that isn't there. You know what this is? It's a series of small coincidences, and you are thinking too deeply on them."
"Why would she look at the cameras?"
"It's human nature. It's natural for someone to subconsciously note the location of cameras when they know they are being recorded."
"Why do their hands touch?"
Kaiji shrugged. "It probably just LOOKS that way. There was no reason behind it, no premeditated intent. Their hands just happened to touch for a moment. You can't even see anything in Dr. Sakura's hand."
"Because she was keeping it cupped inside her palm. Look again." He played the original video where their hands could clearly be seen as they passed behind the notebook. "See that, her hand is cupped, she could be holding something in her palm."
"Sure, she COULD be, but that doesn't mean she is. They don't even know each other at this point, and what could she possibly want to give to her?"
"Those are the questions I don't have answers to just yet. There's something else I found peculiar. Earlier today, when Subject One was holding Dr. Sakura hostage, remember when we told her we were going to use the gas? What did Dr. Sakura say?"
"She told us not to. She said: 'Just let me talk to her'."
"Dr. Sakura shouldn't have known about the gas, but didn't it seem as though she did in fact have prior knowledge about it?"
"That was after we used the word 'gas'. She is smart, she must have figured it out. If that's not the case, maybe she found out some other way. Maybe you mentioned it to her in one of your emails and are just not remembering correctly."
"No. I have made no mention of the gas to Dr. Sakura, and there is no way she could have known about it."
"Then she just figured it out on her own, like I said. What exactly are you suggesting here anyway? That she has been hacking into our systems and reading top secret files? If that's the case, I assure you: our firewalls are impossible to breach."
"There could be a leak somewhere; a double agent."
"So what are you saying? Dr. Sakura herself is a double agent? And working for whom? Endou, you don't have nearly enough proof to make a claim like that, and if you value retaining your credibility I suggest you don't bring this up to anyone else." Dr. Kaiji stood up. "Go home and get some sleep, you're not thinking clearly."
"There's one more thing." Dr. Endou added, "Remember when I told you not to make any phone calls or write any emails about this? That's because I believe our communications are being tampered with." Kaiji opened his mouth, getting ready for another argument but the look in Endou's eyes stopped him cold. "I have proof."
