Chapter 42
Nikolo swallows, trying to stay calm.
"It was a little oversalted" he admits, his mouth dry "But not too much; it was still eatable."
"I see" doctor Becker muses "But did you eat it?"
Nikolo felt his stomach drop, and from the doctor's slightly raising eyebrow, he concluded that it must've shown on his face.
"It's probably too late to try to pretend that I did" he thought. Forcing on what he hoped to be an apologetic expression, he said: "I have to admit that I didn't; while it would've been eatable, I'm a little picky."
"Is that so?" the doctor asks, walking further in to the room. He looks at the tray on the table, saying: "Your plate is empty."
Nikolo freezes. Right, he should've insisted on having eaten it, after all. Too late.
Swallowing again, he says: "I flushed it down the toilet" he pauses "Sorry for being wasteful."
"Did you now?" the doctor ignored Nikolo's apology, and doesn't seem surprised by his confession "Was this the first time you did such a thing?"
"Yes" what else could he say? Besides, this was the first time he did it with his breakfast. Unfortunately, doctor Becker didn't look convinced.
"Are you sure about that?" the doctor asks, and Nikolo realizes that the man doesn't simply have a hunch of something. He knew.
"It's probably safer to come clean" he concludes "Though I might not be safe at all no matter what I say or do at this point."
"I am sure" he says "That it was the first time I did so with my breakfast."
A look of surprise flashes across the doctor's face, but then he lets out a dry chuckle.
"I see. Fair enough" he says "Earlier it has been dinner, then?"
"The fact that you knew it to be dinner and not lunch is quite telling" Nikolo points out, narrowing his eyes "Why is that, I wonder?"
They stare at each other, both of them wondering if the other would get to the point first. Nikolo, of course, was in no hurry, so he had no intention to be the first to open his mouth. The more he knew, the better handle he'd have of this situation.
"I think you already know" doctor Becker finally relents "If you didn't, you wouldn't hide your food in flower pots and trashcans, not to mention under furniture in the common spaces."
Yeah, he'd done that. He couldn't risk plugging the toilet, so when his dinner had contained something that would be risky to flush down, he'd thrown those things away the next day in the common space. He had thought that even if they were found, there'd be plenty of suspects and that he wouldn't be considered crazy enough to be the first one on the list.
"What makes you think the food didn't belong to someone else?" Nikolo crosses his arms as he tries to fish for more information.
"Naturally, we wouldn't be sure otherwise, but the dinners given to you happened to be unique."
"In other words, drugged" the former soldier knew, gritting his teeth. If his food was "unique" as the doctor put it, did that mean that he was the only one being drugged indirectly like this? "This is worse than I thought."
Unable to figure out what he'd have to lose, Nikolo blurts out: "How about we just cut the crap?"
He glares at the doctor.
"Why exactly was my food drugged? What were you trying to accomplish?" he asks "And at this point, it's useless to pretend that it was basic medication. Out with it; if it's word against word, no one would believe me even if I told them."
"Indeed" doctor Becker agrees "But what you must understand is that this isn't personal; I'm simply following orders."
He had figured that one out already.
"To our society, you and the others who came back alive from the most dangerous place in the world are heroes. You've seen hell and came back to tell the tale. But what do you think would happen if one of you were to spread a word that Paradis Island is not what the world thinks it to be and people actually believed that?" the doctor asks.
Nikolo hadn't really thought about it. He knew that it wouldn't be realistic to expect the world's views on Paradis and on Eldians to change even if he were to talk about it publicly. Not that he had even considered that. Instead, he had hoped to change the world bit by bit, to make it better in the future. The transition would be slow, but hopefully permanent. Slow pace would also even out the economic effect on things as the use of Eldians as cheap labor would cease little by little instead of all at once. It'd be ineffective when it came to individual Eldians forced to work now, but would help the future generations.
"The world would lose its common enemy" Becker answers his own question when Nikolo doesn't "When that happens, there would be two options: either it finds a new common enemy or everyone will start to see their own enemies. In the latter case, alliances would break and new ones would be formed. Wars would break out. With the shared threat gone, the world would no longer be forced to sit at one shared table."
"And in case the world did find another shared enemy" Nikolo fills in, catching on "With all the expanding and exploiting Marley has done over the past hundred and so years, it wouldn't be hard to guess which country that would be."
"Exactly, and we can't have that" the man seems satisfied of being understood "For Marley to flourish, Paradis Island must remain as something that strikes fear in the world."
"But Marley has a base in Paradis and some companies are starting to negotiate about trade with them, are they not?" Nikolo asks, his harsh eyes still firmly on the man "Isn't that against the common enemy -strategy?"
"Yes, but it's fine as long as only certain companies, directly approved by Marley's government, will work with them" the doctor says, and Nikolo doesn't like the gleam in his eyes "Then they can sell forward what they get from Paradis with good profit, and also spread the word of what the island is like -in a way that benefits our motherland."
"And I'm a threat to that?" Nikolo asks. He understood the other parts, but not why he was seen as such a threat "Me, a single soldier?"
"A single soldier who spent nine years in that place and happens to be one of the sons of a very successful family of business men" Nikolo froze, finally seeing where this was coming from. With his family's status- "If you started spreading your Eldian supporting views, the masses wouldn't think much of it. There'd always be one or two individuals who'd be swayed, but that would be nothing to worry about. But with the position your family brings you, your words would eventually reach the ears of other people in the field, both inside and outside Marley. We can't allow too much competition, and we definitely can't allow these businesses to take the risk of going there, noticing that it's not as dangerous as they had thought, and spreading the word."
It all made sense now, Nikolo realized. He hadn't even though of using his family's influence to spread the word, knowing it was too risky, but the officers weren't taking any chances. But for them to have thought things through like this, they had to have been considering the possibilities before he got thrown here. And that meant that he had been considered a threat far longer than he realized.
"Grior and the others must have said far more than I realized, after all" he thought, his hands starting to sweat. There was no getting out of here by playing nice, that much was clear. They wanted him out of the way, so- "Wait."
"If I'm in the way, wouldn't it have been easier to silence me permanently?" Nikolo asks, realizing that there was something more to this "It would've been easy to set it up to have been done by an Eldian, especially on the night that landed me here."
"Indeed, it would've" the doctor readily admitted "But it was concluded that you're more useful alive."
"Useful?" Nikolo questions, raising an eyebrow. Doctor Becker seemed more than happy to explain as he walked back over to the door.
"Like I said, your word could have lots of influence over the business world, and it could cause us problems" he says "But depending on what you say, you can also help us."
Nikolo did not like where this was going.
"I was told to offer you a deal when the time was right, and that time is now" the man Nikolo started to despise more and more continued "You stay here for a few more months, continuing as you have been, without the drugs of course. Then, when you get out, you use your family's influence to get in to some big company, doesn't matter which one, your family's would do just fine too, and start to spread the word of how the Devil's Island was so horrifying it temporarily took your sanity. With your position, the results would be guaranteed."
"And you'd get the honor of saving a poor man's sanity from the horrors of hell?" Nikolo asks with a bite in his voice, but the doctor just chuckles "Not my goal, I'm afraid, not that I'd mind it, either. I just happen to be former military myself, and take pride in doing whatever needs to be done to protect my motherland."
"Even when it means to make the world, including the people of the said motherland who're not in on the truth, have a constant fear of the rumbling in the backs of their minds?" Nikolo asks, even though he knew there was no changing the man's mind "You're fine with your family, your friends and your neighbors fearing the end of the world far more than they have a reason to?"
"More than there's reason to?" the man repeats "The threat of the rumbling is real as long as the walled titans and the Eldians exist. Even if there were peace for the next ten, twenty years, the titans could start walking at any moment in the future. The threat is very real."
Nikolo had nothing to say to that. He wanted to deny it, but couldn't. He knew that the current commander of the Scouting Legion wouldn't allow the rumbling to happen and neither would the queen, but there was no telling what the ones in power after them would do. Hopefully, they'd inherit the beliefs of their mentors, but none could know before it was time.
Clearly pleased by his lack of an answer, doctor Becker smirks.
"Well then, how about it? Do we have a deal?" he asks, and Nikolo immediately knows that they did not. The people of Paradis were trying their hardest to become a part of the world, as something else than the shared threat, and even if he could do nothing to help them, he would not get in their way.
But he couldn't just say that. Was there a way to agree and then safely go back on his word once he was out? No, he couldn't count on that. Even if he wasn't thrown back here after going back on his word, there would certainly be people watching him, reporting his every move. One mistake could land him back here or, if he was unlucky, get him killed. And were things to go really badly, it could put his family in danger as well.
"In your dreams!" Nikolo spat. If he was just stuck here, at least he wouldn't do any harm to anyone. And he doubted he'd be killed while in the hospital; he'd realized that unlike on the field, in here his family's reputation could protect him from "accidental" death. If he died, it wouldn't just get swiped under the rug. He'd be fine. And while it'd take time, he'd eventually come up with an escape plan and somehow make it back to Paradis, back to Sasha. With this, he no longer had a future in Marley anyway.
"That's a pity" the doctor says, but he didn't look disappointed or irritated in the slightest. He must've been expecting this answer, Nikolo realized "Then your family must simply spread the word for you."
As if on cue, two soldier stepped in from the door, walking over to Nikolo. It surprised him, but he wasn't foolish enough to try and fight back.
"So, you think keeping me here long enough will eventually get them to talk about their loss to others?" Nikolo laughs "I got news for you: things don't work like that in our circles. For the sake of their reputation, my family will keep this under wraps as tightly as possible."
"At the moment, yes, but once they see the condition you eventually end up in, they'll start spreading the word out of bitterness and the need to protect others from the fate their poor son encountered."
Nikolo didn't like the sound of that. The condition he'd eventually end up in? What did that mean? Were they going to force those drugs down his throat and make him crazy? The thought was stomach turning, but he wouldn't go down without a fight!
"Bring it on, you coward!" he hissed. Taking something out of his pocket, the doctor answered: "Gladly."
Seeing the needle in the approaching doctor's hand, Nikolo realized that he'd bitten off way more than he could chew. But as the needle sank in to his neck and his vision started to go black, oddly enough, he did not regret turning down the offered deal.
"Sorry, Sasha, this'll still take… a while longer…"
XXXXX
All in all, Jean's little task for them was easy; all Sasha and Samuel had to do was to be there, standing behind the well-fed businessman as he discussed with another businessman, that one from Marley. Of course, had something gone wrong, they would've been ready for action. Fortunately, the Marleyan soldiers guarding the other man seemed to have no problem with standing there facing them, no disdain even showing on their faces. Faces that Sasha had seen before, she was sure; they must've been here at some point, though she couldn't recall their names. She wondered if they were naturally poker faced or if they just didn't feel the same disgust towards Eldians that many Marleyans seemed to feel. She hoped it to be the later.
The men that the Marleyan merchant had brought with him on the other hand, body guards, Sasha assumed, showed their hostility openly on their faces. And while they were trying to hide it, it was obvious to anyone looking that they were scared. If it wasn't for their hostility, Sasha might even pity them.
"This seems like a fair deal that will benefit us both and our nations" the Marleyan merchant comments, looking over the document in front of him. Raising his eyes from it, his gaze locks with his potential business partner "But how do I know you'll keep your part of the deal?"
If Sasha said she was surprised about such a question, she'd be lying; of course, one side would question the other's trustworthiness. But she supposed she should be happy that the rude question didn't come from their side.
Fortunately, the man didn't lose his cool. Of course, he must've been used to making business with all kinds of people, but the fact that Jean had drilled it to the man's head the night before that he, or anyone else from their side for that matter, mustn't do anything that would give the Marleyans a reason to consider them hostile might have had something to do with it as well.
"The same way we know you'll keep your end of the deal" the round man answers calmly "I have a lot to gain from this deal, just like you, and that gain will be lost if the deal breaks. Not following our agreement would simply be too unbeneficial."
Was that a good answer? Sasha didn't understand much of business and the kind of polite jabs businessmen would throw at each other, but that had sounded like something that would work.
Her steady gaze on the Marleyan merchant, she sees a flash of something in his eyes, but it doesn't seem to be anger.
"It seems we have a deal, then" the man says, signing the document he'd been looking over "It will be a pleasure to inform my superiors that the negotiations were, to their surprise, successful."
To Sasha, it sounded like the man was trying to provoke them on purpose. Fortunately, their merchant was not that easy to string along.
"It's always a pleasure to be able to offer a better deal than expected" the man says, standing up from his seat. He extends his hand out across the table to the Marleyan "It was a pleasure making business with you."
The man eyes the hand, but before Sasha can really wonder if he'll take it or not, he does. Guess he wasn't willing to provoke them too obviously.
"Likewise," he says, though Sasha's fairly sure he doesn't mean it "Now if you'll excuse us, we'll take our leave."
After the merchant, his obviously relieved guards and the Marleyan soldiers are out of the room and surely out of earshot, Sasha dares to let out a sigh of relief.
"That went well, huh?" she says, relaxing "Though he had a bit of an attitude, but for all we know, that might just be his personality."
A silence follows, and Sasha sweat drops as the merchant just stares at her.
"Um, is something wrong, sir?"
"Oh, nothing" he says "Though I understand why you're a soldier; you would be unsuited for business."
Sasha's face flushes. She doesn't quite follow what the man means, but she knows an insult when she hears one, especially if it's directed at her. And Samuel snickering confirms that she's right.
Not wanting to lose her cool in front of a civilian, she was a professional soldier and had to act like one after all, she asks: "What exactly did I miss, sir?"
The man sits back down on his chair, seemingly in no hurry to leave.
"As I'm sure you know, I'm the president of my company; there's no one giving me orders" he says "I'm a busy man, and I easily could have sent someone else here in my place. It would've been safer for me; while everything did go smoothly, there was no guarantee. But even so, I came here myself. Do you know why that is?"
"…To ensure things went as you wanted?" Sasha suggests, but knows even before she says it that she's definitely missing something.
"That too" the man agrees "But even more so than that, I as the company president wanted to be present for such an important deal; it's respectful to show your face to those who one does business with."
"Oh!" now Sasha gets it "So, it was disrespectful of the owner to not come here?"
"Exactly" the man says, satisfied. In Sasha's opinion, it's understandable that the other merchant didn't come himself; even if they happened to be from somewhere near the coastline of Marley, the trip would still be a long one as far as she recalled. And, judging from the maps she'd seen, Marley was a large country. If the merchant came from somewhere inland, this trip would've taken a lot of his surely precious time "I suppose most people here don't really understand how vast the outside world is…"
Not that Sasha could blame them; she was pretty sure she didn't have a proper understanding of it either, and she'd actually been off the island before.
"Better not to be too hard on them" Samuel cuts in, smirking as the merchant looks at him "Marleyans generally tend to have no guts."
The merchant laughs, so Sasha holds her tongue, but if Samuel were to look her way, he'd know that she didn't approve of his comment.
"I need to have a word with him about this later"
XXXXX
As Nikolo woke up, he noticed that he felt dizzy. His mind was a little foggy, too; he wasn't sure what had happened. Actually, where was he, even? The ceiling didn't look familiar…
"This isn't my room in the hospital" he realized. That was a little worrying, but since he could tell he was laying on something soft, he wasn't too worried. Maybe he had fainted while in the common space and gotten carried to some kind of infirmary instead of his own room? Or maybe he was laying on a couch, the one that was close to the table they sometimes played card at?
Wanting to figure that out, he tried to get up, but it didn't exactly work out. He wasn't that dizzy, though, so he blinked a few times, before trying again. No luck. He can't lift his arms, or his body for that matter as he tries to sit up. Finally, he realizes that the problem isn't his body, but something physically holding him down. Turning his head, at least he could move that, he managed to spot the restraints on his wrist. He turns his head to the other side too, and sure enough, his other wrist was tied down as well.
"…What the hell?" he mutters as he tugs at his hands, but they won't budge. Of course not; those restraints were made specifically for this purpose. Tugging at his legs as well, he confirms that they've been tied down, too.
"What happened?" Nikolo wonders. He knows he's forgetting something, and whatever it is, the dizzy feeling must have something to do with it. Had he hit his head…? No, the last thing he remembered was going to sleep, just like usual…
"Wait, is it?" there's something, he knows, something he's forgotten that happened after that. This was not the next morning; he recalls waking up… and getting his breakfast… and…
And throwing it away. That's the realization that brings back the rest of his memories, or at least most of them. He's probably forgetting some details of his conversation with the doctor, but he remembers enough to put together an explanation on why he's in the situation that he is.
"Shit…" he mutters quietly, closing his eyes. This was bad, really bad. There had been a point he'd thought things couldn't get any worse, but obviously, he'd been wrong. Could it get even worse than this?
"…Absolutely" he thought. He wasn't sure how or what he'd do to make it so, but with his luck, things could still go downhill from here. And to stop that, he needed a plan. As soon as possible, and preferably, that'd be very soon.
"Okay" he takes a deep breath "Okay."
What facts did he have down about his situation, what did he know for sure?
"I can't trust anyone here; while it's unlikely that most of the staff is in on this, most, if not all, would tell Dr. Becker. I can't rely on any of the patients, either; I'm not close enough to anyone that I could trust them." that meant no inside help. Outside? "Thomas is out of the question, and the risks are too big for Jonas, I suppose. But my family…"
Could he make them listen?
No. Yes… maybe?
"Mom would just think that I really am crazy. Bianca wouldn't do anything without her or dad's approval. Natalie might believe me, but I don't think there's anything she could do on her own" he sighs "That leaves dad and Ulrich."
Surely, his father wanted the best for him, he knew that now, but he doubted the man would believe him. He'd listen, sure, but not believe. And if he didn't believe him, then he'd do nothing and would be convinced that the doctors knew what was the best for him.
Ulrich probably wouldn't even bother to listen; he'd just lecture him, if he showed up at all, that is.
He was on his own.
A.N: Can't believe it's December already… where has the year gone?
In any case, to celebrate Christmas, I'm doing a double update this month by publishing another chapter on Christmas Eve. There's nothing Christmassy about it, unfortunately, but I thought that an extra chapter would be nice, kind of like a Christmas present. So, look forward to 24th of December!
