.:Chapter 2 – Activation:.
In a flurry of movement, the silent specialists of Hollowell Mind Tech began shuffling around the lab at top speed. Wires were unplugged and reconnected elsewhere with trained precision. Equipment began to disassemble themselves and transform into something new. Sanji's eyes couldn't keep track of everything that was shifting in front of him, nor could he make sense of it.
Hollowell tucked his tablet under his arm and walked to the modular desk in the center of the room. He flicked a switch as he went. The staged medical table began to erect itself, while reassembling its own parts. Compartments slid open; corners tucked themselves away. A fuck ton of restraints appeared, all of which sprouted that odd electric blue current, connecting with the strange, circular rim that hovered a meter above the now-upright table.
One of the specialists – a large man with a mop of red hair – tapped at the circular contraption. It blinked alive, and the restraints on the medical table clicked open at certain lock points, like a flytrap waiting for its prey to land.
Sanji's stomach twisted.
"Memosphere activation complete," the gruff, red-haired man announced.
"~Teeshishi. Excellent, Loic. Thank you." Hollowell addressed the other two specialists. "Rhys, prepare the extraction. Enver, assist Ashvin with restraining our lovely guest."
Enver walked up to the third cell of prisoners, his pointed face scowling. Everything about the man was sharp - jaw, nose, even the shape of his smooth, hairless scalp. He had to be broad beneath his lab coat, as his purple slacks accented thick muscle. Though his left hand wore a black glove up to his elbow, his right hand was solid metal. He reached out with his right hand. It went through the rigged glass cell door like nothing was there.
At the same time, Ashvin pulled a remote from his breast pocket. He aimed it at the cell and a red light flashed. Nami screamed. She and Zoro slammed back onto their backs. Chopper and Usopp yelled.
"Nami!" Sanji shouted. Sweat beaded on the woman's forehead, orange hair fanned beneath her. Zoro wasn't in better shape. The swordsman's teeth were gritted, neck veins straining as if he was trying to lift his head but couldn't. "Oi, what are you doing to Nami and Mosshead?"
"Keeping them at bay," responded Ashvin.
Enver, then, stepped fully through the glass and approached the bound blonde. Sanji's mind reeled. He could try to fight back, but would it be futile? He couldn't move his legs, his greatest weapons. Not to mention the sea prism stone cuffs were draining his haki.
"Oi, Curly." Sanji's eyes flew down to meet a steely gray one. "Don't do anything stupid." There was unspoken concern swimming behind the gray that Sanji didn't want to think about. There were too many emotions involved. Instead, the cook scoffed.
"Like you're one to talk, you shitty swordsman."
"Let's go." Enver snatched Sanji's upper arm and hauled him out. Sanji didn't resist. The mosshead was right for once, and besides, it was better that he was going first. Whatever was going to happen didn't matter. The others could think of a plan while he was being interrogated. Nothing he couldn't handle. There were ladies present, after all.
The Straw Hat love-cook caught sight of the female specialist, bare legs on display at the bottom of her lab coat, long teal hair pulled into a low bun at the base of her tanned, slim neck. Sanji was suddenly seeing hearts.
"If anyone is going to handle me, I'd rather it be Rhys~."
The invisible hold on Zoro and Nami was released as soon as Sanji was out of the cell. They sat up groggily, both mumbling something about 'typical cook'.
Luffy laughed. "Even about to be tortured, Sanji is funny."
Heart eyes vanishing, Sanji scowled. "Idiot rubber, don't say it like that!"
"~Teeshishishi. Torture is such a strong word." Hollowell clicked his tongue, straightening the tablets he had organized on his desk. His wiry hands held up a clear, glass ball wrapped with a single titanium lock. Where the tips of his fingers pressed, it started to emanate a blue light. In one swift motion, the empty ball was filled with glittering, blue gas. Or liquid. Or… Well, Sanji couldn't tell what the hell it was.
Chopper's awed gasp rang out, echoing everyone's thoughts. "What was that?" the little doctor asked.
"And what's it for?" Usopp wondered, voice shaking.
Hollowell held the glowing ball proudly in front of him. It was the same icy blue shade as his eyes. "With my unique technology, I can harness my Rec Rec fruit ability in a physical way. Isn't it glorious? ~Teeshishishi."
"Rec Rec fruit?" Franky quirked an eyebrow at Robin. The archaeologist hummed.
"If I recall, it's ability is to – in fact – recall."
"Gee. That was super helpful." Usopp muttered.
"Recall what, exactly?" asked Brook.
Robin shook her head, trying to think. "They said they farm information, so…"
Sanji felt the knots in his stomach tighten as he approached the center of the room. Surrounded by test tubes and syringes and crazy technology he couldn't understand seemed all too familiar for his comfort. Sanji grunted as he was thrown against the medical table. He struggled reflexively only a second before Enver and Ashvin overpowered him. They had him locked in place quickly. Sanji's arms hung at his sides, cold clasps wrapped at wrists, elbows, and across his chest. Sanji swallowed hard. The same solid locks were wrapped around his ankles and thighs.
"He's ready for the neural headpiece," Ashvin said, stepping back.
Rhys advanced, carrying a metallic helmet covered in knobs. She placed it on Sanji's head before he had a good look at it, and as it fell heavy against him and blocked his line of sight, the cook's adrenaline ignited. He shouted, throwing his head forward. The helmet flew off and clattered to the ground, startling everyone in the room. Rhys quickly retrieved it, anger flashing across her face.
Ashvin glared at the now-panting blonde. He pressed something behind him. A manacle slid over Sanji's throat and forehead, further immobilizing him.
"Stop," Sanji pleaded, trying to hear past his heart beat. His cheeks flushed in embarrassment at his outburst. His crew watched him with wide-eyes, and, god, he hated it. He inhaled sharply, wishing he had a cigarette. When he tried to move, none of the manacles so much as budged. "Is the helmet really necessary?" he spat through clenched teeth.
Hollowell stared at him curiously from his desk before resuming his typing, fingers flittering across his line of tablets. "Why, it's the most important part. ~Teeshishi. You carry something I require."
Sanji quirked an eyebrow at the man. "Like what?"
"Memories."
"You're—You're going to take Sanji's memories?" Chopper gulped.
"I won't be taking his memories from him. I will simply be rummaging through them. ~Teeshishishi."
"Why the cook?" questioned Zoro. Hollowell looked at Sanji as if he was the one who asked.
"Your memories are minefields of information. With this technology, I will be able to extract those memories. Store them. And dissect the data at my leisure. And you… You may hold exactly what I've been searching for."
Every fiber of Sanji's being was screaming for him to escape. He didn't want anyone in his memories, let alone this freak.
"What memories could Sanji possibly have that interest you so much?" Nami asked.
"Maybe a recipe," said Luffy. Nami scowled in his direction, but Hollowell laughed.
"~Teeshishishi. Something like that."
Rhys advanced again with the helmet in her hands, and Sanji balked, panicking despite himself.
"Why don't you just ask me? Maybe I'm feeling generous."
"~Teeshishi. From my experience, a Vinsmoke is never generous."
The blood in Sanji's veins froze over. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach, and he stared, wide-eyed, at the icy scientist.
How did he know that name?
Sanji could feel every member of his crew staring at him. He refused to look back. To see the recognition. To see the eyes of the people who knew just enough of Sanji's shameful ancestry to pity him. He didn't want their pity. And he didn't want their worry. Wasn't worth that. He hoped Whole Cake Island was the end of it.
He always hoped there would be an end.
"What makes you think I'm a Vinsm—"
"Vinsmokes have distinct features," Ashvin easily responded. He was getting tired of the delay. Sanji cursed.
"Look, whatever information you're looking for – I can guarantee I don't have it." He struggled helplessly as Rhys replaced the helmet and locked it at the back of his head and under his jaw. The pressure made Sanji sick. "I'm not a Vinsmoke!"
Hollowell only grinned, as his assistant and specialists sat at their designated monitors and dimmed all lights but the ones above Sanji. "Your truth will be revealed in good time, Vinsmoke Sanji. You may as well relax. ~Teeshishishi."
Sanji couldn't catch his breath. Everything was dark. The helmet strapped to him was too heavy. Images he wanted to ignore were already racing through his mind, and he didn't know how Hollowell's power worked, but he sure as hell didn't want to make it easy for him. None of this was what Sanji was expecting to happen!
"Begin the extraction!"
No! I can't do this.
Sweat collected across Sanji's brow. His breathing came in short gasps.
They can't have these memories!
A voltaic sensation rose the hairs on Sanji's arms, sweeping through his body like a rush of adrenaline. Startled by a sudden vibration against his skull, Sanji yelped. He couldn't hear his own voice anymore.
He couldn't hear anything, could he?
Was someone yelling?
Was it him?
A queasy fluttering of reservations rose like bile up Sanji's chest. He tried to clutch at it. He couldn't move. And then there was a burning deep in his head, followed by a prickling sensation of a thousand needles. It grew stronger. More needles. Large needles. Too many needles. It hurt!
And then a moth, whispering. Brushing its wings against his ear. He wanted to listen. Wanted to hear what it had to say. He didn't know why. Just felt the urge. The urge to listen. But – shit – it was telling him to remember.
To remember.
To remember…Vinsmoke Sanji.
OoOoOoO
"Begin the extraction!"
Ashvin took the glass ball Hollowell filled with the physical manifestation of his devil fruit power and slid it into a slot along the rim of the Memosphere. The machine – ominous as it curved around the Straw Hat cook – hummed to life, encased in a soft blue glow like everything else in the lab.
Sanji's fists balled at his sides, knuckles whitening. Zoro worried his nails would dig into his palms and damage his hands...
A startled scream erupted from Sanji's lips, making Zoro curse, and several other Straw Hats scream with him in fear that something had happened. Luffy started yelling.
"It's okay, Sanji! We're here with you!"
"Yeah," Usopp mumbled. "Whatever good that'll do the poor guy."
Brook hummed. "Never underestimate the power of morale." The skeleton hated to see any of his crewmates possibly tortured. These were an odd bunch, to be sure. Who knew what techniques they used?
Hoping their words were a comfort no matter how slight, Robin and Franky also began to call for him.
"Be strong, Sanji."
"You got this, bro!"
Tears streamed down their doctor's face. "Be brave, Sanjiiii!"
"Oh, I can't watch this," Nami cried, peering through her splayed fingers.
Zoro didn't move. Didn't speak. Focus intense on his cook, because – fuck – why wasn't Zoro able to stop his crew from getting captured in the first place? How had he let this happen at all? And now Curly was about to have his memories torn out of his head or something. The cook was over there, shackled, having one of his panic attacks he always pretended didn't exist, in front of everyone. And Zoro couldn't do a damn thing, while the rest of the crew shouted encouragement Zoro doubted the cook could hear.
"Must they be here?" Ashvin murmured to his superior. Hollowell glanced wickedly over his shoulder at the noisy crew.
"Let them holler to their hearts' content. Watching will give them an idea of what to expect when it's their turn. It will make them realize how very little they can hide from me! ~Teeshishishishishi."
What the hell was that crazy bastard yammering about? The first thing Zoro was going to do when they got out of here was cut Hollowell's tongue out.
Suddenly, the walls behind Sanji lit up. Giant screens blinking like the rhythm of a heart.
Hollowell signaled to his assistant, and Ashvin strode back to Sanji and spoke gently against his ear, lips touching skin. Zoro would kill him.
As soon as Ashvin pulled back, Sanji writhed. The cook's teeth snapped together, making Zoro flinch. His face scrunched in pain, and his body started shaking.
Chopper wailed, and Nami screamed at the purple man. "What did you do to him?!"
Ashvin rolled his sleeves up as he retook his seat. "Suggested he remember his time with the Vinsmokes," he said, coolly, like the indifferent asshole that he was. "If you have to know – with my Call Call fruit it becomes almost impossible to turn down my suggestions."
"Oh god," Nami groaned. This was getting worse and worse. They needed an escape plan, and fast.
"How do you know anyone is even thinking what you're telling them to—"
Franky was cut off in an instant. The screens behind Sanji beeped, spluttered into a strange static, and then…a cacophony of voices.
"Sanji was makin' some of that rat food again."
"Father… Help…"
"Why is Sanji so weak? The gap in their scores keeps increasing."
"Dad… It's scary…"
"Hey, slowpoke! Can't you run any faster?"
"What did I do wrong, Dad?"
"I think we're supposed to cross over the Red Line soon. Towards the East Blue."
"Come on, Sanji! Stop crying like a little baby!"
"Run away! Run, Sanjiiii!"
The blur of voices and colors grew louder and faster until, all at once, the screen widened into a single shot. A bowl with a whisk. And a tiny hand, attached to a tiny body, connected to a familiar, tiny face.
"Is this…"
But Luffy, for once, trailed off into silence.
The tiny blonde with the curling brows above wide, boyish ocean-blue eyes, looked excitedly down at his whisked concoction. "Looks pretty good," he said with a laugh as tiny as he was.
In united shock, the Straw Hat crew gasped.
"These are Sanji's memories!"
:O
Oh noooo, Sanjiiiii