The last thing I remember... Was the pendant I gave Myla
Then water hit my face.
I jerked awake.
"...Bleh... Uhhhh... my head..."
'Dark.'
Ceiling above. Or maybe the floor. I couldn't tell.
Tried to move.
'Can't'
My arms hung loose. Ankles pulled together, held by something soft and cold. Body swaying just slightly. I was upside down.
Figures stood around me. Silent. Not breathing loud. Not talking.
They didn't feel human.
The one closest raised a hand to their neck. Said something under their breath. Then motioned forward.
The others moved aside. Made space.
Something changed in the air.
A hum. Light. Soft at first. Blue-green. Not warm. Just... present.
Then someone walked in.
They moved like they already owned everything in the room.
Short hair on one side. Long on the other. White and black split down the middle.
No expression.
No rush.
Eyes gold. Pale, almost flat. Like coin metal.
They wore something expensive-looking, but I couldn't explain it. The sleeves kept shifting. Some kind of fiber that looked like it was breathing. Not tech I'd seen before. Not something normal. Even the boots had no seams. Just perfect lines, stitched with thin light. It wasn't trying to look rich. It just was.
They stopped a few feet from me.
"You're the one they dragged in," they said.
Voice was light. Unconcerned. Like none of this mattered.
They tilted their head.
"You don't look like much."
I didn't say anything.
They didn't mind.
They walked in a small circle around me. Hands behind their back. Studying. Bored, but curious.
"My name's Silas. In case they forgot to say it. Silas Drayl."
They tapped a black panel on the wall.
It folded into the ceiling.
The room changed.
Lights shifted. Walls smoothed. Pillars reshaped themselves in slow, liquid clicks. Furniture that looked like bone and glass unfolded from the floor and turned solid.
It wasn't a lab. Or a holding cell. Or a lounge.
It was all three.
And none of it looked like tech.
Just shapes. Clean. Wrong.
"You're not what I expected," Silas said. "But you'll do."
I blinked at them.
They smirked.
"I'm gonna take all of this one day. Not just the company. The world under it. That's the point."
Their tone didn't change. Still casual.
Like they were talking about lunch.
Then they got close. Eyes inches from mine.
"I don't care about money. Or power. I just don't want him to have it."
They turned away.
"You'll help with that. Somehow."
Then they walked out.
The figures followed.
The light dimmed.
I was alone again.
Dangling from whatever was holding me in place.
"Damn it... Why am I here?... Myla... What did you do?" I question in the dark.
I waited in the dark. In silence. For about an hour.
"They say being in solitude for to long drives someone crazy. Lucky me I'm above losing my mind" I stated
And not long after that I hear things moving around me and, and I'm slowly layed on a table or something.
And someone walks in. It's the guy from earlier.
"... Guy..." I greet him, and get ignored.
"You don't have a Boneclock... But you have something else... So I'll ask you one... What. Is. It?" He demands an answer.
And I don't see a benefit from not telling him
"I don't know. Think I was born with it..." I say in a dry tone.
He looks back at a circular device, before turning back to me and saying.
"You're not lying... Interesting. A being born with a different life line. You... Hm.." Silas seems to be lost in a train of thought. Because he didn't address me again.
He turned away again.
Started typing something on a panel that folded out from the wall. Same strange material. No lights. No buttons. Just surface.
Then a soft sound.
Click. Click.
My restraints shifted.
I dropped flat onto something cold and smooth. Not metal. Not stone. Just... smooth. Like frozen breath.
Before I could move, a cuff clamped down around my wrist. Then the other. Then ankles.
The Bonecord twitched.
"Relax," Silas muttered. "We're just gonna see what you're made of."
He stepped into view again, dragging a long pole behind him. Looked like a cane. But it was too thin. Too flexible. Every time it touched the floor, it shimmered.
He knelt next to me. And unwraps the black cloth that I put around my arms
The Bonecord pulsed.
Once.
He didn't flinch.
Instead, he pressed the rod against my arm. Right along the edge of the Bonecord.
And waited.
The reaction was instant.
Pain shot up through my shoulder. My fingers curled on instinct. The Bonecord split slightly, like a mouth opening along my skin.
I gritted my teeth.
"Fascinating," he whispered.
He ran the rod along the lines again. Slower. Watching it pulse. Watching me squirm.
It reacted differently each time. Once it sparked. Once it hissed. Once it almost wrapped around the rod like it wanted to pull it in and devour it.
But it didn't lash out.
It held back.
Like it was watching him too.
"You're still conscious. Good. Let's keep going."
The next thing he brought over looked like a flower made of crystal. It floated. Just hovered near my arm, rotating.
The Bonecord hated that.
It coiled. Tight. Around my arm, worming around on and in my skin.
Silas noticed.
"Huh. Very intriguing..."
He placed the crystal thing on my wrist.
White-hot burn.
I screamed.
Only for a second. Then bit my lip.
Little razor like things shot up out of the Bonecord. Knocking the crystal away...
It flew across the room and shattered.
Silas didn't look surprised. Just disappointed.
"...A parasite..." he muttered.
"Cool," I said through clenched teeth. "Love being called that."
Another hour passed. Maybe more. He tested temperature. Pressure. Light. Sound.
The Bonecord only responded to some of it.
Other times, it ignored him completely.
Then he brought out something else.
A vial.
I didn't see what was in it.
Didn't need to.
The second he opened it, everything got worse
Like needles dragging through my veins. It writhed under my skin. Tried to pull back, retreat deeper into me.
My chest tightened. My vision blurred.
"Okay," Silas said, capping the vial again. "That got your attention."
He walked to the other side of the table.
Then just stood there.
Watching me.
Thinking.
"...Alright."
He pulled something out of his jacket. Looked like a coin. But when he tossed it into the air, it hovered and split into five identical shapes. They started orbiting him slowly.
"New plan," he said.
I didn't answer.
"You're a rare type. That ...thing... of yours, whatever it is won't mean much if you're dead."
He tapped the side of his head.
"So I'm offering you a deal."
I didn't respond.
Didn't need to.
He was gonna tell me anyway.
"You live. You get food. You move around. You even get a place to live."
He stepped closer.
"But you do what I say. You go where I tell you. You look at what I point at. And you don't touch anything unless I say so."
I stared at him.
"You're going to help me track something. Several somethings, actually. Ever heard of the Ethlanaqua?"
I didn't blink.
He kept going.
"Ocean-dwelling freaks. Evolution-based anomalies. Evolved beast that'll put me at the head of this company. Or at least above my father. I need them."
I tilted my head.
"Why?"
"Because no one's figured out how to kill them properly. Or trap them. Or replicate them. Yet."
He smiled.
"You're going to help me be that person. All the items I used on your arm wereade with a part that each variant of Ethlanaqua left behind"
I wanted to curse at him. Flip him off. Spit on the floor. Do something loud and bratty and pointless.
But I didn't.
There was no point.
So I swallowed the disgust.
And nodded once.
"...Fine."