Thea's lips curled. Clearly relishing the grim silence that had fallen over the siblings.
Eric sharply turned to face Silas standing to the back of the room. His hard stare demanding confirmation of what Thea had said.
Silas, caught unprepared for the sudden questioning, took some time to compose his thoughts before speaking.
"She isn't lying. At least not to my knowledge..." He began. "As at my time still in the base, the four subjects who had lived long enough after the core's implantation and then had it removed all suffered something resembling fatal withdrawal symptoms... They had all died."
His speech dissolved into mumbles at the end, but Eric picked them up clearly.
Eric's heart turned heavy.
'How did I not account for this?'
In his mind, Eric berated himself for having not thought of this grim possibility. It made logical sense once one thought about it, especially in Eric and Victoria's cases.
Panacea had never actually cured the root of their illness. The group had not even been able to identify it yet.
They had simply introduced a seemingly infinite source of vitality in the form of a drug into their systems.
A drug which fed his body with continuous doses of exotic energies, nullifying the effects of his ailment, and even physically strengthening him over time.
At least this was what Panacea hypothesized during Eric's capture in his original life.
Guilt and shame clenched at his heart as he immediately turned to Victoria with a sorry face.
He couldn't guess the emotions running through his sister's head at the moment, but the drawn sigh she released was the least of his expectations.
It wasn't a sigh due to the fear of death or frustration. It was a sigh of boredom and fatigue.
Victoria's bland face told everyone she was unmoved by the news of her impending death.
It could only be due to one thing.
"You knew?" Thea asked incredulously.
Victoria gave the older woman a condescending stare at the question.
"Of course I did." She answered succinctly. "I've had the core removed from me for almost two months. I grow weaker by the day, and the few of your kind who check on me, do so as if working on a corpse."
"Especially with their chatter about new subjects, I didn't need to be a genius to figure it out." Victoria tilted her head in annoyance and asked. "How stupid do you all think I am? Or did you think calling us 'subjects' meant we lost our brains?"
Thea turned silent at Victoria's unexpected retort.
"Eric," The princess continued "Whatever she has to say about my sickness or healing are definitely lies. Just ways for her to get in your head."
Eric's mind immediately became focused. His eyes narrowed as he recognised the conciseness of Victoria's words.
Silas and Kai had escaped from the base not too long ago. They would be aware if Panacea were developing a cure to the effects of the core's removal.
The doctor's omission of such important information definitely meant even if it existed, it wasn't a viable solution.
This both angered him and worsened his mood.
He had underestimated how much of a manipulator Thea was.
Within the short time she observed him, she had acutely recognised his most glaring vulnerability, Victoria.
Exploiting this, she might have sent him on an elaborate goose chase, leading back into Panacea's hands.
Fortunately, Victoria had spotted her ruse before it could be put into play.
Unfortunately, this meant they had no way of curing Victoria, and it was unknown how long she had left.
Eric felt another weight of urgency settle upon his mind.
The dark thought consumed him and he subconsciously found himself delving into the recesses of his memories.
His strengthened mind trying its best to conjure up even the faintest clue to a cure.
Past and future knowledge flashed in and out of his notice in quarters of a second.
As Eric pushed his abilities to their limits, a thin trickle of blood warmed his upper lip.
In reality barely a moment had passed after Victoria last spoke when Eric's narrowed eyes relaxed. He quickly wiped his nose before trail of blood became noticeable.
He had come upon an inkling of an idea. But he'd have to confirm it with the system later on.
For now he had found hope, and that would ease his mind enough to think more clearly.
Nodding to Victoria and offering a reassuring smile he walked towards Thea.
When the distance between them was only a metre he stopped.
"What is Panacea really?"
Eric watched the frustration across Thea's face dissolve into defeat. But he wasn't fooled.
"A conglomerate of course." She answered breathlessly, the previous loss seemingly out of her mind.
"With people using supernatural abilities as body guards?" He pressed.
"Is it a crime to hire qualified staff?" Thea said dismissively.
Eric scoffed. "And your company's relationship with our uncle?" He continued, suppressing his nagging curiosity on the source of their strange abilities.
"Ario Laut simply has a... cooperation agreement with our branch," She said, derision clear in the words that followed. "Pardon me, Your Highness, but your little island nation is far too small to concern the main company.."
"What deal?" Victoria asked. "And why?"
Thea gave a plastic smile in response, indicating she would not be speaking.
Eric stared at her for some time as the question had also triggered the system.
[WARNING: Anomalous energy detected.]
He activated his Qi sight.
Colours before him coagulated into lumps of energy
Faintly, he caught the wisps of a dull purple brand on Thea's forehead. Nothing compared to the roaring darkness he had seen on Damian or Narcosa, but still present.
Eric suspected the brand gave the woman no abilities. It was unlikely she could have gotten captured by the white talons if she did. And her escape attempts would've been more active.
Instead he believed the brand acted to prevent her from speaking on certain matters.
'This is going to be difficult.' He thought, dismissing the ability.
"What is Panacea's true purpose?"
To his surprise Thea spoke.
"Our purpose is in our name," she replied, her voice losing its playful edge. "A cure for everything."
The older woman's ominous words made Eric believe the company was some sort of cult. It even made more sense as such.
Stealing a glance at Victoria, her perked brows told him he wasn't alone in his thoughts.
"And the large object below the base?" Eric finally asked.
A pause ensued. Thea stared down and seemed to become engulfed by her thoughts.
This continued for almost a minute, as though she were trying to find the best words to answer Eric.
When the prince was about to ask again, she sharply looked up, meeting his gaze.
"We have no idea."
This caught both siblings off guard.
Eric turned to Silas subconsciously.
He'd earlier asked the Doctor largely the same questions as he now asked Thea.
When he'd brought up the large object beneath the base Silas had been both confused by its existence and feasibility.
But he'd said the Vice-Supervisor would definitely be in the know about its specifics.
"If I'm not wrong," Victoria asked in disbelief. "your company built an entire base around that thing, and has been studying it for God knows how long. But you all have no idea what it is?"
Thea gave a calm shrug. "An investment."
Eric rubbed his eyes at the cyclic nature of the conversation. They would not be learning anything of use from Thea as long as the brand remained on her head.
He doubted if she'd become any more cooperative without it. But as long as the throbbing mark remained, even torture wouldn't yield better results.
Fed up, Eric asked a final question he couldn't resist voicing.
"Who owns Panacea?"
The ominous feeling Thea had exuded returned once more with more ferocity.
Her demeanor shifted, the calculating researcher fading away like mist. Her eyes took on a distant, almost ecstatic glaze.
An unnerving smile grew on her face as she struggled to lower her head and lift her arms into what resembled a pious pose.
With her eyes drooped over she whispered, the words dripping with reverence that felt alien in the cramped, sterile room.
"My Lord."