"Haah", I let out a long-resigned sigh.
It had been several hours since I woke in this place. My headache had calmed down to only being a small irritation.
Though I still couldn't focus my conscious through my eyes – exerting my conscious at a 100% brain capacity for 3 hours straight took a heavy toll on both my mind and eyes – leaving me unable to fully identify my surroundings.
Thinking of my inability to use my conscious, I was reminded of my encounter with the armor-clad silhouette, the mysterious weight of his conscious still fresh in my mind and its effects still evident on my frail body. I could barely stay upright whilst sitting, let alone stand – it had taken everything I had just to move around the room.
Normally, conscious was an extension of one's will, a way to break your opponent mentally, to make them submit to your beliefs, but for it to have weight… that was unheard of – at least to me.
But before I could dive deeper into my thoughts –
CLANK
CLANK
The sound of metal bouncing off a hard surface pulled me out of my thoughts.
My breath hitched.
I didn't move. I didn't breathe.
I waited. Listened for even the quietest noises.
Silence.
A long, unnerving silence followed the initial clanking. Nothing happened.
After a few minutes of careful contemplation, I decided to approach the source of the sound; the strange hole I had come across earlier.
Having made my way to the hole, I slowly placed my arm inside of it; my hand gripping a cold metal object.
Pulling the object out, I ran my hands over its surface, pressing my fingers across its circular metallic frame.
''A metal can?'', I mused.
Eager to find out more about the can, I moved it closer to my face to sniff it. The aroma of meat mixed with spices and a hint of something else, a familiar smell I couldn't quite place, made there way into my nostrils.
'Its food', I mused as I opened the can
The aroma intensifying with every second, making my mouth water even more.
GRUMBLE
GRUMBLE
I was starving, and without a second thought I wolfed down the contents of the can. I didn't know why, who, or where this food came from and I found it suspicious but that didn't matter – the meat was far too tempting, too good to resist, and if this was the death of me, I would die with no regrets.
Shortly after my small feast – if you could it that – I felt a strange warmth in my abdomen. The sensation spreading from my abdomen to my heart. And before I knew it, it had spread throughout my body, from my toes to my neck.
The warmth grew and rose to my skin; it was getting hotter by the second, and before I knew it, a searing hot pain emerging from chest ran through to all parts my body – spreading like streams of lava from an erupting volcano.
"Argh!!"
I screamed as I fell to the floor from the sheer intensity of pain. I clutched my chest tightly, trying to do something, anything to make the pain stop but nothing worked. Instead, it continued, intensifying even further. The pain shot upwards, aiming for my head. But before it could reach my mind, I immediately activated my conscious, shielding myself from the violent assault.
After what felt like an eternity, the pain seized, disappearing like it was never there. The pain was gone, but so did all the remaining strength I had – and with that I passed out.
***
In a dimly lit room, a multitude of screens flashed their lights upon two figures. Their eyes carefully observing the contents of each screen; the screens showed hundreds of kids locked in different rooms, most writhing on the ground, coughing up dark blood. Many were screaming in agony and some even died, but a few – a very small amount – were seemingly unaffected.
"We got some good ones this time.", said one of the figures as he adjusted his circular glasses, his gaze focusing on ten small figures shown through the screens. They were completely unaffected by the shadowfication poison, their bodies completely accepting its power with ease.
But the tall silhouette next to him didn't seem to care, instead, he's focus was locked on a screen showcasing the figure of a small boy. His long black hair veiling his crimson eyes as he writhed on the floor, his hands clutched tightly to his small frail frame.
The child screamed, his body shaking violently as black markings appeared all over him, before encasing him in a cocoon of darkness.
Noticing this, the sitting figure shifted his attention from the children of Sector-A to the sight of the once small boy, his frame now encased in a cocoon of darkness.
"Well, this is interesting.", mused the sitting figure, as he leaned in closer. A wide grin forming on his face from ear to ear.
He had never seen such an occurrence from someone taking a shadowfication poison; not in the thousands of kids, he had experimented on.
He was curious, excited by the thought of a new test subject.
On the other hand, the standing figure remained silent, carefully observing the cocoon of darkness as it expanded and contracted unnaturally. His glowing red eyes shimmering with intrigue.
"Don't touch him.", said the armor-clad man, his voice carrying an edge of seriousness as his eyes remained glued to the screen.
"Tsk. You're so boring Ghost.", said the mad scientist, his voice laced with mock dissatisfaction but his annoyance evident.
"He is mine.", replied Ghost, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips behind his black helmet.