"Mmm~ why so tense? You didn’t look so, even when slaughtering the guards~"
Noctis did not feel anyone approaching him. Did not feel any eyes on him. Did not even feel any presence behind him and yet... where was the cooing voice laced in seduction coming from?
Noctis cursed himself for falling for this. There’s man-made structures in the middle of the forest. Even n guarding it but... why would he enter it?
What made him dunk himself in this?
He felt weird thinking back to it. Surely it was his decision...?
At this another chill ran down his spine.
"Oh you~ You were tired after a long hunt as well as injured. Nothing wrong with a relaxing wash"
Noctis felt a sensation of skin on his back and shoulders like soone was inclining on him. Sothing extrely soft and warm.
"It seems I have trespassed for which I am extrely apologetic. I’ll leave now."
Noctis said as he stood up to leave. Or tried to, as an arm wrapped around his torso holding him to stay seated.
"Why so quick huh.~ You sure took your ti back there.~"
"Just who are you?"
Noctis asked in a resigned tone.
"Ruuuude~ To not even face while asking for my identity~ You are a heartbreaker."
"I am a child. You are a pa**do-"
Before he could finish a milky white hand took a hold of his mouth, pressing it shut.
"Shush~ You are not fooling nobody here~"
Noctis’ heart sped up and his eyes went a little wide.
"Oh my~ You don’t need to worry. Your secret is s-a-f-e with ~ All you need to do is... ask !~"
"Will you?" Noctis went along with whatever was coming his way.
"Rude, rude, rude. You should face the person while asking a favour. Tis not a proper etiquette~"
Noctis’ nervousness brought displeasure, displeasure, annoyance; what with the pointless talk and the coquette tone of the mysterious lady.
"Why won’t you let go?"
"Because you haven’t even looked at ~" She, or it, said, sounding a bit offended.
Noctis took a deep breath to collect himself and tried to stand up once again with so force. But no matter how hard he tried, it felt like being weighed down by a boulder.
anwhile a sensation of fingers tracing shoulder, going down through his arms and chest could be felt.
It was sensual and suggestive although it was still skirting around rather than being explicit.
"No matter what, I still look like a child. You sure you don’t have a thing or two?"
The lady chuckled stopped doing and rather took a hold of his ear,
"You must be curious about your new surroundings~ Why don’t you just ask . I have all the answers you need~"
"I like exploring at my own pace."
"Like the bartholow mission?"
Noctis tightened his fist and his eyebrows dropped into a deep frown. His eyes showed anger as well as frustration.
"It might be too late until you realise the ploy of those higher up.~"
Noctis couldn’t say anything with his tightened teeth.
"Alright forget about that~ New World, New chance. But still alone? How do you fancy an all knowing companion that can also... fufu~"
"I prefer going by myself." He said in a slow voice.
"I’m not sure it’s spelled preference honey~"
"..."
Noctis sat there with a serious expression, quite displeased at being reminded of his first mission as well as his first attempt at trying to get his freedom.
The silence didn’t last long before he heard the lady humming a tune behind him. A slow lodic tune. A familiar tune.
His heart skipped a beat hearing the tune.
•••
In a brightly lit lab with many sophisticated looking machines and equipnts, a few people in white coats stood looking at a glass screen.
It was a transparent glass window of a cell that held nothing but a single white bed with many wires going in and out of a body laid on it.
One of the people holding a board in his hand, looking as if examining sothing puzzling, said to the others in the room,
"The tests are all fine. Erasure was done cleanly and the write-up was sealed in successfully. I don’t get how he got that thought."
Another man said looking at the reports in his hand,
"It was done with the precious model. It might have so errors. Nothing wrong with redoing it with the tech we now have..... Maybe we should just redo all single and double-digits."
"Yeah well... Let’s get over with this one first."
Beyond the screen, subject 42 laid on the tal bed with wires that went into his body from toe to his brain.
A light went on above his head and the process that introduced him to this accursed place started again.
He had fumbled his chance to freedom he spent years pretending to confirm; and now it would be forever closed.
A sharp pain coursed through his body as his brain was invaded with thousands of circuits combing through his neurons.
They intended to erase every bit of individuality, past mories, ideals of; whoever entered this facility. It needed to be a clean slate for them to enhance their capacity, for specific things and their ideals implanted.
No screams ca from 42 as the nervous system froze in his body.
His eyes showed no reaction, his body went limp.
The process went on for an hour. Write-up lasted another.
The subjects would co out to be their ideal selves and serve their cause without any distractions.
Supposedly. Mostly.
Not 42 however.
While the usual subjects lose consciousness during the process, he for so reason never did.
Not during the first one, not even now. He laid there, in pain, wanting to pass out but his brain refused to.
Unfortunately this ti, they succeeded mostly.
They succeeded in erasing 99% of his mories. Even his na.
But they couldn’t erase his sense of self completely. As the whole ordeal started and ended.
42 experienced all the pain, owing more to chance than perseverance, but he retained it.
All he had that reminded him of his life that once was, that he was sothing other than a tool was a nursery rhy that he didn’t even rember lyrics of.
Holding onto it, he refused to conform.
He never tried to escape again— he never got the chance, but he held on, stubbornly.
Convincing himself to not conform to the mindless beasts that inhabited this facility.
•••
"You know you can’t keep holding on to it."
A faint whisper.
"You know you are incapable of preserving through this pain."
A warm breath on his ears.
"You’ll lose it during all this bloodshed that has forced itself into you."
A hand wrapped around his neck.
"So give it to ~ I’ll keep it for you~"
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