Breaking Through

If Yori could lean back in his chair, he would have at that moment. The ominous presence of the man grew twofold for Yori, making him realizing that he should no longer have expectations on his limits. ‘…what do I do? Can I…’

Yori felt a new layer of sweat cover him as his mind spun in fear. He didn’t know if he had the will to resist whatever they had planned. If the situation was normal, he thought that he might stand a chance. Yet there was nothing normal for him. They could literally make anything they needed to break him, that single thought spread unending fear through his body.

Time passed quickly at an unknown pace to Yori. He became entranced within his paralysis. Not until a heavy hand firmly gripped his shoulder did Yori snap back to reality. His eyes blinked, removing the last image and updating the surroundings.

The placement of everyone changed and he knew that he entered a different moment. The woman left his sight and the first man he spoke with held to the corner. Only the fear inducing man still held a spot similar to before. Yori suddenly gasped on air, realizing that he held taking in a breath.

The Atlantean leaned in a little further to Yori. “So you’re silence means you plan to resist.” He looked up over Yori’s shoulder at the woman preparing behind him.

Still trying to catch up on everything, Yori didn’t even know how much time had passed. Everything suddenly seemed to move quickly beyond his pace. They forced him to follow with the pace they dictated to him. Realization came late, when he understood the meaning of the man’s words. ‘…but I haven’t even decided yet!’

Yori felt like the path in front of him shifted and forced him down it with hands shoving him the entire way. He wanted more time, but felt guilty in thinking that he should need any for such a decision. Each second he hesitated, the longer that he hurt his sister. ‘…Yumi, I must hold strong…’ His back stiffened a little and straightened as he prepared himself and presented his captors with a decisive stare.

‘He’s really going through it…didn’t think it would come to this…’ thought Simonides. The full abilities of Athene had never been required in an interrogation. A simple intrusion would always be enough. Usually, the pain attributed to the resistance was enough to break those considered unbreakable. Simonides imagined that with these powers, a completely safe method without pain was possible, but interrogations rarely worried about the delicate nature of the individual.

The sight of a teenager made him question his resolve to carry out. ‘They’re all just kids and we’ve already fought them. This shouldn’t be any different.’ He gave a nod to Athene to begin.

Uncertainty to the degree of pain made Yori’s anticipation rise further. He rolled his fingers roughly against his palms, doing anything to calm himself and prepare. The restricted movement of his body made the unease turn into a foul substance within his stomach that threatened to enter his throat. Yori swallowed roughly trying to keep everything down. ‘…sister…’

A red ring waded through the ground expanding beyond the tent to disappear from sight. The ground remained unchanged, but behind Yori’s chair, a wide metal tube extruded up from the surface. As it continued to grow taller, a base formed and bolted itself into the ground for support.

Once the tube reached shoulder height new extrusions erupted from the metal. Plastic like arms formed stretching out and gripping firmly to Yori’s shoulder, the contact made his body jump however little possible. The top of the tube ended behind the head and spread out into a wider mouth opening. From the opening sprung more than a dozen wires with small circular discs attached to the end. Moving around like tentacles of a squid, the wires spread around all sides of Yori’s head hovering in position.

On the final confirmation signal from the Captain, the wires dove in burying under the hair. Yori looked only slightly disturbed by the action and almost confused expecting something worse. However, he let up too early. His head jerked back suddenly in pain as all of the wires injected needles through his scalp and made pinging contact with his skull.

The slight scraping of the needles against bone didn’t unnerve him the most from the experience. Rather, the echoing that pulsed through his brain threatened to unhinge him with sensations that he couldn’t quantify. It didn’t feel like a headache or painful and certainly not pleasant, but closer to water being poured directly on his brain and blasted out to leave everything ringing.

The sensation left him unbalanced and ready to fall over. He felt as though he hung on the side of a wall with only the chair that kept him from falling, yet knew it not to be true. His sense of direction changed again almost as quickly leaving him on a steep slope, the sudden shift made him want to throw up. ‘This can’t be all of it… disorientation, no it probably hasn’t even begun…’

Assumption turned to certainty for Yori. The sensation calmed and his balance started to return, but a stabbing pain rammed through the back of his head. Yori coughed and gasped in surprise. It felt as though a spear plunged through his head and poked at the back of his eyes. He wanted to lift his hands up to feel if any of the pain he felt was real, but he could only hope. His body felt as though it emptied a liter of sweat in seconds as the pain continued in pulsing fashion so that he couldn’t become even a little accustomed to it. It undulated through his brain cutting, stabbing, poking and scrapping as it dug deeper.

Further in the pain traveled, the more he knew it began to search for the answers that they sought. ‘I can’t…let them…’ He didn’t even know if a scream came from his mouth as the digging continued. The more he wanted it to stop the worse it became. Yori was certain he had to be screaming. The screeching in his brain ripped him from all of his senses of reality with only pain as the only feeling left. ‘…Yumi!’

Chapter 128 – Breaking Through

‘…Yumi!’

Yumi’s head snapped back and her eyes opened wide, but the sky didn’t enter her vision. She saw a lowly lit tent and two figures in front of her. It felt like she sat in a chair and an oppressive force slammed down around her. ‘Where am I?’ Another bolt of pain through her head made her jump a little. ‘…the pain…’

Her vision turned down seeing legs rattling at the legs of a chair she had never seen before with a body that she recognized, but knew not to be her. It only took moments to make the connection. ‘Yori!’ In that instant, she felt that she stood next to him and saw everything. She had finally returned to him and felt safe again.

However, darkness fell over her suddenly and she lost sight of everything. ‘Yori! Where did you go!? Come back! Brother!’ Yumi threw out her hands trying to grab on to him, but found nothing. Emptiness surrounded her and she was alone, again.

A dot of a light sprung free from the endless void to give her direction. She stretched up towards it, as it grew wider to fill her view. Yumi jerked forward suddenly in darkness again screaming. “Yori!” The darkness around her didn’t feel as impenetrable as before and gave her warmth. She looked around seeing a fire set and the outlines of her friends. “Huh?”

“You’re awake,” said Fumiko, the nearest to Yumi. She shifted her position a little to approach Yumi now that she woke. “You had us a little worried.”

Yumi searched around trying to find her brother. ‘I just saw him! I know it! But he’s gone…now…’ Her shoulders collapsed a little with the hope she had fading away. It took her another minute to sort her present reality and past. “What happened?”

“You screamed in pain and collapsed. You fell unconscious soon after.”

“Unconscious? How long have I been out?” She stood up quickly realizing that the daylight had long since disappeared. All around her, the stars in the night sky surrounded her providing an unfamiliar view. Her legs felt weak a moment after the rush passed away and she stumbled. Fumiko ran to catch her quickly enough before she hit the ground. “Ugh…I feel so lightheaded suddenly…”

Fumiko grimaced a little at the carelessness. “You probably shouldn’t stand up so quickly. You’re still not fully awake.”

“But!” Yumi struggled in the hold wanting to stand back up. She had to keep moving. “My Brother’s out there still! I can’t stop!”

“You can’t rescue him if you’re unable to walk!” Her voice got the attention of Yumi and froze her in her arms for the moment. “Rest a little and we’ll continue once you’re ready. You won’t do him any good as you are now.”

Yumi wanted to protest further, but between the glare from Fumiko and the loopy feeling in her head, still she relented. “…alright…” Fumiko eased her back down to the grass. Once seated, she pulled her legs up close to her chest. Across from the campfire, Seiji laid back away from the light making it difficult to tell if he was asleep. Chiharu leaned forward with her legs crossed and eyes closed. Her body looked completely still with not even a breath disturbing her. Yumi didn’t even know if she was alive.

With Yumi settled down, Fumiko felt that she could relax and sat back down at the fire. She saw the distant and unsettled look of Yumi as she tried to figure out what happened. The abruptness of her episode made them all confused and wanting answers. Fumiko leaned a little closer to Yumi, not wanting to bother the others. “Are you in pain still?”

It took Yumi a moment to notice that Fumiko asked her a question. She tilted her head up towards Fumiko slowly. “No, I’m fine now.” Yumi thought about it, the scene from before. Each stabbing and ripping felt completely real and yet it did not even feel like it happened. “I… I…”

“Do you know what caused it?”

“No… I’m not sure it really happened.” The longer that she thought about it the faster the sensation evaporated. She tried to hold on tighter to the feeling as much as it scared her, but it fled from her. “I don’t know if it was me.”

Fumiko tilted her head to the side in confusion. She didn’t expect a simple answer, but the responses from Yumi made less sense than she thought possible. “How could it not be you? You were in pain and screaming. I’m pretty sure that means something happened to you. Was it one of the enemy maybe? We didn’t see anyone, but maybe you felt something like before?”

Yumi shook her head. The feeling that she had before when attacked didn’t have the same feeling. “No, it wasn’t the same. I don’t understand all of my powers very well, but those I think are premonitions that I have. I feel what will happen if I don’t act. This wasn’t the same.”

“Maybe it was them using their powers to cause you pain.”

“But they didn’t attack. It would not make much sense if they just stopped.”

“Perhaps they wanted to delay us?”

“I guess…” Yumi searched through the remnants of what remained for her. ‘I remember thinking about Yori then, but why?’ Her brother had come to her suddenly when she felt the pain. It felt like a reaction or instinct to her. She didn’t understand why she thought of him when the pain hit her. “It can’t be a coincidence…”

Yumi’s voice barely made it to Fumiko, but she put together the words. She found something. “What is it, Yumi? I remember something?”

“I’m not sure, but I thought of Yori when it happened.” Her mind scoured over the pieces. She recalled the strange feeling she had of being with her brother. The tent came back to her and the people. “I saw that man!”

“Who?”

“He was standing with the other soldiers that attacked us. I saw him with Yori! I know it!” Yumi stood up on her feet feeling energy back in her body. Yori was alive and she stood next to him. She turned over to Fumiko more certain about where he was than before. “I know where my brother is!”

Fumiko rushed to her feet trying to slow down Yumi, sensing that she might run off. She grabbed onto Yumi’s shoulders to ground her. “What’re you talking about, Yumi? Who did you see?”

“I know, Fumiko! It’s clear to me! I was with my brother!” Yumi nodded reaffirming her certainty to herself. The confusion on Fumiko’s face did not even process through her head. Her mind completely narrowed to a pinpoint on the connection she made. “He’s tied to a chair in a tent. I felt it. I saw it! The soldiers had him. They’re trying to get him to talk and he’s struggling to hang on! I have to get to him now!”

“Yumi! Get a hold of yourself! You’re not making any sense!” Fumiko found that she needed to use her strength to keep Yumi from moving. She struggled in an absent sense with her, as though not really seeing Fumiko. “Yumi?”

“He’s waiting for me! I have to go now!”

A solid wind pounded into Fumiko knocking her off her feet. Fumiko didn’t know what happened in the next moments with her head reeling. She looked through blurry eyes from the grass to see the feet of Yumi march off from the camp. It took her even longer to pull herself back up to her feet, the pain in her stomach still lingered. ‘What was that?! What got into her?’ Fumiko turned over to Yumi in the distance. “Yumi! Come back!”

A white square room surrounded Yori with a simple white table and chair. He sat before it with his hands resting in his lap. All of the pain disappeared, but he didn’t know when it happened. Yori searched around the empty room seeing no windows or doors. It was a solid seamless room and even the bright light of the white made the table blend with the room. He wasn’t certain where the table began or ended. He wasn’t even certain if the table was still in front of him. ‘Where am I? I am still being interrogated?’

‘This is the beginning,’ stated a woman’s voice.

Yori flipped around trying to find the voice, but saw no one behind him. When he came to look forward a woman stood before him that he knew had not before. He narrowed his eyes trying to understand where she came from. “You’re…” The longer he stared at her the more familiar she became to him.

“Yes. And I have already accessed everything within your mind.” The white room suddenly flashed and hundreds upon thousands of panels displayed around the walls. Images played in motion clustered one on top of another. Each one housed a memory of Yori’s. Everything that made him stood completely open. He already had lost.