Chapter 1533 (2/2)

Anxiety glanced at Cruelty in annoyance. Although Octavius couldn’t truly sense either of their movements, he liked to imagine that Cruelty shrugged before he replied to the pointed glance. “Why not talk? We have him. We have everything here we need. Let’s enjoy the success.”

“Finish the job first,” Anxiety replied curtly. “We need to make sure we get all the records he made of the Aether Harvests. Even if we are deep in the lower portion of the Nexus, the possibility of other forces noticing the array around the house isn’t zero. Stay focused.”

“Bah, why worry? The man is anal; he is so good at organization that its boringly easy to find all his documentation… ah, I suppose it’s possible that he might have another copy hidden somewhere. Hehe, can’t be too careful right?” Cruelty paused and notes of glee began to emerge from him. He walked over to Octavius’ bed and began to stand over him. The hanging darkness suddenly felt that much more solid.

Octavius tried to squirm but still couldn’t move at all. He marshaled his image, but that just made Cruelty laugh. “Heh. So, Mr. Shrike, please tell me… are you hiding another copy of these notes? I would really appreciate honesty. I would hate to drag this out.”

Even through the pitch darkness of the room, Octavius could sense something congealing in Cruelty’s hand. But just as Octavius began to sweat and that hand was being lowered toward his chest, Anxiety stomped over. “You cannot use Nether. We are Nexus extremists, exposing a corrupt official. How would we know how to utilize Nether? Just burn him out the old fashioned way.”

“Fine,” Cruelty mumbled. Inside, Octavius shivered. He wanted to open his mouth and tell them that he didn’t keep second records but his body was still completely paralyzed. His eyes widened and his pupils dilated, despite the darkness.

Please… Octavius said a silent prayer. Even the overlay System was isolated here; he couldn't even send a message

Somehow, Cruelty appeared to observe Octavius’ struggles. “Oh, I know you cannot answer me yet. But I usually find… giving you a taste of pain before I ask the questions clears up any misunderstandings. You will die tonight, Octavius Shrike. The only question is how clean your passage is going to be. Now… let me show you what ‘unclean’ feels like…”

For a split second, as Cruelty moved closer to Octavius, a portion of his Aether Architecture engaged. Which filled the frozen Cohort Overseer with both hope and foreboding. Hope because the architecture placed there by the System could come to his aid now and stop this insanity. Foreboding because if what Cruelty planned was enough to trigger the System’s implicit defenses, whatever he was up to was not a good thing.

Yet just as quickly as it had come, the Aether Architecture disengaged. Cruelty was prepared for this. Fear swallowed the brief hope that had been ignited in Octavius’s heart.

Cruelty’s hand touched Octavius’ chest. Although he could not move, his body slowly strained to arch his back and create space from the light touch. The pain arrived a second later, wet and clinging, spreading to engulf his entire body. The darkness became an abyss as Octavius felt this strange being begin grinding away at his image. Octavius’ eyes bulged. He wanted to vomit. In a very real way, the fabric of Octavius was being destroyed and he could do nothing about it.

His tongue began to swell and undulate just slightly. His organs were screaming.

The pain continued to rise within him in densely packed waves. His image couldn’t even marshall itself to fight. He just felt a horrible, sickening fear as he felt everything he had built in his time in the Nexus was erased. All his hard work came to naught. If he could have moved, Octavius would have trembled and sobbed. Although he would have been aghast at the possibility before tonight, Octavius would have even traded his beloved horn for the safety of his image.

They plan to make me weak, Octavius thought in desperate.

But another voice in his head just snickered. Doesn’t this prove you are already weak?

Eventually, the pain stopped. With its retreat, the restrains on Octavius’ body also dissolved. He reflexively tried to cough, but he was so weak and drained he just ended up drooling and convulsing lightly.

“Now, tell me again.” Cruelty said with glee. “Do you have other copies of these notes?”

A new emotion arrived at the scene. It seeped up through the floorboards and around the edges of the door. It was a horrible bloodlust so thick and hungry that it numbed Octavius just to sense it. He couldn’t believe that the other two didn’t notice.

Octavius' eyes rolled back into his head. But despite the fear, he couldn’t help but laugh. The air around them continued to change; ever exit was now sealed. “You… gentlemen are so... royally... fucked…”

“Perfect. Let’s keep going with messy than shall we?” Cruelty responded. Clearly, he was delighted that Octavius didn’t capitulate immediately. Yet as he moved to touch Octavius again, the mysterious figure stilled.

In the darkness, a beast yawned, grabbing the attention of both Cruelty and Anxiety. That bloodlust became an image that began to squeeze the room. The bed and the doorframe and Octavius’ desk began to tremble. Both the shadows were transfixed. Before they could figure out what was happening, whatever array they had prepared popped audibly.

A woman was suddenly standing in the middle of the room, next to Octavius’ bed. Although the gloom elsewhere remained impenetrable, she seemed to glow with an inner light. She grinned around at the two shades that stood transfixed at Edraine’s sudden presence among them. Although the Engraving had already been destroyed, Edraine’s image tightened in the air. “Your array is quite good. Took me a bit to intrude. And I would have likely missed it, had I not been looking for it. Just bad luck on your part, I suppose. But… good luck for me. I smell a rat in the Nexus.”

“Who are you?!?” Anxiety demanded. His voice was authoritative, but his emotions revealed how tenuous his control of his mental state was. “We are on official Xyrt Brigade business. If you interfere-”

Edraine shook her head and gestured. Suddenly the room was illuminated. Two furry humanoids looked at her with their mouths open in shock. “You aren’t military… ah, are you members of the Bestial Purity Association? Interesting. But considering that your leader is likely still hibernating…. Heh, who paid you off?”

The one who Octavius had thought about as cruelty, who had the beady eyes and greasy fur of a weasel, flipped sideways and rushed toward the door. The other man, a humanoid canine, dashed for the sealed windows. Both bounced off their intended exits with their claws glancing ineffectually off of the surfaces. A powerful barrier was up in the surrounding area.

Edraine cracked her knuckles. The right humorous of Cruelty, which formed the majority of the upper arm, cracked a split second later. The weasel man whimpered and fell to the ground.

Edraine’s gaze was cold. The being that had been afflicted with the suffocating embrace of a duplicated personality for a few thousand years barred her teeth. “You hurt my subordinate. You made me watch. Now it’s time for you repent.”