Ciara
wished she didn’t open the door. The first thing that penetrated her nostrils
was the intoxicating smell of blood. It billowed out of the room, and cascaded
outside the somber hallway.
“We
brought you the blind girl, Empress,” the Rein Guard said dutifully. Ciara’s
heart hammered against her chest. She was meeting the dominant Empress of the
Epicenter for the first time.
“My.
What a lovely girl,” Virgo—the Ruling Empress—said amusingly. Ciara could hear
the Empress’ gown skimming the floor, her footsteps sauntering close. Then
there were sharp fingernails tracing down her cheek.
A quick
data popped in her frontal lobe. Virgo is in front of me. 3 inches close.
She’s studying my face. Ciara analyzed. The fabric of her gown smells
like sweet-scented flowers. I can hear the jiggle of the gemstones from her
neck, her hands, and her ears...her flawless hands are soft and moisturized by
costly beauty products…She's a Majestic, one of the royalties in Round.
Virgo
purred, “You have the most charming face that any suitor would want, but what
destroys your sublime appearance are your appalling eyes.” Virgo said
distastefully, “A flaw. Just like you.”
Virgo’s
fingers disappeared from her chin. She must be receding back. Ciara
analyzed. “You can leave us, Rein Guard.”
“As you wish, Empress,” the Rein Guard said
obediently, and closed the door with a click.
“Sit
down, blind girl,” the Empress said strictly, “That is, if you can find a chair
inside this room.”
Was the
Empress testing her? Ciara was fully aware that there were no chairs inside the
room. A while ago, she didn’t hear any furnishing sounds when the Empress was
striding across the floor. Instead of searching for the specific chair, Ciara
unpleasantly sat on the frigid floor and stared into space.
The
Empress chuckled, “Impressive. Now open your palm.”
Ciara
opened her hand. An alarming panic thrummed inside her head. What is the
Empress going to do? Ciara thought. A flimsy paper brushed across her palm,
softly landing four inches on her right.
“Tell me
what you see,” The Empress ordered.
Ciara
plucked the paper with ease. She’s trying to see if I’m the Candidate. Ciara
lowered her head, if she finds out I can read, she’ll kill me.
“I can’t
see anything—”
A hard
slap connected Ciara’s cheek, sending a stinging pain across her face.
“Liar, I
don’t care if you are blind or not, tell me what you see!” Virgo demanded.
Gritting
her teeth, Ciara glided her finger down the crisp paper and scanned the words.
The information computed her sensory cortex. A hazy image popped in her mind. It’s
not a letter, but a picture of...Ciara guessed.
She
tried again. This time, the elements wheeled out of her thoughts, arranging
several blocks of data in her mind. A girl…Ciara pondered. The
strokes are light. But some parts are easy to guess. Like the hair. Ciara
continued. The hair has many strokes…so the girl has curly hair...and….a…
A recollection of images raced past Ciara’s
brain. “I-It's a picture of a girl...she has wide eyes…” Ciara unexpectedly
blurted, “Smooth chin…thin nose…and…”
“And…?”
Virgo said.
“Curly
hair…” Ciara muttered. How did I do
that?
“I see…” Virgo pondered, “You already know
about the Prophecy, correct?"
“Y-yes…”
Ciara stammered.
“Do you
know why Metric was destroyed?” Virgo inquired.
“Because
Metric is the poorest village in the country of Round,” Ciara answered
cautiously, "and it's the only village that opposed the Epicenter, the
controlling city in Round."
“Do you
know why I am here?”
“No.”
“Because
you are no doubt the Candidate in the Prophecy,” Virgo confirmed.
The fear
intensified inside her. Oh, no.
“Over the past three years, your DNA test
results have produced a great significance in your genes. Yet, there weren’t
any traces of abnormal occurrences in your blood, except for your observation
tests in Sore Tower.” Virgo explained.
Ciara’s
heart throbbed in her chest. Her hunch had been right all along—the ball
test—the physical and mental ability test. It was all to get rid of her. The
Candidate.
“The
Specialists have been keeping a close eye on you for three years,” Virgo said,
“You have a strong involuntary sense that allows you to differentiate your
surroundings. You can distinguish each individual by depending on your auditory
range. That’s why you were able to identify each entity just by hearing their
slight body movements.” Virgo continued, “You can also read letters and words
on the paper. No one has been able to do that. Only you, my dear.”
Ciara
anxiously retreated back. Sweat trickled down her forehead.
Virgo said dangerously, “Do you know what
comes next?”
“Death,”
Ciara said in a harsh tone, her back touching the wall behind her. I need to
get out of here. Ciara thought. She brushed her hands across the frigid
walls searching for an opening—when a hand seized her throat, wrenching her out
from the room. In a flash, the Empress hauled Ciara into a dental chair and
strapped her arms and legs with leather bands. What is this!? Ciara
thought. The bands won’t budge, and the limbs of the chairs are cold. Metal,
she guessed.
A dread
of fear throbbed inside her head. What is Virgo going to do to me? Is she
going to cut my head—torture me again like those Specialists did to my eyes
three years ago? Ciara grappled from the bands, but her efforts were
useless when two hands seized her throat.
“I’m
doing you a favor. All I need is your past information in Metric. Nothing more.
I’ll even spare you from this misery—out from this tower, and live within the
walls of the Epicenter,” Virgo offered.
“Never!”
Ciara yelled, and the hands continued to squeeze her throat, blocking her
windpipe.
“Come
on, blind girl. If you don’t want me to do this the hard way, you could at
least surrender yourself to me,” Virgo threatened. “All I want your
past, your present, and your little village down by the stream, otherwise known
as the Candidate’s memories. Once I obtain those, I can finally initiate the
established fission bombs set to destroy the lower states, especially—my rival
enemies.”
A cold
object began to tickle her skin. Ciara could hear the clanking of metal and the
beeping of the buttons as the object cupped her head.
“You are
too valuable to be killed because of that lame Prophecy,” Virgo said, “That’s
why I have this.” Ciara heard the sizzling of the close circuits and the
flickering of buttons. “This is the TD-115 X Mind Extraction chair.” Virgo
explained. Ciara’s heart stomped wildly in her chest. She struggled, but the
firm leather bands kept her secured tight to the chair. “The Mind Chair is the
most advanced technology created in the Epicenter. With the use of the
molecular junctions, this machine can infiltrate the person’s deepest thoughts
and record every single piece of information inside their mind, including their
memories." Virgo chuckled darkly, “The secrets hidden in the Metric are
extremely precious, and since every Metric survivor has been killed in the
explosion, you are the only option left.”
A metallic
helmet masked her head, a series of tooting of numbers calculating inside the
helmet’s main panel.
Complete…detected. Xxx Optic nerves severely damage.
Blind. 67. 89 percent. Brain Cerebrum. 14. 5%
leading memory.
World search…Metric. Found. 10, 987, 567 pictures.
13, 509, 604 videos. –Virus! Detected!
“What is
this…?” Ciara shuddered, her hands white-knuckled on the arm chair. She could
see the flashy green numbers in her vision, shifting and adding data’s into her
mind.
Suddenly,
a scalding pain began to climb at the back of her head, forcing a scream out of
her throat.
Scan complete.
An
eruption of images revolved across her mind. Ciara shrieked. The pain igniting
across her skin as the images shuffled inside her brain. A white looking envelope
sucked the stream of images and swallowed it.
Memories extracted. Complete.
The
helmet lifted up, freeing Ciara out from her reverie. Her head throbbed in pain
as if she’d been close to completely losing her mind. She slumped against the
chair and noticed the leather bands had loosened the grip of her arms and legs.
Virgo
burst into a shrilly laugh. Ciara shakily looked up, exhausted from the tension
of the mind chair. I can hear…different
beeping sounds…Ciara analyzed. Virgo
is typing something…
Tick. Tick.
Ciara
flinched. It almost seemed like the sound was…
“Do you
hear that?” Virgo chuckled sinisterly, “Now that I’ve finally input your memory
tabs into the bomb’s control panel, all one million fission bombs are settled
to detonate in 10 days.”
Ciara’s
eyes widened. One 1 million fission
bombs.
A hand
seized her front shirt up. Virgo hissed, “Well done, Ciara. With this, I can
finally have the leading power to control the country of Round. Everyone will
soon become slaves of the Epicenter. But I’m afraid this is goodbye.”
Suddenly,
the windows beside them exploded, tossing Ciara and Empress off the ground with
the glass shards showering above her.
“What
happened?” Ciara gagged, massaging her aching throat.
Glass
shards continued to drizzle down at her, when a thud hit the floor. Virgo,
Ciara guessed. A stream of data crept inside her brain. The explosion
must have knocked her out of her senses. Since we’re near to the window, the shards must have slit the leather
bands, freeing me.
Blood
trickled down Ciara’s forehead as she could hear several bodies shifting back
and forth. Rein Guards? She closed her eyes. I don’t hear any leather
boots…just the sound of feet swishing and the shuffling of clothes…Ciara
calculated.
Ciara
paused, when she felt a piece of jagged shard sticking out her left breast,
close to her heart. The strong smell of sickening blood went up to her
nostrils. Ciara collapsed on the floor, panting.
Then she
felt someone’s body on top of her. It was vaguely familiar.
She
opened her mouth to say those words when wet lips devoured her, followed by the
sweet water dripping down from her tongue. Somehow it eased her pain, and soon
it was dragging her into a long sleep.
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