Circuit City

Chapter 3

"Quite an... elaborate mistake, don't you think?"

My eyes narrowed. "What exactly is it you're wondering about?"

"A week ago, a twenty-year-old man was found dead in the congress hall, in Cattahem. He'd been dead for five days and his autopsy showed that his chip was missing." The disembodied voice paused before continuing, "Two months ahead of that a woman of forty was murdered behind a theater in downtown Myria. Her chip was also missing. A thirteen-year-old girl was found in Rosehaven not too long ago, her chip was nowhere to be found. You can guess the pattern."

A shiver rippled through me and I felt my stomach turn. That could've been me.

"Now, here comes the interesting part," The tone of the officer's voice raised a notch to reinforce his initial comment, "Everybody has been disposed in a fairly public place, yet none have been found until one or two days later and without any traces of foreign DNA or other substance. And every single one has had nicely carved 'C's around their neck."

My skin was now as prickly as a hedgehog and I twisted uncomfortably around in the black plastic chair.

The cop behind the glass didn't seem to notice as he went on "Everyone, except for you. Despite being attacked by the same perp, you somehow managed to survive without the bloody insignia on your neck and without any serious damage on your organs. Your incident was even reported a few minutes after the attack. And that makes me wonder... if it wasn't a part of the plan to let you survive in the first place?"

"How can you be so sure that it's the same person that attacked the others?" I bit my lip, not sure if I wanted to know anymore.

"Because the chip is nearly impossible to take out. Only specially trained professionals can do it, but even for them, it's risky. The pattern on your chest along with the bruises on your body are identical to the ones we found on the other victims, which means that the assassin is the same and is highly skilled in what he does."

Ew. I definitely did not need to hear that. The guy had touched me with the same hands that had touched a dozen other corps.

"I really need a shower," I mumbled, not wanting to open my mouth ever again in a lifetime.

"I can understand how hard this must be for you to hear," the disembodied voice went on, clearly not caring as much as he tried to tell me since he wouldn't even give me a minute to digest the gut-wrenching information I'd just received "But I need you to tell me everything you know. I'll have you know you are now under suspicion of fraud and cooperation with the Circuit."

"The 'Circuit'?" I echoed, feeling a headache build up from the tension that was created from my furrowed eyebrows. "Is that the name of the organization?"

My question was left unanswered as the door to my left suddenly swung open to reveal a young nurse in cyan colored clothes and hair net. In her hands, she held a metallic tray with different syringes and wiping cloths. When my eyes landed on the metallic instruments, I instantly scooted as far away as the cuffs would allow me to.

"N-no," my voice came out brittle while I desperately tugged on the small chain that attached the handcuffs to the sturdy table. "No more needles, no!"

The nurse threw me an apologetic glance before picking up one of the syringes with a clear liquid inside. I stood up abruptly, startling her and making my chair fall back with a loud bang.

"Sweetie, calm down. You're in a safe environment." She spoke softly as she tried to raise her hand, to display the needle. I backed away further, the cuffs rattling against the table as I tried to increase the distance between us.