Shields

Chapter 28: Third Party

I spent at least a week in the cell without any human contact. It gave me plenty of time to get over my problem with self pity, practice making things out of shields and plan, but I missed the sounds of laughter and conversation in general. The food was always the same too: just rice, chicken and a roll with a small jug of water.

I settled into a routine pretty quickly. Practice until food came in the morning, exercise after that as much as I was able to, until lunch came, and then do more practice with shields after. If I wanted to change things up, I did a bit of hand to hand combat with myself.

I didn't get bored much, and someone slipped notes into my food occasionally too, hiding them in the middle of the roll. It was the only information I got on Narian, and it gave me new ideas for things to shape with my shield.

I figured out where all of the cameras were pretty quickly too, and just where to go when I wanted to hide things from Wilkson and Julius. I figured both of them were probably watching me, and whoever was handing me notes probably didn't want to get caught, so I did him a favor and hid the notes from the camera.

By the end of the seventh day, my abilities were vastly improved. I had nothing but time, and I used all of it to my advantage. I could make shields to hold in my hands and create little daggers, but I couldn't seem to make more than one at a time unless the shields were smaller than three feet in diameter.

I hadn't yet figured out how to move them without physical contact, but whoever was slipping me notes seemed sure I could, and even though it could very likely be Wilkson putting them in there, I didn't really care. I was learning, and I was improving quickly. I wasn't going to bother going over those thoughts in my head at this point. Besides, the one of the notes also mentioned that I might be able to put my shields into camouflage mode, and I wanted to get that down first. It sounded easier.

On the seventh day of my imprisonment, the Wilkson came through the door. I put up a shield automatically and whirled to look at him.

"Your eyes glow when you use your powers, you know. Not so much like your twin. Hers get all stormy, but yours light right up. It's impressive, you know," Wilkson mused.

He was pushing my buttons, trying to get through to me and make me angry. Two could play at that game. "You had her before? My family must be good at slipping away from you then, because I've already escaped once, and since she isn't here, she must have gotten away too," I said. "You must have done the same things with her to get her to use her powers, and she decided she'd had enough and left, right?"

"No," Wilkson said calmly. "We used her. Experimented on her and used her DNA to create the serum that controls your friend and your brother. His name was Thomas, wasn't it?"

I wanted to threaten him, to shout at him and get mad, but I forced myself not to. He was still trying to manipulate me. "Yes. Is he useful to you then? He's a really hard worker."

"Oh yes, he's useful. He was the one who shot your girlfriend, that first time. Tragic really, but we picked her up soon after her heart stopped and used the serum to fix her up. She's right as rain now."

I had to bit my tongue to keep from saying the first thing that came into my mind. My hands clenched and I took down the shield I had around me to put one up around my fists so I wouldn't punch anything.

Wilkson looked down at the shimmery shield and smirked. "I admire you Demetriot. You're a fighter to the end. You will take anything you can and use it to your advantage. But one thing I've noticed about you is that you have a nasty habit of restraining yourself. If you have some anger to vent, let it out. Just not on me. Come. I have something to show you."

"Gonna use my DNA to give your soldiers shields too? Is that how this works?"

"No. Not this time. I think I've convinced Julius that it's a much better idea to get inside that head of yours. You're a weapon, but you don't know how to use yourself. We do."

"Just how do you plan to get inside my head?"

"We're going to exhaust you so much that you can't fight it off with your normal abilities. Then, when we're in, we'll be in no matter what you do."

"How do you plan to exhaust me like that?"

"Just follow."

He walked out of the room and down the hall. With a smirk on plastered on his face, he opened up a red door marked 'CAUTION' and gestured. I went inside and stopped in the doorway.

The room was like Brikan's in the simulation, but it was better than that. The entire room was a giant obstacle course with walls to climb or vault over, long sets of monkey bars, an area for knife practice, spinning logs stretched across puddles of mud, traps to avoid and so many other things that I couldn't even describe.

Wilkson gave me a little push. "Amazed? This is what you get when you join us, Demetriot. We'll take care of you, and make you part of our family."

"You took my family," I muttered. "How did you afford all of this?" I asked more loudly.

"It's easy when you have OPM..." Wilkson said with a sly grin. "But that doesn't matter. I'm leaving you here, and I expect you to run through the entire thing at least ten times. If you don't, I'll leave you in here with the doors locked and no food until you do. Or, you could join us and only have to do five... Just kidding, you have to do all ten no matter what," he laughed at his own joke and I rolled my eyes.

"Hilarious. If you want to wear me down faster, keep telling lame jokes... Now go away. I was happier alone in my cell."

"Funny, Demetriot, but I get the feeling that when you haven't slept in three days or more, your tune will change and you'll be happy to give in."

Maybe I would leave. The notes said that Narian was doing a lot better now and they probably wouldn't hurt her if I left... I mean, she was their soldier, right? So why would they want to hurt her. They made her shoot herself. There's no way they won't threaten her to get you back. My treacherous brain reminded me.

Wilkson left, the door clicking as he locked the bolt into place. It was titanium, so even if I wanted to, I wasn't going to be leaving. The skylight was a better exit point, but I wasn't getting anywhere near there... It was at least fifty feet up.

I was just about to start running the course when a cutting noise sounded above me. I looked up, just in time to see a circle of thick glass hurtling towards me.