Touched - Order of Odium: Book One

Daniel - 8

Daniel stood up, standing face to face with Steven, his eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean I can't go back down? You can't just fucking keep me up here against my will. Nobody said anything about having to do experiments up here or not being able to leave when I chose to come here over prison. Daniel stood up, standing face to face with Steven, his eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean I can't go back down? You can't just fucking keep me up here against my will. Nobody said anything about having to do experiments up here or not being able to leave when I chose to come here over prison. You're full of shit."

Steven's face reddened, and his hands clenched. It looked to Daniel like Steven was ready to unleash a torrent of hate at him, but Aleksander grabbed Steven's shoulder and pulled Steven in his direction.

Aleksander spoke to Steven, "Maybe it is best if you take a break for a few minutes while Daniel and I talk, okay?"

"Alek, this asshole thinks he can just-"

Aleksander cut Steven off. For the first time since Daniel had seen Aleksander, he seemed angry.

"Steven. I am ordering you to take a break. Right now. Leave or I will call the guards to come to escort you out of the room. Do not come back in until I say so, understand?"

Steven looked at Aleksander for a moment, not blinking, before turning to glare at Daniel.

"Fine. I'll be outside for a minute. I need some fucking coffee anyway." As he walked out of the room he glared at Daniel one last time, the door shutting behind him.

Daniel turned to Aleksander, forcing himself to unclench his fists. "What does that asshole mean I can't leave?"

Aleksander sighed and said, "Daniel, have a seat please," motioning to the bed beside them.

Daniel sat down, deciding to bite his tongue and keep his thoughts to himself, at least for now.

Aleksander also sat down, looking defeated. His shoulders were lowered, his head was down, and he had his hands clasped together as if he were praying. After a moment he looked up at Daniel.

"Listen Daniel, and hear me clearly, please. You already know some of how the Order works. You know most of the rules, yes? There is an unspoken rule here, and down below also, that once you choose this path, you are unable to go back."

Daniel's jaw clenched, his hands forming a fist and relaxing.

"Daniel. Please calm down and let me explain," Aleksander said, resting a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "The people I work for, the people we work for, do not care about you or I. We are expendable. Easily replaced. If you go against what they want, you will be killed. But, if you do as they say, they can also be very rewarding."

"You're saying that if I live long enough I can be rewarded," Daniel said. "The first time I touched that thing I almost wound up dead, so I can enjoy the "rewards" of my obedience for how long? Two weeks before I die?"

Aleksander took his hand off of Daniel's shoulder before speaking, "Let me finish before you start talking again, please" Aleksander said with a vehemence Daniel didn't know the man had. "I am here to help prevent that. The first time someone touches that artifact we don't know how it will affect them. Many times it does nothing. We were unprepared for it to teleport you somewhere, but this means that you are incredibly valuable to the Order. I can not speculate how many other artifacts or people have this power, but I do know that I was told you were a 'valuable asset' to quote my superiors. That means that we can get more security precautions to prevent that from happening again. I can ask my superiors for almost anything and receive it if it has to do with our experimentation. Also, as I said before, we will be able to train your ability to help prevent future problems."