Scaled Mind Games

Talion

You are curious aren't you? How I and Talion met. Well it wasn't a friendly meeting at first. If only we would have met in better terms. It continues to flabbergast me that he becomes this important person to me later on, I can't imagine....if I hadn't met him or I wasn't assign in the same interrogation facility as him.

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In the early 2033, the secret base that I was organized in is located somewhere at the southeast of Asia. The base where aliens capture Xcom soldiers and interrogate them for intelligence. This was before I got my skull physically damaged by a hammer.

It was my first day on operating my duty of interrogation. My own personal room: Dark walls with a hint of red neon lights at the edges, my working desk, the cylinder machine that is on the ground, and the lavatory room. 

I was feeling proud of being one of the Elder's henchman simply because I was more 'intelligent' than the other aliens. My skill of being able to speak human has caught the Elder's attention. I was not so fluent with it yet, but still. Skills like that can be improve by learning more intel from the humans.

The first day, after taking my daily bath and wearing my gold armor. I slither to the front of the cylinder machine on the ground and bow my head down. Automatically registering my presence, the machine hums to life before a hologram projects a humanoid figure. It was wearing a robe that covers its entire body, its facial beholding a mask that would cover its face.

"Greetings Elder, the base is built and I await your next command." I greeted the figure, my voice was full of pride.

"You have done well Mal'thael. Now I assign you to start your work that you said you're so good at, interrogate. You will not be assign to any threatening or serious activity yet because I'm concerned for your safety. If you perish, then who will be able to gather important intelligence for the ADVENT?"

My leader's words pleases me as I bow my head down lower to display my satisfaction with my jaws silently curl to form a smile that the Elder didn't notice.

"I understand my Elder, I will gladly obey."

"Confirm that you will gather at least one information for a day, otherwise your duty is marked as failure."

"My Elder, 'failure' is not a word that appears in my dictionary."

And so, off I go to the prison corridor and grab one human prisoner to start interrogating them. I didn't met Viskaton's and Zorm's acquaintance yet which means the only alien in that facility was me and a couple of ADVENT troopers, the rest were just human scientists working for the ADVENT. 

I slither to one of the prison doors to start running my duties, and I happen upon a door that shows the text "T-2033". I push the button at the side for the door to slide open, what reveal before me was the prisoner's room. It was nothing but an empty square room with white walls, a bed and another door leading to the lavatory. A human was sleeping on the bed with its back turn against me.

Black scruffy hair, medium height and body size, wearing a plain white shirt and pants. I just waited at the opening of the doorway and spoke with a harsh tone in human language to wake up the human. 

"Sssstand up human and follow me, obey my command or you will suffer the Elder's wrath."

My voice was more than an undertone though less than a yell. The human begins to stir and scratch at the back of his head and did a stretch, like a cat that just woke up. He turns to me as he stood up from his bed, rubbing his drowsy eyes as he yawns.

"What are you eggheads planning to do-"

The human seems to interrupt his own words when his eyes shot wide open at the sight of me, his expression was frantically switching between confusion and shocked. I was having none of his acting at that time because you know....I'm new to this whole human interacting thing. If only I knew he wasn't acting.