Cobiah walked into the viewing room with Jade. He marveled at the screen, and the light being projected onto it. "That device shows us what's going on inside the transmission room?" He questioned, looking around and trying to figure out how the device works.
"I guess so," Jade said, frowning. "See, there's Natalia." She pointed to the image of her on the screen. "She looks a little tense."
"It's like a simulation, I think," she said, her brow furrowed. "Designed to stimulate emotions of... what was it? Anger, sadness, and fear, I think."
Avice turned quiet as they entered the viewing room. She rubbed her arms and peered at the screen before turning to Jack. "Are you nervous?"
Jack frowned. "Very. Although, I'm weirdly more worried for Nat. I don't think she realized that we would all get to see her go through this."
She held his arm, hoping to be reassuring. "I'm sure it will all work out. It will be appreciated, too. Nobody else volunteered besides you two."
He smiled down at her and took her hand. "We'll make it out of here," he said, lightly kissing the top of her head. "We'll make it through this." At that moment, the screen flickered, and the transmission began. The woman blinked as if something was stuck in her eyes, and then she nodded. "Your leader's first trial will be anger," she said tranquilly. "This means that out of anger, fear, and sadness, anger is her least dominant emotion." Natalia's shoulders moved with each deep breath that she took. She clenched her fists, and then released them, her tired eyes scanning the room warily. There was a faint shimmer, and suddenly, she was in a crowd. There was a large mass of people gathered around... something. Natalia hesitated, and the people in the viewing room could tell that she was debating whether to look or not. Eventually, curiosity won, and she slipped through the crowd like a shadow. In the center, there was a girl, perhaps fifteen or sixteen, with grey eyes and brown hair. Her skin was dirty, and tears ran down her face. She was chained to the ground, the shackles digging into her limbs, and all around her, faceless humans laughed and danced around her, spitting on her and cackling. The group in the viewing room would see Natalia stop short, and her brow wrinkled in disgust. She started towards the girl, but the more she walked, the further the girl seemed to become. One by one, she watched as the members of the crowd turned away from the girl, their backs becoming a cold and unforgiving wall. She watched incredulously as they left the girl, leaving her to her cruel captors. Her expression changed into one of dark fury, calculated anger in her eyes. She paused, seeing as how attempting to move towards the girl wasn't working. With a tentative step backward, she watched as the landscape shifted, and she moved closer to the girl. She took another step backward, and she moved forward yet again. Mildly disconcerting, but effective. She walked as quickly as she could towards the girl, and when she was close enough, she reached out to touch the girl's shoulder. Right before any action could be made, however, the girl looked up at Natalia with tear-filled eyes and wailed a cry that chilled Natalia to the bone. And then, with a flurry of dust, the girl and her captors disappeared. Natalia growled in frustration. She had been so close to the girl, so close to fighting those who taunted her. Her fingers twitched in lost apprehension, and Natalia took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
Avice watched silently. She was still as the transmission played, and tentatively looked up at Jack. This whole thing was strange to her, but she made no comment.
Jack frowned and shook his head. "This is bad," he murmured. (I have the rest of the scenarios typed out, but they're on my computer and not home right now. )
Next to those in the viewing room, the woman monitored Natalia's signals. "'Fear' is coming up next," she said. "Stay alert." In the chamber, Natalia stood in darkness. She glanced around her, trying to squint through the blackness when suddenly, there was a loud grinding sound, and something hit her like a wall, causing her to stumble violently back. Jack turned to the girl. "You promised that she wouldn't get physically hurt," he growled angrily. The girl raised an eyebrow and then nodded. "She isn't physically being attacked," the girl said. "Our technology allows us to make her brain feel like a circumstance is happening when it is really just an illusion. Watch." He turned back to the screen, his head cocked in worry. Another attack hit her from behind, and she gasped as she was thrown off balance. The lights brightened, and Natalia saw that there were two cage walls surrounding her, slowly but surely pressing inwards. Her heart rate doubled, and she stood up, walking along the length of the area and trying to find a way out. The metal bars that encompassed her were too small to fit through, and their thickness could not be broken easily. Another wall zoomed in, this time from her right, and she managed to avoid it, although barely. Less than ten seconds later, the wall on her left appeared as well. She stood in the center of a giant cage, and she bit her lip, looking around at the walls closing in on her. Her right arm was suddenly yanked above her by some invisible force, fastening it to the back wall. Her other arm quickly joined the first arm, and Natalia took a shuddering breath. The walls were less than a foot away from her on all sides now, and she kicked out her feet, slamming into the wall opposite. It did nothing, and Natalia tried again, to no avail. Her left foot was suddenly secured to the back wall, and then the right one. She was bound to the wall by some invisible magic, with the walls pressing against her arms. She groaned and ducked her head, trying to calm her breathing. One, two, three, four, five....
Cobiah showed a rare sign of discomfort. "Ugh, that looks... distasteful to say the least. Should we really be watching this?" He questioned. "After all, these simulations are tailored to Natalia, correct?"
"They are," the girl said smoothly. "You can turn away if you wish. So far, it seems like your... Natalia? Is that it?" The girl viewed the screen critically, raising an eyebrow. "She seems to be most angered by cowardice and unfair situations. In terms of fear, she seems to be frightened of imprisonment and losing control. It's interesting; it's extremely rare for sadness to be the most prevalent emotion. This is a fascinating experiment."
"I-I guess... It's treasure we're talking about!" He said. "I just wonder how much they have... I bet they have mountains of it," he said, trying to push the conversation elsewhere.
Ellia nodded thoughtfully, her eyes on the screen. "What's interesting to me," she said, "is that they have very little regard for it. It just doesn't seem worth it to them."
Avice subconsciously tapped her foot in worry, as she watched. It seemed like it would terrifying in that situation, and watching it made her uncomfortable. Even then, she said nothing, holding her tongue in silence.
(Yoooo. Here we go. @Proxy & @Starlight Speedster ) The walls faded away, although Natalia was still bound. She looked up into the darkness, weary and beaten. She knew what was coming next. A silvery light broke the darkness. It churned for a moment, and then expanded, creating a silhouette of a young girl, perhaps no older than 18. Color touched her cheeks, and it rippled through her body, creating life with every movement. Pale skin. Dark hair. Black eyelashes that fanned against her rosy cheeks. Natalia stared as a younger version of herself materialized in front of her eyes. She was thinner than then current Natalia, barely skin and bones, although her legs were strong. She wore dark clothing, and there was a cut on her cheek. On her back, she carried a large pack, and in her arms, she held a package, wrapped in various clothes to keep it from breaking, no bigger than a breadbox. She stood in midair, suspended for a moment, and then she was placed in a scene. She was running through a dark forest at night, her breathing ragged and her eyes terrified. She tripped on a tree root and fell, turning in midair to land on her back to avoid crushing the package, but she stood up quickly and continued running. Her hair flew out behind her as she ran, and her chest heaved with effort. She approached a mass of boulders that blocked her path, but she scampered up them nimbly and quickly, cursing slightly when cutting her finger on a sharp point. And still, she ran. The real Natalia watched helplessly. She wanted to look away. She couldn't look at this. Not again. Not again. But she couldn't tear her eyes away. She watched herself as the girl flew through the forest, her footsteps muffled by the pine needles that blanketed the ground. Her breath created steam in the cool winter's air. She jumped over a creek, almost losing her balance but pushing forward anyway. Eventually, after what could have been an hour or five minutes, the girl approached a house, dark and quiet. She knocked on the door five times, with a little pause between each one, and the door opened almost immediately. An elderly woman stood behind the door, watching Natalia with tears in her large brown eyes. Hurriedly, she kissed the top of her head and then reached her arms out, waiting. Natalia watched herself take the package away from her chest, revealing eyes of the brightest blue. A baby. Perhaps no older than a year, staring up at her, silent and waiting. Her hair was a dirty blonde, and it was curly, locks that spiraled around her head like corkscrews. Beautiful. Beautiful. The young girl hesitated, and she took a shuddering breath, her lower lip trembling as she kissed the forehead of the baby. The toddler reached up her hand and grabbed onto the young Natalia's ears, cooing softly. The girl's shoulders shook with sorrow, and she whispered into the baby's ear, stroking her cheek one final time. She passed the baby to the woman gently, and when the woman took her, the girl hugged her chest, as if trying to keep the imprint with her. She spoke in a low voice to the woman, who nodded but did not speak. The woman stepped back into the gloom of her home, and closed the door behind her, taking the baby with her. The girl stood for a moment, and taking one final breath, she turned and was gone. Natalia leaned back against her chains as she watched herself leave. She struggled to breathe, to get some air into her lungs. She knew that the worst was yet to come, but her brain seemed unable to process the information. It had short-circuited, and Natalia stared up at the ceiling, her arms spread out to either side of her, and her legs chained below. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the sound of horse hoofbeats came from within the deep forest. Natalia groaned and slid out of her stupor. Her head dropped, and her hands went into fists. But the scene in front of her kept moving. Horses with their riders emerged from the woods, their leader a man with blue eyes and blond hair. He appeared innocent, maybe even angelic at first glance. But there was cruelty in his gaze, and as he dismounted his horse, he pulled out his sword, a deadly gladius with a severe, sharp edge. He entered the house quietly, shutting the door behind him. Natalia raised her head to watch the scene in front of her, the one that she had never known fully. She had suspected, of course, his involvement, but... A sob escaped her chest as she watched the door desperately, her heart hardening with grief and loss. The man exited eventually from a silent house, only carrying his sword which he wiped with his handkerchief. He turned to a guard, sitting quietly on his horse with a torch in his hands, waiting for instruction. "Burn it down," he said. "We don't want anyone finding the bodies." "Yes, sir," the man said. He made some gestures to the other guards, and they circled the old house. On the count of three, they all threw their torches onto the dark house, and the roof caught fire instantly. Their silhouettes were illuminated by the inferno, and gradually, the color left the scene, until all there was were silvery outlines that were quickly blown away like ashes. Natalia's bounds disappeared, and she fell to the floor, landing on her hands and knees. She tried to stand, but her legs failed her, and there she lay, curled into a position with her back facing the sky, and her forehead resting on her hands that held the ground as if she would fly away, never to be seen again.
