The droid was standing in front of Kiba with a tray in his hand. The droid made no signs while Kiba completed his glass of whiskey.
"Finally some peace," Kiba placed the empty glass on the tray. The droid turned around to leave the lab.
[[Dinner is ready.]]
"Not now," Kiba shook his head, "I’m in no mood to eat.".
[[Your body needs energy which only food can give.]]
"I know," Kiba walked towards the kneeling revolutionaries, "But now I have a more urgent task to complete."
[[...]]
"Let’s start."
[[Yes, sir.]]
Ssss
The floor opened up to reveal seven examination tables.
Kiba pointed a finger at the revolutionaries.
"What?" Simon found himself hovering in the air and before he could think further, he was lying on a table.
~clank~
The metallic cuffs secured his limbs with a loud clank sound. The other revolutionaries were in a similar state.
"Anyone of you wishes to answer me on how to unlock the suitcase?" Kiba asked.
"We already told you!" Yuzi angrily shouted, "We would rather die than answer you!"
"You indeed said that before," Kiba nodded as he moved beside her, "But you still don’t understand my intentions."
"What intentions?" Yuzi was sure there was nothing more to understand.
"You don’t fear death so I never wanted to kill you," Kiba ran a finger over her face, "All I wish to do is make you dread living."
Yuzi felt goosebumps all over her body. She glanced at his face and noticed there was no smile. He was speaking as if it was something obvious and nothing to be excited about.
...
"Let’s see if I can get the answer from you," Kiba walked to the table where Simon was cuffed.
"What do you mean?" Simon’s heart jolted when he felt Kiba’s hand on his forehead.
Kiba closed his eyes while his psychic energy moved out to Simon’s head. He psych entered the consciousness of Simon.
The consciousness was filled with fragments of memories connected together like a jigsaw puzzle.
"Memories," Kiba mused as his psych moved ahead.
The personality of an individual was formed by the events which unfold in one’s life. The events, stored as memories, ultimately makes an individual what he or she is; both emotionally and socially.
Kiba’s psych randomly touched one of the memory fragment. Just as he did, he sensed a destructive force enveloping the consciousness.
One memory fragment after another started exploding like a burst of firecrackers.
"This is?" Kiba retraced his psyche back and hurriedly left Simon’s consciousness.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" Simon screamed loudly with his face turning ghastly pale. He wanted to clutch his head as an indescribable pain filled his mind.
Alas, the cuffs didn’t allow him to do so.
Foam and saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth while the veins on his forehead protruded out.
The veins trembled and some of them even snapped apart. The pain he felt was far greater than the times when Kiba toyed with him at the warehouse.
Yuzi, Rufus, and others couldn’t turn their heads to see the state of their companion, but just the screams made their bodies tremble with absolute dread.
The cries were no way human, they were worse than the cries of a pig being slaughtered.
"Just what has he done to Simon?" Yuzi muttered.
"How could he be so inhumane?!"
"He is a monster!"
Kiba didn’t say anything as the revolutionaries blamed him for the condition of Simon. He glanced at quivering Simon with a frown on his face.
Only Kiba knew that he wasn’t responsible for the current state of Simon. When he tried to read his memories, they exploded.
The memories formed an individual, and the disappearance of a single memory could change the entire individual.
Now the complete memories of Simon have been destroyed so the damage could be imagined.
"The top echelons of the revolutionaries are truly sinister," Kiba thought.
He concluded that Simon and others have undergone some surgery which ensured that no one could read their memories and expose the secrets. Most likely they weren’t aware of this judging on the reactions of the other revolutionaries in the lab.
"Haah~" Kiba released a heavy sigh.
He wondered if the monk would have more success if he has tried to read Simon’s memories in his stead.
Kiba has copied Akshobhya’s psyche ability but lacked the expertise and experience.
[[Should we give him emergency treatment?]] Claudia asked.
"Yes," Kiba nodded before giving a final glance to Simon, "His body could serve some use."
[[Understood]]
Two droids arrived at the examination table to treat Simon.
...
"Claudia, any help on unlocking this suitcase?" Kiba stepped towards a virtual console.
He swiped the menu screen to select a few options for examinations of his other specimens.
He believed he would have no success if he tried to read their memories so he has to find a new method,
[[I could find out a way in a day or two.]]
"I can’t wait for a day," Kiba pressed his forehead.
He has to accompany Felicity when she wakes up so he has to divide his time efficiently. Only now he has time so he couldn’t afford to waste it by wasting for the suitcase to open up.
Not for a second, he thought about his ’hobbies’ for they held no importance compared to the life of Felicity.
[[How about you take Lady Agatha’s help?]]
Kiba contemplated for a moment before accepting her suggestion. He teleported out of the lab along with the suitcase.
----
Agatha’s apartment.
Agatha was sitting on a couch. It was midnight but she couldn’t sleep with the memories of the explosions haunting her.
She further thought about how Kiba left the apartment after Claudia informed him of someone being under attack.
"Who is ’she’?" Agatha wondered. She has never seen him act in such a way with all the time she has known him.
Swoosh~!
"Hmm?" Agatha opened her eyes and noticed a flash of light, "Kiba?"
"You are still awake?" Kiba asked.
"Yeah, I can’t sleep," Agatha answered while observing his face, "Are you fine?"
"I don’t know," Kiba said with a sigh.
"Were you able to save her?" Agatha asked. She prayed he would answer in positive for she didn’t wish to see him in sadness.
"Yes but not in a way I would like," Kiba answered before placing the suitcase on the coffee table.
"If there is something you wish to talk about then I’m always there," Agatha placed a hand on his shoulder, "Always remember this."
Kiba glanced at her before nodding.
"What’s that?" Agatha asked while pointing at the suitcase.
"It contains something I need but I can’t use force otherwise it will self-destruct," Kiba explained quickly, "So I need your help."
"Oh," Agatha exclaimed in surprise before asking, "So I need to make it intangible?"
"Yes," Kiba nodded.
Agatha closed her eyes while streams of energy manifested out of her body. The energy streams landed on the suitcase, and in just a moment, the suitcase lost its physical presence and transformed into a phantom-like state.
Kiba pressed his hand on the suitcase, and as he expected, his hand passed through it. His hand felt a glass object inside. He clutched his hand on the half-filled cylindrical container and took it out.
Agatha sensed this, and she stopped
"Thanks," Kiba looked at her with appreciation.
"You don’t have to thank me for something like this," Agatha said with a smile.
"Would remember it in the future," Kiba smiled in response. He then brought his attention to the glass container.
"Could this be?!" Agatha backed away in fright as she glanced at the blue nanites inside.
"It is indeed the explosive," Kiba answered her.
"How you have them?" Agatha asked in disbelief.
"I took it from the revolutionaries," Kiba sighed and explained briefly, "They are needed for something important to me."
"I see," Agatha observed him for a moment before deciding to not ask further.
She believed he would never use them for the wrong purpose and also knew he didn’t wish to share more details. She chose to respect his wish.
"See ya~," Kiba said as rays of light surrounded him.
"Take care," Agatha muttered before he teleported.