When Sigal moved deeper into the basement’s labyrinth, a sharp sound cut through and his ears caught it with a startling attention. He froze. The inside of the building consisted mainly of empty rooms; inevitably, every little noise prompted an echo.

He raised his head and frowned.

Above?

Uncertain what had caused the noise, he suspected his partner. He had no trust in Cal’s skills in the first place; he rather expected this to happen.

What did he do now?

Sigal hesitated for a brief second before he clicked his tongue, turned around, and moved back up the stairs. I should have left him in the car! 

He walked for a good while to find his way around. The building’s layout and lack of lighting made this undertaking quite a challenge. 

Sigal cursed inwardly. He cursed the fact that he had to deal with an unreliable partner who understood nothing of this job yet stubbornly followed along. If only Vince would finally give in to his request to work alone, then none of this would matter; then nothing would divert his attention, and he could concentrate solely on the job without unnecessary interruptions.

If only he worked alone.

With a stern expression, he stopped at an intersection and waited a few seconds. No footsteps, no noises. He flicked on his flashlight, its beam cutting through the darkness as he scanned the corridors. Suddenly, his eyes caught a glimpse of something white lying on the ground.

He crouched down and closely scrutinized the item, which turned out to be some sort of cloth. Without a second thought, he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and picked it up. At a glance, it just looked like disposed garbage, which wouldn’t be unusual to find in a run-down building, but Sigal found it quite suspicious—it looked too clean.

What’s this? Sigal held the item in front of his face, from which droplets of liquid dribbled down. He narrowed his eyes, a certain foreboding nestling in the pit of his stomach. 

He brought the cloth closer to his nose and briefly sniffed it.

Chloroform!?…No. He wrinkled his nose. The scent is different.

Then his gaze fell onto two other items on the ground, and his expression turned grim—a cell phone and a flashlight. Sigal let the cloth with the liquid slide down again, while he put the handkerchief back into his pocket to not leave any evidence of him behind.

When he picked up the cell phone, the situation became clear with just one glance. With gritted teeth, he threw the phone into his pocket and cursed under his breath, “This idiot!”

Without wasting any time, he ran back the way he came from, but then it hit him. Wait, how did they drag him away without me noticing?

He revisited his steps in his mind, but no matter how he thought about it, whoever caught Cal should have passed by him, yet no one did.

Sigal came to a halt, eying his surroundings and listening for any hint of a sound, but again, nothing caught his attention. If they are not on this floor, then they are either on the upper floor or in the basement. 

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly to clear his mind. No time to hesitate, no time to overthink. Just rethink the facts. 

If he considered the condition of this building, any footsteps or noises should filter through the brittle tiles. Since he entered the building, no such sounds have resounded, and the only sound that shook the building was when Cal must have dropped his belongings.

So, he ruled the upper floor out and settled on the idea that they hid in the basement. However, since they never crossed paths with him, he further concluded that they retreated through a secret way downstairs, a different way than he originally followed.

His fiery-red eyes pierced through the darkness as he moved on, hoping that he deduced everything correctly.

I knew he would screw this up! He thought before he contacted the corps division—who worked in tandem with Section 2—and requested immediate backup.

“Good job, Ian, for catching this precious test subject!” Lester Brown exclaimed as he moved to one of the modified operating tables near some shelves. With a slight grin, he eyed the unconscious investigator before he rummaged through his jacket.

“My pleasure, Lester,” Ian said. “I didn’t expect it to be so easy, though. He was quite weak.”

“Ah, there it is!” Lester fished out the ID from Cal’s jacket and walked back to his subordinates.

Who?

Distant voices rang in Cal’s ears as he regained consciousness bit by bit.

What happened?

He slowly opened his eyes but squinted as the strong light from above dazzled him.

Where…am I?

With blurry vision, he let his eyes wander to his right, where his gaze fell onto shelves with little jars on them. He moved his head ever so slightly and blinked a few times to reduce the drowsiness. The longer he stared at the jars, the clearer the contents became—ears, eyes, and all kinds of other organs floated in some liquid.

A chill ran down Cal’s spine. What is this?

“Cal Vaughn, a Conciliator. Joined this annoying organization not long ago.” Lester said while he read Cal’s ID. “What an unlucky guy.”

Still in a daze and barely able to hear what the man said, Cal attempted to get up, but when he tried to move, something pressed him forcefully down.

What?

He closed his eyes for a second and shook his head lightly before he cast a glance at his chest, hands, and feet—tight straps tied him down.

What’s going on?

His head throbbed.

“To think that he came here all by himself,” another man said. “I think we should be careful, Lester.”

Lester? Cal turned his attention to where the voices came from. Wait! Lester Brown!?

The fuzziness that clouded his memory scattered at this realization. Right, I was attacked…and then… He threw another glance at the terrifying jars on the shelves. This must be their hideout!

“Heh, you worry too much, Sam.” Lester said unconcerned. “They left a newcomer alone. It’s like asking us to dispose of him.”

“But what if—”

“If there is someone else, we will take care of them as well.”

When Cal listened to their conversation, it stirred some doubt inside of him—doubts about Sigal.

“If you say so.” Sam shrugged before he grabbed some latex gloves from a small table. “Shall we get started then?” He slid the gloves over his hands as he walked over to Cal. “Let’s make some money!”

Through blurred vision, Cal glanced at the large-framed guy, whose silhouette drew closer by the second.

“Oh, look, the boy has woken up!” Sam called out as he came to a halt at the left side of the table.

“Nice!” Lester exclaimed. “I love it when terror fills their eyes, slowly realizing what is going to happen to them. It’s priceless.”

“What are you going to do?” Cal asked in a feeble voice, the haze in his eyes lifting.

“What do you think? Didn’t you do your homework?” Lester strode over, joining his companion. “But fine, I’ll explain it to you. First, I will drug you up.” A grin spread across his face. “Then I will watch as the substance slowly makes its way through your body, eating away at your neurosystem and rendering you in indescribable pain.” He bent slightly down as he continued, “I will bathe in your screams and pain until your sanity leaves you and you can only succumb to death.” 

Cal’s pulse sped up, and he started to tug at his restraints.

“And then when your heart stops beating, we are going to take your organs and sell them for good money.” Lester added before he pulled back. “I hope you are a healthy young man, or this is a waste of resources.”

Cal gnashed his teeth lightly, trying to suppress the fear these words sparked inside of him. “You are Lester Brown, aren’t you?” 

“Words travel fast.” Lester chuckled. “You are right, and you are a part of the ruthless organization, called Conciliators. I thought if they came after me, I would be done for, but instead I have you lying on my table, helplessly. Isn’t that quite the turn of events?” He broke out into laughter. “You guys are nothing special after all.”

Ignoring his mocking, Cal said, “Weren’t you a doctor once? Didn’t you become one to help people? How can your wish to help people turn into this? Why…why are you doing this?” Cal raised his voice.

“Why? Well…” Lester pondered for a second. “It is true that my interest in studying medicine was to save lives. I was even renowned in my field and saved many lives. But I quickly found out that my ideas clashed with the ideals of the public.” 

“What do you mean?” Cal continued yanking at the straps in the hope of loosening them a little.

“Are you really that interested in my story?” Lester seemed amused. 

“I am.” Cal replied, while he thought, I have to stall for time.

The conversation he had overheard before still spiraled in his mind. It was true that Sigal despised him and threw him alone into the wolf’s den, but despite all that, he still wanted to believe that he would not abandon him or use him as fodder. He believed that Sigal was looking for him right now to help him out of this situation.

“Boss.” Sam sighed.

Lester put his hand up, indicating that it was fine. “If it helps him accept his death quicker, why not?”

At least they are not all that smart… Cal let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

“Where was I?” Lester restarted his story. “Right, their ideals. You see, I had a lot of good ideas to cure various diseases for which no cure had been found yet. First, they were thrilled by my intellect, but when I started the experiments, they quickly turned their backs on me. Said I was inhuman and reported me to the committee to shut my experiments down. How often they reprimanded me. It could have been for the nation—no, the world—but they just wouldn’t listen. Certainly, there would have been sacrifices, but when aren’t there sacrifices, huh? In the end, it would have benefited mankind.”

Cal listened to the maniac’s reason, but none of his words sounded remotely sane. “So, you want revenge?”

“Revenge? No, not exactly. I just realized that humans don’t want to be saved. They are ignorant and fragile. After they threw me out, I decided to conduct my experiments nonetheless but added a little thrill to it. I was surprised at how much joy it would bring me to watch people suffer and die. It’s exhilarating.”

He is completely insane. Cal searched for words to keep this conversation going. “All I hear is that you just gave up and chose the most convenient way out. Was there never a time you regretted your actions?”

“Regretted my actions?” Lester suppressed a laugh as he walked away to a nearby table with his back facing Cal. “No. It only filled me with bliss.”

“It is hard to believe that a man who once saved lives turned out this way because of mockery.”

Sigal, please get here soon!

“Interesting…” Lester remarked as he turned around with a needle in his hand. “Turned out what way?”

He moved closer to Cal, whose calm demeanor slowly faded at the sight of the needle in Lester’s hand. His face paled, and sweat formed on his forehead while he curled his fingers into fists and dug his nails into his palms.

He had his eyes plastered on the object for a few seconds before he tilted his head to the side and took a deep breath to calm down. “You…can still change your ways…and—“

Lester roughly grabbed his hair and corrected his position, forcing Cal to look directly at him.

Cal choked back the rest of his words when his eyes met Lester’s piercing glare, whose face was only an inch away from his. The vicious, wide smile Lester carried on his lips resembled that of an animal gazing down on its prey, almost unable to quell the urge to rip it apart. 

“Became like what?”

Cal could feel Lester’s breath on his skin and hear the swelling anger in his voice. Unintentionally, he had chosen the wrong words and triggered this insane man’s rage.

I screwed up…

“Don’t you mean insane? Worthless? Trash of society?” Lester continued without waiting for a reply. “That’s what you were thinking, right?”

“I…didn’t say…that,” Cal pressed out between his lips while he squinted one eye shut. What can I even say to turn the situation around?

“You don’t have to; I can see it in your face. It’s written all over it.” Lester said it matter-of-factly. “I have seen it before.”

‘You are insane! How can you even think about something like that? Sacrificing humans?’

The voices of former colleagues echoed in Lester’s mind.

‘You fool! Lester, you are not a doctor; you have no right to be one. You are trash! Get out and never come back! I’ll make sure you never get to work as a doctor ever again…never!!!’

“I will never forget the disgust in their eyes and the contempt in their words, but they were at least honest with me.” Lester said in a tone that showed he had lost all patience for further talks. “You better be quiet now; I don’t want to hear another peep.”

He forcefully smashed Cal’s head back on the table and then let go of him. 

Cal squinted his eyes shut at the sudden impact before he turned his attention to the walls that surrounded him. He had not noticed it before, but now that he desperately searched for any entrance Sigal could appear at, he found none. 

Where is the door?

When he came to the realization that nothing paved the way inside, his collected demeanor shattered into pieces, and the suppressed terror spread limitlessly through his body. 

Cal yanked with all his might at the straps. Loosen up, dammit!!!

“Stop making so much noise! Didn’t I say I don’t want to hear a peep out of you anymore?” Lester said, rather annoyed. “No matter what you try, you won’t be able to get out of your binds. Accept your fate!” 

“Ready?” Sam asked.

What should I do…what should I do?”

“Yeah, let’s get started.” Then he turned to Ian. “Stay guard at the entrance. I would hate to be interrupted, but I would be grateful for another gift.” He grinned.

Ian did as told, while Sam moved up to Cal.

“Entrance?” Cal’s gaze shifted to Ian, but only for a second before Lester interrupted his view and showed him the syringe in his hand with an expression of bliss. “That scared you before, right?”

“G-get this away from me.” Cal’s voice trembled, and his breathing grew shallow. “Don’t come closer!!” His movements grew more agitated, thrashing at the restraints, yet they refused to even budge an inch. Sigal, please…

Lester eyed him for a little while before he flicked the syringe. “You are a special case, aren’t you? I think I will enjoy this more than I did with my other victims.” He smiled. “Amuse me, will you?”

“Don’t…” Cal shook his head in a pleading manner. “Please, stop!”

Not this…just not this…Why?

Lester sighed at Cal’s futile struggle before he said, “Shut him up.”

“Don’t do this!! Please!!! Stop!!!” Cal screamed in agony, but in the next moment, Sam covered his mouth. He leaned forward and whispered into his ear, “No one will come to save you. No one cares about you.”

Cal froze. He recalled that he had heard these words before, a long time ago.

“Hold him down! If he moves, it will just get messy,” Lester ordered. He grabbed Cal’s arm, while Sam pressed him down by his shoulder.

Tears filled Cal’s eyes; he trembled all over. He stared at the wall, hoping, praying, but nothing happened…no one came, no one cared. As the needle pierced his skin, a muffled cry echoed in the relatively empty space, and along with it, all hope crumbled, drifting into a sea of despair. He squeezed his eyes shut, and tears rolled down his cheeks.