Sitting in a cold and uncomfortable chair, Sammy admired the musky and cold interrogation room with an extremely sad smile.
‘Ahhh… can’t wait to see who’s good cop, bad cop… Fuck me, I should’ve just run away.’ He had been in that damn interrogation room for a few hours already.
Thankfully, he was sure to fill his stomach a while back, so he wasn’t hungry, only dehydrated.
After a few more minutes of nearly dying from anticipation, the door opened and a different man entered.
While Sammy looked at him, he just opened his mouth and finally gulped.
‘Why the hell are all the people from Russia and Ukraine so damn scary-looking!’ The man shut the heavy metal door behind him with a soft click.
He wasn’t particularly tall, perhaps a little over six feet, however, the way he carried himself made him seem larger than life.
The dark suit he wore was immaculate, not a single wrinkle in sight.
Unlike the two officers that had escorted Sammy here, this man’s hair had begun to grey around the temples, yet it only added to the dignified air surrounding him.
He calmly sat down opposite Sammy, placing a thick brown folder onto the steel table.
The room fell into complete silence, and Sammy’s gaze wandered to the folder, then turned from the folder to the man in a constant cycle.
‘Please don’t tell me that’s about me.’ The man slowly opened it, and in it were only a handful of papers… which somehow worried Sammy even more.
“Comrade Taras Tyuovski.” Sammy blinked and nodded in response.
“I am Major Volkov” he said simply, and rummaged through the papers.
“Pleasure to meet you?” The Major didn’t react and just continued to browse through them.
Sammy awkwardly coughed into his fist and made a mental note.
‘No sense of humor.’ Volkov calmly folded his hands together.
“I have been informed that your behaviour today has been strange and suspicious…” Sammy nodded before freezing, ‘Wait, why the hell did I nod?!
I basically admitted to it.
Ughhh, you dumbass!’ The Major’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
“I am glad we agree.” ‘So now you have a sense of humor, you big oaf.’ Sammy wanted to pout, however he already looked suspicious enough, so he refrained and simply straightened himself.
“I merely had a poor night’s sleep.” Volkov calmly assessed his answer and asked to confirm.
“A poor night’s sleep.” Sammy eagerly nodded, in response the newly dubbed oaf put down the papers and looked at Sammy with a cold and relaxed gaze, almost as if he already had all the answers.
“You became disoriented.” “…Yes.” “And you forgot that you were the Unit Shift Supervisor?” “… ” “… ” “Umm…Momentarily.” Sammy just barely managed to hold himself back from screaming at the genius of a man and held back a sigh.
The Major made a small note inside the folder.
*SCRATCH* *SCRATCH* *SCRATCH* Every stroke of the pen felt like another year being added to Sammy’s imaginary prison sentence, and he unintentionally began shaking his feet, ‘Stop writing!’ Volkov looked back up, “You also requested that tomorrow’s turbine rundown test be postponed.” Sammy resisted the urge to flinch.
“As a precaution.” “A precaution.” ‘Fuck’s sake, old man, do you not hear?
Yes!
Obviously!
Could you listen properly!’ was what he wanted to say, but he was too much of a wuss, so he just mouthed a simple yes.
“What precaution?” Sammy’s mind went blank for a bit.
‘Right, that is a very smart question.
I’m so glad you’re so good at your job, good sir… NOT!’ Sammy’s mind immediately began running at full speed.
After nearly ten seconds of silence, Volkov calmly asked.
“You do know the reason, don’t you?” ‘I absolutely do not, and you seem to know that as well, you… cuck!’ Sammy forced a confident smile.
“I wished to verify the condition of the equipment before proceeding.” “The equipment.” “Yes.” “What equipment?” Sammy’s smile remained perfectly still, inside, however… ‘I’m coooooooked.
Fuck this guy for being good at his job.’ He genuinely considered just saying, ‘All of it’ Hell, the words nearly left his mouth, but instead he cleared his throat and looked a little to the side, like a kid that was caught stealing snacks from the pantry.
“The… equipment involved in the turbine test.” Volkov remained silent… and he began to write in that bloody folder again.
*SCRATCH* *SCRATCH* *SCRATCH* ‘He’s writing again!
Why is everything I say worthy of being written down?!’ The Major closed the folder with a soft thud, then, for the first time since entering the room… he smiled, and Sammy shuddered and nearly yelped.
It was the smile of someone who had just realized the conversation had become much more interesting.
“Comrade Supervisor.” “Yes?” “I believe you know something.” Sammy swallowed and was just about ready to fall to the floor and take a page out of Nathaniel’s book to just go ahead and beg for mercy.
“About what?” Volkov leaned forward slightly.
“The question.” “…Which question?” “The one you are trying so desperately not to answer.” A cold shiver ran down Sammy’s spine.
‘This bloke is terrifying!
I wanna go home already.
I’ll take the outskirts, anything but this.’ Volkov cleared his throat and put the folder away before crossing his legs and leaning into the chair, giving the petrified Sammy a confident look.
“Allow me to give you a run down, regarding the current situation…” the man leaned forward and clasped his hands, putting his chin on his knuckles and giving Sammy a long look.
Sammy didn’t dare respond, Volkov, however, gave a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, which further unsettled Sammy.
“A trusted supervisor suddenly starts to act strange, and then he even decided to leave his work to head to the cafeteria, after visiting it a mere five minutes prior.
Then he even gorged himself on food, not before being spotted in the hallway staring into thin air and speaking to himself.” ‘So many fucking snitches…’ Volkov let the researcher digest the words and then continued.
“After entering the cafeteria, he gorged himself on an uncharacteristically large amount of food.
His speech pattern is also different from before… according to the researchers that were working with him, to say…” he struck the leg of the table in an attempt to shake the suspicious worker out of his thoughts.
“Most suspicious of all, he decided to use his authority to stop a test from happening… one he had never shown any problem against.
Out of nowhere as well.
There was also the fact that after telling a fellow researcher—one that didn’t have the authority to postpone a test—to postpone it, he didn’t do anything while waiting for the researcher to return… You just waited there at your workstation and seemed to try to look lost in thought… this was all said by your coworkers.” Volkov allowed the silence to linger after finishing his summary.
Sammy merely stared at the table, ‘…Am I allowed to fake a heart attack?’ The Major folded his hands together once more.
“You see, Comrade Supervisor…” He spoke calmly, almost conversationally, neglecting the previous aloofness he had.
“I have been doing this job for nearly thirty years, and I have questioned thieves.” He then started to raise his fingers.
“Saboteurs, foreign agents, and men who simply wished to disappear.” He lowered his hand and pointed to the guilty researcher.
“They all lied.” Sammy gulped in response and felt sweat roll down his forehead continuously.
“They all believed they had constructed convincing lies.” He then continued, letting his smile disappear.
“The interesting thing is that every lie begins the same way.” Sammy instinctively leaned back.
“…With panic.
You panicked quite a bit, you know.
It was as if I were interrogating a seventeen-year-old.” Sammy didn’t even bother thinking up a sarcastic ‘Oh, if only you knew’ he was, after all, far too focused on trying to save face, even if it was looking more and more improbable.
Sammy opened his mouth in a desperate bid to try anything.
“I—” “You forgot your position.” Volkov shot down whatever Sammy tried to spew out of his mouth, all of which was going to be complete and utter bullshit.
“It becomes suspicious when a man who has eaten breakfast recently, decides to suddenly consume enough food for three workers.” Sammy’s eyelid twitched.
‘They’re really investigating my lunch?
What kind of bloody dystopia is this?’ Volkov continued as though reading his thoughts.
“You behaved like a starving man, yet according to everyone who knows you… you have never once behaved that way.” The man opened that damn folder again and began to write as he examined Sammy’s reactions.
*SCRATCH* *SCRATCH* *SCRATCH* Sammy’s eye twitched as he felt like he would pop a blood vessel any second.
‘HE’S WRITING ABOUT MY APPETITE!
LEAVE MY STOMACH ALONE!’ The Major looked up again.
“Then you attempted to postpone tomorrow’s test and provided no technical justification.” His head perked up, almost as if he were forgetting something.
He looked to the folder again.
And Sammy was all but ready to leap out of his seat if the bastard started writing something in that damn folder.
“Ah, I forgot to mention this.
You also failed to issue an inspection order and gave no instructions regarding which systems were to be inspected.” Volkov tilted his head, and Sammy knew that he had done this on purpose, probably to rile him up.
“You simply wanted the test delayed… why?” Sammy looked away and felt the intimidating stare pierce through him.
‘I can’t exactly tell him the reactor’s going to explode tomorrow night.
Pretty sure that’ll get me shot.’ Volkov observed him for another few seconds before speaking again.
“Now do you want to hear the conclusion to my long-winded summary?” Sammy chuckled dryly and looked at the man.
“Do I have a choice?” For the first time, the man seemed to have given a genuine smile that clearly was a no, so he didn’t even wait for Sammy to respond.
“You are a spy, from America, I would guess.
Granted, I have no clue how you managed to so easily copy the original supervisor.
It is incredibly strange, but oh well.
I believe you decided to grow a conscience and tried to postpone the test because you knew it was sabotaged, by you or another, I’ve no clue.” The room grew silent again, and it was broken by a knock on the steel door.
Volkov stood up and opened the door, another KGB agent handed him a piece of paper.
Volkov sat down and examined the piece of paper with interest, before actually seeming surprised.
He then slid the paper over to Sammy.
Sammy looked at it for a moment, there was a whole bunch of mumbo jumbo he didn’t understand.
He skimmed over the page, eyes darting from line to line before finally landing on the only words that actually meant anything to him.
“Inspection completed, abnormal wear on Reactor 4 detected.
Failure during operation cannot be ruled out.” His eyes widened ever so slightly.
‘…Wait, they actually found something?
Thank goodness, guess I stopped the disaster.
Yippee for me.’ He quickly suppressed the surprise that threatened to appear on his face.
Volkov, however, noticed and calmly folded his hands together.
“…Interesting.” Sammy swallowed and looked at the man that he had a suspicion was following the Spectator pathway.
“What is?” “You recognized the report.” he remarked, keenly eyeing Sammy’s facial features, and he fully understood the young Aspirant’s tells.
“I…” “No.” Volkov slowly shook his head.
“You didn’t understand a single technical line.
However, you immediately looked relieved.
And I think I already have all the information I wanted.” Sammy felt a pit open in his stomach.
‘How the hell does he keep doing that?
Hopefully I make it out of this bloody nightmare.
If I get an Aspect relating to a Spectator, I’m gonna emulate this bastard to the T.’ Volkov tapped the report with a single finger.
“Our engineers did indeed discover a defect.
While it is not catastrophic… if the inspection had not been carried out… it may have caused a rather serious and deadly incident.” The room fell silent and Volkov looked Sammy directly in the eyes before adding on, “You knew.” Sammy instinctively shook his head and stammered a response.
“No, no, you have it wrong, i just guessed.” “No, no, you knew.” His voice never rose.
Hell, if anything, it became quieter and far more piercing.
“Tell me how?” Sammy opened his mouth, but he couldn’t exactly tell the truth.
‘A omniscient, all-encompassing Spell woven from the bodies of gods and made by a nebulous deity threw me into the body of your supervisor because the future says your reactor explodes tomorrow.
And my goal was likely to stop it.’ Yeah… that wasn’t going to work.
But then again, Sammy did wonder if maybe they would just write him off as crazy.
He was a little crazy, mostly due to just how ruthlessly he had been served and humbled by the bastard.
Volkov slowly stood, standing over Sammy like a grizzly bear ready to tear him limb from limb.
“I was willing to entertain many possibilities, maybe a nervous breakdown.” He took a step towards the door and turned the handle slowly.
“A mental illness or maybe just simple incompetence.” “But now…” he opened the door and looked back over his shoulder.
“…you possess knowledge you should not possess.” Two familiar officers entered through the open door, their expressions were grave—much graver than before—which shook Sammy to his core.
“The question is no longer whether you are hiding something.” Volkov nodded towards them and gave Sammy a solemn look.
“It is who you are hiding it for.” One of the officers stepped behind Sammy’s chair while the other stood in front of the door.
Sammy in turn forced a weak smile.
“…Hypothetically speaking… if I said I wasn’t a spy…” Volkov answered without hesitation.
“I would ask you to prove it.” “I can’t.” “I know.” His expression switched from somewhat emotional to unreadable and extremely stoic, almost expressionless.
“Take him.” Before Sammy could protest, the officers helped him to his feet, and he didn’t resist, mainly because he had absolutely no plan and because he would have to fight a 3v1.
*** The cold afternoon air struck his face the moment they stepped outside.
The courtyard was surrounded by grey concrete buildings, enclosed on all sides.
A military truck sat idling nearby, and several uniformed guards stood watch without saying a word.
Sammy looked around with a grave expression.
‘…Yep.
If only I had the courage to at least whack that fucker’s face.
Even just a tiny slap would’ve been nice.’ One of the officers guided him towards the center of the yard, and Volkov followed at an unhurried pace from behind them.
Stopping a few meters away, Volkov spoke calmly.
“This is your final opportunity.” “… ” “Who sent you?” “…Nobody.” “What organization do you work for?” “I don’t.” “How did you know the inspection would uncover a fault?” Sammy closed his eyes in resignation and shook his head with a sad smile, “…I can’t answer that.” Volkov studied him for several long moments, then nodded once and turned to the officers with an expressionless face.
“Continue the… interrogation.” Sammy’s heart sank and he looked at the bloodied chair in the center of the dystopian-looking courtyard.
‘…Ah… well… Nate, Amy, Liam, Steve, Mart, Damian… I hope I make it… if I don’t, I really did love you all like family.” The two officers sat him down and buckled his wrists and legs onto the arms and legs of the chair.
Sammy looked at the dried blood that brushed across his now bare skin.
His shirt had already been taken off, and he was now butt-naked, sitting on the extremely nasty chair, Sammy looked down and raised a brow.
‘Shit, this guy was hung like a horse.’ Admiring the proof of manhood, he looked as a new officer faced him.
The officer that stepped forward was older than the others.
Unlike Volkov, whose composure felt calculated, this man’s expression carried no curiosity whatsoever.
It was the face of someone who viewed interrogation as another day’s work.
He stopped a few paces away and looked Sammy over.
“…Comfortable?” Sammy let out a dry laugh.
“I’ve had better chairs.” The officer didn’t react, he unfurled a small bag, and to Sammy’s horror, it was filled with strange and bloodied tools.
Beside him, another man brought forward a bucket filled with water, and on the handle of the bucket was a cloth.
Silently, the other officer took the cloth and almost robotically put it inside, making it wet.
He then walked forward and went behind Sammy.
Sweat rolled down his forehead as he realized in horror what was happening.
‘Waterboarding?’ Without ceremony, the officer put the cloth over Sammy’s face.
He twitched in response and tried to shake his head to get it off.
The officer, meanwhile, also brought the chair down, and Sammy was now facing the sky.
Another officer came over and held his head in place, while the one that had the bag of tools took the bucket and began to pour it on the cloth slowly.
Sammy instantly felt the sensation of drowning and tried to struggle in protest.
However, he was being held in place, so there was no point.
The agonizing feeling of not being able to breathe overcame his senses, and the terrible agony of it only made him shake further.
One officer got on his knees and placed his knee onto Sammy’s exposed stomach, pressing harder.
This in turn instantly caused vertigo to overcome Sammy, and in response he vomited the water and food he had eaten from his stomach.
In the next second, he passed out.
Seeing that he had passed out, the officer took off the cloth and the other officers waited.
The officer that held the cloth submerged it in the bucket and cleaned it.
After a few minutes, Sammy woke up with a choked gasp and shook violently, trying to loosen the restraints.
Volkov sounded from behind him and asked in a firm voice, “Who sent you?
And where are they?
Are there any more spies?” Sammy wasn’t able to regain his senses fast enough, because in the next instant the cloth was over his face again and he couldn’t even release a scream.
Again the water was poured over his face, and the feeling of death coming closer chilled him to the bone.
Some of the water managed to actually get into his throat and it entered the wrong hole, filling his lungs.
He couldn’t cough, so he threw up once more, feeling his lungs burn.
Tears began to stream down his face as he tried to mutter and beg for help.
“Plea… please!
I don’t— GAH.” He felt his throat burn from the stomach acid as he threw up once more and passed out.
This rigorous process continued for a few more hours, and by the end, Sammy could barely string two sentences together.
Volkov saw how well it worked and ordered the waterboarding to stop.
Bringing up the chair and giving Sammy a few minutes to recuperate, he then stood in front of him and asked the same question again.
Sammy gasped for air and shuddered uncontrollably.
The bile and vomit painted the edges of his mouth, and the acidic taste of stomach fluid still burned his throat.
“Kh… Khame… Americ…” his rasping was barely audible, and his eyes were red from tears.
Volkov nodded as another officer wrote down what he said—well, what he was trying to say.
“Where are they situated?
Are there more spies?” Volkov questioned, and this time gave Sammy enough time to actually speak.
The reason he didn’t before was a psychological trick.
Making pain be counted as not answering would seep into the psyche of the target, so they would naturally try their best to give a proper response.
“Gahh… uhh…” Sammy tried to recall anything he knew about Chernobyl and the buildings around it in order to form a convincing lie, but he was drawing a blank.
Volkov instantly sensed that he was about to lie and simply shook his head.
“Comrade Zacaria, if you would.” Zacaria, the man with the torture tools, stepped forward and took a pair of bloodied but still well-maintained nail pliers.
As soon as Sammy saw them, his breath hitched and he seemed to realize what they were going to do with them.
He tried to tear his arm free and hide his nails, but it was to no avail.
“Wait!
Please!
I’m begging you… I’ll speak!
This is an illusion!
This is a trial from a magical spell!
I swear, please!” Zacaria raised a brow and looked a little dumbfounded.
He turned to look at Volkov, and the man just shook his head in dejection and nodded for him to proceed.
“I make it a point to say this, it’s not personal.” He slowly approached Sammy, and the young Aspirant in turn began to tear up again as he tried his hardest to pull away.
With one hand Zacaria held his hand, while with the other he maneuvered the nail pliers towards his pointer fingernail.
Sammy tried to look away, but as the nail pliers caught his nail in a metal grip, he opened his eyes wide and screamed in pain as he felt his nail slowly come out.
Sammy continued to try and beg for mercy, but it fell on deaf ears.
The torture continued through the night, and after a few hours, it was finally midnight, and it was April 26th.
He had done it.
He had prevented Chernobyl from getting destroyed.
And so he was rewarded with another extra three hours of torture.
*** It was April 26th, 3:07 AM.
Sammy was still sitting on the chair, all his nails were gone, and almost all his fingers were broken, while his shins, elbows, shoulders, knees, and knuckles were bloody, as they had been continually cut with slow blades before having salt rubbed into them.
He was a bloodied mess, to say the least.
Sammy had grown unresponsive after a certain point, only screaming in pain and not even trying to beg for mercy.
Volkov was used to these things, even worse things.
Sure, he respected the spy for showing empathy and basically saving countless lives, however this was still part of his job.
His blood soaked the ground, and Volkov couldn’t quite place it, but that blood was… strangely alluring.
It was almost mystical in a sense.
Unseen to him and the other officers, the young Aspirant’s blood began to seep into the ground, almost as if it were absorbed by it.
Then, in a vast space underground, a large sea of black stood perfectly calm.
In the next moment, a single drop of alluring blood dipped into the waters of the strange sea.
And so, a small ripple spread through it.
In the next second, a golden light began to shine, and the water began to rise towards the surface in an almost impossible way, defying physics.
*** (SAMMY) ‘Ahhh, it hurts… I… wanna go… home…’ I didn’t know how long it had been since they started their torture, but I knew that this small period of rest was only there to make me drop my guard.
So I just awaited the torture to continue.
However, this time I didn’t hear the firm voice of that damn writer… instead I felt a calming and comforting voice whisper softly into my ear.
[You have caused the Chaos Sea to awaken.] As I heard those words, I watched the ground begin to open slightly, almost as if it were being torn open by hands.
Zacaria, the torturer, moved to the side, but his leg fell into the depression in the ground.
“It’s an earthquake!” he screamed, and I watched as he tried to pry his foot loose.
However, it seemed to not work, and his face showed signs of terror as he screamed at the officers.
“Something’s down there!
Help me get loose!” Two other officers rushed to him and tried to pull him free.
Zacaria screamed, and I watched as strange golden liquid began to spew from all the growing tears in the ground.
The liquid ignored gravity entirely, creeping upward along the fractured concrete like veins of molten sunlight.
Wherever it passed, the grey stone darkened before quietly dissolving into countless glittering motes.
“…What is that?” one of the guards whispered.
I turned slightly, and I felt a smile find its way onto my lips, as the composed expression on Volkov’s face finally cracked and he stared at the impossible sight unfolding before him.
The tremors intensified and everything violently moved from side to side.
*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* The courtyard lurched violently as chunks of concrete split apart with deafening cracks, opening a jagged depression several meters across.
The two officers trying to free Zacaria stumbled backward, and one even nearly lost his footing.
“Get away from it!” Volkov barked, and the ground only continued to shake more violently.
I watched as his expression darkened.
“For God’s sake, move!” The order came too late, and the golden liquid reached Zacaria’s trapped boot.
For a brief moment… and in the next, the sound of something burning sounded as smoke rose from his foot and the concrete surrounding his foot seemed to soften like wet clay.
“My leg!” The liquid continued to climb as it crawled over Zacaria’s body, and in turn onto the bodies of the other officers.
Their screams echoed through the courtyard and were drowned out by the now familiar voice of the Spell.
[You have slain a Dormant Human, Zacaria Yievski.] [You have slain a Dormant Human, Kris Lienskov.] [You have slain a Dormant Human, Ludwig Borotov.] The Spell sounded, and I watched as the strange liquid began to creep towards me.
However, as it touched me, it didn’t dissolve me… instead, it was soothing.
The feeling of rejuvenation spread through my body, and I sighed in relief.
My eyes then darted to the other officers, they too were consumed by the liquid, and the Spell notified me of their deaths.
However, I was only focused on one person.
Volkov, the man was trapped and couldn’t move.
He looked at me and watched the strange liquid not consume me like the others.
I smiled at him and glared at the bastard.
“Oh, you seem to not accept such an outcome… what a shame.” I cooed as the liquid devoured him and drowned out his scream.
[You have slain a Dormant Human, Volkov Sofi.] Hearing those words, I felt at peace, and finally the liquid consumed me whole and I felt myself grow lighter, and the pain that I felt was washed away.
Then the voice of the Spell sounded again.
[You have been accepted by the Chaos Sea.] [The Chaos Sea has successfully bound itself to you.] [You have prevented a disaster from happening.] [You have saved many lives.] [You have prevented the birth of an Ancient God.] [Aspirant Samson Macey!
You have successfully received and assimilated a Sefirot.] As I heard those beautiful words I felt the liquid seep into my body, filling every nook and cranny with its soothing touch.
[Aspirant!
You have been given the Sequence 9 Characteristics for the Sun Pathway!] [Aspirant!
You have been given the Sequence 9 Characteristics for the Tyrant Pathway!] [Aspirant!
You have been given the Sequence 9 Characteristics for the…Hanged Man Pathway!] [Aspirant!
You have been given the Sequence 9 Characteristics for the White Tower Pathway!] [Aspirant!
You have been given the Sequence 9 Characteristics for the Visionary Pathway!] The Nightmare Spell wasn’t done yet.
[Last Hope, receive your boon!] [You have received the right to claim the title of God Almighty!] [You have successfully assimilated the Lineage of the Sun God!] The liquid that had consumed my entire body glowed even brighter, and the voice of the Spell spoke in triumph.
[Wake up, Samson Macey!
Your nightmare is over.] [Prepare for appraisal…] ___________________ Author’s Note: There won’t be an appraisal for Sammy or the other two, however there will be a chapter that show’s their Runes.
How do you all feel about this Chapter?
I personally don’t really like the beginning of it too much, but oh well, i think the later part and the end were decent.
Also i hope that you all understand that Sammy isn’t some idiot, it’s just that he kinda got interrogated by an actual pro, with 30 years of experience to boot.
So yeah i hope it makes sense, the dialogue did kinda feel…
off?
i feel like i could’ve done better to make it more thrilling.
But what can you do, anyway next chap is on Saturday, and we’ll see Amy’s Nightmare, that one is gonna actually have a fight, so i hope you’ll enjoy it.
Anyway leave some comments and i’ll respond to any questions, without spoiling ofc.
Have a great day 🙂