A Jaded Life

Chapter 1349

Groaning noises, for once not coming from the increasingly unresponsive lump of flesh that used to be Joshua, pulled my attention away from my latest experiment. This one would soon give up the ghost and lose its soul, so it was good that I had new subjects. Maybe their memories would be more interesting and pleasant compared to Joshua’s. Just delving into what made him tick gave me the desperate need to take a shower and wash off the slick confidence he seemed to ooze from every pore. The guy was, as far as I could tell, a mixture between a lawyer, a used car salesman and a con artist, all mixed into one obsequious package.

Observing some of his emotional milestones, the moments that the system seemed to have carved into his being the deepest, was even worse. Those moments seemed to be solely focused on times in which he had managed to pull one over somebody else, convinced them of something and generally duped them into an act I would consider foolish. Given the fragmented images I had been able to pull from his mind and soul, I was fairly certain that Joshua’s actions had caused the death of at least ten people, though none of those had necessarily been deliberate. Joshua simply hadn’t cared whether or not his actions caused harm and would lead to their death.

Shaking my head, I pushed the renewed need to shower aside, knowing full well that it was merely psychological, and stepped through the shadows, making my way into the apartment I had prepared for my new guests. The groaning I had heard through the scrying constructs I had left in their rooms meant they were waking up, and I wanted to be present when they did.

To add a bit of pageantry to the whole situation, I removed the door leading into the rest of the shelter, making it appear as if the dorm had only three doors. For a moment, I wondered why I had even added it in the first place, instead of removing the access tunnel entirely and stepping through the shadows to get in and out. It would make the containment of my experimental subjects even more secure, and I couldn’t see any real downsides, so it was most likely a case of habitual thinking.

After the door was gone, I conjured a comfortable, almost throne-like chair for myself and sat down, my mind still watching one of the two women wake up. The other two were still unconscious, but I sent a brief pulse of Mind Magic through the scrying constructs, causing them to start waking up, too. It made for a better show if they appeared at roughly the same time, and it allowed me to speak with all three of them at the same time, so I wouldn’t have to go and repeat myself.

As it turned out, I had to wait a little longer. The first woman to wake up had noticed the bathroom before trying the door to the common area, causing her to forget everything but the lure of a hot shower. It was a testament to her determination and the ease of use of my appliances that she managed to get under the shower without an explanation, as the arrangement wasn’t quite standard. Even more amusing were the noises she made as she stood under the hot water. If I had only heard the sounds, I wouldn’t have assumed she was showering; it sounded like she was enjoying herself a great deal. Possibly with a partner.

The other two took longer to wake, and one of them, the guy, also stumbled upon his bathroom before heading out. However, he didn’t try to get clean; instead, he started to make his way towards the other door, leaving the bath for later.

Amusingly, their differences in wake-up times and morning abulations caused them to open the door to the common area at roughly the same time, almost as if it had been planned. It hadn’t, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they believed it had.

“Good Morning,” I greeted them, concealing any amusement I was feeling. All three immediately focused on me, barely acknowledging the others' presence, and started bombarding me with questions. They had been calling out a few times while in their rooms, but I had studiously ignored their calls and demands for information, letting them freak out a little in the changed environment they found themselves in.

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“Where are we? What happened? What’s going on?” The guy started a rapid-fire of questions, walking towards me and getting louder with every step he took and every question I ignored.

“Sit,” I commanded, pushing a bit of Mind Magic into my voice, turning the command into a compulsion he couldn’t ignore. I had to bite back a laugh when I realised that I might have overdone it a little. The compulsion didn’t just affect him; it also caused the two women to jump into the nearest seat, as if they had been playing musical chairs and the music stopped. The guy, on the other hand, suddenly found himself sitting on the floor, looking just a little confused and definitely scared, making it obvious that he hadn’t intended to sit down on the ground.

“You may walk over to take a proper seat. Otherwise, sit down and shut up,” I told him, this time without any magical compulsions involved.

“Now, this is my space. I’ve brought you here because the three of you were drains on your community, and chances are that your presence would have doomed the entire group,” I explained, exaggerating the issue a little, confident that they wouldn’t know better. Given the way their faces turned pale, I had no doubt that my assumption about their ignorance was correct.

“Who are you and where are we?” the woman who had already showered asked, looking completely confused and filled with uncertainty. “What is all this?”

“As I said, this is a private space I have set up. I have decided to heal what injuries you had, and purged a few diseases from you as necessary. You will all make a full recovery, at least as long as you have proper nutrition, which can be found in the pantry over there. I’ll also provide some additional food as required, though some of that will depend on your cooperation,” I explained, though my words didn’t seem to clear up any issues.

“What do you want?” the guy bit out, apparently trying to cover his fear with false bravado. Possibly to convince himself he wasn’t scared, or maybe because he wanted to show off to the women present.

“Your cooperation as I’m studying something. If you cooperate, you will receive rewards. If not, there will be punishment,” I replied, keeping my voice level and ignoring his blustering. He might have taken that as a sign of weakness or something and turned up the volume once more, trying to stand and intimidate me, only to get swallowed up by the shadows. It was something I was working on, to shove someone into the shadows and have them dropped off nearby. In this case, I had hopefully pushed him into one of the cells downstairs, though it was my first attempt with another human.

“I do not tolerate disrespect,” I warned the other two, who now looked at me with wide, fear-filled eyes. “He will return in an hour or so, hopefully having learned his lesson. Otherwise, I’ll have to teach it to him again, until it finally sinks in.”

“How can I serve?” one of the women asked, kneeling in front of my throne, looking both afraid but also strangely excited, almost aroused. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, or how to interpret the odd scent that was filling the room now, something I could only smell thanks to my exceptional senses.

It took a considerable amount of self-control not to react to the display, though a part of me was tempted to put her in a time-out anyway, but I thought better of it. If she wanted to serve, well, I would happily take advantage of the sentiment, no matter how strange and creepy I considered her behaviour.

“Make yourself comfortable. These rooms will be yours for your stay. There’s entertainment material in the cupboard over there, and I have placed some simple fabrics to wear in the closet,” I explained, gesturing towards their respective rooms. “When I come for you, you will cooperate,” I added, looking at the other woman, who was watching the display with confused eyes. She clearly wasn’t sure what to make of the situation, but she nodded anyway, apparently realising that she didn’t have all that many options at the moment.

“Yes, my lady,” the woman on her knees sighed, her voice vibrating with excitement. “I will be ready to serve in any way you desire.”

Unable to formulate a response to that, I drew up the shadows below me, causing them to swallow my throne and me, disappearing from the room, still trying to understand just what sort of person I had kidnapped here.