Whatever happened next left him sore and bruised. Nothing too serious other than the bloody nose and it had finally stopped dripping at some point while he was out, leaving a dried mess on his face.

‘At least he didn’t break any of my bones.’ Orion thought.

Based on his injuries, it was likely Phalaris hit him a few more times before giving up when he didn't regain consciousness. His reactions appeared to be what Phalaris was the most interested in rather than venting his frustrations on him or whatever ‘experimenting’ on him would have entailed.

Between this… what happened to Dr. P… and the gaps in Orion’s memory. The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place as to what manner of creature that man was.

“Hello?” Orion called out quietly; he could tell someone else was in the room.

It was Eta subject from before, he was still there. Orion was surprised he hadn't fled yet, this wasn't exactly the safest place to be after what just happened. They cautiously moved closer to Orion. Within an instant Orion could feel a sense of cosmic recognition, this was the person he was looking for.

“It's the target, I found the target Claire.” Orion said.

“We will extract you tomorrow.” She said. “Just hold out until then.”

“Understood.” Orion sat up and took a good look at the subject. "Do you have a name?"

"Shi-Rho-Eta, but the others just call me Rho since I'm the last remaining one from that project." Rho explained.

"You already vaguely know me but, I'm Orion." Orion introduced himself. On closer inspection it was clear that he was also related to Dr. P, and the sister he was referring to before must have been the Alpha-Eta subject. The green eyes they shared were quite distinct, it was near impossible for them not to be related in some way.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn't have gotten you in-involved.” The blonde man tried to clean Orion’s face, bit it seemed as if he was afraid of touching him directly. He likely wasn't entirely used to his own strength. Orion could tell at a glance that he was a failed combat type subject, Rho-Eta perhaps. A batch deemed far to docile to be useful to BioPort. “I was worried that you might have died in my place.”

“Something like that couldn't kill me.” Orion said, his throat was a bit dry, and he ended up coughing halfway through it. “I’m the favorite, whatever the fuck that means, so I doubt he’d let me die that easily anyway.”

“If it makes you feel any better you could d-do that to me.” He said.

“Do you even comprehend what you're saying?” Orion asked.

“Sometimes, it makes the hurt less if you get to be on the other end of it.” He explained in an almost childlike manner.

Orion was aware some of the Eta subjects had been there for most of their lives. But it was a bit much for him to offer himself up as a punching bag as his first instinct. It was obvious he hadn't led a very good life here.

“I don’t know if I have the words right now to explain why you shouldn't be offering that.” Orion said. He tried to reach for a drink, but it was too far.

“It's okay though, my body was built for that s-sort of thing. Pain doesn't bother me much. As long as I am not killed, I’m fine.” Rho said pushing the drink closer to him with a gentle touch. Orion could tell by the way he explained it that he must have experienced it a lot. “I just want to repay you for saving my life.”

“You don’t have to repay me and definitely not like that.” Orion sipped the drink at a slow pace as if he was afraid of choking on it. “Why was he after you anyway?”

“I made the mistake of making eye contact. It was pretty much over as soon as that happened.” Rho explained.

“Eye contact?” Orion questioned.

“Yeah, it’s like he can read your mind.” He said, “If you make eye contact, you're as good as dead.”

“Can he really read your mind?” Orion asked casually.

“Whatever it is, is much more intricate than what the other subjects can do.” Rho continued. “They said that's what the alpha-eta subjects were being modeled after, but they weren't able to achieve it without major limitations.”

“So, it's the eyes then. That explains a few things.” Orion nodded. “And… That narrows things down just enough… How exactly did you manage to get away? Doesn't he also have some inhuman speed or something?”

“We're pretty evenly matched but he can't fit in the ventilation system.”

“And you can?” Orion looked over to the wall, the vent plate had clearly been taken off. He pointed at the vent, "How?"

“If my head can fit, I can squeeze in there fine.” He explained.

“What, like a cat? Do you not have collar bones or something?” Orion asked.

“What's a cat?” He asked innocently.

“A small mammal like, this big and uhh,” Orion tried to hold the size of a cat in his hands before realizing he probably wasn't explaining it well at all, “not important, you’ll probably see one eventually, after we get you out of here of course.”

“Is there… really nothing I can do for you?” He asked.

“Just don't let this chance go to waste.” Orion cautioned him. “Repay me by keeping yourself alive.”

“Okay... Thank you.” He said. He opened his mouth as if he had more to say but he opted not to speak further.