Entering the room again, Kyrian felt the weight of knowing a person had been killed in there.

He glanced to where he thought the various security cameras were, wondering if the staff in the monitors room had just watched indifferently. Unbothered.

Dr. Kroft’s voice pierced the stale air, interrupting his trail of thought. 

“Has the subject been stabilized, Mr. Averin? Are we safe to proceed?”

Kyrian stood unmoving, gaze landing on Eiden sitting under the mirror like a forgotten doll. 

“Yes.” He finally spoke, jaw clenching.

“Then please seat Esper Unit S-1 on the bed to begin collecting blood samples.”

The two staff members, a technician and a nurse, shuffled behind the protection of Kyrian’s broad frame, hesitant to approach the Esper seated on the floor with his back to the wall.

“Any day now?” Kroft’s voice crackled irritably from the speakers.

Kyrian pursed his lips, and slowly approached the Esper himself. His confidence stemmed from the lack of intense pressure in the air, the results of a successful Guiding session coupled with sedatives.

“Hey,” he murmured, dropping to a crouch a comfortable distance from Eiden, arms resting on his knees. He wanted to get closer so their exchange would be less likely overheard, but decided not to push his luck and try to appear as nonthreatening as he could.

Grey green eyes lifted listlessly, and a flicker of a frown creased his brows.

“Fuck… you again?”

“The nurse needs to collect some blood samples, I’m told it’s standard procedure?” Kyrian resisted the ghost of a smile threatening to curl his lips, relieved that Eiden was in a much better state of mind than he’d seen him.

Eiden’s head tilted so he could see over the Guide better, his movements sluggish. “Is that all they’re doing today?”

For a moment, Kyrian saw a different face gazing at him. One just as weary, eyes filled with apprehension and a dying flame of resistance.

Why… does he remind me of her so much? It would be so much easier… if he didn’t.

“I’m not sure, but can we get you to sit on the bed while they work?”

Eiden nodded slowly, his eyes blinking heavily with a drowsiness that threatened to pull him under. He lurched forward to stand, unsteady.

“Mr. Averin, stand back.” A guard spoke, approaching the Esper in full gear and shield.

Kyrian opened his mouth to speak, shifting forward without thinking as the guard firmly grabbed Eiden by his upper arm and dragged him to his feet.

“Wait-” Eiden weakly clawed at the thick gloved hand holding his arm, wincing.

“Do not waste time trying to coax it, Mr. Averin,” Dr. Kroft chided, “you said he was stable.”

Half outreached fingers curled into a tight fist, and Kyrian lowered his hand. “Of course.”

The guard pushed Eiden towards the bed, where he stood swaying, hands wringing the sheets to anchor himself as his knees threatened to buckle.

“I behave, you force me. I misbehave, you force me,” he muttered with a hazy laugh, “fuck you all.”

Watching the Esper struggle to seat himself on the bed was painful, and Kyrian had to turn his head and lower his gaze, afraid he would do something rash.

After working for Aegis Division for the past few years, he’d forgotten that this was the reality. This was how Espers were more commonly treated, and he’d become complacent to forget that fact.

They’re dangerous, so isn’t it natural to take some forms of precautions?

His mismatched colored eyes glanced at Eiden sitting slumped, head tilted backwards as if in a trance. He didn’t even flinch when the nurse pricked his arm to begin drawing blood. If anything, his posture stiffened, but not from the pain. He seemed a bit more aware now, but continued to sit still.

Kyrian stepped back, the minutes ticking by while they continued to collect blood. There was so much blood, the nurse switching out her collection bags periodically.

A full liter. Why do they need so much blood?

He glanced from the technician absently logging the numbers and charts from the vitals monitor, seemingly bored, to the nurse who could not bring herself to look at Eiden directly. The guard was no better, his attention straight ahead, unbothered, and awaiting new orders.

No one seemed concerned that Eiden’s arms trembled with fatigue, nor that his knuckles had gone white from the force he exerted to hold himself upright on the bed. They wouldn’t even look at him.

Kyrian frowned to himself, glancing around the room to assess the structure. How many people were watching from the controls room? Did they watch this happen often?

Finally, the nurse switched out her collection bag for the last time.

Unable to help himself, Kyrian watched the red liquid being drawn through the tube pool in the bag, bile rising in his throat.

“Ready the Esper inhibitor,” Kroft ordered, breaking the surreal and unnerving atmosphere that had formed.

Eiden’s shoulders stiffened, and his head lolled forward with great effort. “Shit. What are you going to stick me with now?” His voice came out hoarse, words slurring like his tongue was thick and dry.

The nurse cleaned up the blood collecting equipment, and turned to the trolley with various instruments and sealed cases.

“Does this need to be administered so soon after the blood drawing?” Kyrian asked quietly, the unease in his stomach that he had felt earlier rearing its ugly head again.

“It’s best to proceed as quickly as possible, so we can return to the control room to observe.” The technician explained in a bored tone, unhurried in his keyboard typing.

The nurse pressed her lips into a firm line as she retrieved a small syringe filled with a thick golden liquid inside. From the way it shifted inside the glass tube, it seemed to be just as thick as honey to match the golden hue.

She held the syringe upright and flicked it with practiced precision to help remove any air from the contents.

“Mr. Averin, please be prepared to subdue the subject if necessary, we will leave after the injection.”

Eiden glared at her as she brought the syringe towards him. “Can’t this wait until tomorrow?” He spat coldly.

A sharp beep from the heart rate monitor betrayed his indifference, but it fell on deaf ears of the staff around them.

Kyrian saw the Esper from the Sanctum. The one who lashed out with raw power, but showed secret fear.