Day 181
The scientist loomed ominously over Asta, his face unnervingly close. "Hey livestock, how's life treating you?" He chuckled. "I thought you'd give up on the first day. Color me pleasantly surprised you made it this far." His malevolent smile made it clear he reveled in the power he held over Asta.
"I'll… kill… you…" Asta rasped out, his voice hoarse and barely audible over the hum of several machines.
"What did you say?" The scientist feigned concern as he leaned closer. "I can't hear you. Don't tell me you want to give up now?"
With every ounce of strength left in him, Asta gathered the saliva in his mouth and spat it directly on to the scientist's face. His actions were fueled by a visceral, seething rage that had built up from the relentless pain and humiliation.
"I'll kill you, you bitch!" Asta's raw, hoarse voice cracked through the room like thunder. His eyes burned with an unmistakable madness and murderous intent. "I'll kill you. I'll kill you! I'll kill you!! I'll kill you!!!"
Revulsion swept the scientist's face as he wiped Asta's spit from his cheek. "You little wretch! A mere piece of livestock dares to do this to me?!" His voice now dripped with utter disdain.
Meanwhile, a fleeting smile flickered across Asta's face, a glint of defiance sparkling in his eyes despite the pain. "You can't kill me, can you? You're not allowed to." He goaded the scientist.
The scientist's face further twisted into a scowl, his jaw clenched tightly as he struggled to contain his rising anger. "You're right, I can't kill you directly," he admitted through gritted teeth, "but I will have my revenge. Just wait, you piece of shit livestock."
Asta's gaze followed the scientist as he stormed off and phased through the walls of the room, leaving him alone with the terrible reality of his confinement.
Before Asta knew it, his shoulders drooped under the invisible weight of his situation. He slumped against the unyielding surface his feet were shackled to, the cold seeping through his ragged clothes. With each breath, his spirit seemed to deflate further and further.
"Why is this happening to me?" Asta murmured to himself, his voice barely louder than a whisper. The question hung in the air, unanswered, as he slowly sank to the floor and pulled his knees close to his chest.
"Is this karma?" His mind churned with tormenting thoughts of past deeds, wondering if this was all retribution for long forgotten actions and choices. "Am I paying for what I did in the past?" Asta could only wallow in sorrow and introspection.
Asta's eyes, once vibrant with defiance, now reflected deep internal conflict. "Thinking about what I did in the past…" His voice trailed off as more memories and regrets came back to him, filling him with deep shame. He felt his eyes become blurry. "Fuck, ok! I didn't want to do any of this, but I was forced to! Is it too much to ask for a normal life?!"
Asta closed his eyes to shut the voices in his head. Silence met him, but not peace. He knew that somewhere, somehow, his captors were still watching and listening, wickedly grinning through it all.
One breath came, then another, then another. Asta felt his heart beat wildly in his chest. If this was truly the price of his sins, at the very least he'd speak his truth before the inevitable.
"Alright, I lied!" He yelled at no one in particular. "Remember when I said my father died due to alcohol? Well, that wasn't true, far from it. The truth is, I killed my father, because he deserved to die!
My father was a cruel man. Every evening, he'd come home shrouded in the stench of liquor, volatile as a volcano. He would unleash his alcohol-induced fury upon me and my mother without restraint. No matter how much we begged, he would relentlessly abuse us physically and verbally." Asta clenched his fists hard.
"My father never once loved my mother, but my foolish mother loved him unconditionally. 'Patiparmeshvra,' she always said. Husband is god and should be obeyed no matter what. What bullshit!
One day, he came home really drunk and angry. My mother tried to calm him down, but in his drunken madness he smashed the liquor bottle in his hand straight onto my mother's head. The moment I saw that, I just... snapped.
I grabbed a knife and I pierced it through that bastard's neck. I thought then I would feel justified, feel no regret, but my mother, despite everything he'd done to her, couldn't bear what I had done.
She locked me in a room and didn't say anything to me. She just called her parents. Moments later, I heard her talk through the door, but her voice was so choked with tears I couldn't make out what she said.
That time, I didn't even try to escape from that room, because I didn't feel guilty. The pain had to stop, for both of us. It was the only way… Shit. Maybe I should've repented back then."
Asta looked at his surroundings then at his hands. They were drenched in blood, or what seemed like it. The colors were all wrong. He gritted his teeth and turned his head, only to see that stupid tesseract once again in front of him. "Not again?!" Asta could only clutch his head for a few seconds before pain beyond measure ran up his skull and knocked him unconscious.
Tesseract Space (One of Many Memory Simulations)
Asta blinked as the harsh morning light streamed into the locked room. He had a rough night. Before he could move, however, the door swung open.
A police officer stood in the doorway, his expression somber. "Hey kid, are you okay? No need to panic, just follow me outside." His voice attempted reassurance, but Asta knew something had gone horribly wrong.
Trepidation gripped Asta as he stepped out of the room. Thoughts rapidly raced through his mind. "So, they found out I killed my father. Will I go to jail now?" Nothing could have prepared him for the sight that greeted him. There, in the quiet of his living room, lay two bodies. His heart sank. Deep down, he knew who lay beneath the sheets.
"Your mother left a note," the officer said gently, breaking the heavy silence. His words struck like hammer blows. "She confessed to killing your father, because she couldn't bear his beatings anymore. She chose to end her own life afterwards."
Asta froze, his emotions completely tumultuous as the gravity of the officer's words settled in. He'd done the unspeakable, and now he didn't have a family anymore.
"I understand how you are feeling right now," the officer said softly. "There's no need for you to say anything. Just try to calm your mind."
Asta looked at the officer, then back at the two covered bodies. Profound grief, anguish, and shock washed over him as he realized the decision he'd made without regret was, in reality, the biggest mistake of his life. "There's no way this officer knows how I'm feeling right now." Although his expression remained unchanged, Asta felt as if his entire being and purpose in life had been mercilessly ripped to shreds.
"I know this is too hard for a girl to handle, and I offer you my sincerest condolences," the officer continued. "Your grandparents from your mother's side in India will arrive soon, and we've all agreed it would be best if you lived with them for the time being."
Asta didn't reply, he didn't have the energy to, not even to correct the officer calling him a girl. He simply sat on the couch in the living room and listlessly stared at the ceiling.
Place ???
In a sterile room similar to Asta's, large television screens dotted the walls, all connected to CCTV cameras surveilling every subject's room. An old man sat in the corner, tapping his fingers on the table as he observed everyone with mild interest.
Suddenly, a tall scientist materialized behind him, clutching a thick stack of documents in his hands.
"What's today's report?" the old man's voice cut through the silence. He'd been focusing on Asta for a while now and wanted to see results.
"Out of the twelve subjects, six didn't make it past the starvation stage and three more succumbed to the mental battery stage," Dr. Raki reported, his tone feigning tragedy. "Of the remaining three, one has slipped into madness. I fear he won't survive."
The old man's curiosity persisted, undeterred by the grim tidings. "And what of the other two?" He inquired, his voice betraying a youthfulness that belied his age.
The room was charged with a tense anticipation as Dr. Raki spoke. "One clings to sanity by a thread," his gaze lingered on a file spread open before him. "But the most remarkable subject is the 16-year-old boy named Asta Kugarasi."
"Asta Kugarasi huh? How amusing," another voice, laced with intrigue, chimed in from the shadows. "That teenage boy has indeed managed to endure such extreme experiments, even by our standards."
Dr. Raki looked around then at the old man, nodding solemnly. "Indeed. If it were not for specific directives from above, I would have already proceeded with the gender transformation experiment."
The old man chuckled. "The boy has great potential. His mind and body have been tempered enough." He looked at Dr. Raki with solemn eyes. "It hurts this old man to see so many of his precious expensive subjects die in vain. I hope you're right this time."
Dr. Raki smiled nonchalantly at the old man. "Don't worry about it. I'll make sure he lives."
"That's good to hear."
Before the two could converse further, a deep sigh filled the room. "It seems the final decision has already been made. So be it. There is no turning back now." The disembodied voice stepped into the light, causing both the old man and Dr. Raki to turn towards him. Immediately, the two were left speechless by his imposing presence as sweat ran down their foreheads.
The mysterious man looked at Dr. Raki, his expression stern and resolute. "It's time for us to proceed to the last phase of our project. As the director of Branch #@#@, I hereby authorize the commencement of the final experiment."