Why ?

Destroy her hope

Carmen POV

My wrists and by extension my arms hurt more than anything else. I could contain the pain of the hunger I felt, but I could do nothing about the pain of the chains. Since Brunt had left me like this, I have not had a single human contact. Water is brought to me via an IV in my arm and I don't even know when they come to change it. Every time I regain consciousness, I find myself with more wounds than before and syringes with different products whose purpose I don't know run through my body. I was vainly trying to touch the floor once more, at least to relieve my aching wrists, when a kind of green gas fills the room. Panicking, I wondered if it had anything to do with my injuries, it seemed familiar. All of a sudden I end up feeling weak, as if all my strength is leaving me and before I fully realise it, I lose consciousness.

When I wake up, my body feels like it's on fire, like it's been tormented over and over for hours. Looking down, I see part of my shins wrapped in bandage. What the hell happened ? Forcing my mind to focus, I have a sort of flashback that comes to me. I'm immobilized on some sort of surgical table in Bellum's lab, turning my head to the side, I see various sharp weapons. Looking across, Professor Maesltrom seems to be in conversation with Dr. Bellum, I feel a terror come over me. A haunting green light suddenly hovers over me as I see Bellum approaching. As she notices me, I see her take a syringe and inject it into my neck, using her second hand to shift a strand of my face.

"It's not time for you to wake up yet, child."

Then complete darkness. What happened ? My head hurts more and more. Suddenly, the handcuffs shock me violently, leaving my body spasming with pain. Once the tension subsides, I try to remember what I was thinking earlier, but nothing comes to me. Total blackout.

Faculty room

3rd Person POV

The Faculty watch via the screen as Carmen struggles in her bonds as she tries in vain to touch the floor.

"It seems my invention is not enough to put her in her place."

"So what do we do ? We can't keep Lambkins indefinitely like this."

"I don't see what more we can do. She's been isolated from everyone with only pain. We've taken away everything from what little comfort she had to food and yet she continues to rebel. This girl has always been a problem."

"Speaking of that, she hasn't been fed once in the last two months. Based on her vitals, if we want to keep her alive, we'll have to give her some food soon. We may have another week or two before it becomes critical."

Maelstrom hadn't taken his eyes off the young girl as he pondered the conundrum she represented. Finally, he took his turn to speak. "No matter what we do, she will always fight."

"So, do you have a 'brilliant' idea on how to handle her, Gunnar ?" Cleo replies sarcastically

"The main reason we allowed her to be here when we made our deal with her former team was to make it clear that she would never get out of here and that they wouldn't be able to get her back. This strategy worked for a while, coupled with my lessons, she became a bit more compliant. Until she realized that her team would not abandon her."

"Come straight to the point." Brunt cuts him off.

"Black Sheep doesn't care what we can do to her as long as she keeps her hopes up. If we want to control her, we have to destroy it."

"By arranging for her to lose faith in the Red Team. Then she'd be alone with only us as her point of reference." Cleo continued.

"Thus forcing her to behave and learn to fear the punishments we will give her for her conduct." Bellum finishes.