Mythos Effect

Chapter 9: Face to Face

Pain. That was all Severus was able to feel when consciousness returned to him. His entire body felt like one giant open sore. Still, feeling pain meant that he was alive, which he honestly had not expected to be.

With all the speed of a mountain growing, Severus forced his eyes open. At first, his sight was so blurry that all he could make out were some obscure shapes. He blinked several times, willing himself to become lucid, and gradually, the incomprehensible images began to become more perceptible.

Bright light suddenly glared down at him, blotting out his still weak vision. Severus blinked several more times until his eyes adjusted, bringing his surroundings into focus. He saw that he was in a room, slightly larger than an officer's quarters. Metal walls of dull gray appeared on three sides with a door on the last. Gingerly, he tried to raise himself up to get a better look, but something held him down. As he looked down at his sides, he saw that his arms had been strapped down to a metallic slab, as had his legs.

A thrill of dread rushed through Severus as he realized his situation. He was a prisoner, and if his position was anything to judge by, he was scheduled to be interrogated. His mind went into overdrive as it began to think up what possible tortures the aliens might have in store for him. The Petty Officer strained at his bonds with all the strength he could muster, to no avail; they held him fast and hardly even budged. He was not going anywhere.

Then, the door in front of him whirred open, and through it came a pair of bipedal aliens. Having exhausted his meager reserves of energy, Severus focused on the new company he found himself in. They were proportioned in a similar manner to the Asari and each wore a suit of heavy armor that covered their bodies almost entirely, less streamlined than Turian models, but still looking to be designed with peak efficiency in mind. The helmets that hid their faces stared at him, cold and unforgiving, and in their five-fingered hands they held nasty-looking guns, handling them with professional ease. Severus did not doubt that they were prepared to shoot him dead at the first sign of trouble.

The door once more opened up and another alien stepped through. If the first two slightly resembled Asari, this one could have been an actual subspecies. The only difference was the pinkish skin tone and what looked to be a patch of fur instead of an Asari's scalp tendrils. Though he had little to base it on, Severus guessed that this one was a male, as were the other two. Idly, he noted that none of them looked anything like the monster he had tangled with. That being said, he noticed that the armored aliens subtly edged away from the new arrival, clearly uneasy about being around this newcomer.

As it moved to stand next to him, it peered down at the restrained Turian in a way that made Severus distinctly nervous. Assuming that the alien's facial expressions were similar to Asari, Severus inferred that it was looking at him with a combination of curiosity and a strange eagerness. Something was about to happen, and Severus knew that he was not going to like it.

Then, as if acting on the Petty Officer's thoughts, the alien locked eyes with Severus and suddenly, the Turian felt as though his whole head had been abruptly submerged in a bucket of ice water, causing chills to race up and down his spine as his heart rate sped up and he began to hyperventilate.

"What the hell are you doing to me?!" Severus cried as the very unpleasant feeling intensified.

The alien gave no response and continued to stare at him with intense concentration. A second later, a new sensation emerged; this time, it felt like a tendril made of pure cold flecked with shards of broken glass was slithering into his brain. With a thrill of horror, the Petty Officer realized what was happening: the alien was entering his very mind!

Even as he thought this, the tendril promptly burrowed down deep into his psyche. Severus had once melded with an Asari during a one-night stand; the experience had been gentle and pleasurable, culminating in one of the best nights of his life. This process was the exact opposite of that time. Instead of a light caressing, the tendril brutally violated his mind, not caring whether or not it caused distress. The pain was beyond obscene, and Severus could not hold back a scream. The alien ignored him and continued its invasion of the Turian's consciousness.