⌠♚⌡▰▱ ℰмρїяℯ ››☠‹‹ ＷＡＲＳ▐⌦ Watty Awards

Chapter Seven; Diamonds Before Degenerates

Chapter Seven

Diamonds before Degenerates

The ultra-thin, razor-sharp wires dug into her neck.

Blood seeped out of the over the hair-like pieces strings, as they were wrapped so tightly, not a single semblance of movement went unpunished.

Golden, ethereal, eyes fluttered open for a second, in the groggy, blinding, discombobulating light, as the young woman suddenly felt the primal instinct to escape. As her body took a breath, her agonizing lungs exhaling for a second, as she stretched forward, her eyes suddenly bulged open wide, as more blood came through the cuts generated by the stringy, metallic wire that lacerated her body.

"I see you're awake, Princess."

The acerbic, biting, precarious voice could only belong to one person. Aya dared to lift her neck a bit-a soft groan of pain escaping the wires around her neck dug even further, deepening the cut.

"What do you want, Emperor?" Aya's voice came out like a murmur-if she spoke more; the laceration would have deepened-matching the other cuts running through her body. Every other limb was unmovable, from the shoulders on down, as her arms hung in the air like an avian exhibit.

Surveying the room, she found it to be a specially engineered torture chamber-completely white, blinding walls, as she hung in the air, suspended by the very things that may slice her into tiny pieces. It was a while before Aya realized that she was in a perfectly clear box, which was suspended even more by glass chains she was sure was a catalyst to define the substance inside the encasement's wires.

Sswyvy sat down below, on a mobile, modern, throne-like chair while two completely masked -men in white enhanced jumpsuits stood guard behind him. "I want information; I want the master override key to Atlantis's technological data-I want the way you nanocomposite to generating energy from biological tissue of powerful creatures."

"I'm not authorized to give that information," Aya replied vapidly-as a Nihilist, she didn't show response to pain. "If you are aware of my asocial condition, Emperor, I doubt you would be doing this; it's simply not optimal. As the status quo stands, we are capable of waging war at this second."

"What was it again? 'Knights of the Ragnorak' or something? Lady Lilith, from my sources, state that she would be pleased to see you dead, and your brother, I'm informed, couldn't care less. Your other brother . . ." Sswyvy trailed off, as he remembered Kiers for bitter second, "should die as well, but he's far too useless for his death to have any point."

"You won't get anything out of me."

Sswyvy gave a tiny smile. He had so won.

Aya stared listlessly forward, until her eyes widened in shock as the glass chains of her case suddenly began filling with a red, liquid, substance, boiling hot, as she felt the excruciating sear beneath.

"F-Dust hydroxide-we also added some micro-organic flesh-eating desert bacterium in there as well."

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"Divide and conquer."

It was rare Winston ever said anything that actually made sense.

Kiers sighed, as he glanced out at the ever-rolling dry, sienna, landscape that seemed to stretch on forever. It was as if the spirits of the embers had been burned into the sand. If it wasn't for the Desert Trekker's impeccable navigation systems, they would all be burning to death from dehydration and malnutrition.

"Um, I don't think that's smart," said Suigeneris, as he munched down an Estonnian version of the pineapple. "The Ptolasars and Arosiekts will probably force us all to become their slaves and mine for diamonds if we don't stick together."