Lucid sat frozen in the exact center of the metal control room. The smooth steel walls felt entirely too close together. The enclosed room felt exactly like a prison cage. The bright artificial overhead lights hummed loudly above his head. He stared blankly at the main command console directly in front of him. The multiple monitor screens displayed scrolling lines of bright green computer text. He did not read any of the words on the screens. His mind raced with various escape plans and tactical calculations.
Frederick leaned heavily over the main console. He intentionally blocked the primary monitor from Lucid's direct line of sight.
"So this is the super secret place that is important to you," Frederick stated loudly. His voice carried a thick mocking tone that grated on the ears. "You would go against our queen's words for that."
Lucid did not offer a verbal answer. He kept his hands resting flat and still on his lap. He kept his breathing slow and even to hide his rising panic. He calculated the exact distance to the main reinforced door. He calculated the exact distance to the emergency floor hatch located behind his chair.
Ayame stepped closer to his seated position. She leaned in aggressively over his right shoulder. Lucid caught her specific scent immediately. She smelled heavily of stale sweat and sharp metallic blood. The dark bodily odor was overwhelmingly strong. It filled his nostrils and coated the back of his throat. It reminded him vividly of a fresh chaotic battlefield filled with recent casualties. The smell brought back violent memories he actively wanted to suppress.
Valen stood a short distance away near the heavily reinforced main door. He crossed his muscular arms tightly over his broad chest. He watched the tense interrogation exchange with a completely bored facial expression. Valen pushed his broad shoulders off the metal wall. He walked slowly over to the gathered group in the center of the room.
"Relax," Valen instructed everyone in the room with a lazy drawl. "This guy probably missed his home right."
Valen nudged Lucid hard with his sharp elbow point. The sudden physical contact was extremely jarring. It threw off Lucid's internal tactical counting.
'How odd,' Lucid thought to himself. 'This guy is telling me exactly what to feel. Now he is coming to my rescue out of nowhere.'
Lucid saw a brief window of opportunity open before him. Frederick looked away to glare fiercely at Valen. Ayame shifted her body weight slowly from her left foot to her right foot. The small physical movements created a narrow gap in their human blockade. Lucid moved instantly without hesitation. He slid smoothly out from the leather command chair. He dropped his shoulders low to the floor. He slithered quickly between Frederick and Ayame like a quiet snake moving through tall grass. He aimed his entire body straight for the open floor space leading directly to the emergency escape hatch.
He almost made it to complete safety.
Alice stood perfectly still by the far metal wall. She watched his desperate dash with calculating eyes. She calmly began to count down out loud.
"Three," Alice announced clearly into the quiet room.
Lucid picked up his sprinting pace. His boots pounded across the metal floor grates.
"Two," Alice continued. Her flat voice held absolutely no emotion.
Lucid reached his right hand out for the red metal hatch handle. His fingertips brushed the cold painted metal surface.
"One," Alice finished with a note of finality.
A freezing cold hand clamped down incredibly hard on his bare throat. His forward momentum stopped instantly. The brutal grip felt exactly like an industrial iron vice closing rapidly around his fragile neck. His heavy boots scrambled uselessly against the smooth metal floor plates. He fought desperately for traction and found absolutely none.
Ayame pulled his body backward with immense physical force. She leaned in dangerously close from behind his rigid back. Her cold lips brushed lightly against the sensitive shell of his right ear.
"Where do you think you are going," Ayame whispered softly. The violent threat in her quiet voice was absolute and undeniable.
Lucid grabbed her pale wrist with both of his hands. He dug his strong fingers deeply into her soft skin. He tried desperately to pry her hand away from his crushed windpipe. His lungs burned intensely for fresh oxygen. He knew his own physical strength limits perfectly. He knew without a single doubt he could overpower Ayame in a fair physical fight. He possessed the physical capability to break her arm right now in this exact position. But a deep, paralyzing psychological fear held his muscles firmly back. He could not bring himself to actually strike her body. She was far scarier than he had any right to admit to himself or anyone else. Her mere presence completely overwhelmed his natural combat instincts. He felt exactly like helpless prey caught firmly in a steel steel trap.
Lucid finally stopped his violent struggling. He dropped his hands back down to his sides in defeat. He let out a long, strained sigh through his highly compressed throat.
"I just miss a certain someone," Lucid rasped out weakly. His own voice sounded pathetic and small to his ears.
Frederick looked down at his trapped form with a completely flat facial expression. He showed absolutely zero sympathy for the captive.
"Everyone does," Frederick replied coldly.
Lucid made one last desperate attempt for physical freedom. He gathered all of his remaining muscle strength. He threw his entire body weight violently forward toward the closed hatch door. The attempt was completely in vain. Ayame predicted the desperate movement easily. She simply tightened her brutal grip on his neck. She completely restricted his airway this time. Absolutely no oxygen reached his burning lungs. Dark black spots began to dance wildly in the extreme corners of his vision. The metal room began to spin rapidly around his head.
Alice watched the violent struggle from her permanent spot on the wall. A small, cruel smirk slowly appeared on her otherwise flawless face.
"Oh," Alice noted with fake exaggerated surprise. "You are dying from your female companion."
Lucid felt his waking consciousness rapidly fading away. The darkness threatened to swallow his mind completely in a matter of seconds.
'Just the way I like it,' Lucid thought sarcastically. He found morbid dark humor in his own impending violent death.
He glared intensely at Ayame from the extreme corner of his watering eye. He forced one final breath of air up through his totally crushed windpipe. He absolutely needed to speak.
"You," Lucid choked out painfully. "You indecent... pervert."
Ayame did not flinch at the harsh spoken words. She did not change her blank facial expression. She simply tightened her punishing physical hold even further. The intense pressure on his neck vertebrae became excruciating.
Lucid fought the rapidly encroaching darkness with everything he had left inside him. He needed the absolute last word in this violent argument. He refused to lose this fight quietly.
"Says the one that wears half covering robes," Lucid managed to say loudly. The complete sentence cost him the very last of his air supply.
The specific verbal insult landed perfectly. Ayame finally reacted to his mocking words. Her iron grip suddenly loosened just a fraction of a single inch.
Lucid did not waste a single second of the temporary opening. He violently ripped his body completely away from her weakened physical hold. He lunged frantically for the floor hatch mechanism. He grabbed the red lever handle firmly. He yanked it down hard with all of his remaining arm strength. The heavy metal floor door swung open downward with a loud mechanical clank. He threw his entire body blindly through the dark square opening.
He fell rapidly through the empty air shaft. Gravity pulled him down incredibly fast. He hit the solid ground below incredibly hard. His heavy boots connected violently with wet grass and loose brown dirt. He quickly tucked his chin tightly to his chest. He rolled forward rapidly to absorb the dangerous physical impact of the long fall. He came to a sudden stop flat on his back. He coughed violently. His neck and throat felt deeply bruised and raw. He dragged massive, deep breaths of clean fresh air into his starving lungs. The cold oxygen burned wonderfully in his chest cavity.
He pushed his battered body up slowly onto his hands and knees. He looked around his completely new surroundings. The claustrophobic metal control room was completely gone from view. He was finally outside in the open air environment. A gray paved stone path stretched out directly in front of him. The smooth flat pavement led perfectly toward a massive, towering iron gate located in the near distance.
Two fully armed guards stood on foot directly in front of the locked iron gate. They completely blocked the only visible exit path.
Lucid squinted hard through his still watering eyes. He focused his blurred vision squarely on the two tall figures standing watch. They wore heavy steel plate armor that shined brightly in the natural daylight. They both held tall, sharp iron spears planted firmly on the dirt ground. He recognized their facial features immediately despite the long distance between them.
Bjorn and Gabriel.