Chapter 764: The Device
Chapter 763: The Device
13 Days To Go
The carpentry shed was unusually busy.
The sounds of hammering and sawing echoed through the main workspace, mixing with the smell of sawdust and heated metal. Workers moved back and forth carrying pieces of wood, tools, and unfinished equipment, each person focused on their own task.
Sophia followed Mary through the chaos and toward a smaller storage room at the back of the building.
The room itself was large enough to serve as a secondary warehouse. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with unfinished weapons, spare armor plates, and strange devices in various stages of completion. A few lanterns hung from the ceiling beams, their warm glow pushing back the cold shadows gathering in the corners.
Brynhild entered behind Sophia, followed by Ronan.
Oscar was already waiting.
Sophia recognized him vaguely. She had seen him around the pack compound after all.
"This is Oscar," Mary said, introducing him to Sophia. "He’s a craftsman and specializes in creating equipment for warriors in the pack."
Sophia nodded.
Oscar was young, with dark hair tied back at the nape of his neck and rough hands marked by countless burns and cuts.
"Tell them what you told me," Mary said to him.
Oscar nodded immediately.
"Right."
He walked toward a nearby workbench and picked up something so small that Sophia almost missed it entirely.
"Wow, it’s tiny," she said.
Oscar nodded. "It is." He paused, then continued.
"We already had a rough understanding of how it worked," he said. "After all, some of us saw it used."
His voice remained calm, though there was obvious fascination beneath it.
"But after examining it properly, we discovered quite a bit more."
He carefully placed the tiny object onto a cloth-covered section of the table.
"First of all, there’s a mechanism inside."
Sophia stepped closer.
The device was astonishingly small. Even now, looking directly at it, she found it difficult to believe that something so tiny had nearly killed Josiah.
Oscar reached for a pair of small metal tools.
"The mechanism is pressure-activated. Since the device is placed within the mouth, it activates through pressure exerted on it."
He picked the device up again and demonstrated carefully, applying pressure with the tool.
There was a soft click.
Then something emerged from the side of the device.
Sophia leaned forward, clearly wanting to know more.
It was a needle.
No.
Calling it a needle was almost generous.
It was barely visible.
A tiny metallic pin protruded from the device, so small that Sophia doubted she would have noticed it had Oscar not pointed it out.
"This," Oscar said quietly, "is what actually delivers the poison."
Mary nodded.
"The poison itself doesn’t simply spill into the mouth."
Oscar agreed.
"The pin extends immediately after activation and pierces the upper gum."
He gestured toward his own mouth.
"The tissue there is rich with blood vessels. Once the poison enters, it spreads rapidly throughout the body."
Ronan whistled softly.
"That’s terrifying."
"It is," Brynhild agreed.
Oscar nodded.
"The mechanism itself is brilliant."
He sounded almost reluctant to admit it.
"But what makes it truly effective isn’t the device."
He placed it back onto the cloth.
"It’s the poison."
Sophia frowned.
"You figured out what was inside?"
Oscar glanced toward Mary.
"Not me alone. That’s why I went to speak with those at the medical facility. It turns out the poison wasn’t a single substance."
That got everyone’s attention.
"There were two."
Sophia folded her arms.
"What were they?"
Oscar’s expression darkened.
"The first was wolfsbane, which honestly isn’t surprising. But the second was soulroot," he said.
"And, um... what kind of poison is soulroot?" Ronan asked.
"According to those at the medical facility, it’s a deadly poison that becomes even more deadly when combined with wolfsbane, and it’s quite rare too."
He looked at each of them.
"It would kill within a minute."
Sophia slowly looked back at the device.
"I’m curious though. How was it placed?"
"How was it placed?" Sophia asked suddenly.
Everyone looked at her, but her gaze was on Oscar and the device.
"I understand how it works now."
She looked back up.
"But how did he have this without anyone noticing? Surely someone should have seen it."
Oscar shook his head.
"That’s the clever part."
He picked up the device again.
"First, you need to consider just how small it is."
He held it up between his fingers.
"And second..."
He extended it toward Sophia.
"Look at its shape."
Sophia accepted it carefully.
For a moment, she simply stared.
Then realization dawned. She had no idea how she had missed it.
"Oh."
The device wasn’t merely placed near a tooth.
It was shaped like one. The size, color, and shape all made it look like one.
Anyone glancing inside a person’s mouth would never think twice.
"It mimics the last molar," Oscar explained. "That’s why it remained unnoticed."
Sophia slowly handed it back.
"That’s..."
She struggled to find the word.
"Disturbing."
Oscar laughed softly.
"True."
Ronan folded his arms.
"So they just implant it?"
Oscar nodded.
"Essentially."
"And it survives shifting?"
This time, Oscar didn’t hesitate.
"Yes."
Sophia blinked.
"Really?"
Oscar nodded again.
"The device effectively becomes part of the person’s anatomy. It’s treated like another tooth."
He smiled faintly.
"Which means shifting doesn’t remove it."
That answer seemed to satisfy Brynhild.
She turned toward Sophia.
"Well?"
Sophia blinked.
"What?"
"Your curiosity." Brynhild’s lips curved slightly. "Is it satisfied?"
Sophia considered the question, then she smiled.
"Only a little," she said.
"Are you still confused about something?" Brynhild asked her.
"Yes," she said. Then she turned to Oscar. "You said this device works with pressure exerted on it, right?"
He nodded.
"But you didn’t exactly state what kind of pressure. And the only one I can think of is biting. But then the device extends a pin that connects with the upper gum, right? And if perhaps this device is activated through biting, then how would the pin connect with the upper gum when there’s exactly a tooth at the top of the lower tooth where the device was placed?"
She paused.
"I don’t know if that makes sense to you."
Comments