Chapter 33: The Big Beautiful Lion
Parfit, along with a group of alphas, led Kestrel to the infirmary. This was a room especially designed for injured alphas. To protect the fragile state of mind of those healing, the infirmary’s walls were made of thick soundproofing material, ensuring that the patients within wouldn’t be disturbed by outside noises.
Kestrel stood outside, gazing at the infirmary through multi-layered glass windows. Soft lights shone in the room, where medical equipment with tangled cords were scattered. On the lone bed inside, an alpha was tightly restrained.
The alpha looked calm at this moment, with long golden hair and handsome features. His eyes, though wide open, seemed lost and vacant as they stared at the ceiling. His hands were crossed and bound tightly from top to bottom with robust straps. His neck and legs were further restrained with heavy iron locks, and a cylindrical gag was fastened in his mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue.
One could only guess at the severe struggle that might have taken place here, necessitating such high levels of restraint for the alpha.
"How is it?"
Parfit and the other alphas watched Kestrel anxiously from outside the infirmary, as if Kestrel’s gaze through the glass could determine life or death, bringing them either peace of mind or a death notice.
"I’d like to know more details," Kestrel said. "What’s his psychic incarnation and what’s his current state? It’d also be helpful to know what he encountered in the Polluted Zone."
Parfit’s face turned grave. "You know, each Polluted Zone is like a strange nightmare, and every one is different. The mutants inside each have their own peculiarities," he explained. "Some crave human flesh, while others enjoy corrupting the human spirit. Some are even okay with coexisting with humans, as long as you don’t invade their territory. The mutant that captured Raymond wanted to turn him into one of its own."
Kestrel wasn’t sure. During her time studying at the Tower, she’d seen many propaganda videos depicting humans battling mutants. The monsters in the videos were bloodthirsty and ferocious. Killing was their instinct, and they fought heatedly with the human heroes without any sense of reason. In the Polluted Zone she’d just experienced, humanoid monsters chased human blood, and their sharp mandibles claimed many lives.
Of course, if one talked about unusual mutants, Kestrel did indeed know one - the one that had been secretly hiding in her home.
"What you’ve mentioned are the lowest-level mutants," Parfit said. "They mainly appear in newly formed Polluted Zones. In fact, in the Polluted Zone, the powerful mutants are not just simple beasts. They’re cunning and diverse in character, each with its own peculiar habits and behaviors."
"In Polluted Zone Five, there’s a mutant that’s really into the alphas," Parfit started. "Every alpha that ended up with it, it never killed. It would just trap them, messing with them again and again. The freak liked breaking the alpha’s psychic barriers and messing up their minds until they were totally broken and turned into monsters, just like it. It seemed to get a kick out of turning people into monsters, keeping them in the Polluted Zone forever."
Parfit paused, and then get himself together. "When we got there, the creature had Ray up on this platform, and was messing with him something fierce. The creepiest part was, it made a bunch of lookalikes, folks who looked just like real people. There were ones that looked like me, our buddies, even some of Ray’s family — everyone Ray cared about the most. They were all just standing around, watching Ray suffer, laughing like it was a good time."
With that, Parfit’s fist hit the wall. "When I finally got there, I gave the one that looked like me a real beatdown. But it was too late, Ray had been getting messed with for three days. When I picked him up, he didn’t know who any of us were."
Things were tense outside the sickroom. The alphas all had puffy eyes and tight jaws, keeping quiet. It was clear that each of them was part of the rescue and they all carried some pretty tough memories. Only Kestrel kept her cool, her face was as blank as ever.
She tapped her chin, made a small "hmm" sound, and then said, "Alright, guess I’ll give it a shot."
With that, she spun around and pushed the door open. The alphas gathered outside the window, peering in nervously. Everyone held their breath as Kestrel walked into the room.
Kestrel quietly washed her hands at the sink, rolled up her sleeves, and sat down next to the bed.
Ray, tied to the bed, didn’t react. His eyes just stared at the ceiling, not caring who had just sat down or what was about to happen.
A few virtual screens popped up from the opticomputer on Kestrel’s wrist, connecting to the health monitor on Ray’s bed.
After checking out Ray’s vitals, she reached out and covered his eyes with her hand, blocking out his bright blue eyes.
"Wait-wait-wait, she just started without prepping?" Tegnell almost jumped out of his skin, watching from the window. A bunch of people shushed him and he quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.
The room was completely soundproof, so no noise could get inside, but they were all still careful not to interrupt Kestrel’s work.
"Is it kicking off now?" he mumbled, his hand over his mouth, waving around and whispering to the short-haired alpha beside him. "Birdie, I thought they changed clothes, burned some incense, even played some music before starting?"
Birdie, the female alpha, looked uneasy as she watched the room, shaking her head. She was just as confused; it was her first time watching a beta’s mind treatment. It wasn’t at all like the flashy stuff she’d seen on TV.
"She just ran in without even getting a drink of water. No matter how it turns out, we should be grateful," Birdie said. "After all, Raymond has already..."
She stopped herself before finishing the bad luck sentence, "Anyway, once it starts, we can’t interrupt. Our job now is to be quiet, guard the door, and make sure nobody bothers what’s happening inside."
Through the window, the girl sitting by the bed closed her eyes. The soft light from the virtual screens lit up her calm and cool face, which was strangely comforting.
