Law pushed her into the hall, closing the door roughly behind him. The nurse whimpered, shrinking into herself when he approached. He grabbed hold of her upper arm again, ensuring that she didn't try to escape.
"Lead me there." He commanded, and she sniffed with a nod.
They walked along the halls, closed doors lined each side as they progressed, and Law tried glancing into all of them, as if Summer would be there waiting.
Law couldn't imagine the mental condition she would be in once he did find her, but he knew she was strong. His only doubts were the severe or repeated mental breaking tortures and experiments. Even the strongest and strong-willed of people had a breaking point, and Law was just hoping they hadn't reached hers.
"Why are you doing this?" The nurse questioned meekly, too scared to look Law in the eyes. He glanced at her, watching where they were going and listening for any sound of pursuit.
"Doing what?" He asked, wondering if he could get any further information from the woman. She sighed.
"Why do pirates always do bad things? Why are you bad people?" He frowned.
"You took my subordinate away against her will, put her in the care of a sadistic murderer, tortured her now and a decade ago, and I'm still the 'bad person?'"
"We search for the truth-"
"You torture for what you call 'science.'" He interrupted. "And in the decade or more you've been 'researching,'" He squeezed her arm rather tightly, gritting his teeth in anger, making sure she was listening, "what sort of worthwhile result have you found?"
She hesitated at first, before swallowing and gaining her courage. "One can't lose faith in the process on the path to success, no matter how many times you fail along the way."
"Tch." It irked him, the way she repeated some mantra or handbook rule. She'd obviously been there a long time, and she was conditioned to believe everything she said. Nothing Law said would make her change her mind. If he weren't too focused on finding Summer, he would've showed her just how wrong she was.
"Up here." The nurse said, directing him around a corner.
Drip.
"PLEASE!" Summer screamed, squirming around in the chair with all her might, the metal restraints cutting against her wrists and ankles. "LET ME GO!"
Drip.
"Subject 711-A549, do you want the pain to stop?" The intercom system finally came on, and the Doctor spoke.
Drip.
"YES!, PLEASE YES!" She tried yanking on her limbs, but they wouldn't move. Her head was still held firmly in place.
Drip.
"Tell me how to awaken her, and the pain will stop."
Drip.
Dr. Hideki was covered in blood, many cuts littered across his body and it was horrifying, at least to Nurse Kent. She tried breathing evenly, glancing between the several pirates that held them at gunpoint. Why had everything gone so wrong?
Two of the pirates walked around to all the staff, one by one, and patted them down for anything that could risk their own safety. One passed her by, but it seemed it wasn't her turn yet. The doctor next to her, he probably worked in a different department since she didn't recognize his face, nudged her gently. She barely turned her head, to avoid detection. He glanced down at his hand, and she followed his gaze. He held an emergency dialer, a personal one. Her eyes widened, swallowing nervously. She had no doubt that if the pirates knew, they'd kill them instantly.
Without hesitation, the doctor pushed and held down the button, and an instant later, a loud alarm began going off.
"Warning. Emergency Procedures are now initiated. Warning. Emergency Procedures are now initiated."
Law and the nurse stopped, and the pirate narrowed his eyes, glancing towards the woman. Her eyes widened in fear.
"What is this?" He shouted, gripping her shoulders and shaking. Her tears slid down her cheeks.
"I don't know! Someone must have pressed the alarm or called on the phone!" She cried, closing her eyes.
"What happens when its activated?"
"All outside doors are sealed! And guards are sent to protect the operations head and the most valuable subject in the facility!" Her words were rushed, adrenaline streaming through both of their systems due to the loud stimulus and possible danger.
Law heard heavy booted steps coming towards them from around the corner. With a snarl, he grabbed the nurse by the back of her shirt and held her out in front of him, pushing her forward.
"We'll see if your life is valuable enough for them to hold fire." He said, and she started crying.
Koda's pager screen lit up, red letters spelling out the emergency procedure direction. He stood up, making sure the illusion room was still in working order. He assumed guards would be sent to ensure his safety, but he would use what he had to his advantage.
The only possible solution, at least the logical one, was that the pirate crew the subject had been sailing with was now in the facility. How they found the island in the first place was beyond him, but he would make sure that he survived the ordeal.
The pager immediately lit up again, this time with a message from the Doctor.
"Activate the Simulation Room with the following scenarios:"
He read through the message, smiling as he input the figures and situations. He was sure before that the Doctor was a genius. Now, it was just confirmed in his mind.
"How do you communicate with the entity?" The intercom asked.
Drip.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She cried, more to Nemesis than anyone, as she felt like her actions would betray the warrior.
Drip.
"Worry not, child. Even if he gets the information he desires, it does not mean he can extract me. For now, do as he says." She chided, but Summer still felt the sorrow and guilt.
Drip.
"She talks to me!" She cried, the light above her burned her eyes when she opened them, and so she squirmed in the dark with closed lids.
"How does she talk to you?"
Drip.
"My head! She's in my head!"
Drip.
"How do you use her power?"
"I don't know! Please, just stop this! Please!"
Drip.
There was no response, and Summer knew that the person behind it didn't believe her.
"I DON'T KNOW I SWEAR!"
Drip.
The armed soldiers rounded the corner, holding up their guns. At the sight of Law and the nurse, they stopped and aimed towards them.
"Stop and surrender! Drop your weapon and release the woman!" One of them commanded, and Law conveniently ignored him.
"Open fire!" They shouted, and bullets began to rain down. Law deflected some of the bullets with his nodachi, but the nurse's body took the most of the hail. She twitched and spasmed, jerking this way and that in his hand, and blood splattered on the floor and walls around him.
The soldiers seemed to realize that they were wasting bullets by shooting at the woman, so they stopped. Law immediately dropped her body and charged forward, nodachi out and a deadly smirk set in place. They were underestimating him, and it would cost them their lives.
"Everyone lay on the ground!" Penguin shouted, and the pirates watched as the staff did as they said. "I want space between all of you!" They scooted away from their coworkers leaving several inches of space in between.
The pirates continued searching for anything that could have set the alarm. Penguin was certain that it had come from someone in the room. He just hoped Captain had found Summer or knew where she was.
"Shachi, can you see about disabling the alarm system?" He asked his friend, and the engineer nodded, heading over to the phone system.
The soldiers lay dead before him, their blood dripping steady onto the ground from the blade of his weapon. He huffed out breaths, the fight taking a small toll on his stamina. He winced, feeling the gunshot wound in his shoulder throb with pain. It bled through the jacket, staining it a dark maroon in the black fabric.
"No!" A female voice cried, far off down the hall. Law's head snapped up, recognizing Summer's voice. Something in his chest rose up, like it had been waiting for that moment, and Law couldn't identify what it was.
Taking off down the hall, he listened for the source of the noise. There were dozens of doors on either side, and he tried each one, finding them all locked. He would listen for a moment, his heart racing, to hear her cry again.
"Help!" She shouted again, this time a lot closer than before. He took off down the hall, straining his ears to hear her voice.
"Summer!" He shouted, hoping she'd hear him. To his surprise, she shouted again.
"Help me!" He pinpointed the noise to a set of double doors in front of him, and he rushed to burst through.
"Summer!" The inside of the room was dark, and the door closed. Law heard a mechanical switch, and it locked behind him. Turning, he tried opening it, but it wouldn't budge. He could barely see the handle in the dark anyway. "Dammit!" He tried opening it with his shoulder, but her voice made him stop.
"Law…" Her sigh was weak, hurt, wounded, in pain…He spun around, seeing that there was now a light on in the middle of the room, and it illuminated a single body on the floor. It was Summer. He could recognize that long blond hair anywhere. The pirate rushed over, kneeling down by her bleeding, broken body.
His medical knowledge instantly kicked into action, his mind calculating all that was visibly wrong with her. Broken ribs, severe bruising along her entire body, malnutrition, lack of sunlight from her skin's appearance. The room was freezing, and she looked unable to move.
"Law…" She said again.
"Don't say anything, we're going to get you out of here." He said, looking around for anything that could help him move her.
"Wait, I…" She whispered, reaching out for him. He leaned in further, trying to hear what she was saying.
"My daggers…" She reached towards her weapons at his belt, and he pulled one off, putting it in her hand.
"Here. I kept all four-"
His sentence was cut off by her dagger going straight into his chest. He felt the blade dig into the skin, and Law looked down in confusion and shock. Summer had a twisted smile on her face as his blood seeped through his hoodie. The yellow fabric now looked red, and the stain quickly grew.
"You didn't keep me safe. You let me get kidnapped." She was crying, twisting the knife, and Law coughed out blood. The doctor side of him was relieved she hadn't hit anything vital, judging on the way he could still move his limbs.
"I-" He coughed again, the pain multiplying as she kept pressure on the weapon. He reached for it to pull it out, and in doing so held onto her wrist.
"Ah!" Yanking the dagger out, he pushed her hands to the ground to stop her from attacking her again.
"Why did you let me die?" She sobbed, and suddenly a pool of blood grew wider from underneath her. Law's eyes widened, and he rolled her onto her stomach to see the wound. Frowning, he saw there was nothing there. What was happening?
He sprung back away from her when he turned her over, seeing her face mutilated with the words 'Your Fault' carved across her forehead.
'No! I didn't do this!' He thought. 'This is wrong, something isn't right.' He was in some kind of nightmare, or dream, or maybe he was just hallucinating. The air had to be noxious, or poisonous. 'This isn't real!'
He backed away from the body of 'Summer' and eventually his back hit the wall. His systems were being overloaded with stimuli, or fear, because he could feel his heartbeat pounding against his chest and see the ragged breath that came out in puffs in front of him.
Gripping his sword tighter, he stood, anger beginning to seep through the confusion. He'd had enough of this, whatever this actually was.
"Room!" The blue sphere enveloped the room, and he swung towards the door. It was sliced into two pieces, and a large part of the wall was affected as well. Suddenly, the pops and sparks of electricity could be heard, like he'd broken something mechanical, and the lights turned on.
"No! You've ruined the equipment!" A male voice said, and Law turned to see that Summer's body was gone. There wasn't any blood, and the knife wound he'd received wasn't there either. Not even any pain remained. Around him, the white walls seemed to spark occasionally, like they were made of electrical parts. Up above, there was an observation window, and a man was pulling at his hair.
Narrowing his eyes, Law raised his hands, operating room still in effect. "Shambles."
Drip.
There was a rumble, too low to hear very well, but she felt it vibrate the floor. Then, a high-pitched alarm sounded. "What's going on?" She cried, trying to shield her face with her arms that were strapped above her head. The water was burning her, seeping through her skin and into her body.
Naturally, the intercom didn't answer.
Drip.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
