The Price of a Soul

by Kitty

The first thing he felt was pain.  All encompassing agony.  Like fire it scorched through his body pulling at his threads of sanity.

"Enough."  The word came from beyond the abyss of suffering.  He opened his eyes.  Stark black eyes stared back at him.  Like the rest of the room they held no color.  Even the woman standing in front of him was white on black.  Her face held not the faintest hint of emotion. "Name." Her tone demanded an answer.

His lips compressed into a firm line.  They would get nothing out of him.  Not one word.  Then the agony started again.  Through a pain filled haze he saw the woman's hand on a button.  A blankness filled her black eyes.  No amused grin, no pleasure, no disgust, nothing.  As suddenly as it started the pain stopped.  Blood filled his mouth marking what he had bitten to keep from screaming.

"I will be answered without hesitation or thought.  Defiance will be punished, cooperation will be rewarded.  I tell only the truth.  Oh, yes, you will be broken mind, body and soul." The well rehearsed speech was ignored.  Everything could be ignored.  Even the pain that punctuated each statement.

"Name."  With a bust of energy he strained against the leather bonds holding him to the wall.  Quickly he slammed his mouth closed to cut off the scream that he felt coming.  "What you're feeling now is just the beginning of what I can do.  This is a new age, no longer do we have to break bones to break a will.  We only have to electrocute a few nerve endings."  He felt like his skin was being ripped from his bones. A glance showed that his skin was untouched.  With sick fascination he watched his own body betray him by spasming at the extent of the pain.

This time the pain didn't stop.  "Name.  The pain will continue until you answer my question.  Make this easier on yourself." The pain ripped through his body, he could feel individual nerves and muscles as bolts traveled through his body.   Through one shred of sanity he wondered how she could keep up the cold exterior while she inflicted such agony. Suddenly the torment stopped.

"Fine.  You are nothing but a number.  No longer do you have rights to a name.  You are a file now, a case.  When you are broken no one will cry.  Because you aren't and never were human."  His vision was hazy. The colorless woman wavered before him, her stark white features being replaced by more vibrant colorful ones.  She was smiling just for him, no one else.  He saw Her call to him, telling him he could do this for Her.

"54930 Do you understand?  Do you understand what I am saying?"  When he didn't answer immediately the torture started.  His back arched as the jolts hit him.  

"54390 these are simple questions.  Don't make this harder on yourself. All you have to do is say yes or no." The voice was that of reason. It cut through the insanity pulling at what was left of the man he was.

Slowly he moved his head from side to side.  Immediately the nerve twisting pain stopped.  Again his vision wavered and he saw Her. Vibrant with life.  For Her he would keep going.  Everything he did was for Her.  For Her he would keep going.

"54390 all we want you to do is sign this.  Then you can go.  If you sign this, there will be no more pain."  The document wavered in his vision.  This time it didn't clear, it only led to the black void of stable unconsciousness.

*****

The black dizzy feeling slowly abated.  His head pounded rhythmically. Salty sweat coursed down his face.  Slowly the sweat dripped off his chin and nose, dripping to the same rhythm as his head pounded.  The white woman stood before him, her cold features unrevealing.

"54390 what color are Xavier's eyes?" The question was casual, as if she was asking her best friend.   He couldn't tell them, he couldn't betray.  He could not be the betrayer.  Even telling them that simple answer would be betraying.  His eyes closed, internally he begged for sleep.

"Stay awake!" A strong jolt of electricity caused him to snap open his eyes.  A trickle of blood fell from his forehead.  The blood mixed with his sweat as it fell upon the floor.  Puddles of liquid lined the black floor.  He wondered mindlessly how long the blood would stay red before it turned black or white too.

"Once more, what color are Xavier's eyes?" she paused, "You will be broken.  Save yourself some pain.  Tell us what we want to know." Loyalty, honor, I will not be the betrayer. Silently he chanted those lines to himself.

"54390, It's a simple question.  It's not going to tip any scales.  The question, 54390, is not worth the pain.  Just tell me."  The woman sighed, "54390 you and your race are lesser beings.  Everyone knows that you are monsters.  God never wanted anything like you to roam the earth.  We rule the Earth.  We are your masters.  When you try to defy our rule, you betray us."  The woman's words echoed in his mind.  And She smiled at him.

*****

The light and noise were becoming annoying.  More than annoying.  They kept him awake, when all he want to do was sleep.  Just rest his eyes for a few minutes.  But that noise increased tenfold whenever he closed his eyes.  His headache could barely stand the noise at it's current level.

The white woman sat in front of him.  She didn't seem to notice the noise, instead she focused on papers in front of her, her eyes scanning the lines.  A loud pound on the door was followed by a guard.  He brought with him a tall glass of clear water.  Her eyes didn't look at the man or the liquid but he followed their every movement.  

The water sparkled enticingly, unconsciously his chained arm  began to move toward the glass.  At his slight movement her head snapped up. "Do you want some?"

Eagerly he nodded yes, internally he told himself he wasn't betraying by that movement.  "Then just ask for it."

He shook his head.  He would not lower himself, he could not.  "No," his dry throat managed to hiss out that one word.

"Then I'm afraid I can't give you any water."  She went back to her papers, leaving him staring at the clear liquid that stood between him and insanity.  Common sense won over his will not to be broken.

"Please... May I have the water?"  His muttered plee brought her head up slowly.  She took the precious liquid and handed it to him.  Eagerly he gulped up the liquid, it caressed his throat like a lover.

Idly the woman wrote, "The psychotropic should begin to take effect in about ten minutes.  I think it may effect him more than the last one did."

****

He was awoken by icy water slammed against his face.  It dripped from his face like tears.  He opened his eyes only to see her again.  The white features struck him as funny.  Like a sad clown.  His attempt at laughter only brought on a harsh coughing fit.  He found a glass of water was placed at his mouth.  Hungrily he gulped at it, the precious liquid was worth more than anything at the moment.  

"54390 you and your..... drudgery are worthless.  You realize that don't you?  You realize that none but I can save you?  I'm your only ally.  And this paper is your ticket out of here."  The wretched document fluttered before his eyes.  The words were too small to read, even if he could focus on them.

"What 'oes it say?" He rasped out.  Without surprise at his question the woman began to read to him.  He lost track of the words but the meaning was clear: "I am a lower class being.  I beg forgiveness for my powers.  Because of the great power I have I choose to die to save humanity from the monster I have become.  Before I kill myself I will name everything that will help the government fight renegade mutants such as myself.  I will personally see to the capture of Onslaught, also known as Xavier. I will hunt him, like the animal he is."

"All you have to do is sign it.  And then there won't be any more torturing.  No more pain."  

"I would never betray my race."

Suddenly nerves were viciously maimed with electricity.  Behind closed lids all he could see was white.  His gut did several flips as one long continuous bolt ran through him.  When the torture stopped the woman stood in front of him, he face an unfeeling mask.

"54390 what was your name?." He tried hard to picture Her.  He tried to see her vibrant her beauty.  And he couldn't.  His soul cried out in terror because he couldn't see her as she used to be.  Because she was gone.  All that was left was the hint of a memory.  That thought pushed him over the line which had been growing closer hourly.

"Scott Summers."

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