Whisper

Chapter 22

"Here, breakfast," Conrad had returned, sitting back on the stool, placing a bowl of cornflakes on the shelf with a cup of milk on the side. He was now dressed in his field clothes. A military green t-shirt under a black bullet proof vest. The ARC logo embroidered proudly on his right sleeve. He wore cargo pants much like Mateo's, except his were tan and over top of them were harnesses with various weapons attached to them.

Clarise stretched, her back and neck making loud cracking sounds. She really wanted to brush her teeth, it felt like there was just a layer of grime all over her mouth. Her hair was sticking up in the back as well, but she didn't bother fixing it as she went to pour the milk over her cereal.

Good morning to you too.

Conrad squinted at her for a second before realizing, "Good morning."

There are 4 other employees distributing meals among the 22 captive projects here.

Clarise froze just before taking her first bite. She didn't even think about that nor was she curious. So why did she suddenly think of this?

"Is everything alright?" Conrad noticed her behavior, taking in all her mannerisms.

Shaking off her nerves, she ignored him, going for burying her emotions with her food. Ever since she left the facility her mind and powers have been acting up. So many things she just knew without having to ask herself nor anyone asking her. It was weird to just know.

"How is it?" Conrad was just making conversation, trying to ease her into an interrogation. Kevin was going to come in later, for his lip-reading skills were so much better than his. "I could get you something else if you want."

Clarise paused, finally making eye contact with the soldier, taking the spoon and making a teeth-brushing motion with it. Her cell did have a sink, and luckily a small toilet beside it behind a curtain to give some sense of privacy. At least here are the ARC base, the toilets were not being watched by a camera.

"Right, I'll get you some toiletries," Conrad could've just called for someone to bring it to her, but he thought that trying to build a connection with her would be the best way to get more information out of her. A classic tactic. "Kevin will be here shortly." With that he closed and locked the door behind him.

Not responding to him, she continued to eat, finishing off the milk before Kevin appeared, once again with that file, this time it at least had her first name.

"Hello Miss Clarise," he pulled up the stool, putting the file on top of her empty tray, "I'm Kevin and I'm just going to ask you a few questions."

She stared at him blankly. She already knew Mateo didn't talk, and is now being held it a different cell on the other side of the compound. He was given the same breakfast as her, but he also had a black coffee on the side.

"So I heard you were living at one of the BEYOND facilities with 4 other Projects, could you tell me about them?"

No response, just a blank stare.

"Well can you tell me your project name? I heard that you're all called something based on your abilities, so what would you be? Project Answer? Project Question? What about Project Fortuneteller."

You won't get answers from me nor Mateo. It's best to stop now instead of wasting your time.

Clarise's mouth moved before she could even register what she was doing. It was strange, she's never given such a threatening answer before, nor has she never responded to a question without the actual answer. But this newfound boldness impowered her, now that she realizes she can manipulate her mouth for her true intentions.

Frowning, Kevin pulled out his tablet and typed her response down. The file really was just for show, and all the data will be put onto ARC's servers.

Kevin Ming, son of Lei Ming and Meili Zhao, you joined the ARC after your brother was an Abnormal.

"That's right," Kevin was hiding his surprise as she suddenly started spewing facts about him. "But I don't need to know my own life story, I want to know yours."

You blame yourself for not being able to help him as he cried out for you, but you couldn't do anything. His power to turn his body into liquid went out of control and he was unable to reform. You did not kill him, he killed himself.

Kevin was frozen. This he did not expect.

Conrad came back in this exact moment, noticing Kevin in some sort of daze, just staring at Clarise in utter shock. Placing a tube of toothpaste and toothbrush on the sink, Conrad stood beside Kevin, placing his hand on his shoulder, startling the man.

"Everything alright?" Conrad was afraid that Clarise's power was to also hypnotize people, but Kevin was quick to react. "Kevin?"

"I-I'm fine," he stood, handing the tablet to Conrad, "I'm just going to need a moment."

He stepped out quickly, once again leaving Clarise alone with Conrad.

"Want to tell me what you said to him?" He took a glance at the tablet, Kevin was in the middle of typing that she brought up his family. He could only guess what she said that had shaken Kevin up so much. "My team has also found the entrance to the mines. They wouldn't know where to look if it wasn't for you."

The ARC previously scraped the wrong side of the mountain range, now that they were lead on right the path, Clarise's info seems legit.

"Who knows, maybe you'll be able to meet my brother, I'm sure he would love to thank you in person for rescuing him." The team hasn't located Reinhart and his team yet, but things were looking good.

You should tell them to hurry, there will be an unexpected snowstorm tonight, wouldn't want even more people to get trapped.

Conrad nodded, sitting down once again on the stool. He hardly visits the Projects kept here, but Clarise was now special interest, even catching the attention of the heads of ARC. Conrad was ordered to find out more information about her, even though he's more used to field missions rather than dealing with the Projects post-capture.

But as seen in other abnormals, change can cause severe repercussions, so keeping up a chain of familiarities are best. So now that Conrad has spent a few hours of contact with her, he was deemed familiar enough with her.