Headsets For Fear

VILLAIN 03 : LEAH

Eight years before

It was ready.

After eight years of hardship, failure, and constant experimenting it was finally ready.

Amara brushed her slender fingers around the headsets which she had made, designed specifically for projecting fear into the person's mind.  "It isn't enough," she muttered ruefully, "but it's enough for us to get started."

Leah nodded, excitement bubbling within her. However, she knew that the machine still had several flaws. For one, it could not work with any device other than the headsets Amara created herself. Moreover, the headsets worked on the trial and error method. Since they were wireless, they were connected instantly to the machine which generated the fear. But it could only send several fears into the person's head, and then choose which fear worked best. Since there were thousands of fear simulations in the machine, it could be very time consuming. They were planning to make it more intelligent, so that it could decide by itself which fear to project once it enter a person's brain.

"Who shall be the first target?" Leah asked with bated breath, never taking her eyes away from the shiny metal of the headset.

"Tom prepared a list, and some of our people will go and bring the persons mentioned in our lab," Amara replied. Her voice sounded more powerful than ever in the hollow room where only the two of them, the leaders of Anthine's Web, were standing.

Leah nodded. "But first, we need to make copies of this headset. At least twenty more."

Amara shrugged. "That wouldn't take much time. I'll forward the model to some of the hardware department."

Though Leah and Amara were the best brains in the Web, there were several subordinates who worked beneath them. Not all of them were hackers. Some were software developers, some experts in computer hardware, and some had experience in the forensic field. Some were great at kidnapping people. Others great at murdering people who somehow got to know to much.

Apart from hundred or so members who worked full time, there were also several people who worked in the most powerful companies and banks in the world. They came in very handy when Amara needed some data or some cash.

Leah was glad to be the part of something this big.

"I'll be off now," she said. "He'll be back from school soon. I want to be there."

Amara nodded, an amused smile spreading on her lips. Leah knew about her views about a settled life. Amara thought it was a burden. To Leah however, it was comfort. She might have been bred in a family of gangsters and mentally unstable killers, but she too needed to take a break and relax sometimes. The atmosphere in the Anthine's Web was tense, and though she enjoyed it, she wanted to stay away from it sometimes.

She hurried back to her house, and to her dismay, her son had already returned. He was at the kitchen, preparing a meal for himself.

"Hey, sorry for being late," she said, and she meant it.

"I don't mind," he replied, his voice as calm as ever. "I'll start my senior year soon. I need to start preparing for college, don't I?"

Leah smiled. "Yeah, of course."

"Anyways," he took out a few vegetables from the fridge, and Leah realised he was making some sort of a salad. "Is it ready?"

She felt her voice falter as she replied, "Yes. She'll start using it soon."

"Can I go with you the next time? I want to know it detail how the machine works. Amara hasn't filled me in with the latest updates."

Even though she didn't want to, Leah agreed to his proposal.

Leah knew that teenagers tended to be aggressive and stubborn, and she was proud that her son wasn't like that at all. He was sensible.

He looked a lot like his father, with the same intelligent and expressive eyes and gentle demeanor, the same built. Leah was glad that she had taken a liking to him when they went to visit Mark, and implored Amara to not let him die.

He had taken after Amara in many. Just like her, he was cool, calculated and Amara never hesitated to let him know he was a genius in coding. Which he was.

However, Leah wondered if his involvement in the Anthine's Web was turning him into a recluse. He sometimes went to parties and hung out with friends, but Leah had never seen him bring anyone to his house. He had a girlfriend last year, but they broke up for some reason. Leah wondered if he had any close friends. She didn't want her son to miss out on enjoying high school life.

"Here, have some," he handed out some of the salad he made to Leah. She tasted it. It was pretty damned good.

"Hey," she asked him. "Do you still have those nightmares? About the accident?"

He didn't reply.

"Answer me, goddammit."

She was sure she had heard screaming a few days back, when she had woken up in the middle of the night to grab a snack.

"Yeah," he nodded, and she could tell he was trying to avoid the question. "I have them sometimes, but it's never very troubling."

"If you need to talk to someone about it -"

"I don't need a psychiatric, Mom," he cut her off, clearly offended. "I'll do just fine. I've been having the dream for years. It isn't going away anytime soon. And I've got used to it."

Leah didn't protest. When her son made up his mind, it was impossible for anyone, anyone to change his views. Instead, she thought it would be better to talk to him about a subject he was genuinely interested in.

"When do you want to go visit Amara?" she asked.

His face lit up with excitement. "How about this evening?"
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Perhaps she had been overthinking stuff.

Her son wasn't growing dark or brooding, he just was interested in different things as compared to his peers. Better things. He was intelligent enough for Amara to think that he was worthy of being made her successor.

She smiled gladly as she saw Amara enthusiastically explain the workings of the machine, while he listened attentively, as if gulping every word down. Whenever the both of them talked, she and Thomas were pushed in the background. She didn't mind that, though.

Amara might put on a cold facade, but she loved the boy as much as Leah did.

"With whom are we going to start the experiments?" He asked.

"We'll bring in some people. They can't know about it, of course. We'll keep them all blind-folded," Amara replied. She then went on to explain the detailed process.

"Can I be there when you test?"

Leah flinched at the question.

"You can, but it will be disturbing, to say the least," Amara replied. The tone of her voice had changed. It seemed to Leah that she was challenging him.

"I wouldn't mind," he replied resolutely. "I want to study them."

Amara nodded proudly.

On the other hand, Leah did not know whether to feel proud or horrified.
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