|| Still Me ||

Chapter 10: Pain

WARNING:
Mild torture here

Sorry if this is short, but the next one will be longer!

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Morning comes, and the sun shines on the abandoned building, its warm rays resting on your face, waking you up gently. You slowly open your eyes, straightening slightly as you rub your eyes, letting the sun warm you. After a moment you get up, walking towards the wall and looking behind it. There was no one.

'He... didn't come back?'

You ask to yourself while looking around, finding no traces of Octavius, but in the distance, on the chair the doctor worked on you see your lab coat, the one you used to cover him with. You approach it, picking up the garment and looking at it with sad eyes, shaking your head as soon as you remember the other night while putting your hand on the chest with your heart that was aching for stupid pains of love. There could be nothing between you two. Nothing at all. You were a simple girl who by pure chance had the good fortune to meet the doctor and work with him on a fantastic project, becoming his assistant. You were nothing more and nothing less.
Sighing heavily, trying not to start crying and pulling yourself together, you go back towards the wall. It was kind of cold and it was better if you put on a warmer shirt. When you arrive you sit on the mattress, looking for a good shirt to change into and rummaging in your suitcase you find one. You change quickly to keep your body warm and then stop to look at your lab coat. After staring at it for a moment, you take it and wear it, heading towards the workbench. Even if the doctor was not present, nothing was blocking you from continuing to work on the project, you could double-check the calculations, see if everything was okay and ... Now that he or his tentacles weren't there to check on you... Maybe do something about it. Decrease the chance of an eventual disasters or even create a button to immediately shut down the structure in case something went wrong... The famous backup plan. The reactor was practically almost finished, so it was the perfect time to jump into action. Decided, you nod, starting to work on the reactor, carefully observing the blueprints to find a suitable place to connect the emergency button that had to be well hidden but also effective and not too far from the core of the structure itself. You begin to think intensely, starting to put together several pieces with the reactor waste, not wanting that some important piece is missing and not to arouse suspicion. You would not allow the doctor to destroy half of New York and, above all, to destroy himself.

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You spend hours working tirelessly on the back up plan and finally manage to make a small button that you can attach to the reactor. With a smile on your face you make your way to the structure but the excitement disappears as soon as you notice that your chain blocks you because it is too short to get closer.

"Damn it"

You had never noticed it, you and the doctor have only ever worked on the workbench and only he had approached the reactor, never letting you get close. He wasn't stupid... he had taken his precautions. You suspected that he didn't totally trust you even though you agreed to remain chained and after offering your help spontaneously . But apparently it wasn't enough... Before you can think about how to get closer to it, a strange noise begins to approach the structure, echoing constantly, like heavy footsteps. Your eyes widen as soon as you recognize the sound. It was Octavius. Quickly you make your way to the workbench, throwing the small device into your lab coat pocket and quickly sitting in the chair, pretending to double-check your calculations while he was away.
You jump slightly as the doctor abruptly enters the building, looking around him and then fixing his gaze on you. He didn't seem very happy. Octavius ​​walks menacingly towards you, lifted by his actuators and instinctively you stand up and back away slightly. Did he know? Did he saw that you were working on something else than his project? Did he suspect that you were sabotaging him? His left tentacle blocks the chain you are tied to preventing you from backing away, causing you to lose your balance. You gasp for the fright but the right actuator grabs you by the shirt before you can fall, pulling you slightly forward as you cling to the tentacle to support yourself, scared. Now Octavius ​​was in front of you with an intimidating but also tired look as you could see heavy dark circles under his eyes. He most likely hadn't slept all night and this seemed to make him more nervous and frustrated.