Imperium

Chapter 20 Part 1

The sun peaked through the bars in the window to shine straight on his face. This was not enough to wake him up from his uncomfortable sleep. The bed he slept on was crummy and the mattress had lumps that just couldn't straighten up no matter how hard he tried.

Uncomfortable or not, he was sleepy and tired, he has grown used to this cell of his. He pulls up his blanket to cover his face but the short blanket ends up revealing his legs out to the cold. He crawls himself into a ball to ensure his whole body is secured under the blanket.

Josh is getting used to the prison life, it is almost breakfast time, so the guards will wake him up anytime. His new holding cell is way better than the one he had when he was still in the Controller's hand.

With the Controller he knew why he was there, he knew the Controller. None of the captives here knows who is in charge. Whenever they get to see the man in charge, they never come back. Josh has been wondering when his turn would come when they will come for him? Whether or not he will return from the room of no return?

Josh wakes up, his cell had scratches on the wall. People used it to determine how many days they had spent there. Names were carved onto the walls of the cell.

Everyone who once lived in the cell had their name signed on the wall. Josh, not wanting to break the tradition. He wrote his name on the wall, he carefully carved out J.Brown.

The sound of a baton grimacing across the cell door of his cell made him jump out of his bed in shock. With his eyes half-open he could see two guards standing at the cell door, one with a long nose and the other with hair covering his eye.

"Get up!" A deep voice says, Josh, still not sure from which man the words came from, stood up and stretched. The long-nosed guard pulled Josh by the hand, sending him down to the ground.

He lifted him up and pushed him forward, sending him stumbling out of his cell. He then steadied himself and walked upright with the guards. Trying not to show his fear he continued walking, led by the two guards.

No-one has ever gone into the room and came back to his cell, everyone just thought that maybe this was where they conducted life-threatening experiments, and no-one has survived them.

It is completely unknown to any of them what really happens, but there are a dozen stories about the room. The people peek through their bars, watching Josh walk.

"Josh!" Susie shouted.

Josh looked at the little girl whose hazel eyes filled with worry. Josh stopped by the boy's cell, he was 6 or 7 years old. Josh brushed his hand on the girl's brown hair.

Josh then kissed her forehead, "I'll be back for you Susie, don't worry."

"Promise?" The girl asked holding up his pinky.

Josh held out his pinky and he curled it around the girl's pinky. "I promise," Josh said not sure if he would be able to keep this promise.

As they neared the room, thoughts of running away started to crawl through Josh's mind. Josh walked slower and slower as they got near the door. The guards noticed this and started pushing him forward.

He pushed himself back by placing his feet forward and pushing back, the guards vigorously pushed him forward.

The force pushing him forward disappears sending Josh to the ground with his back. The guards laughed at this as they bend down to pick him up.

"You're just delaying the inevitable," said the man with the hair over his eye.

They lifted him up into the air, one held his feet, and the other his hands. They continued walking and made a stop at the door of the room.

Josh started kicking and spinning whilst lifted by these guards. He kicked hard causing the guard to drop his feet. His waist hits the floor hard, and screams of agony follow.

The guards simply lifted him up again and entered. They did not show any remorse towards the boy they were dragging against his will. It was like they had no hearts, they must do this on a regular basis.

They entered a room that is circular and had a pod in the middle. Their room was very dark and only had a dim light from the globe hanging from above.

There was darkness near the walls where the light from the globe didn't reach.

"Hello Joshua," a voice said from somewhere in the room. Josh looked around, not being able to figure out which direction the voice came.

"Stop looking around like a lost puppy," the voice said. Josh could hear the woman's voice, it was like the voice was coming from every direction in this room.

"Who are you? Why am I here? What do you want?"

Josh started getting worried whilst wondering what the cylindrical tube-like pod in front of him was for. He could feel his heart jump out of his chest.

He was already sweating and shaking, with the collar around his neck, his powers were kept at bay. The guards who had a star logo on their chests, the star is made of two triangles. One triangle looking to the upward direction, the other looking downwards.

A TWF was written inside the two triangles making a star. The guards stood at the door blocking Josh's way out. Josh looked around, trying to check his surroundings, hoping to find something to help him escape.

"So many questions, so little time. I wish I could answer all your questions. Sadly, I can't. Guards!"

Josh felt a pain on the back of his head as his eyelids went heavy. He collapsed, his head still spinning. He felt like the walls of the room were going to fall on top of him.

Josh still looked around, hoping that the woman would appear, hoping that he would see an open door. He had no such luck, and he could feel a second hit on his head, he could feel himself slowly going unconscious.

The guards picked him up, they placed their necks under his armpits and picked him up. The guards dragged him closer to the pod and his eyes closed.

***

Josh woke up inside the pod, his eyes struggled to open and his head was still pounding. He drove his hand to the back of his head, he massaged two parts that had suffered from the hits.

His eyes finally adjusted, and he was the only one in the room. To Josh's surprise, he could no longer feel the collar on his neck. It's gone, they actually took it off. Josh tried to use his telekinesis to break through the glass like tube around him.

He could not feel the nanobots in him, the collar was gone but he still couldn't use his powers. He started hitting the tube in attempts to break it, he kicked it and punched it, but got the same results. Nothing.

"Your attempts are futile. They won't possess positive results, for you."

"Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"We are The Way Forward, in short TWF. What do we want with you, you ask? I'm here to offer you a way out."