The Scent of the Monster _ Aita's Children

Chapter XII _ Penumber

"Damn it, Tecla, she's just a girl!"

Lucas thrashed and raised his voice. Selene had never seen him fight so hard for her; it only made her more frightened. She tried to hide her fear by raising the Qed barrier. The barrier that hunters used against scouts was a fairly simple trick: if scouts could see lies, then the solution was to "lie constantly," even when telling the truth. This way, the vibrations of their aura prevented the scout from distinguishing truth from falsehood. It was the same system that liars used to beat the polygraph during interrogations.

But now that system was useless. Tecla was about to extract the truth from her by force.

"Listen carefully, Selene," Tecla said to her, "there's no need for you to suffer, nor will I make you suffer. I will only ask you questions. If you tell me the truth, there will be no consequences. But if you lie..."

Her blue eye was already pulsing to the point of starting to smoke; tongues of heat rose from the glowing iris. Selene wondered if it hurt her, like having a burning coal stuck in the eye socket.

Meanwhile, Amedeo had begun typing on the typewriter at an incredible speed. He was transcribing the interrogation.

Lucas even started shouting, "Tecla, for God's sake!"

The Vassal seemed not to hear him.

"Let's start with the simple questions: what is your name?"

Selene felt a shiver at the end of that question. It was as if an invisible smoke had entered her head, caressing her neurons in search of the answer. She couldn't keep her mouth shut; she had to say something, true or false: she had to respond.

"How about Pippi Longstocking?" the girl retorted, though betrayed by a shiver in her voice.

But she hadn't even finished speaking when a piercing whistle entered her ears. Selene opened her jaw wide, trying to unclog her ears. After a while, the whistle passed, like an ambulance rushing down the highway. She looked at Lucas again and saw that he was watching her intently, as if holding his breath and waiting. He seemed genuinely worried... but was that all? It had been unpleasant but not deadly.

"From your reaction," Tecla explained, pointing to her ear, "I'd say what you felt is what's called the 'Echo of Truth.' Everyone reacts differently to an inquisition. Some are seized by tremors. Some feel their blood burn in their veins, and some feel their heart explode as if having a heart attack."

Describing that last symptom, Tecla glanced at Lucas, who returned her look with a jaw clenched in disgust.

"Don't be fooled though: the slight discomfort you felt just now will grow exponentially with each new lie. It will be up to you to decide how far you are willing to torture yourself."

At that last comment, Selene's chin mimicked Lucas's expression: – What a load of crap – she thought. Convincing the interrogated that they were their own torturer... it was a truly vile manipulation.

Tecla made herself a bit more comfortable, this time resting her elbow on her knee and her chin on her wrist.

"Shall we talk about that nose of yours?"

No, she didn't want to! But once again, it was a question, albeit a rhetorical one. Selene felt the same hand scratching behind her eyes, demanding answers.

"Get out of my head, witch..."

But the huntress immediately regretted those words. The whistle returned to deafen her ears, and this time she felt pressure stabbing her eardrum, as if she had suddenly dived several meters underwater. It hurt. She tried not to scream, but it was useless to hide it.