Terran Oblivion

Chapter 21

Mangrove

June 4, 2203

Panama City - Panama, Costa Del Este

4:27 AM

And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented." Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed that very moment.

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"Listen here, hijo de puta, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

The subject in the chair whimpered, tapping his feet around as he tried to break free from his restraints. Watching him squirm was cute, pathetic, but cute. Did he not know that escape was impossible?

"Please, I know nothing."

Mangrove chuckled an evil laugh.

"You don't understand the level of pain that I can inflict," Mangrove replied ominously.

"This is against the law!"

With a pep in his step, Mangrove walked to the back of the room, shrouded in darkness except for one dim bulb hanging from the ceiling. He preferred it dark; it terrified and unnerved people, dragging them into their worst nightmare. That's why he designed the room this way, to ensure beating hearts and battered spirits. Many confessed before he even tied them up, terrified by the mere sight of the tools on the far side.

This is going to be fun, he thought, picking up a large stick tinged with metal. He playfully tapped the tip of the stick against his open palm, enough to make a loud slapping noise but not enough to hurt

"You see, the law does not apply here. In this room, I am god. I am the king. I am the president. You are in my domain, and right now, you have made me very, very upset."

Without warning, Mangrove slammed the stick into the man's legs.

He let out a frantic high-pitched cry and started to pee, blubbering and whimpering like a fool as urine ran down his legs, only adding to the already wet puddle on the ground.

"Dude, really? Pissing again? I thought you pissed everything out when I broke your fucking nose! How much did you drink?"

"Please...."

Mangrove sighed. "Look, this pain can stop. But you have to tell me what you know about the President and all the cartel deals. I know that you know. You know that you know. Trust me, it wasn't that hard to find you and bring you here and I am more than willing to keep on adding to the pain." With a flourish, he pulled out a pocket knife. "I can work on your dick next. I'm sure that you want to turn into a eunuch anytime soon but I can make that happen if you want. I hear it prevents unwanted pregnancies..."

"I don't...."

Harder this time, Mangrove struck the victim's knee. The scream was almost inhuman, a mix of high and low pitches, nearly tearing his vocal cords. Somehow, he pissed even more.