The thing about teleportation is that it's not fun. Not by any stretch of the imagination. And torture? Hahaha, well, that's more like it.
One of the Collective steps away from me and smiles.
"What even are you guys?" I ask.
"The Collective," he responds.
"No shit," I snarl.
"It's time for you to remember," says a familiar voice. Claire steps into the light. "Time to go, Dog."
He nods and walks out. Claire - or Martyr - leans down in front of me. She smiles, the act too exaggerated and awful. I keep hoping to wake up from this nightmare. I keep hoping that Habit will get me out of here. She steps back and folds her arms across her chest.
"Are they treating you good?" she inquires.
"What do you think?"
She laughs. "Good, good ..."
I struggle against the force of whatever they're using to keep me in place. They are trying to break me, like they're trying to break me too.
"You think he'll come. You hope he'll come," I say. "But he will. And when he does, he'll raze this place to the floor."
"Good," she snarls back.
"You think you want him to come? You want him to come tear down everything you've ever built? Because he will. Gladly. But you're not going to break me," I say.
"Yes we will."
She snaps her fingers and in comes two Dogs dragging Vinny in between them. Martyr watches me as I stare at my friend, beaten and bloodied. They throw him onto the floor in front of me and I scramble to his side.
"Vin! Vinny? Vinny?!" I touch his back and he slowly sits up, coughing up blood on the floor in front of him. He adjusts his glasses and I feel like crying when he looks up at me finally.
"Time to remember what happened."
Martyr walks over and places her hands on my temples. And then ... I remember.
