New Elysium: Breakout

Disobedience 101 Part 48

The worst part of waking up in sensory deprivation tank was that it was too much like a coffin. Pure blackness greeted Ember when her senses returned. She was practically floating in it. 

Her hands reached up to her face and she felt the mask they'd applied to her face. So she was in a cage of sorts. Panicking she reached out and felt the walls around her, the liquid she was suspended in kept her sluggish and slow and the container was maybe an elbow length from each of her sides.

She knew exactly what it was. Her father had used it to keep her tame during the weeks following the purge. It was mentally taxing trying to stay sane in this place, she remembered begging to come out, she'd behave, she'd get her implants removed. 

But every time, she also refused the removals because simply put, she'd be back in this tank without them.

Her hands dropped to her sides as she fought down the urge to puke. She reached behind her and felt the cable in her back. That was new. They were interested in keeping her alive at least. If they were monitoring her health through that line, then surely she could monitor back.

She focused and stretched out through the cable... The tank blocked all of her communications normally. But normally she wasn't attached to anything. She froze, realizing... This was going to be a long trip. Wherever they were going, they planned on keeping her in here for the long haul. 

Oh God, please no. She shuddered at the idea of her father taking her back. Red... Please find me.  It was unspoken and she didn't know why she was forcing the signal. No one could hear her in here. 

The cable, she remembered, Red had used it to gain access to her personally. He'd changed her name for her. Her heart warmed at the idea of them pulling up her logs and them registering as simply Ember. Think Ember, you're not dead yet...

Her senses focused on the connection in the back, she pushed through it following it back, if Red could get in, surely she could get out. She was flesh, circuit, and bone after all, even more so than he was. 

She crossed a barrier and tried looking for a way to see into the room.

"I was wondering who they were keeping in that box," a voice popped in next to her. "Hello."

Ember screamed.

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Cyril found himself in an impossible situation. Jack had ordered the LR placed inside of Red. His hands shook as he readied his instruments, Red hadn't wanted the Last Resort bomb the last time he was here and Cyril could understand that. Leah hadn't been allowed to check on him, Jack had headed her off and pointed her elsewhere. She wouldn't have allowed this either... Cyril stared at the man on the table, the staples were still in the back of his head, but bleeding, Jack had said he'd taken a blow to the back of the head during maneuvers...

Cyril wasn't so sure about that. 

The medical unit on the Aphelion was even more sophisticated than the one on New Elysium, Jack had considered stripping it out, but changed his mind. Cyril was glad he had for moments like this but now staring at the man who'd 20 hours ago, refused this same procedure he was thinking how had things gone so awry.

He swallowed, pushing back bile as nausea rose up in him. Jack wanted control, he understood that much. For some reason, he had to have control of this one man and Red wasn't about to let him do it. Maybe there was something to all that propaganda about Red after all. But Cyril couldn't see it while Red lay unconscious on the table in front of him. He was just another man in a black New Elysium uniform.