KING

一 04

Mark watched as Lucas carefully crept towards the sleeping figure of Rina.

Suspicion bubbled in his chest, eyes carefully following the silhouette of Lucas as he hovered beside the bed.

There was a person who'd been thrown into the deepest part of the prison for eight years and have no records present anywhere in the archives.

On top of that, the guards threw him and Lucas, two men, into the same cell as a woman, unconcerned about her safety.

He gritted his teeth and flexed his fingers, sighing as Lucas pulled out the tranquilizer dart.

"I'm still surprised you actually got that." Mark said quietly. Lucas gave him a disinterested look. "I don't know which sort of guard just keeps tranquilizers in their back pocket." The other responded. "An idiot." Mark replied, and Lucas let out a soft chuckle.

His green eyes still trained on Rina, gently rolling up the sleeve of her arm.

Mark tensed instinctually, muscles coiling like springs he stood up, blinking. "Lucas." He breathed out, the feeling of unease intensifying with each passing second. "I don't think we should tranquilize her."

"What if she wakes up while we're while we're doing our work?" Lucas countered, before making to press the dart into her skin.

That's when everything began to go wrong.

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She was back on the steel bed in the hospital, heart racing as they pressed a needle into her skin. The sound of her heart pounding became softer, the light above her head swimming in and out of her vision.

This is a dream. She thought desperately. It's just a dream.

"Isn't that too much?" A worried voice piped up. "No, she'll be okay. It's the last stage, we can't have her waking up-"

"-while we doing our work."

Her eyes shot open at the feeling of the cold metal against her skin.

No, not again.

Instinctively, she twisted her body towards the wall, kicking out her leg backwards, hitting something hard.

A loud shout of pain echoed around the cell as she glanced behind her, seeing Lucas stumble back, clutching his nose.

She jumped off the bed, landing lightly on the floor before straightening up, readying her fists. All she could register was the needle held in the man's hand; the needle that had almost pierced her skin seconds prior.

Panic was flooding her system, every rational thought drowned out by the fluctuation between her memories and the present, her heart pounding as she remembered the men holding surgical tools, vicious grins hidden behind blue masks.

"For the good of Limitless." They would always say.

"Easy." Mark's voice floated out from behind her, her eyes shifting his way. She could see him clearly despite the bad lighting, him holding his hands up placatingly, like she was a wild animal.

"Calm down." She stilled her breathing, before turning and lunging at Lucas, slamming the man against the metal bars.

He dropped the needle, the sound of it hitting the stone floor. She knew her movements were wild and frantic, throwing a punch that missed Lucas' nose, instead hitting his jaw.

He let out a grunt as he shoved her back forcefully, Mark grabbing her and throwing her to the opposite wall.

Her back hit the wall, knocking the breath out of her lungs before her eyes widened, registering a soft shock in her fingertips.