hourglass, 𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓. ¹

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀

encrypted video from a coded private repository on the wicked servers. file marked as 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒆, 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒆 and 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒈 by chancellor ava paige.

⠀ ⠀ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑭𝑰𝑳𝑴 𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑾𝑺 𝑨 𝑩𝑨𝑹𝑬 𝑹𝑶𝑶𝑴. two figures enter the frame, a white-coated man pushing a young girl in a wheelchair. he positions the chair in the centre of the room, directly facing the camera. the girl in the chair is thin and fragile, her hands shake slightly from where they're strapped; a metal contraption covers the bottom half of her face, something sharp and lethal drilled into bone, spikes sinking into her jaw. she is approximately ten, maybe eleven, years old.

⠀ ⠀ the doctor adjusts the poorly kept plastic tubing snaking out from beneath the girl's cotton shirt and rolls the iv stand out of the girl's reach. or what would be out of reach if her arms weren't strapped down by metal bracelets and several leather bands. the girl shifts uncomfortably in the chair, lifting her gaze briefly to the camera. her eyes are unusually pale, a small tint of blue lurking beneath a sombre shade of grey. she seems barely conscious.

⠀ ⠀ (off-screen), a VOICE: "is everything prepared? are you ready to begin?"
⠀ ⠀ DOCTOR (after watching the girl's heartbeat on-screen for a second): "yes."
⠀ ⠀ VOICE: "good. patient ██, session 329. october 21, ████. drs. adams and clarkson will be the ones presiding. dr. clarkson, please start with thirty micrograms."

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ the second doctor injects something into the girl's central line, and it's a few seconds before the girl starts squirming in her chair, shrill screams muffled by the contraption on her face.
⠀ ⠀ VOICE: "another ten."
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ dr. clarkson obeys, her eyes unwavering and her hands steady as she injects another dosage into the central tube. the girl's body shudders violently, her eyes snapping open and making direct contact with the camera lens━ her limbs are tugging against the restraints, her legs thrashing against hard metal bars.
⠀ ⠀ VOICE: "impress us, ██████, and the pain will stop. you only have to do this for ten more days before we let you go, now's your chance to 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 us."

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ the girl stops thrashing, her eyes glued to the camera, her hands gripping the metal arms of the wheelchair, but nothing happens. silence stretches on for what feels like three endless minutes, the girl's eyes never once wavering. her nails are digging into her palms, a dark crimson liquid falling against clean silver━it seems almost mocking. the disembodied voice orders the other doctor to increase the dosage again, and again and again and again and again.
⠀ ⠀ VOICE: "i'm losing my patience with you, ██████, and you know i don't give second chances."
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ the girl turns her gaze away from the camera for several minutes, her head falling forwards and the sound of metal thudding against skin echoes into the microphone. the girl's eyes are wet when she looks up again, but when she glares at the camera, her gaze is hot enough to burn through skin. her eyes are bright blue, and even though they betray no emotion, one can sense the hatred behind them. dr. clarkson prepares another injection, but she never gets the chance to push it into the girl's central line.
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ the room explodes in a sudden crash of violent sound, a piercing scream echoes through the thunderous noise, the camera skids back several feet and then topples over, dust and brick and iron and concrete crash down from the ceiling, several voices scream the same word over and over and over and over.
⠀ ⠀ VOICE: "suppressant!"

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ the camera━still on the ground━shakes violently as the world seems to have a hard time hanging onto the thin string holding it upright. the girl's limp body is barely visible through the debris, her chair still upright and her chin fallen forward onto her chest once more. thin tendrils of blood fall from her temples onto her closed eyes, wobbling on her eyelashes before dropping silently onto her white shirt. blankets of dust coat her hair, wrap around her body, they desperately cling onto her. the camera lurches.
⠀ ⠀ VOICE: "dr. clarkson, the suppressant, 𝒏𝒐𝒘!"

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ a flash of a white coat, someone reaching for a length of plastic tubing with a syringe in hand, bright blue liquid swirling inside
⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ▬▬ the video goes 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒌.

⠀ ⠀ ⁰⁰ 𝑪𝑶𝑷𝒀𝑹𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐏𝐥𝐔𝐒 2020
  book 𝒐𝒏𝒆 in the 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒚𝒔𝒕 series