Chapter 234: For Quinn

Quinn stared at Duke, trying to figure out just what his angle was. What did he mean by “a level of skill that shouldn’t go to waste”?

Duke smiled, “Now you may be thinking, to what authority do I have to imprison you like this? Wouldn’t word get out that you were treated unfairly by the military? Well…”

Lifting up his massive arm, a hologram projected from Duke’s watch showcasing a 3d diagram of an underground cave. Quinn’s eyes widened when he recognized it. That was the same cave under Duke’s office when he was with Layla trying to save Erin.

Duke’s smile grew a little more, “So you do know this cave! Now the question would be… Why would you break into my office? It couldn’t be to steal test scores as we aren’t even of the same year. The only explanation is that you are an agent of Pure trying to steal sensitive information about the military. To think they would stoop so low as to send someone with an ability… Except, you joined without one.”

Quinn glared at the man in front of him. His taunting voice in every word only served to anger him more and more.

“It’s a crime to break into a General’s office like that, to use the power we so graciously gifted you against the military. Did you know there’s a saying to not ‘bite the hand that feeds?'” Duke’s smile dropped, “Normally, we would revoke your ability for this crime, but let’s just say we have… other plans with you.”

Suddenly, Quinn started giggling, which devolved into the laughter of a broken man’s. Even Duke was confused as he expected Quinn to spit on his face, or scream obscenities at him.

Then, Quinn abruptly stopped, and his face contorted into that of pure unadulterated rage.

“Even when we play by your rules, you’ll steal our talent for yourselves, is that it?! I’m not the first am I? How many others like me did you steal the dreams of? Hundreds? Thousands?!”

Duke didn’t respond, so Quinn continued, “I’ve been told that the strong rule over the weak, and that’s just the way it is, but just how delicate is this system if you have to enforce it this hard?”

These were the words that were bubbling inside of Quinn for years. He had heard of the rumors of people losing their ability far before he even joined the military.

“… You have a special talent, Quinn, and while we could give that power to someone else, someone more loyal, that doesn’t mean they’ll have your creativity,” Duke calmly ignored Quinn’s words, “Soon enough, though, you’ll bend to our command.”

—

“He’s awake,” the system said, which made Erin’s eyes widen.

“What happened?” Layla said, noticing her change in expression.

“I can sense that he’s awake,” Erin responded.

“Where is he?” Vorden said.

Although they were able to hear Quinn from the spider on him, they doubt that any of them would be able to communicate with him. After doing such a serious crime, he was likely under watch.

They listened to Duke’s words, as well as Quinn’s response to them. They heard the threat of Quinn’s power getting taken away, but also that they were going to do something to him to make him loyal.

“It looks like the same room you were interrogated in,” the system noted, after coming back from Quinn’s vision.

It was just confirmation to what they all thought. Even though they had a location, he would no doubt get taken to the dungeon afterwards.

“Have you heard of the rumors of the dungeon? They’re likely going to do something to him there,” Layla said, “It’s somewhere underground, but none of us know where the entrance is. Not only that, but even if we did know, it would be heavily guarded.”

Erin took in a deep breath, determined, “That’s our sign to get stronger.”

“Well yeah, but…” Layla’s voice trailed off.

“Even if we do get stronger, we don’t know the entrance,” Vorden said, “It’s like Layla said, and I doubt that anyone with your average earth ability would be able to dig down to it. They would’ve accounted for this already.”

Peter hearing those words curled in on himself. If only his ability wasn’t stuck at level 2, and that he was just as strong as Quinn, he would no doubt believe that Quinn would be able to burrow into the dungeon, wherever it was.

“Hey, Erin, can you still talk to Quinn?” Layla asked.

They weren’t able to talk to Quinn through the spiders, but Layla was aware of the shared system far longer than the others.

“I still can,” Erin said, “If you have anything you need to say to Quinn, then I’m the only one who can communicate with him. They won’t be able to detect our shared link.”

Suddenly, they heard the sound of Duke speaking again, and they all shut up to listen.

“If, after your reeducation, you don’t prove your loyalty at the inter-base tournament, then we’ll have Jack Truedream deal with you.”

After a few moments, the sound cut off, only sending static, and the others were confused. One of the spiders on Peter jumped onto the table, and they heard Logan’s voice speak.

“To explain the static, the spider that was on Quinn is no longer able to connect with him as he is either too far away, or deep underground. Personally, I would bet on being underground.”

They all took in a moment to let it really sink in all the information they gathered.

“Before the inter-base tournament, we have to get strong enough to break Quinn out of whatever prison they have him in, and take him to safety,” Erin spoke firmly, “I am NOT losing another friend. Not when I can still do something.”

Fex grabbed one of his daggers, and crossed it over his palm. Then, he held the blade out to the others. Since there weren’t that many people around, and the table they were at was further away from the others, Fex didn’t feel like he had to worry about prying eyes.

“If we are going to promise to save Quinn, how about we make it official? In vampire culture, this is an important promise we make to each other, as it has us share blood, and protect one another like one would with their family.”

“Wait, wouldn’t sharing blood turn us into vampires?” Peter pointed out.

Erin grabbed the dagger, and cut her palm, “Only if we intended to turn someone.”

Layla hesitated to do the same thing, but only because her regeneration would heal her wound while waiting for the others. She nodded to Vorden.

“For Quinn.”

Vorden nodded, “For Quinn.”

Erin handed Vorden the dagger, and he too cut his hand. This meant that only Peter was the last one to partake in the pact.

Peter wasn’t sure if he was going to be much help in all of this. With his level limited, he couldn’t get stronger like the others would, but at the same time, Peter was partially responsible for Quinn getting captured in the first place.

“… For Quinn!”

Peter grabbed the dagger, and cut open his palm. Layla smiled, and did the same. After handing the dagger around so that everyone sliced their hands a second time, they all shouted in unison.

“For Quinn!”