The girl nodded and stood up, moving as if to leave. The man, however, shook his head. "Stay here; this is part of your education." His gaze settled firmly on Nemo, who opened his mouth instinctively, a stream of questions immediately pouring out.
"Why are you so tall? Are you the commander? What was that thing in the—"
He was quickly silenced by a strong, unyielding hand. Questions still clamored within him, sharp and relentless, but they found no voice.
Nemo strained against the gentle yet impenetrable force that robbed him of speech. Panic fluttered briefly through him as the realization settled: even his words were no longer his own.
The man spoke, his tone measured and controlled. "Genetics gave me my height. I'm the commander of the civilian unit of the Industrial Zone; my name is Xeras. Can't tell you what that thing was."
Nemo nodded once, eyes wide, his struggle fading as quickly as it had come. Xeras turned to the girl: "How long between questions?"
"About a minute, sometimes more. I would guess it depends heavily on mental state."
Xeras nodded and released his grip slightly, allowing air to flow freely again. "Now, this is how it works: I ask questions, you answer. Every forty seconds, you may ask something in return. But keep it simple—I can't answer everything."
Nemo's throat tightened with a thousand unspoken questions, but he swallowed them down. Instead, he simply nodded, ready to accept this strange compromise.
"I start," the man said firmly. He pulled a chair forward, turned it around, and sat, resting his arms casually on its back. He studied Nemo, unblinking.
"Here's the hard truth, son: you're tainted. Recently, too. Were you aware of this?"
Nemo felt the weight of that word—tainted—crushing him again. He forced himself to nod, his voice shaky when he finally spoke. "Yes. I was going to report it. It happened this morning, at sunrise. But something... coerced me. I don't know... suddenly I found myself in the subway."
The man's expression tightened slightly, displaying a blend of approval and irritation. "You should've reported it immediately. The warnings are everywhere for a reason. Especially never go in the subway."
Before he could stop himself, Nemo asked, "Why never the subway? What makes it so special?"
A brief flare of anger flashed in the man's eyes. "Simple questions only, remember? But fine, here's your answer: when we awaken, our roots bury into our soul, but before the first feeding, they aren't stable. If someone wanted quick and easy access to a root of power, the best method would be to extract it from someone like you—a freshly awakened who hasn't been fed yet."
Nemo was still confused; Xeras's answers only sparked more questions. "So that thing lured me down there to consume me and extract my... roots?"
Xeras nodded. "Yes. The power of the awakened comes from the roots we carry in our souls. You'll get more information once we get to the lab, where we are going to feed you, or else you'll remain a danger to everyone."
"And we've already wasted enough time," Xeras continued firmly. "The longer you stay outside here, the more dangerous it gets for you and everyone else."
Without waiting for a response, the man stood abruptly and turned to exit the tent, his footsteps decisive and commanding. "If you want to live," he called over his shoulder, "follow me."
For a moment Nemo hesitated, the full weight of his predicament bearing down on him. It felt like the final decision he would ever truly make—whether to stay and maintain the illusion of choice or to surrender to a future he could no longer control. He exhaled deeply, accepting what little agency remained, and stepped forward to follow.
Outside, a small flying vehicle hovered silently, awaiting their arrival. Nemo recognized it instantly from the skies above Atlantis—always distant and unreachable symbols of power and authority.
As he moved closer, Nemo's steps faltered, and he paused, staring at the red tape stretched across the ground, clearly marking the boundary between the life he knew and the life awaiting him. He could feel invisible chains tightening around him, his freedom slipping away with each breath.
A hand clamped firmly onto his shoulder, steering him forcibly forward and lifting him slightly from the ground, asserting undeniable dominance.
"You've been tainted," Xeras repeated with cold certainty, his voice low and steady. "If you wish to survive, you'll accept that your choices from here forward are no longer entirely your own."
Nemo said nothing as the man placed him firmly inside the flying carrier. Xeras and the girl followed, neither meeting his eyes nor offering any words of comfort.
The doors slid shut with finality. As the craft lifted smoothly into the sky, Nemo leaned his head against the cool glass, watching Atlantis shrink beneath him. The city seemed different now—unreachable, unfamiliar, a place he'd never again see from the same perspective.
He closed his eyes, trying to suppress the overwhelming wave of despair threatening to drown him. Deep inside, Nemo felt the uncomfortable stirrings of a terrible truth: this moment, this silence, was his farewell to freedom.
Xeras turned to him, a serious expression still on his face. "You know, you can be considered very lucky. Every year we lose a few awakened to the beings beneath Atlantis. It just so happened that the Lord of Chains was near when that particular beast attacked, and that saved your life."
Xeras had a look of reverence and respect on his face when mentioning this man. Nemo remembered the smell of metal and the noise of giant, clanking chains. He also remembered something had been calling him. "What kind of root does the Lord of Chains hold?"
Xeras shrugged. "Almost everything about roots is kept secret. All we can tell you is that it has the attribute of metal, and from his usage of chains, you can speculate that its texture is binding. But those words don't mean anything to you yet—you'll find out after your feeding."
With that, Xeras turned and looked at the girl who had entered the flying carrier with them. Nemo followed his gaze, already feeling the next question making its way forward.