Chapter 9: Ghost of Self

As usual, the escort and I don’t talk during the entire drive to the interrogation barracks. The car we take is a lot less flashy than the one Shadowmind drove when we were on our way to apprehend the Pyro. It was only yesterday but it feels like it was a million years ago. I don’t know exactly what a mindscourge entails, but I can’t stop thinking about how Darius told me that his gene might be deactivated. I know I don’t know a lot, but I know that he and Shadowmind were hinting that this would probably kill the Pyromaniac. I can’t help but feel like it’s my fault.

The escort and I arrive in the same parking garage that Shadowmind parked in about twenty minutes later and I follow him into the barracks. We stand silently next to each other in the elevator and we exit on the sixth floor, a floor I have never been to before. We pass a bunch of people in the hall before we stop at a door only accessible through some sort of touchpad. He looks at me and tells me to place my right hand on the scanner. I do and the door unlocked. I wait for the escort to go in, but he turns around and starts walking away. I’m on my own from here on out.

I open the door and step inside. There is a small hallway and I then approach another door. As I turn the handle, the door flies open and Rhodes is standing on the other side.

“Welcome, Physion,” he says to me and motions for me to follow him. We go through a door across the room and enter into some kind of observation area. It’s similar to that of an operating theater. I look down and see the Pyromaniac restrained on a medical-like bed below. He is attached to all kinds of monitors and computers. I see his chest rising and falling rapidly. His eyes are open. He is awake.

“Don’t worry, Physion, this is a two-way mirror. He cannot see you, he doesn’t know that you’re here,” Rhodes tells me. I feel very uneasy and I notice that there are chairs for us to sit in. I sit down on the edge of one of them and start cracking my knuckles. I see people walking around the room that I don’t recognize. The door in the room the Pyro is in opens and Shadowmind walks in. He stops for a moment when he passes under the observation mirror and looks up at it. I know he knows I am here. He gives me a thumbs up and walks over to the side of the Pyromaniac. Three other people walk in. Rhodes sits down next to me.

“I’m going to explain everything as it’s happening, Physion. The Pyro is being observed prior to his mindscourging. His vitals are being taken, we’re monitoring his brain’s activity. His gene is still disabled at this point. Surely you recognize Shadowmind. The other three are also Psions. The man on the far left is Mentis. The man to his right is Mindspy, and the woman next to him is Psyche. We need a lot of, ah, brainpower for a mindscourge,” Rhodes explains. “After his mindscourge, we will refer to him as a Ghost. Ghosts are those who have gone through a mindscourge and upon successful completion of this, you will see why.” Shadowmind leaves the room and within a few seconds he enters the viewing room and sits next to me on my left.

“What are you doing here?” I ask him. He shuffles a bit before he answers.

“I willingly do not participate in mindscourges,” he tells me.

“Why?” I ask. Shadowmind is silent for a bit before he turns to me and smiles.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says. I’m beyond curious, but I’ve learned that the don’t ask, don’t tell policy is a commandment here.

The man Rhodes has identified as Mentis looks up to the viewing room and nods his head. The three psions position themselves next to the Pyro and the woman cradles her head in her hands. Within seconds, the other two appear to be mindlocked with the Pyro and I don’t see anything happening.

I look over and Rhodes and nearly jump out of my skin when I hear the Pyro laugh.

“Voices!” he says as he laughs. “VOICES?!” He laughs a bit longer and slowly his laughter fades and he lets out a blood curdling scream. I see him twist in agony on the table, unable to move because of his restraints. The monitors are beeping ridiculously fast and I watch his EEG monitor. The screaming lasts a few seconds before he stops writhing and is silent and unmoving on the table. I see him reopen his eyes and turn his head toward Pysche.

“KEEP SEARCHING!” he yells and laughs more. “I HOPE YOU FUCKING FIND WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR!” A chill runs down my spine.

Seconds later he is screaming in pain again and this time it lasts for about thirty seconds. Psyche drops to her knees and continues cradling her head. When it stops, the Pyro keeps his eyes closed and tips his head back.

“Fuck you, Physion!” he yells. I jump up from my seat and am overwhelmed with fear. Rhodes looks at me and Shadowmind stands up next to me. He takes my hand but does not mindlock with me. His tattoos appear briefly and he looks at me.

“Oh, trust me, he knows you’re here. You’re safe, though, Physion, there is no way he can do anything to you,” he tells me. He holds my hand for comfort and we both sit back down. The Pyromaniac starts laughing again before he is once again screaming in pain and writhing.

“I HATE YOU, PHYSION! I HA…” he screams as he’s being mindscourged. Shadowmind squeezes my hand and my heart breaks. He thinks I did this to him. Maybe I did. I am overcome with guilt and grief and I feel Rhodes put his hand on my back. The Pyro continues to scream and writhe in agony. It lasts for about a minute this time. When it stops, he starts to cry. I can barely make out the words as I hear him whimper.

“I never wanted any of this.”

Shadowmind’s tattoos manifest again and when the fade, he looks to Rhodes.

“Make them wait,” he says to Rhodes. Rhodes looks at him strangely.

“Send her in there,” Shadowmind continues. “Let her talk to him.” Rhodes looks back and for the between Shadowmind and myself before he leans forward and pushes a button and speaks into an intercom just below the window.

“Hold on, she’s coming in,” he says to the psions. I am suddenly more terrified than I have ever been in my entire life, but Rhodes takes my hand and leads me to the door. He flashes his palm print and it slides open. I see a staircase and I follow it down. The door into the Pyro’s room slides open and Mindspy is on the other side. He takes my hand and leads me to the side of the Pyro’s bed. The Pyro turns his head and looks at me but does not speak. Tears are streaming down his face.

“I am sorry, Pyro,” I say to him. He says nothing in reply. “I did not do this on purpose,” I say. I don’t know why I am talking and the words come out before I’ve even realized what I said.

“I didn’t want to be like this, Physion,” he says to me in a very quiet voice. He turns his head away from me and Mindspy lets go of my hand. He nods to the other psions but before they can start, words are again flying out of my mouth.

“Wait,” I say to them. Mindspy nods and watches me. I feel like crying and screaming and falling to pieces. I have had a hand in this torture. I reach out my hand and take the Pyro’s. Even though it is restrained, he lightly clenches back.

“Okay,” I say. The psions take a moment before the Pyro grips my hand tightly and starts screaming again. A full two or three minutes must pass during this time and I cannot take the sound of his anguish. Tears are streaming down my face and all I can hear are the monitors beeping and his scream echoing off the walls. When they finally stop, he is breathing heavily and in a voice I can barely hear, he looks at me and whispers “Thank you.” Tears are still streaming down my face and the psions lash into him one more time and he screams for only a few seconds before he goes limp. His hand falls from mine and he is no longer screaming. I look at his EEG. There is nothing but a flat line. His heart monitor beeps steadily. The Pyro is gone. I continue crying.

The psions look at me and Psyche stands up and hugs me. She smiles.

“You did an amazing thing, Physion,” she says to me. I am still crying. She clenches her head again and I know the three are working again. I stand there staring at his unmoving body when all of a sudden he opens his eyes and looks around.

“Where am I?” I hear him ask. I am totally confused and have no idea what’s going on. “What happened to me?”

I look to the psions and they move from their positions as Rhodes enters the room.

“Hello, son,” he says to the Pyro. “My name is Dr. Rhodes. Allow me to explain what happened.” He turns to me and shakes my hand.

“Thank you,” he says to me. “You are free to go, Physion.” I turn to leave the room and as I am walking out I hear the Pyro speak again.

“Physion? What is a Physion?”

I spend the rest of the day in my room crying.