Like before, it was Silas who went first. His next experiment would be conducted by Hydra. The tall and intimidating dragon lady was waiting outside to guide him to whatever area she had prepared for him. He'd been purposefully distracting himself during the break, trying to ignore the haunting image of Hydra's piercing glare, but now he was faced with it, and would be alone with her for however long she wanted. He'd hoped that her "training" wouldn't be as harsh and terrifying as Scylla's, but something in her eye told her that she was just as dangerous and vengeful.
Her tails swished slowly from side to side as she explained what the experiment was going to be. She took Silas down a different path. Silas couldn't imagine how she memorized it. It seemed like the Human Experimentation Labs was an entire building by itself, as big as the original itself. It seemed like a labyrinth of endless passageways and doors leading to sealed rooms for all intents and purposes. It was as if he was crawling through the bowels of an ancient catacomb. Without a guide, he'd be lost and perish alone in the unrelenting, omnipresent light.
There were no maps or any sort of distinguishing markers. All the doors looked the same. Their labels only popped up when Hydra or some other monsters activated the holographic projectors by the sides of the doors to view the information. Otherwise, every single wall looked the same. The only thing that could give Silas any inkling to where he was were the subtle changes in the hallway's construction as they passed through each locked door. Syclla had led him through several, and every time she did, the scenery and composition of the walls, lights, and floors changed ever so slightly. As they went deeper into the labs the walls got less lavish and light and instead grew dingier and more metallic, as if they were diving deeper and deeper into a monstrous dungeon full of wire mesh and warning signs.
However, Hydra took Silas to a bright room past a shining white door. She made a satisfying snap of her fingers as her magical signature opened it. Behind it was an illuminated hallway, with – and Silas' eyes widened at this – windows leading out into the open air. The wall was filled with large glass panes that stretched from the floor to the ceiling of the left wall. Past it, Silas could see the underbellies and ground floors of a cluster of fancy buildings, bathed in natural and clean air and sunlight. These were the private parking garages of the rich and wealthy of Lachlan. He even saw gardens enclosed by polished white sidewalks that looked almost plastic. This was completely different from the horrid, smelly, sewer-like corridors Scylla had thrown him in.
"Welcome to the magical power testing facility," Hydra announced. "You may have noticed a change in scenery from the Human Experimentation Labs, especially from that area Scylla showed you earlier…" Hydra glanced to the side and subtly spat a small gust of air. It was just obvious enough for Silas to catch it – and Hydra knew exactly that.
"This is not actually part of the Human Experimentation Labs. I've taken you through a connecting passageway to a private facility that I use to test the magical prowess of possible candidates for the soldier division of PSEF. After all, I am the lady in charge of training prospects for that division, which uses their magical abilities to subdue large quantities of humans."
"So… monsters are personally trained here to kill lots of humans?" Silas said nervously. It wasn't as if his insensitive human nose could smell the scents of all the monsters who'd been here, but just knowing that this was the place that Hydra had personally trained monsters to kill people like him set him on edge. He couldn't even imagine what kind of offensive maneuvers Hydra had taught him. Hydra looked at him in a way that told him she knew exactly that he was thinking. Her burning gaze made him feel self-conscious and ashamed. She knew what he was thinking, but even Silas, who thought he might be observant and logical, couldn't figure out what was going on inside her head.
It was the unpredictability of it that scared Silas the most. Even in this comfortable, brightly lit and polished area, Silas felt more in danger than he did with Scylla. It was fear of the unknown that set his hair standing up on the back of his neck. He even preferred it to Scylla, because he knew she hated him. Hydra was a shark underneath thin ice. Nobody knew if she would bite.
"Yeah. Kinda ironic, isn't it?" Hydra laughed easily without a hint of remorse. "Anyway, Scylla decided to give up on training you after she saw what you were capable of. So that duty got passed to me. Not that I really mind. But I'll be in charge of assessing your magical abilities and helping you hone them to improve your worth. Think of it this way," Hydra said, lifting a finger to her sharp chin.
"If you work hard and learn quickly, then you'll have an easier time. But if you slack off," Hydra drew her finger across her throat. The shining natural light glinted off of her sharp nail.