Ken couldn't see or hear clearly. His head was heavy, and he didn't even have the strength to open his eyes. He could just barely hear the words of people standing near him. He hoped it was just an effect of the gas he had inhaled.
"How is it possible that he woke up in under an hour? According to our research, he should be asleep for at least one hour but it's only been 30 minutes, and he is waking up."
"He is moving." One of those men reported into a microphone clipped to his coat.
Ken's eyelids fluttered. He just got a blurred look at a man in a white coat, wearing black glasses and with grey hair.
"Who the hell are you?" Ken asked him in a weak voice. He wanted to escape, but could not even control his arms.
"Tell me what are you feeling right now?". Armed man asked.
Ken didn't give him any answer. He was making plans to get out of here. His mind was flooded with questions.
'What possible connection can a pocket picker have with something like this? Why did they take me, and what do they want?'
After a minute, he heard the door slam. The surrounding people had left. Being alone now, he tried to focus on his sight to take a clear image of that hall where they captured him. After struggling for twenty minutes, he was finally able to look around clearly.
They had strapped him to an iron chair. Manacles bound his hands and legs. He tried to move, but couldn't.
He put force with all of his strength, but it was not enough. Tired, Ken took a deep breath and closed his eyes again.
After a moment, he opened his eyes and started looking around the room.
There was a big mirror in front of him which opened like a door. It was a one-way mirror. They used it to observe Ken's movements. The room was white; even his chair was white and it was clean and clear.
'I am not sure if it's the same factory building or not. If it is, then they sure hide deep. Its interior differs completely compared to the outside.'
There was nothing, just a clean room on Ken's right, and his left side, again nothing. He found a window on top of the wall behind his chair. But it was out of his reach.
As he was analyzing the room and suddenly he heard a tenor voice.
"Our new guest, you woke up? Don't worry, we will not hurt you or harm you for no reason. I am impressed by your willpower. You woke up earlier than our expectations. There is no need to worry about anything as we just want to do some minor surgery and then you have to take some tests for our experiments. After this, you are free to go." The man spoke in a polite and gentle tone as he tried to coax Ken.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Ken was very aggressive, mostly because such a stupid trick caught him and now someone was trying to do experiment on him.
"No, my dear, you are not the only one. There are many people who are dealing with the same situation, just like you. You are all helping us in making the world safer to live in. You should call yourself 'subject ' as long as you are in our hospitality."
"So, this is how you give hospitality to your guests? By locking them to a chair?" Ken asked, while looking toward the mirror.
There were three men outside Ken's room, wearing white lab coats and busily working on their computers. They are the assistants of a psychobiologist. He was talking to Ken over a hand-held mic and Ken heard him through speakers hanging high on the wall of the hall.
"By the way, I am Doctor George. We have not introduced each other before, so what's your name?"
"Fuck off." Ken replied angrily, certain that the doctor was out of his mind.
"We will get information about you one way or another. If you don't cooperate with us, unfortunately, we might have to hurt you to meet our needs and I don't want to make it difficult for both of us."
"Do whatever you want. I don't care. If you can find information about me, then please tell me too as I don't know myself who I am."
Hearing Ken's reply, George became more interested in him.
Closing his eyes, Ken thought about the thief more deeply. Now that he analyzed it, the thief differed from normal people and his speed was enough for him to get away from Ken many time but he purposely waited.
'How did I become so foolish, damn it! I didn't expect this sudden attack because I was very busy celebrating my freedom. I am such a fool... I have to do something, I don't know who they are but from their tone, I am sure I won't get a good ending.'
Two men came into the room. They had a large ancient-looking pendant hanging around their necks, with a special type of pattern embedded in them. They led a small, grey trolley in. The trolley had two wooden boxes on top and filled with syringes and packets of green tablets and scissors.
"How are you feeling now?" one of them tried to ask Ken.
"How would you feel if someone caught you unexpectedly? Do whatever you want, but don't expect me to cooperate with you." Ken replied with an aggressive tone.
"Listen, if you try to cooperate with us it will hurt you less and take less time, but if you continuously interrupt us, it's not good for you. It's just a minor surgery you have to understand." one of those men said to Ken and filled up the syringe.
Seeing this, Ken tried to struggle, but being bound rendered it useless.
They gave Ken an injection on his chest, knotted a red silk cloth around his neck, and started murmuring something. Ken fell unconscious because of that injection.
His eyes started closing slowly and darkness appeared in front of his eyes. They started to check his body's condition. His blood pressure increased, body temperature was falling, and his heartbeat slowed down.
After some time, his body started shaking, and Ken woke up. His neck was in pain because they gave him a cut there. He touched the wound. It was freshly stitched and hurt.
"Rate your pain between 1 and 10 points," George asked him.
"7 out of 10" Ken told him while touching his neck as he was still under the effect of the medicine.
"I am feeling like my muscles are stretched."
"Ok, then you can walk inside your room. You will feel better. Don't worry, it's not something bad, just cooperate with us and after a while, you are free to go." George tried to persuade him.
"Ok then" Ken walked towards his room mechanically.
After some time passed and he sobered a little, Ken heard the voice of a girl. After a moment, he heard the laughing sound of children and then multiple voices together.
But there was no one in this hall. He tried to trace these voices, but they were not coming from that speaker.
'What is this going on?. I am hearing voices of different people but there is nobody here.'
After looking around and trying to find the source of the voice, he found nothing. Feeling tired, he sat down and closed his eyes.
Some time passed again, and he heard the voice again. This time, instead of looking around, Ken closed his eyes and tried to find the source with his hearing.
Suddenly he opened his eyes and looked around with amazement because he was surprised to find that the voices were speaking directly inside his head.
'Is this because of the surgery?' He wondered, as he tried to explore more.
At first, Ken giggled at this thought but as he pondered deeper, he realized that it was not impossible. So he started to feel the changes in his body.
He noticed that his senses had become sharper and his body was facing a lot of changes internally and externally.
Ken can feel these changes but can't analyze them as he was unfamiliar with his real truth.
Just when he was thinking about these changes, George's voice sounded in the room.
"There are nearly 100 subjects including you, you all are in the same hall but different dimensions. I divided all my subjects into four dimensions."
Ken thought, 'what the hell he is talking about, is he stupid? What a trick? They are trying to make me a fool. I don't believe in these types of superstitions'
"You think I am kidding, Ken?" George asked him.
"Absolutely yes. I don't have faith in magic, ghosts, and witches," Ken replied, as he tried to make the doctor give him more information.
"Ok then, from now on you will trust in my every single word," George replied and started muttering something loud.
The moment it reached Ken's ears, His anger increased without any reason. Every time George muttered that strange sentence, a blue beam of light covered Ken, and George also raised his voice.
Ken's eyes turned red, and he started hitting the door forcefully and punching the walls, his power was also increased for that moment. He destroyed everything in that hall. But the shocking thing is that he had no single scratch during this situation. After a while, Ken regained some sense, but still could not control himself.
"Please stop this, I am tired". Ken told him while controlling himself from this nonsense. George stops muttering those spells and Ken becomes normal.
Ken felt like there was another spirit inside his body that forced him to attack without his will. He was surprised by this and thought they were doing something dangerous. If magic exists, then it should not be in the hands of such evil people.
He sat down in his chair and observed his arms. His veins were visible and swollen. He was very confused by seeing those dents on that door. He felt that power in his body and a hot wave crossing over from head to toe.
'If it was real and had such powerful spells, then why do they need me?'
"You don't believe in Magic, eh? How could you don't believe in yourself?" George's voice sounded in the room again.
"What do you mean?" Ken asked, but got no reply.
Many questions arose in his head, but there was only one way to find their answers. That was to do nothing and just wait and watch.
He decided to cooperate with them without showing resistance and when they relaxed from his cooperation, he could get out of this place if a situation arises.