" So when you say Evolver powers, I presume the way you teleported me back then was one of them?"
Bultear crumpled his eyebrows at the thought of how dizzy he felt when the teleportation finished. It compounded to the feeling of fatigue and powerlessness to the point that he very quickly fell unconscious.
" We here in E.S.O.P become Evolvers mainly through injections. I'm not too knowledgeable about this topic but I know that the injections are consistent of an amalgamated concoction of the main Evolver features."
" Main features?"
" When humans become Evolvers, they, as the name suggests, evolve. To be more precise, the main 'hubs' of evolution are three organs..."
Safir then pulled up three fingers, and after Bultear refused a glass of wine from him, he continued.
"... The brain, the spine and the heart. The heart that pumps the blood of Evolvers is wider in size, its pumps are stronger to support the changes that the body undertakes. The same goes for the brain and spine. The evolution of these organs is called the primary evolution. Secondary evolution, on the other hand, is unique to every Evolver. During that phase a further three organs evolve. Each of those organs have three abilities- so one ability per organ... well that is only during the first stage."
Taking another sip, smiling, he continued.
" Let us take a step back, to evolve is to take a step beyond, beyond convention, going higher while gaining supernatural power. As such, in this world of eternal balance, there are drawbacks to this. One cannot simply change their biological make-up that easily. Our biggest enemy is Evolver frenzy. After taking the injection, for a budding Evolver to become an official stage 1 Evolver he has to go through the Awakening (also called Assimilation in scientific circles). That step is extremely dangerous for all since the chance of going into frenzy are extremely high if no precautions are taken, well... they are dangerous for everyone except for you it seems."
"You're saying that I was able to awaken relatively safely?"
" On the surface it seems like it, but who knows, maybe it left some underlying mental problems, considering how the circumstances were during it."
" I guess it's E.S.O.P protocol to immediately torture innocent people on some assumption."
" Bultear, you came back to life after dying, I don't think it was ' some assumption'. I think even if you hate us for that our point of view was not strange."
" Whatever, continue."
" And so, after you awakened yesterday, it stands to reason that you are now a stage 1 Evolver and have three evolver abilities. One of those probably killed Krell, which is also rare since being able to use your abilities right after awakening never happened before. Usually, stage 1 Evolvers have to get used to their body and figure out how to use their newly acquired powers. As fate would have it you are an anomaly amongst anomalies."
" I get the gist; you'll send me to the 3rd division and have me train to get the hang of my abilities.... then what?"
" You will join the 3rd division as an official Evolver and do a some missions for us, even though we agreed to a truce, I hope you understand that while we still do not have the full picture, we cannot fully trust you."
" What of my grievances for your actions and all the misery you caused me? I apologize, but it's exactly as you said, a verbal truce is not enough for me to trust you either."
" Okay, I will go one by one from the most severe to the least: Being drugged, taken and almost tortured by Krell is the worst one. As compensation, you will face no punishment or any other consequence for killing Krell Emell, I will see to it that the cause be known as 'an accident'".
" It was self-defence, this is no compensation."
" But it is, since you were... no... you still are a potential threat, what we did, while immoral and while a lot of people disagreed, was following protocol. Not being treated as a member of a cult or a frenzied Evolver is pretty good compensation, in my opinion.
' This isn't your opinion; you're just veiling a threat in a two-faced way.' Thought to himself Bultear as he answered.
" Fine, Mr. director, the matter with that lunatic is settled. Next."
" Next, is the matter of being under the effect of Divine Control; Lieutenant Pax while interrogated. In E.S.O.P any form of infighting is strictly forbidden and leads to hefty fines at best or expulsion at wors-."
" What happens if they get expelled? Do you somehow remove their powers?"
" ...Once a member awakens as an Evolver, we cannot take back their powers, so when they get expelled, they are promptly treated as rogue Evolvers and are immediately apprehended, we then lock them up it the same prison we put you in: Tavzor-the highest security prison for the most dangerous and deadly."
" So, expulsion is the same as being arrested."
" Sometimes those we expelled were far too dangerous, forcing us to put them down."
"...."
Bultear could see that on his face that was still smiling, a small light of annoyance was flickering.
' Guess I should stop interrupting him.'
Seeing as Bultear didn't have any other questions Safir slowly continued.
" Where was I.... ah yes, even when our members spar for training there is a certain level of aggression that must not be breached. For you, when sparring with the second seat of the 3rd division, I will close my eyes if you want to ' vent your grievances'. Just don't kill or cripple him."
* hahaha* " So you're saying, as compensation I get to beat blondie's ass?
" Yes, yes, I am."
When Bultear stopped laughing, he realized that he had forgotten about something extremely important.
' When blondie brainwashed me, I told him about the dimension and me being some candidate, so I thought that the reason they sent me to be tortured was because of that information. Why is this guy acting like he doesn't know about it? Did he not tell them, but why wouldn't he? Maybe he knows but is just really good at acting. Whatever it is, I should be prudent and not bring it up if he won't. So that whatever reason may be I don't accidentally implicate myself into even more problems.'
" Is everything okay?"
To his curious face Bultear smiled.
" Yes Mr. director, I was just thinking about how funny the compensation you've just recommend was."
" Aha, then do you find it sufficient?"
Gazing deeply into his crimson eyes Bultear was certain.
' He didn't believe my lie one bit but is acting as if everything is fine. How funny, I guess we're both acting since neither of us have the full picture.
" Yes, I'll settle it with him when I clobber his pretty face into the ground."