Within a cold prison cell from E.D.L.'s Central District Prison, criminal Claire Duvent endured staying there for months with all the harsh treatment and persistent interrogation.
"...2 weeks, huh... 2... weeks." Claire repeats for the 14th time after her call with her Teutherian partner called Sleek ended from hours ago. She can't believe that after all those months of being unresponsive, Sleek would suddenly reach out to her and make additional conditions to their prior agreement.
Although she's currently faced with a problem of being stuck in jail, not a clue how to escape this tightly secured prison. And to retrieve her targets namely Reize Hilton and the Teutherian Queen's body in just 2 weeks.
"Ah, shit. It regenerated." Claire then noticed her left hand regrowing. She bites onto her right hand to suppress any noise she might make as she cuts the growing left hand with her shifter blade on her right leg. "Umph!!–" and her scream was successfully stiffled.
Everytime it happened, she had to severe it off again and again to prevent any suspicions against her from arising. Though some people are wondering why her wound is still bleeding, and that she refuses any medical treatment that was offered.
Claire had to suffer this every torturing moments and cover it up with the used bandages from her previous self-inflicted wounds.
"...damn it. Go eat that." The excess flesh that she dismembered was fed to her shifter weapon that transformed into something mouth-like that can eat anything Claire orders it to eat. This was to clear any evidence of her regenerative ability.
Later on, Claire was being called in again by the security tasked to watch over her. "Hey traitor! It's time." One of the guard reminded.
They opened her cell to escort her to the interrogation room, and there wasn't even a need to put cuffs on Claire despite being capable of moving freely. If she ever made the wrong choice of an escape attempt, the restrictive collar they put on her neck will trigger and behead her instantly after stepping out of the prison.
So this was indeed a huge problem for Claire when she absolutely needs to escape this place to fulfill her agreements with Sleek.
Right after entering the interrogation room, Claire felt the usual cold and tense atmosphere surrounding her and the people that will question her once again. She never got used to it due to these people treating her horribly.
When she sat down infront of them, interrogators Adam Grant and Tao Zheng, fiercly gazed upon her. "We've been through this for so many times already, so spill it. You're working for the I.E.A.!" Tao hollered.
"N-No. I've also said it plenty of times too, I'm not working with them!" And Claire was persistent on denying their claims, when in truth that she's never been affiliated with the I.E.A. before until Sleek mentions its alliance with an I.E.A. executive.
"Then why the hell did you kill so many of our people!? What you did was a dead give away of you being a spy implanted by the I.E.A.! So admit it already!"
"What a pain in the ass!" Adam got up from his seat and stood beside Claire to grab her hair and slam her face. "Argh!"
"Honestly, I don't even know why the authorities let you live for this long. People like you should be dead by now, it's obvious that we'll never get you to talk so..." and for the second time, Adam slams Claire's face again, and again, and again—until the table was full of her blood.
"Haa... haa.." Claire panted, her face beaten into an unrecognizable and bloody state.
"Unacceptable. Your disgusting blood got over to my uniform!" He complained.
Tao shakes his head at his reckless partner. "You fool, always doing as you please! What if you kill her this time!?"
"Relax, Tao. We've done this too many time before, and she always survived and lives to the next day. That's because she's a Shifter Wielder too, they got very resilient bodies." Adam explains, though Tao just sighs at his partner's stubborn behavior.
"Sure, keep your lips sealed about your alliance with the I.E.A. You made it clear that you won't say anything no matter what, even shutting your mouth through Adam's deathly beatings. That's kinda respectable and annoying at the same time." Tao says as he rips apart the paper meant to jot down any intel they can squeeze out of Claire. "Oh! And there's also lingering news that the sole survivor from your crime of mass murder is about to gain consciousness." He mentions.
Claire got intrigued by news and listens quietly.
"Finally some good news!—" Adam grabs Claire by the face to look her in the eyes. "—If they wake up and charge you for your crimes, maybe then we can have you pay for what you did with your life."
Then Tao added. "Actually, there was an arrangement that the Captain of the Special Infantry Troop requested. And that is to keep Claire Duvent alive until the victim in coma wakes up."
"Huh!? Why am I only hearing about that now!?"
"'Coz you never listen to me."
"HUUUH!? Fine! If that's the case, but why wait until the victim wakes up? Can't they have Duvent executed already?"
"They can but it's all about doing favors. Some say that Captain Wright Hemsworth requested this to grant the victim a sense of relief and satisfaction after seeing their killer dead right before their own eyes."
Claire got cold feet upon that hearing it all. To die infront of people will expose the secret that she keeps. And who could even survive from the time she went on a rampage on these E.D.L. soldiers, is what she kept wondering about. Though her train of thoughts were cut off by the moment when Adam tighten his grip on her hair. "Ah!"
"I think we ought to cut this interrogation short, this is getting nowhere even after all those months that passed." He says.
"Yeah, have the guard send her back to her cell." Tao ordered. However, the look on Adam's face suggest something else. "Oh, I didn't mean to send her back right away."
Tao understood what Adam intends to do with Claire. "...you sadistic pervert. Whatever! I'm leaving. Just don't kill her, or else you'll be the one executed in her place." He then leaves like he said he would.
"W-Whuh?" Claire thought she was going to be sent back to her cell too, she looks at Adam in fear of what's about to happen. He cracks both his neck and knuckles, preparing to give Claire another round of beating. "Let's say this is just some farewell punchies. Don't worry, I'll try not to go too extreme which might kill you."
Claire could defend herself and kill this interrogator right away, but harming this man might trigger the restrictive collar and kill her on the spot. She began to cry as she begs him not to hurt her. "P-Please!! P-P-P-Please!! D-Don't hurt m!—"
Adam went all out and beat her to a pulp.