The world blurred.
The ever-present darkness swirled and churned like a deep, murky liquid intertwining with the misty gray spots that appeared at the edges of Sultan's vision.
The detonation of pain had materialized briefly, erupting in his scalp like a bomb borrowed from hell for a moment.
Its aftermath ,however, was not so prudent.
Sultan's consciousness flickered in and out, alternating between a trembling, vibrating world filled with tremors and a blissful, all-consuming silence .
mind reduced to jelly, Sultan kept spiraling between these two extremes and the infinite, chaotic variations in between.
For how long he endured this accursed state, he had no way of telling. Yet, If it had been up to him to decide, Sultan would have said it was too long, even if it proved to be just a fraction of a second.
When he finally awoke, the pain receding slowly into the realm of memories, leaving his mind scarred and traumatized. Sultan noticed firstly the metallic spiky taste on his tongue, which felt more restricted ,driven slightly backwards.
The culprit, as it happens, was his wright hand. It seems that he has stuffed it in his mouth during his spasms, clamping down on it with all the force of his teeth.
The wound, however, barely registered. Like a bitter cup of tea that no amount of sugar could sweeten after the taste of luscious chocolate, no amount of pain could faze Sultan after the harrowing existence he had just withstood.
Lying on the icy, frozen surface, eyes closed and cheeks wet with tears and blood, Sultan felt defiled, defeated, and violated in the most inhuman, merciless of ways.
"How?" was the only thing he could ask after a while.
a question of one word. A single victorious word among the overflowing volcano that had tried to surface.
"RLISYS." One word answered them all, questions that is asked or not. It was both a method and a justification, a price accepted for what had been freely taken.
The only needed permission, and the most valid of reasons.
RLISYS technology is directly connected to the brain's cells. By activating the areas known as the Sensory Cortex which is responsible for sensory input, it could simulate any experience without the need for it to actually occur.
That was why Sultan couldn't use the device to create light to guide him through this impenetrable darkness. RLISYS couldn't create anything to affect the outside world. it could only manipulate perceptions by controlling Neurons cells. Thus, If it could make him see what wasn't there, why not also feel what wasn't there? Pain, for example.
"Since the citizens appear to have overwritten his RLISYS, that is a manageable thing to do.
The Citizen, true to their word, made no additional threats, issued no warnings, and gloated not at all.
Why would they? The situation was self-explanatory: Sultan should know his place, or punishment awaited.
This begged the question: Why should Sultan continue?
It was evident that the Citizen, or his associates, had orchestrated his arrival here. Moreover, they had a reason for it. Sultan wouldn't have been surprised to learn that their purpose was simply amusement. Perhaps, like ancient empires forcing slaves to fight to the death for entertainment, some rich bastards had kidnapped Sultan and were now watching him struggle for his life.
Why must he play their game And dans to their rhythm?
Wouldn't it be more fitting to end it all? Sultan could throw himself to the swarms of furious insects and let them claim their revenge. Or he could do it himself. he did have a knife, Didn't he?
Just to spite those scumbags.
right before this train of thought took him to the track of no return, plummeting him into a shadowy abyss of hungry demons, an image flashed in his mind.
Wide emerald jewels-like eyes on a small lively face, staring at him venerably, trustingly. He has promised to take care of her, hasn't he?
No, he wouldn't run. Not again.
There should be a way out.
And if there isn't, he shell make it.
While the RLISYS situation might seem dire and hopeless , and it is truly so, the reality isn't so extreme to drope the ball yet.
Because, yes, this streps him of his privacy and puts his finger under the fang of others,
and here is the but,
Sultan still has autonomy. Ironicly , RLISYS despite of being literally in his head, the only thing wouldn't be able to effect is his thoughts.
So he just had to get to civilization again and he can take it form there. And if it is proven to be ineffectual, the option of giving up the game is still there. He just had to make sure his sister is taken care of first.
There was still hope. If he could find a way back, perhaps the authorities could help.
Maybe he could sue the citizen and take a shitload of compensation, setting him good for life.
Sultan fooled himself into getting up.
Deep down, he knew that returning home would give him no hold on the Citizen or their associates. If it could hand him any leverage over them, they wouldn't have left him a way back.
But Sultan chose to abandon logic. Logic wouldn't motivate him, and Reason wouldn't keep him moving.
Without a word, he continued toward the designated area, wishing he wouldn't encounter those giant of insects again.
Unfortunately, Sultan has no genie to grant his wishes.
***
It turns out that The God of Luck seemed to have it out for Sultan, though that still didn't fully explain his current predicament.
Once he began to grasp the nature of the inhabitants with whom he shared this nightmarish accommodation, he attempted to sneak around in hopes of reaching his destination from the endless maze of corridors and tunnels.
However, his cursed luck thwarted him at every turn. Each time he ventured a few steps closer, a sharp, buzzing sound would erupt, followed by something hurtling toward him—aiming to stab through his eye or sting his stomach.
Some of these attacks managed to graze or scratch his arms and sides, though thankfully, none had been severe or fatal.
Yet, Sultan found it tremendously difficult to get hold of the pointy slibberish things. He had only succeeded in killing the first one because it had foolishly stuck itself to a wall. The others, however, were fast, nimble, and relentless.
Every time he moved, they would find him, forcing him into a cycle of running and hiding. Sultan would scarcely manage to take refuge in the side passages, crawling into the compacted cells whenever he needed to flee or just to have a little bit of respite.
but they always returned.
Like the vengeful spirit of the dead, the maddening insect are always guided to his location . whether Sultan remained soundless as a tree or stomped down like a bear in a dying forest, one of those overgrown bugs would come bulleting at him as long as he present in the corridors. And the frequency of the attacks increased the nearer Sultan got to his target, until he would just have a few mintues between each rendezvous and the other.
Sultan had lost track of time but guessed he'd been playing this deadly game of hide-and-seek for more than a day.
Now, for god knows how many time, he found himself running again. Playing on memory, he spotted an opening and scrambled inside, hoping for a brief reprieve.
But his tiny shred of remaining luck betrayed him yet again.
The moment he crawled through the passage, he heard it. a noise that made his stomach drop.
The presumably ever-empty haven is no longer unoccupied.
Something was there.