So far, Bernetta had managed to single out the place where Shizue had been taken. But what was tough was to break the security protocol and to get Shizue's unconscious body out.
The main reason this was a problem was that Bernetta could not use her conductor. And without the use of magi-craft, she was limited in her options on how to attack.
But she was not worried because she had taken such a situation into account and prepared accordingly. She had managed to snag a few usable crafts from Khole's person without his knowledge. She just hoped that it would work as intended.
"Well, here goes nothing. I hope this hassle works out as intended."
Bernetta knew in a general sense what her props did but even she had no idea how intense their effect would be. Knowing Khole, he would have no problem carrying unauthentic and experimental crafts on his body.
And Bernetta had not asked him anything when she had swiped it off his person. So there was half a chance that these small balls would end up blowing on her face.
The first ball fell from Bernetta's hands and it hissed as soon as it touched the ground. A greenish gas emerged from the small ball which soon covered the whole area.
Bernetta covered her face with a mask to prevent it from getting into her nose. And the gas caused everyone else to fall unconscious without much fuss.
"I hope they are not all dead. Well then, time to head in now."
Bernetta was not very hopeful when she spoke but she did hurry up and enter the small opening that had been created after she had sacrificed so much. It took a single minute to cross all the available distances.
Once she was inside the facility, Bernetta knew what she had to do. The first thing she needed to do was to find Shizue and then take her body out of the boundary of this facility.
Shizue had not told her too much about this place but Bernetta still knew that it had some kind of link to her. The white walls and the smell of disinfectant in the air were the same as Shiue had described before.
"Doctor, our experiment no #D escaped. What should we do next?"
"No problem. We got a better specimen to experiment on so keep up the progress. As for our new goat, make sure she is secure."
Bernetta had a feeling that these people were talking about Shizue. And she needed them to vomit out Shizue's location. So she decided to take one of them, hostage. She had a small wire which she used to capture one of the doctors.
The other one looked startled at the sudden entry of a person in front of her but Bernetta managed to hit her on the head and knock her out as well. She was not exactly gentle as she forced her way into the base.
"Lead me to Shizue. Right now."
Bernetta demanded as she cut off the breathing of the person in her grasp. There was a chance that the doctor would die of suffocation before she would be able to answer Bernetta. But Bernetta could not bring herself to care.
The doctor patted the ground in a way to make Bernetta let go but Bernetta was not able to back away in time. It caused the doctor to fall unconscious on the ground but even that was useful for Bernetta.
She quickie pocketed the entry pass as well as the doctor's unconscious body. She used it to open the next door to head even deeper into the base. Shizue would likely be in the middle parts of the hive.
'Don't worry Shizue. I am on my way to help you out.'
Shizue might not believe in Bernetta but she would still help her partner out. She had made a promise after all.
//////////////////////////////////
"Is the main consciousness still resisting our attempts to suppress it?"
The doctor asked as they operated on Shizue. They were doing their best to suppress Shizue's real nature and to allow the central cord to fuse with her. It was the first hint of success they had seen.
And it had all been because of the wielder's desire for more power and authority. They doubted that they would get such a specimen again soon.
"We are trying to gain control over the specimen but the main body is resisting our power. At this rate, we will be forced to pull back and allow the experiment to wake up."
"We cannot allow that to happen. Increased the energy dose and make sure the main body is addicted to magic before we pull out."
The doctors knew how dangerous it was to give someone a magic addiction but they did not care. As long as their greed was being fulfilled, they did not care about anyone else.
Shizue cried out as she was electrocuted again and again to make her body more responsive. She tried to fight against the magic that was coursing through her body but there was not much she could do.
She had to sit back and take what she was given in the end. Her body was being overstimulated by the magic coursing through it.
The sense of magic and overwhelming desire was too much for a human body to hold on to but Shizue's will was far from being broken. She knew she would be able to hold on and maintain a sense of self if she focused on something dear.
'Bern, I want to see you
The yearning was increasing inside Shizue's body. The more she tried to go against it, the more she wanted to embrace it and let it calm her soul. It was too much loneliness for her to bear alone.
"We are getting closer to the desired reaction. Make sure you keep up with this intensity of magic."
Shizue could feel it, the sense of loss she was supposed to feel after she went through withdrawal. It had only been a few minutes but her body was already feeling addicted to the magic.
These scientists had not been gent;e as they had trained Shizue's body. And she also knew that there would be no going back from this.
"Shit, what did I get myself into."
Now Shizue was sure that she should have not taken part in this operation but she could also not be more glad that she did. She could not imagine Bernetta in her place, suffering all this in her place.
In this way, maybe it was better that Shizue had gotten the shorter end of the stick.
She opened her eyes to look up for one last time, only for her eyes to meet a flaming orb of red. The eyes on the ceiling looked like Bernetta's eyes and Shizue could not help but be bitter about it.
Even in death, she was thinking about Bernetta and her eyes. God, she was so in love that it was not even funny. Those lips were also wording out words Shizue wanted to hear the least.
'I will come and save you.'
Yeah right, Bernetta would come and do that. But that was only if Bernetta was here and with her right now. But Shizue had made sure Bernetta would not be able to come to her rescue.
'I am losing my grip on reality sooner than I want to. I hope everyone I know will get a good ending.'
Shizue was strong but there was a limit to how long she could hold on. And she knew that her limit was approaching faster than she wanted it to. Shizue's body was beginning to betray her now.
"Doctor, we achieved the perfect balance of hormones. We are ready for the next stage now."
Someone called out Shizue and was sure that it was a call regarding her. She was ready to give up and go back to sleep now.
And just as she made this decision, Shizue felt liquid fire fill her veins. It hurt so bad that she was not even able to pen her mouth to scream. Her insides burned everytime Shizue tried to move.
She did not know what was going on but every sense in her body felt like it was being overtaken and her body was not moving as she wanted it to move.
Shizue was moving but she was not conscious of her movement. She felt like a doll in her own body. An unwilling puppet being led by someone she did not know about.
"It is a success. We managed to give the central cord a compatible body. Now all our wishes would come true and-"
The doctor never stood a chance. Shizue raised one hand and the doctor was torn into shreds. And he was not the only one who was killed off. Everyone else involved in this experiment was killed off as well.
And then Shizue's body moved to go to the outside world, to hunt for new victims. this central cord, it was hungry for more and it wanted more bloodshed.
Those foolish doctors had no idea what kind of monster they had managed to unlock by giving Shizue access to the central cord. This world would never be the same after today.