Altair didn't feel any better with his words. Her face was still pale as her mind raced for ways to escape. She quickly squashed the notion of trying to escape right away because Liam had hinted at her stomach being wide open. She had almost killed herself moments ago. The thought of her insides falling out because of a reckless move from her sent a shiver down her spine.
Liam looked back at Altair's face and spoke with a bright smile on his face, "Oh, I know. Why don't I show you what your insides look like? Perhaps you can answer some questions about your biological functions that I am curious about."
The thought of seeing her insides first hand was disgusting, creepy, and frightening to Altair. She had cut many people open before but when it was her own insides it was just different. She couldn't describe why didn't want to but she saw him moving to do something with two of his hands out of her view and quickly pleaded, "Don't. Please don't."
Liam narrowed his eyes at her before pulling his face away from hers again. He then brought over one of his arms with a strange and bulky looking bracer on it. He moved his arm over the surface of the bracer and a transparent image of Altair appeared. She was mid air and mid throw with a black pointed stick in her hands.
Liam then waved one of his hands and the recording played out: Altair throwing the spear, the camera focused on the spear as it pierced through the Madroople and punctured its core, causing it to burst, the spear as it dissipated into air as if it was nothing. Then the recording went back to the start when Altair created the spear out of thin air.
Altair was stunned by the images playing out before her. It was like those things she had seen near the Starship, but she was the focus. It was something she had done and yet it was also shown to her as if it was from someone else's eyes. It was as if she was taken back to that time and she was watching herself attack that creature. And it could continuously show what she had done. The recording showed some of what her Magic was capable of. She didn't know why that was the focus on the recording, but she felt that it was taken as something important to Liam.
Liam spoke in a foreboding tone as he continued to play before Altair, "This is something that no race knows about. There is no way for any creature to create matter out of thin air like that. At best, some are able to manipulate elements that already exist in the environment to make water, fire, or lightning but this… If this gets out, you can bet that you'll be dissected slowly, in agony, until everything about your body is known. And when you beg for death, they will ignore it. You will be used to try and breed more of your kind for further experimentation. Once they have another female produced, you will be disposed of if you're lucky."
Altair's brow furrowed at his words. She found that hard to believe. 'They don't know about Magic? How strange. I thought they had something better than Magic and that's why they didn't use it.'
Liam grinned at her and asked, "So, if you don't want me to show this to Renald and watch as your life becomes hell, how about you tell me what I want to know?"
Altair bit her lip slightly before replying, "How do I know you won't do that anyway? What if they already have that thing? Since it can repeat what I did over and over, doesn't that mean the others have it too?"
Liam shook his head, "Not a chance. I am a hacker and I have been here for several days waiting for you to get injured. I have been keeping an eye on you the whole time and I have made sure to cover my tracks." Liam had already deleted all of the relevant footage of what Altair had done at the time, planning to use it to get information out of her later if she refused. He didn't have any real loyalty to Renald or Humans in general. The only reason he accepted this job was because he was interested in Altair's biology.
A confused expression came to Altair's face as she complained, "What's a hacker? I thought you were a healer."
Liam smiled amusedly at her response. "You are so cute, you know that?" He fondly placed one of his hands on Altair's cheek, "Oh how I am tempted to pair with you."
Altair didn't know exactly what he meant by 'pair with you' but she could guess with the look he had in his eyes.
A dangerous light flashed through Altair's eyes and Liam pulled his hand back immediately before stating, "But, you are too dangerous. Even though you are fairly harmless now, I can see that your eyes are like a Voracious Horror." Liam smiled wryly, "I would get devoured if I wasn't careful."
Liam crossed two of his arms over his chest, "I am no ally to the Humans here. While I won't break my contract I won't bother to tell them your secrets either. It wouldn't help me and I don't particularly find torturing you to be fun." Liam tilted his head sarcastically before adding, "Or do I? You don't really have a choice. What you can take to heart is quite simple: you either tell me what you know about what I want or I can show them that for sure. One way you gamble, the other way is guaranteed." Liam grinned at her again, "So, what will it be?"
Altair's face paled at his words. He was right that she would have to gamble, and even then it wasn't guaranteed that she would be safe. "Y-you," She said hesitantly, "What are you?" 'How can something that isn't Human be as cruel as a Human?'
Liam simply stated, "I am a Thradii. Now, will you tell me what I want to know?"
Altair was silent for a long moment before she finally nodded her head. She didn't really have a choice.
Liam's expression brightened as he moved the rest of his hands to beyond the box, keeping the one hand with the bracer before Altair's head. Shortly after the images displayed on the communicator changed to mirror what Liam was seeing inside of Altair's torso.
Everything was visible inside of her torso, like she didn't have anything covering her insides in the first place. There were some differences between her and the Humans biology that Liam couldn't understand the reason for. He immediately pointed to the unusually small heart that Altair had, in between her lungs and underneath her sternum. Her lungs were shifted to the sides slightly to make room for it.
The rest of Altair's organs were in the right spots. But there were black veins over all of them. They were even weaved in between her guts that were wrapped around like normal too. There was a particularly heavy density of black veins around her heart as well. None of the black veins pulsed at all though. It was as if they were empty.
Lastly, all of Altair's organs were green instead of red, like her blood was.
The sight of her insides having been dyed the same color as her blood was caused Altair to realize how deep the Mana Sealing Poison went. Her face also turned green from seeing her own insides while she felt herself want to hurl. She didn't even feel anything when Liam had touched her ribs so that he could point at her heart.
Liam asked, "Why is your heart so small and why is it right here?"
Altair looked at him with a confused expression. She didn't know why that was the case. That's just how it was as far as she knew.
Liam turned his gaze toward her and saw the confused looked. He frowned before saying, "Silence is not an acceptable response. Tell me what you know."
Altair reluctantly looked back at her insides, "I don't know. That's just how it is."
Liam blinked before taking a deep breath. He then looked back towards her insides and pointed at a thick black vein, "What are these veins for and why are they black? They don't seem to pulse at all so it's like they're empty. Do they even serve a purpose?'
Altair shook her head and closed her eyes, "I don't know. Everyone has those."
Liam gave her a flat look, "No one except you has those." He then pulled away from her insides and continued, "Well, no. I suppose your race is the only one that has them." Liam paused a few moments before asking, "Does your kind not know how your own body works?"
Altair gave him a strange look. 'What needs to be known?' "Why would that matter? We know how to eat, drink, sleep, and move. What else matters?"
Liam crossed his lower set of arms over his chest. He also put his two free hands over his eyes, palm first, and looked up at the ceiling. He then sighed heavily. "I really made a mistake on that deal there, didn't I? You don't know anything and yet I gave away my leverage." Liam turned his face toward her without removing his hands from over his eyes, "You probably don't even realize that you outsmarted me, do you?" Liam then pulled his hands down his face, leaving a garish blood red mark on both sides of his face. "Well, might as well close you up since there's nothing else to talk about here."
He moved all four of his arms back over Altair's insides. She couldn't see what he was doing or feel any of it either, but she did hear a lot of disgusting sounds. Her expression was stuck in permanent disgust at the soft, wet sounds that were coming from her stomach. She wondered just how big of a scar she was going to have if he was actually closing the hole over her body.
Altair didn't feel any better with his words. Her face was still pale as her mind raced for ways to escape. She quickly squashed the notion of trying to escape right away because Liam had hinted at her stomach being wide open. She had almost killed herself moments ago. The thought of her insides falling out because of a reckless move from her sent a shiver down her spine.
Liam looked back at Altair's face and spoke with a bright smile on his face, "Oh, I know. Why don't I show you what your insides look like? Perhaps you can answer some questions about your biological functions that I am curious about."
The thought of seeing her insides first hand was disgusting, creepy, and frightening to Altair. She had cut many people open before but when it was her own insides it was just different. She couldn't describe why didn't want to but she saw him moving to do something with two of his hands out of her view and quickly pleaded, "Don't. Please don't."
Liam narrowed his eyes at her before pulling his face away from hers again. He then brought over one of his arms with a strange and bulky looking bracer on it. He moved his arm over the surface of the bracer and a transparent image of Altair appeared. She was mid air and mid throw with a black pointed stick in her hands.
Liam then waved one of his hands and the recording played out: Altair throwing the spear, the camera focused on the spear as it pierced through the Madroople and punctured its core, causing it to burst, the spear as it dissipated into air as if it was nothing. Then the recording went back to the start when Altair created the spear out of thin air.
Altair was stunned by the images playing out before her. It was like those things she had seen near the Starship, but she was the focus. It was something she had done and yet it was also shown to her as if it was from someone else's eyes. It was as if she was taken back to that time and she was watching herself attack that creature. And it could continuously show what she had done. The recording showed some of what her Magic was capable of. She didn't know why that was the focus on the recording, but she felt that it was taken as something important to Liam.
Liam spoke in a foreboding tone as he continued to play before Altair, "This is something that no race knows about. There is no way for any creature to create matter out of thin air like that. At best, some are able to manipulate elements that already exist in the environment to make water, fire, or lightning but this… If this gets out, you can bet that you'll be dissected slowly, in agony, until everything about your body is known. And when you beg for death, they will ignore it. You will be used to try and breed more of your kind for further experimentation. Once they have another female produced, you will be disposed of if you're lucky."
Altair's brow furrowed at his words. She found that hard to believe. 'They don't know about Magic? How strange. I thought they had something better than Magic and that's why they didn't use it.'
Liam grinned at her and asked, "So, if you don't want me to show this to Renald and watch as your life becomes hell, how about you tell me what I want to know?"
Altair bit her lip slightly before replying, "How do I know you won't do that anyway? What if they already have that thing? Since it can repeat what I did over and over, doesn't that mean the others have it too?"
Liam shook his head, "Not a chance. I am a hacker and I have been here for several days waiting for you to get injured. I have been keeping an eye on you the whole time and I have made sure to cover my tracks." Liam had already deleted all of the relevant footage of what Altair had done at the time, planning to use it to get information out of her later if she refused. He didn't have any real loyalty to Renald or Humans in general. The only reason he accepted this job was because he was interested in Altair's biology.
A confused expression came to Altair's face as she complained, "What's a hacker? I thought you were a healer."
Liam smiled amusedly at her response. "You are so cute, you know that?" He fondly placed one of his hands on Altair's cheek, "Oh how I am tempted to pair with you."
Altair didn't know exactly what he meant by 'pair with you' but she could guess with the look he had in his eyes.
A dangerous light flashed through Altair's eyes and Liam pulled his hand back immediately before stating, "But, you are too dangerous. Even though you are fairly harmless now, I can see that your eyes are like a Voracious Horror." Liam smiled wryly, "I would get devoured if I wasn't careful."
Liam crossed two of his arms over his chest, "I am no ally to the Humans here. While I won't break my contract I won't bother to tell them your secrets either. It wouldn't help me and I don't particularly find torturing you to be fun." Liam tilted his head sarcastically before adding, "Or do I? You don't really have a choice. What you can take to heart is quite simple: you either tell me what you know about what I want or I can show them that for sure. One way you gamble, the other way is guaranteed." Liam grinned at her again, "So, what will it be?"
Altair's face paled at his words. He was right that she would have to gamble, and even then it wasn't guaranteed that she would be safe. "Y-you," She said hesitantly, "What are you?" 'How can something that isn't Human be as cruel as a Human?'
Liam simply stated, "I am a Thradii. Now, will you tell me what I want to know?"
Altair was silent for a long moment before she finally nodded her head. She didn't really have a choice.
Liam's expression brightened as he moved the rest of his hands to beyond the box, keeping the one hand with the bracer before Altair's head. Shortly after the images displayed on the communicator changed to mirror what Liam was seeing inside of Altair's torso.
Everything was visible inside of her torso, like she didn't have anything covering her insides in the first place. There were some differences between her and the Humans biology that Liam couldn't understand the reason for. He immediately pointed to the unusually small heart that Altair had, in between her lungs and underneath her sternum. Her lungs were shifted to the sides slightly to make room for it.
The rest of Altair's organs were in the right spots. But there were black veins over all of them. They were even weaved in between her guts that were wrapped around like normal too. There was a particularly heavy density of black veins around her heart as well. None of the black veins pulsed at all though. It was as if they were empty.
Lastly, all of Altair's organs were green instead of red, like her blood was.
The sight of her insides having been dyed the same color as her blood was caused Altair to realize how deep the Mana Sealing Poison went. Her face also turned green from seeing her own insides while she felt herself want to hurl. She didn't even feel anything when Liam had touched her ribs so that he could point at her heart.
Liam asked, "Why is your heart so small and why is it right here?"
Altair looked at him with a confused expression. She didn't know why that was the case. That's just how it was as far as she knew.
Liam turned his gaze toward her and saw the confused looked. He frowned before saying, "Silence is not an acceptable response. Tell me what you know."
Altair reluctantly looked back at her insides, "I don't know. That's just how it is."
Liam blinked before taking a deep breath. He then looked back towards her insides and pointed at a thick black vein, "What are these veins for and why are they black? They don't seem to pulse at all so it's like they're empty. Do they even serve a purpose?'
Altair shook her head and closed her eyes, "I don't know. Everyone has those."
Liam gave her a flat look, "No one except you has those." He then pulled away from her insides and continued, "Well, no. I suppose your race is the only one that has them." Liam paused a few moments before asking, "Does your kind not know how your own body works?"
Altair gave him a strange look. 'What needs to be known?' "Why would that matter? We know how to eat, drink, sleep, and move. What else matters?"
Liam crossed his lower set of arms over his chest. He also put his two free hands over his eyes, palm first, and looked up at the ceiling. He then sighed heavily. "I really made a mistake on that deal there, didn't I? You don't know anything and yet I gave away my leverage." Liam turned his face toward her without removing his hands from over his eyes, "You probably don't even realize that you outsmarted me, do you?" Liam then pulled his hands down his face, leaving a garish blood red mark on both sides of his face. "Well, might as well close you up since there's nothing else to talk about here."
He moved all four of his arms back over Altair's insides. She couldn't see what he was doing or feel any of it either, but she did hear a lot of disgusting sounds. Her expression was stuck in permanent disgust at the soft, wet sounds that were coming from her stomach. She wondered just how big of a scar she was going to have if he was actually closing the hole over her body.
