(Viewpoint: Chetan)
– What do you want from me...?
She doesn't answer.
She stays there.
Less than a step away from me.
Its two black openings never leave my face.
I can almost feel his gaze passing through my skin.
As if he were searching for something behind my eyes.
The silence was terrifying.
Then...
The mask tilts the head very slightly.
Her voice resonates once again.
But this time...
I could hear it in my head.
– N-02.
That voice...
I know her.
Impossible.
I stepped back again.
What is he playing at with me? I didn't climb the ranks to become one of their guinea pigs.
Are they aware of this?
Why that voice?
– N-02. Answer.
The voice is identical.
Each intonation.
Each break.
Each syllable.
That way of swallowing the last letters.
I can hear him, what did they do to him?
– ...Beta-2...
My throat tightens.
The mask isn't responding to me.
– Is that really you, Eugene?
He continues to remain silent.
– Eugene, Eugene? Is that really you? Answer me, please.
This time, it was me who approached.
I slowly spread my arms out towards him.
– Stop it… it's not funny anymore, Eugene?
– come into my arms
I approached, unperturbed.
– Are you listening to me?
But I remained stuck.
It's like...
If there was no one under all those sheets.
Memories flashed through my mind at breakneck speed, the images were vivid and rapid, the intrusion made me feel nauseous.
There were so many images
From me.
His.
I abruptly clamped my hands against my ears.
- Shut up !
But the voice continues.
As if my hands didn't exist.
– I'm afraid of the dark.
– II y'a des monstres.
– silence.
I close my eyes.
Non.
Stop.
Stop.
It's not him.
This is not Beta-2.
It's just one thing.
Yet...
Each word hits exactly where it hurts.
I feel like I've been stripped bare, completely naked under the piercing gaze of a crowd.
I felt my legs give way.
I fell to my knees.
– STOP!
My voice echoes in the white room.
I turn my head from side to side.
– Hey!
–Can you hear me?!
– Soldiers!, guard?
– Come!
- Someone !
Person.
No steps.
No response.
The silence swallows my cries no matter how intensely I use them.
– OPEN!
– GET ME OUT OF HERE!
The mask looked at me. It tilted its head slightly.
Her voice regained its calm.
– Your heart rate is increasing.
– Is it "fear"?
–Your breathing becomes irregular.
–You're wasting your energy.
I stare at him with hatred.
– Assistant, there's been an intrusion into the database
He did not seem frightened by my threat.
He just stood there watching me.
A long time.
Then he speaks again.
– You need to shout less loudly if you want to call him.
My heart skipped a beat.
The mask moved a few steps closer.
Then he replies in an almost neutral voice:
– You are "angry", did you get angry because you didn't want Beta-2?
I almost murmur involuntarily:
– You... can't do anything properly... are you a new assistant?
He doesn't answer.
Instead, he utters other words.
Words I've never said to anyone.
– Do you want your mother's song or to count the days with lines on the wall?
I can feel my hands trembling.
– Would you rather look for the sun?
Comment...
How can he know that?
My anger is really rising.
My arms are heavy with a desire to fight.
I tried to call my weapon to me.
Just a few red lines, everything's turning.
The coin tilts.
My body falls forward.
I expect to hit the ground hard.
Instead...
Sheets envelop me.
Two arms support me before the impact.
The mask is just holding me up to prevent me from falling, I end up upside down in a bad position.
He is truly incompetent; I would like to get out of here.
I have no strength left.
My fingers are trembling.
I feel my head getting heavy.
But she pulled me towards her in time, resting me against her shoulder.
He was holding me awkwardly by one hand
– it hurts
He let go of me immediately
Then very gently...
He starts to hum.
A melody.
Simple.
Old.
My heart almost stops.
Non...
Not that...
Not that song.
It was...
My mother's voice.
I thought I had forgotten about it.
The mask sings in a calm voice.
Sleep, little one, the night is light. The wind will watch over you. Close your eyes, I'll stay close to you. When morning comes, you won't be cold anymore.
Again.
The same four sentences.
I feel my eyelids getting heavy.
I am struggling.
I refuse to sleep.
But my body no longer listens to me.
The song continues.
Regular.
Gentle.
Like a memory I thought was lost.
My hands stop trembling.
The world is becoming blurry.
The last thing I hear...
It's that lullaby.
Repeatedly.
Tirelessly.
Then...
Black.