Chapter 82: 81 - Interrogation

"Okay, put him in here," Said Director Silva, nodding at an empty cell. 

We were in that place where she'd first tested my shooting skills, the thieves I'd captured were in a different place though...guess this is where they held criminals that they had no intention of pardoning. 

"Sure, but he has a machete, is that okay?" I inquired. 

"Hm? Oh, yeah, that should be fine, these bars are made of tungsten, so a machete will be about as effective as a toothpick," She replied with a shrug. 

"Alright, then...," I replied, before focusing on the area inside the bars of the cell and then reciting the activation chant inaudibly, "<Activate Anomaly, Tier Three: Paste>." 

"Wha-...h-huh, where the hell am I!?" Exclaimed the killer in confusion. 

"In prison, douchebag," I called out, giving him the finger. 

We walked away as he began yelling and panicking, striking the bars with his machete. 

"I have to say, I didn't expect you to have such strong feelings against criminals like this one," Remarked Director Silva, as she led me through the area. 

"Well, it's not like I care about the victims or anything, I didn't know any of them, after all. I'm not feeling any righteous indignation or anything like that, I just feel...disgusted, I guess," I replied with a shrug, after mulling it over for a bit. 

"And that's exactly why I wanted your assistance in these matters...you're not the type who gets easily emotionally-invested, so I can count on cold, hard logic from you. That said, you're not completely emotionless either, hence the disgust you mentioned...logic can easily be overwhelmed by emotion and sometimes it seems like you have to choose one or the other to avoid getting muddled and indecisive...but you're able to separate logic and emotion without putting one aside, and the key to that is that you don't get as emotional as most people d-."

"Okay, could you maybe stop with the psychoanalysis? It's kinda creeping me out," I remarked with a wry smile. 

"Oh, uh, right...guess I got a bit carried away," She responded with a chuckle, "Now, then, before we go back, I have something I want you to do here." 

"Another mass execution? Sure, why not, I could use an opportunity to blow off some ste-." 

"No, not that...well, not today, anyway. What I want you to do is this...remember the Wight Anomaly you captured? Well, we've been unable to get a word out of him, all that we've been able to do is keep him from killing himself," She sighed wistfully, "So, what I'd like you to do is to try your hand at getting information out of him. I'm not expecting much, but it's worth a shot."

"I mean...I guess I don't mind trying, it's not like I've got anything to lose, though I can't guarantee that I'll be successful," I replied with a shrug. 

"Great! That's good enough for me. Come on, let's go."

...

About ten minutes later, having gone down a hidden flight of stairs into a secret basement area, we were in front of a cell where the Wight I'd captured was being held. He was restrained with chains and had several tubes connected to his body, presumably to keep him alive. As he heard us approaching, he looked up with a fierce glare, gritting his teeth. 

"Uh...what's that blue stuff on his teeth?" I inquired curiously. 

"It's a material that has the properties of rubber and foam, it's to keep him from biting his tongue off," She explained. 

"So kinda like Bungee Gum?" 

"Huh?" 

"Oh, uh...never mind. Alright, guess I'll give this a shot," I remarked, as she unlocked the cell and let me in, after I set myself a Save point. 

"You again...hello, timestopper," He greeted me with a growl. 

In a way, I guess I should be glad that he's been tight-lipped...if not, he might have revealed that I could stop time to whoever else had interrogated him. 

"Sup? I've got some questions, mind giving me some answers?" I said with a smile. 

"I refuse."

That was fast. 

"Yeah, I thought you would...just like the other guy did, he had a really cool power, he could turn invisible and intangible, and he can sense other Anomalies too," I remarked in an innocent tone, carefully watching his expression, "He kept his mouth shut for a while, but I eventually got it open...though technically, that was because he was screaming in agony, not because he was talking. Shall I show you what he went through?" 

He definitely reacted, though he tried to act nonchalant...it's small, but I've got an opening... 

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"I don't fear you, do whatever you want," He scoffed, putting on a brave front, "I won't give you so much as a single answer!" 

"Are you sure about that?" I inquired in a slightly threatening tone, while maintaining my smile, "You could give me some trivial, basic information and save yourself some pain for a while yet...or you could remain foolishly stubborn and suffer in agony till you're begging for death...just like that other Wight did. See, he snuck into the Sanctuary to kill me...but guess which of us ended up dead? It's obviously not me, since I'm standing right here in front of you. Hey, I know, maybe I'll bring his head here...it's kinda smashed a bit, but you can still kinda tell that it's a head...you must be lonely in here, that might help, wouldn't you agree?"

"Y-you're insane...b-but you're bluffing, 'Anomaly' powers, as you call them, don't work on other Anomalies!" He stuttered, a nervous look on his face. 

Looks like mentioning that other Wight Anomaly was the right move, he's definitely rattled... 

"Oh, you really think so?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow, before focusing my gaze on a brick on the wall, "<Activate Anomaly, Tier Three: Cut>." 

"What did you just-?" He began to ask warily, before I dramatically turned my gaze to above his head, he inadvertently followed my gaze and looked up, just as I hoped he would... 

"<Activate Anomaly, Tier Three: Paste>." 

The brick reappeared above him and plummeted down towards his face, his eyes widening in alarm, and right before it could crash down onto his head, I calmly reached up and caught it, meeting his gaze as I did, causing him to flinch before he could stop himself. 

"See? I can hurt you badly without even lifting a finger. How about this for now, answer three of my questions and I'll leave you unscathed today. Oh, and if you refuse, I won't kill you...but by the time I'm done with you, you'll be so broken that-."

"What...what do you want to know?" He growled, his shoulders slumping slightly as he gritted his teeth. 

There's a lot I want to know, but...I need to keep it simple, I'll refrain from asking anything that would likely give us a significant advantage over the Wights, instead I'll ask more trivial questions for now... 

"That's more like it...first question, how many Wight Anomalies are there?" I inquired. 

"...about twenty." 

Not exactly specific, but I better not push it... 

"Alright...next question, how many of the Wights are combatants?" 

"Hmph, almost all of us." 

I really want to ask for more specifics, but no, I need to stay in control here. And to do that...I need to be a completely unpredictable entity to him, give him the impression that I'm unreadable. Because it's easy to fear something you don't understand, and I need to feed on that. So, for my last question... 

"And finally...tell me, what's your name?" 

"Huh? Why do you want to know that?" He asked warily. 

"So then are you not going to answer it? What a shame, you got through the first two so well, and what I assumed would be the easiest question to answer is the one that you-." 

"I-I didn't say that I wouldn't answer it!" He quickly interrupted...got him, I can definitely break him down bit by bit...but for today, I'm done...I won't risk pushing too hard too soon... 

"Alright, then...your name?" I prompted, with a faint, cold smile. 

"I-it's Ro Zenitsu...though I was called Ze-Ro for short, because of my power." 

Perfect, he told me more than I asked...this is a good note to end on. I'd say that I'm good at reading body language, but it's not like I'm an experienced interrogator or anything, so I shouldn't push my luck more than I already have. Even with the Save point, there's no guarantee that a second attempt will go as well as this first attempt did... 

"Ze-Ro, huh...well, you answered all my questions, so as promised, I'm not gonna lay so much as a finger on you. I'll be back one of these days...see you later, Ze-Ro," I remarked, putting on a friendly tone as I turned my back and headed out of the cell, before pausing and glancing back with a slight smirk, "I look forward to next time." 

And with that I left, subtly signaling Director Silva to walk with me...if we linger around here, it could ruin the note I'd left things on. I'll be honest, most of what had happened back there was luck on my part, I genuinely didn't expect it to go as well as it did, but...I have to admit, I really enjoyed it... 

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