Beyond the Horizon: New Dawn

6) "Seventy-Six"

Seventy-Six sat in the chair as he drifted in and out of consciousness. He had been through extensive torture over the last two days and had not received anything to drink or eat in that time. The lack of proper nutrition had begun to catch up with him. When the interrogator would speak, he would sometimes hear his wife's voice. It pained him to think about her both mentally and physically. Each time she came into his mind he pushed her out. He knew that he should not be thinking about her because she did not exist. His body would twitch and tingle each time he thought about her. It was as if he was anticipating being electrocuted again and his body was preparing for it. The fear of receiving a higher voltage of electricity encouraged Seventy-Six to try and forget his family and deny their existence at every turn.

There was a quiet hiss as the door opened to the interrogation room. Three guards came into the room and began to unfasten Seventy-Six's restraints. He blinked several times and shook his head as he could not believe who was in front of him. They were Martian legionnaires, he was sure of it. The grey and orange colorway could not be mistaken with any other force. "Why are you doing this?" Seventy-Six asked weakly as two guards hauled him to his feet. They remained silent and put his arms around each of their shoulders.

Seventy-Six tried to move his legs, but they felt like someone had tied weights to them. His feet dragged against the cool floor as the guards carried him out the room. "Where are you taking me?" Seventy-Six asked. The guards continued to ignore him. They appeared to be displeased with having to haul Seventy-Six's body around. He had lost some weight during the torture, but was still far from a lightweight. They made a right and continued down the hall.

Seventy-Six refused to believe that Mars was a part of this in any way. They would not treat any of their own in such a fashion. He took another look at the guards and was shocked to see that they were no longer in Martian uniform. They were in the BlackDiamond gear he had seen on his first day of torture. It worried Seventy-Six that he was seeing things that were not there. He wondered if he was merely hallucinating or if he was currently in a simulation. But there was no way to tell. His mind grew conflicted as it struggled to come to decipher with what was reality and fiction, and what was true and false.

It dawned on Seventy-Six that the torture had started to take a serious toll on him mentally, more so than it was physically. I don't understand, he thought to himself. What is it they want from me? They've tortured me. Fed me lies...or have they? The things that he had been told by BlackDiamond, they could not be true. He did not remember any of it, yet he struggled to completely label the lies being fed to him as false. There were gaps in his memory, he could feel them forming. A part of him felt as though he was being rewired. Another part felt that BlackDiamond was helping him put the pieces of his memory back together. He recalled what the interrogator had told him. That they were trying to restore what was lost. Seventy-Six wondered what was lost. Memories of his time with BlackDiamond? He knew that he would receive answers when this was all over, one way or the other.

The guard opened a door to a large empty room. Seventy-Six was thrown into it and collapsed onto the floor. The room was black and dimly lit. There were several drains scattered across the floor and small nozzles on the ceiling. Seventy-Six turned onto his side as he heard the squeaking of rubber boots making their way towards him. Entering the room were five individuals in black bio suits.

"Get him up," one of them ordered. "And take off his clothes."

Two of the individuals quickly got Seventy-Six to his feet while. They stripped him of his clothes while two others grabbed a large hose. "Best stay on your feet," one of the guards warned. "It's worse if you're on the ground."

Seventy-Six's legs shook violently as the men let him stand on his own weight. A powerful rush of hot water knocked him back down to the ground. The water stung as it slammed against his skin. The heat of it caused the room to fill up with steam. Another volley of hot water hit Seventy-Six from the other side of his body. He rolled onto his stomach from the water pressure and struggled to get to his feet. He collapsed back onto the floor as the rough bristles of a broom rubbed against his back.