District 42-Chapter 86: The Principal’s proposal

Casper was wondering for a while where to go, and when, to have signal enough to bear a brief call to different places of the Castle. The problem was that he needed to find this place, and find a way to go there.

Even if he had the point X of the complex that had a great signal, it would be useless if he didn’t go there. And it wasn’t like he could go anywhere he wanted into that prison. The only times he got out of the cells was to eat, and now that he was in lockdown, there was even less that he could do.

Also, Casper was planning to enter into action after his lockdown ended. If Olaf and Alfar worked well, they could have at this time enough resources to start with the escape. That said, the soldier needed to set up a plan to forge his innocence. If he couldn’t do so, he would leave that prison with the mark of a criminal, and could not let it happen.

However, even with all those questions rounding his mind, he remembered the time he was at the hospital. The nurses had smartphones, and from time to time they would call or message someone. So, Casper was pretty confident that inside the infirmary even the slightest signal could be found and he would be able to make his calls.

Even better, the infirmary was a place that he could access with not so much difficulty, so it would be nice if things turned to be like that.

"Even so, if I want to go to the infirmary again, I will need to count with that nurse called Amelia. They probably won’t let me go there, being sick or on the edge of death, it doesn’t matter anymore, so I can’t hope to go there today just because I will be two times more worn out due to the Dark zone... Whatever Amelia is doing now, if it’s something to help me, I hope that everything went well."

With this, Casper closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain and discomfort he was feeling, and resting until the time for the next Dark zone came.

"For now, I will just wait and gather as much energy as I can. I need to have the disposition to, at least, talk with someone. I also need to be able to think in good arguments to make the people I will call be by my side, which will take some effort as well..." The soldier sighed for himself. He should not have been thinking too much. He was meant to rest, after all.

"I think I am overworking myself now just because I... don’t want to die." He remembered every single excruciating second that he passed all alone in that lockdown, feeling like his life was fading little by little and that he would not last until the next morning.

If he didn’t have convulsed and made a lot of noise in that dawn, the death would be a certainty at that point.

However, the soldier knew that he could not just keep rambling all the time about his fears and what could go wrong again.

It was tough for anyone to wait until the time when a piece of their lives would be taken by force, but what could decide his fate there would be his actions, and how he dealt with his feelings and limitations.

"There is just one thing that I can do now: keep with my eyes closed, empty my mind, and be as calm as I can." And so he did.

The soldier couldn’t fall asleep, but he could be able to have some hours to relax for a bit.

...

The Principal was walking through the part of the Laboratory where the prisoners generally stayed for the Dark zone. There, they had a lot of different equipment that was useful for a lot of different and complex procedures that were needed for each project.

Every project had its own block of experiments, which was a kind of standard in the district’s labs, and that made the place more organized.

Rolvur passed through each of them and watched his precious guinea pigs being tested, used, studied... It was the sight of a brilliant future for the Principal.

He thought that every single person there, although they were suffering and not willing to be there, was taking part in an action for the greater good. So, they must be happy to be there.

He approached a prisoner that was convulsing on top of his bed and shouting nonsense. His movements were random and strange, his voice clearly wasn’t one of a normal person.

"Don’t worry, my kid... You will thank us for it later. We are giving you a gift. A special power that just you and a few more people will have." He murmured next to the ear of that man, that continued crying and struggling on the mattress.

The leather strap attaching him onto the bed was cutting his flesh, and his strength was at its peak now, since the strap was tearing as well.

The Principal was surprised, adjusted his posture, since he was leaned before, and looked at the scientists working on that man’s project.

"Is this Project Fearg here? That one we saw on the screen, you know, that relates to super hypertrophy and all...?"

They glanced at each other, not knowing how the Principal could be so brief while explaining the projects of his own Laboratory.

"No, sir. It’s Project Mimir, instead. Our oldest project."

"Hmmm, I see, I see. How interesting... It’s incredible what humans can do when they are passing through difficult situations, right?" He spoke, genuinely perplexed, staring at the leather strap with a glow in his eyes.

"Keep up with the good work." He stated, finally, and then walked away, going to the next block that he needed to go.

In total, the laboratory was working on 4 projects: Svartalfheim (the main one), Mimir, Fearg, and Draugr. There were others, but they were unimportant compared to these, who was known among the scientists as the Final movement. That’s because they hoped that, when the projects could be done all at once and then people got to be applied legally for it, they would turn the war for District 42.

After passing for all those tables, he went to meet Casper before his procedure continued.

The soldier was at the bed, seeming to be ill and weak.

The other scientists in that Block were preparing the devices for him. There was a specific one in which its shape remembered a spear, with a kind of diamond-shaped metallic thing on it. A cable with a needle on the end was attached to it. The device was connected to a computer.

There was also a shaper, that had a sad face-shaped on it.

"Where is the Forger?" The Principal asked, entering suddenly in that Block.

"We don’t know at all. But you know that he always gets here late, right, Principal?" Answered a young scientist that was mixing some chemical solutions.

"That man... Well, for most of this process we will not need his help anyway. He is aware of it, I am sure, so that’s why I will not complain too much."

Rolvur got closer to Casper, then as he did with the other prisoner, he started to talk with him.

"Hey, I know how the mind-blank works, so I am sure that, if I talk with you now, it will reach you. So, let me say something quickly: I know about your plan to escape, Casper. I know everything that’s going on. I passed several days studying it, and very focused if you want to know...

"However, I will not let something wrong escape from my mouth to anyone who shouldn’t know this... But as I said, you will need to cooperate with me. For this... I want you to come to our laboratory in other hours except for the Dark zone, got it? And nobody needs to know this."

After letting his message, he gave a step back and kept looking for Casper for a while.

"I wonder what kind of experiment I can do with this prodigy. I am pretty sure that he can endure all of them... Maybe I can mix more than one project, or then create a new one, bolder, more dangerous, and more destructive..." Having those genius thoughts, he got excited and wanted to start the preparations at that exact moment.

"Hey, you..." He called his subordinated. "I want that today we do extra work with him as well, total speed. We need him to be ready as soon as possible."

The scientist looked worried towards Casper, with a disturbed expression behind the sad mask.

"I don’t think he can endure so much, Sir. Yesterday we did the same, and he barely survived. And today is his third consecutive Dark zone..." He turned to the Principal again, but the man already walked away.

Sighing hard, he shrugged.

"Well, I don’t care if he dies. It’s not my business."

He told to his coworkers what the Principal said, and then they started the procedure.