The air around Baron's face became thick, forcing him to be conscientious about each breath he took.
I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly. What did you say?
Paul leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table in front of them, folding his hands, having a perplexed expression sprawled across his face.
"Sure, I said, who is this Marx person you're talking about, Baron?"
Face pale, hands sweating, body hot, Baron seemed ill at hearing "Who is Marx?".
Who is Marx? What are you talking about? The only people to make it out of that hellscape were me and Marx.
Paul leaned back from the table, placing one hand below his chin and the other on his lap, and looked away.
"Ahh, I see what's happening; now, please listen with careful ears, Baron, and don't blow up when I say this."
No response. Baron was still processing what he had just been told, but Paul went ahead and continued to speak.
"You're suffering from something called PTSD, which means post-traumatic-syndrome; this Marx person, you believe, came through the gate; let me guess, you can't remember anything specific about him before entering, can you?"
WHAT! OF course, I can, he.. he.. he loved the dark… I.. I can't remember.
WHAT'S GOING ON!?
Baron began to shake uncontrollably as if something inside him was rejecting him.
W..W..WHA..WHATS GOING ON!!?
"IT'S NOT WORKING HE'S REJECTING THE LD COME IN CODE IBRAM!"
Baron's eyes began to roll into the back of his skull, leaving his mouth fully open as if he were a child.
*Knock, Knock*
Large humanoid creatures came in, walking on all fours and wearing fools masks, made their way up behind Marx's combusting body, and proceeded to put a towel over his mouth, suffocating him.
"DAMMIT F*CK!"
Baron's unconscious body was dragged out of the room by the creatures, leaving Paul alone to reflect.
*BANG, CRACK, AHH*
destroying his room, Paul swept the items across the table onto the floor, acting like a child throwing a tantrum after yet another failed attempt.
*crying*
why.. Why.. why won't he forget? It's been 3 months, and we're still forced to sedate him after he remembers Marx. We don't have much longer; the king expects progress, and we have…nothing.
*Door opens back up, and a large man walks in*
"Paul! How's it going… You seem distressed."
Oh, it's you, Thadius; it's been a while, hasn't it? Yes, I am distressed. How could I tell?
Thadius seemed in high spirits even though Paul was spiraling due to Baron's reform not going as planned.
"What's going on with the reform? Why isn't it working as planned? The king called me in to check on your progress; last month, I chose to wait and delay my arrival because I heard it wasn't going well."
Paul sat back down in his chair, disregarding the mess he had made.
Another man survived the devil hunt, but he wasn't chosen as a host; on the contrary, he seemed to be acting as a block towards sight powers taking over Baron. His name was Marx.
"Marx? I feel like I've heard that name before; didn't he join in the raid of Zesa?"
I wouldn't know, honestly. All I know is that he wasn't a part of the plan.
"You say "was" Paul, what exactly did you do to the boy."
Sitting in the chair, Paul began to laugh manically after Thadius asked what happened to Marx.
HE ENDED UP MERGING WITH THE HOST CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!
"merging?"
YEAH, WE TRIED KILLING HIM WITH SPECIALIZED LD BULLETS DUE TO HIS EXPOSURE. WE KNEW HE NEEDED SOMETHING SPECIAL, BUT HE ENDED HEALING ON THE OPERATION TABLE!
Thadius watched as Paul stood up and ranted on, walking back and forth across the room, spewing out information about the beginnings of reform.
THEN.. THEN THE F*CKING GUY'S BODY BEGAN TO MERGE INTO BARON, AND THE REST WAS HISTORY; MY GUESS WHAT'S GOING ON IS THAT THE F*CKER IS STOPPING US!
Scratching at his head, Thadius thought of a way to get Baron over the hump of Marx and move forward to the next step in reformation.
"Have you considered indulging his idea that Marx is around?"
Paul stopped his spontaneous rampage and considered the words that had come out of Thadius's brutish mouth.
Let him think that Marx is still around? Its… Its GENIUS!
Paul called in the fool mask-wearing beasts and instructed them to prep Baron again, but this time to insert the memory of Marx being around constantly.
OH, Thadius isn't LD. It is a beautiful creation; with it, we can reform, instruct, change, control, and WE CAN BE GODS!
Unlike Paul, Thadius didn't let power get to his head, ignoring the ramblings on Paul realizing that he was a husk of the man he once knew, being broken by Baron's refusal to reform. It was like watching someone who had always been granted whatever they asked for finally be denied and wondering why.
*Scoff*
"Have fun, and don't thank me for the idea. I hate that I even thought of it; I'll be back soon to review your findings. Whatever you have then is what I'll be reporting back to Nycon, so get to it."
Walking out of the doors, Thadius looked back one last time to see Paul go straight back to plotting, which disgusted him.
"Ibram Ibram, please look over the two lost souls within."
A week passed, with Baron retrying the cycle, but it was different now in Baron's mind; Marx was still around and alive.
The next phase of reformation was upon the two.
YES, IT'S MARVELOUS, ISN'T IT, THADIUS!?
Thadius returned after a week to the lab only to see Baron speaking to Marx's ghost, which saddened him greatly. Still, there was no denying that the next stage in reformation was upon them.
"I'll prepare my leave; great work, Paul, continue to serve the empire greatly, and you will be rewarded likewise."
A singular tear shed out of Thadius's ducts as Paul grinned in joy. They both watched from afar, Baron's mind breaking.
Turning his back to both, Thadius simply vanished from the lab, vowing to not step back in that hell hole unless it was justice.