"I'm currently dealing with a shattered spine and in too much pain to respond." Niko's face betrayed no emotion, he had to be confident here. There was a reason for talking rather than immediately apprehending him; he had the upper hand.
"A few cracks do not constitute 'shattered', and you have been pumped with more painkillers than most would consume in a year." Ji sat down, his old bones creaking as he continued speaking. "Now, answer. What caus-"
Niko interrupted, "I've told them everything that happened, I'm not repeating mys-"
"I saw the footage." A 3-second pause, he let the effect kick in. "Why did you leave a cultist alive? Because he was your friend?"
Izzhoga kicked in, and a shot of endorphin washed over Nikolai. His expression didn't change. "They have friends? They're capable of having attachments? Whew, that's news!"
"Your attachment to him. Was that the reason?" Ji didn't let his eyes wander; he fixed Niko with a straight gaze.
"The reason for what? Not reportubf a cultist who's an obvious threat? Not immediately killing like we're trained to?" He took a deep breath before speaking again.
"What's more plausible? I saw a cultist and decided to let him off with a punch, or that he wasn't a cultist? There is a reason I'm alive... You aren't sure, are you?"
Not dumb, the report certainly gave the impression that the boy was lacking in many departments. Ji fixed his glasses before leaning back and speaking after a pause.
"You both were sparring, you went for the kill, and he said something that made you pause. He put his arm forward, you looked, and immediately flipped out. Beyond that, it's irrelevant. You saw something that elicited a violent reaction outside of what he said." He leaned forward. " Do you need me to spell it out?"
"Keeping such a tattoo on your palm is pretty idiotic, no?"
Ji nodded. "So it was on his palm? Not the forearm or shoulder? Quite a weird place for it."
Shit, that was dumb. "Yeah, I was surprised too, a tattoo of my thingy on his palm was pretty jarring, but to be honest..."
Niko leaned forward. "He did often look at me with something that can't be merely called 'friendliness'."
"What did he tell you?"
"Ohhhh, you really don't wanna hear, I never expected Xiao of everyone to be so... erotic."
Ji was getting annoyed, yet he had to stay calm. "He threatened you, right? Threatened you with your partner's life."
Blood rose to Niko's eyes as the veins on his forhead rose, forcing him to turn away or be caught red-eyed. How did he get this? "She's alive, isn't she?"
Ah, I have him, Ji grinned, going in, no hesitation. "As long as you don't snitch, she will be, I'm sure... And that includes telling me."
Niko's face hardened. He didn't respond, nor did he turn to face the man. Killing a decrepit old bureaucrat was well within his capabilities, his hand twitched as his muscles trembled with anticipation. One wrong word and he would strike.
Ji leaned back, his tone now calm, yet serious. "Sector 8.1."
Niko instantly spun, sweat pooling at his forehead, his bloodshot eyes wide open. "No," he whispered, shaking his head in denial.
"Perhaps not, perhaps this was an isolated incident you faced, and I will leave you, or you can tell me the truth, and perhaps we can stop it."
Ji got up with a grunt, his bones creaking once more. "But I'm sure nothing will happen, you did deny any cultist activity, right? I'll just end the report with 'violent disagreement' then." Just as he turned to leave, Niko grabbed his wrist.
"Hey, old man... You were spewing all kinds of... nonsense before..." Niko was trembling slightly, a shimmering smile on his face.
"Tattoos, cultists, my partner being in grave danger, and I was insulted, none of it is true, yet you blamed me." Niko's nails dug into Ji's skin, and blood was pouring. "Do something about this!" His eyes pleading, his grip on Ji was tight but quivering.
A smile flickered on Ji's face in return, before a scowl replaced it, practiced a 1000 times to perfection, as he pulled out a pistol and placed it against Niko's forehead.
"NIKOLAI VASILIEV OF SQUAD 31! YOU DARE THREATEN AN OVERSEER?! I HEREBY DECLARE SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE ON GROUNDS OF VIOLENCE!"
Before Niko could make a big show of pleading and begging for mercy, a taser to the chest flicked his lights out, and he hit the bed. Ah, someone was hidden all this time, Niko thought, before the world turned dark.
.
.
.
.
Niko awoke slowly, rubbing his eyes as he peered around. Cold, dark, lonely, just the right place to roll over in a blanket and fall asle-
"Rise and shine, we have a sector to save." Ji sauntered over to Niko's side. He was still in a hospital bed, just in a rat-infested cellar instead of a sterile room, no biggie.
"I wanna sleep, go away, nobody is dying in an hour," Niko muttered, pulling the sheet over his head.
Which Ji promptly pulled back, before fixing his tie, grabbing a chair, and sitting down, the expression of effort clearly visible on his face. "Now then, no nonsense, tell me what he said."
Niko begrudgingly sat on the bed, his eyes closed. He would get some rest, one way or another. "He asked whether I wanna bring down the wall with him, fight on my terms, and beyond that, just threatened Aina if I spoke about it."
"Ah, freedom and rebellion as a tactic to recruit people, classic." Ji nodded, fixing his glasses next. "That's all? Anything more? Any details?"
"Uhh, no, but I 100% believe there's a cultist in the girls' dorms, there's a reason he threatened me, and he means what he says."
Ji nodded in acceptance "I'm sure of it, there are cultists everywhere, every 1 out of 20 people is a cultist," Ji responded matter-of-factly.
"Doesn't that mean you should be actively working? Aren't you afra-"
"Should we be ripping off every person's clothes just to check? For a tattoo that's often covered up?" Ji was getting annoyed now, This information was worthless, and he made a big fuss over it...
Ji sighed, rubbing his temples "listen kid, felling the walls has always been the ultimate goal of the cultists, and they've only ever done it once. Seems to me you faced a newly recrui-"
Ji stopped midway, his eyes gaze turned glassy, before turning to Niko with a quiet emergency. "His palm, did you see his palm?"
Niko opened his eyes, confusion evident. "Why do you think I attac-"
"No, no, after you knocked him out, did you see his palm and the tattoo?"
Niko shook his head "I was in pain, I couldn't bend to check."
"Your once-friend is still alive and not executed, which shouldn't be possible... "
Niko raised his eyebrow in confusion before the truth hit him like a sledgehammer "Either nobody saw his tattoo... "
Ji chuckled at the absurdity before completing his sentence " Or somebody covered it up."
Niko gulped, Ji snapped his fingers "current whereabouts of Xiao Nabokov, now!"
A rustle at the corner of the cell and someone who wasn't visible, was no longer there.
"The traitors have gotten bold now, they're confident, they're everywhere." Ji lit his cigarette and took a puff.
"Seems your information wasn't so worthless after all, huh."