Iwoke up strapped down again.
Jeeze, it really said something about how often this seemed to happen that I didn’t even feel panicked about it anymore.
I was feeling groggy and lethargic, like I had the last time he’d drugged me, but I could see, which meant he’d been courteous enough not to leave me tied up and blind in a dark room alone.
Blinking through the blurriness as my eyes adjusted, I took in my surroundings.
This room had a window, but the blinds were drawn shut, so I couldn’t see outside. The walls were made of oak paneling, and there was barely any furniture in here that I could see. The only source of light came from the two monitors on the desk, set across the far wall, that seemed to be charging what looked like an out-of-date model of a NeuroExtractor.
I was in what appeared to be a similar surgical chair to the ones at Neurovance, which was… concerning, but I did my best to calm the pounding in my chest.
Stay calm. Don’t fall apart. He always letsyou go… So far, at least…
“He’s up!” NOVA’s bodiless voice chimed, notifying The Forgotten (Jay?) that I was now conscious.
The more I came to, the more my mind started putting things together.
Sebastian had called my captor Jay, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that meant my assailant was none other than JayFreakingReynolds, which was… not what I would have expected of one of the most renowned biotech geniuses on the planet.
I’d expected Jay Reynolds to look more like me.
Underweight, pale from spending too much time in a lab… kinda nerdy.
Not this tall, lean, extremely athletic beast of a man that seemed to have extensive military training of some kind. How the hell did someone have time to break academic records, make neuroscience history, and also be some sort of walking humanweapon?
Did the man notsleep?
Speaking of the trigger-happy science nerd, the door to my tiny prison swung open, revealing the man himself. He still had his mask on with all his tactical gear, and I frowned.
“You can take off the mask now. I know who you are,” I deadpanned, and he cocked his head to the side, chuckling softly.
“I’m honestly surprised you didn’t put it together sooner, Milo.”
“Rude. I’ve been a little preoccupied trying to process the copious amounts of trauma you’ve been putting me through these past few days,” I complained, and he laughed again, heading over to the desk to check on the charging extractor.
“The mask stays on until after your procedure. There’s no telling what seeing my face will do to you in your current state.”
I squirmed in the surgical chair as I watched him remove his gloves and drop them on the desk before walking around the chair to somewhere behind my head where I couldn’t see him.
I heard a tap turn on and the unmistakable sound of him washing his hands.
The wordprocedurerattled around in my head, and I suddenly wasn’t feeling snarky and sarcastic anymore.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Washing my hands.”
“Why!?”
“To prevent infection.”
“Don’t be smart with me! What the heck are you going to do to me?” I started thrashing against my restraints, and NOVA chimed in, using her most soothing voice.
“Please calm down, Milo, or Jay will need to administer another sedative. If this works, you’ll wish you weren’t drugged out of your mind when you come to, I can guarantee it.”
“Ifwhatworks?” I shrieked, just as I heard the click and buzz of… Oh godno.
Jay wasshaving the side of my head.
