Chapter 86: Let Me Help [M]
I gaped at him. Chains? So, they are really treating them as slaves! And these...are allowed by the UAO?! Just because they aren’t Earthlings doesn’t mean they are less human!
"So, what happens if you disobey them?" I asked carefully.
Claude slowly began regaining his normal color, and his breathing steadied as well. Counseling him made me somehow sensitive to his emotions. I could feel the rage boiling inside him, but also the rein that keeps it in.
"Torture."
I stiffened. My ears could not believe what I just heard.
Claude continued, "The 10th Chamber’s awakened ability is called Scan. He puts these barcodes in his targets, a copy. If one disobeys the orders, he scans the code that disobedient one has, and it will torture them depending on the punishment he inputs."
If it’s an ability, then I can cancel it. So, why did no one ask me to do it? Not even Noir?
"The 10th Chamber knows if we tried to remove it. It is not that it can be removed, but someone tried to peel this part of his skin, and nothing changed. The 10th Chamber only got mad," he added as if he read what was on my mind.
"This code comes with a tracking device. But it doesn’t work if we’re inside the vortex."
"Did someone try to stay inside the vortex instead of here?" If the barcode doesn’t work inside the vortex, then it’s the only place they can be free.
Claude scoffed. "The bastards know we can’t stay inside. If we stay, we get trapped inside forever. We won’t be able to go back once the exit portal closes. Every one of us still hopes that we will be able to go back one day."