Alaric's hands were no longer his own because they belonged to the tremors.
In the Eastern Sector the sight of severed limbs was a common currency of war since gristle and bone were nothing new.
But these were different. These were small and the proportions were delicate and slight.
They were the discarded pieces of children.
The officer smashes the doors of the almirah forcefully and glared at Volt. "My Lord how can I be useful to you?"
Volt eyed Alaric but he ignored the look.
"What was your name?"
"Paul Suki Wingrem my lord" He replied with a big smile.
Volt leaned forward while his arm rested on the table carefully.
The same almirah which held roughly cut heads and limbs of children was just in front of him.
The walls were a blinding clinical white and scrubbed so obsessively clean they seemed to mock the gore hidden within the cabinet.
Under the steady unblinking glow of the Obsidian Rune lamps the room felt less like a den of horrors and more like a sanctuary of progress.
"Is there any T Chamber free?" Volt asked.
The air left Alaric's lungs. T Chamber. The name felt like a weight though he could not yet place why.
Paul observed Volt with pure astonishment then he moved his eyes to glare at Alaric.
After a moment or two he narrowed his eyes focused on Alaric and he immediately looked at Volt as he understood what the man meant.
"All yours My Lord" he answered with a wide and weird smile.
Volt stood gently and calmly and fixed his cuffs simultaneously.
Alaric also stood up silently following Volt's every step.
Volt marched towards the gate of the office as he turned towards Alaric for a mere second. "Time to really begin our conversation."
Alaric followed Volt into the corridor trying his best not to make any noise.
The corridor stretched out like an endless bleached throat. Here the Obsidian Rune lamps were spaced further apart casting rhythmic pools of cold light that flickered across the polished floor.
Each step Alaric took felt like a thunderclap against the silence which was a desperate contrast to Volt's effortless predatory glide.
Alaric kept his gaze fixed on the small of Volt's back because he was terrified that if he looked to the left or right he would see more than just wall.
He could feel the weight of the T Chamber looming at the end of the hall as a destination that felt less like a room and more like an inevitable conclusion.
Every few meters they passed heavy windowless doors with reinforced observation slits.
Alaric did not dare peer inside since the silence coming from behind those doors was far more terrifying than any scream could have been.
Volt came to a halt before a heavy black door with its center marked by a shimmering golden label. He did not turn around and his voice dropped to a cool conversational tone.
"Tell me Alaric" Volt said "do you believe a man provides a more honest answer when he is comfortable or when he is certain he is about to die?"
Volt did not wait for an answer.
He pressed his palm against the door's surface. There was no mechanical click but only the low melodic hum of runes disengaging.
The heavy slab of metal swung inward with a weightless haunting silence.
"Step inside" Volt commanded. It was not a request.
Alaric crossed the threshold and was instantly swallowed.
The transition was physical because the clinical glare of the hallway was cut off as the door sealed behind them leaving him in a darkness so absolute it felt viscous like lungs filling with ink.
The air here was different since it was colder and devoid of the metallic tang of the Eastern Sector while smelling instead of old cedar and recycled oxygen.
Then a spark.
A single Obsidian Rune lamp flickered to life.
It did not illuminate the room but merely pierced a hole in the gloom.
The violet black light spilled downward pooling over a solitary high backed wooden chair.
The chair sat in the center of the void with its grain worn smooth by the friction of terrified bodies.
Beyond the small circle of light the corners of the room did not exist. There were no walls and no ceiling but only an infinite oppressive reach of shadow that made Alaric feel like he was standing on a needle's point.
"Sit" Volt's voice drifted from the darkness disembodied and terrifyingly close.
Alaric hesitated while his legs felt like lead. In this room the conversation Volt promised did not feel like a talk between a Lord and a soldier. It felt like a dissection.
"The chair Alaric" Volt repeated while his silhouette finally stepped into the edge of the violet glow.
His face was half masked in shadow which turned his features into a sharp cruel marble bust.
"Comfort is for the deceptive. Darkness however is where a man meets his true self. And I am very interested in meeting yours."
Alaric swallowed for the first time because he felt so uncomfortable that his hands were shaking.
They were not shaking violently but they were shaking.
Alaric obeyed Volt's command.
Volt stood in front of him holding the Obsidian lamp like a typical ghost in a horror movie.
His half face was illuminating with bright light emitting from the Obsidian while the other half was covered in darkness just like him.
Without giving any time to Alaric he immediately began. "Should we begin our happy conversation?"
Alaric nodded his head.
"Alaric Xyle how did you come up with this last name since as much as I know you were a nameless pig of the Eastern Sector?"
Alaric's fingers went numb at just one question and his mind went blank.
It was like he had lost the ability to think.
He was just unable to do anything while his mouth felt dry and he forgot to breathe for a moment.
When he glanced upwards the only thing he saw was Volt observing him with a smirk so weird that it could make people vomit.
Alaric still did not reply.
Volt sighed and observed the surroundings for a mere second then immediately he again glared at Alaric. "If I remember correctly then the Fourth Brother of the eleventh king had the last name Xle and in the Eastern Sector you were known as Y so I can see where your last name comes from."
Alaric's eyes were trembling from fear. He could not say anything because he never expected such a thing would ever happen to him.
His most important secret was just explained in front of him like a joke or like a historian just telling random information.
Before he could do anything or use his ability to think Volt dropped a piece of paper while saying "How did you scam the Red Bamboo Guy?"