Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

"They’re waiting for your answer." The doctor looked at me with a smile. "Do you know how much it costs to ask a question, sweetie? Your reply is worth so much."

He continued, "The ones that are able to watch you from behind the glass must have assets that reach organizational audits. Those who can ask questions must be more than extravagant in their spending. This is like bidding at an auction, and a question... is worth a million."

The pain in my body slowly subsided. I shot him a glance and scoffed. "Who do I love? After interacting with people for extended periods of time, I actually prefer dogs..."

I was cut off by the pain that was once again sent coursing through my body. This time, it didn’t come from the lie detector but from the doctor in front of me.

He wasn’t pleased with my response.

"Don’t try to be clever. The answers that the conglomerates want from you are worth millions..." He yanked on my hair and forced me to face the camera in front.

My hands were tied to the chair. I couldn’t break free.

"Who do you love, Dexter Black or Damien Coleman?" The doctor pointed at the screen. He was extremely unhappy that I was a disobedient experiment subject.

"Dexter Black..." I clenched my fists. I could taste the blood in my mouth.

Since Damien wanted an answer, I’d give him an answer.

"Dexter Black... 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Dexter Black!

"The man I love is Dexter Black!

"My dear Dexter..."

I chanted, but the machine seemed to think I was lying. The muscles in my body were beginning to cramp from the burning pain.

"You’re lying..." the doctor replied with a smile.

"That means... the real answer must be the other option-Damien Coleman." He was trying to provoke me.

I looked at him with a seething glare and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"I fucking love myself, asshole."

At that moment, I really wanted to berate someone. I was overwhelmed with anger, pain, and other emotions.

That broken machine didn’t even make sense. There were too many external factors that affected its reliability.

The machine concluded whether someone was lying by detecting any changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. However, a test like this couldn’t possibly be accurate in a setting like this.

"Recalling an experiment subject that’s been outside of the lab annoys me the most..." He cranked his neck and smiled psychotically.

"I hate subjects that have been left outside like you the most, you know. All of them end up with bad habits

they’ve picked up from the outside world. They don’t listen, they aren’t wise about their decisions... they’re not obedient at all."

He pressed the button again. A current that was stronger than the one before seared through my body.

Blood poured endlessly from the corners of my mouth. I gritted my teeth so hard it felt like my entire mouth was bleeding.

There was a loud ring. The warning light in the room lit up, and a robotic voice rang out.

"The club members are against inhumane ways of collecting experimental data. This is a warning. Please refrain from any form of violence."

The announcement warned the doctor against torturing me.

He laughed and knelt in front of me. "Seems to me like someone in the audience cares for you deeply... It takes a lot of money to protest against the one conducting the tests.

"The amount of money they’re throwing at you is truly an eye-opener... No wonder the people at the lab call you our most valuable subject."

I was barely alive. I looked at him and said in a weak voice, "Do you want to know... why I’m worth so much?"

I barely had any energy left to speak. My sentences were incoherent.

The doctor leaned in closer, and I rammed my head into his eye as hard as I could.

A scream pierced through the air. He fell on the floor wailing while clutching his eye.

Probably angered by my actions, he got up and immediately reached for the button to teach me a lesson.

"Please refrain from any form of violence against the test subject," the robotic voice warned him again." Please refrain from any form of violence against the test subject."

The doctor laughed. He threw away the remote in hand and whispered next to my ear, "Today’s test is over ... I’ll show you what hell is actually like."

He continued, "Here, all the experimental subjects must obey me, and that includes you. Else... I’ll show you what punishment is."

He was threatening me.

I scoffed and leaned back against the chair.

A question popped up on the screen once again: "What is the point of a lie detector when someone can fool even themselves after hypnosis and memory transfers?"

This time, someone paid a hefty sum on a question directed at the Genome Society.

Evidently, the person asking the question was amused by what I was going through. They didn’t think the lie detector was cruel enough, so they wanted to amp it up.

The doctor’s lips curved upward.

He grabbed a syringe from the shelf at the side. "In order to make sure that the medicine is legitimate, this truth serum was sent over by the one who submitted the question... The entire process was transparent and verified by the organization."

I tried to break free from the restraints on my wrists. Ha... A truth serum? All it did was interfere with one’s perception and cognitive abilities. Technically, it was a tranquilizer.

I took a deep breath and stared at the screen. My fingers tapped absentmindedly on the armrest of the chair.

I wasn’t sure if Dexter or Joel was able to watch the live stream of this test...

The doctor injected the medication into my body when I was least prepared.

Once it entered the bloodstream, the person would lose consciousness within three seconds. The brain wouldn’t even think consciously.

"Who told you to pretend to be Sophia?" a conglomerate asked another question on the screen.

The doctor yanked my hair and asked me to answer.

I knew... that they were anticipating my response. The organization wanted me to be the actual Sophia more than anyone else did.

I had to be Sophia...

If I wasn’t, I’d lose my value. That would mean that I’d be recalled and dealt with.

Hence, I had to be Sophia.

My survival instincts wanted me to fight, but I couldn’t control myself. I wasn’t even sure what answers I’d given them.

The loud whirring of the machine echoed in my ears as my consciousness gradually blurred.

By the time I woke up, I was locked in a pod-like experiment room.

There was another transparent lab here with countless experimental subjects.

We were locked in like lab rats placed under observation.

I slammed my hands against the transparent walls and glanced around my surroundings in anger. I didn’t know how many questions they asked after they dosed me with the truth serum. I also wasn’t sure how I answered...

If I wasn’t actually Sophia Milford... Was I already exposed at this point?

I was slightly afraid and sat on the bed biting my nails.

I soon quieted down. They wouldn’t have spent so much effort to cage me up again if I’d actually lost my value.

All of a sudden, there was a ringing sound coming from the lab.

I glanced around in confusion. Everyone dressed in white hospital gowns had all stood up. They looked like trained and obedient pets waiting for their meals to arrive at the sound of the bell.

My expression was sour. Physical training... They’d completely dehumanized the experimental subjects.

I counted. Excluding myself, there were eight subjects-three guys and five women.

Among them, two of the women had enlarged stomachs. The fetus in their wombs were clearly new experiments as well.

The door opened. The doctor who was previously involved in my test entered with several staff members in tow. Behind him, one of them was pushing a meal cart while dressed in protective clothing.

The staff members placed the meals in each pod.

When they reached my end, they were just about to place down my meal when the doctor stopped them. Then, he dumped all of my food into the bin in front of my face.