Something in William twisted at that very moment, at hearing and watching the other speak. Changing the stance of his face and body was impossible on the chair, and something in this uncanny moment couldn't contain his emotions anymore. It was a very fast change, as if he saw his own red button and punched it with every fiber of his being, but it was not his doing.

  It was about time for that, though. Hough pushed the lever and didn't allow William to go out of his way or create any issues.

  Strips of leather and metallic cuffs secured his limbs, neck, and body, immobilizing him much more than Celeste and many others. A big block around his neck was rather crude and a bit too much, but so what? Hough went all out because he learned from his mistakes, and he knew this little would not be very nice at all. All the hues and colors described it.

  Aside from that, Mi-Yung's opinion didn't matter. She knew this was based on numerous calculations and ideas stemming from colors and hints that many assumed or knew from those kids. They must know enough from the previous silo. With Rey there, it was easier to figure out what they took this kid for.

  Mi-Yung was standing in the darkness, waiting for it to start, but she already knew from the looks on his face that it did.

  She was not even on the back of William's mind. She knew the sentiment. He didn't have to rely on her anymore. He shouldn't, for this experience was his alone.

  William took the walk very well. A bit too well, maybe?

  He struggled internally, wincing as if he was aflame on the chair, in pain, or couldn't contain the sudden rush of adrenaline and flow that made him recall terrible ideas. It wasn't even time for memories or calls. This was just a mere recognition of the mirror, that voice, and that cause.

  “Just in time, eh?” Hough said aside, leaving the lever alone, yet forgot about the syringe. “How old of me. It is getting out of touch. Colors are at fault, as expected. This age and years. Ah. How sad. Sad!”

  Hough lamented to himself, left William to his devices, and went to check again whether everything was ready. Or to let him wrestle with the obvious wincing eyes that stared forward as intended.

  With wide-open eyes, veins bulging around his head and eyes, his mirror self contained its laughter. A weird feeling was coming, and of them knew it.

  

  “No... No. Not again...” William muttered, feeling his trembling hands and body that felt the restraints jiggle, and last... they did. That was good. He never had this luxury before. Locks were good. Cuffs should be tougher, however! Tighter, but whatever. William felt his blood boil, sweat collect on his back, and his previously nervous mind sharpen to an extreme, thanks to the containment.

  

  “Stop joking. Not this. Not that!” William said to no one in particular, just in time, because Hough grabbed his syringe, and it couldn't stop what William was feeling. Even if William protested with all his voice and heart, it wasn't coming, and there weren't any signs of mishaps happening. They had long formed.

  Sure, there were differences in mentality and mindsets, but body and mind were still tight, and many youths had them good, open, or loose. Hough figured this one was odd. William and that Emblem had bizarre connections and a reputable history that Hough wasn't aware of, but not forever. By now, he had caught on to these matters and didn't forget about his own sight and direction. He recognized it, even if he didn't know what his disciple, Rey, or Old Dream learned about it, from the source. It was almost irrelevant.

  “I am not afraid. You should be. Don't scream too much, oy!” Hough slapped his forehead. “I keep saying that, but they scream louder every time. Is it at me?! Who was the loudest today?!” He asked out loud.

  a voice from the speaker said, coming from the control room aside, right beside the mirror-wall.

  “Hm. 95?! Decibels... are busy and decadent. Well, that is that. I am busy! Don't answer!” Hough argued for his sanity as he watched William's struggle after the syringe found its deep target in that right forearm.

  Hough scratched his chin, aiming his finger at the red button and inserting the syringe between all the contraptions, which almost hid most of William's right forearm. The Emblem wasn't visible.

  His unblinking eyes and mad smile left no assurance. William knew he wasn't in good hands, but it didn't matter. He had no fear, and that mirror was like a glimpse at the calm lake before a storm. He was worried, watching his mirror self opposite him and waiting for it to change.

  It always did, even if he didn't see it all the time. As expected, it did change. It had to.

  

  The mirror William changed, and crimson liquid poured from his eyes. A giant, demonic, ghostly figure, bearing no legs, spread its long arms upward and emerged from William's mirrored upper body like a raging flame. Human head disappeared behind the crimson, and so did all human features, and it was all happening in William's eyes.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  No one else present could see what he saw, although those behind the mirror watched as William observed them with various emotions and an unyielding gaze. It wasn't the shocked kind or broken kind. It was a gaze of confusing conviction and redness.

  There were bets on whether it was craze or fear. Others argued he was enraged, and some said it was amusing how such a kid had such big cuffs.

  Yet when crimson light started to escape under all that metal, and news spread on their monitors, most people figured out this might not be so simple. The surname Gale came next, and everyone realized that quite a curious phenomenon was unfolding right before their eyes. Some got nervous, and not a little.

  For William, this demon was big, close, and smiling, almost escaping from the mirror. [Parade. See? We see! YOU you see!?] It said, waving its big claws that stretched across one whole mirror. The perception was weird, and William felt as if it was truly coming for him.

  “Who... cares,” William said through clenched teeth. “You... Who are you? What are you?”

  “Tom Hough is my name,” Hough said, ready to push the button as he sat beside him. It wasn't funny, but the old man chuckled anyway.

  William grunted, jerked his body, and winced at Hough, who was standing way too close.

  “Oh, don't jump at me. I'm old, young...” Hough frowned next, noticing deep crimson eyes looking at him. The Emblem was beginning to crack on its own, yet it was hiding, so no one saw it. He felt it.

  “What a sight. What eyes?!” Hough smiled and cheered. “I want to see it more. Yes. The young man is afraid. It is normal. Fret not, this will hurt. A lot of pain is good, so be afraid and make it worthwhile. Oh, and don't scream. Little is often enough. Or a lot. Either will do, since we do not accept half-assed effort.”

  the demon said, frowning and using its big claw to scratch its sharp jawline.

  William gazed at the old man, hearing more nonsense, and felt the world turn red again.

  “Do it already... You...” William wanted to curse Hough to his death. It was too late. The red button found its weight, and then the flow came in low tides. Hough was no longer polite and rather left to check the monitors.

  Almost immediately, several Butlers made their moves because there were multiple instances of failure today. It was their shame, yet it was how untainted Emblems were, and how Forced Awakening operated. It was brutal and harsh, and some energies disregarded Ranks. The Rank 0 was most like that, since they weren't very tame or simple points in any sequence.

  Butlers received a special message from the control room to go all out in this circumstance, while Hough wasn't involved, as he had no concern for their actions as long as the chair and Accelerator had their most substantial protection.

  Crimson was dangerous, but Rey would say that William was even more dangerous. That was a little silly to tell anyone at the moment, and Old Dream would agree with this sentiment.

  Right away, William began to grunt, not scream, when liquids entered his right arm, and contraptions started to convulse like his whole body, which heated up and began to sense a new kind of drowning. His visions remained red, his mouth twitched, his eyes deepened, and whatever was happening on that mirror was not going anywhere. The demon giggled contentedly and even started clapping, turning its face redder.

  His face was visible, but the thickening, veiny neck wasn't. His clothes were swaying with the storm underneath them, and William swore this wasn't strange at all. It was weak. This shit was nothing. It was almost familiar, as if he was losing himself in his vision and to that cursed laughing demon and the room. William watched that demon grin, and taunts began to sound hoarse because something even more familiar spread.

  Pain began to rush in, cracks spread in his right arm's skin, leaving blood gushing in steady drops to the chair and the ground. Then the droplets thickened, turning the right side of the chair red and forming into little streams.

  It seemed as if something did explode, and even Mi-Yun was a little surprised to see such a reaction happen so fast. It meant the Emblem was a limiting factor, flesh was weird and tense, and whatever this flow and glow was doing was obscure or did more than enough. Or maybe William did.

  It wasn't going to be normal, which Mi-Yung knew for a long time.

  It was just the beginning, and then Hough hesitated, watching the monitor and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, because some things weren't meant to be monitored. His creation was already put to the test, and slips stemming from an old silo, or perhaps from something even older, made no difference to him.

  William felt flames coursing through his vessels, smearing his muscles, and his right arm turned red, exposing tattered flesh and vivid red lines that radiated from the Emblem's profound awakening.

  “Interesting reaction,” Hough said, scratching his head. “Second describes it as silly. Ray said it would be strange. Did Old Dream say anything? Hm. I can't remember.”

  William wished he couldn't either.

  His vision felt wrong. Demon frowned, wishing to escape from this mirror. It was just an image, a flow of law that took it by surprise, and a very heretical thing. It was silly, but it seemed humans had created something very good this time.

  William watched as a Screen appeared before him, looking jittery like a box of breaking glass—a big one, flowing from everywhere as if it were dust.

  A wavering line and waves formed a couple of English words. They were rough, resembling ancient relics that were difficult to read.

  

  Then, numbers spread, smearing into his visions, turning that demon vague and disappointed that it had happened. In a way, it expected and wished to challenge it.

  It was futile; there were millions of numbers, turning, clicking, and changing. They were getting lower and lower, getting faster and flickering, turning to dust, and moving closer to the finite zero, which felt very distant.

  Then, noises and crazy voices spread, coming from everywhere, even the devil.

  It tried to say something.

  Voices and noises weren't always nonsensical in William's opinion; most were screams looking for obvious troubles, and words looking for pains, and reactions, or it was his damn head again. Yeah, it was that time again.

  William felt them many times and hadn't lost his head. It was bad if he did, for there would be nothing good to say to Dann when he would meet him again, headless.

  Promises were deep and like small charms, so when he felt his arm again, he gripped the handle for the first time and flexed every fiber of his body.

  “You think I will lose?!”

  

  William was confused by this voice and felt a thud echo in his heart; his lungs began to change, moving deeper into his body and almost strangling his neck.

  “... Who?”

  [Oh, I am but a humble part of the Administrators, and this got out of hand very quickly. I am not speaking because we could, but because we should, Subject Six]

  William was never this confused.