Emotion Hunter: System Awakening.

[Riven's POV]

Sleep had been impossible after Elena's revelations. Riven had spent the remaining hours until dawn clutching her keycard, staring at the ceiling and trying to process everything she'd told him.

The Guild had been watching his family. His recruitment wasn't even random. His friends were also leverages.

And tonight, they planned to transfer him to a facility where he'd be turned into a weapon.

When Cross appeared in the dormitory doorway at 0600, something was different about his demeanor.

Gone was the calculating smile and casual conversation.....

Now he was just staring at him with an emotionless gaze.

"Mr. Duke. Time for your classification evaluation."

It seems they don't wanna pretend anymore. He didn't mention if there's development or improvement today....it seems Elena was right after all.

Riven followed Cross through sections of the facility he'd never seen before.

The corridors here were stark white, lined with reinforced doors marked with biohazard symbols and security classifications.

This wasn't the training wing he was familiar with....

"Today's assessment will map your system's full operational parameters," Cross explained as they walked. "We need comprehensive data on your abilities' potential applications."

They stopped at a door marked "Evaluation Chamber 7."

Cross scanned his badge and the heavy door slid open with a light hiss.

The room beyond looked like a medical laboratory crossed with a torture chamber.

Monitoring equipment lined the walls, their screens showing various readouts and system signatures.

In the center stood what looked like an examination chair surrounded by sensors and cameras.

But what made Riven's blood freeze were the other occupants.

Dr. Martinez from psychological evaluation stood near a bank of monitors, reviewing data on a tablet.

Two other researchers Riven didn't recognize were calibrating equipment that hummed with ominous energy.

And strapped into a chair similar to the central one was Elena.

"Ms. Vasquez will be assisting with today's evaluation," Cross said casually, as if she were just another piece of equipment. "Her participation is crucial for mapping your emotional response patterns."

Elena looked up as they entered, and Riven saw fear in her brown eyes. But underneath the fear was something else....a barely perceptible nod.

She remembered their conversation. She knew what was coming.

"Please take a seat, Mr. Duke," Dr. Martinez said, gesturing to the examination chair.

Riven hesitated. Every instinct screamed at him to run, to use Elena's keycard now and escape before they could begin whatever they had planned.

But Elena was already secured in place. Running would mean abandoning her to whatever they intended.

He sat down, trying to appear cooperative while his mind raced through possibilities.

The researchers began attaching sensors to his temples, wrists, and chest.

The devices felt cold against his skin and hummed with energy that made his system interface flicker at the edge of his vision.

------

[Error - Error!!!- Er###r]

[System Mal###tion]

------

His system was glitching and blinking red

"The process is quite simple," Dr. Martinez explained as she worked. "We'll be conducting memory extraction from your partner while monitoring your emotional and system responses. Your natural protective instincts should create ideal conditions for comprehensive data collection."

Memory extraction.

Riven's stomach dropped as he understood what they intended. They weren't just going to hurt Elena - they were going to probe her memories while studying how his emotion looting responded to her suffering.

"What kind of memories?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Her previous trauma, but primarily her System awakening experiences and of course her time in Guild custody.....We find that painful memories produce the strongest emotional responses." Dr. Martinez adjusted a device near Elena's chair. "Your system should naturally absorb whatever emotions the extraction process generates."

Elena's eyes met his across the room. In them, he saw apology and understanding. She'd known this was coming when she'd given him the keycard.

She'd known they planned to use her as an instrument of torture against him.

"Beginning preliminary extraction sequence," one of the researchers announced.

Elena's body went rigid as energy flowed into the devices attached to her head. Her face contorted in pain, and a low moan escaped her lips.

------

[Error!! Error!! Error!!]

[Forceful Emotion detected]

-------

Riven felt it immediately - the echo of her suffering hitting his emotion looting system like a physical blow.

His abilities responded automatically, drawing in her fear and pain without his conscious control.

The monitoring equipment around him went wild, screens lighting up with data as the researchers tracked every aspect of his system's response.

"Excellent," Cross murmured, studying the readouts. "Absorption rate is higher than predicted. Emotional resonance is creating system amplification."

Elena's breathing became ragged as the memory extraction intensified. Through the unwanted connection his abilities created, Riven began to see flashes of what she was experiencing.

Her system awakening - fire erupting from her hands as her apartment burned around her. The terror of not understanding what was happening to her body.

Her first day at the facility - the false promises of training and development that had quickly turned into systematic conditioning.

David Chen, her first partner. His face as they dragged him away for "advanced training." Elena's desperate screams as she realized she would never see him again.

Maria Santos, her second partner. The barrier system user who had tried to protect Elena during an exercise. The moment Cross had declared her "compromised by attachment issues."

Each memory hit Riven like a physical blow, the emotions so intense they made his own experiences feel distant and unreal. His emotion looting system pulled in everything - Elena's pain, her fear, her desperate hope that someone would save her, her crushing realization that no one ever would.

"Subject is experiencing empathetic overload," Dr. Martinez noted clinically. "System is processing trauma at accelerated rates. Fascinating."

"Can we increase extraction intensity?" Cross asked.

"This is a gradual process. If it's too rapid, an increase might cause system shutdown."

"Elena," Riven gasped, fighting against the restraints as her suffering flooded through him. "Stop this. She doesn't deserve—"

"Ms. Vasquez volunteered for this evaluation," Cross interrupted. "Just as you volunteered for Guild service. Her participation helps us understand how your abilities can be optimized for field applications."

The extraction device hummed louder. Elena's back arched against her restraints as new memories surfaced.

Riven saw through her eyes as Cross had explained her "medication regimen" ....the drugs designed not to help her but to make her more vulnerable to system failures.

He felt her despair as she realized the Guild was deliberately sabotaging her abilities to create training scenarios.

He experienced her horror when she'd overheard conversations about the previous emotion system user.... how they'd transferred him to a research facility for "optimization protocols."

How they'd discussed turning his empathetic abilities into weapons for interrogation and crowd control.

"The subject's emotional absorption is interfering with memory clarity," one researcher reported. "His system is pulling the traumatic content before we can fully extract it."

"Interesting," Dr. Martinez mused. "His protective instincts are actually competing with our equipment. The system prioritizes absorbing her suffering over allowing us to study it."

"Can we work with that?" Cross asked.

"Potentially. If we can map how his system responds to different categories of trauma, we could design scenarios that trigger specific emotional responses. Weaponized empathy, essentially."

Elena's memories shifted to more recent events. Her growing desperation as she watched trainee after trainee disappear into "advanced programs."

Her decision to warn Riven despite knowing the risks. Her terror that she was already too broken to save anyone, even herself.

And underneath it all, a crushing loneliness that made Riven's chest ache.

Elena had spent months in isolation, watching everyone she tried to connect with get taken away or "corrected."

She'd learned that caring about people was the most dangerous thing she could do.

"System overload approaching critical levels," Dr. Martinez announced. "Subject's emotional processing is becoming unstable."

Riven's vision blurred as Elena's trauma mixed with his own suppressed grief over his family.

The emotion looting system was pulling in everything - not just her current pain but echoes of every loss she'd experienced since arriving at the facility.

"Pull back extraction intensity," Cross ordered. "We need him functional for the next phase."

The device's humming decreased, and Elena slumped in her chair, breathing heavily. But the connection between them remained, like a thin thread of shared suffering that his system refused to release.

"Now time for phase two," Dr. Martinez announced. "Now we test controlled emotional manipulation."

"What does that mean?" Riven asked, though he dreaded the answer.

"We're going to see if your system can be directed rather than simply reactive. Instead of absorbing Ms. Vasquez's emotions, we want you to project specific emotional states onto her."

"I don't know how to do that."

"You will learn. Or Ms. Vasquez will continue experiencing memory extraction until you do."

The threat was delivered matter-of-factly, like discussing weather conditions. Elena's safety depended entirely on his ability to perform whatever they demanded.

"We want you to make her feel calm," Dr. Martinez continued. "Use your emotion looting in reverse. Instead of taking emotions from her, give her some of yours."

"That's not how my system works."

"Systems can be trained to evolve. The previous emotion system user developed projection capabilities after appropriate conditioning." Cross's smile was sharp. "Consider this your first lesson."

Elena looked at him with exhausted eyes. Through their connection, he could feel her resignation. She expected him to hurt her because that's what the Guild did - they turned people's protective instincts into weapons against the people they cared about.

"I won't do it," Riven said.

"Then we'll continue memory extraction until your system adapts naturally. Ms. Vasquez has many more traumatic experiences we haven't explored yet."

The extraction device hummed back to life. Elena's face contorted in renewed pain as they forced her to relive her worst moments.

Riven felt everything through their unwanted connection. Her system awakening. Her parents' rejection when her abilities manifested. Her desperate hope that the Guild would help her control her fire manipulation. The slow realization that she was trapped in a system designed to break her.

"Stop," he gasped. "Please, just stop."

"When you demonstrate projection capability, we'll stop."

Elena's suffering intensified. The researchers were no longer being careful about extraction rates - they were deliberately pushing her past safe limits to force his compliance.

Riven closed his eyes and reached for his emotion looting system, trying to reverse the flow somehow. Instead of pulling Elena's emotions into himself, he tried to push his own determination and strength toward her.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then he felt something shift, like a door opening in reverse. The crushing weight of Elena's despair lifted slightly as his own stubborn resolve flowed through their connection.

"There!" Dr. Martinez exclaimed. "Projection successful. System evolution confirmed."

Elena's breathing steadied as Riven's calm flowed into her. The relief in her eyes was genuine - he was actually helping her instead of just absorbing her pain.

"Excellent progress," Cross noted, making entries on his tablet. "Bidirectional emotional manipulation achieved under stress conditions. Subject shows rapid adaptation to new system parameters."

"Should we continue testing?" Dr. Martinez asked.

"No. We have sufficient data for classification purposes." Cross began disconnecting the monitoring equipment. "Mr. Duke has exceeded operational parameters. Transfer to Research Facility Omega is confirmed for tonight."

Research Facility Omega. The place Elena had warned him about. The place where they'd turn his newly demonstrated abilities into weapons for interrogation and control.

"What happens to Elena?" Riven asked as they unstrapped him from the chair.

"Ms. Vasquez will remain here for continued baseline studies. Her emotional conditioning makes her useful for training future subjects."

Elena would stay trapped in this system, being used as an instrument of torture against others like him.

An endless cycle of suffering designed to break down anyone who showed empathy or protective instincts.

Cross gestured toward the door. "You'll be taken to a preparation area for transfer processing. Transportation arrives at 2200 hours."

As they left the evaluation chamber, Riven caught Elena's eye one final time. She was exhausted and traumatized, but she managed to mouth a single word: "Tonight."

The keycard felt warm in his pocket. Tonight, when they tried to transfer him to the research facility, he'd make his escape attempt.

But that would mean leaving Elena behind to suffer whatever they had planned for her next.

Cross led him through more sterile corridors toward what he called the "preparation area." But as they walked, Riven realized something that chilled him more than anything else he'd experienced at the facility.

The projection ability they'd forced him to develop - pushing emotions onto others instead of just absorbing them - hadn't felt unnatural or difficult once he'd figured out how to do it.

It had felt like his system had always been capable of that function.

Like they'd known exactly what his abilities could become, and had simply been waiting for the right conditions to unlock that potential.

Elena had been right about everything.

His recruitment, his training, even the specific psychological pressures they'd applied - it had all been designed to develop him into the weapon they wanted him to become.

And now that weapon was complete.