Emotion Hunter: System Awakening.

[Riven's POV]

The preparation area was a sterile cell disguised as a medical room.

No windows, electronic locks, and a single chair bolted to the floor.

Riven sat alone, still processing the horror of what had happened during the evaluation. The memory of Elena's suffering echoed through his mind, along with the unsettling realization that his projection ability had felt natural once he'd accessed it.

How could something so wrong feel so right?The thought disturbed him more than he wanted to admit.

When I saw her pain, when I felt her fear... part of me understood exactly how to use it. Like muscle memory I never knew I had.

The Guild had known.

They'd known exactly what his system could become, and they'd systematically engineered the conditions to unlock that potential.

Every exercise, every psychological pressure, every moment of isolation.... it had all been designed to shape him into the weapon they wanted.

They played me perfectly. Riven's hands clenched into fists. Every rebellion, every moment I thought I was fighting back... they were counting on it. They needed me to resist so they could break me properly.

Elena's keycard felt warm in his pocket, hidden beneath the medical gown they'd made him change into.

According to Cross, the transfer vehicle would arrive at 2200 hours. That gave him maybe three hours to make his escape.

But escaping meant leaving Elena behind.

And then what? The voice in his head was brutally honest. Run back to my old life? Pretend none of this happened? They'll find me eventually. And everyone I care about will become leverage.

The evaluation had shown him exactly what the Guild did to people who stayed in their system.

Elena had been used as an instrument of torture, her memories extracted and her suffering mapped for research purposes.

And she would continue to be used that way, broken down piece by piece until nothing human remained.

She's stronger than they think, Riven tried to convince himself. She survived today. She's been surviving whatever they've done to her.

But even as he thought it, he remembered the hollow look in her eyes, the way she'd flinched when he'd accidentally touched her mind. How long before there's nothing left to survive with?

Footsteps in the corridor interrupted his thoughts. Cross appeared at the observation window, studying him with those calculating eyes.

Riven forced his expression to remain neutral.

The door slid open with a pneumatic hiss.

"How are we processing today's evaluation, Mr. Duke?" Cross asked, settling into the room's only other chair.

"Like being tortured," Riven replied honestly.

Why lie? He already knows how I feel. Might as well make him work for the psychological manipulation.

"Torture is such an emotional word. We prefer 'comprehensive assessment.' The data we collected will be invaluable for optimizing your abilities at Research Facility Omega."

Optimizing. The clinical language made Riven's skin crawl. Like I'm software to be debugged instead of a person being broken.

"What happened to the last emotion system user you sent there?"

Cross smiled. "He's been very productive....His projection capabilities have improved dramatically under proper guidance. He now has powers like Fear induction, loyalty conditioning and even pain amplification..... remarkable applications for interrogation and crowd control."

Fear induction. Riven's stomach dropped.

That's what I did to Elena today, isn't it? I projected my own protective instincts and turned them into weapons. The realization that he was already developing the same abilities made him feel sick.

How long before I can't tell the difference between helping and harming?

The casual way Cross described turning human empathy into weapons of psychological warfare made Riven's stomach turn.

"You're planning to do the same thing to me."

"We're planning to help you reach your full potential. Today's evaluation confirmed that your system can adapt under appropriate conditions. The projection ability you demonstrated is just the beginning."

Full potential. Riven wanted to laugh at the euphemism. They mean they want to turn me into a living weapon who can break people's minds just by feeling sorry for them.

Riven forced himself not to react.

Cross didn't need to know that the projection had felt disturbingly natural, or that part of him was curious about what other capabilities his system might develop.

There's a part of me that wants to know, he admitted to himself with self-loathing. A part that felt the power when I touched Elena's mind and wondered what else I could do with it. God, what's wrong with me?

"What about Elena?"

"Ms. Vasquez will continue her current assignment. Her emotional conditioning makes her useful for training future subjects." Cross consulted his tablet. "Speaking of which, her recovery time from today's memory extraction was faster than expected. Her resilience is valuable in test subjects."

Resilience. The word tasted like acid in Riven's mind.

So they're all test subjects.

That's all Elena was to them now. Not a person with hopes and dreams and the capacity for suffering, but a resource to be used until it broke.

"You're monsters," Riven said quietly.

"We're pragmatists. The world is full of dimensional threats that require unconventional solutions. Your abilities, properly developed, could save thousands of lives." Cross leaned forward. "Or would you prefer we let unregistered system users continue operating without oversight? How many civilians died in unauthorized Veil entries last year alone?"

He's not wrong about the dangers, Riven had to admit.

Uncontrolled system users are walking disasters waiting to happen. But this... He looked around the sterile room, thought about Elena's screams during the evaluation.

The question hit closer to home than Riven wanted to admit.

His own unauthorized entries had been dangerous, not just for his team but for anyone who might have been caught in the aftermath of a failed mission.

"There's a difference between oversight and what you did to Elena today."

"Is there? She volunteered for Guild service. She signed the same paperwork you did. The applications of her service may not match her expectations, but all service requires sacrifice."

Volunteered. Riven almost laughed. Like any of us had real choices. Join the Guild or spend life in a containment facility. Some volunteer program.

Cross stood and moved to the observation window, looking out at the corridor where Guild personnel moved...running their errands.

They all look so normal, Riven observed, watching the staff through the window. Like they're working at any other office building, not a facility where they systematically break people's minds. The banality of evil in action.

"Transport arrives in two hours, Mr. Duke. I suggest you use that time to mentally prepare for the next phase of your development."

After Cross left, Riven sat in the sterile room and weighed his options.

Elena's keycard could get him access to the maintenance levels.

According to her whispered directions, the emergency exit led to the parking structure where civilian vehicles were sometimes left overnight.

If he moved during the shift change at 1900 hours, he might have enough time to reach the exit before security noticed his absence.

But that would mean abandoning Elena to continued torture. And Marcus, who was somewhere else in the facility undergoing his own "conditioning."

And Maya, who was being used for research that would help the Guild develop better ways to control system users. And Jake, who was being trained to become part of the system that had destroyed their lives.

The keycard felt heavier with each passing minute.

Elena gave me this chance. She sacrificed God knows what to get me this information. His fingers traced the edge of the card through the thin fabric of the medical gown. If I waste it, if I get myself caught trying to play hero, then her suffering was for nothing.

At 1850 hours, Riven heard the electronic locks cycling as the evening shift began their security checks.

This was his window....the brief period when guard rotations created gaps in surveillance coverage.

It's Now or never. His heart hammered against his ribs.

He pulled out Elena's keycard and approached the room's control panel.

If this doesn't work, if the card's been deactivated or flagged... He didn't want to think about what Cross would do to Elena in retaliation.

The card slid through the reader with a soft beep. Red lights shifted to green, and the door unlocked.

Thank God.*Relief flooded through him as he stepped into the corridor.

Riven stepped into the corridor, heart pounding as he tried to look like he belonged there.

The medical gown helped....he could be a patient moving between treatment areas for any number of legitimate reasons.

Act like you're supposed to be here, he coached himself. Confidence is everything. The moment you start acting suspicious, you're done.

The maintenance stairwell Elena had described was three turns away, past two security checkpoints that should be unmanned during shift change.

Riven moved quickly but not frantically, trying to project the confidence of someone following authorized instructions.

The first checkpoint was empty as expected. The second had a guard who barely glanced up from his tablet as Riven passed.

So far so good. But he couldn't shake the feeling that this was going too smoothly.

Then he was at the maintenance stairwell, using Elena's keycard again to access the lower levels of the facility.

Still working huh. He allowed himself a moment of cautious optimism as the door opened. Maybe they really didn't expect me to run. Maybe Cross was so confident in his psychological manipulation that he didn't bother with extra security.

The basement was a maze of pipes, electrical conduits, and service corridors that connected every section of the building.

Riven followed her directions, turning left at the first junction, right at the second, then straight until he reached a corridor marked "Emergency Systems."

But as he moved through the tunnels, he realized something that changed everything.

The maintenance system didn't just connect to the parking structure. It connected to every wing of the facility, including the medical wing where Elena was being held.

I could reach her. The thought hit him like a physical blow. I could actually get to Elena. Get her out of here.

He reached the crucial junction where Elena's directions split.

Left led to the emergency exit and freedom. Right led deeper into the facility, toward the medical wing where Elena was recovering from the memory extraction.

She told me not to try to save her. Elena's warning echoed in his memory. She said it would just make Cross more interested. But she also gave me the tools to do exactly that.

Alarms began blaring somewhere above him.

"Shit!"

They know. Panic shot through his system like ice water.

They'd discovered his absence....at least that's what he thought.

Security teams would be mobilizing, sealing exits, and beginning systematic searches. His window of opportunity was closing fast.

If I run now, I might still make it out, he calculated frantically. But once those exits are sealed, this chance is gone forever.

Riven stood at the junction, Elena's keycard in his hand, listening to the sound of pursuit growing closer.

Left meant escape. Right meant almost certain capture, but it also meant the chance to get Elena out of the system that was destroying her piece by piece.

She saved me, he realized.

Elena's words echoed in his memory: Don't try to save me. It just makes Cross more interested.

Maybe she's right. Maybe trying to save her will just get us both killed. But he also remembered the hollow look in her eyes, the way she'd tried to smile at him even while Cross was extracting her memories. How can I leave her behind after everything she's done for me?

But he also remembered her suffering during the evaluation, the way she'd looked at him when she realized his protective instincts were being used as weapons against both of them.

She didn't just suffer, he forced himself to acknowledge. She suffered because of me. Because my system used her pain as fuel. If I leave her here, that suffering was meaningless. But if I try to save her and fail...

The sound of boots on metal stairs reached his ears. Security teams were entering the maintenance levels.

Riven made his choice.

He turned right, moving deeper into the facility instead of toward freedom.

This is insane, the rational part of his mind protested. *lThis is exactly what Cross wants. You're playing right into their hands.

"I'm not leaving her behind," he whispered to himself as he navigated the tunnels toward Elena's location. "Not after what they made me do to her."

The pursuit was getting closer, but his decision was final.

Even if saving Elena meant dooming them both.

At least we'll face whatever comes next together, he thought as he moved through the darkness toward an uncertain fate. That has to count for something.