Sitting up straight, he leaned forward slowly. His expression remained still as he stared back at her. You don't see people with that look in their gaze. Even soldiers have something else besides the anger swirling around in the pools of their eyes. It reminds him of a tiger in a cage just moments away from attacking him. No worry for now at the moment though, he cannot even block out the sound of those chains.
Really? Out of all the other pests that they hire as spies, this one is the one he has to force confessions out of? He expected something else after looking at the prisoners of war when walking over to the cell beforehand. At least it'll be a challenge for him nevertheless. "Feisty…", he murmured with a smirk while shaking his head. He wrote the word down below the time and date then left the notepad on the chair after standing up.
Rael rolled his shoulders back having his hands in his pockets. He wasn't sure whether or not to stand right in front of the spy or just lean back against the wall. Doesn't seem to matter where in the cell he is, he just has to keep an eye on her. "Well, at least my words have lead me to be the person without chains.", he sighed,"Maybe yours can get you out of here in one piece; sounds nice."
“And you’re a little weakling,” She spat out, adding in a he taunted her with the possibility of no chains, “Not only do you not think before you speak, you can’t think in general. Try to come up with a more plausible offer.”
Nym purposely shook her chains to add to her words, reining in the faint anger that was working its way onto her face. If she was going to be in this cell for a while, she had to keep her anger in. The last thing she needed was heavier restraints on the first day.
“Run along little boy. You’re not getting any secrets out of me,” She continued, snorting and continuing her pacing. Nym shot him one more fiery glare, then snorted, “And tell them to send someone more intimidating next time, scrawny thing.”
They weren't even an hour in and it's already off to a great start. Rael rolled his eyes at the idea that he could've been doing this from the beginning instead. Either way, he'd be hearing what these vermin from Outhila would have to say. Oh how exciting this is for him! Despite not being on the battlefield, it's obvious this will be fun.
Grabbing her by the chin, he tilted her head up. He stared into her gaze while making his grip tighter and tighter. "Really the only thing I can guarantee is your life, but whatever you say Agent Pialla. he snickered,"Your secrets might not be the first thing I'll get out of you, but I'd be fine with some blood, sweat, and tears, since we're just starting." A smirk briefly broke his stone-like expression before he forced the spy against the wall and let go.
Using his right heel, he turned around ambling over to the door. He knocked three times and the two guards appeared in an instant. "Let's go with waterboarding first and then try some stress positions; unless the agent has something to say. And bring some zip-ties and whatever else we'll need.", Rael commanded.
Nym resisted when he grabbed her chin but she willingly tilted her head up, meeting his gaze with her glare. "My secrets are something you'll never get out of me, but I give you an A for determination," She spat back when he let her go, briefly staying against the wall as she rolled her jaw before pushing herself off of it and watching him.
It was going to be easy to get under this male's skin, she could see that now. With just a simple little taunt she had gotten him to resort to torture right off the bat. And torture was something she could handle. Training in Outhila has involved plenty of it to see who was going to break and who wouldn't, and everything short of actual death was utilized to figure it out. All she had to do was think of this as a rigorous final test.
Nym rolled her eyes at his suggestions, the idea of waterboarding making her stomach twist. Nothing showed on her face besides the anger though, not even the memories that came with having to try waterboarding years earlier.
Briefly, he turned around noticing the spy rolling her eyes. Rael forced the corner of his lips to go up while giving a swift bow,"Thank you Teacher, I'll continue giving all of my effort in order to succeed."
With his back facing her, the sergeant took off his beret and stared down at the floor. He could feel the blood boiling in his veins as they soared through. Part of him wanted to just return the favor or taunt the guys in front of him for being so annoyingly idle. Shutting his eyes, he exhaled through his nose; there's no point being so frivolous at the moment. This assignment is going to take a while, isn't it? Whatever expectations he had for this changed in a second. Those idiots back at base could've given him anything aside from this to do.
Rael flicked his left wrist twice then watched the guards leave. It shouldn't be long enough for them to come back with everything. "If only your country's military was as impermeable as you and the rest of the parasites…", he teased,"Maybe they'd have the pride to stop digging their own grave then." Picking up the notepad from the metal chair, he began to jot a few things down while leaning against the wall.
“Knock yourself out scrawny,” Nym replied, focusing on her pacing. She wasn’t trying to purposely be loud, but she wasn’t going to try to quiet her chains as she paced from wall to wall. The clinking would either tick this interrogator and they would be removed, or it would be a way for her to be that much more of a nuisance.
The fire in her eyes had only filled slightly in the minute she had been pacing, though it came back full force at mention of her country. “Your country obviously inherited your lack of brains when you enlisted,” She growled back. Normally she ignored any off hand comments about her home when she was out, but here in a cell, there was nothing stopping her besides her common sense.
Rael returned the response with a partial flimsy salute. "Call me Sergeant Han or Rael if you'd like, Agent Pialla or is there something you prefer for me to call you?", he asked. In the corner of his eye, he looked out to see if the others had come back. If there were any footsteps, their sound are drowned out by the spy's chains. He closed the door then started to make clicking sounds using the one end of the pen. Hopefully the three knocks will be heard soon.
"Bajhe only has one of me, yet I pity my country for being infested with more of you.", Rael shrugged,"They wouldn't send just one over here, am I wrong?" An eye for an eye. Being cursed at or hearing the country being cursed at wasn't something out of the blue for him. A lot of prisoners of war do it all the time whether he's the on they're talking to or not. But to compare it to this feels like an understatement. Defiantly is different to be called scrawny versus other things; it just doesn't feel right to him.
(Fun fact: Waterboarding as most people think of it actually isn't waterboarding? Most people assume you dunk someone's head underwater to waterboard them, but it's actually when the person is strapped upside down to a board with a cloth over their nose and mouth and water is dumped over their head…I may know way too much about this subject)
"Agent Pialla works, scrawny," She replied, using her new preferred nickname for the tall, lean interrigator, "No need to pretend like we're more than enemies." Her words somehow were quite clear over the chains, but whatever she muttered to herself next was lost in the clinking of the metal.
Nym stayed silent after that, not giving him any hint of if she knew about any other spies or if she was the only one. Outhila spies rarely knew of many more spies, at most they knew of two or three more working in their area. It was a risk to know any more than that, and giving away two people was much less damaging than giving away ten or more. It was one of the many tactics they used. And it worked.
(That's interesting, you'd think others would know this most likely. I don't think interrogators use the head ducking thing much depending on who it is. I believe there's also this recreational activity called waterboarding too. Not really surprised that many people don't really know about it. Knowing is only half the battle though.)
Nothing really came up as a reply for him, although he couldn't hold back the chuckle that managed to escape from his mouth. He never had taking into account how amusing this new nickname is. Is this really all she's got though? You'd think that these spies who are renowned for their strength and capabilities would have better nicknames and insults to call him.
"Strange how I agree with you, fascinating Nym.", he pointed out then adding,"But it's the enemy you have to keep closest to yourself." Rael squinted trying to lip read whatever the spy had said afterwards. Would've been better off if those fools hadn't put all of the chains in Bajhe on her.
Stepping away from the wall, he dropped the notes on the seat before making his way over to Agent Pialla. Rael held his hands in front of himself while pacing around alongside. "What was that?", he questioned.
(Very true, and yes there is an activity called waterboarding lol. Wouldn't want to get those two mixed up)
Nym scowled at the use of her name, muttering yet another string of incomprehensible words and rolling her eyes. Rael, as he called himself, was going to be just as big of a pain in the ass as she was going to be. That much was becoming crystal clear to her.
She turned around again, starting her next loop when the interrogator made his way alongside her, causing her to instantly take a shuffle step away from him. "What was what?" She asked, looking up at him. Nym blinked innocently, even as her eyes held their constant fire, "I didn't hear anything." Pissing him off was going to be so much fun.
Not only that, but it was going to make waiting that much less boring. If only she had someone to make a bet with to see how angry he could get. Just against herself her bet was already to the point of him throwing something across the room. That was goal number one. Along with getting these chains off that was.
Forcing an explanation out of her now doesn't seem likely. All of this will be trail and tribulation for him. He couldn't help but notice the way the agent responded to him calling her by her name; and the way she inched away from him too. Oddly that grimace sort of comforted him in a sense; it amused still as well. Rael took a tiny step closer and elbowed her. Taking another glimpse, he moved back to the same distance.
"Oh Nym, I was just talking about how your brain must be damaged after that exciting fall.", Rael answered,"Must've affected your hearing too."
Finally, there was knock at the door. Most likely it only had taken at least ten minutes or so to go over there and back. Time must've stopped by the moment he had come inside. "Come in!", he shouted. And with the sound of the door creaking open, Rael shoved the agent against the cell once again before walking over to the guards.
Going over, he helped the two men by holding the door. Watching them come in with three watering cans, a cloth, a board with two cuffs on the top and bottom, and some zip-ties. Perfect.
(Sorry it’s a little shorter)
“And I still have more brains than you ever had,” She replied overly sweetly, shoving him away from her as he nudged her, “Don’t worry scrawny, not all of us can be smart.”
She hissed as he shoved her against the wall, not prepared for the movement, “Bastard.” Then she was back upright, face set in stone as she watched the equipment come in. Exactly what she was expecting.
And exactly what she knew how to handle.
(Don't worry, it's all good.)
Back at it again with the brains thing. Honestly he feels like he needs to start counting how many times she'll bring up intelligence or not admitting anything. How many times has it been so far? Six? Really the only thing he should be counting is how long it'd take to get just a single sentence of information out of her. Patience is a burden when you realize none of it will go by quickly or smoothly.
A small gap between his lips was made ready to spill whatever sort of retort he could think of. Closing it, Rael realized that coming up with one would serve no purpose. Instead he just stood there next to the door watching the guys set things up. His eyes watched their every move as they went around getting ready. Eventually they looked up over at the spy. She seems very determined about this like she's been through this before. The fact was just outright agitating to him. What will it take for an Outhila spy to break? He must find out for himself, one way or another. "Get her off the chains and onto the board. Now.", he commanded.
(heyyy that rhymedddd :D 'what will it take for an Outhila spy to break')
"Better listen to scrawny boy, don't want him to throw a tantrum." Nym watched carefully, returning to her pacing, making sure her chains made as much noise as possible this time. "Please do take these things off, it will be much easier to kill you with free hands," She replied, holding out her chained wrists and nodding to the board, "Though I would much prefer not to be stuck to there, thank you very much."
It took determination to make her nerves twist into something that resembled fear cross her face for an instant. She had to look weaker than she was when it came to torture. That realization took place moments after the guards neared her. She had to look weak, afraid of the lumps of muscle coming towards her, afraid of torture. Up to the point she was grabbed by the guards she was pacing, forcing her nerves to get her moving instead of thinking about the sensation of drowning that came with this cheery form of torture.
(Lol I didn't even think about when writing it. I just realized that! :) )
Rael's nails dug into the sides of his arms listening to her. Probably what made this even more worse was that one guard stopped while the other looked at him. Without wasting any time, he just flicked his wrist beckoning them to continue. It's not like he's going to take one of their batons and start whacking them with it. Trying to point his focus somewhere else for the time being, he stared at Agent Pialla. Her expression piqued his interest right away.
You don't just give in on the first try, especially for someone of her specialty. Agent Pialla had already started this with a fight, clearly, so what's the point? Those pests always find ways to keep going on, battling in secrecy till they get what they needed or till they meet their own demise. Now Rael would be even more screwed if the spy reconciled to hers. The general would most defiantly make him abandon post. He'll have to figure it out what it is that Pialla wants now, in order to get what he wants. Only after this pleasant activity.
After the guards had attached her to the board, he strolled on over. "Ready Pialla?"
She had fought against the guards just to make life harder as they strapped her to the board, but didn't look scared, especially as she looked at Rael. "Ready as ever, scrawny, just make sure your men know what they're doing. Don't want to kill me on the first day," Nym replied, snorting and adding, "You should know you look even more disgusting upside down by the way."
The fact that she was going to be tortured in mere minutes didn't seem to phase the spy and she almost looked bored as the cloth was placed over her mouth and nose. She spared one more glance at the interrigator, a look of challenge in her eyes. No fear even touched her face, nothing besides unaffected boredom and challenge. This was nothing, she reminded herself. All she had to do was hold her breath and count through it, let the water do it's thing and stick to her counting.
Whatever little skit fighting with two men was, it surely was a nice brief intervention. To Rael, it just looked like another opportunity to waste your energy. He couldn't find that fearful expression from before anymore. At the same time, it didn't exactly reflect the decisive one from awhile ago. Amazing how the spy is so self-assured about this. Her compliment made him snicker for a brief moment. His weight shifted to his right foot as "Asphyxia will be the least of your worries.", he exhaled while breezily glancing over at the watering cans,"Shouldn't it?"
He lightly pulled on the corners of the cloth to make sure there wasn't any folds. As he flipped the notepad to a new page, Rael signaled for the one guard to start. The pen felt bleak in his hand as his gaze followed the watering can.
“It is. The most worrying thing is trying to find the best way to torture you when you’re in this position and I’m out of here.” Nym’s words were muffled because of the fabric and yet she still talked as he straightened the fabric.
She watched the watering can carefully as it neared her face, only closing her eyes when it was tipped to pour water. The water coming over her face wasn’t bad at first, and the breath she had sucked in gave her something to focus on. That and her counting made her sure she was going to be fine with this. She wasn’t sure how long she lasted though before her breath got stale and the water started dripping through the cloth instead of just over her face, proving things to be just as difficult as she sadly remembered them. This was going to be great.
"Let's wait and see, Nym, it's only the beginning for the both of us." Rael glimpsed down at his watch then jotted down the time. He wasn't sure what to anticipate, Pialla seems to be perfectly fine though. If she's been through this before, then she must have a way to save herself from choking for air after this.
Shoving the notepad into his pocket, he snapped his fingers to catch the one guard's attention. Rael held up three fingers then one and three again. It wasn't long till after the other gave the nod when the water started to pour out. Usually the interrogators don't partake in actually pouring the water yet they have to be there since they've commanded for it to happen. The rules could change for him given the situations, but deep down, he wishes they won't have to do waterboarding more than twice at least. He sighed glancing over at the other two watering cans. Rael could feel his skin turning cold as sweat ran down the side of his face. The first one shouldn't have to take long.
Nym did her best to work on counting as her breath got harder to hold, the water rushing over her face. Even holding her breath did nothing as the water flowed into her nose, causing her to want to do nothing else but cough it all up. Still she forced herself not to though. She could handle this. She would handle this. It was only the first day of being in this damn cell after all, and she couldn't give Rael the satisfaction of even getting the smallest detail out of her.
She twisted her head to the side as the water didn't stop though, making the mistake of trying to cough out the water and sealing her fate of water rushing into her mouth. Now she was forced to try to spit out the water through the cloth, earning her nothing more than more mouthfuls of water and the feeling of not being able to breath. It didn't feel as much like drowning yet at it would, but it wasn't fun. And even as the watering can was finally empty, she was still trying to cough out water through the fabric.
For the remainder of the time, he just stood there and observed. His weight shifted to his right leg as he kept his arms crossed. Rael would start to narrow his eyes in curiosity. Could Pialla really hold her breath for this long? Right as she moved her head, he titled his to the side. Guess that was an unfortunate misread for her. Well, eventually something of the sort would have to happen, no? Outhila spies might be as surprising as everyone says they are to be. It didn't matter, immediately after it was over as he'd suspect.
Now the rule is to have the water pour till emptied then give the prisoner a one minute "break". Kind of a stupid requirement since anybody would need more than a minute to be able to breathe again. Also seemed to go against the whole torture thing in the first place, but no one doesn't want to lose all the potential information that can get them somewhere. It's only Rael's first time though, the general did tell him to be experimental and have fun with it. He didn't feel like saying anything just yet, the silence the cell had before was pierced with the sound of someone trying to get air and the guard getting the second watering can.
Just as the next one was about to begin, he held his hand out causing the other to go back an inch. Stepping closer to the board, he took the upper left corner of the cloth and lifted it for just a second. "Good job Agent Pialla.", Rael said in an unenthusiastic tone,"Should we go to round two or is there anything you have to say for yourself?"
Nym tried her best to spit up as much water as possible, succeeding only to swallow and equal amount of water. She shook her head for a minute as well, getting as much water out of her vision as possible while Rael moved the fabric. Taking the opportunity, she spat out as much water as possible, scowling at him and coughing out, "Go. To. Hell. Scrawny." Her ribs hurt from coughing, her nose hurt from getting water inside of it, and her head hurt from being stuck upside down. The faster she could get this done, the better she decided.
Besides knowing that she could cause permentant damage to her lungs with the amount of water she had sucked in, this wasn't as bad as what she had gone through in Outhila. Yes it had ben several years, but she hadn't gotten more than a thirty second break there, and the cloth never was lifted. This was painful, but it was easier than other forms of torture.
Before the cloth could be put back down and she was sealed back into drowning, she sucked in another breath, glaring at Rael.
A little trail of laughs fell out of him as he brought his face away when she stared to spat out water. He wondered when she would tell him to go to hell. It sounded like cacophonous and mellifluous in a certain sense. Putting his hands on the dampened board, Rael brought his face closer again. "Nym, I'll just meet you there when I'm not busy.", Rael smirked as he looked down at her.
In his field of vision, he noticed one of the guards also had smug look on his face. Taking the other's baton, Rael held it up. His arm did a slight jerk as he was on the edge to start beating the lights out of the guard. Staring back down at Pialla, he shook his head before mouthing the word,"'Go" There's always enough time to deal with the imbeciles under his command. No one is for sure who long they'll have the spy in their hands without anyone else knowing about it. Oh well, might as well keep the baton for later, just in case.
During the second part, he kept looking down at his watch then would go to Pialla for just a few moments. Nothing about it was eventful to him this time. He'd have to write a few details about this one too, but he decided to do that later. Luckily it ended sooner than before. Both the first and second round were the same length of time, roughly around three minutes, and yet this one felt as if it went by faster. "Two's better than one, so let's stop it at there for now.", he removed the material folding it into a triangle, before ordering"Get her off and put the chains back on right away." Rael tied the material around the handle of the watering can then sat it next to the door.
Nym did about just as well the second time around, though the time she held her breath this time was several seconds shorter. Her eyes watered from coughing, or at least that's what she assumed it was from. Easily it could've been from the water washing over her face. She coughed once more as the cloth was finally lifted, turning her head to the side and trying to spit as much water out before the guards got a hold of her.
She didn't comment on anything Rael said either as he decided that was enough, just glared daggers at the guards while they took her off the board and fastened her chains back on her. They were smart enough not to let her go in-between the board and chains, but if they had, she was sure she would've tried to beat them to death, even with the amount of coughing and spitting up water she was doing.
All she hoped now was that he had forgotten about his earlier request of stress positions as she crouched and ignored her injured pride, putting a hand to the ground as she tried to regain control of her breathing.
Rael opened the door for the two guards who managed to collect everything quickly. One of them had the zip-ties in his left hand along with a watering can. Snapping his fingers, the man had stopped to look at what he was pointing to. As the guard lifted his hand, Rael took the zip-ties out. Immediately he sent him off along with the other mumbling a thank you. Surprising how he was so focus on the waterboarding that he'd forgotten about it. He also forgotten about his beret that still lied on the floor; there's no way of getting out of here if he's being this clumsy.
Once again he sat back in the chair staring across the cell at Pialla. The sight of her still trying to gain her ability to breathe again was close to being pitiful for him. And so it begins for them. He doesn't expect for the spy to tell him anything still. No one ever really does unless there's something up their sleeve. The zip-ties sat in his pocket along with the notepad; he still does want to use them, although the question for him is when. Rael doesn't want to rely on stress positions to gain any significance in this interrogation. "I'll wait for you to curse me after you're done struggling over there.", he stated.
