Outrun - Cyberpunk LitRPG

“Who… am I?” The cold running through my body spiked, dropping ice through my bloodstream. Insight. That’s right, it was Insight. Was I in danger? I didn’t feel like I was in danger… but Insight has never lied to me.

”Yes, choom. Who are you?”

”I’m-“ Something isn’t right. This feels wrong. Why’s my head so foggy?

”Heartbeat spiking.”

Why are they watching my heartbeat? This isn’t right. I need to get out of here. This isn’t right. Gah, my head! Why was it so slow? It felt like molasses replaced my brain without me noticing. Only the chills of Insight sending icey pangs of cold through me allowed me a fraction of focus. The cold hits- cold… cold… right.

I mentally flicked on Cold-Blooded, feeling my blood freeze over in an instant as the fog in my head cleared partially under the frozen tirade. I carefully schooled my expression, keeping it as lackadaisical as possible as I shuttered my eyes, trying to get my mind back running as the worst brain freeze ever broke through my skull.

The assistant spoke up from my side. ”Heartbeat plummeting heavily.”

Out of my peripherals, I watched her mess around on a tablet. A tablet connected to a strap around my arm. I recognized the setup; she was checking my vitals. When did that happen?

It was even more of a wake-up call as the ice flow of my blood fought back against my desire to just go to sleep. I had yet to take drugs willingly, but the sensation reminded me of the few times I’d gotten second-hand highs from the sheer amount of smoke around the Ryu Container Yard-

“Her pupils are still dilated… we’ll continue.” The principal snapped his fingers annoyingly in front of my eyes. “You there? C’mon, you can trust me, your choom. What’s your real name?”

I carefully controlled myself as my mind tried to catch up with what was going on. I needed to buy time. I curled up on the chair, wrapping my arms tightly around myself. “S-so cold…”

I felt a woman’s hand wrap around my wrist, barely resisting the urge to toss her off and get out of here. “Her temperature has dropped severely, sir.”

When did it start? I tried to think back, but the entire morning was one steady decline of tiredness and relaxation. What- my eyes dropped to the plant that shifted off my lap as I curled up.

I flickered Aetherial Perception on, nearly going blind as the entire office lit up like a firework. Every plant in the office had a halo of ethereal energy radiating off of it, similar to the haze plant I saw in Drew’s stash way back when.

“Might be an allergic reaction like Christine and Boris had…” Principal Bously muttered.

The puzzle pieces slowly started to click together in my mind. The plants were all over the school. I thought Insight was warning me of the other students ever since I first entered, but what if the warning was of the plants? In the recording of the principal, he mentioned running experiments on teenagers. That, paired with what they were trying to do with me- were they running mind control experiments?

Even now, warring against the effects of Cold-Blooded, a back part of my mind was pleading just to listen and follow the principal. To just mentally give up and give in to his gentle-

I shifted my gaze, eyeing the plants out of the corners of my eyes. A large part of me wanted to deny their existence. To pretend they were just pretty flowers that wouldn’t bother me. To let them fade into the background as if they weren’t even there.

The feeling was similar to the complete apathy I originally felt when I found those haze plants in Drew‘s stash. I knew they were there, I knew they were potentially harmful, and yet my mind was being tricked into knowing they didn’t matter. Into knowing there was nothing there. Thankfully, blasts of headache-inducing frost blocked that voice from overpowering me.

What else was going on- No, now wasn’t the time for this. First things first: survive. I can think about it after we get out of here.

Principal Bously snapped his fingers in front of me again like a hypnotist grabbing the attention of their victims. “As soon as we‘re done here, we can move somewhere warmer! Tell me, who are you?”

“M-Meno Maeni, the granddaughter of Archduke Maeni…” I lied, slowly speaking the words as if I was still under the effect of whatever they were doing to me.

”Hmm…” Principal Bously frowned. I could see it in his expression though. Every Cue read ‘Was I wrong?’

He must’ve been sure I wasn’t really Meno before he dragged me in here, and now that I was ‘telling the truth’, I could see the confusion settling. The doubt. And, though it was hidden, the fear. Was he… afraid of me? No. Not me. Of Archduke Maeni. Of messing with the Archduke’s granddaughter.

“Sir?” The assistant asked from my side. “Are we-“

The principal held out a hand, silencing the assistant. The frown on his face deepened as he pushed through his concerns. “Who is Trovare?”

”B-baron Trovare is my guard, sent by my grandfather to protect me.” I answered, trying to manipulate that fear in him. “He’s supposed to defend me long enough for the rest of my guards to come.”

I needed to get out of here alive. Pronto. The best way for that? Continue acting. If he decided I really was Meno, the principal wouldn’t dare to attack me. That fear would control him better than anything I could do. If he decided I wasn’t? Well, Sentinel’s security could come at his beck and call and get rid of me without much of an effort. No one would ever know where I went.

”Hmm… Do you know this person?” The principal pulled a picture off his desk and held it in front of my face. It was Feras. Was that the security breach he was talking about? Was Feras screwing me over even after leaving? Damn that useless idiot! Grifter my ass.

I leaned forward slightly, my eyes still half closed as I swayed drowsily. I forced a deep yawn before answering. Beside me, the assistant also yawned, though she cut it off as the principal glared at her. “He’s in my first hour. Didn’t show up today.”

”And what of this?” The principal, if that’s even who he really was, held up my Listener into the light. It had been crushed, bits of wire hanging out. It looked as if the micro transceiver had been destroyed entirely by… a pen maybe?

Ah, so that’s the real reason he was suspicious. Or at least one of them. I figured I’d be long gone before that would bite me in the ass. I should’ve known better. Maybe I should add a self-destruct to- No, don’t get distracted, Shiro. “A… I d-don’t know? Looks like scrap metal.”

”Heartbeat is still steady, albeit extremely low, sir.” The assistant said from my side. “Three minutes left before Hippocampus Degradation.”

Hippocampus Degradation? That really, really doesn’t sound good. I wish I could call for backup- no, I should’ve called for backup when I first noticed something was off. Now it was too late. No way Feras could get here, and Torren might still be under the effects of the flowers.

Not that it would matter anyway. If they kicked up a fuss, Sentinel security would put us down. It was basically an admission of guilt, especially if Feras popped up. I could still get out of this.

The principal let out a growl, twisting back around to grab a different plant. He handed it to me, my hands loosely grabbing at the pot as I stared into space. “Damnit! We’ll have to start the rewrite early…”

The new plant also glowed with an ethereal light now that I knew what to look for. More importantly, it gave off a sickly sweet scent that brought a cloudy feeling to my head. That sensation was blasted apart with every pulse of thick, cold blood through my head. I tried not to breathe as deeply, wishing I had my mask with me. It didn’t work.

The assistant stood up. ”Should I call in Trovare-“

”No. The archduke likely put him through mental training. We aren’t at the stage to mess with that level of mental acuity yet without the subject noticing.” Principal Bously’s face twisted in irritation. “Call in the next person on the list.”

”Sir.” The assistant moved, pulling the strap off my arm and rewrapping it around the tablet as she tidied up the room slightly. Then she slipped out of the room.

The principal spoke to me, poorly hidden irritation in his face as he tried to control his expression. “Close your eyes, Meno. Focus on the sound of my voice.” He waited for me to follow his instructions. “Good, you’re doing good. Now imagine how you first walked into here. Imagine that relaxed and comfortable sensation of settling deeper and deeper into the chair.”

The principal continued to drone on for several minutes as he repeated keywords and phrases, but I stopped paying attention after I realized what he was trying to do. The guy was attempting to put me into a trance to make me forget the past several minutes.

It was good news, all things considered. If he was going through the effort of making me forget this happened, then his suspicions of me not being Meno must be just that: suspicions. I probably wouldn’t be disappeared if he was putting in the effort.

”When I snap my fingers, wake up and forget the past ten minutes.” Principal Bously commanded. He didn’t wait as his fingers clipped each other, a sharp and crisp sound echoing forth from them.

I jolted ‘awake’, rubbing my arms fiercely to fight back some of the frigid cool of my Perk. “Where- Oh, sorry principal. I m-must’ve fallen asleep for a few moments.”

The man eyed me suspiciously for a moment before his usual smarmy smile- it was always smarmy, right? Why was I thinking it was kind when I first walked in? How deep did these effects- “Not a problem, my Lady… I just wanted to discuss how you were fitting in.”

”I-its going alright, I guess.” I was fitting in so well that I became part of this freak’s experiments without even realizing it. I should’ve turned him over to the Inquisitor as soon as I found something. Why hadn’t I?

”Good, good… how are you liking your classes?” The suspicion didn’t quite leave his eyes, though his expression loosened slightly.

“T-they’re fine. Corporate History is a bit of a drag, but o-other than that they’re fine.” I doubt I would’ve been able to stay calm enough to continue the conversation as if he didn’t just try to brainwash me if not for Cold-Blooded. I can’t believe I thought the Perk was useless. I really need to set aside some time to look through the rest of my Perks and double-check them.

“So I’ve he-“

The bell rang cutting the principal off. I jumped up from my seat. “S-sorry, I guess time flies…”

Principal Bously waved me to the door as he turned to some papers on his desk. He didn’t take his eyes off of me though. “Go on ahead. I pulled you out of… lunch? Go ahead and take lunch with the younger students.”

”R-right…” I slowly moved towards the door, desperately holding myself from rushing. I was so close to freedom. It would be horribly stupid to do something suspicious. My hand gripped the door handle-

“Oh, Lady Meno?”

I froze, feeling like an idiot for jinxing myself. I turned back around slowly as I forced another yawn. “Yes?”

“You forgot your bag.”

”Right...” I went back to my seat, carefully avoiding eye contact as I grabbed my bag and left the office. I passed by another student walking into the office. Probably the next person on the guy’s list.

No one stopped me as I left and headed for the lunch room. I spent the rest of the day taking it slow, acting as if I was half asleep. The entire time my brain ran through ideas, spine-chilling simulations of how things could’ve gone down, and observations of the almost zombie state everyone seemed to be in.

Torren seemed a little better off, but not by much. I decided against warning him in case we were under watch as I suspected. Thankfully, the rest of the day passed by without anything terrible happening. At least, so far.