ZETA

Cillian's consciousness drifted silently in his mindscape. In the last 24 hours, he had cussed, cursed, sworn revenge on the doctor, Andrea, their ancestors and those of every foundation member. The odd thing was, Cillian was unable to remain angry for more than a few seconds. It seemed that the procedure had done something to suppress his emotions or this was a side effect of his consciousness being trapped. Either way, Cillian's emotions would be dampened each time he got angry, sad, or even grieved about his family. This frustrated Cillian to no end , but after cooling his head, he realized that what he was doing wouldn't help his situation. This led to his current silent contemplation:

"Summing up my situation, I am currently unable to move or talk and have no control over my body. I can't even control what I can sense outside. Even my resonance seems to be completely isolated from my control, but I can still sense its link to me, so I can be assured that I am not a ghost at least. I want to test some more things, but my body seems to be sleeping."

Just as Cillian was contemplating his situation, he heard someone say, "Wake up," and his body's senses came online following the words. The doctor was standing in front of him, and he wasn't alone; there were other scientists with him, along with some guards. Even knowing that his emotions would be suppressed, Cillian couldn't control the deep hatred and anger bubbling inside him until the suppression came into effect.

The doctor, ignorant of all this, kept on speaking: "Cillian, we have a long day ahead of us, but first things first, it doesn't sound right to call you Cillian anymore because it would be an insult for my masterpiece to be named after an ignorant foolish kid."

If Cillian had control of his body, he would've strangled the doctor to death a hundred times now, but he was powerless to do anything. The doctor kept on speaking his mind: "So from now on, you are no longer Cillian but subject Zeta."

Cillian watched in helplessness as he lost both his body and identity. He wanted nothing more than to burn the entire foundation to its very roots. Oblivious to the fact that he was creating something that would bring an unending headache for both his organization and him, the doctor carried on with his job.

"Bring subject Zeta to the testing facility B," the doctor said as he walked out with the scientists. The guards who were following the scientists came to Cillian's side and ordered, "Move." Cillian's body complied without any resistance and followed them out of the room into the testing lab.

In the observatory room of the lab, the doctor was looking at the results of the tests on the screen infront of him

Subject Zeta

Height: 6'1

Weight: 88 kg

strength: 1140 kg

Top Speed: 55 km/hr

Resonance: 38 exols

<Ranking: unawakened>

As he read through the data, the doctor's eyes stopped on the resonance reading of 38 exols. "It's too low," the doctor muttered. The average unawakened person passed anywhere between 5-10 exols. If someone had a reading of more than 15 exols, they were considered a potentiate. Cillian at the age of 10 had a reading of 20 exols, making him a potential Grade A. But reality was harsh, as even after 7 years, Cillian had only improved by 18 exols, which was remarkably slow compared to others. For a baseline, a freshly awakened E grade would have a resonance reading exceeding 100 exols. Becoming a Grade D requires a reading of 1000 exols ! While raising your resonance while unawakened was always hard, Cillian's progress was still an outlier .

It was obvious that the doctor was not happy with the results. After a few minutes of whispering, the doctor let out a sigh. "Thank the unknown that there is a way to expedite the growth; otherwise, we would have to wait until eternity for him to reach Grade A." The doctor picked up the microphone and spoke, "Bring the subject to the next experiment."

...

Cillian's naked body was submerged inside a large glass container filled with a clear, breathable liquid. As Cillian's consciousness was trying to figure out what the scientists were intending to do, the doctor came to Cillian and ordered, "Activate your resonance to full power and don't stop unless ordered."

As Cillian heard these words, he instantly knew what the doctor was planning to do. But he didn't freak out like before because what use would it serve? It's not like he can do something about it. Cillian was also curious about the improvements he could've made if he had employed this method in his training which he regretted. It's not like he didn't want to try, but the pain was unbearable. However, now that he was just a consciousness trapped in his body, he wouldn't have to suffer the pain. He was looking forward to the experiment.

Soon, Cillian could feel his resonance activating to its full power, and the liquid that surrounded him started cooling down due to the heat energy being absorbed. But soon, another type of energy joined the mix: electricity. The scientists went for the most accessible and convenient source of energy available. As the amount of electricity racked up, Cillian's consciousness waited for the moment when his resonance would reach his limit. The result was surprising; it would be an understatement. As his resonance reached its limit, Cillian's body started wrenching from the pain. But it wasn't only Cillian's physical body that was suffering from pain; his mental consciousness was also suffering from unbearable pain.

"What the hell is this!"