TICK TICK

"I must applaud your character," Seri said after a while. Another increase in heat had come and gone by now. "I know many men and women who would claim to be your betters. Each one would have folded the second that first increase hit."

"As I said, I'm a very spiteful person," Fate replied. "And now that I know there are some members of the Five that think they can do better than me, suddenly this heat isn't so bad."

TICK.

"Ah, fuck." Fate blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to dispel the sweat that worked its way inside. "Right now, it's this damn sweat that's making this situation so horrible. I can't break out of these restraints anyway, why the hell did he bolt down my arms?

"Now I've got sweat going into my eyes and I can't get it out. This guy's just a sadist."

Seri stifled a laugh when she saw Fate's aggrieved expression. "Don't make me laugh, this is serious."

"I've got liquids going where they have no right to go!" Fate shouted.

The green-haired woman finally couldn't hold it, laughing so hard that the slab she laid on vibrated slightly from the force. Her toned belly fluctuated so fast Fate worried she might suffocate, the cloth binding her chest threatening to burst from the strain.

She finally settled down when another TICK rang out, laughter dying in her throat as she was harshly reminded of the gravity of the situation. Her mirth was washed away like grime in a flood, leaving only soberness.

"Geeze, it wasn't that funny," Fate commented. "I know laughter is the best medicine, but I thought you were going to die for a second there."

"Stress does that to people," Seri said sadly, her eyes trailing the globules of sweat dropping off Fate and onto the floor below. "You should just say the words. The chances of you living through this are low, at least I'll go out fast."

"Am I truly such poor company?" Fate asked. "I thought I was delightful to be around."

"This has nothing to do with you as a person. I'm only looking at this objectively. There's almost no chance for both of us to survive. He wants someone to lose here. If you say those words, I won't hold it against you. A quick death is better than what you're about to go through."

TICK.

The heat was now above triple digits. Even the cold of his surroundings couldn't help Fate now. What before was manageable, if uncomfortable, heat, was now starting to hurt.

Not by much, but enough that Fate instinctively tried to wiggle away from the source of his demise.

"See what I mean?" Seri told him. "It's already at a hundred degrees. Another forty minutes and you'll be burning. That's only the halfway point, as well."

"And go on living, knowing I'm the reason some innocent life was snuffed out? No thanks."

"How do you think I feel right now?" Seri snapped. "I'm about to watch someone cook themselves alive because they refuse to pull the trigger. Say the words and put us both out of our misery."

"Fuck off," Fate snarled. "I'm sure as hell not going to be the one to go to your father's estate and explain in excruciating detail why and how his little girl isn't coming home."

"But you want to put me through that with your parents?"

"I can save you the trouble," Fate said. "They won't give a shit. I haven't even seen them in five years after we had that fight. Last I heard they were on some space cruise to Bremidia."

Bremidia was Qwenva's moon, and was currently being colonized by Crexya to get away from the brutish Pleyth continent where the Auburn Wastes and Verfenda resided.

The battle-hungry men and women came closer and closer to Crexya's hidden lands every year, so many citizens decided to jump ship early and restart their lives on the moon. The laws were laxer, the taxes were reduced, and according to the news they already had self-sustaining farms and breathable atmospheres set up.

Fate's parents were one of the rats jumping off the sinking ship that was Crexya, conveniently 'forgetting' Fate in their rush to escape.

"Why are you making this so difficult?" Seri shouted. "Just say the words and get it over with!"

TICK.

"…I don't think I will," Fate replied after a moment of silence, having regained his calm. "This heat is quite nice.

"I think I'm starting to get used to it. I'm like the frog that had water around it slowly heated until it boiled alive. This isn't too difficult."

"Cut the bullshit," Seri insisted. "Just say it."

"If that's all you want to say, then we have nothing to talk about," Fate told her.

After that, he closed his eyes, the screams and shouts of the young woman falling on deaf ears as he focused on his breathing.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

TICK.

TICK.

Fate gritted his teeth. By now, he was as red as a shrimp from the heat, throat parched and mouth dry as his body threw all the water it had at keeping him cool.

It helped catch the cold from the room, but even that was slowly starting to dim as the heat continued to rise. Another fifteen minutes and he'd start sustaining burns.

He was forced to funnel Divine Energy into his cells to keep himself hydrated, a technique that was so weak it couldn't even be called a Concept.

It was an extremely basic application that anyone could do, and Fate often had to use it on those days in college when he couldn't afford food. It had saved his life many times, and right now it was the only thing keeping him from death by dehydration.

The heat had started to spread throughout his slab, some unseen barrier being removed as the scorching warmth flooded throughout the Flowing Steel.

Mercifully, it didn't go anywhere near his head, perhaps to keep the leather from burning or perhaps to keep his hair from catching fire. His legs, clothed as they were in flammable jeans, were also spared. As for the rest of his body…