Chapter 102: Interrogation

Once, after a mighty battle, Ouroboros was caged by Granesh and the deity demanded that the World Snake give over the secret of his immortality.

Oroborous slipped out of the cage, leaving behind a molt so realistic that Granesh continued to ply it with demands for many moons.

While Granesh was distracted, Ouroboros snuck out and stole the secret of Fire, leaving five silver coins in its place.

• Jason Salazar

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Poke.

Poke.

Will’s left eye fluttered open.

His right eye was swollen shut, throbbing with the beat of his heart.

He was splayed out, Kit missing, hanging midair, every limb strapped to an unyielding steel X at least a couple inches thick, designed to contain a climber’s superhuman strength.

Will tried to move Phantom Hand and found it completely unresponsive. Not unexpected, but it still brought a cold sweat to his brow.

At least I still have my hand and feet. Will thought.

His worst fear would be-

Will cut off that line of thought for a couple reasons: first because it was pointless to think about now, and second because he didn’t know if they had a mind-reader on-site. No sense giving them his worst fears right out the gate.

Will’s eye focused on the saint as the grizzled veteran stepped away, his poking finger still extended.

“Welcome back,” Jairus said with a smile.

“Good to be-,” Will said before a hacking cough interrupted him. A little blood must’ve gotten into his lungs while he was passed out.

“Now, let’s get started, shall we?” Saint Jairus asked, pulling a chair in front of the Will Chandelier and taking a seat.

“What, no knives and brands?” Will asked.

“Other leaders in the church of Granesh jump straight to torture. I prefer to establish a dialogue first.” Jairus said, folding his hands. “I have a great deal of experience with interrogations in general and have found that it always works out to my advantage to have a long conversation before I bring out the knives and Truth Debuffs.”

“Why’s that?” Will asked, his mind lingering on the ‘truth debuffs’, finger itching.

“Because if I ask you the same questions before and after a Truth Debuff, it reveals to me what you think is important enough to lie about.”

“Oh, interesting. Should you be telling me that?” Will asked.

“Oh, it’ll let you wiggle a little bit, I’m sure, but not to a great extent. The things you feel are important won’t change. Meanwhile, I believe that establishing myself as the wellspring from which Truth flows is more important.”

Every word I say you can take at face value. That’s why I’m not making any grandiose threats. My threats will be simple, actionable ones that will be enacted the instant they leave my mouth.” Saint Jairus leaned back in his chair.

“Shall we get started?”

Will shrugged, best as he could.

“What are the names of your Primary Abiliies?”

“…”

“I see. Silence would seem like the best option in these circumstances,” Jairus said, nodding. “Allow me to make you an offer, then. If you answer my questions, then not only will we avoid torture for quiet some time, I will also go out of my way to allow your Party to move on to the next Floor.”

Will considered.

Time was good. Buying as much of it as possible should be his priority, and if he simply stopped answering questions, they would skip the step where he could lie to them entirely, possibly spelling his doom. It was 100% in Will’s best interest to go along with this. But how not to seem desperate?

“My whole party?” Will asked.

“Yes.”

“Including my Tangled and my Kobold?” Will asked. “I know how you people are.”

“Your Tangled killed no less than fifteen sailors.”

“Who attacked her first.” Will said. “She’s a sweetheart if you’re not trying to kill her or use her as a living weapon. Something I’ve been trying not to abuse.”

“The kobold isn’t in your Party.”

“It totally is,” Will replied.

“Interesting. Yes, I suppose a Deceiver would have affinity for the scaled subhumans.”

Will cocked his head to the side.

“How about this?” Will asked. “I’m going to die here, yeah?”

“Probably.” Jairus said with a shrug. “Barring special circumstances we will execute you at the end of our interrogation.”

Will chuckled. “You really are committed to telling the truth.”

“A man’s word is powerful, as long as it remains unbroken.” Jairus said.

“I’ll give you all the answers you want, if you give me all the answers I want. Then when we’re done, you can kill me as planned. No sensitive information leaked.”

“What makes you suggest that?” Jairus asked.

“I’d like to know what a Deceiver is.” Will said. “It’s not like anyone taught it to me growing up.”

Jairus seemed to consider for a moment.

“You are aware of the conflict between Granesh, god of order, and Ouroboros?”

“Vaguely.”

“During their first battle, the blood of Ouroboros rained down on The Tower, proliferating every scaled monster.”

“I’ve heard of it,” Will said.

“Well, a few of the more powerful types, Immortal Serpents among them, carry on the ancient battle against order that is imprinted in their very blood. They use shapeshifting to replace human Climbers and send their half-breed children to sow chaos.”

“So you’re saying that my parents…”

“One of them was replaced during their Climb, conceived you, and then delivered you to an orphanage, like a seed of chaos waiting to sprout.”

“Hmm…” Will mused. His life was pretty chaotic. He’d guessed most of this already, but it was nice to hear it straight from the priesthood themselves.

“My turn. What are your Sacrifices?” Jairus asked.

“Gravity goat, Uru drake, and my left hand.”

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“…” Jairus paused, glancing over at Will’s missing left hand. “You realize that confirms that you aren’t fully human?”

“I had an inkling,” Will admitted

“Your turn,” Jairus said.

“Why do I have a strange empathy for certain corpses?” Will asked, praying that he wasn’t giving away more information than he was asking for.

“What do you mean?”

“Every now and then I’ll come across the body of a dead person and I’ll see myself as them. Have conversations with them, even. This happened a lot more in the first few Floors.”

“It’s your affinity for other Deceivers. Your progenitor scattered thousands of spawn outside the tower, and they leave a psychic imprint upon their death that you unconsciously absorb, drawing you into the last few moments of their life. The reason it’s stopped in the upper floors is there’s significantlyless Deceivers who’ve made it this far.”

“Huh,” Will cocked his head. “Does that mean I could get psychic Abilities?” Will asked, thinking back to the Tomahawk of the Serpent.

Jairus shook his head and waggled a finger. “My turn.”

Will groaned, but nodded.

“Do you know where your parents are now?” Jairus asked.

“No, last I heard they were making their way back down, from the upper floors, but that can take years. I haven’t seen them since I was ten.”

“Hmm…” Jairus scratched down a note.

“My turn. Do you know which of my parents is the serpent?”

“Typically it’s the male.”

So that’s the one I need to punch, Will thought, pursing his lips in thought.

Jairus opened his mouth to speak when an urgent knock on the cell’s door interrupted him.

“Excuse me!” the saint’s assistant ducked his head into the room. “There’s a messenger here for you.”

“And?” Jairus asked, motioning for him to send the man in.

Joshua cleared his throat nervously. “He was very insistent that it was for your ears only.”

Jairus groaned and pushed himself to his feet.

“I’ll be back in a moment. Sorry to stop just when we were getting somewhere.”

“I’ll think of some questions while you’re out,” Will said with a shrug.

“Keep an eye on him,” Jairus said to his bodyguard, who nodded and fixed his gaze on Will, intent on not giving him any wiggle room.

A moment later, the Saint swept out of the room, leaving Will alone with a powerful Warrior in full kit. Easy peasy.

Hmm. Will tugged on his bonds experimentally, satisfied when they threatened to slip off of him as if they’d been made of greased seaweed.

“Don’t.” The warrior threatened, tensing.

“Don’t what? Test my bindings? You haven’t held many people captive before have you?” Will asked, testing Phantom Hand.