Chương 58: Blindfolded But Not Blind

Regina led Elena through the maze of tunnels until they got to the control room.

"Okay, we're here, you can remove the blindfold now," Regina said, making her way to the control panel. She quickly checked the surveillance monitors that lined the wall.

"I think we're good. You can get onto Shadowlink from here," she said as she sat down. Elena looked around the unfamiliar surroundings.

"Well, this is not quite what I expected," Elena said, while letting her eyes adjust. She headed to the control panel pulling out the rolling chair next to Regina.

"This is quite the set-up you've got here. You have more equipment than we do at HQ," she mused.

"Looks more advanced too. May I?" she asked, looking at the keyboard.

"I will also need a chip modulator so I can plug in my security bar."

"I swear, if you download anything onto my system, you will be dead before you can pull the damn bar out," Regina said, pointing to the port to Elena's left.

"I have some of the best detection software there is, so I will know… Immediately," she warned.

"Trust me, Regina, I wouldn't dare," she said, pulling a small bar out of her pocket. Elena leaned forward and flipped the protective plastic up and plugged the bar into the port, then turned to the keyboard. Regina watched as several screens popped up on the monitors on the wall. Elena navigated each one with practiced ease, feverishly typing different passcodes to access document after document.

"Would you prefer me to explain, or would you rather read it for yourself?" Elena asked, sliding the keyboard to Regina. Regina exhaled slowly, bracing herself.

"Explain." Elena spent what felt like an eternity explaining documents pertaining to the dig site. The artifacts they found, the documents that could barely be translated. All the schematics for building things that no one could identify or figure out a purpose for. What truly caught Regina's attention was the photos, especially of what was found in the chamber. The machinery was like nothing she had ever seen, but that was nothing compared to the remains. They weren't Goblins, but they weren't fairies either.

What were these creatures and why had they come to Falotopia? Regina looked at Elena wearily as she explained yet another document she had stored on the secret site. She sighed heavily, her mind reeling from all the information Elena had shared. She had seen enough.

"I still don't understand how they were able to keep all this under wraps," Regina said, realizing her boss was far more dubious and deceitful than she had ever imagined.

"There are more sites out there like the one you discovered, all hidden in plain sight?"

"Yes, six more that we know of, and each one was shut down by Blackwood and then declared a toxic waste site, just like ours," Elena said, feeling more confident about Regina joining their team.

"And just like our site, all the scientists and experts in the fields working on them were all rounded up by various Blackwood operatives," Elena looked sadly at Regina.

"There are some that we still have no idea where they are, or even if they are still alive. He is ruthless Regina."

"I knew he was a low life, but this? I just don't see how he even had the smarts to pull any of it off," Regina said, dumbfounded at the skill and mastery it must have taken to keep it all out of the spotlight. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"He likes to think he's the mastermind, and essentially, I guess he is… but it's the people he has on his payroll who have pulled it off, not him personally," Elena said.

"I don't know how he managed to do it, but he has some pretty intelligent people who for some unknown reason are loyal to him, and only him."

"Well, now that you mention it," Regina started, "something has definitely been off. Some of my colleagues thought he was about as dumb as a box of rocks, and had no use for him, but then suddenly… and I do mean suddenly, they all fell into line right behind him and…" she paused, thinking of the right phrase, "they now seemingly worship him." She shuddered.

"How suddenly?" Elena asked.

"Are we talking over the course of weeks or like, instantaneous?"

"Instantaneous, one day he made their skin crawl and the next they were falling over each other to get close to him," she said, unable to hide the disgust.

"You don't think it's part of the tech they found, like some mind ray or something like that." Elena couldn't help but laugh at this.

"To the best of my knowledge, no, no one has discovered a mind ray," she paused, thinking.

"It's not out of the realm of possibility that it is some sort of mind control though, or perhaps even, coercion of some kind." She raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe it's a type of conversion therapy. Conversion therapy has been used for centuries for various reasons, I've just never seen any used on this scale or be effective so quickly."

"Right?" Regina said.

"It's almost like they were indoctrinated into a cult," she said standing up and stretching.

"We took down a few of them, and these people seem to have been normal intelligent people pre-Blackwood and then suddenly they became almost incapable of independent thought, it's like a hive mentality with the leader thinking for them." Elena let Regina's words roll around in her head for a minute. It was an excellent way to put it.

"The only question I can't answer is… how did he do it?" she sighed.

"Even the most masterful of cult leaders is not capable of instantaneously converting members. It takes weeks sometimes months to make someone malleable enough to control, where it only takes him hours? We are missing something; I just don't know what?" Elena said, folding her arms.

"He's very careful about who he selects, and whatever he is doing doesn't seem to work on everyone. I mean really, look at the scientists in your organization, I would think that he would have brought you guys over to the dark side if he had been able," Regina said, thinking out loud. Elena looked at her.

"You know, you're right," she said, punching something in on the keyboard.

"If he is able to do it on a large scale, why hasn't he just put the whammy on everyone. It would crush any resistance or threat. Everyone would just be putty in his hands," she said, looking over a list that popped up on the screen.

"Take a look at this list, these are people we were looking to enlist as allies. They seemingly were anti Blackwood, they had stood up against him in the past and were very vocal in their dislike of him and his tactics." Regina scanned the list, she recognized several of the names.

"What does the letter next to their name mean?" she asked, pointing to the "D" next to a former colleague.

"A D next to a name means, disappeared. A K means killed. A B means they are now a Blackwood supporter. U means status unknown. S means we are surveilling them. A means they are Active in our organization," Elena explained.

"Okay, there is an R next to my name, what's that?" Regina asked, glancing at Elena.

"R means you were selected for recruitment," Elena said, half smiling at her.

"And here I am trying to recruit you. I do have to say you have to be one of the most challenging recruitments thus far." She laughed.

"I see," Regina said, half smiling.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, quite the contrary, it shows that you think on your feet, are not easily swayed and need facts before drawing conclusions," she said, firmly.

"It's those types of things that would make you a true asset." She sighed.

"Look, Regina, the more time we spend together the more convinced I am that we need someone like you in our organization. You're smart, cautious, direct and are very good at what you do. I just need to know what side you are going to land on?"