They left no bodily mark on their torture subject, but the being was screaming for mercy within but an hour, maybe less. The chamber was pitch black, it was not warm, nor cold, the walls were so soft they could practically not be there, though they were strong to hold the subject in, and there was no gravity, so no pressure on the body. Total sensory deprivation. The subject was not even able to hear their own voice.
When cruel people want to interrogate humans, they do the worst KIND of harm, they do not allow the humans any physical sensations at all.
However, they learn the hard way what OTHER humans will do to those that torture their kind in this way. -- Anon Guest
All it takes is one escapee. One survivor. One who gets out and tells their story to someone who listens. Then the rest of the Alliance learns of the horror of the Quiet Room.
Anything that was once therapy can be torture, and vice versa. This therapy was a derivative of the Sensory Deprivation Chamber, but amplified to the extreme. Sound baffles and complete darkness was just step one. No gravity, so the victim could not feel the pull of the world. Then, the true nastiness, forcibly interrupting the sensory feedback so that the conscious mind had no input at all.
Cavers know of the hand in the darkness[1], but even that is shut off with a very interesting chemical cocktail. Only the survivors knew the true terror of nothing.
Can you imagine the true horror of not knowing if you are still alive or dead? Those who suffered it weren't even aware of their own hearts beating, or their lungs breathing. They couldn't scream, nor hear themselves if they tried. Worse - once returned to reality, they weren't certain of what reality was any more.
Broken, but only on the inside, they told their stories. One hand feeling their throat to be sure they were really speaking. One hand petting a surface, any surface, just to feel.
Some had to be gently discouraged from picking holes in themselves.
Naturally, the CRC had to intervene.
They came in force, bringing Pax Humanis with them. Bringing the assembled might of the Alliance. They had weapons and defenses that left any other means of war as a moot point.
It was over in seconds. Well. It was over for the polities that insulated such facilities whilst covertly endorsing them. It was far from over for those who worked there, or owned them. It was far from over for the leaders who subsidised them.
They had long lives ahead of them to learn a lesson.
The CRC could teach some harsh lessons when the circumstances were right.
These individuals wanted senses to be a privilege? Well. They could live, then, with the ultimate privilege. Amped up senses so that any light burned like a sun, so that any sound echoed in an instant headache. Every touch was like burning glass shards. Every breath like fire.
Things could be arranged so that they would beg to be put in the Quiet Room.
And with that consent, they would learn exactly how bad their own torture was.
Around and around and around. Begging to be let out. Begging to be let in. For the rest of their lives. Thanks to the B'Nari, those lives could be very... very long.
[1] This is a thing. Even in pitch black, the brain knows when its hand should be visible and makes it visible. Human brains are weird.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / Sangoiri]
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