Welcome to the next chapter in the saga of Fedric the unfortunate ex-tax collector ! I've been using the writing prompts in the Worldbuilding community as a way to see which directions the story goes in.
This one is based on Worldbuilding Prompt #499 - Interrogation and I've listed all the previous parts of the story (as well as some connected posts) at the bottom of this post.
Fedric woke up with a headache. The intense white light shining on his face didn't help, but it distracted him from how hard the bed was, and that awful-looking robot arm hanging over him with it's multitude of pincers, syringes, drills and other frightening tools.
The only consolation was that the gravity felt right. He must be back on Tharwell V, his home world.
Image created by AI in wombo.art
That was when two faces loomed over him. One he recognised; the ASPsman who had captured him on Debris. The other was a stranger, but clearly also an ASPsman; he too wore the light grey uniform.
But then Fedric saw the colour it was trimmed with. The cornflower blue of the Auditors. That was the first time that day he wet himself.
"Oh dear. Best turn the vents up," said the first ASPsman.
Then, he turned, looked down at Fedric and addressed him in a neutral tone. "We need the answers to just two questions. Truthful answers. We are not good cop and bad cop. Be open and honest with us, and this will be a less unpleasant experience for you. But be in no doubt that we will get the information we need."
He pressed a button and the robot arm moved forward smoothly and stuck a needle into his arm with a small, stabbing pain, injecting some kind of fluid. He wondered why they used something as archaic as a needle when a subdermal transfer unit would be more efficient.
"Just a little truth serum to help overcome your inhibitions," the policeman said clinically.
"Now, our two questions are these. What did you do with the tax money, and why have the Einheriar fitted you with so much of their tech ? Oh, we've disabled most of it, by the way. There may be some after-effects."
With no direct input from his brain, Fedric found his mouth had opened and he was babbling. The truth drug worked fast ! His mind was a haze, so fogged that he couldn't think straight or focus. But his mouth didn't seem to worry about that. It's like his lips had a life of their own operating on auto-pilot and just spewing out words.
He found himself saying that there was no money, the box full of tax-chips has been kidnapped, that he had agreed to let the surgeon fill him with experimental tech because he couldn't pay.
Through the fog in his brain, Fedric saw the auditor speak to his colleague. "Are you sure the serum is working, Holmen ? Is the enemy tech really disabled ? I've never heard so much rubbish in my life. It's obviously pre-programed lies."
The one addressed as Holmen responded. His voice sounded distant, Fedric felt he might be slipping out of the world for a little while, he felt very tired.
"Yes, Auditor, I am quite sure it is working, and not working. In that order. I'm going to try something."
He pressed another button, and the robot arm punched a needle straight into and through Fedric's eye. He screamed, more from shock than pain. He felt something being injected directly into his brain. Almost immediately, the mind-fog dissipated. He felt stone cold sober, alert and awake.
Holmen's face came down directly over his, very close. "Unlike my colleague, I think you are telling the truth. The problem is that the truth makes no sense, so I'm going to try to apply a little logic. I'm going to focus on just one thing. What happened to the tax box ?"
Fedric knew he had to tell the truth. "It was kidnapped, the co-ordinates randomised by a rebel group of some kind. The screen came up with a message, something about how if they couldn't have the money, no-one would. It sent it off to some random dimension, no idea where. It's lost. I ran because I was afraid. I didn't take the money."
For the first time, Holmen's face softened slightly. "Well done, that's useful information at last. Now, one more question. What were the random co-ordinates the box was sent to ? They'll have been displayed on the screen, even if they were masked somehow. That's how the equipment works."
There was no answer to that. Fedric didn't know, he didn't even know that the screen had to have shown the co-ordinates. All he remembered was the computer-generated laughing skull.
The Auditor spoke up. "You clearly can't remember. Holmen, use the memory imager. Don't worry about turning his brain to mush, we need those co-ordinates."
That was the second time that day Fedric wet himself.
Out of sight, Holmen worked controls, and the robot arms came down and clamped itself around his head, slipping hair-thin probe wires into his skull trough every available orifice. It was far from comfortable, and the room was filled with Fedric's screams.
Holmen patted him on the shoulder. "Okay, I'm going to be as gentle as I can. Try to relax, it'll make it easier."
Although Fedric couldn't see it, the memory imager bored into his brain and the resulting output was displayed on a screen his interrogators watched intently.
Image created by AI in wombo.art
"There !"
Holmen pointed at the image of the laughing skull. Right in the crack across the bridge of the nose was microscopic text.
"I knew it had to be displayed somewhere. Let's enlarge it and let's see what we've got."
The image froze and grew, revealing a long string of meaningless characters.
ASP-Auditor Grisaille looked at it and shook his head. "I don't recognise it, it's not even in a format I have seen before. It's either encrypted or co-ordinates to a dimension so far it's out of the range we've ever used."
Holmen pressed some keys and looked at the data with an expression of relaxed contemplation. "I've sent it off to Imperial Infomancer Dranton. Hopefully he'll be able to analyse it and give us some clues. We didn't get the answers we were looking for today, but we certainly got some answers. I have a feeling there is more going on than meets the eye."
Then he walked over to Fedric and loosened the straps fastening him to the table. "Thank you for your co-operation. I know it hasn't been easy, but it is appreciated. You'll have the mother of all headaches for a few days, but you have done your duty to the Empire. We'll make sure you are looked after and kept very, very safe."
To be continued.......
Previous posts in the series:
Part 1 - Worldbuilding Prompt #490 - Storing the taxes safely
Part 2 - Worldbuilding Prompt #491 - Avoiding trouble
Part 3 - Worldbuilding Prompts #493 and #496 - Hiding on Debris
Part 4 - Worldbuilding Prompt #497 - Hiding in a Closed Ecosystem Is Dumb
Part 5 - Worldbuilding Prompt #498 - Pursuit by AI is Terrifying
There are also a few related posts from this setting which introduce some of the characters;
Captain Holmen was introduced in Worldbuilding Prompt #471 - A Question of Jurisdiction
Imperial Infomancer Dranton turned up in Worldbuilding Prompt #467 - The Imperial Halls of Information
Greville and the Tarnished Phoenix first appeared in Worldbuilding Prompt #432 - Debris