Samori
I broke Light's eye contact, bending down to pick up a large piece of coal-streaked rock and throwing it one-handed into one of the bins. The metallic clang echoed through the cavern as a grunt and a few messy steps confirmed that I'd surprised him with the quick shift. The sudden movement sent a small cascade of loose pebbles skittering across the uneven floor.
"Wow, you're powerful, huh? Maybe I didn't want to resist. I mean, we could probably have a lot of fun," Light said with a sly smile, his flirtation as bold as it was dangerous in a place where the wrong kind of attention could get you disappeared.
By the sound of his footsteps on the damp stone, he started moving as I did, matching my pace in the work. The rhythmic scraping of our tools joined the symphony of labor that filled these tunnel pickaxes biting into stone, the groan of overloaded wheelbarrows, and the distant rumble of ore carts disappearing into the deeper shafts. I made sure I didn't meet his gaze and kept him far enough away that accidental contact was impossible. But even through the corner of my eye, his compulsion felt like a shift in gravity itself, as if the very air around him had grown dense and pulling.
"So what's so important about you and that girl you're with?" Light asked, his voice carrying an unnatural ease that set my teeth on edge.
He wasn't out of breath despite the heavy labor, and wasn't showing any of the strain that marked everyone else in this place. His tone sounded as casual as if we were taking a stroll through some sun-drenched park above ground, not hauling rocks in the bowels of a mountain where people came to break their bodies and lose their minds.
Before I responded, I needed to choose my words carefully. Just conversing with him made the gravitational pressure stronger, like invisible hands trying to pull me into his orbit. I could feel my energy being drawn toward him and knew I'd need to keep my reserves high for whatever was coming. The bioluminescent strips overhead flickered intermittently, casting shifting shadows that made it harder to track his movements.
If they'd sent Light and his partner here, there could definitely be others scattered throughout the tunnels, watching from the deeper alcoves or posing as regular workers in the other shifts.
From what I could tell, this guy's potential had something to do with attracting people to him, manipulating their senses and desires. It was sophisticated but not unbreakable. Nothing ever was.
"Girl?" I asked with feigned ignorance, hoping to minimize the words I'd need to speak. Every syllable felt like it was being weighed and measured by some invisible force.
"Don't be stupid, Samori. You're too good-looking for that," he said with practiced conviction, not missing a beat despite my obvious deflection.
He was keeping up with my movements, so I started to speed up, testing whether physical exertion would impact his compulsion. Through the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Bean about twenty feet away. She seemed to be trying to ignore the woman who was approaching her with obvious intent, though Bean's posture had shifted into what I recognized as her pre-combat stance. Her shoulders were set, her weight balanced on the balls of her feet.
Somewhere behind us, scattered throughout the cavern's support pillars and shadowed alcoves, were the ever-present guards. Howl's security force maintained a constant presence in these tunnels—not to protect the workers, but to ensure compliance. If either Bean or I made any sudden moves, we'd have seconds before armored figures emerged from their watching posts to deal with us. I'd seen it happen before: one moment a prisoner would be standing defiantly, the next they'd be dragged away into the deeper tunnels where screams echoed for hours before falling silent.
My mind began calculating the time it would take for the guards to reach us from their various positions, mapping escape routes through the maze of support beams and equipment. In focusing on those tactical considerations, I momentarily took my attention off Light.
[Pay attention, Sam!] Bean's mental voice growled with sharp urgency. Her tone carried both distraction and laser focus she must have been deeply engaged with her own situation.
Through my peripheral vision, I saw Light reaching for me again. His hand was moving toward my arm with predatory confidence, expecting the same easy control he'd exerted moments before.
I smirked. Don't worry, Bean.
The second Light's hand made contact with my forearm, I reversed the flow of attraction he was trying to impose on me. Instead of drawing me toward him, I reflected his own compulsion back at him, amplified by the intensity he'd been directing at me. Somehow it felt like a dance of give and take.
His confident smile twisted into a grimace of shock and nausea. Those pale eyes that had seemed so mesmerizing now faltered, losing focus as he began to step back unsteadily. The gravitational pull I'd been fighting suddenly snapped back on him like a rubber band, making him the center of an attraction so intense it was probably making his head spin.
"You're... amazing," he coughed out, one hand pressed against his stomach as if trying to keep himself from being sick. His face had gone pale despite his already pale complexion, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
The sudden change drew attention from nearby workers. People turned to stare, their hollow eyes taking in the scene with the morbid curiosity of those who had little entertainment beyond others' misfortune. I smiled and continued working, acting as if Light was the one behaving strangely which was true, given his current appearance. A man doubled over and nauseous while everyone else continued their back-breaking labor was definitely the odd one out.
His gravitational compulsion had completely disappeared, leaving the air around us feeling normal for the first time since he'd approached me. I could look directly at him now without feeling that magnetic pull, and what I saw was satisfying: he stood motionless with one hand pressed to his stomach while workers moved around him like he was just another obstacle. I purposely ignored his presence as he glared holes into my back, though I could feel the weight of his stare.
His potential had been disrupted by the emotional and physical shock of having his own power turned against him. I doubted he'd be able to get it working again anytime soon, not while he was fighting the overwhelming compulsion to focus entirely on me. Right now, I was the center of his world in the most uncomfortable way possible.
[Taking care of things over here. This guy was a flirt, but his potential is way too basic. Are you doing okay?] I asked Bean mentally, not sure if she had the capacity to monitor what was happening while dealing with her own threat.
The woman near Bean had moved closer, and I could see Bean's jaw tighten with the particular tension she got when violence was about to break out. In a place like this, we'd learned that sometimes the best defense was a swift, decisive offense but timing was everything when the guards were always watching.