ACT III SCENE LII
CIRCE

   CASSANDRA opened the door and stepped through, expecting to see technologically advanced torture machines inside. Instead, she found a single wooden chair set in the middle of a small beige room. It looked oddly quaint, especially with the whiteboard that hung on the opposite wall. Next to it was a  slim brunette woman dressed in green scrubs and a white lab coat. She had an angular jaw that looked like it was made to cut glass and stormy grey eyes with thin lips.

"Welcome," the woman said. "My name is Octavia. Please have a seat, facing me."

Cassandra eyed her warily as she made her way towards the chair and gingerly sat down. Nervous tension probably rolled off her in waves as she stared hard at the woman.

"Now please observe," Octavia said in a clipped, surgical voice.

She turned around and started to write with her index finger on the upper left corner of the board. A bright blue line trailed along the smooth white surface as she moved. The first word written down was Minho. Then slowly, a list started to take form.

Newt. Thomas. Teresa. Sonya. Frypan. Archie. Brenda.

Cassandra watched with growing apprehension as the woman wrote the names of her friends down.  For whatever reason, it felt like she was about to witness an execution.  She swallowed nervously as Octavia turned around to face her again.

"Do you confirm that you are aware of these eight individuals?" she asked.

"Yes," Cassandra responded curtly.

"Thank you." The woman blinked owlishly. "That was just a preliminary question. The actual Experience exercise will now begin."

A beetle blade scuttled across the ceiling to spy on them, its red light beaming down on  Casandra intrusively. It had been a while since she saw one and thought that it was odd that WICKED would use them within their own facility.  The metal insect brought back memories of the Glade to the forefront of her mind and she shot it a glare before directing her attention back to Octavia.

"We are now ready to  begin," the woman said in a clear voice. "As you've been told, I am  going to ask you one question and one question only. Your response  should be limited to one word. I will pose the question in ten seconds  if you're ready."

Cassandra nodded once to show that she was.  Exactly ten seconds passed before Octavia finally spoke again.

"Our doctors have determined that we need to dissect the brain of one of these subjects for a more in-depth study. We will allow you to choose the subject to be undergoing the surgery. If you do not choose then all of them will be used. Which person do you choose to sacrifice? That is your question."

Cassandra stared numbly back into the woman's cold steel grey eyes until she thought her mind would explode from the empty static. Her words couldn't possibly be  true. There was no way they would harvest all her friends just because she refused to answer their stupid question.

"Would you like me to repeat the question?" Octavia asked.

"No."

Cassandra cast her eyes downwards, trying to think as fast as she could to see through WICKED's schemes. This had to be a trick. "Why are you doing this?" she asked to  stall for time.

"The people on this list have been used to their fullest extent, and the only value remaining is to study them physically. Your friend will have the honour of donating  their life to the noblest cause ever known to mankind."

Disgust was the most prominent emotion on Cassandra's face as she looked back at the woman.  There were not enough words that she could muster to describe how much she hated them. They were worse than monsters.

"Be thankful that the  Psychs determined that this Trial would be beneficial. At least only one  of the people you care about need to die."

That was the last straw.  "One?" she seethed. "Only one person? And what about Nick? Alby? Lee?  Winston? Chuck! Those are more than one person!"

The woman ignored her outburst. "Do you need more time to consider your options?"

"Shuck this, I choose me," Cassandra glowered angrily.

"You are not part of the list."

"Do I look like I give a shuck?! I'm not choosing anyone to die, unless it's me. My life, my terms," she said defiantly.

"You must choose," Octavia insisted. "You don't have a choice."

Cassandra scoffed. "So much for volunteering."

"We need you to make a choice. We are willing to take whatever actions necessary to...encourage your volunteering."

Cassandra tilted her chin downwards with a scowl. "Oh, yeah?"

"Choose a name."

"Cassandra."

"From the list."

"Cassandra, Subject C. The Tragedy. Formerly known as Choi Soyun."

Octavia took a step  forwards. "I'll ask it a final time before taking further measures.  Which of your friends will you sacrifice?"

"None of them."

The woman grabbed a  baton from the inside of her lab coat and pressed the button on its side. Cassandra started in surprise when a blue electrical surge buzzed through the tip of the weapon. She felt her heart beat hard, her body tensing and muscles contracting in anticipation. Octavia jabbed the baton into Cassandra's side and she cried out sharply, twisting sideways in her chair.

"Which name do you choose?"

"Go to hell!" the girl spat.

She screamed when the woman touched the baton to her side again at the exact same spot. Her nerves felt like they were aflame, every single neuron firing with sudden intensity to outreach her pain threshold. Cassandra fell forward to the  cold tiled floor, gasping for breath as her shoulders twitched.

"Cassandra." The woman took a step forward menacingly. "Which of the names do you choose?"

"Mine," she said through gritted teeth.

Another shock sent her collapsing to the floor with a shriek as her arms gave out beneath her.  She took deep gasping breaths in a vain effort to endure the rush of  pain through her entire body.

"We can do this all  day," Octavia told her. "We're not leaving and I won't stop until you give me an answer. All you have to do is to say one name. Just say it.  Now. Say it!"

Her voice suddenly raised in pitch and volume, sending another jolt of surprise through  Cassandra's system. She scrambled away as the woman took another step  closer. Disbelief clouded her brown eyes but at the same time, she knew  WICKED would do absolutely anything to get what they wanted. The end will always justify the means. They should hang that up as their slogan.

"Which name do you choose?"

Cassandra opened her  mouth to tell the woman to shuck herself when an intense pain washed  over her. It started from the front of her brain and radiated out to every single neural fiber encased in her skull. She cried out and clutched her head, curling into herself against the wall before letting out a scream of pure agony.

She was vaguely aware of a commotion happening outside the room before the door burst open.  Minho barreled through the opening, anxious eyes searching for her before rushing across the room in an instant. He grabbed hold of her arms firmly and pulled her close as she started to sob.

"What did you do to her?!" he shouted furiously.

Octavia stared at them  with widened eyes, disbelief eminent on her face. She faltered, hand dropping back to her side before shaking her head wordlessly.

"What happened?" Janson looked between them in confusion.

"I was only following procedures when she started screaming," Octavia explained.

"Cassie, you're okay."  Minho held her  crumpled face between his hands as tears continued to leak from her tightly shut eyes. "It's okay, I'm here."

"It hurts, it hurts so much," she cried, grabbing his shirt in tight fists.

Her entire head felt like it was about to explode with pain, phosphenes dancing in her closed vision as her temples throbbed. Then a feeling she hadn't felt  in a very long time returned. Her eyes snapped open and she stared in  shock at the flood of images streaming through her mind.

"No, no, no!" She started thrashing her arms in fear. "Stop it! Please, stop it!"

Octavia gasped in realisation. "She's having an episode."

"What the hell is happening?" Minho yelled at her.

"She can't be having an episode, we suppressed it." Janson frowned in concern.

Cassandra's eyes glazed over as she started to ramble. "There's no end. It's useless, there's no cure. They started it. This was all their fault. It's their fault we're sick! There's no cure for death!"

"Can't you help her?" Minho shouted angrily as he held Cassandra's arms to stop her from clawing herself.

"There's noth—"

"I need to see Helenus!" the girl screamed madly. "Where is he? Helenus!"

Her eyes then rolled to  the back of her head before her body slumped unconscious onto Minho. A  heavy silence filled the room as everyone stared at her in shock. She had gone deathly pale, the soft rise and fall of her chest the only indication that she was still alive. Then Janson stirred, turning slowly towards the beetle blade on the ceiling.

"Get Psych in here right now."

ugh why is it still so hard to find tmr gifs especially for minho. i know they exist but where are they hiding?? D:<