Chapter 5: Bureaucracy and Binding Curses
"Uhhhh… sooo… sooo…" Chris mumbled, fingers tapping his knees.
The atmosphere in the containment room was thick.
A cold sweat broke on one of the guards' foreheads.
The Eye pulsed again, and a whispering static seemed to creep into everyone's ears — like a thousand voices screaming underwater.
"Stop that!" someone barked — accompanied by a loud # sound ringing inside Chris's skull.
"Okay! Okay, sir! Sheesh!"
The tension eased. A bit.
The lead investigator sighed, turned to his assistant, and spoke in a grave tone:
"Call the higher-ups."
The assistant's eyes widened.
"Wait, sir! The higher-higher ups?"
"Yes. The actual higher-ups. Department of Arcane Anomalies. Mythical Classification Division. Maybe even Ethereal Ethics, if they pick up this time."
"Sir, that's gonna trigger a full-scale audit."
"We're dealing with a primordial-class artifact bound to a living host. This is already above our pay grade."
Chris raised a finger like a student in a classroom.
"Hey, uh... while you're all losing your minds, quick question?"
The room turned to him.
"Do you guys think, you know… I could, like, reckon go home?"
Everyone stared.
Silence.
Blinking.
More silence.
Then just a slow, hard stare from the lead investigator.
Chris slumped.
"Okay. Fine. I'll stay," he muttered.
"Can't even take a cursed cosmic eyeball to the authorities without getting locked up for eternity. Nice."
The Eye floated silently beside him, its black, starless pupil gleaming.
You're important now.
You cannot run from this.
The voice wasn't external. It wasn't even audible. But Chris felt it in his mind like a dream half-remembered.
"Oh, now you talk?" he muttered to it.
"Where was this voice of ominous wisdom when I tried to toss you in a river two years ago?"
No reply.
Hours later, Chris was moved to a private chamber.
Not a jail cell. Not quite a bedroom. More like a padded observation suite for unpredictable magical phenomena.
Two guards stood outside. A surveillance orb floated near the ceiling.
He laid back on the single bed, arms behind his head, eye still hovering nearby.
"So. Primordial Essence, huh?" he muttered.
"Guess that explains the creepy static and why people nearly pass out when they inspect you."
His panel flickered.
[You are now under observation.]
[Do not attempt to leave containment.]
[Further synchronization with Eye of ??? is in progress…]
[Progress: 6%]
"Oh cool, I'm syncing with an eldritch eye like it's a software update."
"This is fine. Totally normal."
"Just another Tuesday."