What is pain?

There are two types of pain.

Emotional and physical.

Emotional pain is pain which is created by the mind.

Pain that comes about not due to physical injury, but rather due to social experiences and psychological phenomena.

Loneliness. Anger. Hatred. Depression. Fear.

These are all examples of emotional pain.

Emotions we feel which make us uncomfortable, to the point of influencing our entire mentality - driving us into unstable states.

However these forms of pain are abstract, and cannot be so easily defined.

What causes a person to fear?

What causes a person to feel anger and hatred towards another?

What causes a person to wallow in self hatred?

A series of events and experiences which reinforce and create these emotions will lead to these forms of pain, yet why is it that the human mind allows such forms of pain to exist in the first place?

The answer?

The same exact reason that physical pain exists - for the protection of a person.

Why does a person feel pain when they cut themselves, or when they touch something hot?

The mind creates the sensation of pain as a defensive mechanism.

After recognizing the danger to the body created by a threatening circumstance, the mind will release chemicals and send signals to the location of impact in order to let the person know that something is wrong.

If pain did not exist, then perhaps a person who stuck their hand into a flame would simply keep it there, watching as their hand burned to a crisp without even knowing that such a thing was dangerous to their health.

Disease may infect such a person’s body, and they may not even be aware of their own infirmity until they drop dead.

However, this is nothing more than a mechanism.

Letting the owner of the body know that it is in danger is not the same as removing that danger. This merely shifts the responsibility onto the owner.

'Remove your hand from the fire.'

As if the mind is making this statement to the owner, pain will erupt in the hand of the person, at which most would immediately remove their hand before further injury occurs.

However even after the hand is removed, the pain still lingers.

Even when the person can do absolutely nothing to stop the pain, it still exists - continuously reminding the person that something is wrong.

The human mind is intelligent, however like a computer, it will carry out the functions which have been coded into it.

Why then does emotional pain exist?

To let a person know that they need to do something about their life.

The people around them are abusive.

Spiteful.

Jealous.

Haughty and arrogant.

'You are being used by those whom you are surrounded by.'

'Remove yourself from this situation.'

'They're mocking you.'

'They're laughing at you.'

'They despise you.'

As if to constantly remind a person of the wretched situation that is society, these emotional pains are instilled into us.

And greatest among these of course, is fear.

The instinct which tells a person to run.

This instinct is not unique to people. Animals experience this as well.

However when an animal experiences fear, one of two responses are provoked.

Fight or flight.

The animal will either run away in order to defend itself, or fight in order to prevent its predator from overtaking it.

Now what if you had a situation where the animal could neither run nor fight?

A situation where doing either of these would lead this animal to ruin?

A situation in which the animal would be forced to comply with the situation, allowing the fear to linger within them endlessly - never giving into their original instincts?

This is what we call society.

A jungle, where neither running nor fighting is permitted.

One in which the predator may feast as they please, and the prey can do nothing more but bow their heads, praying that they will not be consumed.

----

"All pain, whether emotional or physical pain, comes from a signal created in the brain."

As Percy was brought into the recuperation room, he recalled these words as he lingered on the brink of insanity.

"Different forms of pain require different signals... yet if the signal can be analyzed, then it also can be reproduced."

The burly men shoved the man into what appeared to be a cell - yet it was not just any cell.

The walls were completely white, made of foam.

It was the cell of an insane asylum.

"Ah... this room again..."

Percy found the door behind him closing, looking around to confirm that he was now alone in this place.

The lights were bright above him, enough so that not even a shadow formed.

Closing his eyes, the man gripped his hair, ready to pull it out - however he stopped.

"I need to calm down and think.", he whispered.

Everything around him was white.

It was all the same.

It was all... repetitive.

Left.

Right.

180 degrees.

360 degrees.

The door blended into the walls, and as soon as the man turned himself around he realized that he had lost its position.

'Everything... is the same.'

'It's all so... repetitive.'

Taking a deep breath, the man looked at his arm.

'Except... for one thing.'

Then, bringing his arm to his mouth, the man bit down.

Hard.

Blood began to drip from his arm, yet the man did not flinch as he performed this act of self mutilation.

Then, flicking his arm around, he sprayed the blood which flowed from his veins onto the walls.

Flick.

Splat.

Flick.

Splat.

Painting the walls with the splattering patterns, the man smiled lightly, sanity slowly returning to his eyes.

'Thank goodness...', he thought, glaring at the now reddened walls.

Closing his eyes, the man laid down as peace returned to him for just a brief moment, and he fell asleep.

'Now... nothing will repeat anymore.'

"This machine is designed to emulate all sorts of signals."

Once more, the memory played back in the mind of Percy as he recalled his first experience with the machine.

"Drowning... burning... being crushed to death... decapitation... dismemberment... public humiliation... loneliness... anxiety... impalement... electrocution... poisoning... hatred... abandonment... if it is a form of pain, then this machine can simulate it."

"What... what type of pain am I going to experience?"

At that time, Percy had asked this, quivering in fear as the boss had explained the mechanics of the machine to him.

And at this question, the boss merely smiled.

He bore his perfect teeth, pearly and white as if they had never been subject to any imperfection.

"I do not know that. However I can tell you this. This machine... is quite a monster. Those engineers in the Forgestarian Empire are quite barbaric to come up with something like this. This machine will read human hearts in order to understand them before it applies any such pain to a person."

With the flip of the switch, the man had finished his words at that time, turning the machine on as the whirring had begun.

"The pain you will experience... is that which you fear the most."

----

Amelia was in a dark room.

She couldn’t see anything.

No windows were inside the room, and even the light of the moon was blocked from her vision.

'Where...'

The woman looked around her, confused at first - however it was at that moment that she felt something was off.

'My body... it's... smaller?'

'Wait... this room...'

As her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, the small bed underneath her became clear.

'This... is this my past?'

'Is this... the hotel?'

Suddenly, the door opened.

Inside the room walked a man, large enough that he towered over the girl in both height and width.

Rolls of fat slithered down his face and body, and he almost appeared to be drooling as he licked his lips in pleasure.

Warts covered this man's nose, and he looked down on the girl with excitement.

"How wonderful... to think that this hotel could provide this sort of service... I will certainly be making a most generous donation tonight."

Closing the door, the light from the outside hallway was cut off.

"Soundproof walls so that screams cannot be heard... protection from government authorities and other forms of snooping... and most importantly... a fresh girl."

As the man removed his belt, the girl shrunk back in fear, recalling in her own memories where this scene was going.

'No... no...'

Tears formed in her eyes, and she felt the urge to cry out - however she knew.

No amount of crying would save her.

Slap!

At that moment, the stinging pain of the belt rushed across the face of the girl, who squealed out in agony.

Slap!

Again and again, the man began to brutally beat the girl, pleasure emanating in his eyes all the while.

"Yes... yes... scream more... haha...."

Slap!

Slap!

Blood was drawn, staining the freshly changed sheets.

Yet even so, the man did not cease his attacks.

The girl huddled up into a ball, bearing her back as she protected her head with her hands.

"Ah... why do you try to protect yourself like that? Well... even if you do so..."

Crack!

The stinging of the belt exploded on the back of the girl, which she could not protect from the bombardment.

"No matter how much you defend yourself... there will always be a part of you that is exposed."

----

2377.

39 minutes and 37 seconds.

This was the amount of time that Amelia was left in the machine.

The man known as the boss watched diligently, merely observing the blank expression of the girl whose mind was no longer in this world, but rather trapped within a world of her own imagination.

He kept a close eye on the watch, ready to flip the switch at the exact second which had been determined, set on not allowing any deviation from what had been decided.

For if punishments were not exact, then they served no purpose.

If one was not punished in precisely the amount which they were deemed to be punished for, then everything would become meaningless.

'Punishment... is not supposed to be a means of merely traumatizing my employees.'

'It is supposed to encourage their growth.'

'Therefore... even if the amount of time is in this excessive amount... I must ensure that the punishment is exact... to encourage workers to also be exact.'

At that instant, the strange watch which did not count in minutes, but rather in seconds, reached the number 2377.

Immediately, the switch was flipped and the machine turned off.

The man removed the helmet from the girl, walking over to her as he opened her eyes with his fingers, glancing into them.

"She is not with us yet... However, without doubt, tomorrow she will be far more productive than today. Allow her to recuperate. She is in no state to work the day shift. But following this... she should not make a single mistake from this point onward."

The two men grabbed the girl, carrying the limp woman off without a word.

The one known as the boss merely watched this scene, nodding to himself with a grin.

"Yes... indeed... punishment is not intended to destroy a person's mind. It is all in the objective of... giving it a new direction."

----

[Many years before]

An explosion sounded in the distance.

Gunshots could be heard, and the screaming of men resounded throughout the ruined streets.

The crackling of fires and the smell of smoke surrounded a man and a woman who ran through these streets, dressed in rags with a baby cradled in the arms of the woman.

"We have to get out of here."

As they hid behind a crate, the man peeked out to confirm that nobody was guarding the path, waving for the woman to move forward.

"But where will we go?"

Speaking in a slavic accent, the woman responded to the man with concern as they dodged their way through the alley, hiding behind a set of barrels as they continued to move.

"I... do not know.", the man replied, his thick accent overcome with despair. "But even so... we cannot stay in this country anymore. A revolution is beginning... and if we do not leave then we will become sacrifices for it."

Wiping her tears, the woman looked down to the child, who was sleeping soundly.

Even as explosions and gunshots were fired off, the hairless child continued to peacefully slumber, without so much as a peep.

"Come. I know a man who will know what to do. If we can make it to his place... then he should be able to help us."

Fiddling in his pocket, the man took out a golden coin.

10,000 Sin.

This inscription was written on the coin, which the man wiped off with his shirt before sticking it back into his pocket.

"We may have to give up everything... but that is fine. Because if we do not..."

Looking at the child, the bearded man bitterly smiled, kindness and concern filling his expression.

"Then we will lose everything."

----

"10,000 Sin will cover the cost for a child. I'll need 50,000 if you want one child and two adults."

Inside an underground bar filled with all sorts of vile men, a man with an eyepatch sat across from the man and the woman, who clutched her child with care.

"10,000 Sin? For just the child? This... this is everything we have. Surely there must be... I'll work it off! I'll get you the remaining 40,000... if you can just-"

"How do you plan on doing that if you live in another country?"

The father protested, however the man with the eyepatch cut him off with a glare.

"We do not have many members outside of Joraten. With the start of this new revolution, our influence is beginning to wane even here. To put it simply..."

Slamming a knife onto the table, the man spoke in a gruff tone as he let out a threat.

"We are not in a position where we can allow any negotiation."

The mother clutched her child even tighter, looking to her husband with fear in her expression and then down to the child, who continued to stay quiet all the while.

"What if... no... no... I can't stay here and work... even the factories are breaking down now... the workers are revolting... the economy is unstable... There are no jobs left here... the only ones who have anything are the bureaucrats and the revolutionaries... and soon everything the bureaucrats have will be taken from them... is there anything? Anything you can do for us?"

The man struggled to think up a solution, however he could find none - and upon doing so he pleaded with his expression, facing the gruff man as he took off his cap with humility.

"Is there anything you can do to guarantee that we will pay you back?"

"Oh... I see."

At this statement, the man grinned.

Stroking his beard, the man lifted up his eyepatch to reveal that his eye was no longer present - completely removed from his socket.

Nothing was left but the red insides of his flesh.

"If that's the case... then I suppose we can do something about it. Do you see this eye of mine... or what once was this eye?"

"I... yes.", the man replied with a gulp.

"I once lost it as collateral. I took out a loan and couldn't repay it, so they took it from me. In exchange, I was able to get out of repaying it since they sold off my eye for quite a high price."

"So you want us to put our organs on the line?", the man questioned as a fierce determination overcame him. "Very well. If that's what you wish-"

"No."

However in the face of such resolve, the man flipped his eyepatch down as he held up a hand to deny the motion.

"I don't want your organs. While they could serve as perfectly good collateral... you'll need them. It would be better if you could just pay us back in the long run. So I would like you to keep them for the time being so you can do that."

"So... you wish for us to keep our organs for now... but if we cannot pay you back in the future then you will come and take them from us?", the man asked, leaning forward as his tone became serious.

"No. That would be too much effort on our part. I said it before, we don't have too many people in other countries. It would require quite a force to keep track of the whereabouts of two people, and you could escape our eyes at any time. Then we would lose everything you owe us. We need a guarantee that you won't run away, and that you'll continue making the payments."

Pointing to the child, the man thinned his single eye as he spoke.

"We put that child into the care of one of our people. He will raise it for the time being. He'll even send it to school like a normal child. And while you two pay us back for our expenses, we will keep the child in our custody. Once you have paid us back, we will return the child safe and sound, I can assure you."

"Is that... is that the only way!?"

The mother became distraught as the man brought up this method, glancing at her child with worry and then to the man with a pleading expression.

"Is there truly no other way to allow us-"

"That is my offer. Take it or leave it."

Crossing his arms in an unyielding manner, the man spoke these words.

The mother looked to the father, who was currently holding his forehead, deep in thought at the proposal.

"Darling... surely..."

"We'll accept."

Without raising his darkened face, the man uttered these cold words.

"We'll accept. Take the advance payment of 10,000 Sin. This will cover the child. We will pay our own costs later. And then we will retrieve our child. Is that the deal?"

Sliding over the coin to the broker, the bearded man looked into the single eye of the man, as if to confirm his intentions.

"That is the deal. Come with me. And know one thing."

Picking up the coin with one hand and grabbing the knife from the table with the other, the man motioned for the family to follow him as the group exited the quiet bar.

"No matter who the client is... I always keep my bargains."

----

"It's too dangerous to try and return to your homes, and bringing any luggage will only slow you down. If there are any fees we run into on the way, then I will just add it onto your payment."

The four were currently traveling through an underground sewer system, far away from the violence happening on the surface.

Every once in a while a muffled explosion could be heard, and the sounds of automatic gunfire were not uncommon, however within this place no such fighting occurred.

"We own these sewers. If any revolutionary or military forces attempted to take these from us, then they would form one more enemy - which they don't exactly want. Therefore you could say that there has been a collective... agreement."

The man with the eyepatch explained this as the group walked, their steps wet with the dew that had formed on the concrete beneath them.

"Then we won't have to fight anyone so long as you're with us. After all... neither party would want to mess with your group. Right?", the man asked.

"That isn't true. First thing is that if we're caught trying to sneak over the border, we might be attacked at any moment without warning. They won't need to check if they know it's an enemy. The military will probably mistake us for revolutionaries trying to obtain outside assistance if we don't get the chance to talk to them. Even if we did stop them for long enough to speak..."

Thinning his eye, the man let out a hardy breath, clearly disgusted with the pungent odor of the sewer.

"Who knows whether they would be willing to listen. After all... I'm just one guy. And dead men tell no tales. And it's not like we're buddy buddy with the government or anything. Matter of fact, we got a better chance negotiating with revolutionaries if we run into them, though the chances of that are still... low at best."

With this statement, the family was silenced.

They continued their way through the sewers, traveling underground for who knows how long before reaching the end.

"Up this way.", the man with the eyepatch stated as he ascended a stairway, opening a hatch above him as he stuck his head out to look around. "Coast is clear for now. We head into the forest to hide ourselves."

Following this, the man took the child as he climbed up the ladder with one arm, then the woman followed as the two ascended.

They were on the very outskirts of the city.

A city of brick and concrete, with factories and billowing smoke as far as the eye could see, the husband and wife looked back at the scene - explosions and gunfire still firing off in the distance.

"That... was once our home.", the mother uttered with nostalgia.

"That it was.", the man agreed as he placed his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner. "That it was."

Taking in a deep breath, the two reminisced for just a moment as they prepared themselves to leave their old life, entering a new one which was filled with the unknown.

"If we stick around here for too long-"

"I know."

The man with the eyepatch spoke up in an annoyed tone, however he was met with the hand of the bearded husband, who spoke with urgency yet kept looking onward, facing the town as if to remind himself.

'This is the place you were born.'

'And this is the place that you left... and will likely never return.'

"Let's go."

Then, turning around, the two looked to their guide, firmly resolved as they turned their back on that place.

Fires roared in the distance.

Destruction abounded.

And yet, these four entered into the forest, leaving all this behind.

No possessions.

Nothing was waiting for them.

Yet even so... they abandoned everything.

In order that they did not have to lose everything.