Only the barcode remained.
The vibration kicked in.
Thrum. Thrum. Thrum.
The motor inside the heavy tungsten plug roared to life, a sudden, violent mechanical churn that rattled against Yanna's pelvic bone. The randomized timer had struck.
Yanna's spine bowed off the freezing epoxy floor, her hands clenching into tight, useless fists.
"Ah!" she gasped, the sound echoing sharply in the cavernous, silent vault.
From the corner of the room, near the shadows of the medical cabinet, a sharp, electric crackle snapped through the air.
Bzzzt.
Yanna froze, her breath catching in her throat, the vibration drilling mercilessly into her center. She turned her head, her cheek pressing against the cold floor, trying to see through the dim ambient light filtering from the surveillance monitors.
Silas stood there. He held the black cattle prod. The twin metal prongs sparked with a blue arc of high voltage.
