Chapter 1: Like a machine

  The Extractor came to the boondocks just a few months ago, but already its terror was more brutal than the myth and legend that started to grow around him.

  It was just that people couldn’t imagine that things could really be so bad. And that was just what it was.

  It was bad.

  It was brutal.

  It was savage.

  It was all of those things.

  It was also ultra-high-tech----------powered by an AI that controls nanobots that dig into a victim from a microscopic hole, building a trail that looks like the root-system of a plant based organism.

  It was all the brainchild of The Extractor.

  - 2 -

  Someone is following me was the nagging thought that only crossed Rocco Ho’s conscious mind for a split-second. It was most likely pushed away by the fact that it was bright as day, and most of all that the streets were crowded.

  If anything happened to anyone, then there would be witnesses out the wazoo.

  Unless it was a loonie.

  Or a loonie that was scarred into insanity by a war zone.

  That would be dangerous, because that would mean no motive, and no incentive to stay under the radar. Then it would just be a cry for help.

  I have to stop going down those crime-threads Rocco thought, as he looked over his shoulder. He didn’t have time to look back. Rocco was pulled into a van that was parked to the side of the road.

  Whoever had pulled him was strong, and kept him in a choke-hold. Too strong in fact, which was a feat considering that he was considered to be one of the strongest guys in the gym.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  (can’t look strong without being strong, sonny boy!)

  The person was wearing a cheap bank-robbers mask. And it was obvious what he did: he listened out for any commotion out on the street.

  There was nothing.

  Which wasn’t surprising, since this was a shortcut that he took almost daily. It was an expensive residential neighborhood, and except for the odd cleaner and handyman: no one was there.

  This guy has been tailing me.

  Rocco was tied up and blind-folded.

  For how long?

  - 3 -

  The van starts moving, and after some minutes it seems as if they are on a high-way. This means that they are either moving to an industrial part of town, or out into the country.

  As far as he can tell this is a one-man-operation.

  The van keeps on moving for what seems to be an eternity.

  Then they turn a few corners, and the van finally stops.

  Rocco is still unable to move.

  Then, darkness.

  - 4 -

  Rocco is tied into a dentist-chair, and he is hooked up to something that enters his body from every vulnerable joint and essential organ. The Extractor is sitting across from him, hooked up as well, but only by the neck from what it seems.

  “What sort of nut are you?” Rocco asks, instinctively figuring that this guy won’t respond to any of the weak stuff. Street smart 101, “Who are you?”

  “Not important,” The Extractor says, “You won’t remember me.”

  “This stuff here looks expensive,” Rocco says, this isn’t about money, “What do you want?”

  It’s then that there’s this hum of a large current that’s being pulled. Rocco stiffens up in his chair, visibly in pain.

  The Extractor sits back and relaxes himself.

  He pulls his chair back, puts on a VR-headset and floats around in outer space. It helps the body of The Extractor relax, which benefits blood flow and makes the procedure much easier.

  Two cameras are recording: The Extractor is visibly getting younger and stronger.

  Rocco literally starts to shrivel.

  The fat around the muscles has melted away.

  It is discarded by the machine into a bucket of mixed up goo.

  Most of what The Extractor is after lies below the surface.

  Way below the surface, and it’s not even a tenth of a cc.

  The whole process takes 30 minutes.

  - 5 -

  The Extractor is humming, while he lifts what remains of Rocco from the chair. The AI has removed the entire interface, and it has created a new one. This one is in the neck, and to the untrained eye it looks to be the same interface as the one that The Extractor has himself.

  Rocco ends up in a saltwater-bath, which is filled with nutrients that will feed him through the skin. Small jolts of current run through, which serves to stimulate muscle-regrowth.

  The new interface works like an IV and it’s what keeps him alive; or more likely, in a full-terror hibernation.