A shocking, familiar, feeling of bland discontentment filled Tic at full force as the man's gaze suddenly subdued him. It was an uncomfortable discontentment, only to be satisfied by giving to the man what he wanted. The force seemed to radiate from the orange abyss of the man's eyes, strangling him; extracting and pulling information from his mind to his lips. The world before him seemed to crumble; only he and the man remained, and only his obedience mattered.

He began, his voice alien to his normal tone; slow, stoic, and unusually still. "We, The Sink, are the renegades, the saviors to the oppressed and the way to universal freedom. We will lead the meek to their rightful inheritance of the--"

In a split second, the world suddenly seemed to return to him; he blinked, gasping and feeling as though he'd just emerged from water, chest heaving slightly. What was happening? Was he being controlled? As he quickly became aware of the situation, the orange gaze suddenly struck him again. The familiar bland discomfort enveloped him, holding him in a tight grip, and squeezing all it could.

".. and the meek will inherit the earth," he continued from his trance. "Our tunnels are a complex network of underground road systems, adroitly crafted with our own complex machinery and manpower. They can reach impressively long distances without becoming unstable and collapsing. The main networks stretch from here to the far regions of..."

The dull, quick feeling of resistance grew from his heart and outward, grey and monolithic in its path. The rush of reality came at him and again he gasped, released from suffocation. He wouldn't let himself be controlled, no. The orange eyes were upon him again, but they didn't take him into their grasp. For few a moments, he just stared, unaware of any expression in either pair of eyes, orange or violet. The swirl of fire in the man's eyes seem to increase with a fury, gathering around Tic ferociously, and overwhelming him with the bland feeling... he obediently parted his lips, preparing to continue..

A muffled shout suddenly sounded; the man's controlling gaze was broken, and reality returned. The shout had been made just outside the dungeon door, Tic realized, as the man blinked angrily and rose from his spot with haste. Slight relief filled his senses; the interrogation would be delayed. It was a frightful experience, leaving him still very bland and fatigued. And why had he been fighting it so much? He wouldn't be feeling so painfully emotionless right now if he'd just given in.

Tic watched on as permission was given; the door was pushed open, gradually, allowing dim orange light to flow inside. Three figures were silhouetted as the door opened, the light shining behind them. Tic stared at them as his eyes adjusted to the light, their images becoming clearer by the second.

"The cause of the east's destruction, Lord Larkin," a low voice spoke from the doorway. Two of the now visible men stepped inside, pulling a reluctant third to their master, Larkin. Tic believed his eyes to be deceiving him as the third, smaller figure came into the light. A strange thrill ran through him as he realized who it was; the girl, the girl he'd tried to save at the riot. Thoughts ran through him at enormous speed, all coming to a sudden halt as their eyes met, locked in a gaze of wonder and shock.