Tunnels 03, Freefall

place in each of his limbs, the muscle groups straining against one another in some sort of antagonistic contest to vanquish its counterpart. "In the Hold. Quite a few times," he gasped.
    "Then this is not you. The Styx have done this to you," Drake said.
    "They did what?" Dr. Burrows shouted.
    "Stay out of it and keep your voice down!" Drake snapped at him. "Will, they implanted this in you. You've been conditioned... brainwashed, if you want to call it that. When they were interrogating you, they probably left something in your preconscious, like a poison pill, that would become active if you left the Colony."
    Will stared at Drake, unable to grasp what he was telling him.
    "It's not you -- remember that. They did this. And you can fight it. Come with me." He helped Will up and, looping an arm around his chest, supported him to the very edge of the roof. Drake kept hold of him as they stood there together, a three-story drop below them.
    "Is that such a good--?" Dr. Burrows began to object.
    "I said keep out of it, Doc," Drake growled at him. "Will, look down there, at the road. You've got a picture in your mind, haven't you? A really vivid picture?"
    Will nodded, unable to stem the tears.
    "I'd guess it's the image of you lying broken on the tarmac. And it feels so right, as if it's the answer to everything."
    "Yes," Will replied in a hoarse voice. "But how do you know that?"
    "That doesn't matter. Will -- you need to keep with me and listen to what I'm saying." Drake placed the palm of his hand on Will's forehead for a moment. "You have to realize there's something intrinsically wrong with the picture that they've stuck in your head. You can't feel the pain... you can't feel anything... you can't feel any loss, can you?"
    Will shook his head. "No, nothing."
    "The Styx rewired your mind -- they've made you think this way. It's wrong. Resist it, resist the vision. It's false. Instead think about how your father and I would feel if you actually did jump. Put yourself in our places and feel what we'd feel. Are you doing that?"
    "I'm trying," Will croaked.
    Drake took his arm from around the boy and stepped away from him.
    "You're on your own now, but you're in control, not the Styx. Tell me how that feels?"
    "Better... yes, it's like I've got myself back... like the voice isn't so strong," Will said as he wiped his eyes. "I can look down now and the picture isn't so clear. Oh, this is all so stupid."
    "No, far from it," Drake said as he took hold of the boy again. "We're going to do this over and over again until there's nothing left of their conditioning. I can help you to beat it."
    "But I wasn't like this in the Deeps. Why now?" Will asked, his head sagging as if he was completely exhausted.
    "It's what they wanted," Drake shrugged. "Probably the Styx's insurance policy in case you went on the run. A failsafe measure."
    Dr. Burrows clucked with disapproval. "What a load of old baloney!" he said. "I think you need help, Drake. You're so delusional, it's scary."
    Drake swung round to him. "No, you're the one who won't admit what's going on, even though you've seen it with your own eyes. That old woman was set on killing you. How do you explain that?"
    "She..." Dr. Burrows began, but then tailed off.
    "Mrs. Tantrumi might be a fully-fledged Styx agent or she could have been brainwashed. And if she was brainwashed, she's one of many. There are probably thousands of people all over the country who have had varying degrees of conditioning, and some of them hold influential positions -- businessmen, members of Parliament, high-ranking officers in both the police and the army. All it takes is a keyword or a signal from the White Necks and these people have no option but to do their bidding."
    "Bartleby," Will said. "At the submarine the Rebecca twin spoke to him. He was acting like I was his worst enemy or something. So does it work on animals?"
    Drake nodded. "Sounds like it does."
    "And Sarah -- Sarah Jerome -- what about her?" Will asked as the thought occurred to him. "Did they use it on her so she'd come after me?"
    "I didn't get that impression in the short time I knew her. I think the Styx recognized she was vulnerable and they tricked her, plain and simple," Drake replied.
    "Tricked her?" Will echoed.
    "Yes. If they can't coerce people into doing what they want using threats, bribery or their elaborate lies, then they resort to mind control. But it takes weeks if not years of Dark Light sessions to induce anything