The Essence Of The Darkness
Episode 26: Acrylic Requirements

"The Truth is, when ever I caught myself in a fight, it is you who my eyes search for. I just couldn't stop myself from longing to meet you."

Elios looked at Elana with his eyes flat behind his glasses. As usual, the man looked flawless and stiff like a robot.

Contrary to Nathan who once his eyes met with Elana, immediately elaborated a wide smile and waved his hand in front of Elana's face.

"Hi, pretty. We meet again," his friendly reply was instantly cut by Elios' sharp gaze towards him.

"Mr Akram will kill you if you find out you call Miss Elana that way" Elios said, warning her from between gritted teeth.

The warning did not appear to have hit Nathan. The doctor shrugged his shoulders in passing and kept putting on his smile.

"Akram won't kill me, at least for now," Nathan turned his head and turned his gaze back towards Elana, his eyes shining meaningfully. "Because now, he still needs me a lot" he said.

The two men turned back to Elana, making Elana the center of their attention. The sharp gazes of the two made Elena feel awkward, but she finally managed to gather her courage, raise her head and look at both Elios and Nathan curiously.

"Ma.. I'm sorry.. Why are you here?" tanyanya nervous. He had been told that Elios would come to pick him up, but he had no idea why Elios had brought Nathan's doctor with him. Elana is overcome with alarm and begins to doubt the previous thought that Akram would allow her to work.

Elios seemed to be able to read the terrified expression creeping across Elana's face and chose to answer straightforwardly.

"Maybe the waiter has already told you that I will come to pick you up to go to work. But before, Nathan's doctor will do regular checks on your health condition," he said in a formal tone that made Nathan rotate the eyeball with annoyance across there.

Elios's reply brought back some relief in Elana's expression, making him happy that Elios had already made sure that he would actually go to work.

Elana innocently looked towards Nathan and asked.

"You're gonna check on me?" he said impatiently.

Elana's gaze was like an innocent child, making Nathan feel guilty in his heart. How unfortunate Elana must end up under the grip of Akram who is so cruel and does not hesitate to oppress anyone who is weaker than him. However, it seems that Nathan may have underestimated the power of Elana behind her petite and weak body, for not only managed to stay afloat until this long under Akram's monstrous dominance, Elana even managed to negotiate with Akram and made Akram change his decision just to accommodate the requirements put forward by Elana.

Knowing that Elana had been waiting, Nathan moved quickly, put down his tool bag and sat down next to Elana.

"Sorry, maybe I'll touch you for a check-up." Nathan says he anticipates to prevent Elana from fearing him. After getting permission in the form of a thin nod from Elana, then Nathan conducts routine examination procedures to check the vital signs of Elana.

The rhythm of the heart is good, the blood pressure is also okay. Nathan also examined the incision marks on Elana's wrist and was convinced that the wound had closed and dried completely. It seemed like Elana's physical condition had already allowed her to go to work.

Earlier this morning Akram called her and asked Nathan to specifically check on her fragile skin. Akram said that he was so easy to leave traces on the surface of Elana's skin compared to when he was with other women. Nathan certainly could not instruct Elana to undress and have Elana show the marks left by Akram so that he could examine the bruises. Maybe he will do an examination in his practice room in the hospital later, when he is supported by complete equipment, but for now, treatment and prevention is the best thing to do.

Nathan took out a clear glass bottle of white lotion, then handed it to Elana who received it nervously.

"Effective bruising and bruising reliever" Nathan winked a friendly eye at Elana. "Use it whenever you need it" he continued in a meaningful tone.

Elana's cheeks flushed red, but she nodded her head.

"Well, now there's the last procedure." Nathan took out a strange-looking syringe in Elana's eyes, then prepared the needle and grabbed Elana's arm slowly. "It will feel a little biting and uncomfortable, but only for a little while" then without warning and asking permission beforehand, he said, Nathan performs an injecting procedure that leaves Elana jolted with a sharp stabbing sensation under the surface of her skin.

Elana rubbed her arms, glanced at the injection marks before then looking at Nathan vigilantly.

"What...what did you inject into me?" ask Elana was-was.

"It's a microchip that emits GPS tracking signals with nano technology that makes it easy for us to track you wherever you are." this time it was Elios who replied while taking a seat on the sofa on the opposite side of Nathan. "Because Mr. Akram released you from house arrest, then we need to put a tracker on your body to guarantee that you will stay where you should be and minimize the chances of you escaping."

Elana's eyes widened, her face paled. The technology mentioned by Elios feels like alien technology that only Elana has seen in science fiction fantasy films. It is terrible to know that such technology is real in this world.

"The Akram family has a dedicated laboratory that is the most advanced technology-based weapons research center abroad. We are working with many countries to create breakthrough new findings in the field of weaponry, and of course getting a microchip tracker with nanotechnology systems is very easy for Mr. Akram," Elios gave the information without being asked, then his voice went low. "Therefore, I remind you, Miss Elana. Don't think about being stupid and trying to escape, I guarantee it won't work" he warned.

Cold shades instantly spread throughout the room, casting a terrible reality on Elana, that with this tracker implanted in her body, her chances of escaping had truly turned into an impossibility.

The foreign object is now planted in his body..What about his body's reaction to that object? what if his body rejects the microchip? what if a foreign body poisoned him? And again...is this way Elana really no longer have the opportunity to escape from Akram? How do I get this thing off his body? Did Elana have to slash her body to pluck this microchip from there?

Various questions churned within Elana, making the trembling begin to crawl her deathly pale self.

"Don't worry. The technology of the microchip is very sophisticated and has passed a long research experiment in a well-known laboratory that is very expert in its field. This thing that is inserted under your skin will not have a bad effect on you and I can confirm it. As a doctor, I would never violate the code of conduct by injecting something dangerous into my patient's body" Nathan explained in a soft voice before later reconnecting. "So you can get rid of all your fears and calm down."

Elana opened her mouth, about to ask Nathan how to release this thing, but Elios suddenly interjected, making a sound that was ready to be thrown by Elana directly stuck in her throat.

"Your job is done, doctor. Mr. Akram orders you to hurry away, as soon as your task is done." Elios casts a subtle expulsion, then turns his eyes toward Elana. "There are some requirements from Mr. Akram that I have to talk to you about before I take you to work" Elios said in a formal tone.

Nathan put on an irritated expression at Elios's subtle expulsion, but he moved around packing his equipment and stood up. His smile re-unraveled as the man nodded his head towards Elana.

"See you, Elana, I think we'll see each other a lot later" Nathan said a cheerful farewell before walking away from the place.

Once they were left alone, Elios wasted no time and began explaining some of the rules Elana had to fulfill before Elios let the woman step out of the apartment.

"Miss Elana, Mr. Akram has been kind enough to order you to work in his company, you certainly know that you must not tell anyone things related to Mr. Akram. If you do, we'll know about it soon." Elios squinted his eyes at Elana. "And you also must have known, that when you do that, the Woe is not You, but Your interlocutor. You certainly remember, don't you? What has Mr Akram done to people you know in the past just to erase your mark? Mr. Akram is not reluctant to eliminate them all without waste."

The threat message sent by Elios, though pronounced in a flat tone, was able to send out a terrible signal that made the feathers on Elana stand. Elana may not care about herself, but she really does not want her to be the cause of others harm.

"I get it. I'll shut my mouth." Elana spoke slowly. He really only intended to work. And she will be herself at work, an orphan woman who works to make a living for her livelihood and has nothing to do with Akram Night, a figure who was too far away from his position when compared to him.

Elios nodded his head, looking satisfied with Elana's reaction. The man then placed two objects on the table, in front of Elana. One was a cell phone and the other was a black card with a silvery engraving.

"This is the phone that you will carry as a communication tool. Wherever you are, if Mr. Akram contacts you with this phone and expects your presence, then you should come and be available. This phone is just like any other phone, and I deliberately chose a standard model so as not to arouse suspicion of your coworkers later. You can also use this phone as usual, to communicate with your coworkers and new friends later, as well, but you should know that this phone is implanted with a special eavesdropping tool that can read everything you do with it, whether photos, recorded conversations, written messages, and all things, everything is accessible to Mr. Akram, so I hope you don't use this phone for negative purposes because Mr. Akram can figure it out that second as well."

Elana pursed her lips in annoyance. Elios seems to have a habit of giving good news first subtly before then throwing bad news at the end of his sentence.

After all, what exactly was in Akram Night's head? Not only did he put a tracker on his body, the man also put a wiretap on his phone? How crazy is Akram's terrible obsession?

"And this is a black card, given by Mr. Akram for you to hold, in essence, you can buy whatever you want with this card. I hope you keep it well because this card is very valuable." Elios took out a special little bag from behind his suit, then put the card and the phone into the bag. The man did not forget to take the anti-hurp ointment given by the doctor Nathan, put the glass bottle into the same place, and then handed it to Elana.

Then Elios stood up and motioned to follow her. They stepped out of the apartment and were directly faced with a black-clad elevator that had been waiting. The man then let Elana enter the elevator and followed behind him. Elios appears to use a special card and presses a certain code to move the elevator down and Elana squints, trying to peek at the code, but to no avail.

Complete already. This apartment where he was stationed was no better than the island where he had been locked up before. Not only does the location seem to be on the top floor of a very high apartment building, for access in and out, they have to pass through the elevator with special cards and a very complicated secret code.

Elana knows that little hope for her to escape if locked up in this apartment, it means her workplace is the only loophole she can hold. But Elana knew that she had to act very carefully, because if she was careless just a little, then the gap would disappear from her grasp.

Elana held the small bag tightly, realizing how valuable the things inside were. Giving her a credit card may seem outside as a form of Akram's generosity to Elana. However, the entire use of credit cards certainly has a record that is sent directly to Akram, it means, whatever transaction he does, will be tracked by the man. So actually, by giving her credit card, Akram cunningly controls Elana in a generous manner.

Elana needs cash because that is the only payment method for transactions that Akram cannot track. At the moment he does not hold any money, but later if he has a salary, there is a possibility that he can save his own money as a deposit that is beyond Akram's control, I can wear it when I need it...

Who knows if later in the future he can solve this impossibility, right?

The elevator clinks and they seem to step out through a special passageway that directs them to a waiting car with a driver there. Elios opens the car door for Elana, then sits next to her. Shortly after, the car drove through a long hallway before rising to a bright surface by the morning sunlight.

"My people will take you to the cleaning service division and meet with the supervisor there. You will be explained about the tasks you have to do, get a uniform and start working today. And don't forget, Mr. Akram asks you to come to his room at lunchtime. I'll arrange for you to be present in Mr. Akram's room on time without anyone knowing." Elios said in the middle of their oncoming vehicle.

Elana only nodded her head to respond even though her heart was filled with disappointment. It turned out that he could not completely escape from Akram even though he was at work. And imagining what Akram would do to him during his long lunch hour left him overwhelmed with intense horror.

And as if that was not enough to create a cloud in Elana's heart, Elios again threw a bomb of bad news that instantly drowned Elana to the bottom.

"Oh yes, Miss Elana. By the way, even if you work, you will not be able to take your salary. Of course, the Company will still transfer your salary to an account created specifically for you. But Mr. Akram has arranged so that you will not be able to take your salary in the form of cash. Take it easy, Mr. Akram does not take away your rights, the salary will remain intact as savings in your name, he said, even Mr. Akram adds a large amount of special funds there as a deposit on your behalf. But the funds can only be disbursed with Mr. Akram as his guarantor."

Elios looked at Elana with a sinless smile, as if not knowing that his words had ruined all the fragile plans laid out by Elana, to the point of breaking into pieces.

"Master Akram thinks that you do not need to hold cash for your security, after all you can use the card provided by Mr. Akram to meet your needs," elios continued again with an annoying grin that made Elana feel a strong urge to punch that flawless face and vent the wrath on her chest.