SWNOVELS Chapter 622: Reunion
Ashbury Secret Prison housed prisoners unlike those known to the outside world. These were not ordinary criminals; even murderers did not qualify for incarceration here. Currently, only three prisoners were detained: Joshua, Jasper, and Vivienne.
Vivienne was no longer formidable. Her body was decaying, yet she was not close to dying, and her senses were even sharper than those of a healthy, robust man. Consequently, the pain she could feel was more than tenfold that of an ordinary person.
Joshua also endured excruciating pain daily, living a life of torment. Like Prometheus pecked by an eagle, his organs were damaged daily, only to regenerate anew the next day. This was the punishment Tina had devised for him.
In comparison, Jasper, who was confined alongside them, had it relatively easy. He did not suffer from physical ailments but was instead endlessly tasked with printing exam papers. Jasper accepted his fate quite well, even identifying errors on the papers and discussing corrections with the guards from the X Bureau. Many said that Jasper was the quietest among the three.
When Tina and Natalie arrived, Jason and Courtney were waiting at the door. "Miss Reed, Aunt Natalie," Courtney greeted them, placing bracelets on Tina and Natalie's wrists. Previously, as Jared's subordinate, Tina had not needed such devices. But now, things were different.
Jason collected all devices that could connect to the outside world, occasionally casting curious glances at Natalie. Natalie, smiling, handed everything over to Jason, "It's rude to keep staring."
"Sorry, Captain," Jason quickly averted his gaze, still curious about what made Natalie so revered by Jared that he willingly called her his master.
"No need to call me Captain; I'm not planning to return to the X Bureau," Natalie said with a smile, then walked inside. Tina knew well that Natalie had no intention of returning to the X Bureau. Given the current extensive changes within, and the many restrictions that Natalie, who was accustomed to freedom, would find unbearable.
"Mom, this way," Tina pointed to the cell on the right.
However, Natalie's gaze was drawn to the cell on the left, secured with a high-grade lock. "Joshua is inside there, the leader of CK known as White Tiger," Tina explained.
Natalie nodded, but for some reason, she felt an unusual ambivalence about this cell, as if she was reluctant yet compelled to approach.
Seeing Natalie's complexion change, Tina asked, "Mom, do you want to go in?"
Natalie snapped out of her reverie, "No, let's move on."
They reached Jasper's cell, where he was exercising in a ten-square-meter room. He had also requested cleaning supplies and had kept the small room spotless, even the toilet was free of any odor.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself," Natalie remarked neutrally.
If Jasper hadn't been the second-in-command of GTO, Jasmine's double, perhaps Natalie could have become good friends with him, much like she was with Christopher. Jasper's thoughts often coincided with Natalie's, their understanding seeming not forced but genuinely intuitive.
While exercising, Jasper's body visibly stiffened, his back tensing. He didn't dare turn around, the shock of hearing a familiar voice rendering him speechless.
Jasper wanted to look back to see if he had misheard.
But he didn't dare.
The possibility of turning and finding nothing, realizing he had indeed misheard, would be suffocating.
Tina glanced at Natalie, said nothing, and quietly stepped out.
She could tell how much Jasper liked Natalie; otherwise, he wouldn't have repeatedly let himself be disadvantaged. Yet, his so-called deep affection was something Natalie neither cared for nor appreciated. Tina decided to step away, feeling it was impolite to stay since Jasper was, after all, an old flame of Natalie's.
Natalie protested, "He's not my old flame! I only love your father!"
Tina replied, "Sure, sure, you and my dad, whom I've never met, are perfectly in sync."
After Tina left, Natalie grabbed a chair and sat down. "Old friend, long time no see."
Hearing her voice, Jasper couldn't hold back anymore. He spun around abruptly. When he saw who it was, he walked forward in disbelief, his hands gripping the fence that blocked his path. The weak electric current from the fence made his hands go numb and his nerves ache, but he didn't let go.
It was her, really her! She hadn't died; she truly hadn't died! What a relief!
A tear fell from Jasper's eye as he slowly reached out, wishing to touch his beloved's face as he had done in the past. But now, the rail with its flickering weak current reminded him. Between them lay insurmountable distances. Jasper's hand paused mid-air, then sadly dropped.
Natalie maintained her usual smile. "I didn't expect that the first three things said upon our reunion would all be from me."
Jasper let go, the electric current suddenly ceasing, giving him a momentary feeling of suffocation. "How have you been all these years?"
His voice was hoarse, and despite his efforts to conceal it, his tone trembled, revealing his vulnerability.
Natalie nodded, "I've been well, thank you for your concern."
Jasper looked down, chuckling, unsure of what to say next. Millions of words clogged his throat, yet he couldn't bring himself to speak them.
After a moment of silence, Natalie spoke again. "I didn't come here to reminisce today. I came to ask you, do you know Asher Vance?"
Jasper snapped back to reality. "Asher Vance? Sounds familiar. When I was sold to GTO by the Reed family, someone from the X Bureau took me and eleven others from the base. I think his name was Asher Vance. What about him?" "Don't you remember me?" Natalie furrowed her brow.
Jasper looked bewildered. "What does that have to do with you?"
Natalie pulled out a photograph. "There's a photo from back then, you and I are both in it."
Jasper leaned in to look at the photo, a flicker of recognition in his eyes.
"You really are in it!" Even though Natalie was only ten at the time, she had grown proportionally, making it easy for Jasper to recognize her in the photo.
"My memories of that period are very vague," Jasper admitted. "I only remember being injected with drugs daily and having blood drawn for medication. I definitely don't have much of an impression of you. What about you? Do you remember me?"
Natalie shook her head. "I didn't even realize I had taken this photo back then."
Jasper's eyes widened, then he understood.
"It seems that Five Poisons injected us all with amnesia-inducing drugs. No wonder, Five Poisons must have been right there, finding other ways to keep from being exposed."
"How can you be so sure Five Poisons was there at the time?"
Jasper smiled. "GTO was just growing step by step back then; there weren't many people, and Five Poisons had to get involved personally."
"I was bought by GTO as a child, like the other kids, to be used for human experiments," he continued. "I remember suffering from various drugs until I was sixteen, when a woman said my physique wasn't suited for the experiments and instead trained me as an intelligence agent. Later, at eighteen, I made a deal with Jasmine to help them use the Reed family and finally managed to return to the Reed family."