The Spider Queen

Interrogation was an art.

Breaking down psychological barriers to get the information you wanted out of a prisoner could be accomplished using a variety of methods.

Some would use brute force and violence while others leaned towards more subtle or softer techniques.

Sophie only knew about torture and interrogation methods from the Katarina's lectures rather than actual practice.

She was secretly a little bit nervous but none of this tension appeared on her face.

The expressionless mask she wore in front of the survivors could not crack or her intimidation factor would be reduced.

The hybrid girl circled the captives in complete silence. The only sounds in the room were the steady ringing noises coming from the cone-shaped devices on the survivors' laps.

Bleep! Bleep!

With every tick, the survivors could feel the tension rise as the beast prowled around them like a hunter waiting to strike.

Patience.

Sophie was in no rush to begin the interrogation straightaway. Increasing the fear in the hearts of the survivors would make the task easier.

Bleep! Bleep!

The minutes passed slowly as Sophie made sure to gaze into the eyes of her captives and establish dominance.

Half the battle had already been won.

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To allow the initiative to be her hands meant that the survivors were in a disadvantageous position from the start.

Sophie paused and then turned to face the survivor on the left. She approached the tied-up alien and leaned closer until her mouth was just centimeters away from his ear.

"Here's the first question," Sophie whispered darkly.

"What is the name of your race?"

Pirene shivered lightly as he felt a trace of killing intent. The mysterious device on his lap seemed to get heavier as the beast watched him with those merciless golden eyes.

"We… we… are the Stukuins… from… planet Xerorma," Pirene stammered and averted his eyes.

Sophie smiled gently and playfully stroked the pale-skinned alien's cheek. His skin was coarse and rough with tiny pore-like holes.

Pirene tried his best not to react, but Sophie could see thin droplets of sweat form on his brow.

Delicious…. he would make a fine… meal…

Sophie smoothly withdrew her hand and took a few steps back. Pirene unconsciously let out a small sigh of relief as his tormenter moved away.

The hybrid girl's movements were slow and graceful but only she knew that the bloodlust hidden in her body had nearly erupted.

It seemed that the tactic of disorienting the prisoners using physical contact would have to be discarded.

Sophie lazily pointed at the second survivor and then spoke, "This second question is for Eovoby."

"What is the purpose of the Sun's Glory?"

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Eovoby froze as the attention of the monster shifted to himself. Those terrible golden eyes seemed to stare into his soul.

He was nothing more than a plaything in the eyes of this powerful beast.

So far, Eovoby had managed to outwardly project a more confident image than his cowardly colleague, but he knew that surviving this twisted game would be difficult.

The purpose of the Sun's Glory?

Eovoby wasn't sure what was the exact answer that the mercenary wanted so he decided to just recite the founding mission.

"To serve the Sun God and to spread his message of eternal peace through the cleansing of sins," Eovoby uttered solemnly.

"Our mission is to enlighten the various intelligent races across the universe and to ensure that they are worthy to join the Sun God's eternal palace."

"Some civilisations may resist and cling on to false idols and gods, but our order shall ensure that these fake deities fade away in the sands of time after witnessing the might of our Holy One."

"We are but one branch of the many religious orders working together to bring the…."

His speech continued uninterrupted for ten minutes until Sophie raised up her right palm and signalled him to stop.

"Lovely…. what a bunch of lunatic zealots," Sophie muttered quietly under her breath.

The long-winded speech mostly consisted of religious propaganda but there were still some useful tidbits of information when reading in between the lines.

In addition to the Sun's Glory and the Hyperion Knights, there were other organizations that worshiped the Sun God.

Sophie did not plan to come in conflict with these groups as she just wanted to return home, but it was useful to learn some knowledge about them.

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One should always be prepared for the worst eventuality.

In the following hour, Sophie drilled the two survivors about a variety of questions from the positions they held onboard the vessel to the policies involved in joining the Unova Syndicate government's army.

Pirene was an engineer, so he had knowledge about the technical aspects of flying a starship while Eovoby worked as an administrator which meant that the information.

Both men had access to information that were extremely useful.

Sophie would leak out small traces of killing intent at regular intervals to ensure that the survivors' heightened states of tension and fear were maintained.

However, she was very careful not to go too far since it would only take a moment of carelessness to slip into a blood frenzy.

"Okay this final question is for you Pirene," Sophie bared her fangs and growled.

"What is the minimum number of crewmembers needed to operate this starship?"

She had saved the most important question for the end because immediately asking how many individuals it would take to fly this starship would give away her true objective.

After answering questions non-stop over an extended period of time, eventually the survivors would no longer think about the purpose behind her inquires and speak automatically.

Pirene did hesitate for just a moment but the temptation to win the game and survive made the words flow out of his mouth,

"The starship's autopilot mode was disabled which means that the onboard AI unit can only offer suggestions."

"This is a medium class vessel, so the team required to fly it has to be large."

"On the command deck there should be at least ten main pilot, five navigators and twelve auxiliary officers in case of emergencies."

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"And the engine room should have two chief engineers and a team of at least eleven technicians."

"So… it takes around forty people in total in order to make a skeletal crew."