Separated

"Wise choice," Wakui told him as he opened the door and led him toward the makeshift laboratory. "That man might be across the street, but he could get to her in a matter of seconds with the rifle he's carrying. And that's if you're lucky." He had similar men posted on the other members of the Copiel family as well as his friends, though most of them weren't round the clock. The only family member he did not have a hitman on was his grandmother, and that was a foolish sentiment that he could only hope wouldn't end up costing him his chance to finally get what he wanted.

Glancing back at Thunder he frowned. "Just remember, do not try to escape. If you try to knock me out Shiorei or Yukino will just give the order to kill your family in my place. Your only choice is to do what I say and hope that I will have the kindness in my heart to let you go when I'm through with you."

Wakui looked around the lab and at the equipment. There were all kinds laid out on tables, in boxes, and on the walls. Some of it was standard medical equipment, other was equipment used more in morgues than in hospitals, others were typically used on animals. Still others were ones that he had designed himself. These were the most gruesome in appearance and looked like they belonged in a horror film instead of reality. They were also his favorite to use on people.

Turning to Thunder he hid a smile. "Sit down in that chair," he commanded. "Don't worry, this won't take long. I have better things to do than keep you here all day." Well, sort of. He had other things to do but it was debatable whether or not any of the things on his agenda were really that important at all. Not that Thunder needed to know that. The only thing he wanted Thunder to know was that he didn't know what was coming next. It was best to not know anyway. If he knew he would have too much time to think about it and fret.

Wakui had to laugh at Thunder's tone of voice. It wasn't surprising, really. Most people would be upset if they were in his position. It would take a very strong person or a complete fool to not be. Going over to one of the tables he began to fiddle with some equipment, putting on a show for Thunder to draw this out as long as possible. He couldn't help himself, really. It was just too tempting a thing to pass up. He was still far too interested in seeing him squirm.

When he was satisfied he turned back around, holding a blood drawing kit. Taking it over to Thunder he set it up before drawing the blood. As was the case before, the blood was not normal by any standards. Removing the needle he watched idly as the small prick was healed. 'Truly fascinating, as always..' He took the blood sample over to the table and set it and the kit down before turning back to Thunder. "There, all done. That wasn't so bad, was it? Nothing to worry about at all. I could have made it far more painful."

Wakui monitored Thunder carefully on the monitors set up in the lab to make sure that he went back to his room like a good little boy. When he was inside of it he locked the door remotely to make sure that he didn't get any funny ideas. Though of course there was not only himself, Shiorei and Yukina, but also a ship load of pirates he would have to contend with if he did try something. The odds were definitely not in his favor.

Keeping half of his attention on Thunder, he took the blood over to the microscope and put a drop of it on a slide so he could examine it. He was still trying to isolate exactly what it was about the blood that gave Thunder such strong healing abilities. This time he would not fail. He would not accept failure again, even from himself. No, make that especially not from himself. "I will find it, no matter how long it takes," he promised himself then.

For awhile Wakui watched Thunder sleep on the monitor. He thought about using his 'surprise', actually a recording of Thunder's own screams, but ultimately decided that he should let the boy have one night's rest before he started the real torment. If he didn't do at least that much what did that say about him? Well, he knew what it said about him, and even by doing so nothing really changed. He was a heartless, cruel man, there was no arguing that. Not that he wanted to. He was perfectly fine with how he was. The crueler the better in fact. That's just how it was. Why bother trying to change it?

It wasn't like he was worried about his soul. He knew what happened to souls after the body died, and he had already prepared himself for that. Though he did hope that he would be able to delay that for as long as possible. That was the entire reason he was even doing this. After awhile he went to bed as well, resting easily without a worry in his head. Why would he have a worry either? So far everything was going exactly according to plan. In a couple weeks they would land in China and then the real fun would begin.

Wakui was woken up in the middle of what could be called Thunder's panic attack. After watching him for awhile he lost interest and went to the galley to eat and have his morning tea before going to his lab to get some work done. When he was sure that Thunder was worked up enough he called Yukina to him and asked her to take Thunder his breakfast. He imagined that if Thunder was already upset enough seeing her face would be enough to really rile him up. He chuckled to himself as he injected some of the blood he had taken from Thunder into a lab rat.

It would be amusing to watch when Thunder did eventually end up saying something to her. He couldn't wait to see that happen. It was almost enough to take his mind off of his work. Not quite, though. Still, he did find himself glancing at the monitor every few seconds, just to check, even though he knew that Yukina couldn't have gotten there just yet.