After several hours, the man returned. He sneered as he looked over at Yang.
"Are you getting bored yet?" Yang didn't answer, didn't acknowledge that he had heard him.
"I said, are you getting bored, little Auror?"
He still said nothing. The man sighed and took out a small device. He pressed it and instantly, Yang felt a painful current surge through his entire body from the chain around the waist. Only for a moment, then it stopped. Once again, slightly stronger, enough to get all his muscles to tense up. He couldn't help but give a low grunt, though he tried to look unaffected.
"I can make that current as strong or as weak as I wish. I have never had to use the strongest setting; every creature has bowed to me long before that has been needed. I can make your life more interesting by making you find out how much pain your body can take before you die. But that would be a waste, why don't you just answer the question instead?"
Yang didn't want to test that statement. Or whether the man would actually do it.
"I'm not bored," he said instead.
"No? An active man like you, used to run around catching criminals. You aren't bored sitting around here with no one to talk to?"
"No. I've never been much of a team player; I work best alone. That's why I was alone when I encountered you. And the only reason you caught me was that I didn't expect it. I didn't think I was that close to actually finding you."
The man laughed. "A man after my own heart. I have always worked best alone as well. Sadly, I have many things on my plate, and I could really need some assistance. But anytime I try to hire someone, they either fail me or betray me. And my current position makes hiring anyone hard. So, I have a proposition for you. Would you want to be my new assistant? It would get you out of that cage and be able to move around more."
Assistant? What new trickery was this? Yang should just turn him down, to deny him anything he asked. But he was tempted. Anything to get out of this literal cage. Getting out of the cage would increase his chances of escape, or at least being able to find his location and figure out a way to send a message to the Ministry.
"What would that entail, exactly? I have no desire to help you with your criminal enterprises."
"I wouldn't expect you to. All I need from you is to help feed and care for the animals. I have more than I expected, a few planned sales fell through, thanks to your Ministry suddenly being aware of my existence, and I found a few animals I had to rescue from being executed. It takes a lot of time, making food and feeding all of you. Would that be something you would be able to do? That would also mean you would be able to eat more than baby mush."
Yang considered it. That didn't sound too bad. Feeding and cleaning the animals was a job worth doing. But it would free up this man to do other bad deeds.
"Would you take the chain off?"
The man just laughed. "Take it off? It can't be taken off. Once it had been in place for more than three days, it is permanent. Like it is another part of the body. That is the best part of it. All my clients are very happy that they have a safe and fail proof way to control their animals. For the ones that seem horrified with the idea, I just hide the chain and pretend that I've removed it. However, I can and will extend the range of where you can move without getting hurt, if you take my offer. You would be able to move freely around this whole warehouse without even noticing your chain. It won't even give a slight tingle, unless you try to run away. Then, you will feel much worse than a tingle."
These words were enough to stoke Yang's anger all over again.
"If you need an assistant so badly, go find one. I won't be your lapdog. Find someone else to do your dirty work. I won't help you."
"No? Too early even for that? I was hoping you would make it easier for me, but it seems you want to do it the hard way. Very well then."
Yang immediately felt a burning sensation through his body. This time it didn't stop. It didn't get worse, but it also didn't stop. His muscles tensed and he found he wasn't able to stand upright. He didn't give as much as a grunt, but he fell down on the floor of the cage.
"Level 2, where I've placed it right now, poses no danger to any animal. I can leave it on that setting for hours. The Chimaera withstood it for days before bending. Do you want to see if you can beat his record? If, at any time, you would rather take me up on my offer, all you have to do is ring the bell." He placed a small table, with a literal bell, right outside the cage. He would have to stretch out of the cage to get to it.
"Once you ring the bell, the pain will stop, and I will come and hear what you've decided once I have a moment. Do you want to take me up on my generous offer, or did you just want me to take the pain up to the next level? Those are the two options you have, when you ring the bell. The pain will stop for a time, but unless you want to take the job as my assistant, it will only get worse later."
Yang looked right at the man. He seemed to enjoy doing this. He had probably done something like this with hundreds of animals, this would be the first time he could get feedback from someone who could respond. He wouldn't play his game. He wouldn't ring the bell. He had no desire to get the pain to be worse, nor did he want to help him. And ringing the bell would give the man power over him that he didn't want him to have. He refused to play this game.
"Maybe level 2 is a bit too low, for a strong man like you. I wouldn't want you to think that this has no stakes. Let me skip a few levels."
Suddenly, searing pain went through his whole body, then it came down to a more manageable level. It was still worse than it had been.
"I've been told this is what women feel when they give birth. Feel free to scream as they do when the contractions hit. Are you stronger than a woman in labour, Auror?" The pain intensified again. It came in waves. Yang refused to scream or acknowledge that he was in any pain. He couldn't help that his body reacted to the current, but he didn't say anything.
"I'll be back later. It's a full moon out tonight, so I need to see if I've finally caught a werewolf in my trap. Remember, ring the bell if you change your mind or want more pain." And with that, the man was out of the room. Yang unclenched his jaws and let out a moan.