Division-A

Episode Thirty Six. (August 2nd, 2123. Division-A, Northeast District.)

The cold metal of handcuffs froze through the peeling skin on Akino's wrists. His arms were pulled back towards the cave wall by chains. His body was bent forward and his head drooped down. His lips were chapped from dehydration. Bruises and dried blood caked his tired face as he slipped in and out of consciousness. Rips and tears in his clothes exposed him to the elements, cold droplets of cave water providing a complimentary shower.

Resting his head against the freezing stone floor, Akino counted his weak breaths. He looked at his surroundings, his eyes half lidded from the sleep deprivation he somewhat willingly caused himself. Circling around him was a towering wall of stone with a door of steel bars in the center locking him in. Above was the ceiling, caged as it provided a potential escape made evident by the rays of sunlight peaking through.

Akino bent his fingers back, scratching at the cuffs restraining him. He tucked his finger under the steel and pushed his cuffs up, trying to provide some relief to his itchy skin. Now with room available, he pushed his finger underneath the cuffs and pushed back, using all his strength to break the cuffs. His finger pulsed with blue and yellow light as he conjured the little energy he had left in his core. Yet, his attempts proved futile as his finger did nothing but break under the pressure.

Once again, this method failed him. Akino groaned as hope fleeted even further than it already had, despair taking its place. He wanted to burst out into a crying fit from the amount of trauma he was suffering through, but he lacked both the energy and water for that. He closed his eyes shut in an attempt to sleep away his situation, but that also proved useless.

Suddenly, the door creaked open. Akino's body was refilled with energy and he lunged forward. The chains binding him rattled as they were pulled to their limits. Akino growled from the pain and gritted his teeth as the shadow of his captor approached. Well- one of them. A tall, muscular girl in a navy blue button-up uniform came up to him with a plate of food, food that looked beyond artificial.

Thrashing forward, Akino shouted and kicked the plate away with his heel, smacking the girl's hand in the process. She retaliated, grabbing him by the throat and shoving him into the cave wall. She pulled a syringe from her pocket and forced Akino's chin up, aiming the needle at his jugular.

Fighting back, Akino kneed the girl in the stomach. She collapsed onto his lap, hurling up spit from the pain. The boy bent over and picked up the syringe with his teeth then stabbed it into her spine. Hovering his foot against the top, Akino threatened to inject whatever it was inside of her.

"I'll inject this into your body if you don't tell me what I want to know," he demanded.

The girl lifted her head up, smirking as drool ran down her chin. "It's just Xanax," she said, "go ahead." Akino pushed his foot down a bit, forcing a sample of the mysterious serum inside of her. "No, no! Stop!"

"What is Operation Blue?" Akino shouted, his foot shaking in anticipation as she hesitated. "Talk!"

She lifted her hand up, wiping the drool from her chin as she glared demeaningly at him. "It's none of your concern, half-breed." Akino pushed the syringe in further. "Ah, its a mission to re-retrieve you from Escapee Island!"

"Escapee Island?" Akino questioned, lifting an eyebrow as a hoard of thoughts swarmed his brain.

The girl pushed her body closer to the ground, trying to avoid the syringe. "Th-the lost citizens of Japan...," she murmured, "that disappeared during the Third World War."

Akino narrowed his eyes, skeptical of her absurd claims. With the knowledge that he didn't have much time before somebody else would enter, he dismissed the topic and got to the question at heart. "Matoi... what do her and I have to do with any of this?"