AX-1

CHAPTER 7

Midnight walked down a long hallway that shined with the glare of a metal-colored, plasticky substance, with two guards following behind him. Echoes of a ravenous, blood-curdling scream boomed throughout the place, the sounds bouncing off the vibrating walls, creating a chorus of grief and anger. Multiple solid doors with shutters covering a small, clear window dotted the hallway, with row upon row of them extending endlessly into infinity. He stopped at the cell labeled 1108 and stood there, his face as serious as could be. He opened the shutters to the window, revealing a man in a unique-looking straight-jacket. Midnight reached down and pressed the button to a voice box on the side of the wall.

"Jackal, we need you to comply with our requests. You will be going with them now." He said in a soft but emotionless voice. Jackal howled with rage and sorrow, his voice reaching through the glass and into Midnight's soul.

"HOW DARE YOU, you bloody psycho! Why? Why did you kill them all in that way? My brothers... they did not deserve tha-"

"THIS IS WAR! People die, people bleed, families are broken, children are orphaned, economies collapse, people starve! You should have known! You damn fools believe that you are invulnerable just because you became stronger. Your own recklessness caused your brothers' deaths. I know war better than you. It is not a fight of who is stronger, but who is more keen, more resourceful, more willing to best the others' savagery. While you sat with your brothers, using your size and strength to your advantage, I was out there, alone, with everyone pointing their guns towards me. I had to think for myself, act for myself, and overcome by myself. You may have trained, but did you put your life on the line every single day you did so?" Midnight yelled at the voice box. He took a single, aggravated sigh and continued back in a semi-calm tone.

"If you want to save more of your brothers that will come here to fight me and the TA, then help us! We are trying to negotiate with Moneyman's Brotherhood to back down from assisting the Ethiopian military. We need you to help us do so."

Jackal went from sobbing and angry to laughing madly within a second.

"There's no way you'll be able to get Moneyman to relent. Once he accepts a job request, he will not back down. That is the pride of the Brotherhood. You may have been able to kill my corps, but multiple stronger corps await you. They only sent me because I happened to be close to this area. But there will be men as iron-willed and iron-blooded as you in them, and they won't go down without a bloody fight, I can assure you that."

"I will ask them nicely but firmly one time. If they refuse, then we will crush them until they flee or die." Midnight spoke in a loud, clear whisper. He took his finger off of the voice box button and stormed off. His eyes glared with the tint of frustration and sorrow, and his teeth bared out in disgust. How many people... Midnight thought, will have to die before that purple-eyed, silver-haired monster is satisfied?

The long, thin, silver-colored band extending two-thirds up Midnight's forearm started vibrating. He tapped it, turning on a clear screen that extended across its surface. A call from OMA. He clicked, and OMA's voice emitted from the band.

"Midnight, get prepared. We will raid the next supply line in a week. Meet with me in the Main Room on Tuesday at nine AM for a briefing." he spoke

"Understood." Midnight said simply, concealing his emotions. OMA hung up, and Midnight took a deep breath. He decided to fiddle around with the band, to see how to work it. He went to an e-document and waited for a keyboard to appear on-screen. Nothing happened, except for that a red light started shining from the band on the inner part of his forearm. It took Midnight a few seconds to understand what this meant, but as soon as he did, he placed his hand on the wall. A laser keyboard revealed itself on the wall, and Midnight stood there, amazed. His curiosity satiated his burning mind. He tried typing a sentence, and it worked without flaw. He looked up at the options button placed on the corner of the screen and pressed it. There was a good variety of different toggles and whatnot, including the option to display the keyboard on-screen like phones usually do. He switched to that mode for accessibility reasons. Midnight also tested out how it would flex with his body. It bent and fit to his body like thick spandex, which he thought was satisfying. It even felt like fabric, smooth and breathable. Midnight was interrupted by a young man walking closer to him from behind. The blonde-haired boy shouted at him to slow down. Midnight stopped and tilted his body, waiting for his contracted subordinate. The boy caught up with him and started talking.