The Sky Without Starts

Chapter 2 | Into the Depths

Out of all of the places Brandon expected to awake, an elevator was not one of them. Unlike in the void, when he believed he had all of eternity to rest, Brandon quickly got to his feet to judge his surroundings. It was an unreasonably difficult task to stand, as the whole room was shaking while the elevator was moving. Brandon could not be sure where the elevator was going, but the double, magnetically sealed doors gave him a good clue: the mines.

Brandon was suddenly filled with dread as the elevator kept moving. he had been a peacekeeper in the mines when he served in the guard, and during that time he had become too familiar with the horrors in them. Prisoners sentenced to death were always sent to the mines. It was a death sentence itself. The mixture of unstable caves and high levels of radiation made the mines a deathtrap, but no one ever batted an eye. The miners kept the bunker running, so who cared if a few criminals had to die? Brandon most definitely had not.

Until now

Brandon felt his head get foggy as his heart rate started increasing. He tried to calm down, but he could not help but panic. He did not want to die down there. A slow and painful death as the radiation gradually ate away at his body. There must have been a way out, right? Brandon started searching frantically for some way that he could escape his fate. A sudden voice broke his trance.

"panicking will not help anything, Brandon."

Brandon's eyes quickly darted to the source. from the back right corner of the roof, a security camera was staring down at him. A small red light blinked under the camera's lens as the voice spoke again.

"Good, now that you have calmed down, we can have a quick chat," The camera said. the voice behind it sounded almost human, but there was something about it that sounded... fake.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Brandon yelled out, trying to speak over the sound of his beating heart in his head.

"That is not something you need to worry about, Brandon. All you need to know is that your death is not in my best interest."

"How do you know my name?"

"I know much about you, First Lieutenant Brandon Myata." The voice paused for a second before talking again. "Especially how you will not last more than a week in the mines."

"How-"

"do I know that? Brandon, do you think the other prisoners will forget what you did to them? They remember you, Brandon. They remember your 'Crowed control' efforts."

"No, that was-"

"the orders of your superiors? Please Brandon, do you think any of them will believe that? do you even believe that?"

They were both silent for a few seconds as Brandon tried to forget the past, but the truth can be hard to dismiss.

"I-" Brandon started before he was quickly cut off.

"Brandon, we both know how you act when adrenaline flows through your veins. A cruel side effect of your modifications"

"How did you-?"

"know you underwent genetic modification as a child? As good at hiding secrets as you think you are, you can not hide everything. Being able to control your hormones makes you unique, Brandon. Too unique to let die."

"you keep saying that, how do you even plan on getting me out?"

"We would have gone over that already if you had been quiet."

"...oh..." That was all Brandon could say. Now that he had had time to calm down, he became aware of how outlandish he was acting. he let his head droop down to hide the red of his face.

"Now that you are done with the questions," The voice continued, "we can go over your escape route. I will have to make this quick, as your behavior has ruined most of our time. Listen closely. At the midnight shift change, the doors of the barracks where you will be sleeping will unlock. You will have five minutes to make your way to the guard's lockers. Do not enter until 12:05."

"won't the next shift be in there by then?"

"you do not have to worry about that."

"and why should I trust you?"

"Brandon if I wanted you dead you would be that way already. If I wanted you to suffer then I would not be talking to you. please shut up and let me finish talking."

The voice sounded genuinely annoyed when it said that last sentence, which fueled Brandon's embarrassment but also gave him a slight sense of satisfaction.

"We are out of time, Brandon," The voice continued again, this time sounding rushed. "when you get to the lockers, find the one with your name. We will finish this conversation when you get that far"

"Wait-" Brandon tried to say, but the pop of the speaker shutting down told Brandon that the voice would not hear his words.

"Great" Brandon mumbled to himself. This was the second time a mysterious figure had left him in the dark. He was beginning to get tired of it. However, his disappointment was cut short by the sudden halt of the elevator. He had arrived.

Within moments the twin doors flew open and four guards rushed in to apprehend Brandon. One of the guards stumbled as he recognized the face of his old superior, but he did not let old relationships get in the way of his duties. Brandon would have done the same.

"Brandon Myata." The guard closest to him said in a stern tone. His voice was heavily vocoded by the thick black and purple helmet he wore. "Under the command of the supervisor, you are hereby stripped of your rank and sentenced to twelve years of public service in the mines.

"Twelve years." Brandon thought to himself, finding that number quite hilarious. Like hell anyone would survive twelve years. The supervisor knew that, yet it didn't care. Brandon did not know who the supervisor was, but he knew that whoever they were, the whole bunker followed their commands. They were the government of the bunker, and when they made a decision, the whole bunker followed it.

"Please do not resist, Sir." the guard started again as he grabbed Brandon's wrist, "None of us want to hurt you, but we will if we have to"

Brandon could not help but smile at that last sentence. After all that had happened, his subordinates still referred to him as 'sir.' He was glad to know that his life was not entirely meaningless. He had made an impact in the lives of those he knew, but by the glaring eyes of the prisoners around him, he realized that not all of his impacts were positive.