It was supposed to be simple, really. Axca would turn off the alarms while Lotor snuck into the prison and found intel about the champion. Was he going to be a weapon for the empire? Would it be easier to kill him before they had the chance to turn him into a super weapon? Or could Lotor use him for his own gain?
He hoped all of these answers would be answered for him when he found data in the prison logs. All he had to do was to follow the map Narti had made for him, then he could take the information and flee without anyone being the wiser to him being there in the first place.
The plan went awry when Lotor found the champion along the way and decided to snoop. He hid behind a crate and watched the prisoners.
When Lotor saw him, he was thoroughly underwhelmed. He was in a cell with two other prisoners, the two of whom bore a familial resemblance. True to the image Narti had procured before the mission, the champion had a white streak in his hair. When he turned, Lotor could see his robotic arm.
'That must be him,' Lotor thought, thinking back to Narti's image, 'The Champion.'
The robotic arm could work well in a fight, but the champion didn't look all too strong or powerful otherwise. Lotor examined the others in the cell.
The younger one was walking back and forth in some sort of fit, and the eldest of them was writing on the walls with a primitive writing device.
"Those symbols..." Lotor whispered to himself. He couldn't see his soulmark through his armor, but he didn't need to. He had spent enough time gazing at it to be able to recognize it anywhere. "They're the same as mine."
Millions of thoughts flooded Lotor's brain all at once. If that was the same language, then that implied that the prisoners were from the same planet as his soulmate. Which meant maybe they could help him find them. Even if they couldn't, at least Lotor would know their name. That was a better starting point than not knowing anything.
All logic flew out the window as Lotor rushed over to the prisoners, discarding his arm plate onto the ground beside him.
"Who the hell are you?" The brown haired man asked him once he reached the cell.
Lotor didn't answer. He thrusted his arm toward the prisoners. "My soulmark. What does it say."
"Your soulmark?" The champion asked. "How would we know?"
Lotor looked from side to side, praying that no guards would come in before he had gotten the information he needed. "This is your language, no? What does it say?"
Neither of the young men answered him, seemingly in shock from his attention. The older man was staring at Lotor in defiance.
"I'm in a bit of a rush here," Lotor said in agitated tone, "So if someone could just tell me what my soulmark says, I could leave this wretched place and go on my way."
The young brown haired man looked at Lotor's arm. "No way. Keith?"
"Keith?" The champion and the old man said at the same time.
"Like, Shiro's Keith?" The old man asked, rushing over to see the soulmark.
The brown haired man nodded. "Yeah! Keith Kogane."
"You're kidding me," The champion groaned.
"Keith Kogane," Lotor said, feeling very pleased to finally know his soulmate's name, regardless of the prisoners' unexpected reaction. "Thank you all for your assistance. I'd best be on my way before Haggar notices I'm here. Axca can only keep the alarms off so long without the guards noticing."
