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Futuristic Blacksun (Notorious x C.DEX)

Suddenly, Ajax's sneer had been interrupted as Casar had ran up his back, foot landing squarely on the back of his neck and pushing him forward into Jagar. The taunt was short lived as he managed - somehow - to land on his feet once again, showing that he hadn't exactly been sitting and twiddling his thumbs while he was confined on the Harbinger. In fact, he'd been a lot more agile than Ajax had expected him to be - and a lot more resilient, at that. The moment that Ajax had passed a glance his way, he had been greeted with a gratuitously hard slam to the bottom of his own chin, a result of the chair that Imille had been sitting in previously being lifted up and making its way at a deafening speed toward Ajax.


"NO PROPS!" Imille yelled, after having retreated to the balcony next to Nyx.


"What?! THEY REGENERATE!" Casar yelled back, his distraction allowing Ajax to get another punch off on him. Imille gasped as Casar had clutched his face, blood appearing from his mouth and nose. Ajax had been taking cheap shots from the beginning, causing him to look more and more like a punchable face and have the crew members give him less and less sympathy.


"Isn't this enough?" Arc asked. "They look suitably damaged." He said, noting that Ajax had looked roughed up and bloodied while Casar had taken the same amount of shots to the dome that he normally had. It was a relatively insane scene, but one that the others on the ship didn't really seem to mind at all.


"Oh Arc ... it's a matter of principle at this point." Imille said. "Also seeing how dirty Ajax fights makes me feel less bad about selling him." She said, with a small laugh, before turning her eyes back down to the fight. In any other situation, Jagar stabbing through one of their crewmembers would be an absolutely horrible situation, but this wasn't another crew, and the onlookers weren't exactly sane. "Maybe we'll get a pretty penny. Could make some awesome, huge, anti-Ajax signs with all that money. BOOO! NO CHEAP SHOTS!" she yelled. "But thank you for taking a Jagar hit for me on top of that! BUT BOOOO!"


Casar strafed back for a moment as Ajax was forced to look at the both of them to circumvent any surprise attacks from either. He didn't accept the taunt, unlike Jagar, and waited defensively for Ajax to make the next move, eyes flitting to Jagar, who had gotten the chance to recover after the massive metal chair had hit Ajax.
 
"NO CHEAP SHOTS? FUCK YOU!" Ajax shouted, spitting blood out of his mouth onto Casar and Jagar in a disgusting turn of events. He was an absolute animal whilst fighting, his respect for Casar and Jagar both disappearing in exchange for the fight. It was like a switch being flipped, he had no ill will toward them but this was different. "I'M FIGHTING TWO ON ONE AND YOU'RE CALLING THAT CHEAP? YOU GET YOUR FUCKING ASS DOWN HERE AND FIGHT THEN!" Ajax said, repeating his antics when it came to the spectators. "I'M FIGHTING A TANK AND A GOD DAMN NINJA, WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO LADY?!"


"You watch your mouth when you are talking to my Imille!" Nyx shouted back at Ajax before Imille even had the option to speak. "You deserved to get hit by that chair!"


"Y'all a bunch of fucking cheaters!" Ajax shouted, using his rage as a disguise for his next attack. As Jagar had began charging at Ajax as he shouted at Nyx he had kept his eye on the Vekht and jumped right at the opportune time. Ajax nailed Jagar right on the bottom of his chin where his respirator didn't cover with his foot, kicking the warrior directly where the neck meets the chin. He gasped for air as the cowboy had miraculously hit such a small target, the longer they went on the more Ajax was figuring out what they were capable of.


"At least we aren't on steroids!" Nyx taunted back, getting a huge kick out of being able to taunt Ajax while he was fighting.


"BITCH I AIN'T ON STEROIDS!" Nyx gave him a firm look after he said that, taking him out of the fight for a moment. "Hey... you know I didn't mean-" Jagar connected with the most devastating punch of the fight as Ajax was distracted by hurting Nyx's feelings, the Calivarian gleefully laughing as Ajax hit the ground with blood spilling out of his mouth and onto the loading bay floor. "Wha-"


"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET PUSSY! MY JAGAR TAKES CARE OF ME!"


"I'm going to fucking kill you..." Ajax groaned, pushing himself off the floor. His face was drenched in a mix of sweat and blood, his face becoming less playful and the fighter getting much more serious. In his rage he began to take on both Jagar and Casar at once, dishing damage to Casar's face to make sure he was caked in blood and also partially hunting for his head to take him out of the fight. It was all too familiar for Casar, a Winger smashing him in the face with their fists. Even though he wasn't augmented Ajax seemed to hit just as hard as one, bringing back all too many terrible memories. "SUBMIT!" Ajax shouted, kicking Jagar once more knocking the wind out of the man as he kept him at bay. Jagar was unrelenting however, getting hurt for once but pushing forward time and time again.


"Fight like warrior..." Jagar said, panting. "Respect." He finally said, "Shame Jagar have to break you now."


With that Jagar nearly ran over Casar as he and Ajax got in the most dangerous clash thus far. Both were swinging for the fences and any blow could knock one another out, the Vekht totally surprised a human was able to keep up with him and Ajax surprised that he was actually pulling this off against two combatants. He was fighting dirty but to him it was fair, having to fight two men at once.
 
Ajax pummeling Casar was all too familiar a sight for the mage, who had seemingly been swept up into a fight he didn't really want to be a part of at all. To him, he had expected nothing more than to take a shot or two that made him look a little rougher, but as Ajax slammed fist after fist into his face, he grew closer and closer to snapping, the cowboy not exactly knowing just how much he was reminding the mage of Axel.


As Jagar and Ajax began to wail on each other once more, wearing down their own resolves, Casar had sprung back into action nearly just as quick as he had been taken out of it. Blood covered the front of his uniform, tears at the neckline, and bruises covered the front of his face. He waited for half of a moment for Jagar to let go of Ajax before jumping at him - nearly in the same way that he had jumped at Axel - the scene flashing white for a moment as he had intended to put a stop to the fight entirely.


Ajax wasn't the only one who had gotten the brunt of his attack. As Jagar had hooked onto him, they both had been delivered a shock that had taken them from the mindset of the fight almost entirely, the two of them falling backwards as they had been jolted so violently that there was no way they could continue. "STOP!" Casar roared, soon after hearing the thud of Ajax's body as he had hit the floor. The mage's eye widened in surprise as he had seen him fall, realizing that he had gone too far. He had been trying to hold back the entirety of the fight, but the panic that Ajax had created had been too much for the mage to handle.


"Oh fuck! Is he dead?" Imille shouted, unsure if the coast was clear to come down the stairs just yet. When Casar had realized how potentially deadly the situation could get, he kneeled to Ajax, the rage-filled associations he'd had relating the man to Axel crumbling away as concern for his friend had become paramount.


"...Ajax?" Casar asked, somewhat terrified that he'd potentially just killed a friend in the heat of a moment. "...Ajax." he said. Then, a resounding SMACK had once again filled the loading bay as Casar had done the only thing he'd known how to do when coming across someone who had needed to wake up.


"CAS DON'T SMACK HIM!" Imille roared, coming down the stairs. "Uhh ... uhh, you MIGHT need to shock him again!" she said. "Have you ever defibrillated someone?! ... Nevermind, stupid question, you just did it." she said, tearing the medkit off of the wall and coming down to assist him.


"Oh, for the love of ... he's fine." Arc said. "He's moving."


"I'm sorry!" Casar said. "I just - he was - he's the one that hit me, and -" he stammered, overwhelmed. "He just - he was Axel!"
 
"What the fuck do you mean he was Axel?" Lucy asked, wheeling herself to the overlook above the loading bay. "That was a sparring match to rough you two up a bit and it looks like you all took it too far..." She looked down at them, a frown on her face when she seen the state Ajax was in. "He wasn't expecting an attack like that... caught him off guard too by the looks of things. Is he okay? Jagar, how are you?"


"Fine." The Vekht said, dusting himself off as he stood up. The shock had sent him flying back and his respirator had nearly malfunctioned from the blast, the man swiftly diving away to fix it before it had been too late. "Cazzer strong. Too strong for normal spar. Can't fight for fun acting like that." Jagar said, a bit disappointed with the conclusion of the spar. "Never before Jagar meet such strong human. Now we never know who win." He said, disappointment in his voice more so than worry for Ajax. "He warrior, give him second."


"Fuck!" Nyx groaned, acting not worried in the slightest. "First ringside fight I get to watch and he gets tazed? When we're low on cash instead of turning tricks I want to be Ajax's corner woman. That was so fun and yet... I think I'm blue balled now." She said with a funny expression on her face. "I got blood sure, but a reasonable finish? I wouldn't rewatch it that's for sure." She let out a long sigh, "As long as my Jagar is okay then I'm fine. Super boy over there can regenerate or something he can-"


Ajax shot up from laying down and was still swinging, a crazed look in the wild man's eyes as they darted around the room looking for who to fight next. When he realized everyone was around him looking down at him, Imille rushing to his side with a med kit in hand while Casar was basically in his face as he awoke from his temporary shock induced unconsciousness. Blinking, he looked around and see Jagar was banged up, Casar was bloodied and his clothing torn and Ajax had a bunch of caked blood not only on his body but his knuckles and feet as well.


Tensions were high as he gained his bearings, he had remembered what had happened to him after a moment of trying to remember. He had been knocked out brutally before and that had been anything but, the shock being a much different kind of pain and putting him out way quicker than he could have ever imagined. The intense look on his face vanished and he and Casar shared a moment of such extreme awkwardness it was almost unbearable to watch. Casar had nearly killed Ajax and now he had been slapping him in the face to wake him up. Any person in their right mind would have begun to shout at Casar, Ajax did the opposite.


"God damn that was awesome, buddy! Didn't expect that... hot damn." He said, smiling brightly at Casar as he laid back down on the floor cutting all the tension in the room away. Ajax was laughing hysterically, he couldn't believe that's how the fight would have ended. "Here I thought we'd find a good stopping point but I guess I must have rattled you a little too hard there man, my bad. I get carried away when it comes to fighting, even when it's just for fun. Hope I didn't bang you up too bad." The idea that someone could fight for fun with no hard feelings attached to it was foreign to Casar, so foreign in fact that everything Ajax was saying had to have been absolutely bizarre. "I'll let you slide with zapping me but slapping me? Come on man, at least punch me some more!"


"You're so fucking crazy Jax..." Nyx said, shaking her head as she covered her face with her hand. "Scratch me being the corner woman... I want to be your manager! With that craziness I could make us millions. Me and Fishbait could retire to a beach home on a glitterworld planet together and become hot old ladies together."


"As much as I like... both those things... I'm only fighting again if I gotta." Ajax rubbed his face, "Especially if someone decides to taze me again." He said, already teasing Cas about what he had done. Then, to the Technomage's surprise, Ajax raised up his fist to initiate a fist bump with him. It was a lot less forced and much more natural than the one Casar tried to perform earlier thankfully. "We good?"
 
Casar's brows furrowed as he looked to Ajax, the both of them the picture of having been at the ass end of a fist. Ajax, while his injuries had healed, was covered and caked in blood, cuts in his shirt more looking like he was mauled by a wild animal than had gotten in a fight. Casar had looked similar, though he hadn't fought Jagar, despite nearly being trampled on by him on more than one occasion. Instead, most of the blood had been from taking one too many to the face and body. They were no longer the picture perfect imitation of Exodlites, instead finding themselves taking their respective roles pretty well.


Casar fistbumped Ajax, though he was still confused. The man had kicked him twice and wailed on him longer than he could count in seconds, at least anymore. While glad that he was okay, and feeling particularly guilty to no help of the others who had chided him, he was in wonder that Ajax hadn't been mad at him, and that he'd felt it was just a sparring match at all. Unlike Ajax, Casar had taken it personally, never quite having been attacked by someone before for good fun.


Casar grabbed Ajax's fist and pulled him up, both of them landing wearily on their feet after the altercation. Whatever Ajax's goal had been had succeeded, as the others had slowly come to realize that they had looked perfect for their roles, regardless of whatever hurt feelings had gotten them there.


"I would clean you guys up and treat your wounds, but this is what you were getting into when you agreed to the plan!" Imille said, buttoning up the medkit again. "Aww. You guys are all beat up. I wanna roll you up in blanket burritos and feed you hot soup, but ... we gotta sell you." she said, frowning a bit upon the realization that they would be sending their friends off like this. She looked to Jagar. "Since you got all beat up too, and you're the only one here that could feasibly take down Casar and Ajax, I think it might be a good idea that you lead the sale, Jags."


Imille dashed off, going to the brig for a moment and then quickly returning with handcuffs. She slid them over to Ajax and Casar, giving them the option to put them on themselves. Casar had been given handcuffs, while Ajax had been given a set of regular ones. They weren't weak at all, to say, and as soon as they had put them on, they were undoubtedly sealing their fates.


"I would put 'em on for you but Nyx might get jealous." Imille said, to Ajax, still grinning, though the conclusion of their fight had meant that they would be going away, and that had made her sad. She looked to Jagar once again. "Make sure to sell 'em for a good price, too. We haven't actually earned anything other than monopoly money for a while, so ..."


Her smile fell as she rushed forward, grasping both Casar and Ajax in each arm as she hugged them. It was a sweet gesture, and one that had displayed just how much trepidation she had really been feeling toward them. Casar had been too tired to fight, not exactly enjoying the hug but not pushing her off, either. "We'll be fine, Imille." he said, though his voice had sounded more annoyed than reassuring.
 
"Get Nyx involved, then." Ajax said, a weak grin on his face as he was still recovering from the shock of a lifetime. As she hugged him he got serious however, returning the hug as best he could. "Ain't nothing to worry about, Doc. Me and Cas got eachother. Once we're inside we'll wait for the right time to meet back up and..." He grinned, "We're gonna raise some hell. I hope that you have our backs if we need you, been a while since Psy knocked you senseless. Think you should be getting the shakes soon from ass kicking withdrawals."


Nyx walked down too, joining the group and hugging both Casar and Ajax, to Ajax's pleasure and to Casar's displeasure. "Thanks for the fight, guys. That was fun." She said, contradicting herself from earlier but wanting to give them some calm reassurance right before they were about to enter the belly of the beast. "It didn't look like you were having too much fun in there Cas but at least you both look the part now. And I gotta say Jax... if you can fight Jagar then I think we really need to do something about this money situation. Get you fighting in the big leagues... That is after we sell you of course."


Ajax laughed, "Are you my coach or my manager now?"


"Both." She replied, a toothy grin on her face as she hugged him again. "Though imagining Fishbait over here as your loud and enthusiastic coach warms my heart. What warms my heart more though is that we're actually going to get paid for selling you two!" Nyx giggled, letting go of Ajax and Casar finally with Imille. It had been a big group hug, while Ajax and Casar were confident they could do this the others weren't nearly as much. Sure they were joking and making light of the situation but that was tradition at this point, really the threat of Atlas getting a hold of both of them was terrifying. It was why Lucy refused to come down, opting to treat this like a mission rather than a goodbye.


The last time she had made a goodbye she lost everyone.


"Alright... Jagar, make sure you get us for a good price. We're going to a steakhouse after this." Ajax eyed Casar, seeing the confusion on his face. "It's not a house made of steak brother, it's where-" He paused, "It's a store like that ice cream store that serves the best meat you can buy." Ajax laughed, not entirely knowing if Cas had even known what a restaurant was at this point. "We'll figure it out. Alright Luce, where are you dropping us off at?"


"Crios Station. If I took you two to the planet itself that could mean they would split you up. It's public knowledge that Atlas owns part of this place, the rest is the government of Galacrea so it is technically public property. Atlas would rather not air their dirty laundry to the world is the only thing so... I've been messaging them posing as Jagar. We'll be pulling around the back and dropping them off right into the base." She revealed, "They REALLY want Ajax. Bad. I didn't... I never imagined how much they actually wanted to retrieve you, Jax... As for Casar, he's a bonus. I offered him first and they seemed interested but Ajax... Well..." They could hear Lucy's smile over the intercom, "We're eating well tonight. Thanks boys."
 
"Cuffs on, boys." Imille said, finally releasing Ajax and Casar. Then, she looked to Casar for a moment. "Uhh... I would leave you with cuffs off, but I doubt that would look anything but shady." she said, realizing a bit too late that the mage had broken his arm, and they had never gotten around to fixing it. Luckily for him, a decent amount of time had passed, meaning that he was at least on his way to recovery naturally. She had gently placed the cuff around his wrist, fastening it, and then locked his other into it. She then turned her attentions back to the others.


"Lets get 'em prepped to go! Jagar, you might want to clean up, and look less like you got the crap beat out of you. Or do. I'm not sure which is better. I meaaan ... they want Ajax back, and I think that's mostly due to the fact that he's a regenerative monster, so if you don't look like you got beat up then that's suspicious, too." she said, lips pursing as she lamented on the subject. Meanwhile, she picked up the cuffs that she had tossed to Ajax, grabbing his wrists and then slapping them on a lot less gentle than she had done so with Casar.


"What is it like inside?" Casar asked, looking to Ajax for an explanation of what they could possibly expect. He was getting nervous now, the idea of being pawned off to an organization that regularly killed people for their own personal gain and bought slaves not an exciting one, especially as the time had grown closer and closer.


In the cockpit, Lucy had gotten a transmission back from Atlas, coordinating her to the Crios station for the dropoff. Their response had been cold and calculated, but the had undoubtedly wanted nothing more than to take Ajax off of their hands, promising a particularly promising sum in return. They were undoubtedly going to receive it, of course, Atlas not exactly known for skimping on a deal.


They had come in close to the Crios Station, the view through the port actually quite beautiful. It was a massive, man-made thing that had resembled a massive asterik in space, each hinge customized to a specific purpose. The team had known what kind of dehumanizing things had happened inside of it, however, and the sight of it hadn't instilled any sort of excitement in them. Not in the same way that it would an unlearned group of people. For others, it had meant promise. For them, it was a mission.


Lucy was forced to fly through a security barrier, authenticating herself and her purpose there before she was allowed even relatively near the station itself. Then, she had been guided into the loading bay, her ship being dwarfed by the massive Station as it swallowed them whole.
 
"It's sterile... Almost too clean." Ajax said, speaking to Casar about the state of the Atlas base. "There are many different floors and levels, all with different security clearances and countermeasures. The eeriest part was I never seen a traditional guard standing at the ready, they were always just out of eye sight. I spent quite a few months here being rehabilitated after I had been mutated, the process taking well over a year. They're... very clinical at the least." He said, nudging his friend with his arm as best he could with handcuffs on. "If they strip you down they usually aren't starring so that's a plus. Though... in my experience they make you stand there naked a little too long. Might have just been my doctor though."


Galacrea Prime loomed in the background, the massive city planet a blemish on Ajax's history. As Lucy guided them through the checkpoint and toward the station's docking port Ajax had walked over to a window with his hands handcuffed behind his back. He starred at the planet, recalling just how many years it had been since he had left that dreaded place. It hadn't been all that many in reality, 2 maybe 3 since he and Ayla faced the horrors of poverty and slavery. It was why he lived freely now as he had spent a good portion of his youth in figurative chains, working for an underworld mobster who pitted people against others to death. Lucy eyeballed the cameras and seen Ajax looking out the window, knowing that he was more concerned with being back here than he let on.


"Come on up here, Ajax." She said quietly into the intercom. "Before you go and get yourself sold." It snapped him out of his haze as he turned to go and walk up to the cockpit. As he reached Lucy she had retreated from watching the fight to go and guide the ship, her focus on flying to the station but her attention on Ajax. "It must be... hard being back here, huh?"


"More than you know."


"Well, on the bright side you've already been through this once before. Cas doesn't get that luxury." Lucy replied, trying her best to keep it light but failing to do so. "Least we might get to save your doctor friend. Could even use her own the ship, we already have a doctor and a scientist but... A former Atlas doctor and surgeon could make us step our game up." She smirked, "Plus I remember you talking rather fondly about her when I went and picked you up. Well, when we had time to talk anyways. Truth be told I was a little jealous hearing about her. She sounds... interesting."


"She is." Ajax replied, "No reason to get jealous now though, and besides... Dr. Raleigh is a professional. We were friends but I don't think she was diddling her patients." He paused, "Cause if she was I'm pissed that she skipped me!" Lucy burst out into laughter while Ajax leaned down and put his head to her's, "I'd hug you Luce but I'm all tied up. I'll see you in a bit."


"Okay... Be careful."


Ajax went back down to the loading bay to find Jagar and the others waiting for him. Jagar had been re-armored but still looked bloodied, an assault rifle in hand. They were docking with the outside of the station now, Atlas not wanting the Gaius to even enter their loading bay but rather connect directly to the exterior of the station. The loud hums and the grinding sound of the ship docking with the station filled the ship and a loud click was heard as the airlock connected with the station.


There was no turning back now.


"Come, stand in front of Jagar." Jagar said, waving his assault rifle at the two of them. "We go. No time for words. Move."
 
Casar sighed, Ajax's descriptions not exactly alleviating any of his fears. Then, he had left to say goodbye to Lucy, even if she hadn't meant it in that sort of way. His restraints were uncomfortable at best, causing him to fidget. Then, Imille had poked her head around at them just as they had been getting ready to leave. "Remember, guys. Act like you got captured and you're pissed about it. Resting bitch face. You might have to fight a bit to sell it, but don't make yourself so much of a danger that they feel they gotta keep you sedated 24/7, or else the plan won't work at all." She said, offering nervous advice as she had seen them off. Then, the leech port had opened, giving them a view of the inside.


White light poured into the dark black stealth ship, itching at the inside like an annoying, sterile bug. It stung their eyes, showing just how dark the Gaius was, how they had gotten acclimated to an area that had been decidedly indoors. Instead, those inside of the station had been bathed in U.V., a simulation of the sun itself in order to keep anyone the light hit in relative health. It had shown just how rich Atlas had been, as that no doubt took a great sum of money to do. Imille dropped her caring expression, instead hitting Jagar with one of neutral solidarity, instantly turning her look from a caring maternal one to one that had wanted business to conclude. She didn't board off with him, instead staying behind and watching them leave.


They had been greeted by a contact. He was one of the larger doctors, of an alien race that somehow resembled a Terremian, but instead an odd, alien version of one. He was pale white, almost sterile looking, his side manned by Atlas security. Instead of the standard armor that most security officers wore, the one in front of them had worn a clean uniform, dark and emblazoned by an orange stripe.


"This is the ... Gaius crew, it says?" The doctor spoke out, scrutinizing eyes looking over Ajax and Casar. The two of them had been an assault to the sterile environment, covered in blood and grime from their supposed battle. "I'm going to take a blood sample to put against the database copy we have for Ajax Winger to affirm his identity. It isn't that we doubt the legitimacy of the claim, but others have gone through much more extensive means in order to procure money from our organization." He said, approaching the cowboy with a device. It had become clear just why they had sent the massive doctor to receive them, as one extraordinarily strong hand placed on the shoulder of Ajax had held him in place while the doctor had taken a quick prick of his blood with a device in his other hand. The wound healed up as soon as it had formed, only solidifying the fact that they had their previous experiment back within their care.


Soon, the device pinged. "It looks like this is him." The doctor said, eyes narrowing slightly. "I'll take them both from your care to scan them for augments. As agreed upon, the payment will be sent as soon as both have been scanned and the legitimacy of the technomage's augments as Exodlite-sourced has been confirmed." He said to Jagar, eyes falling on Casar soon afterwards. "Did you acquire any further identification for the mage when your team captured him? Division, rank, specialty ... name?" He asked, revealing that Lucy had given as little information on Casar as she feasibly could, knowing that it would be checked against existing records.


Casar scowled at the doctor, playing up his own role as an Exodlite. It had been an awful feeling for the both of them, the mage in particular having been taken back to Vee, where he was nearly sold to Atlas as a bag of parts as opposed to a full human. They had both felt like animals on display, especially as a backup team had been waiting in the wings for Ajax, knowing exactly what he had been capable of.
 
"No." Jagar replied dully, looking down at Casar for a moment. "Know he Technomage. Shut down most of our tech before I break him. Strong one, but puny body." Jagar knew how to stay professional whilst being intimidating all at the same time. He had to be, especially after he had captured Ajax. "Tried to escape when I bring this one in, why he beaten up too." He leaned forward, "Better not take part of price away. Ajax escape freak and Technomage worth a lot." Jagar leaned down and grunted in Casar's ear, playing the part well. "Seen battle, fresh augment. Has temper but... Knows his place."


"Yeah yeah..." Ajax groaned, looking back at Jagar. "How about I show you your place motherfucker? Take these chains off and I'll-" Jagar grabbed Ajax by the head and then kneed him in the gut, sending him to his knees. The Atlas doctor didn't even flinch as Jagar dealt with him swiftly. Ajax then simply bowed his head in defeat, playing the role way of the injured prisoner. He was feeling sore from the fight from before but was fresh enough to get what they had to get done here.


"Say you sorry." Jagar instructed, showing that Ajax wouldn't need to be restrained. "He say Atlas kind to him, other than when he try escape. Save his life... Think he begging for better treatment." Jagar nudged Ajax with his foot, "Where apology?"


"Sorry... dickhead." Ajax said through gritted teeth, "They let me go and tried to kill me! This is all wrong, I don't belong here... You can't sell me like this..." He begged, putting on a show so Casar wouldn't have to. "I'm not just say plaything, I'm... I'm a human god damn it!" He said, slowly standing back up to his feet avoiding the doctor's gaze, the Atlas employee showing no emotion as he watched the man struggle. "Please... Buy me from this maniac then let me go, I'll do anything."


"You will be doing plenty, Mr. Winger. Your freedom however is not quite on the agenda just yet. Perhaps in time." The Doctor said, looking him up and down. They had no intention of releasing him again. "As for this Exodlite, it is interesting you caught an alive technomage... Usually they have a kill switch built in here-" The doctor said, bringing his hand to the side of Casar's head where his scar was located on the right side of his head. "-and it has been removed. A control chip of sorts, fortunately for you Mercenary that we do not require samples of those. However... a living technomage will be quite... beneficial to our studies." He began to walk away on that note towards the augmentation scanner just a short walk away. "I am releasing them from your care. You may join me in the observation room while they are both scanned. From there, we will agree upon an amount and then it will be wire transferred from one of our shell corporations to-"


"Yens. No credit." Jagar grunted, "No trail. No official account." He crossed his arms as two security officers began escorting Ajax and Casar into the scanning room. "Part of the business."


"Of course." The Doctor said with a nod, not arguing in the slightest. It was easier to pay the mercenaries that way, the wire transfer line simply so they could undercut the less intelligent slavers.


"Ajax kill one of my men." Jagar said, playing his role well as he tried to fish more money out of the Doctor. "Lose a lot taking him. I expect fair compensation, you know of his ability." Jagar smiled underneath his mask, "Not everyday you capture escape Atlas experiment." As they continued on they entered the screening room, a massive room split in half by a glass wall. Ajax and Casar were on one side while the Atlas staff were in the other. Several hundred scanners filled the room, preparing to scan them completely and to decipher what sort of augmentations or mutations the two were hiding.
 
Casar watched as Ajax struggled with cold calculation, donning the features of a technomage trained not to display any sort of weakness whatsoever. Ajax would have thought that he didn't care for him whatsoever, but he had just had experience suppressing how he'd felt to put off a facade. They had been lead to the scanning room, a small thing with two seats back to back to one another. They had been seated in them soon enough, their cuffs being released in order to situate them into the cuffs built into the chair.


As soon as his cuffs had come off, however, Casar's hand shot toward the security officer, delivering a shock to his arm. The man responded almost instantly, digging the sharp end of a taser into Casar's neck and electrocuting him just as quickly as the mage had taken to him. He seized against his grip, letting out only a croak while his hand had been forced into the restraint. Knowing not to take the risk, he pulled Casar's broken arm from the splint, locking it in to the arm of the chair just like the other.


The altercation had been over before it could even start, ending with Casar groaning in pain and the guard shrugging off his attack as if it hadn't even happened. He'd probably been equipped with some kind of tech on his body that had been placed there to circumvent the very same situation. "Heretic ... advanced technology won't save you from the wrath of the Imperial Exodlite Army." He growled, doing a rather good impression of a still-indoctrinated mage. The guard hadn't responded to him, moving to Ajax quickly in order to fasten him in.


The doctor had lead Jagar to the observation chamber, sitting at the computer terminal at the end while Jagar had a place directly adjacent to him. The way it had been situated, Jagar had a direct view of the results, though that didn't say if he could decipher them at all. Soon, the room had locked, leaving Casar and Ajax in their chairs to suffer their fate. Finally, a cylindrical slat had ejected from the backs of their chairs, forcing the both of them to sit up straight as their heads had been locked into a humiliating tertiary scanning machine.


A plethora of high-tech looking machines had deployed from the ceiling, and soon, an overwhelming nausea had taken them as they were bathed in radiation and subjected to various other scans, all at the same tone. Luckily for them, the experience would only last several minutes, after which all of their restraints apart from the wrists had been laxed, the nausea subsiding only slightly. Casar had slumped forward in his chair, twitching slightly after being washed in some sort of EMP countermeasure.


The results appeared on the screen. A moment of tense deliberation crossed the doctor's face as he observed the results. Jagar was held in suspense, not entirely sure if the augments Imille and Arc had installed would hold up. More so, if they were found to have matching augments, it would be incredibly suspicious. It felt like a while before the doctor actually spoke again, looking to a screen with numbers and figures flying so quickly it had been a wonder he could read them at all. "It seems ..." He paused, bringing up their scans abruptly afterwards in a more visual format that Jagar could understand. "...Some of the augments on the mage aren't as easily identifiable as Exodlite tech per the usual, but that simply could be a case of experimental technology. Winger's scans are picking up a telecommunication augment, which we will remove, and work done by our own people." He said. Then, he stood to the mercenary.


"The mage is going to take considerable work to keep safely within our confines, seeing the extent of his augmentations now, so you'll understand if you get slightly less. Ajax Winger will be sold on the agreed upon price. Do we have a deal?"
 
"You do not pay me for your safety. You pay me for heads. I bring you heads." Jagar growled, not showing any hint of rebelling against the Doctor but showing that these weren't acceptable terms. It had been normal for Jagar to have to haggle to get what he was due, thankfully he had been good at it. "No give discount for your safety." Jagar paused, seeing the doctor unmoved by his words. "Double amount on Ajax, Technomage free." He said, recalling the amount that he had seen Lucy send those in Atlas. She had briefly sent their conversation log to Jagar before they disembarked, allowing him to negotiate properly. "Better deal for both us. Cheaper overall but... Fair to both."


"You strike a hard bargain, mercenary..." The Doctor said, reading the information further. His eyes drifted to Ajax in particular, knowing that he was going to be compensated himself for acquiring such a rare specimen. It would also be technically at a discount for them, a small one from Jagar's asking prices but enough to let it slide. "You have yourself a deal. One moment." The Doctor waved his hands at one of the guards and they quickly retreated away from them, heading deeper into the facility. "I have to ask... Did Mr. Winger show any signs of body deterioration? Perhaps unexplained fatigue? How hard did you have to work on capturing him?"


"Hard. Stronger than a Saur, he is. No fatigue. No deterioration unless I give it." Jagar sighed, "Healed back though. Had to beat name out of him, beat more to find out he belong to Atlas. Seen his insides only for it all to snap back." Jagar actually let out a heartless chuckle, "Knew who to sell to then."


"Ahh." The Doctor replied, not having much for the mercenary other than that. "Very well, our business seems to be concluded." He finished, the guard returning with a briefcase. With a curt nod from the doctor the security officer opened the case, revealing to Jagar the most yens he had seen in years. "That seems to be in order, for one Ajax Winger and one heavily augmented Exodlite. Do contact us again if you have... more subjects in the future." He paused, "Do not discuss details of our arrangement on open channels, by accepting this money and exchanging those two subjects lives for this you agree to a non-disclosure agreement. Upon breaking such contract we will have no choice but to have you exterminated." It was very brief and very monotone, as if this Doctor in particular had accepted many subjects like this before. The whole speech sounded rehearsed, causing a twinge of worry to form in Jagar's gut.


This might be the very last time he seen either Casar or Ajax again.


"Agreed." Jagar held out his hand and forced the Doctor to shake his firmly. He then reached out and grabbed his case of Yens, enough to buy themselves a whole new ship and then some if they wanted to. "Do me favor..." Jagar said, eye balling the subjects who were now being escorted into the Atlas facility. "Is this only place to drop off heads? Was on other side of galaxy when remember this place." Jagar growled, "Need yens. More than this. Do more work for you." Jagar said, keeping it short and sweet while fishing for the information he wanted. "Get many heads. Interesting ones. Exotic species too. Where do I go when need Atlas?"


"Move it!" A security officer shouted, pushing both Ajax and Casar out deeper into the Atlas base. Jagar disappeared from view and they had been given two new sets of cuffs. Both were designed to limit power to augmentations as well as be unbreakable to subjects like Ajax. The sterile halls were all too similar, their bearings slowly becoming more and more skewed as they were both led down the same halls together. Although they had to act otherwise, it was good to at least be in eachother's prescience a little while longer.
 
Casar and Ajax had been lead down the hall, being taken to their respective rooms. It was the last short walk in which they would see each other, each one no doubt having their files and statistics sent to specialists to determine what the best course of action would be. They had been degraded entirely, reduced to experimental pincushions within a fraction of a moment. A deep dread had settled in them for what lied ahead, as the introduction surely hadn't been the end to it. Then, as signs in the hallway denoted different blocks like streetsigns in a planet's city, they had been ushered in different directions, split in a fraction of a second, possibly even never seeing one another again.


The mage recoiled as soon as he had seen where he was going. Above head, a white, uncomplicated sign had told him exactly where. His fingertips beat against his side, transmitting a message in a moment to exactly where they would be taking him, the result landing in Ajax's own. It was simple, but it had gotten the message across loud and clear.


S U R G E R Y .​
​


Ajax's fate hadn't been much better, especially as he had been dragged into a room that he would soon find was his own. White walls with a white door had been his, but unlike his previous accommodations, there were more. He had been roughly shoved into a chair, finding that wrist restraints were the very least he'd have to deal with. Soon, Ajax had been fitted with not only ankle shackles, but a muzzle akin to a wild animal and a collar that would put him down if he had intended on acting out once again. There would be a large lapse of time before he was attended to again, the unseen scientists on the station working ferverously to prepare for his arrival. He had been one of few successful experiments of his kind, something that they hadn't been able to replicate properly since he had gone. He was a treasure trove of scientific discovery, a piece of work that had been the growing achievement of a new dawn of genetic modification that could lead to an incredibly different future for the entire universe.


The doctor looked to Jagar, deliberating. Beady eyes had studied him, wondering just how much information he could reveal while still keeping his company's own best interests in mind. No doubt, a mercenary such as himself could prove incredibly useful in the long run, but those sorts of people could also become enemies very quickly. Then, he spoke. "...I can connect you with a contact near the main stations, one that'll direct you to an Atlas area nearby when you call. We have bases everywhere, so you won't be too far away from them most anytime you're exploring the universe." He said, speaking as if he hadn't just exchanged two human lives for a portion of money. "I'll send that contact information to your ship. Perhaps do a few more jobs for us and you'll see the extent of our reach, and opportunities could potentially open up for you." He said.


Then, he looked behind him, to the security guard that had waited at the entrance of the observation chamber for them to leave.


"It's standard protocol not to contact us within the first thirty days of a transaction for trail reasons, the exceptions to that being very few. That said, the contact I will be sending you is one you can talk to at any time, that limitation applying to this station only. Shall I see you back to your ship?"
 
"No need. Remember way." Jagar said, giving the Atlas Doctor a firm nod in thanks. He had been in this situation dealing with clients like this before, they never truly liked Jagar's prescience so his quick retreat was for both parties best interest. He left the observation area, every fiber in his being telling him to breach the station some how now that he was in it. He was armed but what could Jagar really do against an entire Atlas base? This wasn't an Exodlite listening post or a prison ship, this was a massive facility with no telling how many people at Atlas' disposal. They could all very well die trying to find out where Psy was, not knowing if that answer was even in the base at all. Jagar left, walking down the same hall he arrived in and soon was back onboard the Gaius.


With great hesitation Lucy disengaged from the Atlas station and flew right back out the security checkpoint. She wanted to stay nearby but they were on their radar now, they'd have to circle around Galacrea Prime and go far out of the system to not register on their scanners anymore. Everyone in the Gaius was potentially more nervous than the two inside, the idea that neither of them making out of this alive a very real one that none of them could bare. They had faced impossible odds before but this had quite literally been a suicide mission.


"They be fine. They warriors." Jagar said, looking back at the station as it began to disappear behind them as Lucy punched it. The Captain was struggling with it herself as her eyes filled with tears, knowing that she could have very well seen the last of Casar and Ajax. If it was any consolation prize they had a whole bunch of money now, money Jagar unceremoniously tossed next to Lucy without a word before heading to his room alone.


A L O N E . M U Z Z L E D . B E . S T R O N G .​


Ajax said back to Casar, his finger feeling odd as he communicated with Casar silently. It had gotten past the scanners and had been Atlas' fatal flaw when it came to accepting them but in reality what was stopping them from doing whatever they wanted now? This plan had been thought out to this point here but nothing else had come from that. They were on their own now and had to react as best they could alone. Sure, Ajax and Casar could talk to one another but what good did that do when they were both restrained?


"Is this muzzle really necessary?" He shouted out into the room, knowing that someone was watching him through the cameras. "I gotta take a piss, y'all wanna study that? Fucking assholes." He grumbled, wanting to kick back in his chair only for his restraints to jingle against him. The sound of chains tightening filled the room as the silent observer tightened Ajax in place. "COME HERE AND DO THAT IN PERSON JACKASS!" He shouted, "I'M NOT RESISTING JUST EASE UP!" The chair got tighter until Ajax's bones were creaking, the cowboy in a ridiculous amount of pain. "STOOOOOOOOOOP!" He roared, only to not get a response back.


Outside his room his voice was nonexistent, the rooms being sound proof. He was being tortured for barely moving, a sign of things to come.
 
Ajax and Casar had been subjected to a slew of humilating and dehumanizing procedures within the next few days. They had been poked, prodded, sedated, and ultimately made to feel like they weren't in control of themselves. Because, when it came down to it, they weren't. Atlas had been ruthlessly efficient, making sure that there was no avenue for them to even begin to think of escape, especially with both of their histories having been laid out so plainly to Atlas. They were both escapees, Casar supposed and Ajax's own efforts to do so taking multiple Atlas lives. Atlas had made sure that wouldn't happen again, taking every precaution when they were transported from one place to another.


It was a wonder how they would even manage to get to the next step of the plan at all. Of course, they had the reassurance that in the case that they had stayed too long, or gotten hurt - in relative terms - they had a team waiting on the outside to extract them. But the next question was - how long would that take? How long had they had before desperate measures would be taken? How long would Ajax have to endure practical torture for doing little to nothing? It had seemed like a week had passed excruciatingly slow, especially since the scientists that had taken care of them hadn't even deigned to give them the date.


What passive augmentations Casar had that had kept him able to maintain contact with his friends had been removed: his tracking augments, telecommunication, and the thing that had hurt him worst of all: his power core had been disabled, able to be turned off and on with the flick of a switch by the doctors within the station. It was a state he had been kept in near-constantly, making him absolutely ill to his stomach and prone to snap at the slightest situation, only worsening his time within the Atlas station.


As the days passed, the mage and the mutant's communications had dwindled further and further each night, only present to affirm the other one's survival, if at all. They had simply been too exhausted to keep in touch, at least extensively, their remaining augments only being used if it was absolutely necessary.


One week later, Casar had found himself once again waiting for something to happen. He was exhausted, a result of having the daylights shocked out of him after headbutting a scientist who had been unfortunate enough to drop something while he had been being transported. It seemed counterproductive afterwards, one of his goals being able to escape his restraints and ultimately gain the upper hand on Atlas, rather than have them heightened. But at the time, it felt good.


The door to his small cell had opened, lending to a scientist that had come into his room, almost acting as if he hadn't been there. Knowing he'd be ignored, he still spoke, not realizing in the past week just how much he'd miss talking to his team, but anyone at all would suffice. Day after day, his visage of a technomage had grown weaker, however, as it had been completely exhausting to remain so violently religious when he'd had no energy at all.


"What are we doing today?"
 
"Nothing of importance." The scientist mused, looking at Casar's chart on her tablet. She eyed him for a moment, "Though that is entirely up to you." The woman was extremely foreign looking to Casar, she was of a race he had not known the name of just yet. A Glitterworld woman, a Draxi to be specific, stood in front of him as she absent mindedly scrolled through the tablet. Two feathered wings jutted out of her back, her cat like features bizarre to look at as she figured out what to do with Casar. She had a calming prescience, something the other scientists and doctors lacked. After eye balling the room to ensure there were no cameras in his cell she finally spoke, "My name is Dr. Avena Raleigh, and you and I have a mutual friend." She said, her blank expression slowly turning into a positive one. "Both of you... for the lack of better words... are fucking idiots."


...


"KILL ME!" Ajax shouted as he was burnt again and again by a machine hanging from the ceiling. The cowboy had been restrained on a table in the center of a sterile white room that wasn't distinguishable from the hundreds of other examination rooms just like it. Ajax had been through hell, unlike Casar he wasn't being held in a low level cell. No, in fact testing had began as soon as they arrived. It had been a week of testing his pain receptors, his regeneration ability and by a byproduct of that: his will. "YOU FUCKING COWARDS!" Ajax roared, his blood curdling screams bouncing off the walls and echoing in the room from his torture. The machine had been heated to a terrifying temperature, one that could cut through metal. Ajax's insides had been torn inside and out, only for them to snap back into place if given enough time. "I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU IF YOU DON'T KILL ME!"


"How long must this go on?" An observing doctor spoke. "We know what can kill him, why are we testing him?"


"Because... The other subjects are not perfect replicas. They can not tolerate what we are putting through him. If we break through, perhaps we will find a way to make them stronger." Another replied, rubbing his chin in thought as they watched Ajax be tortured behind a one way mirror looking directly into the room. "He can recover from most injuries but... the others like him die from a headshot or decapitation. We can not test that on him just yet but it will most likely bare the same results."


"You will not be decapitating my patient anytime soon, gentlemen." Dr. Raleigh said, interrupting the two as they tortured Ajax. "Both of you, find other work to do. I am reacquiring the Winger case."


"Oh yes, of course Doctor!" One of the observers spoke, quickly shuffling his way out of the room as quick as his little alien legs could take him.


"You may be back on the case, but that doesn't mean we aren't watching." The remaining doctor spoke, glaring at Avena. "We will continue our experiments as ordered by the administration. However, he is your patient. When your experiments and consultation are done I would like to continue my-"


"Torture?" Avena asked incredibly dryly, "How about you find another pincushion? This is barbaric and not effective. In order to produce results you have to make the patient trust you. You have to..." She thought to herself for a moment, not wanting to reveal just how heartbreaking it was to see Ajax again. "...reason with them. We can poke, probe and prod him all day. We already know what he is capable of and we know what can kill him. We just need to learn how to replicate him more efficiently. That is what I'm here to do..." The Doctor didn't say another word as he left Avena's sight, she had got him. She swiftly walked over to the torture device and shut it down, Ajax groaning a sigh of relief as it had finally stopped.


She slowly walked into the torture chamber, watching as his wounds healed before her eyes. "Not even a scar, Mr. Winger? Interesting." Avena typed a quick blurb on her tablet, "It's a pleasure to make your re-acquaintance. I hope your stay here has been... Accommodating."


"Fuck you." Ajax said, glaring up at her. "You going to torture me some more? Send me to my death again?"


"Now, come on, Ajax. I am a professional and you know as well as I do not much kills you these days. Thanks to me, after all." She said curtly, "Come, I will be escorting you back to a new room. My associates believe that you are an animal, one that requires that muzzle on your face at all hours of the day. I am not going to treat you like a dog but know that I will not treat you like a typical patient either. You are an experiment and as such, you must comply with my rules. Is that clear?"


"Fuck you."


"Good. Come, follow me. I would say grab your belongings but it looks like most of them have been burnt away or taken. Fitting, I was expecting to catch you in the nude again. A shame." Avena released Ajax's shackles from being locked to the table, leaving him only bound by his feet and wrists but able to move. "Do not stray from the path and do not look at anything. If you do, security will be on you faster than you can utter a syllable. If you behave you will be accommodated while we perform our procedures, anything other that strict obedience will be much worse than a chair and a glorified cattle prod."


Avena escorted Ajax, the man not saying a word to her as she led him to a different part of the building. He was shuffling along, the chains around his bare feet causing it harder to move properly and with his arms bound behind his back he looked like someone who belonged more in a mental institution. She led him to a new room, one with a traditional looking hospital bed and a chair for her to sit in. There were monitors on the wall of his current heart rate and blood pressure, a new augment added to him to track him as well as monitor his vitals. He noticed a distinct lack of cameras in the room however, a luxury he hadn't had in a long time.


He turned to look at Avena only for him to embrace him tightly, the doctor hugging Ajax close. She was shaking, seeing him here had been terrible. As she backed away she then smacked him across the face, Ajax not knowing what to say after she had done it.


"You fucking idiot." She said, her brow furrowed and her face grim. "I told you not to come back here! I was investigated for YEARS about your escape and now you come back putting not only yourself but me at risk too? What is so important that you came back here for?" She paused, "Please don't tell me it was me. We were close but... Not close enough to where you'd sacrifice your freedom for me." She blinked, "Right?"


"I mean, hell... that was part of it. Help get you out to safety. You saved my life and-"


"You're unbelievable!" She stammered, "I give you a life of regenerating from fatal injuries and, let's be honest, you weren't much more than a muscular rodent when you came in her. I chiseled you into a super soldier, Jax... I gave you everything! And this is how you repay me? Getting yourself caught? Putting our lives at risk? What do you mean it was only part of it? Out with it now." She commanded, authority returning to her voice after the initial worry was out of the way.


"I'm sorry Avena I... I've been running with a crew for a while now... Saving people, killing Exodlites. That sort of thing. One of our own is a highly advanced A.I. named Psy... He's Atlas design."


"Guess it runs in the crew, you're aware you are Atlas design too, yes?" Avena said, asking the obvious to insult him. "They have done nothing but search for you for years and you just waltz in here? Do you realize how far I had to travel to come back here to work on you again? This is worse than you can possibly imagine. And what, to find your friend? That's so asinine I just... I can't..."


"Listen, he had a fail safe. One to come back to an Atlas base. Obviously Atlas info is well protected so... A buddy of mine and me broke in here. We need your help... We didn't realize we'd be getting experimented on like this and we need a way to get that info and then we need to escape. The sooner the better, I can handle this shit and Cas can too but for Psy's sake. Plus our friends must be going fucking nuts right now." He paused, pleading with her to help them. "Will... you help us? I'll do anything."


"If you think I'm going to help you then you are in for a big surprise, Ajax..."


...


"So here I am to help you." Avena stated to Casar, revealing what had been happening to Ajax on the other side of the facility briefly. She hadn't given him the full details but enough for him to trust her as well as reveal that she was willing to help as best she could. "You are not important enough for them to get surveillance on you which is a good thing... I manipulated the system to add you to my patient list. From now on the... examinations will be at a minimum. Are you hungry? I brought you a sandwich." Sure enough she pulled a wrapped sandwich out of her lab coat, "I had four but Ajax ate three of them. Said something about how you're half augments anyways so you wouldn't mind. Sorry."
 
Casar stared at the woman for a long while, unsure if he could trust her or not. Then again, Ajax had stated he had a contact inside. And he'd stated who she was. Undoubtedly, it was her, but after so long it had felt like his mind was playing tricks on him. He had grown to hate every single one of the Atlas doctors, Ajax not having been the only one that been put through torture. It almost seemed as if she had gotten to the wrong person at first - the way he had looked at her.


Then, he'd snatched the sandwich out of her hand, tearing the wrapping open and devouring it as if he hadn't eaten real food in months. It was then that he'd found his wrist cuffs had been disengaged. It was a minor show of trust, but one that they hadn't given him throughout his entire stay there. There wasn't much the mage could do still - with his core turned off - but it was a show of trust regardless.


Avena had to wait for him to finish his sandwich before he had even tried to speak with her.


"I just need my core turned on and the door opened." Casar said, putting it simply just how she could benefit them. Presumably, she was there to do so, or she wouldn't have been giving him a sandwich. His expression neutralized from a particularly mean snarl to a neutral one, as if the simple gesture had undone everything he'd experienced in the last week. "That's all you need to do. I ... know the floorplan, for the most part. Maybe some directions. It's good that you guys don't find me important, because that means you'll look less in my direction. Or ... They will." He said.


"Once my core is on I'll head toward your information core, interface, and ... open the doors for Ajax to fight his way out." He said, jumping the gun more than Avena had expected. He was eager to get the mission over with, more than she could possibly imagine, and hearing that she was an ally was all the better. "If you're not coming with us, then we'll put on a show. They don't have cameras in here, meaning what happened in this room is entirely up to what you say happened. Or ... you could leave my cuffs compromised, and I'll break free on the watch of another scientist in order for you not to get two strikes." He said, knowing well that she had helped Ajax escape previously. "I don't know why you wouldn't want to leave, but there's the option."


For a moment, he had gone silent, backtracing over her words. "It doesn't matter if examinations will be kept to a minimum if we're leaving soon, anyways. Because that's what you intend, right?" He asked, furrowing his brow. "On helping us get what we need. We can help you out, as well. As much as we can." He promised, knowing that asking that of her was a lot, to say the least. "Whatever you need. We can do it. I would destroy another planet for Psy." He said. "He's family. And we need to find him."
 
Avena starred at him for a moment with a dumbfounded look on her face. After hearing how gung ho Casar was ready to leave she couldn't help but stifle a giggle. "You almost had me going there, I swore for a moment you thought you could actually just stroll through here and get everything you need done then escape all in one sitting." She blinked, "Oh, you were serious? Then I hate to be the bearer of bad news but what you just said is absolutely impossible. For one, you are malnourished and have been tortured day in and day out. The effects on your augmentations and your core itself you may be unable to feel now, but as soon as you are turned back on you will suffer a severe energy dump while you reboot. We don't just turn off cores, we drain them."


The Doctor took a seat opposite of Casar, the one where a doctor or scientist would be sitting explaining to him what was about to happen to him if they were feeling merciful. Unfortunately not many people had sat in that seat recently.


"Meaning we have to plug you in and juice you back up. We can't do that until we're absolutely ready to initiate this plan. I think it's ridiculous what you two are doing but... My life's work is Ajax, my greatest accomplishment in organic advancement and evolution. As much as I don't care for the person attached to it and his crazy ideas... I have to help him. So that means I have to help you." She quirked her lips to the side, "How exactly did a mad man like Ajax and an Exodlite start working together?" She paused, "Nevermind, we don't have time for history lessons. We have to make preparations and that also means you will have to make some sacrifices and endure more pain. You said you'd destroy a plan-" She paused yet again, Casar stumping her as she mulled over his words. "Destroy another planet? Fuck... What have I gotten myself into?"


She groaned, placing her hand over her eyes as she was thinking of the repercussions of this all. "Well, since you are willing to do anything for this Psy then you have to put your trust in me. And Ajax. He trusts me, you could ask him but I can't get you two to meet. Not yet." She leaned back in her seat, thinking of a way to make this possible. "You can extract information and you're obviously trained for combat... A Technomage is ideal on fighting our automated defenses and Ajax is ideal for the security detail. You all probably didn't come to that conclusion seeing as how ridiculous this all is but... It fits. You two are going to have to be on your best behavior, no more headbutting scientists, no more causing scenes. You must submit."


Those words were all too similar to what Knox had told Casar at one point in time. Submission had been the General's main concern with Casar, his greatest victory over the boy. He was just beginning to get his pride back and he'd have to swallow it all again.


"Ajax has been fighting them every chance he gets and I have you too have been quite the menace. I will not be the only doctor visiting you both, it will be business as usual for at least a few more days. You both have flags on your profiles, meaning that you are being under surveillance the majority of your days. We would have cameras in here too but there's only so much money for UV lighting and other experiments to go around." She tapped on her tablet, trying to sort everything out in her mind. "We need you recharged, we need both of you to be under a lower level of surveillance due to good behavior... We need to make it seem like you are submitting, complying with all of Atlas' demands... Perhaps bargaining for freedom. You would never be truly freed but it makes patients compliant and that's exactly what they would want from you."


She began to stand, their meeting potentially becoming too long. Avena wanted to make sure she didn't overstay her welcome and draw more suspicion on them. "I will download a map of the facility and pass it to you in our next meeting. From there you can study the base and its defenses, I need you to memorize it. Otherwise this is going to get ugly quick. This base has over one hundred strong alone so we need to find a way for you to extract the information, rendezvous with Ajax as he tears his way through the base and then make an escape. We can not do it today nor tomorrow, but sometime this week you will get your information and make your little suicide run." She sighed, "Do you require anything from me? I have to limit myself to two visits a day. Your rooms are checked periodically so a weapon of some sort is out of the question... for now." She forced a smile, "Do you want me to pass a message to Ajax?"
 
"Yeah. That he owes me a fucking sandwich." Casar replied, complimented by a growl of his stomach. "It's not really one sitting if I've been here a week. It's been a few more sittings than one." He said, obviously anxious to get out as soon as possible. A part of him understood that what she had said was logical, while another part of him had been irritated and almost enraged that he had to wait further.


Not only that, but he was being told to become the perfect model prisoner, something he wasn't entirely sure he could achieve. There were simply moments where he couldn't control himself, where he was outside of his body, watching helplessly as he'd lashed out and attacked only to get shoved back into it when the punishment for doing so had been put on the table.


"...The only thing I require from you ... the only thing I want right now is to get closer to finding my friend." He said, though there had been plenty better answers than that. After thinking it over for a moment, he spoke out again. "Maybe another sandwich. I haven't been able to physically eat for myself in a while. Even the Exodlites have nutrient paste." He said, frowning. They had been simply fed through a nutrient tube for a week, the risk of unbuckling subjects so they could put their own food in their mouths one that Atlas didn't particularly care to take.


"As for how we met, I was liberated from the Exodlites by his dad. After I tore his legs off and got taken to the Exodlites again, my android friend found me years later and then we meet up on a moon where he tried to kill me, but his girlfriend recognized me before that could happen and we've been traveling together since." Casar summized, causing the scientist's eyes to go wide in shock. Nothing he had said was a lie at all, and he had ultimately just been buying time in which he didn't have to return to being shackled again. A sigh had come from his chest as Avena neared the door: he knew well that she was going to leave, even if she had to do so in the middle of one of his sentences.


"...I'll be able to memorize it. My memory works better if my core is powered, though. I can pull from the physical implant that way." He said, knowing he was doing so with finality.


Casar begrudgingly placed his hands back into the armrests of the chair, where shackles ejected and locked into the ones he'd worn on his wrists. He hadn't even been given the chance to stretch before their meeting had been over, but there was a distinct hope that had been instilled in him. Everything was going to be alright. It didn't seem that way, not in the slightest, especially as he had been rendered powerless once again, but as long as they had just one ally on the inside, they were going to be fine.


He hoped.
 
"You and Ajax... have quite the history. I'll have another meeting with you later, if anyone asks what this one was about tell them I am trying to understand your augmentations. Believe it or not we don't have a firm grasp on what makes you Exodlites, or in your case former, tick." She then gave him what was supposed to be a smile but the dreary look on her face simply meant that she had to go perform more evils for Atlas. "I'll have a few sandwiches for you and none for Ajax. Stay strong." With that Avena took her leave, the door opening for her biometrics then closing abruptly behind her. The one person Casar had been able to have a normal conversation vanished just like that, the Doctor quickly having to rejoin her colleagues and act completely natural.


For Avena it was easy, manipulating her colleagues into thinking all was well. She had managed to defy all odds and make it to where Ajax's escape wasn't her doing. She had managed to be reassigned to his case and miraculously managed to acquire Casar's. Along with those two however she had many other patients to attend to, her compassion the only break the others got from the endless torment that had been Crios Station. It was easy to lose track of time while you were tortured here, it was even easier to succumb to a fate worse than death.


Avena passed by rooms filled with literal zombies, people Atlas had broken down so much that their pain receptors were dull. Their minds were broken, no thought was happening in the literal alien husks that awaited the next order or next intrusion by the Atlas staff. They had been broken so effectively that they no longer cared about what they did to them, this took years of work but they had been doing it for so long that the subjects no longer cared. Ajax and Casar were in for that very same treatment if Atlas deemed it fit. If they were to somehow be imprisoned for their rest of their lives then they had this to look forward to.


Entering Ajax's room, Avena found him unfortunately being at the mercy of a doctor who was working on the Project Lyfe operation too, the one she spearheaded by reviving Ajax and turning him into a mutant. Although Avena had stressed that these tests were unnecessary she couldn't put a stop to them, that would have given her away. Ajax was having his skin ripped from his body by a machine, the muscle and bone protruding out as the machine kept ripping and ripping.


"PLEASE! STOP!" Ajax roared, begging for them to stop. He was a fighter first and foremost, a tougher man than most and he had been literally begging them to stop from the pain. "I'LL DO ANYTHING PLEASE! NO MORE ARGHH-" He groaned as the robot made its way to his chest, ripping him apart and exposing his organs for all to see. Avena's eyes teared up just watching this take place but she had to keep her neutral composure. "Don't... I... Won't... Ugh..." Ajax said, his mind reeling so hard from the pain and although he had the healing ability his brain was still natural. It couldn't comprehend him being in this much pain and still be alive. Soon, his skin began to reform bit by bit. Even the pieces that had torn clean off had regenerated, tattoos and all thanks to a special ink used for creatures with a regenerative ability. Some of his older ones had all vanished though, it had been the least of Ajax's worries overall however. "Please... just... let me die..."


"I'm afraid we can't do that Mr. Winger. You see, your regeneration ability is nothing like we've ever seen before." Ajax's chest was still open, his heart hammering in it causing his muscle that remained to bump in rhythm. "Those who have underwent the procedure have died from blood loss or the other... unfortunate tests we have to run on them. But you... there is something different about you. You seem to be able to regenerate blood just as fast as it is lost, you're quite literally a walking blood clinic. Now if only your blood wasn't totally tainted by the mutagens you could have ran a business! No... your blood is toxic to the normal human now... Another test we performed on someone else with the very same blood."


"You... what?" Ajax asked, wincing as his chest began to close up. He could only watch as his insides were covered again. He had never felt more ill in his life as he nearly puked on the spot. "You... poisoned someone with my blood?"


"Oh of course. We have to test everything about you and well... They died this morning after being injected with it last night. Be careful now Mr. Winger if you swap blood with someone. It could have disastrous results." With that the Doctor gave Avena a nod and left the room, leaving her to clean up the mess as the android that did the 'procedure' followed the doctor. As soon as the door was closed and locked she rushed over to Ajax and unshackled him only for him to fall to the floor.


"I am so sorry Ajax!" She cried, getting down to the floor next to him and supporting his head so it didn't have to rest on the cold floor. Thankfully a drain was in the room, otherwise the doctor would have her white and orange coat stained red. "I wish I could stop them... do you... do you hate me?" She asked, hugging him as he was shaking from shock. "If only you had been smart enough to stay away..."


"We need... to find... Psy..." He grunted, burying his face on her arm as he leaned in close. "You need... to work... harder... I can't take... I can't take much more of this." He looked defeated. "They've... done... everything... to me... You have to help Ave... Avena." Ajax tried to force a smile but felt as his organs shifted back into place after his skin merged back together, letting out a tired groan. "Is... Cas okay?"


"You were just ripped open and you want to know how Cas is doing?" She asked, dumbfounded. "He says that you owe him a fucking sandwich." It was as if the floodgates open, Ajax began to laugh hysterically. He groaned in the midst of it but he couldn't stop it, tears forming in his eyes as he heard the doctor pass on Casar's message. He looked up at the ceiling and silently began to use his finger augment, not letting Avena know they were using them to communicate just for secrecy's sake.


H A H A. I. A T E. Y O U R. S A N D W I C H.... B I T C H.​
 
There was a moment in which Casar had the opportunity to sit and rest, with nothing and no one to bother him apart from the shackles on his wrists. He had craved human interaction for quite a long time, and it had been given to him. Now, he'd been settled with the realization that he could actually have hope for their situation to come. He'd gotten a moment of peace, his head settling back against his chair. He had received Ajax's message, a bewildered, light laugh escaping from him.


With his testing significantly less important than Ajax's, he hadn't been subjected to regenerative tests. Still, he had his own particularly painful share of experimentations done on him, and when his door had finally opened again, that was exactly what he had expected to happen.


A deep sigh had escaped from his lips, knowing just what was about to happen. However, to his surprise, the scientist that had come into the room had taken a seat across from him. There were no armed guards to begin his escort, there was no releasing of his restraints in order for transport. Instead, he'd remained fixed to the chair. Perhaps they were going to do something else.


He looked to the scientist across from him. He was some sort of Corscezzi man, with the parasite from his back forming hexagonal patterns across his skin, as if he himself had been an organic thing interlaced with inorganic patterns. It was a strange sight, but not one that Casar had cared to comment on. Instead, the scientist regarded his tablet for a moment, scanning through the results he'd gotten from Casar's previous testings. For a while, it seems like they had just spent time in silence, Casar's presence feeling like a ghost's.


Then, he'd finally spoken.


"What are your birth conditions?" he asked, multiple eyes flitting up to Casar.


"...What?" he asked. "I'm a human. I came out of a woman. What are your 'birthing conditions?'" he asked, not exactly resisting but not submitting completely either. It would have been particularly suspicious if he had simply flipped his attitude around immediately. However, the scientist's reaction had been positively surprising, even if he had been a little sassy. A violent shock had shot through the chair, causing the mage to scream out in pain. But unlike the previous times when he'd been punished for subordination, it had continued. It continued until he had nearly gone unconscious, and only then had it let up. The Atlas scientist waited in cold calculation for him to 'stop'.


"...What ..." Casar breathed, "W-what did I do?!" he yelled.


"It's important to answer the questions I ask you with honesty." the scientist replied, frowning at the mage.


"I AM TELLING THE TRUTH!" he said, unable to help himself. "I'm a fucking human!"


"There are inconsistencies with your story." the scientist replied. "You have scars indicating that you've had surgeries for augments that don't exist." he said. "There's no healed tissue, and you don't have regenerative abilities. Analysis indicates they'd never happened. But you have the scars for them. Your DNA is ... mutated, to say the least. If your DNA had been the way it is at birth ... you wouldn't be alive now, to say the least. There has to be an occurrence in your history which lends to the current state of your cells. We only see this in subjects who've been exposed to extreme radiation, and even then it's different. Seeing as you don't have cancerous remnants, and you're ... relatively alive -"


"Listen, I don't have any idea what you're talking about." Casar replied, though he would have said anything in that moment to be relieved of the hairtrigger scientist's punishments. "I ... my mother was an Exodus scientist. She was - she was perfectly healthy. Phen." he said. "Wendy Phen."


"And your father?"


"I don't know." he replied. "I've been through ... a lot. A lot of things which I shouldn't have survived. Any one of them could have been the cause. Okay?"


"You wouldn't see body-wide DNA metamorphosis like this if it were simply due to radiation, and your DNA will not mutate due to 'traumatic events'." he said, practically taunting the mage's dumb, rushed explanation. "The lead scientist on your case will continue the examinations." he said, standing up once again. "I suggest you answer all of the questions we ask of you honestly. Keep in mind that it's not impossible to extract information to fill in the blanks where you refuse to do so, and in that case, it's not going to be up to you whether to answer honestly."


"I AM being honest." Casar replied, teeth gritted. He didn't know much more of what he could do, but the man seemed to be convinced that he was lying regardless.


"We'll see." the scientist replied, before leaving the room. As he stood in the observation chamber for a moment, he pressed a button on his tablet. Just like that, the mage's restraints cinched tightly, any more pressure would undoubtedly break his bones. He screamed again, there being little room for his rage for being punished for absolutely nothing in light of the pain.
 
It took a long time for Ajax to regain his strength, Avena taking her time with him as he needed her right now. He could barely stand as she helped him up, his legs wobbling from the residual pain as he limped over to his uncomfortably hard bed. As soon as he sat down he sprawled out on his back and laid down, panting as the pain radiated from his chest outwards. Unfortunately he wasn't sure if he would ever feel normal again, the constant regeneration taking a toll on his body and his psyche.


"Make... sure to get Cas that sandwich." Ajax said, thinking about his friend on the other side of the base. "How is he doing, really?" He asked, "He's... been through this type of hell before. Not saying he thinks this shit is easy but knows what to expect. Can't say I knew what was going to happen to me though."


"Expect a walk in the park?" Avena asked, eyes narrowing to the cowboy. "Expect like the first tests? No... We aren't holding hands and playing around with what you can do anymore. Now they're wanting to stress your body. You only escaped in the first place because I let you know what was going to happen to you. It had been a test." She confessed, "I didn't have time to explain then but the higher ups were tired of me spending too much time with you and not getting fast results. They were going to try and kill you to see what would happen in the field against you. Now that they have you back they're testing your upper limits."


"Well, they ain't gonna find them." Ajax said, Avena surprised at his confidence. "Cause they're gonna end up killing me first." The illusion of confidence shattered in an instant. "We have to do something or me and Cas are gonna be leaving this place in body bags. Or worse, we end up like one of them husks."


"You... weren't supposed to see those."


"How the fuck can you be fine working like this?" He asked, "You got so much compassion and heart but you can look over those awful things and be fine with it? Why haven't you done something about-"


"Why, so I can be strung out limb from limb and have my skin peeled off too? News flash, Cowboy, I don't regenerate and I'm much more fragile than you or Cas." She said, not hiding the fact that she was a coward. A coward brave enough to help them at the very least. "My life's work is here and while Atlas does do some awful things... we've contributed to more than our fair share of technological advancements. We've obliterated countless diseases and cancers, we've accomplished biological and technological feats that the Exodlites haven't been even able to do. We've done a lot of good... it comes at a cost."


"A cost huh? Next you'll tell me y'all only work on criminals."


"That's... half the truth. The others are vagabonds or homeless people. Or... people we've resold or experimented on because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm just telling you there's methods to Atlas' madness." She took a seat next to him and tried to rest her hand on him only for him to push her away. "Ajax... I'm going to help you and Casar escape. I can't afford to be wanted by Atlas or... or this same fate you're facing will be my own and I won't last nearly as long. Just please, be strong. I'm working on a way to get you both out now, you just have to trust me."


"I bet you say that to all your patients... I wonder how many get out alive?" Ajax replied bitterly. "Is this a game to you?"


"You're lucky I'm fond of you, Mr. Winger. My friendship is no game... Far from it." Avena said, standing up. "Because if you were any other patient I'd be forced to do something you wouldn't like for comments like that." She said, offended by his words. "I am trying everything for you, Jax... You could show some god damn appreciation once in a while." With that Avena swiftly left the room without another word, making Ajax feel like a dickhead on top of being in an otherworldly amount of pain.
 
As the other scientist had left, Casar had been once again left to his own devices. That wasn't saying much, considering he'd still been locked into where he had been. The mage had nothing to do but wait until the next time someone had entered the room. For him, it had been several hours. By the time the door had opened again, he had recovered from his treatment. An armed guard had stepped into the room along with a scientist.


"What's happening?" Casar asked. "I told the other doctor everything I know. I was being honest. You can test me. I'm ... trying to submit. I'm trying." he said, desperate not to be tortured further. Unlike the other scientist, the one in front of him had no interest in talking, as he had nothing to gain from doing so. Instead, they had ignored him, unbuckling his wrists from the restraints and locking his wrists together in front of him. As per Avena's suggestion, he complied.


They pushed him into the hallway, bringing him down the hall in silence. The mage could only wait in tense anticipation as he had been taken to an elevator, with not a word on where he was going or why. He was afraid that even a slight word would be punished, and he didn't exactly know if it was worth it. So he remained quiet, eyes looking out for a sign of what was to come.


He had seen it.


He remembered the split hallway, how he had been taken down to one area and Ajax had been taken to another. He'd remembered how Ajax had been taken to a higher-security area, how they'd put him at a higher value and so they'd kept him in higher security. So, once Casar had seen he was going down that exact same hallway, he had begun to panic, eyes darting to the Atlas officer and the scientist who had taken him out of his current holdings.


"Wait! Wait! What did I do? I'm ... I'm complying, I - I was telling the truth! I won't attack any of you, I - I know I can't escape now -" he stammered, interrupted swiftly by the excruciating feeling of a taser to the back of a neck. They had continued walking even as he had collapsed, the officer quite easily dragging him by the cuffs, his legs burning against the tile floor. He struggled to get up to continue walking.


"Quiet, subject." the officer said, his voice annoyed.


They had made their way to the high-security holding rooms, the officer pulling the mage into an empty one before shoving him into the chair, the restraints zipping over his wrists once again. He had begun to think that the doctor had been lying - that it all had been a ruse to get more information, and he'd played into it. Not shortly after she'd left, he was questioned brutally and violently, the mage not quite understanding what was going on and why his security had been upgraded.


Then, the scientist had taken a seat across from him. He apparently still had an interest in talking to Casar, regardless of the fact that everything he'd said had been dismissed.


"Are you a technomage?" he asked. "A technomage of the Imperial Exodus Army." he clarified.


"Yes!" Casar shouted. "I don't - so some of my scars don't match up - I've been in a LOT of battles!" he shouted, only for the scientist to stand to get a closer look.


"You have a loyalty chip scar, but none of the muscles in the area where it would have been implanted have been damaged." he said. "Your organs have been replaced ... not exactly sparingly. From the dating we've done on them, this happened a long time ago. Long before you would have ever been put into battle. About the time you were ... twelve or thirteen, correct? I can't imagine you were in many battles at thirteen years old. Not even the Exodlites are stupid enough to not fully age their soldiers before sending them off to battle."


"...Yes, they were there ... as long as I can remember. But - I didn't become a technomage by normal means. I was a subject beforehand." Casar said, grimly reliving his past. "And I was a subject because I was born illegitimately on the Exodus."


"Illegitimate births don't account for mass organ failure at twelve years old. You not knowing your father doesn't cause you to simply wither away and die. Samples of the cells around the area confirm that they were replaced due to failure." the scientist said. "There's something you're not telling us, and I'm going to give you the opportunity to make it clear to me before I make it clear to you what we do here."


"I DON'T KNOW!" Casar shouted. "I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER!" he said. The slightest hint of a smirk appeared on the scientist's face for a moment, only furthering the mage's anger. What had they even been suggesting?


"There's a few things that add up to my conclusion." the scientist replied. "You have scars for implanted augments that NEVER existed. Your internal organs - what cells are left of them - are aging quicker than they should be. You don't remember. And ... your biological age registers as ten. Are you ten years old, 'Casar'?" he asked, waiting for a flicker of recognition on the mage's face that would indicate he knew he'd been had. But it wasn't there.


"No." Casar said.


"Are you a clone?" the scientist asked, causing the mage's eye to flicker open.


"No."


There it was. Casar couldn't completely deny that he'd never heard of the technology, no. That simple flicker wouldn't have been there at all - the idea of 'cloning' was sci-fi, for pretty much every educated part of the universe. But it was there. And the scientist had seen it. Before Casar could even comprehend the possibility, he was ripped from his body as he'd seen white, never feeling a pain like he'd felt in that moment since he'd been on the Harbinger. All sound blotted out for a moment. He'd heard screaming, but it wasn't long before he'd realized it was his own. All because, for a fraction of a second, the scientist had seen that he had known exactly what he was talking about.


It felt like milennia before it had stopped. He'd been spat out in a room - the same room - but he had no idea where he was. It took a moment before memories began to flood in again, and he'd began to realize just how bad a situation he'd been in. There was no time for grief, or realization, or an epiphany.


"Tell us what we need to know. Who are you?" he asked. "Because I see sitting before me ... a twenty-one to twenty-three year old human, but our bio-scanners indicate that you're ten. The cells in your body are, at least. But at the same time, they're dying. Quickly. Those that regenerate naturally aren't, of course ... your skin, your liver, your bones ... they're old, but they're fine. But ... Your organs are ten."


"I DON'T KNOW!" Casar yelled, enduring another shock as he had gotten too loud. He took a while to recover, but looked up soon. "I don't know - I don't know - the possibility is there, I didn't - I didn't consider - there's no reason for me to be. If I were to die at ... at twelve, they would just leave me dead. I'm a subject." he said, spilling everything he'd truly known. The scientist seemed to accept it as the mage's truth.


"Why is the possibility there?" he asked.


"B-because ... I ... the - the technology exists. And ..." he stammered, hating how weak he'd been just then. "I - I had a clone ... made from me." he said. "I ... if I am - I never ... I never knew." he said, chest heaving violently.


"I see." the scientist said, an uncharacteristic smile on his face as he'd realized just what they had discovered. Casar's hands gripped the chair arms, before his fingers beat a message into the metal.


H E L P . C L O N E .​
 
"Clone?" Ajax thought to himself, receiving Casar's message and not knowing just what exactly he had meant. "Help, Clone?" He continued to think as he looked around the room. He had taken his place back in the restraints again to ensure that Dr. Raleigh wouldn't be compromised so he couldn't exactly do much. "Casar needs help... I gotta... get Avena in here." He grunted to himself, struggling against his restraints that were unfortunately locked into place. "SOMEONE!" Ajax shouted out, "ANYONE?!" He knew he would regret shouting if someone caught word of what he was doing but unfortunately in this situation his room was sound proof. So, he did the next reasonable thing and started slamming his head into the wall behind him. A loud thud noise was heard over and over until an Atlas security guard came barging in.


"What are you doing, subject?!" He hissed, "You are not supposed to be that high up, whoever restrained you is a god damn amateur."


"Wait! You don't understand I need to see Doct-" The security officer had pulled out a holographic bat, one that had been swinging from his belt had now been bouncing off of Ajax's face. Again and again the guard beat him for such a small mistake. For banging on the wall to get their attention he was beat black and blue until blood was pouring out of his mouth. Ajax could barely speak by the time the officer was done with him, the man actually smiling down at Ajax. Before Ajax knew it a glob of spit went flying out of the guard's mouth and onto his face, humiliating him further.


"Mind your manners, bitch. The doctors are nicer than we are." The guard turned to leave but added, "I look forward to seeing you soon, Mr. Winger." As the doors shut behind him Ajax simply starred up at the ceiling, repeating to himself that he was going to kill every last person in this station. Even if it compromised his escape he was going to show them just what they had done to them. It had been a countless amount of days now, his team must have been deathly worried for him and here he was getting degraded and beaten nearly hourly. He couldn't reach Avena so unfortunately Casar was alone. Ajax began tapping out a small message with what little strength he had. He refused to let Casar know what horrors he was facing while he too was imprisoned, so, he simply wrote out one word.


S T U C K.​


Outside, Avena had received word that Casar had been moved. She was in the cafeteria, pocketing some sandwiches into her coat when she had gotten the news on her tablet. "Moved to a... High Security room. I told you to blend in... Ugh." She groaned, ever since they had arrived it had been nothing but stress for her. It had only been a day's worth of work but to her it felt like weeks of sneaking around trying to get them out alive. Quietly she excused herself from the cafeteria, she wasn't exactly social with the other staff members so it wasn't anything out of the ordinary as she made her way to his room. She walked down the long and winding sterile hallways, finding that Ajax and Casar were a lot closer now which was convenient. She entered the room to find Casar being shocked yet again, the Draxi woman assuming her typical cold demeanor when looking to him and then the one experimenting on him.


"I see this one is causing trouble again. This is my patient, I'd like to have an update if you could Doctor." Avena said watching as Casar was finally given a brief moment of rest. "What seems to be going on? I thought this was simply an Exodlite, a clear cut case. Why has he been moved to this sector?"
 
The other doctor smirked to Avena, knowing that their situation could only get a whole lot better from thereon out. "That mercenary didn't know what he had." he said. "This one's a clone. He confirmed that the Exodlites have the technology to create them, keeps insisting he isn't one though. That doesn't add up with the data. His remaining organ cells are dated at ten." he said, letting it sink in for a moment to Avena. The doctor actually stopped for a moment to talk with her, an exciting undertone in his words.


"Do you know what that means? Under your care ... you'll get all of the recognition for it, but I ran the analysis through, and the numbers show it right. Most factions aren't aware that this sort of technology even exists, but we have it here, confirmed. It's in his DNA, it's in his organs, it's there. At first it was just a crackshot hypothesis, but ... there isn't a coincidence that the only Exodlite we've met so far that's aware of the technology just so happens to have genetics that look the way his do."


He looked to Casar for a moment, then looked back to Avena, having little regard at all for the mage. "I'll draft my findings in a report and then send it to your office, but you're going to find that the evidence is ... substantial, to say the least. That's why he's in high security. If a project like this is seen in low-level, someone's going to put a hand up your and my assses. It was for your sake." He said, before turning his attentions back to the mage. His hand on the figurative trigger, he began to get back to his line of questioning.


"Who is the scientist that you stated had cloned you?" He asked, taking note of the visceral repulsion to the question in Casar's face. "Name, rank, ... is he or she alive?" He asked, turning away from Avena for a moment and raising his voice so Casar could hear him once again. "I must remind you that honesty is important. If you continue to be defiant then we can extract the memories from you in other ways. You have a bionic memory implant and interfacing capabilities. We don't like to do this, but it would undeniably lend to the information we need being given to us." He said. "We don't like to do that, simply due to the fact that it would cause brain damage, but..."


"...Scientist Arc. Stefan Arc. He's - still alive." Casar replied. Getting his memories probed simply wasn't an option. It would reveal quite literally their entire operation, everything from being an ex-Exodlite to Avena's betrayal of Atlas. They would all be killed or locked up for the entirety of their lives. They simply couldn't risk it, even if they got one more puzzle piece in return. His eye flitted in panic to Avena, before looking back to the man. " ... You're not going to get anything from my memory that I haven't already told you. Forcing me to interface won't do any good." He said.


"That's still up to determination. Is Arc the only one working in cloning?" He asked. "How developed is the technology?"


"I ..." Casar started, petrified to utter the words 'I don't know'. "It... got set back. It's still in early stages ... the last I saw, the latest project had been a deceased Warden ... he's still alive, but not very. More like a reanimated zombie than a real person. They're ... less than I am." He managed.


"Ten years and they're set back...?" He asked. "Keep talking."
 
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