Waking to a headache is a pass time of mine. A pass time, when I drank. I wasn’t a heavy drinker per se, but I drank when I had a shitty day.

This. Was. A. Shitty. Day.

…and I didn’t drink a sip of rum either. Perfect.

The last time I was in a holding cell, was when I punched my CO for giving us bad intel back in my time in the Antillean Federation Army. We lost three-man that day, all because he said “it didn’t matter people patrolled that zone in the Waste, the point is, I put you somewhere, you do it.”

In all fairness, he was right, but I wasn’t some grunt you could order around. I was a sergeant, and I had men to keep alive. To my CO’s point, I understood where he was coming from…but it was what he said that sent me into a rage.

I didn’t care if the Third Continent War was brewing because we had to ensure our borders were safe. Of course, they were safe, we did our job, but when bad intel is passed on…lives are at stake, which makes you look like an ass, furthermore us.

The challenge with the skirmishes with the Latrina Empire was. We weren’t adept at fighting guerrilla tactics, which the Latrina Soldiers excelled at. Hell, that’s how I lost half my body.

Bad Intel and Guerilla tactics.

That same CO told us that an HVT was meeting up with someone from the Doasa Nation, something Jix and I didn’t believe.

You see, the Doasa Nation hasn’t participated in wars since the First Continent War and decided to live in isolation, leaving Antillea and Latrina to battle it out. Most people would think that they were up to something, but they weren’t.

The Doasa Nation is a land made up of ice, water and hardly any form of vegetation, just like the Carib Waste. The only thing Doasians cared about…was surviving their permanent winter.

That doesn’t mean Antillea didn’t keep their eyes on them, but hell, they sure as hell did by sending me their more than enough time for intel.

The buzzing sound of my holding cell annoyed me to no end, but after staring at the ceiling for more than an hour, one thought was on my mind. I need to leave, but with my cybernetic arm clamped down, I was going nowhere soon.

“Holy shit…Cypher is that you?” a familiar voice shouted.

“Yeah…” I said, looking up.

“What the HELL are you doing here?” Zade asked.

“Zade! Where the fuck have you been I’ve been calling you for HOURS!”

Zade stood there, outside the barrier looking at me confused as ever whilst he rubbed the stubble he’d grown as a goatee. Nothing had changed since I last saw him, just more grey hair around his temples. His hair though was still mostly black whilst his grey eyes still held the steel I saw when I first met him. His nose pointed with a slight deform, from being punched too much above his thin lips. “What are you talking about? I don’t have any missed calls from you.” He said, fishing into his pocket to pull out his phone.

“Holy shit…forty miss calls, sorry Cypher, I’d been bogged down with dispatches all day, city’s been shit since those riots.”

“You’re still dispatching for the EXiCONs? Did you even check in on my wife and daughter?” I asked

“Yeah man, still am sad and no, I haven’t my shift just ended, was now looking head over there to check up on them…wait why did you call did something happen to them?”

“Yeah…Akatani got to them.”

“What the fuck, ARE YOU SERIOUS?” He howled.

“I am…I’d show you the footage, but as you can see my arm’s tied a bit.”

The officers within the bullpen's eyes drifted towards us, and it wasn’t one of admiration. The ones on the left, gnashed their teeth as if annoyed whilst the remainder that sat at their desk tried to ignore us, but their eyes said something else, something I wish I knew.

The tension within the room, especially the way eyes drifted towards Zade as if he were some piece of shit, was concerning. But the way the man ignored, was like a politician being thrown tomatoes…but still spoke.

Zade had told me months ago that he’d been suspended, but not why he was suspended. Probably speaking to Internal Affairs and we all know how Cops didn’t like that.

“You sure you’re supposed to be down here, looks like your friends are ready to pop your neck,” I said, pointing with my mouth.

“You know how it is, success brews enemies, so when you make a mistake…people revel in your downfall. It is what it is though, but I’ll be back…and nothing will stop me from getting to the top once more!”

“I hear you…I hear you.”

The two-piece of shit Patrol men pushed up beside Zade, showing their massively squared shoulders. They weren’t taller than Zade, but they were larger in the frame, robotic even. The one on the left, who had the larger arms, had a flak jacket above his grey and black uniform, with a name tag saying “Austeni”.

“shouldn’t you be in dispatch?” Austeni said, tone stiff.

“I’m wherever I wanna be, fuckface!” Zade shouted.

The entire room shifted towards him, with chairs...tables groaning from a drag. I even heard the subtle dingle of handcuffs of processing suspects turning towards him. If there was a thing I could guarantee about Zade...he had his pride, demoted or not, he could care less who you were.

Zade gave me a subtle nod, then turned. “I’ll be seeing you around Cypher. When I get off from work, I’ll check in, alright?”

“Yeah.”

He walked off, heading through the nearest door, to my left. Austeni sneered at me and licked his lips. His partner Gueron, who was shorter and smaller in stature, snickered.

It was like they were having fun. All I needed to know, was which one of these bastards hit me in the head.

Austeni trailed to my right, punching a sequence of numbers, killing the barrier with one final push of a button. Gueron pulled his pistol from its holster and trained it on me.

The clamp that held my cybernetic arm in check released a loud clunk, and I felt my arm go free, finally. “you’re being transferred," Austeni said.

“for speeding?” I snapped back.

“ No. for pissing me off, you piece of shit. Now, get up and let’s go!”

I begrudgingly pushed myself up from the ground, feeling the cold tiles send a shiver up my knees and calves. Not like the Furtiven suit had shoes that protected me much from the cold.

The cage door swung open and I walked through, Gueron’s gun trained on me still. Austeni, who was in front of me. He led, and I followed, people scampered out of the way with murmurs under their breath, questions…statements. I heard them all. ‘That’s Cypher’…‘wasn’t he an EXiCON?’ ‘Eclain’s gonna love this

Eclain….Eclain. Of course. I forgot about that bastard. He had ties to Akatani if I remember correctly. Two other EXiCONs died looking into Akatani’s sleazy operation. Shit, That bastard’s a cop. If I were him and know about my relationship with Zade, I’d find a way to tap Zade’s phone in case I contacted him. GOD DAMN IT CYPHER YOU FOOL!

The rage I felt, right now, was like no other rage I could think of. The hundreds of thoughts that surged through my mind, because of how foolish I was, truly made me feel like an invalid.

I knew I acted stupidly, to fool everyone around me, to not draw any attention to myself, but it seemed I’d taken the role to heart and made amateur mistakes. Fuck! Cypher! You FOOL!

The dynamic duo took me around a corner, then up to eight flights upstairs, which led to an elevator. We took the elevator to the basement floor, which by now. I felt like I was about to be killed, this was too particular.

Austeni kicked me out of the elevator, whilst Gueron and his short self, still had his pistol trained on me. “Two pillars down, make a left, three rows down black SUV.”

The underground parking lot was filled with civilian cars and SUVs of all makes and brands. Some had four wheels, some had six, not as it mattered. Once I passed the second pillar I made a left and walked down three rows.

The black SUV stood right in front of me, with it hunched over the exterior. It had six wheels with the biggest set of wheels being at the back. The SUV drive flickered its lights at me and I slowly nod back

What bullshit could this be? I asked myself, annoyed as hell. I had no time for this bullshit, my wife and daughter ARE FUCKING MISSING! FUCK!

I took a deep breath, and quelled my fury momentarily, then turned on my X-Ray Vision. I made one step, watching as I saw the skeleton of all the vehicles around, except for the Black Suv. Anti-Rongen coating? Expensive.

As I approached the door, slid it open. Two men sat next to one woman, who sat in the middle with arms folded with a permanent scowl on her face. She twinkled her nose upon seeing me and then eyed me as if I were some piece of shit. “Cypher.” Commissioner Hexan said coldly.

“Commissioner.”

“Get in…we need to talk.”

“…about what?” I snarled.

“How the fuck did Colvolt Weitson die?

“…like any father would, to save his daughter.”

Hexan cheeks flared like exhaust pipe at the end of its life. Steam flowed from them, and waft in the air like a butterfly looking for a new home. “THAT’S COMPLETE BULLSHIT AND YOU KNOW IT!”

◆◆◆

I sat in the middle, next to two goons, who were bigger than The Patrol Goon squad. The only difference was, that these bastards were cybernetically enhanced, making my odds of escaping slim.

Inside the SUV, was well lit and stank of cigarette smoke, yet, they were no cigarettes or butts in sight In the middle of the back of the SUV was a small table with a small bowl of ice, which was melting into water.

The Commissioner sat with her eyes clothes as if she were gathering her thoughts, not as I cared. The Grey pants suit she wore, displayed all of her medals over her left breast. The goon to her right had a stone-like face with a heavy jaw, whilst the man to her left, seemed normal enough, till I saw the black sheen beaming from his fingertips. Cybernetic fingertips and a small biochip, blinking on the right temple of his head.

Her face was haggard as if she’d just dealt with a major crisis. I guess she did, in her mind, whilst me and the cobra squad, actually did the work…whilst she stood back here, safe.

I tried closing my eyes, to get some form of rest, as I knew that I couldn’t get to Akatani any time soon. I agreed to his job, but because of Hexan’s asshole Cops, I’d been detained and carried off someplace I had no plans for.

Not right now.

If Eclain truly was working with Akatani, it’d be easy to find out. I just need to get out of this debrief…as fast as possible. Once it’s over, I’ll check in with Zade and he’ll be able to work this shit out…asap.

“Something on your mind Cypher?” The Commissioner finally asked.

“…yeah, sleep.”

“You can’t sleep if you keep bouncing your leg like that.” She said.

“Bouncing…?” I asked, then realised. My leg had been shaking the entire ride. I quickly grabbed it, and licked my lips, closing my eyes and telling myself to calm down. One second at a time Cypher.