“Hey you done yet?...Why’s this taking so long!”

--Recruitment Office--

“You’ve kept yourself fit I assume David?”

“Yes sir.”

“You’ve also taken care of what needed to be taken care of?”

“Yes sir.”

“You see, I’ve got a note on your profile that says to bury you, you understand what I mean former captain?"

“No sir.”

“Well simply put, it means you’re dead.”

“I see sir.”

“Well, maybe you won’t die. You see, oftentimes, soldiers go missing, you get what I mean?”

“Yes sir.”

“Man, bureaucrats really screwed you over this time…”

“Yes sir.”

“Well you see, I still gotta do my job and send you somewhere that there’s a high risk of dying...Maybe the front lines?”

“That would be fine sir.”

“You can drop the sir part anyways, no need for that around here. But that aside, frontlines wouldn’t work I think… Perhaps the raiding team?”

“I insist on showing respect sir.”

“Ah still wary are you? That’s fine, raiding team it is.”

“Yes sir.”

“Oh and by the way, you heard nothing, understand? Hehe.”

“Yes sir.”

“Hehe. Oh yeah, quick tip, only escape when you’re under fire, they’ll try to catch you otherwise you see…”

“Thank you very much sir…”

‘Alright then, you’ll be assigned to that, I assume you know where to go since you’re a veteran… After you escape you see, circle around and get through the gate which is on the south side.. Just slowly crawl along the road, don’t get too excited or else you’ll get shot up. You’ll be safe hiding amongst the poor. Those people wouldn’t ever want to step in there you see, too dirty for them, but you’ve got no other choice… Alright that settles it, you can go report there now…”

“Yes sir.”

--Police station--

Around a table full of disassembled rifles sat several men while their suits stood behind them with cords and tubes poking into various nooks and crannies. Behind them sat cots in each corner with several boxes underneath each one. There was a wide assortment of boxes, but one that they all had in common was a small box with a solid lock on top.

Three men poked around their rifles, methodically cleaning each part as they chatted.

“Man, why do we even have to stay up?”

“Heard we’re getting a new captain hehe.”

“Ain’t it our vice captain? Why the formalities?”

“Heh, nah, brand new one, heard they transferred in.”

“Man, shame, I knew he was expecting it...You know anything about the new captain?”

“Heh yeah, heard it’s a she.”

“You sure about that? Ain’t nobody ever heard of no woman capt’n round here.”

“Yeah and heard she’s pretty hot too heh.”

“Man, stop pulling our legs, this couldn’t be. No female captains in the sector… Unless it’s a transfer?”

“Ain’t possible bro, went to one of them seminars last year, y’know, mandatory for captains and shit. Wanted to rub shoulders with some of them. Didn’t see no women over there that’s for sure. No drinks either… Good food though, free too.”

“Heh you’ll wanna get this… apparently some daughter from one of them cabinet members really wanted to be a police captain hehe.”

“The fuck man, that ain’t right, not at all. I suppose we're just gonna ignore her and let the vice captain take point?”

“Heh, sure thing, I’m in.”

“Man, count me in.”

The three sat around, polishing the parts on the table to a shine as a person walked in.

“Hey, you three, time for you to meet the captain.”

The three looked at each other.

“Sure thing man, just let us put everything back together.”

The door closed and the men sat back down against, quickly reassembling the rifles

“You’d better just be pulling our leg about the new captain just being a nobody…”

“Heh well who knows? Just wait and see.”

The three placed their assembled rifles on the table and left. Walking down the brightly lit hallway, they saw another group of three walking dejectedly from where they came.

“Yo man, what’s up with them?”

“Who knows? Ain’t nobody got enough time to wonder what others are thinking.”

“Heh they probably got beaten up or something.”

The three faced a set of grey double doors with thick push bars. The three pushed aside one door and were met with a single desk with two people standing behind it with a stack of folders on the side. They stood stiffly in front of the desk awaiting further instructions.

“Ok guys, I’m your new captain. Name’s Olivia.

The three stood still. At the moment, the same thought was running through their mind. ‘Damn, she’s hot.’

“Alright you three look good, you can go back now.”

The three, without thinking, turned and walked out. Outside, the three hung their heads dejectedly as they walked back.

“Man, what kinda captain is that?”

“Heh, who knows?”

“That ain’t like our old captain at all…”

“Calling us to greet us and send us off? Man, what a bummer…”

“Heh, told ya guys.”

“Where’s the vice captain at right now? That girl ain’t my captain at all…”

“Yeah man, lack of muscles and all that.”

“Wonder how she’d look in a suit hehe.”

“You think she ever went in a suit? Ain’t she just a spoiled brat that the higher ups dumped on us? What you said sounded pretty real right there…”

“Man, let’s go see vice captain.”

The three continued walking down the hall into a room where another three were on their cots. Two were reading magazines while the third lay under the blankets, seemingly not there at all.

The three barged in, uncaring of what the others inside were doing.

“Hey man, what’s up, vice captain in?”

A man sitting on his cot responded.

“Yeah, laying there all depressed and shit.”

“Hey vice captain, what’s wrong there? Ain’t nothing like sharing something with a bro.”

From under the blankets came a voice.

“I’m not vice captain anymore… the new captain brought in a new vice captain…”

--Rubble--

Under the rubble of which the explosion of the laboratory had caused lay the liquid, surrounded by the thick blackened shell over it. Inside the shell lay the last drops of liquid as they surrounded a core.

“Shit man, had to condense myself into a solid to survive… On the other hand, it seems to have brought some pretty good results, so I supposed I should thank them for that…”

“Hmmm what to do now… I dunno if the fire outside is still going or something...Things have considerably cooled down now I guess.”

“What if they burn me again though...I know! I’ll use my liquid to support some of the rock so they think I’m another piece of the rock here!”

“So simple, so genius!”

“How do I get out though… Do I eat the shell? The minerals are still there…”

“I suppose I will…But let me poke a small hole through to see first…”