The rail shuddered and creaked as it sped through the tunnel at faster than light speeds. The chair Jax was strapped clung to his body so tight he could barely move his arms, “guess these Corvus people couldn’t afford one of those fancy rails with all that anti grav shit” Jax thought to himself. The inside of the train car was a tight metal box. Rows and rows of single file seats stretched out in front of him, with far more behind. He could see his bag strapped to one of the walls, amongst many others. On the other side, adverts provided the only illumination in the entire section, aside from a couple shitty lights on the roof that were washed out in the neon glow of the promotions. The light was just enough however to see the notebook on his lap. With nothing much else to do, he drew. One page was already scribbled full faces, the robotic bar tender he saw yesterday, the meal he ate the same day and the young man with a speech bubble that wrote “I am a dumb idiot!” in barely legible handwriting. On the other page there were scribbled out faces. Jax didn’t often scribble out drawings. But this time, he had to. Not because they were bad, every single drawing in his booklet was poor. But this time it was because he broke his one rule, he drew someone that meant something to him. He refused to admit this fact, though. He refused to admit that Fraser, of all people, had some kind of meaning to him. Fraser was a Vanguard operative, she brought him in. But for some reason, their conversation stuck in his head, and their other conversations for what its worth. It was this strange effect where she regularly drifted into his mind before leaving, just as quickly as she arrived. As Jax scribbled away the final replica of her likeness, he began to scan his surroundings for any other things he could replicate. There were a lot of things that grabbed his attention. The adverts, the light, the texture of the steel floor, the heavy-duty chair he, and many others, sat on. But one thing called him over in particular. On the rack of bags, next to his, was a black polyester-leather bag with patches smacked on every surface. Some were generic gags and moral patches, one in particular stuck out to him that read; “Corporate charges you 100 Vaux if you lose your Argonaut, that's why so many go down with a bang.” two things about it stuck out to him. The blatant lie that an Argonaut costs 100 Vaux, and that it eerily mirrored his situation. Either way, the patch came adorned with a graphic of an Argonaut exploding in a fiery explosion with a price tag attached. So he got to work. Pressing the pencil on the paper way too hard, sending small graphite shards flying as they flung back behind him, a remainder of how fast they were going. He fussed and messed with the design over and over again. Reinforcing certain lines, erasing others. It seemed virtually impossible to get the Argonaut right. A fact that stunned him quite often, as he had been around them for a calculable percentage of his life. Either way, he kept on sketching, kept on pushing and pulling until; “Alert all passengers. Rail number 4826 will soon stop at the Mattia system. All passengers of the e- class and lower should prepare for G force re-allocation and gather their things.” As the automated alert rang through the train car, a ruckus started to emerge. Some were hushed murmurs or the soft rubbing of cloth on cloth or the occasional crying child that just woke up. Jax also started to prepare. Tucking the notebook into the oversized pocket on his poncho and bracing his gut for the G force that would soon follow.

  “Single file please, single file!” The crowed was ushered through a tight tunnel like hallway with fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling. A single flying drone barked orders as the less fortunate marched through the cramped space. This kept up until the crowd came to a stop and split up. The floors went from a damp grey to a clinical grey until he, and many others, reached a door, that, with an ear-piercing, screech slowly began to open as the tunnel was bathed in a blinding orange light. Jax’s eyes slowly became acclimated to the new brightness until he could more clearly see his surroundings. Before him was an urban stretch of land of smaller buildings with, in the distance, massive mirror covered skyscrapers that reflected the blinding orange light into the street below. This made a stunning visual of orange and yellow light reflecting off of the silver structures that stuck out of the ground.

  Quickly, the surrounding crowd was on the move. Exiting the structure and into the streets. Jax quickly fished the ticket out of his pocket and searched for the address. A task made harder by the blinding light that shun off of the polychrome surface. But quickly he gained his bearings and, as the crowd dispersed, made his way through the city.

  It was dazzling to walk through, with the massive pillars of light in the distance and the “would be dark” underbelly he walked through, illuminated by the golden glow. After a short walk through the streets, he arrived at the destination. A sizeable warehouse with the same mirrors slapped on the slides and roof. The front was a concrete grey with a single black steel door that probably slid open. The ticket didn’t have any further instructions so he simply walked up to the door and cautiously knocked. At first, no one answered. But as he went in to knock a second time, the door slid open to reveal the metallic head of the person he talked too yesterday, Gabriel. “You have arrived.” he said with an almost fake, joyous tone. “Yeah… uh, should I come in-” “Ah yes, let's get you out of the view of prying eyes.” Gabriel said as he ushered him in. Inside was a single lift. “Please come with me. I shall lead you to my office so that we can discuss our potential partnership” Gabriel said in a hurried voice. Jax nodded and went into the Lift with him. At first, it was just pitch black until, after a short while, the walls transitioned into a mess of cables, and devices, haphazardly stuck to the walls. And then small bright-green bulbs dotted the walls, bulbs that grew bigger as they descended. “What are those…” Jax said. Mildly off put by their disturbing nature. “Ah yes, those are my brethren. Soon, when they are ready, they shall also become emissaries of Corvus.” Jax then turned back to bulbs to see little creatures, huddled up in the foetal position. A sight that made him physically step back. “No need to be alarmed.” Gabriel said, placing an arm on Jax’s shoulder. A movement that was not in any way comforting. Jax shook his hand off and simply continued enduring the odd visuals. As the Lift slowly came to a stop, they were greeted by a hallway. The floor was adorned with a dark green carpet and the walls had a polished wood bottom half with a red stroke of paint that blended the transition into the dark brown walls and roof. ‘Please follow me.” Gabriel then lead Jax into one of the rooms in the hallway, it had a similar lay-out as the hallway but with an ornate desk and desk lamp in the centre of the room. Gabriel took a seat and ushered Jax to the same. “So,” Jax said, dropping his bag in the corner, “this deal, what do you guys want out of it?”

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  “Well, I’m glad you asked.” Gabriel said, “Corvus has been on the hunt for new operatives for quite a long time. You see, we have been preparing for another, what we call, sphere expansions.”

  “Sphere expansions? Sounds like you guys are just gunning for more territory like every other organisation”

  “Oh, that couldn’t be further from the truth. While we do indeed require resources to reach our goals. Corvus’s goal is, and will remain, to strive for progression and to restore humanity after Ragnar?k.”

  “Ragnar?k? Oh, yeah. That big event that happened hundreds of years go.”

  “Correct. We believe that if that event never happened, then humanity would be free and on an almost utopian path.”

  “And you accomplish this by doing these sphere expansions?”

  “Correct again. In fact, the 8th sphere expansion is already in motion across many systems.”

  “Sounds like you got this in the bag. Why do you need me?”

  “Ah, that's where we get to the interesting part of this conversation. Operatives usually, well, operate in independent groups that acquire orders from various representatives, such as myself. However, it is my understanding that you are quite the valuable assent due to your… uniqueness when it comes to Argonaut piloting.”

  “So you know about my implants?”

  “Indeed. We were fed information about this fact by one of our operatives who was conducting a mission on Vanguard ground.”

  “Wait, you set a spy on me?” Jax says, his voice starting to raise.

  “Well not necessarily. You were merely a piece of information we acquired.”

  “Acquired?”

  “Yes, high command was rather intrigued by your unique quality and had me pick you up when your contract expired.”

  “Did you orchestrate that fuck up of a mission to get me fired!?” Jax said, leaning forward, angrily staring Gabriel in the eyes.

  “While we didn’t ensure your capture. We did send the same operative that found you to carry out a mission there.”

  “So that's why it was so chaotic…” Jax muttered to himself before snapping back up, to meet Gabriel gaze. “You bastards. You fucked me! The whole reason I’m in this situation is because of you!”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say that. The planet was set for sphere expansion. You were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Bull shit.” Jax said.

  “Jackson. I implore you to calm down. We at Corvus have no intention of sabotaging those for the simple reason of recruitment.”

  “I don’t believe you. You know what, you and your little group of psychos can go fuck yourselves. Piss off!” Jax then violently stands up from his chair, slamming his hands on the desk,

  “Jackson Alcreed. Can you please set yourself? There is no need for this kind of aggression. While our mission may have negatively impacted you. We are willing to offer reimbursement and a job for the time being.”

  “No way in hell am I working for some crazy people who screwed me over.” there was a moment of silence between the two. Jax’s hands gripped the desk too tight his knuckles turned white and Gabriel was lead back in his chair, trying to put some distance between him and Jax.

  “Consider this, if you will.” he continued, “we can offer you enough money to pay off your debt, a place of residence, and an Argonaut. I am sure that those are agreeable terms.” Jax stuttered slightly. Like he was going to say something but decided not to. They did sound good, but they would sound better if it wasn’t being offered to him by the people who put him here. “I’ll have to. Decline.” he said through gritted teeth. Gabriel simply stared him in the eyes. No emotion.

  “I guarantee you, we didn’t just find information about your implants. We have information that we know you’ll find interesting…” Gabriel said. The tone in his voice shifting from the more friendly and persuasive voice he was using, into a more direct, or even threatening speech. Once again, Jax narrows his thoughts, images from the times that made him flash in his mind, but once again he says “I. Decline.” there’s a short pause. Only long enough to let the words echo in both of their heads for just a moment. But then, Gabriel stands up from his desk, adjusting the folds of his suit and replying, “Well, I’m sorry to hear that my proposal didn’t turn out for you.” He then rounds the desk to stand next to Jax, opening the door and gesturing him to leave, “I have more work to attend to sadly, so I will not be able to see you out proper. But I would like to thank you for coming all this way.”

  “Pleasures all mine.” Jax snarked. He then picked the bag up from the floor and turned to leave. But before he fully reached the lift, Gabriel’s voice called out to him, “If you ever have a change of hart, I’ll be here. All of Corvus, will be here, waiting for you.” The lift then slowed to a halt and the doors invited Jax inside. “Thanks, I’ll be sure to… think it over.” and with that, he stepped inside the lift.

  Jax leaned against the cold steel bar as the lift shot him up. “What he was meant to be”. He couldn’t deny that he was brutally curious. The worst part was that he knew this from the start. That there were details, specifics. To what had been done to him all those years ago. He hated it. He hated the fact he was some mad scientist's pet project, he hated that they kept him in the dark. He wanted control, he needed it. And to think the whole reason he wasn’t on the frontline’s was because Pantheon’s decade old laws kept Vanguard at bay. And to think, that one day, those laws would mean nothing.

  Hey hey

  Thanks for reading through chapter 5. This one was a real slog to get through at first, but ultimately, I cranked this one out in two days! If that means, it's good, eh. Just realizing that if it isn't, I broke my quality over quantity rule, but I’m still quite proud of how it turned out. Now, updates: I’m gonna stick to a weekly upload schedule from here, not bi-weekly, releasing on Friday or Sunday. 2nd update, you won’t notice this, but I’m diverting from the scene chart I made a while back in chapter 6 to add some much-needed plot and story. And 3rd and finally, thank you for 70 views on the first day! I don’t know if those who read the first 4 chapters are also reading this entry, but if you are, thanks! (maybe consider following?)

  Anyway. I’m not gonna write anything prose wise this weekend, but instead do some planning for chapters 6-8. A lot’s gonna happen in those, so to make sure those are tip-top. I’m gonna do some boring work.

  Now, I’m gonna go to sleep and i’ll see you all next week. Byeeeee!

  -V,