P R O X I M O



I would bleed that President's son dry for every ounce of information on Sector 1's weapon and defence systems. Then I would bleed him all the same for bothering to exist.

Red and black layered guards dropped me nods and fists to chests as they opened doors and cleared space. What I did not have time to appreciate was the glow on my wrist comm. I glanced down at it. Then pressed on. It lit again as I turned to the final hall where Velron Archeon was being held.

"Incoming comm from, Zander, Florence."

I almost tripped over into the wall. How in every hell did she have a direct line to my personal comm–

"Florence." I growled. "You have no reason to possess this line–"

"I miss you." She purred.

I stopped and eyed the metal doors ahead before blowing out a heavy breath.

"Who gave you this comm, Florence? It is for Division contacts–"

"I had a client, he knew a guy... blah blah blah." She drawled, sounding like she had just flopped down on a bed. "–I want you here, Proxy." She murmured.

"You know exactly why I am not. I will see you when I see you." I stated firmly, preparing to end this extremely invasive intrusion. She was becoming attached. Too close. Yet it was her contact above all others that held my interest so... That darkness. The energy.

"Take me out later." She ordered.

"I am working–"

"9pm don't be late."

"I have not even said yes!" I growled.

"You can choose where." She added cheerfully, already seeing she would get her way. "–we'll have fun." She finished with dark promise making my blood boil and cool at the same time.

The comm went dead.

I turned and punched the metal wall. It sang with a clang under my glove and I glared at it enjoying the faint ache around my fingers. I smiled despite it all. A set of footsteps was approaching around the corner and I shrugged my heavy coat back into place. A guard rushed me a quick salute and I nodded him off as I took the final steps to the cell door.

"Proximo?"

I turned in surprise at the familiar voice of Makayla Xavier.

"I did not expect you here, Miss Xavier." I stated cooly. Pulling back from the door and appraising her more fully. She glanced at the cell before meeting my eyes with an innocent blue.

"I'm here to talk to him, Prox."

My eyebrows raised before I crossed my arms and let a lazy smile take hold.

"You have experience with information extraction?" I drawled.

"You know he's close to me. You know he'll trust me." She said slowly.

I sniffed and nodded. "Quite. You are very close."

She grit her teeth and I grin widely back. Teasing the Royal was quickly becoming a hobby. I raised my hands innocently to her.

"I will allow you to proceed as you wish. But I will be watching in observation overhead." I nodded to the door next to it leading to the deck above the room.

"When are you every going to trust me, damn it." She sighed, pushing past me to access the cell door. It flashed red and denied her in a cheerful voice. I came beside her silently and pressed a palm to it.

"Trust no one, Makayla." I told her quietly, making her flinch, "–and they will never disappoint you."

She stared deeply into my eyes before I winked and turned for the observation door. The metal slid shut behind me and I climbed the stairs to the large panel of two way glass. I slouched down in front of the screens and controls that could fill the room with any number of gases to manipulate or torture a man. I smirked thinking of it half heartedly as Makayla entered the room.

"Makayla?!" Velron instantly drew up off the floor and rushed to the blonde.

Perhaps she was right. I had never tried extraction with a friendly face. Only in the language of pain and death. It may be exactly the right button to press for the inner Sectors...

"Velron." Her murmur came through the speakers clearly. He intended to hug her initially but it seemed that something clicked in his mind and he wisely resisted the urge. I was sure Scorpion's charming visit had something to do with it.

I kicked my boots onto the desk and bounced a foot.

"Are you hurt in any way?" He demanded, despite the fresh bruising on his own face.

"I'm not the one you need to worry about." She replied honestly, making him flinch. I grinned, enjoying the show. "Sit with me."

He took a moment to join her on the opposite side of the metal desk. It was normally stained with blood by now but perhaps now it would be stained with lies. He glanced up at the reflective glass for a moment almost looking directly at me. It made a slow smile hold my face.

Come now Royal dog, don't get skittish on us...

"I didn't expect to see you again... Not after–the threat." He finished as he sat.

Makayla looked at him with a genuine sympathy I could never manage.

"I am so sorry for what I've caused. This not what I wanted for you, Velron–"

"Makayla please. I do not attribute the city's faults on you. There are too many players in the game to power now."

I snorted and crossed my legs. Smarter than he appeared yet painfully ignorant.

"That's sort of the reason I'm here." She splayed her hands on the desk and met his eyes intently. It was such a curious thing. The way they communicated. It was a connection of openness through body language and words. Yet so much of the time they meant little. I had long favoured communication through action.

It made intentions much clearer and wasted less time.

"We need your help to expose the inner Sectors defensive and offensive weapon systems–"

"Makayla–"

"Wait. Please. You must hear the why before your judgement." She interrupted with a hard look.

Their friendship must of meant something because he decided to ascent and dropped her a nod.

"We need this, because we believe it's about to fall into the hands of someone much worse. Someone that does not have a regard for any power at all over the city. Someone who would rather watch it all burn just because he can." She finished with a darker edge in her tone.

"Who, Makayla?" He responded in a strangled manner.

"You wouldn't know him by name but I know him as the man my father hired to assassinate me. His name is Hades."

The young man looked ready to vomit at all the information. I rolled my eyes as he started taking in heavy gulps of air and gripped his hair.

"Your father–I knew he was ambitious but not–not this. Not a monster. How could..." He tumbled out a mess of more words and I fought the urge to announce over the room that he got on with it.

"That's why Scorpion did what she did." Makayla whispered across to him. "He was never going to stop. Now we need to stop a man that could be even worse if he had access to those kind of weapon systems." She moved her hand now and took his across the desk. I sat up in the seat and watched them intently. "You know what I am talking about. The satellite weapons, Velron. We need an override and we need to know if there are more."

He stared at their locked hands for a long time. Enough time that I thought he did not hear her.

"When did it all get like this, Makyala?" He murmured instead.

I groaned and leant back in the seat wanting to rip my eyes out of their sockets.

"When did it become the demise of so many. To choosing the lesser evil over another?" He finished in a shaking voice.

But Makayla had more practicality than I gave her credit for and raised their hands in a tight grip. "When it became clear that no one else would sort this out. When it became clear that it should never have been my father."

She was a curious woman indeed despite her initial entry into our world. I almost, almost saw some of what Scorpion saw in her. The longer I stared at the blonde the longer I would have liked to extended something as precious as trust. But when the pompous son opened his mouth I focused again.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that alone." He murmured, looking at their hands again. He played a dangerous game I had to respect that.

"I wasn't alone." Makayla stated, detached suddenly and drawing her hand back to her side. For her friend's sake she made the move. I smiled again watching the disappoint hold on the Royal's bruised face. "As you are not alone here." She added, gaining his gaze once more. "Help us make this right, Velron. I'm not asking you to betray the Upper sectors–"

That is exactly what you're doing.

"–I'm asking you to stop them from becoming a weapon in the wrong hands."

"Are these the right hands. Makayla?" He probed, watching her closely. "I know I can trust you, but can I trust them?" He asked, flicking his eyes in my direction.

"Not such a moron after all." I muttered to myself in the room.

"Trust that from what I've seen. Anything is better than Hades." She finished with no room for negotiation. I sat up straighter now. This was it. It was either this decision he made wilfully or I would walk into that room with a much more forward approach.

"They're not just in the upper Sectors."

"What's not?" Makayla asked slowly.

"The weapons. Everything."

"What are you talking about?" She asked pointedly.

"I'm talking about every Sector. I was sat on the board when the committees held emergency defence talks after the Emperor... fell." I was on the edge of my seat now. My fists tightened. "There are Silver Sun weapons in every sector."

"What kind of weapons?" Makayla demanded with growing volume.

"The kind that would exterminate an entire Sector from the grid if it became hostile." He stated, devoid of all emotion. "The kind that would remove a rebel leader like the one you speak of if he became a threat. The kind that would not give him time to run."

"Along with anyone else caught in that Sector." Makayla mumbled looking ready to collapse or wake from a dream.

Velron nodded slowly but I was already out of my chair and storming down to that cell door. Already smashing my palm to the wall and striding in the room with every part of my violence promised. Makayla didn't even turn in her chair as I walked past and grabbed the Royal by the throat.

"What. Are these. Weapons?" I snarled, cutting through the small talk.

This was no longer the time for it. He choked before me flashing those putrid green eyes between my steel grey. Makayla said something but I did not bother to hear it. I tightened my hand as his eyeballs bulged.

"–they're–bio–" He choked and I loosened a fraction, "–bio–chemical–radiation–anything you can–think of–"

I dropped him in a flash and he choked on the floor in a heap. I dropped into a crouch and tilted his chin up to me.

"Can you pin point them on a map?"

He sucked in another breath and glanced at Makayla behind me before meeting my eyes with a firmer look. "Get me a room outside of this cage and I'll show you the entire god damn thing and where you can shut it down."

I gave him a vicious grin in response that made him flinch away. Then I patted his shoulder harshly. Makayla watched it all in silence behind us but I could feel her discomfort dripping across my back. She had played her part well enough. But she knew my own.

"Betray me and it won't be a cage you dwell in. It will be six feet under the ground." I promised.