"Have you ever had that rare moment where time stood still?”

“The fleeting choices you made playing out like a perfect slideshow. At that moment you are alone. The only things to keep you company is the closing walls of your broken heart.”

“Maybe in another life, I could trade every wondrous sight seen for one moment of heavenly bliss. I miss my brothers, Hale and Aiden. I miss Haley, my first love. What I would give to take it all back for a few seconds in their presence.”

“Of course, these moments always come at the most inopportune times, and there is nothing to snap you out of such musings as free falling through the sky with a live grenade in each hand.”

“I really should have given this plan more thought. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

- Dane O'Breine

፨

15 minutes prior:

፨

There was a room padded on all sides by white cushions. There were no defining marks here—no bed, no table, no furniture of any kind.

At the center of the room was a man, dressed in a skin-tight white jumper that covered all but his head, hands, and feet.

He lay there with his eyes closed. The hair on his head was cut short and spiked out at different directions in an unruly mess. His face was gaunt and echoed a feeling of distance sadness, complimented by a stern and resolute inner strength.

The most curious thing of all though was his skin. The color was right for a normal man, but if one were to look closely enough they would see a curious discoloration coming from under is skin. It appeared as visible as the veins of the body, and yet looked like nothing of the sort. Instead, it resembled that of a computer chip. This oddity interlaced itself under every inch of his skin.

Just outside the door to his padded room, he could hear men talking. "Have we made sure that the prisoner secure?"

He heard another distinct voice. "Oh my gosh! You must be new!"

"I am, indeed sir."

"Cut the sir crap. I am a guy here just like you, and it gets a bit lonely, so it is best we all just get along. Let me tell you, what we have here is a serious individual. He has done nothing but hooks himself up to the electro muscle stimulators to prevent muscle atrophy and eat. He has not made a peep the entire time and I expect that not to change. So, relax."

"But the other guys in this wing—"

"Are serious customers. Don't think any two things about it, soldier. My guess is he done pissed someone royally the hell off to end up here in the no contact wing. See there? No contact of any kind on the sign right there."

"We don't know who they are—"

"And that is how it has to be. Believe me, you don’t want to know, or you might end up there with him, guarded by two assholes who speculate about nothing important all day like ourselves.” He paused. “Wait. Is that a Kiptek assault rifle you have there?"

"Oh yeah. It's my first day on the job, so I wanted to come all kitted out."

"Kid, this is the no contact wing. We can't even shoot these guys. If they break out, tasers and diamond gel only."

“Escape?” The younger guard stammered. "No one has escaped from Orbital Prison Outlook 6 in twenty years. What was his name again?"

"Prisoner 6264, code-named Dane."

Dane stopped listening then and tried to hug himself back to sleep. Sleep was all there was to do. Then he heard a slight hiss of the food delivery system sending the meal bar of the day. The food was terrible here.

When he looked up, it was not a meal bar sticking out from the small rectangular port, but a smooth black stick.

Dane slowly reached out, pulled it from the slot, and looked it over. It was a hollow chip, designed specifically to deliver one short holographic message to the recipient. He had seen these before and had used them too, but in the months that he had been here, this was the first time he’d had contact with the outside world.

Dane wondered what it could be and he turned it over to search for the small button that would activate the message. He found, then pressed it.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then a holographic image of a very familiar face projected before him, and Dane's breath stuck in his throat. "Hale," he said.

Hale was dressed in the black and white, fully-striped military fatigues of a United Earth Defense Force soldier. Hale also had the same unruly hair as Dane, but he kept it in check with heavy brushing. Their faces were close to one another in likeness, but Hale’s was subtly accented by his exceptional intellect. His eyes were covered by glasses and he repeatedly pushed them back up the bridge of his nose out of habit.

Hale paced back and forth in the image with his hands clasped tightly behind his back. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Hale turned toward the holo-recorder that had made the image and looked directly into it. "You really are a bastard, Dane." He tightened his lips together angrily but continued. "You walked out on us. You walked out and left us all behind. Aiden, me, and…” he seemed to struggle with the next couple words. “I need you. Dane, I don't know how to..." He seemed to get choked up. "Damn it. They Killed Kaylee. Those bastards killed Kaylee!" he screamed. Tears began to fall down his face. "Aiden is missing! I can’t seem to find him anywhere... and there is no one. Goddammit, brother. I need you.”

Dane’s back straightened violently and his hand instantly went to his chest as he felt the thump thump of surprise. His chest burned—like a single knife had been plunged deep into his being, burrowing into the center of his soul. The pain continued to increase in intensity until it felt like an essential piece of his being had been violently ripped from him without warning.

His brother looked angry. "I am so mad at you, Dane! I hate you and love you all the same! Oh, by God, I hate this. You walked out on us and barely said goodbye.

“Those bastards took her from us.” He shook his head rapidly as the tears flowed freely down his cheeks. "Damn you, Dane. Damn you all the way to fucking hell! You should have been there for her! You could have done something!" His voice cracked, likely due to the unbearable emotional pain.

Dane’s breath caught in his throat and he began to breathe fast. In and out. In and out. In and out. The world felt so heavy. His hand went to his head and he grasped at his hair. “Kaylee,” he gasped. “No!” he yelled.

The words kept coming from Hale’s mouth, but to Dane, they came in slow motion. His vision blurred and he could barely find an anchor in his psyche as his world came crashing down.

And then a word brought him back into focus. “Dane, I need you.”

Hale stopped talking and slowly wiped his eyes clean of tears. Then he looked back at the camera, his face suddenly devoid of emotion. He had taken on the grave monotone manner that both he and his brother had learned to channel when dealing with the hardships of life. "Whatever happened in the past is in the past, brother. It is time to act now. I have so much to tell you, but first, you need to escape from Outlook 6. I will likely be taken into custody for sending you this. Come find me at UEDF Freedom Base. Now is not the time to be angry. It is the time to act. Family first, Dane. I have more to tell you, but the rest must be done in person."

Dane gulped once, twice, and then a third time. Slowly, he brought the fingers on each of his hands together at his navel to form a circle, then focused his will toward it. He imagined his emotions and pain and anger as a single ball of light and filled the space between his fingers with it until it felt like it was going to burst. Then he opened his hands and let it go. This calmed his breathing significantly. Much like his brother, he sublimated the rising rage in his chest. "This is no time for anger. Be like water: calm on the surface, with raging currents underneath."

"A hacker friend of ours is doing a favor for you and me,” Hale continued. “You remember him. Syntex. He probably made it seem harder than it was, but he hacked into Outlook 6 and found the algorithm for your door. It is about to open, and when it does, do what you do best, Dane. Then come and find me."

The image blipped out, and Dane tossed the holo-chip to the ground.

He focused his mind in a straight line toward the door and began formulating his plan for escape. Before long, he realized something rather troubling.

He was on an orbital satellite.

"I wish I had taken those space shuttle flying lessons," he mumbled, then shrugged. "One thing at a time."

Dane stood and slowly began to stretch his muscles. He touched his toes, then extended his arms. He touched the ceiling and then threw a couple practice punches before rubbing his knuckles together.

He waited a few moments longer and cocked his head toward the door, curious if it was ever going to open. A minute went by and he tapped his foot impatiently.

With a subtle hiss, the door opened.

The guards outside had their backs turned but quickly turned as soon as the door clicked into place.

Both were dressed in ablative black body armor that had a subtle sheen in the unnatural white light of the space station. They looked bulky and imposing. Each had the major areas of the body covered with long, rounded black plates.

Dane scratched his head in mock embarrassment. "Hiya fellas. You wouldn't happen to have the time, would you?" Then he dashed forward, fist raised as he tried to deal the first attack against the heavily-armored guardsmen. It was a paltry attempt at best, and he knew it.

The guard holding the gun turned about, and his finger flicked to the trigger.

"No! Don't!" the other guard exclaimed as he dived for his compatriot to prevent him from discharging his weapon.

It was too late. Multiple blue flashes emitted from the weapon's muzzle and impacted into Dane's chest with each successive violent hit. He was thrown back into the padded wall and slumped to the ground. With each hit, a flash of blue light arced from his chest and circulated out to random parts of his body.

The older guard grabbed the weapon and forced it down. "No discharging a weapon at a prisoner. Ever."

The other shrugged his black armored shoulders in mild apology. "What? It isn't like he’s going to die from it. They were rubber slugs. Well... I hope, anyway."

The elder guard shook his head, turned about, and tapped the side of his black helmet. "Control, weapons discharged in no contact wing. Requesting recovery and isolation unit ASAP."

The two guards were not paying attention, but if they had, they would have seen a subtle blue light beginning to emit from Dane's body.

But even at point-blank range, rubber bullets kill.

The guards had their backs turned, but if they had been paying closer attention to the man on the ground, they would have seen the sight of him flexing his hand.

Dane felt the familiar warmth that was accompanied by the multiple systems in his body slowly coming online. He heard the words of the system integrated into his body blip in his mind. "Kinetic redirection and interaction system beginning the warm-up cycle. One percent capacity reached. User—Dane O'Breine—recognized. Digital nano intelligence interface system beginning startup sequence, stand by. Basic nanite blood operating at basic capacity. Muscular reinforcement activated. Unlocking user's basic potential strength from 10% to 35% and increasing muscle healing factor to prevent harmful tearing. Stand by."

Slowly, Dane pushed himself up the side of the wall. Dane slowly raised his eyes, glinting with excitement which was echoed by his triumphant smile. “Now that my friends was a fatal mistake.”

- End of Episode 1 -

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