THE NIGHT OF THE MISSION

  "First to the finish line is a rotten freak!" said Sarah, provoking Seth. Seth grunted, giving Sarah a signal that he wanted to race her. At the last run-up, both ran as fast as they could while jumping, both reaching 90 km/h, Seth taking the lead and finishing first. When they passed a red line displayed by a projector on the side of the wall, both came to a sudden stop. Every obstacle retracted themselves and the turrets hid behind the walls again.

  They both walked side by side, Sarah nudging Seth, adding:

  "You're always so serious when it comes to racing.."

  "Well you know it's 50-20, i like winning." said Seth, Sarah grunting.

  "Let's head back up, we've been here almost all day..." said Seth as Sarah, without a second thought, took his hand, leading him to the elevator. The doors opened, and both sat down beside each other, buckling their seatbelts. They held hands as the elevator rose to the top, Sarah cheering like always as she loved the speed.

  They arrived at the top of the mountain, the siblings unbuckling their seatbelts and rising. Seth leaned a little on Sarah because he got dizzy, Sarah letting out a surprised noise as she did not expect him to lean on her. They began removing their suits by simply walking towards their display, the back opening up, letting them leave.

  Sarah wasn't as sweaty, but Seth became a fountain. Sarah commented:

  "Good lord, you need a shower, you smell horrid!"

  "Oh yeah, I smell? Come smell!" said Seth, chasing her playfully. Sarah was giggling, knowing it was a joke. Suddenly, they saw the commander, cross-armed, looking at them.

  "You two have been there since this morning, why?"

  Both Seth and Sarah suddenly remained quiet, and Seth lost his smile, eyeing the commander. Sarah was the talker.

  "Lost track of time. Did something important happen?"

  "No, but what if? You know we cannot reach you once you're down there!" said the commander. Sarah commented:

  "Then send someone down there, easy as that."

  She grabbed Seth's hand, dragging him to walk away, passing by the commander. The two made dead-eyed contact before leaving each other alone.

  "What's his deal anyway? We are always doing his fucking dirty work, and he's never grateful," said Sarah, hoping Seth would comment. As he did so:

  "You know we are just sheep being chased by herd dogs and nothing else. We do their orders, and we get rewarded by surviving."

  Sarah did not expect such a rebellious response, turning around to face him.

  "That came out of the blue, why?" asked Sarah, as she thought he liked the organization compared to the outside. For her, the comment was surprising; she expected somewhat of reassurance.

  "I am just tired of being told what to do and not do. I hate being bossed around, knowing damn well I am more than capable of destroying this entire place if I'd wish to."

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  Sarah's eyes widened from such a comment, replying with confusion and shock:

  "Whoa, whoa, where is all this coming from?! We have been here since kids. Why now?"

  "Guess I'm grown tired of it."

  The commander heard it.

  Sarah took his words to mind as she kept holding his hand, leading him to the barracks. Outside, the sky was pitch black and snow covered the glass. Each step into the hallway echoed around the connected hallway; it was dead silent. Every soldier either ate during this time, slept, or played in the barracks. They arrived at the dual black doors keeping the hallway and barracks separated. Sarah opened the doors, seeing the men cheering for the contestants in the arm wrestling contest. Seth looked the same as always—expressionless—while Sarah, she couldn't wait to read her book.

  "Seth, can you bring us two some food from the cafeteria? We haven't eaten at all today."

  "Sure," said Seth bluntly, answering Sarah, leaving the barracks and walking through the hallway as each step echoed around the hallway. Sarah went to the double bed and opened her chest with her belongings mixed with her brother's, taking a book called The Seventh Talisman, a fantasy book that she grew up with, finding it on a mission between piles of junk.

  Seth entered the cafeteria as there was no food left by the counters. However, he simply jumped over the counter, reaching the kitchen and grabbing whatever he wanted since no one was around. He took leftovers from yesterday—mashed potatoes with steak—warming the food up in a microwave nearby and setting it for 4 minutes. Looking through the glass in the microwave, staring at the rotating food and the noise that the machine made, his eyes froze. His mind was blank, with no thoughts behind his eyes.

  The cafeteria was quiet, something unusual since this was mostly the place where soldiers either fought or played games, aside from the barracks. But tonight, it was mostly dead and silent. The wind whistled through the windows, and thick snow eventually covered the glass. He sat on the counter, looking at nothing, as he heard the microwave alerting him that the food was done. He took a moment to listen to the wind outside. He snapped out of it and went behind the counter to grab the food, only taking it for Sarah.

  He held the food with both hands and walked toward the two black double doors, staring into the cafeteria one last time before kicking the doors open.

  He walked through the hallway toward the barracks and opened the double doors, kicking them open. The soldiers invited him into an arm wrestling match the moment he entered.

  "Yo, come here and wrestle!" one of the soldiers said, wrestling someone else. He stayed composed and turned his head toward Seth, grinning. Seth took it as an insult. He walked toward Sarah, giving her the food and kissing her forehead.

  "Eating nothing?" Sarah asked, her tone soft.

  "No, I'll join you in bed soon." Seth replied.

  He walked toward the commotion, waiting for the two soldiers who were already wrestling to finish. One of the soldiers who respected Seth dearly grabbed the opponent he was fighting earlier and pushed him away, making him fall over.

  "Hey!" the soldier shouted as everyone hushed at him. Seth sat in his place.

  "Let's see if the rumors are true," the soldier said in an insulting manner. Seth replied.

  "What rumors?"

  "Of you being strong and the hero of N.U.R.O. I call it bullshit; you seem no different."

  "Bet." Seth said as he took his arm and corrected his posture and grip. He wanted to break his arm.

  Suddenly, an analyst from the command room entered the barracks.

  "Omen, Blood Noir, Command room, now." the analyst said, eyeing the soldiers.

  "Seth, let's go!" Sarah said, jumping off the bed and gently putting the book under the pillow as her brother rose. The squad booed him.

  "Come on, man! We didn't finish our bet!" his opponent called, to which Seth coldly replied.

  "Some other time." The opponent whispered "Whatever..." under his breath, following Sarah toward the command room. The three of them exited the barracks, entering the hallway. In front of the door to the barracks was a door leading outside, straight toward the command room. They went through the snowstorm, and before entering the command room, Sarah added:

  "Chilly as ever?"

  "Hey, you two, you got a mission tonight." the commander said as the three of them entered the command room and walked toward the commander. Seth sat on one of the desks where the analysts worked, and they didn't care.

  "Nuclear activity at the Old Subway in B10, looks like someone is clearing that place." said the commander. Sarah replied.

  "That place? Why would someone go there?"

  "Probably one of the villages dealing with the horde problem. The reason you're going there is to find out why there is nuclear activity, what weaponry they use, and if needed, neutralize the targets."

  "Fine by me. Blood?" Sarah asked, and Seth only nodded.

  "I'll be on the radio with you two. Be done in 10. I'll put a pilot." said the analyst as the commander left their sight to check on the other analysts. The pair nodded to the analyst's orders and went to the armory right beside the command room so they wouldn't have to go out into the cold. They took a left right before the exit, seeing double doors. On one side, there was a fingerprint scanner, and the other side had the same. They were the only ones who could access this armory.

  The siblings placed their fingertips on the scanner one by one as it unlocked their personal armory. There were their true battle suits, tagged on the right pectoral: "N.U.R.O. Agent Omen, N.U.R.O. PROTOTYPE BATTLE SUIT", glowing purple. For Seth, it would glow red. They walked up to them, greeting both siblings as the suits' visors gleamed their respective colors—Seth's bloody red and Sarah's purple. The backside of the suits opened up, revealing many wires, which connected to the siblings as they entered.

  As the wires connected to Seth's head and heart, he saw his heartbeat on the visor. He saw a compass, as well as armor damage. When he grabbed his favored weapon, "BLOOD NOIRE's G-I 157 Semi-Auto Charging Plasma Rifle," it displayed how much ammunition it had left, as well as the charging percentage.

  When Sarah entered her suit, she had much more displayed. Her arm displayed possible hacking abilities and self-destruction options for several machines around the command room. Her visor displayed her heartbeat, the compass, and armor damage. She reached toward a chest that emitted a green color, which she opened via the fingerprint scanner. She grabbed her "OMEN's N.U.R.O. Issued Big Plasma Nuclear Gun." It showed on her visor the number of charges the launcher had, as it was connected to the suit, just like BLOOD's G-I 157.

  "You ready?" asked Omen as Blood turned his way, seeing her sister wielding the weapon of mass destruction with ease, resting it on her shoulder.

  "Born ready."