"Axis.
The artificial alignment force that allows a human body to share their emotions, stress, and intentions with a machine. It sounded absurd on paper, yet that was how this country enforced its laws. Across all fifty-six sectors, police departments relied on Axis. Your axis didn't measure your strength - it showed your intent.
A hundred years ago, the capital had discovered a strange rock containing chemicals so alien to human understanding that no one could decide whether it was science or magic. They named it Myelos.
And as we humans do, the government weaponized Myelos. That decision alone gave birth to what we know as Axis."
---- Gravity of Humans. By Xerdon Hamilton.
A sharp critique of the capital. Harry had hoped to finish during the journey. He couldn't. He lowered the book to look at the troopers' training ground. The natural light coming from the window was definitely dying, but the evening was yet to come.
"Axis. power that shows intent, huh?" Harry sighed, looking at the troopers sparring. Bloodthirsty maniacs. That training area was really loud. Their bare knuckles were cracking against flesh, and boots scraping metal floors. Harry had never seen any policemen train like this - no gear, no weapons, no Axis. Just bodies slamming into each other under harsh white lights. To Harry, it was nothing more than a brawl disguised as training.
"Barbarians. I wonder what color their axis truly is," he mumbled. Harry was sitting near the edge, stiff, uncomfortable with a book in his hand. He didn't belong here. And everyone knew it.
"That's him?" a voice said from the ground, pointing at Harry.
Harry turned to see. A guy stepped out of the chaos and started walking right at Harry with a relaxed posture. His hair was tied back, and a heavy scar ran across his neck.
"Capital boy, Man, you look so small up close," the man said, stopping a step too close. "Wanna spar?"
"I'm not here to take part in such acts," Harry replied quickly. "I'm just observing."
The man smiled. "Name's Pasha."
Harry nodded once. "Good for you."
A few troopers nearby slowed down, sensing blood and chaos.
Pasha tilted his head. "Oi, let's fight now. I am actually intrigued. Don't worry, I will go easy."
Harry looked away from Pasha. That guy was definitely a pushover. "I said I'm not fighting."
Pasha started to circle him slowly. "Funny. You see, here in troopers, we think the capital police sucks. A bunch of losers who hold fear in their heart, pretending it to be discipline. I thought you could prove me wrong, man. Let's just brawl. I am so into it now."
Pasha stopped to face him properly, "Come, I, Pasha Christof, challenge you, Harry bitch-" the entire ground erupted with laughter. Harry knew there was hatred for him here, but didn't expect this much.
Pasha continued, "- from the capital, aka whorehouse… to a Troop cooking."
Harry frowned. "Troop… what?"
Before he could finish, Pasha shoved him into the ground - hard enough to stagger, not enough to hurt. Immediately, a bunch of troopers circled and created a ring for the two people to fight. They were laughing and cheering. Harry looked at them in disgust. His hand went to his waist. Steel flashed. "You can't match my axis -"
"Don't." Pasha's voice dropped as he entered the ring. "No weapons, no fusion. No Axis. Rules of troop cooking." Pasha put up a fighting pose, "Raw power only. You pull that dagger again, and you walk out bleeding worse than you can ever imagine. Don't disrespect our culture."
Harry hesitated. They don't normally fight without an axis in the capital. He stared at Pasha properly for the first time. And he noticed, Pasha's probably the only one here who could match Harry's smaller and leaner build. Harry chuckled, "Yeah, you are small, too."
That ticked Pasha really. Pasha's form- It was ugly. Wild. He immediately lunged in. Harry knew what he could do. "Easy-"
But then, it clicked in Harry's head. That wildness, chaos, still looked graceful. Frustration, anger, but controlled somehow. Harry blocked that punch and tried to redirect his momentum. But Pasha just shoved a heavy kick, straight into Harry's face.
Crackkkkkk.....
Stars burst behind Harry's eyes. He hit the ground, rolling. And his poor nose started to bleed. Pasha stepped back immediately. "Who's small now, huh?" he said calmly, "Next time, if you want, outside of this base, I will take you on with your toys too. You capital people are just weak, man."
Harry just kept staring at the ceiling. If this is the level of troopers, then Alex was right. They are strong. Harry thought to himself.
And then, interrupting his thoughts, Kamala appeared with a mocking face. Harry's face went red, seeing her so up close, "You are back from patrolling already?"
"Yeah," she smirked, "You just had to swing and could've won."
Then she gave Harry a hand. Harry winced as he stood up slowly, "I really don't understand your people."
She smirked. "Welcome to the Troopers."
Pasha was already walking away from them, blending back into the chaos-calm, untouched.
Harry and Kamala sat near a support beam in the training grounds to get a better view of the ground. In front of them, troopers continued to fight like animals. Harry sighed, "They'll get themselves killed before they do any good. You saw the kick? I could've gotten really bad if the kick had gone one inch to my left. This is insanity."
"They're not all that bad," Alena laughed, "You are not a fan of troopers, huh? Is everyone from the capital like you?"
He snorted. "Fan? Yeah. Never. Just look at them. They're a disaster waiting to happen."
Kamala stepped closer, "I know, right? They're sometimes... ehh... maybe most of the times, unpredictable."
Harry raised an eyebrow and said in a mocking tone, "Oh, I really didn't expect one of the senior members of Troopers to agree with me."
She smiled, "But... you know... those 'goons' or whatever you call them, they save lives. We save lives. "
Kamala's expression softened slowly. And, all of a sudden, the birds outside sitting on the window began to chirp in an almost synchronized rhythm, as if they were punctuating the weight of Kamala's words.
"I am sure you know, but a few years back, our sector was in shambles.... divided by community lines. Including me, a lot of people lost everyone in that chaos. Then a light came along, asking for our hand. Wanted us to join a group. At first, I thought that light was crazy. A maniac disguised under shallow words. But that guy wasn't just looking for fighters; No. His gaze was searching for something grand. A damn revolution. And for me... he became my savior."
Her words were laced with a sense of sincerity that made even Harry falter. He kept listening.
"He didn't just save us," she continued, "That weird faced man, ended up giving us a reason to believe in something greater than - ourselves. Peace, Harry. That's all I've... not just me... we trooper had ever wanted. The light, the torch - Kostas gave us, we just try to spread it out further in the only way we know."
Harry looked at Kamala with his big eyes, "You've definitely got a way with words, Kamala. Phew, that was close. Almost made this place seem tolerable."
Kamala laughed, "Almost? Progress."
Before Harry could respond to Kamala, a sound of clinking bottles came through, drawing their attention. They turned toward the source and saw the big, mighty Kostas stepping into view. He was effortlessly carrying a crate of soft drink bottles in his left hand. And, in his right hand, there was a folded piece of paper.
Harry blinked, caught off guard. "What-?"
Kostas stopped in front of them and threw an eerie smile at Harry, setting the crate down. Then he reached into the crate, grabbed a bottle, and held it out to Harry.
"Drink?" Kostas asked.
Harry shook his head. He was still trying to process. "Uh, no thanks."
Kostas shrugged, twisting off the cap of the bottle in his hand and taking a sip, "Sorry to interrupt your little moment, but we've got a situation."
Kamala straightened, "What is it, Kostas?"
Kostas held up a sketch, the rough lines forming the face of a man with sharp, haunting features. "We got some news from my spies. They've got someone under their radar. He's a suspect for now, maybe even the rogue we've been hunting."
He handed over the sketch to Kamala, "That's the motherfucker. The one who slipped into Sector 1's vault, then showed up in Sector 5, and now? He's headed toward Sector 21. Witnesses caught sight of him nearby. His movements don't add up....too deliberate, too suspicious. As if he wants us to find him."
Kamala took the sketch delicately. "Do we know who he is? Did they dig into his background?"
"His name is Lobo," Kostas added, "No surname. Used to be a street fighter. His brother was killed during Operation Fivefold. Seems like he's finally out for revenge."
Harry blinked, "You got all that intel on your own?"
Kostas smirked, "You underestimate us, boy. We for sure don't have access to a lot of crowds like the capital. But our methods work too."
"Are you sure Lobo's working alone?" Kamala asked, her gaze narrowing. "No accomplices?"
Kostas shrugged slightly, "We don't know. But people like him... they don't trust others. He's likely on his own. Get your team prepped. You're heading to Sector 21."
Kamala nodded sharply. "Okay. Understood, sir."
She turned to leave, but Harry stepped forward. His usual nervous demeanor got replaced by something more resolute.
"Kostas," he called, stopping the larger man. "You're not going with her?"
Kostas shook his head, "Kamala can handle herself, no worries."
Harry hesitated, "Before she goes, both of you need to know about this." His eyes darted around the room as if ensuring no one else could hear. You could feel the tension in that place. "The guy you're chasing… Lobo or whatever his name is. I am telling you, he's not just some rogue."
Kostas's brow furrowed, his patience waning. "What are you trying to say?"
Harry stepped closer, "The capital's trying to keep this a secret, but I'm not about to let this... lady - Kamala, walk into a death trap. Lobo… he's not just a man. He's-"
Kamala's eyes widened slightly, "He's what? Come out clean, Harry."
Harry's voice dropped to a whisper, "The lights went out, true. Still, we are talking about hundreds of capital soldiers on duty with the Axis. But somehow, that guy was able to breach Sector 1's vault. Killing a lot of soldiers in the process. I don't think any of you understand it. He was fast. Too fast for any human. He took the Operation Fivefold files and vanished without a trace."
Kostas: "Get to the point, Harry. Where are you going with this?"
Harry swallowed hard, "After that, we checked the footage. Most of them were corrupted. But the ones we were able to retrieve, I will tell you now, he's not just some rogue - he's not even fully human." He paused. People were still brawling in the ground, but to him, it felt like the entire room was holding its breath. Even the birds outside fell completely silent, their synchronized chirping earlier abruptly cut off. And in a low voice, He said,
"He's… a werewolf."
Kamala and Kostas exchanged a sharp glance at each other, unease flooding in their eyes as they struggled to process what their eyes had just heard.
Kamala: What the-
"Listen, I know it sounds like bullshit."
Kostas folded his arms, "Yeah, you know? Of course, it does. It sounds like the shit I took just a few hours ago. But since you came here with your message, I got this insane urge to shit again, And you know what.." then he leaned forward as if he was about to say something serious, "I don't even have time for my shits, so i can't make time for yours."
Harry held up a hand, his voice rising. "Just hear me out. We didn't get a clear look at his human face in the footage, but witnesses...our own people....saw him shift. One moment, he was a man. But the next moment, a wolf. And that wolf didn't just kill our men in Sector 1. It breached the vault, grabbed those files, and vanished. What kind of 'normal' animal does that? It's not just a rogue. It's a monster."
He took a step closer, his words tumbling out in a rush. "And you know why Operation Fivefold happened, don't you, Kostas? All those lives lost. You know the truth behind it, right? Those people on that island worshiped a god."
Kamala's eyes narrowed. "A god?"
Harry nodded grimly. "Yeah, their god. A black wolf."
Kostas's jaw tightened, "Borshtog. Yeah, I've heard the stories. Now, you're telling me we're supposed to go up against a supernatural being now?"
Harry hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, that might be the case. So, if you go in thinking he's just another rogue, you'll be walking straight into a death trap."
Kostas's mind was racing. "But what are you..." He stopped mid-sentence, "Wait a second. Are you saying… no. No way. Damn it. Alex. That bastard."
His fist clenched. "Are you telling me this whole thing was planned? He wanted troopers in this case because..."
Harry sighed deeply, the time seemed to freeze, "Because you're here. The last hunter."
His gaze locked on Kostas, pleading. "He's betting on you. The entire capital is betting on you. And I think we both know they're right. Please, Kostas. Don't let Kamala go in there alone. You have to go. It has to be you."