Succession

Ian rested his chin upon his hand while listening. The words outspoken by Veronica, Gian-Luca, and Midas, all explained into a format relating to his and their current position.

Districts.

Education.

Skies.

The sun.

A.X.A.

Kidnappings.

All leading to where they were now; trapped in A.X.A.'s facility, its whereabouts unknown.

"So you're saying that for some unknown reason, we've all been abducted by A.X.A. and are now trapped here in their facility?" Ian questioned.

Veronica was the first to reply; "Actually, I think I know the reasoning behind why we've been chosen."

Everyone listened. "During my transfer in the vehicle over to this facility, I can remember Overseer Ariel mentioning something about wanting irregularities. That irregularities have the perfect type of mind to study and amplify..."

"Yes, that," Midas' interest was piqued. "Irregularities. I remember reading about an irregularity that was broadcasted in my district. Yours too Gian-Luca, right?"

"Yes, and it was actually from your district," he replied.

Midas then turned to Ian to provide context. "An irregularity is basically someone who's different from societal standards."

"Give me an example," Ian demanded.

Midas pondered. "A person who may stray from society's laws; a criminal if you may. Like someone who's committed murder for example."

Veronica shifted in place. She felt odd goosebumps form on her skin.

"So that would mean that we're all irregularities, no?" Ian's statement brought silence to the room. "I mean think about it. If we're all here, abducted and taken in by A.X.A., that would mean we're irregularities chosen by A.X.A."

Midas agreed. "So we've all done something to earn our place here. Does anyone have even the faintest idea of their 'irregularity'?"

No one replied. Instead, looks were exchanged among each other, as if expecting someone to speak. But no one did. Not even those who knew.

���So now what?" Venus broke the silence. "We know all this, but we're still trapped here, aren't we? I don't even think I want to leave. I wanna get stronger. I wanna—"

"That's because you don't remember what's out there," Midas interrupted. "If you remembered, you'd want to go back. Trust me."

"Hmph." Venus went quiet.

The room's silence continued. They all stared blankly, not knowing what to think or do. Did they want to return to their old lives? Or did they want to remain in the comfort of their already established lives with A.X.A.? How would they get out if they wanted to? It was Midas, out of all of them, that truly thought about how to answer this question. He decided to speak up.

"Now listen. This is what's gonna happen."

Everyone tuned in.

"First off, we must recognize our dangers. If we plan on escaping against A.X.A.'s control, knowing the Overseers, we're up against some crazy power. From what I know, there's at least seven of them. But that isn't including the massive infantry of Angel Units at Overseer Michael's disposal. We're up against some high numbers too."

"That sounds impossible…" Veronica whimpered. "How could we even manage to go up against all of them?"

"That's nothing. I could easily wipe out a hundred at a time. I'm the strongest here," Venus smirked. The rest looked at him in oddity, but Midas returned a somewhat faithful look. "Then I'll be counting on you in a majority of our plans," Midas smiled. Venus strayed his gaze elsewhere.

"Now before we can even come across the possibility of escaping, we need to understand our location. A.X.A.'s facility has a complex but understandable layout. The issue is figuring out the actual whereabouts of the facility itself. Are we in the middle of nowhere? Or are we in one of the districts? Any guesses?"

No replies. Everyone, absolutely clueless.

"Well that's gonna be a necessary piece of information on our way out. So we'll figure it out as we go," Midas paused. "Assuming everyone's in on this, the plan for now is to continue doing what we've already been doing with A.X.A.; playing as their subjects, and testing their experiments. One of the most important goals right now is to perfect our abilities through these experiments. Although that's part of A.X.A.'s goal, it's necessary that we become stronger for any unavoidable contact and combat on the day of our escape."

"I've got a question," Ian spoke up. "What if someone from A.X.A. finds out about our plans? We'd all be penalized wouldn't we? Or maybe even killed."

"No," Vidia declined. "Even worse; we'd be turned into mindless Angels for Overseer Michael's infantry."

"And if that happens," Midas added on; "We'd become punching bags for the next set of experimentees. This goes on to say that I doubt we're the first batch of subjects."

This statement grew concern within the crowd. "But the fact that we're here, means that the previous sets of subjects failed. Some of the Angels we see around the facility might even be those very experimentees. We wouldn't want that to happen to us, would we?" Midas asked the crowd. They nodded in agreement.

"Then STAY QUIET about anything we spoke about tonight. Stay alert, but remain oblivious. Don't let anyone catch onto any unusual behavior. Act the same, be the same. We will recognize the day we escape when it arrives. We'll seize the chance when it makes its appearance. Until then, we'll prepare."

"What about Abel?" Gian-Luca asked. "We haven't included him in this group conversation. Is he part of our plan?"

"That's undetermined for now," Midas replied. "I'm not sure if he's even awake yet. If I'll be honest, he's a bit mysterious, so for now keep him out of it. I'll try and do a bit of digging and I'll communicate my decision once I've uncovered enough." Everyone agreed.

"I promise that we'll escape A.X.A.'s grasp one day. Until then, let's prepare," Midas looked everyone in the eye. "And most importantly; whatever was said in this room, stays in this room."