A Promise

Seeing the open elevator door, Zarx quickly closes the open room door and walks to his dad, shivering with excitement. His dad steps into the elevator and he follows.

"Your prints are required Zarx" his dad says motioning to the scanner on the right. His face beams up as the light red glow from the scanner reacts to his hand on the scanner by brightening up. A faint beep is heard and the elevator door slides shuts.

"Welcome Master Zarx" a female voice booms in the elevator. The bright elevator gives of a faint blue glow as it begins descending so smoothly, a cup of coffee wouldn't spill were it in there. It finally comes to a stop and slides open. They are greeted by a red glow in the large underground facility. As they step out of the elevator, the red glow is replaced by bright lights, making it seem like the sun was brought in there.

"Woow" excited Zarx exclaims, as he scans the large room, discovering large transparent displays and cylindrical transparent pods fixed to the wall with a mannequin in each, numbering 10 in total. Walking through some desks, parts of the floor looked like they could be popped out, with some of the desks resembling screens.

"So what do you think?" Harrison asks.

"This is really amazing and beautiful. It is as though it were ripped out of a movie"

"Hahaha. figured, you needed something like this after I discovered what you were up to"

'What I was up to? What is he talking about? Maybe he is referring to the tech stuff I've been doing' Zarx thinks to himself and then replies "Thanks dad, it really is amazing but with your new job, it's like everything is happening so quickly I… …I…"

"Don't worry, you would get used to it pretty soon" his dad encourages.

"This new life... it just feels a bit... you know... ...kinda weird. Especially after all you had to go through".

His dad smiles and says "Son, I know this is all so sudden, and moving here was a little hard for you but it was a condition for the job so we had to. Besides the people here are all really nice. Look, I know you miss your friends but you can make other friends here as well, and still be in contact with the others through social media. Who knows, you may even get a girlfriend here."

"Hey dad come on!"

He chuckles and puts his hands on Zarx's shoulder as he continues "You get what I'm driving at don't you? You don't have to worry about this new life. With time, you would get used to it. Come on I've got something to show you"

They walk to the last of the ten pod like containers. Zarx eyes shoot wide open with shock as he gawks at the content of the pod. "Wow, an armor? It looks amazing. Is it a prototype armor the industry is developing or something?" he asks, his forehead slowly drenching in sweat. 'He knows???? How the hell did he find this armor? I thought I dumped it. Wait, if he knows then why I'm I pretending in the first place?' Zarx becomes lost in his thoughts, covering his face with his palm as the sweat on his forehead slid over his fingers.

"Rex, please stop with the pretense, would you?"

"So you knew?"

"I always knew. With the way you were carrying yourself, it was way too obvious"

"No it wasn't"

"Yes it was, I mean who crashes into a pole and gets his entire face bruised?"

"Really!!????"

"Mhmm"

Zarx sighs. "If you knew, then does... mom... know to?"

"I am not sure. But she probably knows. I mean if I figured it out that easily why wouldn't she?"

Zarx sighs "I thought I discarded this armor"

"Yeah you did. I found it and didn't think it was best to just leave it. You worked really hard to make it so leaving it to be dumped wasn't a good idea, but forget about that. I really want to know, why the name Rex though? You could have chosen any other name"

"Well I guess I just liked it and it was the best I could come up with at the moment" His dad chuckles.

"I thought you would get angry if you found out about me. That's why I didn't tell you"

"When I first found out, I didn't like the idea of having my son out there putting himself in unnecessary danger, but looking back at all the good you have done in that armor, I thought it was okay to let you be. I know how high the stakes can be when it comes to this kinda things, so the plan was to pull you out the moment things were about to go south but nothing of the sort happened".

Zarx looks at the armor again and smiles as Harrison continues "The metal you used for that armor is too weak, say what you were up against at the time was not much of a threat, just some robbers and thugs, but in the future you are bound to meet stronger foes, so you need something better. Something stronger, durable and lightweight. One of the strongest metals on earth"

"Wait, like vibranium?" Zarx cuts in.

"What is vibranium?"

"The... strongest ...metal on earth?"

"You watch way too many movies kid, you need to wake up". Zarx giggles and his dad continues "We call it element E"

"Element E?"

"Yes, element E. It was first discovered in the famous mountains of Gharel and over the years, it was discovered in other mountains as well, all around Gharel. Theory is that there might have been meteor showers thousands of years ago which hit Gharel because the rock from which the ore was extracted is not of earth origin"

"Sounds like a myth to me"

"Except it isn't. Over the years, it fused with other elements and minerals in the region making it much more stronger, durable and weirdly very light, though it constitutes a greater part of this element E"

"Cool"

"Yeah it is cool. Wanna see something cooler?". Harrison walks over to a wall and put his hand on it. It slides open revealing a mass of the metal, all cylindrical and neatly arranged. "This, is element E" Harrison reveals.

"Wow, that's a lot"

"Yes, it is. Be sure to use it wisely" he says pulling a cartridge out of his pocket. Zarx nods in agreement. He walks up to a transparent display table and slots the cartridge into the slot at the front side. Once it was done loading, all screens in the room lit up, displaying one form of information or another, some the news yet others Harrison's company ads.

"Hello boss" a female voice booms all around the room, identical to the one in the elevator. "Zarx this is Alex, your personal AI assistant"

"Dad, thank you so much" he says in an excited tone as he hugs him. His dad smiles.

"Well we better get going before your mom notices our absence. You can come play with your toys later. You can also root Alex into all your devices later". Zarx smiles as they head for the elevator.

S.S HQ

9:09 AM

A gentle chime can be heard from the generals office as the general is sitting at his table and taping it rapidly with his fingers, eyes all reddened, and deep in thought. He picks up his ringing phone and answers it. "General Lee, this is just a reminder. You are expected to be here by 9:30 am. Make it fast, or you will reap the consequences of your stubbornness" comes a calm male voice from the phone and as soon as his voice lands, the call disconnects. General Lee picks up a memory chip from the table and puts it into a small plastic case, then hides it under a tile in the middle of the office.

"I hope you find this" he says out loud to himself and leaves the office. He goes to the helipad and notices a chopper already waiting for him on the helipad with his private pilot already in the cockpit. He walks up to the chopper and says in a calm voice "Don't worry Vic, I would fly it myself"

"But general…." Vic utters. "Don't worry, it's just a personal errand. I would be back soon"

"Yes... sir" she hesitantly gives up. She gets off the chopper and watches as he takes off leaving her on the large octagonal platform, with her hair and clothes being blown by the gust.

HILLTOP HIGH

9:25 AM

Seeing a curvy woman, probably in her thirties approaching from the hallway and about to enter a class, Shiro calls out to her "Miss Allen, excuse me. Please I need your help". Nearing her, her curly brown hair appears to be springy with the soft air blowing across the hallway.

"How may I be of help to you?" she asks in a soft audible voice as he reaches her.

Rolling his eyes away from the freckle on her cheek, he says "It's Chris, because of what happened on Monday, he's been out of class for two days and it's all my fault"

"You don't have to blame yourself for that Shiro. Chris broke the rules and got punished for it. He bullied someone and you involving yourself by helping the person out does not make it your fault"

"I understand that, but he is part of the Science, Technology and Innovation Club (STIC) and will represent the school in the upcoming Innovative Minds Competition (IMC), and being out of class might draw him back in studies. If could please speak to the principal on his behalf so he returns to class, I would be glad."

She sighs. "I would see what I can do"

"Thank you miss Allen"

"That's okay, you go on back to class"

"Okay" Shiro says and returns to his class.

PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE

"Here is the school's constitution. Break one of them and you would find a thousand reasons to be happy" the principal says dropping a book in front of Zarx and continues "This is a map of the school. The red marked zones are prohibited. You should not under any circumstance be found there, else you would be dealt with. You are to officially report on Monday. Take the rest of this week to prepare very well before coming on Monday".

"Thank you" Zarx's mom says.

"Don't mention. That reminds me, I heard you came first in the science fair, back at your old school" he says turning to Zarx.

"Yes"

"Congratulations, I would be expecting a lot from you"

"Thank you, sir"

"We have a Science, Technology and Innovation Club. I would assume you would like to join?"

"Yes, I would love to join"

"Good, fill this form and bring it along on Monday" he says handing him a form

"Thank you"

"See you on Monday"

"We will take our leave then" his mom says.

"Okay, have a safe trip back".

"We will" she says and they leave the office.

Chris (Hunter) walks past them to class after the break as the principal agreed to suspend his punishment temporally.

PENNYVILLE WAREHOUSE 53

9:33 AM

"You are late" a thick tall man in black says.

"Sorry, I had some compli..." the general utters but is interrupted.

"Not interested in your excuses"

"Where is he"

"As promised, he is dead. You are 3 minutes late".

"And you expect me to believe…" he barely concludes when he notices his friend in a corner strapped into a seat with a pool of blood around him, blood still dripping from the gun wound in his head. The general's hands begin to tremble as he tries to walk but his wobbling legs wouldn't let him. He drops to his knees, then gently stands again as a wry smile appears on his face.