Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You, Part 2

Midnight Squad filed into the room with Haji leading the pack and One right behind him.

Zero brought up the rear as he peeked around the room - none of them had ever been there to his knowledge so this was a first for all of them. He could see the stern expressions on the faces of the officers at the table; some had a more curious look as if they were looking at some new form of animal.

He caught the eye of Marcus as he looked more stoic than anyone. A change from the usual joking persona he puts on around them.

Then Zero looked to the head of the table and his eyes grew wide. He knew the Vice-President was there, but looking him in the eyes reminded him of the day back in the Capital where he learned what had truly become of the world. His expression was matched by Victor as he instantly recognized Zero's face.

I know him…Victor thought to himself. He was at the rally several weeks back. So, he was the latest addition to the freak show eh?

"Line up by the wall." Haji instructed as he pointed to the wall behind the opposite end of the table where Victor sat. Everyone turned to see them and started muttering amongst themselves.

"There's been a few changes since I last saw them."

"I heard that new Zero was the one who saved some people from Command not long ago."

"They look pretty unharmed for just having their asses handed to 'em."

Zero clenched his fist as he heard the comments fly around the room. None of you know anything, he angrily thought to himself.

Haji cleared his throat to silence the room before he spoke again. "Ahem. So in order this is One, Two, Three-"

"I can clearly see their numbers on their jacket Sgt. How about you tell me their roles instead." Victor said as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, of course sir." Haji said apologetically. You uppity shithead, he secretly thought to himself. "So One is the team Captain and has been a part of this team since the first generation of it. Two is our acting ace until Zero is up to speed. And the rest are given duties based on the need."

Three scoffed at Haji's dismissal of her. Haji pretended not to hear it.

Victor rubbed his chin and stood up from his chair. He walked across the room and right up to where One stood. Everyone watched as they had no clue what he was up to.

He stared into One's eyes without speaking a word - One nervously smiled in response. "Sir?"

"....You're blind?"

"Yes, sir."

He turned to Haji, "You put a blind person in charge of a team of super powered soldiers??"

"Sir - with all due respect, One is our most capable member. While he can't see with his eyes, he can see through the interactions of the world around us. He can see beyond what we can."

"Hmm…you don't say…" Victor pretended to turn to walk away, but then immediately swung around and tried to poke One in the face. Before his finger even reached him, One had quickly reached up and caught ahold of his arm.

There was a unison gasp in the room, even those who were a part of Alpha Base and knew One's deal. It wasn't often they saw him however.

Victor yanked his arm away, which One showed no intention to keep holding on to. "I-I see. So Sgt. Sadiki speaks the truth."

Victor paused for a moment while he scanned the other faces of Midnight Squad. For Victor had a suspicion and also an ulterior motive for his forced trip to Alpha Base.

He turned to the rest of the room. "Now gentleman, I would like to have the room. I need to speak to Midnight Squad and their handlers. Alone."

The officers hastily gathered their belongings and filed out the room, leaving Haji, Marcus, and Midnight Squad alone with Vice-President Anderson.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Vice-President?" Marcus asked from his seat.

"Yes, in fact there is. However I must ask that all of you keep this to yourself and not let it spread beyond this room."

"Of course." Marcus replied. Haji nodded in agreement.

"Good. Well, as I'm sure you're all unaware, there have been a small string of murders in Capital City in the past few weeks."

"What? We've received no word of this. Is there a suspect?" Marcus asked.

Oh no. Zero thought to himself. His worst fear was manifesting right in front of him.

"Well, we're investigating several leads right now." Victor replied in a calm tone. "There was one murder of a civilian a few weeks ago and more recently, two soldiers were brutally killed and left in a public park."

"That's…horrible." Haji said, shocked. "But sir, why are you telling us this? This seems like an issue more for the soldiers stationed in the city…or Salvatore Base."

"Yes, and usually it would be Sgt." As he spoke his eyes shifted from each member of Midnight Squad to another. "But these murders seem…related. The first was a man who was a very openly avid opposer of hybrids. The other two had recently been a part of a detail that carried out the death sentence of a law violator. Who happened to be a hybrid. And did I mention that the two soldiers were killed on the West side of the city which is mostly inhabited by hybrids?"

Zero could feel beads of sweat drop down his back. He felt Victor's gaze zeroing in on him - he tried to make sure his reactions lined up with the others so he didn't stand out.

"Vice-President Anderson, are you implying that one of ours had something to do with it?" Marcus asked as he stood up from his chair.

"I'm just implying that the possibility isn't absolute zero." His eyes shifted straight to Zero upon his last words and the two locked eyes. His cold stare seemed to pierce right through his innermost thoughts as Zero tried his best not to panic.

"Are you okay there, um…" Victor looked at the side of Zero's jacket to see his number, "Zero?"

"Yes sir, sir. I mean, yes I'm fine. Sir." Fucking hell, he thought to himself.

"Are you sure?" He stepped even closer to Zero. "You seem nervous. Why are you nervous, Zero?"

"I'm…just nervous to meet the Vice-President for the first time, sir." Zero lied.

"Oh I see. So you wouldn't know anything about the law breaker that was dealt with?"

"No, sir. I wouldn't."

"Well that's good then. She was rotten to the core and no longer belonged in our budding society. People like her deserve the punishment delivered to her, wouldn't you agree?"

Zero couldn't respond. His teeth felt like they were going to crack if he pressed down on them any harder.

You're the one that doesn't belong in this society! He thought. People like you….I'll fucking kill you-

"Excuse me, Mr. Vice-President." Haji spoke up. "I can ensure that none of my men went out to the city without permission."

Victor turned his attention to Haji. "And how can you be so sure?"

"We have bio-scanners at every door that would pick up anyone that tried to leave. Not to mention we have soldiers standing guard around the clock. We would know, sir." Marcus chimed in.

"Hmmm." Victor accepted the answer and looked at Zero one last time before he walked back to the front of the room.

Four glanced over and saw Zero's clenched fists as they shook with rage. "...."

Victor sat back down at the head of the table.

"Well, just be sure to keep some extra security on hand. Wouldn't want whoever the murderer is to find their way here." Victor said in a nonchalant tone.

"Of course, sir." Haji replied.

"Oh and by the way, Capital City will be doing a few….changes in the next few days."

"Changes?" Marcus asked.

"Yes. To combat these murderers we will be making a few small changes, nothing major. Just have to keep our dear citizens' safety in mind after all."

"...yes, of course, sir." Haji answered.

"I would like to speak with the General Major alone now on a few things. The rest of you may be dismissed."

Haji nodded and motioned for Midnight Squad to exit the room. As they started leaving the room, the Vice-President looked up from a paper he was looking at.

"Oh?"

Haji turned back as he was about to leave to see what Victor was interested in.

Zero was still standing in the same spot, with his gaze directed at the Vice-President.

"Zero, we're leaving." Haji reminded him.

However, Zero didn't respond. His thoughts were loud and swirled around in his head.

You're just like the rest of them, he thought to himself. As long as people like you exist, it'll always be like that. I..I…

"I hate you." The words were out of his mouth before he even realized he was speaking them.

"Zero!" Haji yelled, bringing Zero back to reality. "Let's. Go. NOW."

Zero's mouth went agape. Did I really just say that? He thought. I didn't mean to say it out loud, it was just supposed to be a thought!!

Zero went to move when Victor held up his hand. "Wait just a moment, Sgt. I'll handle this."

Victor rose up from his seat and calmly walked over to Zero.

"Do you know who I am?" He asked Zero.

"What do you mean?" Zero replied.

"Do you know who I am? I was pretty clear."

"You're the Vice-President."

"And do I know who you are?"

"I…don't think so."

"EXACTLY." He brought his hand forward and slapped Zero across the face.

*SLAP*

Everyone was stunned. One quickly re-entered the room, "What's going on here??" Haji placed a hand on One to prevent him from interfering.

"No one knows who the fuck you are." Victor hissed into Zero's face. Zero could still feel the sting radiating in his cheek.

"I am the Vice-President." He continued. "You are NOTHING. Your job is to make the most out of the life WE allow you to live. You don't wanna fall in line? Good. Gives us another reason for target practice. Remember: this is our world and we continue to let you breathe air in it as long as you're useful."

Zero didn't know how to respond to such an upfront aggressive move. The others appeared to be in the same boat as no one in the room for a moment.

"Vice-President, sir, please forgive Zero here. I'm sure he meant nothing by his words. It's been a long day for us all." Marcus interjected.

Victor looked down at his hand. It was aching a little from the slap, but this was what he's been looking for all this time - a way to rule that silences all others. The soft hand of President Salvatore never sat right with him.

"Yes, let's hope so." Victor said. "I will let you off the hook this time, but next time…I might put you on it myself." Victor said with his usual shrewd face stretched out into a confident grin.

I will bring an iron fist down on this base when I win this election, Victor thought to himself.

Zero turned and walked away with the rest of his team. He looked over his shoulder one last time as the door was closing behind him and saw as Victor turned back to go sit at the head of the table. The all too familiar bitter taste of rage nipped at his spirit.

He was ashamed, but far from deterred.