For all who lies...

We are in a world of shit. We all know it, even if no one says a word. As we sat in the war room of the Stellar Flare, there was this sense of dread in the room. It was in the walls, the floor, the ceiling and in the very mouths of every man and woman sitting in the room. I don't know what's going on here, but I am not going to find my answers sitting here.

I stood to my feet and made my way for the door, but not before being called out by Maverick.

"Where are you going Demi? I haven't said you can leave."

"You haven't said anything. Nothing for the last 30 minutes. We have just been sitting here, and we all know what kind of trouble we are in."

"Demi..."

"She blew up the...never mind. Since no one here is wanting to find answers, I'll do it myself."

I open the door, immediately to be greeted by Cadence.

"Cadence. Stop her!" Maverick yells.

She looks me dead in the eyes, then steps aside, allowing me to pass through. Mavrick's jaw hits the floor as I walk through the doors and into the hall. Cadence nods her head and closes the door behind her.

Sometime later, I stare out the window toward the planet below. What sand that was there is charred beyond belief. A black mark covering half he planet.

"Let the games begin." says a voice next to me.

"What?"

I check for the source and behold, D stands next to me, shaking his head.

"What did I tell you?"

"What do you want?"

"Oh, so aggressive."

"Shut up! I am done with you."

"Now you got some fire! This is getting hot..."

...In a swift motion, I knock him to the ground with my foot. He lands on his back, and I take the barrel of my rifle and put it in his mouth, my finger waits on the trigger.

"I am getting sick and tired of you. Who are you?"

I remove the barrel from his mouth.

"You still haven't figured it out."

"No!"

"Don't worry. If you still haven't figured it out yet when I ask again, I'll give you a reminder."

"Last I checked, I am the one with the gun. You have no power here."

Suddenly and swiftly, a voice approaches my left ear. It whispers in a soft, but confident tone, the same as D's.

"Is that right?" It says

M body reacts on its own, aiming my gun in the direction of the voice, but nothing is there. I turn back to D on the floor, who turns out has also disappeared. My heart starts to race, beating out of my chest until he appears before me, his knife at my neck. He laughs and whispers in my ear.

"You have no idea what you are up against."

Then he vanishes. Another voice calls out to me. I don't respond to it, just hold my breath, hoping that...

"Demi." It says again. "Are you good?"

I finally turn to the source of the new voice. Darrin stands next to me, checking my pulse on my neck. I grab his hand and push it away from me.

"What are you doing? Why are you touching me?"

"Because you weren't moving, I called you out for the last ten fucking minutes without you saying a word. I honestly thought you were dead."

"Oh...sorry. I just..."

"...you what?"

I take a deep breath, looking back out the window again.

"Sorry. Actually, I am glad you are here. I need your help."

Darrin stands at attention. Honestly, I didn't expect this from him, but he might be of some use to me.

"What do you need?"

"How much access do you have to classified reports?"

"Depends, though I have some contacts I could use too. What do you need?"

"My father was working with your king on an investigation."

"An investigation, of what?"

I slowly turn to him.

"Treason."

"Shit."

"He suspected someone was planning to kill him. Obviously, he never found out."

"They were looking into the Gridlock before we were."

"What a coincidence."

"They were also looking for the scientist we had found." 

"Hmm. What do you need?"

"They have to have kept files on it somewhere."

"Got it. What are you going to do?"

"I have a contact from an old friend. I need to go home."