I yelled as my head shot up. I looked around me, pitch black. I grimaced and hit a button on the left side of my eye. The room lit up, my cell, my bed, my home for about 5 years now. 5 years ago a man named Lobo shot my eye out, now I had an artificial one. A little rectangle highlighted a drawer in the back of this dusty old cell. Inside the drawer were my dog-tags.
I was a bit shaky from that odd dream, Lobo was dead and I was sure that our military was tracking down or even caught Morag by now. I went over to the drawer and grabbed the dog tags. Jared “Doc” Kerr, even though two sheets said that, I knew that that was who I used to be. Now I was just a puppet on a string to whatever remained of the Scorpios. Every time I tried to fight or disagree, they would press that awful button. While they made the eye, they had placed a chip on the back of it that gave me a horrible shock that always seemed to break me. I use the term puppet because I have done horrible things that I have no choice but doing.
I slipped into the clothes that they had provided me with, they were grey and cold, but at least they did not just make me were a rag. I waited for my cell door’s slot to open up and provide food. I only got one meal and drink a day but at least it was something that I could stand in this hell-hole of a place. The slot opened up and a small bowl of gravy was pushed into the cell. I was turned around, but a small rectangle appeared the indicated that it had dropped right on the floor by my cell door.

I walked out of my cell, into a line of prisoners who had been captured, like me. As soon as I walked into the line, they all stared at me, with mixed opinions coming at my eye like the bullet the caused it. I heard them talking about me at night, some found me to be a legend, some say I am a freak, others a murderer. We all stood with guards along our backs, pointing their guns at us. A man came out to a podium, and picked up the microphone. I was confused; the warden is the one that usually gave the announcements.
“Attention prisoners, you may be wondering where the warden is today.” I recognized the man as Dr. Manger. He was the one who had invented the eye and the device that I hate so very much. “I am sorry to say this but, the warden died last night, his heart stopped beating around midnight and I found him dead in his bedroom the next morning.” He looked around as if trying to see if all the prisoners were listening. “Also he has advanced me to warden for now.” He turned to look at me and sneered. “All guards report to my office immediately after you have taken the prisoners back to their cells, dismissed.”
As we all started to head back, I was suddenly grabbed from the line. A guard had taken my cuffs and was pulling me. “Warden Manger wants to see you personally.” I wondered what he would want and after he just told the guards to come to his offices as well. Once we reached the office, I was thrown in. The room was grey and stone, like any-other part of this god-forsaken place. The doctor sat in a chair and across from him was another chair. This place reminded me a bit of Lobo’s interrogation room. But that was now smashed into bits by a tower we took down.
“Ah prisoner K377, how nice to see you, so how are you enjoying your 5 year stay here at my prison?” I looked at him and said “What do you want, Manger?” He snapped his finger and one of his guards brought a bowl to the table. Inside this strange bowl was the dreaded device. The one that had one big black button perched at the top, and several blue lines of electricity going down its handle, the one that shocked me every time I tried escaping. It was surrounded by shadowed objects that I could not see. He picked it up and smiled. “You remember this correct?” I was surrounded by pain as he hit the button, slamming me out of my chair. “Yes” I replied, trying to not lunge at the doctor. “Good then I believe you’ll like these!” He laughed as he snapped his fingers.

A herd of guards came running into the room, grabbing one of each of the shadowed objects and latching them to the bottom of their guns. I stared at them as they all lit up. I about shrank outta my seat when I saw what they were. They were the same device that the doctor had, button perched on top, but something was different. Instead of blue lines running down the black handle, they were red. “Let me explain” the doctor said “my device is called the E.E.L. 1.0, the guards however have the upgraded version, the E.E.L. 2.0, I have made them so that they tap into the chip on the back of your eye” I looked at him, still a bit confused. He rolled his eyes and explained “The Electric Efficient Leash is what it stands for.”
I was surprised and shocked (no pun intended) at the fact that they even considered making a new version and then dispatch them for the guards. “What do you need me for that would force you to create more?” I asked, as fear was all I had that was quenching my anger. “We have captured two military officers, I think you may know them, and we are making you execute them to see if you are ready to help us out with, well you know enough already.” I shook my head and muttered, “I would rather die than help you kill fellow officers.” The doctor frowned and nodded to a guard, then looked back to me smiling “Wrong answer.”
The guard hit the button on this new E.E.L, and trust me the pain was unbearable. I shouted out in pain as, well it felt like ten needles that were on fire had just pierced my eye, pain flooded into my eye like a busted dam. I hit the floor, writhing around in pain as the doctor picked me up. “Now imagine every guard in this prison, pushing those buttons, you would be in so much pain that you would be begging to die.” I got up and gagged on my own blood, now any traces of fear were gone, this time it was pain that died down my anger towards the doctor. He walked over and shoved me back to the chair. “Now you are going to help us whether you like it or not.”

The guards walked down the hallway, shoving their weapons into my back. I could tell that they were slipping their fingers over the E.E.L’s buttons. We were headed down a dark hallway, I remember the hallway from when I was dragged from the medical office they had into my cell. They opened the door, light came flooding in. It blinded me because I have not seen real, warm, sunshine in five years, and I even had to dim my eye light a bit just to be able to see. We were on one of the tallest towers of the prison, trust me this place looked like a castle. They took me to a balcony, there was two men kneeled over with bags over their heads.
I walked over to where they were. Over the edge they were on was a long drop off onto another balcony, on that one there was two guards who had a wheel barrow of bodies. “These two were found trying to sneak into the prison last night” a guard said as he removed the bags “Warden Manger has ordered us to make sure that you execute them.” I looked in horror as I saw who it was. In front of me was Mirage and Ghost. Both of them looked beaten and they had blood everywhere. “Doc” Shouted Mirage, as he turned his head to me “please kill me, I have been beaten, they have taken everything I loved away.” I felt remorse for my old friend, even though we were enemies when we were starting out in academy. The guard walked over to me and handed me my old pistol, “Syringe”. The name was a bit of an inside joke on the count that I was a doctor. They had given it to me while I was in my cell once, with no ammo of course. I carved the suppresser into the shape of a needle and then carved the name onto the handle. I walked over and they stood Mirage up on the foot of the balcony. I closed my eyes and pulled the trigger.
I looked over the edge of the balcony; Mirage’s body fell right down into the pile of bodies that lay under the balcony. Only one of my eyes let a tear drop because they removed my right eye’s tear duct so it would not mess with the technology. They stood Ghost up on the balcony, suddenly it hit me. I walked up to Ghost and put gun up to his back and whispered, “When you fall hit the bodies, oh, and I’m sorry for this.” He looked back at me and asked “Sorry for wha….” I shot him in the foot and he fell. The guards put their fingers over the buttons and I shot them, jumping over the edge. I hit the bodies and shot the guards that were guarding the pile. We ran towards cover, “Did you see any way we could escape?” Ghost asked frantically. I made my eye hack into the security cameras that lined the prison. In one of the cameras I found a helicopter that was just above the warden’s office.

I looked at him unsteadily “well there is one heli above the warden’s office but the warden has a device capable of bringing me down.” He looked up towards the top, “Well then we will just have to try.” We hid in the shade; in front of us were two guards and a gate. I pulled out Syringe and fired two shots, bringing them down. Ghost ran over and picked up a machine gun, he grabbed some ammo off the bodies. He reloaded and coked the gun and turned to me. “Stay here, I’ll call from this when I’ve reached the top” Ghost said as he tossed me a Walkie Talkie “if you go then those machines will stop us.”
I waited there for hours it seemed, I tapped into the security cameras that were on the inside. With that machine gun, Ghost managed to tear through any resistance that came his way. He was almost up to the warden’s office, I was ready to see that doctor shot, killed, for all he has done. Ghost shot into the air and ordered him to get down. I was shocked but I knew that revenge would not make me feel better. “Get up here” uttered the Walkie Talkie “I am done.” I ran towards the entrance, bursting through the doors of the prison. I was having a hard time stepping over bodies and bullet shells. Annoying rectangle highlighted everything, making it hard to see. I got up to the warden’s office and stopped, glaring at Manger. I picked up my Walkie-Talkie, “Ghost, give me a minute, I’ll be right out.”
I walked over to Manger, waiting for his next move. He tried to reach for the button that was sitting on his desk. My rage forced me to push over a metal cabinet, crushing his hands and destroying the desk. Blood went everywhere as he bleed out, screaming in agony. His hands were gone, vanished; all that was left was a fountain of blood from both stubs. The device was in ruins along with the desk, one basket from the cabinet had fallen out, and grenades were stocked to the brim inside. I picked one up and pulled the pin, dropping it on the rest. I looked at him and growled, “Bad dog.” I ran to the stairs and hit the heli pad.

I jumped into the heli, Ghost had already started it. We took off and I looked back, the wardens office exploded in a ball of flames, taking Manger with it, I smiled he was out of my hair, forever. I leaned back in my seat and turned to Ghost who was focusing on the roa…well air to be exact. “So, what’s the story on Morag?” He looked at me then looked back to the controls, “We are still tacking him, two months ago he sent a message to us saying he was devolving a nuclear bomb and that he was planning to drop it on DC, we tried to trace down the signal but when we sent men there, the place exploded.” I thought for a moment, and then looked back at him. “Oh.” I yawned and hit the button on the right side of my eye, everything went black and I fell asleep.
When I was awake, I switched my eye back on. We were at a base, but it was I recognized. Point Kelvin, New Jersey. I looked around; men and women were exercising, carrying stuff, and shooting baskets. Seems like it was five years ago when we had left for Lobo. “Doc!” A woman with blonde hair came running over to me and hugged me. I chuckled and smiled, “Hello Phantom.” Katie “Phantom” Edidel was a trainee medical officer when I last saw her, now she seemed to be a full officer. She got her name on the account the she loved the Phantom of the Opera play and did not have a bad singing voice. “What’s that on your eye?!” She asked staring with shock and awe. I laughed and said “Well, that is my eye, an evil man named Lobo shot my real eye out years ago.” She nodded and hugged me again, “they said that you had died, that you fell out of the heli and died in the desert!” I guess her tent leader called her back, because she ran off towards a green tent with a giant red cross.
I followed Ghost to one of the main tents, Morag’s old one I assume before he fled after he was revealed to be a traitor. The new general was a short and thin man, dressed in a green standard military uniform. His black mustache seemed to touch his boots, even though it only went to his mouth. “You must be Doc” he said walking towards me and Ghost “My name is Toi, I am your new General”. I immediately saluted to him, though I felt is if I was doing the wrong thing as Ghost was not doing the same. “At ease Kerr, so word is you have knowledge on what Morag’s next move is going to be.” I kneaded the dirt floor uncomfortably with “well sir, yes I was held by one of Morag’s men but I have not heard anything on when he will drop the nuke.” Toi grabbed a knife and threw it towards a map on the wall. It stuck where three other already stood, right in Washington DC’s dot. “Well then, you must rest; get some real food and some new armor.”

I walked into the medical tent, everyone was asleep. I carefully walked forward, trying to spot an empty bunk. Finally a yellow rectangle highlighted one bunk; it was one right underneath Phantom’s. I laid down in it and turned over; usually I would have said that this bed was one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever slept on compared to the one in my old apartment building, but given the bed I had in my cell, which felt like a sack of rocks with a sheet throw over it, it felt like sleeping in one of those beds you could see on display at Macys. I switched off my eye and fell asleep.
I found myself standing in a burning tent, ducking and trying to get out as pieces of the tent came falling down. I bust through the doors of the tent, the whole camp was ravaged, men and women were dying, burnt to death. I pulled or Syringe and fired at a couple of enemies who had suddenly appeared. Then I heard Phantom shouting, she was being pulled by a shadowed out man. I aimed, but I could not fire, too afraid to hit her. I chased after them and suddenly he stopped right in front of a huge wall of flame and shot Phantom, killing her. I growled as I recognized the laugh. “Morag” I growled looking up at his as the flames surrounded the laughing fiend. He disappeared in a ball of flames. The body of Phantom started talking to me. “Why couldn’t you save me?” As the body it transformed into Mirage and then to Manger.
I woke up with a jump and hit my head on the bottom of Phantom’s bunk. I shook off the thudding feeling on my head and switched on my eye. I waited for the annoying yellow rectangles to highlight everyone in the room, but surprisingly the only thing that my targeting system had highlighted was a drawer with my dog tags. Everyone had already gotten up and had headed out for the day. At the end of my bed was a uniform. It looked like a regular print uniform, with the medic cross on the badge. On the nametag was my last name “Kerr” spelled in green and tan letters. I got dressed and headed out. My eye highlighted several men who were lined up to a tent. I got behind them and looked inside, instantly memories came flooding back to me.
The mess house was one thing a remembered from my days as a recruit. I waited for a couple minutes and by then I was already at the servers. I took a bowl and they poured some stuff that I did not know what it was. Chile maybe, I don’t know, but whatever it was it tasted way better than the stuff at the prison. I sat don’t next to Ghost and we ate, talking about things that have happened in the five years that I have been gone. “So, how did you guys stop Morag from killing the president?” Ghost looked up from his food and replied, “Well, after you fell out of the back of the copter, we were forced to leave. Scorpios were everywhere and they had already grabbed you, we assumed that they killed you so we held a funeral. Then we got news that the president was going to show up in New York. After a gunfight with part of the Scorpios we found Morag with a high powered sniper. He was far enough away from the secret service’s surveillance. Dr. Manger had invented it with a scope that could reach unimaginable lengths. I shot him in the leg, bringing him down, then Mirage shot the fire escape, knocking him into a dumpster. But when we reached him, he had disappeared. A month later we get word that you are still alive. I and Mirage are sent in to rescue you, and you know what happened next.” I nodded how I could forget having to kill my best friend.

I lined up the assault rifle to the target. It had been 5 years since I used one of these. A little yellow highlighted and zoomed in on the target, giving me some stats about it. I placed my finger over the triggered and fired. The force was so great it knocked me back with a loud bang! I heard people laughing behind me and got up. I zoomed in on the target and found that there was a bullet hole in the far end of the target. Well at least I hit the target; however the angle of the gun’s kickback should have just shot it in the air I thought, putting down the assault rifle and pulling out Syringe. I shifted my eye’s aim and three rectangles came up. I grunted in pain as the gears shifted in my eye, I was controlling the rectangles! I placed the over the target and fired. All three bullets hit all three of the rectangle areas. I smiled and turned, everyone was turned towards the speakers. “Attention, there will be a meeting by the mess hall immediately that is all.”
I walked over and stood by Phantom, I looked up and towards the front of the herd of soldiers. Toi stepped out and cleared his throat, “We have located the plane that is carrying Morag’s bomb. It is over the seas of DC as we speak, so that means we have to act quickly.” He stepped down and continued, “Alright men lets go, and a fraction of you will remain here including Captain Melzark and I.” He read off some names including Phantom’s, but by the time he got to the end he did not say my name. “Alright grab your weapons and report to the Carr-ion, the rest of you get back to business.” The Carr-ion is a gigantic helicopter capable of holding half our military. I walked up to Toi and asked him, “Sir, I know the most about Morag’s forces, why wasn’t I assigned?” Toi looked at me and shook his head “You have been through a lot lately; I believe that you deserve a break, return to the medical tent.” Before I could argue he walked off towards his tent, Ghost passed by me, mouthing “Sorry”, and followed Toi back into the main tent. I returned to my bunk in the medical tent. Morag had taken everything from me, my eye, my best friend, and my ability to hold an assault rifle! Well I was not going to let him win once again. I snuck out of the tent and towards the Carr-ion.
I hid from Toi’s line of vision, I saw some men loading some weapons into the bottom of the vehicle. I quickly ran and leaped into the weapon storage. I sat with a bunch of assault rifles when I heard the rooters start up. I feel the aircraft jerk upwards as it took off. I peeked out of a small hole I had found and saw that the ground was getting smaller and smaller. After an hour of waiting I heard gunfire, I looked out of the hole and saw that we were directly over the plane. Our men had jumped onto the planes and most of them were then shot off one by one. I heard the latches of the weapon case snap and a man had opened the door. I sprang out and ran towards the opened back door. I leaped out and jumped towards the plane.
I landed, rolling on the metal surface and pulling out Syringe and fired at some of the enemies that were defending it. Suddenly a hatch on the plane burst open, making me spin to face the opened hatch. A man jumped out, I got a closer look and an icy bolt of fear went down my spine as I recognized the face. “Hello K377” the man said smiling. I was shocked and could barely move I forced myself to speak, “Manger?!” I shuttered “But, how?” He smiled and revealed more of his body as he jumped up from the hatch. His legs were robotic, part of his chest was robotic, and worst of all his arms were robotic. “Surprised?” He grinned, “Good, you think that your eye was the only thing that we had made. After you left, I got an upgrade, and I have been saving a feature just for you.”

He held up his robotic hands and I watched in horror as they transformed into long, sharp, silver blades. He looked at me and grinned, “Let’s go, one eye.” He ran at me and sliced. I dodged it enough that it grazed my uniform. I pulled out Syringe and fired at him, hoping to land a few hits. He turned around and the bullets seemed to bounce off his metal chest. He ran at me again this time sticking both his hands forward. I gasped in pain as they hit me in the side, stabbing me. I hit the metal ground and looked up at my attacker; he flicked the blood off of his blades. I reached for Syringe but he kicked it, sending it into the plane’s jets. One of his hands transformed into a fist, hitting me in the side of the head multiple times. I gasped in pain as the artificial eye fell out and rolled into the planes jets. I looked up and he grabbed me and threw me towards the plane’s tail. I gasped for air as I was still bleeding out. I noticed that the hatch was still opened, I thought for a second then it hit me. I crawled towards it, trying to reach it before Manger got me. I reached the hatch and rolled into the deck. Two guards came up and tried to shoot me. I grabbed one’s gun and shot the other. Manger dropped down into the hatch. “This ends now Kerr!” He shouted as he jabbed at me. I rolled over and closed my eyes, waiting for the explosion.
To my surprised the nuke did not go off. Manger’s blade was stuck in the bomb but it did not off. I hurried and pressed the button, the doors under the nuke opened and it fell, taking Manger down with it. I watched as the bomb splashed down in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The bomb went off as a giant mushroom cloud of water flew up from the black waters. I shot the pilot and climbed out of the hatch. The Carr-ion flew low and I jumped in, sitting down in a seat and relaxing. Some medics had run up to me with med kits, fixing my wound. I watched as the plane went down into the Atlantic, sinking it. Even if Morag had failed to bomb DC, he was not on the plane, so that meant that he was still out there, and considering what he had done to Manger’s hands, he had picked up some new skills.
Phantom had run up to me, she had a look on her face that was a mix of anger at me for attempting something like that, but relief that I had no end up at the bottom of the sea with Manger. She just shook her head and kissed me, I believe she said something but I never knew what it was I considering the fact that after I took so many blows to the head. After dousing off, I woke up at our military base. People were cheering and clapping. I walked down a line of people towards a podium, where President Author stood. “For your service towards your country, and saving millions of lives including my own I present you with this” he said, handing me a small box. I opened it and saw a new eye, this one looked like the one I had lost in the fight with Manger but instead of a red pupil it was blue. I looked towards the president and nodded, “Thank you Mr. President.”
I stood up on the podium and cleared my throat, “I would like to make an announcement, and I am resigning from duty and heading back to my home with Phantom.” I stepped down and walked over to the medical tent, changing my armor out for a regular shirt and cargo pants. I followed Phantom out of the tent and towards a plane. We loaded the plane and waited for the low buzz of the propellers to signal that we were taking off. I leaned back in my seat with Phantom, switching off my new eye and smiling. Now the military was probably tracking down Morag. I did not care though, Manger was gone, the device was gone, and I could finally leave my old life behind and start a new one.