Yawn
The guard was slowly dozing off on the metal platform, watching the same square of yellow tape in front of the Tower for the past 3 hours.
Nothing came by. Nothing moved in or out.
Except the other guards patrolling the area around the Tower.
Apart from that - boring evening shift. Coffee was the only thing keeping him up at this hour.
Pop
A man appeared just with a white flash in the designated area and slowly looked around the area.
Pffft "SIR SIR SOMEONE APPEARED" He spit out the coffee and grabbed the radio to call it in.
The man looked at him and waved politely, then sat down on the ground and waited.
-----
Dr. Thorne came into the temporary prison cell, now slightly more prepared than before.
Voro Vane, the latest problem from the Tower, was sitting comfortably in handcuffs at the metal table.
"Welcome to the world of the living Mr.Vane. How does it feel to be the misfit again?" He said while putting down his hot coffee and grinning at him with a creepy smile.
"Feels great" Mr. Vane replied emotionless "How`s been at your 'life' Mr.Thorne?"
"Garbage, chaos and a hint of anarchy. And you" he pointed his coffee "Are not helpful with that"
"Aw, I`m sorry, I didn`t mean to make more mess"
"Yea yea yea, quiet." He shut him up quickly "Business. More good news and more bad news. First this" he slid a plastic card towards Voro "New laws have been made in the country and this, is your current only chance of walking freely"
The card was similar to the national ID card, but with much less clear info
It stated Hunter License in bold letters at the top
[ Name : Voro Vane 001-A-09 ]
[ Born : 14/11/2002 ]
[ Rank : E ]
[ Affiliation : FBAM ]
[ Status : Active duty ]
Voro read the plastic rectangle carefully.
"And this is....what exactly"
"This, is you. Legally I mean" Voro raised his eyebrow as high as possible "Ugh, read some manhwa man. This card is the solution my boss came up with to allow us to "research" the Towers. With this little thing, you, Michael and a few other people in the country can get in and out of the Tower site. Without many problems"
"MHM. and this...FBAM? I never joined any cults"
"Ah. Federal Bureau of Anomaly Management. Another brilliant idea of my boss. We....manage the Towers. For now. Same as the name, its for now only"
sips coffee
"Oh and before you ask, this place is called Site Nine officially. We work on the name still"
"Sundered Hold" Voro said quietly
"What?"
"Sundered Hold. If any of you actually been inside, that`s what its called by the system"
Thorne nodded, and scribbled the name on his notebook.
"Anything else?"
"Yea. E"
"What`s wrong with the letter E?"
"E rank. Really? There isn`t anything lower you could have given me?"
"We could have. Michael is F, and he`s not complaining."
"Okey, who the fuck is Michael and why do you keep saying his name" Now Voro cut him off
"Oh, we assumed you met him inside. Okey then, Michael is another 'researcher' that went inside. And the only one that came back. Apart from you of course"
"Huh so..." ddrrrring, rrrring, rrrriiing
"Aw shit, we`re out of time" Thorne packed his things and went to the exit "By the way, before I leave you, anyone ever told you , you don`t act like a Scorpio at all?"
"NO" Voro turned other way
"Shame. Have fun :)" and he left the room, leaving him alone again.
-----------
The door slammed open, 4 armed soldiers barged in with rifles raised and aimed at Voro`s head, who slowly raised his hands up. Behind them an older man came in with loud steps
Colonel Graves, the head of Military Sanitation Command, came in and stood right in next to Voro, towering over him with his wide posture and massive mustache.
"We have confirmation sir, that`s him" one of the soldiers finished talking on his ear-mic and reported to his superior
Voro still cuffed, but very calmly, raised his head to look at the man while red dots where re-adjusted to hit is head.
"I don`t care what Thorne and his bastards say" He grabbed Voro`s face and pulled up "You are a hazard and a walking pathogen. Bag him and throw him in the trunk"
Two soldiers came closer with a decent rope and a large black body-bag
"I wouldn`t" Voro said calmly
"Shut up freak" One of them grabbed his arms and tried to pull them down, but a small glimpse of a holographic E on the plastic card caught his attention. The soldier starred at it then at the other guy , then both back at the Colonel.
"As I said, I wouldn`t"
"Hmph, you think a plastic card will save your sorry ass from dissection"
"Yes . Yes I do"
Graves snatched the card from his hand and started reading it. The more he did, the more confused and disgusted his face became. A ping came from his phone
"Check your email maybe" Voro jokingly said to him while still being held up by two soldiers.
An email came with a title of "Suck brow-boy" with an emoji showing the tongue and top priority in his inbox
[......as of 14th March 2026 the Tower Laws are in full effect ...]
[Directive 17-B Government Assets ]
[All biological entities classified as Hunters are under the sole jurisdiction of FBAM and their branches. All acts towards them are treated as acts on any legal person. All 'Hunter' entities are protected under civilian legal code, military code in case of research action of FBAM and under legal code for all other matters conducted by FBAM]
[...]
[Directive 17-C Action against FBAM and Government assets]
[....]
[...Any offense directed at FBAM assets and 'Hunter' entities is classified as Class-1 offense and will be persecuted with utmost urgency. All and any offense towards FBAM assets can be nullfied or accepted only by their respective Directing Officer]
And under both articles another, now smiling , emoji.
"Thorne....' Graves turned off his phone and tucked it in angrily "Uncuff him" He threw the key that he for some reason had with him "I need to talk to someone" and left
The soldiers shook their heads in disbelief, but freed Voro and grabbed their stuff.
Voro stood up and his presence immediately showed ,as he was taller than most of them and with his new strength boost and lack of sleeves, his muscles showed up really really well
"Damn"
"Thanks. Anyways" Voro cracked his knuckles and warmed up his wrist "We good?"
"Yea" the guys who tried to bag him stepped away "We good"
Voro smiled, grabbed his leather clothes from the hanger and left the room. Outside Thorne and Graves were arguing, but when they saw him, the discussion stopped.
Thorne waved and Graves scoffed.
"WE LEAVE" Graves shouted to his team and rushed to his truck, which left in a hurry and puffs of smoke.
"I see he likes you" Voro came closer.
"Oh yes he does"
"Btw, why did he have keys to my handcuffs?"
"Well, how else would he take you and cut you open?"
"By cutting my hands off?"
"Yea well, he is not that crazy. Now ,if you excuse me, I have a site to manage"
And he left towards his observation platform
Voro looked at the plastic card for a second and tucked it into his wallet
"They couldn`t get a worse angle, couldn`t they" and went behind him