The magic suppression serum was pitch black when it entered the bloodstream of those native to the planet.

Frank shut the book he was reading and turned his head away from it. The serum became pitch black to consume the magic within whoever was injected with it. That's what it was doing to Gerard. It was turning his insides black.

Frank shut his eyes. Though he was in the compound's library, he was entirely alone. All of the other soldiers thankfully had better things to do. Frank, however, didn't.

He had been assigned to the rebel's interrogation for days now, and nothing had progressed. Gerard refused to give any useful information. Every time Frank used the magic suppression serum he felt sick to his stomach. Was it killing Gerard from the inside out? Did the black toxin infect more than just magic? Everyday Frank wished it had no effect at all.

"Force soldier."

Despite how he felt, Frank rose to his feet with the Captain's approach. Heels together. Left hand over his chest, balled into a fist. "Force Captain."

"At ease." There was no 'son' to lighten the command today. The captain did not look to be in a good mood. "Have you gathered any intel?"

"He's strong, sir." Frank responded, "Strong values and strong willpower. He refuses to give anything up."

"Have you been utilizing the tools at your disposal?"

Frank refrained himself from gulping. He had certainly been utilizing a tool at his disposal. The serum seemed painful enough on its own. "I've tried a few methods." He lied, praying he sounded convincing enough for the captain to believe him.

The captian eyed him for a moment before grunting. "Some of them are hard to crack at first." He muttered. "He's nothing special."

"Sir?" Frank wanted to leave. He wanted to just run and not stop. Though this interrogation was his ticket to a world beyond what he knew, was it really worth it?

"All shells can be cracked." The Captain said, putting his hands behind his back. "Even those that seem unbreakable." His eyes trailed down to the table where Frank's reading material still sat. "Ah, researching your methods?"

Frank nodded. "Just wanted to know exactly what I'm doing to him, sir."

The captain nodded. "Excellent. Never hurts to be informed." He brought his arm over his chest and made a small fist with his hand. "I'll leave you to it, but I expect a report by the end of the week."

Frank saluted back. "Yes, sir."

He remained standing as his father spun on his heel and made his way out of the library. Once he was gone, Frank crumbled in his chair. What was he going to do? Gerard refused to cooperate and the captain already wanted a progress report.

Frank put his head in his hands. He wasn't sure he was cut out for this job. Was it really worth it for a chance to leave the compound?..

---

Frank's report was due by the end of the day, and he still has nothing to report. He had administered the serum every day since his first interrogation of Gerard, but he couldn't bring himself to use anything else against him.

Before actually having to use them, Frank had felt a level of excitement over the interrogation tools. It was something exciting and new that could really make people talk. Now that they were actually within reach, however, they made Frank's skin crawl. They were really meant to be used on people? They were really permitted to divy out such pain to someone? It was inhumane, whether it be to a rebel soldier or force soldier.

Once again, Frank stood outside of Gerard's cell, looking at it all. He didn't want to do it. He didn't want to use any of the methods within the cabinet to unsuccessfully pull information from Gerard.

What if he decided to give up on the position? Just write in his report that he wasn't cut out for this. Let his father down. Let go of his dream so know the world outside.

Frank shut his eyes. He could picture the orange landscape so clearly, it was like he was actually standing in it rather than pulling the image from his memory. The winds sent up small flurries of sand that swept up towards Frank before shooting away. The air was cool, despite the landscape. It wrapped around Frank like a hug.

Frank opened his eyes, releasing himself from the image and feeling. It wasn't real. It wasn't real for him and it probably never would be.

He turned away from it, facing the cell door without anything in his hands. He reached out to open it, holding his head high despite having no real plan once he walked through it.

Gerard sat with his back against the wall. He watched Frank through the long strands of hair that hung in his face. Frank couldn't tell where exactly Gerard's eyes landed, but he knew the prisoner was regarding him with hate.

"Sorry I'm late." Frank stepped into the room, still unsure what he was going to do.

Gerard didn't speak. He just continued to keep his eyes on Frank.

Frank took another step into the room. What was he doing? He needed the serum to keep Gerard's magic at bay, yet here he was without it. He needed to get information for the captain's report, yet he had no method of persuasion. What could he do? Much to his, and he was sure Gerard's, surprise, he sat down.

"What are you doing?" Gerard asked. He tilted his head, but his hair still obscured his eyes from Frank.

Frank looked down before shrugging. "Haven't gotten that far yet."

Gerard snorted. "Great interrogation strategy."

Frank ignored the taunt in Gerard's tone. "Haven't had much of a strategy this entire time."

"Not something you want to tell your prisoner." Gerard was quick with his response. He was never so quick whenever Frank was trying to get information.

Frank avoided looking directly at Gerard. However, out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Gerard was growing more curious by the minute. Was this what he should have done all along? Going in empty handed without a plan... Was that a strategy?

"Not like you'll tell me anything useful." Frank finally brought his gaze up to Gerard's eye level. "Someone has to do some talking."

A small smirk drew across Gerard's lips. "Clever." He said simply.

"What?"

"To think you can lure truths past my lips by offering no stab in return." He gestured to Frank's empty hands, chains rattling as he did so. "Quite clever."

Frank felt his cheeks fill with heat. "Do you think that's my intention?" He snapped. "Do you think that I'm incapable of any kind of kindness or mercy? You think I want you dead?"

"Your cause certainly does." There was a cockiness to his tone that made Frank's blood boil. "Isn't that why your people landed here in the first place?"

Frank was in front of Gerard in seconds. He looked down at him, angry for people he didn't even know. "You know nothing of my people." Frank spoke eventually, despite how he felt inside. From his knowledge of the force's history, they had been lost in space for generations before finding planets to inhabit. Many harbored no intelligent life. Ones that did were greeted with peace and showed it in return. This planet, however, shared hostility in place of peace.

The force couldn't leave, unfortunately, due to lack of fuel and equipment to relaunch into the limitless space. Even communication with other worlds couldn't be achieved. Now, they were stuck in the deserts, trying to push back against rebels for any kind of resources to survive.

Gerard looked up at Frank, face full of defiance. "And you know nothing of mine."

Before Frank could react, Gerard swept his leg out, knocking Frank to the ground. He landed hard on his back, banging his head against the cement. Spots danced over his vision as he twisted onto his stomach to push himself up. He had made it just in time to see Gerard snap the chains that bound him to the cell.

Gerard seemed shocked, even through Frank's hazy vision. He looked at his hands in amazement before shifting his gaze to Frank.

"But...The serum..." Frank couldn't move. He couldn't seem to fully comprehend what was happening.

"It must be something in my blood." He said before doubling back and accelerating his fist toward Frank's face.