(Recruitment Program Soldier's Uniform Above)

"Welcome to the recruitment program soldiers. First thing's first; get to know your equipment and weapons. You were all once Apex soldiers so it is assumed that all of you are able to shoot a target using whatever weapon provided. Here, we have the following weapons; retractable knives, different Glock guns –or pistols, machine guns, shotguns, Snipers, Laser guns, Tasers, bow and arrows with a variety of arrow head that bear a different effect than the other, shock ropes and even dart guns –you never know what you might run into out there. This -." the woman in white said, pausing as she picked up a device shaped almost like the usual e-p receptor but with a curved hook like shape extension that curled next to the lady's cheek with the end close to her mouth.

It was clearly meant to be a microphone. The device also had a vertical pole like structure that stood right behind the cheekbone –or in front of the ear. The pea shaped part in the middle was stuffed in the ear; just like the e-p receptor.

"-should be on at all times during the hunt for recruits. Tap the middle section of this," she pointed at the vertical device, "-which triggers a syringe that pokes through your temple and manipulates the eye -depending on which side you wear the device- in a way that makes it easier for you to identify alien species during a hunt. It will help you tell apart the aliens from the humans. The curve acts as a microphone; it simply amplifies your voice when you speak. The pea-sized part goes into the ear for communication. It picks up signals from the rest of its kind from as far as 200 miles away." She finished before pulling off the device and setting it back on the table.

She then swept her gaze around the room,

"Does anyone have a question?" She asked.

"Exactly how long will we be out there?" Someone asked from the back.

"You will be out there from six am till one pm where you will report back to base for your lunch as well as dropping off recruits. After which you will resume the search until as late as midnight where you will call it a day. Recruitment begins tomorrow morning."

"Do we get to pick our own weapons?"

She smiled tightly at whoever asked that. "Unfortunately no, they will be picked for you due to uniformity. Everyone is required to pass by here to pick up the selected weapons."

"Will this be a daily thing?"

"Excluding Mondays." Was her short answer.

"Has it occurred to you that this program makes it easier for someone to escape the Centre?"

Ryker didn't have to turn back to know who asked that question. The voice was familiar to him. Gunner however scowled and turned on his seat, glaring at Kace; in time to see the knowing look he sent at the back of his little brother's head. Kace met Gunner's gaze with a smirk,

"What? Relax Gunner, it's just a question." He taunted, his smirk widening.

"No one will-." the lady begun, but was cut off.

"Wouldn't want him to try it again." a new voice said beside Kace.

Gunner frowned, "What -?"

"Such a thing will not happen!" The lady exclaimed, before clearing her throat and wiping away the panic written so clearly on her face.

Ryker narrowed his eyes; as did Gunner, at her reaction to what Kace's friend said. His words rang in his head;

-Wouldn't want him to try it again.

Did that mean what he assumes it to be?

..Makes it easier for someone to escape the Centre

Wouldn't want him to do it again

His frown deepened. Someone had tried running away? Could it have been him? Did he get caught? Was this the reason why the council had his memories wiped? The reason why they tested his loyalty? But Gunner's memories had been wiped too.

His loyalty as well as Kace's own was tested. How much had the council done to Gunner? What else are they hiding? What else were they planning to do to them? He let out a sigh and ran a hand down his face, his jaw jumping before he realised himself and got back to his stoic façade.

"-trackers; yet another reason why you should have this device on at all times during the search. If turned off, headquarters will find out immediately and result to implanting trackers in your arms. We are giving you all a choice to decide whether or not they should implant the trackers in your arms." The lady finished.

"You hear that Ryker? So don't even think about screwing the-."Kace's idiotic friend begun but Ryker didn't let him finish and brought his head back, colliding with the guy's nose so hard, the guy almost fell backwards off his seat.

He groaned in pain, letting out a lovely string of curses aimed at Ryker who turned his head, almost smiling as he watched the guy cradle his bleeding nose with watery eyes,

"What?" Ryker asked unamused; bored and his face as stoic as ever.

Jax shook his head and turned his gaze away from Ryker's brown one, his jaw pulsing. Satisfied, Ryker turned back to the woman, ignoring the looks from the many curious eyes around. She blinked,

"A-anyway, If there are no more questions then you are d-dismissed," the human stuttered, "oh, except um-" she paused, looking at the tablet in her palm, "except for Agents Jax, Gunner, Kace and Ryker."

Of course he was included, Ryker thought gritting his teeth. He was slowly beginning to hate this place by the second. As the rest shuffled out of the room, Ryker leaned back on his seat and shut his eyes. Immediately he did, a figure clouded his mind.

It was a young female, but she was a blur. She was tall with white hair and a slim but slightly curvy body. She wore a white shirt and black, fitting pants. Her face was blurred but he could tell she was smiling because of the noticeable lift of her cheeks. Just as she had appeared, she was gone. He almost groaned because this wasn't the first time this happened to him.

She haunts his dreams as well. Sometimes there is a man standing by her side. He's taller than her, averagely built and muscular and with white hair. His shirt was, however black; a black thermal shirt.

'Did we have parents, Gunner?' He asked before realising how stupid his question was. Of course they did. Otherwise they wouldn't exist, let alone be alive.

'I mean do you remember them?'

Gunner hesitated, taking his time to ram through his mind for something, anything about his parents but came up empty. He frowned,

'Unfortunately, no, I don't. Why?' He asked, curious.

Ryker opened his eyes just as the council member walked in looking as smug as ever. He narrowed his eyes at them,

'The council wiped our memories.' He admitted, his jaw jumping.

Gunner tried his best to keep his emotions in check when he followed Ryker's glare to the council. His own teeth gritted and his hands curled into fists beneath the desk in front of him.

'How did you find out?'

'I overheard them. When I was leaving the top floor yesterday.'

'And you tell me this now?'

"Sorry we're late. Let's get this down," One of the members said, but neither Ryker nor Gunner paid any attention to him; only glared at their desks.

'I had my reasons for not telling you sooner.'

'Which were?' Gunner pressed on, unimpressed that he had willing to keep this from him; his sudden anger traveling across their link to Ryker.

'That's not important. I'm telling you now aren't I?' Ryker said, finally looking up and meeting the unfortunate council member that sat in front of his narrowed eyes.

She blinked numerously, her eyes immediately darting away from him.

'This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you.' Ryker continued, sneaking a glance at his brother; feeling his pulsing anger.

Gunner shut his eyes and leaned his head back, resting it on top of his seat and he sunk low on it. Ryker took the chance to turn his head in his direction. He looked at his brother's face before looking away and cutting off the link; overwhelmed by his foul emotion.

"-what why? What did I do?" Jax argued, catching Ryker's attention.

"It isn't what you did, but rather, what you said. You will be notified when you will resume being a member of this program. You are dismissed."

Gunner kept his eyes closed, containing himself as he cursed the council in his head. Ryker kept his gaze on the ground as Jax rose to his feet, grumbling under his breath.

"Oh, and do get that nose checked, it appears to be broken," Gregory; the man responsible for their lost memories, adviced.

Ryker remembered him from yesterday. He was the one that deemed him as his favourite As if this were a game he was playing and Ryker just so happened to be his favourite character.

"Are we a bore to you, Agent Gunner?"

Ryker snapped his head up at however said that; it was an aging man. He was scowling at his brother, his lips pulled down in disapproval. He narrowed his eyes at him; biting his tongue and preventing himself from snapping at him.

Where was this anger coming from? He wondered before looking at Gunner who had his knuckles turned white because of clenching his fists too hard.

"Indeed, you are." Was Gunner's straight answer. Ryker had a feeling he wanted to say more.

He leaned back, brushing his arm against his brother's; keeping the contact as a way to calm him down.

'Careful.' He warned, turning back to the council members.

Someone cleared their throat and a voice continued, "Moving on. Agent Kace, congratulations on being General."

"Thank you." Kace said, gruffly, not at all sounding thrilled.

"Report to Grace –the receptionist by the main entrance. She has clear instructions to help you get the Team's badges as well as the new uniforms. Everyone is to wear black with only the pants bearing camouflage print. She will instruct you further."

"Right away, Miss." Kace said respectfully before shuffling on his feet and leaving the room.

"Finally, Agents Gunner and Ryker," she paused, waiting as Ryker slowly lifted his gaze to her –against his better judgement, and as Gunner finally opened his eyes but made no move to straighten up.

The lady then nodded at Gregory who stood up with a bunch of files in his hand and shut the door with his foot. He stopped in front of them. Ryker's eyes narrowed. Gregory lifted the files,

"These," he paused, his gaze darting between the both of them, "should be your first priority." he continued before dividing the files into three; holding three in his left hand and three in his right before he dropped them simultaneously in front of the brothers.

They didn't lowered their gazes to them; only kept their eyes on the man. Ryker licked his lips, the urge to pounce on him and throttle the man to death growing stronger by the second.

"-you have been given the task of finding and capturing those six profiles in front of you. We want them alive; everything about them has been indicated in their respective files. How they look, their enhanced abilities, their height, eye colour, health status, age, IQ; everything. Find them, and bring them back home. They are probably together so that makes this easier for you." He ordered, leaning on the desk behind him and crossing his arms.

"These files are confidential; this assignment is secret; tell no one and show no one. We apparently have a mole with us." A different member insisted, mumbling the last part. Gregory looked at the brother's for a moment longer than necessary before he wordlessly walked out of the room. The others followed not too far behind him.

Ryker looked around for cameras, his fingers itching to cause damage to something. There weren't any, but he couldn't take any chances. He looked at his brother who was staring at the door, scowling.

Gunner suddenly stood up and gripped his share of the files hard and wordlessly walked out. Ryker did the same but kept his distance, not wanting to aggravate him more. A part of him was actually curious about these files.

He wanted to find out who these people are and more specifically, why he and his brother are supposed to,

'bring them back home,'

🔱🔱🔱

"Hey." She greeted and walked towards him with a glass of water held in her hand.

Ditrix looked up momentarily before turning back to his game, his face blank. He froze, blinked and looked at her again,

"I-Hey." he stuttered, taken aback by the fact that she was starting up a conversation with him.

"Aren't you going to bed?" Ziera asked, tilting her head slightly to the side; a thing she does when she's trying to figure something out.

Ditrix shrugged. "I will." was all he said; too engrossed in the game –or at least, that's what it seemed to Ziera. Little did she know that she had his fully undivided attention; he was actually dying in the game.

"We don't talk often, do we?" She asked, making her way towards the black couch and setting herself next to him.

Ditrix stiffened slightly and failed –miserably to ignore her presence and close proximity,

"I guess not." He confirmed, licking his lips and training his eyes back at the screen; restarting the mission.

"How are you holding up?" Ziera asked, watching the screen as he shot at an unsuspecting soldier.

"I'll live." he said ironically.

Ziera's lips twitched before noticing the other controller sitting on the table in front of them. She looked at it momentarily before reaching for it; only intending to examine it. She frowned, turning it about in her. The corner of Ditrix's lips curled up as he watched her cutely try to figure the controller out.

"Do you want to play?" He asked, hoping like hell she'd say yes. Who knows when he'd have another moment with her?

She looked up at him, her black eyes searching his maroon ones as she considered it. Her lips parted,

"I would but," she paused causing Ditrix's heart to sunk, "I don't know how to."

"Neither did I the first few times. I could teach you."

She seemed wary but eventually nodded and scooted closer towards him. Ditrix then explained to her the controls; how to aim, how to shoot, how to crouch for cover, how to change weapons, how to reload and how to pan the camera. She looked up at him, completely taken aback by all the new information,

"How am I supposed to remember all that?" She pondered, her eyes slightly wider than usual.

He couldn't help the grin that escaped from his lips, "You'll get the gist of it eventually." he said before changing the game setting to two layers then restarted.

"Wait -." Ziera begun but it was too late. The mission started.

She blinked and shot everything on her path. This went on for a couple more rounds before they decided to call it a night.

🔱🔱🔱

"Ryker!" Someone called as he was just about to walk into his chamber.

He turned with a frown, meeting a very exhausted male with red hair and eyes a unique, rarely seen shade of green. He stopped in front of a shirtless Ryker who only had a towel around his waist.

The gut straightened up and handed him the clothes he had holding. They were covered by a clear plastic bag. Ryker looked at the clothes then at the guy before tilting his head slightly to the side. The stranger stared back, confused but realising he hadn't explained why he just handed him clothes,

"Oh! They're the new uniforms for the soldiers in the recruitment program. These are yours and Gunner's set."

Ryker nodded and walked into his chamber, closing the door behind him. The guy blinked before he shrugged and walked away. Gunner was still in the shower so Ryker got dressed into his.

The shirt was long-sleeved and completely black, fitting him like a glove. He wore the black tactical vest over the shirt and pulled on the pants with the infamous camouflage print on it followed by a simple black belt that came along with uniform.

The boots were black with black laces. The 'jacket' was actually a -surprise surprise- black hoodie. He frowned wondering whether wearing the shirt, the vest and the hoodie was necessarily. Was it that it would be cold or was it just the official uniform?

Just then, the metal door swung open and Gunner walked in, a massive frown on his face. Ryker raised a brown at his expression before remembering that his emotions had been tampered with and therefore paid no attention to it.

Instead, he reached for his tag and stuffed it in his pocket not entirely sure whether or not he should wear it. Gunner grabbed his clothes and put them on, pausing when he reached for the hoodie before he slowly lifted his gaze at Ryker who shrugged and grabbed his own. The both of them then walked out the door with the hoodie in their hands and their tags stuffed in their pockets.

They made their way to the resource Centre where they were to get their weapons as well as the communication device. Pushing the door open, they were surprised to find the others already armed and ready to go; despite the fact that they were to leave in five minutes or more.

"Glad you could finally join us," was Kace's hello.

Ryker and Gunner grabbed their weapons; a dart gun, a retractable knife, a machine gun or a sniper and the communicator; paying no attention to what Kace had said.

Seeing as the others had their hoodies on with the tags, the brothers did the same then each took a holster from a cabinet at the corner of the room where the dart gun would go, strapped the machine gun over their shoulder and put the retractable knife in their back pocket.

By the time they were done, it was time to go. Putting the communicator in, the team walked out with Kace in the lead and Ryker and Gunner at the back, away from their arrogant leader. After months of pondering and guessing, they would finally be able to see what's behind the walls of the Centre.

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