Interlude 1

Newman sat in his cell. He had spent so long here it felt like. his hands were bound so he could not interact with anything and trigger his ability. His wrist were chained to the wall to keep any interaction with his palms.

He wondered how long he would spend like this. It wasnt his fault he was like this, it was that stupid Ice user. He was just robbing a bank, if it wasn't for the system he wouldn't have had to do that. They always made Mageye like him look worse than they are, it was their fault.

Yeah, he hurt people, murdered a few, but that was their fault. Those people could have changed things, but they let things continue as they were, they were worse than those that out right rejected him. They say that Sloth was the sin of inaction, and sins are things that send people to hell according to that old religious text. That means that those that refused to make a change for the Mageyes were bad people, and bad people deserved to die.

Not Newman of course, he was just doing what he could do to survive. Could you call someone a murder for killing in self defense? That doesnt make sense, that is just stupid, Newman was the victim here. It was that stupid snowflake guy, if he just left Newman alone he would be fine.

While Newman continued to ruminate on his imprisonment, a guard approached. He pressed several keys on the keypad to Newmans cell, letting the plexiglass panel slide after the seventh key. This caught Newman off guard, it wasn't time for him to eat or use the bathroom.

“You're being transferred.” The guard said. Several other guards came behind him with a long taser rod.

Newman smiled. “Oh where am I going now? Could I ask to go somewhere warmer, maybe somewhere like Orlando, feel like I would fit in perfectly there.”

“Shut it.” The guard said, loosening the chains on his wrist to transport Newman.

Newman did not resist as they pushed him forward. The tasers were kept close to him, incase of a miss step they viewed as a threat. They were the worst, they assumed Newman would try to hurt them rather than trust that he wouldn't. What benefit would he have to attack? With all the armed guards around he would be shot dead in no time. Assumptions like that proved how terrible these Normies were. Stupid humans, expecting the worst of Mageyes.

He was left in a holding room, staring at a large garage door. After a moment it opened to reveal a holding van. A door sat at the far end of the van that opened to reveal a guard with oldly gray hair for his middle aged appearance. He had a hard jaw with hints of a stubble.

The guard looked over Newman. “Where is the other one?”

“Hold your horses.” The guard who watched Newman with the taser rod said. “He's almost here.”

The other one ended up being someone Newman knew well. Harris was bound tightly with steel bands that held his arms behind his back. He spotted Newman and smiled.

“Well hey looks like they got you boss.” Newman laughed.

Harris looked at the truck driver then gave Newman a smirk. “Yep, shortly after you.”

“Quiet, in the van.” The taser guard said. The driver was given some paperwork and left to return to the driver seat.

Newman was chained to the wall, Harris joining him.

“Guess we are special.” Newman said as the van began to depart.

Harris stared at the floor of the truck, then started laughing violently. What was so funny? They were being transferred to probably a worse prison, they were probably going to be tortured for information about other ACO members. Yet, Harris kept laughing more and more. It was getting uncomfortable.

“Okay seriously what is so funny.” Newman said angrily, trying to kick out at Harris.

“Right, you wouldn't have recognized him.” Harris said.

“Who?” Newman said.

“You weren't allowed into the high meetings. So you wouldn't recognize the driver.” Harris laughed.

Newman eyed the driver. “What is with him?”

The van came to a halt, then the driver came into the back with his two prisoners.

“The Tree has been impressed by you two.” The Driver said. “You should be honored.”

“The tree?” Newman asked.

The driver removed the police hat from his head and pulled a small tablet from his pocket. After a moment, Newman felt a sharp tingle from his mark.

“Your mark has been shut off.” The driver said, then undid Newman’s chains. Once Newman was released and was able to scratch the itch on his palm the Guard moved to release Harris.

“So what now?” Harris asked.

“They want to move on to the next stage, you both will be needed.” The guard said.

“What is going on here?” Newman asked.

The guard turned to Newman. “I apologize. You may call me Armaldo, as of today you will both be working with me.”

“And what exactly will we be doing?” Newman asked.

Armaldo smiled. “We will be causing some trouble, didnt you know?”

Newman smiled. “Alright, where are we going?”

Armaldo smiled wider. “You will see soon enough.”