The news came from a couple of higher-ups. A Demicide in Zone Seven hadn’t occurred in ten years, let alone near the A.D.A. Headquarters. The way they described the scene already made Abel’s hands shake, but – to make matters worse - Kane had discovered the body.

The hours passed like days in Abel’s mind as he waited outside the interrogation division’s main office. His friend laid in there, surrounded by the cerebellum of Veritas, a tool crafted by the goddess Veritas to search someone’s memories for the truth. Abel shifted, his hands clambering together behind his back. The spotless white walls reflected his image as the ceiling towered overhead. He stared at himself. Though he held his form, his entire body fought the urge to curl up on the floor. He looked like a lost child.

Suddenly, the shifting of gears sounded to his right. The tempered glass door slid apart, revealing a man. No. His friend. Abel turned, his hands relaxing as his eyes met Kane’s gaze. Yet, as he stared ahead, Abel’s heart caught in his chest. Kane’s eyes had sunken in from lack of sleep. His posture stood stiff, but his face lacked all expression except a smile. The same smile he wore at the execution.

“Does anyone else know?” Kane asked.

“No. Only me and some higher ups.” Abel raised his eyebrows at the question.

“Good. I want the first go at them.”

“First go at who?”

“They’re back. The Demis are finally making their move just in time for our induction.”

Abel’s mouth couldn’t form the words or expression to meet with Kane’s remark. Kane’s smile hung in the air and brewed a powerful silence. Did it echo with excitement? Did it scream with hatred? It didn’t matter because Abel could see only one thing. The one thing he could always see. Pain lied behind his smile.

“Let’s go,” Kane said. “This is the first day of evaluations, and I’m not gonna let you get ahead of me.”

Abel mustered a pitiful smile as they walked off toward the locker room.

___

The smell of bleach coming from the rows of offices proved to be the only thing to throw the stillness in the air between them off. Even when they reached the cold, outside air, the silence still carried them forward. Not even the smell of fresh winter twisted Abel’s mouth open. If he tried, he bit his own tongue. With so much room for thought, not a thought blossomed between them. The only thought Abel had, one he did not share, was of Kane’s smile. How innocent it used to be. The smile which shone so bright whenever he beat Abel in a sparring session. The smile which glowed when they got into the A.D.A. Now, it sat upon his face, tainted by something. As if his mouth fell to some greater force. Why? Why did Abel cling to his smile? Maybe nostalgia groped at the pit in his stomach. Maybe longing clawed at his heart. Longing for the days when they used to dream. Maybe fear clung to his chest. Abel shook the thought from his head. Scared? Scared of his greatest friend?

Back in childhood, Abel used to see Kane walking home alone. Abel’s grandmother would pick Abel up from school in her old S.U.V., and they’d end up driving along the same road Kane would travel on. They’d always pass each other on a small bridge before turning off toward their different paths home. Abel would try to peek his head out the window, but Kane always ignored him, looking straight ahead. He looked lonely back then.

Abel told his grandmother he wanted to walk home, leaving out his reason. She said no at first, and Abel couldn’t blame her for the way the world worked, but he still attempted to reason with her. It took many attempts, but she eventually agreed.

There, on that desolate street, Abel would walk several yards behind Kane on their way home. Day after day, he’d try to inch closer, yet not once did Kane swing his gaze. Not once did he listen to Abel’s footsteps. He always looked ahead. It took three months to get Kane to acknowledge him. Abel had had enough. He screamed at Kane from several yards back. “Hey!” Abel’s voice echoed down the street. “What’s your name?” Kane stood stiff for a moment, still gazing ahead. Yet, upon that bridge, he finally turned for the first time and locked eyes with Abel. Silence. Then Kane did the only thing Kane would do. He turned around and kept walking. Abel didn’t let up. Every day, he’d walk the same path. Every day he’d ask his name.

Several more months passed. After a year of walking home and parting on that bridge, Abel’s hope waned. Giving up became less of an idea and more of a reality. Then, on a Tuesday evening in June, Kane turned around with a sigh. “Kane,” he said. “That’s my name if you wanted to know.” Abel had never smiled so wide.

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“Mine’s Abel.” Soon enough, they walked together, side by side. If Kane had left earlier, Abel would run to catch up to him. It didn’t take long for Abel to tell Kane about his grandmother, how good her food tasted, and how much he wanted to own a bookstore. It took time, but Kane too eventually spoke about his mother, about how much he wanted to join the A.D.A., about what happened to his father. Though Abel could tell Kane didn’t want him to notice, he would sometimes walk slower so Abel could catch up.

“Well, friends don’t just stop,” Abel said during one walk home.

“Stop what?” an innocent Kane said.

“Being friends. So, I’ll join you.”

“What do you mean, join me?”

“I’ll join the A.D.A. with you.”

Kane jumped back, nearly tripping. “Join? The A.D.A.? It’s dangerous though. You could get hurt or something.”

“Then,” Abel said, a gentle smile forming, “We’ll just have to keep each other safe.”

Kane stared at Abel, mouth agape. But, after a few moments, a sigh let loose from his lips and his bright smile shone for the first time. “Well, I would’ve loved to visit your bookstore.”

From then on, they’d start training by running home from school. A race like no other would spring forth from their elementary school gates. Next thing they knew, middle school had come. Then high school. And, slowly but surely, Kane would leave Abel in the dust. Never looking back. Where had his smile gone? The smile he wore whenever he beat Abel in a race? The smile which brought light into this dark world? The smile which reminded Abel of home?

Before Abel could finish his thought, a commotion flooded his ears. They had already made it to the locker room. It looked dystopian with its plain white walls and blue lockers. Heliograms floated near the ceiling with squad performance statistics etched into their blue frames. The white marble flooring made Abel’s feet tingle as they slid across the ground. It reeked of bleach and sweat.

“Late. Late. Laaaaaate,” Cale said as Abel and Kane marched toward their lockers to change into their black, skin-tight training suits.

“Hey,” Kane said, “didn’t you vomit in your own hand at the execution?” Abel couldn’t help but smile at the remark despite what had happened prior.

“I- uh. You know-“ Cale said.

“Got a dick in your mouth?” Rasheara asked from the front corner of the room.

“Only Kane’s,” Bracken said from the back of the room.

“You’re so lucky this place is co-ed, Rasheara,” Cale retorted. He slipped the black suit on, letting it slap against his skin.

“Yeah? I’m so confused. Was that like a threat?” She shrugged and let out a chuckle. Suddenly, a slap rang across the room. Abel turned just as one of the black suits snapped against Rasheara’s bare back.

“We are all above the age of twenty, top of our class, and yet we act so preposterously,” the woman behind Rasheara said.

“What the fuck? You literally just slapped me across the back with your suit.” Rasheara groaned, clawing between her long, dark hair at the red mark growing between her shoulder blades. She readjusted herself, attempting to play it off. She pulled the skin-tight suit out of her locker and slipped it over her slender frame.

“And who the hell says ‘preposterously’?” Bracken asked as he stretched his black suit over his muscular back and around his large shoulders. He had recently dyed his hair blonde.

“Yeah,” Rasheara said. “Who the fuck says ‘preposterously’, Carena?”

“I do. I think it a silly little word,” Carena said as she zipped up the back of her suit.

“You did not just say ‘silly little word’,” Cale remarked. He stretched back and forth in an inhuman motion. “That’s gotta be the most non-human phrase I’ve heard my entire life.”

“At least I did not suck Kane’s dick.” Carena flipped her blonde hair back and batted her blue eyes. Kane couldn’t hold in his laughter and spit out the water he drank all over Abel’s black suit. Abel stared at Kane, his mouth wide open. They both fell to the floor, laughing. Rasheara and Bracken followed, bending against the blue lockers as they tried not to cackle.

“What. The. Fu-“ Before Cale could finish, a voice came over the com at the top corner of the room.

“Squad 1-A, please quiet down. This is one of the last weeks of training that we get to spend together, and I’d prefer it not to be about people’s private parts.” Cale scowled. The others still tried to hide their laughter. Abel’s eyes met Kane’s. Even through the laughter, he could tell Kane’s eyes hid something. His mind ventured elsewhere.

“This is the day we finally get to spar with you. Right, Darrien?” Bracken asked. He fiddled with his ear studs, snapping them into place along the cartilage of his ears.

Smirks spread across the room. They had talked about the day they’d fight Darrien ever since they landed a spot in squad 1-A. A dream of sorts they all shared.

“No, actually.” Darrien chuckled over the intercom. He had led their squad since their entrance ceremony, yet he took no part in their final evaluation? Abel looked at Kane for an answer, but even he looked lost.

“Unlike the other units,” Darrien said, “we only prepare the best challenges for the top of the trainee division.” Shuffling came from the other side of the intercom. Darrien and someone else whispered to one another for a moment before all shuffling ceased.

The person on the other side cleared their throat. Before they could get a word out, Abel’s face lit up. He looked over at Kane, and, for a moment, his childlike smile returned.

“You all will be challenging me, you vicious bastards.” The deep voice echoed throughout the room, making Abel’s chest shake under its weight. The voice of a god. Off to Abel’s left, Kane uttered the god’s name with such excitement that Abel’s heart raced.

“Ares.”