At the end of the sixth round, everyone’s body parts were changed once again, except for Marc, who gained some live ire from one competitor, who inexplicably started to stoke up the audience.

-” Why are you untouched, boy”, asked with ire Allan Dumeris. He scowled and spitted, pointed at the Marcos, and demanded him to show them his new parts. “ He’s a faker, I tell you, " his voice short-circuited under Medusa’s gaze for a moment. Allan capitalized on it to leave and whisper something just for the boy. “ You’re their dog, aren’t you?”, before his demeanor turned back into a hounding heckler.

A panel with the public’s reaction surrounded the arena, taking Joni, the host, by surprise. He closed his holographic projection and yelled questions at the other CEOs, but they were just as shocked as he was.

???? -” I’m sorry sir, I asked sir Zude to do for me as a favor ”, came softly, but stoically from the front of a platinum door. “ I figured my son needed some…incentives after I read his latest reports”. Joni’s eyes shifted down towards the man, but his body tensed when his eyes met the Head Commissary.

Dressed in his official uniform, the officer stood out by his one distinctive cosmetical feature- Half of his face was hidden or replaced by a metallic mask, which resembled a feral, extinct animal, which was his family's symbol for ages.

-” Ah, Commissary”, replied Joni in a docile voice. Even though he was fuming just a few moments ago, the mere sight of the newcomer calmed down very quickly. “ I guess that’s fine then. Just don’t surprise me like that the next time, alright? So, is that all that brings you here?”

Commissary -” No, I actually wanted to give a report. We found the hideout of the latest fired and unemployed terrorist group, hidden at the edge of the lower level. I’ve dispatched my wife, husband, and eldest daughter alongside four security drones to deal with it. “

Joni -” Isn’t it a bit of an overkill? Well, whatever gets the job done. What about their smuggling operation of getting people out of the city?” Everyone heard that he became a different man while on the job, but it was quite a sight for the rest of the CEOs to see that Joni was competent as the face of the County's security forces.

Commissary -” The case was solved already- Just as suspected, most of them died on the road and whatever makeshift camp the remaining few built was destroyed during a scrap storm. With that, my report is done, so I wanted to ask a favor of you”.

This got Joni’s attention, as it was the first time the Commissary requested something like that from him.

-----

After leaving the arena, Marc joked that he wasn’t affected by what the public thought of him. He already got a job assigned to him, so “anything else is a distraction during your mission”, he repeated in his head, but his mantra was interrupted by staff members running around like madmen, asking for a peculiar-sounding name- “ Marchos, please tell us if you know someone named Marchos”;

The boy entered a dimly lit room, with no other persons inside of it, but he felt uneasy because he could tell that someone was in there. A short glimpse of the man hidden in plain sight made Marc come down on his knees, bow his head, and greet him with respect. A small chip was thrown toward him, which he quickly recognized as the security method used by his family to relay information, but he didn’t dare to lift his head.

A chair then swiveled, and its occupant waited for the boy to say something. Marc started to sweat, even shook a bit, as his father’s presence was the last thing he expected to see today. “ What did I do wrong that required him to be here?”, he panicked and thought to himself. The man turned his head a bit, and after figuring out what Marc was doing, had a little laugh at his expense.

Commissary - “ Oh, oh, you thought I was here to punish you or something? Oh, sorry my boy, I didn’t mean to scare you like that, my bad for not reading the room correctly”.

He jumped from his chair and gave Marc a strong, but gentle hug- “ We missed you so much back at home”, said the man softly. “ Now, stand up, it’s dusty on the ground. And have some drinks with your big father, I want to hear everything about your time here.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Marc -” Wait, so if it’s not for educational purposes, why are you here?” Marc’s terrified state was replaced with confusion.

Commissary -” Harsh parenting is done only in the most extreme cases, Marchos, you know that. I did chastise you a bit with the public’s reaction, though. I won’t apologize for it though, I figured you needed a bit of discipline for overlooking your mission.”

The man, even if unwillingly, came off menacing and disappointed, enough to make Marc’s arm hair rise a bit. “Still, if you consider your reports to be complete, we’ll leave it at that at the moment”. His father extended his arm toward him and helped him get back up. “ Now to why I’m here. Our previous job is done, and the next one will be to guard the central station of the Playground. I came a bit earlier, as I wanted to see you and prepare the security measures for the place.”

-” Ah, ok.", responded the boy normally." I have some questions. Why does that place need extra security and am I involved with it?”

Commissary -” No, no, no, we do this every year, it’s just standard procedure. And for now, just continue keeping an eye on the competitors and relay if any uhm, obvious, cheating is done. Oh, and please accept some cosmetic pieces from clinics, at least. We have to keep some appearances, right my son?” He waited for Marc to respond, but accepted his nod of compliance as well. Afterwards, the Commissary clapped his hands, pulled out some bottles from a counter, and told Marc that he just wants to “hear what my son has been up to.”

The boy took a seat next to his father and started to tell him about the people he met, what challenges he had to face, how much he hated sleeping on the rough ground of the Playground, but that he also enjoyed the experience. His father stood there, quietly, listened to him attentively, made little jabs from time to time, and just asked him little questions here, and there.

-“ Did someone grab your attention, by the way?”, he asked the boy, with a figurative double wink in his tone.

He was a bit shy at first, blushing a bit at the bluntness of the question, but he did want to talk about this with a person he trusted.

-” Well, I met this girl”, responded Marc slowly.

-” Yesss…”

-” And I think she’s cute, but…”

-” Yes?”

-” She’s, well, a wanted unemployed”.

-” Ooh”, reacted his father, who then took a silent pause to gather his words- “ Well, nothing that can't be fixed with some grease. And we can find her a job in the family, but it would be best to eliminate her from the competition as soon as possible then before the C.T.D-fication is done. “

Marc -” Well, I haven’t told her anything. All of our talks so far have been me threatening her and…that’s it. So I don’t know if she would like that.”

Commissary -” Nonsense, she will love you, trust me, how couldn't she? Just let me handle the situation- Affirmative, Marchos?”

Marc -” O-Affirmative, father.” He then wanted to bring up Savan’s and Angie’s conversion, if he could help them as well, but he dropped it, for now, thinking he could persuade him about them another time.

Since he also brought up the C.T.D., the wolf man pried regarding how many found out about it, and while Marc replied in an embarrassed tone, his father assured him that the numbers were still acceptable.

While unknown to the outside, every year the players find out the secret, but it’s nothing they couldn’t handle before, as he was the one who implemented the live editing system just for cases like this. “ Besides, by now some of them should start to become more susceptible to their benefactors' demands. Like, number 7 for example. The reason you found him on your scanners, even though Medusa can jam these kinds of signals, was because of a command from Zude. He really wants that crazy boy gone.”

The two spent the rest of the time talking about missions, and his father’s teachings, joking about it, but at the end, after the Commissary got up, he turned around to his son- “ I’m happy for you my boy, but remember that the mission comes first. If something happens that would make you unable to continue it, though, just don’t try to do it alone, rely on us as well. Your family is always there for you, remember that ok?”

After a small pat on his shoulder, the man left the room, leaving the boy in a melancholic, happy thought at the sound of that.

It wouldn’t last for long. As he traveled the hallway back to the waiting room, cries and wales, and other terrifying voices could be heard emanating from it. He knew that it meant some type of trouble, but the outcome wasn’t what he expected. With each running step, the screams got even louder. Then they stopped coming from multiple people to just a few, then one, from a man, who was crying over a still body.

The entire room was filled with cuts and disheveled as if a tornado came right through it. And two streaks of blood, from two participants, were sprayed on the floor, near where the two were struck. First came from Allan Dumeris, who was sitting lifeless on the ground and impaled in the wall by a claw-like object, which pierced his stomach, lungs, and heart.

Under the crying man, he first noticed the long hair of the other victim. Her lifeless eyes came in contact directly with Marc and he could see the now cold, lifeless eyes of Anna Drums, staring back at him.