Insert cool cybertytle

A deafening roar, louder than a thousand simultaneous thunderclaps, and an explosion, brighter than the sun, echoed through the vast, barren land. The area of the chaos was vast, and all that remained was arid wasteland, along with the rubble of the buildings that existed just a moment ago, just before the explosion.

What had once been a placid, quiet village was disrupted by a something with such power, there was no other choice but to terminate the whole city. To destroy it all.

For the few moments following the detonation, it almost sounded peaceful.

Complete and absolute silence, a hush of every misunderstanding to pass and come. A quiet that seemed to last forever. Of course, unfortunately, this wasn't the case.

A figure, no taller than 5'9, stood about a minute away from the explosion, holding a red device that seemed to have caused it. He had a black long-sleeved shirt, followed with black sweatpants with two white lines down the sides, indicating he was a Second-Class Liquidator. He had grey, transparent glasses with green, glowing buttons on the sides of the lenses. He had been assigned the name August when he was 5, and was unsure of his real name. His real name, before the Society had rose into power.

He gazed back, back at a village that he had once considered his home. A place unrecognizable now, blood pooling off shattered concrete that had once housed families, the sky a vortex of every grotesque hue imaginble. An abscence of life so uncomfortable it would've made anyone collapse, not of fear, but of pure despondancy.

August's eyes shifted to what he thought could've been a woman, perhaps, lying in the rubble, bathing in a pool of red. He almost felt bad for the woman. She could've had a family, she could've had such a bright future. But it was too late to do anything about it now.

As sorrowful as it is to just leave her there, August thought, this is just part of the job. Part of the test. If they consider me inadequate to serve, I might as well be dead in their eyes. It's too late to do anything anyway.

He turned around, leaving the helpless individual to die. He sauntered back to his motorcycle, trying his hardest to appear unfazed.

Showing even the slightest bit of Emotion was forbidden, abiding to Rule 34 of The Society. There was no Emotion. Emotion tempted people to do vile, cruel things. Emotion interfered with the growth of humanity. More importantly, Emotion had killed the Eldest, the most important person of The Society, all those years ago. Hence, rules were put in place accordingly.

He never questioned it. Nobody did. The Rules were above anything else.

But as much as he had hated these rules, there were no other options. People had to die in order to have, well, Order.

August had mounted his motorcycle, preparing to abandon the site. But for just a split second, it appeared that the woman had vanished into thin air. Vaporized. Gone. August must not have seen it, or maybe he even tried to ignore it, because, as if nothing had happened, he headed back to the municipal. He had to get there before the Chief Liquidation Officer, the Chief of the Official Liquidation Department (No shit, what else would he be chief of? August thought, but he wouldn't dare even think of saying that out loud. And to his misfortune, it was common courtesy to restate the title of their commanding officer in casual speech. Abbreviations did not exist in the Society, as it was considered "an attempt to be excused early.")

After pulling into the driveway of the Annex, where their offices were located, he found himself searching for his partner, Tori Fransque. She was a goodie-two-shoes, always found abiding to the Rules. His eyes grazed the building until he saw her, and she waved at him from the second floor.

Tori looked no older than 16, and maintained short, wavy blonde hair. She wore a black sweatshirt on as well, and black shorts, only her shorts had only one line, indicating she was a First-Class Liquidator. As much as it pained August to admit, Tori was way better in combat than him against Jinxes, another name for powerful spirits. Lost in thought, he hadn't noticed Tori had moved from the second story and was standing right next to him.

"August! You're......late." He jumped.

His expression drained. Right. August remembered; He might've stopped halfway through the drive for a quick bite– Twice.

"Sorry, there were a bunch of ...Juveniles trying to find their uhh.. education center...and I had to ..lead them to it.. you know how they can get!" August lied. He had a faint smile, but was sure his story was believable, to some extent. Maybe if August had checked the time beforehand, he would have known that the Juveniles aren't released until 3 hours later.

Tori's foot tapped against the stone floor, clearly not buying the story he had made up. She sighed, and quickly had aerified his motorcycle without him even realizing. Tori was born with the ability to vaporize and remake anything at will, and this was considered a high-class ability. That ability was probably a factor of why she was promoted to first-class in the first place. August was born with a special-class ability, but it had vanished after the Socie–

"Are you even listening to me August?"

Breaking free from the second haze of the day, he looked at Tori with a confused expression on his face, followed with a fake look of understanding. "Why wouldn't I be listening to you?"

"Because if you were listening, you would know that the Chief Liquidation Officer, Chief of the Liquidation Department, asked for you personally."

..."Wait, what? Like..now?" His life flashed before his eyes. The Chief has never asked for anyone in-person, like, ever. If you ask me, bro is slimed into the infinity 😰

"You're unbelievable, August." She had scoffed and trotted away.

August mounted his bike, but fell instead onto straight concrete instead. Wha–? Oh yeah. Stupid aerify.

"Hey, can I have my bike back Tori?"

Tori had looked back, scoffed again, and materialized his bike . His bike had reappeared. He had mounted it a second time, and this time he didn't fall.

Upon leaving the Annex, he had come to realize he didn't even know where the Chief resided, and he hadn't listened when Tori had told him.

I don't feel like getting yelled at again by my Partner. I'll see if i can return, and hopefully the rest of the Liquidation Officers are more leniant.

He had barely gotten to know any Liquidators, aside from a third-class named Harvey. Harvey was somewhat annoying, but a good friend nonetheless. He had decided on asking Harvey to lead him, it was just a quick favor.

After wandering around the Annex, trying not to get caught by Tori, he had finally found Harvey's office. Harvey was a scrawny 15 year old, fresh out of the Education Center, with short brown hair. He had a black T-shirt on, since he had no Assignments for the day.

"Oh... hey whats up Augustus!"

He had hated that nickname, but now was not the time for conflict.

"Do you know where the Chief Liquidation Officer, Chief of the Liquidation Department is?"

...

"The...What? Why? D-did he actually call you?" Harvey looked as if he had seen 5 ghosts on a trapeze, each balancing an egg on their chin. The Chief was one of the highest members of their Society, aside from the Eldest.

"Yes, he called me. I don't know what for though. Can you lead me there or not?"

"..I mean.. okay.." Harvey looked apprehensive about it.

Whoosh.

August had suddenly appeared in front of the Chief's dwelling. Harvey had the ability to run at impossible speeds, but it drained him of power so much that, with his current skill level, he could only use it once a day.

The Chief's dwelling was a large shack, lazily painted a light sky blue. The cobalt door was about 5'11, barely grazing August's hair. The dwelling was more tall than it was long, maybe had 2 stories, but there were no windows to confirm. It had a slanted deep blue roof, and it appeared the house was made of wood

He knocked on the door, and immediately the Chief answered.

"Thank you, Chief Liquidation Officer, Chief of the L- "

A sudden hush fell over him. and he realized he was unable to move his mouth. He realized now that he had no control over any of his body, and it started walking inside and towards a chair, seemingly on its own. The chief sat down too, and August felt control of his body again once he settled. It seemed that the chief could control people as he pleased, and was very good at it.

"Do you know why I called you up here, August?" The Chief asked, quite politely for someone of that much power.

"No, but thank you really, Chief of the L–

"Call me Azuris."

"Okay.. thank you.., Azuris." August corrected himself. He had no clue what he was going to be told next. Was he getting kicked out? Or worse, maybe they couldn't see him fit to serve anymore. That was the worst fate for anyone to endure. They were sent Away. Away from the Society.

"August, do you remember the power you had when you were just a boy? The one we had told you was special grade?" Azuris asked.

"Yeah, but I don't have it anymore. I lost the ability when I was 5 years old, and–"

"Its about time i told you why the Society took it."

Took it?

"Before the Society was official, you were just Two. You had the ability to summon and channel Jinxes, and this ability was one of the most powerful we had seen in a long time. Sometimes, when you would get frustrated, you would summon a Jinx with your strong emotions. You were just two, so we couldn't really do much to stop it. Your jinxes were weak, and it was easy to manage."

"Do you remember when the newfound Society had come into play? When they had separated you from your mother?

"Your emotions that day were so strong, it channeled a real Jinx. You didn't conjure it, but your energy was so powerful it must have attracted it. That Jinx went on to kill 15 valued societal members of our city, one of which was the Eldest. Ill never forget that day. " The Eldest the most powerful member of the entire city died... because of me?

"That was the day we decided on enforcing stricter policies. Emotion causes harm. Emotion is the source of the Jinxes' power. So once the Society had completely rose, we removed as much emotion as possible, keeping just a little bit to make us human.

"After thorough evaluation, we decided on confiscating your power until we saw fit. But now, The Society is in grave dangee. We have finally decided you are ready to handle this power. Do you think you can handle it?"

...

"Wait, what?"

August stared at him in disbelief. His eyes were open wide, and he had goosebumps on his back. He felt something, something he hadn't yet before. A mix of despair and confusion, sadness and anger at himself. Had he caused all this?

Azuris gave him a longing but slightly impatient look. He started speaking, but the words didn't register. His upbringing had been completely erased. The Eldest hadn't died from too many emotions. He had died because of August... or because of the Society? He didn't know who to blame.

Im sure this is just a test, to test my ability to stay calm. He must be lying. This is a test, to see if i am fit to serve our Society. I knew it.

But the more he spoke, the more August had believed it.

It was true.

I was the one who killed the Eldest all those years ago.

August hadn't realized that the chief had stopped speaking, and was looking at him, waiting for an answer.

"Okay..I'll do it" He finally blurted out.