Once inside the cell block 2, everybody got in their cells.

  The guards also tied every prisoner to the bars using handcuffs.

  Just why so much trouble? But the answer arrived quickly.

  Some people with cameras were recording the prison, taking quick recordings of each place.

  It was probably political propaganda.

  Nothing new, so the prisoners were willing to collaborate, so they could return to their routines.

  The recording was done quick, and in just a few minutes they left.

  The guards, however, left too, without releasing the prisoners from the handcuffs.

  Some prisoners complained but were silenced by the guards on the upper floor.

  They left only the base floor, as for the upper floor, they still kept their usual patrolling.

  After one hour, they were still tied by handcuffs to the bars.

  "Damn, I was supposed to get my money today" Claire kept sending money to Mike using the non-official channels in the prison, the ones made by the big bosses of the prison.

  Also, he sometimes used the channels made by the guards to receive money, none of those were exactly the right procedure,

  But nobody cared for it.

  Even so,

  His worry was the money; usually, the guards take the money if it is not claimed after a certain time.

  Aside it,

  They also charge a certain high fee for transactions.

  But that's how things worked in the prisons in Aether.

  Just while he was thinking about the usual trivial stuff, the loud "beep" made by the door awakened all in their cells from their world of thoughts.

  They were finally thinking they should be released into the yard.

  But it looked like there was no hope of it.

  From the door, some people were getting escorted by the guards.

  Mike quickly identified them.

  "That must be the warden, given his face without mask, everybody here knows about him"

  He already knew who the prison warden was.

  "That one with the mas has a higher status than the other guards, is a high-rank soldier, I already meet him before"

  However, he was just losing time in his mind, he already saw the one getting escorted, the one who probably would not need escorting after all.

  "And those are some journalists, accompanying Kat in the center"

  He quickly dismissed the importance of it, she usually hated everyone, or maybe that was her personality.

  Whatever the case, she would do nothing for him.

  Why would she try to help him? Or better said, why would she try to talk to him?

  They were no co-workers anymore, and just when he saw her, their eyes met,

  But she quickly withdrew the gaze, and returned to the talk with the journalist.

  Like the typical "Not my problem".

  He was already expecting something like that.

  They left not much after that.

  Kat never looked at Mike ever again, and he didn't mind.

  As it was not her problem, she was not Mike's problem too.

  After some more minutes, the guards took them free from their cells,

  But the event wasn't over yet.

  They were taken with the handcuffs holding hands and were put on iron legs too.

  All of those, antiPhySEC materials.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  They even met with the ones from before (those at the game in the yard court) and arrived at an auditorium.

  There were no chairs, and the guards would not let them sit on the ground.

  Mike's only worry was to end this quickly.

  Not long after, the warden and some other people made the announcement.

  "Prisoners from cell block number two from the spartan prison" Said the warden "All of you from cell block 2, hold supernatural abilities, known by the world as PhySEC abilities"

  The warden was just stating well-known things in front of the camera, he introduced himself in a very formal yet boring manner.

  Most prisoners were already tired of the pointless words.

  But then the warden finally started talking about the main topic.

  "...The friends from the Golden Corps, recently formed, are in need of help. Those prisoners who desire to shorten their sentence have hopes. Because you can still get back to the right path"

  The warden finished speaking and introduced one of the guests to explain the situation.

  Most people there got interested.

  They were, mostly, innocents.

  So, the last part only made them curse the warden in their minds, they've been always on the right path.

  Anyway, the rest of the words caught their attention.

  Free from prison? And more to it, the Golden Corps? While most of them thought bad about the politicians,

  They still held hopes for that company.

  Nobody liked things coming from the current government.

  But the Golden Corps were made by Rose Slades, the only person in the country most people thought of as a saint.

  However, while they were excited to hear the words from the representative of the Golden Corps, two persons there had different reactions.

  One was Mike, he had no need to work his ass just to reduce his sentence that was already short.

  And the other one was Oliver, making a strange face, between sour and angry.

  He never told Mike what was the deal that happened with Rose, neither tried to pry into his situations.

  The Golden Corps representative was a young man.

  He talked about the Corps and so on.

  The ability users' mercenary organizations were not tied to just one country, they were mostly international organizations.

  The same applies to the Golden Corps, but sometimes some of those corps are deeply tied to one country to a certain extent,

  Like in this case.

  He also told the specifics about the service necessary to shorten their sentence, and after some minutes gave his farewell.

  "Those interested in knowing more about it and joining the corps, follow the guards on your right" The guard in charge told all the prisoners and most of them rushed to line up.

  They felt no need to explain anything about those who didn't want to be part of it.

  But the guard saw Mike and Oliver not moving.

  Mike made hand signals.

  "We ... don't want ... be part of it", and the guard understood it quickly.

  But instead of saying something to it or getting angry, he got close to them and instructed them to follow him.

  They two got guided back by the high-rank guard and other two guards.

  "Why don't you two want to be part of it? Not gonna lie, is not a dream job, but still..."

  "I was imprisoned here thanks to one that works there. So no, thanks" Said Oliver without any fear or doubt.

  The high-rank guard didn't mind it, he already knew something about the innocents in the prison, there were no saints between the high ranks after all.

  He looked at Mike, waiting for his answer.

  "Prisoners released to work for ability user mercenary corps... funny. I made training with three international ones, no need to convince me."

  His words implied two possibilities, and the guard understood both of them quickly.

  They were sent directly to their cells again.

  They did not talk once inside their cells.

  Even the guards left without uttering a word.

  "What do you mean by prisoners working for mercenary corps?" Asked Oliver.

  "...Once you have a criminal record, you can't be fully a mercenary" Mike said in a nostalgic yet regrettable voice "It is not uncommon to use prisoners, but there is more risk than usual, plus, no matter what, your reputation once ruined is ruined forever"

  Oliver understood the first part, there must be something more to it than meets the eye.

  As for the second, the reputation thing was mostly like Mike's regret, something personal, but it had more meaning attached to it.

  After an hour, a guard got into the cell block again.

  "Mike Blood"

  "That's me"

  "Follow me" The cell door opened.

  He was guided to hallway after hallway as usual.

  But at some point, he was guided to the upper floor.

  On the upper floor, the hallway style was somehow different.

  He was dragged into a room, and in there he saw only a woman, Kat.

  "I think you got it wrong, I don't know her, take me back" But just as he was mid-sentence, the guard already closed the door and left him there.

  "Hello, lady, can I help you with something?"

  "...Why are you here? And why did you reject being part of the Golden Corps"

  "Is not my fault but the world's" He said, but again, mid-sentence he was interrupted.

  Anyway, he finished his words despite it.

  "Be serious, and answer"

  "Serious answer, one you will never hear from me again after it: actually I know what a prisoner-mercenary means, don't take me like an idiot. Why? Will you help me get out of my problems? Funny"

  Mike could not become a full mercenary if was once a prisoner.

  So why care about the reduced sentence if the sentence was already short?

  There was nothing to gain from it,

  Or so he thought.