I wake up with a bitter aftertaste in my mouth and the side of my face aching. My eyes flit open and I take in the white tiled floor that I have been lying on for God knows how long. 

My jaw aches and saliva has dripped down my chin and pooled on to the floor. I force myself to get up, my arms shaking as I push myself up from the hard floor. I wipe my chin and look around at the four clear walls that have me encased in something like a holding cell. 

There is a small seat fitted to one of the walls and I use it to help me to my feet. This glass room must be about two metres in width and length. It takes me all but a few steps to reach each wall. 

 My fingers traverse the smooth clear glass, searching for a break, a line or a depression but I come up with nothing. Fear settles like a pile of stones in the pit of my stomach, making me feel heavy and nauseated at the same time. 

I feel like a specimen in a cage. There are human military officers milling about all around the room we are in. Some are facing their computers, others fiddling with the large screens at the far end but there are a few who eat their food in idle silence while they stare at me. 

I turn to my right and see two holding cells just like mine. Joon is seated in the one next to me, holding his head in his hands while Remulus is standing in the one next to him. His eyes are fixed on me. 

I expect him to utter a snide remark, reinforcing how stupid we have been and how he has been right about the humans but he remains silent. 

"What's wrong with him?" I nod at Joon who looks sick. His cheeks are flushed and he is rocking back and forth on his heels. 

"They drugged our food," Remulus mutters. "Knocked us out. I guess he's still recovering." 

"Ahh, you are all finally awake," A broad shouldered man walks up to us and stops outside Joon's cell. "Give him some water!" He barks and a young officer scurries off to get some. 

I blink a few times, trying to get the sleep and dizziness out of my system. My eyes focus on his thick grey hair, the deep wrinkles that line his eyes and the tightness in his jaw as he stares right back at me. 

The deputy director. 

The medallions on his uniform catch the light above us and glare at me with all the power and authority the director carries. No one else in the room speaks as he walks from one holding cell to another, sizing us up like a predator does its prey. 

"You're working with them," My words pierce the air and fester in the silence around us like a disease. I watch a few humans staring at me with wide cautious eyes. The deputy however, only smirks.

He bares his teeth, all white and as shiny as his medals. "My dear, we are not in a position to be working with the Plutonians. But yes, we have always worked FOR them."

My back hits the wall of my cell and I feel it's impact from the tip of my shoulders all the way down my spine. 

"Why?" My voice comes out in a croak, small, defeated and weak. It makes me want to punch something. 

"I think you know the answer to that better than I do," He says. 

It then hits me almost at the same time as Remulus mutters the words 'Plutonian Scriptures.'

So it wasn't all propaganda. The Plutonians really did dump the unwanted ones on Earth which lead to the creation of humans. They really did come back a million years later, shocked at what had transpired and a deal was created between the humans and Plutonians.

Every year they would take five hundred humans back to their planet to serve as slaves, fighters or paramours. I was one of them. I have the memories burned into every scar on my skin. 

"You allowed them to take us every year? We had families who loved us." The disappointment in my voice slowly turns venomous with hate. 

The deputy holds out both of his hands by his sides. "It was either they take five hundred children a year or destroy our entire population. Which would you have chosen?" 

He raises the hand on his left higher than the one on the right, like a weighing scale. It makes me sick that he has placed the right one so low. The one representing us. 

I stand up straight and march up to him. Up close I can see every line etched across his taut skin, his dark grey hair smoothed down to perfection, hands smooth and uncalloused from the lack of hard labor. 

He doesn't look like he's done a day of hard work in his life. 

The deputy doesn't step back or move, he stares me down, his gaze just as intense. 

"What if it had been your child? Would you have been okay with that?" My breath fogs the glass but I don't miss the way his pupils dilate. I hit a nerve and it only proves how selfish he is. 

He clears his throat and regains himself before speaking again. "It doesn't matter. They are coming and there is nothing any of us can do about it. The choice is glaringly simple, stand with them and flourish like I have. Stand against them and end up in a holding cell like you." 

He announces this to the rest of the room like it is a warning.

"The humans know now. They saw us," Joon stands up and speaks to the deputy but he only chuckles in response. 

"As you well know, we control the media, which means the Plutonians control it. Play them our live footage on the news," He commands and a few officers type into their computers furiously. 

The large screen in front of us lights up and I watch the images come to focus. The footage of our ship crashing on the dock in Tokyo bay comes to life and then there are images of Joon and I landing with our parachutes. The screen does it's best to blur out Remulus and it makes sense since he is the only one who actually looks alien. 

There is a woman dressed in a red suit, floating at the top right corner of the screen. She explains to the rest of the world about our ship being a military prototype and Joon and I being the test pilots. She goes into unnecessary detail about the prototype failing to function midway and thus crashing by the docks. 

She talks about the cloaking technology used for this ship which has somehow affected the soldiers using it. After a few sentences I realise she has just declared to the world that Joon and I have been affected by the trial run and are now not of sound mind.

Anything we say now will be deemed insanity. 

My mouth opens in shock and then shuts. I don't know what to say or think. Will the public even buy this ridiculous story?

"This is absurd," I gasp and the deputy director laughs. 

"The world will believe what we want it to believe. Now I have someone who has been waiting to see you."

He instructs for his officers to connect us to Central Command and for a second my heart freezes over like ice. 

Will I see Lucian? 

My hands tremble and my mouth goes dry as the screen switches to the dull blue, cold atmosphere that makes my body freeze over in fear. I feel a chill in my veins even though I am on an entirely different planet. 

A few Plutonian officers stand in front of the screen and their eyes narrow on me immediately. 

"It's her," One of them confirms and then they look at Remulus. "They have PG Lucian's commander as well." 

My breath catches in my throat. Why are they speaking of him in third person? Where is he?

"She is? How delightfully predictable," Lazarus steps in front and takes centre position on the screen. I don't see Lucian, Luna or the Generals, only the last person I ever wanted to see again.

His piercing bluish green eyes drink me in like he has been parched for years. His smile widens and he comes closer to the screen, any closer and I might flinch. 

"You created quite a ruckus when you left Bone Breaker. So many ships destroyed, so many lives lost. All because of your selfish desire to return to Earth. And for what? I will be joining you eventually." His eyes gleam with malice and it makes my skin crawl. 

"Lucian?" I ask in a hoarse voice, filled with panic and fear. 

"He was executed as any traitor should be. After all he was stupid enough to be seduced by a traitorous human, he helped you escape and almost destroyed half of our city in the process. Your precious master is dead my dear," Lazarus says and he relishes at my reaction. 

My mind blanks out, my lungs have seemed to have lost function, I can't breathe, I can't focus. All I can do is slide to the floor and stare at the most horrible being to have ever existed. 

Just then I hear the pounding of fists against the walls. 

"I don't believe you. Where is he?" Remulus is livid as he stares at Lazarus's smug face. 

"Of course you don't. Don't worry you will join him in the afterlife soon. Now Aria, don't look so down. I've brought you presents," Lazarus holds out his hand and gestures for his officers to bring in a few boxes. "Take them out."

I want to close my eyes but they remain wide open as I stare at Rosie's head, and then Matt's, Jade's and Josephine's. Blood has dried at the edges but their eyes remain open, dead but still alive and in unrest. 

I fall to the side and with a sudden retch vomit all over the floor. My stomach is empty and hardly anything comes out but I can't stop myself. My eyes water, unshed tears for all that I have lost. 

"This is what you have done, Bone Breaker. Your arrogance is what has lead you here but don't worry soon you will be within my grasp and I will have the pleasure of teaching you lesson after lesson."

"Haven't you done enough?" I choke out. 

"My dear, I'm only just getting started. Wait till I get to Earth," Lazarus reaches out and touches the screen like he is touching my face. 

"Where are my squad members?" Remulus cuts in angrily. 

"Lying in a casket with their leader," Lazarus answers in a bored voice. His gaze is still fixed on my face, enjoying my agony like it is food for his soul. 

"Why aren't you parading their heads as well?" Remulus challenges and Lazarus finally turns to glare at him. 

"Because they are mine to keep," He snaps.

"Or maybe because you don't have them. You're a liar and a phony and PG Lucian is too smart to be killed by the likes of you."

"You filthy half breed!" Lazarus's eyes bulge in anger and a vein pops out on his neck. 

I stare up at him, considering Remulus's words. If Lazarus had indeed killed Lucian then he would have paraded his head around the galaxy but then again I'm not sure of anything right now.  Rosie's dead eyes have embedded themselves into my brain, blocking every other thought.

I did this. I deserve this pain.

Lazarus takes a deep breath and calms himself in front of all the humans here watching him. 

"You will be reunited with them soon, half breed. As for Aria, I have special plans for her." 

He leans forward and his eyes bore into my soul, threatening to break me apart. 

"No matter what you do or where you go you will soon realise that you are mine, Bone Breaker. The universe has always belonged to me."

His lips pull back into a gleaming smile, so sinister it makes me want to retch again. 

"You are mine. The universe is mine. Earth is mine," He reinforces not just to me but everyone else watching. "I'll see you soon, Bone Breaker."