Jax slowly walked down the long white corridor.
It was slightly jarring.
The Audition HQ for the broadcast was plain, mundane, and harmless-looking.
At least to the untrained eye.
The inside of the entire place reminded him of a Dominion asylum.
They were sterile, clean, and quiet.
They were designed with the sole purpose of making people feel safe.
Until they weren't.
With the coming of the Apocalypse, a third of humanity had been wiped out.
North America, Australia, and Antarctica had become barren wastelands.
Many had died.
But some hadn't.
Instead, they broke.
Some suspected that it was a direct result of the Apocalypse, a sort of second wave.
People called it the Madness.
The Madness was incurable.
It didn't come with signs. No fever. No pain.
One day, you were human, the next, the Dominion pretended you never existed.
With some luck, those who didn't succumb entirely could be saved.
But only with specialized treatment within the Dominion's Asylums.
And of course, only the higher classes could afford them.
Only the rich ever saw the inside of the Asylums.
And well, the poor...the poor were sent to the outer rims and told to survive. Most didn't.
It was a literal death sentence.
Within the middle class, there were a few lucky ones who could afford the treatment, and then...there were the lower classes.
The dregs of society.
They filled the barren outer rims of the Dominion.
Life in the rims was lawless.
But not completely...
Even in the outer rim, in the slums, there was a small semblance of order.
The slums belonged to the gangs, the Lykari.
These small cabals that hoarded power were often backed by the Dominion's enforcers from the shadows.
And any of the Lykari that bit the hand that fed them was put down like a rabid dog.
Stirring out of his reverie, Jax's gaze shifted to the two enforcers walking in front of him.
The smile on his face instantly vanished, replaced by a bored expression.
A short distance ahead, two new figures appeared.
"Well, I probably overdid it a bit earlier, but I'll play along for now."
The guards escorting him were dressed in the dreary grey of the Dominion, enforcers.
But the two figures ahead were dressed all in black.
Their faces were hidden behind impenetrable black masks.
These were guardians, the next rank above enforcers.
It was quite unusual for guardians to show up at the debut of a single new entry.
But they were undeniably here.
And Jax most likely knew why; he at least had an inkling of suspicion of why.
His earlier stunt had dramatically raised his threat index.
Raised it so much so that the Dominion had deemed him interesting.
And worthy of an equally more interesting escort.
His small escort abruptly came to a stop in front of the black-clad guardians.
The two Enforcers crisply saluted the two figures.
"At ease," a gruff voice spoke from beneath the mask of one of the two Guardians.
"We'll take him from here. "
Jax could feel the hesitation from the two Enforcers, and if he could, so could the guardians.
The guardian spoke once more.
"The entry has a tier three Threat Index. The BRASS has deemed him too dangerous for Enforcers to handle, and that's why we're here."
The BRASS, the nigh omniscient group of individuals that single-handedly ran the Broadcast Arena.
The Enforcers nodded, then stepped back.
"Wait," Jax spoke.
The Enforcers stopped, staring at him.
The Guardians were silently watching, the dark holes in their masks were their eyes, boring into him like twin black holes.
Jax froze, then smiled nervously.
"Never mind. Let's continue."
The Enforcers turned back, leaving him in the company of the two Guardians.
This was the moment of truth.
A life or death gamble. The Dominion could choose to end him right here, right now.
Or they'd give him the benefit of the doubt and let him onto the Audition.
Contrary to his expectations, the Guardians completely ignored him, walking ahead of him.
Jax eyed both of them, scrutinizing them from up close.
The larger of the two Guardians, the one who'd spoken earlier, had a large rifle holstered to his back and a sleek module sheathed to his waist.
The smaller, petite figure carried only a few modules fitted to her waist.
Even with their backs turned to him and their weapons exposed, deep down, Jax knew he didn't stand a chance against the two black garbed figures.
If he tried anything, he knew that he'd be dead before he could grab a weapon.
That was just how deadly the guardians were.
A massive set of glowing gates appeared ahead of them.
The Broadcast Arena's primary entrance for new entries. The Prometheus gates. Only this time, every individual here was simply auditioning for it.
The wondrous gates were a marvel of modern engineering and technology.
Using advanced spatial warping technology, the Broadcast's entries were transported to the Arena.
The Arena itself was ever-changing to suit the audience's fancies and the whims of the BRASS.
And in front of it, several enforcers with the entries they'd been assigned.
All in all, they made for a large crowd.
At the appearance of the guardians, a collective murmur echoed through the large crowd.
Whispers rose and fell at the newcomer's appearance.
"Guardians? At the start of a new broadcast…"
" What's going on?"
"Who is that?"
While this was bound to bring a lot of unwanted attention, it wasn't exactly unexpected.
Jax stared ahead with a somber expression.
"I can work with this..."
Just then, a massive groan echoed through the large corridor.
The many eyes that had been focused on him a moment back turned away, focusing on the unfolding phenomenon.
The Prometheus gates were opening.
And with it, his first broadcast, this was his moment to shine.
It was just an audition, but still....it was his debut...
Closing his eyes, Jax inhaled deeply.
He clenched his fists and then opened his eyes, looking straight ahead.
His lips curled into a devilish smile, his heart pounding with anticipation.
Countless painstaking hours had gone into preparing for this one moment.
The Guardians came to a stop, still completely ignoring him.
Jax sighed, focusing on the holographic countdown at the top of the massive gates.
A brilliant white light spilled through the massive gates, pulsating rhythmically, followed by a thunderous roar.
The very ground on which they stood vibrated with a maddening intensity.
The light dissipated, revealing a massive transparent door in space.
When the countdown reached five, a deep automated voice rang out.
[Entries, Take your mark.]
[Initiating Broadcast Warp in…4…3…2…1]
A brilliant flash of light enveloped the entries, each of them turning into shimmering beams of light.
[Glory to the Dominion.]
The Promethean Gates snapped shut.
The Audition had begun.