The world is dark, a state of nothingness that has entrapped me. I can see, well, I can see myself and barely what is in front of me. There is no ground to stand on, but I am standing on something. Air, perhaps? It is a world that doesn’t follow any logical sense or reality. This is the bastardisation of my wish. A mockery of what my desires are. But why is this world void? An abyss with no end in sight? Did I accidently wish for my own death?

  ‘Hello!’ I shout, trying to find anyone in this strange world.

  ‘M-24:6. I didn’t expect to see you here.’

  That voice, no! I turn around to face the man himself, the fat bastard who murdered my daughter. Balgazard!

  He smirks as he puts his arms behind his back. ‘What’s wrong? Missing your tongue?'

  ‘I’ve watched you die,’ I growl. ‘I killed you!’

  ‘Oh, that tantrum of yours? Yeah, I remember that incident. How you disobeyed me and started a riot because I just so happened to make an example out of E-23:7.’

  ‘She has a name!’

  ‘Had. I still own both of you. Your names are nothing but useless items that I can freely discard whenever I feel like it. You should know this, you are a tool after all.’

  Furious, I approach him to silence the damned bastard. Yet an invisible barrier stops me from getting to him. My rage boils over me as he laughs at my advance coming to a sudden end.

  ‘Oh, how sad,’ he mocks. ‘My angsty slave is unable to get his revenge. How pathetic! At first, I thought you would do something great for the Empire, but all I see is a beast of fury. A creature that needs to be under a leash!’

  ‘I am not your slave. I fought for my freedom and butchered your kind that dared stand in my way. I’ve proven myself worthy!’

  Balgazard cocks a brow, ‘worthy? You murdered your way to the top, slaughtered my people for cheap gratification. For all you did, the only thing you achieved was proving me right. Your kind cannot handle the chaotic nature of freedom. For your species were bred for a purpose and your kind served it well, you just chose to go against that because you couldn’t follow a simple set of instructions.’

  ‘The quota you gave us? The one that we have to follow till the end of time? It was impossible to achieve! We stripped the mine of everything of value. You knew that! All you did was set me up to fail!’

  ‘I set you up to finish a task!’ Balgazard shouts back, his fury equally great as mine. ‘You failed because you didn’t push your people hard enough! You couldn’t do what it takes to be a chieftain. I only allowed you to be one because you killed the previous idiot and because I thought you had potential. But no! I had to make a mistake to promote a savage into a position of leadership. Look at you, M-24:6, you should be ashamed of who you are. You doomed the Empire that gave you purpose…’

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  I interrupt the Cinari, ‘you will say my name.’

  ‘I just did, M-24:6.’

  ‘You know well that isn’t my name, that is a number your kind seared onto my flesh when I became of age. Now you will do it! You will say my real name!’

  ‘It is a name you were born with and a name that you deserve. You keep forgetting that you are nothing but a tool, a machine to produce for the Empire.’

  ‘Shut up!’

  He scoffs, ‘no. I won’t. I won’t follow the demands of a servant, one who plays pretend and acts like a king for their barbaric race. Hypocrite! For a king that despises slavery, you have no problems enslaving my kind.’

  ‘Your kind deserved it.’

  ‘I can say the same about yours, M-24:6.’

  ‘No, it isn’t! My people slaved away for centuries! We gave you metals and food that built the Empire for nothing! You murdered my friends, took my lover, and killed my daughter. All because you couldn’t do it yourselves! I proved myself tenfold! On the fields of battle and against the wrath of nature. I fought against your champions and slew the flying monsters. For that, I earned my place in this world. You know my name, and you will say it!’

  ‘I will not humour a slave.’

  ‘I am no slave!’ I scream, my blood boiling at the insult. ‘I am no tool! I am a man of flesh and blood, not a machine for an Empire that cares little about me. You know me, for I am the one who broke the chains of slavery and marched through the desert waste. The world knows who I am! I have a name, and you will say it! I am not a brand, I am not a tool, I am not a slave! I am Marak!’

  Balgazard stands there, uncaring and unfazed at what I have said to him. Like an unamused parent. ‘You are a monster,’ he whispers. ‘You always are. Always will be. Call yourself whatever you like, it doesn’t change what you are. Scream for me to say your name all you want, but you will forever be M-24:6.’

  He turns away and walks back into the darkness. Smiling like he believes he is correct about his assessment of what I am. He doesn’t see me for my worth, no, he only acknowledges the slave I once was.

  I want to scream for him to come back, so I can face the monster once more. But I don’t have the heart to raise my voice, I don’t care anymore.

  The world grows darker around me once more. I can tell the wish I’ve granted myself has something for me. A test to see if I am worthy of what I desire. It will take me somewhere else, somewhere that will test me one last time.