[Evolution] Resistance & Government: Operation Boom-Boom

[Akeira]

The Resistance


Holland Davenport



​

Holland continued to eat her hamburger when the little ones got up to play, chuckling lightly and hiding a smile behind her burger. She munched pleasantly, enjoying the feeling of the delectable food, as it ran down her throat. Tapping her foot lightly to the echo of the music playing closer to the Warehouse, she let herself unwind for one of the first times since arriving in Texas. Most times, she was consumed with worry and anxiety concerning her family and the organization, though those thoughts were slowly starting to diminish. She could not help but think how impressed she was with the Resistance, down to its organization and rescue missions. She was glad that she had found them when she did.


Hearing a nearby voice call her name, she looked up toward the source of the voice, waving to Nadia when she sat down across from her. "Hey." She replied with a smile of sorts, her mood not faltering. "Nice setup here, huh?" She chuckled lightly, putting down her hamburger and eating a few french fries. "Damn, it's been a while since I have had some of these. I forgot how good they are." She said aloud, though the revelation was more for herself than the female sitting near her. She went back to eating, figuring that she would be able to talk properly when she wrapped up her meal.


Coming up for air minutes later, she realized that Nadia was gone, off holding a small, squirming child. It was endearing really, as the E-Gens seemed to never have time for fun. Upon seeing Jakob rush through the crowd of people and approach Nadia, she raised an eyebrow, glancing at the pair and wondering what was happening. Finishing off her french fries, she watched them walk away, debating whether to follow or finish her lunch. After a moment's debate, Holly decided to stay put at the picnic bench, knowing that everyone would be notified if it was a serious situation.

 

[Uncultured]

Ty "Hunter" Jones - Dallas TX


"Is Donny here?" asked Hunter to the woman working behind the counter. "He's in the back" she answered. "But he's in the middle of something right now, you want me to get you a cup of coffee while you wait we have the best coffee in downtown Dallas you know" she said proudly. "Maybe next time, I have to see him immediately, it's urgent, he'll understand" said Hunter before walking to the back of the restaurant, ignoring her protests with every step of the way.


Hunter opened a set of double doors in the back of the old Italian restaurant and made his way through the kitchen, walking past past several chefs that were sitting idly on plastic crates talking in a mixture of Italian and English. "Hey what are you doin? Employees only" said one of the chefs in an Italian American accent, Hunter ignored the question and kept moving until he came to another door, this one old, chipped and wooden, but when he attempted to open it, the knob didn't yield.


"Hey I asked you a fucking question, this is an employee only area" came the voice of the man from behind Hunter. "Donny open the fucking door, it's Hunter" he yelled while knocking on the wooden surface of the door with his closed fist. "Hey pal what are you fucking deaf I said what the fuck are you doing back here" said the chef, his temper slowly rising. "Donny you're gonna get one of your boys tuned the fuck up this guys gonna swing at me in a second and I don't want to break his arm" yelled Hunter. "You want it that way fi-" the chef's words were interrupted by the click of the lock and the door opened, revealing a short, middle aged Italian man, his hair was as short as his stature and what bangs he had were flipped up using a tasteful amount of gel. His face was completely bald aside from very light stubble, and his chin was sharp, his eyes were perceptive and intelligent, and were framed by two bushy dark brown eyebrows. He wore a charcoal blazer with matching slacks and a buttoned down red shirt underneath his coat, with the top two buttons open, underneath the fabric, the outline of a gold chain was visible, which was attached to a gold cross that was hidden by the shirt.


"No fuckin way, how long has it been eh two years since I've seen you" said Donny, kissing Hunter's right cheek and then his left cheek in the old Italian way. "Tom don't worry about it he's an old friend, come in please, and Tom get the door" Don said, in the voice of a person raised among Italians. "Donny, you look good" said Hunter. "Don't lie to me, you see this" Donny said, pointing to a golden band on his ring finger. "This women cooks better then any guy on my staff, since we got married I packed on thirty pounds, her Parmesan, forget about it its fantastic" said Donny, sitting down behind his oak desk. "Please sit down, and by the way this dreary fucking guy over here is Sergio, he owns the Deli down the block" said Don, gesturing to an old man, pushing seventy years of age who was sitting in one of two large plush leather chairs that were positioned in front of Donny's desk. As he turned to face Hunter, he revealed a large bruise on the side of his face, it's colors a haze of yellow and blue. "Serg go wait out in the diner have something to eat on the house, this is important" said Donny. "Whats important is that your man broke my window and smashed my face on my table because I was late on my payment for one goddamn day" said the old man, a tear streaking down the right side of his face. "Look Serg I told you I'd handle the window OK I'm sorry Robert is a loose fucking cannon what can I say. I apologize now please get the fuck out my room before I make you pay for the fucking window yourself" said Donny. The man raised himself weakly from the chair and nodded at Donny. "Thankyou" said Sergio, before making his way out of the room.


"So, what's this about?" asked Don. "I'm in town on some business, somebody is paying me damn well to work with the resistance I don't know who it is right now but I'm working on it" said Hunter as he sat down in the chair that was opposite of where the old man had been. "Thats great news my friend but, I don't see how the fuck I come into all of this" said Donny perplexed. "I know you have contacts with the cartels and if shit hits the fan out here and I need an out, I need to have someone who can get me across the border." said Hunter. "Those cartel fuckers are no joke" said Donny as he took a cigar from a small pine box and clipped the end. "You want one, their good, not Cuban but it's the best the D.R puts out" said Donny, holding out the cigar. "No thanks I quit smoking" said Hunter. "No shit, good for you" said Donny. "I don't get it though walk me through it, why do you need an escape plan" asked Donny after a brief pause in the conversation. "I don't know who I'm working for Don, I have a few agents, they find me work, in this case the person who is paying my salary wants to stay on the DL, I doubt my agent even knows who I'm working for" said Hunter. "So what does this have to do with setting up transport with coyotes, walk me through it like I'm a fucking child I got to know why I'm contacting these sick fucks if I'm gonna do it, it makes me uncomfortable to be in the same state as these assholes. Doing deals with them, forget about it I wouldn't last a year" said Don. "I'll break it down for you, shit isn't so simple for us crooks anymore" said Hunter. "You should see it on my end seventy years ago the Mafias ran the fucking country from L.A to Vegas all the way back to New York, now look at us" said Donny. "You've been watching the Godfather too much, you're doing well my friend" said Hunter. "Well enough to pay the bills I guess, but the glory days are long gone" said Donny in a wistful and nostalgic tone. "Don if anyone knows how it is nowadays it's you there's undercovers everywhere on both sides of the war, specs and sympathizers in government suits, government payed fucks playing revolutionaries, there everywhere. And don't forget there's a long line of people who want me dead who aren't even involved with the war" said Hunter. "That's a long fucking line last I heard" joked Donny. "It's around the fucking block its so goddamn long" Hunter said drawing a chuckle from his Italian business partner. "So let's say some government spook wants me cooped up in some base like a fucking fish in a barrel so that they can take me out, many birds with one stone style, they get a hold of my agent, give him some tax payer dollars and then I'm in the middle of some serious shit as a setup" Hunter said continuing his thought. "It's an interesting thought but it's a stretch" Donny said skeptically. "Call me paranoid but I got a bad feeling about this one Don, trusting my gut got me this far, I'll keep trusting it till it fails. I stay alive because I stay moving, it's a lot easier to kill someone when they are sitting in some base in the center of a major city" said Hunter. Donny puffed on his cigar deeply, letting the thick cigar smoke roll out of his mouth and nose before continuing. "Twenty five grand and I'll set it up" said Donny. "Take thirty" said Hunter. "My friend you're too good to me, I don't want to be in your debt don't worry keep the five" said Donny trying to be courteous. "Donny, take the extra five man, you need it more then me" said Hunter. "It hurts to hear you say that, but... your right" said Donny, raising himself from his seat, as he puffed away at his cigar he made his way to a series of photos that were nailed to the wall.


"We used to run the country Hunter, the Godfather isn't an exaggeration, my family used to run one fifth of New York City, we used to have mansions, cars, respect, now look at me, I own a fucking restaurant and hustle business owners, even Don Belucci is struggling" said Donny, the frustration and disappointment was apparent in his voice. "It's a bad time to be a crook Don" Hunter said quietly. Donny laughed loudly, and falsely and clapped Hunter on the back "Where are my manners, you're my guest my problems are not yours to deal with, have you had the penne al la vodka here, it's the best in Texas" said Donny. "Only cause you're the only Italians in Texas" said Hunter, Donny laughed, his good nature restored and the two walked through the kitchen past the icy glare of the chef and into the diner to discus old times and to enjoy good food.

 

[TheGentlemanlyOwl]

Dex automatically reached for the bag, then flinched as Eric put his hand on it, keeping it away from him. For a moment he froze as he considered the horrific possibilities- was this a trick? Was this even his cube?


Schrödinger's cat. As long as the box is closed, the cat is both alive and dead. The cube exists and does not exist.


He shook those thoughts off. The cube existed. And it was his cube. In his eyes the sheer existencial certainity of the cube shone through the bag, stablizing his thoughts. For the first time since he arrived here his breathing slowed. His eyes focused properly, lost their glassy quality, deepened.


"I... I'll try." All the while his eyes followed the shape of the cube hungrily. Yes. Here is something familiar. Something dependable. He wished the man would remove his fingers so he could look at it properly. Not that it mattered.


Remember. Focus.


"I was... I was following myself. My own footsteps. The ones I made two minutes later."


Front: Yellow-Blue-Black-Red-Green-Green-Red-Yellow-Yellow.


"I knew it was two minutes later, because of my wristwatch. My eyes saw 57. My fingers touched 55."


Right: Green-Green-White-Ornge-Red-Orange-Red-White-Black.


"It was easier than before. Nobody was around. Just me. Just had to step forward. One step at a time."


Left: Orange-Black-Orange-Green-Orange-Blue-Red-Blue-Blue.


"Why would I want to come here, you say. I didn't. I didn't want to come here. "


Top: Blue-Blue-Black-Orange-White-Yellow-Green-Yellow-Yellow.


"This place... So many people, out of nowhere. So loud. So confusing..."


Bottom: White-Orange-Blue-White-Yellow-Red-Green-Green-Black.


"You brought me in. Now I am in front of you. Here. Now. All of me."


Backrange-Orange-Black-White-Blue-White-White-Red-White.


"...Where am I?"

 

[revo]

Eric's brow knit in concentration but even though the kid seemed more coherent he wasn't make a whole lot of sense. He followed himself, two minutes ahead? What? He'd seen some weird things in his time but this was the strangest.


"You are in a warehouse." Eric said flatly. He didn't trust this kid and he wasn't about to say 'You've stumbled into the lair of the Resistance, a vigilante group the government would pay a lot of money to see exterminated.' He paused to think over all the kid had just revealed. 2 minutes later? What did that mean?! His eyes widened as realization struck.


"So you're saying you can... see the future?" He asked, leaning forward, his interest peaked. He'd never met anyone with that type of ability before. "But if you were following your future self... why would future you come here?" Eric was a sharp man, able to think on his feet. Regardless of the plane of existence this kid thought he was on... there had to be a motive, didn't there?


------


Outside the office Nadia had reached the door and peered in through the window, out of the line of sight of it's occupants. Darren and Tank had joined them. Jakob had briefed her on the way. They'd found someone on the perimeter and brought him in. Eric was interrogating him now.


She watched them now and read his emotional state: fear, anxiety, nerves, tension. He was like a walking, talking, time bomb. But where those emotions were coming from she had no idea. She looked back at Darren, a thousand questions in her eyes. Who was he? What did he want? Why was he here?

 

[Uncultured]

Ty "Hunter" Jones


"A bunch of domestic terrorists having a cookout, only in Texas" thought Hunter as he eyed the warehouse through the dismounted scope of his Cheytac sniper rifle. "Security is light, smart of them to keep low key" he thought as he scanned the asphalt rooftop of the old industrial style warehouse.


The building itself was an old brick structure that on a cursory observation would seem to be an abandoned one. On one side of the brick structure Hunter could see old graffiti and nick name tags left by vandals and self proclaimed "artists of the street", and on one end of the warehouse there were several broken walls and piles of jagged fragments of concrete lying in piles along with various other forms of refuse. The windows for the most part were boarded up and the glass had long since broken and chipped into jagged spikes on the edges of the metal frames that they had been attached to, enhancing the abandoned feel of the building. To the casual observer it appeared run down and deserted, achieving the desired effect and the only thing that betrayed the aura of desertion were the sounds and smells of a cookout in front of the loading bay of the warehouse on the back end of the building.


"This place is like a fucking retirement home" thought Hunter as he viewed a woman chasing a child through his scope, her features brightened by a wide smile, and off to the side were several groups of people chatting over hamburgers, hot dogs and corn on the cob. It was a scene straight from a feel good movie, like a family reunion of freaks and mutants, to Hunter it seemed to good too be true.


It was a good tactical location though, there were only two entrances on surface level barring the loading dock, and both were narrow and framed by small courtyards that were boxed in by mesh fences and both were overlooked by windows, "A good place for a turkey shoot" he muttered to himself as he scanned the rooftops of the neighboring apartment buildings, looking for anyone else who might be surveying the scene.


"Found you" said Hunter quietly to himself as he stared through the dismounted scope at the vague figure of a man in dark clothing who stood on an opposing rooftop underneath a large billboard advertising safe sex. In his hands he held a large caliber sniper rifle and his head was pressed against the scope, and the barrel was squarely facing the crowd below. "He's doing surveillance by the looks of it, no finger on the trigger" thought Hunter as he eyeballed the man.


"Government spook fuck" thought Hunter as he ran to a fire escape on his left side of the building, taking the stairs two at a time he arrived at the ladder on the bottom within a half a minute. He slid down the ladder quickly, and hit the ground running. It was a mildly paced run of about forty miles an hour and within twenty seconds he stood at the foot of the condemned apartment complex that the man had chosen as a vantage point. He tucked the scope into his jean's pocket and pulled out his old .45 caliber pistol from the back of his jeans, clicking the safety off and sliding the chamber back to accommodate a bullet. He opened the door on the ground level of the building and checked the corner to the immediate right of the door. "Nothin" he thought as he moved in carefully, swiveling quickly to check the corner that the open door hid, "Clear again, no way a government spook has the balls to be out here alone" he thought to himself as he moved in a half crouch to the base of the stairs that led to the second floor.


The interior of the building was old and had clearly been deserted for years. It stunk heavily of mildew rot, mold and the feces of vermin, and the wallpaper had long since faded and in many places, pealed from the walls revealing the pockmarked plaster surface that had been hidden underneath. Hunter's right a large sewer rat scurried past him and out the front door, "filthy animal" thought Hunter as the creature ran by him.


The doors that led into the apartments were either ajar with the locks broken or boarded up, inside the open apartments Hunter could see the evidence of squatters, old sleeping bags and empty liquor bottles lay on the floors of the open rooms and some had small stacks of odds and ends and random belongings in the corners of the small rooms.


The stairs themselves were tight and split into two halves per floor, each half went one direction putting hunter in a disadvantage if an enemy happened to be guarding the stairs from the top level, to adjust, Hunter pulled out his phone, using the camera he peeked around the corner of the stairwell, looking at the screen to see if it was clear. "Where the fuck is his backup" Hunter thought as he cleared the floor, moving up the stairwell to the next level of the building.


The process continued until he found himself at the top level of the apartment complex, behind a red metal door with a dying Exit sign atop it's metal frame. "Moment of truth cocksucker" thought Hunter as he opened the door with force, breaking out of the doorway and into the daylight to face the man who had been watching the cookout from the rooftop. Before the man could turn to face him, Hunter ran at a half pace of around forty miles an hour, putting his momentum into a hay maker, connecting with the mans chin with several hundred pounds of force.


He felt something break but to Hunter's surprise the man didn't drop, he swung back with extraordinary speed barely missing Hunters head as he ducked to avoid the blow "Jesus he's quick" thought Hunter as he returned the exchange with a solid jab to the face with his left hand and a solid right hook to the gut, Hunter then grabbed the man's left leg at the back of the knee, simultaneously he slid his foot behind the man's right leg and pushed forward with his body weight, pushing the man over onto his back and giving Hunter a full mount position.


Hunter took out his .45 and put it the head of the man, "Who the fuck are you and what are you doing here", the man looked back into Hunter's eyes, fear completely absent in his glare, and smiled up at Hunter though a mouthful of blood and then Hunter heard a quiet but audible click coming from the mouth of the man.


The cyanide capsule burst sending the poison into the body of the agent and within seconds his mouth began to froth and his head began to convulse as his brain began to lose oxygen as a result of the poison. "Jesus fucking Christ" said Hunter as he dismounted the mans convulsing body. Still crouching next to his body Hunter patted the man down quickly, relieving him of a nine millimeter handgun that had been tucked into the side of his black slacks, as his convulsions intensified, Hunter removed the contents of the man's pockets, his wallet held nothing except for a half dozen hundred dollar bills which Hunter pocketed and aside from the old leather wallet the only other thing he had on his person were a set of basic instuctions, the address of the warehouse and several time stamps lacking information of full dates or what events would happen at the written times.


Hunter made his way to the weapon that the man had been using, it was a large black sniper with a silencer on the tip, it's make and model were surprisingly unknown to Hunter and as he lowered himself to check the weapon for any identification he heard them man gurgle something inaudible out of his foaming mouth. Hunter returned to the man and knelt down beside him "What?" asked Hunter. The man coughed, spitting up foam before croaking his response "You're going to die you fucking spec" he said before his eyes glazed over, lost in the blackness of death.

 

[Effervescent]

Darren DeLuca

​

Why all the colors? Darren thought to himself as he approached the office behind Nadia. Someone somewhere was thinking about colors. Was there a pattern to it? Hearing it all was a tad distracting. He looked to the guy through the window and then noticed something in Eric's hand. Oh.





Darren looked to Nadia to see how she was gauging the stranger's emotions or even if she knew the guy. The guy, just at his normal glancing, looked to be on edge, maybe even in a bit of a panic. Judging by Nadia's expression, she was catching everything the man was displaying and likely more, but she didn't look to know who he was.


Part of him wanted to look through the newcomer's mind. Crazy men tend to ramble and he didn't want to deal with that possibility. For whatever reason this was a big deal, enough for Jakob to rush out and grab Nadia. Looking back at the guy through the window, Darren posed his question. "So what's the deal with this guy?"

 

[TheGentlemanlyOwl]

"A warehouse..." Dex blinked, momentarily distracted.


"See the future?... I think so. I can see a future. Yes." He squeezed his eyes shut, expecting to see the familiar blue lines of things yet to come, seeing only darkness. He mentally recoiled, turned back to the rotating colors.


Turn right side down...


Front: Yellow-Blue-Black-Red-Green-White-Red-Yellow-Yellow.


"As for why I would come here... I do not know. Not yet." And you are holding my only means of knowing right there in your hands. "I'm sorry. I can't tell you what I simply do not know."





Right: White-Orange-Black-Green-Red-White-Green-Orange-Red.


"All I know is that following my future self is always the best course of action. Always. No matter how bizarre it may seem." At least, that seemed to be the case. Until now.


Left: Orange-Black-Orange-Green-Orange-Blue-Red-Blue-Blue.


"Maybe you have something I need. Maybe I have something you need. Maybe both. Maybe neither." You have something I need. Do I have sonething you need?


Top: Black-Black-White-Orange-White-White-Green-Yellow-Yellow...


"That is all I know."





Dex opened his eyes and looked longingly at the shape in Eric's hands. His fingers twitched with each nonexistant click. Grabbing it was not an option- Eric's fingers were in the way. Very much in the way, in fact. For a moment, he considered removing them in various ways, then gave up- they all involved some kind of contact with Eric, which he wished to avoid. Besides, violence was never a good idea in any circumstance, however satisfying the snap may be. He let out a miserable sigh.


Colored squares swirled, in the darkness behind his eyes.

 

[Uncultured]

Hunter turned the corner of the tight city street and pulled into the underground parking lot, in a small booth to the right of the entrance a small old man of either Indian or Arabic ethnicity sat behind a desk, reading a copy of the Dallas Morning News, upon seeing Hunter's car he rose from his seat and folded his paper to it's crease, placing the paper back down onto his desk he approached Hunter's window. Hunter rolled down the window as the man approached his car "Hello sir if you'd like me to take your car we have a special this week, five dollars per hour" said the man in a light Indian accent. "Do you own this place?" asked Hunter. "As a matter of fact I do, how can I help you today?" asked the man slightly confused. Hunter reached into his pocket and withdrew a large roll of hundred dollar bills, and peeled off ten of the bills. "For a thousand I want two months, deal?" asked Hunter. Understandably the man was taken aback and it took him several seconds to respond. "Make it one and a half and it's a deal" said the man. "Take an extra hundred, and I get a floor level spot by the front" said Hunter, peeling off another six bills before handing the stack to the old man. "Let me get the car for you" said the man in a friendly tone "I got it don't sweat it" said Hunter, revving his engine and pulling into a spot by the office.


Hunter opened his door and stepped out of the car, before locking up the vehicle he popped the trunk and made his way to the back of the car, pulling out a large and quite heavy green canvas, military style bag. "When are your hours by the way?" asked Hunter. "We close up at twelve" said the old man.


Hunter made his way out of the garage and stood on the street with the hot southern sun beaming on his skin, to cover his eyes he slipped on a pair of black Oakley sunglasses and started running at a normal man's pace of ten to fifteen miles an hour to avoid the wrong kind of attention.


Within a couple minutes he stood at the front of the warehouse "Well there ain't a doorbell how the fuck do you get their attention without breaking in the place.... fuck it, they're compromised anyway" thought Hunter as he stood in front of the large warehouse. "HEY ANYONE HOME I'M ON YOUR SIDE" yelled Hunter.


Hunter rested his body's weight against the wire fence that ran the exterior of the complex and pulled out his phone. Scrolling to contact fourteen he selected Saul and sent him a simple message "I'm there". He pulled a pack of American Spirits from his pocket and slid a cigarette from the light blue package. He lit the stick with a Bic lighter and looked to the sky "Fuck the Texas heat" he thought, as he began to wait.

 

[revo]

Nadia shrugged in response to Darren's question. She had no idea who this guy was. She watched as Eric spoke to him, his back to her. She could see the kid's face, reflecting confusion and near panic. He was distressed about something. She could tell by his aura which was cloudy and frayed.


Jakob turned to Darren and Tank and brought them up to speed. "Found this guy skulking around the perimeter. When we confronted him to kick him off the property and send him on his way he flipped. Punched me in the mouth. Then he started muttering a bunch of nonsense. He's ... off... Figured Nadia might want to speak with him. Eric's in with him now."


Nadia stepped forward, her curiosity winning out. She placed her knuckles against the office door and rapped twice. Eric, knowing that signaled her arrival sighed deeply. His time was up. He handed over the cube, turned and left the room, closing the door behind him without revealing too much of the group waiting beyond. Once the door was once again closed he looked down at Nadia in frustration. Eric's six foot three frame dwarfed the young woman's. They were all squeezed into one narrow section of the hallway and suddenly it all seemed claustrophobic.


"I've been getting no where with this guy's riddles. Just kept asking for his damned cube! Everything is gibberish... like something straight out of a fairy tale rhyme. I'm not even sure he's sane. You wasted your time coming down here. He's probably just lost." Nadia frowned. She couldn't get a good read on him but something told her there was more to it. She took a moment to think. This whole thing made her uneasy and she needed to be careful. They'd risked a lot in Oklahoma, rescuing those prisoners. The government was out for them more than ever. A chill went down her spine, a fear she'd come to know all too well.


"Tank, go check on the perimeter team. Double our precautions. Discretely call in some of our men that are off duty if you have to and put them on tonight. If this unskilled loony can get through our security... it terrifies me to think who else can. Jakobs, go with him." Tank nodded, the wheels already turning in his mind. She could see a spark in his eye that inevitably meant someone would end up with his boot in their ass.


"Darren, you're with me. Let's see if we can't decode this kid's riddles." Eric nodded, leading them into the room.


"Dex, these are my friends Darren and Nadia. I was nice enough to hand over your cube, could you please answer a few of their questions." Nadia had to suppress a smile. Eric was rarely this polite. After the introduction he took a step back to lean against the far wall. Nadia took that as her cue to direct the conversation. She pulled up a seat at the main table and kicked out another chair for Darren.


"Hi, Dex... is it? That's a nice cube... Eric told me it means a lot to you..."

 

[Uncultured]

"You got to be kidding me" thought Hunter as he snuffed out the cigarette bud on the concrete sidewalk. "They really try to maintain appearances" thought Hunter. "Break in or shoot my gun off in the air, I don't know which one would make a more fucked up first impression" he thought as he mulled over his options.


After a few moments of thought Hunter decided that a break in would probably ruffle less feathers and he proceeded to climb over the wire fence with ease, clearing it in only a few seconds. He made his way to the front entrance, it was an old metal door with a chipped paint job and in many places the paint had been replaced by a thick layer of rust. "Locked of course" thought Hunter as he attempted to open the door.


Hunter placed his large bag on the ground and unzipped it up the middle, revealing the kinds of odds and ends you would expect a man in his line of work to possess. After rummaging through various weaponry, ammunition boxes and cartridges, a couple changes of clothes, bottles of liquor and some amphetamines Hunter found what he was looking for, a screwdriver and a bobby pin.


Hunter placed the screwdriver into the keyhole and tested it to see which direction the keyhole went "Clockwise" he thought to himself as he knelt down to the level of the door handle. "Great recruiting process they got here" thought Hunter as he explored the interior of the lock for the springs that would have to be pushed up in order to unlock the door. After fishing around in the lock for half a minute or so all of the knobs and the springs behind the metal knobs had been pushed up into the frame of the mechanism and Hunter then turned the screwdriver, opening the lock. "The look on their faces will be priceless, unless they shoot me" thought Hunter as he entered the building.


The interior of the structure was well worn and the paint was old and faded, the hallway he found himself in led to a tight staircase and he passed several doors on each side of him as he made his way through the initial entrance. "How exactly do I approach these people... Hey guys I just broke in, trust me I'm not with the government, I wont kill all of you" Hunter thought sarcastically.


From the bottom of the staircase he could hear a woman's voice from the level above him "fuck it" muttered Hunter to himself as he made his way up the stairs towards the voice, lightly treading on the surface of the stairs to avoid making noise. From what he could piece together from the staircase the woman was talking about the lack of security "no shit" he thought as the woman continued on about some unskilled person making it past their defenses. As he made his way up the stairs he could see the upper bodies of some of the people speaking from his vantage point on the stairs, a small woman was giving orders to a large dark skinned man and she was ordering another man as well although from Hunter's point of view the third man was out of sight. "She is one of their leaders, no wonder they're in this mess, they need soldiers not kindergarten teachers" thought Hunter as the dark skinned man disappeared from his view.


"Darren, you're with me. Let's see if we can't decode this kid's riddles." said the woman. Hunter heard a door close and then heard muffled speaking through the door, as they closed the door Hunter slowly made his way up the stairs, and walked towards the door, before reaching it he was distracted by a one way window that to him seemed out of place in such a pedestrian warehouse, as it reminded him more of a police station interrogation center instead of an industrial building "Damn she is fine, from the back at least" thought Hunter as he eyeballed the woman and the other two people in the room. The one that had been outside with the woman was a tall dark haired man and like the woman his facial features were obscured by the position of his body.


The man sitting at the table looked like he had been through hell and back, his hair was disheveled and his eyes were glassy and unfocused and his hands were trembling, holding tightly onto a rubix cube, one that the woman had begun to ask about "God damn this kid is a basket case if I've ever seen one" thought Hunter as he observed the scene unfold from the hallway.

 

[TheGentlemanlyOwl]

"Yes." The word was there as soon as she finished her sentence, clipped, precise. The next few seconds were filled with a frantic clickclickclickclick as his fingers strived to catch up with the pictures in his head. "It is." There was a momentary silence, which was quickly filled by a quiet "Thank you.".





As the familiar clicking resumed, Dex slowly straightened up from his slightly hunched-up position and studied the three people in the room. Darren and Nadia, Eric had said. He blinked. His consciousness had reached something similar to coherent thought and now he was mentally rewinding the past few hours.


"I do not... function very well without the cube. I am sorry about my erratic behavior."


Although, he mused, the main problem seemed to be the fact that he was surrounded by people. He'd spent eight months completely relying on his "talent" and avoiding people like the plague. He had not reacted well to the sudden disconnection. And then he'd panicked when they'd grabbed him. He'd almost screamed. How embarrassing.


Despite his best efforts the shivering had not stopped. He supposed he was still recovering from the shock.


He turned his attention back to the cube in his hands. He was aware that it was probably rude to ignore the others right now, especially since they were questioning him (for what? he wondered) but this was important. Besides, he was halfway done now. It was odd, really, how the hands seemed to know how to solve it, even without looking.


Click.


Ah.


The cube distorted, and so did the world.


Dex felt relieved as the world unfolded- this was familiar territory. He watched the blue stretch out into infinity. 'Why blue?' he'd often wondered as he observed the four-dimensional flowchart... But now was not the time for idle speculation. He needed answers.


How odd... there seemed to be a moment where everything congealed into one. A few hours later, apparently. Curious, he stepped closer...


The first thing he noticed was the darkness. Any attempt to turn on the lights was met with absolutely nothing. The fact that the sun had long since gone down did not help. He could hear sounds of panic and confusion. Someone was shouting. A lot of people were shouting. The air smelled like... smoke?


And then it all turned into chaos. There was blood. There was carnage. He frantically scrolled through the other possibilities, searching for a way to stop it, stop this, but the lights always went out, was always followed by violence (by whom?), was always followed by explosions, the boom shuddering, shattering everything.


Unless.. unless?





And then his hands were gripping the somehow-scrambled cube so hard that his fingertips had gone white, and breath was hissing through clenched teeth, and the shivering had worsened(so that's why).


All he could think of was you have to run.

 

[Effervescent]

There were few things that Darren could genuinely say got under his skin. Dex was definitely one of the few things, his odd nature creeping under his skin. Darren was unsettled by his thoughts. The only thing that brought him to settle within the offered chair across from the disturbed looking man was Nadia's presence. How odd it was that he felt some form of protection with her.


Due to the nature of his telepathic abilities, Darren picked up a bit of lip reading. People's thoughts could sometimes become overwhelmingly loud, and to come across as normal he needed a way to know what people were actually saying. Before they had entered the room, he carefully watched the man's lips. Darren's lip reading skills weren't flawless, and the thoughts of directions and colors were definitely very distracting, but what he caught was enough to pique his curiosity.


Before he could pose his own question, Dex looked as though he was lost within his mind. Darren searched for any thoughts that could give him insight into what was going on in his head, but all he got was the question of a color. His eyes narrowed in irritation. They either had a seriously insane person in their warehouse, or this guy was playing some game.


Darren rose from his seat, his calm demeanor thinning while anxiety began to replace it. The man was shivering and hissing through his teeth, his hands gripping the cube so tightly his fingertips were white. He kept his eyes on what he was now considering a mentally unstable individual, his brain going through a database of knowledge on what the guy might be suffering from.


Why do you have to run? Darren posed the question directly to Dex through thought. He didn't want to alarm anyone yet with the thought he had overheard.

 

[Uncultured]

"Trying to understand the mind of a madman is almost as insane as being the madman himself" thought Hunter as he walked down the hallway leaving the scene behind. He crept slowly towards the fork in the path and planted his back on the wall right before the hallway split. He quickly checked the path leading to the left and then swiveled his head around the path to the right checking the hallway for signs of movement "nothing, place is a god damn ghost town" thought Hunter as he made his way down the right hand hallway. At the end of the hallway there was what appeared to be another staircase leading to both the higher and lower floors and Hunter made his way quickly to the end of the hallway and made his way down to the lower level. He found himself in what appeared to be some kind of lounge or common room, within it there were several tables and couches along with a flat screen TV and a couple table games, one pool and one ping pong.


As Hunter turned the corner he was blindsided by the large dark skinned man that Hunter had seen earlier, without his enhanced reflexes his hay maker would have sent him sprawling but Hunter reacted quickly pulling his head back and behind the punch. The man recovered with exceptional speed though and followed with a quick jab which grazed Hunters face as he pulled his head to the side once more, before the man could muster a third punch Hunter countered. With Hunter's enhanced speed he was almost impossible to evade his strikes in close quarters combat and Hunter's jab struck true but the man was anything but phased. The man had realized his speed disadvantage and lowered his frame to try and get inside Hunters defenses with a midsection grapple and he succeeded in doing so, planting Hunter firmly against the brick wall, knocking air out of Hunter's lungs with the hit. Before more damage could be done Hunter brought a vicious knee up to the mans midsection but he didn't falter, responding to the knee with a hard kidney punch, before a follow up could occur Hunter dropped both elbows onto the back of the man buckling his knees.


As the man faltered for a moment Hunter seized his chance and slipped from his grapple and the two men squared off again. "You're too slow" said Hunter with a smile on his face, content to enjoy a good fight before attempting to explain his presence. The corner's of the mans lips extended to a slight smile and he widened his stance, preparing for Hunter's inevitable advance, and Hunter took the challenge. Using his enhanced speed he made up the ten feet or so that separated them in under a second, seeing the surprise in the man's eyes he knew he had the man where he wanted him and Hunter took his opportunity, putting his speed into a hay maker which connected almost as soon as he had balled up his fist. "He's good but too slow" thought Hunter as he parried several strikes with his open hand and returned with two quick jabs which were too fast for the man to anticipate but Hunter had underestimated the mans abilities, he was unfazed and unwounded after half a dozen hits and Hunter had been fooled by the his apparent retreat.


Before Hunter could escape the man launched from his wide stance and barreled into him knocking Hunter over. The man was in full mount position now and was raining punches down upon Hunter although none met their mark as Hunter's enhanced speed and mental processing allowed him to see them coming, but he didn't quit and eventually the man caught him slipping, landing a hard punch on Hunters chin. Before the man could land another Hunter grabbed the man by the back of his neck and pulled his body up to his creating a lack of separation which in turn robbed the man of his leverage, as the man raised himself to escape the vice grip hunter brought his legs up and around his full body mount and dropped his torso from the man's, using his legs he put the man's neck in a scissor hold and held for a dozen seconds before letting go.


Hunter exploded to his feet with a wide grin, as the man stood up Hunter extended his hand "I'm Hunter and I'm here to work with the resistance" said Hunter between ragged breaths. "You could have said that in the beginning" the man said, accepting Hunter's gesture, shaking Hunter's hand with a vicegrip of a handshake. "You didn't give me a chance" said Hunter. "Next time ring the doorbell" said the Man. "You have a doorbell?" asked Hunter incredulously. "It was a joke, a bad on" he said dryly before continuing. "How did you find this place?" asked the man in a interrogative and serious tone. "People talk" said Hunter simply. "However you found out about this place we'll know once our guys are done asking questions. This shit you pulled sneaking in here wasn't the best way to get our attention, but we need any help we can get" said the man. "I'm Tank by the way, but first, before you come into the fold Nadia is going to have to ask you some questions for obvious reasons" said Tank. "Sure, is it that librarian looking lady that was bossing you around?" asked Hunter with a slight smile. "She's leading us for a reason, she doesn't look like a warrior at first glance but she can hang with anyone I've ever met, and she is strong, there's a reason she leads us, if you want to fit in here learn not to judge a person based on looks" said Tank in a protective and harsh tone. "I hear you, so when can I meet her?" asked Hunter. "Once she's done with the new guy we'll vet you, until we get you checked out any weapons you have will be stored until we can trust you" said Tank. "Fair enough, most of my gear is in that bag I dropped when you tried to punch my head off, and here is my forty five" said Hunter as he reached around his side and pulled the pistol from his jeans which somehow had held the firearm for the duration of the fight. "I think your boss might want to see me right away" said Hunter. "Why's that?" asked Tank. "This position isn't secure, that apartment across the street and two buildings down had a sniper on the rooftop, he was doing surveillance, the gun didn't even have a bullet in the chamber but in any case this place is being watched" said Hunter, he could see the mans face darken for a moment as he processed the news. "What do you mean had?" Tank asked. "I went to see what he was doing, I had him on his back with my gun in his face and the bastard bit into a cyanide pill" said Hunter. "Alright then, I think we can make an exception in our interviewing process this time, I'll take you to her, but one thing Hunter" said Tank waiting for Hunter to acknowledge his statement with a question. "What?" Hunter asked. "If you're bullshitting us in any way about why you're here or this guy on the rooftop, we'll know, we have telepathic E-Gens here and if you're lying to us you'll end up in the dirt, we don't let spies walk out alive" said Tank in a dark tone. "I don't have anything to hide" said Hunter as he picked up his bag and handed it to the man. The two men walked back up the staircase and towards the interviewing room where the others were still questioning the man "I fucking hate telepaths" thought Hunter as they made their way up the stairs.

 

[TheGentlemanlyOwl]

Why do you have to run?


The thought echoed in Dex's mind, and for a moment he wondered if the disconnection had rendered him completely incapable of logical thought until he realized that it wasn't his. He gritted his teeth and clutched his head in an attempt to make sense of everything- it was enough dealing with the knowledge of the imminent disaster at hand. He did not need the discomfort of having someone else in his head, although discomfort would be an understatement- this was an invasion of privacy, of personal space... It was... it was, inappropriate.


He spent a few precious seconds alternating from panic to outrage until he managed to convince himself that there were more serious things at hand.


And there was that question again.


Why do you have to run?


Should I tell..?


The answer was a grudging Yes, since:

1. There was no point in not telling, especially if there were telepaths involved- they would know eventually, even though he was not entirely sure who 'they' were. Not telling was just prolonging the inevitable.
   
2. Telepaths aside, from what he'd seen there was going to be a significant amount of violence in the next few hours, and violence meant casualties. And there were a lot of people in here, if he hadn't imagined the barbeque party. He didn't like what that implied.
   
3. He probably won't be able to escape this alone. This was possibly the reason why he'd led himself here.
   
4. (he couldn't help but feel that he owed them, somehow.)
   

"Not just me." He muttered, then said in a louder voice: "You're in danger, all of you."


A few hours later, the lights will go out.


And everything will explode.

 

[Uncultured]

Artyom Pavlovsky - Undisclosed location 23.4 miles from Dallas TX - Sector 10 blacksite





"Do you know what happens when a rat is put upon bare metal, underneath a metal bucket and a flame is put to the bucket?" asked Artyom to his men. "No sir" volunteered one of the NCOs that had lined up in perfect formation before him. "It fights, it claws desperately into the steel, clawing, gnawing, desperate for life until it breaks through the metal, in the face of death the rat does what many would call impossible. The E-Gens we hunt today are the rat, a blight, a scourge that seeks to taint humanity and destroy our way of life. Like the rat they will fight, they will squeal and kick, but unlike the rat they will not break through, in the end when they lie broken upon the ground we have salted with their blood, they will beg, and what will you say?" asked Artyom.


"We will respectfully deny their request with a quick death sir" said one of the men loudly in a rapid pace. "Affirmative sergeant, today we face some of the most dangerous E-Gens on the planet there will be no mercy given and no prisoners taken. Our asset on site has gone quiet we are assuming that he has been taken out by counter ops, as a result we are going in blind and they know something is coming, they will be ready. We have no air support other then our extraction helos and we have limited satellite imaging, we have limited use of government assets as of now, we will be doing this alone or not at all. This is a black op, the government and the empty suits who control this country have no idea that this great undertaking will take place tonight. Our Intel is strong, we have the layout of the complex and we know several high level E-Gens are located within the compound, the dossier given to you contain files on the compound the game plan and half a dozen high risk and combat experienced mutants that we will be located within the compound, although we are going in blind and without support, we outnumber them, we are better trained than them and we are better equipped, you and the men under your command are the very best of the best, the most deadly fighters that this god blessed country has to offer, and tonight we will continue in our great undertaking to restore the natural order of the human race........ do I make myself clear?" asked Artyom after a long pause. "Yes sir" yelled the men in response.


"Good, bring the dossiers back to your men and have them ready in the helicopter bay by eighteen hundred hours, you're dismissed" said Artyom, as he said the words the men dispersed, leaving Artyom alone within the small conference room.

 

[revo]

(OOC: Characters still in play are Holland, Hunter, Artyom, Nadia, Tank (NPC), Thomas, Eric (NPC). Alfie, Esme, Mischa (NPC), Jeremy (NPC), Marcus (NPC) and Ina are also still active.)


A hollow knock sounded on the interrogation room door. Eric, who'd been watching intently stepped to the side and looked through the window out into the main room. His eyes met Tank's and they looked... worried. He was solid, unable to be hurt. Tank didn't get worried. Eric's anxiety spiked. He turned the knob and swung the door wide.


"Naj, sorry to interrupt, but I think you'll agree this has to wait." Nadia's eyebrow raised. What could be more important than interrogating a subject who'd breached their security? Tank shifted his weight slightly from foot to foot, giving up his impatience. Tank didn't get impatient. He could stand sentinel for hours on watch. What was going on. Behind him in the doorway was a much smaller man. That isn't to say he was less than intimidating, but everyone was small compared to Tank. She didn't know him, but if Tank approved of his presence she had no reason for alarm. They'd worked together for so long she trusted him completely. Slowly she nodded but before rising from her seat she concluded their business. She would not be rushed.


"Dex, it looks like we have business to attend to. We'll be back for you shortly. If you need anything one of my men will be posted outside." Then she slowly rose, the metal legs of her chair scraping across the concrete. She exited the room, passing their newcomer in the tight fitting doorway. She looked him up and down, analytically. Darren and Eric followed. Once they were all out the door shut with a finite click and she crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't like being disturbed so this better be good. The newcomers presence alone indicated it would be. They stood in a circle, each of them sizing each other up, holding their breathe.


"Okay, somebody start talking." She said, her volume low, eyes flicking questioningly to Tank. "Did we roll out the welcome mat this morning or something, who the hell is this?"

 

[Uncultured]

The three people Hunter had passed earlier stood before Hunter and Tank, each with varying states of confusion on their respective faces.


"I rolled one out for myself" said Hunter with a slight smile in response to the woman, pausing before continuing.


"The name is Hunter. Your telepaths can check me if you'd like, but right now you have a bigger problem, his place is being watched by the feds. I don't know who exactly but it's not local law enforcement, probably not FBI either, could be CIA. The guy bit on a cyanide pill before I could question him" said Hunter.


The reactions of the others varied, he could see their faces darken as they processed the news and he could understand why, unlike Hunter, many of their lives were rooted here, this was it for many of them. If this place got burnt out many of the people here would be shit out of luck. Hunter had a network he could rely on, he had safe houses in several cities and friends who owed him favors in a dozen places in four countries, he could disappear off the face of the earth if he had to, a lot of these people would be as good as dead without this place. "These people aren't soldiers, they should run, this is going to end badly for all of them" thought Hunter as he analyzed the group before him.

 

[Antoine]

Thomas arrived at the address Holland gave him. She had told him the building was a warehouse, but he would never have thought it was this ugly. There was no way people could live in there. The young man parked his 2036 car where it seemed a car could park.


Since he was visiting friends of Holland –and he knew for a fact that they had nothing good to wear- Thomas decided to dress more casually. He also did not want to get his nice stuff dirty, but he preferred to think he was doing it for a good cause. He was wearing a plain blue shirt with a pocket on his left pec. The upper two buttons were loose. With that he had put on a plain black not-too-fancy short. He had put his least flashy but still pretty skater shoes. But the thing that betrayed him the most, apart from his car, was his sunglasses.


The jock walked out of the car and looked for the entrance. Holland had told him the place would be heavily guarded so he might be approached as a threat. But she also told him that she would have told them he would be coming to their party. At least that was something he could do. But it didn’t seem anyone would be approaching him soon. All that he could hear was music. Maybe they decided to take a day off? So he just walked to where the music led and finally saw a crowd of people gathered around some kind of ring where people were fighting. Oh gosh, how can they ruin their physique even more? They’re already poor looking, why do they wand to look like hobos?


Thomas looked around looking for his, what should he call it, date? No, this could definitely not count as a date. It was more of a training partner hangout, yeah. Or maybe something in between. At least he hoped it was something like that. On the other side of the ring he saw her. Her with flawless face and hair. Thomas walked around the specs to join Holland.


As he was walking, he was wondering what he would tell her. Getting closer, he still could figure out what to say but, God knows why, he kept walking instead of taking a minute to think about it. And what was it with him stressing like that for a girl, he usually was not like that. And before he knew it, he was already next to her softly tapping her shoulder and saying “Hey, I’m here.” Hey, I’m here, really Thomas, you could not come up with something better?