Reality, No More - Chapter 1

It was a warm, summer night. I was just lying in bed, thinking about life in general. Wondering what the future holds, and even if I had much of a future. You really don't know anymore what could happen from day to day. You see in news stories of airplanes hitting houses and gas line explosions that rock neighborhoods. Life is fragile and it's crazy. As I'm laying there, I had the urge to go to the restroom like any normal human. I had to pee.

I make my way to the restroom, petting my dog, Rocko, in the hall, before turning the light on and entering. As I'm relieving myself, just thinking more about life, the toilet shook. I literally saw it move like I had kicked it, yet I hadn't moved. I watched for a second and nothing. Oh well, back to the bedroom. I was tired from some seriously screwed up sleep habits all week.

As I start to doze off, listening to the low rumble of a fan and crickets outside the open window, I heard the weirdest shrieking noise and almost like something breaking the sound barrier. It was enough to alert Rocko to barking and wanting to investigate. I stand up to go look out the window, and I get blown back onto my bed by a bright light that just appears in the middle of my room. If you've ever heard power lines out in the country, they make a loud buzzing noise. This light was making that noise, except amplified about 100 times and reverberating.

Before I even had a chance to get up and come to my senses, Rocko starts going crazy. Then all of the sudden, I think I am crazy as two people step through the bright light as it disappears. "What the crap was that and who are you?!" I asked. There stood a guy and a girl, both wearing the type of stuff you only see in movies like GI Joe or Underworld. A half button up t-shirt, some cool looking leather pants with thigh strapped gun holsters, and combat boots.

"We don't really have a lot of time to explain, you just need to trust us", the guy said. I laughed. "Trust you?! I don't even know what's going on right now. A giant portal just opened in my bedroom and you two popped through asking me to go with you, but can't explain why and I'm supposed to just trust you?" 

"Are you two Terminators?  Because you know there's that whole 'come with me, if you want to live' thing."

"Dude. No. That's a movie, this is not. You will understand when you come back with us", the girl said. As she was trying to keep Rocko from pouncing.

I called him off and told him to go lay down. I looked over at him, then back at them and said, "This is totally against my better judgment..."  The girl interrupted me, "Your dog will be ok, you can come back at any time, we just need you to come now and let us explain and show you things."  I agreed and got up next to them as they opened this "portal" thing again and we all looked at each other, as they counted down from 3 to step through. Then we stepped in...

Reality, No More - Chapter 2

Boom. We're through. Not quite what I expected. I watch Dr. Who and I watched the show Sliders back in the day. Kind of hoped for some super colorful tunnels of time and space and flying through electrical storms and flashy scenery, but we were in a room. Just a plain old room. With a desk and a book case.

"Where are we?" I asked as the girl and the guy were both unstrapping their guns and locking them up. They both explained, "We are in a testing facility in Antarctica..."

"Antarctica?!" I interrupted and exclaimed. "I was just in Ohio and now I'm in Antarctica?!  Hold on, hold on. So we're still on earth? We didn't just travel to some alternate dimension?"

They both laughed like I was dumb. Which after acting the way I was, I kind of felt dumb. I looked around the room which was a dim lit room with dark wood walls half way up and a textured gray wallpaper halfway down. The floor was black marble. Light fixtures that somewhat resembled medieval torches lit the room from the walls. There was a book case on one end and a single dark, cherry wood desk with black leather high back chair on the opposite end.

"Before we go any further, I suppose proper introductions are in order", the girl said. A cute girl, about 5'5", shoulder length blonde hair, blue eyes, sporty build. "My name is Kelsey. Sorry everything was so abrupt, but we can be tracked through the use of those portals and we didn't want anyone knowing your home location." I stood there puzzled. Before I spoke, the guy walked over. He was a little taller than me. About 6'2", kind of looked like Keanu Reeves, built like Channing Tatum, brown buzz cut, interestingly one hazel eye one brown eye. "My name is Jake."

I introduced myself as Joe, which they already knew. With that out of the way, I said, "Okay, so seriously, who are you guys and what's the deal here? What kind of testing facility and why in the world Antarctica?!"Jake started to explain, "Basically we are part of a special military group, which is pretty much classified. There are only two people, other than those serving and working here, that know we exist. The President and the Vice President. We outrank all military and law enforcement branches in the United States."

"Why do I feel like I'm in GI Joe all of the sudden?" I quipped.

Jake - "As we explain more, you will probably think that more and more, but honestly, it's nothing like that. Although some similarities. Quite a few actually. One of which is where you come in."

"Where I come in?" I asked.

Kelsey - "You will understand better once Captain Swanson and Doctor Becker get here and explain in more detail."

I, very unsure about what's going on, just stood there, quietly for a moment. As I was about to hit on this Kelsey chick, because that's how I roll, the door opened up and 2 men walked through. One was wearing the same kind of gear as Kelsey and Jake. About my height, similar buzz cut, dark hair and brown eyes. The other was a Doctor, in a lab coat and black dress pants, fancy shoes, glasses, kind of short at about 5'7", short tapered hair and green eyes.

"Mr. Crispen, we are just going to get right to the point. We've been searching for someone like you for about 8 months now. The mixture of your DNA structure, blood type and physical condition make you exactly what we've been looking for, and we need you for a mission.” said Captain Swanson.

Me - "You've got to be kidding me."

Capt. Swanson - "No, son, I don't kid. We brought you here, because you're going to train over the next few months and get ready for a mission in Cuba."

Me - "Cuba?!"

Dr. Becker interrupted, "Mr. Crispen, your physical structure is perfect for something that we have in mind and you are the only one on the planet that we have come across through many medical record searches to be able to handle the type of preparation one needs for this mission."

Me - "Preparation?"

Dr. Becker - "That is correct. Have you ever heard of nanomites?"

"You've got to be kidding me...” I said, as I looked in complete dumbfounded disbelief.

Dr. Becker - "I assure you it is perfectly safe for you. They are only compatible with you. They will be needed in your system for us to track your movements and your location to bring in other forces, when necessary. They are the only thing small enough for you to be able to infiltrate without enemy forces detecting it."

Me - "So to be clear, as I've seen the movies, you want to inject little robots into my blood stream and send me into a battlefield?"

Dr. Becker - "More or less, that is correct. There will only be about 1000 of them, you won't feel it, you won't even know they are there and eventually you will pass them through your system and evacuate them at the proper time."

Me - "I'm supposed to trust this to actually be truth and work?"

Kelsey - "You just walked through a portal from Ohio to Antarctica and you're questioning this"?

"Touché.", I laughed.  "So, if I agree to do this, I will get trained as some crazy ninja warrior and go on some top secret mission that only I can do?"

Capt. Swanson - "That's basically the jist of it, if that's how you want to perceive it."

Me - "Well, I guess that's that. Be the hero!"

We made our way down a long corridor, into an obvious exam room. He ran some routine physical checkups on me and then administered the shot. It was a weird sensation. It felt cold going into my blood stream, but then hot as it kind of faded away. When the injection was finished, they escorted me to a training facility with others, explaining on the way that there are enemies and technologies that the government obviously tells no one about. Stuff like Al Qaida and Saddam Hussein are like kids fighting on a playground compared to what is really going on.

Biological and technological warfare lies deep behind things. Corporations all over the globe preparing for a future battle that will make the world wars look like a video game skirmish. Except the future is now and this nanomite stuff is the kind of stuff that is going to be taking the battlefield. Select soldiers, either found or bred for this kind of battle. But it's not going to happen on a battle front, it's going to happen globally, randomly, striking where they see fit, when they see fit.

After a long day of touring the facility, hearing the plans, hearing about countless unheard of technologies, debriefings, and far too much stuff to be swirling around one's head, I was taken back to the original room that we arrived in to meet back up with Jake and Kelsey. They explained that I am free to come and go, but the room we were in was the safest place to jump into and out of, using the portal. Kelsey handed me what sort of looked like a key fob for a car, with number buttons and a small LCD screen, and told me to aim and press the button, which opens the portal.

Me - "That's all I have to do and I'm out?"

Kelsey - "That is correct. This will take you right back to your bedroom. It has safety measures, so you don't step into a wall or a floor. It's pre-programmed to take you right to your room, but you can program it using latitude/longitude coordinates on something like Google Maps."

Me - "Well, that's sweet."

I stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to say, because this is all pretty weird. But I bid them farewell and hit the button. Just before I stepped through, Jake said, "Oh and one more thing, your life is about to change forever. We're going to come wherever you are when we need you, and we expect you to keep coming back for your training."  I agreed that I wasn't going to bail and that whether weird or not, I was ready for the challenge and I stepped through.

I was in my room again. Portal closed behind me, Rocko happy to see me. All I could do is say out loud, "What in the freak just happened?!"  I instantly ran to the restroom and tried to pee. I looked in the mirror. Everything looked normal. Did I seriously have tiny cell sized robots in my blood? I didn't even know what to think. I was feeling even more tired than when I left, so I went to lay down. Lying there, just taking in all that had happened. Where was this going? Was I seriously like some kind of "chosen one"? How lame that sounds thinking about it. Did I just become a soldier in a matter of like 2 hours? With all of this swirling in my head, I slowly lost consciousness and passed out...

Reality, No More - Chapter 3

Six months had passed. I'd pretty much had a daily routine of visiting the testing and training facility. At this point, I brought Rocko along each time and kept him there with me. I'd even set up my own living quarters. This was starting to consume my life. I quit my job and focused on the training and preparation. They covered my bills and such back home, so I didn't have to worry about anything. Food, nourishment, entertainment, and all that was needed was provided while I was there.

Over the last 6 months I've been learning more and more about the technology, the portal traveling, and the nanomites. I'd trained in almost every form of martial arts imaginable - Jiu Jutsu, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Jeet Kune Do, and Wing Chun Kung Fu - just everything. I'd learned hand to hand combat with things like bo’s and sais. Even learned how to fight with a stick I'd found on the ground. My favorite was being trained in the elements and how to use earth, wind, water and fire to my advantage. Hadn't even thought about the things you could do, such as using the sound of winds or water to mask stealth movement.

I had gotten to know Kelsey [Young] and Jake [Ryan] better over time. I'd also met quite a few other people. There was Lance Smith, "the ladies’ man". He was about 6 feet tall, white guy, brown hair, military cut, brown eyes, muscular build, six pack, the usual God's gift to women type. There was DJ Roman, cool black dude, about 6'2", built like Vin Diesel, funny, sarcastic type, dark hair with military cut, dark eyes. Next was "The Cryptkeeper", total nerd, wouldn't tell anyone his real name. He played a lot of video games. Kind of a sporty build like me, but not overly muscular. Black hair military cut, wicked flame contacts, shy and kept to himself. Then there was Ariella Brevda. A beautiful, yet fierce Israeli girl. Long black hair, green eyes, nicely built, about 5'3", really nice girl, but not someone you want to cross. Ariella means "Lioness of God", and well, it was fitting.

These are the people that I'd spent the last half year with. Training, getting to know, hanging out, having fun. Preparing for the unknown that lie ahead in this craziness that took over my life one summer evening. We had all become pretty close friends, but Jake and Kelsey were basically my new best friends. We did everything together. I inevitably developed a pretty decent crush on Kelsey and she knew it, so we definitely played it out and flirted on a constant basis. Lance wasn't too happy about that, as he'd had his eyes on here for a while. Of course, we didn't get along like the best of buds, because of this.

It was early January. We were all out in the training yard, sparring. Naturally, I was sparring with Kelsey, as we were always trying to best each other. Martial arts is something I'd always studied and been into, so I was a pretty quick study on that and had developed into a pretty highly skilled martial artist. Guns were another story, I wasn't the best shot. I can hold my own, but far from sniper.

As we're doing our thing, Capt. Swanson comes out and says, "I need all of you in the debriefing room now! Drop whatever you're doing and get your butts in the chairs."  We all just kind of looked around at each other wondering what was going on. "Now!  I didn't say anything about earliest convenience!” yelled Capt. Swanson.

We all made our way to the debriefing room and sat down, still talking amongst ourselves, trying to figure out what was going on from the papers on the table and the slideshow on the screen. Capt. Swanson entered the room and began explaining. "Ladies and gentlemen, specifically you Mr. Crispen, have to cut your training short."

Me - "What?  Why?"

Capt. Swanson - "The timetable we thought we had, just got moved up. We're going to need you all to suit up and prep for immediate travel to Cuba."

[talking and mumbling amongst the group]

Me sitting there, my heart starting to pound out of my chest at the thought of jumping right into that. Even with the training I've had and the skill I developed, this was reality hitting me in the face. This wasn't Xbox. This was the real deal and I'm about to be tossed into it. "Sir, I don't know if I'm ready to jump right in", I said.

Capt. Swanson - "Son, I've watched you for the past 6 months, you have an incredible amount of skill and intelligence and I have no doubt that you will exceed expectations on this mission.  You all need to understand that this is more or less a test mission and this isn't anything like what you will be facing in the coming months. This is a simple drug lord, Cesar Ortega. Well, ok, maybe not simple. He's the most powerful drug lord in the world at the moment."

DJ interrupts sarcastically, "Oh that's nothing then. Just the most powerful drug lord in the world. Which means he'll most likely have an army and snipers guarding him, but this is small time, eh?"

Capt. Swanson - "Well, there is a catch to this mission. Only 4 people can go in. The rest of you have to stay back and provide cover when necessary. For that I'm choosing Joe, Kelsey, Jake and Ariella."

[arguing and questioning among the group]

Capt. Swanson - "I've made my choices and that's that. If the rest of you want to act like small children who just lost a popsicle, I can find replacements for you.  Now to fill you in."

He began explaining that we would be infiltrating a highly guarded ex-military compound in Cuba. 15 foot fences with razor wire, guard towers with snipers, guard dogs, the works. We would be taking a small amphibious transport to the only weak side of the compound which was connected by water. We would still have a guard tower, dogs and scouts to deal with, but it was the best possible place to enter. From there we could make our way to the East side of the compound and climb a trellis to access Cesar's office and bedroom. We would have to get past the guard patrol with dogs, the sniper and deactivate the security cameras with heat vision.

Capt. Swanson - "Crispen, you're the one that's light on your feet. You'll need to climb a palm tree near the fence, drape a canvas over the razor wire and climb down. Young, you've got the duty of tagging along with him. Ariella, you'll be giving the patrols and dogs something to investigate, and Ryan, you are the marksman. You are going to be shooting a small EMP dart at each of the cameras to disrupt their mechanics. But once that happens, you all only have about a 3 minute window to get in and get out before they report and investigate."

Me - "Sir, am I actually killing him?"

Capt. Swanson - "Crispen, if it's necessary that is your duty. Ultimately, we'd like him alive, because we want the information of where he distributes and how big his organization really is. That would be much easier if he's alive. But it's dead or alive, depending on the situation. You will be equipped with tranq darts, as well as bullets. You are clear to engage with whatever means necessary to escape with your lives. We're done here. No more questions, it's time to move out. Are we all copacetic?"

[group agrees] "Sir, yes sir."

We made our ways into the prep and launch bay. Still not believing this was happening and talking amongst ourselves. Obviously I was the newbie, but everyone had only just been trained. Nobody had actually seen any action to this point. Some were in the military and been in Afghanistan and Iraq, but nothing like this yet or with this group. All I could do was pray and hope that I came through safely and successfully.

As I was gearing up and strapping on my guns and ammo, Kelsey walked over and patted me on the head. "You're going to be awesome.” she said.  "I've seen what you can do for 6 months now and you're like a ninja."  I interrupted with a laugh, because of just joking around and calling myself a ninja around friends.  "Thank you, Kels. It means a lot just to have the support", I said as I took her hand and smiled while standing. "Let's do this!" I yelled. "Hoorah!” Kelsey agreed.

We were off. From truck to plane, to Cuba, to truck, to ocean inlet, grabbing a hold of the amphibious transport, which was like a jet boat with handles, remotely operated by the team staying behind. We arrived at our point of recon. It was approximately 1am. The 4 of us lying in wait, half submerged in the murky water, as the spotlights made their passes. We assessed the situation with night and thermal vision. It was time to engage.

Ariella moved off slowly to make her way about 100 yards southwest of us, to create a distraction near their South road entrance. Kelsey and I made our way northeast to the location of the palm tree, while Jake set up position to take out the cameras. The field of vision for the cameras didn't reach where we would descend on the fence, but did once we hit the ground. So we coordinated with Jake to shoot the cameras at that time to buy us about 30 extra seconds.

Up the tree, canvas over the razor wire, I was poised to hop down. Kelsey just above me. We signaled to Jake to take the cameras out. He started with the one closest to us. We climbed down and made our way across the East courtyard, eerily without any opposition. This was going way better than I had expected. We positioned ourselves flush to the Eastern wall of what was basically a palace. I looked over at Kelsey, “Do you find it as suspicious as I do that we're not getting any opposition whatsoever, at the compound of the world's most powerful drug lord?"

Kelsey responded, "I was thinking the same thing, but trying not to be paranoid." We waited for a few seconds and then climbed the trellis which took us up to a balcony with double doors. Conveniently open, I might add. I looked back at Kelsey again as we positioned ourselves on the balcony, crouched. "Kelsey, something doesn't feel right." Kelsey agreed, "I can tell. The only time you don't call me Kels is when you're being serious or something. We have to keep going though, it's probably just in our heads. This is what we're trained for and we're good at what we do."  "Maybe you're right", I agreed.

We continued through the bedroom, it was clear, nobody was there. We made our way to the opposite side, by the door that went into his office. The door was locked. I picked the lock as quietly as possible and slowly opened the door. In crouching position we made our way in and closed the door, so the light wasn't coming through behind us. Across the room was a high back executive desk chair, turned away from us, looking at 16 security monitors. I noticed I could see Jake on one of the monitors, but the camera was positioned behind him. There were cameras in the trees that we didn't know about.

I signaled to Kelsey to look. She saw and looked a little scared. About that time a puff of smoke came up from the chair.  "Do you really think I became the most powerful drug lord in the world by allowing such weaknesses around me that four pathetic quote unquote soldiers, such as yourselves, could penetrate with this much ease?", the voice said. As the chair spun around, it was Cesar Ortega. Looking right at us.

About that time, there was gun fire. One of the monitors was disrupted. Then an explosion. I wasn't sure what was going on. As I was about to pull my gun, two armored guards of Ortega's came out of the shadows and aimed their guns at us.  "You aren't the only ones with stealth skills. That's pretty much the end of your rope, Mr. Crispen", said Ortega.

Me - "How do you know my name?"

Ortega - "I know yours, I know little Miss Kelsey Young. I know Jake Ryan out there battling my men. I even know the beautiful lioness, Ariella Brevda, trying to distract my men. I know all about you and I know all about your plans and where you come from. There are just a few uncertainties I have about everything, but that's where you come in."

I stood there in disbelief, not knowing what to say. I flashed back 6 months, to a time when I was just an IT guy. Playing soccer, playing Xbox and watching Netflix was pretty much my usual routine. Now I stand here as a legit soldier, in a drug lord's compound, with little robotic blood cells coursing through my veins, next to some female soldier that I've grown fond of and would protect with my life, staring at guns, and in an unbelievable situation that seemed like a dream.

Kelsey and I were then escorted to two rooms. We were separated. I yelled that I would kill them, if they did anything to hurt her. They laughed. One of the guards said, "You're really in no position to make such claims." Then he hit me with the butt of his rifle and knocked me out. I woke up, chained to a chair. A dark room. Typical interrogation room with a light over me. It was really bright, so I couldn't see anything else in the room. Just like a movie.

A voice came out of the black. "Mr. Crispen, I'm so happy you could join us. This is the part where you tell us about the technology you all have in your possession and just how deep it goes."  About that time, someone came out of the dark beside me, and gave me a shot in the arm. I instantly felt effects from it. No idea what it was, but I was quickly swaying back and forth. I refused to tell them anything, but they kept up the torture. Shots, hitting me, needles under my fingernails, slicing off single layers of my skin from my arms like they were skinning me. Beyond painful. I still wasn't giving up any information. Partly because I was half out of it and not even sure what was going on and the other part because I knew my duty.

They wanted answers, so they stepped it up a notch. They brought in a generator with cables coming off of it, like the cables with clamps that you get with jumper cables. I looked at it and quipped with a slur, "So now you're going to jump start my nipples like in the movies?"  I laughed in pain. The voice in the dark emerged. A creepy looking fella. He looked like death. Gray pale skin, older, about 6'5, gray hair tapered and combed to the side, black looking eyes, cigarette in hand, which he tossed to the ground and stomped out as he came toward me. "Not quite", he said as he grabbed two metal spikes off the top of the generator.

I stared at the spikes, a little concerned, trying to focus on what exactly they were. He walked toward me and jammed a spike into my thigh. I screamed in excruciating pain. Oddly enough, I was apparently really high off of whatever they were shooting into me. I laughed in my scream and said, "Crap! Now my soccer game is never going to be the same." This angered him even more, so he jammed the other spike into my other thigh harder. I screamed again. Breathing heavily, I was in so much pain, blood was started to pour out of the wounds.

Interrogator - "Don't worry Mr. Crispen, in a moment that blood flow will stop."

Me - "Is that because I'll be dead?"

Interrogator - "Hardly. It's because the wound is going to be cauterized."

Me - "What?!"

He attached the cables to the spikes and flipped the switch on the generator, electrocuting me. I went crazy. I was shaking. My mind was flashing through memories. I thought I was dying. I was just trying to catch my breath, as he kept flipping the switch.

Interrogator - "Are you ready to talk now? Explain the depth of your technology!"

Me - "No!" [screaming and groaning]

This went on for about an hour. I still wouldn't crack, but I was hurting bad. He finally stopped and said to take me to my cell and we'd just continue tomorrow. Leaving the spikes in my legs, they dragged me to a cell down the corridor and basically threw me down just inside the cell door. I heard a scream. Kelsey slid over to me. "Oh my gosh, what did they do to you?"  She hugged me and held me as I was just trying to be conscious of what was going on. I couldn’t stay awake, I’d had too much. I passed out...

Reality, No More - Chapter 4

Four days had passed, since our capture. I was in and out of consciousness on a regular basis. Using all previous methods of torture on me, they still weren't getting what they wanted. They had pushed me so far to my limit, I was basically a rag doll that was breathing. My body was sliced, stabbed, bruised, bleeding, and all but shutting down. I remember waking up briefly to see them toss Kelsey back into the cell. They had started in on her too, but to a lesser extent. Then I passed out again.

The next day I woke up. Cuddled up to Kelsey as we slept, I just awakened to a full state of alert, unlike the previous 4 days, and completely in a different mindset. Something felt weird. I felt energized, some of my pain was gone. I looked down at my arms, where they had literally been skinning me alive and my skin was starting to heal. I was confused. Was I awake? I moved to sit up and heard a sound like a small metal pipe had dropped behind me. I looked back and one of the spikes that was in my leg was rolling around on the floor. I looked at my legs and the wounds hard started to close and somehow pushed the spikes out of my legs. All I could do was say out loud, "What the..."

Meanwhile, back at command center in Antarctica, Dr. Becker called Capt. Swanson into his lab to look at some readings they were getting. The nanomites in my body were still reporting back to them. They were trying to map out a strategic plan to rescue me, as I was the only one they were sure was alive at this point.

Dr. Becker - "Captain, we are getting some extremely strange readings from Crispen's nanos."

Capt. Swanson - "What do you mean by strange? We need to know what's going on. Our forces were basically wiped out, like they knew we were coming. We only know and see that Crispen remains alive, but by all info you've given me, it's just barely. Give me some info I want to hear!"

Dr. Becker - "Captain, that's what I'm trying to explain. Something isn't right. The readings the nanomites are returning are off the charts. This isn't anything we've seen before."

"Would you just spit it out and give me the run down?!” Capt. Swanson interrupted.

Dr. Becker began to explain, "I don't even know how to explain it, but during the process of electrocution it's like his cells insulated the nanomites in a state of protection. With each recurring burst of electricity, it's like the nanomites supercharged, instead of dying like they should have. Now they have multiplied and switched to forming a protective barrier over each of his blood cells and they are continuing to multiply and send back more readings."

Capt. Swanson - "So what does this mean exactly?"

Dr. Becker - "I honestly don't know. I've never seen anything like this in my career. His DNA is adapting to the nanomites and the nanomites are adapting to his DNA. They're becoming like a single system. What that means for him, I truly don't know. In any case like this that I've seen before, the nanos don't multiply and they've poisoned the carrier to eventual death. Somehow with Crispen, I believe they are helping him."

I was sitting up on the bed at this point. The kind of bed you see in movies or on TV. Typical prison bed with a thin mattress, suspended with chain and hooked to the wall. I was sitting there, Kelsey sleeping behind me. She had been through some torture too, just not like mine. I was letting her get her rest. As I was sitting there I was looking at the wounds on my arms. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My skin was literally regenerating in front of my eyes. The holes in my legs were sealed up and healing themselves.

I knew she was hurting, but I couldn't wait any longer. "Kelsey, wake up!" She stirred for a second. "Kelsey, seriously, I'm freaking out here."  About that time she opened her eyes and asked if I was okay. "No, I'm not okay. At least I don't know. I don't know what I am right now," I said. She rolled over to face me. I felt so bad. Her face was slightly swollen, lip was bloodied, a cut above her eyebrow. As I looked at her, I felt a rush of heat come over my body like nothing I'd ever felt before. "What do you mean?” She asked.

I got really angry. I just stood up and started pacing the room. She asked if I was okay again, but I couldn't answer. I'm normally a shy, timid person and when I get angry, I get angry, but nothing like this. There was a rage building inside me like a literal heat that I could feel. My adrenaline was insane.

Kelsey - "Are you okay? What happened to you?  It's like you've completely healed. How is that possible?"

Me - "That's what I was trying to tell you. I don't know what's going on. My wounds have completely healed themselves. I don't even have any scars."

We both stood there looking over where I'd had cuts, bruises, missing skin, holes. Nothing was there anymore. It was like my body was completely untouched the past 4 days. I had to ask her if I had dreamt all of that, but she assured me she had to endure my screams and it was no dream. About that time two guards approached the door and opened it, expecting to grab Kelsey for some further interrogation. As they entered the cell, they looked like they had seen a ghost, as I stood there staring at them.

"How are you even standing right now?!” One of them asked in fear and concern. They both aimed their guns at me and told me not to move back into the corner. I had a new found courage that really didn't care what they were saying, or that they even had assault rifles in their hands.

In a matter of seconds and almost all in one motion, I pounced at the closest guard in a ducking charge, with a backflip kick that knocked the gun out of his hand before he could even shoot, and all in the same motion chest kicked him so hard into the wall that it knocked him out, while I charged the other guard and ripped the gun out of his hand so quickly it broke his arm. As he started to yell, I hit him with the butt of the gun and knocked him out.

Kelsey stood there with eyes wide open. All of this happened so quickly, we almost didn't realize we were free. I grabbed her and we took off down the corridor. We had to take out a few of the guards along the way, but we made our way top side. We came out a side exit, with view of the South entrance about 100 yards away. We both took off running. I was running way faster than I'd ever run and I was leaving Kelsey behind, so I slowed down to grab her. About that time alarms started going off, guards went into high alert and we were spotted.

Not even thinking I grabbed her and picked her up and took off running. It was almost effortless. She weighed nothing to me. Guards scrambled, dogs started chasing us, and I heard commands to fire. We broke free of the gates and were running and that's when it happened. I felt a shot to the back. Then another. I was still running. Then the pain just disappeared. As I turned to run into the wooded areas with trees to give us better coverage, another shot hit my right arm and it was enough to cause me to drop her and tumble to the ground.

I got back up to collect myself and make sure she was okay. "Did you just get shot back there?” Kelsey asked.  "I thought I felt two shots to the back, and one just hit me...."  We looked down at my arm in mid-sentence. Both in complete disbelief. My skin was pushing the bullet out and healing itself. It was like something from X-men. I quipped, "Holy....it's like I'm Wolverine! What the heck is going on?!"  I quickly took my shirt off and she looked at my back. Two gunshot wounds were healing over. We didn't know what was going on, but we collected ourselves and took off running again, to try and get back to our rendezvous point, to see if there was any way to contact anyone or look for survivors.

After hours of running, walking, and hiding, we finally got there. It was basically just a small cabin. The truck was still sitting there that brought us from the airport, except it had been burned. Everything was ransacked. We went inside and looked around. We were looking in the kitchen for something to eat or drink and heard a gun behind us. We just raised our hands and stood slowly.  "Joe?!  Kelsey?!"  It was Jake and Ariella. They had escaped and had been hiding out in this cabin the whole time.

Me - "You guys are alive?! With all of the shots and explosions, we didn't think anyone made it out."

Jake - "Dude, they knew every move we were making. The explosion was the transport blowing up and I took a dive trying to swim away. I swam underwater until I couldn't hold my breath any longer and then swam the shoreline until I couldn't move."

Ariella - "I just ran. I knew they were onto me the second I tried to cause the first distraction. When they opened fire, I just ran until I ended up here. I thought everyone was dead too. Are you two alright? Kels, you look rough."

Kelsey looked over at me and I looked back at her. "You're really not going to believe anything that just happened, but let's just say at this time last night I was struggling to stay alive", I said. We described the past 4 days and that morning. They didn't even know what to say. I had nothing to say either, because I really couldn't explain it.

We decided we needed to find a way back to the airport and get a ride back to base command and just clear all of this up. After three days of walking, dodging scouts, and camping out, we finally came up on the airport. Naturally, we didn't feel like trusting anyone, but we had to get word back to Capt. Swanson to send us a return transport. Most of our gear was missing or damaged, so we went inside the airport and used an internet kiosk to e-mail him the situation and he sent a plane right away.

We arrived back at Antarctica with CAPT. Swanson waiting as we stepped off the plane. Medics quickly started looking us all over.

Capt. Swanson - "Crispen, I knew you would make it back in one piece. We don't know what happened out there, but the six of us are leaving."

Me - "Leaving, sir?"

Capt. Swanson explained, "The four of you, Dr. Becker, and I will be setting up a new command in Australia. There is a mole. We aren't sure who it is, but we are sure it's none of the six standing here. We are the only ones who are going to know about this move. You are the best of the best. The rest will be informed that we are disbanding and no longer need their services. The flight back here was only for show. We're about to board another plane to California, to make our way to Australia. Crispen, I know you have your dog and belongings here, so you may go to command center and use the portal to jump. Seeing that only 2 can go through at once, we gotta take the plane."

Me - "Thank you, sir. That means a lot. I won't be far behind. But everyone? What about CK, DJ and Lance?"

Capt. Swanson - "We will handle that in stride. If they are of value to us and we know they can be trusted further, we'll bring them in. Now, let's move out."

I used the portal jump to get into my living quarters in the command center, so no one would see me return. I grabbed the stuff I needed and grabbed Rocko and jumped to the coordinates Capt. Swanson gave me for California, where I could meet them, and fly the rest of the way as we were debriefed on everything that had happened and what was going on.

On our flight back we explained what had happened, where everything went wrong, the torture and then what had happened to me. Dr. Becker took a blood sample. And said my nanomite readings were more than four times what they were supposed to be. We went over everything. The team talking amongst themselves, trying to figure out our next move, when Capt. Swanson interrupted.

Capt. Swanson - "Crispen."

Me - "Sir?"

Capt. Swanson - "What is it about you that they wanted so badly? Why are you so valuable to them? Do they know about the nanomites?"

Me - "Sir?  No. Not that I'm aware. I told them nothing. Why do you ask?"

Capt. Swanson - "There is something about you that has them completely mad and pulling every string of every puppet on the planet that they can get a hold of. They want you back. But you do understand that you can't just go running off, correct?  That you have to be responsible and think with your head right now, correct?"

I looked puzzled at him. "Of course. You say that like I wanna go running back there. I have no intentions of running back there anytime soon. Not after..."

Capt. Swanson put his hand up, to signal me to stop talking. Everyone took notice and looked on intently in silence. "Crispen, it’s no longer as simple as that statement. It's no longer training, testing or the matter of a simple drug lord. Ortega released a statement today, with a video. They have your family."

Reality, No More - Chapter 5

"They have my entire family?!" I said in complete shock. He couldn't be serious.

Capt. Swanson - "It was released via satellite video feed and he confirmed it by showing everyone. For the most part, they look to be safe and just being held captive for the moment."

Me - "SAFE?! My grandmother isn't young and she can't take that stress. Many people in my family can't take stress of that magnitude. I have to go now!"

I tried to get up, but Capt. Swanson pushed me down and told me to sit.  I was angry, I wasn't thinking. My body was going crazy. All of these changes happening inside me, my anger and adrenaline were explosive now. I wanted to rip a steel door apart. My family. Why my family?! What was it about me that was so special that this guy went to the trouble of going around the country grabbing my family members?  I just wanted to go blow him up.

Capt. Swanson - "Calm down, soldier! You aren't thinking clearly!"

I interrupted, "I don't even care right now!  I want my family back and I'm going to get them back!"

Capt. Swanson - "I am not your enemy and I am giving you a direct order to sit and calm yourself down immediately. You go running off, guns blazing, all you're going to do is kill yourself and probably your family!"

He was right; annoyingly. It was true, but I didn't want to calm down. It was my family in jeopardy and all because of me, apparently. I still don't understand how I am the only known person on the planet of over six billion people that had this "special" DNA and could be used for whatever it is people want to use me for. It was clear with the side I was on why they wanted me, but Ortega apparently has other ideas, because to our knowledge, he had no clue about the nanomites and never showed knowledge of that technology.

I eventually calmed as much as I could and tried to regroup my mental capacity. The team started at that moment to debrief on the situation and try to get a clear goal on how to save my family and get everyone out of there. Since it was only a handful of us, Capt. Swanson called in the rest of the gang from our former command center. It was clear whatever leak we had was still among us at that point, so it wasn't any of those guys. DJ, the Cryptkeeper and Lance were all brought in to assist and arrived a couple days later.

It'd been about two weeks, since receiving the news that Ortega had captured basically all of my family. For whatever reason, he really wanted me. I would assume he has the same intel as Dr. Becker and Capt. Swanson do regarding whatever it is about my DNA that's special, but nobody knew for sure. It appears that he doesn't have any knowledge of the nanomites or how they've started affecting my body. Pretty much nobody saw that one coming. I'm learning new things on a daily basis, but it's like it's mutating me, only it isn't. It's a completely separate system within my molecular structure. We don't know where it's going or what the long term will bring, but I'm along for the ride. Dr. Becker has determined that extracting them would not be possible any longer. They have somehow fused themselves with my DNA, thanks to the electrical surges from my torture.

The team had spent a lot of time keeping up intel, making sure my family was okay. Regular communication with Ortega was keeping them alive and safe; as safe as one could be in that situation anyway. For some reason, he actually wasn't demanding anything or making any threats. He was basically being very patient with the situation and expressing his necessity for me. He was extremely confident, which worried me even more. What was it that he knew?!

Capt. Swanson and the rest of the gang were in the process of getting their game plan together somewhat behind my back and were discussing the plan when I realized what was going on and interrupted, "Excuse me. Am I hearing all of this correctly?  You're leaving me behind?!"

Kelsey was about to speak, but was interrupted by Capt. Swanson. "You have to be removed from this operation, Crispen. Your personal ties are either going to make you a liability or a time bomb that's going to get too many people killed. I'm making the executive decision to have a small team go in for extraction of your family in the most covert way possible", he said.

Me - "Sir, that is my family. I should be there rescuing them. You can assume I'll be some psycho soldier, but I know how to control myself when it counts, and again, that is my family."

Capt. Swanson - "I've made my decision."

I got angry. I went off on him, "I'm not even in whatever military you came from!  I wasn't recruited in some government office and I wasn't trained in what they would deem a proper way or environment. You simply grabbed me out of my bedroom and threw me into this mess and you think you can order me around?!"

Capt. Swanson - "Crispen!  This is exactly my point. Look at yourself, I'm not your enemy and you're flipping out. Now raise that level by about 100 and put it on a battlefield. If it makes you feel better, I am commanding this operation personally with Smith, Ryan, Young and Brevda."

I did not like that idea. Not at all what I was ready to hear. It was no secret that Kelsey and I were seeing each other. We'd been seen kissing, cuddling, holding hands and everything else that goes with the territory for about 3 months. It wasn't really hidden.

Me - "Hold the phone!  You're not taking Kelsey. I just rescued her from that crap and you aren't tossing her right back into it. You can take DJ, he is perfectly capable. CK can stay here with me and run command. Kelsey isn't going."

About that time, Kelsey stepped in and interrupted me, "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. You are sweet, I love you and I appreciate you looking out for me and being the hero, but I am trained as much as anyone else on this squad and it's my duty to carry out orders."

Capt. Swanson - "I need her, Joe. She's one of our best. I need you to separate yourself from this situation and go meditate or something. Further distraction from you is going to hurt us."

I didn't know what to say, but they were right. It was a really crappy situation, but I can't argue with logic and intelligence. I left central command and went back to my quarters and tried to calm myself with a nap. It wasn't working the best. I would sleep, then wake up shortly after. Just not happening, and it was even annoying Rocko to the point that he just decided to jump off the bed and sleep on the floor.

They were commencing operations the next day at 0600 hours. After a night of tossing and turning, which didn't include Kelsey, because she needed a clear mind and a good night's sleep, she came in to wake me up, but I was already half awake.

Kelsey - "Hey, sunshine. Come and see us off. We're going to get your family back and everyone just wants to know they have your support. You're important to us and we're doing this for you."

Me - "I know, Kels. This is really hard. You all would be feeling the same way."

Kelsey - "You are right, we would. That's when duty comes in and it's your duty to stay back and let people without a deep personal connection take it to them. We'll have clearer heads."

I agreed with her, and after a few minutes of talking and holding each other, I headed out to central command and the launch bay with Kelsey to see them off.  As everyone boarded the ship, she came over to me and handed me a locket of her hair and told me to hold onto it, so that I would always literally have a piece of her with me. I asked her to wait, as I ran to my quarters and grabbed a little pocket Bible that my grandpa had carried with him during the Korean War. I retuned and gave it to her to keep with her to remember me. We hugged, kissed, said our goodbyes, and she told me she loved me as she ran to the truck to load up and head out.

I went back to central command with Dr. Becker, CK, and DJ. We tried to get as much surveillance as we could get from satellites and other means at our disposable. Had some chatter back and forth with the team. Spirits were good, as they should be. They boarded their flight and we went radio silent as they got a last bit of rest, as it was a long flight from Australia to Cuba. They landed and checked in. The usual communication commenced during operation, as they made their way to the compound later the next day.

It was approximately 0200 hours as the team made their way through the jungle terrain and within visual distance of the compound, where cameras weren't in range. They decided to stick together as a 5 man squad going in. They set up a recon point and surveyed the area, cameras, lights, etc. This time to making sure there weren't hidden cameras in trees.

Jake - "Joe, I think you've made me paranoid."

Me - "Why is that?"

Jake - "It feels too quiet. Too calm for my liking. I don't see many guards, and the ones I do see are just casually walking around."

Me - "Dude, don't be like me. They should be that relaxed. They're not supposed to know you're there. Just focus and take care of the team. And my girl."

Jake - "I will do my best."

As he said that, not even 5 minutes into being at their location, there was an interruption. "Well, hello everyone. Welcome back. It's nice to see that you've come to visit again. Aw, you left the boy at home, so he doesn't get hurt, that's sweet. Unfortunately, that also means you all have no value to me. Oh well." Said a voice over a loud PA system.

Me - "Guys, get out of there. Get out now! Abort! ABORT! Jake, get Kelsey out of there!"

Ariella and Kelsey almost simultaneously asked how in the world he knew and how he keeps one step ahead of us. In that moment, a stealth surveillance drone descended in front of them. Luckily, it was only equipped with cameras and censors, but the whole team was trying to make a plan of escape, as they noticed their transport had been taken.

Once again, a voice came over the loud speaker. "Commence with Project Shadow Walker."

Jake - "What the eff is Project Shadow Walker?!"

A small hangar bay just inside the compound began opening its doors as yellow strobes were going off on each side of the doors. Capt. Swanson got the first glimpse, followed by Ariella through her sniper scope. At the same time, both of them said, "Oh, sh--."  A heavily armed and armored mech stepped out of the hangar, equipped with shoulder mounted M-21 rocket launchers and Gatling cannons on each arm.

It began to open fire at an insane rate, with payload peppering the area near them. The team began to scramble and try to find cover, as they were yelling and screaming at each other and over the coms.  I was going crazy on the coms. I was screaming to take cover and get out of there.

Jake came across the com, actually fearing for his life, which was a clear sign that this was very bad. "Ariella is down. I repeat man down! Ariella is down!" He screamed. Kelsey was flipping out. She was trying to find cover and this mech was mowing down trees like they were tissue paper. She started crying, "Somebody please help! Get us out of here!" Jake tried to comfort her over the coms, but he was having a hard time keeping calm himself. They were returning fire, but it wasn't doing anything.

The mech stopped fire. Everyone one had been grazed or hit by debris and wounded, except Capt. Swanson. It seemed to be concentrating fire on Jake and Kelsey. Jake quickly hurried over to Kelsey to make sure she was okay, after checking on Capt. Swanson. As he made a quick crawl over to Kelsey, Capt. Swanson made a run for it. Neither of them understood what he was doing. The mech got into a lowered stance position, as they were about to try and run, the rocket launchers on the mech's shoulders engaged and lifted for fire. Each launcher holding 25 small rockets.

All of the chatter and chaos that had been going on seemed to stop right at that moment. It was like the world went into slow motion and silence. The mech fired both launchers, sending a wave of 50 rockets into a devastating tracer shower of mini warheads right at Jake and Kelsey. Jake went silent. In tears, Kelsey softly said over the com, "Baby, I love you. I'm sorry." I heard the first blast hit, just before the coms went dead. The room was literally silent. Everyone was looking at each other and back at me. Standing there in utter shock. I looked down, opening up the grip of my hand that was so tight that I drew blood from my nails digging in. I was holding her locket of hair. The straw on the camel's back.

Reality, No More - Chapter 6

I was numb. It seemed like everything had stopped. The earth was standing still and I couldn't react. I just dropped to my knees in disbelief. I wanted so badly to imagine that everyone was alright and I would find them hiding away somewhere when we made a rescue attempt, but it didn't seem possible.

I quickly got up and started looking for the satellite feed to check the surrounding area for movement. I knew Lance was with them, but he hadn't made any commotion over the coms. It was pretty clear that he had just been trying to suppress fire and hope was pretty much lost when I saw the aftermath of the attack. Trees down and burning, debris everywhere, a small crater at the point of impact. I zoomed as far as I could to scan the area, using heat and night vision, but nothing. Then I saw my worst nightmares confirmed. The remains of my former friends and teammates. Four bodies accounted for, but still no Capt. Swanson. Even as strong as I wanted to be, the tears hit.

Everyone was silent. CK tried to comfort me, but it was pointless. Not only did I just lose best friends, but someone that I cared deeply about. My mind kept flashing back to her kissing me and smiling as she ran to the transport truck before they left. This operation was really important to her. She knew how much it meant to me, and I knew how much it meant to her to succeed.

Reality started coming back to me. Earth was beginning to spin again, sounds were coming back into focus and this really just happened. About that time, my tears turned to anger. I slammed my fist down on the computer console in front of me, leaving about a six inch fist print. Everyone stood behind me, eyes wide open. I stormed down the steps into the loading area and again, my body just kind of took over and a warm sensation came over me as I walked over to one of our trucks and flipped it before I stormed off.

Dr. Becker, CK and DJ were in shock. Their eyes got even wider. DJ finally started toward the truck. "Did you guys just see what I just saw?" He said.  Dr. Becker responded, "We really need to get him on a table and see what his body is going through. This has to be related to the nanomites. Normal people don't just throw 2 ton SUVs."

I just wanted to be alone. I wanted nothing to do with any of this crap that I just got pulled into. I was packing some things up and planning to head back to Ohio, not even thinking clearly or straight, when someone buzzed the door to my quarters. It was DJ. We were never super close, but we shared hockey and football games, good laughs, and a few nights out with Jake and Kelsey on occasion.

DJ - "What are you doing, bro?!"

Me - "What does it look like I'm doing? I need to get away..."As I started to make that statement, it hit me. Ortega still had my family. I had no clue what I was doing. I don't give up. This isn't me. I was seriously about to bail and go back home and leave my entire family in captivity of some psycho drug lord or whatever it is he was - drugs certainly seemed a pretty minor part of his game at this point. I just came to realization that I was really out of it with that. I got my wits about me.

Me - "Dude, I don't even know what I'm doing. I can't go home! Man, what am I thinking?!"

DJ - "Yo, you need to chill man. Just woosah or something, because what just happened, no one is gonna react normally or sanely. Bro, you threw a truck. You literally threw a truck."

Me - "Yeah, about that. These freakin' nanomites just kinda take over sometimes and I can't control it. It's almost like they're teaching me things I can do."

In the middle of our conversation, Dr. Becker spoke over the coms. "Mr. Crispen, Ortega has requested a video call with you. He's on the line right now."  I looked at DJ. He looked a little scared from the look I gave. "This jerkoff is about to play the wrong hand." I said, as I hastily got up and made my way to the central command room. I swung the door open to the debriefing room and verbally jumped the guy.

Me - "Who do you think you are, assuming you have the right to just give us a call like you're ordering a pizza?! You have some serious balls."

Ortega - "Calm down, Mr. Crispen.”

"Me - "Calm down?!  Why don't you go f.."

Ortega - "I think you forget that I still have an entire family at my disposal here. If you continue your current path of aggression and disrespect, disposal is the only thing that will be happening with each and every relative you know."

As he spoke, I interrupted him. "Shut it, Ortega."  The look on his face was testament to how shocked he was at my reaction.  "You listen very closely and very clearly to what I'm about to say. You will not hurt a hair on one member of my family. You will not so much as breathe a breath of that wasted existence of yours near a member of my family. You just killed my girlfriend and my best friend and I'm coming for you. Oh, you can rest assured I'm coming for you." He tried to interrupt me, but I kept talking. "I said to shut it. You don't get to speak this time. The next time I see you, I'm going to rip your spine out of your neck and give you a colonoscopy with it. Conversation over." I hit the button to end transmission.

Dr. Becker, DJ and CK stood there in shock and probably with the same face that Ortega was making right about that moment. CK, the somewhat quiet, nerdy guy that he is said, "Dude, I don't think that was very wise."  I responded. "If he is gonna hurt my family, he would do it where I can see it. Everyone seems to think I'm just some Neanderthal who was brought in to thump skulls. I'm not. This guy is a narcissistic megalomaniac. He's going to keep the bait alive, until he makes a spectacle out of hurting one of them. Everything he's done thus far has been about attention and he's made sure it's been seen."

Then I made my stand. This was my turning point.  "I am hereby taking command of this team."  Dr. Becker questioned me, "Mr. Crispen, do you think that's wise in your state.."  I interrupted him. "My state of mind?! Is that what you were gonna say?  Let me be clear what my state of mind says right now. It says lethal force is due and Ortega is the recipient."  Dr. Becker interrupted again, "But Mr. Crispen, Capt. Swanson is the commander of this..."  I interrupted him again. "Capt. Swanson stuck his tail between his legs and took off when two of the most important people to me needed him most. He is dead to me. This is my team. If he wants it back, he can fight me for it. End of discussion."

Me - "CK, I want you to get me a comprehensive list of the most elite soldiers and trained military, law, science and government personnel in the world. This isn't some handful of a halfcocked team any longer. I want the best, the brightest and the biggest balls on the planet and I want them yesterday!

"CK - "Yes, sir. I'll get on it right away. FBI, CIA, Special Forces, MI-6, everything."

As I stood there thinking, some things were starting to concern me. There was still an obvious mole somewhere on the team. It wasn't Lance and I sure know it wasn't Ariella, Jake or Kelsey. My gut was telling me it wasn't CK or DJ either, so that left 2 people. This also made sense, because Capt. Swanson and Dr. Becker were the only ones who knew about this "special compatibility" of my DNA, but which one was it? Was it both? I called DJ to walk with me. I explained everything I was thinking as we walked.

Me - "Do you get what I'm saying? Who do you think it would be?"

DJ - "I totally get it and I've been watching the team, since learning about this. We know who it wasn't, but my money is telling me it's Becker."

Me - "Are you serious?  Even after Swanson took a leap off of earth when our friends were being blow to literal pieces?"

DJ - "Who else stays here, monitoring our operations and knows every move we make, where we are, and what commands are going through? It's one thing to give advanced notice, but even then, they're not gonna know every move we're making as we make them. Plus, how is it that Ortega seems to have our personal number every time he wants to talk?"

Me - "DJ, you're a smart man. Those are some excellent points. From now on, we keep Becker out of the loop of everything. If I give you all a verbal command, act it, but disregard it. I'll send you a text shortly after with my real orders. As of right now, you and I have some drawing to do."

DJ - "Drawing?"

Me - "Yes. We're going to design a few weapons of our own, starting with a new state of the art command center of which Becker won't be aware. If I'm taking over this team, I'm taking over the bank account too."

DJ - "That's what I'm talkin' about!"

We made our way into the debriefing room and added CK to our little mini mission. We explained things we'd discussed to him, then we began brainstorming some ideas and designs. CK, showed us some plans and technology that he'd come up with and had been developing, with Dr. Becker, that was pretty awesome. In the meantime, we were drawing up plans for a brand new, state of the art command center which would be off the coast of Honolulu deep in a massive trench on the sea bed and planning a solo mission for me to rescue my family.

Things were about to get real.

CK had developed an active camouflage body suit, which basically made you invisible with light bending technology, like that of the Predator in the movies. Something the US military had been working on for a while now. He seemed to have it perfect, so that was in my arsenal for my personal mission, which I was calling, "Operation Clean Sweep". The term thieves use when hitting a place and stealing multiple items.

This was a “get in and get out” mission, as covertly as possible. No chartered flights, other than a transport we would have arriving shortly after my infiltration, with a private plane waiting at an undisclosed location to get my family out. I'll be using the portal technology to make a direct jump. I'd been working on my shooting, perfecting my marksmanship, because this was going to require some sniper skill. I trained for about 2 weeks, keeping my family under close monitor. I didn't want to leave them there for so long, but this required the five Ps; "Proper planning prevents poor performance".

I was at the firing range, shooting some rounds with CK and DJ. The 3 of us growing pretty close through this process. I was looking at my target, when CK accidently discharged his rifle and it hit my arm. I looked down and back up with a confused look on my face. DJ and CK stood there with wide eyes, as CK said, "Dude, did you see that?!"  I obviously didn't.

Me - "See what? I thought I felt you shoot my arm. Douchebag! Keep control of your gun, before someone gets killed."

CK - "I did shoot it."

DJ - "Bro, I don't even know how to explain what I just saw. It was like the bullet hit you and your skin rippled in this gun metal color. That's the only way I can describe it."

I looked down at my arm and felt it. Nothing seemed abnormal. Then they thought I was crazy, because I looked back and asked CK to shoot my hand. He responded with a crazy look, "I'm not shooting you on purpose!  Are you crazy?!"  Perhaps I was, just a tad, at that moment. "Just do it. Just graze my hand." I responded. 

After much convincing, he finally took a shoot and we all saw it.

Me - "Holy crap! These freakin' nanomites made me bullet proof!"

DJ - "I don't know that I'd go testing that one out too much. One thing to assume it, then shoot yourself. Another to be in a situation where it might just come in handy."

I agreed, but it was still pretty wicked crazy the things that were happening to me. At the same time a little scary, because I didn't know what the consequences would be later on. If there were any coming. I got my gear ready, strapped up with a suppressed DTA SRS-A1 rifle, a suppressed MP5 for close quarters, and of course my trusty, thigh strapped Desert Eagle for when all else fails.

We scoped the place out via drone and satellite. With some tech CK had developed, we got a near x-ray view inside the hangars and other buildings. I changed the plans up a little just before the jump, got myself psyched and it was time. I was ready to go, coordinates typed in, I activated the portal and stepped through.

There in front of me stood this thing they called "Shadow Walker". I climbed into this marvel of modern technology that was also the weapon used to kill my friends and my girlfriend. I studied its systems, got an understanding of its operation, and synced its system up with CK's console back at command, then climbed out.

I made my way out the back, activating night vision. The hangar was adjacent to the building holding my family. I positioned myself in a large tree and set myself up. This active camo was pretty wicked. I took out one guard in a guard tower. No commotion. Then another, and another. As strategically as I could I took out 12 guards before dismounting and making my way back to the hangars and buildings. I switched to the MP5 and took out 7 more, dragging their bodies into the bushes so they wouldn't be discovered.

There was a guard waking along a steel grating at the 2nd story level, patrolling the back of the building with my family. I took him out as I climbed the railing to get to the grating and to the door.  I entered the building at the second level and didn't see any other guards. As I descended down the stairs, alarms went off and there was an "intruder alert" given across the PA system. I didn't know if they discovered a body or I tripped something, so I quickly exited the building and hid in the trees.

An announcement came over the speaker again to switch to heat vision, because they suspected some kind of stealth camo. "Crap."  I made a run for the front entrance of the compound where I came in as the hangar holding the mech started to open. Here we go. As I ran out the entrance toward the trees, I ended up in the area where Jake and Kelsey met their fate. That was probably not the best place to end up, at least not logically.

As I stood there, replaying everything that was going through my head from the sounds over the com that night they died. Everything seemed like slow motion again. I was reliving it all over. I reached into my pocket and pulled out her lock of hair. I stared at it. My heart started pounding. These little nanomites kind of defied logic.

Adrenaline kicked in and they somewhat took over. I was stronger, faster, thinking with almost robotic like quickness. The mech made its way toward me, but I took off toward it. It started firing at me, but whatever had happened to me at the shooting range was happening again. They weren't doing anything. I was like freakin' Superman. Guards and soldiers started coming out like ants. SUVs and Jeeps all scurrying to get to my location. I was dodging bullets as this thing was firing, most not hitting, but the ones that were did nothing.

Finally, he launched a few rockets and they hit dead center. In the blast and flames, it sent me back a few feet, but I was fine. All I could think was, "Holy mother of Kryptonite..."  Now I got a little cocky. Warranted I suppose. I walked out of the flames and started walking, not running, toward the mech. Some of the guards were flipping out. They started shooting again. The mech was backing up as I took off running and jumped onto it. I unlatched the cockpit and ripped the guy out of the seat and threw him. I sat in the seat, latched the cockpit, then it was all mine.

I took over this "Shadow Walker", with control of its gatling cannons, and started mowing down everything. SUVs and Jeeps were exploding. I was blowing up buildings, fuel containers, you name it. Then I found a nifty switch for missile settings and switched to a single fire pattern. Armed the shoulder launchers and fired, blowing up just about everything I could.

Ortega’s men were frantic. Trying to get him out and make a plan of escape. They got him out of the compound, down to a waiting SUV, as they tried suppression fire to buy him time to get away. I blew those trucks up too. Guys coming out of everywhere, launching grenades, shooting, then I took a stinger missile to the side. Considerable damage but this thing was unreal. I turned, aimed, and mowed down the guy holding the rocket launcher. Then Ortega made his escape. They were speeding away right past me as I turned and CK patched in and showed me a nifty little boost jump feature. I jumped this thing about 100 feet and landed right by the entrance as they sped off.

I said out loud, "Not this time." I armed all rockets, locked on target and fired the same wall of 50 rockets that killed my friends, all at his SUV, they hit, blowing it into oblivion with little remaining, but shrapnel and flames. I made my way back to the building where my family were and just walked the mech through the front wall, I didn't feel like waiting. Some people screamed and didn't know what was going on, until I exited the mech. I started removing hand cuffs and restraints, while everyone was hugging me in disbelief. Obviously no one really knew what I'd been up to fully. But they were happy to see me.

I messaged CK and told him to send a transport directly there for my family and one for the mech to take it back with us. After my small reunion and everyone thankful of the rescue, the transport was there and they were loading up to be taken home. My family was off to safety and I was about to board my own vehicle to meet them at the jet, as a transport helicopter departed with the mech in tow.

The driver, alerted me to someone coming out of the trees. I jumped out with my MP5 and told them not to move a muscle. They shouted, “No! Don’t shoot!”

"Swanson…"

Reality, No More - Chapter 7

Me - "Give me one good reason I shouldn't pull this trigger."

As Swanson fell backward, scooting back with one hand, the other in the air toward me, he pleaded with me not to shoot and to let him explain what happened. I really wasn't in the mood to hear him. This was the last person I wanted to see at this particular time and place. As far as I was concerned, he was even lower than Ortega, because he had no value to me.

Swanson - "Let me explain. Please Joe, let me explain!  You don't have all the facts!"

I moved toward him, lifting the gun toward his head and looking through the sights. He pleaded with me some more, "No no! Please don't shoot!  I have family!"  He started crying. This tough commanding officer that I'd been around for nearly a year, who was a complete douchebag most of the time had reduced to tears, not to mention peeing his pants a little. Normally, I'm a forgiving person, but this was the worst timing and location in the history of ever. I said, "You've got 60 seconds to explain yourself, before I end it."

Swanson - "I don't think Jake and Kelsey are dead!" [shielding his face as he yelled]

Me - "Come again..." [lowering my weapon]

Swanson - "Joe, I don't know what happened that night. We lost communication, as if our coms were disabled. They weren't damaged. I heard you yelling for us to get clear and then silence. That mech thing fired missiles, but they hit about 30 yards in front of Jake and Kelsey. They didn't die in any explosions. I took off running and signaled them to follow as I said to do so across the com, but that's when I realized they were out. I thought Jake was following me, but he ran over to Kelsey instead. I stopped for a minute, to try to get their attention, but someone really didn't want that happening. More explosions hit between us and I couldn't see anything anymore. I tried to maneuver around but it was impossible, so I tried to take cover in the trees. I don't think anyone noticed me, because I wasn't followed and there was no search. I didn't just abandon them, I swear on my life and my family's lives."

Me - "Just wait. Stop. They're alive?"

Swanson - "I really don't know what happened, but they're bodies were gone once the explosions and smoke cleared. Something very wrong is going on here, Joe. When everything cleared, they came and quickly cleaned up the area and then dumped what looked like body bags filled with mutilated corpses. I think it was for you to see, if you tried a satellite visual feed."

Me - "But I saw..."

Swanson - "You saw 4 bodies. Did you take the time to really investigate parts and genders? Were you in person to see whether it was indeed your friends?"

Me - "So help me Swanson, if you were working with Ortega.."

Swanson - "I've been hiding out in a jungle with nothing but bugs and fruit to eat for 2 weeks and you think I'm the mole?!  I'm not the mole!  I put this team together. Why would I take the time to build an elite unit of soldiers just to tear it apart?! I didn't die, I'm still your commanding officer."

Me - "Wrong. As far as I'm concerned, you still forfeited your right to lead this team. As of right now, I am in charge as commander in chief and Captain of this squad. You are nothing but a foot soldier, if anything."

Swanson - "Fine, fine! I don't want to lead it anymore. If you think you have what it takes, be my guest, but you just have to know that you saw was what they wanted you to see and something is really off with the events that unfolded that day. They really want you to think Kelsey is dead."

Me - "But if I think she's dead, then that makes no sense. I wouldn't go after her."

Swanson - "Exactly. That's why I'm saying something really wrong is going on here."

About that time, the driver of the transport called over to me and told me we needed to clear out, before there was any chance of them returning, since we had no more backup. I agreed and told Swanson to get in, but to understand that I had no trust in him and he wasn't going to be accepted well when we returned. We discussed some things further on the way, which actually gained a little more of my trust. For one, he brought up thinking that Dr. Becker was the mole without me even mentioning it and that alone helped his case.

We got back to the command center after nearly 40 hours of transporting, connecting and flying. I walked in first, with a weak, malnourished Swanson right behind me. DJ was the first to notice, with a look of shock on his face. After the initial puzzling and confusing looks and "What thes", we had explained everything in detail and caught everyone up. Even so, we still sent Swanson to private quarters and secured him there, under surveillance while he cleaned himself up, ate and slept. In our absence, CK had managed to gather nearly 30 people from his list of elite trainees for me to take a look at. I was impressed by his speed and efficiency.

He came over to me with dossiers on every one of them, and told me this is all he'd gathered so far. I let him know I was extremely impressed and that if he kept this up, he'd find himself climbing the ranks quickly. He told me he had a special guest that he wanted me to meet, who would be arriving shortly. A little puzzled, I thanked him and the three of us - myself, DJ and CK - began going over the dossiers and plans for the future. CK also already had plans drawn up for our new HQ in Honolulu, complete with living quarters, command center, debriefing rooms and even entertainment like a theater room and bowling alley. This kid was something else.

About that time, his guest arrived and he went out to greet them and bring them into the debriefing room. When he returned, with him stepped in one of the most gorgeous girls I had ever seen in my life. She had long dark hair, the clearest light blue eyes that looked like they could see into your soul, slender but athletic build, incredible body, about 5'5 and 125lbs.  DJ and I were speechless, we kind of looked at each other with wide eyes as she walked in, like "who is this?!"

CK - "Captain, DJ, I'd like you to meet my sister, Paige."

Me - [looking him up and down] "CK, how do you have a sister that looks like that?!"

Paige - [laughing] "I get my looks from our mom."

Me - "You guys apparently have a good looking mom then."

Paige - "I'll take that as a compliment, thank you."

Me - "Please do."

DJ - "I think someone lied to one of you. Clearly someone is adopted."

We all laughed, except for CK. He didn't find that too amusing, but he knew we were just ribbing him. He went on to explain that not only is she beautiful, but she's also as technologically savvy as he is with computers and that she was a highly trained ex-CIA operative, who was released from duty after not being able to carry out a kill order on a man she felt was innocent. This chick was like Jason Bourne and hotter than Megan Fox.

We all went out to the firing and testing range and she joined the other recruits in some showing of their tactics and abilities. It was a pretty impressive bunch. I was very pleased with what I was seeing. While watching them, CK also introduced us to some new equipment he developed.

CK - "Captain..."

Me - "Dude, call me Joe, this isn't the Army."

CK - "Ok, Joe... well this one will probably suit you really well. It's a little something I created with the latest in force repulse and electronic charge technology. You ever wanted to be Superman?  Well, wear this and with the way you're kinda already bulletproof and self heal and you will be. The gloves hold an electric charge, high enough to shock a group of people standing near each other by arcing, or just by touching someone like a taser. When you smack the palms together, it sends out a shockwave that will knock over a whole room of people. The harder you smack, the bigger the force."

Me - "Are you kidding me?!  This is insane."

I tried on the gloves, which were extremely lightweight and thin, like under armor. I tested the electric charge ability and then smacked my palms together, knocking over a few of the recruits.

Me - "Sorry guys, just testing equipment."  [laugh]  "CK, this stuff is amazing. If you knew the stuff Dr. Becker knows..."

CK - "Well, I actually do. I had a PhD in DNA and Cellular studies by the time I was 18. I technically am a licensed medical doctor and have a PhD in Advanced Biochemistry as well."

Me - "You are my new favorite friend."

We made our way back to the debriefing room, Paige following along talking with her brother and going over the general background and events leading up to where we are now. Obviously, she was someone who was trustworthy, so she was let in on the future plans. She apologized to me for my loss, which I wasn't even sure was a loss at the moment. I really didn't know what was going on at this point. My mind was swirling with possibilities, if Swanson was being honest and saw what he saw.

CK went over some more tech ideas he had. Things were getting larger than life. I had started the design on a ship, a very large ship, approximately the size of about   5 aircraft carriers, which would house 150 armed strike fighters in 3 separate docking bays. We went over ideas for armor and shielding technology, advanced weaponry and other advanced systems. CK was a mastermind. Glad he was one of the good guys.

CK - "One of the systems I've developed is a DNA scanning system. Once we develop it and put it into production, it will be the most advanced scanning technology on earth. We will be able to help people in ways you can't even imagine, plus have security that is virtually foolproof."

Me - "What do you mean?"

CK - "Well, say we program the ship to your DNA. No advanced weapons or even the power can be activated without you being present. This isn't like a fingerprint or retina scanner, it's on the level of DNA strand and cellular structure and it has to be a full scan. So basically, if someone cut off your finger thinking they could use it, it won't work. It has to be a complete body scan and matching of your DNA sequence. On top of that, we could literally nearly eradicate missing people's lists. With my system, we would be able to take a strand of hair and pinpoint the location of any missing person on earth within hours."

As CK was explaining this, I went into kind of a zone. I was listening to everything he was saying, but at the same time things were starting to make an incredible amount of sense to me.

Me - "That's it."

CK - "What's it?"

Me - "It all makes sense now. That's why they want me, for my DNA. It has nothing to do with the technology. It's the compatibility of my DNA. They wanna test these things, and if our suspicions of Dr. Becker are correct, they probably know some of what's been happening to me. Before they didn't know any of that, but I'm apparently the only person on earth like this, so they want....they could clone me."

DJ - "You don't seriously think they want to clone you, do you?"

CK - "It kinda has some merit, if this is really the reason and it makes more sense than anything we've really thought about. Especially if they can develop some kind of acceleration technology for human growth. They could essentially create an army of Joes."

DJ - "Oh, that ain't good."

Me - "That's wrong on so many levels. There can be only one!"  [laughs]  "But seriously, CK, I need you to dig deep and use all of the resources you've got with an open ear and eyes. Find out what you can and see if this has any merit. Things are calm for now, so now is the time to get the little army rolling and take control of this situation. Ortega is gone, but I don't feel like he was the one pulling the strings. Dig around for that too."

Ten months had passed, an incredible amount of money spent, the new command center almost fully finished and functional. Built underwater at an undisclosed location off the coast of Honolulu, deep in a massive ocean bed trench. At the same time, construction on this ship we were building was 8 months in the works, but that was going to take a few years, for it's mass, armor, technology and everything that went into it. However, once finished, would be the most powerful force ever derived from someone's mind.

We also decided to call our army, organization, whatever you wanted to call it, 'Viper'. VIPR to be exact. Which actually stood for 'Vanguard of International Protection and Rescue".  In the 10 months that had passed, we had grown into a force of about 1,500 elite soldiers and operatives, 150 of which were trained fighter pilots, being trained to pilot the 'Venom Fighters' that we were building for the ship that I had dubbed 'Taipan'. A Taipan is the most venomous snake in the world, found in Australia and Southeast Asia. Fitting name for this behemoth we were constructing.

We'd learnt a lot about Ortega and his operation. Still trying to figure out how deep it went, where he came from, who he answered to. His resources could never have afforded the types of technology and equipment he had at his disposal. There was someone else, someone who had an incredible amounts of wealth. Someone laying back and doing nothing for the last 10 months obviously. So we really wanted to find out what we were dealing with. I still wanted to know what happened to Kelsey. Was she alive? What was going on?  I hadn't heard from her in 10 months and barely anyone escaped that compound, so, if she is alive, where is she and why?

At the same time, over the course of this 10 months, I'd grown fondly of Paige. Naturally. She was beautiful and she spent most of her time with the 3 of us. DJ was my right hand man and like a brother to me at this point. CK was like that annoying little brother that you love to harass, but at the same time you would kill anyone who hurt him. We'd all grown really close as friends and colleagues. Paige and I had even gone on a few dates, but it wasn't anything super serious. That whole Kelsey thing just wouldn't go away, so I built a wall.

As we were all sitting in the debriefing room, quietly going over blueprints and plans for everything that was going on. Researching info on training and the usual around here, CK was digging, trying to find the source for all of this. That's when he spoke.

CK - "Holy crap."

Me - "What did you find?"

CK - "Cesar's boss."

Me - "What?!  Who?!"

CK - "You're never gonna believe this. It's Bruno Valentini."

DJ - "THE Bruno Valentini?!"

Me - "You've got to be kidding me."

Paige - "Forgive me be being the dumb one, but who is Bruno Valentini?"

CK - "He is one of the most powerful Italian Mafia godfathers on the planet. This guy isn't just mafia, he wants to take over the world. He has connections like you wouldn't believe and he's supposedly got more money than Bill Gates, albeit illegal and not accounted for. He has his hand on military weaponry, advanced technology, drugs, prostitution, gambling, porn, you name it, and his finger is probably in it. No pun intended."

Paige - "So this guy means business?"

Me - "Let's just say it isn't a name I really wanted popping up on the radar right now. In a couple of years, when the Taipan is finished, fully armed and ready to roll, then I'd feel a lot less vulnerable."

DJ - "Says the guy who is apparently bullet and missile proof, and self-heals."

CK - "We have an incoming transmission from an unknown source."

Me - "Can you trace it?"

CK - "Not yet, should we connect?"

Me - "Put it on screen and see what it is."

Paige - "It's just an IP address."

Me - "CK, secure the connection and lock us down and see where that goes."

CK, locked down our connections and software, then proceeded to navigate to the IP address that was on screen. What came up on our screen shocked all of us, but mostly me.  It was Ortega, alive and well.

Ortega - "Oohh, look at you all. It's like you've seen a ghost. Did I miss a funeral I was supposed to attend?"

Me - "Yeah, your own. I watched you die."

Ortega - "No, you watched my double die. You know, Mr. Crispen, in all of your tactical training and heightened perception, you still forgot that my compound was sitting on an ocean inlet and as soon as I heard you had control of the Shadow Walker, I sent out the distraction and hopped aboard the first boat out."

Me - "I really wish you would die. I'm pretty much sick of seeing that ugly face of yours."

Ortega - "Aww, no need for insults now. Truth is, I no longer need to keep having these conversations with you anyway. I just wanted to let you know I have no need for you any longer. You are free to be, whatever it is you want to be."

Me - "Oh, just like that? I'm free and clear of any threat or attack by you? No going after my friends or family, or trying to lure me away into traps?"

Ortega - "Nope. I'm done with all of that. I have what I wanted. You see, Mr. Crispen, I don't think in your feeble mind, you grasp the concept of power quite as I do. You see advanced weapons, technology, money, and all this as power. It's nothing. It's distraction. There is a universal element to humans that is the most powerful weapon ever created, and it's been programmed into us since the beginning of time."

Me - "What are you talking about?"

Ortega - "Emotions. I'm talking about the ability to control emotions. If you can harness that, then you can control anyone on the planet."

Me - "I'm sick of these games, Ortega. You're gonna answer me this one question - where is Kelsey? Is she alive?"

Ortega - "I can assure you Kelsey is gone."

Me - "I'm not going to stop coming for you."

Ortega - "Mr. Crispen, let's get back to the topic at hand. As I was saying, the ability to control emotion is the most powerful weapon of all, and I've been able to control you, even to this day. Your family, your friends, your rage for revenge, all my emotional control. It was all leading up to one common goal, which I’m sure you've figured out by now."

Me - "Yeah, what's that?"

Ortega - "Your DNA. I just wanted a sample of your DNA."

Me - "Yeah, well, good luck with that."

Ortega - "Oh, I don't need luck, my friend. As I said, the ability to control someone's emotions is epic power. I'd like you all to meet my daughter, Mila."

As the camera pans sideways a little bit, the whole room gasped in shock.

Me - "Kelsey?!"

Ortega - "Oh my goodness, the look on your face is one for the record books. Let me take a screenshot."

Me - "But...what?!"

DJ - "Kelsey, how could you?!"

Mila - "My name isn't Kelsey, it's Mila. I played you all, simple."

Me - "But...our time...your lock of hair...your smiles....all of that was.."

Mila - "Fake? On occasion I enjoyed my time with you, but it was part of the job."

Ortega - "I knew all along about the experiment with your DNA. As soon as I learned of Swanson's plan through my other operative, as you know him, Dr. Becker, we sent Mila in to infiltrate and get to know you, so to speak."

Me - [announcing over the com]  All hands, take Dr. Becker into custody immediately without question. Put him in secure quarters, under guard, until further notice!

Ortega - "Here is the best part of this whole thing. What's it been, 10 months? A lot can happen in 10 months. For instance, say hello to your baby boy." [Mila held up a baby who was about 2 months old]   "It is incredible what has been happening to his body. He was apparently born with some of your nanomites, which got passed through your semen. Amazing little things those are. The effects on his body already are astonishing."

Me - "This can't be..."

Ortega - "Oh it is, and I'm afraid that ends our broadcast time for today. Mr. Crispen, I look forward to a future of research in development with this little gem. Trust me when I say that. [transmission ended]

DJ - "Holy..."

CK - "Dude, I don't even know what to say."

Paige - "I feel stupid even asking this, but are you okay?"

Me - "I just....I don't even know right now...I'm numb...I ju..."  [I passed out]

Reality, No More – Chapter 8

As I slowly opened my eyes to the scent of a smelling salt, which was gagging me, I was still just at a loss for words. It just didn't make sense to me. I explained to everyone how we always played it safe and how she was even on the pill, so a kid coming out of it was just confusing. BJ, of course, cracked a joke about the nanos making me have super semen, but it still just wasn't possible, in my opinion.

With that aside, CK, whom we now just referred to by his real name, Bryan, was giving me a run down and all that he had established and brought together with the group. We were an official entity. A very powerful entity that doesn't answer to anyone, for the most part. We basically had international rule and could police whoever we wanted. Our name was official, we are The Viper Team, and our new insignia was awesome.

With the news of Bruno Valentini being the mastermind behind all of this crap we were dealing with, I advised Bryan to ramp up operations and hire twice as many engineers to work on the Taipan, now officially titled the CRV (Conflict Response Vessel) Taipan. The extra hands, technology and assets which we had at our disposal would bring the ship into production within months, instead of years. The description of this ship was something out of a sci-fi movie. Its features and mass would be unmatched, as well as it's weapons payload and defensive systems. More of that would be finalized as it was finished.

Right now our main focus, or at least my own, was finding out the deal with me supposedly having a child and Kelsey really being Mila Ortega. It was something that really stabbed the heart and affected me a little. Paige knew it, and was very understanding and great about it. I joked with her about her being the next "page" in my book of life, but really it did allow me to focus on her more and our relationship would end up better because of it.

While things were on a bit of a silent decline, we all worked toward our goals of operation. Setting up our new HQ, hiring more engineers to complete construction of the Taipan, training pilots for our Venom strike fighters, training new recruits and even diving into in depth intelligence training amongst ourselves. Paige brought a lot to the table with how she had been trained in the CIA, so we developed some pretty extensive intelligence and covert ops training. The months went by as everything started coming together. I was still in shock of this news about having a son, who I still doubted was really mine. I'd been researching and hunting for answers, but most of this stuff was so under wraps, because it was kept internal within their walls. No records of her giving birth at any civilian hospital or anything that left a paper trail. I was hitting nothing but dead ends with that.

During our usual daily routine of training, research, and preparation for what may come, Bryan called a meeting with some new developments and information he'd come across regarding our situation and looking into the future. It still remained just the handful of us who were included in these meetings, to ensure there were no leaks. We even had two very carefully picked armed guards who stood outside of our briefing room, just to be safe. Swanson and Becker were still in guarded custody and weren't getting out anytime soon. 

As we entered the room and sat down, Bryan explained that he’d come across some recent developments that we would find pretty interesting. While interesting, however, they are not good news for us. Some things were still quite unclear, as he explained.

Bryan – “I’ve put together folders which you all see in front of you, to follow along with the visual presentation.” [as he brought everything up on screen]  “My first bit of information is that the Taipan is coming along very nicely and will be completed in a matter of months.”

Me – “Completed as in fully operational?”

Bryan - “Yes. There will be some internal amenities that won’t be completed, such as lower deck quarters and what not, but the functionality of the ship itself and all 150 Venom fighters will be fully operational.”

DJ – “Sounds like we’re talking about the Deathstar.”  [laugh]

Bryan – “They wish the Deathstar was this cool.”  [everyone laughs]  “I will fill you in later of just what all this ship is about, but moving forward, we have some rather pressing issues. First off, Joe, I don’t think this baby is yours.”

Me – “Yeah, I just can’t find the clarity I need on that.”

Bryan – “I’ve been doing my own heavy research into Cesar and Mila Ortega, as well as researching medical records, hospital records, etc. As you know, there is no record of Mila ever giving birth to a baby. At least not in any hospital. With that said, I used some of your DNA on file to use the new DNA scanning system and you were the only match of your type. Now the thing with DNA is that you may match your mother or father, but still have your own unique sequence. That baby does not. It has an identical sequence to yours, which leads me to believe this is a clone, not a child.”

DJ – “Whoa. So you’re saying they cloned Joe?”

Bryan – “Affirmative. Which is actually good and bad at the same time. Good being it’s not actually his kid. Bad news being they can make copies of Joe. Which from what I’ve seen of his developments with this nanomite stuff is not a good thing for any of us. Especially if they develop some kind of accelerated aging process.”

Me – “So what you’re saying is this is like Joe: the sequel?”

Bryan – “From what I can tell, exactly.”

Me – “Not cool at all. When I said there can be only one, I meant it. I’m not having some clone walking around out there. I hate that possibility. If it’s possible to accelerate its growth, I could literally be setup doing some really bad things.”

Bryan – “Exactly, which is why I said it could be a really bad thing. But things get kinda worse.”

DJ – “Seriously, bro?  I haven’t even had breakfast yet and this day sucks hard already.”

Bryan – “This is bad news for all of us. Mostly because it’s so shrouded, I can’t dig deeper and break any more info. First we though Cesar was the boss. Then we learned Valentini was the boss. From everything I’ve come up with, there is someone else that goes deeper and way more powerful than Valentini. Someone who has his hands in the military powers of Russia, China and North Korea. That’s pretty much all I can find out though. It’s very tight information to come by.”

Me – “I don’t like the sounds of that. That sounds like the playing field is getting a lot bigger than just our two little factions going at it.”

Bryan – “Actually, yes. I’ve already confirmed that the Pentagon has received threats of invasion. Of course our cocky government thinks they are invincible and are brushing it off with diplomatic approach, but things could get interesting in a hurry.”

[call coming through]

Me – [answers and brings the call up on screen; it’s Mila Ortega]  “Mila?!  What do you want?”

Mila – “Joe, I need to speak to you. In private. Just the 2 of us.”

Me – “Uh, yeah, that’s probably not going to happen after, you know…things and stuff.”

Mila – “Ok, I understand you don’t trust me and that’s fine, but we need to talk. Bring everyone there listening then, I don’t care. Just know that I come in peace. I have some information to give you that I could get into serious trouble for.”

Me – “And why would you be risking your neck to give me this said information?”

Mila – “I don’t have time to explain that, just meet me, I have to go. [end transmission]”

[I look around the room]

Bryan – “Well, she sent through some coordinates what looks like some kind of abandoned warehouse in Miami and a meeting time of 8pm, the day after tomorrow.”

Paige – “I don’t trust that ho with anything, but I do think we should go and check it out. The four of us can handle ourselves, if something arises.”

Bryan – “I’m more of a stay at home, plan things over a screen kinda guy, sis.”

Paige – “Ugh. You pansy.  The three of us will go then.”

Me – “Yeah, let’s prep a transport and get going. Have you upgraded the portal system?”

Bryan – “I’m still working on it. I will work on that while you’re gone. Unfortunately, you have to travel the whole trip like normal folk.”

Me – “Well, better get this show on the road then. Gonna be a long trip to Florida from Australia.”

We prepped everything we needed, some tactical gear, my new second skin body armor, as I referred to it, and a light array of weapons, then we were off. It was a long, silent flight to Florida. Not knowing what to expect. We arrived at our private airfield and got some rest from our long flight. We weren’t meeting until the next day. After we all woke up, we had some grub, laid out some plans and transferred everything to an armored H1.

We made our way to the warehouse Mila had sent coordinates to. Once we got close. We stopped and exited to observe the surrounding area and assess our situation. We wanted to scan the area for any hostiles or surprises we might be walking into, but it seemed everything was clear. We were a little early, so we didn’t see or detect anything. We got back in the H1 and made our way to the rear of the warehouse to park.

We entered the building at approximately 19:50 and made our way toward the room where she said to meet. As usual, something didn’t feel right. We came into the room and saw 3 dead bodies lying on the floor about 10 feet away from each other. I looked up with wide eyes, DJ looked at me, then Paige. Then Bryan, who can see what we see due to visual feeds from the tactical goggles we wear, broke in on the comm.

Bryan – “Oh guys, this is not good. This is not good at all. Those are intelligence operatives that have been missing for 3 days. Two of them are CIA and one is MI-6.”

Paige – “I knew that one looked familiar, I think he trained me!”

Bryan – “Guys, it’s worse. This is really bad. I’m picking up chatter that the CIA and MI-6 are moving in on your location with multiple units and air support. I think you were set up hardcore.”

Me – “Are you kidding me?!”

About that time we heard helicopters closing in, vehicles rushing in and people shouting orders outside. I made a crouching approach to one of the windows and looked outside. We were being surrounded by armed operatives on all sides of the building, with snipers setting up in the trees and surrounding rooftops.

Bryan – “You guys need to get out of there fast!”

Me – “Dude, I don’t think that’s gonna happen. They just swarmed this building like locusts. They’re covering the rear, and took over our transport. Can you find a way out of this building? Maybe an access tunnel, sewer in the basement, anything?!”

Bryan – “Crap! I’m trying. I’ve got nothing.

DJ – “Dude, this is not cool, we need to get out. Do we fight our way out?  I mean, you can walk through bullets.”

Me – “This is the US government, dude, we can’t fight our allies!”

Bryan – “I don’t think they know who is in that building. They only know that these so called suspects are in there….aw, crap…”

About the time he finished saying that, a voice came over a loud speaker., “We know who you are in there. Joseph Crispen, DJ Roman and Ariella Brevda. You are now wanted for the murders of two CIA agents and one MI-6 agents, we suggest you relieve yourselves of any threatening attire and give yourselves up immediately.”

Me – “Holy crap, did they just say Ariella Brevda?!  So whoever tipped them off doesn’t know she’s dead and thinks Paige is Ariella.”

DJ – “That could only mean it’s someone who isn’t aware of some of what’s transpired lately.”

Me – “But Kels…I mean Mila, was there when Ariella died. Why would she use her name. She’s also seen Paige’s face on our video communications.”

Bryan – “Guys! Focus!  We gotta figure a way out regardless. So my sister is free and clear, but you two are not and you need to find a way out.”

Me – “Dude, I can’t find anything. DJ?”

DJ – “Nothing. They have this place locked down.”

I go over to the window again and see a group suiting up in tactical armor and arming up. About 10 guys getting ready to breach and clear the building. In this situation, they would most likely use flash bangs to disorient us and then take us by force.

Me – “Things are about to get really interesting. Bryan, we need a way out of heeere! They’re gonna breach and clear in about 10 minutes.”

Bryan – “Give me 5 minutes. I think I have an idea. Just give me 5 minutes.”

Me – “Man, when I said 10 minutes, I was being really generous!”

DJ – “Yeah, there is no way out. I’ve looked at everything in this building.”

Paige – “If only they didn’t have choppers in the air, we could make our way to the roof to buy us some time.”

Bryan – “Sis, I love you and I wanna kiss you! You’re brilliant!”

Paige – “Ew. Okaaay?”

Me – “We gotta go, they’re making their move!”

Bryan – “Go to the roof! Do what you can to hide from the helicopters!”

As we started making our way up the stairs to the roof access, we could hear them counting down, “3, 2, 1…breach and clear!”  They tossed the flashbangs in as we exited onto the roof. They breached the building as we were closing the door to the roof access. Conveniently, it exited in an area out of the 2 helicopters’ views for the moment.

Bryan – “Just give me a few more minutes.”

Me – “Bryan, I don’t wanna seemunthankful or impatient, but we really don’t have a few more minutes. They’re in the building right now!”

About that time I took a shot to the head from a sniper, but it just grazed me as I sat frozen with eyes wide open.

DJ – “Holy sh**!  Dude! Are you ok?!”

In that moment, my skin healed and hardened like armor. I took a second direct shot to the head and it didn’t even faze me. I just shook it off.

DJ - “Brother, that is just too much right there.”

Me – “Everyone stay down. Especially you, Paige. We don’t need them identifying you.”

Paige – “How did you…”

Me – “Don’t worry about it, you’ll get used to it. Just stay down.”

About that time there was a loud boom, crackling and loud showering sound, like rain hitting a tin roof. Above our heads opened up a huge portal. The portal closed.

Me – “Bryan, what was that?!”

Bryan – “You can thank me later.”

A really loud hovering noise descending upon us, you could barely see the wavy lines of a silhouette somehow camouflaged to invisibility like the Predator from the movies. It was a massive transport. It landed on the roof next to us and opened its bay doors for us to make our ways inside. One of our recruits was on board waving us in. The operatives couldn’t see what was going on. It was so loud from the hovering helicopters and now this thing. Everything was in total chaos. They were beating on the door trying to breach the rooftop as we got on board the transport. The doors closed, and we lifted off, as they burst onto the roof.

Me – “Dude!  What is this?”

Bryan – “Feast your eyes on Taipan transport ‘TAT1’, fully operational and ready to rock.”

As another portal opened, we passed through, into Australian airspace. This thing was impressive. An armed and armored transport with active camouflage technology, which bends light and renders objects virtually invisible. A technology that we were developing for the Taipan and all of its fleet. Capable of transporting up to 50 units at a time. It landed us safely and within minutes of being rescued, clear on the other side of the world. Unreal. We were back at command center as Bryan greeted us stepping off TAT1.

Me – “I had no idea we had this camo working already. I love you right now, man. You just saved us huge.”

Bryan – “Well, I had some things to tweak, but it only took a few minutes. Since it’s not on the mass scale of the Taipan, it was easier.”

Me – “You also apparently got the portal transporting upgraded.”

Bryan – “To a point, but not for what I’m working on. I’ll get that in due time.”

DJ – “Man, I don’t even care. I’m just glad you saved us back there. Joe took a shot to the head and it didn’t even hurt him. Then this thing comes down and saves us. Crazy ish, boy! But did you say this thing is called TAT1?”

Bryan – “That’s correct.”

DJ – “So the second one will be called TAT2…like, tattoo?”  [laughing]

Bryan – “You would.”

Me – [laughing]  “So yeah, apparently now my skin shields itself after initial damage.”

Paige – “I’m so lost right now. So you are literally bullet proof?”

Me – “Well, yeah. Looks that way. Things just keep developing further, so I never know what’s next. This happened before, but not quite the same way.”

Paige – “Amazing.”

Bryan – “I hate to breakup the good vibes with bad news, but we’ve got some big problems.”

DJ – “More?!”

Bryan walked over and brought up a broadcast onto the screen. It was a national broadcast in both the United States and the UK. Now listing three of us as most wanted terrorists in pretty much the entire world. Even though one of those listed was actually deceased. To add to the seriousness of the nature, it was President Obama and PM of the UK, David Cameron. This was serious. They were basically declaring war on us as terrorists.

Me – “Are you kidding me?! Without proof?”

Bryan – “Actually, it gets worse.”

DJ – “Maaan, I’m ‘bout to smack you up side the head.”

Bryan – “That warehouse…now don’t get mad at me, I don’t know how….but it has video surveillance of you 3 killing these operatives. The creepy thing is, it’s you, DJ and Ariella. It’s obviously been doctored somehow, or it would be Paige. Plus I know you didn’t do it. But basically, it’s video evidence of you murdering those 3 and well, that’s pretty strong evidence.”

Me – “Amazing. We went from top secret to most wanted in a matter of hours. I’d say things just got complicated.”

Reality, No More – Chapter 9

As we sat around the debriefing room for the next few days, discussing everything that had happened and trying to process just exactly what this situation was developing into, we were also discussing the future plans of our organization, where we stood with the status of ships and weapons, and what needed to be expedited for completion. Being an enemy of the common world wasn’t exactly on our “to do” list. Now we are the most wanted fugitives in two of the world’s most powerful nations. Then something caught our attention on the news in the background.

[newscast announcement] “…major accident in a New York subway as all 147 passengers were pronounced dead at the scene. Warning, this footage is graphic and may not be suitable for some viewers. The military and CDC has been called in to investigate the possibility of a biological weapon having been used. All of the victims appeared achromatic, shriveled and almost frozen mid travel. Due to recent developments, it is believed that the suspects are the same terrorists responsible for the deaths of two CIA agents and one MI-6 agent that were found in an abandoned warehouse in Miami just a few days ago…”

DJ – “Aw, come on, maaan! Are you kidding me?!”

Me – “This is getting ridiculous. Now we’re being called terrorists.”

Bryan – “Hmm, I’ve seen that before.”

Me – “Seen what?”

Bryan – “Whatever was used on those people. I’ve seen that effect before. Back when I was studying at Stanford, in some experiments that were actually sanctioned by the government. It was originally supposed to be a study for cancer and AIDS research, and a possible cure, but it kept failing. It was finally dismissed and closed after someone died.”

Me – “You were experimenting on humans?!”

Bryan – “Well, no, not entirely. We had a volunteer. He was one of the scientists on the team, who thought we had a viable cure. He, himself, was actually suffering from Lymphoma and it was reaching critical stages, so he didn’t have long to live. He volunteered to be a guinea pig, but it was a failure. It was a drug called Moxahydromene. It was supposed to attack the viruses at a cellular level and basically expel them from the system. It ended up having an adverse effect that dried up every fluid in his body – blood, water, marrow – all of it was basically turned to dust. He withered up like a dead plant. It was pretty gruesome. Needless to say that was the end of that. Our research was shut down shortly after and most of us were relocated.

DJ – “That’s some messed up ish, bro.”

Me – “Do you know how someone would have gotten a hold of something like that? Clearly it wasn’t us. Who all worked on that project?  Maybe one of them has gone rogue or is now with some terrorist organization, or Valentini.”

Bryan – “No idea, off hand. My thing is this. We have to step back and think that Valentini, while very powerful and having a hand in a lot of things worldwide, is not the only crime boss or terrorist on the planet. There are many groups like his, or even Al Qaeda, that we are going to have to be aware of and keep an eye on.”

Paige – “When you sit back and look at the big picture, you realize just how big the picture actually is.”

Me – “Well, we’ve put together this massive team of trained soldiers and weaponry. We are good people. It looks like we need to make a pact right now that we are a part of something bigger. We can help people. Whether it be so small as finding missing persons or saving the world from alien invasion.”

DJ – “You tryin’ to say we’re superheroes?”

Me – [laugh]  Not quite, but we are a force of good in the world, with the ability to rescue and protect. Far more advanced than the military. This could be our calling. Never know.”

DJ – “I just can’t believe we’re being blamed for this attack too. Why is it automatically us just because something happened a few days ago that wasn’t even us.”

Me – “I still don’t understand how they have video footage of us. Bryan, have you checked the footage to see if it was doctored?”

Bryan – “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. It wasn’t doctored. It’s gonna be really hard to prove it wasn’t you all.”

Me – “How is that possible?! We didn’t do it!”

Bryan – “No, but someone went to great lengths to look like you and pin it on you. To prove you didn’t do it, we would need DNA samples from whoever disguised themselves as you. Plus showing that Ariella was killed in combat might help, since she’s on the video.”

DJ – “So let’s go back there and investigate for some kind of evidence.”

Me – “We’re basically the most wanted fugitives on the planet right now and you wanna return to the crime scene, which is most likely heavily guarded?”

DJ – “We gotta do something to clear our names!”

Bryan – “It’s not like we can just waltz in there and pick up a strand of DNA…..wait a minute...the DNA system I developed for the Taipan. It’s also installed on the transporters. If we took TAT1 back to the scene, we might be able to deep scan for traces of DNA, but it would take hours. We could be noticed. Active camo makes you appear invisible, but still has visible waves of radiation that can be noticed, if you pay close enough attention. Worth a shot though.”

Me – “First off, can we please change the name from TAT?  Secondly, I say we do it. Now. Gear up and be ready to move out in 2 hours. Meanwhile, Bryan, you keep digging with this subway mess. I want answers.”

Bryan – “Yes, sir. On it. Any name suggestions?”

Me – “How about ‘Copperhead’?  They’re small, agile; not that lethal, but still pack a punch.”

Bryan – “Hmm. I like it! Consider it done.”

Dismissing to grab some grub, we geared up for transport shortly after. While we prepped for departure, Bryan decided he would stay behind and research some more and be our eyes and ears at command. We used a portal jump to get back to Miami, but descended from the stratosphere, because the portals make a loud sonic boom and a similar sound to a loud electrical current when open.

We descended upon the warehouse, but as we got closer, scans showed that there was nobody present around the property. In fact, it wasn’t even a marked off crime scene. No tape, not plastic fencing. Nothing.

As we touched down and headed inside the warehouse, Bryan was keeping tabs on the action outside while we investigated the area. He was scanning for any traces of DNA that might be in the building and not matching the agents that were murdered. His DNA scanning systems were extremely advanced. To the point that they could find traces of DNA that weren’t able to be found physically or by normal means of investigation.

As we combed the building for evidence, Paige and I checked around the area where the bodies were located, while DJ made his way around the other parts of the building. About 5 minutes into the investigation, DJ yelled at us to look at our visual feeds. Our tactical goggle feeds allowed us to tap into each other’s feeds, if need be. We checked his feed and saw that he had found a body, so we quickly rushed over to his location, near the back part of the building, under a staircase, near some old crates.

Me – “Whoa. Who is this?  Bryan, are you tapped in to our feeds?”

Bryan – “Looking now.”

Me – “How long has it been since we were here last?  It’s been about a week, right?”

DJ – “Quite near that.”

Upon further investigation, we found the body had CIA credentials. Paige verified they were authentic, but said she didn’t know the agent. It was also strange that the body was dead, but appeared somewhat warm and undamaged.

Me – “Bryan, what do you make of this? If this body had been here all this time, wouldn’t it have some signs of decay by now, and wouldn’t it be cold and/or rotting?”

Bryan – “One would think, by all laws of science. Maybe we should bring it in for possible autopsy.”

We agreed, so we prepped the body to move to the Copperhead after wrapping up further investigation, where we did find a single strand of hair located near where the other bodies once lied. It was still odd that there was no evidence of this being a crime scene. The longer we were there, the more it just didn’t feel right, so we moved quickly and got out of there.

As the Copperhead descended behind the warehouse, there was an alert from Bryan that there were multiple vehicles and aircraft inbound. It was like a swarm of wasps out of nowhere, in a split second. About five SUVs sped in to a screeching halt. Groups of agents jumped out, some armed with rocket launchers. Somehow they could see the camo of the Copperhead.

DJ and Paige managed to board, but there was heavy fire and the Copperhead had to ascend to keep from taking so many shots.  The pilot, Jeremy Armstrong (callsign, “Reaper”), radioed to me that he had to lift off and take a defensive stance. I provided some cover fire, but didn’t know who I was shooting at, so casualties weren’t acceptable.

Me – “Bryan, who is this firing at us?! I need to know now. If this is the CIA we’re gonna have to be creative. I’m not taking any casualties of Americans. If this is Ortega’s men or something then that’s a different story.”

Bryan – “At the moment, I can’t tell. I’m trying to figure it out.”

About that time, Reaper yelled across the com that there were two air bogeys inbound. While he dodged the missiles being fired from the ground, two heavily armed Kamov KA-50 Russian attack helicopters flew in and opened fire.

Reaper – “What the… these are Russian attack choppers!”

Me – “Bryan, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume these aren’t friendlies.”

Bryan – “I’m confirming with some sources now. Hold tight as long as you can.”

Reaper – “I’m under heavy fire, I need to get Commander Crispen out of here now. They’re firing on me and his location.”

Meanwhile, I’m laying down suppression fire, just to keep them from overtaking the building, so I can get out. It’s a full on fire fight. They’re hitting the warehouse with rockets and fully automatic rifles. I’m just busy trying to stay alive. I still don’t know what all my body can take, even though I’ve been ballsy enough to walk through missiles. About that time, one of the Kamov’s fired a rocket at the Copperhead and landed a direct hit.

Reaper – “Commander McMahon, I need to know what my options are. Hull integrity is now at 80% and I can’t just keep taking fire.”

Bryan – “I know, Reaper! I’m trying as fast as I can. Just don’t deactivate the camo. We can’t reveal ourselves right now.”

Me – “Commander McMahon, I need answers now. That’s an order. Pick it up before you lose soldiers!”

Bryan – “Yes, sir. I’m almost there.”

Not used to hearing me pull titles like that, Bryan picked it up a little and dug in for answers. He knew I was getting serious. The situation was serious and we needed to know if we can fight back and alleviate some of the pressure.

Reaper was under fire by the Kamovs and surface to air missiles that were being fired. He dodged another missile from the Kamov, but was hit by the second. He radioed in that hull integrity was down to 67% and he couldn’t allow much more. Right then, Bryan came back on the com with our info.

Bryan – “Sir, I’m picking up chatter and it appears these are mercenaries hired by Valentini, working through Ortega. You are free to fire. They are not Americans.”

As he said that, Reaper took another direct hit, which knocked out some of the navigation systems, but in trying to dodge the second missile fired, he moved into the impact of two from the 2nd Kamov. That was the last straw.

Reaper – “I’m done with this. My turn. Looks like we’re taking the weapons systems for a test run, sir.”

Bryan – “Wait…I don’t… They needed tested!”

Reaper agreed in a facetious manner and pulled up into a high g maneuver to gain a shooting solution on the first Kamov, dropped active camo, and armed weapons. Cannons out, he fired at the first chopper and blew it out of the sky with a three shot burst. I saw it from my cover and my eyes were just wide open. First time we’d had a chance to use our particle cannons. We nicknamed them ‘rattler cannons’, as we were sticking with a snake theme and they were the weakest weapon we have. Crazy, since that shot was so powerful.

After that shot hit and blew the Kamov out of the sky, the gunfire from the ground let up a little as everyone was in a bit of shock as to the look of the Copperhead and the fact it had weapons like that. It’s equipped with 2 full 360 degree rotational cannons that conceal themselves inside the hull, until armed, along with a couple of concealed missile launchers and a single vulcan cannon. Pretty well armed for a transport vessel.

I sat in awe as Reaper showed his stuff now that he was weapons free. He and this Kamov helicopter were having a nice little dog fight in the sky, both obviously capable pilots. However, the maneuverability of the Copperhead proved to be too much for the helicopter, and Reaper pulled another high g maneuver and took it out with relative ease. Then he opened fire on the ground forces and eliminated some of the threat to be able to land and pick me up.

Once the threat was mostly eliminated, he touched down and I ran out and boarded. Back under active camo, we ascended to the stratosphere, away from the remaining weapons fire, to the portal opening to jump back to HQ. Due to some of the damages, we had system delays that we normally don’t have, so the portal took a few minutes to open. While we waited, Bryan came over the com and told me I had an incoming Skype transmission. It was from Mila. I told him to patch it through.

[feed comes up on screen]

Me – “Mila, you really have some nerve…”

Mila – “Joe, you have to listen to me. I don’t have much..”

Me – “I honestly don’t give a crap what you have to say. You nearly got us killed and now we’re framed for the murders of intelligence agents from two different countries!”

Mila – “Joe, that wasn’t me! I swear to you on my life. Please listen. I can’t talk long.”

Me – “I think my time of listening to you is over, Mila.”

Mila – “No, just hear me out! PLEASE!”

As she pleaded with me, she started crying. Not just a light cry, but bawling. These weren’t fake tears. This girl was actually scared. I didn’t want to believe it at first, but my heart told me that I needed to give her a chance. My compassion prevailed over my logic, so I let her talk.

Me – “You have about 2 minutes.”

Mila – [trying to control her tears] “Ok, fine. Joe, listen. We need to meet.”

Me – “Riiight.”

Mila – “I didn’t set you up! After we arranged where to meet, I was getting ready to go see you and some of my dad’s guys came in and detained me. My own father threw me into some dark cell for 3 days.”

Me – “Why would he do that?”

Mila – “Because I have information for you. Valuable information. He doesn’t know I have it, he just thinks I’m trying to see you again. You have to believe me. I need you to save me. I don’t care where we meet. You tell me this time, I’ll go there. I can’t talk much longer. I’m putting a friend’s life in danger right now by using her computer. Just agree to meet me and tell me where. Your choosing.”

Me – “I swear, if you pull something Mila, I’ll kill you myself.”

Mila – [breaks down crying again] “Joe…I’m so sorry. I never thought I would be the one on the end of that statement from you. I never wanted to hurt you. I wanted out as soon as I got in. Cesar forced me to infiltrate your unit. He threatened to kill my mother and my grandmother. When I met you, I just wanted to lose myself with you. You were so amazing and such an escape from what I was doing. I got involved more than I should have, and I did love you. None of that was a lie. At a certain point, I forgot about my mission. That’s why I was pulled out in such a set up display. If I’m lying, you can kill me.”

Me – [sigh] “I don’t want to kill you, Kels...Mila. Why?! Why did you have to be the one behind it?”

Mila – “I…I was just out of choices. I had to save lives and I didn’t expect to become yours.”

Me – “I will send you coordinates, as soon as I figure out a place to meet. Do me a favor, don’t make me regret this.”

Mila – “You have my word. If that still means anything. Oh, and Joe…?”

Me – “Yes?”

Mila – “Can you call me Kelsey? I liked my life a lot more when I was Kelsey. Mila doesn’t deserve to live.”

Me – [sigh] “That’s just…I dunno. Let’s just concentrate on meeting for now.”

Mila – “Ok, I have to go.  Don’t forget about me! Please!”

Me – “I won’t. Be watching for my message.”

As we logged off, I just had a huge feeling of confusion. This girl did such a good job of sucking me in and manipulating me before. I didn’t want it happening again. Everything was telling me to trust her though, so I was giving her the benefit of the doubt.

We landed and docked at HQ, so they could start repairs on the Copperhead. I made my way through to the command center to meet up with Bryan as we transported the body to Bryan’s lab. We were still just baffled by this body we found and how it appeared to be sustained from decaying somehow.

As I started talking, I heard what sounded like heavy footsteps come up behind me and as I turned all I could think was, “holy sh**!” Before me stood 2 huge suits of black, white and blue armor with glowing eyes.

Me – “Uh, Bryan?”

Bryan – “I just finished testing on these bad boys today. Meet your very own Shadow Guard.”

Me – “Shadow guard?”

Bryan – “Yeah, I’ve been developing neural biotic implants on a couple of elite volunteer soldiers and this is their fully interfaced suits of armor which communicates with a neural implant for physical and sensory enhancements, much like the effect you get with the nanomites, but this is controlled by a chip in their brain.”

Me – “You’ve been testing stuff like that on our soldiers?”

Bryan – “Strictly volunteer. These 2 wanted in the program. They are ex Special Forces and two of the tallest guys we have here. Standing in at 7 feet tall and 425lbs with armor and weapons. They are capable of boosted high jumps, they are bullet proof and they have the same electromagnetic shields that the Taipan will have. I figured that Paige and DJ won’t always be able to join you, so why not have your very own body guards as backup?!”

I stood there looking these two big fellas up and down. Talk about a marvel of science and physics. Bryan explained he had some nerd inspiration from stuff like the Halo video game and Iron Man when making these suits of armor. He explained the reason for white on their suits was a special material he developed for absorbing light which actually charges these suits as they are in any type of light. Armed with an advanced photon laser assault rifle and pulse grenades. Very impressive these dudes were, and all just to protect me. They also sounded like Darth Vader when they spoke, which made me chuckle.

I filled Bryan in on meeting Mila and we figured out a pretty decent spot in South Beach that would be public enough to make a decent meeting and not cause another battle, so I sent her the location. What better time to test out my new Shadow Guard?! So I arranged for them to escort me on the Copperhead, once it was repaired and ready for departure. Explaining them to the public, however, might be interesting. Whatever. Paige and DJ would remain behind and train more units.

After we prepped and boarded, the Copperhead departed. As we were ascending toward the portal, I got a call from Mila. She was frantic, screaming and going nuts. I heard gunfire and then the call cut off. I told Reaper to get us there and I didn’t care about exposure. As we emerged from the portal and descended, I saw multiple units converging toward Mila who was huddled behind a souvenir stand.

I told Reaper to brush the ground with a fly by and drop me next to her location. I armed myself with a pulse rifle as he swooped in to hover, then opened the doors and jumped out, taking cover near Mila to return fire. I wasn’t even thinking, but as I was about to return fire, both Shadow Guards dropped right in front of me in a crouch position, weapons drawn and started returning fire with their laser rifles. Then they stood up, threw a grenade at one group of units and pushed them back with suppression fire. I was so in awe, I almost forgot why I was there. I was beyond amazed and impressed.

Mila was frantic. I was trying to calm her down. She said Cesar had sent these guys to kill her. She informed me that she had been trying to cut ties with him for about a month and get away. She had been staying with friends, but he was still watching her every move and had her under surveillance. She asked me to take her with me. Reluctantly, I agreed and radioed for Reaper to return for pickup. The Shadow Guards pretty much took care of business as people on the beach were running for cover and screaming for their lives.

The Shadow Guards were under fire and returning burst laser fire. The electromagnetic shielding they had was taking care of anything being shot at them. They’d be fired upon, turn, return burst fire and I’d just keep hearing, “target eliminated”, in this Darth Vaderesque voice. So awesome. About the time Reaper was flying back in to pick us up, both Shadow Guards boost jumped right behind us, rested weapons and stood guard. My eyes were just wide open. Pretty much the coolest thing ever. I radioed back to Bryan and told him that I was bringing Mila back with me, but that I was extremely impressed and that he outdid himself with these Shadow Guards.

We boarded the Copperhead and Reaper got all of us out of there. As we landed, Mila, who was insisting on everyone calling her Kelsey now, was expressing her amazement for the transport and how much we’ve advanced since she was here. After arriving and docking, she wasn’t receiving too much of a warm welcome from the units that remained from before her little team switch.

First things first, we had an executive meeting in the debriefing room and she was the guest of honor. I sat down at the head of the table, interlocked my fingers together and told her she had the floor. I wanted to know what was so important. Just in case, I had the Shadow Guards on guard. I wasn’t amazingly trustworthy at this point. But what came next was more than enough to buy her the benefit of the doubt. She pulled out an encrypted disc and handed it to Bryan. He put it in the computer and brought it up on screen.

Mila, or Kelsey again, had every bit of info we would ever need. We’re talking weapons, experiments, plans of attack, surveillance reports, etc etc.

She told Bryan to skip to a particular section, so he did. This was the most important. She explained that I didn’t have a son, she was never pregnant and that she was forced to go along with all of it. But even scarier, it was a clone. My clone. They used DNA they had gotten from the time I was tortured and made a clone of me and have been experimenting with growth acceleration and nanite technology to basically make another me.

Me – “So you’re telling me, this kid is a copy of me?  Like my abilities, strengths, and everything else?”

Kelsey – “More or less, yes. However, when you were electrocuted during torture, it did something different to your nanomites and they can’t duplicate that. They also don’t know about the electrocution part, because I never told them what triggered your changes.”

Me – “Well, I appreciate that.”

Bryan – “So they are cloning Joe, as I expected?  What kind of growth acceleration?”

Kelsey – “They have somehow gotten DNA from Joe, DJ and Ariella. That’s how they set you up with the murders. From what I understand they are doing something that alters the pituitary gland, which accelerates growth up to 20 times that of a normal human. For instance, that baby I was holding is now in his 20s, physically. Mentally, they’ve also learned how to imprint memories and thoughts onto their brains.”

Me – “Ariella isn't even alive anymore! That’s pretty scary. They can make a cloned adult in a matter of weeks.”

Kelsey – “Ariella, Jake and Lance may all be alive. I can't confirm that. I don't think anyone actually died that day. Their main focus is making an army of units like you. But it gets worse, they are planning more attacks like the one on the subway. That is who was behind it, as you may have thought.”

As we were discussing everything, an alert went off. Sirens started sounding in the complex. The computer announced that we had a security breach in the holding cells. We scrambled to find out what was going on. We all looked at each other and quickly ran with security to the holding cells. Swanson was nowhere to be found. I told DJ to check Becker’s cell. He was gone too. But the cells were locked and there was no sign of tampering or exit.

Bryan – “How did they escape?! These cells were guarded and secure.”

DJ – “Maybe they copied our portal tech.”

There was a note laying on the bed met in Swanson’s cell. I entered and grabbed it. All it read was, “You had me, now I’m gone. To the future, Crispen. ” and signed BV. It didn’t hit me at first, but then it did.

Me – “Oh my gosh.”

DJ – “What’s BV?”

Me – “Captain Swanson is Bruno Valentini…”

Reality, No More - Chapter 10

It’s been six months since the escape of Swanson. We have since confirmed that he is, indeed, Bruno Valentini. It’s amazing how someone so powerful, so connected, and so evil, was under our noses and even our commanding officer for so long. I’m beating myself up for not shooting him when I found him at Ortega’s compound, but I wouldn’t be human without some kind of compassion.

Speaking of that compassion, Kelsey had proven herself over the course of the last few months and acclimated slowly back onto the team. Everything she said was true. She was basically being forced to work with her father, by threats to the lives of her mother and grandmother, but she has separated herself from his grasp and we’ve put 24 hour guard on her family to keep them safe.

This, however, has complicated my life. Someone I was deeply in love with alongside someone who I was beginning to fall for. I would be lying, if I didn’t say there have been some rough patches along the way, but it is what it is and we have bigger things to focus on. I’m with Paige now and that’s just how it is. The memories Kelsey and I shared come into my mind more now days with her around, but I have to just keep it all in check.

There have been quiet times and active times over the last 6 months. There have been more attacks in public venues with this Moxahydromene medication, now turned biological weapon. We have now dubbed it ‘Powder of Death’, ‘Powder’ for short, because of its effects on the human body. The death toll was reaching 2000+ at this point.

We have been working hard on getting things figured out with how to stop these attacks, and catch our apparent clones who were the culprits of the attacks. This kind of stuff isn’t easy, as security and news stories pick up, the more they attack, which makes it extremely hard for any of us to be seen in public.

While all of this was going on, tensions were rising between the United States, North Korea and Russia. President Obama was losing his battle of diplomacy with the two countries, to the point that the U.S. was being threatened with being turned to “radioactive ash” by a Russian reporter. With North Korea siding with Russia, things were not looking good. Intelligence reports also stated that Bruno Valentini was using his power and influence and friendships with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un to push Russia, North Korea and China on an offensive against the United States, but China wanted no part of it. Not good either way.

We had been slowly moving resources to our new, state of the art, HQ in Honolulu. Our Australian base would be a satellite location when needed, as well as our former Antarctica location. Eventually, we would have multiple strategic locations all over the world. The way the portal jumping works is that you can only jump from a base to a location due to the power and resources needed. You can’t just jump from location to location, because the source is always stationary. So leaving a base of operation in Australia would help in jumping when needed. If you wanted to jump from the East coast of the United States to the West coast, you would have to jump from the East coast, to Australia, and then to the West coast. That’s just how it worked. Portal jumping was convenient, but still limited.

DJ, Bryan and Paige were holding a private meeting without me. Their plan was to send Paige into Valentini’s private military and get her as close to him as possible, to find out where he was located and get as much intel as she could. They knew I wouldn’t approve of sending her into the hornet’s nest, but with Valentini’s people not knowing who she was, nor of her CIA training, she was the best person for the job. She left, telling me she had to go see family. Had I know the truth, I would have stopped her.

Meanwhile, I was overseeing transport and movement of the command center to our new HQ, which was just finishing up, when red alerts started going off everywhere. Bryan called all high level officers to the debriefing room. When we got there, he was flipping out. There were portals opening everywhere. It wasn’t us doing it. He explained that the type of technology that is used determines the color of the electromagnetic fields in the portals. Ours are blue, these ones were red. Then he had a little more to explain to me.

Bryan – “Joe, we haven’t always been forthcoming with you about the portal tech.”

Me – “What do you mean by that? Because I’m not liking how it sounds. At all.”

Bryan – “When we first discovered the portal technology, and were testing it, we found it was more than just merely a transport window to a destination.”

Me – “Explain...”

Bryan – “Do you know when you get déjà vu?”

Me – “Yeah…”

Bryan – “Well, There is now a scientific explanation behind the feeling of déjà vu, or having felt you’ve been somewhere or done something before. This is going to sound absolutely insane, but there are multiple timelines in the universe. Alternate dimensions, if you will. When you have a feeling of déjà vu, it’s usually when one or more dimensions have aligned and you’re doing the same thing your counterpart is doing in a parallel universe.”

Me – “Wait…what?”

Bryan – “There are other universes that are parallel with ours. Other versions of each of us, living alternate lives. Sometimes even similar. This is where the portal technology has the potential to take us. To these other versions of our universe. Not simply just transporting things here and there.”

DJ – “Are you telling us that someone or something is coming through these portals from another world?”

Bryan – “It would appear so.”

Me – “You kept this from me this whole time?!”

Bryan – “I am sorry, I was never supposed to reveal the capabilities. To anyone. By request of our alternate universe.”

As he was explaining frantically, ships started to merge through these portals. They were everywhere. Early estimates were showing about 100 different portals and ships. They were pretty large in mass, about the size of a luxury cruise ship. We didn’t know what was going on, but one thing was for sure, they were heavily armed.

Me – “Bryan, you said they requested you not tell anyone, so that means they know of our existence. Who all knows of theirs? You didn’t think at some point you should probably tell me about all of this?!  I’m severely disappointed.”

Bryan – “I’m sorry! I don’t know what more to say. I was just me, Dr. Becker and Swan…well, Valentini…”

Me – “I was afraid that’s what you were going to say. Unbelievable, man.”

About that time, there was a huge unexplainable flash. I started getting a horrible headache. My eye sight started getting blurry and grainy and the pain was excruciating. I was trying to shake it off, but it dropped me to my knees. I was holding my head and wincing in pain. Bryan, noticed abnormal readings from the nanomites, and came over to check on me. Right then, he started getting the headache too. He fell to his knees. Then DJ. I reached out toward Bryan, when I just dropped and passed out.

I woke up the next day around 6pm, lying in my couch at home in Ohio. I must have fallen asleep after I got home from work, so I went to the kitchen to make something to eat. Rocko needed to go out, so I opened the door and let him run like I usually do. When he came back in, I fed him, made me a sandwich and plopped down on the couch to watch some Netflix. My mom texted me and asked if I had seen the news. I checked online, and saw that the world had been invaded in strategic areas by what everyone thought were aliens. They had taken control over the Presidency and Congress, as well as other positions of power around the globe.

I immediately called my mom and told her just to stay calm. The military probably had a plan of some sort. We said a quick prayer and got off the phone. Then I walked outside to see if I could see anything, or hear any explosions or anything of the sort, but it was quiet and peaceful as far as I could tell. I started calling friends and family to make sure people were okay, which they were, but no one understood what was going on and I didn’t know myself. I kept getting this weird feeling like I was forgetting to do something, but couldn’t figure out what. I kept checking around the internet, watching live feeds of our military fighting them. They weren’t blatantly attacking us, but in their defending themselves, we were losing.

These invaders were human. They weren’t alien. They kept announcing to us via satellite feeds over radio and television that they were not there to hurt us, but to help us. They didn’t approve of our level of technological advancement, and explained they were only there to cap it and terminate pending experiments. They explained that they were afraid our universe would destroy theirs with our technology, which would evolve our intelligence at a more rapid pace, rather than just leaving things be. I honestly had no clue what they were talking about, but I felt like I did. It was a weird feeling.

Six months had gone by with these “invaders”, and they had pretty much taken over the world. Obviously we kept fighting them, regardless of their warnings, and they just kept wiping out any attack against them. The only good thing that came from it was that groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS were being wiped out. But they kept their distance, and mostly attacked from the airships they brought in. Very little ground fighting.

As with so many things these days, there were cults forming, thinking these guys were sent from a higher power to save all of us. Fighting alongside of them. Supporting their cause. They had dubbed themselves the “Hands of Redemption”. Our humans fighting with the alternate version of humans. It was all so weird, like something out of a sci-fi movie. In some parts, things were normal. People were going about their business cautiously. In others, it was like a warzone. Even the middle-east was at peace, working together to fight them.

Some of us had even started to carry ourselves as supporters of the Hand of Redemption, just to be able to live a semi-normal life. I was out with some friends, when some dude pulled a knife on my friend, Deb, as I was walking to meet them at the bar. Something inside me just kind of snapped and I jumped in front, pushed her behind me, and told the guy to back off. He swiped at me with the knife, hitting my arm and cutting me, then out of nowhere, I did this move on him that snapped his wrist caused him to drop the knife and I front kicked him in the chest, knocking him about 10 feet back, through a table. I snapped back to, and everyone was asking how in the world I just did that.

I was standing there, people asking me if I was okay. I looked down and saw the wound healing up. I didn’t know what was going on. Deb asked if the cut was bad, but it was gone. We were looking at my arm, which had blood on it, but no wound. I seriously did not know what just happened. Then all of the sudden I got a horrible headache again. I stumbled a little toward a wall, catching myself, but holding my head. Then I got these flashes of a firefight, guns firing, people yelling, then I yelled for someone named Kelsey and it was gone. I was okay. The pain was going away.

Deb – “Are you okay? What just happened?!”

Me – “I don’t know. I keep getting these horrible headaches that feel like something is drilling into my temples.”

Deb – “I’ve been getting them lately too. Really bad.”

Me – “I keep getting these flashes of visions or something with mine. Kinda like pictures. But this last one was like I was instantly in a dream. I was on this battlefield with these people I somehow knew and I yelled some girl named Kelsey’s name, then it was like I woke back up to being here.”

Deb – “Weird. I’ve never had anything like that happen. Just the headaches.”

Me – “Man, what is going on?!”

I calmed down for a while and then I went home. Over the next few weeks, I started getting the headaches more often, along with the visions. Things were getting more and more vivid. It was almost like I was seeing into someone else’s life. These vivid images of people I’d never met, things I’d never done, but so much detail. I started seeing addresses, codes, bank account numbers, and all kinds of things. I saw this account number for my bank, so I had to investigate.

I went to my credit union and asked them to check my balance. They asked my account number and I gave them the number I had seen in one of the visions. She asked me to verify with an ID, so I gave my license, thinking this was going to fail horribly at some point. Then she said, “Thank you.” and asked if I really wanted to hear it verbally, or if I wanted a print out. I thought that was bizarre, so I said verbally is fine. She said, “Okaaay… your balance is $8, 576, 893.27.” 

I just stood there. I didn’t know how to react. Some older gentlemen in line next to me said he wished he had a balance like that, we laughed, and then I asked if she was certain that was the balance. She asked, “Yes, that’s it. Is there something wrong?” I just told her no and thanked her, then slowly walked to my car.

How in the world did I have that much money in some account that I saw in a vision? Where did it come from? Did I make a mistake somehow; was it actually mine?!  I didn’t know what to do, how to react, what to even think. As I reached for the door handle to get into my car, a blue Monte Carlo, I had a short burst of pain and a flash of me getting into a black Viper. I stood there for a minute, shook it off, then got in the car to drive home. On the way there, a song came on the radio that had some Spanish in the lyrics. I somehow knew exactly what they were saying, but I didn’t know Spanish! I couldn’t figure out what was happening to me.

At home that night, I was lounging on my couch, watching TV. I was dozing off here and there. Finally I fell asleep, into a dream so vivid. I was with these friends I didn’t know. We were in some military group. Making these plans for a new headquarters and command center. Then, all of the sudden, we were in a firefight. I was trying to protect this girl named Kelsey again. Who was she?! Then it jumped again, to some sort of docking bay. She was standing by me, saying goodbye, and handing me a lock of her hair. Then she looked me in the eyes and said, “You won’t forget us. You won’t forget me.” That moment, I woke up in a cold sweat, gasping, “Kelsey…”

During the dream I saw enough to know the location of this HQ I had seen. With this newly discovered, and ridiculous, amount of money I had, I decided to book a trip to Hawaii. I had a friend watch Rocko and decided to take a vacation. When I got to Hawaii, I got a cab to the address I wanted. I got there and I saw a self storage property. I wasn’t sure what to do next. Then something told me to find a way in, and go to storage unit #23. This was my favorite number, so it made sense.

When I got there, it had a lock on it. Out of curiosity, I looked at my key ring, and there was a key on it to the storage. I used it. I slid the door up, revealing some sort of entrance and another door. This door had a hand and retina scanner. I walked up, placed my hand on the scanner and looked into the eyepiece - “Access granted.” Okay, I’m just going to keep rolling with this and see where it leads.

It was an elevator that took me down to a super long corridor. Judging by the location of the storage unit, this had to take me under the ocean. I came to another door with a scanner. That took me into a small hold of another corridor. The lights dimmed, a voice said, “Decontamination in progress” as I started being scanned. I had no clue what was going on. Then the voice said, “Welcome, Commander.”

At that moment, I got another headache. A bunch of flashes of images came all at once, then it passed. I walked through the door that opened to a huge command center of some kind. After thinking about the voice welcoming, I guess, me, I just made an assumption and spoke.

Me – “Hello? Computer?”

AI – “Yes, Commander?”

Me – “Are you a person? Who am I talking to?”

AI – “Do you not remember, Commander? I am Ivy.”

Me – “Should I know who or what you are?

Ivy – “Hmm. Preliminary scans show that something has altered your cerebral cortex to act as a shield, and deny you certain memories. I am Ivy. A pseudonym for IVI, which stands for Interactive Virtual Intelligence.”

Me – “Ok, wait. My memory has been altered?”

Ivy – “It would appear so, Commander.”

Me – “Okay, then tell me who I am in detail.”

Ivy – “You are Chief Commander, Joseph S. Crispen. You were born in Parkersburg, WV, United States. At 2:32pm, on a Wednesday, on the 14^th day of November, 1979. Your father is Edward M Crispen the 2^nd, your mother is Donna L Crispen. You have three siblings, Edward, Richard and Eric. Your current place of residence is Dublin, OH…”

Me – “Okay, okay! I think that pretty much proves enough. So I am your Chief Commander?”

Ivy – “Yes. You are the highest ranking officer, and founder, of Viper or VIPR.”

Me – “VIPR?”

Ivy – “VIPR stands for Vanguard for International Protection and Rescue. You are an advanced military team with no specific ties to any government or military. Funded by private investors, and investments of your own.”

Me – “Where is my team then?”

Ivy – “I cannot answer that. It would appear that all activity within Viper stopped approximately 7 months ago. Something activated my hibernation mode, until you woke me out of it. I do not have any recollection of anything between now and that point, but it did coincide with the visitors from the other universe coming through the portals.”

Me – “Wait, you know who these invaders are?”

Ivy – “As do you. I would advise you to make your way to the medical bay. I believe I can perform repairs to your brain in a more accelerated manner than your nanomites seem to be able to at this point.”

Me – “Nanomites?”

Ivy – “It would be more productive to allow me to try and repair your cerebral cortex than explain.”

Me – “Okay, how do I get to the medical bay then?”

Ivy – “The floor you are standing on is comprised of interactive LEDs. They will light the path to your destination. Please follow.”

Me – [looking down at lit floor tiles]  “Sweet!”

As I entered the medical bay, Ivy directed me to a capsule looking machine to lie down in. I got in, it closed, then started scanning me. She warned me of possible discomfort. As it started working, I got an excruciating headache. I started screaming. She told me to fight through it.  Flashes of images and visions, apparently memories, were coming at a rapid pace. I thought I was going insane. The pain was incredible. I couldn’t take anymore. I finally passed out.

When I awoke, it was as if the last 7 months were a dream. All of my memories were there again. The old and the new. I remembered DJ, Bryan, Kelsey, our past, Paige, Valentini - everything. Then I remembered the day the portals started opening everywhere, and what Bryan explained to me about multiple universes. Ivy explained that the visitors somehow wiped all of our memories, gained access to our command centers and sent everyone back to their existence before all of this ever began. Even going so far as to wipe the memories of friends and families that had knowledge of anything.

I geared up, put on my uniform, and made my way to the central docking bay. As I boarded the docking bay access of the Taipan, I went through another decontamination hold. This was my first time boarding the completed Taipan. It was a work of pure technological beauty. The ship, itself, was massive. There was nothing like this on the planet. No military had anything near this big, advanced, or powerful.

It was 1,400m in length (approx. 4593 ft), 300m at peak wingspan (approx. 984 ft), and 350m at peak depth (approx. 1,148 ft). Three docking bays, which held 50 Venom strikefighters each, for a total compliment of 150 fighters. It held a crew of 50 for operation, but was capable of housing 100,000 people at peak capacity.

It was just me and this massive ship. Ivy was my only assistance. I had to figure out a way to find my crew, my friends, my entire team. I was trying to think of who would be most valuable in obtaining first. For some reason, I was drawn to finding Kelsey first. Not Paige. Apparently my memories all rushing back also brought feelings rushing back, and that was going to complicate things.

Whatever. I couldn’t dwell on that. I had work to do. I had to go out and search for everyone, including over 5,000 soldiers that had been under our training. But first, my crew. These visitors had no clue what was coming.