[ g e n e s i s ] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- [ c h a p t e r 1 ] Stryker stood in the artificial city lights, his BOA's laser gauntlet smoking from being fired. His quarry now lay facedown in the street, a small, neat burn hole through his back. He sighed as the drizzle began to strengthen, glancing back over his shoulder to look at his partner. "Note the time of death and charge, Mark," Stryker said, sorrow giving his voice an odd tone. "Suspected anti-Brigade action, resisting arrest, suspected perpetration of Genetic Aberration Syndrone." Mark Jackson, officer of the Aegis Brigade's United States Enforcement Department, took a quick note in the patrol car's data log and walked over to where Stryker still knelt, his face twisted in an expression of sadness. Mark took little note of it. "Stryker, this scum brought it on himself. You always beat yourself up like this, even when we take out genetic trash like this." He kicked over the man's corpse, revealing his distorted face, his pale yellow skin, the sharp fangs that jutted from his mouth like tusks. "GAs deserve what they get. Hell, you probably did this poor guy a favor. Who'd want to live like that?" "Better watch your tongue," replied Stryker, standing, although still not looking at Mark. "Sebulax is part of Admin, and I'm sure he'd be happy to show you exactly who'd like to live like that." He kicked the corpse. "Damned Zearney Effect..." "Hey, Sebulax is a special case," replied Mark, walking back to the patrol car. "As GAs go, he's not your run-of-the-mill situation. Hell, he's one of the strongest advocates of our persecution of GAs, and keeps a lot of the program's operations in motion. If it weren't for Sebulax - well, we'd be somewhere completely different." Mark kicked the door, indicating to Stryker that it was time to get going. "Now come on. This guy threw us off our standard patrol route, so we'd better get a move on. I don't want to catch any flak from Bledavik." Stryker stood in place for another moment, then finally looked back at his partner, his dirty blonde hair starting to blow in his eyes, his sharp green eyes giving Mark an uneasy feeling. "I'm going to go back to this man's residence. I want to investigate what we found there a little more thoroughly." He shook his head. "Tell Bledavik we needed more data on the case, but wanted to inform him personally." Mark's face twisted in a bit of a grimace. If he went... "Stryker, don't try to be some sort of paladin here. Just get in the car and let's get going. I don't think Bledavik -" "I'm not doing this for Bledavik, Mark. I'm doing this for me." Stryker turned and began walking, then stopped and looked back at Mark. "If you feel the need to report me, fine. This isn't about the Brigade, it's about me." He turned away again, and kept walking towards the dead man's apartment. Mark watched for a second, then hit his comm. "Send a cleanup team to Sector 13.6, unit 988YO. One suspect, male, apparently Fallen Genetic Aberration." He gulped air for a second. "In addition... send a message through my personal frequency. Read as follows: 'Seek and ye shall find, find and ye shall be.'" The acknowledgement from the computer came as Mark turned off the comm, got in the car, and began driving towards Hartford HQ. [-] "My God," Stryker breathed, for the dozenth time in half as many minutes. Everything he knew was being disassembled right in front of his eyes. He had felt something was unusual about this man, but he hadn't expected anything like this. Now... The files on this man's computer were maddening. They charted his progress from normal human to aberration, with scientific detail. But moreover, they indicated something else. This man had not been a victim of a random genetic disease - he had been warped. This transformation had been intentional, instilled. And all of the signs on these files pointed to one person. Sebulax. "Why?" asked Stryker of the air around him. He fell backwards, slumped against the cold walls of the apartment, slid down to a sitting position. "Sebulax is one of the highest-ranking members of the Aegis Brigade. He proclaims a hatred of his kindred GAs... why in God's name would he be doing this?" It took Stryker a few minutes to regain his composure, but he stood once again, leaning over to search the files once again. There could be no doubt that this was intentional. He delved further, searching through an increasing number of analytical documents gauging the man's capabilities. A pattern began to unfold before his eyes. "Tested," he announced to himself. "This man wasn't just being forced into that state - his new forms were being tested as he went." Stryker went back and checked the dates again, then the files again. The trend seemed clearer now. The closer he got to the current date, the more dissatisfied the reports seemed to get. "Maybe... this man had been brought to the maximum possible limits of his ability?" Stryker checked a few more files. "He... he was being... released? Grown and released? But... why?" Furrowing his brow, Stryker went back to the files, intending to check for more information. He was greeted by the computer display dissolving into static. "NO!" he shouted, trying to fix the problem in vain. The system crashed into nothingness. "Why did -" The sound of clicking weaponry came from behind him. "Officer Stryker Marx of the ABUSED, you are hereby under arrest for suspected treason, by direct order of Administrator Sebulax." [-] It wasn't the first time he had seen Sebulax, but he certainly didn't want to see him right now. Clad in ragged clothing, Stryker was in no shape to deal with much of anything right now. The visage of Sebulax standing side-by-side with Bledavik was more than he could possibly deal with. He was being dragged along, heavily-armored officers flanking him all the way. "Marx," sighed Bledavik. "I wouldn't have ever suspected you of something like this." "That's because it isn't true!" shouted Stryker, finding newfound energy as he stared at the nightmarish form that was Sebulax. He struggled against the grip of his captors, trying to pull away from the force that gripped him like a vise. "It's Sebulax! He's somehow connected to that man who Jackson and I apprehended! He's connected to his transformation! The computer held all of the files -" "Shaddup!" snarled one of the troopers, smacking Stryker across the back of the head. Stryker looked up, but he knew that the damage was already done. He was wasting his breath. Sebulax was in control. The clatter of metal on metal made it clear that Sebulax was moving. Ten spindly, spider-like metal legs scuttled across the floor, tapering off as they reached the circular base that Sebulax was attached to. The administrator's thin torso rose above the cybernetics, his yellow, pockmarked skin almost radiating an aura of sickness. His long, clawed fingers drummed against the side of his platform before he finally reached over with one of them and gripped Stryker by the chin. The long, snake-like neck stretched towards Stryker, and the officer found himself face-to- face with the aberration. The head was like that of an Eastern dragon - almost dog-like. It was only keeping that image in mind that allowed Stryker to avoid vomiting. "What a shame," he sighed, "that such a promising young officer should be resorting to empty threats to try and stop me." He laughed. "You might have gotten off with little more than a dishonorable discharge, but these threats are too much." He let go of Stryker's head, then scraped his cheek with a claw, letting the blood inch down his long claw. "I will be generous. Throw him out into the city. He is persona non grata - a non-person. No longer shall he live amongst the rest of humanity." Stryker struggled once again. "You! What are you trying to achieve, Sebulax? Why did you do that to that man? Why do you have a policy bent to destroy all GAs? What is -" With a sharp jerk, the troopers began dragging Stryker away. "No!" he shouted. "Don't be fooled! Sebulax is evil! He's -" Another blow hit the back of Stryker's head, and he fell unconcious. [-] The rain was pouring around him as he came to. His body ached, but he pushed himself up, forced himself to stand. He touched his cheek, felt the scar there. "A memoir," he sighed. "I've really done it now. I've destroyed everything around me." He started walking the darkened streets of the city, the curving structures surrounding him like jungle foliage. "And I didn't stop anything..." "No, you didn't." Stryker whirled around. "Who are you?" he snapped, looking around, trying to find the source of the voice. "Where are you?" The rain did not aid his search, merely added to his confusion, until the hand gripped his shoulder. Stryker whirled around, preparing for an attack. "Calm down." The man's hair was a short, dark brown, his eyes a deep grey. A tan trenchcoat fluttered around him, covering a red shirt and black pants. His face was... old. Weathered. Knowing. Stryker wasn't sure whether or not to trust the stranger, but he was calm enough now not to attack him. "You're in no shape to fight me even if you wanted to. They left you to die, and you're halfway there already." Sure enough, the world began to swim before Stryker's eyes. "Who... who are you?" he asked as a ringing began to grow in his ears, and a pounding grew in the back of his head. "What do you... know... about me?" "I am Arcturus," replied the man. "And from this moment on... I'm your best hope in the world." "What... are... you..." Stryker collapsed again. "I..." As the world swam once more into blackness, Stryker could here Arcturus's words echoing - "I hope you're ready." [-] "- multiple blunt traumas to the back of the head, and some preliminary shock treatments. I expect he'll be up within the hour, if the stimulant mixture was calibrated correctly." Stryker heard the voice before he saw anything. It was... light. Almost ephermeal. A woman's voice. A doctor, by the terminology. Had... had Arcturus brought him to a hospital? If Sebulax had made him a non-citizen, like he had threatened, a hospital was the last place he wanted to be. He opened his eyes, sat up like a flash. "Miss Marlowe, your training was evidently not as complete as you'd like to think," came Arcturus's voice. Stryker looked around, seeing hard cement walls, ramshackle machinery, sparse medical equipment. Not a hospital after all. His eyes came to rest on Arcturus, who was standing next to a young woman. "He seems less healed and more like a deer caught in the headlights." "Nonsense, Mr. Cole," replied the woman, walking towards Stryker. Her long, red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her sharp green eyes fully focused on the situation at hand. She wore black pants, a white blouse, and a white jacket - white jacket? Stryker glanced over, and saw what he expected - a red cross on the side of the jacket. She was part of the Red Cross. Probably a roving medic. Only person who would give medical attention to someone like Stryker. "He's worried that he's in a hospital right now - and that would be quite a problem for him." "Doesn't have much faith in me, then," replied Arcuturus, walking over. "You're up, kid. Glad to see it. Sorry about the clothes - they were all I could find that would fit, especially on such short notice." "Clothes?" Stryker jumped off the bed and looked in the nearest mirror. Arcuturus wasn't lying - his clothes were different. He wore a green jumpsuit now, with a black belt around the waist. A sort of covering draped over his shoulders and upper chest, with ragged edges. Heavy, angular brown boots and gauntlets completed the ensemble. "Um... where, exactly, did you find this?" asked Stryker, understandable unimpressed. "It's... well... not exactly a fashion statement." "I'm sure you'll get used to it," replied Arcturus. "Besides, we've got more important things to deal with. Like Sebulax." "Sebulax?" asked Stryker, suddenly snapping his attention back to the moment. "What do you know about him? What is he?" A sudden ringing started in his ears again, and he shook his head to clear it. "Unnh... still not entirely over those head blows." "Of course not," replied the medic, walking over and grabbing Stryker's shoulder. "You've barely begun to recover from the beating you received, and the drugs I administered won't take their full effect for a few more hours." She turned towards Arcturus, an accusatory tone slipping into her voice. "If you hadn't been so gung-ho about trying to bring him back to conciousness so quickly -" Arcturus sighed. "Stryker Marx, meet Jeannine Marlowe. Red Cross medic in good standing... as well as an ally, and a chronic nag." He tried to wave Jeannine away, as if hoping she might separate herself from the situation completely on his say-so. "Ally in WHAT?" Stryker was beginning to lose patience. "Arcturus, you haven't said a thing about why you saved me - assuming that you actually did save me - or any of your plans. What is going on here? I am NOT having a good day, and I am NOT in a good mood!" The man simply laughed in response. "Don't rush things, Stryker. But, if you absolutely insist, fine." He walked towards the door, gesturing for Stryker to follow him. Stryker looked at Jeannine, who simply gave a shrug and began to walk after Arcturus. Stryker sighed, then started to follow his unlikely saviors. The hallway they walked through was rather similar to the previous room - cement and occasional machines, not the refinement that Stryker was accustomed to. "Arcturus Cole, Stryker," the man began. "Does that name ring any bells for you?" Stryker thought for a moment. "Yes. I remember hearing about someone in Admin with that name. One of the older members, for that matter." He squinted at Arcturus. "If you're just after me for the rest of the Aegis Brigade, then I can disavow you of any hopes of taking me easily right -" "Be quiet," snapped Arcturus, with surprising intensity. Stryker was taken somewhat aback, but he decided to obey. "Obviously, you didn't hear the whole story. I left Admin a while ago - because I was pretty certain that if I didn't, I'd be getting roasted on a spit within the hour." The hall tapered off into another room, this one with more machinery than the previous one. A large monitor sat at one end of the room, with a series of cables connecting it to a set of terminals embedded in the walls at various intervals. Arcturus flipped up a keyboard below the monitor, and began typing, letting the computer system power up. "I'm sure you won't be surprised to learn that Sebulax was connected to that." "Not even slightly," replied Stryker, watching as the monitor pulled up an archive of files. Arcturus began to open a few of them, pulling them up inside the main display. Stryker's eyes narrowed - he recognized the files, or at least the surface details. "Wait a minute - those look like the files I found at the home of the suspect!" He stepped closer, ignoring Arcturus for the time being. "But... those aren't the same as the files I found. As if Sebulax..." "Had orchestrated this more than once?" Arcturus nodded. "That's what I had found, too, and that's when it seems Sebulax decided I might be getting a little too close for comfort. I was assaulted by a GA within a day of finding these files. But I knew that if I brought them against Sebulax directly, he would destroy me. I couldn't let that happen. So, I -" A snarl came from down the hall. The trio froze, looking towards the hall they had just left. "Jeannine, did we not turn on the defense grid before we came back in?" asked Arcturus slowly. Something that might have once been a man laughed. "You did. I broke it," came the choked reply. The thing was bright green, with taloned hands and chitinous plates covering it like armor. "The three of you are problematic, aren't you?" It crouched low, extending its talons even further with a sickening popping noise. "Let's fix that." The second it had sprang, Stryker was in the air. It flew towards Arcturus with murderous intent, but Stryker was faster. His punch landed solidly in the thing's gut, and he took the advantage to slam the thing across the face. Before he could land another blow, however, they had hit the monitor, shattering it and sending both of them falling to the floor. Stryker was disoriented, and it used that to slash at his chest, apparently satisfied with killing any of them. It was only luck that it didn't move faster, allowing Stryker to block the slash with his heavy gauntlet. Shoving the thing off, Stryker reared back and prepared to rush it. What happened next was not entirely clear to Stryker. He heard Arcturus shout out "Ryuuhazan!", and saw a flash of blue energy. The next thing he saw was the aberration flying into the nearby wall. Whatever the man had done, it had hit the creature hard enough to not only stagger it, but shear off several of the armor plates on the creature's skin. As it once again tried to stand, Jeannine kicked it hard towards Stryker, intending for him to provide assistance. Grabbing a shard from the broken mirror, he thrust the jagged weapon into the creature's chest, sending it staggering once again. Arcturus hit it with a side kick, and it fell to the floor, dying. "Wonderful," sighed Arcturus. "This location's been compromised. We'll have to move, and quickly." He grabbed a bag from the wall, and Jeannine began walking down the hallway, apparently heading for a bag of her own. Arcturus looked back at Stryker, who was still somewhat confused by the recent chain of events. "Well? Are you going to stand there and look foolish, or are you going to get out of here while you still can?" "What... what did you hit that Aberration with?" asked Stryker, staring down at the corpse before him. "He... he just... died? And you never even laid a finger on him?" "Ki," replied Arcturus. "I've been studying." He glanced down the hall, nodding as Jeannine flashed him the OK sign. Turning, he grabbed Stryker by the wrist and began dragging him along after, stalking down the hall with the bag slung over his shoulder. "It's not something I can give a complete explanation of right this instant... in short, it's life. The essence of life itself. By manipulating it, you can generate bursts like the one I just did." He grimaced. "Although I'm not very good it." "Good enough to put the smackdown on that GA, evidently," muttered Stryker to himself, breaking free of Arcturus's grip. Arcturus looked at Stryker momentarily before focusing back on the situation at hand and continuing down towards the exit. Stryker followed, though his head was whirling. By all accounts, Arcturus shouldn't have been able to do that. Not unless he was either a mutation or a psion. And he seemed to be neither. Which would mean... "Not time to think, Stryker," snapped Arcturus, yanking the former officer along once again. "Time to do." They reached the room where Stryker had woken up in, only now a ladder was going up through the center of the room. Arcturus jumped on, beginning to climb out. Stryker followed suit, climbing up through the thick layer of the street into the darkness of an alley at night. Fishing something out of his bag, Arcturus dropped it back down the hole. Jeannine and he looked at one another, then began running. Taking the cue, Stryker followed as he heard the sound of an explosion from behind. For a moment, Stryker stopped, looking back at the source. Arcturus sighed, and whirled back around. "Yes, Stryker, I blew that place up," snapped the man, who continued to be more mysterious by the minute. "I'm not going to have any more lines to be traced by than I absolutely need. Now, you can either wander off as a wanted man, or join me. I don't have the time for indecision." Stryker was confused. He was disoriented. He was uninformed. He was in no condition to make choices about his allegiances, especially not so quickly. But he knew that Arcturus had saved him twice now, and he knew that Arcturus had some stake in Sebulax. That was all Stryker had to go by. All he could still trust about the world around him. "I'm with you, Arcturus," he said, following the man. "But I'm going to want some more details. Soon." "You'll get them," he replied as they dashed into the darkness. [-] Arcturus came to a sharp stop, sending both Jeannine and Stryker into a skid. "Look up," he barked. Stryker acquiesced, and for a moment saw nothing. Then... bodies? Something, certainly, moving along the rooftops. And a vague clattering sound. He looked at Arcturus, who nodded gravely. "They've been following us," said Stryker, watching as more forms began to move along. "That's why we've kept running." He glanced to the other end of the alley they stood in, looking past crumpled papers and dead machinery. "And right now, they can box us in like this. Keep us pinned until they get through." Without warning, Arcturus yanked Stryker over to where he stood. "I don't have the time to teach you about ki right now," snapped Arcturus. Looking up, Stryker saw that Arcturus's free hand was bathed in a blue light. "But maybe I can jolt you into enough understanding for the time being." Faster than Stryker could defend himself, Arcturus had slammed his glowing hand into Stryker's chest, shocking Stryker into the present. The energy seeped into him - it felt like warmth, life. He blinked once. "Arcturus!" snapped Jeannine. "You can't possibly expect him to use ki in his state! After the injuries he recieved, his life-force is -" "You want to watch his back as well as your own? Fine." Arcturus began to dash for the other end of the alley, and Stryker and Jeannine followed as they heard the sound of their pursuers leaping down to them. A trio of green-skinned creatures like the one they had already killed landed before the exit of the alley, and the three humans skidded to a halt as more landed before them. "Be merciless, kid! These things are better off dead! Hajinenken!" With his last statement, Arcturus's fists were bathed in the same blue light, and he spun towards the three aberrations that blocked them from the exit. The center one was sent skidding across the street, the other two flying hard into the wall. Arcturus skidded to a halt, then turned to face the wave of aberrations coming at them. "This... this isn't possible," gaped Stryker. "Genetic aberrations don't mutate uniformly! These can't all -" "They're artificial, Stryker!" shouted Jeannine, leaping skyward. "Just nail the beasties! Torizankyaku!" With a flash of light, Jeannine thrust down towards the horde, one foot extended in a kick, energy rippling behind her. Her foot made contact - hard - and blood splashed up around her landing spot as she lept skyward again. Stryker simply stood as he watched Arcturus let loose with another ki blast like before, tearing through the ranks of the GAs. But even as they tore through, more descended... Jeannine hit the wall, crouched against it, preparing to launch herself off in another kick, but was cut short as a descending aberration landed on her back roughly. Her body went limp as she fell, the aberration raising its claws to strike. "No! Jeannine!" Stryker was jolted into action, rushing forward. He smacked back a pair of aberrations with a roundhouse kick, then backhanded them out of his way. But they weren't out of the fight by any means, just stunned. He snarled. There was no way he could reach Jeannine in time, unless... Something snapped in Stryker as he thrust his fist forward again. "Ryuushindan!" he shouted, almost instinctively. Green energy coalesced around his hand, then suddenly burst forward, plowing down a pair of aberrations. Stryker almost paused for a moment, shocked at what he had done, but he knew that if he slowed down, Jeannine was lost. Springing skyward, he fired off another pair of blasts, then dove towards where he had seen Jeannine disappear with a cry of "Tenryuuzan!" Energy tore through the surrounding GAs, and he landed next to an injured, but still alive, Jeannine. "Are you all right?" he asked, grabbing her and leaping up once again, backing out of the fray. "You... you used your ki," gasped Jeannine. "Several times. On instinct? How is that possible?" "I don't know," replied Stryker as he landed. "But it felt good." He looked back at her, then at the hordes of GAs still coming after them. "Are you going to be -" An orange light was wrapped around Jeannine, and her wounds were already closing. "Don't worry about me," replied Jeannine. "I can use my ki for more than just fighting. But there are still a lot more of them than we can - where's Arcturus?" "Right here!" shouted Arcturus as he burst up from the horde that surrounded him, fists glowing with blue ki energy. "But she's right - we can't keep this up forever. Ryuuhazan!" Another bolt of energy blasted away some of the Aberrations, and Arcturus flipped out to where his comrades stood. "We've got to put an end to this." "Why?" asked Stryker, beginning to get geared up. "With all three of us using our ki, we can tear through these -" "Ki is limited, Stryker!" snapped Jeannine, grabbing his shoulder. "That's why I was worried before. We can't fire off ki constantly, just like you can't fire a pistol infinitely. Your ki was already hampered by your injuries, so the longer we keep this up, the more likely you'll burn out!" "Then we'd better finish this up," replied Stryker. "I could be wrong, but I think I can use my ki to finish this here and now." Before Jeannine could say anything, Stryker had lept forward towards the aberrations. He had some sense of how his ki was flowing now, and he was hoping that his guess was correct. Focusing on his ki, he tried to mentally grab it and simply shove all of it out - blasting all of the aberrations into next week, at least. With a cry of "Bakuhatsuryuushin!", he put his hands together, and pushed. Energy tore through his attacks as a massive column of energy blazed across the ground. Most of the aberrations standing near Stryker were burnt away by the sheer force of the blast. Those that remained were blasted backwards with the force of a hurricane, injured beyond action, most dead within seconds. As the blast ended, Stryker saw that it hadn't just hit the aberrations - it had carved out a groove on either side of the alley as it had blown through the hordes. "Never... tried anything... like that..." "And you probably shouldn't have," added Arcturus, grabbing the drained Stryker. "Shouldn't have even been capable of it, for that matter. But I won't look a gift horse in the mouth." Slinging the more-or-less comatose Stryker over his shoulder, he began running again. "We'll discuss this more when you come around, Stryker. Until then... rest." "Think... I can... handle that..." replied Stryker, his head still reeling as Arcturus dashed towards an unknown destination. / ¤**********{ e l e c t r o n i c t r a n s c e n d e n c e }-+†‹‡±_ø£'? /*/>>>>>>ø>>« Eliot Lefebvre, AKA Lost Factor, Stormcloud, Q! »<<ø<<<<<<\* ¥==ø==« Transfan, X-Fan, X-Phile, Trekker, Gamer, Otaku, and more »==ø==¥ ÷-----ø--« Electronic Transcendence: (currently between sites) »--ø-----÷ *====ø==« Old Site: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/6381 »==ø====* *\>>>>ø>>« Contact: eltf@hotmail.com, Eliot.Lefebvre@uconn.edu »<<ø<<<