Mutant Millitia

Part 1(06/03/06) Part 2(06/26/06) Part 3(07/07/06) Part 4(07/13/06)
Part 5(07/23/06) Part 6(07/25/06) Part 7(07/26/06) Part 8(09/30/06)
Part 9(10/05/06) Part 10(10/13/06) Part 11(10/14/06)
Part 1
People gave the sign on the door odd looks.
No one had come in for an on-the-spot recruitment interview.
It was the sign itself, offering all its information, that truly drove them away.
Nothing Ordinary Allowed

Edward Simigmund Parzen sat nervously across the desk from a strict looking man. Edward’s eyes kept jumping around the room, occasionally resting them on the phone and an ornate paperweight next to it.
  The Man harrumphed, clearing his throat Edward’s eyes riveted themselves on his face. “You’re a bit young to be joining a high risk association like this, boy. Why do you think that we need you?”
  Edward began to explain, words as usual tripping over themselves in haste as they were released from his lips. “Imaprecog.Icanseeintothefuture.Normallyonlysmalldistances. ButwhensomethingsgoingtohappenbutifItryandfocusmymindIcanoccasionallyseefurther. Ialsoseemtobeabletododgeandweavebeyondthecapabillitiesofthenormalhumanrange. Wehadadoctorthatoncedexaminedmycondition. Heclaimedmynervespassinformationat5732timestheregularrate.”
  The man blinked, eyes glazing over as he mentally translated the stream of information that Edward freely gave. His brow furrowed as comprehension dawned. He leaned back, attempting to look non-chalant. “And what would we need a precog for?”
  Edward responded with the air of one who had just won an important debate. “Asyousaidyourselfthesesarepotentiallyhighrisksituations. Onewhocanseethefuturewouldbeunmentionablyusefulincoming outofanysituationalive”
  The man smiled, his teeth gleaming not quite unlike a shark as it closes on it prey. “So tell my future.”
  Edward shookhis head slowly.”Youcanttellanabsolutefuturewithoutremovingchoice. Youcanttelladynamicfuturewithoutchangingtheoutcome. WhenIlookintothefutureIseeamazeofpossiblefutures. AllIcandoispickaprobablepathtahtthefuturemaytake.”
  “Then give me a percentage.”
  “Onwhat?”
  “On anything. What will I have for dinner tonight?”
  Edward’s eyes unfocused as he peered into the future. After a bit he looked up. “AnythingItellyouwillbewrongasyouwillintentionallyeatsometingelse.”
  The man smiled. “I know. Try anyway. If you succeed, you’re in. If not, there’s the door.”
Edward thought for a bit. Then reached across the desk, removed a blank sheet of paper from a notepad. He wrote down a sentence or two. Then the folded it and gave it over. “Thisiswhereyoulleatifyoudontopenthisbeforehand. “
  The man took it with a dark look. He put it into his pocket. “Well I think that concludes our interview. We will call you if something comes up.” He stood. The paperweight toppled off the desk. It landed snugly in Edward’s palm. He set it on the desk, smiled and walked out the door.

Part 2
Sargent Stant liked his job, but not necessarily every bit of it.
He lived for the adrenaline rushes that came from combat, not the safe security of endless piles of forms, memos, and notices.
No one could ever have been quoted to have said that Stant was sane.
Stant would have hurt them if they had.

The man looked at the psychological profile in the file in front of him. The last three applicants had been easily admitted. This one was… complicated. “It says here that you spent some time in a mental institution for suicide.” He glanced at the girl sitting in front of him. The look in her eyes showed nothing. No emotions what so ever. He continued, closing the folder. “Now tell me, why did you try to kill yourself?”
“I didn’t try to kill myself.”
“But it says here you’ve tried seventeen times.”
“Your file’s wrong.”
“How is it wrong?”
“I’ve never tried to kill myself. I’ve succeeded every time. It’s also way more then seventeen. That’s only the documented cases the the doctors will believe. My count is up to forty-seven.”

He started to say something else, balked and stared at her in bewilderment. “You mean you’ve actually…” He waved his hand in the air and finally, being unable to seem to find the words, made chopping motion across his neck.
“Oh yes, decapitation is one of my favorite ways. The pain is so prolonged.”

A minute or two passed as the man tried to wrap is mind around this concept. He finally gave up and shook his head. “Can you prove this?”
“Easily, but your carpet looks too nice to do it here. I still can of course…”
He violently shook his head and repressed a shudder. “That won’t be necessary. We will call you when the rest of the group is assembled. We will be interested in discovering the full extent of your abilities.”
And with that they both stood. Tamara Lazarus walking from the room to the door, the man to the bathroom, where he quickly purged himself of all the unpleasant thoughts death caused for him.

He hated blood.

Part 3
The gruff old man looked up from where he was studiously fishing. Sargent Stant sighed, gave up attempting to look inconspicuous and crossed the street. “How have you been, commander?”

The man glared at him and pointedly returned to his lure. In a harsh voice he angrily replied. “I’m retired Stant. Nothing you, Uncle Sam, or even the US Army can do about it. I’m not coming out. Even for an old friend.”
Stant sighed and sat down next to him. “I know that sir, but we need you”
 ”No. I’m retired.”
“I know, I know. We did agree to not bug you ever again, but this time things have changed. There’s a squad that needs you, sir”
“There’s always a squad. They always need me. Then they always go and get themselves killed on the first mission they do without me. There is always too many casualties. Never again.”
“I’m sorry. I know how you feel about this. But things will be different this time.”
“How? How can you guarantee that? How can you prove that any of them will come back alive?”
“Cause one of them has already died…”
“That’s your guarantee?”
“Twice.”
“You mean to tell me…?”
“Yep. the first time a trainer in basic boot camp doubted her abilities. We had shown she could heal but no one had tested the limits. She drew a knife and slit her own throat. The man stared into the bloody mud in shock and near died himself when she tapped him on the shoulder. The next time was in a controlled lab.”
“Okay. You have my attention.”
“We also have a Precog, a Healer, a Teleport, and a Telepath with weak telekinesis. A few more personel we’ve gathered to round out any weakness and this team should not lose a single one. We’ll lose all of them if you don’t teach them, though. They need to know when to try and when not to. They have no clue how to work as a team. In fact, each of them is in basic training in a different location. They haven’t even met, just to make sure you have your way with their introductions. The job is yours if you want it. If not, I guess its my duty to slug them into shape and get them killed.”

A long pause.

“Did they listen to my requests for a training base?”
“Here’s the specs. We got all you asked for plus a little more. And there is a growing pile of government money ready to help you with anything.  You have a full science lab, one of what you call a reaction room, all steel and holograms, a terrain simulator. We can have them wade through mud to their waists and change it to mountain climbing in mere minutes. A automatic cafeteria, large multi-purpose training rooms, the best instructors we could find for several things and more on 24 hour call. A unprecedentedly good medical bay.”
“What’s the down side?”
“You may have to teach more than this group to get the keys to the facility.”

Another long pause.

“I won’t guarentee that second group. But I guess I’m in. With conditions. ”
“I told them you would have demands. What’s up?”
“First, I want complete control over the facility. My word should be law. I should be able to make field promotions, demotions, punish and reward without the bureaucracy interfering.”
“Done. I saw that one coming. Give me a hard one.” 
“Second, if I do have to talk to the brass in the ranks, I want you as liaison.”
“I also saw this coming. It’s in the notes.” 
“Third, you need a promotion if your going to interact with us. We can’t be treated like dirt with a Sargent as out liaison. You have to be heard and that takes brass”

Yet another pause.

“Ookay, I did NOT see that one coming.  Quit smiling like that. It’s scaring the fish. Anything else?”
“Do we have access to transport?”
“Personal or personnel?”
“Personnel. Anything for the team only.”
“A couple of prototypes out there now and more on the way.”
“Hmm. And personal?”
“Yep. Come by the base and pick it up. I had it built just for you as added incitement. It’s a nice shiney battleship grey 2020 Metallica with a Cath-Not Expunger. Whole bunch of fine tunings. Plates say CMNDR1.”
“You make a hard case. Come back tomarrow. I’ll sleep on it.”

Part 4
The man gazed at the screen in front of him. 11. The magic number. Each dot pulsating, every second on the second. He glanced at his watch, and at the red digital time read out on the display. He glanced at the men around him, nodded and spoke one word.

“Engage”

—
Snap heard noises. He awoke. He could barely make out the figures standing in a ring around his bed. A bright light came on. Snap blinked into the light. A man at the foot of the bed said “Yep, It’s him.” He felt a slight jab in his side and lost consciousness.
–
Spark was blindfolded and carried into the plane.
–
Thermal was sitting on the step of his barracks as the truck pulled up. A man got out of the truck and walked toward him, his feet crunching in the deep snow. Thermal could not see his face with all the layers the man wore. Thermal stood up. The man looked at him, first in wonder, then in a cold calculating manner. “Where,” the man asked, breathe visible in the Arctic air, “is your shirt?”
–
Brainwave was asked politely if she would come with them.
–
Glitch was on-line, the pale green glow of his monitor giving him what the popular kids would have called a “nerd tan.” Glitch didn’t care what they thought. In fact he found it quite amusing. The kids of this generation carried so much technology, he could do almost anything. Text messages were ever so easy to fake. Suddenly an alert came up on his computer. A virus had wormed its way into his system. He sat and began to remove it. He didn’t even notice the men coming into tent, picking him up and loading him into a truck like baggage.
–
Snipe heard them the moment they reached his door. He swung off the top bunk into the empty bunk below his and then down the next two. A navy barracks stacks its bunks three, sometimes even four times. He hid, barely breathing. He grabbed his bag as the men came and checked his bunk. They began to argue. One, definitely the leader, spoke sharply. The men fanned out and began to search the empty barracks. One cursed as he tripped over an abandoned sailor’s chest. He hopped around using word that put the barracks to shame. He yanked a flashlight out of his jacket and started searching the room viciously. Snipe was illuminated instantly. He shouldered his bag and began to run. He made it out the door before the tranquilizer darts hit him and dropped him cold.
–
Shift was escorted by several armed guards into the back of an armoured truck. No one would be able to get him now.
–
Medic shoved several bottles into her black shoulderpack. The men stood with a gun pointed at her. She stood handed him the bag and walked calmly toward the car. She waited for him to open the door. He did and she stepped in.
–
Linebacker had been working in the gym when armed guards came in. He nodded at them, finished his sets and went to the showers. He came out a few minutes later, toweling himself off. The men had grabbed his bags and had placed them in the helicopter.
–
Life calmly ignored the guns and nervous men around her as she loaded her bags. The men escorting her were very disturbed by the way this assignment was going. She had been covered with blood when she was found. More blood than either of her attackers had seen in their lives.
–
Twitch had opened the door to his quarters as the man was knocking. His trunk was packed and siting by the door.  
—
“Sir! All teams report success!”

“Excellent. Once they are secured in the facility, you and your men may be dismissed. And now I’m to bed. I’ll have some angry recruits to train in the morning and I need my sleep”

Part 5
Nathan Fletcher awoke in a cold, metal room.

It was sparse but functional. A warm inviting bed, a computer built into the wall above a simple but sturdy desk. A small closet held black jumpsuits with an insignia that he couldn’t quite make out in the dim light. He glanced around the room and changed from his ill fitting navy garb into the sleek suit. It fit perfectly. It also shielded him from the cold. He opened the next door and found a small bathroom. The next door was locked. He went to the computer and turned it on. A cursor blinked. It needed a password. Nathan went to the bed and laid down. Great, he thought. Another prison to escape from.

Kayla Docker sat on her bed, wishing they had let her bring her bag in the room with her. She had a hunch about a few of her experiments that would produce positive results.

Amanda Quark sat in her room, concentrating. For a moment the room wavered and the fell back into alignment. A message popped up on the computer. “The room is blocked. Don’t try it again.”

Steven Tank spent his time doing calisthenics. Push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, anything to keep him moving.

Tim Embrys rested secured by the locked door. No one could force him to do anything, now that he was safe.

Kimberly Menta focused but found nothing. She slept solidly for the first time in her whole life.

Anthony Pearl hacked into his computer, but found nothing.

Lucas Worm passed the time by sculpting the ice he conveniently found flowing in his bathroom.

Tamara Lazarus woke feeling as if her head had been repeatedly rammed into the wall. She looked round, and remembered what she was doing. ”Oh yes,” she said aloud, “I was ramming my head into the wall.” She backed up to get a running start.

Edward Parzen sat meditating. The future blossomed out into infinity.

Joan Spectra waved her hands through the air, focusing and concentrating. Her hands left trails that slowly faded in the dim light.

Thran Metallon looked  at each of the screens in turn. Most of the seemed to be coping well enough. Now to begin training.

“Men, prepare Battle Room 3 for Level 1 training. I’ll be there shortly. Sammuel, You know how to rally the troops.”

Sargent Stant smiled, nodded and turned to the computer. He loved rude awakenings.

Part 6
Edward ducked in to a corner and put his hands over his head. A loud alarm announced it self in a common way. A loud piercing shriek that shook the very moorings of the soul. the new recruits moved as one, all of them jumping at the unexpected sound. Red lights began to flash. all the bolts locking the doors unlocked in unison with a solid clunk. Nathan was the first one to reach the door. He yanked it open and through himself through. Large, flashing red arrows pointed to the right. He turned and sprinted to the left. All he found was doors, some with heads peeking out and a dead end. He cursed Lady Luck and ran back along the hallway. His progress was impeded by the people already in the hall. Most were wearing the black jumpsuit. One girl was wearing what appeared to be medical scrubs. Some of the others were in street clothes. He scurried back and forth across the hallway. The herd was slowing down. Nathan’s panic drive that had kept him alive and whole against incredible odds was screaming at him. He was a TARGET! There was NO COVER! RUN! RUUNN! He took a few steps back and sprinted at the large muscular guy in front of him. He jumped and vaulted over his back, leaping high into the air.

Only to find that they had slowed down to descend a narrow staircase. The panic drive was silent, as if it realized the stupidity of its advice.

Part 7
Nathan braced for impact. This was going to hurt. Even if he lived he wouldn’t come out of this whole. He tried to turn to avoid landing on critical pieces of his body. He over compensated and ended up looking face down at the concrete rushing up at him. He shut his eyes, promising himself that if he got out of this, he would go with the flow instead of trying to run every time. He waited for the impact.

It never came. He opened his eye. He was hovering a good two inches above the floor. He blinked. He stretched out his hands and pressed them against the floor. He then curled up and got his feet on the floor. Without warning, whatever force was holding him up released him, roughly. Several floors up, a redheaded girl collapsed and was narrowly caught by a short kid who seemed to know what would happen. The siren’s blaring doubled and the speed of the flashing increased. The bad feeling that had lodged itself in the bit of his stomach released its hold and began climbing up into his throat. A voice from the top of the stairs yelled out. It was the kid that had caught her. ”Everybodygetdowntherequickly!”  A couple people began to scurry down the stairs. The a loud voice resounded down the corridor. “MOVE!” The giant man that Nathan had used as a spring board grabbed the girl from the short kid’s arms and began to hurtle his way down the stairs. The crowd began to surge forward. Nathan grabbed the kid as he passed. “What’s happening up there?” The kid looked up at him with eyes full of wisdom, so deep that you could tell that he thought any argument to be foolish as he knew everything. His air made you believe that he did. He whispered one word. And, even though it was a whisper is echoed and rebounded off the narrow stair way in a quite ominous way.

“Gas.”

Part 8
Nathan looked up the narrow stairway. He saw nothing, heard nothing, save for those above him working their way down. He glanced at the kid and looked back up. As he did, he noticed vents opening and a dark green gas began filling the room. He turned back to the kid. “Do you know a place the gas won’t get to?” The kid closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. “YesIknowasafehaventhatllfitallofus. Wellsaferanyway.” Nathan nodded. He gestured for the kid to lead the way. Nathan gave a look at the seething mists and followed.
-–
Nathan slammed the door shut just in time. He could feel the door as it was rammed, an indent appearing on this side of the steel. “WHY IN HELL”S NAME DO THEY HAVE A FREAKIN’ RHINO IN THIS FREAKEN’ PLACE!!” The others just stared with a mixture of uncomprehending exhaustion and tired anger as the door took another blow from the berserk beast. The gas had only been the start and at times it was the only thing that kept them moving. Barely. They had to face incredible dangers so far and the got worse and worse. There has been the door with the digital lock. This guy named Anthony had gotten them though that faster than Nathan had though possible with a password. The jittery kid named Edward alerted them of a lot of traps, but was getting tired and slowing down. His words were almost easy to understand. He focused on his task as the crazed behemoth charged again. “Can anyone seal this door?” A kid who looked like the definition of nerd, thick glass and pocket protector, came up and examined the door. He placed his hands against it and… did something. Nathan didn’t catch it, but the next time the rhino hit, the door held without any trouble. He sank to the ground, exhaustion flowed into his body as the adrenaline oozed out of his system. He looked once again over the ragged team he had in front of him. He sighed and closed his eyes.

The men looked at the screen. The standing one cursed and stomped off. “Their giving up. I can’t believe it. This should be well within their scope.” The one sitting at the desk stared a bit more at the monitor then motioned the other man over. “I don’t think so, sir. The leading one is getting back up…”

Nathan paced in front of the group. He stopped, breathed a deep breathe and faced them. “We were all brought to this facility for a reason. Some of probably came willingly. I KNOW I didn’t. That we were brought together is not surprising. We all are a bit… more than regular humans. We have the possibility to be really great. That makes sense. A lot of sense, which indicates that it can’t be main-steam military. Never mind. This…” he waved his hand at the door, another small dent appearing with a boom to emphasize his point, “makes no sense. Not for an escape route. This means it can only be a test. We can prove this by each of the trials we’ve had so far. The maze, which Ed got us through easily. The lava flow, with Lucas. The computer sealed door and Anthony. That’s three of us. There are eleven of us here. We needed to introduce ourselves to each other. And give a basic overview of our abilities. I am Nathan. I have never missed a target. Ever.” Lucas spoke up next.
“I’m Lucas, blind to regular light, but I can see and move thermal energy, cooling or heating stuff up.”
“EdwardIhaveamazingreflexesandcanseeabitintothefuture.”
“Amanda. I can teleport.”
“Anthony. I can hack into any computer.”
“Kayla. I can heal people.”
“Kim. I can speak mind-to-mind and occasionally move stuff with my mind.”
“Emrys. I can convert matter into different forms.”
“Steven. I’m, well, big. And strong. And fast.”
“Tamara. I can’t seem to make death stick.”
“Joan. I can weave light.”

Nathan continued. “Good. Now that we know what we can do. Does any one know how we can deal with a rhino…”

Part 9
It was the sign that really stopped them in their tracks. Teamwork was a novel concept compared to running for your life with a bunch of people you don’t know. But the sign stopped all of them dead. It said, in small friendly letters: “Now entering the Hallway of Death.” An arrow cheerfully pointed to the hallway in front of them. They exchanged glances all around and Tamara sighed. She stepped forward and forced a smile. She gave a wave and began to walk up the hallway. After a couple of steps, the area of the corridor was illuminated with two intense red lights. Tamara had only time to say “Well, this doesn’t look good” before she was peppered with millions of little darts an inch long. She convulsed wildly for a minute or two and lay still.

Part 10
The Red light went off.

The group stared in shock at the limp corpse of Tamara. Lucas bent over to the side and threw up. Nathan went over to him and helped him get it all out. They went back to the group.

Nathan stared for a little bit longer, then turned to Embrys. “I need rope, something light but strong. Also, I need something like a grapple hook.” Embrys nodded and got to work. He tore a piece off the shirt he was wearing and concentrated. It stood out straight. He then grabbed it and bent it to a 30 degree angle. He inverted it, holding it in his fist. He grabbed with the other fingers and began to draw, pulling out a single thread almost invisible. He kept pulling and pulling until he had about 50ft of the string, then held the main hook in his hand. He concentrated, and the bent cloth became sharper, its color changed from off white to a dull non-metallic black. He coiled the line and handed it to Nathan.

Nathan bounced it in his hand, feeling the weight. Perfect. It was absolutely perfect.  The line weight nothing at all and apparently its molecular structure would prevent the mis-flights that came from the rotation of coiling and bailing. He hefted it a few times and walled to the mouth of the hallway. He drew back his arm and released. The grapple flew and wrapped around her arm. Nathan pulled it tight and began to haul the corpse in. The others stared at him in shock, but began to help. Soon she was with them and out of the hallway. He unwrapped his grapple and faced the group.

Part 11
Nathan took a deep breath and started. ”Continuing previous rant, we now have a corridor that they want us to cross. One of us has died on it, we think. We need a way for us to get past the darts. Any suggestions?”

Spectra raised her hand. “We could seal the dart launchers.”
“Good. Good. How?”
Ed spoke up. “Don’tlookatmeforanything. MyESPgoeshaywirewhenItrytofocusonhowtogetpast. IknowwecangetthroughbutIhavenoideashow. I’veseenusontheothersidethough.”
“Good. Go see if you can get those darts out of Tamara. They might be affecting how she regenerates.”
Lucas raised his hand. “Does anyone know what that wall is made of?”
Embrys edged over to the wall and carefully put his hand on it. He focused and came back to report. “It’s an alloy of iron and copper.”
“What’s the melting temperature, do ya think?” Lucas asked.
Embrys thought, actually, indenting the rock beneath them as he did the math. He raised his head. “I can’t be certain, but It should become malleable at 1100 and flowing at 1300.”
” Fahrenheit.” He added when Luke frowned.
Nathan turned to Lucas. “Can you generate that much heat?”
Lucas sighed. “Looks like I’m gonna have to.”