Gadget
Ch. 1: The Gadget Project
"Good morning, I'm Brian Sanchez with Lila Crenshaw. Today's top story: Giants manager, Byron Mayes, negotiates with star pitcher, Tanner Maverick after he threatened to leave and join the A's if his salary was not raised to $300,000 per pitch."
"Police remain powerless against the crime wave gripping the nation as another bombing believed to be the work of the terrorist organization, MAD, took place yesterday on the Boston subway. The explosion killed seventeen people, wounded eight, and trapped thirty-three in the tunnel for over five hours as rescue groups fought to get to them."
"The government has officially declared a state of emergency and a bill has been submitted to increase funding to police forces and create a special unit to combat the increasing violence. The senate is expected to vote on this today."
I half listened to the morning news as I went about my morning routine before work. Such stories in the news were nothing new and happened so often now that they only merited a side column in the newspapers as opposed to the headlines they were getting months ago. It was worrying to me how humans could become so desensitized to such violence that we downplay it to the point of deeming a story about a star sports player demanding a raise more important. I sighed as I finished my breakfast sandwich and coffee and got up for a ten minute workout before dressing and leaving my house for the precinct.
Not for the first time I started thinking about the current state of America. A little over a year ago an increase in terrorist bombing and shootings started taking place. After a solid four months of attacks on public and government places the organization responsible, MAD, claimed responsibility and threatened to continue their reign of terror until the U.S. government surrendered. Eleven months later, despite the best surprisingly combined efforts of the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security, the leader of MAD was no closer to capture. There were rumors circulating that they knew who the leader was, but he had so many people in his pocket that he was untouchable. Militarizing the police force was a step that came too late in the war and the increase of security cameras across the nation was little more than an attempt to make people feel safer. My mind recalled a quote by Ben Franklin: 'Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.'
In a nutshell we were fighting a losing war unless a miracle happened.
I had just finished suiting up for my patrol at the Detroit Police Headquarters when the desk sergeant called for me.
"Harder! Captain Steele wants to see you in her office right now!"
I sighed, checked my Desert Eagle, and went to see what I had done to get on the captain's bad side this time. When I got to her office, Detective Jansen was already there. I didn't like the direction this was going already.
"You called for me, captain?" I asked as I rapped on the door frame.
"Yes, I did. Take a seat, detective," she said with an even tone.
I did so and stared the captain right in the eyes.
Police Captain Veronica Steele was in her late forties, was starting to go grey in her brunette hair, stood five feet, nine inches and took no bullshit from anyone up to and including the commissioner. At five foot ten-and-a-half, I was one of the few officers at the station that was taller than the captain. She could intimidate practically anyone with the death glare every woman seems to have and was not afraid to bend some rules to get things done.
"You were investigating a lead possibly connected to Lazarus Monroe and in the process got two or our own killed and put one in the hospital! What were you thinking?"
"We got a tip on Barry Farrell, a suspected associate of Monroe, and we followed up on it," I countered.
"Where'd you get the tip?" Jansen cut in.
"Does it really matter?"
"Did you bother to even check it at all?" asked the captain.
"Well… no. But—"
"But nothing! It was a trap and you walked right into it!"
"Alright! I fell for it hook, line and sinker but sometimes if you want to get results you have to take some risks!"
"Not if those risks are your comrades lives based on a tip you didn't bother to verify!"
"Farrell is my case, and I'll thank you to mind your own business," said Jansen with an edge.
"Yeah, one year and you haven't even had a conviction when this could connect to the suspected biggest threat to national security? This is federal level stuff! We never get cases like this because they tell us to butt out and eat some donuts. If they're letting us in on this then that shows you how desperate they are. Either you're dumb, dirty, or both."
"Are you making this personal?"
"No, I'm not. But for the record I don't like you as a person."
"That's enough, both of you!" Steele snapped. "Jansen, you're dismissed. Harder, I've put up with your methods because you get results, but there is only so much I can take. Detective Falken is in the hospital right now after taking a bullet in a fight but as soon as she's back on duty she's your new partner."
"Excuse me? You're partnering me with Ashley Falken? She's a Vulcan!"
"Yes, and you're Kirk. Falken will play Spock, keep you in line and then I won't have to go to the pharmacy nearly as often for aspirin."
"Is there any other bad news for me?" I grumbled as I leaned back in the chair.
"That's all; you can go now but keep your nose clean. If there're anymore incidents like this then it'll be suspension."
I got up but before I left the office I turned around to face the captain. "I regret the loss of those officer's lives and take responsibility but I don't regret my actions. Monroe is the suspected leader of MAD and I believe it's the duty everyone on any level of law enforcement to try and bring him down before this nation goes to hell. After all, we took an oath to uphold the Constitution when we graduated."
"Some would argue that all we're doing is fighting the inevitable."
"Maybe, but we wouldn't be cops if we didn't try."
Jansen left the captain's office and immediately pulled out his cell phone.
"Farrell, what is it?"
"It's Jansen. Look, one of the detectives is getting too close for comfort, I want to talk to him and I know you can make it happen."
"It's not easy for anyone to see him; he's a very busy and very careful man."
"I don't care, just call him and tell him we have a problem. Detective Harder is tenacious and even if he does get saddled with the Vulcan it's not going to deter him."
"Alright, I'll see what I can do but no guarantees."
Sentinel Security had been contracted by the government a year ago to come up with a way to combat the terrorist attacks orchestrated by MAD. Doctor's Penny Carpenter and Jay Powell were the scientists who got the assignment and the pair had jumped at the chance to further their advanced prosthetic designs and had achieved remarkable breakthroughs with the prototypes. If they worked properly with a living subject then it would mean the waiting list for organ transplants would be reduced to nothing and amputees who opted for prosthetics would have a better quality of life. Of course, these were only the things it would change for the medical field. Their work would also impact law enforcement and the military. However, there was one particular stumbling block in their current design that had yet to be solved.
Penny walked down the near empty halls with Jay while trying to make a mental list of everything that still needed to be done. Jay, on the other hand, was currently talking about whatever sci-fi show he was watching now. Penny wasn't really listening, stopped, and sighed heavily. Jay stopped mid-sentence.
"And then when they tried to escape –" Jay turned a confused look to his research partner and friend. "What is it Penny?"
"What are we going to do about the cerebral interface?" The question came up totally out of context but it was a question she and Jay had been throwing back and forth for a week now. "The presentation is in three hours and we still don't have a clear answer. If this presentation fails to properly impress the brass then we won't get funding for a test run of our designs on a living test subject."
Jay rubbed his short scraggly beard and thought for a minute. "I still think that it would be best if we used a standard high grade PC Operating System."
Penny shook her head before shooting the suggestion down. "No, I don't think that's a good idea. The subject will more than likely feel alienated by what we'll do to him; we don't want to increase that feeling. Besides, the interface needs to function like the human brain which means no visual files. When he thinks of an event he can access the recorded data that way but he shouldn't have to search through his own head like it's a computer."
"But that means that old and new memories will be in the same format."
The two scientists were talking about the Gadget Project, a top secret experimental program they had designed when the government had approached the company with the request. The goal of the project was, some might think, absolutely ridiculous. Penny and Jay were well known in the scientific community for their outlandish ideas and the Gadget Project was no exception. If the pair got funding for the test run they could see if they really could make a Six Million Dollar Man. Preferably they would test their designs on someone who's life needed saving.
"Honestly, I can't think of any other way we're going to beat the amnesia. Unless the memories integrate perfectly with the digitized part of the brain then the subject will suffer severe amnesia for who knows how long. There's already going to be unavoidable lapses in memory as the brain adjusts and we shouldn't do anything to aggravate the condition," Penny thought out loud.
"I know, but from a sci-fi standpoint the OS idea is better," Jay replied.
Penny groaned and glared at her associate. "I won't allow this project to become one of your science fiction shows. We have to work on this together. Now come on, we still have work to do."
Penny took off down the hallway with Jay hurrying after her trying to come up with a rebuttal.
Three hours later Penny had won the debate over the memory system and she and Jay were in front of the board of commissioners for the DPD and some military brass for their presentation. Penny herself was feeling quite nervous but it did little to stem her bubbly personality as she started talking in a chipper tone.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, as you know we're here to discuss further funding to test the Gadget Project on a living subject, preferably someone in need of saving."
"Yes, Dr. Carpenter, we've all read the brief and quite frankly, it sounds absurd," said a commissioner who had been against the project from the start.
"I understand your skepticism, commissioner, but our research shows that our designs are valid and will usher in a new age for medicine and peace keeping."
"Yes, if it works. But to be honest, I'm not comfortable putting the lives of civilians in the hands of machines."
"No, not machines, sir," Jay cut in, not bothering to look at the commissioner as he attempted to solve a Rubik's cube with his feet planted on the table and tipping himself backwards in the chair. "They're cyborgs, cybernetic organisms. The entire point of the Gadget Project is to replace the failing or damaged organs and limbs of people with diseases or otherwise debilitating injuries with mechanical equivalents so they can return to a normal standard of life."
"Having parts of your body replaced with metal is a normal standard of living?" asked a general.
"Well, not entirely, admittedly. But if you were confined to a wheelchair and found out there was a possibility you could walk again, how would you feel?" Penny asked.
"Even if the subject were willing, what would this procedure put them through? Would they still be human at the end of it?"
"Of course, we'd do nothing to tamper with their free will or memories in any way. Depending on the extent of damage the subject suffered, we may have to do a complete body rebuild but everything essential about him, specifically his brain, would be left unmolested. He'd still feel just the same as you and me."
"But he would have to go through numerous surgeries at once," Jay picked up. "The first thing we'd have to do is integrate a cerebral interface that will allow the subject to control the cybernetics. Any damaged organs, tissue or bone would be replaced with cybernetic equivalents made of a new polycarbonate that can withstand intense strain and stress."
"Yes, and then limbs would be replaced with prosthetics built from the same material and can be equipped with weapons and tools allowing this individual to face numerous scenarios without carrying excessive equipment," concluded Penny.
"This does sound fascinating, if a bit far-fetched, but I'm still not comfortable with the idea these… Robomen taking over civilian protection. How do we know that he wouldn't go crazy or abuse the power you're giving him?" another commissioner asked.
"We don't know that for sure, commissioner. That's why we've conducted a very intense psych evaluation on a number of potential candidates to try and find the right one. Jay, if you would."
Jay looked a bit disgruntled as he set his cube down and turned on the projector. A picture of a man in his late thirties graced the screen and Jay narrated.
"Meet Pat Williams, an NYPD cop. He was assaulted by some street thugs who broke his legs. He was the top of his class, is very devoted to his job, a real patriot and a family man."
"But, he's too volatile," Penny added.
"Volatile, what do you mean by that?" asked the general.
"It's her way of saying he has a temper," Jay translated, his tone conveying mild disinterest. "Moving on, next we have Ben Franks of the Chicago PD, was fit as a fiddle before losing all his limbs in an accident."
"He's prone to depression; we have no idea if the project will affect him in a negative way. We need someone who's stable for this."
"That brings us to our next possible guinea pig, Luke Secord. He's from San Francisco PD and paralyzed on the left side of his body. He is stable and remains the best of our possible subjects. We are still screening more, however. We want you to see that we have all our bases covered."
"You certainly have thought of everything, it seems. You've been honest with us so now it's time for us to be honest with you," the commissioner said. "I don't like this idea very much. You are giving a lot of power to a single man, one who we may not be able to control if he goes rogue. If he does then he could place the citizens we're trying to protect in more danger than the terrorists already do. But at the same time we have a nest of vipers in our own backyard and we can't get rid of them. In light of that fact it is the opinion of this committee that the Gadget Project receives the requested funds to go to prototype stage."
"Thank you commissioner," said Penny with a victory grin on her face.
"Don't thank me yet, I may have just loaded the gun that'll kill us if your little science experiment goes to the dark side. You're on the clock now, doctors. Find a subject fast and pray he doesn't screw us."
A/N: I do believe this is one of the longest chapters I've ever written. Now this is not going to be continued for a while, I'm still ironing out the fine points of the plot and collaborating on this fic with Lt. Gungirl. I decided to release this chapter to whet your appetites, so to say. I know I've already written two other origin stories for Inspector Gadget but this is going to be my darkest and most satirical one. The characters are going to be more rough around the edges, stronger language will flow more freely and Gadget will probably almost be an anti-hero. This fic is rated 'T' now but that may very well change to 'M' in the future for violence and language. Favorite, follow and or review if you want the rating to change. Keep on writing.
Knight Writer 95 out.