Five Years Ago

A beautiful woman in a flower dress walks down a hallway and as she nears a door, she turns back slightly, showing the face of Raina. "Right through here," she says with a small, leading two figures through a door. They pass a logo on the wall that reads CYBERTEK, "You'll be one of our very first clients. I hope you appreciate how monumental this is." There are two men following her, but they don't respond. The first is a man in his early forties; he is Caucasian, well built, has a military haircut, and he has a prosthetic right arm. His associate is a Hispanic man and is roughly the same age. He is well dressed in a business suit while the military man is in a simple jacket over a turtle-neck. Raina leads them through the door where they enter a meeting room. Along the walls of the rooms are medical illustrations of men and women with mechanical implants and artificial limbs. At the table, there is a slightly younger man in a lab coat with glasses.

"Gideon Mace is here, Dr Lavell," Raina tells him before turning to leave.

"Thank you, Raina," he stands to his feet and shakes the hand of the military man, "A pleasure to meet you gentlemen."

"My name's Edward Lavell," the scientist explains, "I'll be overseeing your procedure."

"Gideon Mace," he motions toward himself and then to the other man, "This is my business partner, Ramon Garcia."

"Right, I believe Mr. Garcia referred you to us."

"He said you could give me a new arm," Gideon lays his prosthetic arm on the desk.

"Sure. I hope Mr. Garcia explained to you that Cybertek offers a service that is still in the experimental stages. You are honestly my first human patient. We cannot guarantee complete success, you understand."

"I'm aware of the possible consequences," he states plainly, "I've read up on cybernetic implants. I know the dangers... and I know the potentials."

"Ah, good. In addition, we prefer to remain... uh,..."

"Anonymous?"

"We're not exactly advertising at the moment, as I'm sure you've realized. Your cooperation is appreciated."

"There's a reason why I'm coming to you. I want anonymity just as much as you do right now. I understand you can do a little more than just give me a better prosthetic."

"Yes, uh, Mr. Garcia made it very clear to us what you wanted. To do that, we would not only build a new cybernetic limb, but in order to have the amount of um... mobility you desire,... we would need to create a series of implants throughout your skeletal structure to support the added strength."

"Superb. How long will the process be?"

"All together, with the surgeries, recovery time, and therapy sessions, it will be a little over a year."

"I understand the payment needs to be in cash?"

"Yes, please."

Garcia sits a briefcase on the desk, "You can count it if you like."

"No need. We'll leave it with Raina. Is there anything else you would like to discuss?"

Gideon smiles slightly, "You're really young to be working at a secret research facility, you know that? Usually, a place like this would employ people who have been in the business longer."

"I uh, was fired from my previous job, to be honest. Not for incompetence, mind you. I just conducted experiments some considered unethical."

"This place seems okay with unethical practices."

"I wouldn't know. Honestly, they keep a lot of things secret, even from me and the other scientists here."

"Why do you work here?"

Lavell drops his guard and becomes more chipper, "I'm interested in cybernetics and the achievements they can produce."

"I guess I am too, in a way," Gideon also suddenly appears more friendly, "Do you plan to work here for the foreseeable future?"

"There's not exactly a retirement plan here, obviously. I could branch off if the opportunity arises."

"Retirement issues aside, do you have any problems working here at the moment?"

"Well," he leans in, "They mentioned this thing called the Centipede Project. I'm not too keen on it."

"For... ethical reasons?"

"No, I just don't think it's feasible."

"I only ask because Garcia and I have plans of our own. Some might consider them unethical as well. We could use a smart guy like you who has the proper focus. A man who doesn't let certain social rules get in the way of achieving his goals."

"Well, that is generous. Obviously, I can't say yes or no at the moment."

"Of course. It's just a friendly chat," Gideon stands up and shakes his hand, "Besides, we'll have plenty of time to talk further over the next year."

HEROES FOR HIRE: THE FINAL CASE

It's a year later. Gideon steps out of a nondescript building. His hair is longer now and he wears a dark coat. He hass gloves over both hands but as he places a cigarette in his mouth and lights it, it's obvious his new prosthetic arm functions very well. At the end of the steps below, Garcia waits with a car behind him. There, he also see a large black man in a leather jacket and a young white woman in a tight dress. He smiles at the group and makes his way to the steps giving Garcia a hug first.

"Ramon Garcia, how the hell have you been?"

"How's the arm?," Garcia asks happily.

"Better than expected."

The young woman walks up to them and places an arm around Garcia, "Let's see it, Mace."

Gideon pulls the glove back, revealing metal, "Not bad, huh?"

"Nice. I might have to get one or two of my own."

"Celia, you have enough implants," Garcia laughs, only to get a punch in the shoulder from her.

"Hey, Gideon," the black man calls out in a Caribbean accent and nods toward the steps, "Is he coming with us?"

The group turns to see Dr. Lavell at the top of the steps, nervously looking at them.

"Dr. Lavell just quit his job," Gideon explains, "He'll be working with us now."

"So you convinced him?," Garcia whispers.

"Of course I did." he whispers back.

Lavell makes his way down the steps shyly.

"Edward, you've already met Ramon Garcia," Gideon explains and motions toward the woman, "This lovely young lady is Celia Ricadonna," and then motions toward the man by the car, "And that talkative guy over there, we just call Hardcore."

"Nice to meet everyone," he says to the group.

Gideon places a hand on his shoulder, "Congratulations, Doctor. You've just become a part of something bigger."