Gary Bell woke up on Monday, prepping for work. A quick look at the clock showed that Gary had about an hour before Dr. Rosen and the team showed up to take him to the office in Queens. He sat up in his bed, the images of multiple wireless signals already assaulting him. As he dressed, he flicked through them, the information that only he could see.
"Gary!" his mother yelled from upstairs, "Are you up? Dr. Rosen will be here in an hour."
"Yes, mom," Gary answered, walking into the bathroom. He continued flicking through the signals, brushing his teeth. He was too absorbed to notice his mother walking into the bathroom with a glass of water. His mom tapped him, pointing to the glass. Gary felt it. "It's too cold, mom. You know I don't like my water too cold. I can't rinse with this!" Giving a dejected sigh, his mom took the glass back to the kitchen to refill it with less-cold cold water. She brought it back up a moment later, the perfect temperature.
Gary rinsed and went downstairs, where a bowl of cereal was waiting for him. He poured the milk from a cup and ate, still flicking through the signals. One signal in particular stood out: a road map of his neighborhood, with a red dot pulling onto his street. He quickly downed his milk and turned to his mother. "Dr. Rosen's here," he told her, giving her a hug and heading out the door.
When Gary got outside, Nina opened the van door for him and he got in. Dr. Rosen turned around in his seat, facing Gary. "Hello Gary," he said kindly. Dr. Rosen was always kind.
Already knowing the answer, Gary asked politely, "Dr. Rosen, may I please drive?" He flashed his best attempt at puppy dog eyes, which probably came across as stupidly pathetic, but he didn't care. He wanted to drive.
"Absolutely not," Dr. Rosen said firmly.
Darn it! Gary thought . My transducing isn't that much of a distraction. He decided he'd give up. For now. Instead of trying to convince Dr. Rosen to let him drive, he sat calmly in his seat, turning to stare out his side window.
To his surprise, someone was staring back, from the house across the street.
The man quickly pulled the curtains back shut, worried. The transducer had seen him.
The man had been watching those Alphas for months, by orders of the mysterious woman he worked for. This had been the first time any of them had seen him. The whole operation was at stake. He had to call his boss.
He walked through his house, stopping at the small room he used as an office. He picked up the encrypted cell phone and the micro-USB cord that went with it. He plugged one end of the cord into the phone the other into his encrypted laptop. On his laptop, he opened a program simply labeled RED FLAG. What came up was a sort of translator, designed by the leader of Red Flag to make her messages understandable.
Fingers trembling, he picked up the cell phone and dialed the number. It rang for a moment until the ringing finally gave way to audio. To anyone else, what came through the phone would sound like nothing more than crackles and scratches. But he had the cord, which took the audio from the cell phone and ran it through the translation program, creating a stream of clear, understandable audio. The voice was that of a young female, the leader of Red Flag, who had gotten to know the transducer pretty well a few months ago.
"Hello, associate," the voice said, emotionless and cold.
"Hello," the man answered.
"I hope you have some interesting news for me. I would very much like to know how your new hobby is going."
The man took a deep breath, preparing to tell her the bad news that may get him fired. "Today, as I was watching the Alphas, one of them, the transducer, saw me." The man stood silent, waiting for the words…
"Excellent," said his boss, causing the man to gasp in shock. "Very excellent indeed. This signifies the time to put our master plan in action. Tell me, has our friend been cooperative?"
"He has told nothing that we didn't already know, but I can make him talk."
"Do it," his boss replied. "I'll be in touch. Don't screw up again. Got it?"
"Yes," the man replied, hanging up the phone and closing down the laptop. It was time to pay their friend a little visit.
The basement door was unlocked. The man opened it, stalking down the stairs to give the prisoner trapped down there a little surprise.
"Who's there?" asked a voice, shaky and frightened. "Who's there? I'll kill you, I swear it!"
The man laughed coldly, still not showing his face. "Now, now, Mr. Wilson, I think we both know that won't happen. You're not an Alpha like me."
"You're not an Alpha. You're an evil monster!" Don Wilson screamed defiantly.
"I'm not an Alpha? Let's test that statement, shall we?" The man raised his hands, willing his Alpha ability to stream through them. It did. Don Wilson was restrained in two handcuffs that were connected to generators. The man used his Alpha ability to control the electricity within the generators, which traveled through the metal handcuffs, giving Don Wilson a 10,000-volt shock. The man held it for a moment, letting it sink in. Then he lowered his hands, shutting off the electric flow.
"Now, Mr. Wilson, hopefully you have learned not to play games with me. Tell me about those Alphas, or so help me God I will give you the shock of a lifetime. Who knows, I may even let you go."
Five minutes later, Don Wilson had spilled his guts. It was time to put the plan in action. As the man walked up the stairs, Wilson screamed, "You said you would let me go!"
The man chuckled. "I said I may let you go. Listen more carefully next time."
With that, the door slammed shut.