The Cover Up Syndrome by JeeDang2000@yahoo.com

I no longer existed. No one knew me, and if they did, they

were either dead or left wondering if I even lived.

All traces of me vanished. Any file or record on me was

quickly confinscated and destroyed. Efforts went as far as to purge

my fellow MiB agents of any memory of me, including the seniors who

were closest friends and confidants.

But it didn't stop there. After neuralizing or surgically

removing memories of those who helped me carry out the operation, I

created a new identity for which I would take on. Isolating myself

for a year in an unknown chamber deep within the bowels of MiB, I

crafted and demised. I changed my appearance (which was harder than

it sounds) and convoluted my personality inside out.

You can't imagine the pains I took upon myself as I sat every

night at my large bedroom mirror, rehersing every part of my newly

acquired profile. It had to be perfect. No one must even have a hint

of deja vu by a mistake on my part.

Now you must think that being cooped up for a year in

solitude would drive a man mad, but I was determined to keep my

sanity as I worked upon myself. I read the works of Shakespeare, of

the philosophy of Aristotle, as well as the literature of species

long extinct in the galaxy and beyond. Only books were my sole

companions during that lonely year. These and the things I needed to

keep the spark of life within me were supplied by an android the

Baltians gave me (yes, there truly were 6 agents there that night)

that could search on its own and store the goods inside itself. Its

strong, graceful structure was covered with chemicells, that would

allow it to blend into its environment and thus avoid detection.

I was not totally cut from the MiB world. With my extensive

knowledge of the organization's systems I was able to hack into files

and even the surveillance undetected. 6 months prior to the end of my

self-captivity, I let my prescence be known to MiB without actually

meetin anyone.

At first everyone thought my message was a glitch. But with

persistant contact with them, as well as temporary removal of some

files, they finally took me seriously and tried desperately to search

me out. I laughed to myself as I watched them bumble about, trying to

track me. Little did they know the source of their ordeal was lying

in the bosom of MiB itself.

After a couple weeks they gave up the chase, due to the fact

that their search was fruitless and that I didn't proceed with

further disruption of their well formed society. And I had no

intention to be a disruption either. A mutual bond was held between

us and I became a trusted advisor to certain problems they had.

The relationship continued for 3 weeks, until I decided to

get a little bolder.

Using the P.A. system, I spoke to them (of course my voice

changed since those last 7 months). You can imagine the panic

throughout MiB and its alien tourists!!

After my little performance over the speakers, the Head

Committee of MiB (the authoritative group for the organization formed

by the foolish, undecisive seniors) argued that I should never pull a

stunt like that again. However, glad of associating my prescence with

a voice, they allowed me to contact them by P.A., but only to them in

a specific office.

Finally 6 months passed and I found my identity perfected.

Now it was time for the grand unveiling.

After another round of neuralization and brain surgery, with

the help of my android, we manage to secure a position for me within

the organization. No one remembered ever having a phantom of MiB. To

them, I always had been there since the beginning.

So I worked there, a part of their group, but an outsider as

well. I was a man without a world. Neither civilizationnor MiB

claimed me. And it was that way for many years, until one day...

Part 2 Jay shook his head as he stared at the lab's door. "I don't

like it. I mean with Elle it's different. I somewhat trust her. But

it's out of the question with Zeeltor. What if he uses one of his

torture inventions on me?"

Kay smirked. "Sounds like you got a bad case of paranoia.

Still, don't worry too much. Most of the instruments he'll be using

are scanners."

His partner breathed a sigh of relief. "Then it's not gonna

be that bad, huh?"

"Not really, unless you count that new, powerful scanner he

developed. Some say it's so strong that it'll leave your skin glowing-

in-the dark for weeks."

Jay's eyes widened. "Say what!?!"

The door to the lab opened and a dazed Agent U came stumbling

out.

"You're next, Slick," Kay said as he shoved a very reluctant

Jay into the lab.

X gazed at his watch and scowled. "I don't see why we have to

do this. I got better things to do than help Zeeltor break in his new

toys."

Elle leaned against the wall. "Well you know the company

policy, everyone has to have an examination every 6 months. And with

Zeeltor, you can be sure that he won't let us forget it."

"Still there's no point to these for the aliens. You humans

on the other hand definately need to. There always something wrong

with you, partically what's going on in those little skulls of

yours," X said smugly.

Elle frowned. "I hope Zeeltor uses something painful to check

those big ears."

Lucy growled unhappily.

"Sorry girl, but daddy's got to work today." Zeeltor turned

away from the petri dish back to the brain scans clamped unto light

boxes.

His pet bacteria whimpered.

Zeeltor shook his head and continued the medical report.

Beside this, he had much more work to finish. Such are the endless

chores expected of the Chief Medical Officer. And it wasn't an easy

title to uphold either. As usual, Jay panicked at every tool he took

out. In one of his tantrums he had knocked the new scanner he had

made and bathed Lucy with its light. The light didn't have any affect

on human skin, as Jay had believed, but it left Lucy as the only glow-

in-the-dark Flutavian bacteria.

The door opened and Agent H entered. He was the CMO for the

night shift. In his arms was yet another pile of scans. "Looks like

yet another busy night," he grumbled as he placed his stack next to

Zeeltor's. He strode to the alien medic then spotted the new scanner.

He frowned. "I did expect that my old lab would change, but not my

own equipment as well."

Zeeltor glanced at H's direction then returned back to the

scans. "Sorry I had to change some of the tools you developed, but I

couldn't help but feel they are a bit outdated. I can't stand

throwing away good equipment though, so I fixed it up a bit and added

a few parts of my own of course."

The conversation ended and they worked in silence. This

suited H well. He had heard that the new doctor was a little erratic

and strange in the head. He found the Zekkholm a bit too cheerful for

his taste. And he couldn't forget the tale Jay told him of the

surgery Zeeltor did on him without his permission. This convince him

even more of his unethical behavior.

It was well into early dawn when they finally decided to call

it a day. H quickly left without a word.

After feeding Lucy, Zeeltor started for the door too. He

snapped the lights off and started to close the door when Lucy let

out another growl.

Zeeltor sighed. "Lucy, I told you we'll play after..." He

stopped in midsentence.

The green illumination from Lucy had shed light upon a brain

scan he still had tacked up on the light box.

In white light such as from the light box, the sight would

not even show up. But in the glare of the green light it was plain as

day. It revealed what appeared to be a thin tunnel surgically drilled

through the brain tissue.

Part 3 Zeeltor dragged H by the sleeve back into the lab.

"Really, Doctor Zeeltor. I think you're overreacting," H said

peevishly. He had enough glancing at scans for one night, and he was

ready to put the 37 hour day to an end.

Behind him was Q, the agent whose scan was in question. Even

though he was one of the seniors, he wasn't as stiff like H and the

others. He was one who was constantly cheerful. Though his demeanor

now was otherwise. His face was pale and he looked...old. "There must

be a mistake Zeeltor. I never had a lobotomy."

Zeeltor didn't reply but snatched the scan from the clamp.

Switching on the new scanner, he slid the photo under it. "You see?

There in the frontal lobe."

H nudged Zeeltor aside. "It seems that a small incision was

done here, at the region where memory processing in the brain is."

"But what does that mean?" Q aked as they made room for him.

H looked at Zeeltor then to Q. "It means old friend that

someone has tampered with your memory...," he said quietly.

Q frowned. "Then we must report this immediately."

"...30 years ago," Zeeltor added.

They all became silent. Each knew the odds of catching the

culprit was near impossible. The time was too long ago, the facts

few, and the idea of what memory was erased was almost unobtainable.

Then an uneasy realization came to Zeeltor's mind. "Do you

think that whoever's done it operated on everyone else?" he

speculated nervously. "Any of us could have been victims."

So they spent two more hours and to their surprise and dread,

they had found that many more had their brains tampered with. The

list was long, and consisted mostly of aliens who had worked for MiB

for 30 years of more. These were aliens like the twins, the worms,

and Zelgar, the oldest janitor.

"Well the good news is that the suspect didn't continued his

covert operations," Zeeltor concluded. "That it only happened 30

years ago."

"And we know that he strikes at aliens," H said, then looking

at Q, added, "Plus one human."

Zeeltor pointed a blue finger at a scan. "He must be an

amateaur. A true surgeon wouldn't leave a scar tunnel behind. But

he's knowledgeable enough to not accidently destroy any neural

pathways."

"And he is after something that has to do with a certain

memory," Q finished.

"It has to be Alpha," H reasoned. "He's the only big thing

that happened 30 years ago when he betrayed MiB."

Q nodded in agreement. He too had been there and recalled it

well.

Zeeltor shook his head. "Gentlemen, we shouldn't jump to

conclusions. It is most likely Alpha could have done it, but don't

forget that Q's memory is altered and that you H may have been as

well."

"But my brain hasn't been operated upon," H protested as he

gestured at his own scan.

"I know, but it's possible that you may have been neuralized.

What we need to do now is report this at once," Zeeltor said as he

locked the scans inside his desk drawer.

"So let me get this straight Doctor Zeeltor," Zed spoke

calmly. "You're saying that someone had performed unofficial

operations on everyone 30 years ago?"

"Maybe. Whoever's done it was a smooth operator. And they're

obviously desperate to keep a certain memory from arising."

"But how do you suggest we capture the person who committed

this crime? So much has happened since."

"We know, sir," H said. "Which is why we need your

authorization to try and surgically revive the victims' memory. One

of them may know whose done it subconsciously."

Zed pressed his lips into a grim flat line. "You say the

victims are all aliens?"

"Only Q here is the only human to have this as well, sir."

Zed nodded. "Good. The ARC would never allow this

investigation without a fight, even whether with Zeeltor as the head

surgeon. But with Q here we could do as you ask. You have my

permission to operate on Q."

Q glanced up at the mention of his name. "Isn't there another

way, sir?" he gulped. Zeeltor operating on him didn't sound good.

Zed shrugged. "Apparently not." He stood up from his

desk. "But I need to see those scans myself and make a few copies to

present to the ARC. Maybe it might convince them to allow you operate

on the alien victims as well."

Q knew something was wrong, even before they turned into the

hallway.

The fire alarm screamed. Many agents rushed past them to put

the fire out.

Zeeltor stood flabbergasted at the smoke that continued to

bellow out of his lab door. He could see his lab equipment inside,

licks of flame engulfed and tore at them.

At first, Zeeltor could only stand there numbly. But sudden

fear gripped him. "LUCY!" he screamed. He would have charged into the

inferno if H hadn't held him back.

Agent Jay stumbled over to them. His suit's fabric was hot to

the touch and crackled from exposure to the intense heat. "Zeeltor,

Zeeltor!" He dashed over to the trio. "Here!" He thrusted Lucy into

Zeeltor's hands and before the doctor could thank him, he plunged

into the group of agents who were desperately trying to put the fire

out.

H placed a hand upon Zeeltor's shoulder. Even though he never

did like the alien, he knew it was the right thing to do. All medical

personale knew it was hard to watch your lab go down in flames and

all held the unspoken rule of being there to support the victim.

So the three of them, Q, H, and Zeeltor, watched as the lab

was consumed by the hungry fire while Zed continued to bellow

directions to the agents.

Part 4 From H's lab, Zeeltor confirmed what he had suspected; in addition to list of alien workers and Agent Q, were the human agents that had been found to have their memories tampered with. All of them had been in MiB for at least 30 years. As a result , Zed had ordered an immediate deneuralization, in the hope that some bit of information had been missed by the operator's hand. Even the chief himself chose to undergo the procedure. But judging from a medical officer's point of view, the aspect looked bleak in resurfacing those forbidden memories.
As he waited for the deneuraliztion reports to come in, Zeeltor could preoccupy himself by moving what little of his belongings that were spared from the conflagration into H's quarters. He knew however that he and the other medical officer were not on good terms as far as how procedures were done and medical ethics, and he didn't expect them to become buddies. An unsaid set of rules was established in which neither of them would bother the other unless absolutely necessary, which suit Zeeltor just fine. He had found Agent H to be quite an arrogant man, proud in his abilities alone and disregarding others'. The one thing that bothered Zeeltor the most was that H was medical procedures were often narrow-minded and traditional. And for one as radical as Zeeltor, the two were always trying to denounce the other's methods, resulting in one too many headaches for Zed.
Zeeltor was putting his clothing away in one of H's many cabinets and looked up as H walked in with a moderate stack of files in his hands, hoping that they were the deneuraliztion results.
H raised an eyebrow and quickly slid the files into his briefcase. He continued his way into his private office, ignoring the indignant look that Zeeltor threw him.
A loud roar turned Zeeltor attention from H's rude behavior. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "I know, Lucy. But I can't risk losing his cooperation on a case like this due to some personal vendetta." He added under his breath as he continued his task, "Though I agree with you that the man does need a bit of my perk-it-up formula."
Jay came in, grunting under the weight of a storage box. "Yo.Doc.where'd you. want this?"
Zeeltor's eyes widen. "Oh, do be careful with that. That's my latest prototype." He dashed over to help.
Unfortunately, the size of the box inhibited Jay's field of vision. Taking one step, he ran straight into Zeeltor, tripped over his spindly legs, and fell unto the box, which ripped under his weight. Up Jay sprang, hollering in hysterics and cussing in a way that would make any Bug blush, as a green ooze began to spread up his arm and coat his body.
Zeeltor watched in bewilderment and amusement as Jay was enshrouded by the ooze and paralyzed him, with Jay standing in an awkward position. Zeeltor beamed and exclaimed, "It works, Lucy! It works!"
His pet roared in approval.
Yet the same opinion was not found in H's face when he walked in. "I say, Zeeltor what on earth are you." His mouth dropped in disbelief. "Ah sh**, what the h*** did you do now, Zeeltor!?" H pulled out his ICER and froze the sculpture of Jay. With the butt of the weapon, he gave a swift blow, shattering the cocoon around Jay.
Jay blinked, a look of bafflement on his countenance. He quickly straightened his body. As if a dim light bulb brightens, he slowly realized what had occurred. Turning to Zeeltor, he glared at him. "I'd had enough of your toys, Doc. You go unpack them yourself." With that he strode out of the room, and tried to slam the door. But being one of the retro doors of MiB, it closed with a quiet hiss.
Realizing the awkward position of being alone with a scornful Agent H, Zeeltor smiled sheepishly, hoping to alleviate the situation.
On the contrary, H took it as an opportunity to ridicule Zeeltor. "I'm filing a complaint against you, sir. You put as many people in danger as the number patients that you've treated."
Zeeltor frowned. "I see no danger in a little harmless device like my Paralysis Ooze. Agent Jay wasn't even hurt," he retorted icily. Clearly, there was no way out of this argument.
"One device after another, you keep saying they would not inflict harm. It's your pathetic excuse to continue you unauthorized dabbling in new inventions. Honestly, you frightened your patients so much that it is impossible for them to recover. You, sir, are not worthy of being called a physician."
"And you would rather let your patients suffer in agony, than to use any of my methods that could possibly spare them from needless pain. From where I'm standing, you seem to be more of a torturer than a doctor."
H threw up his hands. "It's hopeless. You're hopeless. How could you go about and question my ability to tend my patients when I have studied human biology and physiology since before you were born? I specialized in that field, whereas you only have a fancy of what it really is. What if there were some side effects from your revolutionizing medical methods? What if your cure is worse than the disease?"
Zeeltor crossed his arms. "I'm aware of the risk, H, but there are times in a little change in procedures can transform the medical field for the better. What if I stumbled upon a cure to the AIDS virus that you humans have not yet found?"
H seemed to explode. "SO YOU WOULD RISK YOUR PATIENTS' HEALTH FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR PETY EXPERIMENTS!!!??!"
"Now you are just being unreasonable. The surgical and prescription procedures are short-termed. I always have a safety mechanism or a back up in case if the undesirable does occur."
H was ready for another row with Zeeltor, when Zed came in.
Zed looked from one medical officer to another and shook his head. "We have a difficult case on our hands, and being at each others throat will not make matters any easier. Now either you two act like gentlemen, or I will be forced to reprimand both of you." He looked at Zeeltor. "And you would find it best in your interest to put away your inventions until a more reasonable time. You need to focus on this case."
H gave a look of triumph.
Zed glared at H. "Don't think that I left you out, Old-Boy. From now on you will be assisting Zeeltor in this task. All of your research must be shared with him, and his research with you."
Both physicians stammered their protests.
"AND" added Zed sternly. "If I find that neither of you are doing so, I will replace both of you. There are plenty of doctors that are requesting a position here and I'm not going to hesitate to do so if you do not follow directions."
Both of the med officers became silent. It was known that if Zed made up his mind, it won't change.
Zed shook his head in disgust and left the quarters.
Both of the doctors glared at each other in mutual dislike. Clearly the case would end either by miracle or by a homicide.
Meanwhile, outside of the medical quarters, Zed turned a corner. Waiting there was Kay.
"There aren't any doctors requesting for a position here, are there," Kay asked slyly.
Zed smirked. "No there aren't." And his companion chuckled in response.

Part 5

Throughout the universe there are a few laws that one can never break. These include scientific laws, such as the laws of gravity, action, and motion. Then there are some that controls the fate of mankind. One such law is that no matter what community you live in, rumors and gossip spread like wildfire.

And with a massive organization of MiB, these wild tales are a part of life; relieving the boredom and providing entertainment, except for the individuals the rumors are about.

There was always one particular spot that all agents would gather about for the latest juicy gossip, the Cantering Centaur. Located at the heart of the terminals, the pub received fresh waves of arrivals, who would bring news from outside the galaxy. Topics of conversation varied from the latest interstellar fashions to politics.

As usual, Kay was seemingly indifferent to all events about him. He sat at the bar, flipping nonchalantly through the Daily Inquisitor.

Jay knew this was just part of the act of course. Kay had his acute superhuman hearing on at full power, straining to grasp every bit of info he can. Jay shrugged. He too should be doing the same, but at the moment he was preoccupied with a certain human female specimen with great curves.

Agent Janice stood close by, chatting merrily away with her girlfriends.and looking coyly at Jay from the corner of her eyes.

Jay gazed admiringly at her smooth, brown skin and finely-chiseled teeth. Her golden brown hair was tied back in a fluffy ponytail. But it was her eyes that choked him up. Within those emerald jewels held an intelligent soul, one that was kindred to his. Through them he could sense a playful nature, undertoned by one that would quickly become serious if the situation arose.

A sharp nudge in the side brought Jay back to reality. He scowled at his partner, who ignored the look and jerked his head toward the direction of a Kryterian.

Obviously the alien had one drink too many. It's serpentine head bobbed and wobbled on its thick muscular neck as it fumbled for the cask of Arktian wine. The Kryterian took a heavy swing from the bottle, oblivious to the flow down its front.

A surly agent stood nearby, wearing a look of absolute disgust. Jay recognized him as Agent N. According to the gossip floating about the pub, he was a grouchy old-timer, who never forgave MiB for its open immigration policy back in the 1970s. Personally, Jay couldn't stand the guy. He was much too pryful and refused to see anything past the end of his nose. Ever since his removal from the field due to his discriminating actions towards Kryterians, N was reduced to paperwork and service at the pub. Which in Jay's opinion, did not alleviate N's loathing of the alien race.

Jay returned his attention to the alien, who was teetering unsteadily.

"Hey human, get me another round for me and my friends," the Kryterian bellowed. The assortment of aliens seated around his table roared in approval.

N wrinkled his aquiline nose. "As you wish.sir." He ended his sentence with vehemence. Then turned and strode away.

But the aliens paid no heed to the puny human and continued their bantering.

At first any untrained eye would overlook the unruly bunch, but Jay had caught on to what Kay was interested in. A tiny brooch depicting a supernova was fastened inconspicuously within the folds of the Kryterian's vest. It was the signa of a Federation Commerce Officer. If Jay remembered correctly, that position would be at the center hub of the Intergalatic Trade itself. A position that had ears to whatever news went on in the universe. Yet most of the time these officers would never share any of this information with humans, even though it was common knowledge for other species. Now here was a chance for MiB to take advantage of the situation. As the saying goes, wine loosens the tongue. Jay strained his ears to get every drop he could get.

"Now," the Kryterian began, rubbing his claws together. "To business. Keru, list me a few of the newly popular clothing in demand."

For a while the conversation went along those lines and Jay grew tiresome. If all the news were about economic prospects, then it was unnecessary to continue evesdropping. Jay caught Jenice's eye and smiled. He stood up to come over to her, but Kay grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back down. Jay groaned and scowled.

The Kryterian glanced at a bird-like alien. "What about you Menske? How come I still haven't received that shipment of Butabi crystals that you promised me? I have one tough customer here who was practically cramming himself down my throat if I didn't deliver. Some stupid Jee'Dang named X."

The bird-alien shook his avian head. "I have no clue where it is, Kazul. All I know is that the transport disappeared in the Centaurian Sector. D*** driver probably overtaxed the hydropulsers again."

"Disappeared? What do you mean disappeared? No vessel can just vanish."

"I mean that our scanners lost their signal and communication link. But it's nothing to worry about. The nebulae gases there always do funny things to ship's signatures. Some kind of plasmatic field."

"That is reasonable," replied Kazul. "Except for the fact that they have been gone for 3 Earth days."

Menske blinked. "Well, we'll just give them more time, maybe a couple more hours, then we'll send a search party."

Kazul banged a fist upon the table. "I want the party dispatched now, Menske. You should have done so after 24 hours of their disappearance. If that transport does not make it here by tomorrow, it will be your job that will be jeporadized."

Menske's feathers ruffled. "I say, Kazul. You put so much demand upon me. It's not like your precious cargo of crystals will be pirated. In fact they are safer under the cover of the gases. I don't see why you can be so alarmed."

That did it for Kazul. If his temper had been short before, it was even more so with the intoxication of alcohol in his blood. He seized Menske and shook the alien vigorously. "I don't care about pirates, it's the sector they're in that I'm concern about."

Menske gasped and pried himself away from the drunk commerce officer's clutches. "Now I know you had too much to drink. How can you believe in such fantasy stories? There aren't ay demons in the nebula. Those vessel disappearances are just accidents."

By then Agent N had long since returned with his tray bearing more refills. As he set the glasses down, he raised an inquisitive eyebrow when he heard the entire dialogue between Kazul and Menske.

Kazul's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the sight of the human. "Fine, just send that search party. Gentlemen, let us take our leave," he said abruptly.

The group paid and dissembled. As they filed past Jay, Jay's eye met Kazul's. Kazul gave him a look that one would give to pile of dung and strode away.

Jay turned to his partner, who just sat back, pulled out a cigarette and proceeded to light it.

After a few quick puffs, Kay took notice of Jay. "So, Slick, what do you think?"

Turning his glass in his hand, Jay thought over the conversation he had overheard. "I figure that Kazul guy is so full of sh**." This received a smirk from Kay. Then Jay added, "What's worse is that most of the Federation think the same way that bastard does. It's scary to think that the universe has that many big a**es." He sipped at his coffee. "Plus, Kazul seems to be hiding something. Maybe he's stashing more than those crystals in that transport."

Kay nodded. "Or our boy may just be overprotective of his profits. Butabi crystals aren't common goods. There had been reports of missing vessels for the past week. Something is going on in that nebula."

"Pirates?"

Kay shook his head. "Even the black market had reported missing transports, from the smallest scavengers to the Sublesian family itself. And someone had to be either stupid or wanting a death wish if they crossed the Sublesian family. They're the Mafia of the galaxy. In addition, many of the outer nations detected some sort of bio-magnetic energy from that sector."

"Well, I don't believe that bullsh** about ghosts and demons," Jay replied bluntly.

"Don't count them out. MiB had some pretty strange cases in the past. Some of which are classified and placed under the Silver Caliber Department."

Jay scoffed. "The folks that work in that department are whack, Kay. Have you ever talked to." He glanced about briefly. "Agent N? Dude's so paranoid he thinks Zed can't be trusted. Keeps watching Big Z's back."

"Doesn't matter, Slick. Something is happening that even got Kazul on edge. He's pretty shaken for someone invigorated by alcohol." Kay downed the last drops of his coffee and got up.

Jay followed suit. As he exited the Cantering Centaur, Agent N shot him a look that gave Jay the feeling that he knew that they had been talking about him. Jay shrugged it off and looked for Jenice, then realized that she and her group were gone. D***.