Chapter 2
Deep underground in the Nevada desert, M.E.C.H. had set up a new base of operations. Within the command centre, a tired, gruff old man wearing a standard black uniform with white hair and a haggard scarred complexion sat calmly at his command post. He had been watching the live footage of the feed that was coming in from the spy-bird, which he had sent to spy on the target.
"Are there any time lapses on the feed we are receiving?" He asked a subordinate who was working at a console.
The subordinate shook his head negative, and carried on with his duties.
The white haired man known to the Autobots and American government as rogue soldier Silas Leland Bishop slowly manoeuvred his hand over the control as he focused the camera on a girl who was wearing black jeans and a tee shirt with some rock band slogan on. The girl in question was surrounded by a group of teens both male and female. Her main tormentor was a ginger haired kid, who was taunting her and pushing her around, whilst his cronies sniggered and laughed.
The girl seemed so small, unassuming, and shy but Silas knew that looks could be deceiving.
He had managed to obtain private government files, which detailed a mutant project called 'Project: Weapon X'. It went on into gory detail of how they had found a mutant man who possessed amazing healing capabilities and who had volunteered himself for a procedure called 'Adamantium Bonding'.
Subsequently after the procedure, the volunteer had become indestructible and went rogue on a killing spree, which resulted in the program being mothballed and put away in storage. Along with all the other dirty little secrets that the government did not want the public to know about.
'With that much power,' Silas mused to himself, 'he would have made a fine solider.'
He had also uncovered details of a 'secret mutant academy' that was located within the suburban town of North Salem in Westchester County, New York. It also included unofficial records of known mutants living within the United States.
One of the mutants on the list was of particular interest to Silas, a Marcus Daggert who had changed his name by deed poll to Stevenson. He had gotten married and had two daughters, the eldest of which at the tender age of thirteen ended up in Juvenile Hall for sabotaging her schools computers. After his marriage had broken down, he had ended up moving to Chicago working as a dish cleaner for a local restaurant. On March 16th 2010, he had died in a drive-by shooting whilst walking home from work. The police was never able to find the shooter, which resulted in the case being filed under 'unsolved homicide murders'. The war on mutants was another problem for another day. All Silas could think about at present was ridding the Earth of the robotic monsters who had landed on his planet. He needed the girl to do it though, and Silas was determined to complete his mission by any means necessary
"Continue monitoring the live feed," He said addressing the same subordinate from before, "I want to know everything she does."
The sentry nodded his acknowledgement as Silas got up from his chair and exited the room. Making his way through the maze of corridors, he had reached his destination the science department.
Entering the room, Silas greeted the occupants with a half-hearted salute. Walking over to the desk, he spoke to the elderly doctor who sat on a stool at his desk, looking at a specimen in his microscope.
"Greetings Doctor," Silas said, "I trust you have the D.N.A profile of the girl in question?"
Turning his attention to Silas, the doctor, tossed a large manila envelope to him that was on his desk.
"I can confirm that the girl does have some mutant genes within her. Now it could be a small capability such as mild empathic powers or," the doctor paused, letting his words sink in, "she could have extremely strong and destructive powers the likes of which would rival Magneto or for that matter-The Phoenix."
Silas nodded taking in what the doctor was telling him. He understood the doctors concerns, but it was unavoidable in order to rid the human race of a bigger threat that plagued their planet.
"She's a perfect candidate for the test, we shall begin Operation: Blackout as planned, and nothing will stand in our way. Not even the Autobots."
Talking off his glasses, the doctor polished them rigorously with the edge of his faded blue shirt. He knew that deep down this was wrong and so he tried to reason with the other man.
"Sir, in my honest opinion, I don't think using the girl this way is very ethic-"The doctor was unable to complete his sentence as he was struck hard across face by Silas.
Grabbing hold of his desk, the doctor had managed to haul himself into a sitting position on his chair. Taking out a handkerchief from the left pocket of his lab coat, he dabbed his bleeding lip whilst staring at the other man in shock.
"I will not be questioned do you understand me Doctor?" Silas whispered in a deadly tone, "We are at war and I will continue to do what is necessary, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME DOCTOR?!"
Grabbing the man by the collar of his shirt that he wore under his white lab coat, Silas brought his face closer to his and he could see the fear in the other man's eyes.
Dropping him onto his chair Silas turned to leave, pausing at the doorway he said,
"Oh and Doctor don't ever question me again, or you'll regret ever doing so."
He continued walking and as the doors slid shut behind him, he made a mental note to punish the man later for his insolence.
-88-88-88-
Striding quickly down the school corridor, Sabirah made her way to the girls toilets and slammed the door open, causing the two teen girls who were already in there to jump with fright. Once they had recovered, the blonde girl nudged her friend and winked before addressing Sabirah.
"Whoa, jeeze newbie what happened to you?" the blonde girl asked innocently, a smirk curled on her lips, " oh I get it, did a bird shit on you or something? Well I don't blame it for doing so!"
"I have to say newbie," The second girl chimed in, "this is a new look for you!"
Both of them howled out laughing and high-fived each other in mock victory.
Closing her eyes, Sabirah clenched her fists tightly in an attempt to block out their taunts. Hot tears streamed down her face. The bathroom lights above them dimmed and then sparked and fizzled with electricity, causing the two bully girls to look up in alarm.
"Damn school is so cheap with electricity these days." The blonde girl said quietly to her friend.
"Y-yeah damn cheap school! " The friend agreed pulling the blonde girl towards the door they hastily exited into corridor.
As her breathing regulated itself once more, Sabirah opened her eyes to see that the girls had left.
Slightly puzzled by their behaviour but none the less relieved that they had gone, she shrugged it off and proceeded to the nearest row of white porcelain sinks to inspect the gunk more closely in the mirror.
"Freakin' jerk, I hate him! This tapioca pudding is going to make me stink all day!" she cursed inwardly.
Engrossed in the task of cleaning her hair, she failed to notice the girl that had approached from behind.
"I'm sure that will come out with shampoo or something." The girl's voice said quietly.
Snapping her eyes forward, Sabirah saw in the mirror a reflection of a small Asian girl who was about Hayley's age standing behind her.
The girl had short, black hair streaked with pink, and she was wearing blue shorts and a black tee shirt emblazoned with the logo for rock band Slash Monkey that Sabirah was fond of as well.
Although the girl seemed friendly, Sabirah was still wary of her and the last thing she needed was another wisecracking asshole giving her grief.
"Thanks," Sabirah replied sarcastically, "I'll try and remember that!"
Shaking her head apologetically, the other girl approached the sink to the left of her and turned on the cold-water tap.
"Sorry dude, I wasn't being sarcastic or anything. I just wanted to help you out but it came out all wrong, sorry for that."
Feeling embarrassed about the misunderstanding, Sabirah tried to make amends with the other girl.
"Sorry, it was my fault. I guess I expect everyone to be the same around here. I have been getting grief from an asshole bully named Vince, do you know him?"
The girl nodded her head in reply; she did indeed have the misfortune of knowing him.
"Yeah, this was his handiwork!" Sabirah pointed angrily to her head, "Thanks to him, I'll have to smell like tapioca pudding all afternoon."
"Yeah, the first time I came here," the girl replied, "He put stinkbugs in my locker before first period and I had to walk around stinking of stink bugs the rest of the day." The girl frowned slightly at the memory, but quickly replaced it with a smile.
"My name is Miko Nakadai by the way, what's yours?" Miko smiled offering the other girl her hand, which she reluctantly took.
"I'm Sabirah, Sabirah Stevenson. It's erm, nice to meet you."
"Oh hey are you related to Hayley Stevenson is she your sister?"
The girl nodded, rolling her eyes in dismay. Wondering what her little sister had been saying about her, if anything at all.
"Yeah that's right she's a pain in the butt but I love her dearly."
Miko smiled wryly "Yeah, I don't have any siblings but I have some good friends whom I consider family. Now we may not always get along, but we'd definitely fight for each other if needs be."
Sabirah was about to reply but was interrupted by the school bell ringing above their heads signalling the end of lunch hour.
Grabbing her satchel off the side, Miko turned and smiled at her new friend offering one last piece of advice.
"Don't let it get you down, Next time come sit with us for lunch and we'll protect you OK?"
Waving her friend goodbye, Sabirah took one last look in the mirror before taking in deep breath and releasing it. Feel assured once more, she grabbed her bag off the sink and departed the toilets for class.
-88-88-88-
The end of the day was a welcome relief for all students and for Sabirah in particular because it meant that she was able to escape her tormentor for the day. As she boarded the school bus, a black blur of movement out the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning her head around, she saw Vince and two of his cronies pursuing the boy whom she had met earlier on. Although her first instinct was to mind her own business, a twinge of guilt made its way through her as she tried to rationalise internally whether or not to help him out. She still owed Jack a debt of gratitude for saving her from Vince and she knew that if she did nothing to help him then something very bad would happen to him. Reluctantly and against her better judgement, Sabirah decided to follow them in order to help out her friend and exact some payback on the big fat douche bag that had made everyone's life a misery.
Feeling his lungs about to burst, Jack slowed down running in order to get his breath back. Vince and his friends were quickly upon him, backing him into a corner with nowhere to run.
"Look Vince, do we have to do this right now?" Jack reasoned trying not to sound like he was begging as the three burly teens bared down on him their eyes cold and unfriendly.
"Shut up Derby," Vince mocked mispronouncing his name on purpose, "we have a score to settle here and you're not leaving until I'm satisfied." Vince signalled the two thugs, who grabbed an arm each so Jack could not get away. Struggling uselessly in their iron strong grip, Jack looked his nemesis square in the eye, unwilling to be cowed or intimidated by him.
"Look Vince, I don't know what problems you have. Nevertheless, you have to stop tormenting and hurting people. Someone needs to stand up to cowards like you."
Slapping him across the face, the bully smirked enjoying the feeling of power he was experiencing.
In the distance, a car alarm sounded which was followed by another and then another until the whole school parking lot was a cacophony of noise. Dogs started barking in the neighbourhood, which only added to the chaos.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Jack took this as his cue to leave. Slipping out of their grip, he had managed to ditch the thugs and run away before they had even realised he was gone. To be honest, Jack was not even sure what had happened. However, he was certainly grateful that it did.
Hiding behind a tree Jack took this opportunity to regain his breath and thank whatever good luck deity that was up there. Radioing Arcee to come pick him up, he only waited a short time before she arrived with her holographic rider 'driving'.
"So was this a bad day at the office then?" Arcee probed, concerned about her human friend, "He didn't hurt you did he?"
Taking out a helmet from compartment under the seat, Jack sighed and placed it onto his head. He was not in the mood to talk about it, and avoided the discussion by doing up the buckles on his headgear.
"If he's bothering you that much can't you just tell the teacher or something?" Arcee offered hoping he would take her advice. He remained silent unwilling to discuss the matter further, and she realised she was not getting anywhere with the stubborn human.
Feeling her patience wearing thin, she huffed in exasperation and decided not to push the matter further. She understood that he wasn't ready to talk about it just yet, and would tell her eventually when he was ready.
Climbing onto the bike, the duo sped off back to Jacks' house. Meanwhile in the darkness, a lone figure crept away from the scene.
