Vice Admiral Michael Kernan was enjoying a very relaxing day so far. He started out with a very pleasant walk with his grandson in a very beautiful garden, situated in one of his own estates. Then having a breakfast at a famous local diner with his cousin slash best friend General Adam Stanfield, He hadn't seen much of him ever since Adam got promoted in NATO so it was nice to have a little chit chat with his old friend. Eventually he arrived at the NGA headquarters, taking a walk around his office itself. Being the gregarious director that he was he felt the need to soak up as much of the agency and it's personnel as he possibly could in his limited schedule. And he knew he barely had four years left. He wasn't getting younger afterall, no one did.

After taking a relaxing stroll, he entered inside his chambers. Taking a long breath, he tried to get into zen of the moment before all the boring paperwork started. Then all of a sudden, his phone rang. After calmly glaring at his desk for a while, he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Sir, we have an emergency. George Bowman wants to see you."

"George, as in the lead scientist in Computer and telecommunication engineering?" Michael raised an eyebrow. That felt quite odd. George wasn't someone who ever paid a direct visit to his office unless some crisis was involved, The last time he did that was during Space shuttle columbia disaster.

"Send him in!"

The moment he uttered out those words, a frantic looking old man slammed the door open, letting go of all the etiquette and common sense before literally dashing in front of his desk. Michael could clearly see the distress in his eyes.

"What's wrong, George? Why are you so worked up?"

"Sir, We found a signal. After eleven years we finally found it." George stated, his voice mixed with both excitement and panic, "The prototype Orion was building for DIS before he vanished has now been activated. There no doubt about it.."

"Are you sure about this? As far as I knew Orion destroyed both prototypes before he disappeared." Michael narrowed down his eyes.

"One thousand percent. This frequency is the same one from the homing beacon we put inside the hardware , For many years thought Orion figured it out and removed it, but I was wrong." George nodded affirmatively

"Where is the signal coming from? Have you triangulated the position?" Michael asked, He was quite eager to see the legendary Orion in person. No one knew how he looked. He didn't even know whether Orion was a man or a woman. Only things he knew were just simple facts, Orion was a top researcher working for the government. He/she wanted to keep their identity secret and they were quite good at it. Orion had some issues with government , one of projects went wrong or something along the lines and he/she cut off all their ties with the government, disappearing into thin air as if they never existed before

"Yes sir, The prototype has been activated in a house situated in Echo park, Burbank, LA."

"I see." Michael let out a chuckle. He knew that area very well, after all he was posted there a few years ago before he got promoted and he visited Burbank quite frequently as his daughter lived there. The last time he went there was december to attend his granddaughter's birthday party , which wasn't that long ago. Perhaps it was time for another check up on the little rascal.

The admiral nodded his head in understanding, "Tell all stations to stand down. I will take a small squad with me just for the sake of formality. I want to deal with this matter personally."

"Sir?"

"Orion is not a terrorist George. If we can talk to him, we might be able to reach an understanding." Michael replied in a firm tone, leaving no further room for discussion. "Tell Emily to cancel all of my meetings. I am going to meet a very special guest." He added hastily, tilting his head towards George before leaving through the door.

The Vice Admiral's sudden departure left his entire staff looking a bit flabbergasted though.

...xxxxxx...xxxxxxx...

A little while later and many miles away from the Fort Belvoir, The miserable looking young man woke up, scrubbing the top of his head while mumbling all sorts of complaints under his breath. He felt mostly alright though and apart from a nominal headache, symptoms from previous night had now completely disappeared. His somber mood continued as he dragged himself inside the washroom.

"Man! That hurt like hell." Chuck let out a groan while splashing water in his face, "Make note Bartowski, Get your facts straight before touching your deadbeat dad's stuff. That was scary. I really felt I was about to turn into a zombie and go out on a rampage, evil dead style. "

That kinda sounds cool though

He took another good look around his room. He needed to fix everything before Ellie and Awesome arrived. If his sister saw any of these she would definitely end up grounding him like she used to back when he was in highschool. He also didn't want to go through the headache of explaining everything to her.

Kicking the door open, he immediately went to kitchen, in order to make himself some breakfast. Which was his usual plan of action every day in the morning. Perhaps an omelet and some orange juice would do. He didn't want to be late for Buy More. However he received the shock of his lifetime when he saw an old man dressed in Naval uniform, with the stars, shoulder boards, and sleeve stripes of a U.S. Navy vice admiral of the "line" reading the newspaper while sitting on his kitchen table. After noticing his arrival the old man looked at him, offering him a small smile.

"Morning lad! Would you like to have a seat, you seem rugged?"

"Oh sure, I will just...HEY!" Chuck suddenly shouted in alarm and leapt back, only to realize where exactly he had seen this man before.

"VADM Michael Kernan? You run the Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, right?"

"Glad to see that you recognized me. I never thought anyone would have seen that interview on CNN." Michael replied with an amused smile, staring towards him expectantly.

"Hey don't change the topic! This ...is breaking and entering." Chuck pointed his finger accusedly towards the elder.

"Oh it is right? My apologies." Michael let out a hearty laugh.

"Forget it. He really doesn't mean that." A female voice called out from behind. Revealing to be a pretty woman around his age with brown hair and matching eyes, She extended her hand towards him with a friendly smile, "Hi, I am Lt Lou Palone. In charge of Director's security."

Chuck gulped nervously for a moment but shook her hand regardless.

"Ummm...I am Chuck. I fix computers at Buy More."

"Nice meeting you Chuck. Let me fix some breakfast for you guys. " She replied kindly before marching towards the kitchen.

"She can't help herself. Both her parents are chefs. She is a pretty good soldier though. No doubts about that." Michael shook his head. The young man followed them with his eyes as he carefully moved around the table.

Sweating bullets, Chuck scratched the back of his head sheepishly, He wasn't someone who could survive prisons and the numbers of secured government websites he hacked into...just for "fun" was more than enough to earn him a lifetime.

Holy crap! They didn't figure out I am the Piranha right?

Taking a long breath, he gathered his courage. Why the director of NGA would be interested in Piranha? That didn't make sense. Besides he hasn't been Piranha... well since "Stanford" . So it had been a while.

"Sir, What brings someone like you here from all the way to Virginia? was it something I did?" He asked, trying to sound as much casual as possible, despite the fact all he wanted to do was scream and run away.

"Hmm...So we are getting straight to the point!" Michael murmured observantly, his focus shifting on the wrist watch stuck on Chuck's wrist, "Don't worry lad, We are not here for you. Just tell me, how you managed to get this to open?" He put the old case from last night on table.

"Wait! This one! I don't know , My fingers brushed against it and WOOSH, It had opened. Just like that." Chuck explained further. Feeling slightly relieved.

"Impossible. This case was designed to withstand explosives, natural disasters and even some of the nasties acids to be found. Only someone with genetic properties similar to that of Orion...the chief architect would have been able to open this..."

No way...Could he be...?

Michael scratched his chin, taking a closer look on the device strapped on Chuck's wrist. That definitely seemed like the same design he was shown in the blueprints. Playing his analysis with a small smile, he looked down at Chuck seriously for a second.

"Where did you find this case?"

"Oh, I think my dad put it behind the drawer before he left and well...never returned." Chuck replied with a dejected sigh, he then raised an eyebrow out of curiosity, "Did you know my Dad?"

" I do know about this piece of technology on your wrist and perhaps, that might answer the questions about your father as well."

"I don't understand. My father was a commercial scientist. He worked with IT companies out there." Chuck sharply narrowed down his eyes.

"Not just IT companies. You dad worked with a lot of people. Including us." Michael exclaimed.

"No way." Chuck stood up, his eyes widening in awe and disbelief. However his sudden movement caused him to bump into Lou who was about to put eggs and toast on the table. His eyes bulged as several images of various gymnasts and athletes performing amazing feats flashed in front of him. He felt like he was put on autopilot as his body moved on it's own , in what appeared to be lightning fast speed, he picked up the plate using one hand , he changed his direction in a fraction of second by performing a backflip , catching eggs and toast in his plate quite effortlessly.

"Oh my! Chuck. How did you do that?" Lou asked incredulously, clearly impressed with his stunt.

Chuck had no idea whatsoever. Not even Devon would have been able to catch a plate like that and he was called Awesome for a reason. "Why do I get the feeling I am full of surprises?" He thought to himself.

Michael on the other hand narrowed down his eyes suspiciously, the elder walked towards him and put his hand on his shoulder causing Chuck to look up. Gesturing towards the case on table,

"Tell me Chuck, Did you notice anything unusual or odd ever since you opened this case?"

"Well..." Chuck scratched his head, taking a moment to ponder, "You guys might want to sit down because this may take a while to elaborate."

...xxxxxxx...xxxxxxxx...