PROLOUGUE

Returning to SMIO

The cold icy breeze swept across the long wide airport. The faint moonlight reflected on the icy runway. There was no airplane in sight. The sky seemed to be lower than it actually was and had a weird colour to it. It was a mix of red and black. It looked like the sky was on fire. It was almost like a warning that something was going to happen. There wasn't much light in the airport. You could see the faint lights coming from the main terminal which was across the long yard. There were also some faint lights across the runway to show the planes where to go.

The roads of the runway were clear but all around them was snow. Halfway down the runway was a black Rolls-Royce. The window was already clogged up with snow. There were four guards standing around the car. They were all wearing orange glow-in-the-dark tracksuits and they were all holding machine guns. They were heavily armed because they were picking up someone very important.

They were from the SMIO (Secret MI6 International Organization). The SMIO was kind of like the best of the MI6. MI6 is an organization of secret agents who go on missions around the world to infiltrate or stop terrorist threats, to save the world. SMIO was an international MI6 where they called in the best agents of other countries to come in and investigate bigger missions. These people were picking up Chester Dunn, a middle aged man who was in charge of the SMIO. He was a good friend of Steve and had left America to go to Japan as well. He was the only other one who knew about SIN but he was tricked into thinking Steve had been killed so that he could go back to America, he wasn't needed for the mission anymore and the ghost had decided that he would be safer to just go back home. According to him, the whole mission was over.

The guards were looking around the airport, making sure that no one else was near them. It seemed like the whole place was empty. There were quite a lot of planes scattered along the yard but they were all dark and were not moving because there was no one in them. The whole airport had a strange atmosphere. It was like being on another planet, with no life form on it.

There was a faint sound coming from the sky. A plane was coming in. The guards looked up. They could see a distant light. It was closing in from the sky. It was Chester's plane. The guards made sure that they were off the runway. The plane got closer. The wings started to expand and the plane started to slow down. It hovered above the runway and then it landed. It rolled across the runway smoothly. It started to slow down as it got closer to the car. The guards stepped back again and then the plane stopped. It had reached the car perfectly. The guards stood at the plane and waited for the door to opened, it was now connected to a long portable escalator. Suddenly there was a grunting sound coming from behind the guards. They all turned around quickly. It was just a long flat green bus. The lights had all turned on and there was a driver sitting at the seat. The guards looked back. They had never noticed the bus before. The plane door slowly opened and then, first, some stewards came walking out. They were all talking to each other happily. They seemed relieved that they had had a safe trip. They stopped when they saw the guards. They probably thought that they were terrorists. The guards ignored them so they kept walking toward the bus, they were now followed by passengers. The guards watched the door and waited for Chester. The plane was pretty big. It was a jumbo jet. It was fully white but it had a large red circle wrapped around the middle of the plane. It was like the Japanese flag on a plane. The plane was called Ko- Sumi Airlines. It was a Japanese plane. There were still passengers emerging from the plane. They all seemed tired from the long trip. The guards still watched the plane door and then they saw him. He seemed to have lost some weight since he left New York to go with Steve. He was wearing a black water proof jacket and baggy dark-blue track-suit pants. He had shaved since he left New York as well. It made him look a good deal younger. He no longer and a long moustache.

He slowly walked down the long staircase with his single back-pack. He got down to the bottom and noticed the Rolls-Royce. He knew it was for him. He didn't have to bother worrying about transport, he knew that he would be picked up. He stood looking at the car and then he looked up at the dark grim sky. His face changed. It definitely wasn't a welcoming sight. The thunder was rumbling quietly. He looked back at the car, where the guards were now opening up the doors. Chester walked over to them. They all shook his hand gradually. To them, it was an honour to see him.

"Sir" One guard said as he shook his hand firmly. Chester smiled back but didn't say anything. He was still heart broken about Steve's "casualty" .

"May I take your bag, sir" Another guard said as he walked up to Chester. He was also wearing sun glasses and he had long brown hair and a brown beard.

"Yes, thanks" Chester said. He handed his bag to the guard and the guard placed the bag in the boot. They were all acting very weird, as if they were nervous about seeing him. It seemed as though they had rehearsed their meeting about ten times. They were all acting so professionally. One guard opened up the shiny black door of the car to Chester. Chester took one more look at the airport and then he hopped into the car. Inside it was warm, a lot warmer than the outside. The seats were made out of red leather. From both sides of the window, you couldn't see through it because it was tinted. The guard closed the door on Chester and then they stepped into the car. The driver started the car up. It began to shake furiously and then it began to move slowly across the airport yard.

The car drove across the run way and through a large wired fence that opened when the car was near it. The car was now on the road. It was the only car on the road. Chester had a funny feeling about New York. It seemed so deserted. It was probably because of the time. Chester looked around the car. There were two guards sitting next to him, one in the front and one driving. The driver's face was watching Chester through the rear mirror. Chester looked at him.

"How was your flight?" The driver asked. He still watched Chester. Chester was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Fine…yeah, it was a great flight, I managed to get some sleep" Chester said.

"So…what was it like in Japan?" The driver asked.

"Oh…I didn't go to Japan, I um, I didn't get to Japan" Chester said, he didn't want to talk about what happened on the ship because they wouldn't believe him and he didn't want to think about it either.

"Things have changed here in New York, I'm sure you've noticed" The driver said. Chester nodded.

"I'm sure it's just the weather" Chester said. The driver nodded.

"It's been like this for months, I'm sure it's not the weather" The driver said. Chester looked up in shock. He knew that it was something to do with SIN. It was a warning, he and Steve were the only ones who knew about it. It was a sign that SIN was coming. When SIN comes, the whole world would come to an end, it would be like a world war three but worse than every war put together. If Chester was now the only one who knew about it, he would have to put a stop to it, no one would ever believe him. How was he supposed to get the whole world's attention. Chester placed his head into the palm of his hand. He couldn't think. He was in too much stress.

"I think this is all leading up to something…something to do with the plague, all the stuff that has been happening, I know there will be something else…what if there is more to the plague than everyone thinks…what if it's something evil, spiritual-

"There isn't!" Chester said. He didn't mean to snap at the driver but it just came out of him. The driver took his eyes off Chester.

"There's something I think you should see" The driver said. Chester looked up at him, he suddenly noticed that the windows were changing, the tint had disappeared and you could now see through them. The car was like a robot. The driver had just pressed a button.

Chester looked out of the window and his mouth fell open, he fell speechless. He could think of anything to say. He could see clearly through the window and could see the city horizon. The astonishing thing about it was not only the weather though, the whole place was covered in red sand. It looked as though someone had got a giant bucket of desert sand and poured it over New York.

Chester didn't know what the red sand was but he knew it wasn't supposed to be there. Steve, on the other hand, knew about it. He had come across spots of the sand twice, both times he had fallen into a sleep and had had weird visions. He knew that they were about SIN. The sand was a marking of SIN, it represented the places where he was going to appear. Chester still watched out the window. The whole ground was flooded in sand and the roofs of towers were overflowing. It was like seeing snow, but instead, sand.

"Good Lord" Chester said. He sat back in the car. He kept passing through the city which was still covered in sand.

"How did that get there?" He asked. The driver shrugged.

"I don't know, none of us do, it's been on the news, most of Europe and Asia have been getting it as well" The driver said. Chester took another look outside the window. He knew that SIN was coming. The driver suddenly made the window tint reappear again. The car kept driving through the city of New York.

The sand started to clear away as the car got closer to the SMIO factory. Chester still recognised it, it hadn't changed at all actually. That was good to know. There was a tall concrete wall going around the whole factory which was huge. At first, there was just a tall tower and then behind it, it looked like a whole new world. There were miles of roofs from warehouses that all belonged to the SMIO. That was where all of the training was done, they were all set up like studios that you would make movies in. At the very centre of all of the warehouses was a wide and extremely large dome made out of glass. It looked like something out of Star Wars. The dome was where all of the gadgets were tried out. You could usually see small figures of people climbing up from inside the dome. You would be amazed by the gadgets and how futuristic they were. They were made with cutting-edge technology. The rest of the world had never even seen them before. All in all, SMIO was huge and truly amazing. The Rolls-Royce stopped at a large metal gate. There were two towers on either side. Both had a guard with an assault-rifle. The SMIO was very defensive. They had to always be armed in case of a random assault from terrorists. They had already dealt with one in history.

The guards examined the car and straight away knew that it was Chester. They had a radio up at the tower and they could talk to the car radio. Chester could hear them, their voices were coming out of the radio, only one of them were talking.

"The gate is opening…welcome home sir". The gates slowly opened. The car drove through it and then across the wide car park. There were army trucks parked outside on the car park. The car drove up the car park and then down a narrow slope which went into the private garage. This was where all of the cars were parked. All of the most expensive cars of the world were found in this garage. This is where the Rolls-Royce was parked, there were also limousines, Bugatti, and Stutz Bearcats. The Rolls-Royce was parked in the only free spot. The driver got out of the car and opened the door for Chester.

"Welcome back, sir" He said. Chester got out of the car. The garage hadn't changed at all. It still had the strong smell of old petrol, which Chester found very addictive. The same stainless steel walls that Chester had purchased were there. This bought back a smile for Chester. The people led him towards an elevator, they didn't have to wait for it because it was already waiting for them. When everyone was in, the elevator doors closed. Chester watched the red numbers on the small screen at the top of the elevator. 1-2-3-4-5. The elevator stopped. The doors slid open and Chester found himself looking at the reception hall. There were more computers scatted around the large circular room. The roof was about one hundred meters high and was made out of clean glass. The moon shone down on the white tiled floor. This astonishing room was probably the most boring of the whole SMIO factory but it was still probably the best looking reception hall in the country. At the end of the hall, there was a large metal door. Through that door was the trail to the main training dome. You had to be a VIP to get through the door. There was a reception desk at the door, and the same person was sitting there. It was a young pestering girl called Michelle. She chased celebrities and famous people. Steve had had trouble trying to get passed her when he had come to SMIO. Chester was led over to the desk. Michelle looked up in astonishment.

"Chester!…Chester Bennington!, you're finally back!" She shrieked and she ran up to Chester and threw her hands around him. Chester couldn't back away, he didn't need to, the guards had pulled Michelle away. Chester was then taken to the door. He looked back at Michelle.

"Uh…I'll have tea with you later or something!" He called back to her. The guards stopped at the metal door, one of them, the one with the brown beard and hair put his hand across a green scanner. A laser beam went across his hand and then the light bulb on top of the door went green. The door then opened. It hissed out steam as it did. Chester walked through the long tunnel. There were glass windows on either side so that you could see outside. All along the sides of the tunnel were healthy green plants. The tunnel was built up on the ground and it led right to the training dome. It stretched out for about three hundred meters. It would take ages to walk across. Chester was used to it now but. He started walking but a guard held him back. There was then an ascending humming sound. It sounded like a bee. Chester then saw what it was. It was a mini sort of bus, or a giant scooter. It looked like it could hold about ten people. It looked like one of those things from the airport that carry luggage. There was someone driving it. He was wearing fully orange clothing. It was the type that people on roadwork would wear. The mini bus stopped at Chester. Chester then got on, he turned to help the guards up. They didn't get on though.

"We'll leave you here, the steward is waiting for you at the dome, you'll find him easily" The guard said. Chester smiled and shook their hands. The mini bus then left. It went pretty fast. Chester had to hold on to the railing to make sure that he didn't fall off. The bus reached the other side of the tunnel after about two minutes. Chester got off and watched the mini bus speed off. He then turned to the door. It was also made out of metal, it didn't have a scanner though. Once Chester walked up to it, it opened for him. He then found himself staring at the huge dome. It looked even more spectacular from the inside. There were still people climbing up the walls but they had even better equipment since the last time that Chester had been here. Their new climbing equipment wasn't as easy to see as the stuff that Chester had used. The people now had tiny objects stuck to their gloves. It looked like they were just using their fingers. They climbed up the walls like Spiderman. There were people trying out new weapons at the bottom. They had flame throwers that could shoot up to thirty meters long. They were even testing them on people!. Some people were wearing rubber uniforms that SMIO had created. They were being lit on fire. They would run around for about two seconds and then the fire would suddenly extinguish. They had people swimming in large pools of water. They were swimming underwater for ages. It was because they had things in their mouths which made them breath through water. It evaporated the oxygen from the water and sucked it into the mouth piece. Chester was truly amazed in how quickly they had developed more and better gadgets. Chester walked up to the centre of the dome, that was where the person who Chester assumed was the steward was. He was standing there looking up at the working environment through his enormous spectacles. He had grey receiving hair. Chester walked up to him. The man suddenly turned home and smiled.

"Well well…well…Chester Bennington isn't it?" The man said (even though he knew it was) putting out his hand. Chester shook it.

"Yes". The man looked back at the people working.

"Impressed?" He asked. Chester nodded.

"Very, I'm surprised how well they've been trained up…you'd make a good manager" Chester said. The man couldn't do or say anything to what Chester had said so he just smiled.

"Indeed…well, your room is how you left it, I've tidied it up" The man said.

"Oh, thanks" Chester said and he looked up to a window that Was high up in the wall that went into the dome. It was Chester's room.

"Your Neil Diamond posters are still there" The man said.

Chester laughed, "oh, that's good to hear".

The man straightened his jacket.

"Well, I guess I'll leave it to you then" He said. He then walked towards the door and was picked up by the mini bus. Chester looked around again. He sat down in the comfortable padded chair that he had bought before he left. He couldn't think of anything to do, he had just been assigned back to the job but he didn't know what to do. He spun around slowly on his chair and then he got up and walked towards another elevator. This one led to his room. It was the second and only floor but it was still really high up. The elevator door opened at the room. It brought back memories. The walls were painted white and the glass window looked cleaner than it ever had looked. The blue carpet looked beautiful with the white walls. The $10000 sofa was still in the same place. Everything looked as though it had never been touched. It was hard to believe that someone had been sleeping in it for the past couple of months. There was a large plasma flat screen Television near the window. There was a large CD player on the beautiful wooden cabinet and there were large stereos placed around the room. Chester just sighed in happiness. Even though he had lost his best friend, it as great to be home. Chester walked into his small bedroom and kicked off his shoes. He then lay down on his bed and dozed off in a couple of minutes.