MHX Geneseo: Angel of Destruction Chapter 10

PG-13 Violent Images

After her confrontation with Randolph Rowland, Laura decided that she needed more evidence that Rowland Chemicals was behind the genetic manipulation of the kids that lived in the dead town of Geneseo, Nebraska. She zipped over to the Illinois MHX facility to investigate.

The MHX or Meta Human Experiment project was originated in Illinois some fifty years ago. Successful testing hadn't begun until the late nineteen eighties. Laura arrived on the scene in moments, and to her good fortune, the MHX facility was still standing, albeit in a state of decline and disrepair. The buildings allegedly closed in late nineteen ninety-three.

Laura stopped briefly to read the warning sign placed at roughly eye level. It stated 'Warning: Government Facility, No Trespassing, Hazardous waste removal in progress.' The sign had nearly rusted through, and Laura deftly leapt over the ten-foot high lengths of barbed wire that topped the damaged old fence. She landed gracefully atop a muddy hill.

Laura warily approached the first of the rusting blue metal buildings, listening intensely for any sounds of life. Silence. The hazardous waste removal in progress was obviously a ruse to keep people from nosing around the supposedly dangerous facility.

Just in case there might be some surveillance cameras that were still operable, Laura quickly zipped into her Gold Wing outfit, and began to explore the outer perimeter. She conserved her hyper speed based on the possibility that she might need her energy level at full. If she ran into any resistance, say a rogue mutant or something, she'd better be at top Loracite capacity.

With the right mix of stealth and speed, Gold Wing ought to be able to thoroughly investigate the facility. She doubted if any evidence linking Rowland Chemicals to MHX would be left, but one had to try every angle. At least that's what any good detective worth her salt should do.

Laura entered building after building, and as she expected, no evidence was found. She was about to give up when a small metal box caught her attention. It lay in a corner of a partially dug out room near the waste recycling bins. The metal box was about a foot long and leaned against a garbage pail. Laura picked up the box, which had a foul smell surrounding it.

She warily opened the box and was horrified. The container held a small skeleton, amazingly intact. Laura could barely keep from hurling. It was obviously the skeleton of a baby. Gold Wing was nearly in tears before the rage began to take over. She closed the metal makeshift coffin, and stuck it in a garbage bag that she'd found earlier. There was her evidence.

Gold Wing located a rusted metal door that was slightly unhinged. It revealed a type of storage room. Laura descended the few stairs into the darkened, below ground area. The whole section smelled bad. Laura feared the worst. She lit a newspaper that lay near the room with her matches.

The newspaper burned too quickly, but soon Laura's fears were realized. Eighteen such metal boxes of varying length and size were scattered about the storage room. The rage began to build, but she wondered how the slick and powerful Rowland Chemicals could have been so sloppy as to leave the destroyed fetuses and children out in the open where anyone could find them.

Laura grabbed the first skeleton and zipped back to Falcon Claw. The problem with her evidence was that Rowland Chemicals could claim that they knew nothing about the failed fetuses, and they could have been left on that property by anyone. DNA testing could help, she surmised, but what if the skeletons had been completely created from scratch?

If Rowland Chemicals was toying with genetic manipulations, the DNA could've come from anywhere or anyone, she considered, which enraged her all the more. Her first instinct was to simply call the police, but that would let Rowland Chemicals off the hook for the evil they'd done. No, Laura thought. Rowland and his cronies will have to pay.

Additionally, she'd been trespassing and had no legal basis for being on the restricted property. That, again, would let Rowland off the hook should any claims make it to court. There was always the anonymous call in to the local police, yet could they come up with a warrant to search the facility, and what of the 'government facility, hazardous waste' warning?

How far up the chain did this conspiracy go? Laura wondered silently. Feeling like she was boxing herself into a corner, she decided that the Gold Wing would strike back. Laura was in over her head, and she knew it. All of this power, and I've never felt so helpless, she thought sourly.

Laura sighed, and ingested a huge shake filled with refined Loracite that Tim had created for her. The taste wasn't bad considering that Tim was no cook, she mused. Laura waited for the inevitable power surge, that amped up her abilities, to hit her tortured mind.

Laura's eyes went violet as the energy surge hit maximum. "That was quite a rush." She muttered, as she sat on the porch of her Aunt Wanda's farmhouse. The boxed fetal skeleton lay on the floor of the barn. Laura had left it there over an hour ago, as she tried to gather up the courage for what she knew that she needed to do.

Laura called Tim at home on his cell phone, and sped over to his house. "Tim, I'm going to burn it down…burn it all down." Laura menaced, her tone was a mixture of anger and disgust. "Burn what down?" Tim shuddered. He'd never heard his best friend since high school sound so out of it, so filled with despair.

"Burn down Rowland Chemicals…all of it." Laura's eyes had glazed over. Tim backed away from Laura a bit. "Laurie…your eyes…they glow." He mentioned worriedly. Laura glanced in the Servo family car's mirror. "So they do." She sounded to Tim like she didn't care.

"Are we talking major arson here?" Tim inquired shakily. Laura went into the horrific story about the destroyed fetuses. Tim was disgusted as well, yet he couldn't believe that the usually levelheaded Laura would contemplate such massive destruction, all of it would be illegal.

"Laurie, I know that you're pissed, but what if you accidentally hurt or kill someone?" Tim was always the voice of logic and reason. "I'll be careful." She replied, but Tim remained unconvinced. "Rowland will have to pay for this."

"What if you get caught?" Tim asked, though he already knew the answer. "Tim, no human on Earth can catch me, seriously, outside of maybe Clark and Bart Allen." She added smugly. "Yeah, but is it right?" Tim continued to try and reason with the Meta human teen.

"What is right and what's wrong?" Laura argued in vain. "It's not right that Rowland and his cronies could get away, literally, with murder. Justice must be served." These statements sent chills down Tim's spine. "You're placing yourself as judge, and jury." He countered. "What's next, executioner?"

"Don't be melodramatic!" Laura snapped. "I'm right, and I want to know if you're going to help me?" She was putting Tim in a tight spot. He gulped, wrestling with all of the ramifications of how to answer Laura's question. "You're just going to do it anyway, aren't you?" He hedged.

"Tim, it's simple. Either you're in or you're out." Laura retorted stubbornly. "It is not that simple." Tim argued strongly. "We're crossing a line here." Laura was growing more impatient. Tim wondered if she'd overdosed on the Loracite drink. He'd never seen her this fired up.

"All I need you to do is hack into Rowland Chemical's mainframe database." Laura explained. "I'll do the rest." Tim sighed. "You're sure that no one will be hurt or killed?" He waffled. "I promise not to kill anyone." She vowed as Tim noted the omission of anyone being was angry that Laura was being unreasonable.

Tim swallowed hard. "Fine! What do you need? If I don't help you, you'll screw it up and get caught." Laura breathed a sigh of relief. "All I want is the locations of every Rowland Chemical factory, office building, laboratory, and research facility."

"Anything else? Like Rowland's mother's maiden name, or social security number?" Tim asked in an unusually sarcastic tone. "No Tim, just the businesses and hopefully the posted employee work schedules. I want as few people around as possible." Laura added arrogantly.

"I don't get it Laurie, why destroy random buildings? Don't you want some potential evidence to link Rowland and his minions to the crimes?" Tim inquired logically. "Yes, that would be nice, but I also want Rowland to pay financially for his evil indiscretions." She replied.

Tim gulped. "I have another plan." Laura's violet blue eyes had widened. "Such as?" Tim sighed. "I can have my friend at STARLABS run the DNA from the corpses…all of them." Laura knew what that meant. She would have to bring all of the skeletons to her Aunt's barn.

"Tim, that's even more risky than my destruction plan." Laura gasped. "What if someone finds the corpses on my Aunt's property and accuses her of being a serial killer?"

more