Mr Thorne had seemed to so enjoy capturing Brennan Mulwray, and to his sadistic delight, another opportunity fell into his lap - or should I say his fists - when the elemental attempted to escape his detainment at Genomex. I had watched on the CCTV as Mr Mulwray evaded and incapacitated a procession of evidently incompetent security staff, but then he ran straight into Mr Thorne.
The two men matched each other in both aggression and sheer stupidity. Not content with simply knocking Mr Mulwray to the ground, Mr Thorne had three of my staff drag him to his feet and hold him while Mr Thorne hit him like the overgrown school bully he was. I decided to intervene. "That's enough, Mr Thorne. I'd prefer him in one piece," I commanded. Mr Thorne obeyed, and had his recruited team of cronies drag Mr Mulwray away. There had been doubts in my mind about Mr Thorne for some time now, but he was still useful, for now.
When Mr Thorne stepped into my office, he was looking altogether too pleased with himself. It was time to knock him down a peg or two. "You let Miss deLauro get away," I said to him.
"Yes. That's primarily due to Mr Mulwray's interference. However, now we can use Mulwray to entrap her."
"You always find the positive in the negative, Mr Thorne," I said, allowing him a slight smile that he would probably incorrectly interpret as approval. "It is your responsibility to make something of Mr Mulwray. Rather than expending all of our resources in searching for all these lost souls, let's find one to bring the others to us."
I expected this arrangement to ultimately fail. A thug leading another thug was rarely a good idea. But it was a strategy that had worked before in the short term.
When Mr Thorne and I entered the holding room, Brennan was straining at the restraints that held him to the chair, but his struggles were futile.
I composed myself before striding towards the captive Mr Mulwray, speaking as I approached him from behind. It was a psychological trick that instantly unnerved most people. "We've been waiting to meet you for a long time, Mr Mulwray," I said.
"Is that right?" Mr Mulwray said with irritating cockiness.
"You and Miss deLauro are high on my shopping list of anomalies," I said, walking around to face him.
"You know, it feels so good to be so wanted," Mr Mulwray quipped.
Unbidden, Mr Thorne cracked him on the back of the head. Of course Mr Thorne wouldn't miss out on a chance to display both violence and obsequiousness.
"Mr Eckhart does not have time for sarcasm," he remarked. Incorrectly. I have all the time in the world for sarcasm.
Mr Thorne picked up a subdermal governor gun, and approached Mr Mulwray with it as two of my men held his head forward. "Uh, this is going to hurt," Mr Thorne said, before inserting the device onto the back of his neck.
"Now, we've just implanted you with a device called a sub dermal governor. Something my people created especially for people like you," I said, walking to stand in front of a screen showing, admittedly, mostly unrelated images. But it impressed the scientifically illiterate masses. "It connects us directly to your DNA so that whenever you use your abilities without our approval, the pain is debilitating."
"Bring it on," Mr Mulwray said, putting on a good show of being unfazed.
"Well, all right then Mr Mulwray, let's see what you're made of. Release him."
Mr Thorne released the restraints, and the two men once again squared up to each other. "Well, give us your best shot," Mr Thorne said, and I could sense his irritation that the elemental new mutant was not immediately making a move to attack.
I watched closely as Mr Mulwray moved his hands together to form a faltering ball of electricity between them. He looked very pleased with himself, until the moment he was doubled up in agony.
"Well I gather we all have a better idea of just how much you can take, don't you think?" I said. I stepped closer to him. "This is your chance to redeem a misspent life, an opportunity to protect the world from genetic terrorism as an operative of the Genetic Security Agency. Mr Thorne will give you the details."
I left them to deal with it between themselves, and it was no surprise whatsoever that I saw through the window that Mr Thorne had already begun to demonstrate to Mr Mulwray the other features of the subdermal governor. I couldn't help but smirk.
"Mr Eckhart, this is the man you requested for your interview," Mr Thorne said, leading Ruby Bishop into my office. The man was unlikely to be a physical threat, but we had learnt the lesson not to underestimate psionics many times over.
"My name is Mason Eckhart," I said, watching the man squirm. "Ah, you've heard of me. I gather you're a telepath. Please, Mr Bishop, we have no secrets here."
"Answer the question!" Mr Thorne barked behind him.
"I'm an esper," Mr Bishop said, a touch of defiance in his shaking voice.
"Fine," I said, gesturing for him to come closer. Mr Thorne assisted Mr Bishop in this. I took off my glasses and leaned closer to him. The man was visibly uncomfortable now. "Now tell me what you see, when you read my mind. Unless you'd like me to have Mr Thorne convince you."
It was not difficult for me to conjure disturbing and traumatic events to mind, given that my work provides an almost limitless supply of nightmare fuel. "Now that you know that everything you've heard about me is true, I want you to help me to bring the rest of your friends to justice."
Mr Bishop was clearly shaken by what I allowed him to see with his powers. But nonetheless, he nodded.
Mr Thorne was able to gather intel about a second Mutant X safe-house from Mr Bishop, and he took his new protege Mr Mulwray along to round up the new mutants there.
"Nicely done, Mr Thorne," I said as the two of them returned to my office to deliver their report. "I understand there were problems."
Mr Thorne looked grave. By now, he knew what the consequences would be when he did not live up to my expectations. "Mr Mulwray took aim at one of Adam's men, the man went intangible and Mr Mulwray shot through him, which in turn allowed the man to escape," he said.
I nodded. I was disappointed, but not surprised, that I needed to use the two subdermal governor remotes I had readied. The two men clutched at their heads and fell to their knees as I held down the buttons.
"Bring me the deLauro girl. And no excuses," I said, leaving the two GS Agents weighing up their options, as I got up to address the new mutants who they had actually managed to bring in.
I went outside to a balcony which overlooked the holding area where the new mutants had been placed. I didn't want to actually take the risk of getting near to so many of them. They were subdued by their subdermal governors, but that was not to say that they would not somehow join together to try to harm me. Doubtless at least some of them knew of my poor health. I had to project an image of power and control to make people fear me. And that fear went some way to protect me, but it did not change the fact that I was physically very vulnerable to things that would not even affect most people.
They had no choice but to look up at me as I addressed them. "Welcome, all of you children of Genomex have been away too long. My name is Mason Eckhart. It is time we got to know each other better."
They looked dubious, but I was sure that with the right encouragement, they would come around.
The threat of further pain clearly encouraged Mr Thorne to actually succeed in capturing the telempath this time. She had been deposited in the holding area with the other new mutants. I could see her glowering at me as I approached the cage. "Lovely to finally meet you face to face, Miss deLauro," I said.
"You're Eckhart?" was all she said.
"Mr Eckhart," I corrected. "You'll learn soon enough how to best deal with authority. You'll be given the opportunity to put your abilities to use rescuing others like yourself."
"You call dragging us here rescue?" Miss deLauro said, stepping towards me.
"I call it protective custody. Who it's intended to protect is open to interpretation," I said, my penchant for honesty slipping through. I moved swiftly on before she could object further. "As for you, Mr Mulwray, I have to say I am terribly disappointed by Mr Thorne's report on your behaviour."
"Mm, I've been hearing that since the third grade," Mr Mulwray quipped.
"It's really too bad. You could have been of enormous service to the cause. But instead, you'll be put into stasis for future examination."
"Shalimar?" Adam said as he heard footsteps. I was waiting for him.
"Guess again, Adam. You never did know when to stop, did you?"
Adam whirled around. "We're both guilty of relentless tenacity, Mason. That's something we've always had in common."
I glowered at him. I always hated when he tried to draw similarities between us. Like he was trying to convince me that I was just like him, and so also responsible for all that had happened here at Genomex. "True," I said. "But while you chase your horrific dreams of rescuing these laboratory mistakes, my passion is in the service of humanity."
"A grim and limited vision of humanity, defined by your narrow mind and your pathetic perspective," Adam said, as he approached me.
"You and your freaks are a threat to everything that I hold dear," I said, turning away from him. Which isn't much any more, Adam.
"Your so-called freaks are a product of Genomex's recklessness," Adam said.
"What, am I supposed to be wracked by guilt?" I said, rising to his bait despite myself. The implication that I was somehow responsible for or even involved in his and Dr Breedlove's unethical experiments was ludicrous.
"No, I never expect guilt from you, Mason. It's too much to ask of a sociopath."
I turned away and leaned over the balcony. "Now that's what I've always admired about you, Adam, your utterly perverse sense of reality." It was as if Adam believed that he could exonerate himself by blaming me for everything that he was and everything that he had done. Arguing with him was infuriating. I hated that he could arouse my anger in mere moments. I hated that he had so much power over me. But how could I not hate the man who was the source of all of my troubles?
"If I knew it was this easy to get you here, I'd have invited you sooner," I said, struggling to hide the venom behind my words.
"I'll be back," Adam said, and it sounded more like a threat than a promise.
"Well that's wonderful. Then you can visit that cage of freaks I've got upstairs."
"Thanks to Mutant X they should all be on their way out by now. I've disengaged all of your governors, and our little talk has gone on just enough for the virus I uploaded into your database to do its work."
I smiled, and stepped towards a computer terminal to check. Everything appeared to be in order. "I expect better than a cheap bluff from you, Adam," I said. When I turned to look at him, he was gone. And when I turned back to the computer terminal, the virus had begun to take effect. I stared in disbelief. All of my hard work, all of the hard work I had charitably allowed Dr Breedlove to complete, destroyed.
I took backup with me to check the new mutant cage. The door was open and it was empty. Someone had scrawled "Mutant X Lives" on the ground. I sighed in frustration. I balled up this new anger and shoved it deep inside me with the rest. One day I would finally get to release it against Adam and his people.