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Vanishing Into Thin Air
A special project from Manticore...
DISCLAIMERS: The only characters I own are the ones not recognizable from the show. All others belong to James Cameron & Co., et cetera, et cetera.... please don't sue me.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please review and I will continue the story. Hope ya like it!
***
LYRA: So today began like any other day--me showing up at the store, Abe lookin' like his usual rumpled, grey self at seven in the morning. I checked the antiques to make sure nothing was missing. I stopped at a floor length mirror, the one with the cheap gilt frame. It reflected the same Lyra as ever: deep blue eyes, slightly tan skin, blond hair worn long to hide the bar code on the back of my neck. As I stood there, I heard the door open, and I went to my post at the front of the store.
My job is to stand on the steps before the door, just inside the shop, and watch the customers as they come in. I watch them walk through the store, seeing if they try to nick anything. If they do--well, they end up wishin' they hadn't. I help Abe out too, carrying stuff and even workin' the register sometimes. It's amazing that he trusts me. I could steal him blind if I wanted to, but I figure this way I won't get killed by some gangster who don't want to pay up.
Yeah, it was just another day.... until the guy with the glasses walked in.
LYDECKER: The basis for Project Phoenix dated from WWII, in 1943. During that year, the Navy used magnetic generators to render an entire ship and its crew invisible. The experiments did not work as planned, however, and all reports concerning the incidents were classified or disappeared soon afterward. The experiments were forgotten by all but a few conspiracy-theorists until Project Phoenix was created.
In 2010, after the Pulse had allowed previously unattainable equipment to be used by Manticore, the Z-3s were subjected to the first experiment of Project Phoenix. Each of the Z-3s was strapped between two electromagnetic generators. When activated, the generators produced a magnetic field that made any object--including a human--disappear. Most of the Z-3s only stayed invisible for as long as the generators were activated. But one of them, Z-3488, never reappeared.
In the alley, Logan Cale looked skeptically at the rust-colored door in front of him. He had been told that Abe's Antiques bought pre-Pulse furniture and artwork at fairly good prices, but it wasn't in the most respectable part of town. Logan shifted his bundle from one arm to the other. He was still hesitant about selling off his more expensive possessions, though it had been three months since the money from his uncle's company had stopped coming in. Logan straightened his shoulders, telling himself that it had been the duty of Eyes Only to report on the company's corrupt practices. Then he reached out and opened the door of the antique shop.
LYRA: The guy looked pretty average at first--there are plenty of youngish men in Seattle that wear glasses and look like they haven't shaved in a while. But then I got a good look at him as he walked down to the counter. His clothes were spotless and expensive. I could tell he was rich--or used to be rich--but he seemed nervous, almost embarrassed The guy walked strange, like he had robotic legs or something, and he carried a package that could only be a framed picture He started talking to Abe. I didn't hear what he said because right at that moment, two kids a few years older 'n me walked into the store.
Logan looked around the dim shop. It looked reputable enough, if cheap. He glanced to his left and saw a blond girl in a black leather jacket staring at him. Sizing him up, he thought, moving carefully down the steps just inside the door. His robotic exoskeleton wasn't always good on stairs. At the store's counter, Logan greeted the owner.
"I hear you buy antique artwork, sir?" Logan asked mildly.
"Call me Abe. Yeah, I buy antique art if it's in good shape," the man said in a raspy voice.
Logan pulled the brown paper off the rectangular package. "It's not really antique, but it's from before the Pulse."
"A Sangastia painting! These are quite rare....." Abe murmured, bending to inspect the artwork. Logan looked over at the door, where two scruffy teenagers had appeared. They didn't look like antique-shoppers. The blond girl watched suspiciously as the pair walked between the rows of furniture. Logan turned back to Abe, who still perused the painting.
***
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, how d'ya like it? More coming soon to a computer near you...