The MIB jet landed in a clearing near a shanty town in upstate Montana. K had always liked to think he was prepared for anything; he was the tough, unshakeable man who never let anything take him by surprise. But what he saw when he got off the MIB transport stunned him like nothing ever had before. Not even when he had seen his first aliens, lost on a country road on his way to see his girlfriend. As soon as the door opened on the jet, his breath was taken away. The town was gone. The buildings were still there, but not as they should have been. This was supposed to be a shanty town, but K was greeted with a hub of activity. One of the ships that had been launched was at the center of all the buildings. It was connected to the buildings with a network of passageways. The buildings had been totally re-constructed. They no longer looked like shacks. Now they were structurally sound pieces of architecture. K suspected they would be able to withstand earthquakes, tornadoes, anything. Somebody had made major changes.
J was next off the transport. "Damn!" was all he could say.
"My sentiments exactly, kid." K said.
"What could do this in such a short ammount of time?" J asked, more to himself than anyone else."
"No species we've ever seen, I can tell you that."
"What would drive a species to do this, anyway? They've violated every major treaty in the galaxy. They've gotta know they'll be held accountable for this."
"Could be a political feud, trying to stir up tensions between the Earth and other planets."
"You mean they're radicals among their own species?"
"Or terrorists. Can't rule anything out."
"Alright, how do we contain this?"
"Start by--"
Suddenly, the MIB team heard a scream from one of the shacks that hadn't been affected. "Help me! Help!"
J and three others ran to the little shack and looked inside. The man who had called for help lay on the floor, clearly in pain. J looked at him, and saw that the skin around his neck was badly discolored, almost grey.
"K!" J called. "Come look at this!" K ran over and looked at the man.
"Looks like we've got an infection on out hands." he said. "Take him back to MIB. They'll look after him there."
"Yes sir!" said one of the men as a gurney arrived. They loaded the man, who had fallen unconscious, onto it and took him back to the waiting jet.
"What about covering this up?" J asked. "You really wanna bring him to MIB headquarters?"
"We can't let him run around loose with an infection. It could spread across half the planet. And its going to take some serious effort to erase this from the history books." K said, looking at the transformed town.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Let's set up a search party, try to see who's responsible for this mess. Groups of two, half mile search radius from right here. J, you and I will check out the craft."
The teams dispersed, and J and K ran to get armaments from the jet before it took off. Armed with Series IV De-atomizers, they began to search for a hatch on the craft in the middle of the town. K was the first to find something resembling a door. There appeared to be no controls, so he and J cut it open with a energized blade. They were about to enter the craft, but K's communicator began to beep. He whipped it out.
"K here." He said.
"K, Zed. We're monitoring the craft. They just launched three more craft. One toward San Francisco, one toward Cleveland, and one was headed toward New Guinea. We're sending teams to investigate."
"Understood, Zed. Be advised, we may be dealing with an extra-terrestrial infection here."
"Roger. Zed out."
Again the two set about opening the craft, but they were again interrupted. This time a man ran out from the still-landed jet, clutching his neck. J could see two puncture holes, and the man's skin was changing colors like that of the civilian that had been loaded onto the jet.
"What happened?" K asked.
"The man that we rescued... he got up, and grabbed the doctor. Then he injected him with something... his skin started to change like this. Then the doctor grabbed me, and injected me the same way, with tubes coming out of his hand. They moved into the other parts of the jet... they're doing the same thing to the others... all of them..." the man knelt down on the ground and presssed his hands against his ears, as if trying to blot out a sound. "They're doing it to them... assimilating them... always assimilating... always assimilating all... there are so many voices... why won't they quit? Why won't they be quiet? Always the assimilation. Always assimilating, always!" The poor man was going insane before J and Ks' eyes. "Assimilate... Resistance is futile." The man got up and lunged at J, but K grabbed him and hit his head, hard, against the side of the ship. J heard the angent-turned-mad's skull crack, and he was dead.
"What'd you do that for?" J asked. "We could have helped him!"
"He was gone." K said. "Something changed him. He wasn't an agent anymore."
"Then what was he?"
"Something far more dangerous."
J was next off the transport. "Damn!" was all he could say.
"My sentiments exactly, kid." K said.
"What could do this in such a short ammount of time?" J asked, more to himself than anyone else."
"No species we've ever seen, I can tell you that."
"What would drive a species to do this, anyway? They've violated every major treaty in the galaxy. They've gotta know they'll be held accountable for this."
"Could be a political feud, trying to stir up tensions between the Earth and other planets."
"You mean they're radicals among their own species?"
"Or terrorists. Can't rule anything out."
"Alright, how do we contain this?"
"Start by--"
Suddenly, the MIB team heard a scream from one of the shacks that hadn't been affected. "Help me! Help!"
J and three others ran to the little shack and looked inside. The man who had called for help lay on the floor, clearly in pain. J looked at him, and saw that the skin around his neck was badly discolored, almost grey.
"K!" J called. "Come look at this!" K ran over and looked at the man.
"Looks like we've got an infection on out hands." he said. "Take him back to MIB. They'll look after him there."
"Yes sir!" said one of the men as a gurney arrived. They loaded the man, who had fallen unconscious, onto it and took him back to the waiting jet.
"What about covering this up?" J asked. "You really wanna bring him to MIB headquarters?"
"We can't let him run around loose with an infection. It could spread across half the planet. And its going to take some serious effort to erase this from the history books." K said, looking at the transformed town.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Let's set up a search party, try to see who's responsible for this mess. Groups of two, half mile search radius from right here. J, you and I will check out the craft."
The teams dispersed, and J and K ran to get armaments from the jet before it took off. Armed with Series IV De-atomizers, they began to search for a hatch on the craft in the middle of the town. K was the first to find something resembling a door. There appeared to be no controls, so he and J cut it open with a energized blade. They were about to enter the craft, but K's communicator began to beep. He whipped it out.
"K here." He said.
"K, Zed. We're monitoring the craft. They just launched three more craft. One toward San Francisco, one toward Cleveland, and one was headed toward New Guinea. We're sending teams to investigate."
"Understood, Zed. Be advised, we may be dealing with an extra-terrestrial infection here."
"Roger. Zed out."
Again the two set about opening the craft, but they were again interrupted. This time a man ran out from the still-landed jet, clutching his neck. J could see two puncture holes, and the man's skin was changing colors like that of the civilian that had been loaded onto the jet.
"What happened?" K asked.
"The man that we rescued... he got up, and grabbed the doctor. Then he injected him with something... his skin started to change like this. Then the doctor grabbed me, and injected me the same way, with tubes coming out of his hand. They moved into the other parts of the jet... they're doing the same thing to the others... all of them..." the man knelt down on the ground and presssed his hands against his ears, as if trying to blot out a sound. "They're doing it to them... assimilating them... always assimilating... always assimilating all... there are so many voices... why won't they quit? Why won't they be quiet? Always the assimilation. Always assimilating, always!" The poor man was going insane before J and Ks' eyes. "Assimilate... Resistance is futile." The man got up and lunged at J, but K grabbed him and hit his head, hard, against the side of the ship. J heard the angent-turned-mad's skull crack, and he was dead.
"What'd you do that for?" J asked. "We could have helped him!"
"He was gone." K said. "Something changed him. He wasn't an agent anymore."
"Then what was he?"
"Something far more dangerous."