The Tunnel Rat Syndrome P.2
Under orders, though it was more of an request, but with Chuckles, request or not, it was best not to turn down anything the man said - he was the kind of man you did not want to make an enemy of - Tunnel Rat left the cafeteria and followed Chuckles down a corridor and to an elevator. Chuckles pressed the elevator button. The electronic, numerical floor indicator began to count down as the elevator made itself down to them, on the main floor of G.I.Joe HQ.
Chuckles, though his codename was an oxymoron, due to the fact that he hardly smiled, and was more serious than any Joe Tunnel Rat had ever worked with, was a muscular man and liked to work out in the gym. He wasn't a heavy man, but he was in tremendous shape. He liked to visit the gym three times more than Tunnel Rat did, and yet, despite Tunnel Rat's diminutive stature, they were roughly the same body type.
When the elevator arrived, the doors opened and they got in, and made their way to the top floor of the building. Neither one of them said a word to each other. Chuckles then lead Tunnel Rat down a carpeted hallway to General Hawk's office. On the door was a metal plaque with the name General Abernathy, though everyone called him Hawk, his self-appointed codename, from time past, when he lead the G.I.Joe team, when it only had six members. Chuckles knocked on the General's door.
"Come in," General Hawk said.
Chuckles opened the door, and said, "Tunnel Rat here to see you, General, as requested."
"Thank you, Chuckles," the General said, and Chuckles said, "Anytime, General," in a informal manner, and then left, after Tunnel Rat had entered the office, closing the door behind him.
Tunnel Rat stood next to the door. Hawk was beyond legendary with enough metals to fill the entire room. But unlike other Generals Tunnel Rat knew, Hawk was a modest man and didn't like to flaunt his prowess. Instead of military citations, he'd rather display his bowling trophies, and saw one on a file cabinet adjacent to his desk.
General Hawk hadn't said a word to him since he entered his office which made Tunnel Rat nervous, not even raising his head as he filled out some paper work. He had probably heard about the incident with Falcon on the basketball court and asked Chuckles to bring him here to discuss it.
Eventually the General acknowledged him, looked up, gave him a thin smile, and said, "Sorry, TR, I was finishing off some paper work." He extended a hand, hinting to a chair in front of his desk. "Please, sit down."
Tunnel Rat swallowed nervously, sat down in a dark brown leather chair - Tunnel Rat noticed it was very comfortable - and said, "Sir, I can explain everything," he said.
"Explain what?"
"The fight between me and Falcon on the basketball court."
"And what fight is this then?"
"You mean you didn't send Chuckles to bring me up here to talk to you about it?"
General Hawk rested his chin on folded hands, his elbows on his desk, and looked at him, as if suddenly interested. Tunnel Rat quickly realized that he shouldn't have said anything. "Tell me about it." And Tunnel Rat explained. The General nodded in an understanding manner. "What differences you and Falcon have on the court is between you two, but I suggest you straight it out."
"Yes, General Hawk," Tunnel Rat said.
"But that's not what I called you here for," he said. "I called you here because I want you to escort a member of the Department of Home Land Security around the base, Mr. Wallace Dent. He here's by order of the President to inspect our facilities for security leaks. Though I think his presence here is pretentious, I have to comply with the order."
"Security leak, sir? But G.I.Joe headquarters is the most secured facility on the planet."
"I know, but the President ordered it, so I have to comply."
"With all due respect, General, I'm not a tour guide."
"I know that, but since you know the base in and out better than anyone, I recommend you for the job."
"Wonderful, sir," he said, obviously not pleased, and Hawk smirked. "When does this guy get 'ere?" Tunnel Rat then asked.
"He's waiting for you in the lounge down the hall," Hawk said.
Tunnel Rat stood on his feet. "I'm not a tour guide, sir, but I'll do my best."
"I know you will, dismissed," Hawk said. Tunnel Rat turned to leave, but then Hawk said, "By the way, I just finished reading your report on your recon into Cobra's South American headquarters. Good work. With all the Intel gathered I believe we can mount an attack on the base very soon."
"That's great sir, count me in!"
"And nice work with the BATS. Sand in their motor oil, nice touch."
Tunnel Rat smiled. "Thank you, sir."
Hawk picked up a Styrofoam cup that was sitting on his desk and opened the lid, it was filled with sand. "My little nephew brought me back a cup of sand from the Bahamas last week as a present, when he and my step-brother and his wife were on vacation. Sand is a very interesting substance. Not many people know it, but sand is the hardest carbon solid known to exist in its natural state. No other azoic can make such a claim."
"I didn't know that. I just thought sand was sand."
"Most people don't give it a second thought, but without it, our civilization wouldn't be the advanced technological society it is today," Hawk said. "Our whole world is dependant on this finely divided rock mineral."
Tunnel Rat nodded, knowing why. "Computer chips are made from tiny granites of sand," he said. "And we're a computer dependant society."
"Correct." Hawk then smiled thin and said, "Mr. Dent is waiting."
"Yes sir," Tunnel Rat said, and saluted. Then he left Hawk's office.
Tunnel Rat met the man from the Department of Home Land Security in the lounge. He was sitting patiently on one of the couches provided, dressed in a dark navy business suit, and as soon as Tunnel Rat arrived he got to his feet. He extended his hand towards Tunnel Rat and they shook hands. "I'm Wallace Dent from the Department of Home Land Security," the man said. "I'm here to investigate possible security leaks inside G.I.Joe headquarters. Hopefully, I won't find any."
"Hello sir, you can call me Tunnel Rat," he said.
Dent seemed amused by his code name. He said, "I know every member of G.I.Joe are assigned codenames, buy why is yours Tunnel Rat?"
"Because I can get into very small places and tunnel through like a rat," he said. "I really didn't have a choice in the matter, General Hawk assigns the codenames and that is what he gave me."
"Interesting," Dent said. "Are all codenames chosen on the bases of an individual's skill and abilities?"
"Not always. Some are secular in nature, which means they offer more of a spiritual connection, while others are more simple. Some are even paradoxal, which defy explanation. But only General Hawk knows the reason why he chose each codename." Tunnel Rat said.
"Your accent tells me you're from New York, but you're not a native to this country," Dent said. "If I would have to guess, Eastern descent?"
"Brooklyn, actually. And I was born in Trinidad. I moved to America when I was six years old."
"Ah yes." He almost looked thrilled to learn that little interesting tidbit of information. "Forgive me, but I'm an inquisitive man. I like to know something about a person I'm dealing with. It helps me become more involved with whatever engagement I'm participating in. Shall we begin the tour?"
"Yes sir," Tunnel Rat said. He extended a hand outward, and said, "This way, sir."
It took three hours to fully show Dent everything. After the tour was finished, Tunnel Rat brought him back to the lounge. "So, that's it, sir," Tunnel Rat said. "The whole base in a nutshell."
"Very good. G.I.Joe headquarters is certainly a very secured facility. I noticed you didn't take me inside some of the more secured areas. Why didn't we visit them? I had full consent to see everything." Dent said.
"Sorry sir, but those areas are off-limits to anyone other than G.I.Joe personnel," Tunnel Rat said.
"I was ordered by the President of the United States to conduct a thorough investigation of your command centre and that means all areas. You wouldn't want to disobey a direct order from your commander-in-chief, would you?"
"You'll hafta take it up with General Hawk, sir. I'm under orders not to reveal what's in those sensitive areas. I was told to give you a tour of our base determining its security status. I believe I've done that."
"You're being awfully evasive," he said.
"I'm not trying to be, sir, I'm only following orders from my superior officer, General Hawk. Now, if you're satisfied with our security, I'll take you to General Hawk so you can file your report."
"I'm not going to file a report."
Tunnel Rat eyed him confused. "Excuse me, sir?" he said.
"With the intelligence I've gathered, Cobra will have no problem attacking G.I.Joe headquarters!"
Tunnel Rat gasped with shock and awe, and suddenly, Dent grabbed his throat and started to squeeze. Dent then lifted him to his eye level, which for Tunnel Rat meant lifting him a foot and a half off the ground.
Tunnel Rat grabbed Dent's arm and struggled to free himself from his steel-like grip, but to no avail. He then reached for the man's face and scratched his cheek, but where there should have been blood from the claw marks, silver ooze came out. "You're not human!" he said.
It was then that Tunnel Rat heard a familiar voice coming from a two-way voice box inside whatever Wallace Dent was. "Greetings, Tunnel Rat, I trust you know who this is. It's Overkill, and I'm here to deliver a little message." Tunnel Rat beat on Dent's arm with a fist, but with every hit he hurt his hand. It was like the man's bone's were made of steel. "I owe you a very unpleasant death for what you did to my BATS."
Tunnel Rat snorted, and started to laugh.
"Why are you laughing?" Overkill demanded an answer.
When he didn't get a fast enough answer, Dent tighten his grip.
Tunnel Rat used both hands to try to loose Dent's grip, but with no success. "You won't be in a humorous mood after I get through with you," Overkill said. "Allow me to introduce you to Odin, my newest BAT prototype. He's programmed with an adaptive personality and is the latest in A.I. technology, has a completely wet-wired brain, and is made of a liquid-metal."
"Rip-off," Tunnel Rat managed to breath out.
There a slight pause. "True. I may have borrowed the idea from a movie, but the principle is sound. And Odin can harmonize into anything he chooses. I replaced the real representative from the Department of Home Land Security just before he arrived at G.I.Joe headquarters with Odin. He now knows everything there is to know about your command centre. With that knowledge, Cobra will have a strategic advantage. He's been transmitting the data the entire time on the tour." Overkill chuckled. "The tour was generally boring, but it was informative, despite you avoided the vital areas I wanted to see. Looks like your base security isn't as secure as you thought if Odin was able to infiltrate your headquarters with this much ease. I wasn't planning to launch Odin to strike against G.I.Joe this early, but since he's here, why not put him to the ultimate test. After he kills you, I'll have him destroy your headquarters."
"You forgot one thing, Killjoy," Tunnel Rat said in a scratchy voice, both hands gripped around Odin's arm.
"The name is Overkill, not Killjoy. And what is that?"
"You're little toy hasn't killed me yet," Tunnel Rat said, and wrapped his legs around Odin's arm and twisted his body left. The shift in weight forced Odin off-kilter and it loosen his grip enough that Tunnel Rat was able to break free. He rubbed his throat and backed off, but Odin advanced on him, his hands out-stretched, as if he was the Frankenstein Monster.
"You're only delaying the enviable, Tunnel Rat," Overkill said.
Tunnel Rat pulled out his laser gun from a side holster and fired upon Odin, but his body absorbed the laser blasts, ingesting them like food.
He was stunned by Odin's ability, but continued to fire, but with the same effect. His entire body turned into a solid silver liquid as he continued to absorb the laser blasts. Finally, Tunnel Rat stopped, and Odin returned to normal.
He thought quickly and devised a plan. He ran at Odin and suddenly slid between his legs and did a leg sweep, knocking Odin down. But it had no effect. Odin got right back up without fail.
Tunnel Rat backed off from him and ran down the hall to General Hawk's office. He knocked first, but when there was no answer, he let himself in. He locked the door behind him. But Odin punched through the wall with a fist, looked inside.
Tunnel Rat gripped his laser and fired at Odin, but it didn't stop him.
It was then that Odin did something both totally freakish but cool at the same time, he altered his body and like a snake would fall out of a drain pipe, he turned into liquid metal and dropped to the floor in General Hawk's office. Odin then reformed back to normal.
"Hasn't your little toy ever heard of using a door?" Tunnel Rat said dryly, escaping behind General Hawk's desk. Odin went after him and smashed the desk in half with a single hand, breaking it in two.
Tunnel Rat grabbed Hawk's bowling trophy off the file cabinet and swung it through the air like a weapon striking Odin in the head, but his liquid metal form stopped it half way through his skull, and then absorbed it into his body. Hawk wasn't going to like that.
"Impressive, isn't he?" Overkill said. "Soon all my BATS will be equipped with his abilities and Cobra will have a whole army of them! They will be unstoppable!" Overkill laughed sinisterly.
"Not if I can help it!" Tunnel Rat vowed, and let out another barrage of laser fire upon Odin, blasting his body with holes. And he continued to fire until the laser clip went dry. Odin looked like Swiss cheese in the aftermath, then started to reform.
Out of the corner of his eye, Tunnel Rat saw the cup of sand that Hawk had on his desk now laying on the floor in front of him, and he smirked, suddenly devising a possible way to defeat Odin. He grabbed it and threw it at Odin as he was trying to reform, splashing him all over. The liquid metal BAT tried to absorb it, but had difficult.
Odin started to jerk frantically, and his liquid transformation ability stalled. Odin then collapsed to the floor like a broken toy.
"Wh-what happened!" Overkill said, in a state of shock. "Odin! Odin!"
Tunnel Rat stood over the broken BAT, its horrified, disproportionate body a sickening sight. "Sorry Overkill, looks like you need to go back to the drawing board," he said. "Your little toy had one major flaw in its matrix. Like diamonds, sand is one of the hardest substances known to man, and whenever mixed with a liquid element, it can't be absorbed. Therefore, it broke down, like a car with sand in its gas tank."
Overkill growled infuriated, and Tunnel Rat chuckled, and smashed Odin's head with his foot, disconnecting the communication.
Suddenly General Hawk opened the door to his office and stood momentarily awestruck by what he saw in his office laying on the floor. He looked to Tunnel Rat for an explanation. "A little present from Overkill, General," Tunnel Rat said. General Hawk looked at him confused, and Tunnel Rat explained.
"A new weapon, huh?" General Hawk said. "A new type of Battle Android Trooper."
Tunnel Rat nodded, and said, "But I doubt very highly Overkill will attempt to rebuild it."
"And why do you say that?"
"Because even a child can stop it now."
And he explained.
Sand.
--
Later that week, Tunnel Rat joined some of his fellow Joes out on the basketball court, and Falcon was there.
"And what do you want, TR?" Falcon said rudely, holding the ball, stopping a game already in progress.
"To apologize," he said. "I was a jerk our last game."
Falcon looked taken back by his sudden admission. "Well, yeah, you were, but so was I," he said admittedly. "I shouldn't have pulled rank on you and ejected you from the game. Wanna play?"
"You bet," Tunnel Rat said, and joined Falcon's team.
And he still scored more baskets than anyone on the team.
--
A Cobra trooper walked down an empty, metallic corridor, and knocked on a laboratory door. The door opened and Overkill stood on the other end.
"This package came from you this morning, sir," the Cobra Trooper said.
Overkill snatched it from the Cobra Trooper and then stormed back into his laboratory, closing the door.
He slammed it onto a metal table and went back to a set of schematics he had displayed on a large monitor on the wall over a computer console.
"Why did I overlook such a rudimentary flaw in Odin's design," he said. "How could I be so stupid? Odin was my greatest creation, but now he's useless, the whole design is futile!"
He growled and slammed his hands into the computer console, breaking it. His human emotions getting the better of his mechanical body. The schematics zipped off the screen as it went blank.
He went back to the metal table and picked up the package marked URGENT. "It must be components I ordered to outfit my BATS," he said, and ripped it open.
But when he opened the package, all there was was sand, and a small card that said: "Hugs & Kisses -- TR."
And Overkill shouted with fury.
END