CHAPTER 2: The Gorgon Awakens
Five years and two senate select committee hearings had finally brought the mess that was Project Athena to an end. From this point, it would be solely a military operation focused on eliminating the project's key loose ends.
The key subject S1L-002, the Extraterrestrial Vulnerability Experiment or "Eve" for short, had proven to be anything but vulnerable. Her physiology had proven adaptable to everything they'd thrown at it, even with Dr Baker's "Gently Gently" approach nothing had proven to be effective.
In fact, Eve had proven to be the living embodiment of the phrase "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger". In the end, all the vulnerability tests had achieved were to strengthen the Alien biology to new methods of attack. Tough critters.
Staring into his own dark reflection as it rippled across the surface of his coffee. Col. Carter Burgess couldn't help but think how royally screwed the world would be if these things ever showed up in force.
From the viewing platform, still enclosed behind one-way mirrored glass, he watched as the scientists below went about their business.
The area of the lab "Biohazard Lvl4" where once stood Eve's enclosure now played host to banks of servers and a tech support crew, all of whom were diligently working on the next phase of the operation. One which had taken a long time to get approved. The government could be slow to wake, but once it was up, it was a behemoth.
After Eve's escape and the debacle over the Mars Mission, the project had been sidelined. It had limped on with minimal funding as the white coats gleaned what new data and samples they could from the bodies of the once celebrated astronaut and his brood of eldritch horrors.
Eve's body, initially recovered from the Ross Estate, had shown signs of having given birth, efforts were made to locate her wayward offspring after the incident with the ambulance, but that creature had thus-far eluded capture.
After undergoing an autopsy, Eve's body had been ordered to be burned, but she surprised everyone, yet again, with her sudden revival. Her capacity to regenerate was no doubt made stronger by the experiments, not to mention the subsequent "Enhancement" she had undergone.
At the time, he had viewed this as a necessary step to help locate the wayward Captain Ross. It had ultimately proven to be a grave tactical error.
All data gathered post enhancement revealed that the treatment, intended to reawaken her dormant alien genes had triggered an ongoing mutation, improving Eve's immune response, her mental abilities and overall strength. Effectively turning her entire physiology into a self-evolving generator.
The goal of the experiment had been to find a way to dispatch the Alien threat, instead he had unwittingly given her a massive upgrade. A fact for which he had been severely admonished.
Only through his dedication to containing the ongoing situation, had he not been blackballed and forced out… though he sensed that option was still very much on the table for the higher-ups.
Since her escape, Eve had popped up on the grid twice, both times she had managed to cause fresh complications for the project and the administration. Once in the Midwest, where she'd narrowly avoided capture, but had been made the unintentional focus of an internet viral video. The second time was much worse.
A town in Mexico had become overrun with the creatures, once again, that Half-Alien bitch was at the center of it all. Some reports even claimed she had helped the remaining survivors, though Burgess doubted the validity of such accounts.
The remnants of an underground project had been uncovered, but all the files and research data had thus far eluded detection. Again, he had no doubt Eve had somehow become involved with the rogue geneticist Forbes McGuire and his illegal experiments.
He suspected Eve had been responsible for the destruction of the Lab and had taken the remaining research, no doubt looking to set up shop in some other backwater.
Then there was the matter of Dr. Baker. Two months after the incident in Mexico, Dr. Baker quit the project entirely and attempted to blow the whistle. She had handed over many of the project's most sensitive files to a journalist in the capitol.
However, while Dr. Laura Baker was a molecular biologist second to none, she was somewhat of an amateur when it came to matters of espionage.
Burgess had never seen eye to eye with Dr. Baker and while they frequently butted heads. He had noticed a marked change in her demeanour after the Mexico incident. So much so, he had her put under surveillance and her online activity had been monitored.
His men had been able to intercept the hand-off and recover the thumb drive, were it not for the intervention of Press Lennox and a former Mexican Police Lieutenant, they would have also been able to capture Dr. Baker and recover any other sensitive documents in her possession.
The brief gun battle near the center of the capitol had resulted in the death of a prominent journalist and made national headlines, but nobody had managed to link it back to the project directly. The usual loonies would likely debate the incident in online chatrooms for the next decade or longer.
In the end, the brass had decided to tie off Project Athena. Dr Baker, Press Lennox and their new friend had gone to ground rather effectively, no doubt through Lennox's network of Ex-Military contacts.
Lennox 's diplomatic security firm had, at this point, been discredited and dissolved, along with Dr Baker's credibility should she surface again trying to blow the whistle. Hence the tech team. The coming battle would be waged as much in cyberspace as in the real world "Welcome to the 21st century" he chuckled to himself.
What of Lennox's funds could be found had been frozen, however Press was always a wily one and had managed to move a lot of his capital offshore before the authorities could descend on his remaining assets.
Burgess would continue to oversee the hunt for the Dr. Whistleblower, her companions, and, of course Eve, who, since Mexico, had vanished off the grid without so much as a whisper. A fact which exasperated him and his superiors to no end.
In this day and age, how could someone with Eve's looks and limited knowledge of the outside world evade capture so effectively. Press had the excuse of being a skilled operator, but not the creature. Sure, they had the ability to learn extremely fast, but a fish out of water would do something strange sooner or later and someone would notice.
At one point, one of his superiors had brought up the idea of bringing Dan Smithson on board. A strange man, but the Empath had nevertheless been instrumental in tracking down Eve's predecessor. He had been ordered to approach the man, but the Empath had refused outright.
That option had been shelved for now, but there were other extrasensory individuals on the Government's list who may be approached as an option should it drag out any longer.
Sometimes he caught himself wondering if the traitors and the creature were all in it together somehow… but there was no evidence to support that assumption. For all Press's faults, he knew they did at least share the same opinions when it came to the subject of the Alien.
There was no way Press would trust the creature long term and their group would shatter. No, they were not working together.
Press Lennox, Laura Baker and L.T. Consuela Álverez were currently the subject of Red Notices. Eve was another matter entirely.
Eve's image, from photographs taken during the initial experiments, had been uploaded to facial recognition software. A junior officer had even floated the idea of circulating her image and calling her an escaped convict. Putting out a reward for information.
That strategy had been implemented over a month ago and Burgess knew it was only a matter of time before it bore fruit. It was this strategy which had taken the longest to gain approval for the myriad of risks that it posed.
It was a bold move and did indeed carry dangers. In that regard, the Brass were right to worry. However, given the fact that Eve had disappeared so effectively, it had become prudent in increasing the odds of generating a lead.
If nothing else, it may kick over the rock she had chosen to hide beneath.
If it caused an incident, they would have to cross that bridge when they came to it. The new operation would be all about quick response.
Project Athena had made one hell of a mess… and now Operation: Medusa would clean it up. They would apprehend the traitors and eliminate the stray creature.
The phone on his desk began to ring, snapping Burgess away from his thoughts. The voice on the other end was Lt. Graves, the same junior officer who had the bright idea of the Escaped Convict "Sir, we have a possible hit". Finally, Burgess thought.
Making his way down to the operations center, Burgess met his Junior officer by the large steel doors that had once been used to contain the lab.
"Talk to me" Burgess said firmly.
Graves began "We got a social media hit from a remote area up in the northwest territories, it's random, but someone spotted our "Evelyn Greene" in some middle of nowhere Gas Station buying supplies".
"How solid is it this time?" he asked. There had initially been a lot of interest in the mugshot of one "Evalyn Greene", mainly commenting on her good looks, but nothing in the way of a lead.
They couldn't put any real information out there regarding Eve, so the decision was made to call her "Evalyn Greene", a name plucked out of the hat. Her crime was first degree murder and robbery. Escapee from Terminal Bay penitentiary. All the corresponding legal documents had been drawn up to support the warrant.
"Looks pretty solid, Sir" said Graves as he ordered one of the techies "Pull it up on the main screen".
"We put in a request to the company that owns the station for a copy of their CCTV and facial recognition pinged a match".
As he spoke, a video began to play on the big screen. What was immediately apparent was the obvious major storm in that area. Torrential rain, and the trees looked ready to snap in the wind. A small unkempt forecourt of a middle-of-nowhere gas station. One thing that immediately frustrated Burgess was the time stamp on the video.
"This was over two weeks ago," said Burgess. Visibly annoyed.
"Sorry sir" said Graves. "This CCTV isn't networked and the clerk only responded on social media yesterday.
"Tighten this up Lieutenant, this is one target that cannot be allowed to get this far in front".
"Yes Sir" Graves returned. "We're expanding the scope of the Social media campaign while maintaining minimal details, as per your orders".
The next few seconds served to shed light on the possible reason behind why Eve had remained so elusive. A second camera view popped up, this one angled to the side of the station. It showed what looked to be dense woodland behind the building.
For a small, out of the way gas station, their cameras were remarkably high quality, no doubt the place had suffered more than its fair share of thefts due to its isolated location.
All of a sudden, a figure appeared from the forest. Her face was shrouded beneath a tattered grey hood. She wore a dark leather jacket that looked equally as worn. Her blue denims were soaked through and ended in large combat boots. A large, military style pack was slung over her shoulder.
"So, that's how she stayed off the radar" Burgess muttered while noting that the inclement weather did not appear to phase the woman in the slightest.
The Camera switched to the internal view. Which showed the woman moving around the space selecting various items. Energy bars, water, and other sundries before making her way to the checkout. She was drenched, dripping water everywhere but unphased.
She brought all her items to the counter, placed them, and idly leaned on the counter while she waited for the clerk to ring through her purchases.
Burgess watched the facial recognition software working as the woman briefly pulled back her hood while waiting at the counter. She ran a hand through her soaked hair before replacing the hood. He, on the other hand, didn't need the recognition software to know "Yeah, that's her alright".
Burgess had observed Eve in her containment at the Lab. She had always been possessed of a timid, unassuming, or even, dare he say it, tender disposition right up until the moment she bolted.
Looking at her now, he could see all that had changed. She looked…. tough. Eve had lost her former disarming innocence and now appeared hardened and resilient.
The audio was grainy but had no trouble picking up the brief conversation that followed.
The clerk looked barely out of his teens, no doubt working a dead end job and doesn't get a lot of passers through in this remote area.
The kid obviously couldn't help himself fumbling through small talk with the attractive blonde who just showed up, despite her condition.
He was no doubt also curious as to her being unbothered by the raging storm outside.
"Your car die or something?" he asked
"No, I'm just walking" she replied.
"What? In this?" Asked the kid, surprised. gesturing to the storm outside.
"Is what it is" She shrugged.
"Don't get too many people on foot though here. Where you headed?" he asked after a brief pause.
She shrugged again "No idea" she finally uttered.
So, her movements have been impossible to predict because she moves at random. Burgess also noted her short, but cordial responses, not making any effort to prolong the conversation.
The kid finished ringing through her items, clearly puzzled and intrigued by her. Eve pulled out a wad of crumpled notes and paid before stuffing her items, one by one, into her pack.
The kid piped up again, no doubt a final attempt to try his luck "You know I get off in an hour, it's a long way to the next town on foot, if you're going that way I can take you".
Oh kid, you really don't wanna be doing that Burgess thought.
Relief came however, with Eve's response.
"Thanks, but I'm good" she said with a kindly smirk. "You take care" Eve uttered as she pulled open the door and walked out into the storm.
Another exterior angle showed Eve make her way down the road roughly a hundred yards, before stepping back into the trees and disappearing.
Ok, Burgess thought, the age of the footage was an issue, but it was something to work with.
"Alright, this is good, we have a confirmed sighting. But we need to tighten up on social media, we can't wait this long for responses. We know now that she travels off the beaten track and keeps her contact with the public to the bare minimum. So, focus everything you have on that region and get some QRF assets in place. She's on foot, so look at every small town, gas station, biker dive, motel and roadside diner within two hundred miles. If she hitchhikes, or pops up anywhere else, I wanna know about it. Be ready to pounce".
Burgess stepped away and made his way back to his office. It wasn't much, a two week old sighting without even a mention of direction, but it was the first confirmed sighting of the creature since Mexico. It was something he could sell to the Brass.
((Ok, here's Chapter 2. More are on the way. This is showing that the project has, at this point, completely collapsed.
Burgess is still in charge and has a new strategy to flush Eve out of hiding. She has no way of knowing that her image has been distributed under a false name.
The description of Eve's appearance is also a far cry from how she was originally presented. She always wore clean, stylish dresses in captivity, but now she looks absolutely downtrodden.
Finally, this is a Mix of the Eve we were presented with in the movie (S2) and the Eve from it's Novelization who was a bit more assertive. Eve in the Novelization was also very powerful.
Her personality, as you'll see in future chapters, has grown significantly, shaped by her experiences.))