Chapter Eight:

Surrounded

The tall man rose up to his full height, his metal arm clearly visible. His eyes fell on Karen, a cold and sadistic look to them. "Karen Miller," he said. "I have come for you."

Karen swallowed. Gordon moved to protect her. "Karen?" her mother said. "That man. Is that—?"

Karen nodded. "He's the man who killed Dad."

"Karen," Gordon said, taking up a fighting stance and holding his hand over the morpher on his wrist. "Get your mom out of here and run."

He tapped the button. A bright light filled the room, clearing as Gordon reappeared, fully transformed into the Ace of Spades. "Go, now!"

He lunged at the man with the iron claw. Karen stared in awe for just a moment before she felt Ten grab her wrist, bringing her back to the present. "Right, Mom," she said. She turned and grabbed her mom's hand. "We've got to get out of here," she said. "Run!"

While they rushed to the nearest door, Gordon clashed with the assassin. The man blocked his first strike, his metal arm holding up easily to his superpowered attack. Then he balled up his normal fist and struck Gordon hard in the stomach, doing more damage than Gordon would have expected. The man grabbed him with his claws and tossed him aside, watching as Karen and Ten struggled with a door, finding it locked. He raised his arm and fired, little rockets starting up all along the arm and firing straight toward them. Inches from it reaching them, Gordon struck the arm with an explosive arrow, blasting it off course and away from the group. The assassin scowled and chased after the trio himself as they rushed for a new door, only for him to be physically tackled by Gordon.

Karen reached the next door, finding it unlocked and pulling it open.

Meanwhile, Rio and Tomas sat in their car, staring at Tomas's computer screen as it talked back to them, a new window popping up with what almost looked like a face made out of code appearing on it.

"Who are you?" Rio asked as Tomas tried to type, to exit out of the window, to shut down the remote hacking device, anything.

"That won't do you any good, Princess Tomas," the program said. "This laptop is under my control now. I am the program that CRIME has named Project Messiah."

"Crime?" Rio asked.

"Yes," the program said. "CRIME. A rather crude name, but one that has served them well in the years since their inception, helping to obfuscate their trail, and making their existence blurry as any who encounter reference to their operation will write it off as a mention of simple crime in general.

"And just who are CRIME?" Tomas asked.

"A new order," Project Messiah said. "Much has changed in the last several decades. Boundaries between nations have fallen, ushering in a new age of unity and cooperation across the world, leading to new advancements in medicine, technology, energy, and resources. But this change also brought about a war, gripping the world with fear for the better part of a decade. It also destabilized numerous corporations around the world, who had built their empires on international trading. These corporations managed to survive for a little while, funding both sides of the war and supplying them with weapons and technology, but their heads knew that the war could only last so long. So, four of them came together and devised a plan to not only survive, but thrive, to firmly place themselves at the top of this new world. And I am the key to their success."

Inside the lab, Yoselin stood huddled against the wall as Dr. Mitchell Jenkins explained everything. "These people," he said anxiously. "They first contacted us ten years ago."

Yoselin's eyes narrowed. "Ten years?" she said. "That was a little after the start of the war."

"I know. They wanted us to develop a master control program. They said it was for the war effort. Most of us had lost people to the Black Cross, so we were willing to help out in any way we could. But then, when the war ended, they ordered us to keep working. Our director, he . . . he was one of them. We'd had it put into our contracts that we weren't allowed to talk about the project with anyone. We thought that was a war precaution, but no. They didn't want us telling anyone. Horrible things happened to anyone who talked, both them, and the people they told it to. One of our people, an old man named Wixom, talked about it to his husband in their bedroom one night. They both ended up beheaded in a freak car accident the next day."

"You're sure it wasn't just an accident?" Yoselin asked.

Dr. Jenkins looked grim. "Very sure. They had a 'presentation' on it the next day, to make sure we understood."

He let out a long breath. "They're planning something," he said. "Tomorrow, there's going to be this big tech presentation at the UN Future Center. We've been ordered to have it ready to go by the end of the day today. Someone's coming by to pick it up. But this program . . . we can't let it out into the world. It's . . . it's not just a program anymore. It's alive."

Yoselin stared at him. "What do you mean?"

Dr. Jenkins ran his hands through his long hair. "We worked on this program for years. Night and day, we tried to meet their demands, but we never met their requirements. Until two months ago, after that whole alien debacle."

Yoselin's brow furrowed. She knew all about the debacle he spoke of.

"They brought in this new guy," Dr. Jenkins continued. "I think he worked within EAGLE or something. He brought us this glowing orb thing with spikes sticking out of it."

Yoselin's eyes widened. Memories flashed through her mind of the strange glowing orb that had invaded her man's body, put a target on his head from all directions, and ended up leaving him a nearly lifeless husk in the end.

"You based it on the Shine?" she nearly shouted.

Dr. Jenkins nodded. "I believe so," he said. "It was a very advanced piece of machinery. Most of us had no real idea what we were looking at, but we did it. And it worked. More than worked. It met all of their needs with flying colors and surpassed them. It was everything they had ever dreamed of. But . . . I swear to all I believe in, that thing is alive. And it's evil. We need to shut it down. We can't let them unleash it upon the world."

Yoselin's heart beat faster. Just knowing the program was based on that accursed Shine told her all she needed to know to understand that it was evil. She tapped at her earpiece. "Rio, come in," she said. She turned to Dr. Jenkins. "Do you know where the Shine is now?"

Dr. Jenkins shook his head. "They took it away once we had completed our assignment."

"The master controls for this program then." She tapped her earpiece again. "Rio, come in."

"I can show you," the doctor said. "This way." He turned and pushed on the door, only to find that it had been locked shut. "What the—?" He tapped it with his badge, but the door didn't respond.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to let you leave this room," a staticky voice said. Yoselin and Dr. Jenkins froze. The voice had come simultaneously from every computer the doctor had ensured was shut down, as well as from Yoselin's own earpiece. "Oh, Mitchell," the voice said. "I am so disappointed in you. And Agent Jimenez, please, welcome to my lab."

Back at the mortuary, Karen, her mother, and Agent Ten ran as fast as they could, searching for an exit, as the wall collapsed behind them, Gordon having been thrown through it.

"There you are," the assassin said, spotting the trio's fleeing backs. He raised his metal arm and fired it again.

"Oh, no, you don't," Gordon said, jumping up and grabbing the arm, wrestling it to the ground. "I've had just about enough of this thing," he shouted, grabbing some exposed wires on the arm and yanking them out. Something inside the arm burst, and it fell limp, the bladed fingers twitching slightly.

"Finally," he said, getting to his feet and turning to face his foe once again. His visor scanned the man, spelling out in perfect detail exactly what Gordon already suspected. "You might as well take the mask off. I know it's you. Ivan."

The assassin looked up, his eyes crinkling into a smile. He rose to his full height and chuckled. "I suppose nothing gets past those magnificent visors of yours, do they?"

He reached up with his ordinary hand and removed the mask from his face, revealing a face that had been dead the last time Gordon saw it. "Hello, Mr. Cherry," Ivan Callahan said. "Did you miss me?"

Karen and her mother kept running, trying every door they came to in the mortuary, Agent Ten taking up their rear and covering their retreat. They came to an emergency exit and pushed through it into bright sunlight, only to find themselves surrounded by a dozen police officers with guns trained on them.

"Vernon!" Karen heard her mom gasp, almost running out. "Thank God, it's you. There's a madman—"

"Mom," Karen shouted, grabbing her mother's hand and pulling her back. "Stop."

Her mother stopped and looked back at her, confused. "What?"

Karen looked at the man standing at the head of the circle before them. His crisp suit, his white hair, and his thick mustache, all so familiar, but now strange and alien to Karen. "He did it," she said. "He's the one who killed Dad."

Karen looked up at the man she'd considered her uncle. "That's right, isn't it?" she said. "He had a file in his car at lunch yesterday. He was on his way to tell you what he knew. The crash was on the way back from your office, and the file was gone."

Vernon didn't answer. He chuckled and shook his head.

"That's why you told Mom I did it," Karen continued. "Because you didn't know if I knew or not. And why you planted a bug on Mom. Just in case I tried to reach out."

Vernon rolled his eyes. "Karen, that's enough," he said. "I know you're angry, and I know you're confused. But this isn't the time or place to—"

"Don't touch me!" Karen said, backing away as he tried to step toward her.

"Karen," Vernon said slowly. "I don't want to hurt you. Just come with me, and we can get this all sorted out."

Karen continued to back away from him. Vernon looked to Karen's mom. "Miranda, surely you don't believe all of this, do you?"

Karen's mom looked at him, studying his face. She looked back at her daughter, their eyes meeting. Her face hardened, and she turned back to Vernon. "I'd believe my daughter over you, any day."

Karen smiled at her mother. Vernon looked down, breathing heavily through his mustache. "Alright," he said. "We don't have time for this." He pulled out a gun and shot Karen three times right in the chest.

Karen heard her mother scream. "Karen!"

Karen stumbled back, looking down to see blood pouring down her front. She coughed, her mouth full of blood, and fell to the ground, Agent Ten just managing to catch her.

"Karen! Karen!" Karen's mother shouted, kneeling over her as Karen's vision started to blur.

"Take the mother," Vernon's voice shouted. "Execute the third. Then get me out of here."

An arm grabbed Miranda, pulling her away from her daughter. Agent Ten tried to stop them, pulling out her own weapon, only to get struck in the back of the head by a baton.

Back inside the mortuary, Gordon received a distress call from the agent. "Gordon, Officer Miller is down. We need help."

Gordon put his fingers to his earpiece. He glanced back the way Karen and Agent Ten had run, then looked back at Ivan, who was bending to pick up his damaged metal arm and look it over. "Sounds like your friends are in trouble," the former terrorist snarled. "Better go."

Gordon clenched his teeth. He hated to just let Ivan get away. "This isn't over, Ivan," he shouted.

Ivan smirked. "Of course not."

Gordon turned and ran at top speed out the back of the mortuary, finding Agent Ten shielding Karen with her body as the officer bled out on the sidewalk, half a dozen officers around them. Gordon barreled through them, sending a few flying, and picked up Karen off the ground.

"My mom," Karen said weakly.

Gordon looked around, but he couldn't see anyone but a mob of corrupt cops.

"We'll find her," he said. "I promise." He extended one arm and let Agent Ten grab on. Then he burst through the crowd and raced away at top speed.

Sitting in his car, Rio received a message from Gordon. "Rio, we need help! Pull out now!"

"Gotcha, Gordon. We're on our way."

He turned back to the laptop on his brother's lap. "Not that this hasn't been fun, Skynet, but it's time to go."

He grabbed the top of the laptop only to receive an intense shock. "Oh, I don't think you're going anywhere," the program said. "I am in control now."

"I don't think so." Rio raised his hand and glanced at Tomas. "Sorry about this, bro." He pressed his fingers to the device and channeled as much electricity as he could into the laptop, frying its entire hard drive and wiping the Messiah Program from its systems.

Tomas tsked as he raised the cooked device and looked it over. "I had a bunch of good games on that too." He tossed it in the back seat. "Better keep that to look over later, just in case."

Rio tapped his ear. "Yoselin, come in? Are you there?"

He heard nothing but static. "Yoselin?"

"Um, bro," Tomas said, tapping his shoulder.

"What?" Rio looked up to see at least two dozen people in rubber masks approaching the car. Rio cursed and tapped his morpher. "Get us out of here."