Chapter 1: First Day Jitters
Daniel looked around the room for what had to be the fourth time in as many minutes. The room itself was practical and white with tables and chairs set up in rows facing a podium at the front. The podium was emblazoned with the logo of the Department of Special Affairs. And Daniel couldn't help but look down at the same logo emblazoned on his left shoulder. He could still hardly believe he was sitting here as one of the latest batch of rookie agents for the DSA. It had been a dream of his throughout school to become a member of what was widely considered the U.S.'s most skilled government agency.
The sound of the door opening caused Daniel to immediately straighten in his chair. It wouldn't do for him to make a bad impression on his first day. Not after he had worked so hard throughout training to get here. A trio of DSA agents came striding into the room. The lead agent was a mountain of a man with greying temples and a weathered face. Following on his heels were a harsh-looking woman of Korean descent and a tall lanky man with a close-cropped blonde beard. Daniel relaxed slightly at the sight of the bearded man. It was Carl Philips, who had been one of the agents responsible for training Daniel and his fellow rookie agents.
The large man stood at the podium and after glancing at the collected batch of fresh-faced recruits he spoke in a gravelly voice, "I am Deputy Director Walter Adams. I won't take up too much of your time but I want to start by welcoming you all to the Department of Special Affairs. As you are no doubt aware, our organization was formed in nineteen-forty-eight to coincide with the Excelled Registration Law coming into effect. Do any of you remember why our organization was formed?" He glanced around the room and upon seeing a weasely looking red-haired rookie he pointed and said, "Yes you in the back."
The rookie stood and said in a reedy tone, "The DSA was formed to enforce the Excelled Registration Law, as well as to enforce all other laws when applicable to Excelled. Furthermore, our organization operates closely with those Excelled who have been recognized as Heroes."
Deputy Director Adams nodded his approval and said, "That is correct. Our purpose is to protect the people of this nation from dangerous Excelled. As such this organization frequently recruits Excelled of our own to act as agents. No doubt many of you present here today possess some level of Excelled ability. And on that subject, is there anyone who wishes to share the definition of an Excelled?"
A short woman with features that hinted at a native ancestry raised her hand and at the Deputy Director's nod spoke, "Sir, with all due respect why are we going over this? There isn't a person alive in this day and age that doesn't know what an Excelled is."
Evidently, her input was not appreciated. The grey-haired superior frowned slightly before saying, "I ask because there is a key difference between the popular use of Excelled and the actual legal determination. Most consider any wack job with a costume to be an Excelled, but the fact remains that there are distinct requirements to be considered an Excelled. So I ask again, what is the definition of an Excelled?"
The woman seemed slightly taken aback by the clear disapproval in the Deputy Director's tone, but answered nonetheless, " An Excelled is an individual possessing skills or abilities considered impossible for a normal human. Excelled include those who are alien to this world, those who have been mutated, those who possess magic, and those who were once considered legendary or mythical entities."
"Very good agent. That was a textbook answer. As you all embark on your career with the DSA I want you to remember what we just talked about. The purpose of our organization should always be at the forefront of your mind. Once again I want to congratulate you all on making it here. I look forward to working with you." With that, the Deputy Director stepped away from the podium and exited the room.
The harsh-faced Asian woman took his place and spoke up in a commanding tone, "I am Captain Choi. My role here today is to outline your potential assignments and to facilitate the transfer to said assignments. With that being said, I request that you save all questions until I have finished speaking." she took a moment to glare at the room before continuing, "As DSA agents you will possess jurisdictional authority surpassing that of any other law enforcement organization. Now that you have all finished your training and been formally accepted as agents of the Department of Special Affairs you will be dispatched to one of our field offices and assigned to a division within that office. Now I will begin handing out assignments to you. When your name is called I want you to come up to the front of the room to take your assignment. You will then exit through the door and make your way to the front of the building where we have buses waiting to deliver you to the airstrip. From there you will be sent to your respective field office."
She began reading off the list of names to those assembled and when Daniel heard his name he quickly shot up to accept the assignment. As he exited the room he began glancing through the document. He felt no small amount of excitement to see that he had been assigned to Mirage City. Mirage City was a major metropolis found on the East Coast and in addition to having one of the largest DSA field offices in the Country, it was also home to the world's top hero team. The Wonder Society had been the number one hero team since its formation. Daniel was positively giddy to have the opportunity to work alongside heroes like the Eternal and Blood Knight. But his elation quickly turned to confusion when he saw the division he had been assigned to. The paper simply read Experimental Division Three: PATCHWORK.
As a part of his dream of joining the DSA, Daniel had done extensive research into the organization long before he'd had the chance to sign up. He was confident in his knowledge of every division of the agency, but he had never heard of any experimental division let alone three.
Daniel made his way down through the lobby of the large building that served as the Headquarters of the Department of Special Affairs and onto one of the three idling buses. Despite his confusion about his assignment, Daniel was still full of excitement. Small arcs of electricity began to jump between his fingers as he sat on the bus. When Daniel had first acquired his Excelled abilities as a child he had dreamed of becoming a registered hero, but that dream had been crushed when he'd realized that his electricity generation ability was far too weak to ever be of use as a hero. Even if he used all his focus he could only produce about as much electricity as a twelve-volt battery. And even that would leave him drained. But Daniel hadn't wallowed in self-pity, instead, he'd resolved to join the DSA. He was determined to help people even if he wouldn't ever be a hero.
Daniel wasn't especially impressed by the plane they had loaded him onto along with several other rookies bound for Mirage City. It was a spartan and bare transport plane but it did its job well. As he settled into his seat, Daniel noticed the female rookie who had spoken up in the meeting room before also board the plane. Waving to catch her attention he said, "Hey Sarah, there's an open seat next to me if you're looking for one."
She smiled and came over to sit next to him. Sarah Purkis was the daughter of a white father and a Navajo mother. At twenty-two years old she was the same age as Daniel. The two of them had become close friends during their training. Truth be told Daniel had a bit of a thing for the shorter woman. But where she was was all dark hair and intelligent brown eyes. Daniel wasn't much to look at. His proportions were all blunt ends and rounded features and his blonde hair was like rough straw. He was well aware that if he didn't have the build of a fighter, he'd look every bit the comic book nerd he was. As it stood, the only reason Daniel had bothered to put on the kind of muscle he had was because he had started exercising as a child to achieve his dream of being a superhero and just never lost the habit.
"So what division did you get assigned to?" asked Sarah
"Something called Experimental Division Three. Ever heard of it?" He replied. Sarah was almost as knowledgeable about the organization as he was. So if there was anyone present who was likely to know about the strange division it would be her.
She shook her head and said, "Sorry I've never heard of any experimental division. But I got assigned to the intelligence division."
They continued to chat throughout the plane ride to Mirage City and onto the bus which took them to the city's DSA field office. The field office for Mirage City was a massive building emblazoned with the organization's logo. Once off the bus, Daniel said his goodbyes to Sarah, at least for now.
Daniel was extremely surprised to find that while everyone else was guided to their respective division he was left standing in the building lobby alone. Another three minutes passed before a scruffy-looking man in a wrinkled uniform with brown hair and three days' worth of stubble came walking through a set of doors in the back of the lobby. Upon spotting Daniel the man gave a quick smile and approached offering a hand to shake.
As they shook hands the man said, "You must be Daniel. I'm Supervisory Agent Richard Glass from Experimental Division Three. Sorry to spring this on you so suddenly but I have to ask, you've been cleared for field work already yes?"
Daniel nodded and said, "Yes sir. I'm authorized for full deployment into the field."
"Great. In that case, I need you to come with me. We need to get you set up with a partner. And as luck would have it, there's a prisoner transport set to leave for Carlsville that needs some extra hands."
"Prisoner transport? but I thought all criminal Excelled in the region were transported to Mirage City, not out of it." Daniel replied confused.
"These prisoners are being transported to a research facility in Carlsville. They signed up for it in return for a slight reduction in their sentences. Most of the guys we'll be supervising are the more benign criminals. There's only one guy that you need to be careful of. Prisoner number Nine.
Daniel's confusion immediately grew. Single-number designations were unheard of. The Maximum Security Excelled Detention Facility, commonly called Pandemonium, was unique among prisons. But even it used a prisoner numbering system similar to other prisons.
"Why just Nine?" asked Daniel after a moment
"He's a special case. Within Pandemonium there's a special isolated section of the prison used to hold the most dangerous and or powerful Excelled in the place. Those individuals are given one to two number designations to differentiate them from the rest of the population. His number means that he is the Ninth such individual to be placed there. All you need to know about it is that he's likely the most dangerous person you've ever met. So proceed with caution."
Supervisory Agent Glass' explanation did nothing to ease the tension in Daniel. He had a feeling that things were about to get bad. And as it turned out that feeling was right. It was halfway through the transport that the attack occurred.
One minute the transport bus was heading down an open street at the edge of the city while Daniel gripped inwardly about having to ride a bus for the third time that day. The next, something heavy came slamming into the side of the bus sending it toppling over. The bus had only just settled when banging began to come from the outside. Daniel having fallen from his seat was buried under the bodies of two guards who had died on impact. Hidden from sight he watched as the back door to the bus was torn completely off. Standing in the doorway was a large grey-skinned man with bulging muscles.
The man grinned and yelled into the crashed bus, "Jailbreak Bitches!" his words elicited a round of whoops and cheers from the prisoners. The grey-skinned man unlocked the restraints of one prisoner and one by one they all freed themselves. Naturally, the sounds of fighting began to kick off outside as the DSA agents escorting the bus engaged the escaped prisoners and their rescuer.
Struggling Daniel eventually managed to shove the corpses off himself and looked around the crashed bus. It was now empty save the dead, himself, and a lone prisoner still strapped in. The prisoner had a sack over their head and their restraints seemed a lot more numerous than the rest of the criminals had been. Approaching cautiously he inspected the figure and was surprised when they spoke.
"What's happening?" Came a surprisingly young-sounding voice. Daniel would have pegged the owner as being in their late teens to early twenties.
"The bus is under attack." Came Daniel's reply
"You DSA?"
"Uh yeah, I mean Yes. Yes, I am." Daniel worked hard to sound confident.
"Let me guess rookie?" the man Daniel guessed to be prisoner number nine asked.
"Maybe."
The figure chuckled and said, "What division?"
"Experimental Division Three." Daniel wasn't sure why he'd answered the question. It had just sort of happened.
"PATCHWORK?! Color me surprised. It's your lucky day rookie. Every member of PATCHWORK has the authority to temporarily deactivate a prisoner's END. Deactivate mine, and I'll help you get out of this mess alive."
"Nice try. But it's bad enough all the other prisoners are loose. No way am I setting you free too." Daniel remembered what Supervisory Agent Glass had said about the mysterious prisoner.
"Do it or we both die." Came the man's swift reply.
And Daniel did perhaps the dumbest thing of his life to date. He withdrew the card that served as his badge with the DSA and held it to the prisoner's END. Then he spoke a single verbal command, "Release."
