Foresighters: Origin

It was one year ago today. Samatha “Sam” Timely was going to her parents’ work on her 16th birthday. That night, Sam and her parents were supposed to have a birthday dinner after work. Sam’s parents were Quantum Physicists who were experimenting with quantum mechanics for the U.S. government. They were working at a special facility in Virginia. That’s where the whole family lived.

Sam was just coming from her culinary class. She was always cooking or baking some delicious meal or pastry. This deviated her from her parents. Her parents were special scientists working on the space-time continuum or whatever sciency mumbo-jumbo, while Sam was making lasagna. Science was a subject Sam always struggled with. It wasn’t that she was uninterested, it was mostly the fact that the concepts went over her head.

Sam walked to her parents’ workplace. The culinary school and the facility were not that far apart. She was greeted by the receptionist, asking for her parents. “Hey, Judy. Have you seen my parents around?” The receptionist Judy was fairly good friends with Sam and her family.

“Hello, Sam. I don’t know about your dad but your mom is around here somewhere. I think she had to use the restroom.” Sam’s mother came up behind her, surprising her with a backward hug.

“Happy birthday, birthday girl!” exclaimed Barbara, Sam’s mother. Sam was startled. Sam did not particularly like surprises, and she thought the idea of someone sneaking behind her back was creepy. However, it was her birthday and it was only her mother. So Sam would tolerate it. “Here’s your birthday present. I hope you like it.” The present was a small box covered in heart symbols. Sam loved the heart as a symbol and her mother knew it. When Sam opened the box, she saw a bracelet with a heart symbol. The whole bracelet color was rose pink.

“Oh, mom, it’s beautiful. I love it. Thank you.” said Sam.

“You are very welcome, dear,” Barbara said.

“Where is Dad?” Sam questioned her mother.

“He’s working in the lab. Come on. Let’s go get him so we can celebrate your birthday tonight.” Thomas Timely was a workaholic. He always had a problem with putting his work ahead of his family. Sam and her mother entered the laboratory. Thomas was messing with a weird contraption in the middle of the lab. “Tom?” Barbara called out. “Thomas!” she shouted again.

“Oh, sorry ladies. I was just finishing the last diagnostic for the temporal apparatus.”

“What is this thing supposed to do, Dad?” Sam asked.

“This “thing” is a quantum displacement device that lets you put individuals or objects through space-time across different points in moments throughout time.” Sam had a puzzled look.

“Uhh…” Sam began to say.

“It’s a time machine,” Barbara stated.

“A time machine!?” Sam exclaimed. “That’s impossible! That’s something in science fiction!”

“It is theoretical right now, yes, but I believe this device can have life-saving applications. I mean, we could learn of disasters before they happen, learn of new diseases before they spread.” Thomas Timely was putting his finishing touchings onto the device. Then he walked toward Sam and Barbara. “But enough about the past or future. Today, I’m going to live in the present and celebrate my daughter’s birthday.”

Suddenly, as the family walked toward the exit, the temporal apparatus made a loud noise. The device then started to turn on.

“Uh, Dad, is it supposed to do that?” asked Sam.

“No, it’s not,” said Thomas. “Barbara, give me a hand.” Sam’s parents went over to investigate the device. The device continued to go on and made alarming noises in a panicking way. “Somethings wrong. Terribly wrong,” said Thomas. He then went over to the far side of the lab and hit the emergency alarm. This initiated a lockdown and evacuation of the facility. Sam got in front of the device. Her mother tried to get her to leave.

“Sam, sweetheart, we need you to go now,” said Barbara.

“I won’t leave you both here! You could die or worse!” Sam exclaimed. She got right in front of the device. The device was emitting some kind of blue energy. The energy was getting absorbed into Sam. The device was getting louder and more out of control. Sam’s parents tried to stop it, but it was no use. The whole lab detonated.

Now it’s been a whole year since the explosion. Sam was now sitting in a coffee shop, in rugged and inconspicuous clothes. She wore a ball cap and rugged clothes to remain unnoticed. Sam had spent the past year going through foster homes, always running away from families that the foster system set her up with. Her parents died in the explosion, with her being the only survivor.

Sam left the coffee shop, walking a little past an alley. In the alley, there was one girl being harassed by three guys. They were cornering her in the alley, telling her to give them her purse.

“Give us your money lady and you won’t get any trouble.” said one of the guys.

“Please, leave me alone. I don’t have that much. Honest.” said the lady in distress. Sam walked toward the guys.

“Hey, leave the lady alone,” said Sam.

“What are you going to do about it, girly?” said one of the guys. Sam had not thought this through. What could she possibly do to make these assholes stop harassing this girl? A police officer walks by and notices the situation. He stares at the situation precariously. One of the guys pushes Sam into a rain puddle.

“Hey!” shouted the police officer. The police officer went toward the group. Sam felt something sitting in the puddle. Like a weird surge of power deep inside her. Sam was curling herself in a ball. The police officer offered his hand to pick Sam up and asked “Are you ok?” Sam couldn’t answer. She was too stressed out. Unexpectedly, Sam projected a vision onto everyone in the alley. Everyone(including Sam herself) saw the vision clearly: The President of the United States with a bullet hole in his head.

Xander Strongman woke up hours earlier. He was getting ready for work at his job as a CIA agent. He had put on a buttoned shirt, some fancy work pants, and Vigorous. Vigorous is the name of the belt Xander wears. It is no ordinary belt. The belt is black with the center being gold with a lion symbol on it. The belt gives the user superhuman strength. The belt was created by Leonocess, the deity of the temple where it was found. Leonocess supposedly created and blessed the mystical artifact. Xander has had the belt for a good number of years. The story behind how he got the belt is for another time. Xander always kept Vigorous in a special locked case with a three-digit combination when he was not wearing it, especially when he was sleeping.

Xander lived in a two-story suburban house near the CIA headquarters. It was a fairly nice house. It was a little big for just one person. After Xander had got up, he got dressed for work, ate breakfast, and drove to work.

A little across town, we see the apartment of Indigenous lawyer Emica “Emily Dashpandae. The apartment is messy and disorganized, with food and crumbs on the floor and dust in the corners. Emily is known to live an “active” lifestyle, shown by the bottles of vodka and the one woman laying beside Emily in her bed. This was definitely not her first time bringing a woman to her apartment to do you know what. And it certainly wasn’t going to be her last. Emily looked at her clock beside her. She was going to be late for work if she didn’t move her behind. Emily raced out of bed and started putting on her work clothes. The woman in bed groaned in a sleepy manner.

“Emily?” The woman asked after her sleepy groan. The woman was young, attractive, and had short, pink hair. The hair was obviously dyed. Emily met her at a bar the night before. They both thought that they hit it off. Maybe a little too much.

“Oh, Cassie, make yourself at home. I have to go to work, but make yourself comfortable.” Emily got her work clothes on. She couldn’t forget her belt that contained the twin hilts of the Hindu Goddess Ganga on each end. These were two twin mystical weapons that were passed down in her family. The hilts were part of her Indian ancestral heritage. The hilts could create hard water constructs, such as blades, maces, whips, and so forth. They could also shoot water and manipulate sources of water, like from a fountain or a river. The Hindu Goddess Ganga created them and bestowed the hilts onto her family generations ago. The hilts only work for someone in her family ancestry. Emily kept the hilts on each end of the belt she wore. After getting her clothes on and getting her essentials, Emily left her apartment to go to work.

When Xander arrived at headquarters, he saw Director Jeffrey Green on the news. He was talking about the latest S.A.B.E.R. attacks. Not much was known about S.A.B.E.R., except that the acronym was Secret, Adventitious, Brual, Evil, Regime. and the organization hates the U.S.A.

“Director Green, do you have any updates on the S.A.B.E.R. organization? What is the CIA doing to combat these attacks?” said the news lady.

“The CIA and the U.S. government have everything under control,” said Green in the T.V. interview. “The public has no need to worry.”

“Xander, the director wants to see you in his office.” said a CIA agent to Xander. Xander entered Green’s office.

“Hey, boss. Just saw your interview on T.V. Based on what you said, it sounds like the S.A.B.E.R. situation is under control.”

“That was a little bit of a facade,” said Green. “S.A.B.E.R. is growing in power. We have no clue where they’re located or how they’re getting their advanced tech. They could become a big problem in the future. But that’s not why I asked for you.

“Oh,” said Xander. A young CIA agent walked in. He looked like he was in his late 20s to early 30s, with a fancy suit and tie.

“You wanted to see me, boss.” said the young CIA agent.

“Yes Dillion, come right in,” said Green. “I want to assign you and Strongman to this case.” Green puts up a camera that shows Sam in an interrogation room.

“This young girl and a few people around her said they all had a “vision”, and this girl is the cause of that said vision,” said Green.

Dillion made a disgusted grunt. Xander asked “What is she, a teenage girl?! Why would the local authorities transfer her to us?”

Green said “One of the people who witnessed the vision was a police officer. He recommended the CIA deal with this situation.” Both Xander and Dillion left Green’s office and went on their way to the interrogation room. Xander wondered and pondered on how this situation was a CIA matter. Nevertheless, Xander and Dillion entered the interrogation room. Sam was sitting in the room, handcuffed to the table. She was tired, having been drained of energy from the incident in the alley.

“Are the handcuffs really necessary?” said Xander.

“We’ll see,” said Dillion. Dillion started questioning Sam. “Ok, young lady, what exactly happened? How did you get into this situation?” Dillion was questioning her in a rude manner.

“Look, if you government jerks aren’t going to charge me with anything, you can’t keep me here.” declared Sam. “I’m still a minor, so children’s rights still apply to me.”

Dillion started scolding Sam. “Listen, you little brat, you will answer our questions completely and truthfully or so help me I’ll…”

Emily walked into the room. “Samatha Timely, do not say another word.”

“I’m sorry, who are you?” asked Xander to Emily.

“Sorry I’m late,” Emily responded. “My name is Emily Dashpandae and I am an attorney for Thompson’s Aid. Our firm deals with youngsters and the unfortunate, individuals such as Miss Timely.” Emily was taking control of the situation. “Now, I need to converse with my client, so remove the handcuffs and wait outside the room until we’re ready.” Dillion reluctantly uncuffed Sam. Both he and Xander left the room and waited outside.

“Now, Miss Timely…” Emily started.

“Sam is fine,” Sam interjected. Emily and Sam talked alone in the room for several minutes. Xander was glossing over Dillion’s attitude toward Sam.

“You know, you didn’t have to be so rude to the poor girl”. Xander said to Dillion.

“She’s a little brat, just like all kids.” Xander got the feeling that Dillion did not like young people through his comment and attitude. Eventually, Emily opened the door.

“We’re ready for your questions,” said Emily.

“Let me do the questioning, Dillion,” said Xander to Dillion.

“Ok, Sam, tell them what you told me.” encouraged Emily.

“My name is Sam Timely. A year ago my parents were quantum physicists working for the government. They were experimenting with time travel or something along those lines. I don’t know. The point is, an accident happened at the lab. Both my parents were killed. I survived, but I got these “powers” as a result of the explosion.”

“What do you mean by “powers”?” questioned Xander.

“I don’t fully understand it, but I can do things that relate to time. I can unpredictably see the future and rewind time to a previous point. It’s tiresome and unpredictable, but I can control time.

Xander continued to question Sam. “What have you been doing the past year? What have your living conditions been like? How have you been getting by?

Sam answered “The foster system has been setting me up with families, but I kept running away. I didn’t feel like I belonged in those families. When I wasn’t in foster homes, I was living on the streets. Xander and Dillion looked at each other.

“I’ve heard of stranger things,” Dillion commented.

“Alright, but why did a police officer recommend this whole situation to us?” questioned Xander.

“The vision I saw, the one he and a couple of other people also saw, showed the President with a bullet hole in his head,” said Sam.

Sam felt that similar feeling again. That same feeling she had when the vision occurred. It wasn’t exactly painful, but it was extremely uncomfortable. It was like having a big ball of energy in your stomach. Then it unleashed in Sam’s mind. She could see it. There was a timer bomb in a room. Then the bomb went off.

“Sam, are you ok?” Emily asked Sam. Sam was drained of energy from the vision.

“I just had another vision. A bomb is about to go off in a town nearby.”

After Sam tells them where the bomb is set to go off, Xander goes to Green.

“Director, we have a serious bomb threat in a nearby town. I want to send a team to deal with it,” said Xander to Green.

“You, Dillion, and explosive specialist Ian Taylor will go down there and deal with the threat,” said Green

“Sir, I want to bring Sam. This came from one of her said visions, and from what she said about her powers, I think she will prove quite useful in this scenario.”

“You want to bring a minor on a CIA operative mission! Are you insane!” yelled Green.

“Sir, I think she can be a big help to us. These visions she has, they could save a lot of lives if we act responsibly on them. Please, let me take her.” Xander pleaded to Green. Green thought long and hard for a moment.

“Alright, but I am holding you personally responsible for the girl. If something happens to her, it’s your undoing. Do you understand me?” Green declared to Xander.

“Yes, sir,” replied Xander.

“I’m coming along too,” said Emily.

Green replied “Ms Dashpandae, this is a CIA operation, not a trial in court. No offense, but I don’t see how an attorney can be of any use in a bomb plot.”

“I have experience in martial arts and combat that might help if you run into any resistance” declared Emily. Both Xander and Green were resistant, but Green thought if Sam was coming along, then Emily would not be a hindrance.

Sam used her recollection of the vision to determine where the bomb was. The team located the bomb inside an electrical room inside an industrial facility. This facility was in a nearby town in Virginia. Suddenly, people with automatic guns started shooting at the vehicles the team was driving in. They were wearing typical, normal civilian clothing. One of the people shot the tires of the car with Xander, Sam, Emily, and Ian.

Xander made the car so it stopped perpendicular between them and the shooters.

“Everyone, get out from the driver’s side!” yelled Xander. Everyone got out of the car through that side. Between them and the shooters was the car with the bulleted tires.

“How are we going to get through these guys?” said Emily.

“Leave that to me,” said Xander. “Everyone, stay directly behind the car.” Xander touched the lion symbol in the center of his belt, Vigorous. The symbol started to give a slight glow. Xander put both his hands on the car, in a stance where it looked like he was pushing the car. Xander was pushing the car toward the shooters with the strength provided by his belt. Moving the car provided effort, even with the strength coming from Vigorous.

“That’s impossible! How is the car moving?” said one of the gunmen. Dillion had arrived in a separate car. He then shot two of the gunmen. There were four in total. One of the remaining gunmen was about to shoot Dillion with his rifle when Emily got out one of her hilts and created a water blade and cut through the rifle. She then got out her other hilt, created a water mace, and knocked out that same gunman. After witnessing what Emily could do, everyone understood why she wanted to come. Xander punched the last gunman so hard that he made a dent in the wall that he hit.

Everyone entered the room where the bomb supposedly was. Gunmen surprised everyone. One man shot Xander in the head, killing him. Three other gunmen shot Emily, Dillion, and Ian in the middle body. They were lying dead, bleeding from the bullet holes. Everyone except Sam was dead. As the men were about to attack Sam, she rewinded time before they entered the facility. Sam then told everyone what happened. Emily entered first. The gunman who shot Xander in the head tried to do the same to Emily, but this time, Emily created a water shield with her hilt that blocked the bullet. As the three other gunmen were going to shoot Xander, Dillion, and Ian, Xander did a foot stomp that staggered the three gunmen. Emily shot the gunman who tried to shoot her with a water blast from her hilt. Xander, Dillion, and Emily knocked out the remaining gunman.

“I see the bomb,” said Xander. “Ian, get to work on disarming it.” Ian started to disarm the bomb.

“Everyone, they’re trying to stop us. Don’t let them!” yelled a man. The man entered the room. Xander tried to punch him, but he kept dodging and counterpunching Xander. He knocked Xander to the ground, ready to shoot him with his pistol. Dillion then got behind the man and knocked him out and saved Xander.

“Thanks,” said Xander.

“Hey, what are partners for,” replied Dillion.

Xander, Emily, and Dillion took care of the remaining bad guys. Ian successfully disarmed the bomb. Everyone is standing next to each other in the room where the bomb was.

“Well, I’d say that was a successful operation,” said Xander. “Emily, thanks for your help. Sam, I want to bring you back to HQ so we can…”

All of a sudden, a tranquilizer dart hits Sam and she passes out in the arms of Emily.

“Sam!” yelled Emily. A smoke grenade rolls into the room, fogging everything in the room. Everyone is hit by tranquilizer darts by an unknown assailant one by one. Xander is the last to go down, seeing only the assailant’s feet. Xander saw the figure carrying Sam leave the room, only able to make out a dark figure of a person’s body. Xander resisted the urge to pass out, trying to stay awake. Ultimately, he failed, and he collapsed on the floor.