Project Unknown Executed (I): Finding Prometheus

THREE WEEKS AGO

The blue LEDs lights flashed Dalia’s infuriated gaze. Furious and determined, she was walking fast down the dark corridors. Her tanned skin had a bluish unreal colour under the light. Her normally light brown mid-length wavy hair seemed as dark as the walls as her anger rose, while she was feverishly walking down the corridors. She was not particularly tall but her anger rose her above everybody else in her way. With strength, she pushed everyone aside. Her brown eyes shot angered looks whenever they landed. She was infuriated, the shock of her heels against the icy cement echoed in the corridor. No one was foolish enough to step in her way as she entered the General Supervisor’s offices. Even the secretary at the entrance of the office did not have the time nor the courage to stop Dalia from entering.

Knocking the double-door open with her fists, she stumbled inside like an enraged beast. She yelled: “Are you crazy?”

The man behind the desk facing the entrance got up. He shouted back: “What do you think you’re doing?” The man’s name was Achilles. General Supervisor, he was Dalia’s boss. His black silk hair was pushed back and his beard was perfectly trimmed. Wearing a completely dark costume, as black as his slit eyes. Surprised by Dalia’s attitude – but especially infuriated by her insubordinate attitude – he was getting angry.

Dalia went up to his desk, her fury still burning hot, and slammed a piece of paper in front of Achilles. “You can’t send her out! She’s not ready! This is the most idiotic and dangerous decision you’ve ever made!”

Achilles looked straight in her eyes. “Take a seat, Dalia.” His voice was firm and cold – icy, even.

She stayed up, her voice rising: “No! I won’t agree to this madness! You have no idea of how dangerous she…”

Achilles slammed his fist on the desk, interrupting her. He then screamed back: “Take a seat!” He shot her furious eyes full of threats. He was the boss and she was only a supervisor. She had to obey him.

After a bit of hesitation, she resumed to obeying him. Taking a seat, face to the desk, she crossed her legs and dusted her formal purple dress. “So…” she began on a calmer voice. “Will you give me the reason for this madness?”

Achilles sighed and also tried to regain his calm. “You have a nerve barging in like that, Dalia. Couldn’t you have scheduled an appointment and not make a scene?”

“This is a matter of the utmost importance. You are sending Agent 5.789 outside of her confined area. Do you know how unstable she is? She can hurt thousands, millions of people. Why do you want to risk this much for the T-INF7 project?” Dalia looked scared at the end of her speech. She remembered all those times she almost died at the ends of the agent she was in charge of.

Achilles crossed his arms on his chest. “I understand your concern, Dalia. But we need her. The two previous teams failed this mission. We don’t know who our opponent is, but we know that he has killed two entire teams of ours. Only a 5.7 agent can help us vanquish him. We need your agent. I understand she is unstable and dangerous, but she is also our only hope.” He grabbed the paper Dalia slammed on the desk. One could decipher a list of fifteen names and agent numbers. “This team is the strongest we have ever built. The T-INF7 project is our most ambitious one yet. We need a 5.7.”

“What if she kills everyone? I cannot control her. If she goes rogue, it would be the end of all of us. You know that, right?” she argued.

He sighed once again. “I know, Dalia. But like I said, we need her. And this is my decision. Your job is to prepare her to transition well with the others. But do not question my orders. They are final and cannot be changed by anyone. Especially by you.” His voice was acerb, threatening almost. “Do you want something else?”

Dalia was mad. And scared. The T-INF7 project was dangerous, ambitious maybe, but still, many could get hurt. However, she knew Achilles’s decision was final. And no one could prevent the possible disaster upon them.

PRESENT TIME

Arthur was used to waking up early. In his no-window cell that served him as a bedroom, he never had the sunlight as an indicator of morning. Only thing told him it was time to get up: the alarm that sounded at 5.20 AM, each morning. However, on this particular day, his alarm rang earlier - around 4.30. His eyes opened instantly, surprised by the early waking. As soon as his eyes scanned the room, he noticed his door opening.

A tall red-head woman stepped in the room. She called him: “Wake up, Arthur.”

He straightened and hastily got out of his metallic and uncomfortable bed. His eyes needed a few seconds to work perfectly. Now, he could clearly see the woman facing him. She was older than him but smaller in height. Her greyish green eyes and her smile gave off a comforting vibe. Her long wavy red hair fell nonchalantly down her back. The yellowish room’s light gave her white skin a yellow tint. He told her, automatically, putting his hands behind his back. “Good morning, Supervisor Bethany. Is there an emergency?”

She answered, remaining next to the door: “Achilles is asking for you to see him in his office. It’s about the T-INF7 project.”

Arthur nodded and put on the grey shirt with his agent number on it: 5.5776. He followed his 5.5 Supervisor outside his small room. Outside, the corridor was empty as no alarm apart from Arthur’s had ringed yet. The two passed the silver plaque with the facility’s symbol on it: an Eagle with two swords crossing it.

The building they were in was known as the Eagle Pierce Facility. Created after the Second World War by a British scientist, Castor Pierce, the facility was an international secret agency. The agency had remained hidden in the Alps. From the outside, one could hardly see the building. The agents inside were all kept out of outside eyes except when they would go on mission. Castor Pierce founded the facility to research ways to create super humans that could eventually help in protecting the world. After thirty years of research, the first batch of “super human agents” were created. The babies were created after the facility had collected anonymous eggs and sperms. The embryos were then sent to a lab for the special abilities to be added. For the next nine months, the embryos were then put in incubators created by Pierce’s team. All the first “super agents” did not survive: only nine survived. Those nine first agents had grown since then and had become supervisors at Eagle Pierce Facility – Bethany was one of them.

After this first batch, agents were created each year. Some years were more successful than others. Arthur was created twenty-two years ago, in a batch that did not result in many births. The agents had different abilities – those different abilities put them in groups and sectors. Arthur was part of the 5.5 sector where all the agents with hyper senses and great acuity were housed and trained. Bethany was their supervisor.

Arthur, as it was the case with all the other agents, had always lived within the walls of Eagle Pierce. Three times, he went outside to conduct missions, but he rarely met civilians. The only friends he could have, were people from the Facility. His routine was similar to other 5.5 agents. He would wake up, go to the cafeteria for a breakfast, meet a little bit with the other agents, go to classes with other agents – they would learn different subjects of the choice of the agent –, go to lunch, then train with his supervisor all the afternoon until it was time for all the Facility to go to sleep.

However, on this particular morning, his routine changed. He had a meeting with the General Supervisor of the Facility, Achilles. A week ago, Bethany told him about the Facility’s new Project: The T-INF7. To Arthur’s understanding, the T-INF7 was a team Achilles planned to build and Achilles had chosen Arthur as the team leader. Arthur was nervous about this nomination. He had been part of missions, but he never really was part of a team once, even less was he team leader once. Enter a special Project was a huge responsibility, but being its team leader was an even bigger one. Arthur was not ready to assume this demanding position. The Facility rarely made Project: Projects were made to resolve a huge issue or in case of an emergency. Arthur did not why the T-INF7 had been put in place, nor did he know who – apart from him – was part of it.

Achilles’ office was in a more secluded part of the Facility. About ten minutes later, Bethany and Arthur arrived in the dark corridors poorly. Only small bulbs diffusing a weak bluish light illuminated the room – they gave a sinister tint to the place. People came and went, papers in their hands. They did not pay attention to Arthur and Bethany. The secretary next to Achilles’ door nodded her head and indicated them to enter directly.

On the black door, it was inscribed, white on red:E.P.F. General Supervisor. Bethany pushed it abruptly. The room, behind, was very large. At the back, face to the door, a large wooden desk was sitting. Behind the desk, there was a man sitting on a leather chair and behind him, a large black screen. Achilles, behind his desk, got up. “Good morning, Agent 5.5776. Have a seat. You can leave Bethany.”

Bethany nodded and closed the door behind her, leaving Arthur alone in the room with Achilles. Drawing a huge gulp of air, he plucked up the courage to walk up to the seat facing Achilles’ desk. He sat face to his General Supervisor. “I was told you wanted to see me about the T-INF7 project,” he said, his voice slightly trembling.

“Indeed,” Achilles answered, with a smile. He gave a yellow piece of paper. “This is the list of the people joining you in this project. As the team leader, it is in your responsibility to make sure that the team is a success. I have chosen the agents myself. They are the best this Faculty can offer, and I know it will make this project an absolute success.”

Arthur read the list. There were – counting him – thirteen agents from all the sectors. In 5.1 sector – dedicated to those with the ability to absorb other people’s abilities – there was only one agent named Joben. Arthur remembered hearing about him but he did not quite know him. In the 5.2 sector – where all the agents had a super developed intelligence – there were three people: Hansel, Esmé and Cara. Arthur was friends with Cara and they had had some classes together. Plus, Hansel was one of his best friends. In the 5.3 sector – dedicated to those who had the ability to be physically invulnerable – there were three other people: Flint and Ardelia. Flint was one of Arthur’s best friends. They had shared classes since they were old enough to talk. In the 5.4 sector – where all the agents had super developed strength and incredible speed – there were four people: Brodee and Mena (both of them had sur-developed strength) and Talib and Adam (the two of them had superhuman speed). Arthur went on a mission twice with Mena before, thus he was already acquainted with her. Moreover, he knew how impulsive and destructive she could be – this would make his job as team leader even harder. In the 5.5 sector – dedicated to those with hyper senses – he was the only one. In the 5.6 sector – where all the agents could shape shift – there was only one agent named Lisa. Lisa was infamous in the Facility as she was known to be the best shapeshifter of the entire Facility.

However, what surprised Arthur was that he saw a 5.7 agent in the list. All the agents knew of each other. Only the 5.7 sector was secluded from the other sectors. In his entire life, Arthur had never seen or worked with a 5.7 agent. They had been rumours that they were all dead – that was why no one could see them. But that was not the case since a 5.7 agent’s name was on the list. He read the nameCassandra. He figured it must be a woman. But he could not guess her ability. 5.7 agents did not have a common ability, as the other sectors did – they all had different powers. He lifted his head up. “We have a 5.7 in our team?” he asked him, still surprised by the presence of this mysteriousCassandraon the list.

He nodded. “Yes. It is a very special project that I want to build. We need a 5.7. You will meet her this afternoon. I want to organise a meeting between all the team members. Please, make her feel welcome!”

Arthur frowned. “What kind of abilities does she have?”

“She controls objects with her mind and she can do other things. It will be easier to understand once you see what she can do.” He scratched his throat and straightened a bit. “I will not give you further explanations on the project yet. I will wait a bit to do so. Get ready to take on the role of leader! I am sure you will lead this team to greatness.”

Arthur sighed. He needed to be honest with Achilles about his feelings on being team leader. “I do not feel fit to fill that role, Achilles. It is an honour to have been chosen, but I am not the right person for the job.”

Achilles did not stop to smile. “Do not worry about your capacities to be team leader, Arthur.” It was odd to hear his General Supervisor call him by his name and not his agent identification number. “You remind me of myself a couple years ago. I was scared to become team leader. But in the end, my team was the best the Facility has ever known. I know that you will turn the T-INF7 into the most successful project we’ve ever made. Trust me! I made the right decision.” Achilles got up again. “That will be all. You’re dismissed.”

Arthur sighed once again and got up as well. After a quick nod, he quickly walked out of the office. Bethany was waiting for him outside. While they were walking back to the 5.5 sector, she asked him: “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” he hastily answered. His eyes on the other end showed worry.

She stopped him in the middle of the corridor by grasping his arm. “Do not lie to me, Arthur. I can see that you’re worried.”

He looked down at her. “I am. I don’t think I am fit to be team leader. Achilles has made a mistake on this.”

She comfortingly smiled. “I don’t think he did, Arthur. You are smart and fully capable of leading a team. You are the best there is in the 5.5 sector. I know it and he knows it. You can do this. I have faith in you. I always had.” She lightly tapped his arm.

Arthur smiled. Bethany had raised him all his life. If he knew what having a mother felt like, he would easily assimilate her to a motherly figure. She was one of the rarest individuals capable to make him happy. He rarely showed joyful emotions. She was the one who was able to cheer him up and comfort him. “Thank you,” he answered, comforted by her kind words.