BetaForce - Echo Cell Part 3

16:30 June 19th, 2049
Westgate Arcology, Sector 23

The door to the 65th floor apartment flew open as a pint-sized, dark-haired ball of energy ran in through the door, heading the direction of the living room; shoes and coat dumped unceremoniously on the floor as the young boy ran in. A quick wave of his hand and the bags halted in mid fall, suspended motionless in the air. “Lee, how many times have I told you about those damn shoes!” he yelled half-heartedly; he knew the chances that his cousin would listen were remote.

“Hey Kai, what's for dinner?” was all the response he got.

Eighteen year old Kai had a slight build, with dark skin; darker than his cousin's and indicative of his Japanese-Hawaiian ancestry. He was clean-shaven with scruffy murky blond hair. His unkempt, almost uncontrollable hair was kept back by a red bandanna style headband. The long baggy blue jeans he wore trailed along the ground and he wore a white short-sleeved t-shirt underneath a black vest, the logo on which was off a local combat hockey team. Tattooed on his forearms were the kanji symbols for courage and as he shrugged off his backpack and let it fall to the floor, the metal karabiners attached to it clinked noisily.

Picking up the groceries from mid-air, he back-kicked the door closed. “I swear that boy is going to kill me one of these days,” he muttered, dodging the skateboard and bike lying on the floor in the middle of the entryway. “And you better get this lot cleaned up before your dad gets home.”

As he entered the apartment, a feminine electronic voice made itself known. “Welcome back Kai. You have five new messages one of which is from Kiba. You also asked me to remind you to complete the college application form by Monday the 21st of this month.”

“Play uncle's message.”

“Message received today at fourteen oh nine. Message begins.”

“Kai, I've got to work late again tonight. There's a couple of frozen pizzas in the freezer for you and Lee. Make sure Lee does his homework and gets to bed by nine if I'm not back before then. See you tonight.”

“Message ends. Do you wish to review the other four messages?”

“No, I'll listen to them later.”

The lights came on in the kitchen as he entered, triggered by the motion sensor registering his presence. He dropped the groceries on the metal counter and reached for the freezer door. An electronic post-it note on the freezer's smart display caught his attention. “Oven's bust.” Uncle Kiba must have forgotten about that when he left the message earlier. Ignoring it, he pulled a large pepperoni pizza out of the freezer. “Oi, sprocket, pepperoni ok with you?” he yelled in the direction of his cousin in the living room. Over the din of the latest episode of Jake Danger: Mutant Hunter he got a vague affirmative response.

After unwrapping the pizza, he placed it on a baking tray and pulled out a silver permanent marker. As he etched a series of glyphs on the black surface of the tray, he called out to Lee. “Anything interesting happen in school today?”

“Nah, not much 'cept a bunch a Uni's running around,” the younger boy said from the living room.

The glyphs faded from sight and he reached for the emergency flashlight stored in the cupboard above the counter. “UniCops? What did they want?” He said trying to keep his voice neutral.

“Miss Anderson said that it was just a routine visit checking up on security but she was lying.”

“How do you know she was lying?” As he listened to his cousin, he checked the battery in the flashlight. Satisfied that there was enough power, he bit the end of his finger and traced a complex diagram on the lens in his own blood.

“She always scratches her nose and fiddles with her glasses every time she tells us something she knows isn't true.” Lee explained. “Like the time she taught us about the bioterror attack on Africa and the quarantine afterwards. 'sides Billy said they were after some 9th grader who jumped the school fence and ran off.”

Kai held the torch over the frozen pizza and turned it on. As the light passed through the blood diagram, it was converted into heat and magnified several dozen times. The now invisible silver glyphs on the baking tray also acted as a temporal compression circle increasing the speed of time on the tray and its contents. The effect was to turn the flashlight and the baking tray into a jury-rigged microwave. After a couple of minutes, he had to swap hands holding the heavy flashlight; he may be able to violate the fundamental laws of the universe but he couldn't do anything about stopping his arm from getting tired.

As the pizza quickly cooked, he thought about what his cousin had told him. That 9th grader was probably the one his team had tried to get to before the UniCops. From what Lee had said, it sounded like they had cut it pretty close. He asked the apartment's computer to show him the text of the other four messages on the freezer's smart display. As he expected, the last one was a coded message from Virus, Tommy's online handle. “Package received intact, little wear and tear but nothing serious.” Relieved, he went back to quizzing Lee on the rest of his day.

Five minutes later the pizza was cooked, and after letting stand for a minute to cool, he took it into the living room along with a couple of plates. Jake Danger was leading a squad of valiant Unity Soldiers against a mutant stronghold, gunning down the evil terrorists with his twin Pacifier assault rifles. “How can you watch this shit?” Kai mumbled between mouthfuls of pizza.

----

Talbot had taken Toby to his office, motioning him to sit down. “So, history lesson 101,” Talbot began as he walked over to a fridge in the corner, “a long time ago in a galaxy far away there was a super team called Alpha Force.” He opened the fridge, pulled out two bottles of beer and passed one to Toby.

“You do realise I'm only fourteen right?” He asked the older man as he held the beer.

“Oh please, you're a teenage boy living in the big city. I'm sure you know of at least four stores that don't ask for ID when buying a six-pack of beer. Besides, after what you've been through today, you deserve something a little stronger than fizzy pop.” Talbot took a swig from his bottle as he sat down opposite Toby.

“Now where was I ... ahh yes, Alpha Force. Before the Unification War, Unifer's victory and the rise of the Unity, Alpha Force was the world’s greatest team of superheroes. Along with the EU's EuroForce, the UN's Overwatch, and independent teams like Legion and the Army of Light, they kept the world safe from supervillains and global disasters. They were good at their jobs too.” Talbot paused for a second, with a distant expression on his face as if remembering something from long ago. “A little too good perhaps. You see whenever some major league bad guy showed up; the hero teams would take them down. When some tin-pot dictatorship started ethnic cleansing or invaded a neighbouring country, by the time the international community had decided on the wording of their statement of condemnation, the heroes had already gone and sorted it out. Even on a local level, the indie heroes helped keep crime levels down.” As Talbot got up and began pacing, Toby began to suspect that this was a common rant of his.

“When Unifer took out Alpha Force with a single shot and shut down the world's infrastructure, his minions were taking out the other teams at the same time; a coordinated worldwide strike. With our protectors gone, everything started to fall apart and we realised how dependent we were on them. You see, we'd gotten complacent and started relying on them. By the time Unifer made his play in Washington the world didn't really know how to deal with a crisis on that scale any more. Some tried to fight, to resist Unifer's new regime. But for most, survival was the priority. After the pulse, supplies in the cites ran out pretty quickly. There was looting and rioting everywhere, what was left of the government folded within a couple weeks. Then came the collapse of the biosphere in the central states. The Unity blamed it on biological and chemical attacks by terrorists and massive climatic upheavals. But anyone with an ounce of sense knew that was a lie. With the grain belt gone, people began to starve. So called relief efforts were confined to the coastal cities where the Unity had total control and as the centre of the continent became uninhabitable that's where everyone fled. A similar thing happened to Africa. They had a quite successful resistance going until Unifer just got tired and ordered the entire continent dusted with bioweapons wiping out the entire population. Sure it was blamed on a terrorist's bioattack gone horribly wrong, but nobody back then bought it. The message was clear, fuck with the Unity and they gang bang back.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Toby asked a little confused as to where Talbot was going. Talbot sat back in his chair and looked at Toby.

“To try and make you understand the world that YOU live in and what it is that we face. After Africa everybody was terrified at what the Unity would do if people tried to rebel. Now, after 30 years of propaganda filled with subliminal programming and chemicals like G26 Paxilon-Hydrochlorate in the food and water, people don't want to rebel.”

“Can you blame them? Pollution levels in the ECM are less than 10% of New York's before Unification. The ECM has a population of 200 million compared to New York's 10, which makes that reduction all the more impressive.” Toby wasn’t convinced by his own arguments, that much was clear from the lack of conviction in his voice. “Thanks to synthetic foodstuffs and urban AgroTowers, famine has all but been abolished and climate modification technology has repaired most of the damage done by the Polynational Era. The planet's not been in better shape in the last hundred years!”

----

“Unit Delta Six,” said Central’s voice over their headsets, “sat scan confirms that the targets are still located in their apartment.”

Officer Travis rubbed his nose as his commander talked with Central. His nose had only recently been healed by the med techs after the run in with that young mutant earlier in the day. A run in that had cost the life of his older partner. He was itching for some “occupational therapy,” as his instructor had once put it.

“Be careful men,” the squad commander advised, “as far as we know, our targets do not possess any metahuman abilities but take no chances.” With a flick of his finger, the commander ordered the six-man squad of UniCops to move out and they began to approach the target's apartment. They positioned themselves around the door and the commander signalled to one of his men stationed at the building security centre to override the locking mechanism, granting them access. He held his hand up; fingers outstretched and began a silent countdown.

----

Talbot sighed; this wasn’t going as easy as he had hoped it would. “Are you seriously going to defend a government that tried to have you gunned down on the street less than three hours ago?” Toby looked away and shook his head. “I thought not. The fact is that all that 'progress' was done with a gun to our heads. But in a way you're right. Over half the population believe the lie. Most of the rest know they're being lied to and either don't believe anything can be done about it or think returning to the chaos of the Unification War is not an option. Only a tiny minority can see that there is something terribly wrong with the world and have the courage to do anything about it.” The man smiled as he remembered a line from an old movie, a quote the movie itself had taken from one of the most important documents in history. It was oddly appropriate given the current situation. “Someone once said ‘when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and provide new guards for their future security.’”

“And in English?”

“When there's something wrong, those with the ability to do something about it have the responsibility to act.”

Toby looked down at the table and took a deep gulp from the beer bottle in front of him. “Let's cut the crap okay, the only reason you're telling me any of this is you want me to sign up with your little rebellion.” He stood up, leaning forward with both hands planted firmly on the table glaring at Talbot. “Thanks for saving my ass and everything, but what help could I be? I'm still in school for chrissakes!”

Talbot looked at him for a second, the silence hanging between them. Then, in one swift motion, he reached behind him and pulled out a handgun, aiming it at Toby's forehead; the end of the muzzle just a few centimetres from the boy’s face, the laser sight illuminating his forehead. Toby froze, not moving an inch. The only sign of a reaction on his face was a slight widening of his eyes. “Despite the fact that you're still just a kid you are the strongest person on this base, not to mention the fastest and most agile. If I pulled this trigger you'd be back up and in my face within fifteen seconds max.” Putting the gun down on the table he continued. “Plus you didn't even flinch when a near-stranger pointed a gun straight at your face. You've got the guts and the ability and I know you're not stupid.”

Toby sat back down; let out the breath he had been subconsciously holding and took an even bigger gulp from the bottle. “Interesting recruitment technique you get there,” he paused while he tried to think, “Okay, let’s say I wanted in. What would ...”

He was interrupted when a wall mounted phone started to ring. “Hold that thought,” Talbot said holding up a finger as he walked over and picked up the handset. “This is Talbot, go ahead.” Toby couldn't hear who was on the other end but from Talbot's expression, it was not good news. Talbot glanced at Toby, his face grim. After a couple of minutes, he hung up and pulled out a handheld communicator. “Just got a message from Spectre, we need to intercept a UniCop snatch squad ASAP. Everyone to the hanger bay on the double. Tommy, do your thing and get Kai.” He turned to Toby as he started to leave. “Looks like we'll have to continue this conversation later.”

As Talbot got to the door, Toby stood up and caught up with him. “Look, if you need a hand I could...”

Before he could finish, Talbot turned around and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. “Maybe next time Toby. This time I really need you to stay here until we get back.” With that, he turned and began running down the corridor towards the hanger.

Toby watched him leave angrily. “So much for having the ability,” he muttered under his breath.

----

Mercifully, Kai's mobile rang giving him a convenient excuse to slip out and not endure any more of Jake Danger: Mutant Hunter. He left the living room and headed to his bedroom in order to not disturb his cousin and to ensure that the conversation was not overheard.

“S'up Tommy ... Ok, see you as soon as I can.” As he ended the call, he heard the front door open.

----

On zero, Travis opened the door and quietly entered the apartment. He was taking point partly because of the screw up that happened when he and his partner and been sent to apprehend an unregistered mutant at school earlier that day. Travis had also volunteered for this operation and had asked to take point; he had a score to settle.

Advancing into the apartment, he could hear the sounds of a TV in the living room. Raising his stunner, he took aim at the small figure silhouetted by the screen.

----

Kai stepped out into the hallway just as his uncle walked in the door. Hearing his father call out “I’m home,” Lee ran out of the living room and into his Kiba’s waiting arms. Kai waited a second as his uncle said hello to his son before interrupting.

“Stacy just called,” Lee wrinkled his nose and made puking sounds as he heard what he assumed was the name of Kai's girlfriend, “her computer's down again and she needs my help.” His uncle, on the other hand, recognised the code phrase and simply nodded.

“Don't be out too late; I need some help with the shop's inventory tomorrow.”

“I won't.” Kai knew his uncle worried about him and he wasn’t happy that his nephew was part of BetaForce. However Kiba understood why Kai had chosen to fight the Unity. Kiba’s brother and Kai’s father had been a street mage living in Honolulu and had been killed trying to liberate the island from Unity control eighteen years ago. Kiba had never known his father or mother; his father dying before he had been born and his mother fleeing the islands after giving birth to her son. Kiba had held off telling Kai about his parents, partly out of worrying that his nephew would do something stupid and partly because he didn’t know how to explain to kid that his old man was a mage who got himself and lot of people killed. He finally told Kai the truth after Kai turned thirteen. The boy’s latent magical abilities had begun to manifest but the boy did not know how to control them. Kai’s mother had left a set of notebooks written by Kai’s father. They were part journal, part treatise on magic. Learning magic helped Kai focus and settle down but it also ignited a desire to make the Unity pay for everything they had done. Kiba couldn’t stop his nephew from doing what he believed in; secretly he was proud of his nephew for following his conditions. He did lay down two conditions, that Lee never find out what his cousin gets up to and that he never bring BetaForce personnel or business home with him. Kai readily agreed, he respected his uncle too much to put his adoptive family in danger.

“Be careful,” Kiba whispered quietly, as Kai closed the front door carrying his backback.

Kai hurried down the corridor towards the emergency stairs. The door on this level had thankfully had its alarm disabled by an enterprising young mutant with technopathic powers, as had the security cameras on either side. Making sure that nobody was watching, he quickly opened the door and slipped through.

The lights were flickering in the stairwell, more off than on, and the air smelt stale. Using the flashlight on his mobile, he located a patch of graffiti on the wall; a stylised leopard with tiny Japanese characters in place of spots. Kai placed the fingers of both hands very carefully on a set of specific spots and uttered the word “Kendra.” A split second later, he was sucked into the wall.

----

Jared sat behind the controls of the Tank, the team’s primary vehicle. It resembled the bastard love child of an APC and a stubby winged aircraft. Two swivel-mounted thrusters mounted on each side of its lifting body fuselage provided propulsion and small folding wings, insufficient to provide any lift, acted as stabilizers along with a pair of vertical fins at the vehicle’s rear. The ten-meter long body was covered in dark grey armour plates, hexagonal in shape. The plates themselves were in turn coated in chameleon paint, providing reduced visibility and limited stealth capabilities. Two pods on the roof contained micromissiles and a large autocannon mounted beneath the cockpit completed its armaments. As the craft completed its boot up sequence, Jared quickly pulled on a set of charcoal grey camouflaged fatigues. Behind him, Sarah was pulling a set of her own from a storage locker. Both of their faces flush from what they had been doing in the Tank when the emergency call had come through. Although Talbot had not exactly banned relationships between team mates, they were guessed that the older man might not approve.

A console flickered and Tommy appeared in his seat accompanied by a burst of static, already in uniform, of the benefits of teleportation. Seconds later Talbot bounded up the rear loading ramp, hitting the close button as he passed it. “Kai's on his way, he'll be ready when we get there,” Tommy reported as Talbot passed him.

“Good,” Talbot responded as he sat down, fastening his safety harness, “I need you to get to the Hudson Arcoplex in quadrant 3 and see if you can shut down comms in that area.”

“You got it boss.” Without bothering to unbuckle, he shifted back to digital form and vanished.

“Jared, let's get this hunk of metal on the road so to speak, as soon as we're airborne I'll fill you two in on our targets.”

----

Left alone in the office, Toby began to pace up and down the briefing room. Talbot had made this big speech about responsibility and making a stand; trying tried to persuade him to join their group. However, the moment he had offered his help he was back to being treated like a kid. Balling his fists, he finished off the beer and started down the corridor that Talbot had ran down. He got to the hanger bay just in time to see the dust left behind as the Tank accelerated up the exit ramp.

Looking around, he saw that the hanger bay contained several vehicles. A couple of generic commercial vehicles, two ground cars, a long range cargo plane and even a familiar looking two trailer cargo drone complete with blood stains on the front grill. Nestled between these, Toby saw exactly what he was looking for, a hovercycle. The keys were even in the ignition. Without a second’s hesitation, he leapt aboard, gunned the engine, and roared off.