Project: MI
Chapter 1

The Nephilim were on the earth inthose days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters ofhumans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

Genesis-6:4

Twelveyear old Jamie Grey was up and tossing aside his blankets as soon as his alarmclock began blaring. Mashing down the snooze button, his bare feet were on thecool floor and he started snatching up clothing, hardly even taking any noticeof what he intended to wear, and instead shrugged it on. In the back of hismind, he imagined his mother scolding him for not taking care of hisappearance—and indeed, his shaggy brown hair, unable to decide if it wasstraight or wanted to curl, was in such a bed-made disarray that, when matchedwith his pale complexion, he ended up spooking people once in proper light, attimes causing him to be mistaken for a homeless child or the returned dead.

Between these two, the latter washonestly the more believable. One of the many ‘miracles’ of an earlier Age.

Giving his hair barely more than aruffle, he pulled on a pair of sneakers and was out the door.

“Heading to the park, Mom,” he saidto a thin woman passing him in the hallway upon exiting his room.

“Hm,” she grunted in a tired tone.Adjusting the collar of her business suit she gave him a quick appraisal. “Youforgot to comb your hair,” she said. Jamie gave her a quick, lopsided smile. Itwas a scold, just as he thought, but there was little life in it.

“I’ll do it later,” he repliedbefore furrowing his brow, seeing dark bags under her eyes. “You look tired.”

“The court case isn’t going anywherefast,” she sighed. As if Jamie’s words had been a reminder, her tired eyesbrightened ever so slightly as she remembered the time. “I’ve got to go. Giveus a smutz.” Leaning down she gave him a quick, and loud, kiss on the forehead.“Your father is downstairs reading the news. He’s had a bad night so try not todisturb him when you eat breakfast.”

“I’m not hungry anyway,” Jamieshrugged, stepping out of the way for his mother as she quickly moved by him.

“Have fun with your friends,” shecalled, heading down the stairs. Jamie gave a small wave before quicklyfollowing. As he did so, he passed a bedroom door with a picture of awhite-furred rabbit, marred by pink and blue crayon scribbles. He touched theknob briefly before descending down the stairs.

Outside!

The word sung in Jamie’s thoughts ashe raced down sidewalks and across the street, his direction taking him down toClarks Pathway, the route that would ultimately take him Clarksville Park, aplace that held a rather special place in Jamie’s heart—if not the world infact. It was the heart of the city that grew increasingly more wooded as one wentdeeper within. That alone was important to the young boy, as it became so farremoved from stone buildings and adults that it took on an almost magical, wild quality to it that always seemed tochange whenever one stepped inside. One never knew what to expect once theywere inside—save for the presence of mosquitoes, who seemed to be everywhere—atleast to Jamie. One of his friends, a slightly older boy by the name of JustinPage, decried the whole place as one gigantic waste of space full of nothing buta swamp of green. One that, thanks to the insidious buzzing, blood-drinkinginsects, threatened to eat him alive.

“Toeach their own,” the voice of the same boy said in Jamie’s mind, causinghim to smile. It wasn’t as though they never hung out in the place togetherregardless of the perils.

Jamie quickly entered the fringes ofthe park, a wide open field of grass, the ‘shoreline’, such as it were, and oneof the many islands of open space that occasionally broke the thick foliage.Passing by a pair of morning joggers he gave them a quick wave before veeringoff to the left and plunged in the direction of a wall of trees. Disappearingwithin the small forest, he plowed unmindfully through the brush. He knew theroute by heart now, so he had no worry about getting lost.

“Hey!” Jamie called out after a fewminutes of battling his way through entangling bushes. “Monster! Are you stillout there?”

From off in the distance, he heard aloud ‘woof’. An eager smile spread across his face and he picked up his pace.Breaking into a clearing, he set his eyes first on the statue that stood in thecenter and then down toward its leg, where a red leash was tied. Following itspath, his gaze fell upon a small, dog-like creature. ‘Dog-like’, but not a dog,as the resemblance was born only by its physical similarity, at least as far asits shape went. Most dogs however tended to not have six legs, nor did theyhave two heads.

They also most certainly did nothave midnight-purple fur.

The dog-like creature barked againat Jamie, and smiling the boy made his way over to him and took hold of two ofthe four floppy ears, giving both heads a good scratching. Groaningpleasurably, the two heads leaned into his hands, seeking to soak in as much ofthe attention as possible.

“Sorry that I had to leave you outhere,” Jamie said, removing his hands and taking hold of the leash so he coulduntie it. “You understand though, right?”

The two dog-heads tilted to oneside, four eyes focused on him. Jamie sighed. He heard that Cerberus’ couldunderstand human language, but in the short time he had known this one—albeitless than twenty-four hours—it showed no sign that it did so at all.

Thenagain, these guys usually have three heads, and I’ve never heard of one thathad purple fur. He furrowed his brow as he slipped the leash off fromaround the statue’s leg. Cerebrus’ were typically bred to be guard dogs, buttheir ownership was tightly controlled due to their temperament. This onewas…an oddity to say when compared to others of his brethren, but one he wasgrateful for. He liked oddities.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Jamie said,getting up. “I’ll take you back to my place in a little bit. Dad’ll have goneto work by then, so I’ll be able to get you some food. What do you think aboutthat?”

The two heads barked as one andJamie made a slightly frustrated face at him. “Yeah, I figured you’d understandthat.”

Before they left, Jamie took amoment to eye the statue that had served as the dog’s makeshift shelter. Itdepicted a man in a kneeling position wearing what appeared to be a stylishcostume with a blazing sun-like logo centered on his chest. A cape billowedbehind him, one hand grasping the ground while the other hovered in front ofthe sun symbol, as though in prayer to the gods. Jamie remembered that, onceupon a time, just what gods he prayed to.

Whatwas he fighting again? he wondered, trying to remember what he learned inhis history class. There were many statues like this one—eight in Clarkesvillealone—depicting different ‘Heroes of the world’ and most were in the sameposition as this one. Here, only one of them stood out in one of the openislands where the public regularly mingled.

Ohyeah, now I remember, Jamie thought, brightening up a little. Smilingagain, he gave the statue a snappy salute.

“Thanks forsheltering Monster,” he said to the statue before turning his head back down tothe Cerberus. “C’mon. Let’s go.” Giving a sharp click of his tongue, he tuggedon the leash so that they could get moving. No sooner did the animal start todo so did brush snap loudly behind him. Startled, Jamie spun around and nearlytripped over his feet. Behind him stood a bearded man wearing a ball capstumble into the clearing, a bewildered, panicked look on his face. His smalleyes sighted on Jamie and he lurched toward him.

“He-help me…” he wheezed. Jamieinstinctively took a step toward the man, concern appearing instantly in hismind before common sense could take hold.

“Hey, are you all right?” he askedas the man fell in front of him, already dropping down to help him. Before hecould say or do anything else, the man suddenly stood up and grabbed Jamie bythe head, pulling him forward. There was a flash of light as a syringe suddenlyappeared in the man’s free hand and he stabbed it next to Jamie’s sternum. Inthe next moment pain exploded in his chest and his mouth contorted into a screamas it worked its way up into his skull. Through the lightning-charged noisecrashing in his head, he found that he wasn’t screaming at all. The only thingmaking any noise at that moment was tiny Cerberus, barking and growling likemad at the man that was attacking the boy.

Somehow, Jamie found himselfgripping the man’s wrists, struggling to pull them apart. The air was cracklingwith electrical energy now, snapping and snaking around the two. Every part ofJamie’s body screamed for release…but the man refused to let go.

“Not…just…yet,” the man rasped,tightening his grip on Jamie’s head. In response, Jamie gritted his teeth andtried to pull. He failed. He didn’t know how, but something was preventing himfrom doing so, just as something was now keeping him from crying out. He gaspedas he felt a particularly powerful jolt course its way through his arms andmeet in the center of his chest. His heart gave a nasty lurch and for one longmoment, he swore that it ceased beating altogether. His hands dropped to hissides, and he hung there limply, his legs somehow supporting him.

There was another loud bark from theCerberus. He barely heard it in the darkness that was closing in on his senses,but it was there, and it sounded angry. The pressure of the man’s hands on hishead loosened, and dimly he heard a loud curse followed by a yelp of pain—asmall animal in pain.

“Don’t you dare…!!!” Something snapped inside Jamie just then. His handsgrabbed hold of the man’s wrists and he pulled sharply, throwing as muchstrength as he possibly could into it. This time there was a loud snap and theman’s fingers went dead. He screamed, causing Jamie to jump back quickly, hiseyes bewildered as he saw the horrific, bloody angle that the man’s wrists nowhung at.

“Wha…” Jamie choked out, trying to makesense of the scene before him. Suddenly the man was no longer screaming, butinstead laughed, almost in relief.Jamie barely took note of it though as his eyes remained stuck on the twisted,mangled arms. “Ah… Ah…”

He couldn’t bear to look anymore. Hiseyes recoiling in terror, they rapidly swung around to locate the Cerberus. Theanimal was lying on the ground, a scar of singed fur marring his purple coat.He was already getting up though, both sets of fangs barred and growling.

“Monster!” he called, and the dog’s earsperked up. He was on his feet—wobbly but he was moving—and quickly raced overto where Jamie stood. Quickly snatching up his friend, Jamie spun and bolted,leaving the cap-wearing man behind, slumping down to his knees, his armshanging by his side like dead weights.

“It’s over,” the man wheezed,collapsing forward, the syringe falling to the ground. “It’s done.”

Behind him he heard the sound of amechanical whining, getting closer with each passing second. He signed inresignation and turned to look over his shoulder. It was a quant curiosityreally. He knew what to expect. Which was why he was not surprised when he sawa cloud of black orbs with a single glass eye, glowing red, surging toward him.

Jamie raced down the beaten path,his heart beating a gloriously alive—if frantic—pace within his chest. He threwa look over his shoulder to see if there was any sign of pursuit, but in hishaste he found himself tripping over a root before he could get a good look. Hesmashed into the ground—biting his tongue in the process and drawing some blood—causingthe Cerberus to yelp in his arms.

“Ah!” he exclaimed, struggling offthe dog. “I’m sorry, Monster! I’m…Monster!!!”

Before his frightened eyes, thepuppy took off at a run, dragging his leash behind him. Jamie staggered to hisfeet, trying to go after him, but all at once his muscles cramped up, causinghim to collapse to the ground in a crumpled heap.

“M-Monster…” he groaned, digging hisfingers into the dirt and trying to pull himself back up. He had to replace theCerberus. He had to…

A shadow fell over him just then,and looking up, the boy found himself staring at the glowing red eye of ablack, metal orb. He recognized it and he felt himself grow cold as he staredinto its glaring, lifeless sight.

“Areyou all right, citizen?” the black sphere asked in its indifferent,mechanical voice. It didn’t sound in the least like it cared; as though thequestion were a mere formality that had to be done and over with in order toget on with its job.

Trembling, Jamie opened his mouth tospeak, but no words made their way past his lips. Looking up past the orb, hesaw a flock of orbs rapidly approaching. A feeling of electricity surgedthrough him and at once the orb shook.

“Alarm!”it shouted. “Heroi Q-Field detected! Allunits converge on…!”

Gripping the sides of his head,Jamie screamed as power welled up inside him and shot outward. The orb, caughtin the wake of the explosion, shattered like glass, sending bits of shrapnelflying in all directions. Jamie fell back under the onslaught, the sharp metalcutting into his arms and face. He lay there for a moment, shaking whilepeeking past his arms. More orbs were approaching, albeit cautiously, eyes redand focused on him. He staggered to his feet, breathing heavily.

I’vegot to get out of here, he thought. He knew he was panicking, but right nowpanic seemed to be about as good as anything to do. He felt the buzz ofelectricity around him again and, without him noticing, he began to lift upfrom off the ground.

A red dot of light appeared on hisshirt and in the next moment Jamie recoiled as a circle of fire burst on hisshirt. Jamie fell back to the ground, swatting at the small flame in the hopesof putting it out. Out! Out! O…huh?His chest was cold all of a sudden, and a sparkling sheen of ice appearedmaterialized beneath his touch. How didthat…?

He had no time to complete thethought as the flock of orbs swarmed around him. Red lights lit up all aroundhis body.

The last thought Jamie had before theorbs opened fire was of Monster, and how he wished he could fly.

“Targetis secure,” spoke up a female voice on the other end of the phone. Thered-headed man holding it nodded. His eyes were expressionless and flat, andwhen he spoke his tone held all the emotion of stone.

“Very well, Agent Foster,” DirectorBurton said. “Process him and file a report.”

Hanging up, he turned toward thelarge view screen hanging on the wall of his office. The screen displayed afigure, their identity shrouded by a series of pixels.

“Adam Bishop is being brought in,”he told the figure. “It seems however that he accomplished his goal.”

“Hnnn…”the figure replied. Their voice was deep and distorted. “Most unfortunate. He moved too quickly. I’m afraid that we can’t keepthis incident a secret. It is likely you will be recalled once word reaches thetop brass.”

“Likely,” Burton agreed with anod of his head.

“Thisis a high cost operation. To think that Adam Bishop would do this…”

“I’ll handle the cleanup.” Burtonadjusted his tie, and for a moment his eyes suggested tension. “Should be theleast I can do, seeing as how the Firsthas been activated prematurely. Don’t worry about it.”

“Iwon’t,” the figure replied. “But youshould, Director Burton. This is your jurisdiction after all. The First wasunder your watch as was Bishop.” The figure leaned back. “Don’t screw things up any further than theyalready are. The First is at a critical stage now, and he can’t be terminatedyet.” The figure paused before continuing, “Provided that he does not do so on his own. Becoming a heroi is amessy process after all. More so with the lack of maturation that was supposedto occur…”

“I’ll see to my end,” Burtonsaid. “You just see to yours.”

“Thatis all either of us can do,” the figure nodded. “All right. I’ll leave you to do just that. Good luck.”

The country will most certainly needit,Burton thought as the figure ended the telecom.