Book 1 A Dawning of Power

Act 1 Voices

Chapter 1 God of Hunger

Magdalen St. Frances walks through he halls of the catacombs under the church of Jesuit deep in the heart of the Italian country side. it is an old church, maybe one of the oldest, some of the parts of the church having been here since the Theodora empire. Magdalen walks with her head down, she rubs her eyes, a piece of paper clenched in on fist. The words on the page echoing in her thoughts.

***

To: The House of Cardinals

I, Lances Jacob, have served the church as a knight of the Jesuit for forty years now. I woke up this morning in the grip of fear. A fear I could not turn my back on. You have asked me to lie for you, and I have lied. I have been from one side of the world to the other, I have been to all the most beautiful churches around the world. I have seen all the most amazing artifacts we have unearthed. But now I have awoken, I have seen that all the things I have done, all the things I have seen it has never been more then fear.

I have studied hard. I have help proliferate a society of fear. But I can no longer. I am no longer impressed by pascal's wager, I can no longer be impressed by illusion.

I have talked already to the bishop, I will be taking $250 for food and gas, the rest of my pension I should like to donate. I am sure you know who need the money most. I will be returning to Maine, I wish to track down my younger sister, see if the life I left behind is still there.

From: Father Lances Jacob

***

Magdalen finds a dead-end room, she pulls a bar across the door to lock I then she reaches up onto the wall and pulls down a flail. She takes a hard breath. "I cannot allow myself to question such things. My truth is the only truth." One hand unties her cloak and habit Magdalen drops her clothes on the ground making herself nude in preparation for her penance She swings the flail down then goes to swing it behind herself, slashing herself with the whip.

In the empty room with Magdalen a hand appears, gripping her arm to stop her from flagellating. Magdalen looks up, a murder of crows have appeared in the room a man stands before her. He is dressed in a ruffled shirt straight out of the 17thcentury, a black velvet coat over it, oily black hair, flower white skin, violet gemstone eyes. He has fangs peeking over his lips, and sharp ears. "there is no need for that, I have other work for you." He speaks in a low soothing voice.

"who forth are thou?" the old women asks

"Eil, Ala, Yahweh, Joshua, Jehovah, the Christ." He explains "are a few names of mine you may know. "Mammon, Crow, Cravixs." He smiles "I can go on. But names mean so little next to actions."

Magdalen drops the whip and walks backwards a few steps "God?" she whispers.

"A god." Mammon whispers "the word god is a descriptive term. It describes a magical anthropomorphic immortal. But I suspect that you knew that already. I for one am the youngest of four sibling gods."

Magdalen falls to her knees looking up at the holy being "how may I serve you my lord?"

Mammon walks around her looking her up and down "I did not order you to kneel." Cravixs takes a deep breath turning his eyes to the sky "that may be the most frustrating part of your race. I don't think you could understand this but you could be co-equal to me. Tall, powerful, beautiful. If only you hunt for wisdom without fear." He waves his hand and she forcibly stands, lifted to her feet by a mystical wind. He then snaps and a scroll falls to the ground at her feet. "read aloud the words written on that page."

Magdalen swoops down to pick up the paper "what is this?"

Cravixs explains "an incantation. Nothing more. Three words. Easy as can be."

She looks up "why?"

Crow because aggravated, he howls like a monster and as a shadow grips her by the chest and walks her into the wall, bestially he leans forward getting nose to nose, his fangs grow over his lips, his eyes bleed fire. "do as you are told women. I can be kind or a can be cruel. Your choice. Read the words or I will find someone else to do it."

Cravixs can crush St. Francis. He holds her to the wall, slowly he applies pressure to her. She knows that any second now he will slay her, quickly, thoughtlessly just like a god would. "forgive me." Magdalen growls weakly as she is struggling to push off the wall.

The hungry god smiles, his mood lightens as quickly as it has soured, he sets her down. "granted." He takes a few steps away "I am a god of mercy. Therefor I will suspend justices." He folds his hands into the shape of a diamond "read the scroll and I will rain blessings onto you."

Magdalen picks up the scroll and whispers the words on it "Ut det vobis." She thinks "this scroll is written in Enock." She translates it in her head "I grant you."

Crow smiles as he hears the words spoken aloud. "thank you." He spins to face the cardinal " you will never again feel pain, once you step out of his room you will be 30 years younger. You will be stronger then you have ever been, more beautiful. But your cousin Joseph will not notice what you have done."

"What did I do?" she doesn't understand the power of the words she has spoken

"you have unlocked a door. One I could not open for myself. Soon, everyone will slip into dreams. I will baptize the world with fire. Once I have found the rest of 'the key bearers'." Crow and the flock of birds with him vanish as quickly as they came. Leaving behind nothing but a hand full of feathers flouting to the ground to show they had even been there.

Magdalen looks down at her hands as she grows young "key bearers?"

"let me tell you about the future you have possible. I'm the coming days 2996 will die when I mighty church burns to the ground. A second sun will appear in the sky over New York in the dead of night. Four towers will fade into another world. A bug like no other will appear only days after that, beast will talk, the stars will vanish from the sky. You Magdalen St. Francis have helped me change the shape of the cosmos."

Chapter 2 Prelude to the all Metal Angel

High in a tower in New York city, deep in the heart of a R&D building, Tail Opens her eyes. Tail is a red-haired fox girl with a halo of nine tails, she lays on the ground of a glass box curled into a ball. her eyes snap open as the lights in her room turn on. A voice comes over the speaker in the room.

"Tail can you hear me?"

Tail sits up, she looks herself up and down, her stomach has been shaved, there are stitches running along her underbelly. She gasps as she runs her hand along the cut in her stomach. She yelps and growls as she swallows her pain. Tail looks to the mirror in the room and nods acknowledging the voice.

"Tail, you have been asleep for seven months." the voice explains "during your physical an alien object was detected in your body. It has been removed."

Tail crawls across the room picking up the white rode she had been given "Marks, is mom with you?" she slips the robe on covering her naked body.

The voice of Marks clicks across the speaker "Dr. Mercedes Vixon is not available at this time." Tail looks down at her hands, she rubs her fingertips together noticing she seems to have developed spots and paw pads in her sleep Marks can see what Tail is doing, he offers information freely "I have taken the liberty to make an alteration to your body in your sleep. A self-defiance tool. I have added to your body a hormone gland capable of generating a caustic powder similar to that of Magnesium phosphate."

Tail rolls her hands looking at herself "You gave me a gland that generates burning gas?"

Marks goes on "you were in a fight if you don't recall, I thought you may need a weapon. In order to activate this, you will need to force your heartrate above 120 beats per minute."

Tail nods along "well that is cool."

Marks speaks up "Mr. Dem-Row would like to know how soon you will be ready to go back to school."

"Tomorrow." Tail looks into the mirror examining herself in it "Dad. I feel hallow."

"the object we removed from your body was seven pounds and four ounces, it was pushing up on your stomach forcing it up into your ribcage. It should take only a few more days before your body returns to it's intended shape."

Tail wags her halo of tails, she turns around resting her back to the glass, she turns her head upwards looking into the mirror upside-down "Dad, can we go biking?" she smiles brightly into the reflection knowing that Marks Karingson is on the other side of the glass watching her.

Marks clicks on the radio one more time to talk to Tail "I will be down in a few seconds. I need to go get you a clearance tag."

***

The door to the observation room opens, an old ill looking man walks into the room with Marks. Marks turns in his chair. Marks is a century old man with silver hair, long and flowing, and bronze skin, a cat cage sites on the floor alongside him a black cat in the cage with a red caller on with a bell and a then name Nuku stitched onto the caller.

The sick man covers his mouth as he coughs, he wipes his hands on his coat then looks to Dr. Karingson "Is Tail M-00-1 functional again?"

Marks leans over slightly in his chair, he rests his arm on the speaker tripping the microphone, he knows what he did, he wants Tail to overhear the conversation he and Dem Row are going to have. "Mr. Dem Row, I want to ask, how did my synthetic get damaged in the first place?"

Dem Row shakes his head "I have no idea."

Marks smiles "don't play games with me Dem Row. I know what a 'C-Section' is, and I was given an order to eject Tail with a 'Nero Disrupting' agent. It will take months for Tail to recover from what we did to her. I know what you are doing, Mercedes knew also, that is why she left."

Dem Row rest his back on the wall. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Mark explains "you have been having Tail subjected to experiments without my or her express consent. Now tell me, what about the other synthetics, Neil, Jude?"

Dem Row shakes his head laughing "You have no idea what is going on do you."

"Tail was pregnant when I clocked out yesterday. There are very few ways one gets pregnant. Now, why Tail? what are you trying to do?"

Dem Row grins "because she was the first of the synthetics to reach maturity."

Marks nods in understanding "From here on out only I will have contact with Tail." he leans forward resting his hands on he knees "should I discover that my experiments have been tampered with and my wishes not heeded, I will withdraw from the project, and you Mr. Dem Row will find it challenging to continue without me."

There is a moment as the men watch each other. The star one another down waiting to see what the other will do. Dem Row breaks the silences. "I will bring your concerns to Shaun, I am confident he can clean up all of this for us."

Marks smiles, he places a hand on the side of his face and folds his legs "I think that would be best."

Dem Row goes to exit the room, he freezes for a moment digging around in his pockets, he pulls out a card and rolls it around in his hand looking down at it "Marks." He asks,

Marks replays "Dr. Karingson if you would please."

Dem Row continues his thought "you have an interest in ancient language, don't you?"

Marks nods "back in the 60's I had spent some time as a translator of archaic lore."

Dem Row turns to face Marks, he hands him the card. "I fond this, do you know what it is?"

Marks lowers his eyes looking over the card "this card has a phrase written in Samarian on it."

Dem Row nods along "I thought so. Can you read it?"

Marks turns his eyes up looking at Dem Row, he takes a long second thinking hard. "I think my time is better spent continuing my work on chromosome manipulation and genetic augmentation. Word puzzles are no longer of any interest to me."

Dem Row looks aggravated, he knows well that Marks can read this, Dem Row needs Marks to speak this statement aloud. But somehow Marks knows what he is doing. Marks practically teases him with his snark. Marks turns to face Tail. Marks declares. "I will be bringing Tail down to the physical therapy room, then I will be continuing observing Tail's progress.

Dem Row bites a finger irritated. "As you wish Dr. Karingson."

^^^^

Marks opens the door to Tail's room; the elderly doctor takes Tail by the hand and leads her down the hall and to one of the lower floors. Claw Co. Tower is a military base, only small sections of the compound are open to Tail, and she is only let out of her room when she is with Marks. Dr. Karingson provides Tail with a tank top and white tights.

As they step into the gym Tail is watching Marks, she snarls as she barks at him "you tried to kill me."

Marks turns on the tv and starts up a vhs player, an ballet is on. Tail has seen this one a dozen time, "Swan Lake." Marks looks to his creation "if murder was my intention I would have chosen a much more potent elixir to do so with." Marks waves off to the bikes in the room "What do you way we start with cardio?"

Tail climbs on a bike alongside Dr. Karingson "you are calm enough."

"my military record has me listed as have over two hundred confirmed kills." Marks explains "what would one more dead body be to me?"

Tail leans over onto the handlebar of her bake starting to ride the stationary "you were in the service?"

"at my time of retirement, I was a brigadier general, I served from January 8 1916 - October 28 1977"

Tail looks over "that is like 61 years? You held in there."

Marks nods "didn't leave willingly, the 20-year-olds were getting tired of being shown up by a 80-year-old man in better shape than they would ever be." Marks smiles.

Tail grunts "bet you have some stories to tell."

Marks sets the timer on his bike to 35 minutes. "on more than one occasion my senior officers tried to order me to my death. Much to their announce I finished the job then came back to report on a job well done. On one mission even being scent behind enemy lines armed with little more then a knife and a spool of dynamite to disable a transport depo."

After some time of biking the two move over to free weights, Tail spots for Marks as he lays on the bench to do a set of presses. "with you having spent so much time on the ground as a trooper, where did you find time to become a doctor?"

"I wasn't actively diploid the hole time. Every time I was on leave I spent I spent time in school. I ended up with eight degrees in advanced sciences. Became even easier after I was transferred to DC"

Tail looks down at her father "what are you a doctor of?"

"Biology, chemistry, physics, pharmaceutical medicine, electrical engineering, cybernetics, computer programming, amongst others."

Tail tips her head "what about your wife?"

Marks breaths deep as he focuses on his work "you mean 'where do I find time for my wife.' My mirage is a sham. Ako never loved me. Everyone knows that. The idea that we had a daughter together was nothing shy of statistically unlikely seeing that Ako and I have only ever slept together once."

Tail helps Marks hang up the weight bar. "you sure she is yours?"

Marks nods as he sits up "strange as it is, yes. I had Tarra tested for genetic markers, the chances she is not mine less then one in 15 million."

Tail switches laying on the bench and Marks spots for her "that is high enough of a number. What does one in 15 million mean? How do you get to that number?"

"Genome testing. Every family has a number of 'scars' on their genomes. You can check your lineage, everyone in your family will have the same markings, the same anomalies. Tail, because a piece of my genetic code was used in your conception, if we test you, we could confirm you and I are from the same family."

After a few rounds on the bench the two of them start working a punching bag. This time Marks starts the conversation "Tail, do you think you are human?"

Tail leans into the bag throwing a few punches. "I don't know, I mean I know I am not a human, but maybe I am a person. What do you think the word personhood means?"

Marks leans over the bag holding it still, he holds out a hand palm up to stop Tail "That is the right question."

Tail lowers her hands to her sides "dad, am I a mother?"

Marks refuses to reply.

***

The next mouth goes much the same. Marks wakes Tail up at 6am every day, they spend 2 hours working out, then breakfast. Next, they go to the library, the two spend much of the day reading. Then after 6pm Tail is aloud to bathe, then at 7pm she is sent to her room. Then her nightly testing. Every day one of Marks' assistance sets up a puzzle and Tail is expected to salve the puzzle.

When Marks enters the observation room with anticipation of settling in to watch Tail as he has for nights on end. But this is where the day becomes abnormal. The observation room is crowded when Marks steps in. some of the most respected people working in the tower are there waiting for Marks.

The person nearest to the door as Marks walks in is Shaun Clawed Licutuse he is the president of Claw Co Industries he is a middle-aged man, he is bulky with a sharp chin line, he looks like he could have been a boxer if he were only a few years younger. Next is Dr. Allen Wesker, once Marks assistant, now he is in charge of his own department, Allen has short blond hair, and is the strange sort of man that wears sunglasses day or night. Leaning over looking out the window is Dr. Juan Sanchez, he is from Spain, he has a handlebar mustache. Then there is Phillip Rhys, after Marks, Rhys is the most respected scientist working on sight, he is a tall lanky man, When Rhys first started working in the lab people called him 'Beanstalk'.

But then there is one-person Marks doesn't know, a Korean woman with tan hair and bronze skin, her eyes wide, her skin smooth. She looks young and strong, she looks barely out of her 20's, she must be the youngest person in the room.

Marks tucks his arms behind his back. "and how is this?" he points at the one women in the room.

The women holds out a hand, "Dr. Lichi Lin."

Marks looks her up and down "what department are you with?"

Shaun slides up alongside Marks "she works in embryology. She was sent here by NATO, she was CDC, bright girl. I like her." Marks and Shaun have known each other since Marks still worked at D.C.

Marks looks around the room. "this lab is under quarantine. I do not recall signing off on any of you coming in here." Marks goes cold as he approaches his chair.

Shaun places a hand on the back of Marks chair "Marks you have been sequestered in this room for mouths. I need to know what is going on in here."

Rhys looks back and forth between Marks and Tail "is that T-00-01? She has changed since the last time I was allowed to see her." Marks nods in reply.

Allen looks down into Tails room "Where did she get that robe? Has it been destaticed? That is a bio safe room, any synthetic-fabrics could interfere with the micro-field."

Juan slides up along side Marks with a wide grin as he looks at Marks, he brings a hand down and grips Marks by the arm as if to confirm form himself that Marks is really there. Juan mumbles shyly "I saw your article in 'Nature' last month."

Shaun cuts off Juan "Marks, what do you have Tail doing right now?"

Marks crosses his legs, one arm reaches across his chest to cradle the other arm, his head lowers into the palm of one of his hands, his weight leans slight to one side as he looks down into Tail's enclosure "I have provided Tail with an unsolvable puzzle. When she opens her laptop, she will find a program running, a diagram of a cancerous protein will be spinning in the upper corner of the screen and a list of 5000 ribosomes will be scrolling down the other side. as well as instructions to synthesize a portion that will kill the cancer cells attached to the protein without damaging its host in any way."

Shaun looks excited, Lichi presses herself to the glass watching enthusiastically. Shaun whispers with Marks "What if she does it?"

Marks lowers his eyes with a knowing smile "she will not."

Shaun insist "but what if?"

"The game is rigged. It doesn't matter what she does she will not finish the game." Marks looks around the room "no one speak again until the test is over." Marks flips on the microphone. Tail has already gotten to work looking over her computer and the instructions to the test. Marks addresses Tail. "Do you understand the rules to this game?"

Allen leans into Marks to whisper with him "What is the point of all of this?"

Marks clicks off the microphone "were my instructions unclear?"

Allen nods and leans against the wall waiting, watching.

Tail looks to the mirror "Dad, this looks like a big one. This is going to take me a minute." Tail lays on her stomach, her tails fan and her arms cross under her breast. The light from the computer illuminates her face, she scrolls through her computer, looking over her puzzle.

Tail turn her head slightly, her tails wag as she thinks hard. Her mind dances as her eyes jet side to side. she doesn't need to compare the images with the computer, being able to simple see the images her mind can almost instantly overlay the images. Tail looks up to the mirror "Dad, where did these images come from?"

Lichi turns to face Marks, Marks understands what Lichi wants to ask. Marks cuts her off at the pass, he clicks off the microphone turning to face Lichi "Tail has been calling me Dad ever since she was exposed to INT-23."

"What is INT-23?" Lichi ask for clarification

Shaun starts off "it is a mind-altering chemical produced by our lab."

Allen adds on "it has been one of our biggest money makers over the last year. it is a fun little toy, stick a needle of it into someone and you can start overwriting memories."

Lichi nods "interesting."

Tail calls up again "Dad?" she stands up and approaches the glass. "Dad? Can you hear me?" she brings her hands up to cup them around her eyes to try to look into the observation room.

Marks flips the microphone back on "Tail please step away from the glass."

Tail slaps the glass becoming frustrated as her mind is still scrolling through the images. Looking at the shapes on the screen has downloaded them into her mind and triggered a subroutine. One ear drops, one leaning in staring into her eyes might even see the computer screen reflected in the lenses of her eyes.

"the cell you are looking at has been infected by a cancerous parasite code named H01N12." Marks explains to Tail.

Tail walks back and forth, she folds her arms, her nose wiggles her head twitches. Faster and faster the images flash in her mind, one by one every possibility is rejected, she reaches the end of the list then starts over. Tail looks back to the glass "there are missing files." She proclaims.

Marks whispers into the microphone. "I have provided you with all the data that has been made available to me. Salve the puzzle."

Tail walks around, her hands find the back of her head as she scans over and over. Tail whispers to herself "this is wrong. There is something not clicking." Tail starts to look angry at herself.

Sanchez bites one of his figures "she can't do it. She has failed."

Marks hold up a hand to silence Juan. Rhys widens his eyes "Dr. Karingson doesn't want her to salve it, that isn't what he is testing for."

Shaun looks to Marks "what are we testing her for?"

Marks smiles "Empathy."

Tail freezes in place "Dad." She spines to face Marks again "Is this a natural or artificial substance?"

Marks leans in "It is real."

Tail reaches down rubbing her stomach as she ponders, she barks "I can fix this," she bounces up and down "But I need to use the lab."

Shaun takes the Microphone from Marks to talk to Tail "T-00-01, that is not going to happen. You are a bio organic weapon, a prototype. If you make any attempt to leave this floor without an escort I swear I will irradiate this hole wing of the compound."

Tail whispers "I can live with that."

Marks stands up and places a hand on Shaun's chest pushing him away from the radio. There is a stand off as Shaun regains his footing, Shaun as if on reflex reaches into his coat looking for a weapon. Marks holds a hand out imposingly. These men a both warriors, the men hold their ground.

Rhys calls out "here, here, here." He waves the group in close, "Tail is doing something."

The group leans on the glass looking out into Tail's room. Tail has knelt down in front of her computer. She is typing franticly. Tail can type faster then almost anyone could ever have. Allan turns his gaze back and forth around the room "what is she doing?" Lichi holds up a hand to ordering Allen to silence himself wordlessly.

All at once every pager in the room hums. The message "Check your E-mail." Scrolls across the screen. Marks is the first to respond. He spins in his chair and opens his email in box. Tail has sent a message to Marks, and a dozen other people in the building. The group gathers around. Lichi whispers with Marks "what this?"

Marks starts to read over a document dozens of pages long. "If we can manipulate the infected cell into change its behaviors it may be possible to convince the cancer to infect itself resulting in mass systemic network breakdown in the gene makeup, we can destroy this sickness by impregnating it and..." Marks freezes for a moment "Interesting, Tail may have solved a puzzle that was programed to be unsolvable by circumventing the rules." Marks leans in staring hard at the page. He whispers to himself "Tail, do you have any idea what you are proposing."

Rhys places his hands on Marks shoulders leaning over him to read along "A cure for death?"

Marks extrapolates "A cure for everything. If what Tail is saying is right. We could weaponize bacteria, train them to attack other bacteria, impregnate them and multiply at a geometric rate. Maybe, maybe even use them to repair and replace dead cells. Rewrite DNA, make people ... better." Slowly Marks' mouth drops open, he quivers in his chair, Tail on a dare has stumbled across something that can change history. If what Tail has proposed is correct, evolution can be force, corralled, scryed, and guided.

Marks slaps his keyboard and powers down his computer. He looks around the room in the fever of fear. Marks has never felt as overwhelmed as at this moment. "out, now!" he start pushing people out of the observation room. Marks need to be alone, he needs to think.

As Juan goes to leave. Marks grips him by one arm. Marks locks the door behind Dr. Sanchez. Sanchez looks Marks up and down "Can I be of assistance Dr. Karingson?"

Marks nods. "I don't know you, and that mean I can trust you."

Juan looks confused "what do you mean?"

Marks reaches into the pocket of his coat and withdraws a fist full of cash "$500,000. I need a truck, one with a refrigeration unit. 21 feet minimum."

Juan doesn't understand, "Dr. Karingson. We have truck..."

Marks cut him off "I need one in your name. not a government truck, not business."

"Why?" Juan shrugs.

"I fear I may not live forever, and I have affairs that need to be attended."

Juan shakes his head, "I don't understand."

Marks forces the money into Juan's pocket "You don't need to understand. Buy me a truck that is all I need you to do, for now."

***

Tail sits in her room, she pulls her legs up to her chest, her laptop left across her thighs. It has been days since she has heard from Marks, or anyone else. Twice a day the shutter on her room will open and a bowl of soup is pushed in. Tail has had to struggle to find ways to keep herself entertained. Pushing her bed to the wall and practicing parkour has been one pass time, writing math formulas on the walls of her cage is another.

As Tail stares at the computer screen a strange email alert blinks on the screen. Tail tips her head and opens the email, she reads the message aloud partly.

'01010100 01100001 01101001 01101100 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 01100111 01101111 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100111 01100101 01110100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000 01101111 01110101 01110100 -Agent L- '

Tail grunts, "well that is strange."

The lights in the room blink, her computer is forced into shutdown, then complete power failure. Gunshots ring out in the hallway. Tail stands up, this is something she has never seen. Yes, there are soldiers on base, them Tail has seen, but they don't do anything. The soldiers most of the time just stand around and watch the doors.

The door to Tail's cage opens. Lichi Lin pushes the door open, "Tail Vixon, it is time to leave."

Tail is stunned, she has no idea what is going on, she has been cut off for weeks. Lichi grabs Tail by one arm and pulls her forward. Tail stumbles forward forcible following Lichi. Lichi walks out into the hallway, Tail tucked behind her back.

A gun gripped in one hand Lichi explains. "I work for the Society of Letters, currently under contract by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. I was sent here originally to investigate Allen Wesker..." Lichi rounds a corner and sweeps her gun across her field of view to make sure the road head is still secure.

Tail still trying to catch up replies "what?"

"Allen is a weapons smuggler. For years now, we suspect he has been has been actioning off military hardware to privet investors..." Lichi pushes Tail into a closet then slips in behind her. Lichi points at a trunk in the room. "open that."

Tail nods "ok." She kneels down and pops open the box "my gym clothes are inside, and a pullover."

"Put them on please." Lichi request "I told my partner 'N' about you, and about the formula you should us the other day. I was instructed get you to the university at any cost."

Tail discards her house coat and pulls on the gym clothes "Why?"

Lichi peeks out into the hallway "because the math is good, the concept probable. Dr. Karingson saw it also. Tail," Lichi turns to look at the fox "you changed everything when you wrote that formula. Millions of dollars, hundreds of people, redirected to work on your hypothesis. That is why I was ordered to secure you."

Tail giggles as she adjusts the waistband of her tights "we are on the 47th floor of a military compound, I am pretty secure at the moment."

Lichi lowers her guard for a moment, her voice turns soft and motherly "Tail, you are something rare and beautiful. You deserve better then living in a glass box."

Lichi leads Tail out of the closet and to the elevator in the conjoining hallway. Lichi uses her badge to activate and unlock the elevator. Lichi sweeps the area. Looking left, right and back she feels confident that her road out of the tower will be a safe one. Then the elevator opens.

Marks Karingson is waiting for them. without a moment of hesitation Marks reaches out and grabs the two women and force them into the lift with him. Lin holds up her weapon, shocked by the suddenness of Marks arrival. Marks slaps her wrist with one hand and grabs her gun with the other, a quick downwards roll of his wrist and he has taken her firearm away, the hand on her wrist pulls forward making her fall at him and he smacks her across the chest with the but of her gun. Marks could pull through, he could bring the gun back around and brake her arm as he still is holding her or crush her skull with a hammer strike. Instead he shoves Lin and the wall and brakes the slide off of the gun.

Dr. Karingson could terminate Lichi Lin, it would take him only a second, and hardly a breath. He grabs Lin as she is struggling to breath, he notices the chain around her neck and steels it for himself. It is a thin silver chain with a glass prism on it, a laser cut letter 'L' in the center of the prism.

The strange doctor looks up from the amulet to the women that had worn it "you were sent her by 'the university'." Marks is talking in code, Lin understands. "how strange that you arrived before I contacted you."

Lin regains her composure "I apologize Dr. Karingson. I didn't realize it was you." She goes on " It was 'W,' you had contacted, 'N' called me. I was already in the area at the request of 'K.' but I have been reassigned. Getting you, Tail, and the rest of your research away from Claw Co. is now top priority."

Marks gives her the chain back, he turns to look at the door. "I fear you will not make it to the outside, Agent L. you have only three options for escape and your tampering with the power grid has locked off all of them. the main doors are locked via fire shutters, as are the loading bays. Unless, of course, you have a gas-powered forklift waiting on floor 1 or B. then there is the monorail which is attached to the main grid, but not the backup generator."

Lin explains "we are going to floor U, the train was the plan. It is a 1-mile sprint through the tunnels to the waterway. I have a friend waiting for me there. The we simple walk back to 101, board the next trolley and I am back in my office in an hour, no one any the wiser"

Marks smiles "and had you planed on telling me you where here to rescue me at any point?"

Lin points "Tail first, then you."

As the lift reaches the lowest levels of the compound Marks reaches into his pocket withdrawing what looks like a remote door opener. A distance grinding sound echoes. As the door opens a robotic gun lowers from the ceiling and flips to face the group. The gun heats up. Lin pushes Tail off to one side hiding alongside the door. Marks stands his ground.

One click of the door opener and the gun turns off. Marks lowers his head and shuts his eyes with a grin "I forgot about that. The tower has a hand full of sentry guns. In case of emergency, these little droids are meant to 'protect' the workers. To bad the logic program is imperfect."

Briskly the team walks to the platform of the subway. Flashlight light the dock as dozen men are searching the floor. Lichi and Tail hide along the wall. Marks whispers with Tail "Tail, I want you to know, you are right. You are a mother." He turns to Lichi. "lead Tail to the surface." Marks walks into the group of flashlight welding men.

Lichi shouts in a whisper "what are you doing?"

Marks walks backwards a few steps before vanishing from sight "I need to go get Nuku."

Tail goes wide eyed for a moment, she places a hand on her stomach looking down. "I am a mother?"

Lichi grabs Tail by one arm and leaps down onto the railroad tracks. "worry about that latter." Gunshots ring out in the deep. The lights go out. A red glow fills the air. Whispers echo, a star burns itself onto the ground fallowed by five more mystic looking emblems. Lichi squints then shouts "Run."

A yelping, barking, squawking sound fills the tunnel. A two-legged, long tailed, crocodile headed, bird winged monster appears behind the two girls. Tail and Lichi run until they reach a ladder. Lichi pushes Tail up the ladder. The winged monster gets ever closer. Lichi pulls out a knife.

***

Marks steels a radio from a guard after disarming and disabling him. A voice calls over the radio. "This is Dwight Egget in D65 I have alarms going off on every floor, can someone tell me what is going on?"

Marks clicks on the radio as he is running up the step making his way with a haste back to his office. "we had a bio hazardous containment leek on 45. We are working on locking everything back down. Go ahead and start rebooting things."

Nuku sits in her cage quietly waiting for her master to return to his office. As the door swings open she meows to let her owner know that she is still in her box. Marks kneels down to pick up the cage. He holds the cage out in front of himself looking in at Nuku. He smiles, one hand reaches into his pocket pulling out a cookie. He hands it to Nuku. The cat picks up the cookie in her paws and lays down to nibble on it.

Marks pulls a USB drive out of his computer and hides it in his breast pocket. Then it is back down the steps. He looks at his watch. Time is short. Lichi showing up has interrupted a very sensitive project. Marks knows well he is going to die tonight, and there is still so much work needs to be done. 'Project Vageta' is almost complete, but he will not be here to see it finished.

There is still Nile, Karin, and Jude to deal with. He will need to sub contract out the next part of this. A few seconds long recording, a quick timer to set things in motion, that is all the time he has left. Now Marks need to move. He goes to run down the steps, nothing else can slow him down or he won't be able to finish his last and finest experiment.

Marks clicks a few channels on his radio as he is dashing down the steps. "Ms. Videll are you still on this channel?"

The voice of a husky female comes over the radio "Still here doctor."

"Ms. Videll, things have gone a touch tits-up. I was unable to contact Mr. Driver and I lost one of my packages, I am going to need to clean up this clutter on the fly. Please tell me that my refrigerator is running." Marks takes a hard breath. He is thinking just as fast as he is running. This is a disaster, Lichi despite her best intentions has set events into motion far faster then expected. Another week, another day, and Marks may have been ready to pull the plug on everything and disappear without a trace. But now, now, this is going to be load and messy.

Videll comes back in over the speaker "everything on G is set up to specification."

"Good." Marks sighs "Thank you Rin, I will see you around."

Marks shoulders open the door to the lobby. He checks his watch obsessively as he walks briskly. He takes three hard breaths to slow his heart, he tries to act as if everything was as it should be. To get back to his jeep he is going to need to take the sky way on 16 to the elevator in the west building down to floor G1, he will need to walk across the lobby and past check-in from there he can use the VIP door to get to the ramp.

***

The elevator door smoothly slides open. Marks steps out, dressed in his street clothing: a hefty black leather duster-style overcoat and matching chaps. His long, thick gray hair is tucked into his jacket. Under one arm, he carries with him a cat's crate. His long-time companion travels with him, a slick black tabby named Nuku; she wears a red collar. Marks is nearing eighty years old but looks young and vital as a man half that.

Marks strolls across the elegant lobby of the R&D office at which he works. Leaning against the security desk is a fellow doctor, Juan Sanchez; he is a Spaniard with dark hair tied up in corn rolls and a mustache. He's switched out of his work clothes and into an outfit only a college professor would wear--a green silk shirt with a patchwork sports coat and faded slacks. It looks as if he was engaged in a powerful conversation with the security operator, a colored man named Dwight Egget; he appears young, strong, and bold.

Dr. Sanchez waves to call Marks over. "Dr. Karingson! Got a sec?"

Marks looks down at his watch, a hint of distaste on his face. I really don't. Marks begins to approach the desk.

"Good evening, Dr. Sanchez, Officer Egget." He greets his coworkers with a slow deliberate tone.

"Working late?" Sanchez makes pleasantries.

Marks looks down at his watch again, anxiety getting the better of him. "in a matter of speaking, I haven't been home in almost week to be fare" he whispers to himself.

Dwight had begun talking, but Marks has heard only half of what he said. "So, your kid had some kind of an accident? That's rough."

Marks hastily replies, "It was no accident. I attempted to conduct a procedure I was not qualified to conduct. In my arrogance, I made a fatal mistake." "What was the problem?" Sanchez inquires.

"Hemophilic glucose disorder crystallic mutation. It's a type 1 disease. I'll spare you the details."

"What possessed you to think you could treat that . . .?"

Marks cuts him off again, "Prior to my employment with Claw Co. International, I had served at DC's Pentagon Health and Human Service Department vaccinating soldiers. I was granted a pharmaceutical license as part of my formal training." Every question those two mutters is completely predictable; Marks has answered every one of them twenty times already around the office.

Marks tones out again for a moment as he feels around in his pockets, checking for an assortment of tools he is carrying on him. Egget speaks up, "Marks, if there is anything you need . . .?"

"Yes, thank you." He reaches into Nuku's cage and unclips a portable hard drive from her collar. "Take this down to 'B Ward' next chance you get and plug it into my desktop." Marks hands over the tiny tool as he makes his way to the parking garage door. "Also, can you tell me if VP Ako Karingson is still in the building?"

Dwight laughs. "You could just ask me if your wife is in." He looks down at his log book.

Marks mumbles to himself "a minor formality"

Dwight nods "Looks like she is with AC Dem-Row and your former lab assistant Allen Wesker, they are at a budget meeting."

"Good. Could you detain her?" Marks steps out.

"How long?" Dwight questionably jokes.

"Indefinitely," Marks yells back as he is on his way to the subterranean levels.

Dwight looks at Juan. "What does he do here anyway?"

"Only: cryonics, bionics, cybernetics, gene slicing, genetic research, and robotics."

"Is that all?"

Juan shakes his head. Dwight holds out the USB drive. "You handle this shit. I don't want to risk breaking anything that might be worth more than my penchant."

***

Juan and Dwight walk together into Marks office. Dwight flips the lights on, the floor is scattered with broken computer parts, a smashed T.V. partly holds the door to the office shut. A cat sits on the desk, it meows as it sees Dwight, she is black with a blue color on her neck, a chain and a pendent as well the number 2 covered into her necklace.

A semi-human puppet is nailed to the back wall in a crucified posture. A set of metallic swan wings are fanned out on a work bench as well as an overturned tool box. A lone computer sits on the bench unsmashed as well as a camera and lockbox.

Dwight looks side to side "not what I was expecting." He notices the cat, he smiles and digs around in his pocket "High Nuku." He pulls out a cookie and sets it on the table next to her. Looking behind the desk there is a waste basket full of burned notebooks. Dwight squints, something terrible has happened here.

Juan turns on the computer, "Didn't Marks have Nuku with him when he left?"

With the USB drive plugged in the computer starts running a preprogramed operation. A WMA opens, Marks appears on the monitor "Hello Dr. Sanchez, Officer Egget."

Both men look at the computer. Marks hair is fluttering as if he was standing in front of a fan, blue light glows from beneath. Juan looks confused "Hello?"

Marks turns his head as if looking around his office through the screen "I would like to thank you for coming here. Dr. Sanchez. I would like you to open the box next to me. The password is 0-1-0-4-1-6-4-3. In side you will find my .50 caliber Eagle. There is also a map, and a envelope. The envelope has in it the keys to the truck you bought for me and $45,000 in small bills. I need you to take my truck to the city of Vern, Florida. But not today, today you will take the truck and go to a hotel, it doesn't matter what one. You just need to wait there for two weeks. When you get to Vern, find a man named El Driver, he is a friend of min from the service. Don't tell him we know each other. Show him my gun, he should remember it. Mr. Driver, I need him to take the truck to Texas. If all goes according to plan, I or a friend of mine will be there to meet him."

I alarm in the room sounds, lights start to blink. The USB drive has finished installing its program. Something on the lower levels changes. Marks computer has sent a set of instructions to the machine shop. Marks looks back and forth between Dwight and Juan. "I recommend you get to work at once. Things are going to start getting very strange around here very quickly."

Dwight looks back and forth between the computer and Juan. "that is a recording, right?"

Juan nods as he follows the instruction given opining the box and pulling out its contents "Yep." He explains.

"So why does it feel like he is talking to us directly." Dwight looks frightened as he is thinking.

"I don't want to wait around and find out." Juan ushers at the door, "we should leave, Now!"

As the two men run out of the room the recording has yet one more thing to say. "the humming you hear now, that sound means I am dead, but like Ra, and Christ, though I have tasted of death I will rise. Christ offered you forgiveness, I offer you live everlasting."

Chapter 3 The von Richton Watcher's Society

Tail had found her way to the surface, but something had gone wrong. Marks did not come for her, nor did Lichi. Tail makes a choice. She runs. Tail finds she can live on the road so long as she is smart. She sticks to back roads, she steels clothing, food, and finds a skateboard. Once on the surface Tail runs east, she quickly finds herself facing the ocean then turns to face south.

Tail has never seen the ocean, she has never seen any of the outside world. Quickly Tail has to turn to instinct to make decisions. Soon Tail will learn that the world hostel, and a little fox like her that fails to watch her step will find herself 'underwater' in short order