Existence Part 2
#2 of Existence
Amongst the apparent anarchy Jason could just make out Conner near the bass of the building, from there he was hauled to the main security center near the front gates. Conner quickly thrust papers at him to sign as he took his security badge tossing it into a nearby trash bin that connected to a shredder. Moments later it was replaced with a new one. But this one was rated high putting him at Division 2 clearance level.
The room was filled with activate, people moving about busily shouting on phones or hurriedly typing away at a computer or talking to men clad in military uniforms.
"Jeffery is outside, with the team that you're going to be working with, get out there and fine him, He'll tell you what to do from there, now I have to deal with Steve here so get moving. Jason hadn't noticed Steve standing behind him. Jason gave a quick curt nod and was off in search of Jeff.
Jeff was the top researcher in the biological science department of the building, though his knowledge didn't extend to just that one area, his expertise of biological sciences, and chemistry's,molecular engineering, astronomy, botany, physics, psychology, and for shits and giggles philosophy, not to mention many more that Jason couldn't even begin to fathom. The man had spent most, if not all of his life in school, he'd heard that Jeff had graduated top of every class, and had more degrees then Jason wanted to think about, In point of fact, just thinking about it made his head hurt all the more, and all this was what had lead him to be the face of both the biological science division and the largest Metron laboratory complexes in North America. He handled all the major departments, in this complex he was at the top of the chain, except on occasion when Bill Dillinger was around. Bill was the guy who overlooked all of the corporation's contracts with the government. This facility in particular happened to be the largest Laboratory Metron had in North America, and that made it high value to both the corporation and the United States Government.
The building was intimidating, especially to new comers here for the first time. Just walking past the gates was enough to give you the willies. The military check points and other personnel portrayed the importance of the secrets held here. The place had enough armed personnel to occupy England. Most of the security was provided by Metron though, only the two military buildings were held by the government one check point at the front and another building that acted as a very small base on the grounds itself. This whole area was unknown to the public eye. Metron owned over three thousand acres of forest land, and about fifty of those acres were used for the facility itself. Most of that was held for employee housing, and the rest was opened as a national forest reserve. Metron was big into nature, and saving the environment. (Though Jason knew Metron had no problem with using the local wild life for its experiments and testing.) It wasn't really illegal mostly because no one really knew about it, and because no one really could know about it, but it was definitely taboo if nothing else. The place its self was a fortress, it had two helicopter pads; one was located on the roof of the building, the other was on the back side of the building. The Massive complex itself was divided into four wings. The West wing housed the biology department, North was engineering, the East wing held communications and the South wing was solely dedicated to Metron's network of complex security as well as one small portion that held space closest to the west wing, it was an extension from some of Metrons most highly classified bioengineering research in the world. Other areas located on the exterior of the building were well kept large fenced in lawn areas that were laid out like a kind of small park for the employees. Other larger areas were also fenced for the Experimental animals, testing and training sites, and others were for exercise, and observation. The lab had an obstacle course laid out for the training area, another much larger area was held for the larger more aggressive exotic animals that they had, tiger's, panthers, hyenas and other things that wouldn't think twice before eating you.
When Jason started working here he quickly learned that the United States government treated this place like it was area fifty-one. No one was allowed within a five mile radius of the compound. The massive building was located about 50 miles west of Denver, literally in the middle of the forest. It was odd having one massive laboratory located smack out in the middle of nowhere he'd originally thought. Nothing was close; the nearest town was one that Metron had set up for the local people who were employed at the facility, Metron treated everyone of their employees like gold however, (even if they did use them all up) everyone that worked at the lab was provided with a house and great benefits, really great benefits.
He liked working here.
Now to the reason that he was here, the animals had apparently been on lock down, and now they were somehow running amuck after they'd gotten out of their cages, about an hour ago. The Report in his hand said two northern gray wolves, a white Siberian tiger, "Just my luck" Jason grumbled to himself. He was fairly well built, and he'd worked for it twice a week at the gym two block's down the street from his house, standing at 6'4" and 183 pounds, Jason wasn't built for chasing down Tigers. with very dark brown almost black hair. He shaved almost every day but weekends. (With the exception of dates, if he had any.) He had a small mole that added to the character of his face, it was in front of his right ear. Most of his body held a good tan from the nice sunny days of his childhood.
He grumbled again as he read the list of reported animals. One red fox, two white, and gray foxes, one black bear, a California cougar, two panthers from South America, Along with many different breeds of dogs.
Somehow one of the chimpanzees had gotten out of its cage. Once it had it started freeing the others. It was killed by one of the panthers that it had unwittingly let out, "stupid animal." Jason grumbled again wanting to disregard the entire mess. Let them clean up their own mess he wanted to say when they had called him. Looking on the brighter side Jason knew that wasn't on the list to be found anymore. Jeff's voice crackled over the radio strapped to his belt, distracting his thoughts
"Use extreme caution when dealing with these animals. Don't let any of them bite you. If necessary use lethal force, we can't let any of the animals get outside of this compound. Everyone's been evacuated, so it's time, boys Lets go hunting. Your orders are to take every animal alive if possible."
_ _
The crackling radio stopped, and started again,"Once you get to the access shaft your radios won't be any use to you. We are currently setting up a perimeter around the complex. We have the US army here to help; this is a big deal, gentlemen, so don't screw it up. Remember keep the animals alive if possible, dead only if necessary." Jeff's crackly voice stressed the point.
"Of course, Jeff, you're outside the compound, nice and safe." Jason muttered under his breath.
Jason turned back to see the four other guys with him, they were all part of his team. He trusted each and every one of them with his life.
Nick was on point: leading the way to the armory now, it was located just down the main hall from one of the buildings many fire exits, they would obtain the tranquilizers that Jeff had instructed them to locate. Nick was 26 years old. 5'6" 140 pounds with dark brown hair slightly wavy in its short buzz cut. Most days he wore a cap that he'd gotten from a Metallica concert. The dress codes said that it wasn't allowed, but the first day he wore it, no one told him to take it off, so he wore it most times, but any time staff meetings were held he knew not to press his luck, and would discard it accordingly. He was young with an outgoing personality. He was a good kid. Jason had known him most of his life, but he was sure that he would have rather been watching football at his place, he knew he would, His body held that repletion of a young man still in his prime. His upper body was trim but not too built, it held the appearance of muscle but not that wisdom that came from older men who had worked hard for the ripped body that they had. Like the guys that worked out five to seven days a week to look good for those one night stands that more often than not took place at the towns local bar. His face was hard from adult hood with small remnants of freckles that his older years had not quite eradicated from his young features. His cheeks held a light blush with a small almost invisible scar that ran over his left ear from his hair line to his upper brow. It had been done in his basic training. Jason never had heard the full story about it. Nick would always shy away from the topic. The slight blush lent more to his still boyish figure that hid in his young face. Now his features were hard and trimmed which added to his businesslike manner.
Swiping his access card, Jason punched his code into the key pad on the doors right side. With a green flash and a hiss the big door opened. Jason ushered Nick in first, and motioned for the three others behind him to follow. Moving slowly and steadily, the oldest, Steve, who happened to have the most military training, was the last to enter. His rifle was trained down the hall they'd come down. He lowered it as the door closed behind them. He was an older man that looked to have had many years spent in the good graces of many bars. The same could not have been said for the church. That man had lost religion years ago when he'd supposedly gotten drunk with a priest, only to have awaken with aching pains, and soreness in places he damn well knew shouldn't be.
He was an Irishmen at heart, though he wasn't of the heritage. The closest the man was to a real Irish man was his accent, which he'd learned from a CD set, and his astounding ability to out drink twice the limit that would put any normal man in an alcoholic coma. His black jeans and leather jacket he'd been wearing at his house was now replaced with the same black military Metron uniform that they all wore, they were as sleek and commanding as any swat team. His eyes were a shade of muddy brown and blue. His figure held a kind of biker and soldier look that couldn't have been mistaken for anything less. The man was as sharp as the tip of his knife, when it came to his job, and drinking. He had more flab on him then Nick, but he was still taller than Nick. He stood at almost 6 foot tall and had to be somewhere between 180 to 200 pounds.
He also held far more years under his belt. His time in the military had hardened him. But now he had a worried look that neither Nick nor Jason had ever thought his facial muscles could make. He was always business, even after his eighth shot of Jagermeister.
_"Now, what the hell is going on Steve? Why are you so spooked? We're only going after a bunch of dumb animals, which are likely stoned out of their tiny minds. So why are you going all 'Rambo' on us?"_Asked Nick with a grim look.
Nick was the youngest and least experienced guy in the group. He'd come here six months ago, after moving out of his parent's house. Just two months before that he had finished his four year contract with the army. In the short time that he had been active in the military, his skills and enthusiasm had earned him a good name out on the field and propelled him quickly up the ranks; higher still as a decorated officer. The time he put into the service was nothing short of his best, which must have been what led him to his current employment here at MBTSI and this team.
After all, he would rather have Nick who he had known for years, watching his back then some arrogant ex-marine or ex-special forces guy going off half cocked and getting him killed. _(Though, no one ever really tried anything around here. He'd often see more action at the bar then he did on the job.)_Nick was a close friend, and he was family. He was a highly trained kid; unfortunately he was as clumsy as a kid more often than not. And he was worse when he was around him and the rest of the guys, so it seemed. It didn't say much for a highly trained officer.
Jason was certain that with another couple of years in the service, this kid could have far exceeded him in rank and decoration. Jason had always seen great potential in the kid. Now he was off active duty, so he had moved back to his parents' place. Just two months later, Nick was looking for a job, and lucky for him Jason had the connection. He'd needed a spot filled on his team. He pulled the right strings and made his recommendations. Now that Nick was here, he was under pressure to live up to the expectations of his recommendations.
Steve dropped his SCAR 16 assault rifle on the table, went to the door and started punching in another code.
"cause I've got a bad feeling about this, before Jeff sent us down here he pulled me and Jason aside," he motioned to Jason who was pulling magazines from a shelf and loading his 9 mil Beretta and his assault rifle. "Away from all of the other personnel, and gave us this map of the complex."
He pointed to a long roll of paper on the table in the center of the room that lay next to Steve's rifle. As Steve punched "enter" on the keypad, the door opened to the small armory filled with military grade weapons. Most were incased in glass along the walls of the room with number pads to gain access, others were in lockers against the room's corners. Steve walked in pulled out a drawer from beside one of the lockers. He reached in and pulled out several dozen clear plastic boxes that had large red printed warning signs. The map had shown two other floors that were not in the normal schematics of the building.
Nick unrolled the paper to study it. Both Lorenzo, and Eric where leaning over Nick's shoulder doing the same. Lorenzo had been on the company pay roll most of his life, and had started specialized animal training in his third year, then transferred to the special ops unit at the Denver Police Department. He'd came back again to work with Metron as security, the pay was better, and the benefits that the corporation handed out sure kicked the hell out of anything that the government could hand out. Lorenzo was Hispanic with tribal tattoos that ran down the length of both arms. His skin was smooth over his arms, with hands that looked to be larger than they should be. He was 5' 10" and 150 pounds of muscle. Eric looked like the nerd of the group; he had thick black framed glasses that covered his thin and bony face. He was the smallest of them; though he had a strong arm for a guy of his size and stereo type. He had gray eyes, with shadows that always shaded his face, as if he never got enough sleep. He was good with computers as well as most anything. Jason was yet to find something that he wasn't good at or, didn't know how to do. Jason had been having problems with his PC some several weeks ago, and had asked Eric to take a look at it. Eric had stopped by his house one night after his shift, and began running diagnostics. His computer was back up and running in under a half hour, he'd told him that it had had a virus, and that he should update his antivirus software. Eric had taken off explaining everything he'd done. Jason having no skills past checking his email, using the Google search to find the simple things that he needed, was lost in Eric's explanations, so he smiled and nodded his head as if in understanding as he handed Eric a Bud light for his efforts. His computer had been running smoothly after that.
Eric was more along the lines of a scientist than a specially trained Security Tactical Retrieval Team member. He always had his nose stuck in some biology journal, as well as future technology magazines. His mother had been a geneticist here five years ago, before she died in a horrific traffic accident.
Steve very carefully laid the clear plastic containers down on the table. The red printed Warning label was laid over the clasp on the containers side. Steven tore it off and opened its clasp. Pulling back his hand, he withdrew a syringe looking object with a fluffy red top, it was a tranquilizer. Its stock had a thick clear liquid that filled its center. Its fluffy looking top swaying with Steve's every moment. Now lifting it higher he placed it on the table top.
"This is filled with a drug called Etorphine Hydrochloride, also known as M99. One drop of this stuff is enough to kill you. One shot is enough to drop an elephant. If you prick yourself with this..." He raised his brow in a look of deadly seriousness. "You die. So please," The seriousness melted away to a humorous grin, "No pricks." He then pulled out his tranq gun and began loading.
Everyone followed Steve's actions and began loading their own weapons.
"So why would they start hiding rooms on the building's schematics?"
Nick asked to no one in particular.
Jason placed his rifle to his side.
"A big government funded facility like this, would only have one reason to do that. They're hiding something big." Nick lifted his brow, "Something that would take up two floors?"
Jason moved to study the new floor plans. "Yeah, two floors that shouldn't be there." He traced his finger down a line that represented the shaft that was hidden farther down a hall on the other side of the complex. It was an elevator shaft.
Nick looked from the paper and back to Jason, "So you think they're doing something that they shouldn't?"
Jason rolled up the paper,
"Nick, I don't get paid to know and I don't get paid to care."