Haze3k

[ QUOTE ]
Two words:

Kill Skuls.

[/ QUOTE ]


*opens game manual*


STATESMAN SEZ: Kill Skuls.

[ QUOTE ]
Not a bug. It's just closing time. Last call was 20 minutes ago, the girl you've been flirting with turns out to have a face like James Edward Almos, and you lost your keys in the men's room.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah, the good ole' "ugly lights"

Killer Croc: I threw a rock at him!!!


Almost got him.

Nick and Drex thought they’d be receiving assignments from the General indirectly, but no. There, before them, stood the man who made perfectly clear that he was out to make the lives of those two young scientists completely miserable.

General Mason was none too pleased when he found out that Nick decided to take it upon himself to solve the mystery of the blue orb which was found within an alien ship that crashed to the Earth a few years ago. Nick’s tampering had robbed Mason of a potentially powerful weapon that he could have used to propel his military career. Now, Mason was in the mood for some payback.

“I hope you boys have strong stomachs,” Mason bellowed, “You’re gonna need ‘em. This here is Dr. Weber. He’ll be your new supervisor for the time being. Doctor.”

“Ah yes,” Weber spoke, “What you two will be doing is assisting in the feeding and cleaning of a few specimens we have here, as well as their...waste disposal.”

“That’s what we’re gonna be doing?” Drex questioned, “Cleaning cages?”

“Oh it gets much better than that, Jones,” Mason replied, with a smirk, “Now go put that gear on.” Mason was pointing over to a couple piles of sterile looking clothes wrapped in plastic.

Nick and Drex suited up in identical sets of white jumpsuits with boots, gloves, and mouth filter masks.

“I feel like an exterminator,” expressed Nick, glumly.

“That’s beautiful,” Mason stated, conveying his joy at the ridiculous sight of the demeaned physicists, “And you might as well get used to it. You’ll be doing this for a while.”

Dr. Weber directed the two to their feeding and cleaning supplies.

“I’ll be back a little later,” Mason promised, “when the show gets good.” Mason then proceeded out of the office.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Drex wondered angrily.

“No point in worrying about it,” said Nick, “We’ll just handle it when it comes.”

Dr. Weber proceeded to explain what exactly they had down here. “You see, young men, whenever a vessel, not of this world, happens to crash down on American soil, what is scavenged from it invariably ends up coming to Area 51, as I’m sure the two of you already know. Now, what are brought here are any surviving biological specimens that may have been found aboard, even creatures cloned from the remains of tissue samples. Very interesting. These are the creatures to which you’ll now be caring for.”

“Freaky,” Drex said.

“This can’t be all bad if we get to see some exotic life from other planets,” Nick assumed.

Nick and Drex spent the next few hours tending to the needs of some rather strange small-sized creatures. Nick’s wonder changed to frustration as he found himself continuously snapped and scratched at by the more vicious of the creatures.

“Having problems?” Drex asked Nick.

“See that thing over there that looks like a cross between a snapping turtle and a small gator?” Nick pointed at the scaly creature, “It bit into my finger. I hope we don’t catch anything weird from these things.”

“You needn’t worry about contracting any strange diseases,” Weber assured, “All of the creatures in this lab have been thoroughly screened.”

“It still sucks,” Nick said to Drex.

“Now that the two of you have become accustomed to your tasks, we can start you the most important one,” Weber informed.

“Here it comes,” anticipated Drex.

“Follow me,” Weber ordered.

They traveled to the other side of the level where they were brought inside a room which was connected to another room with glass walls.

“In there is our largest and most dangerous creature,” informed Weber, “Don’t worry. It’s safely secure to an examining table right now. It was captured in Nebraska after an intense meteor shower a couple weeks ago. Your job is to thoroughly clean its cell.

“Nice,” Drex said simply, surveying the appearance of the inside of its glassed cell.

They entered a small intermediate area between the lab, in which Dr. Weber remained, and the creature’s cell. Once they were at the door of the cell, Nick nervously opened it. As soon as he had done so, a wave of the most disgusting stench hit the faces of Nick and Drex. Even through the filter masks, it was plain to smell. Nausea nearly overcame the two of them and it became clear why Gen. Mason chose this as their punishment.

“Oh God, it’s horrible,” Nick pronounced.

“C’mon man, we’re tough,” rallied Drex, “This ain’t gonna break us.”

Nick and Drex stepped in and immediately went to grab the shovels to get this over with, as they did they took a look at the creature strapped to the table. The color of its skin was nearly black with a tinge of purple and it was slimy and scaly. It had four arms rather than two and they were a bit longer than a human’s with three fingers on each hand which were long enough to be considered small tentacles. But its most distinguishing feature was its jaw which was enormous. It was only slightly smaller than the inner tube of a tire and was much larger than the rest of its head. The creature was secured to the table by metal straps one for each arm and leg. It was apparently unconscious, though it stirred from time to time.

They also noticed an observation window, opposite of the side they entered, looking into another lab. There were about four scientists observing the creature and its readings on their monitors.

After turning away from the creature and the window, Nick and Drex went about shoveling the creature’s feces that was strewn about the cell, into bags. It was only a few minutes into this that they noticed the door on the other side of the observation room opened and in walked General Mason. He was intent on seeing the suffering of these two young scientists. He walked right up to the glass that separated the two rooms and watched.

It was unfortunate for Nick that he was at the breaking point of his tolerance. He couldn’t take the smell any longer. The creature, itself, probably smelled bad enough on its own, but combine that with the stench of its waste products and it was unbearable. Nick suddenly pulled his face mask down and vomited.

The General chuckled with a twisted smile on his face.

“Nick, why don’t you step outside for awhile and get some air?” Drex asked with concern for his friend.

“No I’m fine,” Nick replied, “I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of that too.”

After a few minutes someone else entered the cell. This person got to wear a sealed oxygenated suit with a helmet-type headpiece.

“How come we didn’t get one of those suits?” Drex questioned.

The man in the suit walked up to the alien and pulled out some kind of long syringe. He held it up and tapped it a few times.

At that moment the creature appeared to notice him through its haze. It began thrashing around wildly. The man attempted to inject something into it but the creature suddenly broke free of the restraint of that one arm. It then grabbed the syringe from the man with its three-tentacled hand. The man in the suit attempted to grab the syringe back and restrain the arm but the creature quickly impaled the man’s chest with it.

The man let out a piercing scream, “Yeeargh!”

By now, the attention of Nick, Drex, and everyone in the observation room had been turned to what was happening. A long automated device was lowered from the ceiling. It appeared to be some sort of tazer. The creature was immediately aware of it as if it had been familiarized to it before. Before the tazer could make contact, the creature grabbed hold around its shaft and ripped it down from the ceiling. It then applied the charged device onto the shackle of the opposite arm to which it responded by flinging open.

“What was that?!” asked one of the researchers in the room, “It’s never displayed that kind of intelligence before.”

The researchers in the observation room were in a panic except for the General who just seemed transfixed on the event occurring within the cell. The creature quickly used the strength of its free arms to break the remaining arm straps.

Nick and Drex were already at door at this point, but in the time it took them to punch the door’s code, the alien had ripped the shackles off its legs and pounced over to the door, swatting them both away with one swing of its elongated arms. The force of the blow sent them flying to the corner of the cell.

Nick took a better look at the creature as it growled and hissed. Within its enormous mouth it had two rows of sharp teeth, like a shark, that looked like they could bite a man in half. The creature suddenly noticed the man in the sealed suit struggling to his feet just behind it. It swung around and bit into his shoulder, ripping out a large chunk as he screamed and passed out.

The creature swung back around, mouth bloody. It turned its attention back to Nick and Drex. It crept slowly like a cat ready to pounce. It froze in place and locked eyes with Nick. In horror, Nick knew what the alien was about to do. With death upon him, he suddenly felt very strange, very tingly.

The creature jumped. In a leap, it was halfway to Nick. Nick raised his hand to it in vain preparation to stop it. With its buzzsaw-like mouth wide open, it leapt upon him but as it did the strangest thing happened. A powerful burst of blue and white energy shot forth from Nick’s raised hand. It blasted right into the throat of the creature. The alien then grabbed its throat, gurgled a bit, and slumped to the ground.



Next, Chapter 5: Escape

[ QUOTE ]
Any skill that renders our healer unable to do anything for 15 seconds so one character can get some pimp end regen doesn't seem like it would helpful even like 2% of the time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Malta sappers.

But I don't know if that's more or less than 2% post 32.

The way I see it, the devs should have fixed the bug that lets glowies and mobs spawn behind mission walls first.

Now they've just dramatically increased the number of petitions that'll be sent in for bugged missions and created that much more work for their GM's.

No longer can you get your TP'ing friend to help clear your bugged mission. Seems a shame.

His eyes slowly opened. A white ceiling focused into view.

“What happened?” Nick asked himself.

He continued to lay and allowed his recent memories to come flooding back to him.

“Oh, yeah.”

Nick’s head throbbed a bit. He attempted to touch his hand to his head but found his right arm constrained. Unaware of the chaos that half the base was thrown into, he was quite shocked to find himself handcuffed to a bed.

“This isn’t good,” Nick understated.

Nick took a look around the room, noticing its white and sterile appearance.

“I’m in the medical center,” he figured.

A medical doctor entered the room. Nick also caught a glimpse of an MP standing guard outside the door.

“Good, your up,” the doctor said, “Well you seem to be fine. I believe you just passed out due to exhaustion. When the MP’s brought you in here they really gave me no clue as to what might have happened to you, but your clothes were in tatters.”

“It’s all kind of a blur.”

“Well, you seem to have recouped quite well,” the doctor informed, “I see no reason why you can’t return home.”

“Well there is one reason,” Nick glanced down at the handcuffs.

“Ah, yes,” acknowledged the doctor. He seemed to know better than to inquire into such things on a base where classified matters are the norm.

“I’ll let the MP’s know about your improved condition,” the doctor said, “And try not to push yourself so hard in the future.”

Two MP’s entered the room and unlocked Nick’s cuffs.

“We’re to escort you to General Mason’s office,” one of the MP’s said sternly.

“Great. Don’t I even get a last meal,” Nick quipped.

Nick felt conspicuous walking across base with two MP’s directly behind him. Physically, he felt awesome, rejuvenated despite what just happened.

“How long was I out anyway,” Nick asked.

“About 20 hours. Capt. Jacobs found you unconscious,” answered the soldier, “No more talking.”

The MP seemed upset about something. They finally arrived at Mason’s office. He wasn’t there, so Nick just had a seat and the MP’s waited outside the door.

After a few minutes, the General arrived. Nick could practically feel his presence behind him. Whatever empowered feelings Nick still had from the night before, were now quickly fading. As soon as Mason walked into view, Nick caught view of his intense persistent glare. Nick couldn’t maintain eye-contact with that and was forced to look away. Gen. Mason took a seat at his desk, with his hardened gaze still fixed upon Nick. He might have preferred the General’s ranting and screaming to cold dead silence he was experiencing.

“Well, I see you’ve recovered from last night’s incident,” Mason finally stated, though coldly, “Good. I certainly hope you had fun. I know I did, slamming into every piece of furniture in my office as I scrambled for a flashlight. Do you even realize how much money you’ve cost this base in stop-time, all the flying missions cancelled, all the data lost, the systems damaged?”

“The base blacked out?” Nick asked with surprise.

“It was more than a blackout. They said it was an electro-magnetic pulse. It took out almost half the base, and it would have been all of it had that level not been so heavily fortified underground,” Mason sternly informed, “Capt. Jacobs said the shockwave threw him to the ground before he could get to you.”

“Is he ok?” inquired Nick.

“He is for now,” replied Mason “I don’t know how well he’ll be doing once he’s court-martialed, however.”

“Court-martialed?!”

“Oh yes,” Mason responded, “I deemed that he committed a severe security violation.”

“Wait a minute!” Nick exclaimed, “We weren’t trying to steal anything or commit sabotage.”

“Oh, but you’ve done both.”

Mason opened one of his drawers and pulled the blue orb out. He then slammed it on the desk.

“I hope you like my new paperweight because that’s all its good for now.”

Nick gave a quizzical look.

“It’s no longer responsive to anything we do. It’s a dead piece of crap. Useless!” The General suddenly shouted, “This was supposed to be my ticket out of here. If I could have used it somehow to produce some kind of incredible weapon for my superiors, that would have gotten me out of here, for sure. It would’ve gotten me my fourth star and a visible job in the Pentagon. I can now say goodbye to that. Thank you.”

Nick attempted to apologize, “I’m sorry. I...”

“Area 51 is a joke. ‘The most famous secret base in the world’ they call it. They’re talking about shutting this place down, dispersing our projects elsewhere, and this incident will only hasten its demise. I can see the writing on the wall. This place is going down and it’s going to take me down with it,” Mason stated, staring into space blankly, then redirecting his gaze upon Nick, “And it’s all thanks to people like you, people who can’t keep their damned curiosity in check and let people like me do what’s best for them.”

“I didn’t mean to…” Nick attempted.

“Of course you didn’t. What you were trying to accomplish, was just oh so much more important than anything I had to say,” Mason continued on, sarcastically, “After all you’re the brilliant scientist. There’s no way a big dumb Army guy like me would ‘get it’. Huh? You think you’re above me.”

“It’s not like that, General. I just...”

“You see, Sullivan, what you’ve stolen is my chance to escape from this place, where barely anyone knows I exist. You’ve stolen my chance to make it all the way to the top. And in so doing, what you’ve sabotaged is the hopes and dreams and careers of you and your friends,” Mason cruelly continued, “I am going to make you pay.”

Chills began to run up Nick’s spine as he realized the extent of the boiling hatred bubbling within the General.

“I thought about trying to have you charged and thrown in prison. But why would I do that when you’re already in a prison, one in which I’m the warden,” The General smugly stated, “So here’s what’s gonna happen. While you help get the energy research complex back up and running, I’m going to think of the most fun and interesting tasks that I can put to a couple of hard-working scientists such as yourselves.”

“Wait. Drex...Dr. Jones he wasn’t involved in this. He didn’t do anything wrong,” Nick pleaded, “There’s no need...”

“Oh he knew! He knew what you were up to and he did nothing to have you stopped. He even covered for you. He’s no innocent in this,” claimed Mason, “The two of you are at the top of my sh** list”

“And don’t even think about trying to quit. Due to the top-secret nature of this base, I can have your requests for release tied up in so much bureaucratic red tape you’ll be here till you’re old and grey while they figure out what to do with you,” Mason threatened, “You are mine.”

Nick began to get a sick feeling in his stomach as he anticipated the pit of despair that he and Drex were about to be thrown into.

“Now go back to that building of yours and help fix the mess you made of it, you and your buddy,” The General ordered.

Nick returned to the energy research complex and assisted technicians in getting the computer systems back online and generators back to operating at top efficiency. Luckily, many of Area 51’s systems were designed to resist the damaging effects of EMP’s, to a point. However, it would be weeks before the complex would be operating as it once was. Many of the researchers heard that Nick was somehow responsible for this. He got a few dirty looks from those that had valuable data irretrievably lost to the EMP.

Nick bumped into Drex midway through the work. He had been avoiding Drex because he was unsure how he would react to him due to the repercussions.

“Nick, hey. Are you ok dude?” asked Drex with a look of concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine, but it doesn’t look good for either of us as far as Mason goes,” Nick warned, “I’m so sorry I got you caught up in this Drex.”

“Look man, I’m not gonna pretend I understand why you needed to go to the extremes that you did but we’re in this together,” assured Drex, “We’ll fix this eventually. It’ll get better.”

“It’s worse than you think, I mean, Mason said he was going to have Rodney court-martialed.”

“Rodney? Court-martialed?! Are you serious?” a shocked Drex asked, “That’s way too harsh. What is Mason’s problem?!”

“I made a big mess of everyone’s lives all because of my selfish curiosity,” Nick stated glumly, “Why did I let it push me this far?”

“I can’t tell ya’ how to handle this thing with Rodney,” Drex said, “Don’t know if we’ll even get to see him again. But he’s tough, a survivor like us. He’ll land on his feet. I’m sure of it.”

“I’ve got to make things right with him…and you too, somehow.”

“We’ll worry about this stuff later,” Drex replied, “Right now I’ve got to get back to what I was doin’. Our slackin’ days are over for a while, I’ll tell ya’ that much. See ya’ later, Nick.”

Later that night, Nick again got in touch with his old high school sweetheart, Stacy…

“It sounds really complicated,” Stacy consoled, “We all mess up bad a few times in our lives.”

“Not like this,” Nick said.

“You have a good heart, Nick you didn’t mean for this to happen and it sounds like you and your friends are being punished a little too severely.”

“Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know,” Nick strained, “But I’d much rather take the brunt of any punishment than to have my friends also suffer because of what I did.”

“I wish you could tell me what happened, exactly. But I know; classified military stuff. I don’t even know where you are,” stated Stacy, “Although, I admit the mystery has been kind of exciting.”

“Yeah, well my life’s become a little bit too exciting lately,” added Nick.

“Y’know I saw your father last night,” Stacy mentioned, “He walked right by my blackjack table. I don’t think he saw me. Doubt he’d even remember me.”

“That might be a good thing,” Nick replied, uncomfortable with the subject, “If you see him again don’t go striking up a conversation with him, especially about me.”

“Right,” Stacy agreed, “It’s too bad you don’t expect to be coming out anytime soon. I’d really like to see you again Nick.”

“It doesn’t look like I’ll be granted leave time anytime soon,” Nick informed, “I’ll be lucky if I’m granted sleep time.”

“Well, whenever you need me, I’ll be here for you and if you ever do get a chance to visit, feel free to drop by,” said Stacy.

“Thanks.”

The next day, Nick and Drex arrived at the biological research complex. They prepared themselves for the first, in what was to be a long list of unpleasant assignments handed down to the young scientists from the base commander.

“Why are we even here? We’re physicists, not biologists,” Drex questioned.

“I don’t think that matters to General Mason, Drex,” Nick replied, “I don’t think our specialized skills are going to be put to much use with what he has in mind for us.”

Once reporting to the security office, they received their rather high clearances for the complex, and wondered, after all that’s happened, why they would be granted such a thing. They then made their way through the unfamiliar building. After traveling down to sub-basement 4, they traversed the more sterile corridors of this complex until they reached the office to which they were told to report. Upon opening the door, they were unexpectedly greeted by a most unpleasant sight, General Mason himself.

“Hello boys, are you ready for the fun to start?”


Next, Chapter 4: Punishment

Suddenly, Rodney’s radio squawked, “Hawkeye 4 / Comm 4”

Rodney answered, “This is Hawkeye 4, go ahead”

“You’ve got an urgent phone call waiting for you up here.”

“I’m kind of busy right now,” Rodney responded.

“You’re gonna want to take this. It’s the commander. He doesn’t sound happy.”

“Sh**!” cursed Rodney, to himself. He thought a moment, looked at Nick, and then lifted the radio back up to say, “I’ll be right there.”

“Nick!”

“Rodney, I can’t stop now,” Nick begged, “I’m so close.”

“Alright, stay here!” Rodney commanded, noticeably shaken, “I’ll be right back.”

Nick was concerned about the commander but he wasn’t about to turn back now. For the first time in his memory, there was a force within Nick that was more powerful than the fears that held him back. Neither Dr. Warfield nor General Mason, would scare him away from this. For once, Nick had overcome his fear of power with his thirst for knowledge, and that gave him a sense of power, and it felt exhilarating.

As Rodney darted back up to the main floor, Nick continued to observe and hope against hope as the alien artifact climbed level after level in power. It whipped faster and faster around its orbit. He wondered if perhaps some sort of ‘Star Wars’ styled holographic message would appear to him as he reached the end, but what Nick wanted most was the knowledge of something that would allow him to change the world.
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Rodney picked up the phone and said, “This is Captain Jacobs.”

“Capt. Jacobs, it’s about time,” said Mason, “I was going over the files of Doctors Sullivan and Jones and I see that their security levels have yet to be lowered. Why is that?”

“Well, uh, I was just about to get to that, sir” Rodney fibbed, “Packing up took a little longer than they expected.”

“Really?” Mason asked, “Well are they there? I’d like to have a word with them.”

Rodney happened to spy Drex anxiously waiting about the front doors for Nick to finish performing his experiment and come out.

“Drex!” Rodney called out, covering the receiver, “It’s the General. Keep him busy till I can get up here with Nick.”

After a worried look of exasperation, Drex agreed and took the phone.
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“Something is wrong,” thought Nick.

After steadily climbing up in energy levels, the orb had suddenly peaked. The program could no longer find a pattern that would raise its output anymore. Nick wondered if there was some form of energy that was needed but left out. Perhaps it could even be some form of energy that the human race had yet to discover, a sort of failsafe to keep out those not ready. Nick was started to feel frustrated in his moment of discovery.

Nick stared at the illusion of the larger sphere that the orb had created in the blur of its orbit. Once again, he began to be entranced. It called out to him stronger than ever now.

With a somewhat blank expression on his face, Nick went to another terminal and began overriding the safety protocols on the chamber. He then walked over to the door of the chamber and unsealed it. Before opening the door, he stopped and thought of the radiations inside.

Nick thought to himself, “This is suicide.”

Again he looked to the artifact, raised over 6 feet in the air, twirling at the height of its energies. With a connection to Nick that could not be explained, the orb seemed to speak to his mind. It almost seemed to say, “Trust me. No harm will come to you.”

With that, Nick opened the door and immediately felt waves of heat pass over him but they did not hurt.
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“Jones, what’s going on!” Mason shouted, “I wanted you two cleared out of that building an hour ago and where’s that report I ordered you to have on my desk?!”

“Sir, we’ve hit a few...snags,” Drex explained, “We’re gonna need a few more minutes.”

“Unacceptable!” Mason barked, “Now you listen to me you little snot. You and your buddy are so on your way out of here. You won’t be able to find jobs at research facilities as janitors, once I’m through with you two. And where is your senior partner? Put Sullivan on the line!”
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Nick approached the orb.

“This is it,” he thought, “Time to take that leap into the unknown and have it become known.”

Rodney began to race down the long corridor of sub-basement 5, cursing the expanse of the place.

As Nick inched closer, the orbit of the orb shrunk toward its center, granting Nick accessibility. Nick raised his hand up to prepare to touch the glowing blue orb.
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“Wait...,” said Mason, accessing his computer, looking for answers, “Why is the particle accelerator running! That level is supposed to be locked down for the month! Jones, I want to know what the hell's going on right now!”

Drex desperately struggled to come up with an excuse, “There’s, uh, been some...unexpected developments...breakthroughs, really. I...uh”
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Nick was now directly beneath the orb. His outstretched fingers just inches from the, now humming, object.

Nick knew what was missing. He knew what the last form of energy was that was needed to unlock the mystery of the orb:

Conscious will.

Nick touched the orb. Contact.

Immediately, the brightest light appeared at the seams of the hexagons, as the hexagons themselves began to separate. Those twenty facets then began to spin individually and swept outward, suddenly. Some even passed through Nick, though harmlessly.

Nick was left in contact with the most beautiful blue and white light source, which seemed to consist of pure energy. It was the most incredible thing he ever felt, almost like...being in love.

Then, without warning, the spark of energy shot down his arm and into the center of his body.

The energy then seemed to say, “I’m sorry.”

Before Nick could wonder why, his body was wracked with enormous pain. It was excruciating.

Nick’s body convulsed and his head shot back.

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!” Nick screamed.

As Rodney rushed into the room, he was momentarily blinded by a bright flash of light, and a second later, knocked off his feet completely.
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A powerful EMP shot through the complex. Lights, phone lines, computers, generators, even the particle accelerator, all knocked offline. A rumble was sent throughout the base.

“Jones!” Mason roared, at the lost connection, “JOOOONNEESS!”

Drex wouldn’t have answered him anyway. He had already dropped the phone and dropped to his knees in shock and horror over the thought of what just happened.
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At that point, Nick believed he was blacking out, as he found himself repeatedly ‘coming to’ at different spots in the chamber and then in other parts of the room.

Finally, with Nick’s body pushed beyond the breaking point, he stopped, and passed out in the darkness.



Next, Chapter 3: Repercussions

[ QUOTE ]
the role-playing u seem to fathom is lacking and not needed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Uuummm, no role-playing is ever needed anywhere. People roleplay because they want to, because it can be fun.

There comes a time in every person’s life when they must take a daring risk to realize their dreams and dive head-first into what they believe in. For physicist, Nick Sullivan, that time was now.

For months now, Nick and his junior research partner, Drexel Jones, had been studying a mysterious blue orb retrieved from a crashed alien ship. Nick was fascinated by it and was close to discovering its true purpose. Unfortunately, their research project had just been terminated by the combined influences of their stern supervisor and the intimidating base commander of Area 51. Nick, however, was not about to give up so easily.

“What?” Drex asked, “What do you mean you’re going for it?”

“I have to unlock that orb,” Nick said, “I have to know.”

Nick got up and quickly started gathering the equipment he needed.

“I need to utilize every form of energy that can be thought of, including cosmic rays.”

“Cosmic rays? Nick, we can’t produce that kind of energy here. The only way we can produce cosmic rays on this base is through the...particle accelerator.” Drex informed, realizing Nick’s plan by the time he finished his sentence with ‘particle accelerator’.

“Oh, no. Nick, we don’t even have access to that level.”

“Just let me worry about that,” Nick requested.

“What you’re suggesting; it’s crazy,” Drex advised, visibly concerned.

“You’re the one who’s always saying I should take risks,” Nick pointed out.

“Well, yes, but not like this,” expressed Drex, “The General would have us drummed out of here quicker than you could blink, or he could do worse to us.”

“No, not ‘us’, Drex...‘me’. I don’t want to involve anyone I don’t have to. I appreciate all you’ve done with me up to this point, but we don’t both have to risk our scientific careers. Don’t worry. If the Nobel prize committee comes knocking I’ll make sure to give you credit.” Nick joked.

“Nick, please,” begged Drex.

“You can’t talk me out of this Drex. Just wish me luck”

“*Sigh*...good luck, Nick.”

“Thanks.”

Nick took the elevator to the main floor and made his way to the only man who’d be able to grant him the access he needed.

“Rodney, I need to speak with you,” Nick requested.

“Yeah, I know, Nick,” Rodney acknowledged “General Mason told me about his decision. Doesn’t seem right to me. I’m sorry I’ve got to play a negative part in this.”

“Um, yeah, about that...” Nick began.

“What?”

“Well, before you transfer my security clearances out of this area, I’ve got to ask you a favor,” Nick said with unease.

“I don’t like the sound of this,” stated Rodney with suspicion.

“I need access to the particle accelerator for a little bit,” Nick requested.

“What?!” Rodney exclaimed.

“Just for an hour, that’s all I should need.”

“No, no way, Nick. I’m supposed to be lowering your security levels not giving you more access,” refused Rodney.

“And you can do that right after I’m done,” pleaded Nick.

“Do you have any idea what you’re asking for? The General, himself, gave me these orders,” Rodney warned, “If he found out I didn’t follow through when I was supposed to, we’d both be in a world of hurt.”

“Rodney please what I’m asking for, it means everything to me. It concerns what me and Drex have been working on the past few months. It’s of earth-shattering importance. The General and Warfield, they won’t even hear me out.”

“Oh Jeez, don’t put me in this position, man,” Rodney pleaded.

“You can even be there with me, every step of the way, to watch over my work and keep me out of trouble, if that makes you feel better about it,” offered Nick, “I know what I’m doing.”

Rodney merely let out a sigh.

Nick continued, “What I’m trying to discover with that thing, it represents my life and the ultimate goal of why I became a scientist. If I don’t do this I’m always going to regret it. Rodney, please.”

Rodney sat silent for a moment. That moment seemed liked an eternity for Nick.

“You have one hour,” Rodney said.

Nick grinned from ear to ear.

“But if I see this getting out of hand in any way,” Rodney stated, pointing a finger at Nick, “I’ll call this whole thing off and pull you out of there.”

“I understand.”

After assigning a sergeant to run the comm area, Rodney proceeded with Nick down the corridor and entered an elevator. As the elevator doors shut, Rodney remarked, “Y’know you really are a pain in the a--”

Nick chuckled.

After a brief stop to retrieve the orb, and the equipment Nick had gathered, Rodney entered his keycard and engaged in a retinal scan. The elevator then proceeded to sub-basement 5, where the main operating center for the particle accelerator was located.

As they walked down the hall toward the accelerator, Nick took the orb in his hand. He once again admired its shape. It was beautiful geometry, twenty interlocking hexagons of a deep blue metallic hue, in the form of a jagged sphere.

He couldn’t wait. As they made their way, Nick’s heart began to thump. He could barely contain his excitement. And then he felt it; the same waves of energy coming off the orb as yesterday, not as intense, but still there. It was as if the orb was alive and calling out to him, begging him to proceed.

Nick and Rodney entered a large room with rows of computer equipment lining the walls. The accelerator itself was massive. In its entirety, it was a circular structure composed of a length of copper tubing that ran underground, beneath the base.

“Nick, are you sure you can operate this thing by yourself?”

“Uhh, yeah, I used to be an assistant down here, I’m pretty sure I can let this thing go automated, for my needs. It’s a pretty advanced accelerator,...as accelerators go,” Nick stated, apprehensively.

“I just have to make some preparations,” Nick informed, “It should take me about twenty minutes.”

When Nick was through running up the accelerator, he loaded up his special computer program and set the stage for his experiment.

He was inside a sizeable chamber. Lead-lined glass enclosed its front half, with a concrete wall at its back. Nick had hooked up all sorts of energy producing devices around the orb which sat at the center, on the ground. There was something almost ritualistic about what he was about to perform.

Nick stepped out, and then closed and sealed the chamber. A few more computer adjustments, and he was finally ready. Butterflies were about to burst forth out of his stomach.

He looked at Rodney with a raised eyebrow and said, “It’s go time.”

Rodney gave him a simple nod, giving him the ok to proceed.

Nick first applied to the orb electromagnetic energy. To which the orb responded by levitating, as it always had in the past. He then applied all manner of other energy; from heat, to light, from radio waves, to gamma rays.

It was shot with a stream of electricity. The artifact acted as a perfect ground. Nick applied sound waves to represent kinetic energy. He even brought along a gravity producing device also scavenged from alien technology. He had been given permission to use it for his experiments a few weeks ago. He was putting it to good use now.

As Nick was applying these energies to the enigmatic object, he and Rodney watched as it began to vibrate, spin, and orbit. The computer program calculated its movements and kept the energy producing devices locked onto their roaming target.

It was now time to apply the last form of energy that Nick felt was needed. He opened up a path from the accelerator to bring forth the cosmic rays.

At that point, the orb really started to go. Nick and Rodney watched in awe as a blue blur went about in a spherical orbit within the chamber. It was much as one would imagine an electron orbiting an atom.

Nick then began the final phase. He executed the part of his personally designed program that would begin to look for a pattern. The program altered the frequencies and amplitudes of their input energies and looked for a higher output pattern from the orb as it responded.

“It’s working!” Nick exclaimed, “The energy I’m reading from the orb is slowly increasing.

The two stood witness as the orb steadily accelerated around its orbit. The orb itself was no longer visible but a complete blur, although Nick could swear that the object was beginning to glow. One thing was unmistakable; whatever this thing’s true purpose was, it certainly wanted to be in motion.



Next, Chapter 2: Breakthrough

After clearing out of the research building, Nick and Drex walked to the officers club to get a few beers before heading home.

“I wanted to tell you about this computer program I’ve been working on,” Nick said.

“No lab talk, Nick,” interrupted Drex, “We came here to unwind.”

Being the workaholic that he was, this made Nick uneasy.

“Now tell me about this girl you met online,” Drex inquired. “Did she send you any pics yet?”

“Well actually, we already knew each other from high school,” Nick explained, “Her name’s Stacy and I saw her on one of those old classmate websites and sent her an e-mail.”

Nick seemed slightly uncomfortable with sharing what was going on in his poor excuse for a personal life, but continued.

“She then sent me an e-mail and we started sending them back and forth. Eventually we started talking on the phone and talked a lot about our senior year, when we started dating, and what a shame it was that we couldn’t continue it because I went away to school,” Nick finished.

“So are you gonna see her again?” Drex inquired curiously, “Where does she live now?”

“She's living in Vegas,” answered Nick, “She’s currently a blackjack dealer but she’s also an aspiring singer. She’s been trying to convince her bosses to let her sing a couple nights a week, no luck yet.”

“Aspiring singer, huh?” said Drex, “Ok, but just tell me she’s cute.”

“Oh she’s cute alright,” replied Nick with a grin.

“Sweeeet, so when are you gonna go pay her a little visit?” asked Drex.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Nick said, “You know how this place is about leave time.”

“Well, well, well,” a voice boomed from behind Nick, “Looks like we got ourselves a couple of eggheads who think they can drink with the officers.”

Nick swiveled around to see who the voice belonged to. He saw a big ox of a man, at 6’4, still in his camouflage uniform looking menacingly upon Nick and Drex. The man was Captain Jacobs, the officer in charge of their area’s Military Police unit.

Drex stood up before the Captain and said, “Well I went over to yo’ mama’s for a drink but she had already cleaned out the whole liquor cabinet.”

Nick’s eyes widened at Drex’s response, as did Jacobs’.

“Hehehe,” Jacobs chuckled, “Good one.” The two men shook hands.

“How’s it goin’ there, Nick?” Jacobs said, extending his hand, “How’s the lab work coming along?”

“Pretty good, Rodney,” Nick responded, shaking his hand, “As well as it can go with Dr. Warfield on a rampage every so often.”

“Oh man, I don’t know how you put up with that old fart,” Rodney questioned, “If he’s such an accomplished scientist, how come he can’t figure out a way to remove that stick up his butt?”

“I think he’s starting to warm up to us, he only threatened to have us kicked out one time today,” joked Drex.

“Well if you ever need help dealing with that old windbag, you just come to ol’ Rodney,” he offered, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks,” Nick replied.

The next day, Nick arrived at the lab only to see Drex standing by the door with a concerned look on his face. He stepped further in to see the source of Drex’s anxiety. Dr. Warfield was standing by one of the computers at which sat a man dressed in a green suit. The man was bald and in his early-fifties, broad shouldered, almost as big as Rodney, and when he spoke his voice sounded like thunder. He became instantly recognizable to Nick even from the back.

“What, in the name of all that’s holy, is the base commander doing here?” Nick whispered to Drex.

“I think Dr. Warfield had another little chat, concerning us, with General Mason there,” Drex whispered back, “no doubt prompted by last night’s shenanigans. So he’s decided to have a little spot inspection of our work so far. Yay.”

“Sullivan,” Dr. Warfield called out upon noticing him.

Gen. Mason immediately swiveled around to lock eyes with the senior of the two research partners. Drex observed that Nick became noticeably tenser as the eyes of their two bosses gazed upon him. Drex imagined that if Nick had a fear of authority before then right now he must be ready to vomit. As a matter of fact, Drex himself was surprised at his own overwhelming nervousness.

“Dr. Sullivan,” greeted Mason in his booming voice, “Do tell me, what have you been up to here?”

“Excuse me?” a confused Nick asked.

“No, excuse me,” Mason shot back, “I didn’t realize we’d come under that new innovative method of research, where everybody just does their own thing and answers to no one. Far be it from me to hinder your sensitive creative juices with my directives.”

“...I’m s-sorry, sir,” stammered Nick, “What is it exactly that you h...”

“Y’know, when this Youngblood program was first handed down from the Pentagon; I saw it as a minor pain in the neck. I figured it was just another of those goofy ideas that those think-tank einsteins like to cook up to keep themselves on the payroll,” Mason explained, “Hell, I even gave it a chance. When Warfield’s other scientists came to a dead-end with this thing, I figured 'what the hell', let these young boys have a crack at it. So, I had most of those geniuses re-assigned to less enjoyable assignments and here you two stand...AS A TOTAL WASTE OF MY TIME AND RESOURCES!”

With that, Nick turned white as a ghost with Drex not looking much better. Warfield stood back, keeping out of it with a sick smirk on his face.

“Now you two little punks listen to me!” commanded Mason, “When I tell you to move your research in a particular direction, I expect it to be done. Crazy, huh?”

“Y’see, Area 51 is not like other bases,” Mason continued, calming down a bit, “You’ve got Army, Air Force, scientists, and a few other groups all mixed together on a mythical place that’s not supposed to exist, and you know what keeps all of these flowing forces working together?...Me. And if this base doesn’t keep moving in a productive direction, I tend to get a little cranky.”

Nick and Drex stood there dumbstruck as the General went on with his rant.

“Now I wanted a way to be found, to see if this object could be utilized toward a specific function,” Mason continued, “Yet when I went through your files and notes all I saw were all sorts of fanciful notions and experiments pertaining toward..um..the nature of its energies, power applications, underwater properties,...its effect on plant growth?…All kinds of useless crap. What I don’t see is one shred of evidence that you boys were trying to obtain what I asked for: the extraction and channeling of the immense energies that may be inside.”

“I don’t think these two boys are quite ready to take the reigns of their own assignments, General,” Warfield chimed in, “Perhaps they’d be better suited back where they were;..um..cataloging radiation levels of debris fragments, I believe.”

“Oh, Jeez,” said Drex under his breath, echoing the sentiments of Nick.

“My thoughts exactly, Dr. Warfield,” replied the General, “I’ll just have to tell the Pentagon to shove their program. As of tomorrow, you boys are off the orb research, I expect a full wrap-up report of all your data and your theories, as if I gave a sweet Jesus what they are. Have it on my desk by the end of your shift.”

“Nick, say something,” Drex whispered to Nick in desperation.

“Uhh..,” attempted Nick.

“And then report to Capt. Jacobs. I’ll have him ready to have your security levels lowered,” ordered Mason.

“General, th-there’s actually one more experiment I really wanted to accomplish…,” Nick finally said.

“No more experiments,” Mason interrupted, in near disbelief at the request, “Wrap it up. It’s over. Have everything ready for the next team to take over. Dr. Warfield, I trust you won’t let me down this time.”

“Actually, sir, I plan to take over this research personally,” Warfield responded, “My research on our other…item of interest, has reached a stopping point. I plan on exploring the connections between the two.”

“Uhh...yes, that’s fine,” said Mason.

Nick so desperately wanted to plead his case to his superiors but felt completely helpless to their whims. Drex was just seething with anger over the whole situation, and not wanting to step on the toes of his senior partner by arguing for him.

“Well boys, what can I say; it’s just not you time,” concluded Mason, “Have a nice day.”

General Mason then left the room, taking with him his intimidating presence and Dr. Warfield. The last thing they saw was the look of smug satisfaction of the wrinkled face of the Doctor, as he looked back at the two one last time before the door shut behind him.

“This sucks!” shouted Drex, “Who do they think they are?”

“Our bosses,” replied Nick, answering his rhetorical question, “There’s nothing we can do about this.”

“We have to try,” pleaded Drex, “Let’s go to his office after he’s calmed down a bit. I’ll back you up.”

“No,” said Nick, “Let’s just let it go.”

“Fine,” sighed Drex, “But I sure ain’t happy about going back to cataloging debris. That’s so boring! This was supposed to be our big break.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” said Nick, grimly.

Later that night, Drex was finishing up packing the personal items from his desk, while Nick was still going through computer files.

“C’mon man,” Drex called out, “Quit messin’ around and finish packing, we’ve only got 20 minutes till end of shift.”

“Yeah,” responded Nick, “I was just going through this computer program I put together. This could have been it. This could have been the means by which we finally convinced this orb to show us its secrets.”

“Huh?” Drex asked, “Oh, yeah. You mentioned something about that. What is it?”

“Well, we know that the orb responds in different ways to different forms of energy,” Drex began, “But is it possible that there may be some combination of energies or energy patterns that could trigger it into its originally designed function, its purpose? What this program does, is it will control all of the functions of our multiple energy inputs, at the same time, taking constant readings of the orb’s energy output. The program will alter its standard pattern of inputs until it finds a higher energy output pattern and therefore defines a new, better standard of inputs and continues onwards from there in the same manner, repeatedly. So each time the program finds a good combination it immediately starts looking for a better one, a higher one, one that the orb really likes.”

“Do you think the orb is transforming the input energies into its outputs?” Drex wondered.

“No,” Nick answered, “the output energies are often higher than the inputs. I think the orb is responding to our energies as though it’s looking for a trigger, some pre-designed pattern. I believe that once we give it that, it will show us…whatever it’s gonna show us, perhaps the nature of its true energy source.”

“So what you’d be proposing is, in effect, to prompt this thing to jump to a higher energy state, kinda like an electron?” Drex summed up.

“Exactly,” Nick confirmed, “Unfortunately, we’ll never get that chance now. I guess I’ll just have to leave it for...*sigh*...Warfield, when he takes over.”

“Seems a shame,” Drex stated, with a look of concern, “I mean, this was your baby. To me, it was just another toy, but I could tell how much you really wanted this. Sorry, dude.”

Nick looked up at Drex and said bluntly, “Sometimes forces just align against you and there’s nothing you can do.”

Nick wondered if there was a way this could have been avoided. Was it there immature behavior, their lack of valuable findings, or were Warfield and Mason never going to give them a real chance regardless?

He then glanced over to the orb sitting in its containment unit. He thought back to yesterday and that bizarre feeling that briefly emanated from it. Nick couldn’t stop thinking about it, since then. It was almost as if, in that moment, it formed a strange sort of connection with him and it pained him to think that this would be the last time he would ever see it.

Nick suddenly became entranced by the deep blue geometric orb, lost, not in thought but in feeling. Lost in the feeling of wonderment, excitement, and fulfillment, of what could have been, the possibilities of, metaphorically, cracking that thing wide open. Nick was lost in the question of ‘what are you?’.

“Nick!” Drex yelled, snapping his fingers.

Nick snapped out of his trance, looked plainly at Drex, and said, “I’m goin’ for it.”

Note: This origin story is rather detailed and in depth(but intriuging and epic ). It was first posted on the pre-release boards before the wipe. The prologue is in two parts, setting up the story, with the real action beginning in Chapter 1. I filled the prologue with a scientific theme and human interaction to keep it interesting until Ch.1. Hope you enjoy it.


Fear of Power


Prologue pt.1


“What are you doing?”

“Huh?”

“What are you doing?”

“Oh. Isn’t this incredible? It spins!”

“Yeah, umm, we already know that, that was found out like two years ago.”

“Well, yeah, but it never ceases to be just amazing.”

“Nick, you are just too easily impressed.”

Nick Sullivan had always been that way. As a matter of fact, that’s what got him into science, his boundless curiosity, an interesting contrast to the trademarked cynicism of his younger research partner, Drexel Jones.

At 28 years Nick would’ve easily been the youngest scientist on base if Drex didn’t have him beat by about another 4 years.

“This is by far the strangest thing we’ve ever examined,” Nick said, marveling at the multi-faceted blue orb before him as it spun on one of its points.

“It’s reacting to the laser somehow,” remarked Nick.

“Duh,” Drex snidely replied, looking on as a thin, moderately powered laser was beaming down from the ceiling, acting as the axis for the orb’s spin on the lab table.

Nick and Drex are rather bright scientists, perhaps Drex had more potential but it was Nick that had the most drive, the most dedication, the most desire to unlock the secrets of any puzzle laid before him.

“But how? And why?” Nick wondered.

“Well, you’re not gonna find out the answers by asking it,” stated Drex.

“I know. In fact, I have quite a number of tests I want to perform starting tomorrow,” Nick said with noticeable excitement in his voice. “It seems to respond in different ways to various forms of concentrated energy. With radio waves, it hums. With microwaves, it oscillates. With infrared or heat, it rocks. With light…”

“…it spins,” Drex finished.

“Right, and at different speeds for different wavelengths, or colors,” Nick continued, “I hear this thing was found amidst the debris of a strange ship that was tracked crashing down in Alaska, amongst other items.”

Nick suddenly went back to studying the orb. He was extremely curious to know what was inside it, to find out what made it tick. He pondered over its design, its twenty hexagonal plates, composed of some unknown substance, faceted together in the shape of a jagged sphere. The deep blue metallic surface shimmered and nearly entranced Nick as he examined it.

“That’s enough of that,” Drex said as he snatched the orb from Nick’s gaze and, with one hand, started flicking it up in the air a few times. “Y’know, I bet we could play a nice game of mini-basketball with this thing. All we’d need is one of those hoops and I guess some cushioning on the floor,” Drex joked.

“Hey!” Nick exclaimed, “I was looking at that. For God’s sake, stop playing around with it like that. You’ll…”

“…what? Break it?” Drex interjected, “C’mon, you know that won’t happen. This thing’s been put through enough stress testing to know that it ain’t gonna break just from being dropped.” As Drex was speaking, Nick made a few attempts to snatch back the orb, only to be thwarted by his partner’s quick hands.

Nick, realizing that Drex was right, responded, “Okay, tell you what. If you can get to the wall behind me by getting past me, within 10 seconds, you can keep it for now. If not then I get it back.”

Nick and Drex grinned slyly at each other and Drex accepted, “Alright Big Man. Show me what you got.” Drex took a starting stance and asked, “What are we playing here basketball or football-style?”

“Football-style” Nick replied.

“Weeellll, we are in a competitive mood today, aren’t we?” Drex jibed, somewhat surprised at Nick’s choice.

“I’m gonna need to back up for a running start in that case,” said Drex, as he jogged to the other side of the lab. Drex knew he was a bit too small to barrel through his opponent, so on his approach, with the orb tucked tightly in his arm, he attempted to juke Nick to one side and dash past on the other. However Nick, being somewhat quick-footed himself, was not fooled and latched onto Drex, one arm around his waist and the other pulling his knee inward and back, dropping the wily young scientist to the ground, while trying to break his fall on the hard floor as best he could.

Nick then clasped his hands around the orb and attempted to wrestle it away from his fallen adversary. “Looks like I just took you down a peg or two, you cocky son of a..., whoa?!” his blusterous words were cut short by a sensation he never felt before emanating from the alien artifact. A strange energetic wave shot through him, giving him goosebumps and causing his hair to stand on end.

“Do you feel that?” Nick inquired.

“What?” Drex responded.

The sensation was then gone as suddenly as it came and Nick gently pulled the orb away from a confused looking Drex and looked in awe at the object.

Drex then said, “I didn’t feel anyth…”

“What’s going on in here?!” an angry voice demanded in a somewhat hushed tone.

The two young men, still on the floor, looked up to see a man in his late 50’s, wearing a white lab coat and a rather stern expression on his face, standing at the door.

“Oh. Hi, Dr. Warfield,” Drex said in an innocent tone, “We were just…taking a little morale boosting break. You know what they say about all work and no play…”

“I’m sorry about this Dr. Warfield,” Nick apologized. “It was my idea to goof around. It won’t happen again.” Nick said, as he and Drex picked themselves up off the floor.

“Unacceptable,” said Warfield, “I will not have infantile antics by my so-called scientists performed around…and with…delicate equipment. I hope for your sakes the orb is undamaged.”

“It’s fine,” chimed Drex.

“I demand progress!” snapped Warfield “…and you have made none.”

“Well, we’re in a brainstorming phase right now…” Drex began.

“I don’t want to hear it!” Warfield shouted, cutting him off, “Having you two here due to the interference of this insufferable, ill-conceived Youngblood program is enough of an insult to the careers of long established scientists already, but to top it off with your immature attitudes and behavior and your lack of any kind of useful data to speak of is just too much to bear.”

The Youngblood program was originally developed to cultivate and utilize the creative resources of brilliant young men and women early in their scientific careers. The intent was to allow their fresh minds to theorize and experiment without the preconceived notions forged during a lifetime spent in the scientific community. The hope was that the work produced by their unfettered perspectives would take them in directions that their older counterparts would have never imagined. However, it would seem their current supervisors do not share in the vision of the program.

“Dr. Warfield, honestly, we are making progress,” a worried Nick stated, “We’ve outlined some exciting ideas about the directions we can take this thing into. If you’d just give us time to use our own techniques to explore all the possibilities this object might imply…”

“All the possibilities? You were told to focus your efforts on one possible application, and that is the extraction and channeling of the energies we suspect lie within,” scolded Warfield.

“Channeling,” stated Nick, “This is intended to be used as an…offensive weapon of some kind, isn’t it?”

“Likely, we are working for the military after all, young man,” answered Warfield, “Do you have some kind of problem with that?”

“Uhh, no, it’s just that there’s some evidence that, once fully understood, we could use this as some kind of clean reusable energy source. If we could reproduce these things they could someday power cities, space vehicles, nuclear subs…” rattled Nick, “To limit ourselves to only one option seems a bit…um...short-sighted.”

“That is not your call to make,” observed Warfield, “You will abide by the directives of your supervisors and that is it. Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Nick responded.

“Good. Now clean up this lab. Your shift is almost done,” ordered Warfield.

“Oh, goody. Now we can go grab a beer. How ‘bout it Chester?” Drex asked insincerely.

Warfield sighed. “That's ‘Dr. Warfield’, to you; and most assuredly not. I’ve wasted enough time with you two. I simply must get back to my own work,” said Warfield.

“What are you working on, Dr. Warfield?” inquired Nick.

“That’s on a ‘need to know’ basis,” replied Warfield, “...and you don’t. Good night, gentlemen.” With that Warfield left, shutting the door behind him.”

“There’s something about that guy I like,” mocked Drex, “...I think it’s his shoes.”

“That did not help with gaining any respect from him,” sighed Nick, “We’ll never be taken as serious as the other scientists.”

“Who needs his respect?” questioned Drex, “He’s not the ultimate word on whether we work here or not, and you with your ‘yes, sir’. Y’know you’ve got a real fear of authority figures. You should stand up for what we believe in some more. I mean, you are the senior partner here.”

“I know,” Nick agreed, “It’s just that whenever I’m around someone with any kind of power over me, I sort of freeze up and I just want to make sure I please them. Y’know?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” said Drex.

“Daddy issues,” Drex followed with a grin.

That made Nick smile and lightened his mood.

“Now c’mon. Let’s get outta here.” requested Drex.

After the lab was cleaned, the orb was locked away in its special containment unit.

The two young scientists left the lab several minutes later, and the highly secure building, soon after. Blissfully unaware that this would be the last routine night of their top secret careers, for nothing is ever truly routine when you work at a place like Area 51.

Note: This origin story is rather detailed and in depth. It was first posted on the pre-release boards before the wipe. The prologue is in two parts, setting up the story, with the real action beginning in Chapter 1. I filled the prologue with a scientific theme and human interaction to keep it interesting until Ch.1. Hope you enjoy it.


Fear of Power


Prologue pt.1

“What are you doing?”

“Huh?”

“What are you doing?”

“Oh. Isn’t this incredible? It spins!”

“Yeah, umm, we already know that, that was found out like two years ago.”

“Well, yeah, but it never ceases to be just amazing.”

“Nick, you are just too easily impressed.”

Nick Sullivan had always been that way. As a matter of fact, that’s what got him into science, his boundless curiosity, an interesting contrast to the trademarked cynicism of his younger research partner, Drexel Jones.

At 28 years Nick would’ve easily been the youngest scientist on base if Drex didn’t have him beat by about another 4 years.

“This is by far the strangest thing we’ve ever examined,” Nick said, marveling at the multi-faceted blue orb before him as it spun on one of its points.

“It’s reacting to the laser somehow,” remarked Nick.

“Duh,” Drex snidely replied, looking on as a thin, moderately powered laser was beaming down from the ceiling, acting as the axis for the orb’s spin on the lab table.

Nick and Drex are rather bright scientists, perhaps Drex had more potential but it was Nick that had the most drive, the most dedication, the most desire to unlock the secrets of any puzzle laid before him.

“But how? And why?” Nick wondered.

“Well, you’re not gonna find out the answers by asking it,” stated Drex.

“I know. In fact, I have quite a number of tests I want to perform starting tomorrow,” Nick said with noticeable excitement in his voice. “It seems to respond in different ways to various forms of concentrated energy. With radio waves, it hums. With microwaves, it oscillates. With infrared or heat, it rocks. With light…”

“…it spins,” Drex finished.

“Right, and at different speeds for different wavelengths, or colors,” Nick continued, “I hear this thing was found amidst the debris of a strange ship that was tracked crashing down in Alaska, amongst other items.”

Nick suddenly went back to studying the orb. He was extremely curious to know what was inside it, to find out what made it tick. He pondered over its design, its twenty hexagonal plates, composed of some unknown substance, faceted together in the shape of a jagged sphere. The deep blue metallic surface shimmered and nearly entranced Nick as he examined it.

“That’s enough of that,” Drex said as he snatched the orb from Nick’s gaze and, with one hand, started flicking it up in the air a few times. “Y’know, I bet we could play a nice game of mini-basketball with this thing. All we’d need is one of those hoops and I guess some cushioning on the floor,” Drex joked.

“Hey!” Nick exclaimed, “I was looking at that. For God’s sake, stop playing around with it like that. You’ll…”

“…what? Break it?” Drex interjected, “C’mon, you know that won’t happen. This thing’s been put through enough stress testing to know that it ain’t gonna break just from being dropped.” As Drex was speaking, Nick made a few attempts to snatch back the orb, only to be thwarted by his partner’s quick hands.

Nick, realizing that Drex was right, responded, “Okay, tell you what. If you can get to the wall behind me by getting past me, within 10 seconds, you can keep it for now. If not then I get it back.”

Nick and Drex grinned slyly at each other and Drex accepted, “Alright Big Man. Show me what you got.” Drex took a starting stance and asked, “What are we playing here basketball or football-style?”

“Football-style” Nick replied.

“Weeellll, we are in a competitive mood today, aren’t we?” Drex jibed, somewhat surprised at Nick’s choice.

“I’m gonna need to back up for a running start in that case,” said Drex, as he jogged to the other side of the lab. Drex knew he was a bit too small to barrel through his opponent, so on his approach, with the orb tucked tightly in his arm, he attempted to juke Nick to one side and dash past on the other. However Nick, being somewhat quick-footed himself, was not fooled and latched onto Drex, one arm around his waist and the other pulling his knee inward and back, dropping the wily young scientist to the ground, while trying to break his fall on the hard floor as best he could.

Nick then clasped his hands around the orb and attempted to wrestle it away from his fallen adversary. “Looks like I just took you down a peg or two, you cocky son of a..., whoa?!” his blusterous words were cut short by a sensation he never felt before emanating from the alien artifact. A strange energetic wave shot through him, giving him goosebumps and causing his hair to stand on end.

“Do you feel that?” Nick inquired.

“What?” Drex responded.

The sensation was then gone as suddenly as it came and Nick gently pulled the orb away from a confused looking Drex and looked in awe at the object.

Drex then said, “I didn’t feel anyth…”

“What’s going on in here?!” an angry voice demanded in a somewhat hushed tone.

The two young men, still on the floor, looked up to see a man in his late 50’s, wearing a white lab coat and a rather stern expression on his face, standing at the door.

“Oh. Hi, Dr. Warfield,” Drex said in an innocent tone, “We were just…taking a little morale boosting break. You know what they say about all work and no play…”

“I’m sorry about this Dr. Warfield,” Nick apologized. “It was my idea to goof around. It won’t happen again.” Nick said, as he and Drex picked themselves up off the floor.

“Unacceptable,” said Warfield, “I will not have infantile antics by my so-called scientists performed around…and with…delicate equipment. I hope for your sakes the orb is undamaged.”

“It’s fine,” chimed Drex.

“I demand progress!” snapped Warfield “…and you have made none.”

“Well, we’re in a brainstorming phase right now…” Drex began.

“I don’t want to hear it!” Warfield shouted, cutting him off, “Having you two here due to the interference of this insufferable, ill-conceived Youngblood program is enough of an insult to the careers of long established scientists already, but to top it off with your immature attitudes and behavior and your lack of any kind of useful data to speak of is just too much to bear.”

The Youngblood program was originally developed to cultivate and utilize the creative resources of brilliant young men and women early in their scientific careers. The intent was to allow their fresh minds to theorize and experiment without the preconceived notions forged during a lifetime spent in the scientific community. The hope was that the work produced by their unfettered perspectives would take them in directions that their older counterparts would have never imagined. However, it would seem their current supervisors do not share in the vision of the program.

“Dr. Warfield, honestly, we are making progress,” a worried Nick stated, “We’ve outlined some exciting ideas about the directions we can take this thing into. If you’d just give us time to use our own techniques to explore all the possibilities this object might imply…”

“All the possibilities? You were told to focus your efforts on one possible application, and that is the extraction and channeling of the energies we suspect lie within,” scolded Warfield.

“Channeling,” stated Nick, “This is intended to be used as an…offensive weapon of some kind, isn’t it?”

“Likely, we are working for the military after all, young man,” answered Warfield, “Do you have some kind of problem with that?”

“Uhh, no, it’s just that there’s some evidence that, once fully understood, we could use this as some kind of clean reusable energy source. If we could reproduce these things they could someday power cities, space vehicles, nuclear subs…” rattled Nick, “To limit ourselves to only one option seems a bit…um...short-sighted.”

“That is not your call to make,” observed Warfield, “You will abide by the directives of your supervisors and that is it. Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Nick responded.

“Good. Now clean up this lab. Your shift is almost done,” ordered Warfield.

“Oh, goody. Now we can go grab a beer. How ‘bout it Chester?” Drex asked insincerely.

Warfield sighed. “That's ‘Dr. Warfield’, to you; and most assuredly not. I’ve wasted enough time with you two. I simply must get back to my own work,” said Warfield.

“What are you working on, Dr. Warfield?” inquired Nick.

“That’s on a ‘need to know’ basis,” replied Warfield, “...and you don’t. Good night, gentlemen.” With that Warfield left, shutting the door behind him.”

“There’s something about that guy I like,” mocked Drex, “...I think it’s his shoes.”

“That did not help with gaining any respect from him,” sighed Nick, “We’ll never be taken as serious as the other scientists.”

“Who needs his respect?” questioned Drex, “He’s not the ultimate word on whether we work here or not, and you with your ‘yes, sir’. Y’know you’ve got a real fear of authority figures. You should stand up for what we believe in some more. I mean, you are the senior partner here.”

“I know,” Nick agreed, “It’s just that whenever I’m around someone with any kind of power over me, I sort of freeze up and I just want to make sure I please them. Y’know?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” said Drex.

“Daddy issues,” Drex followed with a grin.

That made Nick smile and lightened his mood.

“Now c’mon. Let’s get outta here.” requested Drex.

After the lab was cleaned, the orb was locked away in its special containment unit.

The two young scientists left the lab several minutes later, and the highly secure building, soon after. Blissfully unaware that this would be the last routine night of their top secret careers, for nothing is ever truly routine when you work at a place like Area 51.

That's what the website says. This is very dissappointing. It was going to be my other MMO. Now I have to settle for WoW Was anyone else gonna play this?