First Look -- Inception

[Azaar]

I'm still working on this -- not entirely certain when I'll be finished, I admit, but hopefully soon. I'm setting this as the day after X-Day (assuming August 17, 2006 being the date for X-Day, which sounds pretty reasonable for the new build-up Sully has working for us). After all this time, though, all of you deserve a sneak peek. So, without further ado...

Disclaimer: This is a fan-fic based on characters created by Yoshiki Takaya and contains violent situations with adult language. All other characters are created by Brian O’Sullivan, et al for the Warrior Guyver fan-fiction website.

August 18, 2006 -- Northern Washington DC -- A Seemingly Abandoned Industrial Estate

The office was dark, save for the dim glow of a flat screen computer monitor that served only to outline the young man using the terminal. The *click* of keys as he typed on the keyboard was almost the only sound that could be heard in the room, aside from the faint hints of gothic alternative metal music coming from his headphones. So engrossed in the music and his work that when the door chimed to signal someone waiting outside, he completely missed it.

The chime signaled again, but still no answer. On the third attempt, the door slid open to reveal Dr. Thomas Drake, who stepped in and flipped on the lights. That, it seemed, managed to catch the young man’s attention, who looked up from his computer screen, blinking at the sudden influx of light.

With the lights on, the office looked to be an area that should have instead been deemed a disaster area. Half-opened operating manuals dotted the office space. A clutter of several half-dismantled desktop computer towers were set off to a corner, stacked three- and four-high. The desk was a little better, but still dominated by several zip drives and a plethora of CD cases.

The young man snatched off the headphones, allowing the strains of Lacuna Coil’s “Swamped” to be heard before he hurriedly clicked on the mouse to shut off the music. “Sorry, Doc,” he apologized, his voice a soft baritone. “Busy at work.”

“I trust that ‘work’ doesn’t mean playing first-person shooters or real-time strategy games,” came the mild reply from Dr. Drake. “You know, Gabriel, this office looks like a microcosm of what’s going on outside in the real world.” He paused for a moment. “You do know what’s going on outside, right, Mr. Kelso?”

“Hadn’t checked, to be honest.” Leaning back in his office chair a little, Gabriel Kelso looked up at the good doctor for a moment before standing up. “Actually, I was looking over the code for the Red Type guidance and targeting systems upgrades, prepping for the final check before uploading it all. Been doing that for… hrmm…” The young man paused for a moment, eyes darting around for a moment before looking up at Dr. Drake sheepishly. “What’s the date?”

“August 18.”

“Oh… huh. I seem to have missed a couple of days, then.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Dr. Drake ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. “Gabriel--”

“Doc, please, call me Gabe. I hate it when you all go formal on me.”

“Fine, Gabe.” Dr. Drake moved to take a seat in the chair opposite Gabe’s desk. “Forget the work, at least for the moment. And sit down -- you’re going to want to before I’m done.”

“All right…” Gabe frowned, but did as he was told, sitting back down. “What’s going on?”

There was no sense in sugar-coating it for the young man, so Dr. Drake launched right into it. “Chronos made their big move yesterday. Most every nation on Earth has fallen -- they had personnel infiltrated on every level of virtually every government. America, Canada, Japan, all of Europe, Russia -- and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Had General Carter not taken us off-grid from the beginning, we very well might have been taken out completely.”

Gabe’s head lowered, his mind racing as the words struck home. “So soon?” he asked quietly. “And without any warning? Why?”

“There’s some strange rumors floating around, a lot of it centered around the Japan branch of Chronos and their heightened level of activity there, but some of it is centered around what happened in Utah last year. It’s going to be a while until we can verify anything across the sea, though, let alone try and get assets into place to start gathering intelligence. General Carter ordered a complete lockdown yesterday afternoon when Chronos hit the United States.”

Gabe looked up at the mention of Utah, his jaw set, and he took a deep breath. “Utah’s a waste of their time,” he said quietly, but there was a tightness in his voice. “There’s nothing left there -- Atkins was lucky that the dig team had already been evacuated before going full-bore commando. Never mind after the explosion from the Utah Relic blasting it’s way out to head back into outer space.” He shrugged after a moment. “As for Japan… interesting. But I suppose I can understand their reasoning -- Chronos wants to keep on top of the latest technology, and Japan has a good reputation on that front.” He paused for a moment. “Guess that means we won’t be seeing anyone new around here, at least for the time being.”

“He did have a couple of people brought in from outside, so I suppose that’s the closest to souvenirs that we’re going to get. One came in with Special Agent Atkins early yesterday morning; the other came in later, about mid-afternoon, and it was fortunate we were able to get her here.” Dr. Drake pointed a finger at Gabe. “And you’re the one who’s going to be showing them around the lab after lunch, so try to get your head on straight and look presentable?”

“What? Doc, come on! I haven’t run the final checks on the latest Red Type guidance and targeting systems upgrades yet, never mind--”

“Gabe, enough.” Dr. Drake held up his hand. “General Carter’s finishing them up with showing them the rest of the base -- they did the debriefing late yesterday afternoon and last night, so it‘s just a matter of getting them familiar with the layout. You’ve got--” He glanced at his watch as he stood up from the chair. “--a little over three hours before they’re supposed to be brought down to the lab to see everything at 1300 hours. If it consoles you any, neither of them are military, and they’re roughly your age as well. If nothing else, you won’t be able to say that you’re completely alone.”

Gabe sighed quietly. He knew when he was defeated, and he’d learned all too well over the past year when it came to picking and choosing his battles with the ‘upper management’, as he referred to General Carter and his staff. “Fine. I’ll go take a run around the place, get a shower and all that.” A brief pause. “But forget the tie. I hate ties.”

Dr. Drake couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Fine, no tie. Just behave yourself is all I ask. Besides, it might just make General Carter a bit more predisposed to entertain some of your ideas.” Heading for the door, he opened it and then turned back around. “See you after lunch.”

Slumping back in his chair, Gabe watched Dr. Drake leave, then shook his head. “Carter sure as hell better be thankful for this,” he muttered to himself. Looking back at the screen, he reached for the mouse to click and save his work, then closed everything out and shut down his computer. Then he was up on his feet, heading for the door and turning the lights back off before leaving his office to head for his quarters and change clothes.

Ten minutes later, he entered what he called his own private little domain within the abandoned industrial complex that served as their base of operations. One of the smaller warehouses had been refurbished, the interior set up to resemble several city blocks, complete with stairs, alleyways and more to make it as authentic as possible. For Gabe, or any parkour enthusiast for that matter, it was a dream course to keep himself fit and keep his mind running.

Even so, as he began running, one thought ran through his head, stirring up old memories of his life before: How the hell did I wind up here?

[Sully]

Very nicely wrote! I like it.