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| Nomad 2099UG Issue #3 "Only the Beginning..." Written by Travis DeVore |
| The 2099 Underground is a project whereby a group of fans are putting together a series of stories continuing from Marvel's fantastic futuristic 2099! Ignoring the ignoble and inaccurate "2099: World of Tomorrow", we're exploring what we feel is the true spirit of 2099 as envisioned by then Editor-in-Chief Joey Cavalieri. Participation is open to all. Comments about this issue should be sent to the author. Or you can visit our message board and post your thoughts on the issue. Anyone wishing to join the mailing list should do so by signing up at Yahoo! Groups. It's free and easy! Simply type in the keyword "Ghostworks" and you're good to go. |
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| Somewhere in America- "Sir, we have a problem. Operative 623 has been destroyed." "623? Where was it assigned?" the dark man asks, half distracted by the images on the monitor. "Truth or Consequences." Silence fills the room for only a second before the man asks the next question. "How did it happen?" Morey responds, his nervousness betrayed by his shuffling feet, "Well, we're still trying to sort out the images, but 623 fired on Nomad and . . . " The man explodes, almost rising from his chair. "What?! I thought I told you to just provoke Monroe, not kill him." "623 did. But it turned into a fight. 623 came at the Nomad with a pipe and the Nomad threw . . . something at the pipe and told 623 to back off. 623 ignored the Nomad and advanced on him again. The Nomad threw something again, only this time it hit 623 in the head. 623 got up and . . . " -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Redneck's hand turns blue, then a beam of energy shoots out, aimed at where Jack is standing. Rather, where Jack was standing. Jack leaps behind a car. Another blast slams into the back end of the car, turning it part of the way around, exposing Jack. Once again a beam strikes the ground where Jack was. As he dodges the beam, Jack throws a rock at Redneck. It hits him in the shoulder, causing the beam to go high above Jack's head. Jack runs for an alleyway that's close by. "I can't keep this up," Jack thinks, as he dives around the corner of a building. Two more blasts light up the alleyway, then silence. Jack ducks behind a stack of crates. He listens for any noises, then sits back. "Where is Cap's shield when you need it? What the hell is that thing anyway? One minute it's an obnoxious drunk. The next it's a freaking killing machine. For that matter, how did it know my old code name?" Jack grabs an old pipe lying nearby and waits for Redneck. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Somewhere in New York are a group of individuals. For over a century this group has had the responsibility of watching over Jack Monroe, the Nomad. Unfortunately, and for unknown reasons, this responsibility has been neglected for the last thirty-four years. The group remained prepared but many of its members had drifted away. That's why the stirring of the centuries old machinery had caught the remaining members off guard. "Well, you've all seen the readouts. Any comments?" The leader of the group looks around the room. No one says anything, then a hand goes up. The leader nods and says, "Chip? Have they been authenticated?" "Not yet. We're waiting for Martin to get back to us. He's scanning the net for any leads." Another hand goes up. Without waiting for acknowledgment, the owner of the hand asks, "What do we do if these are fake?" "Well, we've got contingency plans in place to take care of that. If it's some hacker, we'll make sure they don't even download the latest news bits. If it's a malfunction in the machinery, we'll fix the defective components. However, no one's asked the question that's on everyone's mind. What do we do if this turns out to be real?" Once again, the room is silent as they the question. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back in Truth or Consequences Just as Jack's legs begin to cramp, he hears a crunching noise at the mouth of the alley. "Jack? Hey, Jack, you there?" Jack recognizes the voice as belonging to the mountain man, Bob, from the bar. "Yeah, Bob. I'm right here," he says, standing up. "Thank Hela. Wasn't sure if that thing didn't clip ya. What in the hell d'ja do to that thing to piss him off like that?" Jack stretches his legs and walks toward Bob. He shakes his head and says, "I have no idea. I've never seen him before." "He didn't get really pissed until you threw those things at him. What were they any way?" "Mad? He turned into a freaking robot. Anyway, like I told him, those were little gifts from a friend. I'll tell you more about them when we find them and I've had a couple of beers." Bob and Jack walk out of the alley and head in the direction of the bar. They stop at the body of Redneck, where Earl is examining the body. What looks to be a rifle, is slung over one shoulder. There are two holes in the chest and one hand is missing. "Earl had to shoot him three times before the thing went down. Odd thing was that no one did anything during the whole thing. Everyone just stood there and watched you guys fight, then not a word as Earl shot up their buddy. After it was done, they walked away." Jack squats down next to the robot. He notices that the clothing had begun to turn metallic and meld with the body. Jack looks up from the body, and notices Earl staring at him. The two of them hold it for a minute, each man daring the other to look away, then Earl smiles, grabs the gun and the remaining hand of Redneck, and walks down the street, never taking his eyes off Jack. "Funny fellow," Jack thinks, "The man doesn't say anything, just stares at you. But I never get a malicious feeling from him." "Where's Earl going with Redneck?" Jack asks Bob as the two of them start walking toward the bar. "Hm? Oh the 'bot. He'll take him back to the rig and check him out. If he can't fix him up a little, then he'll part him." "What?! You guys are going to tear that poor guy apart?" Bob stops just short of the porch. "Jack weren't you listening. That thing's not human. It didn't make a sound when Earl was shooting' it. And it sure as hell didn't care 'bout no one else when it fired back at Earl. Thank Hela your discs screwed up its perception, cause it woulda killed someone. Besides it's not like these people are even going to notice." "I have got to remember this is a different time and place," Jack thinks. "Things I wouldn't have done in 1990, I'm going to have to accept in 2065." "I'm sorry, Bob, you're right. I have no right to judge you guys." Jack holds out his hand. Bob grabs it and laughs, "It's alright. But you're buying the beers." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Sir, what do you want me to do?" The man stares at the monitor where the video from Operative 623 is playing. Minutes go by before the man finally looks at Morey and asks, "Do we know what Monroe plans to do?" Without hesitation, Morey says, "Yes, sir. Tomorrow, he is leaving with two men. They are headed to Las Vegas." "Good. This is what I want you to do." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So, Jack, are you going to tell me about these little beauties or what?" Bob says, holding one of the small discs up to get a look at it. Jack ignores Bob for a second, taking longer than he needs to line up a shot. "How much should I tell them? I've only known them for a few hours. But I need to start trusting someone." Jack takes the shot, missing, and reaches across the table. Bob drops the discs in the hand and looks for his shot, while Jack explains. "I'm not sure what they're made of but they're light. I do know that their density increases when they hit their target. And that depends on how hard they're thrown. Like if I just drop them, they'll feel like a small rock. But if I throw them, well, you saw what they can do." "I still can't believe that one shattered that support beam on the porch," Bob says, shaking his head. "And I didn't throw it that hard. I think I can adjust the density myself, but I haven't figured it out yet." "Where were they? I didn't see ya pull 'em out of a pocket." "If you think about it for a second, you'll figure it out." Jack leans down and takes his shot. Bob leans on his cue stick, thinks about it. First realization, then confusion dawns on his face. "It's the earring right? But . . . ?" Jack smiles and says, "How? Again I don't know the exact details, but when I press the discs here," he says pressing just to one side in the middle of the discs, "They shrink and become magnetized. When I pull them apart, they return to normal size." "Amazing'. Let's finish this game and go to bed. It's going to be long drive tomorrow." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "We are all in agreement then. Except those of you with specific orders, we will continue with standard Watcher procedures. Any questions? No? Then you are all dismissed." Everyone except the leader of this ragtag group gets up from the table and files out of the room. The man just sits in the chair and stares at the readouts from various surveillance equipment. Even though each one is produced differently, all of them point to the same conclusion. "Can it be true? After all of these years, can Jack Monroe be alive?" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ok, Morey, are we clear on this? Our operatives are to make it as difficult as possible for Monroe but they are not to kill him. If any of them glitch out like 623, destroy them." "Yes, sir. Sir? What about his two friends, sir?" "You idiot, what do you think? How is Monroe going to leave if you kill them?" "Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir. I'll get right on it, sir." Morey quickly turns and leaves, almost running, barely giving the door time to open. "Well, Jack, the game begins anew." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next morning, Jack checks his bag for everything. Satisfied that nothing is missing, Jack leaves the room and goes downstairs. The bartender, Ted, is the only one in the room. Jack sits at the bar and waits for Ted to finish what he's doing. After a few minutes, Ted walks over to Jack. "Leaving?" "Yeah. I'm hitching a ride with those two truckers. Listen, I wanted to apologize for what happened last night. I never wanted to get into a fight with him." "It's fine. Those two idiots started it. Besides, you were right. The Broncos would've won." Jack notices the slip by the man but ignores it. "Do you have any idea what that thing was? Neither Bob nor Earl had seen it before. Everyone else ignored me when I tried to ask." "I remember, hearing 'bout something similar. Let's see. Oh, it was about two years ago. Some guy was in here and he was telling everyone about this man who just fell over in front of him. Well, when he turned the guy over to see what was wrong, he said the guy's face looked sort of metallic. By then the local meds showed up and took the guy away. Never found out what happened to him. Maybe they're connected somehow." "Do you remember where that was?" "Couldn't forget that even if I wanted to. It was in New Phoenix." Before Jack can ask about the strange comment, a sound somewhat similar to World War 3 fills the small bar. Jack grabs his pack and runs outside. At first, Jack doesn't see anything. Then Earl comes running around the side of the bar. Laser bolts a lot like the ones from the previous night chase him. Earl runs past Jack to the doorway of the building next to the bar. Jack is two steps behind him, pulling a shotgun from his pack. He almost runs past the doorway, when Earl grabs his arm and pulls him in. Jack starts to ask him what's going on, then remembers the guy doesn't talk. Earl keeps watching around the corner of the doorway, until a loud noise like an electrical spark comes from the alley. Earl slumps back against the wall, then suddenly sprints across the street, stopping in a doorway on the opposite side. Jack starts to follow, when he notices Earl waving him off and pointing at his feet. He looks down and sees five discs lying there. Jack picks them up and examines them. One side is flat, the other side has a black square, a couple of dials and a red button. One dial says time and the other says type and has the numbers one thru five around it. Jack notices Earl waving at him again. Earl holds one of his discs up, points at the first dial, holds five fingers up, points to the second dial and holds one finger up. Jack turns the dials and the square lights up showing five minutes and smoke. Then he follows Earl's lead and places the disc down in the gutter. He sees Earl moving down the street, so Jack follows him. Earl stops, looks at Jack, holds up four fingers, then two fingers, and tosses two of the discs out in the middle of the street. Jack sets two of his discs to four minutes and concussion and tosses them in the middle of the street. Jack looks at Earl and sees the man holding up two more discs, three fingers, then four fingers. Jack sets one of the discs to three minutes and EMP and tosses it into the street. Before he can set the other disc, a loud rumbling comes from the other side of the trailer park. Jack looks down the street and sees a big black motor home coming around the corner. At least, Jack thinks it's a motor home since there is a gun turret on the roof of the thing, a couple of railguns along the sides and the whole thing is levitating about a foot of the ground. The motor home blows past the pair and stops about ten feet from them. The back lowers and Earl waves Jack to enter the thing. Before either one can enter the vehicle, laser bolts hit the ground around them. Earl dives inside the vehicle, but Jack is cut off, forcing him back into the doorway. Jack looks around for the source of the blasts and sees four of the townspeople. The sun reflects of them, revealing that they have also converted to the same machinery as Redneck. The motor home lifts off and settles back on the ground further down the street. However, even though the robots are advancing down the street, none of the guns on the motor home are firing back. "What the hell is Bob doing? Why isn't he firing back?" Jack looks back down the street and notices that the four have been joined by six more. Jack takes his shotgun and fires at the group. The shots hit one of the machines but there is no visible damage. Jack ducks back into the doorway, just as a hail of lasers slam into the front of the building. The barrage continues for a short time until the railguns on the motor home fire on the group of robots. The robots turn their attention back to the motor home and the railguns stop firing. Jack looks at the robots. A few show signs of damage but it doesn't look like any have fallen. "Damn, those things are tough." The machines keep advancing on the motor home, when suddenly a blast goes off and the street is filled with smoke. "Bob was leading them into a trap," Jack realizes. The shots from the machines go wild, many of them tearing about the buildings around them. A door in the side of the motor home opens and Jack runs for it. "You might want to take a seat, it's going to get bumpy," Bob yells back to Jack. As Jack sits, another blast goes off outside and everything goes dark in the motor home. The sounds from outside stop. A third series of blasts rocks the motor home. "That should've taken the fight outta them. Let's get out of here," Bob says. Earl pushes a button and the power comes back on. "Do you mind telling me what just happened?" "Later. I want to get as far away as we can before any more of those things show up." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Did Monroe get away?" "Yes, sir." "Good. Do we have any operatives left?" "No, sir." "Really. Once again you surprise me, Jack. Keep track of their progress and let me know about anything unexpected." "Yes, sir." |