The ride had gone on for about ten minutes before Ricardo suddenly coughed and Megan looked at him. "What is it?" she asked with a look that said that she had been expecting him to say something all along.
"Well," he looked a bit unsure on how to proceed, "I want to say that I really appreciate you saying that I could be trusted. I know the director would never have allowed me to continue on this mission if you didn't vouch for me."
"But I didn't vouch for you, Mr. DiSanto," she returned, her tone cold and impassive. "What I said was that you're a man that will do whatever it takes to stay alive, which is about the only truthful thing about you."
"That's not fair, Megan." Ricardo turned to glare at her for longer than she was comfortable with it and for a split second, she feared he wa
Megan approached the front of the warehouse with Ricardo and Adolf in tow. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary as they went- in fact, nothing appeared to be in the environment at all besides the building- but just to be safe, she signaled that they all keep their eyes peeled and be ready for anything at any moment- bad guys tended to have a knack for springing out of nowhere, she thought with a look around, it was highly unlikely they were going to suddenly stop exercising that bad habit.The trio finally got to the building's frontage after about a minute of cautious walking and Megan waved two fingers back at the SUVs; her signal to Kei and Jay to maintain the two minutes count before they came out after them."Alright," she gestured to Ricardo when she looked to see a computerized keypad on the wall, "looks l
"So, there's more than one Item 13 now. Is that what we're going with?" Kei asked when the group finished opening all the shipment crates and discovered that Megan's deduction was correct. All of the crates had containment boxes potential of being the one used to house Item 13.But there couldn't be more than one Item 13, Megan thought to herself. From what she recalled of the story Dennis had told her, the ingenuity that created the weapon had died with Ernest Ruskin; and even if his supposed apprentice who created the updated version had shared it, it was unlikely that he had the time to pass it on to someone else who then went ahead to create more five years later.Plus, if the group had the technology to create another Item 13,why then did they need go through all the trouble of stealing the original one
Megan wasn't sure for how long she was passed out but she figured it had to be a long time cos when she regained consciousness, she saw that the sky had become a lot darker than when she and the group had arrived in Chersky.Well, it was good thing she was still alive, she thought to herself, although considering the numerous aches torturing every pore of her body, she sort of wished she wasn't.Megan looked down, surprised to see that she had been put strapped to a metal chair by the hands and legs with steel chains so heavy that she doubted even Adolf would be able to get her out of them if he tried.And speaking of Adolf, she turned to see him hanging from the ceiling of the warehouse- what remained of it after the pulse explosion, that is- by his wings.S
Before Martin or any of his men could comprehend what Jay was saying, the chains used to restrain him suddenly grew red-hot- apparently they had been heating up before he spoke up- and exploded, releasing almost the same type of pulse energy in the bombs the men had used against the group earlier. The energy hit and the men fell backwards, a lot of them knocked out cold in the process.Jay rushed out of his seat just as the energy blew and got to Adolf when the men were falling down, putting his hands on his chains to melt them instantly on contact. "Thanks, man," the latter greeted as he got back to his feet, stretching his wings to test their recovery.A shot rang out just then but Adolf stretched his wing in front of Jay to shield him from a bullet that would have found home in his back and it ricocheted away harmlessly. The two of t
The person with the gun was the boss. That was what Megan used to hear people say, and she believed them too.However, as she stood in the clearing with the pier to her front, looking at Martin grinning unabashedly at her even with the pistol trained on him, she knew that she was anything but the boss in that situation.There was no way he could have known about the incident, she thought to herself. No way at all.But then again, there should have been no way for Arthur to have known about the incident either but he had enough to use it to threaten her. There were times when she even suspected that Dennis and Ricardo knew about it too but were just being too polite to call her out about it.But how could
The steady hum of the Chariot in flight was the only thing that Megan could hear as she looked at the faces staring back at her around the battlestation. Ricardo, Adolf, Jay, even Kei; none of them spoke as they awaited what she presumed was her reasonable explanation for what she had blurted out in Chersky.Thing is, after Megan's confession, she had walked away from the warehouse to one of the SUVs and drove away without a word, leaving the others to catch up with her at the airstrip; and while none of them had spoken a word directly to her in return about her actions- Megan was actually surprised that Kei hadn't but she figured the others had forced her not to- she knew it was only a matter of time before they physically demanded an explanation.Well, looked like the time had come, she realized when Ricardo stood up. Apparen
"Your activities have not gone unnoticed." Arthur's displeasure was very vivid in his demeanour as he stared at the faces seated around the conference table. "Rio, Havana, Chersky. Your debacles have made headlines, and all in the presence of an unauthorised personnel who could very well be an enemy combatant too. Tell me, is this how the Supermen are supposed to operate?""All due respect, Mr. Principal Officer, none of this is our fault," Kei returned. "In fact, I'm willing to bet that we would have recovered Item 13 by now if-" Whatever she wanted to say got stuck in her throat as Dennis shot her a very stern glare. A silent debate ensued between the two of them as she seemed to insist on going ahead with her statement and he preventing her with his glare.Finally, Kei huffed. "You deal with this." She kicked back her chair and zoome
Megan had thought that she knew what a red alert looked like in Olympus, but she was wrong. When she, Arthur, and Jay stepped out of the conference room, the entire building was in utter chaos. Alarms blared from everywhere, people ran helter-skelter in no particular direction; the whole atmosphere was just in a state of disarray.What the hell was going on? she wondered. Was it possible that Item 13 wasn't the only imminent threat the world was facing?Arthur tapped on Megan's shoulder just then, snapping her back to where she really was in the middle of the whole situation. "We have to move," he said and she followed him with Jay in tow as he weaved his way expertly through the chaos to the director's office.The office had the same chaotic air as the rest of the bu
"Before the equipment explodes, there are some things we need to take care of," Megan said after the group had settled. "First is the people. "Jay, I need you to trigger every fire alarm in this building and maybe some in the nearby buildings too, as many as you can manage. Can you?"He nodded affirmative. Putting his hands to the ground, he pushed against it and a yellow energy passed through the floor and up the walls on all sides. Not so long after, the sound of a fire alarm reached the room they were, the pitch increasing as more joined in from farther away; and soon, the pounding of footsteps could be heard from above as people seemed to move in droves."Next, Rick, I need you to reach as many people as you can over the phone. Tell them that the alarm isn't a drill. They must evacuate the building as quickly as they can and shouldn't stay anywhere near the area to observe. If they ask why...""Don't worry, I know how to deal with them." He patted her arm in understanding and she
Every beep from the equipment resounded heavily through the room, almost as if it was heralding the end of the world; and it might as well be to Megan.Nothing had gone right since the beginning of that day. Nothing had gone right since the beginning of that mission. Nothing had gone right perhaps even longer before that; and she feared the culmination of it all was soon to come in a catastrophe that neither her nor Olympus – or even the world for that matter – would be able to withstand.Another beep and she looked to Ricardo who was now bent down in front of the equipment with his brows furrowed as he concentrated all that he had in trying to figure it out before the worst they all feared happened. "Can you shut down the self-destruction?" she asked."I'm afraid not, Megan." He ran his hands through his hair in a frustrated motion for the umpteenth time in that moment. "I'm locked out of the system and nothing I do is meeting any response." He swiped his hand over the glass panel an
It wasn't Item 13. How could it not be Item 13?A million questions raced through Megan's head as she stood in front of the scene before her, the questions flying by so fast that she could neither hold them for more than a second nor ascertain their logic in that space of time.However, the crux of the query remained, what in the world was the containment box holding if not Item 13?"What is it?" she asked Ricardo who was standing closest to it at that time.Inside the containment box was a transparent glass structure. It held a metal rod seemly floating in space- probably by some electromagnetic force, Megan deduced from what little her science knowledge had grown since she took the job at Olympus.Some strange-looking, octagon-shaped objects were attached to the floating rod; so small that she couldn't make out what materials they were actually made of, and so finely arranged that they almost looked like one whole piece of work if not for the tiny spaces in between them which was abl
That couldn't be happening. Megan looked around herself in disbelief.How could that be happening? She asked again.Before the group stepped into that theatre, she was sure they were in charge of the scenario: Dennis had stopped the mole from getting word out of Olympus to the enemy, he and Arthur were on said mole's trail, she, Ricardo and the kids uncovered the location of the Doomsday beacon, they were all going to stop Martin for good before he had the chance to use Item 13.But somehow he had managed to best them again, Megan realised. How?"Surprised?" Martin's question snapped her out of her thoughts to see the smug smile on his face. "You should be. You're playing against the best after all.""This isn't a game, Martin," she returned. "Real lives are at stake here; and if you deploy Item 13, I'm afraid even you may lose yours.""Well Miss Months, that's a risk I'm willing to take."Martin took a big, exaggerated bow before signalling to his men and they opened fire.Kei caught
Shanghai, China Ricardo accelerated the SUV through the highway like a mad man, swishing in and out of traffic without concern for the law or the motorists screaming at him. "Is the signal locked yet?!" he shouted to the teenagers in the back seat with their eyes intently fixed on a tablet in their middle. "Still working on it," Adolf returned. "Work faster!" "Hey, dude," Kei looked up, pissed, "you wrote the program. If you find it unsatisfactory, then change it." She shoved the tablet in front of him and would have caused quite the commotion if Megan hadn't grabbed it from her hands. "Enough!" She cut out whatever retort Ricardo had in mind with a look. "We're
The director's office was still in a state of tempered chaos when Megan arrived back with Ricardo in tow. Dennis remained in front of the monitor-map with a glare like that would somehow force the red dots to converge on to one stable point, but Kei and Jay had now joined Adolf, who was obviously at wit's end with the tracking, by the computer-desk. Arthur just watched everything on by the side in concerned silence.The door slid open to admit the duo in and the others turned to acknowledge their presence; Arthur and Dennis leaving their spots to meet them."Heard you're in quite the pickle, Director," Ricardo started with an almost taunting smirk on his face, but he sobered when he saw the state of the monitor-map. "What can I do to help?""The Doomsday beacon was activated a
Megan had thought that she knew what a red alert looked like in Olympus, but she was wrong. When she, Arthur, and Jay stepped out of the conference room, the entire building was in utter chaos. Alarms blared from everywhere, people ran helter-skelter in no particular direction; the whole atmosphere was just in a state of disarray.What the hell was going on? she wondered. Was it possible that Item 13 wasn't the only imminent threat the world was facing?Arthur tapped on Megan's shoulder just then, snapping her back to where she really was in the middle of the whole situation. "We have to move," he said and she followed him with Jay in tow as he weaved his way expertly through the chaos to the director's office.The office had the same chaotic air as the rest of the bu
"Your activities have not gone unnoticed." Arthur's displeasure was very vivid in his demeanour as he stared at the faces seated around the conference table. "Rio, Havana, Chersky. Your debacles have made headlines, and all in the presence of an unauthorised personnel who could very well be an enemy combatant too. Tell me, is this how the Supermen are supposed to operate?""All due respect, Mr. Principal Officer, none of this is our fault," Kei returned. "In fact, I'm willing to bet that we would have recovered Item 13 by now if-" Whatever she wanted to say got stuck in her throat as Dennis shot her a very stern glare. A silent debate ensued between the two of them as she seemed to insist on going ahead with her statement and he preventing her with his glare.Finally, Kei huffed. "You deal with this." She kicked back her chair and zoome
The steady hum of the Chariot in flight was the only thing that Megan could hear as she looked at the faces staring back at her around the battlestation. Ricardo, Adolf, Jay, even Kei; none of them spoke as they awaited what she presumed was her reasonable explanation for what she had blurted out in Chersky.Thing is, after Megan's confession, she had walked away from the warehouse to one of the SUVs and drove away without a word, leaving the others to catch up with her at the airstrip; and while none of them had spoken a word directly to her in return about her actions- Megan was actually surprised that Kei hadn't but she figured the others had forced her not to- she knew it was only a matter of time before they physically demanded an explanation.Well, looked like the time had come, she realized when Ricardo stood up. Apparen