**Unknown Man**
Someone showed up late, someone I didn’t recognize. I stuck to the shadows, waiting for him to finish up and leave. I saw there was a good looking lady standing on the edge of the cemetery waiting for him. I was a bit curious why she didn’t join him by the grave site, but it might have had something to do with the fancy shoes she was wearing. Plus the ground was really soft.
He didn’t stick around for long and finished up by praying. When he got up and left, I still stayed off to the side until I knew the coast was clear. The last thing I wanted anyone to do was accuse me of robbing a grave. Especially the grave of a city hero.
Night had fallen and clouds began to build around. Now was as good a chance as any. I walked over to The Dark Lion’s final resting spot and dropped. “You never met me, but I knew who you were. Mom was always going on about how great a guy you were, even if you couldn’t hang around to see me grow up.”
I’ll never understand why things didn’t work out between my mom and this man, but it turned out I was more like him than I even knew. I was a super, blessed, or cursed possibly, with abilities similar to my dad. I wasn’t nearly as strong as him, but my reflexes were fast – so fast.
My hand was curled up on the old and smelly cloak. “You deserved better dad, even if you left us, you probably did it to keep us safe.”
A hero’s life wasn’t an easy one. I had just started my career and I already knew the dangers are bringing other into the fold. “If you see mom up there, tell her I’m okay would you?” Mom had succumbed to her disease a year ago. Maybe in the next life the two of them could be happy together.
Taking the cloak from the casket, “With both of you safe, I’m going to take up the mantle dad. From the ashes of your fire will rise a new hero. The memory of The Dark Lion will burn brightly over a dawn of a new age.” Fighting back my emotion, “The Negative Man won’t survive The Stormfall.”
The Cast –
Jericho Staley – Narrator
John Wonderton – The Dark Lion
Heather Adams – Lawyer
PJ Douglas – Massacre
Owen Walker – Spades
Jeff Trelewicz – Hearts
Phil Jenkins – Clubs
Harvey Grimes – Police Chief
Mike Blackfield – Tiger
Elephant – SVIS (identity currently unknown)
Antelope – SVIS (identity currently unknown)
Rhino – SVIS (identity currently unknown)
Crocodile – SVIS (identity currently unknown)
Darla Bannister – Café Owner
Marvin St. Clair – Lawyer
Ian Martinez – Deputy Mayor
Marge Osteen – Bank Teller
Annie Lipsky – Nurse
Brandon Howard – News Anchor
Geri Paisley – Reporter
Becky Walker – Owen Walker’s Daughter
Miranda Ryan – Jericho Staley’s Mother
Ted Hightower – Lead Contractor, Electron Generator
? – The Dark Lion’s Son
Years Earlier –
Testing for the Electron Generator…
“The electron generator is ready for the first round of testing.” The words we’d all been waiting for – today was the day.
I went over to Miranda Ryan’s station. “The readings look within range, if maybe a bit high. We don’t have to do this today, if you feel it needs more time.”
She looked up from her computer. “Ted, we’ve been behind schedule all year. If this test works, the government will give us the grant we need to continue research.”
“Fine.” I signaled to the three suits standing at the exit door to the lab. “Tell the generals we are going to be running our first test in five.”
The men scrambled, all hoping to be the first to tell the generals the good news. How I hated politicians and bureaucrats. As a man of science, I longed for a day when we wouldn’t need to rely on their scraps to make real progress.
The hum of the electron generator caused me to break out of my thoughts. I saw the smiles on all the faces of the people who had worked long, hard hours to bring this thing online. “Today is the day we change the world ladies and gentlemen.”
Everyone’s focus shifted to the large machine behind the bulletproof glass. Lights began whirling around, similar to the effect of sunlight passing through a prism. It was a sight to behold.
“Well color me impressed Ted. You’re team actually did it.”
Behind me was General Armand Bulger. It was only through his lobbying for my lab that we got the funds to complete the project. “General, this is just the machine starting up. Wait until you see what this thing can do when running properly.”
Miranda smiled and slowly began turning up the power to the generator. With any luck, pure electron energy would be produced and we would be able to capture it.
With each click on the dial, my anticipation grew. “Miranda, what’s the power up to?”
“Fifty-five percent and the generator is steady. Shall I keep going?”
For a first test, this probably was a good place to stop. But the gaze of General Bulger was piercing the back of my head. He didn’t come here for fifty-five percent. “Yes.”
And so she did. Every second that ticked by, the generator kept gaining power. When we got to ninety percent, my fears started to subside. This was going to work.
“Two more turns and we’ll be operating at maximum capacity.” Miranda was cool, yet I could tell her excitement was bubbling underneath. “Both teams, please get into position to begin energy-”
None of us saw the blast coming. From my vantage point, there was no noise, no warning before the generator blew the entire laboratory apart. One minute everything was fine and the next most of the people in the room were dead.
As my hearing came back to me, “Ted! Ted!”
Disoriented, “Miranda, is that you?!”
“Yes! My God, what have we done?”
I couldn’t see well, dust and debris filled the air in what remained of the control room. Beside me was the lifeless face of Betzy Epitacio, one of the programmers. In her hand was her phone, the latest game still lit on the screen.
I tried to move, but sharp pain rifled through me. I’d been impaled by a large piece of glass. “Miranda, I don’t think I’m going to make it.”
I felt a hand touch the back of my head. “Oh Ted…”
Something wet was falling on to my hair. “Don’t cry Miranda, you need to leave before even worse can happen.”
Gripping my shoulder, “I can’t leave you.”
“You have to.” My eyes started to go black, probably from the loss of blood. “I don’t regret any of it.”
Life was slipping away, my hand fell out of hers. “Ted, don’t die on me, not now!”
“I’m sorry Miranda.” I wanted to know she was safe before I died. “If you’re safe, I can die at peace.” Something large fell in the background. “Please, let me go Miranda.”
I didn’t hear anything for a moment, so I thought she took my advice. Then, very close in a low whisper, “Ted, I’m pregnant…”
Project Jericho
Project Jericho 1 –
Five Years Old
“His readings are off the charts! It’s just as we feared…”
I looked over at Dr. Leonard Cooper, “He’s still just a child, torn away from his mother.”
Cooper’s glare focused me on. “Don’t confuse this experiment with an actual human child, Ellison. You saw what happened when he got angry. Damn near blew the roof off this place.”
No matter what Dr. Cooper said, I saw a scared young boy who just wanted to go home. The worst part was I knew how much Miranda missed her son, one she hadn’t even got around to naming before we took him away. “Can you blame him? All we do is poke and prod. We need to give him something meaningful to do.”
Beside us was General Lambert Talon. He was a reasonable man who usually saw both sides of t
he coin. “Dr. Cooper, Dr. Staley’s right. If we give the boy books or try to give him an education or sorts, it might help calm him.”
“Are the two of you suggesting that we give him access to information? Are you crazy?”
I knew the root of Dr. Cooper’s anger. He had lost a great many friends the day the electron generator exploded and the boy was his outlet to unleash his anger. “I’m telling you every child wants structure. And they want an identity. It wouldn’t hurt to call him something else besides boy or kid.”
The three of us were watching the boy behind the one way mirror. He was sitting in the corner, bored of course, and he began to play with his hands. Sparks of energy arced between them, like visible static electricity. Yet it wasn’t electricity, not any kind we’d seen before. “If he had something to do, he wouldn’t be doing that.”
General Talon agreed with me. “Cooper, Staley, I want that kid occupied. Get him books and get me a volunteer to act as his teacher. Idle hands…”
“I’ll teach him, Talon. Besides Cooper, I know his gifts the best and how to protect myself should something go awry.”
Talon looked over at Cooper who shrugged. “There’s no way in hell you’ll get me to go in there.”
“Fine.” Talon reached his hand out to shake mine. “Dr. Staley, you’ve got yourself a new student.”
Later that day I returned to the containment unit, this time entering and not going into observation. At the sound of the door opening, the young boy jumped, scared. “Who are you?”
I had a book, one my mother used to read me when I was about his age in my hands. “I’m Dr. Ellison Staley. And who might you be?”
I knew there was no answer coming, but it was best to keep the front going. He scrunched up his forehead, thinking. “I don’t have a name, mister.”
“Oh really? Everyone has a name.”
“Not me. The people out there just call me boy.” I saw a spark of anger in his eyes. He was too young to have to deal with this.
I sat down beside him on the floor. “I brought you a book. Have you ever read one before?”
He looked at the funny little dog on the cover. “No.”
“Well let me tell you a little about this one then. It’s special because it’s about a puppy named Jericho who saves the day.”
He put his hand out, rubbing the cover of the book where the dog was. “He looks silly. I like him.”
A smile crossed my face. “Then this can be your first book. Would that make you happy?”
“Yes.” He took the book in his hands. The anger that was there moments ago faded into pure happiness. “I want to be like Jericho one day mister and save the day!”
“Keep this feeling in your heart and one day you just might be.”
Project Jericho 2 –
Eight Years Old
“Ellison, how much longer is this charade going to last?”
It was the same argument every time with Cooper. “The progress he’s making is remarkable. The boy is smarter than we could’ve ever imagined.”
We were watching him reassemble a computer piece by piece he’d taken apart not but a half hour ago. The boy, who went by Jericho now due to a story book I’d given him, had a gift for electronics. It was almost as if he could manipulate them on a cellular level.
Cooper was still very antagonistic towards him. “Do you remember six months ago when he lost control and nearly shut this entire project down? Three guards were lucky to make it out alive!”
“You sent armed guards into a child’s room and expected him to understand? You might be a doctor, but you’re far from an intelligent man.”
Red faced, Cooper stormed off down the hallway, back to his laboratory to sulk no doubt. The other man in observation with me, General Lambert Talon was firmly on my side of the argument. “Cooper will never understand how being a human to this child will help us in the long run.”
I knew what Talon was hinting around at. “The rash of powered people from the nuclear fallout is disconcerting, but I don’t understand where Jericho fits in. He got his powers in a very different manner.”
“The President wants someone under government control who can stop, by lethal force if needed, these threats to national security. The public is truly worried, Ellison.”
“Be that as it may, Jericho is still years from being ready for anything like that.” Then there was something else. “Limiting the time his mother gets to spend with him is only going to cause anger towards us later in life. Can’t we up her visitation?”
Talon’s face crinkled up. I’d gotten him to consent to once a week visits and they were improving Jericho’s moods. Miranda was so happy to see her son and even approved of the name he’d chosen. “I can probably get twice a week, a couple hours at a time without too much fuss. But I can’t push for more, Ellison, no matter how much you want me to.”
I smiled, knowing I’d won this time. “That’s better than a kick in the ass. Thank you, Lambert.”
“Now it’s my turn to ask something of you.”
Ahh the back and forth negotiation never stopped. “You want me to start testing his true ability, no?”
Talon gave me a hearty pat on the back. “It would make my bosses very happy to start getting status reports about what the child can do, besides almost killing guards.”
The strangest part about that whole episode was no one was all that upset at the boy for his uncontrolled outburst. Call me a fool, but a fatherly instinct to protect him kicked in and I was ready to fight tooth and nail if needed. Instead, people seemed to shrug it off and let us continue on.
Looking in at Jericho as he turned the computer back on and it booted up perfectly, “I can’t deny that starting him early is a good way to get him to learn control. Children are much better at adaptation than adults.”
Talon turned towards the door. “Thank you, Ellison. If we’re lucky, in a few years he will be ready to start field trials.”
I smiled, but privately I hoped very much to protect the boy long enough to find another solution. One that would be happier for everyone.
Project Jericho 3 –
11 Years Old
The tension between me and Dr. Cooper was as thick as it could get. “You’re developing a way to kill the boy?”
He wouldn’t back down. “Once again you let your feelings for the boy blind you.” He was going to try and reason with me it seemed. “The threat of these super powered people is escalating every day. The after effects of the nuclear meltdowns all those years ago is only just starting to show its ugly head.”
Jericho received his powers in a very unique way; he hadn’t been born yet when the facility his mother worked at exploded. The electron generator they were testing went critical and his powers were a side effect from all the energy that escaped. Most powered people were the results of the vast number of nuclear meltdowns the country experienced years ago. Each day, a headline was front page on an accident or worse involving one of them.
But that still wasn’t the answer – putting them down like rabid dogs. “We need to learn more about them before you start a mass genocide.”
He threw the manila folder on the desk in-between us. Written in big, bold letters was the title of his secret project: The Stormfall. “Whether you like it or not Ellison, we need a fallback in the event this situation gets worse. It could be the boy or any number of others out there that tries to do something catastrophic.”
Even if he had a reasonable point, I couldn’t in good consciousness endorse such measures. I opened his file, just to see what ‘humane’ way he came up with. “This is your answer?”
“Like it or not, this is the best way to protect our country and the citizens living here.” He poked me in the chest. “When you took a job here at this facility, you signed up to study and protect everyone oblivious to the threats.”
Frustrated, I read again at his proposal. The Stormfall, as he called it, was an event in which a super operating at his full poten
tial could be killed if hit with an attack that breaks the sound barrier. The name Stormfall comes from the theorized after effect; the energy released into the atmosphere would create arcs of far reaching lightning that would be deadly to all in the area.
“This is suicide. First to find someone with the ability to create an attack that would break the sound barrier is a fairy tale. Second, based on your model here, the chances of that person surviving the fallout will be nil.”
He grabbed his research away from me. “I thought you of all people would understand the logic. One life is not more important than millions of lives.” He looked as if to say something more, but thought better of it. He left the lab, slamming the door behind him.
With the bad taste in my mouth of our conversation, I too left. Making my way down to Jericho’s room, I decided it was time to run a few more tests on how his powers were coming along. He was eagerly waiting for me when I arrived. “Dr. Staley, do we get to shoot some more electricity?”
I had another idea. “Actually Jericho, I was curious to see just how in-depth your powers are. Have you ever tried to turn a computer on with just your mind?”
Project Jericho 4 –
14 Years Old
“Why did Dr. Cooper leave? Was it because he didn’t like me?”
I’d just sat down dinner between the two of us, Jericho’s favorite – tacos. It’d been two weeks since my fellow doctor had rushed out in anger over the development of Jericho. He called us world destroyers and said that one day this boy would be the bane of civilized people.
Looking over at the lad, I couldn’t disagree more. “Dr. Cooper didn’t like any of us son. Don’t take his personality or temperament personal.” That much was completely true. “He felt things should be progressing differently, ways I just couldn’t support.”
The Negative Man: Act 1 Page 18
