The First: EVO Uprising

by Kipjo Ewers

  “Sir,” he gurgled, “yes… sir!”

  Rogers finally released Esposito allowing him to struggle to his feet; he powered down and stumbled back to the line standing next to his sister with his head down. The Sergeant calmly strolling back over, again stood before the completely humbled new recruits.

  “Now that I know who you really are,” Abe’s voice boomed, “allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sergeant Abraham Rogers, and you will all address me as “Sir, yes sir,” calling me anything else to my face will make you subject to cruel and unusual punishment.”

  “Sir, yes sir!” all three managed to sound off in unison.

  “My job is to take you three pieces of turds out the crack of God’s ass, and turn you into a fighting force capable of defeating and killing the Devil himself.” Rogers began to pace. “And I will have you know that I have never failed when a mission has been presented before me. The only way this will fail, is if you fail me. Are you going to fail me?!”

  “Sir, no sir!” all three howled in unison again.

  “No, you won’t, because I will physically kill you if you do. Each of you had a chance to opt out,” Rogers continued to bark. “You didn’t take it so now you belong to me… heart, body, mind, and soul. Rule number one, obey me as if your life depended on it… and it will because to not obey me means I get to physically kill you… is that understood?”

  “Sir, yes sir!” all three yelled in unison for a third time.

  “Rule number two, no one is allowed to use their powers and abilities unless ordered to do so,” Rogers howled, “you were shit before you had powers, and you’re still shit with them. My job is to pound you worthless pieces of shit into fertilizer so that you can grow into the most feared and respected fighting force this country has ever seen. To do that you all must become human beings before you can become superhuman beings, and you’re not human beings. In my eyes you’re nothing but a bunch of freaks of nature taking up God given Earth, air, and space… you want my opinion to change… then it’s your job to prove me wrong… failure to follow rule number two means I get to physically kill you… is that understood?”

  “Sir, yes sir!” all three screamed in unison again.

  “Now allow me to introduce you to your other teammate,” howled Rogers.

  All three turned their attention to Erica stepping up with a bright smile on her face to stand next to Rogers.

  “This here is Lady Tech, she is responsible for designing and building this facility and all of the tech and gear needed to both train and prepare you for future missions should you survive me,” Rogers roared, “which means she’s got more brain power in one strand of her hair that all of you combined. I am God… she is Jesus Christ… which means despite being half your age you are to give her the respect of someone twice your age, because she knows damn well what she is talking about. Failure to do so means I get to physically kill you. Is that understood?”

  “Sir, yes sir!” all three shouted in unison one final time.

  “Now that you understand,” Rogers nodded, “get your shit, and get ready to descend into hell.”

  ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜

  Ten minutes later, the twins and Brandon all wore similar faces of disbelief as they looked around at the massive facility, vehicles, and independent automatons moving about the base. They all looked as if they had descended into another world, or centuries into the future.

  “This is the Ranch, our base of operations and training ground,” Rogers began his introduction, “here you will eat, piss, shit, and learn to be a proper soldier … on my level… and it’s a very high level people… I’m talking looking God in the eye type of level… Lady Tech.”

  “Sleeping quarters are this way,” Erica pointed out, “each of you have been assigned your own quarters.”

  “Sweet,” Adrian whispered.

  “Mess hall is here, central command, which you will see soon, is down that hallway,” she continued, “and over here… is what I’d like to call the Hurt Locker.”

  The twins looked at each other in bewilderment as Blitz swallowed, anxious to see what awaited him on the other side of the steel doors. As they entered they found a massive bare room.

  “Looks like they forget to put in the ‘hurt,’” whispered the male Esposito.

  “Shut up, Adrian,” Rosann whispered, “not trying to catch shit again…”

  “This is a multi-scenario combat room, built for training in multiple combat situations,” Lady Tech explained. “Here we can upload holographic environments from jungle…”

  Out of nowhere, a deep forest jungle area similar to Vietnam appeared around them with amazing realism.

  “To urban,” she continued.

  The environment switched to downtown Times Square with people walking around them.

  “The environment and civilians are created by a holographic force field generated simulator. It is as you can see realistic, sensitive, and made to interact with your actions creating combat scenarios that you can learn from,” she pointed out.

  “So we’re supposed to train off of some ghosts?” Adrian raised a hand.

  “Adrian!” his sister growled.

  “What?” he shot back, “I can’t ask a simple question?”

  “No, you’re expected to train off these,” Erica answered.

  The floor opened up in front of them creating a huge square opening as a platform rose in the place of where the floor was. Standing before them were six human beings of various sizes, shapes, and ethnicities wearing similar outfits to Lady Tech; they appeared to be asleep on their feet. The Japanese woman in the front was the first to awaken revealing her green eyes. She raised her hand, which began to spark. It erupted from a spark into a large flaming sphere, which she controlled.

  “Whoa,” Rosann’s eyes widened.

  “Holy…” Adrian tilted his head stunned.

  “They’re called Replicators,” Erica smiled, “cybernetic androids underneath a synthetic organic grown skin. They have the ability to imitate regular humans, or in this case EVOs.”

  “EVOs?” Rosann raised a hand.

  “You, you’re brother, and Mr. Brandon,” motioned Lady Tech, “it is the government classification for “super humans” such as us. People infected by the EVO Virus, which you know as the Judgment Virus after the Big Bang II incident. The sub-classification is Prometheans like me, Moleculars or Elementals, like you two, which are extremely rare. Apollo types like Mr. Brandon. Mercurians, which are the speedster class.”

  A small yet ripped male Latino Replicator exploded into a run creating a sonic boom forcing everyone but Abe to cover their ears as he moved and turned at blinding speeds through the imaginary street of New York City before returning back to his spot again.

  “And Finally… Titans like Sergeant Rogers,” she pointed to him, “by training with them you will learn how to combat various types of EVOs on different power levels, and in different environments. Here you will be able to hone your abilities and hopefully increase them as well as learn your limitations. Being superhuman does not mean you are invincible. Understanding that will teach you to rely on other tools aside from your abilities.”

  “How come there aren’t any Replicators with our powers?” Adrian held hand up his hand again.

  “Good question,” Erica addressed him. “I have not been able to develop the technology to replicate your abilities. Yet. Molecular types’ cells are highly evolved to the level of being almost sentient, which is how you are capable of transforming the way you both do.”

  A broad smile appeared on Adrian’s face, then vanished when Rogers stepped over to get in his face again.

  “Your bodies maybe evolved.” He looked him up and down. “But not that pebble rattling around in that skull of yours.”

  “Sir, yes sir,” Adrian swallowed while standing at the stiffest attention again.

  “Anything else Lady Tech?” Rogers
asked while burning a hole through Esposito.

  “Shoot, how rude of me.” She smacked her head. “Let me introduce you to the rest of our family. Maxine, please call in Angie and Jennifer.”

  “Yes Miss,” Maxine acknowledged.

  Less than a minute later, Jennifer and Angie walked through the door gabbing with one another.

  “Holy smoke, there’s three of them,” Oliver swallowed.

  They walked over to their sister standing nonchalantly next to her, ending their conversation as they turned to look at the new recruits before them. Jennifer appeared disinterested, while Angie showed particular interest zeroing on one particular recruit. With a bright smile she waved and gave a wink.

  Adrian furrowed his brows realizing she was addressing him.

  “Maxine, you have already met,” Erica began to properly introduce, “she is not only an android, but the main AI computer for the entire base. Next to her are her sisters, Jennifer and Angie. They will also be your instructors and sparring partners from time to time. All three possess a well of knowledge that you can tap. So if you pass them in the hallway, and have a question, don’t be afraid to ask.”

  During Erica’s introduction, Adrian began to uncomfortably fidget as Angie continued to make flirty suggestive advances toward him from afar. They were mostly puckered kisses, lip licks, and eye winks.

  He lowered his head pretending not to see and to avoid getting on Rogers’ bad side again. Jennifer catching her sister’s antics gave her a sharp elbow. Angie retaliated with an elbow of her own. Before it turned into a full blown fight, Maxine showing emotion for the first time glared at her two younger sisters with bright pink glowing eyes ending the disagreement.

  Lady Tech ending her tour and introductions stepped back allowing Rogers to step in again.

  “Now that we’ve all be properly introduced,” Rogers glanced at each of them, “the schedule for the next six months is pretty damn simple. Asses up at 0500 for breakfast, training from 0600 to 1200 hours, and then lunchtime. Training begins again from 1300 to 1900 hours, after that is chow, and the rest of the night to do as you damn please, which should be getting rest to do it all over again the next day, and then the next. Do I need to send you an email or text message about this schedule?”

  “Sir, no sir!” the trio yelled.

  “Good, because the dumbass that shows up one second late will suffer, and the ones that show up early will suffer twice as worse.”

  Rogers’ threat made Oliver and Rosann both turn their eyes to Adrian standing in the middle. He answered the non-verbal accusation with a dirty look.

  “Now I would like you three to get the hell out of my sight till tomorrow,” Rogers grinned. “Maxine will escort you each to your new quarters. By all means explore and take in this grand facility, because come tomorrow, each of you are going to wish you took that chopper ride home. Dismissed!”

  “This way please,” Maxine gestured with a smile.

  The trio grabbed their duffel bags and followed Maxine out of the Hurt Locker with Angie sashaying behind in tow until her sister bounced her in disgust. The two sisters began arguing again exiting the room leaving just Rogers and Lady Tech.

  “Is that going to be a problem?” Rogers motioned.

  “Nah, they argue all the time,” she snorted.

  “I was implying to the orange-haired one giving Esposito ammunition for a sexual lawsuit,” Rogers elaborated.

  “That’s what happens when you build highly evolved artificial intelligence,” she shrugged, “it’s just a harmless school girl crush, you want me to reel her in?”

  “No,” Rogers shook his head, “Let’s continue to make Mr. Esposito uncomfortable for now. See which one makes him break… her or me.”

  “So what do you really think of our new recruits?” She turned to him.

  “My true opinion is not for young ears such as yours,” he answered, “six months will tell me if this is or isn’t waste of our time.”

  ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜

  Three months later, Rogers made good on his promise of breaking the will of the trio. The first day of training told him what he already knew. Despite their impressive physiques both Adrian and Oliver’s stamina and endurance not only did not meet up to Marine standards, it barely met the standards of children, while Rosann failed to meet both standards all together.

  Although he already knew what he was working with, it did not stop him from tearing into them. And so began the task of breaking their bodies in order to rebuild them. From morning till noon, he drove them into the ground until they puked their entrails out, and then after lunch he did it again for another five hours before handing what was left to Erica.

  Every night for almost a month, he’d walk pass Rosann Esposito’s room, and hear her crying to herself, wishing to go home. Every day when they fell in, he waited for her to raise a hand, giving her resignation and request to go home. Every day she never uttered a word.

  During the two hours which took place in the Hurt Locker, Erica taught the trio EVO physiology 101 to better understand, control, and employee their abilities in combat situations.

  Oliver had more practice and control over his abilities than the twins. He had already mastered flight and energy manipulation. Unlike his other counterparts that wielded electricity, Oliver could use his abilities in a wide array of ways. By focusing, he could envelop his body in a white electrical plasma form without harm to himself. This apparently bolstered his abilities to an even greater level. Oliver had two problems. The first one which Erica saw was that his emotions affected his abilities. Emotions such as anger and frustration brought him to uncontrollable levels especially in the heat of battle. Left unchecked he could accidently unleashed a multi-direction electrical nova blast devastating a radius of two hundred miles.

  Erica created a special suit along with boots to help him regulate his powers until his could consciously control them on his own.

  His second problem which Rogers caught as a result of his first was that he hesitated in combat situations. Even when civilians were not present in combat scenarios, Oliver hesitated with the knowledge of Rosann and Adrian in the area. His main tactic was strafing and evading; searching for an opening he would use concentrated attacks to bring his opponents down. This in Roger’s eyes prolonged fights that did not need to be stretched out, and left the team to further unknown dangers. He constantly pushed him into heavy populated scenarios, especially those where civilian lives were lost. Abe had to make him understand that if he hesitated lives would be lost. And even if he did not hesitate lives could still be lost. It was something he had to live with if he wanted to be an effective soldier.

  For Adrian it was learning the properties of different metals and other noncarbon based materials, and how they would affect both his strength and durability. Aside from his antics that constantly bore him to the wrath of Rogers, Esposito proved to be a quick study with the great potential to be a skilled soldier. His problem was both over confidence and an eagerness to prove himself the capable soldier the Sergeant still believed was not there. Because of this he performed some risky acts. Some were successful, while others badly backfired. In the first he found no praise from Abe. The second found him dragged through the seven levels of hell and back after Rogers was done with him.

  Rosann’s training was similar, except hers consisted of both getting use to her hybrid transformations which were painful for her, and a course in Zoology. Through practice Erica revealed to her that transforming into mammal hybrids was easier on her body because theirs and human physiology was somewhat similar, and that repeated transformations was key to them becoming easier. She taught that it was similar to stretching a muscle. In time it would become both painless and second nature to her.

  Human and EVO transformations proved to be much easier for her as the only thing that changed was her skin, hair, eye color, and sometimes muscle physique. When it ca
me to duplicating other EVOs powers and abilities, her feats were similar to her brother’s when she duplicated his ability. However, when she duplicated Rogers’ Titan abilities or Oliver’s electrical powers she was slightly weaker than her male counterparts.

  Erica explained the reason for this was based on compatibility. Because her and her brother’s DNA was virtually the same it was easier for her cells to accept her brother’s cells and all of its properties. However when it came to others whose DNA was not similar to her own some properties would be lost or discarded giving her the ability to duplicate whoever she touched powers, but not at the same strength or intensity of the originator.