It was a very nice, relaxed day at the lab. As I leaned back in my chair, I took the paper reports and read over them. The experiments were all doing very well, and I could even witness the birth of one in a minute. The intercom buzzed before someone spoke through it.

“Sir, we’re ready.” The voice was laced with enthusiasm.

“Good. I’m heading down there now.” As I walked out of the office, I grabbed my all-access pass and general’s hat before opening the door to a sterile white metal hallway leading both left and right. Heading to the right, I passed by a few windows of another experiment, which had a few scientists in the room. After a while of walking, I reached a biohazard room, which was where we were conducting our latest experiment. The observation room had a window overlooking a rather large room with a patient laying on the floor in obvious distress, rolling around spastically and covering his chest with his hands, almost like he was trying to grab at something.

“Should be any moment now…” The scientist next to me said while writing on his clipboard. Every other scientist was watching the patient, the younger ones standing closer to the window. The patient suddenly let out a scream that could be heard through the thick glass before his chest suddenly burst, ending his agony. The younger scientists jumped back, but were immediately drawn back upon seeing the creature within. The black-bodied snake-like creature fell out of the deceased patient’s chest, and everyone was struck with awe, including me.

“She’s a beaut.” The scientist put down his clipboard before gathering the scientists to discuss the procedures that would happen over the next few months. As they were doing this, I left with a smile on my face.

---

I raised my feet onto the desk as I leaned back in my chair. I was starting to get bored since I hadn’t gotten any job offers in weeks, and nothing I did could help to quell the boredom. As I waited, I pulled out a cigarette and lit it, and right after the end was red, a computerized voice started up.

“Message received. Would you like to open it?” I quickly took my feet off my desk and looked up at the screen.

“Yes. Open it.”

“Please wait. Running virus scan.” It was only a few seconds, but after it was done, I was eager to open it. It has a web address link inside, and it was about a video. I clicked on it and waited. “Opening site with dummy computer, please wait… Blocking pop-ups. Opening.” The page opened, along with a video that automatically played. It was a guy in silhouette, speaking with a distorted voice.

“Hello, Drake. I am sorry about how I am contacting you, but my identity must remain secret. I have been guarding a site for a long time, but only not was I able to find out what I was guarding, and I feel that it is inhumane and must be stopped. You are the only skilled mercenary left, as the others I have hired were caught and used in the experiments. So please, you must succeed where the others failed. After you’ve seen this video, I will have sent you a map of the base as well as a radio frequency for you to contact me with. But only do it within the base, since any signals get blocked outside of the compound. This is all the time I have before they get suspicious. Remember though, stay out of sight.” Right on cue, the computerized voice came up again.

“Message received. Attachment detected. Download?”

“Yes.”

“Downloading on dummy computer, please wait. Detecting virus, worm, and backdoor signatures. Deleting from attachment. Download complete.” The file had the location of the base as well as a detailed 3-D map of it. The base had many subfloors, but only 2 above-ground floors.

“Mira, convert this map into HLGI format.”

“Converting… Done.”

“Thank you, Mira.” I plugged the computer into a holo-interface disk with which I downloaded the map. After that, I shut down the computer and walked to the armory in my house. After entering the 20-digit password and inserting the key, the wall slid sideways to reveal the arsenal of weapons I had stocked up on over the years. I took my sword, since it always seemed to have a mysterious power that helped me, before going to the pistols. Looking through them all, I decided that a Glock .45 had the necessary stopping power while being portable, so I took it off the rack and looked for the appropriate silencer before screwing it into the barrel. I slid the pistol into my holster and took about 3 magazines for the gun, putting them into my pockets for now. Done with my weapon selection, I closed the armory before going to my closet. Choosing the black trenchcoat, I put it on before transferring the magazines into the inner coat pockets, then went down to the garage. The lights turned on, lighting up the garage to my collection of about 20 cars. Thinking through what would be the perfect balance of inconspicuous as well as power, I decided on the Corvette Z28. Getting into the car and starting it up, I drove out of the garage and onto the street, following the directions the GPS was giving me to the location of the base. “Mira, lock up the house and activate the automated defenses. Also, activate protocol 34-A”

“Acknowledged. House is locked down, will not unlock without your authorization.”

“Good. Let’s get started on this job…” I relaxed during the drive, since I knew the mission would be a bit more tense than usual.