[scikaiju]

Wrapping a towel around his neck Marcus walked out of the bathroom. Today was going to suck so much. After that last Cryptid attack he had finally agreed to, Nate used the word talk, to this director about the driver. As far as he was concerned, and it was going to take a lot of convincing for him to change his mind, he was still going to turn down any attempt to get him to use the driver again.

Looking over into the kitchen area he found Kat making a funny face as she fed another spoonful to Maddie. Who eagerly took the offered bite and swallowed. "That's my girl," Kat said with a grin. She looked over at him and asked "Feeling better about today?"

"Not particularly," he told her as he just looked at the two of them. That was his life right there and he wasn't going to let anything ruin it. Then he noticed something about Maddie as she ate another bite, well it was more like he noticed a lack of something. Walking closer he watched them a moment longer before going, "Why is it when you feed her everything goes smoothly but when I try she ends up wearing half of it?"

Kat just sort of smirked as she fed Maddie another spoonful, "You don't know how to handle her." Before he could even think to respond Kat lean in closer to their daughter, "No he doesn't does he? No he doesn't." She said in a different way that made Maddie laugh. Still despite the scene Marcus could tell she was still a bit apprehensive about something.

“”Hey,” he said rubbing her shoulder slightly, “I’m just gonna head down there and leave.” Letting go he gave Maddis a light tickle on her shoulder before turning toward back the bedroom.

“What of Nate was right?”, she asked suddenly. She waited until he turned back around before saying, “What if you are the only one who can use it?”

“Look even if he is. If he is,” he added with a little more emphasis “The group he’s with can fix it so somebody else can use it. Believe Dad always complained about how cheap that organization is. More than likely their looking for any reason not to pour any more money into the driver to fix the problem.” She still didn’t look convinced but at least she was fighting against his argument.

She still said, “I hope you’re right,”though.

“Don’t worry. After this meeting we’ll get a couple of extra days with Maddie. Then Dr. Vega will open the clinic back up then we’ll be back to work.” After that last attack Doctor Vega decided to close it for a few days to examine the damage and contact the families of the animals killed by that thing. Marcus didn’t envy her that job. Some of those families were going to be pissed. Marcus offered to help with the clean up since that was he was paid to do after all. And yet the look on her face when she turned the offer down stuck with him. It was like she was almost apprehensive to even talk to him. In fact everyone there that day started to act a little different, or that’s how it looked to him, after it was over. Not that any one accused him of bringing the Cryptid there. Scratch that, that one asshole who tried to take it on with that old shotgun did claim he had something to do with the whole thing.

If there was one person there that Marcus wouldn’t have minded that much if they bought it that day…. Okay he was a father now, he should not be thinking like that if he wanted to be a good role model for Maddie. Still in the back of his head the thought was still there. The guy was just an ass plain and simple.

Normally that wouldn’t bother him too much. Everybody was in shock after the attack. Kat had a similar look about her after they were caught in that initial attack in the middle of the city. Maybe he was a bit affected too since he was wondering why Kat wasn’t reacting immediately about the going back to work bit. Why did it look like she was trying not to look at him? “I still got a job right?” Marcus said as a joke, or an attempt at one anyway. But still Kat wasn’t looking at him. “Kat?”

Finally she said, “You’re still employed.” Finally she looked at him, she just as quickly returned her attention to Maddie. But it was still enough to ease his mind slightly. “Doctor Vega would have told you to your face right away. You know that.”

“I know, I know,” he said as he headed for the bedroom again. “Everything just been so weird lately,” at least here she grunted in agreement. “And you not saying anything wasn’t helping.” Going into the room he added, again mainly as a joke, “The last time you were this quiet about anything you were trying to tell me we were having Maddie.”

He got exactly three steps into the room when his eyes started going wide. No fucking way. Quickly he turned back around and nearly bolted back into the living room. Kat, who was looking very annoyed at that moment, just looked at him like she was expecting this reaction. All she said was, “I’m not pregnant.”

An, “Oh,” sort of squeaked out, “okay.” removing the towel as he came closer the only other thing he could say was, "So what's bothering you so much?"

"It's that meeting," she finally admitted.

"Kat look," he began to say.

"Let me finish," she quickly said. So he sat down next to her. "I know you plan on turning down any idea tha’st going to keep you using that damn belt. But I know you. At some point it's going to get in your head that using it is going to be the best way to protect me and Maddie. I'm not going to be able to argue against that."

"Hey," he softly said. "Yes, you and Maddie are the most important people in my life, and I would do anything to protect both of you. But I can find a way to do it without using the driver."

"But you can't fight them without it."

"I can protect you two without fighting," he countered. "Granted it means grabbing the two of you and running like hell." Reluctantly she smiled at what he said. "So I have an option other than fighting. So relax."

"Hopefully it'll be that simple," she told him. Then she looked down at dirty jeans he had on. "You're not wearing those are you?"

"What's wrong with these?"

"They're filthy, go change them." Sighing with a bit of dramatic flair he got off the chair and headed back to the bedroom. After he passed the door she added, "and make sure you wear one of your nicer shirts."

"Why do I want to look nice," he called out as he started looking through those very shirts, "when I'm basically going to tell these people to fuck off?"

"You are not…"

"Okay, okay," he said while putting said shirt on as he walked back in, "I'll listen to what they have to say like a proper guest. Then I'll politely tell them to fuck off. Either way they're going to get the message."

“Just get some nicer pants on,” She told before turning to make sure Maddie was done eating or not. So he went to change his pants. He was going anyway. But sometimes Kat just gave him an opening and he had to go through it. It would be a crime not to at least step a foot through it. But he was going tell them to fuck off, if it was going to be that exact phrasing or not was going to depend on how aggressive they were going to be. Fully changed, he walked back out . Kat looked over and nodded with approva;, “Much better.”

“And I’ll be back before you know it,” he told her.

“Uh huh,” she said, obviously not that convinced about this particular prediction on his part. “Just make sure you don’t do or say anything that gets you thrown in jail.”

“They don’t have that type of authority,” he started to say.

“They make weapons to fight actual monsters,” she said. “They will find that authority, one way or another.”

“”Nate won’t let that happen, he’ll at least give me a heads up if he thinks I’m going too far.” That seemed to ease her nerves, just a little but she did seem more relaxed than she was earlier. Turning to their daughter he got down a bit, extended the little fingers of both his hands that she eagerly grabbed on to and said, “Now you give mommy an extra hard time while I’m gone.”

“She does and you’re getting beat when you get home,” Kat told him somewhat sternly.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” he said before getting up and giving her a quick kiss. “You behave yourself.”

“Never,” she said with a slight smirk Wrapping her arms around his waist she held him close. Then she said, “You tried to think of the last time we had sex when you thought I was pregnant again, didn’t you?”

“What? No,” he quickly said. She just looked at him, one eyebrow slightly raised, a look that told him she wasn’t buying that particular answer. Kat just kept staring at him, just waiting. Eventually he lowered his head, and mumbled a “Yes.”

She kissed him on the forehead after grabbing his head, “You are such a dork. Now don’t do anything stupid.”

“I’m going to be with Nate, it’s almost guaranteed.” Giving her another quick kiss before she let him loose he said, “I’ll call you once this is over. Love you.”

“We love you too,” he said as he walked out the door. Now to just get this over with and he can get all this nonsense behind him. Then his phone started vibrating, he looked at it and the message it told him about. Now he was getting confused, why was Nate waiting for him outside his apartment building?

***
Sitting on the hood of his car Nate just waited for his brother to come down. All things considered he wouldn’t say he was surprised that Marcus didn’t respond to his text. Nate kept glancing at his phone expecting to see the ‘WTF’ from him. Maybe his brother was maturing just a little. Either that or he was waiting to say it to his face. After a few more minutes Marcus finally walked through the building's main door. Not looking all that happy but still there he was. And if asked Nate would claim it was the usual sibling bond that made him say right off the bat, "Holy hell, you actually look decent."

They were brothers, brothers always gave each other a hard time.

And maybe Marcus was maturing because he didn't take the bait, he didn't even flip him off. Instead he just looked annoyed then said, "I was coming in."

"I know you were," Nate told him. Then he added, "It was the Director's call, not mine. Hop in," he said getting off his hood.

"I have a car," he reminded him.

"I know," Nate said as he opened the driver's side door. "But this way we can hang out a bit before we get there. I can give you a quick lay of the current landscape while we're driving in."

Marcus actually sighed a bit as he walked over and opened the passenger side door. Now that felt more like the brother he knew. Now if he says…. "You could have opened the door for me at least." And there it was, the brother he knew and loved.

"Next you'll be expecting me to wine and dine you," Nate said as he got in the car.

He stood there a moment before saying, " I don't know what you were expecting but I am not an easy date."

***
From the window Kat watched them pull away. Marcus said he was going to turn them down. She had no reason not to believe him. But he also said he had no plans on using that driver as he called it again and look at how that turned out. She knew that wasn't fair, that situation was out of his control. And Nate explained that he pretty much forced it on him.

Still there was this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that was there pretty much as soon as she woke up that morning. And it told her things weren't going to go like he thought. And it just got worse as she watched him get into Nate's car.

She looked back at Maddie, still in her high chair. And making a slight mess with what was left of her breakfast. She smirked, if Marcus saw that. "Daddy's going to do the right thing, right? He’s not going to do anything stupid."

The only answer she received was some happy noises from her daughter as she continued playing with her food.

Looking back out the window she sighed slightly before saying, "Yeah that's what I think too."

***
In the underneath the Cryptids gathered watched with anticipation as their lord stood and walked over to the Priestess, who was standing in her usual place by that pedestal she used to read the trinkets. With an air of authority none present would dare copy he stood next to her. Instead of the voice he usually used that carried to all in attendance he spoke in a tone that only she could hear. “What do you see? Is it time?”

She said nothing sat first, just producing the bag that contained those very trinkets and emptied into one hand. With a flick of her wrist she threw the trinkets onto the pedestal surface. He said nothing as she studied how they fell. Eventually she said, again in a voice only he could hear, “Not yet, but soon my lord.”

He nodded and turned away, giving away none of the disappointment he was feeling at her response. Also the annoyance he felt at how long it took the Priestess to respond this time around. He was certain she saw the answer right away but intentionally drew her response out. Returning to his throne he spoke louder this time, “What is the status of the new tunnels?”

“Several are close to completion my lord,” Sone who stepped forward and took a knee with a lowered head. After their initial attack into the human city above they would be watching that tunnel. The scouts he had monitoring the tunnel in case the humans dared to use it to invade their world, had reported the humans doing the same thing that they were, just watching, and waiting as they were doing at several of their exits. In response he ordered several more to be dug, each one leading to a different location to the world above. The man continued, “Two are closer to completion than the others.”

“For now concentrate on those two,” he ordered. “The time for our next offensive draws near.” While he spoke he kept the Priestess in view, just to judge her reaction to his proclamation. There was nothing negative in her reaction so far so he kept going. “Gather our forces and have them prepare for battle. We lost the element of surprise since the humans will be waiting for us. So we must do what we can to attack where they least expect us to. Go prepare.”

Without any need of another command the room emptied, all except a couple of the guards who stayed at their post. He sat there in silence. Muttering to himself, “The human’s will cower in fear of our might. The Rider be damned.”

***
As they drove down familiar streets Macus’s mind wandered back as he and Nate used to walk to their current destination when they got out of high school. Those days seemed like forever ago at times. Nate was relying to talk to him and honestly he was only half listening to what he was saying. About how things were in the organization now compared to back then. Honestly, it sounded a hell of a lot like what their dad used to say back in the day when they used to ask him about it. Then they pulled up to the gates and he sat up a little straighter. Okay those seemed to be a tad bigger than when they used to come here. “Okay those are sorta new.”

“There’s been some upgrades since back in the day,” Nate commented as he pulled up to the guard station, ID card already in hand to give to the man on duty. “Hey Tommy,” he greeted the man as he held out the card. The guard barely glanced between the photo and him before handing it back

“Welcome back Captain,” Tommy sad in return then he leaned in to get a better look at him. So far not looking that impressed at what he was seeing, “So this is?”

“His plus one?,” Marcus offered.

"Marcus Cole,” Nate quickly said. “He’s on the visitor list.” The guard who Nate swore on the way here was usually a pretty friendly guy as far as he was concerned just kept looking at Marcus before finally going back to his station and returning with a tablet in his hand. Marcus sat there really wanting to say something but was, for the moment at least, keeping quiet. The guard leaned in close to Marcus, so close he leaned back in response. The guard kept looking back and forth between looking at the screen and Marcus. It was taking so long even Nate looked like he was tempted to say something

Finally he stood straight up, said, "You are good to go Captain," and returned to his station and opened the gates. Nate pulled onto the property with the gates closing right behind them.

"I liked the old guard better," Marcus finally said. "He at least joked around with you while you waited. Is that guy always like that?"

"This is the first time I've seen him check out a visitor who wanted in," he admitted. "That was a bit weird though. I hope he doesn't do that when the usual guests show up."

"Usual guests?", Marcus inquired.

"Government types," he said. Marcus nodded his head in understanding. "And before you ask, yes they're usually as annoying as dad always made them out to be."

"Fun," he quipped as Nate parked the car. As they got out Marcus looked at the building, outside of the heavy gates and guards it looked like any other building in the city but a strange feeling of nostalgia swept over him in the moment. "Now this brings me back."

Nate just nodded before getting all serious again, "Remember, this isn't like when they used to let us hang out in the lobby after school after mom died."

"I know, I know," he said. "Super serious and all that." As they headed toward the building Marcus stuck his hands in his pockets. "I remember we always wondered what was on the other side of those doors we weren't allowed past back then." Nate said nothing, but that did get a smirk out of him. "So how disappointed were you when you finally got past them?"

It was a situation were both of them knew, even back then, that what they imagined would be nowhere close to reality. So he wasn't all that surprised at Nate's answer, "Very."

"So set my expectations low then, got it." The doors slid open automatically once they were close enough. Inside was another guard station, which definitely got one hell of a tech upgrade since he was last here. And the guard looked even less friendly than the first one. Now Marcus was wondering how those more important guests got treated.

"Captain," he said gruffly while eyeballing Marcus. Why did it look like he was just waiting for him to try something? "Your guest’s paperwork seems to be lost. It's going to take a few minutes to verify that he's supposed to be here."

"Then how did he get past the main gate?", Nate argued, obviously getting annoyed at the situation. Around then Marcus recognized what was a hand scanner. They started using an earlier model back in his junior year of high school.

"Don't touch that," the guard snapped seeing what he was looking at. To Nate he said, "You know the procedure sir, if he's not in the system then he needs the proper paperwork to get in."

"Call the director," Nate ordered. "He has a meeting with her." The guard didn't budge. A power play if either of them ever say one. Marcus almost felt sorry for the bastard for the chewing out he was going to get later. Almost. While the two of them went back and forth his eyes kept going back to the scanner. Suddenly he remembered who Nate said was watching the door now. Mostly out of spite Marcus reached out and put his hand on the scanner. The guard saw this and immediately turned to him. He said nothing, just standing there slack jawed as the indicator light went green and the gate opened for him.

From a speaker somewhere a voice spoke up. "Marcus Cole, greetings and welcome back, it has been far too long since your last visit."

A very real wave of nostalgia ran over him, even feeling himself starting to smile a bit as he said, "Thanks Artie."

"And it looks like your security clearance has been raised to level three, congratulations "

"I wouldn't get used to it Artie," Marcus said as he passed through the gate, flipping off the guard along the way. He could just feel Nate just staring at the back of his head. And knowing Nate it wasn't a good type of stare either. Well he wasn't going to be here long term, so why not go for broke. But he did ask, "Level three?"

"It's policy bro," Nate said. Trying to hide his annoyance at how he acted at the guard station. "If you want to get past those doors you have to be least have level three clearance. Now come on, before you insult somebody else.”

"But it's half the fun," he said as they passed those doors they made sound so mythical when they were younger. And he was even more disappointed than he was expecting to be, nothing but offices lined the halls as far as he could tell. Although a few more guards lining the wall looked in his direction. "Oh this is going to be a fun ass day," he muttered.

***
Walking the halls the director studied the report on her tablet on Marcus Cole arrival on site.. Given his attitude at the station she was glad the A.I. delivered the report. The computer never colored what it saw in any way. All it gave was the facts as it recorded them. Actually it was times like these she realized just how she, well maybe not dependent, but relied on them more and more. In situations like this because having a clear picture of events greatly helped in knowing how to handle the situation.

Of course getting the guard perspective on things would be helpful as well, not to mention Captain Cole’s. As thorough as the A.I.’s information can be, it did lack the human element, which could also be extremely useful. And while the guard’s report could be colored a certain way, she would be looking forward to discussing certain details with him. Details like how does paperwork that is entirely electronic gets lost somehow? Yes, that discussion should be quite pleasant, for her.

Quickly she squashed the smile coming to her face as she approached the meeting room the brothers Cole were currently inhabiting. Meetings were never fun, this one particularly less so. Hopefully they could come to an arrangement that would make both sides happy. Without any preamble she walked right in. Upon seeing her both Coles stood up, Trevor Cole raised both of them right it seemed. Although Marccus Cole appeared a bit less respectful about it. If she had to wager a guess, he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. Perhaps the one thing the two of them would agree on today. Might as well get this over with, “Gentlemen,” why did Marcus glance around the room when she said that? “Please sit,” once all of them were back in their seats after taking her chair she leaned forward a bit and looked directly at Marcus, she said, “Mister Cole. According to the Captain you already know the situation thanks to your late father so that will speed things up a bit.”

“I don’t suppose we can just jump to the part where I just give back the driver and walk out the door and you never have to see me again,” he said. Captain Cole shook his head slightly.

"Trust me Mr. Cole,” she told him, “I would love nothing more than to do just that. While you have had some success so far against the Cryptids, you are officially unauthorized to use the QScan driver. Unfortunately so far you seem to be the only person capable of using the driver.”

“I really wish people would stop saying that,” Marcus muttered. If he was aware he said it loud enough that they all heard it she didn’t know. Based on the body language he probably didn’t care that they did.

“And I want to know why,” she went on ignoring it, “hopefully on some level you do as well. With your permission we would like to collect a blood sample..”

“Just have Mr. Roboto here,” he pointed at one of the cameras in the room.

“I find that offensive,” the A.i. spoke up. She glanced up at the speaker in the ceiling, that reaction was unexpected, she should probably have someone look into that.

Marcus wasn’t impressed, “Can you see my face? Does it look like I give a fuck?” To her he kept going on his original point. “ Just have whatever program you replaced Artie with look into my medical history. I’m sure you’ll find everything you need to know from that.”

“Artir?,” she asked, a bit confused. Then it hit her, “Ah yes, your little nickname for the A.I. back then. Short for Artificial as I recall.” Now it was time for the two brothers to appear confused..

“You were here back then?”, Marcus asked.

“Oh yes,” she answered. “But I was in administration so we were never officially introduced. Although word of the young man who decided that the computer needed a name was the talk of the entire building as I recall. And believe me Mr. Cole I would love to do just that. Unfortunately I doubt the results would be as accurate as the test we can perform here.”

Turning toward his brother Marcus, his eyes narrowed a bit, and he said, “You knew they were planning on sticking me didn’t you?”

“It’s the first I’m hearing of it,” the Captain quickly told him. The other Cole didn’t look convinced. Turning to her he went, “Director, is this necessary?”

“Evidence you help bring to my attention,” Marcus shot his brother another look but said nothing, “indicated that the QScan driver reacted when he touched it with a bloody hand. It seems a natural starting point. And I assure you we will go faster than you’re currently used to.”

"Because of the current A.I.,” Marcue said, obviously not that thrilled about the idea. “Fine let’s get this over with. Bring in the blood sucker.”

“Marcus,” Captain Cole muttered, rubbing his forehead.

"Get blood work as many times as I have and see how you react,” he shot back.

"Pardon me director,” the A.I. spoke up. “Since our guest gave me permission to do so, there is an oddity reported about his blood.” Maecus groaned but said nothing. He did say they could look after all. “And he isn't exaggerating about the blood work. I am finding records of blood work orders going back for years. So far a Madison Cole….”

“Hey!” Marcus shouted cutting the A.I. off. “Stay out of my daughter’s business or I’ll head down to your server room with the first hammer I can find. My daughter is normal, that’s all you assholes need to know about her.”

“My apologizes Mr. Cole,” she quickly said, seeing this meeting getting out of hand rather quickly. "Our A.I. did overstep it’s boundaries. Just because you gave permission to look in your medical history doesn’t give it the right to look at your daughter's. And I am very glad to hear that she’s healthy.” She was going to do this anyway, but maybe doing it now would help calm things down a bit. “Remove any medical information you gathered on Madison Cole from your database.”

“Removing now,” the A.I. announced. Mister Cole still didn’t look pleased, and what parent would in this situation, bur it seemed to be enough to defuse things like she hoped it would. “Shall I summon Dr. Gordon?”

“Just let him know Mr. Cole is coming to the lab,” she told the A.I.” Standing up she waited until both of them stood as swell. “Captain, if you would please show your brother the way.”

“Might as well get all I can out of that new security clearance that I can,” Mr. Cole quipped.

“This way,” Captain Cole said. And was that a hint of a sigh in that res;ponce? She watched both men leave the room. Hopefully answers would be fast coming and both Mr. Cole and herself could both get what they want out of the situation. But somehow… she was doubting it.

***
“There,” Gordon said as he removed the needle and tube from his forearm after it was filled with the dark red liquid. Marcus Cole immediately pressed down on the cotton placed there without being asked. “That wasn’t so bad now was it?”, he asked as Cole took a piece of tape from one of his assistants to hold it in place. Obviously he’d done this before.

“It was just great,” he said, heavy on the sarcasm. “Let’s do it again, I got a fresh arm that hasn’t been tapped yet.”

Putting the sample he just took on a tray next to him Gordon told him, “That won’t be necessary. We got more than we need right here.” Standing up Gordon removed the gloves he was wearing. “Thanks to the A.I. we’ll get the results back in a fraction of the time. I’d saw we’ll get the first results in under an hour.”

“You guys really need to get this set up in the local hospitals,” he said, walking over to Captain Cole.

Funny they didn’t look related in any way that he could tell. Maybe they had different biological fathers or something. “I’ll let you know when the tests are finished. Maybe our guest would like something to eat.”

“I can eat,” Marcus said.

“It’s probably about lunch time anyway,” Captain Cole said. Reaching down he put a case on the table. “This came down while you were getting ready to collect the blood sample from Marcus. Director Miller said you requested the QScan be brought down here?”

“Yes I did,” Gordon confirmed. “I wanted to run some more diagnostics on it. Figured I multitask a bit, you know, run the diagnostic while the test is going.”

“Nothing wrong with trying to be efficient,” Captain Cole said. “We’ll leave you to it. Come on bro.”

Marcus stood there, “How bad’s the food?”

“Not that nad actually," he said with a shrug. A gesture that didn’t seem to assure the other Cole all that much. “I’ve had worse, but it’s nowhere near as bad as dad made it out to be.”

“Mom always made dad’s lunch,” he said as he finally headed for the door.. Once past he could be heard saying, “I didn’t even get a lollipop.”

“A most interesting character, isn’t he Susan?”, he said with a chuckle.

“Definitely nothing like the Captain,” she agreed with a smirk.

Going over to the case he popped it open and was greeted with the visual of the QScan driver. Carefully hev pulled it out and placed it on the table. He just stared at the driver for a moment before reaching over.and picking up Cole’s blood sample. “We removed all Organic material from the driver?”, he asked looking over at his assistant.

“It’s completely clear,” she said to him. “Me and Rodger both did the sterilization and I had the computer run a level 5 diagnostic. It came up clean as a whistle.”

“Run it again,” he said. “I want to make absolutely sure any trace of Cole’s blood is no longer present in the driver.” Looking up he addressed the A.I.,”How soon can the test on Marcus Cole’s blood be done?”

“Depending on the level of testing that’s required, I estimate a minimum of an hour and a half to run the test.” He silently nodded at the answer. Technically that was around what he estimated. “However.” However? What was with the however? The answer was soon coming. “Dr. Henigan has reported the centrifuge is currently down and he doesn’t have an estimate on when it will be fixed.”

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered. Without thinking he placed the vail on the table and started to walk away. It was working just this morning, what happened?

“Dr. Gordon!,” Susan called out. He turned around to see her looking at the QScan driver. His eyes went there immediately. The screen was flickering a bit. He walked toward it astonished at what he was seeing. It wasn’t activated a moment ago, he was sure of it.

Looking the scene over he noticed the vial had rolled over to it. On a hunch he picked up the vial. As soon as he did the screen went dark again. Looking over at Susan, who confirmed that she saw that too, he held up the vial just staring at the dark red liquid within. “Change of plans. I want that centrifuge fixed ASAP.”

***

“Keep digging!,” the overseer ordered while cracking a whip at those he was commanding. Ones who were too weak to be of use or those who broke the laws but not one that came with a fatal penalty. “Our lord has chosen our work as the the path into the world above.” One more crack of the whip punctuated his point. One of his workers flinched, unfortunately for that poor soul the overseer caught the reaction. Pointing at the now panicking wretch he said, “Take that one away.”

A pair of guards started forward, causing the one to panic more. He turned to his companions, who he thought were his friends. They ignored him, just kept on toiling away so they didn’t draw the overseer wraith as well. “No!” he cried out as the guards grabbed him and dragged him away, “NOOOOOOO!” A few who dared watched as he was dragged over to a couple more who placed a fair sized rock and made him kneel over it, making sure his head and neck were hanging over it. Even fewer still dared to watch, or got a sick thrill, out of him screaming out right until one of the guards brought his weapon down, The body went slack as he screamed no more.

“Pathetic,” the Overseer spat as he returned his gaze back toward the masses who were working harder now after the execution. Through the masses one of the guards placed near the front forced his way toward him. Those he knocked down scrambled to get back to their feet and return to working on the tunnel. “What is it?”, he demanded. His head turned slightly as he spotted the long, round metallic mass he was carrying

“I’m not sure,” he said as he cradled whatever it is, or was based on how it looked, in his arms, almost like he was holding a child. “The slave tore it loose further down the tunnel. Some sort of lightning killed at least one. It seemed important, Our lord should be made aware of it.” The guard held it out for him to take, at that same time a couple of more were dragging that fool that it killed. The rest of the wretches will be eating well for the foreseeable future. It was way more than they deserved. However the guard was still holding the human made thing. That guard was still alive so obviously whatever killed the bastard no longer worked. Still the overseer was extremely reluctant to take hold of it.

The metal it was made from was cool to the touch as he held out with one hand at arms length. Only giving it the quickest of glances he just as quickly dropped it to the ground. Unfortunately it didn’t break like he hoped when it hit the ground. “It is nothing of importance,” he finally decreed. The guard said nothing, but the overseer could see the disbelief in his face. “Our lord wants this tunnel to the above finished as soon as possible,” he said, with a bit more defiance then was probably necessary. He was the overseer and he was the one in charge here, not this guard. “This tunnel will be finished and not delayed to bother our lord with something that trivial,” he pointed at the device. “Make sure the work continues,” he ordered. As he stormed off further down the tunnel he missed the guard reaching down and scooping the device back up and hand it to another guard who after a brief conversation nodded once and went in the opposite direction.

***
Nate walked back into the room he’d left Marcus. He still looked as annoyed as when he was asked to go to the lab. Well, if he was being honest, he was looking even more annoyed than when he left. At least he was still in the chair and not wearing out the finish of the floor. The idea he was alone in the room was a bit confusing. Yes he had a level three clearance now but there still should have been someone in here with him.

Checking his phone for a second before putting it away then asking, “What did they need to see you for?”

Taking one of the chairs close to him Nate answered him with, “They wanted some blood from me roo.” Marcus looked rightfully confused at that, he was too when they told him. Nate just shrugged as he said, “They said something about doing a comparison or something.

Still looking a tad confused Marcus leaned forward a bit. Waving a finger around he went, “Those geniuses around here know I’m adopted right?”

“They should,” he said. “I’m fairly sure it’s not classified information,” he added with a smirk. It took a moment but Marcus started smirking back. “You been in here the entire time?”

“Where else was I going to go?”, he asked. “After you were called away the director left pretty much right after. And I’m pretty sure they don’t want me just wandering around the place.”

“We wouldn’t have lost you,” Nate assured him.

“Right,” he muttered, glancing up at the ceiling. Nate didn’t have to tell him since the A.I. program monitored security it would have kept tabs on him the entire time. Actually Nate wouldn’t have been surprised if it was doing it right now since Marcus was an unknown at the moment. Suddenly Marcus started smirking again, “Hey remember that other kid who used to be able to hang out in the lobby with us?”

“Other…? Oh yeah,” he said leaning back in his chair a bit. “I haven’t thought about that guy in ages. What was his name again?”

“I don’t know,” Marcus told him. “I remember we always called him the idiot after he got himself kicked out of here.”

“Right after he sneaked through those doors,” he pointed back in the general direction of the entrance way to this part of the building. “After being repeatedly told that we weren’t allowed that point. I also remember having to talk you out of going with him.”

“”Hold up,” Marcus cut in. “I’m the one who had to keep you from going with him.”

“That’s not how it happened,” he insisted.

“Yes it was, you thought the idiot was super cool and wanted to be his friend.”

“You have lost your mind.”

You are so lucky I can’t get access to Aerie to prove you wrong.” Then he got a look on his face. And that look usually made Nate nervous, because he had no idea where his brother’s mind would go. “Hey that guard who was giving us a hard time about me getting in. He seemed familar for some reason. You don’t think…?”

“”That it was him?, Nate finished the thought for him. “No, there’s no way. Could it?” They stared at each other for a moment before the two of them broke out in a small chuckle. That idea was just so absurd. Mauve absurd enough to be true. Nate made a mental note to check in on it, just to prove he was right about it being that ridiculous.

His phone started to vibrate. “Just a sec,” he told Marcus as he checked it. It went straight to vibrate, usually that meant the A.I. had something. Reading the screen quickly he tried to keep any reaction off his face. Since when have there been seismic sensors in the city? They weren’t near any fault lines that he was aware of.

“Something up?”, Marcus asked, almost warily.

“I’m not sure,” Nate answered him. It was the truth at least, he had no idea what this meant. But if Marcus was thinking it was Cryptid related then chances were that hunch wasn’t wrong.

The door to the room opened and the Director came through looking at a tablet. Nate had no doubt that she was looking at the same information he was. “Gentlemen, “ she said without looking up and took a seat that faced the two of them. When she did look up it was directly at Marcus. “Has Captain Cole informed you of what is going on?”

“Nothing specific,” Marcus answered. “He got some sort of alert right before you walked in.”

Adjusting himself in his seat Nate spoke up, "I actually had a question about that alert.” He glanced over at his brother out of the corner of his eye. How much should they reveal in front of him? Marcus seemed to pick up on this since he motioned to himself then at the door.

The Director apparently had a different line of thinking. “Back in the mid to late nineties there was a line of thinking that the Cryptid could attack in the middle of the city. The ones in charge at the time received permission to install sensors throughout the city to monitor for that very situation. When that didn’t happen and the Cryptid threat died down they fell into miss use.” And that question he had was just answered. Now he wondered how his brother was going to react to all of that.

“I’m guessing that they did just that not that long ago changed that,” he ended up saying. So far he seemed to be taking this seriously.

“Well they were quickly rediscovered after it happened,” the Director said putting the tablet down in front of her. “It surprised nearly everyone when the A.I. found the file. Ever since then we been working hard to get them back online. We even have plans to upgrade them, once the proper paperwork is filed and approved.”

Marcus looked over at him, “Am I the only one hearing Dad complaining that the Cryptids will have taken over by then?” Despite himself Nate snorted a bit. That was something Dad would say.

“It will take some time,” the director said with as straight a face as ever “But right now it’s just speculation.”

“Right,” he spoke up. “For all we know it could have gone on the fritz because it’s a few decades old at this point.”

“Seriously?”, Marcus asked.

“It’s part of the job bro,” he said.

“Indeed,” the director chimed in. “Part of the good Captain’s job is to consider all possibilities. Even the possibility that the issue may not be Cryptid related.” If she was going to say anything else it apparently had to wait as Dr. Gordon burst through the door with one of his assistants, who was carrying the QScan case, in tow. A flash of annoyance crossed her face but it just as quickly disappeared.. “Yes Doctor?”

“You have to see this,” he said with some degree of excitement, which seemed a tad worrying for some strange reason and he placed the QScan driver on the table so they could all see it. “Just to start off as a baseline here’s a vial of my blood,” he said producing said vail from a pocket of his lab coat. He waved it in front of the driver. All three of them leaned forward, then looked at each other. Marcus shrugged his shoulders, None of them saw anything. “Nothing right? Now watch this I have a sample of the Captain's blood.”

“He doesn’t know I’m adopted does he?”, Marcus sighed.

Gordon heard this, then deflated a bit. “Oh, well then. As you can clearly see there’s no reaction as well.” Then that excitement returned with a vengeance as he reached and pulled another vial of blood. “Now this is the sample we took from Mr. Cole here. Watch.” He brought the vial close to the driver. Marcus’ eyes just went a bit wider and the director arched an eyebrow as the screen seemed to react. “I have to do more tests and get some samples from other people but it seems to be reacting to your blood.”

“Doctor Gordon,” the Director cut in, “We were already aware of that…”

“I know, I know,” he quickly said. Reaching into another pocket he pulled out another vial. An empty one? He held out closer so each of them could see it. Marcus’ look of confusion and the director’s look of disinterest was telling the whole story. This time the doctor’s level of excitement didn’t seem to diminish. “I remembered that you had an anomaly in your blood. With the A.I.’s help I was able to separate some of it from the sample we took. Now Nate saw it, the vial wasn’t empty, not exactly. There in the bottom was the tiniest of liquid dot. So clear it almost blended in with the glass container it was in.

Marcus leaned in, eyes squinting as it took him a moment to see it as well. “So that’s what every blood test I’ve ever taken has been picking up?”

“Yes,” Doctor Gordon was almost giddy at this point. But where was he going with this? “Now I did this in the lab first just to see if my theory was correct. And it was,’ Without any further preamble he brought the vial closer to the driver. It reacted almost immediately, the screen glowing brighter than before.

“What the fuck?”, Marcus muttered.

“The driver is clear of contamination?”, the director asked.

“I had the A.I. run the diagnostic twice before I tried this,” Gordon informed her. "It was clear of anything that came from Mister Cole is gone from the driver. And it’s still reacting to it.”

“Doctor,” Nate spoke up. “How is that possible?”

“And please put it in English,” Marcus added.

“”I’m not sure I could explain it in Klingon,” Gordon told them. Picketing the vial he started walking sound, just talking, “Even if I could I’m not even sure where to begin.” He only paused as he locked eyes with the Director. “Try, right. Okay best guess, and the only thing that makes any sense even though it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. It’s almost, it’s almost like the driver was made with you in mind.”

“Again, What the fuck?”, Marcus said.

“Bro,” Nate whispered to him, hoping he’ld calm down a bit. But Nate spoke up anyway, just in case. “Doctor Gordon, is that even possible?”

“It shouldn’t be,” he began.

“It isn’t,” the director quickly cut in, drawing all their attention. “The drives were not created for a single user. Both drivers were designed for any qualified individual could use it.”

“Both drivers?”, Marcus seemed to focus on that particular phrase.

“I know,” Gordon replied, “but based on what I’m seeing it’s the only thing that makes sense.” Nate on the other hand was keeping his attention on Marcus. He knew that look on his face, he was not happy about something. And he knew what it was. Damn it, he thought he told Marcus about the other driver.

Oblivious to this the director went on, “I know what you think you see Doctor but that simply isn’t possible.”

“Hold up,” Marcus said leaning forward in his chair. “There’s another driver? You have two drivers?" He looked at all of them looking for an answer. “Why the hell am I here?”

“Marcus…”, Nate began.

“If you have another driver you don’t need me.

“I wish that was true,’ the director told him.

Nate jumped back in before his brother could say anything, “It’s not that simple.”

“We do have another driver,” the director said. “It’s development was halted after we realized the potential of the QScan driver.”

Nate decided to take over the conversation,”I told you the QScan was an updated version of Dad’s BScan driver. The other one is an upgraded version of that. But it isn’t ready.”

“Then make it ready,” he insisted.

“We are Mister Cole,” The director said. “Once you became part of the picture I ordered development of the BScan to be fast tracked.”

"Problem solved then,” Marcus said and started to get up. “Nate can take over the Rider duties, I can get back to a normal life..”

“”It’ll be weeks before the other driver is ready for field use. Maybe months.”

Slumping back into the chair Marcus mumbled, “Of course it is.”

“Bro, believe me we wouldn’t be having this conversation if that driver was ready.”

“Perhaps a break is in order,” the director said suddenly. “Let cooler heads prevail as it were.” With that she stood up and exited the room. Doctor Gordon looked confused for a moment before following. After the assistant left as well leaving just the two of them and the QScan driver that Marcus kept staring at.

“Can I just go home now?” he asked.

***
In the underground the overseer pushed the workers even harder. They were close; he felt it in his very bones. “Stup!”, he called out. It toom several moments for the ones under him finally got the masses to stop. “Out of my way,” he ordered, pushing several of the slaves aside while he made his way through to the front. Their lord had picked his work to deliver his forces. He would see it through, no matter how many of these filth he had to sacrifice. This was his crowning moment. No one would take it from him.

At the front the ones smart enough to realize quickly moved to the sides. One who didn’t live long enough to realize his mistake as he shoved a blade through that one’s ribs and let the body fall. This was his moment and his alone.

At the front he examined the earth in front of him. There was a difference here. He could feel it and reached out and grabbed a sample, rubbing between his fingers. A close examination reveal some sort of metal coil. They were close. He was close. Waving one of the guards forward he said, “Tell our lord we are nearly ready. We await his word to bust through after he sends his army.”

“At once overseer,” he said and started to make his way through the masses. Savoring his moment of triumph. And it was his moment this tunnel will send that very army to the world above. This was his moment on no one else's.

***
“The director sent you guys some coffee,” some random person walked in carrying a tray of the dark liquid. Apparently fairly fresh too seeing how they were still steaming. “Enjoy," he said placing the tray down and exiting the room.

Marcus wasn’t seeing Nate’s reluctance to take one of the cups as a good sign. Eventually both of them reached out and took one. Taking a sip Marcus made a face.”That's not coffee. That’s just hot barely flavored water.”

“I’ve had bad before,” Nate said putting ithe cup dowm, “but I’m pretty sure actual paint thinner would taste better.” With a finger he pushed the cup a little further away.

“Pretty sure this would be a stoning offense back in the day,” Marcis told him. “At least according to dad.”

“I think it still is in parts of the world,” Nate said with a slight chuckle. Marcus was appreciating the attempt to lighten the mode a bit. He was not in the best of one after the director called for a break. It was probably the main reason why Nate hadn’t really said outside of some attempted small talk that quickly went nowhere. His brother knew exactly what kind of mood he was currently in Then his phone started vibrating again. He checked it, grimaced before glancing at him before looking at the door.

“If you gotta go get ready,” he offered.

“No,” said before looking at the phone again/.

“Not really being all that convincing man.” A panel on the wall slid open revealing a huge monitor. Marcus found himself standing up and walking a little closer to it. What he wouldn’t do to have something like this in his living room. He turned toward Nate, “Moving nights around here has to be pretty fucking cool.”

Nate stood up staring at the screen. The look on his face wasn’t exactly saying that this was a good thing. Marcus flinched a little as the screen suddenly flared to life. A lone white dot appeared. “Pardon the interruption,” the dot quickly turned into a line that moved in time with the A,I,’s voice. “But Mr. Cole, can I call you Marcus?”

“Is this thing serious?”, he asked Nate.

“This is a new one to me,” he said.

“Well.” Did that thing sound annoyed? That sounded like an annoyed tone to him. “I feel like we got off to a bad start earlier. I was hoping to be a bit more friendly.” The two of them just looked at each other equally confused at what was happening.

“Was there something you were going to tell my brother?”,Nate asked.

“Yes there was,” the A.I. said. “I’ve been analyzing the anomaly in your blood. It is truly fascinating. I’ve don’t have anything like it currently in my database. I’ve compared it to every type of sample I have access to, human, animal, Cr….”

“Back up,” Masrcus cut in. “Animal? What the actual fuck?”

“I have to go with my brother on this one,” Nate piped in.

“Thanks for the back up,” he said.

“The A.I.,” they turned to see the director walk into the room, “is just being thorough. Like it was programmed to do. Admittedly it does it’s job a little too well at times.”

After an electronic cough from the overhead speakers the A.I. said, “Yes, well it is a unique mystery. I don’t run into a lot of those. With your permission, I will continue to look into it.”

“You know what,” Marcus started, “go ahead.” Nate looked at him, yeah he caught him off guard with that one. “I’ve had this thing my entire life. It would be great to finally find out what it is.”

“It will be my pleasure.”

“That’s all well and good,” the director said as she came closer, “however we do have a situation.”

“Correct,” the computer said. The line was replaced with a map of the city. “The seismic activity the old sensors were detecting, the ones still active anyway, have picked up some increased activity.”

“”The activity has grown so muc that various scientific institutes have started detecting them,” the director added “Given the increased intensity and that a line of them suddenly went offline, we feel this indicates that the Cryptids are on the move.”

“Do we know where?”, Nate asked.

“We have a general location based on where the sensors stopped functioning and how strong the vibration readings the others has been picking up,” the A.I. said. Without being asked a rather large yellow circle appeared. With the yellow color looking stronger in the middle compared to the outer edges.”My apologies given what limited information this is the best approximation I can calculate.”

“That's still a pretty big area,” Nate commented. “Is there any way to narrow the target area down?”

“Not given the current means,” was the answer. Marcus didn’t have to look at his brother to know that wasn’t the response he was looking for.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Nate nod, probably to the current director. So Marcus wasn't all that surprised when Nate suddenly went, "Excuse us a moment."

"Take your time," he said. The two of them quickly left the room leaving him and the map. That and a nagging feeling he was trying to ignore ever since that spot showed on the map. Staring at that way too general location he started chewing on a knuckle. Damn it he had to be sure. Looking back at the door briefly he returned to the map. Taking a deep breath he said. "Artie if you can hear me, please let me know."

There was nothing for a moment then the current A.I. spoke. "Granted I'm not the program you want. But the one you call 'Artie' is part of my digital make up. I know everything he does. So I am aware of the connection you two shared, and I am inclined to help you any way I can."

And this felt like he was cheating on Artie in some weird way, but he was getting desperate and he had to be sure. "Can you pull up where I currently live in placement to this map?"

"Yes aI can, but you may not like it." A new location showed up. And the machine was right he didn't like it. That dot showing his apartment showed up, right inside the general area the machine was predicting.

"Thank you," he said turning away. He pulled out his phone and as quickly as he could sent Kat a message. "What are you two up to?" He didn't want to panic her, at least not yet.

"Me and Maddie are about to go out" was the reply that came a long moment later. Another one came right after, "We still need some things for dinner tonight."

Marcus's eyes immediately shot back to the map and he quickly typed, "Don't". Quickly he added. "I'll explain later. But don't go out right now." He stared at his phone waiting for a response. Damn it he should have called her directly.

Then, "Ok."

She had to be freaking out right now. But the only thing he could think to respond with was, "I call you as soon as I can. I love you."

"Love you too. Be careful."

Lowering his phone Marcus stared at the map. Something Kat said would probably pop into his head in full force. Right now it was going to be an argument on who was going to be more annoyed that she was right. Worry about that shit later Cole, he told himself. He took a few breaths then rushed out the door looking around.

"Marcus?", he heard Nate say and quickly located him and the director a bit further down the hall. Kat was going to be the most annoyed, no question about it now.

Practically running over he talked to the director directly. "Look, we have something incoming. You have two drivers and one isn't ready. And one nobody around here can use."

"Currently," she said in a snarky way.

"Right. You're into compromises right? So here's my offer. I'm currently the only person that it's responding to. So I'll be your Rider until you get the other one working. Then Nate can take over like everyone planned. Deal?"

Nate took him by the arm, "Bro, she's not…."

"Those terms are agreeable," she cut him off. Nate looked stunned. Honestly Marcus was kinda shocked himself. "We have a situation developing and we don't have any immediate options.”

Nate looked between the two of them. Not looking all that pleased slowly he nodded, “Right/ Let’s go Marcus. We need to get teams in place as soon as possible.”

“Got it,” he said, as he followed his brother down the hall.

***
In the back of one of the vans, Nate stood going over the extremely loose battle plans they had to come up with on the fly. He had sent several similar vans ahead of themr, with some type of portable seismic reader on board. Nate didn’t know how accurate or sensitive they were supposed to be but it was all they had at the moment. “Remember,” he said to the driver, “keep us loose and on the move..”

“Yes sir,” came the reply.

He nodded, “Once one of the other teams makes contact with the Cryptids get us to that location as soon as possible.”

“”Wish we had a siren to get people out of the way.”

“You and me both,” Nate told him before turning back to the rest. There wwe about six other men in her with him. And five of them were staring at Marcus who was sitting away from them, staring at the QAcan case at his feet.

Nate overheard one of his guys say, “We sure he’s not going to cut and run?” Nodding his head toward his brother Nate tried not to let his anger rise too much. Granted the guy had a point still that was his family he was insulting.

Fortunately for the one who said it somebody else said something before he did. “This is the second time he faced a Cryptid.”

Grabbing a spare flack jacket off a rack Nate walked past them saying, “The third time,” just loud enough for both of them to hear. Luckily for the first guy he knew enough to shut it.. Walking over to Marcus he waited until he finally looked up to offer it to him. “Just to be on the safe side. You know some of those things can shoot something without the hardware we carry. As he took it Nate sat next to him. “You all right?”

Marcus didn’t see anything as he put the offered jacket on and fastened it without any extra help. Another one of Dad’s lessons while they were growing up. Good thing his brother seemed to remember this lesson. Eventually he said, “I’m not trying to steal you thunder man.”

“Bro I know,” Nate assured him. “I was trying to talk you into this, remember? Don’t get upset with the A.I. but I asked what it showed you that changed your mind. I get it, believe me. If I had what you have I would have made the same offer. I’m still shocked the director went with it.” Marcus’ eyes went back to the case. “Bro we got this. Think of it this way, we both been saying that we needed to hang out more”

Finally Marcus cracked a smile, “Not exactly what I had in mind. I was thinking more like a bar or something.”

“Where do you think we’re celebrating after this is over,” he said, elbowing him in the arm lightly. “Just remember, hang back until we identify the one leading this one. Then you engage, got it?” Nate held out a fist.

Bumping it with the back of his Marcus went, “Got it.” It was a gesture they’ve been doing since they were kids. Basically they were saying that they had each other's back going into a situation. Nate wouldn’t admit it out loud but he always found it reassuring. "Wait until you find the bastard then get it with the souped up back heel kick."

"Back hook kick," he said correcting him. And suppressing the sigh that was threatening to come out along with it. All this time and he still didn't know the name of that particular move.

Marcus looked at him, brow fully furrowed in confusion, "Really?

"Yes."

"You're sure."

"One hundred percent."

"Then where in the hell was I getting back heel?", he asked after a moment.

"Beats me," Nate answered him. "But maybe if you didn't:t have the attention span of a gnat when people were trying to teach you stuff."

“Captain!”, the driver called back before Marcus could say anything in return.

Nate stood up and headed back toward the front, “What is it?”

“Just got a report from delta team,” he said. “They got a hit and ir’s getting stronger.””

“”Any chance it's a train of some sort?”

“Negative sir. They report that they’re not near any subway tunnels or above ground tracks.”

“Head us toward their location,” Nate told him. Turning toward someone else he said, “Have the other teams send some men toward the same area. If this isn’t them I want the rest to keep searching and I don’t want them too short handed if they run into their actually entry point.”

“Relaying the orders now,” he said..Looking back he saw the others, including Marcus, get ready for the upcoming battle. If luck was with them then they would be in position before the first one broke through. And he knew that chances were very likely that they weren’t that lucky.

***
“Break through now!”, the overseer commanded. At that order his diggers pushed through the wall into something obviously artificial. His moment of personal triumph was immediately ruined as one of the warriors pushed him aside into the wall of the very tunnel he had just created. Then he was grabbed by a couple more and forcibly dragged deeper back into the tunnel before he could mount any sort of protest.

Looking around the one who took the lead surveyed the area they entered then pointed toward a set of stairs that led into the light. “There,” His men rushed past him and made their way to the surface. As soon as the first one hit the street above he was quickly assaulted by the weapons of the humans who lived above them. The one who arrived first quickly covered up trying to protect himself. As more ran toward the light the lead warrior turned his head toward the one who now stood to his left. Looking back into the tunnel he looked back to his other man and nodded sharply once. The man returned the nod and headed back into the tunnel.

“Hold them off!”, the delta team leader shouted before leveling his assault rifle and fired off another round of bullets at the Cryptids pouring out of the underground entrance. A series of scream around them said the area wasn’t empty of civilians. “Damn it,” he muttered while firing over another burst from his rifle. Looking around quickly he just saw some of those people go down like they were shot. “Update to all forces, there are shooters in the cryptids! Repeat, shooters in the Cryptids!”

“Sarge!” A round of fire cut him off. But he did point in one particular direction. Right at some of those very people trying not to get hit from either side. This particular group seemed like they were trapped.

“Hardy, grab one of the others and get them out of here!”

“Understood! Jimmy on me.”

“Give them cover!” he ordered. The rest of his men increased their fire to try and keep the Cryptids from heading toward those trapped and the two trying to help them. “Now we gotta wait for the Captain and the others to get with that bug armor.”

***
Maddie’s crying drew Kat to her. Picking her up, she said, “It’s okay honey she softly repeating it over and over as she started walking around the room. Usually it was a guessing game as to figuring out why her daughter was crying. This time the sudden sirens was probably the culprit, as she started doing this right after, so she was probably startled/. “It’s okay, it’s just a loud noise.” A loud noise that’s going to be heard semi-regularly in the future. Kat hoped Maddie would get used to it if Maecus and Nate were right about those things showing back up. A part of her really hoped they were wrong because she really didn’t want her to get use to it.

“Attention,” the channel she had on suddenly changed to a news broadcast. And her heart dropped and held Maddie a little closer because she knew exactly what he was going to say. “An immediate stay in place order has been issued. Authorities say the mysterious creatures identified as Cryptids have attacked the city.” And there it was, just like she feared. “A counter attack by a private organization has been mounted according to sources. Everyone watching this broadcast is strongly encouraged to stay indoors in case the battle zone spreads and to stay out of the way.”

Kat softly bounced Maddie up and down the whole time and thinking back to the texts Marcus sent herself. Before long she sighed, “Daddy’s doing something stupid isn’t he?”

***
The van came to a screeching halt as the back door burst open as Nate and his men rushed out and quickly joined the conflict while two more pulled up soon after. Marcus did as he was told and hung back near the open door along with the poor guy Nate assigned to stay with him and watched the action. Marcus didn’t know the dude at all but it was obvious he wanted to jump in there and not babysit him. “Shit!”, Marcus cried out as something hitting the van made both of them draw back. “Shooter, definitely shooter.”

“What was your first hint?”, his babysitter spat as he looked back around the corner.

“The shit I put up with for my family,” Marcus muttered as he returned to the same spot. Just find the one in charge, he repeated to himself. Take that one out and the rest go away. “Do you see the chief yet?”

“No sign of the freak so far,” was the answer. A scream caught Marcus’ attention. Over to side a woman, hold something ducked down as whatever the cryptids were shooting hit the wall right after she ducked. That would have been a kill shot if she hadn't moved. “Civilian on the right!”, he called out at the same time Marcus ran for her. “Cole!”

Hearing his last name Nate looked back, “Marcus!”. He silently cursed what he saw before going back to holding off the Cryptids with his assault rifle. “Does he at least have the driver?” And he was afraid of the answer he was going to get.

Straying down, Marcus heard projectiles fly over his head as he made his way over to the woman. When he got there he saw that she was covering up a child, probably hers. And this just got more complicated. “Stay down,” he ordered once he finally reached the two of them. “Look at me, look at me.” Both of them looked up at him, fucking scared as hell. “”Hey there buddy,” he said to the kid before looking back up to see where the action was. So far Nate and some of the others were holding them off.

“I’m scared,” the kid said.

“So am I,” Marcus said without thinking. “But anybody would be with this going on.” Looking around again he tried to go over his options. And he also quickly realized why Nate would have been so much better at going over those options quickly. Again without thinking he started undoing the flack jacket. “Listen to me,” he said pulling it off and pointing in the opposite direction than the cryptids, “That way is safe. Put this one, it’ll give you a little more protection. There are people down there who will help you get out of here faster.”

“What about you?”, she said eyeing the jacket looking completely unsure of what was happening. And he wasn’t all that positive himself at that particular moment.

“I gotta stay here. Yeah I know” he added as he put the jacket on her. “Now stay in front of the kid!” He shoved her in the direction he pointed to to get both of them going. Then he looked back and saw the Cryptids were advancing. “Oh fuck,” he muttered before making a dash for the van. Something exploded at his feet causing him to stumble and fall to the street.

“Crush the humans,” One Crytid that looked fairly devilish commanded. Several Cryptids rush forwards despite the continued gunfire.

“Think we found the chief,” he said scooting back a bit.when he seemed to zero in directly on him.

“Target located,” Nate called out as he came to the same conclusion. Without any additional commands his men started concentrating their fire on that particular Cryptid. If there was any doubt they had the right onr they were quickly squashed as more than a couple jumped in the way to protect him. Then he noticed the target was looking directly at Marcus. And he didn’t have the driver. “Hold the line!” Still firing he started backing up before turning around and running toward the van. “Give me the driver!” The man he assigned to watch his brother handed it over without any hesitation. He quickly popped it open then looked at the situation. The cryptid kept his eyes directly on his brother who was trying to crawl backwards to get away. “Marcus!”, he shouted before grabbing both parts of the driver. Both of them looked in his direction. Without warning he reared back and threw the driver.

Marcus immediately popped up and grabbed it. Slapping the buckle against his waist and it fastened itself around his waist. As Nate opened fire on the Cryptid again hoping to distract it long enough for Marcus to finish the sequence. Holding thew diamond shape in his other hand swiping the screen with his thumb before holding it out in front of him. Tapping the QR code on the screen with that same thumb the driver uttered a “Ready.” Drawing the driver back he shouted, “Henshin!” before slotting it diagonally into the buckle. Snapping it into place by moving his hands to the side.A giant QR code formed in front of him before sliding back toward him.

This time Marcus ran toward it, passing through it looking pixelated as he came through. The pixels quickly solidified into the armor as the driver said, “Kamen Rider Aegis” as he ran in and threw a punch at the Cryptid. It stumbled back and he kept up his assault. Soon it was acting like it was rocked. Other Cryptids saw this and quickly ran over to help their leader.

“Keep the area clear!”, Nate called out as they tried to cut the Calvary out of that particular fight.

“More coming out!”, somebody called over the comm line.

Nate looked past the initial charge to see just that as his Sargent announced, “I see it. I’m going to take a group to try and close it off.”

“Confirmed,” Nate said. “Be careful but close that hole.” The last thing they needed was even more Cryptids showing up to replace this batch. He looked back at Marcus who still had the apparent leader down that blitz attack he did definitely caught it off guard, this could be over before any of them knew it. Then Marcus paused and looked at something. “What in the hell?” Then the creature popped up knocking his brother back, then it swatted him around a bit before the Cryptid grabbed him and threw him across the street into an alley. Nate immediately pulled the trigger on his rifle targeting that particular Cryptid. Without an order given his men quickly followed suit. He had to get himself back under control, that was an impulse action. “Did anybody see what my brother was looking at?”

“Captain across the street, that sign.” The man next to him pointed out. He looked over and quickly spotted it. More importantly he saw the QR code one it.

“I didn’t tell him,” he muttered putting together what happened. “Joel meet me at that alley entrance.”

“Rodger,” came the reply right before one of the men backed out of his group and headed in that direction. Fifing another burst Nate went around the van and made his way there as well. Compared to Joel his approach was a bit less careful in comparison.

When both of them hit the alley opening they found his brother just sitting uo grabbing the back of his head and moaning slightly. “Marcus!”, he exclaimed as he rushed over as Joel covered the opening.

Looking in his direction Marcus waited until he knelt down before responding, “When did they bring in King Kong?”

“That wasn’t Kong,” he said. “Marcus, tha QR code. What color was it?” Marcus just looked at him. And knowing Marcus well enough he could just picture the confused look on his face. “The driver has it’s own independent A.I. system. It’s designed to locate and identify compatible codes for upgrades. What color was that code?”

“Blue,” he said, “it was blue.”

“Blue,” he repeated as he turned to look at the code. They were just concealed enough that they should be able to do this without any major interruptions. “That means a weapon, that could be useful. Joel, how far away are the Cryptids?”

“Not even looking our way,” was the answer. “The boys are holding off the rest.”

“Got it,” Nate said. Hopefully he would have time to explain this. Joel would warn him when that time ran out “Marcus listen to me very carefully. You need to use the driver and scan the code with it.”

“Remove the driver?”, he asked starting to stand. “Won’t that deactivate the armor?”

“Not if you twist it the other way.”

“The other…?”, looking down Marcus grasped the driver and twisted it down. The driver slid out easily. Marcus looked at his still armored form, “Oh.”

“Now aim the screen on the driver at the code. You’ll see a download bar in your HUD.”

“It’s doing it now,” Marcus said as he held the driver out and directed it at the sign across the street. “Damn that’s fast.”

“Once it’s done,” Nate went on, “hook the driver back into the buckle.” Nate went back to see what was going on as Marcus did just that. He only looked back long enough to see a small QR code appear in the air and Marcus started to reach for it. Once his hand went through it something started to form in his hand. Nate returned to the battle, the lead Cryptid seemed to finally start to look for his opponent “The weapons.are all gun based.”

“Uh, Nate.”, Marcus said.

“Everything is energy based so you don’t have to worry about any ricochets.”

“Nate,” Marxus said a little more urgently.

“You just point and pull the trigger,” he said, turning back around. “It’s not that,” and he saw what Marcus was gesturing at with his other hand. There was a handle but the long metal blade atop of something that looked like a square balancing on one of it’s points. Nate tried to process what he was seeing. “That’s a sword.”

“I noticed,” Marcus snapped. Marcus looked past them. Nate looked as well, that Cryptis was looking right at them. Nate and Joel immediately aimed their rifles at it. “Time to see if this thing is useful or not,” Marcus started to make his way forward.”

“Hold it,” Nate held out an arm to stop him. “Do eden you know how to use that?”

Looking at the sword for a moment he said, “I know the basics.”

“What basics could you possibly know?”

Pointing at the blade he went, “You stick the pointy end in.” Nate was stunned just long enough for Marcus to rush past him.

“No, wait! Ugh,” he lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. Of all the bullheaded….

Behind him Joel tentatively tapped him on the shoulder. “You know Captain, technically he’s not.”

“Shut up,” he snapped.

“Shutting up sir,” he said with a slight chuckle.

Marcus ran right at the devilish Cryptid with that new sword firmly gripped in his hand. Once he was close enough he swung it with all he had. The Cryptid recoiled as the tip of the blade slashed against hit’s chest. A different one came at him from behind, distracting him enough for his primary opponent to punch him square in his helmeted face. Marcus fell back while the Cryprid reached out and pulled a street sign out of the pavement. Swinging it around like a staff it soon rested in the crook of it’s arm..

“Okay, that’s fancy,” Marcus said as he quickly got back up. Attacking with the sword it was quickly deflected and he was bashed in the head by a hunk of contract still attached to the other end that sent him spinning to the ground. Feeling a tight grip around his ankle he was quickly pulled away from the sword he let go of after the hit. Turning around he saw that sign coming right at his face. “Shit” he gasped while rolling out of the way.as it impaled into the street. Getting to his knees Marcus kicked the Cryptid in the gut as it tried to pull it’s makeshift weapon free.

Rising up he ran his shoulder into him to back him away from that weapon. It stepped back one foot before regaining it’s balance. Snapping his neck a bit Marcus went at the Ccriptid again. They traded blows while Nate and his guys and the other Cryptids fought around them. Suddenly grabbing him around the neck the Cryptid reached over and finally pulled the sign free Letting him go it swung the sign. The metal of the sign caused sparks as it smashed against the armor knocking him to the ground.

Looking past the creature Marcus spotted the sword laying on the street behind it. Seeing that the Cryptid was going to swing the sign again, ducking and rolling under the attack he ran and dove for his weapon, grabbing it and getting back to a knee he quickly brought it up to block another attack aimed directly at his head. Holding there Marcus noticed a QR code on the square hilt. Using the armor to aid in pushing the Cryptid away. Chancing a quick glance down at the driver he looked back at the code. The suit A.I. wasn’t picking up anything but it was worth a shot,the driver apparently read codes like this.

The Cryprid roared as it came at him again. Marcus ducked and swung the sword. The edge of the blade biting in deep. As it stumbled forward Marcus brought the code on the sword to the scanner on the driver. The voice from the driver announced “Unlocked,” and Marcus quickly turned to face the creature one more time. Dad told both of them growing up that unlocked meant a finishing blow

In his hand the blade ignited and was surrounded by an orange flame, catching off guard and causing him to flinch back while still holding on. “Whoa! Is it supposed to do that?”

“How the hell should I know!”, Nate called back. “I was told all the weapons were guns.”

From behind Nate his man called out, “Just raise some hell with it.”

“Looking at the Cryptid slowly turn back toward him while holding it’s wound Marcus went, “Raise some…” Looking back at the two of them he gave a thumbs up going, “I like the way you think!” Turning his attention back to the Cryptid as it stumbled toward him. Holding the sword so the blade was pointed behind him he waited until it came into range before shouting, “Hewllraiser slash!”, before swing the sword like a baseball bat slicing through the Cryptid. It stumbled back before falling back and exploding.

The other Cryptid saw this. Marcus tightened his grip on the handle on the sword as Nate and the others took position next to him. They watched as the Cryptids started back into the hole they came from. “Go after them!”, Nate ordered the others who quickly complied. Outside of the man who was in the alley with them.

“Why did you swing up?”, he asked

“Well,I said hellraiser,” he said, swinging the blade up a bit. “It didn’t make sense to swing down.

Nate groaned and pointed his man toward the others. “Make sure none of them come back out” With a quick acknowledgement of the order and hurried to catch up with the others. Looking at his brother briefly he muttered, “This is going to be a headache.”

***
The beings of the underground parted just wide enough to let the guard and the person they were dragging through. They stopped in an even wider space in front of the stone throne their ruler sat in, the priesress standing slightly behind. In the middle of this space they dropped the Overseer at their feet. Obviously outraged at this treatment he looked around shouting, “What is the meaning of …!? Wisely trailing off and letting his demand be left unsaid once he noticed the stern look on the ruler’s face. His entire posture said he would tolerate no questions or demands from anyone. “My lord,” he strained out.

Saying nothing for a moment he leaned forward just looking at the defiant stare the Overseer was daring to give him. More for show than anything else he slowly clasped his hands in front of him. Behind him the seer raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing. Eventually he said, “The humans were ready for us. As soon as the warriors emerged they were waiting. Even by the word of the history keepers this has never happened before. Do you have any insight on how that happened?”

“I don’t know,” the Overseer practically spat, which caused a murmur to spread throughout the gathered crowd. A noise both men ignored. With a slight motion of the rulers hand a guard came forward and placed a pierce of metal in front of the Overseer and returned to his position. The Overseer recognized it and quickly lost all the bravado he was displaying. With a lot more reverence than before he started, “M…My lord…”

“This was discovered while you wwe making the final push to the surface,” their lord said as he leaned back. The Overseer looked over and saw the guard who brought the device to attention and felt his blood go cold. “You dismissed it as non important.”

“You wanted the tunnel finished my lord,” as soon as he said it he knew it was a mistake. “I was just complying with your wishes.”

“The humans use things like these to help power their cities. You told them exactly where we would be.” He stood up and stroad forward with another motion the guards who brought him here hauled him to his knees as another brought in a stone and placed it in front of the Overseer. “The failure is all yours and yours alone.”

With a slight nod a guard with a bladed staff walked forward as the guards forced the Overseer down as he struggled against them.. “No! I didn’t think it was important.”

“It was not your position to think!,” he snapped. “All of our attacks must have the element of surprise. It is our only advantage.” Without warning their lord kicked the overseer in the stomach, bending him over and allowing the guards to force him over the boulder. The Overseer started whimpering for his life. “Pathetic,” their lord sneered. Making eye contact with the guard holding the weapon as he turned around. He faced the back of the room waiting until the Overseer cries stopped before walking back to the throne. “He was fortunate that I allowed him to die in my presence,” he announced as he retook his seat. “He was not worthy enough for me to witness his death. You,” he pointed at one being in particular. “You are now the new Overseer of that particular dig team. Do not make the same fatal mistake that he did. If you discover anything that you are unsure of, bring it to my attention immediately. I, and I alone, will decide if the plans should go forward or not.”

“As you command,” the newly anointed Overseer said with a bowl. Their lord sat their stewing, An almost perfect attack ruined.

“Now tell me about this weapon.”

***
“There was a sword programmed in the driver?”, Matcus asked while he was trying to get Maddie to eat her food. It had been hours since the attack and they were finally having that dinner they had planned with Nate who was watching him have his usual hard time trying to feed his daughter. And trying like hell to ignore how amused his brother was looking across the table..

“Apparently,” Nate said as Maddie moved her mouth again when Marcus tried to give her a spoonful of her dinner. “The A.I. looked into the records and found plans for for it. It was put into development around the same time the driver was. The working theory as you said it was already in the program for the driver.”

“And whatever happened when I first used it activated that particular program,” Marcus said outloud. “Come on Maddie,” he said to his daughter, still trying to get her to take a bite. “I know you can’t be full.”

“Marcus,” Kat called from the Kitchen, “can you grab those plates and get them into the kitchen.”

“Sure thing,” he said getting up. Getting his and Nate’s pilates and taking them into the kitchen. As he walked in and headed over to the sink and placed them in he looked over at Kat who was looking pleased. So she wasn’t annoyed that he and Nate were talking shop. “Dinner went pretty well.”

“Yes it did,” she readily agreed. “We should have done this sooner,” she looked at the dinner table then started grinning, “Maddie definitely seemed to fine with her Uncle.” Marcus looked as well and his jaw dropped at seeing Maddie open up and take a bite of food he was offering her.

Nate saw them and said, “I don’t know why you made it look so hard,” he loaded up the spoon again and fed her, “It seems pretty easy.”

“It usually it,” Kat agreed, nudging Mucus in the side. “For most people anyway. Nate can you help me with dessert, Marcus get Maddie cleaned up.”

My pleasure,” Nate said getting up.

“On it,” Marcus told her. After Nate got up and joined Kat in the Kitchen he sat back down in front of his daughter and just looked at her. Leaning in a bit and softly went, “Traitor.” Maddie just laughed gleefully.

“Thank for having me over,” Nate told Kat. He just happened to look back to see Marcus having an easier time cleaning Maddie up compared to feeding her. “Although honestly, I’m still not wrapping my head around Marcus being a doting father. As soon as she seems to want something he's right there.”

Kat smirked as she started spooning some ice cream into some bowls, “Maddie pretty much has him wrapped around her little finger the moment he laid eyes on her.” Looking at him a little more seriously as she handed one of the bowls she told him, “I know he’s your brother, and he’s my man. More importantly, that's Maddie’s father.”

Getting the message loud and clear Nate assured her, “I’ll make sure he’ll come home. You got my word on that.” If she didn’t believe him she didn’t show it. Handing him one of the bowls they went back to the table, where Kat took the chair next to Maddie. Marcus just took a second to take the sight in. His time as the Rider might be a short one, but this was his family. And he was going to do everything he could in that time to protect it.