Book 1:

Rise of the Meta-Humans

 

© Clay Clearbrook

 

 Chapter 1

April 24, 2015

Another news report and another Meta sighting.

Adrienne Keller shook her head as she flicked off the TV and tossed the remote in the general direction of the large L-shaped couch.  Picking up her can of Cherry Pepsi and stepping through the sliding glass doors of her apartment onto the balcony; she leaned on the safety rail and looked out over the city.

Friday night and New Westport was, as usual, coming to life. Little more than a subset of the Kansas City area; Westport had been the area young people from the city and the suburbs had flocked to for decades to party before almost the entire Kansas City area had been wiped from the map!

Though barely seven years had passed, enough of the city had been rebuilt that the young people were once again filling the streets.
Raising her eyes, Adrienne looked out over the skyline. Nothing looked like the skyline photos of Kansas City from the past. Not surprising since there had been nothing left.

Yet the people of Missouri were known for being stubborn. The dust had barely settled before crews from all over the state, as well as crews from out of state, had descended on the ruins and started clearing and rebuilding.
It had taken well over a hundred years to grow Kansas City to the size it had been before the destruction. Yet now, not even a decade later, three fourths of the city had been rebuilt.   It might look nothing like the old Kansas City…but it was Kansas City nonetheless.  They had even reconstructed some of the outlying areas, including the twin sports complex for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals.

Adrienne turned to the south east where she knew, if she had been on the other side of the apartment building, she would be able to see the lights of Lee’s Summit off in the distance.

Though damaged, Lee’s Summit, like Blue Springs and some of the other suburbs on the fringes of the blast area or protected by natural land features, had survived the destruction, despite the initial national news to the contrary.  Those suburban areas closer in, those that had all been swallowed up by Kansas City in the past simply no longer existed.  Raytown, Grandview, North Kansas City…all gone.   If it were not for the Mormons and the RLDS, Independence would be listed among them.  Putting aside their age long animosity, the two sects that had sprung from the original Mormans had banded together to rebuild their holy ground. So many crews and supplies had been sent from Utah to rebuild Independence that many had joked that Utah was going to annex the city when they finished rebuilding it.

Yes.  The destruction had been almost complete.  But now the City of Fountains, Paris of the Plains, was once again bustling with life. New Kansas City was open for business.  At least on the Missouri side.

The powers that be in Kansas had decided not to rebuild the much smaller Kansas City, Kansas. Instead the area had been divided up among the neighboring surviving communities, with Shawnee Mission getting the greater part.

Adrienne turned her gaze back towards the inner city, her eyes drawn to the single strong beam of light that shown straight up into the air. That beam of light, she knew, came from the giant spot light that resided at what had become known as Ground Zero.  One day there would be a memorial there.  Something to honor those that had perished on that awful day. So far, no one had come up with a concept that a majority of the people could get behind.  Until then, the lone spot light would remain.

“This is so not the way to celebrate your birthday!”

Adrienne turned as Anne stepped out of the apartment behind her.

“I go to the bathroom for a second and poof.” Her friend complained.

“Why aren’t you out there?” Adrienne pointed to the city with her chin, ignoring the comments.  “Don’t you have a hot date?”

“I cancelled.” Anne replied, eying her friend with concern. “It’s my best friend’s birthday and she’s in a funk and I want to know why.”  Unlike Adrienne, Anne had helped herself to a glass of wine from Adrienne’s stock and now sipped as she regarded her friend over the rim.

“Eight year anniversary.” Adrienne answered. There was no need to go into detail.  Anne lowered the glass and frowned in sympathy.  With both of her parents still living, she could not imagine how Adrienne was truly feeling.

“You would think it would get easier over time.”  Adrienne leaned on the railing and looked down at the bustling streets several stories below them.  She gave a sad chuckle. “The first couple of years I could hardly function. If anyone even mentioned parents or Iraq or Afghanistan I would fall to pieces.  That got better.  But I still feel as if someone has punched me in the gut on the anniversary. I haven’t celebrated my birthday since.”  She leaned on the balcony rail and waved out over the city. “I was just thinking about all this.  This happened barely a year after my parents died….and it barely registered with me. I was still trying to come to grips with the fact that I was an orphan.”

She turned and gave Anne a tight smile.

“I usually try to make sure I’m alone on nights like this.”  She said. “But a certain red-haired chick I know wouldn’t take no for an answer this year!”

“You brushed me off the last two years!” Anne stuck her tongue out. “But I could tell something was bothering you.”

For the first time that evening a real smile touched Adrienne’s lips.

If ever there were two people unlikely to become the best of friends; she and Anne Chalise were them.

Not that Adrienne knocked it.  She could count on one hand the number of friends she had and still have fingers left over. Like her, Anne was a military brat. While Adrienne’s parents had both been Marines, Anne’s father was a retired Army MP.  In all likelihood that was probably where Anne had developed her interest in law enforcement and security

From their discussions, Adrienne knew that Anne was a graduate of the St. Louis Regional Police Academy.  Budget cuts and politicians who would have been more at home during the Pendergast era of Kansas City had seen the St. Louis police force dwindle as those officers that would not ‘play the game’ or were more interested in protecting the public and enforcing constitutional laws instead of being politically correct were ushered out. Anne had been once such police officer. Not that Anne had complained too much. To her way of thinking, when a person’s color became an issue a police officer had to take into account before making an arrest or pulling out a weapon it was time to get out.

She could have easily moved to one of the neighboring cities or suburbs and joined their Police departments, yet Anne had decided instead to join with other displaced SLPD officers to form a private security company and relocate to New Kansas City. When Adrienne had asked her why she hadn’t just joined the New KCPD, she had merely shrugged.  Although she was young, Anne had the know-how and the connections, via her father, to get the company licensed and equipped.  Since none of her compatriots in the endeavor had the knowledge or the desire to handle the business aspects of running a company Anne had taken the role on herself.  Anne had been grateful that her parents had taught her that it was always wise to have a backup plan.  Thus, before attending the police academy she had already earned a BA in business.

Of course, since their security company was technically still in its infancy, they did not have the luxury of having anyone on the payroll that was not also out in the field. While many of their accounts were to safe guard some of the more high profile construction sites around the area,  Anne worked part time as both receptionist and security for the One Light Apartment Complex, one of Westport’s new Luxury Apartment complexes. One of the perks of being the boss, she had joked, was being able to pick your own assignments.

Having permission to use some of the One Light facilities had been what attracted Anne to this assignment.  It was also how she and Adrienne had met.

Perhaps it was because of her parents examples but Adrienne was a firm believer in the necessity of remaining in shape.  The elaborate gym facilities One Light had installed had been one of the selling features that had caused Adrienne to choose to live there.

Preferring to work out when fewer people were using the facilities Adrienne usually scheduled her time when she knew they would be empty.

The first time she had found Anne already working out the young woman had tried to scramble to leave.

“Don’t worry about me.” Adrienne had told her. “You go right ahead.”

“Sorry Ms. Keller.” Anne had shaken her head. “Against regulations.  We aren’t allowed to be in here when residents are here.”

Frowning, Adrienne had pulled out her android and made a call as the young woman hustled out of the gym.

The next day the young woman had stopped her in the lobby as she came home.

“I got a call from One Light management this morning!” She declared. “It seems that Ms. Keller called management and demanded that the rules about employees using the gym when she was there be changed!”  She had tried for a stern look as she stood there with her hands on her hips but she couldn’t quite pull it off. “You would think that Ms. Keller ran this place the way management was stumbling all over themselves to inform me of the changes.”

“You didn’t get in trouble, did you?” Adrienne had demanded. It had been a trying day and she had felt as if her temper was simply looking for a reason to boil over. At that time Adrienne had no clue that Anne was the supervisor for all One Light Security anymore than Anne was aware that Adrienne was not simply a tenant of the building but the sole, silent, owner of the One Light Building.

“Oh no.” Anne had laughed. “They thanked me for following the rules and then informed me of the changes and made sure I would pass along their apologies if I happened to see you again.”

“Apologies?” Adrienne had shaken her head. “What on Earth for?  I simply use the gym at unusual times so I didn’t see any sense in you being penalized for my schedule.”

After that the two of them met often in the gym and soon became fast friends despite their differences.

While Adrienne had withdrawn after her parents had died, becoming a poster girl for the introverted crowd, Anne could be as loud and as obnoxious as the situation called for.  Never afraid to speak her mind or reach out.  She worked hard and played just as hard.

“You do realize that you are committing a grievous crime, don’t you?”  Anne had told her after one work-out session when the two of them had retired to Adrienne’s apartment to soak in the giant hot tub that graced her master bath. “I’m pretty sure that it is against the law for someone with the face and body of a fashion model, not to mention loads of money, to be a college computer nerd.”

Adrienne had never been one of those insecure young women that doubted their appearances. When she looked in a mirror she saw exactly what everyone else did.

Her tear shaped face with just a hint of the oriental ancestry that came from her mother’s side of the family.  Her great great grandmother had been full blooded Japanese.

The long blond hair that reached to the small of her back when it wasn’t pulled up into a low pony-tail, which was most of the time, and the ice blue eyes were legacies of her father’s Nordic ancestry. 

Both sides had contributed to her five foot eight inch height and her slim figure with small to medium breasts that refused to be anything other than perky.

 “I don’t know why you dress the way you do when you head out to the college.” Anne had shaken her head as she leaned back in the tub, her arms hooked over the sides. “You can be damned hot when you want to be.”

That night Adrienne had learned that Anne swung both ways when it came to relationships. That had been the one and only time Anne had made a serious pass at her.  She had deflected it as gently as she could. Of course it had not stopped Anne from playfully flirting with her.

At first it had made Adrienne a bit uncomfortable.  It taken a bit of soul searching to determine that the problem was not with Anne but with her own sexuality.  She had absolutely no problem with those who believed gender did not matter in the slightest when it came to who or even how many a person could fall in love with. In fact, she agreed whole heartedly with them.  She had even promised herself that she would not pass up love if it came along…but happened to be packaged as a woman rather than a man. Her problem stemmed completely from her own lack of experience.

Anne was only a year older than her, yet was already years more experienced when it came to sexual relations.  For her part, Anne had been astounded to discover that Adrienne was still a virgin.  She had announced then and there that she would not rest until she got Adrienne laid! So far she had not succeeded and had eventually tapered off on her attempts to fix Adrienne up with some guy or girl…but she let it be known that she had not given up her self-appointed quest.

“So what is Miss Rich and Anonymous up to this weekend?” Anne asked now, deciding not to push the issue of her friend’s parents or her birthday for the time being.

Adrienne actually smiled at the title Anne had bestowed upon her.

It was true that if anyone were to make a list of the wealthiest twenty one year old women in the United States her name would appear in the upper bracket of that list.  It was also true that very few people that met and interacted with Adrienne on a daily basis were aware of her financial standings or that she part owner of her own company as well as the One Light Apartment Complex.  Until she actually finished college she preferred it that way.

“Professor Hightop asked me to take the evening shifts monitoring one of his experiments over the weekend.” Adrienne responded, once again leaning on the guard rail and looking out over the city. “He’s running a few tests on some undiluted particles from the Heart Stopper Comet.”

As Adrienne suspected, Anne’s interest was stirred.

Like many Anne believed that the particles from the tail of the Heart Stopper that bathed the Earth for several weeks in 1948 were somehow linked with the appearance of the so-called Metahumans nearly sixty years later. Metahumans like the one that had destroyed Kansas City.

For her part, Adrienne gave Metas very little thought. There had been no more incidents of mass destruction though numerous other Metahumans had been identified and there had been absolutely no sightings of Metas in or around the Kansas City area since the destruction.  Until now. 

Adrienne thought for a moment about the news show she had turned off before stepping out onto the balcony. For almost seven years there had not been another Meta sighting in the New Kansas City area.  Now, in less than a week’s time, four had been spotted. Of course none had been confirmed yet so it might just be another case of mistaken identity. The people of New Kansas City were, understandably, extremely leery about Metas.

Though perhaps there was some truth to the reports. Through her contacts, Anne had discovered that the MIA, the Metahuman Investigation Agency, had taken an interest in these reports and had been pouring people into New Kansas City to confirm the reports.

The topic of Metahumans was one that Adrienne and Anne usually steered clear of.  While Adrienne could care less about Metas; Anne, to use a phrase coined by a comic book producer decades earlier, was a ‘true believer’!”  As far as Anne was concerned, Metas had been around since the Comet passed but their existence had been covered up by the various governments around the world.

***

Geeks were everywhere but the woman walking through the campus of UMKC in her dark red motorcycle leathers, with a matching full helmet tucked up under her left arm and a book bag slung over her shoulder, would never have been placed in that category by those who saw her.

Adrienne could not help but smile inwardly as more than a couple of jaws dropped.  Of course she did not allow any hint of her inner amusement to show on her face. The amusement faded with a sigh when she thought it through. By Monday morning the entire campus would hear about her appearance.

She knew she shouldn’t have taken Anne up on a morning road trip.

Another factor in their friendship: Both women had a healthy love for motorcycles.

Not the rice rockets or speedsters that attracted most people their age. When Anne had discovered that Adrienne owned a dark red Spyder RT, she had damned near drug her to the employee’s parking lot to show off her own bright blue Honda Goldwing.

Their morning road trip had lasted nearly all day; with a short stop in Lee’s Summit to visit with Adrienne’s grandparents.

Normally Adrienne would have taken the time to dress appropriately and to trade her Motorcycle for her Ford Fiesta before heading to the campus. Unfortunately Professor Hightop had given her precise instructions and a rigid time table.

So it was with more than a bit of trepidation that Adrienne had forgone changing clothes and vehicles before heading to the campus. Everything she would need or want she either already had with her or had left at the campus.

The students who knew Adrienne or at least recognized her were used to her normal appearance. Clothes that usually hid her figure effectively and her hair tied into a tight bun and glasses. The Adrienne they now saw bore very little resemblance to the Geek they had come to know. With her tight fitting red riding leathers and her hair gathered into her off-campus pony tail she was doing a good job of destroying the image she had tried to cultivate.

A few of the newer students, those who had yet to learn their way around or discover what the old hands already knew, stopped and stared as she walked briskly past.

Adrienne had been turning heads of both males and females since the day she started.  It was no secret that many of the girls on campus gave silent thanks that she seemed to show absolutely no interest in developing any attachments with the male population of the school. 

As might have been expected more than a few of the various cliques took her apparent disinterest as personal challenges.  They had lined up to take their shot and one by one they had all experienced a sensation unfamiliar to their types: Rejection. In some cases the humiliation was two-fold when it became clear that the target of their endeavors remained blissfully unaware of their feeble attempts or, in a few cases ended with bruised body parts to match their bruised egos.

By the time the first semester of her third year had started she had been saddled with a nick name.  Adrienne Keller was the unofficial Ice Queen of UMKC’s Volker Campus.

When students that had been there longer stopped and informed the newer students of the situation some would simply stare after her and shake their heads; bemoaning the waste.

Adrienne was well aware of the stares and glares.  She knew what was being whispered about her and it didn’t bother her in the slightest.

One campus security officer she recognized had frowned at her and then stopped her and demanded to see her identification.  Satisfied that she was who she was supposed to be he had frowned at her form fitting clothes and warned her about the dangers that seemed to lurk on all college campuses these days.

Girls were, Adrienne knew, discouraged from venturing out alone…especially in the evenings and during the night.  UMKC had a better record than a lot of colleges around the country. There had not been a verified rape reported for well over two years.  Other campuses, especially those closer to the east or west coasts, could hardly go a month without a report of violent attacks on women.

While growing up in a military family where staying put in one place for more than a few years at a time was an extreme rarity had hampered her ability to refine her social skills, her hard core Marine parents had made sure she could take care of herself.   They didn’t teach her any specific form of martial arts.  They taught her to fight dirty and to take a potential attacker down as quickly and as permanently as possible. That sort of training did not go a long way in helping one to socialize.

When her parents had discovered her interest in computer science they had encouraged her in every way they could…right up until both were killed.  Her mother had died when the plane she piloted crashed, not even knowing that her husband had been killed in an ambush just two days earlier.

She had been staying with her maternal grandparents and attending her first year at Joplin High School in Joplin Missouri when she had been called from her classes to find both sets of her Grandparents waiting for her in the Principal’s office. Seeing the tears in her grandmothers’ eyes and the grief that showed through on her grandfathers’ faces, she knew instantly what it meant.

Eight years later the grief was still there.  They had believed in her and encouraged her though neither of them could have claimed to be the extreme brainy types.  She would not let them down. Given her success in life so far, Adrienne really had no need for a college degree.  But her parents had been adamant that their little girl go to college.  She was bound and determined to finish her four years for them; Even if it meant living with the stigma of being labeled the Ice Queen.  She was at least honest enough with herself to admit that her determination to keep her personal and scholastic lives totally separate was partially to blame.

 Adrienne scowled as she pulled her mind back from the brink of the pool of grief that always threatened to swallow her during this time of year and focused on why she was on campus on a Saturday evening: It was times like this that Adrienne felt that she probably should have been called the UMKC Geek rather than the Ice Queen.

While most of the students and faculty were either heading home or to the dorms or already starting their three day long parties, she was going to be stuck in the science labs monitoring experiments.

Initially she had been thrilled when Professor Hightop had selected her to be one of his assistants on this project.  That thrill lessened somewhat when she learned that, as the junior member of the team, she would be the one to get the short end of the stick.

Since her field of study was computer science, it fell to her to make sure the separate computers stations and mainframe were working and communicating flawlessly.

   The Professor and his three primary assistants, however, were research physicists. She had taken one look at the project parameters and cringed.  The Science Building was equipped with the most up to date computer systems money could buy and the Professor and his assistants were not taking advantage of a tenth of the capabilities they had at their disposal. She had then astonished the Professor by drawing up a plan that would utilize those capabilities more fully.

She had not been present for the initial stages of the experiment but this part was handled almost exclusively by computer.

There would be three periods when human interaction would be required and those had been scheduled during the day time hours.  These would be handled by the other assistants. The nights, however, belonged to Adrienne. She would be there to monitor the computer stations and make adjustments as necessary to keep the experiments within the parameters dictated by the Professor.

When she had submitted her plan to better utilize the computers systems, the Professor had been impressed. At the same time, he became somewhat skittish around her. More than once she had caught him tossing worried glances her way.  It almost seemed as if he would rather have had a computer geek who would have been satisfied to simply monitor the systems as they were and not get involved too deeply into the project.

That was when she had learned that the Professor and his assistants were working with undiluted particles of the Heart-Stopper Comet!

While it was no hard task to identify a majority of the compounds that made up most comets these days, the Heart-Stopper Comet had defied all attempts at long distance identification, not surprising, considering the technology of the time. Scientists and Astronomers of the late 40’s and early 50’s didn’t have the ability to examine the Heart-Stopper the way their modern day counter-parts could analyze comets and other heavenly bodies in the early part of the 21^st century. Using specialized equipment, modern astronomers and scientists could usually tell from light spectrums what each and every component of a heavenly body consisted of.

The only way modern scientists could study the Heart-Stopper now was by working with particles that had been collected and saved. 

The light show around the world as the charged particles impacted with Earth’s magnetic field had been spectacular, according to the photos Adrienne had seen. The light show continued for over a week and then the comet was past Earth and on its way out.

There had been some initial concern that the particles from the comet might be harmful. Not that anyone could have done anything about it. When, after several months had passed and no global catastrophe appeared, life returned to normal.

Unfortunately, if what most astronomers believed was true, those particles that had been collected and saved would be the only things they would ever have to study. Using modern methods and computers, astronomers had determined that the Heart-Stopper had most likely strayed too close to Jupiter during its outward journey and been swallowed up by the gas giant, unable to escape the massive gravity.  The Heart-Stopper would, most probably if a majority of the current batch of astronomers were correct, not be making a return appearance.

Those saved particles, however, were enough for modern scientists to determine that a majority of the compounds could be identified as the normal ice and rock of other comets.  There were, however, other compounds that simply could not be placed anywhere on the Periodic Table of minerals.

There were, of course, countless theories.  The ones that seemed to gather most adherents were those that theorized that the unidentifiable materials had not actually been part of the comet at all.  Rather they theorized that they were remnants of the early days of the solar system.  Undiluted building blocks of creation that had been consigned to the vast emptiness at the far reaches of the solar system known as the Oort Cloud. The most popular theory held that the Heart-Stopper had passed through some of this material as it passed through the Oort Cloud, dragging some of it with it as it began its final inward journey

Now here the Professor was, performing experiments on comet dust! How he had obtained the samples and exactly what he was attempting to discover with his experiments were a mystery to Adrienne and one the Professor had not seen fit to demystify.

With a sigh Adrienne pushed her way into the Science Building.

 The rebuilt version of the Volker Campus had only the barest of resemblances to the Volker Campus that had existed before Kansas City was flattened. Adrienne was among those few students whose first year of college coincided with the reopening of the Kansas City campus. Everyone in higher classes had all transferred in from other campuses around Missouri, a majority coming from the Warrensburg campus. The Science Building was one of the improvements on the old campus.  A sprawling affair, it now stood where four separate buildings and a good portion of a parking lot had once been.  Gone were Katz Hall, the Biological Science Building, the Spencer Chemistry Building, and the Lab Support building. All blasted to rubble and now replaced by the multi-storied monstrosity that was simply named: The Volker Science Building.

She had to go through three security checks before she finally reached the Experimental Wing.  This would be her home away from home for the next twelve hours.

The Wing was already deserted.  The Professor had already made his escape though he had seen fit to leave a few notes for her on the desk he had assigned to her.  By checking the notes and looking at a clock situated on a wall, she saw that the Professor had started the experiments and made his get-away less than fifteen minutes before her arrival. It would be another forty-five minutes before she was expected to make her rounds to collect data from the five different stations and make any calibration adjustments that might be needed.  She would still do that check, but decided it wouldn’t hurt to do a preliminary check right away. With android and stylus in hand, she would stop at each of the five stations and jot down the statistics displayed on the monitors and make sure each station was running to specs.

Physically recording the information was senseless in Adrienne’s opinion. The data would automatically be saved and uploaded to the Science Main-frame every fifteen minutes.  But the Professor had his quirks and one of them was not trusting computers to accurately and faithfully save the data he wanted and needed. Thus he insisted that she do hourly rounds to record the data herself.  Not that she had a clue what the data would reveal. She was thankful he had not required her to lug a clipboard and notebook around to record the data with pen and paper.

The five stations were different variations of the same experiment, according to what information the Professor had decided to give her.  Since the experiment involved the use of dangerous levels of radiation he couldn’t very well keep her completely in the dark.  Though he had not said so, Adrienne had come to the conclusion that the Professor was attempting to break down the molecular structure of the dust by bombarding it with radiation; thus allowing him to make some form of identification possible.

Since radiation was involved it was entirely understandable that the experiments had to be performed in the Experimental Wing of the Science building. The entire building had been designed with safety in mind. The idea was to allow the performance of cutting edge experimentation while, at the same time, insure the safety of the entire student body.  The Experimental Wing was the first line of defense against accidents.  The wing had its own air filteration and conditioning system that was completely isolated from the air systems in the rest of the building.  Thick sheets of lead plating had been built into the walls, ceiling and floors and where glass was a necessity lead glass had been used.

In the event of an accident there would be two automatic responses that would occur simultaneously: The effected compartment within the wing would be completely sealed off behind lead lined barriers and the entire wing itself would be sealed off from the rest of the building behind similar barriers.

Thus if harmful materials, be they radiation or contagions from bio science experiments, somehow breached the safety measures of which ever compartment they were in they would still have to breach the measures that sealed off the entire wing. 

Of course, if there was even a remote possibility that there might be a breach in a compartment, the next level of security would be initiated. That level consisted of sealing off the entire science building.  So far, that level of security had yet to be initiated.

Each of the five components of the Professor’s experiment was contained within separate compartments. The typical layout consisted of an inner chamber that was lined in extra sheets of lead on the floor, ceiling, and three walls.  The fourth wall consisted of thick lead glass and a single airlock.

The actually experiments were conducted within those inner chambers while monitoring equipment and observers would occupy the outer chamber of the compartment.

The first four station monitors showed absolutely no deviation from the data the Professor had initially recorded. These were the tests involving only Alpha, Beta, Gamma, or X radiations.

Once again the Professor had surprised her. While the use of radioactive materials was strictly regulated, she was certain some of the materials he was using were weapons grade material. There was no way she knew of he should have been able to get his hands on such material, much less use it without massive amounts of governmental oversight.

Unlike the first four compartments, the fifth experiment consisted of bombarding the comet flake with a combination of radiations, cycling randomly trough the first four types and using materials not used in the others. 

It was when she entered the fifth compartment that the security measures kicked in.

She knew the process.  She knew what she should be seeing.  The projector within the chamber would bombard the flake for several minutes before switching off to collect data and then cycle through to the next randomly selected type and repeat the process.  According to the data monitors, that wasn’t happening.  Monitors showing the active state of the projector showed clearly that it was inactive…and had gone inactive mere moments after the Professor had activated it.  Yet the other monitors were showing radiation levels in the inner chamber far beyond what should have been present.  On top of that, they were cycling through the categories, as if they could not clearly define to which category the radiation within the chamber belonged.

When the sensors reported a leak, there was no hesitation. The protocols were quite clear.  If a leak, no matter how great or small, was detected, the entire section would instantly be sealed off behind lead based glass, regardless of whether or not anyone was in the room.  The reasoning was sound. Anyone in the vicinity of the leak would already be exposed so the priority would be to contain the leak to stop any further exposure.

Though the sudden blaring sirens may have startled her, the sudden slamming and locking of the door behind her told Adrienne exactly what was happening.

Any other person may have panicked, rushing to the door to pound uselessly on the impenetrable barrier. Not Adrienne. With a resigned sigh she squashed the initial panic and continued on. First she took note of the fluctuating data on the monitor and then setting her android and stylus aside, tried to determine the cause of the alarm. Her first task would be to make sure that there truly was a leak and that this was not a computer glitch or a simple hardware malfunction.

She ran a few diagnostic tests to assure herself that the computer equipment was performing correctly.  After determining that the equipment was performing correctly she hesitated and then sighed.  She had already determined that the proper programs were running and had not crashed or locked up.  There was no way she could check the actual programming from a work station.  Besides, going over the actual program coding might take days before she spotted any errors if there were any.  She knew that something as small as a comma or semicolon in the wrong place could screw up the entire program….finding such an error among thousands of lines of code, if it existed, would be a daunting task. With hardware and software problems ruled out, that left only the conclusion that there truly was a leak.

It was quite possible, she reasoned, that the sensors had simply detected a leak from the inner chamber. She stepped away from the computer console and looked into the chamber to see if anything appeared wrong.  She knew, of course, that even if there was something obviously wrong in the inner chamber, there would not be a thing she could do about it. That part of the experiment was beyond her abilities and security level.  Her I.D., while enough to get her into the building and the Experimental wing, would not get her into the inner chambers.  All she could do was see if she could spot anything from her position in the outer chamber. At first nothing seemed out of place.  The experiment itself was not all that impressive to look at.  A single Petri-dish sitting on a small pedestal with a radiation projector placed over it.  All contained within a sealed glass cube sealed within the inner chamber which was, itself, separated from the outer room and the computer equipment behind a thick lead glass barrier.  For a leak to be sensed, then radiation would have to escape from the glass cube into the inner chamber. In that case, the lead glass separator between the inner and outer chambers would protect her. Maybe.

She snatched her android and stylus back up and began jotting down data as the monitors began to show wildly fluctuating data. Since she was stuck in here until someone came in answer to the alarms she knew would be sounding all over the campus, she might as well stay busy.  She recorded the data displayed until the monitor began to update the data displayed faster than a human eye could discern. 

When the data was no longer legible, she lowered her android and stylus and glanced once again into the inner chamber.  Despite the small amount of fear she could not suppress she moved closer to the barrier to look at the Petri-dish.

It was glowing!

Adrienne’s android and stylus fell from her hands as she crumbled to the floor………

***

  “Ugh.”

When she awoke Adrienne expected to find herself on the tiled floor in the Experimental Wing, not a bed.   She assumed it was a hospital bed, judging from the beeping of machinery near her head and the subdued chatter of nurses coming from some distance away. Forcing her eyes open and turning her head slightly, she discovered that she was correct.  A hospital room. A logo on the opposite wall indicated that she was in the KU Medical Center.

“Hon, you’re awake!”

Adrienne turned her head to see her paternal grandmother, Grandma Gladys to just about everyone who knew her, sitting up in a chair by the room’s one window.  From the wrinkles in her clothing and the disheveled state of her grey hair she had been there for some time. Another chair beside the one she occupied held a splayed open paperback romance novel. Since Adrienne knew Grandma Gladys didn’t read romances, she could only assume that it belonged to her other grandmother, Grandma Alice, her mother’s mother.

“Your Grandma Alice just stepped out to get us some coffee.  She should be back any moment now.” Her grandmother Gladys said, confirming her conclusion.  Moving with the stiffness of one who has sat in one place too long, she stood and took the few steps to the side of her bed and gently touched her hand.

“How’re you feeling, Hon?” She asked in a tentative voice. She didn’t wait for Adrienne to answer before her hands fluttered to her cheeks. “Oh dear, we’re supposed to notify a nurse if there is any change.” Moving faster than a person her age should be able to Gladys bustled to the doorway leading into the hall, calling loudly for a nurse, a doctor, anyone….

***

“Three weeks?” Adrienne sat up and gaped up at the two men that stood to either side of her bed.  One was the doctor that, after being summoned by a nurse, had given her a most thorough and embarrassing exam.  The young blonde doctor, with an equally blonde and well trimmed mustache and beard, had a great bedside manner but had managed to tell her absolutely nothing about what he was looking for or what had happened to her during the entire ordeal. He had stood aside silently as a nurse had taken blood samples.

That had been a puzzling experience.  Adrienne had had blood samples taken before. She had even donated blood on more than a few occasions and had never experienced the difficulty this nurse had in obtaining the sample.  It had not hurt in the slightest but it appeared as if the nurse had a hard time getting the needle through skin of her arm to the vein. Judging by the slight frown on the Doctor’s face he had noticed this as well.  When the nurse had finished he had a few quiet words with her and sent her on her way before continuing his examination.

When his examination was concluded he had left, telling her that he would be right back.  She had expected that her grandmothers would be allowed back in with her.  Such was not the case.  For close to half an hour she lay in her bed in a closed room.  Alone and still wondering what had happened.

Eventually the doctor did return and brought company with him: Professor Hightop.

“If you didn’t like the schedule, you should have said something, Ms. Keller.” He had said in way of greeting.  He held up a hand when she started to respond. “I’m teasing my dear.”  He said.

“What happened?” She demanded, looking back and forth between the two men.

“What do you remember?” The Doctor answered her question with one of his own before the Professor could reply.

“I remember stepping into compartment five and then waking up here.” Adrienne responded with a puzzled glance at the Professor. She paused and then shook her head. “I seem to recall a bright light but I have no frame of reference for when or where.”

“Nothing else?” The doctor asked.  Though he had checked during his examination, he once again took a pin light from his coat pocket and shined it into her eyes.

When she shook her head the Professor sighed.

“We were actually hoping you could tell us” He admitted after looking to the doctor for permission. “The surveillance system shows you entering the outer-chamber of the compartment and recording information on your android. It shows you laying the android aside to check out the equipment and then picking it back up to continue recording data. By this time, the camera in the inner chamber had already stopped working so all we were able to see then was you suddenly looking up towards the chamber and then you just crumbled.”  He shook his head again. “I admit that part was strange to see. You did not fall over…you simply crumbled to the floor as if you were a puppet whose strings had just been cut.  There was a flash of light so that might have been what you saw.  Unfortunately at that point the camera and all the other equipment in the outer chamber failed.”

“So you saw nothing?” Adrienne frowned up at the professor. She tried to recall doing what the Professor said the video showed her doing, but she just couldn’t remember anything after stepping into the compartment.

“Nothing.”  He confirmed. “Every electrical piece of equipment in the compartment was fried; including your android I am sorry to say.” The Professor sighed. “The video shows you recording data but unless your memory returns we have no way of knowing what that data was.”

“What about the mainframe?” Adrienne frowned as she thought. “It should have the data recorded.”

“We thought of that.” The Professor nodded. “Data from the other four stations was recorded correctly.  Data from the fifth station was recorded correctly until the projector ceased to function.  From that point on there is nothing but garbage.”

He sighed and the doctor took over.

“Initially we thought that you had somehow been exposed to what should have been lethal amounts of radiation.”  He said. “From what the Professor here tells me, that wasn’t the case.”

“It wasn’t.” Professor Hightop clasped his hands behind his back but not before Adrienne noticed him wringing them together.  He was still extremely tense.  Understandable.  An accident in the Experimental Wing could possibly put a very big black mark on his record.  “There was absolutely no hint of radiation above normal levels outside the inner chamber. In fact, the levels within the inner chamber were only slightly higher.  Nowhere near harmful, much less lethal levels.”  He sighed. “That is the puzzle.  The sensors indicated a high radiation leak. Had you been exposed to the radiation levels indicated within the inner chamber, you would not be here now. Yet according to the last reading on the projector it had failed and stopped projecting soon after I turned it on and left.  That would have been several minutes before you did your round. By that time, there should have been only residual levels of radiation left.  Nothing that would account for your state or the apparent equipment melt down. Quite frankly, we can’t even determine what set the radiation leak alarm off.”

The Doctor gave the Professor a frown which he quickly replaced by his professional mask when he turned back to her.

“Nevertheless, whatever you were exposed to in that chamber put you into a coma.  Quite frankly, young lady, we weren’t sure you were going to come out of it.” He shook his head. “We ran test after test and we could not find a thing wrong with you.  We did log some unusual readings while you were out, however.  At times you’re your brain activity seemed to be extreme, your heart beat would fluctuate, and your blood pressure rose and fell to sometimes dangerous levels.  Yet we could find nothing that might cause those symptoms.  By all rights, you should have simply woken up and walked out of here as if nothing had happened…but you didn’t.  Though that bright flash of light you mentioned might fit in with some of the results we were able to get.”  Rather than expand on that, he sighed. “You’ve been out for nearly three weeks.”

When it became clear that she would not be able to clear up the mystery of what had happened the Professor had extended his wishes for a speedy recovery and let her know that he was anxious to have her back with the team.  He had also, in what he had not said, made it clear that the doctor had no clue what the Professor had been experimenting on or what he had been using to do the experimenting. 

Adrienne’s eyebrows rose as she considered.  If the professor was using weapons grade material, there were only two ways he could have gotten it. Since the thought of the prim and proper Professor somehow getting the material illegally was ludicrous it stood to reason that he had obtained it legally.  That would mean governmental involvement. Perhaps unofficial involvement?  Perhaps one of the more shadowy governmental agencies involved in weapons research?  That would explain the lack of visible governmental security.

Since uncontaminated samples of comet dust were next to impossible to come by, perhaps the Professor had cut a deal with some agency in order to obtain some?

 Both men left, with the doctor informing her that she would be remaining in the hospital for several more days for observation and that he would be back later to check on her.  She barely had time to blink before the door opened again to admit her grandparents…all four looking both extremely worried and relieved at the same time.

***

“So I’m good to go?”  Adrienne asked as she finished tying the laces of her tennis shoes. It felt good to be out of that damned gown and back in to regular clothes.

Exactly one week after waking up, the doctor, whose name she had learned was Dr. Gerald Talbot, had finally authorized her release.  According to her grandmothers he had been a frequent visitor even before she had awoken from her coma.  Those visits had increased after she had awakened and she had had to endure comments about how handsome he was and pointed hints that he was single, etc. 

At first she had suspected her matchmaking grandmothers for the attention but soon chalked it up to the oddities of her case.  Her suspicion seemed to be confirmed a few days after the Professor’s visit when Dr. Talbot had ushered in three strangers into her room.

“Ms. Keller, these gentlemen would like to ask you a few questions and their doctor would like to exam you, with your permission.” He had informed her.  She had gotten good at reading his face and so knew that these men were here against his will.

“Questions I don’t mind.” She had responded, sitting up in her bed. “But I think I have been poked and prodded enough so I think I will pass on that one for now.”

“I am afraid we must insist, Ms. Keller.” One of the men spoke up “It is standard procedure when investigating accidents at the University.”

Adrienne had initially pegged the three men as government officials of some type. The speaker’s insinuation that they were investigating the accident did nothing to dissuade her of that.

“You can insist as much as you like.” Adrienne had frowned at the men.  She knew damned well that none of them were connected with the University. “I’m saying I’ve had enough.   If you don’t like Dr. Talbots results, then I will be more than happy to have my own family doctor give me an exam at a later date.  If the University wants more than that, then they can inform my lawyer.”  She gave them a false smile. “But as I said, I am more than willing to willing to answer questions, for whatever that is worth.”

The men, obviously expecting her to roll over and obey on command had not been happy to discover that she was not the pliable nerd they thought her to be.

One of them, clearly angered, had opened his mouth to respond but subsided when one of the others gave him a ‘look’ before turning back to Adrienne.

“There are not many students with the gall to tell a university’s legal department to talk to their lawyer. The cost of retaining one willing and able to go toe to toe with them would be prohibitive for most.” He smiled as he spoke though Adrienne imagined it was probably as false as her own. “Of course we both know that wouldn’t be true in your case, Ms. Keller. You are, if I am not mistaken, the CEO and sole employee of a company named AdriKel?” 

He phrased it as a question but there was no doubt in Adrienne’s mind that the government agent was making a statement.

“I am.” Adrienne nodded, seeing no reason to hide the fact. “Not that it has anything to do with this situation.”  She waved a hand towards Dr. Talbot. “Though just to clear the air I have to ask, in front of a witness, whether or not you are trying to threaten me or my company in order to gain my cooperation?”

The agent’s smile tightened though he shook his head.

“Of course not.  I am simply making an observation.  I admit that I am at a loss as to how to explain your refusal to cooperate. What is it you think you have to hide?”

“Oh no.” Adrienne laughed. “I am sorry but I have never bought the ‘what have you got to hide?’ argument. An unwillingness to ‘cooperate’ with government goons does not automatically mean a person has something to hide.  Sometimes it really does boil down to ‘I just don’t feel like it’.” She stopped laughing and her face turned serious.

“Let’s cut the crap.” She snapped.  “I know you are not with the University. You are obviously with some governmental agency and this probably has something to do with the types of radioactive materials the Professor was using in his experiments.  You have questions…ask them. I will answer to the best of my ability.  But the bottom line is, I am not going to be poked and prodded by someone I don’t know. The doctor here gets a pass on that one because I was brought in while unconscious. Since I woke up, I have come to know and trust him as a physician.  However, will I not even allow an examination by him if anyone other than my family or his staff are present.” She held up a hand before anyone could respond. “Be aware that if the next words out of your mouths are not agreement, then all three of you can march yourselves out of my room right now. I am tired of wasting your time and mine and I would really like to take a nap!”

There was a brief silence as the men gaped at her.  Then the one that had done most of the talking waved the other two out of the room.

“Agreed.” He said as the others filed out, obviously angered. “Though I would like to know how you came to the conclusion that we worked for the government.”

Adrienne considered for a moment and then turned to Dr. Talbot.

“Dr. Talbot, this gentleman and I have to talk about some things I don’t think he will be wanting you to hear.” She said.  She waited until the doctor had left the room before turning back to the government agent. “Look, I won’t insult your intelligence if you don’t insult mine.  Deal?”

“Deal, Ms. Keller.” The agent nodded. “Please believe me, we are not your enemy here, Ms. Keller. All we want to do is find out exactly what happened.”  He hesitated and then stepped forward, holding out a hand. “My name is Durick.  Sean Durick.”

“Despite the hoopla we just went through, it is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Durick.” Adrienne shook the offered hand and then folded her hands in her lap, waiting for the agent to continue.

“You mentioned something about radioactive materials?” He prompted.

Adrienne explained what she had noticed about the materials the Professor had been using for his experiments, including her conclusion that he had to have gotten the weapons grade material from some governmental agency.

“Quite frankly, I was a bit surprised that security was so lax.” She admitted. “I would have thought that the government would have vetted all of his assistants and insisted that one of your people be present through every stage of the experiments.”

“We would have.” Sean nodded with a frown. “SOP. Ms. Keller, if your professor was using weapons grade material, he didn’t get it from us!  If you will excuse me for a moment.”  He left the room before she could respond and, through the open door, she could see him talking urgently with the other two agents.  She noticed when they both stiffened and then sped away. Sean returned, shutting the door behind him.  He pulled a chair closer and took a seat as he regarded her. For her part, Adrienne was considering him just as intensely.

“You didn’t know about the radioactive materials.” She finally spoke up. “That’s not why you are here.”

“No, it isn’t.” Sean admitted. “Though we were aware that radioactive materials had been used in the Professor’s experiments, we had no clue he was using weapons grade material.”

“So if you aren’t with the FBI or Homeland, who are you with?” Adrienne asked, truly perplexed.

“MIA.” Sean smiled at the shocked look that came to Adrienne’s face.

“The Metahuman Investigation Agency.” Adrienne shook her head in disgust. “Seriously? What interest could MIA possibly have in me?” Sean tilted his head to the side as he regarded her.

“The MIA is interested in any one that is identified as a potential L3 and any unauthorized experimentation with particles from the Heart-Stopper.” He finally responded.

“Unauthorized?” Adrienne fixated on the second part of his statement. “You mean that not only was the Professor not authorized to use weapons grade material, he wasn’t authorized to experiment on Heart-Stopper particles at all?”

“In a manner of speaking.” Sean nodded. “From everything we have been able to discover, we think the professor fully believes he was working with a governmental agency and that his experiments were not only authorized, but requested.”

Adrienne let that settle in her mind for a moment and then shook her head and then focused on what else the agent had said.

“You said MIA is interested in anyone that identified as a potential L3.” She quoted back at him. “What does that mean?”

For his part, Sean regarded her for a long moment before nodding, as if in agreement with some inner debate.

“Ms Keller, despite what is released to the public, Metas are nothing new.  They have existed since the late 60’s. We, MIA, have existed almost as long. It was only because of what happened here in Kansas City that our agency was forced out into the open.” He paused for a moment, as if considering his next words.  “Metas do exist, Ms. Keller. They exist in more numbers than anyone but MIA is aware of.  Fortunately for us all, most of the abilities these Metahumans display are extremely minor.  Hardly noticeable.  Those people go on about their lives, either hiding their abilities or completely unaware of the fact that they are Metahumans. We have categorized these people as Level One Metas.”

He paused again and Adrienne remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

“Almost exactly twenty-one years after the Level One Metas, or L1s, appeared, the first of the L2s, the Level Two Metas, began to show up. Seven years ago, the first L3… Level Three…Meta appeared.  Here, in Kansas City.” He finished.

Adrienne thought for a moment, doing the math.

“The late 60’s.” She mused. “Just enough time after the Heart-Stopper for children born after it passed to grow up and start having kids of their own. Twenty years later, those children have children. Now those children are starting to hit their twenties.”

“Exactly. The KC Meta was an anomaly.” Sean nodded, impressed with how quickly Adrienne had put it together.  “All we know about her, and it was a girl, was that she was fifteen years old and didn’t have a clue what was happening to her. Using old maps, we were able to determine that she was in a low income area of the city. From her age, we can only assume that her mother was probably still legally a child when she became pregnant.”

“I have a friend who has tried to convince me that Metas have been around longer than the public has been told and that the Heart-Stopper was responsible.”  She paused and frowned.

“Your friend is absolutely correct.”

“How?”  Adrienne shook her head. “How could you hide this for so long?”

“With the L1s and L2s it wasn’t really all that difficult.” Sean shrugged. “People see what they expect to see and sometimes block out the rest or willingly grasp at any plausible explanation of what they have seen:  matter how slight that plausibility.  People are well aware of the stories of some man, woman, or child, doing something humanly impossible in times of extreme stress.  Like the woman that lifts a car to save her child.  Stuff like that is true…and people will grasp on to that.”  He gave another bemused grin. “Also comics have helped out a lot.  Through them, we have been able to place humans with extraordinary abilities into the realm of child hood fantasies.”

“That changed with Kansas City.” Adrienne prompted, recalling what the agent had said at first. “Something is different now.  What?”

“L3s.” Sean responded. “I told you L1s are sometimes not even aware they are different. Some L2s are the same though most are well aware of their differences.”

“Let me guess.”  Adrienne drawled. “L2s are L1s squared. Power wise.”

“Right concept, wrong exponent.” Sean shook his head. “L2’s, it seems, are L1s risen to the 8^th power. I know it does not make sense…but not much about this does.”

“Using that example, that means these…L3s… have to be magnitudes higher, power wise, than L2s.”

“The best guess we have now is to the 32^nd power.” Sean propped his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward in his seat. “We’re only lucky that L1s vastly out number L2s, who in turn vastly out number L3s. Those people, the L3s, display powers that are the similar to those of the super-heroes and super-villains of the comics. Thankfully none that we have discovered to date have decided to emulate the comics.” Here he paused and then shook his head yet again. “That can’t last forever.  The minute one of those Metas decides to use his or her abilities to commit crimes…or stop them…the lid will be off and all hell with break loose.”

“How do you figure?” Adrienne thought back to some of the conversations she and Anne had had on the subject. “You realize that there are those who are wondering why heroes or villains haven’t already appeared.”

“Believing in a fantasy is one thing.” Sean said. “Seeing that fantasy become a reality is quite another. “How do you think the general public is going to react when one of these Metas decides to say to hell with our laws…or take the law into their own hands?  Have you ever read any of the comics?  Seen any of the movies?  People die and cities get flattened.  But this isn’t the comics or the movies.  We are talking real people and real cities here.  When these Metas start throwing their weight around, people are going to panic. People are going to get hurt! Hell, Kansas City is a prime example of what could happen…and it was an accident.”

“I can see that.” Adrienne nodded.  She then took a breath and decided to pull the conversation back to the original purpose. “So why is MIA interested in me?”

“Not you in particular, Ms. Keller.” Sean shook his head. “But you are part of the generation that produces L3s and you were involved in an accident with Heart-Stopper particles.  Those two things alone send up warning flags and requires us to investigate.” He paused for a moment and then continued in a more gentle and apologetic tone. “One of the first steps is a subtle investigation of family history. Since both of your parents are deceased and we were not able to determine anything from their military medical records, we performed a very discrete investigation of both sets of your grand-parents. Though there was nothing indicating they were anything more than they seemed, all four are what we call Carriers.”

“Carriers?” Adrienne tilted her head, squashing her instant irritation that the privacy of her grand-parents had obviously been violated.

“Carriers are what we call those that have the potential to be an L1 or L2 but never actually exhibit any abnormal abilities.” Sean responded. “Usually an L1 or L2 will begin to exhibit those abilities around the time of puberty. Those that never do are considered Carriers.”

“So a carrier can potentially give birth to an L1 or L2?” Adrienne asked, interested despite herself.  Sean shook his head.

“Not quite.” He answered. “L1 Carriers will give birth to an L2 or L2 Carrier…but only if both mother and father are Carriers. According to what we discovered, all four of your grand-parents are L1 Carriers.” He held up a hand before Adrienne could speak and went on. “From what we have discovered, having parents that are L1s or L2s or Carriers does not guarantee that any offspring will be anything other than a normal person.  We’ve found that the chances are almost equally fifty-fifty.”

“Well since I am well past puberty….” Adrienne began but trailed off as Sean shook his head yet again.

“It seems the puberty thing only applies to L1s and L2s.” He said. “To be clear, any offspring of a couple of L1s or L1 Carriers has a fifty percent chance of being normal or an L2 or L2 Carrier. A couple of L2s or L2 Carriers have a fifty percent chance of producing an L3.  We don’t have sufficient data yet to determine if there are possible L3 Carriers.”  He paused. “Unlike L1s and L2s, puberty has nothing to do with L3s other than the fact that none have exhibited anything out of the ordinary until way after puberty and only then after an extremely traumatic experience.” With his raised eyebrow Adrienne understood that her recent experience might be considered such a traumatic event.

“So, since you were unable to determine if my parents were L1 or L2 carriers….” She inquired, inviting him to continue.

“They would have been L2s or L2 Carriers…or Non-Carriers which is what we call those fifty percent that do not inherit the genes.” Sean nodded. “If we had been able to determine that either of your parents were Non-Carriers…we wouldn’t be here now.”

“So what happens when you do find one of these L3s?”

“Not just L3s.” Sean frowned for a moment and then took the plunge. “Ms. Keller, there are those in power that believe that it would be best for all if we publically exposed any Meta we find and removed them from society.  They think we should be publically hunting them down and imprisoning them, at best, or euthanizing them, at worst.  All in the name of public safety, of course.  Then there are those that think we should be hunting them down and forcibly recruiting them as weapons.”

“And the MIA?  What is their position?” Adrienne demanded.

“Divided.” Sean admitted. “We have people from those factions in the MIA as well as those that believe we should take a hands-off approach.  Those think we should simply identify the metas and then leave them alone until or unless they do something that warrants our interference.”  He shook his head. “That faction is lead by our current Director, but I wouldn’t lay odds that they are going to remain in power much longer.”

“Why not?”

“The Director’s health is not the best.” Sean shrugged. “He should have retired long ago, but he has held on, despite the fact that our current president has tried to have him replaced three times.  Until he actually leaves his position or can be shown to no longer being able to hold it, the president can’t touch him.  Once he is gone, however, the president can name his successor….and the person he wants to name is one of those in the imprison or euthanize faction.”

***

“As far as I can tell, you were good to go the day you woke up.” Doctor Talbot smiled at her.   He then grew serious as he looked at her and withdrew a business card from his coat. “Adrienne, I want you to keep this with you.” He told her. “This is my personal number. If, at any time in the near future you feel the need to call a doctor or seem to develop any unusual symptoms, I want you to call or text me first. Please.”

He would not explain his odd request, but he refused to release her until she gave her word. She slipped the card into the back pocket of the jeans Grandma Alice had brought for her and made a solemn vow that she would not mention it to her or Grandma Gladys.  If those two had their way, she would be calling the “handsome” Doctor before she got home!

“I’ve already informed your professors and the school admin that you are to take it easy for the rest of this week.  They informed me that you would have to meet with Admin Monday before being allowed back to class or into the Science Building in any case.” He had then paused as if unsure as to whether he should continue. “I imagine that you will be asked to meet with the University’s legal department before you can resume your classes. I strongly suggest that you retain legal representation before then and have them contact me.”  When she looked as if she were about to protest the delay in getting back to work he gave her his most strict look. “Yes, I know your type, and I know this seems like unnecessary torture, but you have been lying in that bed for nearly a month.  I want you to get outside and moving around.  Got it?”

“Yessir!” She had snapped to attention and saluted in a manner that would have made her parents proud, had she not ruined it with the big grin she wore.

***

Gerald walked beside Adrienne as the nurse, according to hospital policy, pushed her wheel chair down the hall to the elevator.  There he stopped and, after an additional caution to take it easy for the next few days and a reminder about retaining legal representation, he watched as the elevator doors closed.  The nurse would wheel Adrienne all the way to the front entrance where her grandparents would be waiting to take her home.

Since he had been called in specifically for Ms. Keller, he didn’t have any other patients to check on so he retreated to his office in the Admin section of the hospital campus and quickly booted his computer.

Once signed in he pulled up the private file he had created for Adrienne. The preliminary tests of her blood samples were nothing out of the ordinary and for that he was thankful. Had anything unusual shown up in those tests, conducted by the standard lab personnel, it would have made the actions he had taken after running his own battery of tests much more difficult. The official record medical records would reflect nothing strange about Ms. Keller. A person referring to those records would come away with the same conclusions he had given to the UMKC officials that had been breathing down his neck…trying to intimidate him into finding conclusively that Ms. Keller’s unusual condition had not been caused by the experiment she had been observing.  He had been happy to disappoint them on that one.  The official records would show that there were no traces of harmful radiation. That much the University could be thankful for.  Unfortunately for the University those records would also show that Ms. Keller had been subjected to a blast of light so brilliant it was a wonder she had not been permanently blinded.  Professor Hightop had said that all of the equipment within that compartment had been fried.  After hearing Adrienne mention a light the professor had gone back and looked through the video logs of the other four compartments. All five stations were close enough that a brilliant flash of light in one might have been picked up by the video recorders in the other compartments.   He was stunned to see that, for one brief instant, all four video logs were completely blanked out by a flash of light. The Professor had instantly made those videos available to the doctor and Gerald got the distinct impression that his superiors were none too pleased that the professor had released the logs before clearing with them first.

Armed with evidence from the video logs and backed up by three other physicians and one optometrist the records held his professional opinion that the intensity of the light had temporarily scrambled the synapses within Adrienne’s brain, thus causing the coma like condition and possibly explaining her slight memory loss.  Whether there would be any lasting effects was anyone’s guess but he had stated quite forcefully that additional after effects could well manifest over time.

That is where the official records ended.

The file he now skimmed through told quite a different story.  As he had at the time, Dr. Talbot questioned the wisdom in falsifying the records as he had.  It went against every ethical moral he claimed to uphold.

Still he knew deep down that what he had discovered was not something that should be recorded.  Especially not in a case such as this.  Those records would not only be scrutinized by the University’s legal department but also by two or three governmental agencies as well.  Standard procedure for incidents involving radiation other than the x-ray machines used in hospitals and dental offices.

Had he recorded his actual findings then no matter what her actual health was like, Ms Keller’s life would have become a living nightmare of governmental tests and experiments.

Some might consider Gerald’s distrust of the government to be overly dramatic. Perhaps it was.  He was not about to take that chance with someone else’s life.

Adrienne’s blood had been saturated with radiation. That much was obvious. The problem was that the radiation that had flowed through her body had not been produced by any material known to man.

He had noticed something odd when a nurse had attempted to draw blood from the young woman during her second week of her coma. Though she was finally able to draw enough for her sample she had informed him that getting needles through the young woman’s skin was becoming more difficult.

When he had observed the nurse taking her sample the day she woke up, he had asked the nurse to hold the sample for him so he could personally run the tests.  Had he simply performed the usual routine tests he probably would not have noticed anything out of the ordinary. He had gone deeper; both knowing and fearing what he would find.  He had preformed a complete DNA check and compared the results to samples taken from both sets of grandparents. That is when he had made the instant decision that there was no way he could record what he had truly discovered in an official report.

He had seen similar results and had recorded them faithfully. He knew what had happened then and he was not about to see it happen again.  Instead he had recorded those findings in a private file and that file he now transferred to his smart phone and deleted all traces of it from the office computer, thankful that he had saved it in such a way that no copy of it would remain on the Hospital’s main server.

He would transfer that file to his home system later.

***

Her grandmothers had picked her up at the hospital and driven her home.

Naturally they had both tried to talk her into staying with one of them for the rest of the week but had given in gracefully when Adrienne insisted that she needed to get back to her own apartment. During the ride she had made a call to the school to inform them that she was out of the hospital. The Admin personnel had been pleasant but firm.  The Doctor had made it clear she was not to set foot on the campus until the following Monday, at which time she would meet with the Legal Department to go over the details of the accident. So that was that.  It was only Tuesday so she would have to find something to do to fill up nearly a full week.

Like many students who did not want to live on campus in the dorms, Adrienne had rented her own apartment in nearby Westport. That is where the similarity between her and the average students that lived off campus ended.

Thanks to the foresight of her parents and the survivor benefits she received from the government, Adrienne had not had to worry about money since high school. Of course having an aunt on her mother’s side, an investment whiz who had taken control of investing and growing the fund her parents had started for her before Adrienne had started to walk, hadn’t hurt.  Her Survivor Benefits would actually end in one more year.  Being a full time student had pushed the end date to her twenty-second birthday. Yet all the money from those checks, and a substantial amount more, had been siphoned off to other organizations dealing with Veterans and their families for the last three years.

If anyone ever made a list of the wealthiest 21 year olds in the United States her name wouldn’t be on the top of the list, but it would be right up there close.  With only a few exceptions those with more money would be those born into already existing fortunes.

When Adrienne had reached the age of eighteen she had approached her aunt with a plan.  Despite her initial reservations, her aunt had agreed with Adrienne’s plan to risk big.   While it could have easily gone the other way, leaving her basically penniless, the gamble had paid off.  That plus the royalties she received from a few computer components she had patented in her senior year of high school had raised her from the merely well off to the impressively wealthy bracket. Conceivably, Adrienne could spend the rest of her life living in extreme comfort just on the interest her money was making alone.

Of course no one at the University had a clue that The Geek was not only smart but filthy rich as well. Adrienne liked it that way. If she had been forced to give the University Admin her true address there would have been no way she could hide it.  Thankfully all mail to Adrienne Keller was routed to a PO Box which was then picked up by couriers on a daily basis and delivered to her apartment in Westport.  Not that the University sent much out in the form of snail mail these days. Most correspondence took the form of email and that was just fine with Adrienne.

Her Grandmothers had dropped her off at the entrance to her building, the One Light, and she had waited until they had reluctantly driven off before she stepped into the air conditioned lobby.

As the cool air swirled around her it occurred to her that the weather outside had not bothered her as much as it usually did.  July in Kansas City could be hell, with temperatures reaching the triple digits.  She had noticed a bank sign on the way home that declared that the temperature was threatening do that today. 

By this time, she would usually be soaked from sweat and feeling miserable.  Yet it had not occurred to her until she stepped into the lobby of her apartment building that she was not the slightest bit uncomfortable and had not even sweated a drop.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the receptionist/security officer stood and stepped around her desk.

“Ms. Keller, we heard what happened! Are you okay? Do you need anything?” She demanded, rushing over to Adrienne, her concern plain on her face.”

“I’m fine, Anne.”  Adrienne smiled and stuck a finger in the other woman’s face. “But you won’t be if I hear another Ms. Keller from you!”

“C’mon, Adri.”  The young woman smiled and shook her head. “I’m on the clock and you know what management is like!”  She reached out a hand and gripped Adrienne’s arm. “Are you okay?  Really?”

“Really.” Adrienne told her. She started to say more but a couple entering the lobby behind her caused her to shake her head. “Why don’t you come up when you get off duty and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Three more hours.” Anne grimaced and then laughed. “Deal.  Now you get and let me do my job.”

Adrienne watched Anne return to her desk to speak to the young couple and she shook her head.

Taking the elevator to the penthouse level she made her way down the corridor to her apartment.

Before Adrienne had move in the One Light complex had boasted eight separate 2-bedroom penthouse apartments. Now there were only six.

Initially she had rented the north-west corner apartment.  When the apartment next to hers on the north side became available she had combined her original apartment and the newly vacant one into a single unit. It had taken very little to remodel both in such a way that the combined units flowed into each other, appearing as if they had been a single large unit from the beginning. Eventually the remaining five apartments would become vacant and Adrienne had already made it known that they were not to be rented out again.  She would not force the people living there now to move, but eventually the entire penthouse floor would be her personal home.

Adrienne entered her apartment and threw herself on the oversized couch in the living room, happy to be home at last.

The sound of the doorbell ringing roused Adrienne from the impromptu nap she had not planned on. A quick glance at the clock on the end-table showed that she had been asleep for about three hours. That meant it was probably Anne at the door.

Adrienne had given Anne a key to the apartment months ago, but the girl had yet to use it when Adrienne was home.  Sighing, she struggled to her feet and stumbled to the door.  She opened it and waved Anne in and staggered into the kitchen.

“Damn girl, you look like death warmed over!” Anne exclaimed, entering and shutting the door behind her.

“Thanks, I think.” Adrienne grumbled as she opened the refrigerator….to find nothing.

“Uh…I cleaned it out a week ago.” Anne admitted. “After three weeks you had some serious science experiments growing in there. I was sure something was going to take a bite out of me before I was done.  There was this one half eaten burger that had some mean looking stuff growing on it!”

“You are a cruel person.” Adrienne groused, giving her friend serious stink eye.

“Well, I knew you wouldn’t have anything here, so I ordered a couple of pizzas before I came up.” Anne replied, throwing out a peace offering. She checked her watch and nodded. “By their slogan, we have fifteen more minutes or they’ll be free.”

“At least you didn’t throw out the Cherry Pepsi.” Adrienne snagged a can and popped the top, guzzling down half before tilting it away from her mouth.

“Seriously, are you okay?”  Anne asked as she helped Adrienne stagger back to the couch. “You looked fine a couple of hours ago.”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Adrienne shook her head. “I was feeling okay until I got up here.  I lay down on the couch and passed out.  I was just glad to be home.  I didn’t think I was that tired.”

The pizza arrived well before the deadline and, despite Anne’s protests; Adrienne paid and supplied the tip. She had one box open and was already scarfing on a second slice before she got the pizzas to the kitchen.

“Didn’t they feed you at the hospital?” Anne demanded in shock.

“Um…coma for three weeks.” Adrienne responded around a mouthful of pizza. “Pure liquid diet.”  She held up her left hand to display the bandages that covered where the various tubes had been stuck into her.

“Well let’s get a couple of plates and take this into the living room.” Anne ordered, slapping at Adrienne’s right hand as she tried to snag another piece.

As they ate, Adrienne filled Anne in on everything. Naturally, Anne being Anne, her attention fixated on Adrienne’s description of Dr. Talbot.

“And you didn’t even get his phone number.” She bemoaned. “Girl, there is just something not right about you!”

“But I did get his number!” Adrienne exclaimed, recalling the business card she had stuff in her back pocket.

“Girl, I predict that you are going to have a massive relapse and the poor doctor is going to be forced to make a house call!” Anne crowed, snatching the business card that Adrienne held up as proof.  She glanced at the full name and then dug out her smart phone.  She did a quick search and whistled at the results.  She turned the phone so Adrienne could see that she had pulled up a picture of Dr. Talbot on the web. “Damn, you didn’t mention that he was on the KU Medical Center Board!”  She turned the phone back so she could read and shook her head. “This guy is the male version of you, Adri.  Total over achiever!”

Adrienne snatched the phone and read, her brows dipping in a frown.

“According to this article, he is the go to guy for the unusual.” She read aloud

“I guess that tells me where I fit in.” Adrienne shook her head.

Through all of this, Adrienne had not ceased stuffing pizza into her mouth.  Only when she reached for another slice did she realize that she had wolfed down an entire large pizza before Anne had finished her first piece.

Though no longer ravenous she still felt hungry.  It took an effort of will to wait until Anne had eaten her fill before finishing off the second pizza. Despite the concern in her eyes, Anne tried to laugh it off.

“You are so going to regret this when you get back in the gym.” She said as she made ready to leave.

“Where are you running off to?” Adrienne asked as she walked her friend to the door. After eating she was feeling more like herself.

“I would love to stay and shoot the shit, but I have a date!” Anne responded with a smile. “If I show up at work with bags under my eyes tomorrow you’ll know it was a good one.” She waggled her eyebrows in an obscene fashion, causing Adrienne to blush and giggle at the same time.  Before leaving, Anne gave her a serious look.

“Adri, I’ll leave my phone on.” She said. “If you need anything, you call.  Got it?”

“Go have fun.” Adrienne smiled and shook her head. “I’ll be fine.  Where are you going?”

“Uh-uh.” Anne shook her head. “Last time I told you where I was going you called the place up and told them to charge everything to you! Making the guy cough up the money is half the fun!  But you keep your phone on as well.” Anne smiled as she gave Adrienne a quick hug. “If you get a text from me then it’ll mean I need you to call me and give me an excuse to duck out if this guys a loser.”

Adrienne laughed and shook her head as she closed the door.

The laughter faded as she turned and regarded her empty apartment. With a sigh she gathered the dishes she and Anne had used and made her way back into the kitchen. She sat the plates and glasses on the kitchen counter. She would clean up and run the dishwasher tomorrow.

Snagging another Cherry Pepsi, she made her way through the apartment and through the door into the second apartment. While her original apartment retained the look one might expect from a luxury apartment, the second one had been transformed into a haven both computer geeks and multi-media enthusiasts would drool over.

What had once been the living area was now a complete home theatre.

Though the sink, a microwave, and the refrigerator remained in the kitchen area, the stove and oven had been removed and replaced with a full sized Topsy’s Popcorn Popper.  The regular kitchen counters had been replaced with the glass modeled after the counters at a Theater concession stand and was filled with as much non-nutritious goodies as she could fit into them. A quick glance in the fridge showed that Anne had cleaned this one out as well. A few empty spots within the counters showed that she had helped herself to some of the goodies while she had worked.  Good.

The quest bedroom of the second apartment had been transformed into a modest library, housing both fiction and non-fiction books and periodicals ranging through a wide variety of subjects.

The Master bedroom, however, was her inner sanctum. This was what she called her Data Center.

A single wheeled chair sat in the middle of a computer complex that many large companies would be envious of.

With large computer screens lining two walls and a Windows based system and server on the third, here was where Adrienne could open her window to the world.

She booted the system, made sure the server was up and running and, first things first checked her email.

There were several emails from some of the people she would often game with in a few MMORPGs.  All variations of “Where are you?” and “Is everything okay?”  Not really friends but people she would put in the casual acquaintance category.

There were three emails from the University. Checking the date and time, all three had been sent after she had contacted the Admin earlier.  The first two were from Admin:  One concerning her attendance and the second a reminder about her meeting with the Legal Department on Monday.

“Attendance?” Adrienne gaped at the email. “Really?” Then it dawned on her. If her accident was shown to be a result of the experiments she had been monitoring and not caused by her, then her attendance would not be an issue.  If they could show that she was somehow responsible, or at least that they were not, then her missed time while in the hospital could be counted against her attendance.

Dr. Talbot’s warning to get legal representation before her meeting was beginning to make sense.

The final email from the school was from Professor Hightop.  He congratulated her on her release from the hospital but nothing more.  No mention of the accident or the experiments.

Adrienne closed out her email program and leaned back in her chair.  She then leaned forward and fished the business card she had returned to her back pocket.

She had promised to call him if she felt she needed to see a doctor. He had also gone out of his way make sure he mentioned retaining legal council.

Something was not adding up.

She pinned the card to a corkboard placed between two monitors then stood back and looked at it.

Once again she considered the amount of attention Dr. Talbot had shown her.  She had been hospitalized a few times in her life and had spent more time in hospitals with her aging grandparents than she cared to think about.  Yes, the amount of attention Dr. Talbot had shown in her case was far beyond what she expected of hospital physicians.  His attention, the Professor’s unwillingness to even discuss the experiments beyond what was absolutely necessary, and the University unwillingness to accept responsibility up front.  What the hell was going on here?

Deciding to leave the mystery until the light of day, Adrienne shut down the system and moved back into the living area of her combined apartment.

She made sure everything was locked up and switched off lights before retiring to the master bedroom.

Remembering her promise to Anne, she made sure her phone was on and set it on the night stand by the bed before she got undressed.

As she tossed the clothes into the dirty laundry bin, she thought she probably should have thanked Anne for getting the clothes from her apartment.  She guessed it had been her.  While her grandparents had keys to her apartment in case of emergency, neither of her grand mothers would have thought to get her a comfortable pair of jeans and a t-shirt.  They damned sure wouldn’t have brought a pair of her thong underwear and a thin sports bra.  Adrienne blushed at the thought of either of her grandmothers going through her underway drawer.

If it had been up to them, she would have worn either a dress or business like attire she usually wore on campus.  On that issue they were divided.  Grandma Alice was okay with dress slacks but Grandma Gladys maintained that proper young ladies wore dresses.  She loved her Grandma Gladys, but she thought it was probably fortunate that her father had been an only child.

“You might be surprised.” Grandma Alice had once told her. “If Gladys had had a daughter, her views might have changed. Sometimes girls are more of test of a mother’s patience than a boy is!”

Though they had not really been that close in the past, both sets of her grandparents had drawn together after the deaths of her parents. These days they almost seemed to be a single family unit rather than two couples. While her grandfathers often went fishing and hunting and worked on projects together, they each still had things they did away from each other.  It was extremely rare, however, to see one of her grandmothers out and about without the other one right beside her.

Stepping into the shower, Adrienne sighed as the warm water sprayed down on her. Gods she had been wanting a shower ever since she woke up in the hospital. Sponge baths only went so far.

She lathered and rinsed her hair three times before her scalp felt even marginally clean.

After soaping and scrubbing and rinsing the rest of her body, she finally turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, snagging a towel from the rack on the glass door.

She toweled herself off and got as much of the moisture out of her blonde hair as she could before gathering most if it together into a low pony tail that reached almost to the small of her back.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she stood before the floor length mirror that graced the inside of the door of her walk-in closet. 

If only the students on campus could see her now. She chuckled at the thought as she examined her body for any signs of flabbiness or perhaps some visible sign of her ordeal. Her long legs looked as firm as ever.  She frowned slightly as her gaze traveled upward, making a mental note that she would have to take a bath and shave tomorrow. She hated pubic hair and under-arm hair and had made it a point to remain clean shaven since the age of thirteen.  For some reason she had never had to worry about shaving her legs. If only her pubic and under arm areas had been as accommodating.

Continuing her examination her eyes traveled over her flat tummy.  She ran a hand over her tummy and frowned. Anne might have been right. She could feel a little loss of muscle tone. She would definitely have to hit the gym and soon.

Her breast looked no different. While she had never been one to wish for big breasts she had wished that she had just a tad bit more than she had. She remembered her secret joy when she had graduated to B-cup bras. Unfortunately that is what she had ended up with.  Not exactly flat-chested but not overly endowed either.

Her face looked no different.  Her light blue eyes were the same as they had been before the accident.  Her nose, unfortunately, looked the same as well.  She had always felt that her nose was too big even though everyone told her she was crazy.  Anne, who had a perfectly sized and shaped nose, had even gone so far as to prove to her that her nose was actually larger than Adrienne’s!

Her thin lips and the high cheek bones, legacy of her mother’s Native American heritage, looked exactly as they had….Wait a minute.

Adrienne lifted her left hand and gingerly touched a small area just under and to the left of her lower lip. For as long as she could remember, there had been a small scar there from some accident when she was barely a toddler. But now that area was completely unblemished. No trace of the scar remained.

Still looking in the mirror her attention was drawn to the back of her hand. The same hand that the nurses had bandaged up after they removed the drip needles. 

She had not even thought about it when she had removed the bandages in the shower, but now...

The skin on the back of her hand which should show marks from where the needles had been and perhaps even a bit of bruising was as blemish free as the skin below her lip.

She had always healed fast but this was extreme even for her.

A wave of dizziness made her sway and she put her hand out against to mirror to steady herself. Perhaps Dr. Talbot had been right to make her wait before jumping back into her classes.

When the feeling passed she carefully pulled on a nighty and crawled into bed. Within moments of her head hitting the pillow she was snoring softly.