ZOMBIE FORUMS

While waiting for his irresponsible little brother to show up, B-Man sees DJ in a corner of the room as he inquires where the weapons are supposed to go. B-Man turns to him. He knows that the kid's got some "problems" but then if he didn't then he wouldn't fit in as well as he does in Neo York. As it is, he only calls him DJ so it's easier to remember then all the names for him.

"Well DJ, half this shipment is set to go to the Citadel for our next incursion. The other half is set for the Hudson Distribution. Now if my brother would get his ass here then they could be moved."

B-Man then turns to Captain.

"See, all our weapons and movements are done through the old subway system. It's unstable and there have been some cave-ins but for the most part the system has held up over the years pretty well. Military might have an idea but no matter how much they try to patrol the city, they can't patrol everything at the same time so we organize shipments to coinside with their movements. That's why we were caught a bit off guard when Gatshall came in since he isn't normally set to come for another 12 days. Perhaps he came in because of you?"

B-Man turns to T.C. "What did Gatshall talk to you about at the bar?"

T.C.: Oh, normal shit about his side ops trying to run us out of the gunrunning game. Course the asshat, as he's been so eloquently called by our new friend here, doesn't have an idea of us being his competition and giving away his secrets. However he did mention to me about the Captain here. He called him a renegade weapon that was unstable and could kill many...

B-Man by this time had noticed the blood starting to boil beneath Cap's face while hearing what Gatshall told to T.C. and stopped the comrade before pushing Cap over the limit.

"You think you can call in a favor and try to get his Service Record? The one without all the black lines? Since he does remember at least being in SF, then I'm sure most his stuff would be black-listed."

T.C.: I'll see what I can do. If his record is sealed up to Black Level, then there might not be anything I can do to get it out of Records, or even get a copy of it.

"Let's assume it is since they've gone so far as to either wipe his memory or at the least code it and bury it. No surprises. Oh, maybe the Doc can take a look at him and maybe do something to maybe pull out some of his memories? Can't hurt and any info he might have would help him and us out."

B-Man then looks at Cap

"That ok by you? Besides you should get a checkup to make sure you're not fucked up or carrying something. Especially with the residual radiation still within the city. You might need to be inoculated or given a treatment to acclimate yourself into living here with little side effect."

By this time, Lil' B comes strolling in trying to be all macho...until he notices the newcomer

"Doctors eh?" Indigo said dispondantly noting the new entry, Lil' B, humn... then turning to a few memories of what he knew doctors were like and winced, "Never did get on with them too well, but then I never did like people who knew more about me than I did"

He sipped the canteen and gave it back patting his chest "Speaking of, fuck that's smooth, Uhg... Speaking of which If you do find something it'll be a miracle, Major Asshole blew the shit out of the facility I was based in..." He looked at the guns "And killed everybody I ever knew. Now he's here" he should be dead "and up to no good I'd wager" he was in there when it blew, I'm sure of it "so be careful of him" but how is here, now "because he probably knows what your doing" and for that matter, how and why am I here "he's got people all over the place and all 21 digits in all the pies"

He looked back at B-Man, "So be very careful in what you do around him, everybody has a price but I swear I'm against him. As far as I'm concerned he's twenty years late to be pushing up daisy's"

A reassuring nod from B-Man made him feel instantly better, Indigo Looked back at the guns and further down the room then at himself "Do All of these have to be shipped off? I have some money, some nice gentleman left a whole load of it in a big box for me" Ha grin creeped across his face, "It was locked, but I never let a little technicality like that get me down"

He picked up the handgun he'd loaded and flicked out the catridge and let it fall to the ground catching it on his foot. While it fell he unchambered the gun and flicked the catridge back up from his foot catching both in his free hand placing the loose bullet back inside the cartridge and reloading the gun.

Indigo looked the gun and sucked a bit of air through his teeth "Tch, I've been out of practice too long, I'm getting rusty" Admiring the lightweight construction he wondered what other additions had been made to weapons scince he'd 'left' maybe the serialised some of those freaky ones they were testing...Oh! Maybe they've got lasers now, I mean this is the future...

"Do All of these have to be shipped off? I have some money, some nice gentleman left a whole load of it in a big box for me..." Lil' B looks up from the inventory list on his cell phone just in time to catch the wry grin flashing across the new guy's face. "It was locked, but I never let a little technicality like that get me down."

Lil' B picks his way through the arsenal and over some random drunk towards the door into the garage, exchanging nods with TC as he passes. He returns with pair of heavy grade plastic trunks and tosses them into a corner before returning to the garage for more. By the time the pile is finished the basement has cleared out. The familiar sounds of jazz music, laughing, and clinking glasses are coming through the boards of the ceiling above.

"Thanks for the help, fuckers..."

Lil' B pauses to light a clove cigarette before beginning to load handguns into the first trunk. Springfield XD .357s. A good gun, but perhaps a little old-fashioned. He had previously marked all of the 'cargo' bound for the Citadel with a strip of red tape around the grip. The guns bound for HD in the Bronx were marked with blue tape. A new element was a quartet of interesting-looking British assault rifles, headed to Yonkers for testing. Another oddity was a large collection of Canadian 'surplus' gear, stripped off the corpses of a Vancouver mercenary company that had met a bloody end at the hands of the Harlem batallion. The Canadians' Diemaco rifles, along with the rest of their shitty equipment, were piled along the far wall to be junked for parts. The work is easy but repetitive. If he didn't have the jazz and the scent of cloves to lose himself in, he'd probably go insane with boredom.

Nine crates in, his cell phone rings.

"Batman! How you DOIN'!" The enthusiastic greeting brought a smile to Lil' B's face. Marin the Gypsy.

"Hey, Marin. What's up?"

"Am good, Batman! I know you do good too! I come for my guns- you have already?"

"Yeah. One second, I'll let you in the back." Glad to be able to take a break, Lil' B walks back into the garage and vaults over the railing at the top of the stairs. He plants the landing on the concrete below.

Marin and his colorful clan are all die-hard members of the Copperheads, handling pick-up and delivery missions for the Hudson Distribution supply depot. They're also a hell of a lot more interesting than the average dour-faced post-war Neo Yorker. Marin himself is a living legend within the NYC resistance scene, both for his neverending supply of homemade liquor and his neverending supply of family members constantly arriving from overseas.

Lil' B heaves the length of I-beam serving as a deadbolt out of its place at the door into the tunnels and spins the wheel 5 clicks to the right. The heavy steel door bursts open from the outside, and a steady stream of noisy, unwashed bodies push by him toward the basement room, soon to return with their shipment and whatever else they would determine was unlikely to be missed. A few familiar faces pass by in the stream, but none of them are easily matched to names. Marin himself appears at the end of the train and rushes Lil' B, wrapping in a menthol-smelling bearhug.

"Marin! Wha-*oof*"

"Ah, Batman! You get bigger I know! I show to you they my new family member from Europe, okay! This Lucian, twins are Petru and Radu, young boy with blonde hair is Vasile, this boy my nephew Baduna, and girls is my sister-in-laws, Afina and Cami. Your brother and TC upstairs? I go around front, say a hi to them too. Good to seeing you, here is vodka!"

With that, he bellows an order and about-faces, striding back into the tunnels. the remaining gypsies file out, with hardly a glance or word of recognition for Lil' B. Lil' B replaces the deadbolt and leans against the door, sighing heavily. Silence. He lights another cigarette, deciding he deserves a break. Hardly a second later, his phone rings again.

"Fuck you, phone." He mashes the button for 'ignore' and makes his way back to the supply room. The HD crates are gone, along with all of the blue-taped gear he hadn't finished packing. The Citadel gear looked to be mostly intact. Good. The Citadel run into Queens via Route 7 was generally quiet. The Diemacos, of course, don't matter. Hopefully the Gypsies lightened his load a little...

The only problem, then, would be the high-tech British guns, miraculously unmolested by the gypsies. If no help shows up soon, he'll have to make the run to Yonkers himself. The north-bound lines only run as far as Van Cordtland Park, VC Rangers gang turf. He'd have to improvise a ride from there, and hopefully not get wasted by a pack of grinning gangbangers or an errant 'red coat' patrol. FUCKING Yonkers. Why the hell can't they just move the lab down to the goddamn city proper?

His phone doggedly rings again. He answers it.

[ooc] Edited for... uh... bad prose. Turns out I'm still too tired to write. -.-[/ooc]

After making the remark about the Doc, Cap's face twisted into a memory of agony and pain at the hand of whatever bastards worked him over years before. By the end of Cap talking about his new loyalty to The Copperheads, B-Man nodded his head.

He's a good man, and ready to kick ass. Now to just make sure he's all taken care of and checks out.

"If you want some guns, we have no problem with you getting some. Since you'll be working with us you'll be supplied with weapons you'll need for any mission you might go out on but if you wish to garner some for a "private collection" we don't mind. In fact if you wish to pay, we can give you a discount and consider it a "donation" to the cause. All our good weapons are secured somewhere else to be shown for prospective clients so we'll make suer you check them out there. Now...let's go upstairs and have a drink."

B-Man then brings DJ, Cap and T.C. with him upwards into the BlueStage, leaving Lil' B down in the basement to finish his job of getting the new guns ready to be transported. The sound of the Music System blared with some Blues and Jazz while the drink was flowing. Suddenly, B-Man catches a whiff of Menthol and Vodka.

"I know that smell...MARIN!"

He turns around to catch the European Gypsy stagger in. The thought of him still walking with all that homemade booze in his system would be staggering to people like Cap who never saw him but to T.C., Lil' B and B-Man it was normal for him to be just one drink away from Cirrosis of the Liver. They both hug and kiss cheek to cheek in the European tradition while Marin converses in his Broken Engrish.

"You're here early for that Hudson Shipment. Your family giving Lil' B a hard time?"

M: "Naw, They be fine. T.C. and you come to home, see beautiful daughters. Make them wives!"

"Now why would you want to subject them to that type of punishment? Haven't they suffered enough?"

M: "They need good husbands. You good man. I give you 3 wives. T.C. 5."

"Why does T.C. get 2 more wives than me?"

M: "He not fighting like you, needs big family to run business."

"Tell you what, give us a rain check and we'll talk about this later?"

M: "Ok, ok. Good to see you. Here, Vodka. Good stuff."

Marin then notices Cap.

M: "Who him?"

"This is Cap, a new member of The Copperheads. Gatshall has a bounty on his head. Was in special forces and now with us. Cap, this is Marin. He's Romani and came to America just before the attacks with most his family. He has a hatred for the Monarchy and European thinking so he was one of the founding members of our group along with T.C and myself. He still smuggles in one or two members of his family every month or so but he's doing his best to create his own family run city here."

B-Man then tosses the bottle of booze to Cap. Cap uncorks it and takes a shot, thinking it's Vodka like Marin said.

"Um...Cap? *coughing heard* Um, yeah. That's not Vodka, that's Moonshine. He just calls it Vodka. It's like 180 proof."

The look on Cap is priceless as he tries to cope with something he hasn't dealt with in years: Rot Gut Shine. B-Man takes the bottle from him and takes a hit, giving only a face of mild discomfort.

[Whiskey whisper]"That's good stuff, Marin. Think you better go?"[/Ww]

Marin then gives B-Man a hug, then T.C. then Cap.

M: "Welcome to Group. Be good or I kill you."

With that, Marin left with his family and the shipment for Hudson. B-Man by this time had recovered his voice and sat by Cap.

"Revolutions take all kinds. He's a good man. Just be careful or he'll have you become part of his family by marrying 5 of his 19 daughters."

C: "I'll keep that in mind."

"Oh, now that he's taken the shipment we should get going to Doc."

The look on Cap returned.

"Don't worry. Whatever kind of doctors you dealt with before, I can guarantee he won't fit into any kind of Doctor's Mold. He'll just check you out, make sure you have no physical ailments and prepare you for living in Neo York. Trust me, you don't want to be here and deal with the Radiation without something done medically...unless you wish to live in a Military Armor for the rest of your stay?"

With that B-Man takes Cap, says good night to T.C., grabs his sax and heads down towards the subway. Once there, they get onboard a dilapidated Subway car. B-Man goes into the cab and starts the power then starts to accelerate as they head towards the NE corner of Central Park. After a switch to another line, they get within 2 blocks and disembark. The two then walk further, keeping quiet as they make sure they're not being followed or spied upon by a gangbanger.

Finally they make it to the Doc's practice. The place still looked like just as much shit as the Bluestage but when they went inside, it was a complete 180. Everything was immaculate, sparkling white and so sterile that you could eat off the floor if you wished.

"He takes his practice VERY seriously. Some sort of Obsessive-Compulsive somethingorother. He does good work though and is at home either here or on the field when we need him as a medic. He's also trained a few medics and they have a very high success rate. Here, let's sit and wait until he comes in. He knows we're here."

The two then sit down and wait.

Xan sat back and watched the monitors in front of him with interest. It'd been a while since anyone had come looking for medical attention, let alone walking of their own accord, and these days one had to be careful who they made contact with.

On the lower left screen he could see the two men step in through the south entrance to his practice. One of the men looked to be B-Man, but the other was a complete mystery.

"Hmmm... hmmm, indeed..." he noted, flipping a few switches and glancing about the various secruity angles. "Well, appears to be Beeman, but with the military fucking with shit they don't understand these days, I wouldn't be surprised if he's some clone or some shit, wouldn't you say?" he swung his head around to the small spehere that appeared to be hovering just out of reach over his left shoulder.

"Right you are, sir, right you are." a metallic voice chirped. "Why not run the scan, sir? I'm sure if it's Beeman, he has the proper IDchip in his sax case."

"Ah yes, thank you, B-5..." Xan turned back to the panel and flipped a large green switch. Instantly, the centermost monitor flickered and changed to a deep green hue, and a bright white dot could be seen affixed to the image of B-Man's sax case. A digital readout accompanied the image, confirming B-Man's identity. "Hmm, appears to check out. Let's hope he's legit and not just some clever thi... hey, where'd the other guy go?"

"Sir, he's right there."

"Sonuva..." Xan looked back and forth between the two screens. In the normal view, the stranger appeared to be standing right beside B-Man as they exchanged pleasant conversation. Yet on the security scan, he was simply not there. "That sunova bitch has some kind of stealth shit kicking. Most interesting..." he stood up and made his way for the door, grabbing a long white coat off a nearby hook as he went.

"Sir, where are you going? If he has stealth, he may be military..."

"Maybe... but whatever he is, he's with Beeman, and I want to know why. 'sides, look at him... how dangerous can this guy be?" With that, he slipped the coat on and stepped through the opening door.

***

"...Here, let's sit and wait until he comes in. He knows we're here." No sooner had the two men sat, then a door in the far wall slid open and the doc stepped through. He was a tall man, about 6 ft even, with dark brown hair running down half his back and pulled into a tail. A single streak of faded grey ran down the left side, showing his age. He wore a long white coat with the name 'Doc' stitched above the breast pocket.

"Beeman!" he threw his arms wide. "How have you been! Still pretending to play sax, I see?"

B-Man stood again and met the doc in a friendly embrace. "Still pretending to play doctor, Doc?" he laughed as he slapped Doc's shoulder.

"Haha, good one. So, what brings you out this way? Surely your leg's not giving you trouble again... I watched you walk in just fine..." Xan stepped back and looked between the two men.

"Nah, Doc. Leg's fine. I'm here about my friend Cap here. Needs a bit of a checkup."

"Ah, yes, yes... Cap, is it? Nice to meet you." he extended his hand to the Captain. "Name's Xan, but most people tend to call me Doc."

Cap gave him a cautious cautious glance and shook the man's hand, then looked past him at the small orb floating into the room. Xan turned and looked. "Oh, him? Yeah, that's B-5. He assists me at times. Best little biodroid the military could create." Sensing a slight tightening in Cap's handshake, he added, "Oh, don't worry... he may be military funded, but B-5's completely legit. Beeman here snagged him from me a few years back. Still won't tell me how, though, but rest assured we made sure to completely wipe his core before putting him to work."

B-5 swept across the room and connected himself to the panel beside the door B-man and Cap had entered through. A secondary door slid in place over it, and B-5 turned to Xan. "Security safe, sir. We won't have any interruptions."

"Thank you, B-5." Xan looked down at Cap. "So then. Shall we begin?"

Indigo could feel the Alchohol invading his brain, everything was trailing and getting slightly blurry, and warm. Nicely warm mmm, been a while he relished with a goofy grin they arrived quite shortly it seemed, but it always semmed like that looking at the building he could have been mistaken for turning around and walking back into the bar, half expecting B-Man to grab him by the arm and lead him to their actual destination he found that this actually was the place, oh yes, this definatly looks....sanitary?

He nearly fell over through shock as they entered a barren land of white, as if someone had gone OTT with a roller and some paint. There was a slight pain in the back of his mind, and a very sobering one. Without making any show of it he looked in one of the top corners as they sat down hrmm he grumbled to himself as he rubbed a hand over his face ridding himself of his fuzzing head.

A door opened from inside and he watched the tall, long haired man enter, greeting him and looking at the the 'BioDroid' that accompanied him, Indigo knew exactly what it was A hunter killer, they actually made one, or more! Fucking hell this is bad

"Oh, don't worry" The Doctor started noting Indigo's slight change in comfort "he may be military funded, but B-5's completely legit. Beeman here snagged him from me a few years back. Still won't tell me how, though, but rest assured we made sure to completely wipe his core before putting him to work."

Completly wiped? Heh, shame. He probably knew more about the human anatomy than any living thing on the planet Indigo mused to himself, reveiwing the specifications he once saw, He never did like that advance that the military was making in artificial warefare, Call him old fashioned but man against man on the feild of battle was always the real way to tell if one was stronger, in his mind at least.

After locking the door, it moved back behind The Doc and the three of them moved through a few more smaller rooms until they came to what seemed the final in a confusing series of similar white rooms.

Indigo certainly wasn't getting out of here anytime soon.

Indicating a hospital bed, the Doctor stalked over to a few draws and shuffled around with some things, Indigo removed his coat and placed it on the end of the bed and emptied his trouser pockets on top of it, Lighters, bags of tobbacco, Rolling papers a few coins and paper notes, a paper clip... Indigo looked at it for while confused but thought better of going down the "where did this come from?" road and placed it on the coat.

He paused for a while and looked at B-Man who was sat down on a chair nearby and flicked his head up in acknowladgement of the look. Indigo sighed and removed his hat, reavealing a bald head. The suprised B-Man could do nothing but stare for a moment as Indigo placed the hat on the jacket. The suprise turned to shock as it sunk in that there were metal strips embedded and running from front to back along his skull.

"Heat sinks" He said, tilting his head slightly and staring off into the distance, the strips opened and thin strings of silver seeped out making funny looking platinum mohicans across his head, rotating his head a bit they sank back in and the strips closed, "They uhh...Help me think faster, everything goes slow motion, it's.." He looked at the Doc, who seemed more excited than B-Man, who was just shocked.

Xan lead the two men back into the main examination room and motioned Cap toward the bed. "No need to strip completely. Topless will be fine." he stated, stepping over towards a series of drawers and cabinets. He wasn't sure if Cap had heard him, but he figured it would be alright. This guy seemed like he wouldn't go any further than necessary.

"Heat sinks" he heard behind his back as he withdrew a few instruments from a small drawer labeled 'BIOHAZZARD'. The voice made him pause, as this was the first time he had heard the man speak. There was something there... something behind the vocalization. Something almost... synthetic. He didn't have much time to think about it, though, as the impact of what words were actually spoken dawned on him. Xan turned around in time to see numerous microfilament wires slip back into the Captain's head and several metal strips slide over them. "They uhh...Help me think faster, everything goes slow motion, it's..."

Xan grinned wide and interrupted. "It's Congruous Time Dilation. Your mind thinks faster because your mental acumen is expanded almost thousand-fold, if not more..." he glanced over at the perplexed face of B-Man. "In short, your friend here can tap into a far larger portion of his brain than most people can, if he needs to. It's like slapping a 20gig chip into a common vidphone... if you don't vent the heat, the phone would explode before you finished dialing."

The Captain gave Xan an odd look as B-Man regained himself and closed his mouth.

"Oh, I know alot about CTD. I mean, I should... I helped write the initial coding back in my lab days," he picked up a syringe and stepped toward Cap, "but honestly, I never thought anyone would get past the incindiary barrier. Shit, they not only passed it, but successfully incorporated it into a living human? Science, these days, I tell ya..." he paused, noting the Captain's eyes transfixed on the syringe. "Oh, don't worry. I just need a blood sample. Here..." he held it out for the man to take, "you can draw it yourself if that makes you more comfortable. About 10cc's should do."

Cap took the syringe cautiously, then Xan turned his attention back to the drawers, calling over his shoulder, "It would appear there's quite the mystery to you, my friend... how about you give me a rundown on exactly what it is that brings you here. Might help me understand just what it is I should be 'checking up' on..."

Taking the syringe he sat on the bed,

Hate not to trust, but...

"You're the Doc, Doc, you tell me. All I know is what they do, I might have more stuff in me, but I can't be sure" Stretching his arm he tied off his bicep with a piece of flexi-cord and held in place with his teeth, tapping the area where his artery should be, it came up well and he readied himself, Fucking injections. The blood came out easily as he flexed his hand and was done in a few seconds. Pulling out the needle he let go of the flex and pressed on the hole to make sure no extra blood poured out, "Don't suppose I get tea and biscuits for my donation?" He chuckled to himself and handed the Doc the small vial of his blood.

"So, why am I here you say? Well B-Man thought it would be a good idea to get me checked up against anything untowards in my system, depending on which way you look at it, it's either too late or never going to happen I guess... So further back then..."

Giving it some thought Indigo visably mused for a while, finally shrugging "I have no idea, to be perfectly honest I only remember training for seven years with Gatshall and others" Nodding to B-Man "Oh yes, he and I were in the same troop, double crossing mother fucker was up to something, but I've never really been sure, all I know is he was trying to take over the facility by force and well, it was my home, and the people there were my family."

He drifted off for a moment, "The last thing I remember I was outside on the green, three miles from the over base, the public front for what was going on underneath, and it blew. He was in there I know he was. Even if he did get out he could never have gotten clear...."

"It was night and it had been snowing, the whole place was covered in the stuff, everywhere, then it was gone, vaporised immidiately. The most amazing thing I'd ever seen in my life, it all rose up like a ball of pure light had just been born, brighter than the sun. Then it hit me like a kick in the face from the devil himself, burning hot steam covered all over and started to blister my skin. I thought I was dying but at least I had got him, and then..." He looked up "I was in a shopping mall, naked, but I was fine apart from the uhh.." He tapped the strips on his head "...freaked the fuck out of me. I mean I've woken up naked before but not after I thought I was dead and with metal in me. I looked around and found the whole place was locked but I was inside somehow so I just took everything I could carry, clothes, food, money, and I ran. And now... I'm here" He finished with an open handed jesture and moist eyes, "All this, is a bigger mystery" He said waving his hands over himself in general "I just hope you can tell me what there is, and if I'm still human"

I hope I'm still human

"Don't suppose I get tea and biscuits for my donation?" Cap mused, handing over the sample.

"Well, by the looks of things, I'm likely to bet you two haven't really had a good meal in a while. B-5, why don't you go make preparations for dinner. That should give us enough time here, to which we can all look forward to a warm meal."

B-5 performed the floating sphere equivilant of a nod and drifted from the room.

Xan began to listen to the man's story as he placed the vial in an odd looking contraption and began to wheel out various devices and instruments. He nodded occasionally, getting a clearer picture of what was going on. As the Captain tapped the strips in his head, Xan pulled over a stool and sat, reaching for a simple stethescope.

"All this, is a bigger mystery," Cap motioned to himself with a look of distant sadness, "I just hope you can tell me what there is, and if I'm still human"

"Human?" the Doc said, fixing the stethescope in place and placing the larger of the flat ends to Cap's chest. "Breathe in please? ... Now exhale? Thank you." he pulled the instrument from his ears and jotted a few numbers onto a sheet, then turned back to look Cap in the eyes. "Yes, perhaps some part of you is still human. Completely? No. I'm afraid you're beyond that classification at this point... but some part of you... the larger part, I would wager, is still human. If you weren't, well... there would be no you. The military prides themselves on their ability to de-humanize their weapons. Now... is this process reversible? Have you reached the point of no return? Well... that's what these tests should determine." he turned his attention to B-Man. "Beeman, you should probably go check on B-5. He can cook a helluva feast, but without a little help he's pairing nachos with gravy and prime rib with macaroni."

B-Man nodded and stood with a look of faint hunger in his eyes, and stepped from the room.

"Alright," Xan began when he felt B-Man had gone far enough out of earshot. "Beeman and the rest of The Copperheads are not aware of this, and I would prefer it if this information never left this room..."

Cap nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"Right. Anyway... it sounds to me like you are a product of the Genesis Soldier Project. I say 'sounds like', because I'm sure the militery changed a few things after I left. Those strips in your head are proof enough for that. Now, the Genesis Soldier Project, GSP was a result of many different individual projects which were brought together in the military's attempt to create a single squad of soldiers who could effectively take on an entire battalion. Myself, I worked on the CTD project, as well as mobile conditioning and collective reasoning projects. The CTD, we were told, would not be used in the final 'product' as they called it. It looks like we were lied to."

Xan wheeled over a large grey device and extended a long silver cord. "I need you to remove the nail of your index finger on your left hand. That is, of course, I need you to check if it's possible. If so, some of my suspicions may very well be true..."

Cap looked confused for a second, then looked at his left hand. Humoring the doctor, he picked at it with his thumb nail, and much to his surprise, it flipped up like a miniature hatch. "How..."

"Don't worry, you're not a machine. Well, not completely. In case of your hand there, only the tip has been replaced, with a small port attached to your nerve endings for mission debriefings and progress updates. Here. attach this to the small node..." he handed the silver cord to Cap and flipped a few switches. "Also... when I say 'don't worry', I'm doing it more for my sake. For you, well, you also shouldn't worry... but to be honest, if I were in your shoes, I would be. With a memory like yours, I wouldn't have any idea what to expect. So really, if you want to worry, go ahead. It won't do you much good, though, since whatever they've already done has been done."

As soon as the cord was attached, the machine lit up. Various panels came alive giving readouts on everything from heart status to ankle pressure. Xan nodded and took down a few notes.

"As I was saying... The military had us working on countless projects. Most of the time we didn't know exactly what our progress was to be used for, and even more often we had no idea what other projects were being worked on by other teams." Doc disconnected the cable and pushed the machine away, then pulled a large dome shaped device closer, placing the dome directly over Cap's head. "The military called it 'plausible deniability'. I called it horse shit. That's why I left, of course. Close your eyes."

"Huh?"

"Close your eyes. This is going to be bright."

Cap closed his eyes as the doc slipped a pair of black goggles over his eyes and flipped a switch. An intense white light filled the room as Xan began to take down more notes from the connected viewscreen.

"Of course, with the military you don't just turn in your resignation papers and collect your severence. Not after you're in as deep as I was. So, I got ahold of someone on the outside and set up my 'death'. Took out nearly a quarter of the complex in the explosion... You can open your eyes now."

Cap opened his eyes to see Doc had already pushed the machine away, removed the goggles, and was once again writing a few things down.

"Here, bite down on this..." Xan handed Cap a mouthpiece connected to a series of wires and a console.

"This a test of my jaw strength, Doc?"

"No. It's a distraction." he said, tapping a switch on the bed with his foot.

The Captain arched suddenly as a swift jolt hit the base of his spine from athe metal bed he was sitting on. It only lasted a second, but stung like a bitch.

"What the hell was that for?!"

Xan reached behind Cap and felt around his back for a second, then, accompanied by a tearing sound, withdrew a small patch of what looked to be skin with a circuit grafted into it.

"Tracking graft. Almost undetectable. I'm not sure if they had activated it yet, but if they did, we have to hurry this up." he placed the patch into Cap's hand and stood up, heading back over to the cupboards.

After meeting up with Doc, they walked down the hallway to the Main Examination Room. Everything looked as spotless as he remembered it the last time he was in here. Of course at that time he was bleeding like a stuck pig with shrapnel embedded in his body and a couple bullet wounds for good measure. Doc patched him up and made him good as new. If it wasn't for Doc, The Copperheads would've had a much higher fatality rate.

As B-Man sat down in a chair, he was watching Doc doing his normal stuff until he noticed Cap taking off his hat. The sight of the Heat Sinks was downright shocking to him.

"Wha-wha-wha-wha...HUH?"

Doc then explained the Congruous Time Dilation system in his head and the anology of the 20 Gig chip in a Vidphone.

Holy Fucking Shit...just what the hell did the military DO to him?

B-Man then regained part of his composure as Cap informed the two gentlemen about his "previous relationship" with Gatshall and the likelyhood of him being a Cyber-Soldier, which Doc was seeming to agree with. By this time, Doc asked B-Man if he would help B-5 make dinner. He left the examination room and headed for the kitchen which was well out of his earshot.

"Goddamn, now this is some crazy shit. We've heard rumors and third hand info but to actually SEE one...that's wild."

B-Man by this time had entered the kitchen, where he saw B-5 start to tip a box of spaghetti into a frypan with his delicate arms dangling from the equator of his sphereoid body.

"Whoa! Stop! B-5, what are you doing?"

B5: "Preparing dinner sir, like Master asked me to."

"You don't put spaghetti into a frypan, you boil it in a pot of water. Here I'll cook, you help me ok?"

B5: "As you wish, sir."

B-Man gets a pot and fills it with water then puts it on the stove.

"Got any ground beef?"

B5: "Yes sir, I'll get it now."

The little sphere goes to the fridge and retrieves a pound of Ground Chuck.

"Now I want you to take the meat and roll it into balls about 1.5 inches in diameter...wait, make it 2 inches in diameter. Is there any Panko?"

B5: "Yes sir, in the pantry behind you."

B-Man gets the Panko breadcrumbs, pour some of the box onto a cookie sheet and places it near B-5.

"After you roll the meat, roll them in the Panko until they're covered. Oh, need some oregano in there."

He then gets some oregano from the pantry and sprinkles some on the Panko and mixes it. He then stops to ponder.

"Hmm...what are we missing? Oh yeah! Garlic Bread. Can't have spaghetti without Garlic Bread."

He goes to the freezer and finds a dozen ready-set pieces of Garlic Bread that just needed to be thawed and heated. He places it on the counter as the water then comes to a rolling boil.

"Now for the spaghetti."

He puts the noodles in the boiling water as he checks up on B-5. He sees that the little droid had made about a dozen meatballs all exactly 2 inches in diameter.

"You are exact, aren't you?"

B5: "Well, what would you expect? I am a floating AI with more computing power than your feeble mind."

B-Man gives the Evil Eye to the floating toaster.

"Is that right....well your brain wouldn't do shit after I put an Electro Magnet on your chromedome, now would it?"

B-5 hovers for a tenth of a second.

B5: "I would have no doubt that you would."

"I guess you're smart after all. Now go make a simple salad for three."

The droid seemed to huff, that is if it had a mouth to huff in the first place, as it went to the fridge to get stuff for the salad. As B-Man gets the meatballs ready for the SpeedCooker, he notices the sphere is about to slice into a head of cabbage.

"Stop! Are you nuts? I want a salad, not coleslaw!"

He takes the head of cabbage, returns it to the Fridge and comes back with a head of Iceberg and some Romaine.

"Use these, along with a couple more vegetables...but NO BROCCOLI or I'll kick your ball butt out of this kitchen."

B-5 takes the verbal onslaught.

B5: "Why the Master puts up with you, I have no idea."

"That's not for you to worry about. Just do your job."

B5: "Yes, sir."

As the ball begins slicing up the lettuce and getting other things for the salad, B-Man takes a look at the spaghetti and stirs it to make sure all of it is getting done correctly. He placed the meatballs, now on a safe plate, into the SpeedCooker and set it for 90 seconds but didn't turn it on just then. He looked over the noodles as they became al dente. He got one out with the tongs and tasted it.

"Almost ready, just another minute. How's the salad coming B-5?"

The droid had gotten the salad prepared in three bowls and placed them on the table which had the placesettings all set.

"Very good. Now, what red wines does the Doc have?"

B5: "He has a good Zinfandel."

"I said RED wine, that's white. There any Burgundies or Merlots?"

B5: "Yes sir, a 30 year old Merlot."

"Good, get it on the table then and after that, go in the Exam room and tell them that dinner is ready."

B5: "Very well sir."

As the bot did his duty and headed back, B-Man tasted the noodles once again and after deeming them fit for consumption, drained them in a colander in the sink. As they drained, he started the SpeedCooker and within 90 seconds the meatballs were done, which he pulled out and placed in the Garlic Bread for 45 seconds of thawing, 45 seconds of heating. He transferred the noodles to the three plates on the table.

"Oh shit...forgot the sauce. Oh well, looks like its from the jar for this."

He went into the pantry and got a jar of spaghetti sauce and heated it up in a bowl after pulling out the Garlic Bread and getting them in a towel-lined basket and draped the towel over the top to keep them warm. He got the sauce out and put a ladel in it as he set it on the table along with the meatballs, garlic bread, and a couple dressings for the salads. By this time, Cap and Doc had entered from the Exam Room.

"Gentlemen, Dinner is served. I'm starved, so let's eat."

The Electric shock went right to his bones causing him to think that they might no longer be bone, the more he thought about it the more he worried that he might have no soul, but then he was still himself, At least he looked human.

Don't worry about it He told himself, Its happened and there really isn't that much you can do about it, so just learn to... *Skrrtch* Came a sound from his back as he felt Xan pull something from his back, looking round he saw the circuit skin that he had pulled off "Tracking graft. Almost undetectable. I'm not sure if they had activated it yet, but if they did, we have to hurry this up." The Doc told Indigo as he handed it to him and turned.

He looked at it for a while seeing something in it, it looked wrong, it looked broken, "...No..." He murmured quietly, "It was never on, but it's broken now..." He continued, concentrating on the patch he tried to see what was wrong with it "The main transmittor has been burnt out, secondary and tertiary power links are also shot. If we re-route the battery through the secondary transmission conduit it could send out enough data to confirm location, area space, altitude, temperature and humidity for twenty seconds..." He reemed out blankly earning a cautiously querying look, "..or..." Staring at the device he frowned and ripped it in half and placed it down beside him, holding onto the sides of the bed he tilted his head to one side twisting his neck until it clicked. His eyes shot open and started to dart around the room, "No!..no! No!" He said aloud as if he was arguing with them

"Ok, Clam down" Said the doctor but was met with a palm infront of his face, Indigo had calmed down and was staring off, twitching his eyes slightly and smiling wryly. He turned his hand around and looked directly at the Doctor and indicated for him to come closer, leaning forward Doc looked into Indigo's eyes and saw..."Lasers?"

"It's a Hud... I can see..." He drifted off again and looked down the Doc "Heh, You need to put some weight on, you're under your index.." He chuckled "I've got quite a system, 30% total body coverage, 60% Brain, but mostly Heat sink, other system are storage for recording and system information, interesting... Bi-brain circuitry and mostly throughout" He said looking at parts of his body, stretching the skin looking at the Circuitry that he could now see clearly "I'm not finished though... I lack the cyber muscular adaptation, I have the biologically enhanced but without the rest, it's dangerous, which means that I'm being missed about now...Shame, looks like I won't be home for tea. The tracker you pulled off was a diversion, they didn't anticipate you they think your dead" He nodded "that's what I've got here anyway" He said tapping his head again

"Why were you saying no?" The Doc asked, morbidly interested by the information that was being revealed, "Ah yes, That was the link up and service connections, trying to call home and say 'we're here, help me' but I closed that, I have options to connect to the mainframe, but I don't really want to risk that kind of exposure, and I'm not sure how to do it"

He smiled at the Doc and looked at the far wall, "I think dinner is nearly ready, and there's some information on why I came out of hibernation early... He should hear this"

The two were greeted by B-Man and the glorious smell of cooked food "Gentlemen, Dinner is served. I'm starved, so let's eat." he said with pride. They sat down and began to eat, "B, I have something to tell you, I know why I'm here and it has to do with you..."

"Heeeeey Baker."

...

"Baker field. Come in. Comeincomeincomein. Baker fieeeeeeeld. Baker."

...

"Hello? Hello. Paging Drs. Baker and Field. Report to the OR stat, 'cuz you about to get WRECKED UP, BOYEEE."

...

"YEEEEEEEEEAH BOYEEEEEEEEE. BAKE'A BAKE ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT TIME IT IS. YA GOT 'EM RUNNIN' SCARED NOW, CHUCK, Y-"

Tinny laughter pierced the white noise and Lil' B trailed off in embarrassment.

"Alright, you're done. We thought f'sho you weren't comin' tonight."

"Yeah, well, sucks for you. I'm under the park. Why do you let me do that?"

"Uh, actually, I just won a bet. 10 bucks on 2 to 1 odds against. Royce thought for sure we'd get the Humpty Dance again."

"... I'll humpty YOUR dance again. Fucker."

"Right."

"Glad to help out. So... how's the park tonight?"

"Crazy. A bunch of guys came out of Mt. Vernon looking for a fight a few hours back and the Rangers were more n' happy to give it to 'em. Looked really bloody from here. Right now the shit looks mostly done wit but somebody is settin' tenements on fire on the north side and the Rangers are still combing the park for stragglers."

"Fucking hell."

"No shit. Looks like you're SOL for now, fucker. You seen Rainey lately?"

"No, but the Citadel's my next stop. Why?"

"He got a package for you. Two minutes, fifty seconds. Seeya in... eh, few days."

"K. Peace."

"Out."

Lil' B replaced the receiver on the ugly-ass phone and locked it in place before returning the unit to its hiding place behind a loose steam grate. He also stacked the British MGs in the little crawlspace before pounding the grate back into the wall with Lou's blunt end. He swept the surrounding tunnel one last time with his flashlight beam and headed back to the main line.

The railsled was where he left it and the cargo was undisturbed. Ironically, the NY underground was probably the safest place in the city after dark. The tunnels had fallen into disrepair since the collapse, and the old rumors of mutant gators, CHUDs and worse had spread throughout the frightened city like wildfire. Criminals, an especially superstitious lot, often avoided the underground altogether. Just makes my job easier... Alls I gotta do now is double back and bring the rest of this shit straight into the Citadel station.

He allowed himself another clove cigarette and casually glanced at his watch. 4:00 AM... been a pretty good night.

A small silence fell on the room as The captain looked at B-Man, the tension was building up and it was begginning to notice "Oh! No! Not now" Indigo said cheerfully and munched down on the meal infront of him, "You see, You were delivering a small amount of arms to a very important client a few weeks back, down in the east side of Ground Zero" B-Man coughed a little on his spaghetti "Yes, well" Indigo continued "I was there and I was just about to come down for you, but something happened"

The two lent over the table slightly waiting in anticipation for him to finish chewing, Indigo looked up at the two from his plate "I don't know what happend, I just didn't want to do it, I broke into the mall, and saw you again"

He continued mauling his meal.

When he started diving into his well-prepared meal, B-Man heard Cap talkin.

Cap: "B, I have something to tell you, I know why I'm here and it has to do with you..."

He automatically stopped slurping his noodles in mid-stream, looking like he had a white and red beard stretched into his plate. The look from his face was that of puzzlement and bewilderment...and paranoia.

Me? He came here for me? The "chance encounter" in the alley was a setup?

Cap: "Oh! No! Not now!"

Cap continued to enjoy the meal as if he hadn't eaten in days. B-Man then tried to finish up the mess of noodles dangling from his mouth. When he got done with a mouthful of the spaghetti, he continued.

Cap: "You see, You were delivering a small amount of arms to a very important client a few weeks back, down in the east side of Ground Zero."

At this point, B-Man just about had a conniption and a heart attack all rolled into one. However to anyone just noticing the physical cues, he just started choking on the noodles still in his esophagus on its way to his stomach. Cap continued.

Cap: "Yes, well I was there and I was just about to come down for you, but something happened..."

As he attacked a new fork of spaghetti, B-Man's mind was racing.

My God, what have I done? He here to kill me and T.C.? He REALLY working for Gatshall and just lied about hating him? Are The Copperheads done? Why didn't my sense tell me he was out to kill me? How am I gonna tell the others to prepare for evac?

Cap then spoke up again.

Cap: "I don't know what happend, I just didn't want to do it. I broke into the mall, and saw you again..."

Cap then proceeded to maul into his meal with more zeal. Doc and B-Man are trying to work their minds faster than a light-second to determine their next course of action with this potential assassin, but for B-Man, the last sentence popped back into his head.

"I don't know what happened, I just didn't want to do it."

B-Man, after downing the Merlot which he thought might be his last alcoholic beverage in this life, then speaks up.

"...and why didn't you want to do it?"

What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do...?

"...and why didn't you want to do it?"

"I said, I don't know" Indigo wiped some dark red spooge that seemingly eminated from the white tendrils that dissapeared down his gullet, "My mission was to kill you while you made the transaction, I was above you hidden in one of the architectual details, good cover, fast insertion, all that jazz"

Indigo smiled "but just as I was about to 'drop in' on you, I just didn't want to do it... everything up to the point where I was on my mission was directed at killing you, I would only be happy if you died, because that would have ment my mission was completed. But I didn't want to kill you, so I left.

"I can assure you, there are no more urges to kill you, it was just professional buisness, nothing personal. Heh, lucky you eh?"

Indigo leant over and patted B-Man on the back "You can relax you know, I really won't kill you, Lifetime friends maybe be enemies on the battlefield, but they're still friends...hrmm... Anyway, if I wanted you dead you would be, but I don't, Infact I want you alive, and you" he said waving a fork at the Doctor "You are both very invaluable to helping me getting my revenge and putting that walking corpse in his grave. So think of me as your guardian angel, I need your help so you have mine."

"No... It was never on, but it's broken now..." Xan heard behind himself as he plugged numbers into the machine housing the blood sample. "The main transmittor has been burnt out, secondary and tertiary power links are also shot. If we re-route the battery through the secondary transmission conduit it could send out enough data to confirm location, area space, altitude, temperature and humidity for twenty seconds..." The voice was fading in and out as Xan focused more on the data he was seeing displayed. "..or..." Something wasn't right here. These figures weren't adding up. The Doc pressed a few buttons and began to print off a sheet of results. "No!..no! No!"

Xan wheeled around at the frantic voice. "Ok, whoah! Clam down!" He took a step forward, shoving the paper into his pocket and preparing himself to bring Cap back to his senses, but halted as a hand flew up in front of his face. He waited for a moment as Cap seemed to be lost in something, then leaned in a bit closer as the hand was removed. "...Lasers?"

The Captain explained about what he had sensed, going over details in a sense that made Xan think that the shock had done more than just short out the tracker. In fact, it sounded to the doctor like the shock had awakened portions of the Captain that had been left dormant... or possibly incomplete.

After a quick bit of further discussion, Cap abruptly changed the subject. "I think dinner is nearly ready, and there's some information on why I came out of hibernation early... He should hear this."

Doc checked the clock and nodded, flipping a few switches... some on, some off. "We'll get the rest of the results after we eat." He nodded again and lead the Captain through the halls to the dining room. It wasn't a rather large room, but by no means was it simple. Xan kept his living area as he kept his lab. Everything had it's place.

As they entered the room, B-Man presented the food, spreading his arm in an arc over the table. "Gentlemen, Dinner is served." He then plopped into the closest chair and continued, "I'm starved, so let's eat."

Xan took his standard seat near the kitchen door and reached for the bowl of noodles. "Beeman, this looks excellent. I'm glad to see you haven't lost your touch."

A little ways into their meal, Cap spoke up. "B, I have something to tell you... I know why I'm here and it has to do with you..."

Xan paused mid chew and looked up, glancing back and forth slowly between the two men. <i>Well now... this should prove interesting...</i>

1110GMT 16-06-20 +++What are you on about?

1110GMT 16-06-20 +++i sed asshole wuz ere lookin 4 u

1110GMT 16-06-20 +++coppers cam fru n was axin 4 jimmy jazz.

1111GMT 16-06-20 +++we sed u aint ere but wud dey like 2 leave a message

1111GMT 16-06-20 +++Well done.

1111GMT 16-06-20 +++ya

1111GMT 16-06-20 +++but e didnt want 2 leave a messag n dey tore de place up lookin 4 u

1112GMT 16-06-20 +++dey axed abotu some uvva fella 2 but i don rememba is name. dey ad a pitcher of im wif dem

1112GMT 16-06-20 +++Was he a rebel?

1112GMT 16-06-20 +++no e was in british uniform

1114GMT 16-06-20 +++looked bloody sharp - elite special ops or sumfin

1114GMT 16-06-20 +++That's interesting.

1114GMT 16-06-20 +++ya, reckon dats y dey lookin 4 u

1116GMT 16-06-20 +++dey aint fucked wif ne of our safeouses fer a well long time

1117GMT 16-06-20 +++No.

1118GMT 16-06-20 +++It would definitely be a good idea to keep an eye out for anyone matching his description. I know Gatshall has made quite a few enemies back home but I would never have expected for them to break ranks so publicly.

1118GMT 16-06-20 +++u fink we should be lookin 4 this chappie?

1119GMT 16-06-20 +++o ok

1119GMT 16-06-20 +++The man must be capable to upset Gatshall like this. I feel that he will come to us.

1120GMT 16-06-20 +++rite we will jus look out fer im den

1121GMT 16-06-20 +++but ear dis we alredy rang kid presnetable n hes on his way 2 da club.

1122GMT 16-06-20 +++Don't let him mash the boy up too bad until I've at least talked to him. Keep me posted.

1122GMT 16-06-20 +++rite sorted. peace.

1122GMT 16-06-20 +++ DISCONNECT: USR-JAZ193822000 +++

B-Man was on shaky ground. Hearing Cap talking about wanting to kill him then just deciding not to and calling him a friend was all too wierd.

Maybe it's because of that damn computer in his head. All he deals with are ones and zeros: yes or no, good or bad, friend or enemy. But he just said Friends can be enemies on the battlefield and can still be friends....this is almost too much.

Pouring himself another glass of the Merlot, B-Man puts down his silverware and focuses on Cap.

"You realize you've put me in one HELL of a pickle here. Hearing all this about you being sent to kill me then just deciding not to? Somehow I find that a bit off what with all that tech crammed in your body. If the Military did what they did to you, I think it would've been smart for them to make sure that you did what they told you to."

Doc: "They did...until it was broken."

"Huh? Broken? You saying Cap is a broken assassin like in those Ludlum novels?"

Doc: "Something like that. There was a tracker graft on the small of Cap's back, but it was disabled as if it was given one helluva shock. If that shock was transmitted through his metal frame, then it's highly possible that part of the programming would've been knocked out too. Same thing that happens when a surge goes through your PC and fries the components."

"So you're saying that some shock went through Cap and damaged his killer program enough to stop him from killing me? But then why is he still alive and eating?"

Doc: "The brain is an interesting piece of technology, B. It has a wonderful way of adapting to things that others simply can't do. This is the true Cap: his emotions, actions, speech patterns. They were suppressed by the tech in his head but when they were damaged, his true original personality came out."

B-Man then turns to Cap again

"So you're NOT gonna kill me per your programming?"

Cap: "That's what I said. I need you, you need me. Simple as that."

B-Man thinks on this.

"Well, I'll tell you one thing that's certain - T.C. and the other Copperheads should NEVER know of this. They're even more paranoid about stuff like this than I am and they might just shoot first to rule out any possible 'incursion.' Doc, just how much of his tech is still working?"

"Doc, just how much of his tech is still working?"

Xan looked over at Cap, thinking for a moment. "Honestly... there's no way of knowing. Not without first knowing exactly how much tech is actually in him. I could tell you what's registered and what shows up in the scans... but if he's been toyed around with by the military for as long as he says, there's no way of knowing just how much they stacked into him without getting a file or a complete registry on all parts and processes involved. In short... I have no idea."

B-Man raised an eyebrow at Doc, and then sighed, turning back to his ever decreasing glass of merlot. "Fine... so we need papers? Some kind of inventory list? Then we go find one..."

"Whoah whoah, slow down..." Xan said, passing the bottle back over to B-Man so he could refill his glass. "It's not something that's going to be easy, even if it is something we want to know. The military doesn't just hand out papers or anything. And I doubt finding a street vendor who can give you the NeoYork Times and a folder of top secret files is all that easy, either. Besides," he added, looking over to Cap, "He says he needs us for something. Sure, getting the information may help us out, but if there's something else more important we have to take care of, then I don't think tossing ourselves into the path of unneeded danger is something he would much appreciate... am I right?"

The Captain nodded, wiping at the edge of his plate with his bread.

"Exactly. So what we need to do is work out some type of plan to get you two in to do whatever it is you have to do, and then hope for the best. I'll use whatever information I've gathered from these tests to come up with countermeasures you can use against the others."

Cap paused and looked up at the Doc. B-Man spit the sip he had just taken back into his glass and lowered it, looking from the doctor to the man opposite him.

"Others..?"

Doc silently swore, then looked over at B-Man. "Well, I guess I can let a little bit of this out... Yes, others. As I was telling Cap here earlier, he's apparently a part of what the government calls the 'Genesis Soldier Project', which is basically an attemt at building an elite squad of super soldiers. Devoid of emotion, efficient in killing... really big trouble. Cap here is one of them, and I doubt the government would stop at one. Even if he was only a first production run, I'm sure they have to have at least a prototype out there somewhere... or maybe the Captain here is the prototype, and the finished models have already gone into production. Either way... he's only one piece of what I would assume to be a five or six member squad. Which basicly translates to much trouble for us if they're dispatched to retrieve him..." he paused, looking at B-Man, "...or finish the job he couldn't complete."

B listened to what Doc had to say and it wasn't getting any prettier.

"This just isn't my fucking day, is it? First Cap shows up out of nowhere, then we get a suprise raid, then find out you're a cyborg and you were sent to kill me THEN find out you don't want to kill me anymore AND you have other colleagues like you that MIGHT want to finish the job with me...uuuugh...this just isn't my damn day."

B-Man then makes a connection.

"Wait...if the British Military created you and you were sent to kill me then that means they either know or suspect that I'm a Rebel and might know others. Shit."

Cap: "So, what are you gonna do now?"

Cap finishes up his serving of spaghetti. B tries to think out a plan of action.

"At this point, we might have to initiate Code Black. I would have to speak with T.C. and the benefactors to determine if Code Black will be necessary or if we might try another course of action. For right now though, we'll go under the assumption that they know who I am as well as T.C. We'll have to play it cool so as to not garner any interest from them and we'll probably need all the info you might have in your cranium."

B finishes the Merlot and gets up from the table to get his jacket.

"Cap, come with me. We should go see T.C. and let him know what's going on at this point, minus that whole Cyborg Assassin Trying to Kill My Ass bit. He hears that and he'll probably put a bullet in your head...or balls I'm not sure which. Doc, try and get whatever info you can about this Genesis Soldier shit so we can get a good idea about their capabilities and their numbers. I know it'll be hard as hell but I'm sure you still have a couple contacts that aren't tied with the Copperheads you can work with. The less activity from the Copperheads attracting the military's attention, the better off we'll be at this point."

B puts on his jacket, shakes Doc's hand and ventures outside waiting for Cap to walk with him back to the Underground and hopefully to T.C.'s apartment. As he waits, a pair of eyes watches him with interest.