New Age of Heroes 1: The League of Protectors - Dawn of a New Age (8 page)

Somehow, as weird
as it may seem, the two men had respect for one another. Jason was
impressed with Garrett’s ability to steal from him. He assumed
his account was as secured as an account could be. Garrett was
equally impressed with Jason’s ability to track him down. At
some point during the confrontation that resulted in Jason breaking
Garrett's nose, a job at Shaw Enterprises was offered to the troubled
hacker.

Much like his work
with the government, he was asked to make their security systems the
best they could be. Reluctantly Jason’s dad allowed Garrett to
work for the company; it was a decision that proved to be beneficial.

“I was aware
that you gentlemen would be visiting soon, but I wasn't told it would
be today or what the purpose of your visit was,” Agent Hardine
said.

Usually, any visit
to a G.U.A.R.D facility was accompanied by Mr. Connors with
supervision from Commander Sullivan. That wasn’t the case on
this day. Neither of them were anywhere in sight and he found that a
bit odd.

“We’re
here to check the security of this facility. After the near breach
last week, the President has authorized us to run some tests,”
Garrett said.

Agent Hardine had
an interesting look on his face. He was a suspicious man by nature.
It was his job not to trust anyone; it was one of the things that
made him so good.

“Seems to me
that would be a job for Stockton Incorporated, considering they're
the ones that constructed this prison,” Agent Hardine replied.

Garrett chuckled,
“That was then, this is now. Stockton Incorporated didn't have
me working on their systems. I'm the best there is at computer
defense and the President wants me to make sure that everything is
secure in light of last week.”

“I’m
going to need conformation on that.” the agent said.

Agent Hardine
pulled out his cell phone and began dialing someone. Jason placed his
left hand on the phone and stopped him from doing so. The Agent had
an intense look on his face and if Jason didn’t remove his
hand, he was going to do it for him. Jason took his hand off of the
agent’s phone and pulled out a piece of paper signed by the
President. Agent Hardine looked over the paper carefully and scanned
it for authenticity. Satisfied, he slid the phone back into his
pocket and led the two men inside the facility.

“Agent
Mallory, this is Jason Shaw and Garrett Blake, members of The League
of Protectors. They have been authorized by the President to test the
security of our systems.”

Agent Mallory had a
suspicious look on his face. It wasn’t that he or G.U.A.R.D had
anything to hide; the problem was the fact that the men checking the
systems were both Post Humans. Agent Mallory’s mistrust was
very easy to see and Garrett did not appreciate the suspicious looks
he and his co worker were receiving.

The two agents and
the two Post Humans reached the door that led to an elevator. Once
there, Agent Hardine and Agent Mallory had to be scanned for facial
and hand recognition. In addition to that, the two agents had to
input their personal code for entry. Those responsible for the safety
of the facility weren’t taking any chances. Jason and Garrett
took notes while the two agents waited for entry confirmation.

“What are you
guys writing down?” Agent Mallory asked abruptly. He suspected
they were copying the access codes.

Jason walked closer
to the Agent and showed him his notes. On the paper Jason simply
noted that the two agents followed protocol and that the security
system responded correctly.

“We're just
here to follow orders like the President wants,” Garrett said
annoyed by the distrust.

Agent Mallory
shifted his attention to Garrett and demanded to know what he wrote
down. Garrett raised his eyebrow and refused to show the agent.

The door opened and
the Agents were granted access to the elevator. Agent Mallory was not
satisfied; he pulled out his sidearm and directed it towards Garrett.

“Agent
Mallory what are you doing?” Agent Hardine shouted.

Agent Mallory kept
his attention directed at Garrett. Jason rushed over and placed
himself in front of Garrett.

“I’m
sure you’ve read the report on me, a simple bullet will have
absolutely no effect on me,” Jason reminded the Agent
confidently.

“He’s
right, he’s got a dense body structure that shields him from
almost any physical harm,” Agent Hardine added.

Agent Mallory had
no interest in the list of extraordinary attributes Jason possessed.

“What does
your friend behind you have to hide? Why won’t he show me what
he wrote down?” Agent Mallory asked.

Garrett stepped in
front of Jason to confront the agent. “If Jason wants to show
you what he wrote down that’s fine, it’s his prerogative.
I on the other hand don’t feel the need to show you anything.
I’m not obligated to do so and I find it quite disrespectful
that you feel you have the right to question me.”

Agent Mallory did
not budge and he kept his gun pointed at Garrett.

“Agent
Mallory, holster your weapon. These two men are our guests and they
have a job to do. We will not be responsible for preventing them from
doing their job.” Agent Hardine said.

Agent Mallory gave
Agent Hardine a hard look and then acquiesced to the agent's command.
He slid the gun back into its holster and then begrudgingly led the
Post Humans inside the elevator.

“How many
prisoners does this facility hold now?” Jason asked changing
the subject. Agent Mallory did not respond.

“We have over
two hundred prisoners here now Mr. Shaw. I would have to check the
system to give you the exact number,” Agent Hardine replied.

Garrett raised his
eyebrow. “Isn’t that something you should know
automatically?”

Agent Hardine gave
Garrett an annoyed look. “It is if I was a guard here at this
facility. My job is to track them down and bring them here. Knowing
the exact number of inmates is something I leave for the fine crew
here to know.”

“214 inmates
are here. Does that satisfy your curiosity?” Agent Mallory
asked smugly.

Garrett smiled; he
ignored the agent and began walking around the room. 214 prisoners
was a rather large number. Jason was a bit surprised with the amount
of prisoners the facility had. Jason made a mental note to get
Garrett to pull the files of each inmate inside the facility. He
wanted to be absolutely certain that only those that deserved to be
there were. The last thing he wanted to do was help aide the wrongful
imprisonment of anyone.

Garrett took notes
on the efficiency of the elevator. They were heading to the very
bottom of the facility, so the ride down was a bit longer than most
elevator rides. There were a lot of floors to the facility. The
elevator came to a stop and Agent Hardine was the first man out.
Garrett was the next man to exit the elevator followed by Agent
Mallory. Jason Shaw remained inside.

“Mr. Shaw?
Are you coming?” Agent Hardine asked.

Jason shook his
head. He decided to check out some of the inmates for himself. Agent
Mallory was visibly upset by Jason’s request. He was even more
upset when Agent Hardine gave Jason the go ahead and instructed Agent
Mallory to go with Jason.

Agent Mallory got
back into the elevator cursing silently to himself. The elevator went
back up and opened when it reached the corresponding level. Agent
Mallory and Jason Shaw got out of the elevator and began walking
around. Jason took out a device and began scanning the prisoners.

“Hey, what’s
that?” Agent Mallory asked. He placed his hand on Jason’s
chest in an attempt to stop him from walking.

“This little
device will confirm the identity of the prisoners you have here,”
Jason replied.

Agent Mallory stood
in front of Jason preventing him from moving forward. Well, not
really, because truthfully, Jason could easily move the agent out of
his way if he so desired. Luckily for Agent Mallory, that wasn’t
Jason’s desire.

“How dare you
come here and accuse us of putting people here illegally?”
Agent Mallory asked angrily.

“The same way
you can stand there and accuse me and Mr. Blake of trying to sabotage
the facility. Let’s face it, neither side trusts the other and
I’m okay with that. My job is not to get you to like me. My job
is to look after the security of this facility and the safety of its
occupants,” Jason replied.

Agent Mallory
huffed. “I don’t believe checking on the identity of
these inmates are any of your concern!”

Jason chuckled and
pushed his way past Agent Mallory with the extreme ease. “What
you believe and what is fact are two different things. The fact is, I
have authority to take any measures I deem necessary in keeping this
facility secure. Right now, I deem it necessary to check the identity
of every prisoner here.”

Agent Mallory
begrudgingly followed behind Jason cursing silently to himself. Cell
by cell Jason stopped to confirm each inmate’s identity.
Profanity, derogatory comments and obscene gestures were hurled at
Agent Mallory as he passed by the prisoner’s cells.

There was no love
for the agent. Several of the inmates recognized Jason Shaw as well.
G.U.A.R.D had more captures under their belt than the League, but The
League had their share as well.

The inmates viewed
both Jason and Agent Mallory as the enemy and desperately wished the
inhibitor field that kept their abilities suppressed would fail.
Jason continued checking each cell while the prisoners continued with
their onslaught of verbal attacks. Jason reached the last cell on the
right hand side and noticed something didn’t quite seem right.
His eyes locked with Erik Masters.

8

Distress
Signal

“Did you ever
think when you signed up for the military that one day you would be
doing this for a living?” Garrett asked.

Agent Hardine
thought about the question and chuckled. In all his years of living,
defending the country from another evolution of humans was not
something he had in mind.

“I always
thought our greatest enemy would be the Chinese or Russians, not a
group of humans with extraordinary powers.”

Garrett laughed,“I
always thought it would be some hostile alien race!”

Three other
technicians inside the room looked at Agent Hardine and Garrett Blake
with surprised expressions.

“So what do
you think of us?” Garrett asked as he sat down and began going
over the systems.

“Excuse me?”

Garrett chuckled to
himself realizing the last thing they were talking about were aliens.
He rephrased his question. “Post Humans, what do you think of
Post Humans?”

Agent Hardine
thought about the question for a moment. It was a tough question for
him to answer and he didn't want to say something that was offensive.
“I think Post Humans are a great threat to this world. For
example, you have the ability to communicate with electronics
correct?”

Garrett confirmed.

“So at any
given time you can walk up to an ATM and tell the machine to give you
money. Do you see what I mean? That type of power is dangerous.”

Garrett understood
where Agent Hardine was coming from. Thanks in part to his time
working with the League, Garrett had encountered some pretty
dangerous Post Humans. These were the type of Post Humans that had
the ability to wreck havoc whenever they saw fit.

Seeing how Garrett
possessed no offensive abilities and had very little training in
combat, he often felt worried when The League went on missions. If
they couldn’t stop these criminals and G.U.A.R.D couldn’t
either, then who was left to protect the world? Thoughts like these
often plagued Garrett’s mind.

“To be fair,
your team has done the best job possible for the public image of Post
Humans. There’s no denying the contributions The League of
Protectors have made. The problem isn’t what you guys have
done; the problem is what you guys are capable of doing. Regardless
of how much good you do, you’re always going to be looked at as
Post Humans and that's always going to concern a big group of the
population.”

Sadly Agent Hardine
was correct. Garrett knew deep down being labeled a Post Human would
always have its drawbacks. Being of Caucasian descent, Garrett never
truly understood the struggles minorities had. Now, however, he
understood it well. He was a minority now. He and anyone like him was
the new object of persecution. It sucked.

“Is that what
you see when you look at me Agent? Do you see a Post Human?”

Agent Hardine
smiled. It wasn’t too often he got a chance to converse with a
Post Human in this manner. Usually he was interrogating them or being
insulted by them. Having a regular conversation with one of them, he
found refreshing.

“When you and
I talk, you look at me and sure, you see a person. You see a man, but
somewhere inside of you, you distinguish me as a black man. Correct?”

Garrett raised his
eyebrow; he wasn’t exactly sure where Agent Hardine was going
with this.

“No matter
what I do, no matter what my intentions are, no matter how much we
have in common, you still recognize me as different. You still
recognize me as black.” Garrett nodded hesitantly.

“That’s
not to say that you have an issue with me because of my skin tone,
but you recognize that there is a difference between us. You have no
choice but to recognize it, it’s human nature. It can be
something as simple as one man being short and another being tall. It
can be one man being big and another being small. No matter what we
do, we recognize the differences.”

While continuing to
listen to Agent Hardine's explanation, Garrett jotted down notes
concerning his readings from the computer system.