Powerless (Book 1): Powerless (20 page)

I
stayed
still
and
concealed
myself
as
I
waited
for
events
to
unfold.
The
patrol
vehicle
that
had
halted
my
withdrawal
from
the
area
was
now
speeding
in
the
direction
of
the
explosions
to
valiantly
confront
whatever
had
caused
the
chaos
below,
freeing
me
to
withdraw.
I
chose
to
watch
events
unfold
rather
than
to
make
haste
with
my
exit.
Sirens
broke
the
intolerable
silence
and
I
viewed
a
lone
masked
soldier
enter
the
compound. He
was
scouting
and
wreaking
havoc
to
all
inside…”

“Do
you
remember
the
stories
Dad
used
to
tell
us
about
the
leap,
and
how
the
first
kids
affected
would
wear
masks
and
costumes
to
hide
their
identities? This
soldier
looked
something
like
how
you
would
imagine
them
to
look,
but
he
could
not
have
been
mistaken
for
a
hero…”

Tom continued on through glistening eyes.
“I
watched
this
single
individual
lay
waste
to
all
in
front
of
him,
he
seemed
to
grow
stronger
and
faster
with
every
person
he
faced
in
combat.
He
laid
waste
to
the
entire
compound
and
moved
with
a
stealthy
determination.
Some
of
the
enemy
soldiers
laid
down
their
arms
in
the
face
of
this
superior
force,
but
this
did
not
stop
the
individual
from
executing
all
inside.
Innocent
or
guilty,
the
individual
showed
no
bias
and
murdered
all
inside
without
proper
proof
of
guilt.

In
my
recon
report
I
viewed
at
least
fifty
operatives
within
the
compound,
along
with
the
main
target
and
his
entire
family
and
none
of
them
stood
a
chance
against
this
individual’s
attack.
The
last
thing
I
heard
before
a
deafening
silence
was
the
cries
of
children
ringing
out…”

Tom
was
a
highly
intelligent
person
and
knew
that
the
sort
of
concealed
dynamism
that
this
one
masked
individual
possessed
would
have
to
be
unstable.
As he spoke he let
his
feelings
known
for
what
he
had
witnessed.

“Murdering
innocent
people
that
I
swore
to
protect
goes
against
everything
that
I
hold
true
to
me,
so
I
resolved
to
investigate
further.

After
a
few
weeks
of
researching
into
the
‘weapon’
with
no
significant
breakthrough,
I
uncovered
some
highly
classified
files
on
a
ghost
server
in
a
secret
basement
in
the
base
where
I’m
stationed
and
learned
that
the
weapon
was
filed
as
Project K.
Also,
every
individual
who
took
part
in
the
development
of
Project
K
met
with
a
tragic
end. It
gave
me
chills
and
thinking
about
it
now
only
adds
to
it.”

Tom
told
his
brother,
“As
I
read
the
files
I
learned
how
Project
K
operated,
that
this
one
individual
was
able
to
absorb
the
powers
of
those
he
fought
and
permanently
fuse
their
energy
with
his
whilst
not
absorbing
their
weaknesses.
Making
him
effectively
immune
to
any
attack
an
enemy
could
strike
onto
him.

I
also
found
files,
which
were
buried
by
his
superiors,
that
showed
that
Project
K
was
unstable
and
had
a
tendency
to
go
rogue.
By
targeting
non-threatening
individuals
whose
powers
were
strong,
Project
K
was
able
to
absorb
their
energy
and
make
him
stronger.
The
files
also
contained
the
subsequent
cover
ups
to
hide
the
fact
that
Project
K
was
targeting
civilians.”

Spooked
by
seeing
this,
Tom
opted
to
copy
the
files
and
approach
his
old
commanding
officer
with
the
information;
the now Second Class Sergeant
McKay
. Despite their strained relationship he remained
a
man
Tom
had
served
with
for
the
past
five
years
and
a
man
Tom
trusted
with
his
life.
The
two
men
met
in
a
bar
that
soldiers
regularly
visited.
They
shared
a
few
stories
and
a
few
beers
and
spoke
of
missions
that
the
two
had
undertaken
in
previous
years.
Tom
had
been
dancing
around
the
topic
of
what
he
wanted
to
say
to
McKay
for
a
while
and
eventually
plucked
up
the
courage
and
told
McKay
his
story.

He told
him
about
the
delay
on
the
mission and
about
the
masked
individual,
the
secret
basement
and
about
the
ghost
server.
Giving
McKay
a
copy
of
the
files,
he told
him
they
were
the
only
copy
as
he
didn’t
want
them
falling
into
the
wrong
hands.
McKay
seemed
sceptical
of
the
information
he
was
being
given,
but
would
look
into
it
further
and
promised
to
keep
Tom’s
identity
as
the
source
of
the
information
secret.