AX-1

CHAPTER 3

"Doctor Meliger?" Califer called across the room.

"Yes?" The old man replied.

"I know our schedule is tight, but I feel as though we should explain our situation to our guest... He's in a pretty confusing and terrifying situation. We should clear this mess up as soon as possible..." Califer suggested, looking at a security screen into Alex's cell. The old man gave a little grin.

"Don't worry, I've sent Peter to brief him." Califer looked back at the screen. Sure enough, within five seconds the doors slid open and the force field activated. Peter Rogers walked through the barrier and into the room, his dirty-blond hair and smile radiating through the camera. He then proceeded to signal the camera. Califer pushed a button on the desk below the security screens. Suddenly, In two parts of the cell, the floor began to rise to form chair-shaped pillars of pure white. Alex was startled and in a defensive position, trying to keep his distance from the man.

"Hey, Alex. Relax. I'm not gonna hurt you... I've come to explain some things to you. I know you're confused and don't want to be here, but let me assure you that we are only doing this because we have no other choice" Peter tried to keep a reassuring voice, but Alex wasn't buying it.

"Here... have a seat... by the way, my name's Peter" Peter fell into one of the chairs, attempting to be as casual as possible. Alex hesitantly sat on the chair across, shifting his weight around to get comfortable on the hard surface.

"This might sound crazy, or fictional, but there are individual people who now directly pose a threat to this world's safety..." Peter paused, trying to explain what was on his mind. "These people defy what it means to be human. They possess strength unequal to anything we've ever seen before. They evade our government's military... and push their weight around while hurting or killing anything that opposes them, all while maintaining secrecy. These superhumans are created by an organization we know as The Foundation. They made two different prototype creations and are planning on creating more types of enhanced humans, or 'X's' the foundation calls them. Their first X creation, X-1, or project 'Midnight', rampaged through the Americas before somehow ending up being spotted In Ethiopia while doing hit and run tactics on major military and government establishments... He killed on average 60% of each base's residents, as well as completely destroying two of them..." Peter paused to let the information sink in. Alex absorbed the information, and based on the man's body language, he knew Peter wasn't making this up, regardless of how ridiculous or insane this entire situation was. The first real question he wanted to ask was where he fit into this, but they lured him in already, so first, he wanted to hear more. Gathering as much information as possible should be his top priority, he thought. He was also just oddly curious about these "X's" and how they work. There has been no news or information on such things, so he needed concrete proof that these things actually existed.

"You said they are people with inhuman ability, right? How so? You also said they were 'creations', what did you mean by that?" Alex asked, his tension waning yet still not completely diminished.

"The foundation captures people and then genetically enhances them before fusing them with something called an 'X enigma', or a piece of experimental technology or a special item that further gives them an advantage in combat or other things... to put in very over-simplified terms... Does that answer your question?" Peter replied. Alex was in disbelief that the world was advancing faster than he had thought. These practices were illegal, however, and he didn't know if the government knew about any of these practices, neither did he want to ask, as being too nosy could be dangerous. He then remembered something.

"Hey, Peter...where exactly are we?" Alex asked, concern rising suddenly in his gut.

"Hmm. I'm not sure I can tell you that, just for our safety, but I can say that we are not in Florida..." Alex's heart jumped. Not in Florida? His attention circled back to why he was here, and what they were going to do with him.