Heroes Legion: Year One: Episode 3: Brawl

Chapter 1: Scientific Hubris

TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO.....

August 2nd 2011: 10:30 AM, three days after the M-Gene Activator Explosion.

General Arcane was in his office on board the S.L.E.E.T Flagship the HMS Damocles; which was hovering above the U.S Capitol city of Washington D.C.

He was on the phone with his Clean-up crew chief in the quarantine zone erected around the ruins of the Nevada TechNet lab.

The area was still heavy with deadly M-radiation, so the "party line" it seems would remain around that area for the foreseeable future.

He was staring at the giant screens on his wall showcasing the files S.L.E.E.T had on Project: M

Arcane wasn't alone, in the room with him were two Generals from the Department of defense and D.A.R.P.A.

The rugged one with the Grey Hair and the slash on his chin was General Slager, and the younger one on the left was Sargent Briggs.

Both were individually Military Scientist and XO of a base in Maine outside a Sea town named Cliffside.

They had been sent by the President of the United States to investigate the events surrounding the High Priority TechNet research venture called "Project: M".

Arcane knew them both, and he couldn't say he was fond of their presence on his ship.

"How goes the situation in the desert Arcane?" General Slager asked.

Arcane turned to face the two men, "As you are undoubtedly aware Gentlemen from your superiors who had been brief by dignitaries who had been there to see for themselves. Including the President himself....Project: M was a success."

The Two men looked at each other, a brief moment of recognition on their faces but they remained composed.

General Arcane scoffed on the inside.

He knew they were playing the calm collected soldiers role, but Arcane could sense the stunned and ecstatic mood the two men had underneath those stoic masks.

They knew about the lab rats that had been temporarily mutated by Marcus's experiment. So he decided to continue with the facts.

"But there was a breach of security. A certain F.E.I.N.D spy called "Techno" snuck in disguised as a Dignitary's secretary. Then after killing one of my soldiers and taking his access card and Armor tried to steal the M-Gene Activator from Dr Marcus's lab. There was a scuffle and the machine overloaded and exploded. The entire area has been quarantined...the Meta Gene Activator was destroyed by the explosion".

Arcane motioned over to a TV screen showing a giant blast crater in the Nevada Desert, with a picket fence being put up around the blast sights safe zone by S.L.E.E.T forces "and I've been trying to keep all of Nevada's U.F.O nuts out of the Quarantine zone ever since!"

"Well better destroyed than in a terrorist organizations hands right" General Slager pressed, "so where is the remains device now?"

"Still in ground zero, the radiation is too hot for any of our Anti-Radiation gear. We'll have to go in when the Radiation is clear. Although our UAV Drones show the device like any other bomb is destroyed beyond recognition and repair. All we could find were these files on Dr Marcus's machine that were backed up onto our ships Memory banks when the Blast occurred." Arcane said explaining what the schematics on the other T.V screens were all about.

"Well how long will it take for the M-radiation as you call it to become hospitable to go in and examine the sight?" asked General Slager.

"Two years at the minimum" General Arcane answered.