by The Eurostar
Edulcore Cicciotto:
The bearded man, Dr. Quantos, ushers me into his penthouse office. From the large windows, the busy business district of Mandelovia attracts my sight. I've been here many times, for the European Athletic Championship of 1990 and for various exhibitions in those years. When I had a sailing boat, many times I docked at the Mandelovian International Tourist Port.
"Have you ever heard of the MCCA?" asks the man.
I turn to him. "Only by your agent," I say.
"Lorena? She's not our agent. She's an attaché from the Mandelovian Security Corps, the metahuman division of the Mandelovian Security and Intelligence Agency. The Mandelovian Security Corps is a kind of foreign legion that accepts metahuman agents from around the world. We are merely... working together."
"Can I ask you why did you... kidnapped me?"
"Oh, you are not a prisoner. The doors are open, and you can leave whenever you want. But..."
"But?"
"But, as you have seen, there are agents looking for you. Looking for your DNA. Here you are safe."
"Why do you want to keep me safe from those... agents?"
"Mmm... let's just say that what interests TriVext interests us. Mandelovia has always been, since its foundation, at the forefront of scientific development. Now America, with the discovery of the metagene, is about to take a giant step, and we can't remain behind. The main difference between us and TriVext is that they take what they want, while we try to find agreeable partners. That's what I'm asking you, Edulcore Cicciotto. We are asking you to work for us."
"Tell me more about TriVext. Lorena said that they collect metahumans. Why?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you, sorry."
Before I can reply, an interoffice phone buzzes over the desk. The man lifts the receiver and brings it to his right ear. After a moment of listening, he says, "Okay, if you say so." He puts down the telephone and looks at me. "I'm authorized to give you all the details," he says.
"You mean there is someone watching us right now?"
"Yes, the boss. She... the boss is always under cover. For security's sake, you know."
"Security, security... what's going on, Doctor?"
"Our sources tell us that TriVext Corporation, an American genetic firm, is building an army of metahumans for the U.S. government. They have just begun a massive testing of all Americans to find those with an active metagene. Currently they are testing all newborns, and everyone in hospitals or mental institutions, but their goal is to test every American, and maybe everyone in the western world. What's more, they have begun testing a cloning procedure to duplicate the more powerful metas, and to activate the metagene in the right direction in people not yet activated."
"But why? And why me? I'm only a runner: I run faster than everyone else, but not much more than the best athletes. What good can I do?"
"I will respond to one question at a time. Why do they want to build an army of metas? It seems a pretty naive question, but actually it's more profound that it seems. The obvious answer is to be stronger that any other nation. An army of metas would be unbeatable in war."
"Unbeatable by the U.S. Army as well," I note. "They, the metas, could take over their nation and become the gods of this world, Olympians that rule over the planet, toying with the humans. At least, if words about flying and superstrong men are not fairy tales."
"They aren't fairy tales. I have footage of one meta who blows up the heads of bystanders."
"Eh?"
"It's true," says Quantos. "And what you said is true: an army of metas would be too dangerous even for the U.S.A., unless they have no other options."
"You mean they want the metas to fight terrorism? What if some switch to the other side? Kamikaze that don't die in the explosions. Human missiles? The world will become unlivable for the humankind."
"You're getting close, Cicciotto. Word is that humankind is not alone in the galaxy, and Earth will soon be involved in an interstellar war. And, still being very primitive in our technology, America wants to have an edge in the superiority of our species."
"They want replace men with supermen?"
"Right!"
"I... I can't believe it! We are about to be invaded? By whom?"
"Oh, now we enter the field of pure speculation. Our satellites, which the Mandelovians have had in orbit since the 'thirties, have indeed registered the landing of Roswell, and the subsequent sightings. Unfortunately, we've never gotten our hands on one of those flying saucers. The few details that we have been able to glean from the CIA is that there are two races battling for supremacy in the galaxy, the Boull and the Basilisks, as they are code-named. Some scouts may just now be here on our planet to prepare the invasion. They need something we have here, but what, we don't know. We also don't know if America is allying itself with one of the two races, if they plan to bring the war to our planet, or if it will be a battle in space.
"Your other question was why you. Well, we have been able to install and activate a virus in TriVext's computers that feeds information to our system -- Lexicon, I call it, but I digress. Well, to cut it short, they've found in the blood sample that the American Olympic Committee obtained from you five years ago that you have a metagene of Alpha Class. That's means that you are capable of having many more powers than the ones you show right now. Not merely supervelocity, but also flight, invulnerability and superstamina, and perhaps others as well."
"Impossible."
"It's true."
"I can't believe it."
"Will you help us?"
"Merda! No! No, I'm scared as hell! I don't want believe a single word of what you have said. Now I get out of that door and run away to home, and then I hope to awake from this bad dream."
"Wait a moment," he says, and hands me a photo. It shows a child, no more than three months old, with incredibly long, snakelike hair, floating in mid-air as if alive over an evil-looking man in a lab coat.
"The scientist is Dr. Zachary Knell of TriVext. He's nicknamed 'Doctor Clone' by his associates. TriVext's base of operations is the Citadel Building, constructed on an island in the river separating Thunder City and the suburb of Lightningburg. Part of this large complex is a half-dome facility called the Medical Duplication Sanctuary -- MeDuSa for short -- and nicknamed the Clone Dome. They've begun experiments with cloning there, Cicciotto, and that is how they discovered that you are an Alpha Class meta."
"You mean that this kid with hair like snakes..."
"He's your clone, Eurostar. We might even say he's your son!"