Sleeping Beauty, Meet the Wack Pack

I've been watching Miss Matthews sleep for a while now, pondering: my role in this story; Jean, the key to unlocking so many mysteries; if I used too much chloroform, for Matthews is still zonked out (I checked her vitals. She's fine.); and how Taylor managed to secure such nice accommodations. It really is a nice room, minus the fact that there are no windows and the walls and doors are bullet-proof (just a safety precaution). Taylor really can be helpful. Usually, the prisoners get a nice interrogation table and a chair. This room has a real bed, a cushioned chair, a vanity, and an adjoining bathroom (this one has walls). Okay, this is taking too long. She should be awake by now. I went over to check on Jean again. Huh, unbelievable! She's still out of it. I'm pretty sure the chloroform has worn out by now..... She's sleeping. Sure, why panic if you've been kidnapped, when you can catch some z's instead? "You are one weird girl, Matthews." Whatever, sweet dreams.

"Come on, Mag. It's no fun swimming alone." said a young male voice.
"You know we're not supposed to go swimming, today. The grown-ups won't check until tommorow." was her reply.
"Come on, it'll be fun."
Her face started to waver as she considered the proposition. Then her face turned blank. It was happening again. No! I stood watching helplessly as the room started to fill with water. The two kids stared at me coldly, zombie-like as they were slowly drowned. Now the water was over my head. I tried to swim up, but an invisible barrier kept me down. I kicked with all my strength, but to no avail. Finally, I ran out of air, and a light-headed sensation came over me. Down I sank into the depths. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was a hand breaking the surface and pulling me out of the watery grave.

There I was, holding a gun to an unsuspecting Taylor.
"Uh, no thanks. I don't bounce back like you do. Hey, are you ok?" Taylor said as he lowered my hand.
Apparently, I had fallen asleep while waiting for Jean to wake up, and Taylor had waken me.
"Yeah, sorry. Reflexes. Where's Matthews?" I said as I noticed that Jean was gone.
"That's why I came here. Astor had her moved to an interrogation room when she woke up-"
"Oh, so she actually woke up."
"Yeah, John wants you to be there for the interrogation."
"All righty. Let's go."
"Hey, man, are you sure you're okay. You seem out of it."
"Yeah peachy."

Still Sleeping

"Tada! Mission accomplished." Agent Taylor exclaimed as we produced a chloroform-induced sleeping Jean Matthews to Astor. "Ah, it feels good to say that."
Taylor convinced me to let him carry Miss Matthews all the way to Astor's office, and he insisted on taking the stairs (you can bet people stared). "It makes the victory complete" The kid has a lot to learn. John just stared wide-eyed at Matthews, who was still draped over Taylor's shoulder. Taylor would keep her like that until she woke up too. I rest my case.
"Give her to me." I said as I carefully took her from William and placed Matthews on my coat that I had just layed on the floor.
"Good thinking, Nick! Man, I love calling you that."
"Is she dead?" Astor asked.
"Far from it, my friend! We found her at Bayer's division. What a break."
"But, how can that be? Agent X, you shot her in the head. She had no pulse for crying out loud!"
"I know. When she wakes up, we'll be able to question her. For right now, we should prepare some accomadations for Miss Matthews." I said.
"Right, I'm on it." William said and quickly left before either of us could reply.
"Someone's really excited about uh, mission accomplished." John said.
"I know. He's an excitable fellow, but his enthusiasm's infectous. He was helpful on the case too."
"See, he's not too bad; but what's up with him calling you Nick?"
"Don't get any ideas. He decided that I should be called something other than X, and since I don't need any other nicknames, I told him to pick out a name. It's a total coincidence he chose Nick."
"Weird, right? I guess you have that look. Anyways, I'm going to enjoy calling you something other than Agent X."
"I never liked that name. I always told you to call me Cartwright."
"Ha, I totally forgot about that, X."

Author's Notes

I want to apologize for my slowness in updating my blog. I'm currently revising my storyline and some of my previous posts. I have realized that my previous stories haven't been to clear, like, who exactly Agent X works for. I plan to clear some of this up, so don't be suprised if you see that some of my older posts have changed a little. Also, keep in mind that I will try to update my blog every weekend. I also want to thank the readers of my blog for actually reading my blog. Feel free to leave me some "constructive" criticism, emphasis on constructive, peoples.

What's in a Name?

She should be awake soon.
"Who knew that chloroform could have such an effect on tiny people?"
"I would say petite."
"At least you got to use your chloroform, eh, X?"
"Sure, but don't call me X."
"Fine, then tell me your real name."
I snorted. "I always tell people to call me Agent Cartwright, but they always resort to X."
"Really? Why didn't you tell me to call you Cartwright?"
"Because I knew you wouldn't listen. Agent X is sort of my identity now, anyways."
"But I mean, don't you have a first name?"
"Not one that you need to know."
"Come on, I'm your partner. We're supposed to be able to at least call each other by their first names."
I could tell by Taylor's voice that this meant a lot to him.
"Fine, you can call me whatever you like. Just, pick a decent name."
"What about, Mr. Confidentiality?" Taylor said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Are you kidding? That's worse than X."
"Relax. I was kidding. Nick! You look like a Nicholas. How about it?"
I smiled with a deeper meaning. One, that Agent Taylor could never know. "Ok, you can call me Nick."

The Kidnapping

Bayer Inc.
10:00 P.M.

The upper floors of Bayer Inc. were quiet. Most of the employees had already left. The only remaining people were security guards or laggers trying to finish their work, so they could go home. Going up the stairwell, was a suave looking man. He paused at the security clearance. A fingerprint, a pass key, and a pass code. He swiped his keycard through the slot and pulled some silly putty out of his jacket, which he placed on the fingerprint scanner. He pulled it off and took out his notepad. He then flipped to a page that was covered with pencil markings. Pressing the silly putty onto the page, he made the fingerprint, he had just obtained, more defined. The man then, placed the putty back onto the scanner. He smiled as it beeped it's approval. All that's left is the pass code. 7-1-4-6-9-9-3. Once again, he smiled as the lock clicked. Agent X was right. The underpaid talk cheap. Taylor then headed toward Miss Matthews's lab. There she is. Go time.
"Jean Matthews, I presume?"
She started, then answered, "Yes, and who might you be?"
"Around here, Cody Smith. My boss, Mr. Mayhem, would like to talk to you about the experiment, but not here. We would like you to come with us."
"Mr. Mayhem wants to see me?"
"Yes, he would like to talk to you about the incident."
"He knows about that already?"
"Yes, but I must warn you, my boss does not like to be kept waiting. He may call at any second, wondering what took us so long." Taylor said as he pulled out his cellphone and stared at it like it might come alive at any second and bite him. "He might be having a good day though."
"Okay, lead the way."
"Oh, bring your research. He would like to discuss it with you. You know, I should really get this thing upgraded."
They headed out of the building with no problems. "Our car is over here." Taylor indicated a black van. "Just remember to be polite, and you'll have nothing to worry about." As he opened the door, out jumped Agent X. He quickly sedated her. The last thing she remembered was a familiar voice saying, "Goodnight, Miss Matthews."

Lunch Plans Continued...

"Ha, is that your solution to everything?" Agent Taylor asked.
"Pretty much." I replied.
"Well, as tempting as that sounds, I have a style of my own. Plus, I don't think we could drug her and drag her down all those flights without being noticed. What floor does she stay on anyways?"
"The one we're not allowed in. I'll tell you what. If you can convince Jean to come down to the parking lot, I'll take care of the rest."
"Sweet! Time to put on the charm."

Lunch Plans

"So, how'd your investigation go?" I asked Agent Taylor. We had met up in the lobby and drove to a small cafe' from there.
"Swimmingly, their security system consists of cameras on all the floors but especially on the top levels. Excuse me, can I get a coffee?" After the waiter bustled off, Taylor began, "Our pass keys can get into most of the important rooms, but not the top three levels. Apparently, for those you need-"
"A pass key, a pass code, and a fingerprint." I finished.
"Right, how'd you know?"
"People talk. I found Jean. The only question is, how to get her out of there."
"Matthews!?"
"Yeah."
"Sweet. The living dead. Do you think we can talk her into coming with us."
"Maybe, but I don't think we should chance it. If she sees me, she might go berserk, and then our cover is blown."
"But, she hasn't seen me yet. I can go get her."
"Yeah, but she still might not go with you. Plus, I want you to watch the security cams."
"So what do you suggest we do?"
"Chloroform."

The Underpaid

"Nice criminals." Taylor remarked as we were lugging our suitcases to our rooms. Once we were there, we went to work checking our rooms for bugs. "Clear," was Taylor's first words as he came into my room, "how about you?"
"That is how it would seem."
"Sweet! So what are you gonna do next?"
"I'm going to to get information on Jean. How about you?"
"I'm gonna check their security system around here."
"Good. I'll meet you at lunchtime in the lobby."
The first few minutes in my investigation had me scoping out the upper levels of Bayer Inc., casually of course. After a while, I found what I was looking for, a group of tired, grumpy, and underpaid workers. So, I walked over there and offered to buy them some drinks. After a few minutes of small talk, I found out what I really wanted to know.
"Yeah, things have been a little more hectic than usual." a man named Shaun Withers stated. " The boss has been tense lately, and that makes the hours drag on."
"Really?" I replied. "Maybe, he's expecting a visit from Mayhem."
"You think so?" his buddy Martin asked.
"No, that's not it," Shaun said, "cause I heard that they're working on some top secret project. That's why they brought in the lady scientist."
"And she is a looker." Martin replied.
Hmm, that sounds like Jean. As if on cue, the stair's door opened and out stepped Miss Matthews. The area I had chosen to sit at was well hidden from her view, but I could see her perfectly. Bingo. That's Jean alright, but how can she be alive?
"So, you've never been upstairs?" I asked the men as I realized that my jaw was hanging.
"Ha, no way. Select personnel only. I mean, you need a pass key(which is pretty easy to get), a pass code, and a fingerprint."
"Ha, I'm surprised they don't have an eye scanner too." said Martin.
"Actually, I think they're talking about installing one soon." Shaun replied.

Headquarters

"So, are we gonna meet Mr. Mayhem?" Agent Taylor asked on our car drive to Mayhem's headquarters.
Wornanheimer broke into rapturous laughter and finally answered after wiping his eyes, "Sorry, it's just that this is only the headquarters for Bayer's division. Even Mr. Bayer himself does not know where Mayhem's chief headquarters is."
"Oh, that's a shame. I would have liked to meet him." I replied.
"I would to." said Wornanheimer, "So, how long are you planning to stay at Bayer Inc.?"
"Just until we line up a new job." I said.
"Ha, yeah, banks don't rob themselves." Taylor added.
The car finally slowed down as we pulled up to a skyscraper with the words Bayer Inc. going down the side of the building. It was a hotel/casino until you got up to the higher floors which are used for Mayhem's dirty work.
"Here are your pass keys. They give you access to your rooms, and these ones give you access to most of the top levels. Your rooms are 64 A and 64 B. Feel free to roam whatever your pass key allows you to. It's a pleasure doing business with you."

Warehouse 42

"There it is, Taylor, Warehouse 42."
"Phfft, typical. Why do the bad guys always meet up in warehouses?
As we entered the warehouse, two figures emerged from the shadows.
"Ahh, you must be our new recruits. I'm Seth Wornanheimer, and this is Emilio Gabroltski."
"It's nice to meet you Mr. Wornanheimer, but we're not recruits. I'm Jim Ahrens, and this is my partner, Cody Smith. We came to Mr. Mayhem for temporary protection. See, we're in sort of a bind." I answered.
"Ahh, yes, yes, of course, but protection costs money."
"Indeed, Mr Wornanheimer. Cody, give them the money."
Taylor gave them the money and Mr. Gabroltski checked to make sure it was the right amount.
"Come, Mr. Ahrens, Mr. Smith. We'll take you to headquarters."

Memories

After Taylor left the room, John approached me.
"Hey, I didn't upset you, did I?"
"What do you mean?"
"When I said it makes you less of a target."
"No, it just brought back some unwanted memories."
"You know you can talk to me anytime?"
"Yeah, I just don't want to cause you trouble, not again. But what's the idea of pairing me up with another agent?"
"We were thinking about recruiting him to the CIA for a while now. And with the recent happenings, we thought you could use someone to watch your back."
"Yeah, but a kid? He's like what, twenty-five? That makes me fifteen years his senior. You know what happens to people who are close to me."
"He'll be fine. Agent Taylor knows how to watch out for himself. Just, keep an eye on him for a while. You are right. He's a bit green."
"Ha, don't worry. I will."

Six-thirty Sharp

Tick-tock tick-tock. Half past six and no Agent Taylor. On the other side of his desk, Astor twiddled his thumbs idly. "Sorry I'm late, bad traffic." Taylor stated as he was halfway through the door. "That's ok. Have a seat." was Astor's reply. Taylor took the seat beside me, and our meeting began.
"As you both know,"Astor started,"Agent X has an extraordinary ability, thanks to Jean Matthews. The problem is Mayhem wants those powers to, and if he obtains them, we'll have an even more dangerous criminal on our hands. For this, he needs what Jean Matthews knew. The papers that Agent X took pictures of were never found. We think that, while Jean's body was being taken away, the papers were stolen too. So, I want you two to infiltrate their organization and find out about as much of Matthews and Miller's work as you can."
"Uh, how do we infiltrate their ranks?" was Taylor's question.
"We have scheduled a meeting between you and some of Mayhem's men two days from now. You're supposed to be two hardened criminals running from the law. You figure Mayhem can protect you for a while. I've already put a criminal record for both of you in our database. Just make sure you're not caught speeding. This record is quite convincing. If you get stopped by the police, you're going to be sitting in prison for a while."
"Ok, but why both of us? I mean, I've always worked alone." I asked.
"Two heads are better than one. Plus, Agent William Taylor and I are the only people in the world to know about your powers, and we want to keep it under wraps. It makes Agent X less of a target.
"Wait, what happened to the geneticists who studied my papers? Don't they know about my powers?"
"They did, but they died yesterday in a freak biohazardous accident."
Silence fell upon the room.
"Weird." Taylor said.
"What about the doctor who examined me?" I asked.
"He was never told about what happened to you, just that you needed a checkup. I'll send you the rest of the deets later. Do you have any questions?"

Thoughts in the Dark

My thoughts went back to my coversation with Agent Taylor.
"You mean I'll never die?"
"Well, no, but you won't die from anything like getting shot or falling out of a building."
Almost impervious to death. Hmm, maybe that's what happened to Jean. No, I was in there long enough to see if she had gotten up. Why didn't I keep her alive for interrogation! Once again, my thoughts were interrupted, but this time by my cellphone.
"Hello?"
"Agent X?"
"Mm-hmm."
"This is Agent Taylor, sorry for calling you at such a late hour, but Astor wanted to see us in his office tomorrow morning."
"What time?"
"Six o' clock, sharp."
"Ok, will do."
"C'ya tomorrow then."
"Bye."
What can John want with me and Taylor.....

Genetically Enhanced Super Agent

Mmmm, it's been a while since I just relaxed. So far, I have nothing to worry about. My medical exam said I was just fine. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. As I opened it, I saw a very excited man.
"Agent X?"
I nodded that he was correct, and he continued.
"You'll never believe what those papers said! Oh, excuse me. I'm Agent Taylor from the Bureau. I was sent to give you the results of the papers."
"Yes, go on."
"Well, they couldn't really, exactly figure out what the papers said, but they were able to find out that Genecorp. seems to have created a gene that reacts to adrenaline and pain. When it's switched on, it reproduces cells that were damaged."
"Meaning?"
"That anybody with this gene could rapidly heal from any injuries."
"So, you mean-"
"Yes, you're practically immortal!"

Morning Report

Astor handed me my cellphone that I had left in the late Jean's office. So far, my report to my case officer wasn't going well. Aside from the cellphone, I had left my I.D. they had stripped from me at Genecorp. and killed off all my valuable information.
"Sloppy work isn't like you, Agent. What happened in there?"
Ha, if only I knew. So, I relayed to John the whole story. As I predicted, his face had a perplexed look, but he wasn't the only one when he told me that they only recovered three bodies, three males.
"What? Do you think someone could have stolen the body before we got there?"
"It's possible. We identified two of the men as some of Mayhem's, but it doesn't make sense. Why take Jean Matthews and not take the two cronies to clear his name? Anyways, I'm more worried about you right now. I'll have you examined by the doctors and those pictures you took analyzed. We have to find out what they put in you. I don't like all this whacked out science mojo."
"Currently, sir, neither do I."

Captured

Uggh, what happened? I was just leaving my apartment and then.... As I opened my eyes, Jean Matthews, Miller's intelligent-looking partner, stood over me. My head was throbbing. It was then, I realized that my arms and legs were tied to a chair, and that there were three other men in the room: Sam Miller and two men carrying guns. Well, I found the criminal organization. Yay, not.
"Kevin Mason, our little spy. I don't know what you know, but you know something. What were you doing in my office?" Jean said.
"I was just doing my routine inspection of the grounds, and when I checked your office, I saw that you had left the safe open. I just closed the safe and left. Uh, what exactly am I here for?" I replied.
"Sam, how many times do I have to tell you to close the safe!" Sam looked down and Jean went on, "Well, it doesn't matter anymore. He knows too much. Boys, we've just got ourselves a new lab rat."
They all seemed extremely pleased about this as the shorter of the gun-carrying men, who had a surprisingly deep voice, said, "Finally, we'll be able to get some working human results." Miss Matthews shot him a nasty look as she retrieved a vile and a needle. Oy, what have I gotten myself into this time? I started working on the ropes tying me to the chair.
"Good luck. I tied those myself." Sam said when he noticed what I was trying to do.
"That's a relief. Maybe now I have a chance of escape."
Sam's face changed to a grimace but was quickly replaced with a look of triumph that reflected on my impending doom. Jean rolled up my sleeve and prepared my left arm for her "test". She was a little rough taking off my watch, cutting herself and me.
"That's a nice watch you've got there." Matthews said.
"Yeah, if you could be a little more careful with that, I'd like to keep it." I replied.
"Don't worry, Mr. Mason. You won't need it where you're going."
Oh, joy. Jean tossed the watch to Sam who, to my great displeasure, tried it on exclaiming it was a perfect fit.
Jean rolled her eyes and said, "Sam, you can't keep it."
Then she injected the needle in my arm.
"Did it work?" the taller of the gun-carrying men who had a uh, unnaturally high voice said.
"Only one way to find out." short man. low voice said.
"Just untie him and stand him up against the wall. No need to bloody the chair." Sam said.
So, the two cronies (roughly) loosed my bonds and brought me to the wall. Tall, unnatural tossed his gun to Miller who was standing a couple feet in front of me.
"Any last words?" Miller asked a little too dramatically.
"Cheese."
BANG! I slumped to the floor, everything fading out.... Suddenly, I felt a burning, tingling sensation in my head, right where I was shot. I gingerly touched my forehead. There was no hole. Everyone looked as dazed as I imagined I looked, except for Miss Matthews. She had a look that I couldn't read. Taking advantage of the moment, I grabbed Short and Low's gun, smashed him in the face and quickly disposed of the rest of them; but as I turned to take care of Matthews, she had another look on her face. Was that relief? Bewildered, I pulled the trigger. I need fresh air. I stumbled out the nearest exit, pausing over Miller. I took my watch of his lifeless body. Matthews was right. You can't keep the watch.

Ahhh. The crisp night air flew threw my head. Well, not literally because the hole is gone, uh heh heh ehhhh. What in the world happened in there!? I called Astor and told him there were four dead people in Jean Matthews and Sam Miller's office at Genecorp.
"Get some rest and report to me in the morning, Agent. I'll send a team to take care of it."
Later in my apartment, I couldn't stop thinking about what happened to me. What did happen? I thought I was dead. I was dead. This will all get straightened out. Hopefully.

Kevin Mason

I'm enjoying my new job. It's a role I'm born to play. My position, also, gives me access to information I need to solve this case. For the last couple of days, I've been pouring over old security tapes, and numerous records, and talking to various people; and I'm glad to say that Sam Miller(the most annoying man in the universe) is one of my prime suspects. Well, not glad that he's bad, but glad that I've got a suspect. Two, actually, Sam and his partner, Jean Matthews.
I decided to do some investigating. It was easy getting into Miller and Matthew's office. Just an ordinary security guard doing my routine sweep of the perimeters; but once I was inside the room, I started looking for anything incriminating. At first, everything seemed to be in perfect order, but a careful search revealed that there was a safe in the wall. Luckily for me, Miller isn't as smart as he thinks he is. The twit forgot to shut the vault completely, giving me easy access to the contents inside. Like a kid at Christmas, I eagerly searched the documents I had found. It was beyond my comprehension, as it was formulas and complex genetic codes; so I photographed it with my cellphone, cleaned up; and left the room. "Kevin Mason." As I turned around to see who had addressed me, I felt a searing pain jolt through my head and then.... blackness.

Mission Briefing

Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub. I could feel the steady stream of blood pulse through my head as I absorbed the information before me. My eyelids began to droop, and as I glanced at the clock, I knew I should get to bed if I was to appear fresh for work tomorrow. As I lay in bed, my thoughts wandered to two days ago, when I first started this case with a simple phone call.

"Hello?"
"Agent X, this is John Astor."
"John, it's good to hear from you. It's been awhile, but what's so important that you had to
call me?"
"I've got a case for you."
"Sorry, Astor, I already have a case I'm working on, but-"
"Just meet me in my office. It's important."
"Yes, sir."

Later, in Astor's office, John handed me a folder.

"What's this?" I asked.
"Your new identity." he replied.
I glanced at the folder and said, "Kevin Mason?"
"How familiar are you with genetics?"
"Fairly familiar, sir."
"Have you ever heard of Genecorp.?"
"Yeah, they're a group of scientists working with the military to explore gene therapy."
"Yes, and we have reason to believe that at least one of these geneticists are collaborating with a criminal organization, selling them secrets that don't belong to them."
"What criminal organization, and what would criminals want with a bunch of science jargon?"
"Exactly, what you're going to find out, Agent."
"Astor, shouldn't this be a case for the Bereau? I'm already on a case there that I've just about closed. Why don't you just send me the case later, after I finish my current one?"
"Because, this is a matter of national security, so the CIA was put in charge of it. It's important that you start this mission as soon as possible. We need to stop whatever these criminals are planning. We would appreciate your expertise on this matter, Agent. Do you accept the mission?"
"Yes, sir,"

And now, tommorrow, I am going to be Kevin Mason, security officer for Genecorp. I just hope I can get to the bottom of this mystery.

Agent Profile

Hello. My name is don't remember, but for security reasons, particularly yours, please disregard the information I just gave you and call me Agent X. I mean it. Completely eradicate the thought from your mind until it is but a wisp of smoke vanishing into the horizon. Good, now, this site is to provide you with top secret information concerning my work. I can't tell you how much trouble I'll be in if this information gets into the wrong hands. It's for selected personnel only! Intruders will be prosecuted.