Manhunter Revelations

by H. F. Daniels

  Of course the more obvious explanation was that she was a mutant. It was discovered many years later after the Antarctic Plague was eradicated that about point zero two percent of the surviving humans genetic DNA had on a small scale, been changed by the plague. The side effects humanity experienced at first was birth defects of some newborns. Yet as the years went by the defects sort of changed from defects to startling changes where the child was born looking normal but as they grow up they started to show the unique changes in themselves. The changes on the most part were small and sometimes unnoticeable. On others the changes was obvious. Increased size, unnatural beauty, and increased human senses were the most noticeable change. Sometimes the changes were grotesque and dangerous. The grotesque individuals almost always exhibited homicidal tendencies on a unprecedented scale even while infants. Some parents loved these children so much that they had hid them from the public and the authorities to let them live and grow up. Most of these parents were eventually killed by their own children The greatly reduced size of the population all over the world easily allowed this to happen, as people were spread out and no longer living clustered together. Authorities were forced after quite a few deaths, to screen all new pregnant mothers for any birth abnormalities. The good part was that the grotesque abnormalities always showed up in the new unborn fetuses and the pregnancy was terminated. The good abnormalities also showed up in the tests, but these genes had been determined to not turn the children into homicidal killers. Since the population was so drastically reduced, even children with abnormal "good" genes was allowed to live and grow up, and thus most of the children who had some type of enhanced abnormality usually lived a normal life. Due to the small size of the effected population, the changes for the most part went unnoticed by the general population. Only the children who exhibited an unusually large size, and over the years there have been very few children who showed this trait, was noticed and tested, but again no homicidal abnormality ever showed up in them. Yolanda's research on Lenevos after we first received the contract led her to surmise that he was also a mutant. A fact I was more than inclined to believe after my encounter with him and his son. Doctors and scientists were able to ascertain that the initial findings by the scientists who studied the plague virus during it's outbreak were right that the virus was indeed genetically made to somehow improve on an individuals genetic makeup thus by improving them. The problem was that the virus wasn't made for human DNA. The scientists who studied The Structure back during the plague never did identify the race of beings who built it, and as the quarantine on Antarctica was still in effect, no further research on the virus or the structure was allowed, although there were quite a few scientists who believed the governments of the world were still secretly researching The Structure. All of the above only illustrated the mystery of my own unique abilities. Was I also a genetic product of the plague that changed part of humanity. Doc Med says no. He has conducted all of the tests, plus some new ones to see if I had any of the abnormal genes that had been identified, and none was found. Every test showed I was a plain human, even though all of my human attributes was enhanced. So either I had genes, which hadn't been identified as being related to the outcome from the plague or I was something else entirely. What? Your guess is as good as mine. Doc Med was presently researching the possibility I may be an evolutionary leap in the development of humanity. Yeah, I don't believe that one either. Right now though my most immediate problem was the startling realization that as I stood here looking at this truly unique and unbelievably beautiful woman, I also had an intense desire to take this woman in my office to bed. In fact the desire was almost overpowering in its intensity. So much so I could barely contain myself. I froze in place because I didn't trust myself to move. Glancing at Yolanda, it appeared she was also affected, but to a lesser degree.

  "Boss I want to introduce you to Ms. Sessa and Sheriff Connelly of the village of Woodspirit, of the Northwest Sector”

  The Northwest Sector. During the recovery of the United States after the plague, it was determined that there were far too few people left and far too many cities in the country that was for the most part deserted and somewhat uninhabitable. The country since that time had been restructured into eight gigantic sectors: The Northwest Sector, Southwest Sector, North Midwest Sector, South Midwest Sector, North Mideast Sector, South Mideast Sector, Northeast Sector, and Southeast Sector. The previous state lines and boundaries were abolished and the new American nation was formed called the "United Sectors Of America.” Twelve Mega Cities were also built, two to each costal sector, and one to each interior sector. Most of the new Mega Cities were built over the bones of previous large cities whose location was important. There were also a few hundred smaller villages and towns in each sector. The old state of Alaska was now a country of it’s own. During the plague the military presence in the state did an outstanding job of isolating the state from the rest of North America. Since that time the residents of that state choose not to remain a part of the new United Sectors. This was due in part to the new industrial and transportation systems, which had been built years prior to the plague. This new industrial and transportation systems made the state fully accessible and independent. Due to limited resources the new United Sectors decided to let the state go. The state of Hawaii however, because of its isolation in the pacific ocean, became one of the strongholds of the previous United States government even though most of the population on the islands were also infected and most died. During the battle against the plague, the islands became the jump off point for the Antarctic naval blockade fleet. After the plague had been eradicated, the islands were set up and became a huge military base for the new United Sectors. It was no longer a vacation spot for the people. About twenty years after the plague, as part of the country rebuilding efforts all of the previous uninhabited large cities that existed before the plague was ordered by the new government to be demolished and returned to the wild. This as well as rebuilding the country infrastructure established work for most of the remaining population, and the work was still ongoing today. The new Mega Cities was built to be what was now called earth friendly, and no building was to be taller than three stories high, and most of those was for local government and business use. Most residential buildings were one to two stories high or privately built homes. The cities would be built outward, not upward. As a result, the Mega Cities resembled very large suburban areas more than they resembled cities. People today still had an inbred fear of living clustered together with too many people, and living in skyscrapers was almost a maniacal fear. During the Antarctic plague, people living in skyscrapers were the first to get affected and die due to the closeness they had with their neighbors. The established norm now was for most private houses to be built an average of a quarter to half a mile or more apart from each other. Even office and industrial buildings had a great deal of space between them This fact greatly contributed to the growth of the Mega Cities outward. The new government was also greatly reduced. During the plague it was found that the large size of the government hindered the country's efforts in battling the plague, and the recovery afterwards. As a result, the government is now structured as such:

  *United Sectors President, and Supreme Commander Of the Military Forces

  *United Sectors Counselor, Main advisor to the President

  *United Sectors Country Council, which consisted of four delegates from each sector for a total of thirty-four government officials running the country. Succession in the event of the death or incapacity of the President went to the Senior Council Member and so on. The Country Council was responsible for creating and passing all laws for the civilian populace and the military. These council members had a support staff to help them in the performance of their duties.

  *United Sectors Judicial Council, which consisted of eight delegates, one from each sector and whose primary responsibility was to judge the legality of all laws proposed by the Country Council. They approved or disapproved all n
ew laws. As such, these individuals was appointed to, or if necessary removed from their seats by the same voting method as the President and other government officials. These judges also had support staff to help them in the performance of their duties.

  *United Sectors Legal Corps, which handles all legal prosecutions in the country's courtrooms.

  *United Sectors Police Force, which provided all law enforcement duties country wide for the civilian population, primarily in the Mega Cities and the countryside. They were equipped with the same equipment as a military command, which was considered by the new government to be essential in the performance of its duties. This at first caused some fears of dictatorial rule over the populace by the government . Yet during the country's recovery from the Antarctic Plague, the military did such an outstanding job in restoring order, that most of the populace accepted wholeheartedly the idea of a national police force. Most of the smaller villages if they wanted to, had the authority to establish local sheriffs for local law enforcement. Some did, although most relied on the USPF for police duties. Amazingly the USPF consisted of around 140,000 personnel with a support staff of 16,000 civilians. This made the USPF a larger force than the USMF. Yet tasked with patrol and safety of the country, it was vastly under manned.

  *Mega Cities was governed by a City Administrator, Vice Administrator, and fifteen Counselors. The smaller villages around them were governed in a similar fashion although to a much lesser degree.

  Feeling that the government had been too exposed on the east coast, the seat of the government was moved to the former military base located at the formerly named Colorado Springs, Colorado. That whole area for fifty miles around was isolated and used exclusively for the government's use. A new White House and Capital Building was built to accommodate the new government. Support buildings for the related governmental needs were also built. The old Washington D.C Area was declared a National Treasure and the buildings and surrounding area was maintained by support personnel stationed there. All federal government officials were elected by the country's population, and all Mega City officials was elected by each cities population. This also held true for the hundreds of smaller villages around the country. There was no convoluted voting process. Each government official was elected purely by popular vote only. All officials whether at the federal level, or any government level below, was elected for a term of five years, and could be re-elected for a total of three terms. These laws were established to ensure that those government officials who did a good job would have three terms to continue to do so. Those government officials who did not do a good job were voted out as the people no longer had any tolerance for inept officials. The concept of capitalism still worked with one major exception. You could prosper as much as possible, as long as the process of doing so was strictly legal. Any corporation, corporate individual, government official, or private citizen who was caught getting rich by any illegal means was prosecuted and the penalty for such crimes was death. In fact committing such a crime was considered the same criminal offense as the new classification of crimes called humanicide, which covered rape, child molestation, kidnapping or any crime committed against another human. The penalty for any of these crimes was now death. There was now only one military branch, called the United Sectors Military Forces, which consisted of a series of Commands. The main commands under the USMF were:

  *USMF Aerospace Command (USMFAC) which included the former U.S. Air Force and

  NASA. They are responsible for all aerospace research and space projects.

  *USMF Naval and Air Command (USMFNAC), which was the former U.S. Navy. They

  were now responsible for all naval and air defenses.

  *USMF Warriors Command (USMFWC) which included the former U.S. Army and

  Marines and which is the largest of the commands.

  *USMF Intelligence Command (USMFIC), which is responsible for all military and foreign

  intelligence gathering.

  *U.S. Science and Tech Command which is responsible for all science and military

  weapons research.

  *U.S. Logistics Command which handles all aspects of equipment and supplies for the

  all the military commands and also for the U.S. Police Force.

  *U.S. Military Law Command which handled all aspects of military law from

  investigations to prosecutions within the military.

  The military was now a very streamlined force consisting of between 95,000 to 120,000 Military personnel, with a support personnel of around 9,000 civilians. This was due in part in advances of automation and computer technologies, which allowed fewer personnel to accomplished the needed tasks. The coordination between the branches was now top notch and efficient. Yet throughout all of these changes we had to adjust to, all of us still considered ourselves Americans.

  Snapping out of my spell I advanced and shook the hand of the Sheriff who rose to greet me. After shaking the sheriff's hand, the woman spoke.

  "I am sorry for the strong emotional feelings you both are experiencing now. It is a genetic condition of my people and it effects humans we are around in the way you are feeling. Normally we can control such and there are no effects on any humans we are near. I apologize however as I have been under a huge stressful situation for some time now and my control is somewhat compromised at this time. I have a serum here that will alleviate the emotional turmoil in both of you to a manageable level”

  In her hand she held two small bottles with a clear liquid in it similar to a cider. Looking at her suspiciously I started to tell her no thank you, when Yolanda spoke up.

  "It's okay boss. I have heard of Ms. Sessa's people before. The liquid in the bottle will help”

  Saying that Yolanda took the bottle and drunk it's contents before I could object.

  "Yolanda, are you sure what you just drunk is harmless?"

  "Yes boss. Some years ago I was part of a multi-national strategy group where one of our discussions was on the genetic changes that had effected some members of humanity from the Antarctic plague many years ago, and our future plans to deal with them and any new ones which may crop up in the future. During this discussion we were briefed by the government on a special group of people whose identity and existence had been kept ultra secret. The select group of us there, were to be briefed on these individuals and their particular abilities. We would also meet one of these unique individuals during the meeting, but was strongly warned of some type of severe physical reaction to them. We would then be required to drink this brown liquid to counter this effect. Our first thoughts was that maybe they were somehow a biohazard to us, but we found out afterwards that was not the case. For security reasons which are still in effect, I can't tell you who or how many of us were there, but when the woman from these unique people entered the room we all felt the same effect you are experiencing now. Some of the men had to be physically restrained. We were informed that the liquid we were to drink would greatly reduce this severe reaction to this woman which it did."

  Looking at the woman, Yolanda asked,

  "You are a Muraiin, are you not?"

  Showing her surprise, the woman introduced as Sessa answered.

  "Yes I am. I am surprised however to see that you know of my people. Your government has assured us that our existence would be kept top secret”

  "It was, and to my knowledge it still is. As I stated, I was introduced to your people

  before. The woman, who introduced herself as Yelesa fully briefed us on your people and some of your unique abilities. To be honest, even after the severe physical reaction we had to her at first, we found her explanation of your people a little hard to believe”