by Vincent Heck
Still in a dazed stupor, he tried to gain composure of his sore stiff body.
“Hey, don’t move. We’ve got you.”
He heard the man ask someone to grab his legs. The second pair of hands felt less strong than the person who had his upper body. Still feeling like he was spinning, he felt the soft sensation of leather on his back. A door closed under his feet.
The two strangers got into the front seats.
The light inside of the car was much more dim due to the tinted windows. A man and a woman sat in the front seats. Once his vision focused, he was able to make out Jason’s face. Jason smiled at Czyra. He looked different.
“How was it?”
Czyra’s couldn’t afford to express his rage, the flaring headache that stretched down his neck into the back of his shoulders restricted him.
“Go easy, there, son. You’ve been through a lot. Here, take these.”
Jason handed him three pills and a water bottle. “Drink up, you’ll need the fluids.”
Czyra tried to work up as much intensity as possible. “You were supposed to be at the end of my walk.”
“I’m here. I didn’t tell you what kind of walk it was gonna be, did I?”
“You didn’t—”
“If you’re conscious of your mission as a rookie, it will throw everything off. I had to do it that way.”
“Well, we failed anyway.”
“We sure did not, young fella. We have the F.A.I.T.H. documents. While you were in your predicament, my friend here took care of grabbing the documents.”
There was a brief silence.
“How did she—“
“Don’t worry about that part, yet. Just know from here, things get a little bit murkier.”
“They stuck me with something.”
“You’re chipped now. They’re tracking you and me. So, likely they know we’re together, and soon they’ll know we have F.A.I.T.H.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’ve got a flight to catch. We’re heading to New York.”
“Who is she?”
The woman turned around. “I’m Tania. Nice to meet you.”
She looked familiar to Czyra. “Do I know you? I mean—have we met before?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“It’s probably just the body chip, Czy. She looks very familiar to me, as well. But, I mean, everything is looking familiar to me, at this point. It’s gonna take some getting used to in the beginning.” Jason interrupted. “You need some rest. By time you rest up this next time, you’ll probably be back to your normal self.”
Christine and Clareese had found a lead to a cousin who had commented in an article about Tameka’s death. The cousin lived in the same town as Clareese. They figured that’d be a good place to start their investigation.
The girls pulled up to the door where the woman was just approaching her front door.
“Ma’am.” Christine called out. “May I speak to you for a minute?”
The woman, startled, looked back. Slowly, continuing to unlock her door she responded, “Can I help you?”
“I was hoping you’d be able to help me.”
“Well, who are you?”
“My name is Christine, and this is my friend, Clareese. We’re looking for someone who may have known your cousin, Tameka. He has disappeared for four years.”
“Honey-chil’ he’s gone.”
“Wait, do you know that or---“
“No. I don’t even know who you’re talking about, but if you knew him well, you’d know how they do over there. People go away, come back different people, or don’t ever come back at all; buncha human chess pieces. Come on in; grab those bags for me, will ya.”
Once they got into the small dark apartment, the lady walked her grocery bags to the kitchen and sat them on her counter. Dusting her hands on her jeans, she stuck out her left hand to shake. “My name is Cinda. What may I do for ya?”
“I’m looking for a man named Jason Upton.”
“Upton? Black or white dude?”
“White. He was Tameka’s boss.”
“Oh. The guy who issued her that awesome work vehicle? Yeah. I knew him.”
“He did what?”
“Yeah. It was a project they were working on. Tameka was a physicist. She worked on a lot of things. They were working on a few new features for Mercedes. He was issued a vehicle, and he got her one too. He said it would help advance their study.”
“She told you all of that?”
“Well, she had to. I wasn’t stupid. With the money she made, there was no way she’d be able to buy a big-body Benz that held conversations with her. I mean, they’re not even talking about that stuff in rap music right now.”
“But, still, do you think that’s the real story? Sometimes they lie.”
“I really don’t know. After a while it becomes entirely too exhausting trying to piece their puzzles together in conspiracies. After a while, you just have to take them for their word. If the story makes sense, keep it moving. Don’t ask questions. At least they took the time to make a convincing story.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“What else did she tell you about Jason?”
“Who is Jason to you?”
“He was—well, is my husband. He disappeared, probably 3 or 4 years ago.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear. It’s cute you’re still looking for him after 4 years.” She laughed.
“If my husband disappeared, I’d thank the lord by going to church every Sunday from now until I died.”
“Yeah.” Christine’s mood instantly dropped a notch. She saw a picture of family on the counter.
“I’m sorry. I was just trying to lighten the mood. Yeah. That’s them.” Cinda walked to the shelf and brought the picture over to the women. “Tameka is the one in the center.”
“She’s so pretty.”
Tameka had rich Hershey brown skin. Her hair was short, and her smile was perfectly white and symmetrical.
“I don’t know much else about your husband.” Cinda said. “They worked on something she called ‘groundbreaking technology’ together. I don’t know how much they saw each other, or how many others worked on it, or how directly they actually worked together. He was just ‘boss’ when she talked about him. Never had a bad word. All good. Very important stuff, I guess.”
“When’s the last time you saw her?”
“I went out shopping with her—“ Cinda began to suddenly lose her composure. “I’m sorry.” She said wiping her tears. “I was with her on the day.”
“Did you…see?”
“No. We went to the mall that day. She told me about the frightening stories, and the men, too. When we left the mall, I went home and she did too. That’s when they got her.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It was eerie. It’s like she knew it was going to happen. She bought me this while we were there.” Cinda handed Christine a ring. “In hindsight, I don’t know why she didn’t just stay somewhere else. It makes no sense. Those guys were obviously persistent.”
“This ring is beautiful. Where did she buy it?”
“I think Tiffany’s. Look at what’s engraved inside.”
“’You can’t suspect what you don’t know exists.’”
“Isn’t that a weird thing to put on the inside of a ring to your family?”
“Yeah. It’s even more weird that Jason used that phrase all the time.”
“Maybe it’s a sign?”
A new tuning in from a subconscious blurry daze welcomed Czyra to the sensation of acceleration. His blurred vision focused to a television in front of him as g-forces pinned his head to the headrest. He looked to his left, he saw the Jason. “How are you feeling, Mr.?” Jason asked.
“How’d you get me on here?”
“You still have the glasses on. You were in a daze.”
“What about the glasses? And what did you do to your face? Som
e fancy disguise? And where’s the woman?”
“Look, calm down. She’ll catch up with us later. You have temporary amnesia and probably face-blindness. I did nothing to my face. It’s just a minor side effect of the chip. The only thing you probably remember right now is anything associated with your last mission. I saved that on this.” Jason held up his device. “I’m making you a memory scanner. You scan your chip, and everything will slowly return. You’ll learn to work with it.”
“So, basically, I’ve been reset like a Sega Genesis?”
“Not exactly. Most of your memory will gradually return.”
“What, exactly, did it do to me?”
“What they put in you basically rewired your body. The chip was carefully injected into your spine after they sedated you. All of your senses now run through this device. Due to it being like a super hippocampus it will record all the info that runs through you.”
“Where does it go?”
Jason swallowed. “Well, sir, the NSA is storing it. On the bright side, your brain is now enhanced.”
“Wait. So, I’m not getting this. All of my thoughts are being piped to the enemy, I’m going to have random amnesia, I can barely recognize faces and you’re saying I’m enhanced? Forgive me if I don’t understand.”
“Relax a bit, my friend. You make it sound terrible. Look, I created the device. What they have are neurology patterns. They need a human translator. They don’t have what we’ve got.”
“Which is what, Jason?”
“I have the device that will automatically translate the patterns into understandable terms. Like now, this device is saying you’re angry and scared.”
“That shouldn’t take a device to know.”
“You’re currently hungry, or going to be; you’re running on an empty stomach. Your blood pressure is through the roof, and you need to relax. I’ll get you some airplane food.” Jason looked at the device. “Oh, you don’t like airplane food? Well, you need to eat.”
“You’re really gonna sit here and have a conversation with my mind?”
“No. I’m turning it off now. Just give it some time, Cyzra. You’ll get it all back. What else they don’t know about the chip is that with the correct training, it will make you a genius of all geniuses. We’re gonna need it.”
“How?”
“The chip allows us to store more recallable memories. It also takes work off of the cerebral cortex. We both needed this.”
“So, why this way, Jason? Why couldn’t we just put the chips in me ourselves?”
“I’ve had this chip in me since 1995. By now, I’m very much so the most intelligent man in the world. You hear me? And let me tell you this: I’ve learned that obstacles come standard with life and that principle is stationary. The best way to accomplish the most, is to include the known obstacles into your conspiracy. What happened needed to happen the way it did in the entire scheme of things. It was a plan I had forged before I knew who would do it; before I knew I’d ever have to do it. There’s no way to break into those meetings. You were going to get caught any way we looked at it. Now, they’re under the impression that they’ve done something to their advantage, and we got what we needed.”
“I never thought this would be so hard.” Czyra said. “Are we the only people with this chip?”
“No. People, believe it or not, do it recreationally. Some are members to certain clubs – grocery stores, nightclubs, movie channels, you name it. – they get chipped in a sort of reverse direct deposit kinda way. For them, it’s about not having to fuss around for your wallet anymore. All of your important info is easily accessible. No one can steal your credit card or identity. And yeah, you knew it’d be the hardest thing you’ve ever faced. For four years, while I was gone, you took on that challenge. What you didn’t know was that it’d be this intense. Or that you’d be this scared.” He patted Czyra on the back. “You’re doing good. We’re almost there. We’ve got F.A.I.T.H. Now, we’ve gotta follow this through. I sense a war on the horizon.”
DHS Headquarters: St. Elizabeths Anacostia, Southeast Washington, D.C.
Despite endless attempts, the photo Michael had hung up on his wall would not straighten. Every position he lined his furniture up inside of his new office would not sit well with him. His office inside the new headquarters was too big, and he didn’t have enough furniture to stuff into it.
There wasn’t enough time to worry about that, anyway. The enemy was back. Somehow, Michael knew Jason was involved, too.
Grambling stepped into the doorway with a light knock on the solid wooden door. “Knock, knock.” He said.
“Hey.” Grambling had a young woman with him. “What’s up?” Michael asked stepping away from the wall towards the door.
“I have a new agent for you to take under your wing. She’s going to assist you take head of this.” Grambling gestured the girl into the office. “Sonya, this is our Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Young. He’ll be heading this operation in keeping an eye on this particular dangerous subject.”
The two shook hands and greeted.
“He’s a good guy and one of the smartest men we have in the department.” Grambling said.
He focused his attention towards Michael. “What’s the latest on the subject?” He asked.
Michael took a brisk walk over to his desk and rolled his chair back so that he could stand over his computer. “Looks like he’s about two-thirds in transit on a flight from Vancouver to New York City.”
“Do all the agencies know about this? C.I.A.? F.B.I.? FAA? NEADS?” Grambling asked.
“I did let them know. Yes.”
“Alright, well, keep me briefed. I’m gonna leave Sonya here with you and you can catch her up.”
“Okie doke.”
As Grambling walked out, the petite olive-skinned girl walked a couple aimless steps into the room with her books clutched to her chest. Her medium length hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a business casual skirt and grey heels.
“You’re brand new to this, aren’t you? Like, fresh out of school yesterday?”
“I’ve been doing this for long enough.” She said.
“How long of work experience?”
“Not years. I just graduated and I worked booth YRS as an analyst over at the NSA.”
“YRS? Really?”
The girl grinned.
“My best friend used to run that station. So, you’re good, huh?”
“Otherwise, why would they send me over here?”
“OK. Well, this is kind of important; as I’m sure you’ve been told. America is going to change forever in less than a month. This post will be set up to watch the single-most dangerous subject to this operation. Really, you’re running the show as far as the legwork. I’ll be overseeing and doing it all with you, but there will be times I’ll have to fulfill other duties, as well. So, I’m going to need you to be the most thorough person in this entire operation.”
“Is this the station?” She asked staring at the desk by the window.
“Yes. That’s your spot.”
“I’m ready to get to work, sir.” She said immediately marching over to the desk. “What’s his name, what’s his background? What are we looking for and what are his tendencies?”
“Well, his profile will be in the system. Type ‘YU83oi989’. That’ll get you in. Finger-print, iris scan, the usual – then you’re logged in. First thing you’ll see is his name in bold over top of everything else in his profile. You’ll have access to the drones and satellites assigned to him, as well.”
“How do you say that?”
“’Zy-rah’. The C is silent.”
“He’s a terrorist?”
“He’s known to have attempted a couple of bomb plots and has conjured up a group of millions that oppose the U.S. Government. So, yes. He has a lot of resources and he’s very smart.”
“We have him chipped?”
“Yes. He’s newly chipped.�
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“You’re making my job easier, already.”
“Alright. I’ve gotta run. I’ll be back. Study up, and get what you can about him. I have a hunch his trip to New York is anything but a leisurely vacation.”
Brooklyn, New York City
Czyra and Jason had been back in NYC for a few days. Operation F.A.I.T.H. contained protocol in how to deal with post 9/11 culture. They had read it over and discussed it for hours on end. “Hey, kid. Now that we’re here, it’s time to get back to action. I’m gonna need you, for now, to get back to your normal life while I go do what we said I’d do.”
“I have the most minimal of memory right now, and you want to run off?” Czyra asked.
“Czyra. We have no time. You read the objective of Operation F.A.I.T.H. You have your memory card. Scan it daily – it’s programed with what you need. So, take that and do what you do: let the people know. It’s gonna turn up from here.”
“Tell me how bad it’s going to get.”
Jason’s uncertainty met at a crossroads with his gut feeling. “Son, you and I could very well be America’s next al-Qaeda.”
The sounds of airplanes, cars and chatter filled a silence between Jason and Czyra.