Author's Preface
“You took ‘bout thirty minutes, Mike. What were you exactly doing back there?” asked Andrew.
Michael appeared as a flash of blue light. Andrew was in Michael’s office. “Just trying to make the truck seem old and abandoned,” answered Michael, dusting off his shoulders.
“Nobody goes to Kentucky anymore, Mike. The entire central parts of the country are just wreckage,” said Andrew.
Michael started looking through his desk, “Yeah, yeah, I get it. What’s Barry doing?”
Andrew didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “I think he’s helping train the recruits,” he said.
Michael stopped what he was doing and looked at Andrew. Both started laughing.
“That’s a nice one, Andrew,” said Michael, “Any idea what he’s actually doing though?”
Andrew shook his head and said, “He said he was going out for a while, might be to get fresh air.”
[…]
“So, the plans are to invest twenty million into the public face of the organisation, a shared one million for the guys who’ll transport it all here, and the remaining two hundred and seventy-nine million for the actual org, correct?” summarised Michael. He was sitting at his desk.
“Yes, that’s right. Thank God some of our own were okay being forced into accounting. This gives me a headache to look at what exactly the two-eighty needs to be spent on,” said Andrew.
Michael stood up. “We’re free now, right? No more things we’ve gotta do on our own?” he asked.
“Well,” said Andrew, “there are still the rogues who left the org after getting their initial pay.”
Michael made a shooing gesture. “Forget about them, we can just ask your direct henchmen to do that,” said Michael.
At once, Barry appeared in front of the office window. Instinctively, Andrew opened it and let Barry in.
“What happened?” asked Michael, standing up from his seat.
“Overseer,” said Barry, panting. “He picked up transmissions from H.A.V.C.; our cargo’s been stolen,” he continued.
‘H.A.V.C.’ thought Michael.
H.A.V.C., short for ‘Heralds of Anarchy, Villainy and Chaos’, was Michael’s rival organisation.
“Where?” asked Michael.
“Happened half an hour ago. They’re probably still near the warehouse we left the trucks at,” said Barry, “Overseer said that we shouldn’t go immediately, and to come down to see him first. You know, get a strategy and planning and everything.”
Michael nodded. “Alright, let’s go meet him. Don’t forget the masks,” added Michael.
“Funny how you call a single piece of fabric a mask,” said Andrew.
[…]
First basement of level three. It was a dusty storage room with a flickering, dim yellow ceiling light. The three of them stepped into the big room with the pieces of fabric covering their face from the nose down. The masks are the only things keeping their faces unknown to the public and the organisation itself. Nobody except the three of them knew their faces. The organisation was run anonymously, and the recruits who worked under, the villains in training, didn’t know their faces either. The only thing that made Michael recognisable was his dark crimson hair, which he often covered with a wig when he was at the organisation. Barry and Andrew followed Michael as he moved a few boxes. Michael pressed a hidden button, and a piece of machinery flipped a slot in the wall to reveal a scanner. Michael put his hand on the device and removed it a few seconds later.
“Always a wonder how the Overseer manages to make these trinkets,” said Andrew.
“Interesting creations, indeed,” said Michael. A door opened in front of the three, and they stepped through.
The door closed after all three entered the hidden facility. It was the actual organisation that Michael ran: ‘Black Flag’. The walls were a glossy quartz. The trio went down a staircase that led to another, more traditional door. It opened to a white room with a few people working on computers, and a short man sitting at his desk at the back of the room. He was blonde, with short, swept hair. He was dressed in a white coat, a matching pair of plain trousers, and a dark blue shirt.
“Ah, Powerhouse! You decided to listen to me this time,” said the man. “Greetings to you too, Overseer,” said Michael.
Overseer, named after his power, had the ability to control anything electronic in a defined range, at will, but he mostly used it to watch over everything. He did this by gaining access to their systems, usually remotely, and by “putting himself” in the device.
That was Michael’s understanding of his power. Michael did not know exactly how or when, but he did know that Overseer had a technical army of tiny surveillance drones throughout the entire United States.
“You should try to always have a phone with you, even if it’s impractical to have a brick in your pocket,” said Overseer. “At least the new ones can actually fit into trousers,” he joked.
“Fascinating how people like you can develop a brick into an actual palm-sized phone,” added Barry.
“Yes, yes,” said Overseer. “Now, onto the issue I brought you here for,” he continued. The trio stayed quiet and listened.
“As Firefly must have told you, H.A.V.C. has ambushed our men who were at the designated warehouse, where the trucks are. The three of you had kept five trucks, four of them being duds and only one containing the money. H.A.V.C.’s men have intercepted them and managed to find the trucks. Currently, they are on the broken Kentucky highway with all five of them, and they seem to be heading west,” said Overseer. “The three of you will station yourselves along the road at dawn and wait for them to pass you before you attack them and get our money back.” Michael nodded. He didn’t want to experience his overconfidence back when he didn’t listen to Overseer.
“So, a normal ambush?” asked Andrew.
“Yeah, first time you aren’t on the receiving end, eh, Marrow?” mocked Barry.
“Shut up, both of you,” said Michael, turning to face them. “We leave at dawn, find a ruin, and we ambush them. If all goes to plan, we won’t have to waste energy taking them out,” he said. He faced Overseer.
“Thank you for your work, Overseer,” he said before taking Barry and Andrew back outside with him.
[…]
It was unlikely that the citizens would see Michael flash out over the sky, but they might have been woken up by the sound he made while travelling. The sun had shown a little of its head, and the trio were hurrying to find a site and patrol it. It wasn’t long before they found the tall ruins of an old ruin near the highway.
“I’m gonna find shade under rubble or something. Tell me when you spot H.A.V.C.,” Michael ordered before jumping down from the top. Barry sighed as Andrew rushed to the edge to look at Michael, who seemed unscathed.
“His confidence won’t last him,” said Barry. He tossed Andrew a pair of binoculars as soon as he turned around.
“Keep watch, I’m tired,” said Barry, lying down on the concrete.
“Alright,” said Andrew, holding up the binoculars. “Won’t be long though, I’m sure of that.”