Genesis: Anger

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Mir
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Genesis: Anger

Post by Mir »

Rated M for Mature

GENESIS: ANGER

How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it -Marcus Aurelius

Anger is one letter short of danger.  -Author Unknown

The single, solitary VTOL moved through the air, smooth in the morning sun. It bore the logo of the global organization that strived to keep tabs on those with powers, whether or not they ascribed to defined terms such as hero or villain. The S.H.I.E.L.D. eagle soared high on the fuselage of the black craft. It moved quickly over the Australian Outback, headed towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. Advanced Research and Design - Alice Springs location. Onboard, amongst a number of other things, was a man who reached up and wiped an imaginary bead of sweat, as though the heat that was outside was able to penetrate through the VTOL’s exterior. His reaction was due to apprehension and nerves, which was understandable. While it wasn’t his first visit to the Alice Springs location, it was his first after being made the head researcher and the man in charge of all of the research by Director Nick Fury. The craft started lowering to the ground and SARD-Alice Springs was in clear view. The man reached up and smoothed the dark red tie that he wore. He also smoothed the black coat that was in the VTOL, hanging up. There were S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers with him, to handle his equipment. Their eyes were locked in front of them, unmoving.

As the VTOL landed, the man rose, completing the motion as the doors opened. Stepping out, he looked around, taking in the view. He’d put on his coat and then the heat kicked in, almost immediately. But he didn’t notice, the slight nerves that he had taking over. It wasn’t that he was a nervous person, it was just the responsibility that had been put into his hands was at a level that he was unaccustomed to, at all. he was a researcher and a damned good one at that. But administration was not his forte, by far. He loved the lab and he loved delving deeper into the world that had brought people so many innovations and ways of making their lives easier. His thoughts shifted back to what was actually happening when he saw that the Director of the facility had come to meet him. This was the only person above him at the facility. The Director was flanked by two S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers. Putting a smile on his face, the man stepped forward and extended his hand forward.

“Director Vasquez.” He said and the woman nodded and shook his hand.

“Dr. Gates.” The woman said in response. “I look forward to working with you.” She said.

“As I look forward to working with you.” He said. “Director Fury has some plans for everything here and we should be able to get a lot of good work done here.” He said and she nodded again. “I heard the facility got reworked recently. What was the work done?” He asked.

“More equipment and labs. We upgraded a lot of the living quarters and peripherals, like the entertainment and relaxation areas for families on the base.” She said.

They started walking, off the VTOL pad and into the air transport reception area, their combined soldiers in tow. “I know that we’re going to be fast tracking the Gamma Project.” Director Vasquez said. “I’m not too up to speed on everything yet, I just got back from a series of conferences. Fury’s packet arrived on my desk tis morning and I hadn’t had a chance to read it yet.”

“That’s quite alright.” Gates said. “I suppose we’re going to take a tour of the facilities?” he asked.

“Absolutely. We’re already on our way.” The woman responded, with a smile. The two soldiers with her, stifled looks of shared confusion. Ashley Vasquez never smiled. Ever. She was the rulemaker and the feared even by God boss of the SARD-Alice Springs location. She was the head of their world and seeing her look even remotely human, well it made them take a little closer look at this Gates person. Maybe he knew some secret way of making her a little normal. They’d have to talk to him afterwards.

The group stepped out of the reception area. There was a collection of black obviously military or government looking vehicles waiting and ready. Vasquez opened up the doors to one of the SUVs and got inside. “I got a dossier on the different researchers and scientists here, but I think i’d do better with your thoughts on them.” Gates said as the motorcade began.

“Well, the heads of the teams are who you have to worry about, honestly. The average researcher won’t bother you and you won’t be bothered by them. The only person you really need to worry about is on a team by himself. His name is Lincoln McCray.” Vasquez said and Gates nodded.

“I’ve heard of him. He’s supposed to be one of the best in his fields.”


“He’s definitely underrated. He’s done a lot of work on Hank Pym’s Pym Particles. Pretty much, he’s the expert on the subject.” Vasquez said. “I’ll take you to see him in a little bit. To say that he’s a little hotheaded wouldn’t bee too much of a stretch. He does have some ego issues.”

“I’m sure I’ll be able to deal with him.” Gates said. He was starting to fidget a little here and there. it was becoming more and more noticeable, and the fact that the Director didn’t say anything also surprised her two soldiers. She usually cracked down on things like that quickly, nipping it in the bud as soon as possible. They watched as the scientist grabbed his hands together and squeezed lightly, controlling his motions. The action caused some of the nervous motions to cease. “It can’t be that bad.”

“You’ve never had to deal with one of his tantrums. Those are murder on the ears.” Vasquez said. “We’ve got a number of supers here, both as test subjects and people who we’re working with. They’re an additional boost to our conventional defenses. I’ll introduce you to some of them later.” She added.

“I’ve read a bit about a lot of them.” Gates replied.

“Oh good.” Vasquez said, absentmindedly as her phone went off, telling her that she’d gotten a text message. She pulled out her Blackberry and checked it, frowning after a moment. “I’m sorry, there’s some kind of issue at my office.” The woman typed a response and sent it. Putting the phone back in her pocket, she looked up. “It looks like we’re at McCray’s lab.” She said, indicating with her head out of the window. Gates followed her indication

It wasn’t an expensive looking building, but Gates knew that it’s strength, it’s beauty, and it’s cost was on the inside, not the outside. It was the equipment inside and the skill of the people who utilized the equipment that made it great. He could get a lot out of a little if he needed to. He’d done it before and even though he had bigger budgets now and what not, he’d do it again if he needed to. All that was required was dedication. That was all you needed, really.

The car slowed and then stopped, parking in the small lot that was a part of the building. The other cars took up the spots on the sides of the SUV. As he got out, Gates saw a dark green Ferrari. He gestured at the car. “Dr. McCray?” He asked and Vasquez nodded. “Very nice.” He added as they walked into the building. This McCray fellow would be interesting, to say the least.
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Mir
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Re: Genesis: Anger

Post by Mir »

They were trying to replace him. Jessica had been right. Lincoln McCray was in a pissed off mood that much was for sure. He didn’t like this new guy already and hadn’t even met him. Ashley had been praising and extolling his Lucas Gates’ virtues since the first time she’d ever brought his damn name up. The previous head researcher had been fine. But apparently, saint ole Nick Fury hadn’t been too pleased with him. Something to that effect. That was all that it took in S.H.I.E.L.D. You served at Fury’s pleasure that was how it worked and that was how it had always worked. McCray had had the head researcher wrapped around his little finger, so he’d had no issue with the man. The former head had left him alone and had pretty much let him run the show for him.

Which was why McCray was surprised that he wasn’t getting the job. His wife had been right. They were trying to get rid of him. Fury just didn’t have the stones to do it himself. He was getting this fuckface Gates to do the dirty work for him Well, that was okay with Lincoln. He could have this guy try all he wanted, but McCray wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t care how good this guy was, it didn’t matter. Ash could act as though the sun shined out of this guy’s ass as much as she wanted to, but he wasn’t going anywhere.

Fuck the lot of them.

He looked up at the security camera monitors that were part of his overall computer display set up as the group entered the lobby of his lab. The building was small but for it’s size they should have already come across someone. Should have, at least. McCray was the only human employee in the building however. The rest were all mechanical constructs of his creation. Ash knew this and headed forward. With a small sigh, McCray drank some of his coffee and turned, to face the elevator. They’d be here soon enough.

A few minutes later, the doors opened and the group stepped out. “Director Lieutenant Colonel Vasquez, to what do I owe the pleasure?” McCray asked as the group came towards him.

“Lincoln, you know why I’m here. Dr. McCray this is Dr. Gates. He’s the new head research scientist for SARD-Alice Springs.” Vasquez said, her tone of voice showing her displeasure with McCray’s attitude and Gates walked forward, his hand outstretched. Lincoln reached forward and shook his hand.


“Lucas Gates.”

“Yeah I know, she just said that.” Lincoln replied. “Alright, introductions are over, right, Director?” He asked with a nonchalant shrug. “Anything else, or can I go back to using the ridiculously high speed internet you guys provide me to download illegal music and blog about this year’s tea cozy patterns?”

“Dr. Gates is going to be spearheading the Gamma Project here at SARD-Alice Springs. Director Fury wants us to concentrate on the Gamma Project and-”

“You’re cutting my funding?” Lincoln asked. He folded his arms over his chest and looked at Gates. “Seriously? What the hell? Hey, head researcher supposedly boss man, you need to make sure my funding stays intact. For science’s sake. You’re supposed to straddle the line between scientist and administrator and you’re leaning much towards one of them. Stick it to the man, man.” He said.

“Well...I...” Gates started, but Vasquez cut him off.

“Lincoln, you haven’t posted any breakthroughs in months. Hank Pym already explored a lot of what the particles can do. You have all of his research, all of it, but you refuse to share it with S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Fury is only mildly upset by this. You can’t just dole out piecemeal whenever you want. We’re funding you, and this is costing us millions of dollars. The Gamma Project shows real promise.” She said.

“The research is mine. I was Hank Pym’s greatest assistant and associate and he gave it all to me. I worked with him hand in hand on some of the research. So yes, it’s mine to decide who I give it to, and when.” He said in reply. “S.H.I.E.L.D., Vanguard, the Avengers, HYDRA, Deadpool, whoever. It doesn’t belong to S.H.I.E.L.D. Hank gave it to me.” McCray said. Anger was starting to spark into his eyes, while exasperation was already in Vasquez’s. Gates was positive that this conversation wasn’t going to end well. It could, but the chances of that happening was quickly deteriorating.

“Look, this sounds like something that’s been hashed out a couple of times already with no results. Why don’t we move on to something else? Dr. McCray, I’ll talk to Director Vasquez and to Director Fury and we’ll see what we can do with the budget.”

“Fuck, you’ve already transferred. He’s not really working on Gamma radiation. He’s researching Bureaucratic Science. Good job, Gates.” McCray said. He turned to Vasquez. “Well, Director, I must say that I love the decision you guys have made, both about my funding and Michael’s successor.” He said. Then he paused. Lincoln knew that he was on thin ice with Fury, and he knew that he needed to tread carefully. Granted, he wouldn’t give in to anything they tried to do to him, but he could see how being friendly would help. It couldn’t hurt. Taking a page out of this spineless sack in front of him, he put a smile on his face. “But in the spirit of new things, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, Gates. We’ll see how good you are.” He added.

Vasquez just sighed. “Alright then. We have a bunch of things to get done today, so we’re going to push off.” She said, turning and starting to walk out. 

When they were back outside, Vasquez turned to Lucas. “Well, all things considered, that went rather well. He wasn’t too bad today. I think he might actually like you, Lucas.” Vasquez said with a small, somewhat apologetic smile. They walked towards the motorcade. As they got in, Vasquez checked her Blackberry. “Alright, we’re going to go meet some of the supers who are on base.” She said. “I’ll take you to see the Angels first.” She added and everyone in the car saw her mouth thin into a line.
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Mir
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Re: Genesis: Anger

Post by Mir »

Gates wasn’t too sure about why Vasquez’s response was what it was. But the two soldiers with her knew. The Caged Angels were a group of four people, all of whom were telepathic and telekinetic. Three of them were women, the other was a man. The women had a reputation for being rather loose around the facility. Vasquez didn’t approve a lot of their actions, but they got the job done and didn’t technically break any rules, which was what mattered. Vasquez was silent throughout the drive and her two soldiers saw that she was abnormally silent. At least, abnormal considering how well Gates had gotten her to speak. All of her actions and movements were even more calculated and military oriented than usual, if that were possible. Lucas for his part was silent as well. he was busy trying to peg McCray and figure out what was the reason behind why he was upset and pissed off at him. It seemed as though the man’s bone to pick was with someone else and Lucas had merely been in the path of the man’s anger.

It reminded him of his parents and his family. His mother had a habit of taking out her anger on other people. He had been the target of that misdirected anger one too many times. Lucas closed his eyes as the thoughts of childhood rushed back at him. His mother had been a lawyer, while his father had been a business consultant. They had been out of the house a lot. Lucas had needed to fend for himself a lot as well. When they had been around, there had been a lot of fighting about the way the house was run and things like that. He found it interesting, considering that they were always gone, but who wanted to hear his opinion on things? As Lucas had gotten older, things had only gotten worse. The fights over the years had made his parents bitter towards each other. At least his father had never taken his anger out on Lucas, much unlike his mother.

Words could hurt, especially to a young, impressionable child. So could hands. Lucas knew this very well. Too well actually. When he had reached his early teens, his mother was full blown abusive to him and his parents used to use him as a tool against each other during all of their arguing and fighting. They had always gotten worse until they had finally divorced about three weeks before he had graduated high school. Neither of them had told him that they were planning on doing it or that they were in the stages of it, and neither of them had shown up to his high school. What had been interesting was that he had still managed to excel in his studies and get exceptional grades. With his pick of colleges and universities, Lucas had easily had the ticket he’d needed to get away from his parents. He had signed up for the best school that was the farthest away from where he had grown up, with a full scholarship that paid for his academic and room and board needs.

Gates eyes moved now towards the upcoming building, a large, administrative looking one. The taste in his mouth soured a little bit. Enjoying administrative work was something that he had never been able to find within himself. It was something that needed to be done. The motorcade pulled into the lot and as it did, he saw that there was a group of people waiting for them. Four people, this had to be them. Three women and a man stood waiting, looking at them.

“Dr. Gates, these are the Angels.” Vasquez said as they pulled up. They stepped out of the car.

Gates had done his homework here. The man stepped forward first and Gates shook the black man’s hand. The man was a bit taller than him and Gates had to look up. “Anthony Prince, Dr. Gates. It’s good to meet you. Director Vasquez has spoken very highly of you. I’m hoping that we can do some good work together. I work in one of the labs as well as being one of the supers on the base.” He said and then took a step back as one of the women stepped forward.

He couldn’t lie, she was attractive. All of the three women were. This one was an Asian and she smiled as she shook his hand. “The Director didn’t talk about how handsome you were though, Dr. Gates.” This one he knew from the files to be Jennifer Asoki. She shorter than Gates was, but taller than Director Vasquez. From what he’d read up on the group, he understood that she was the middleweight when it came to the power levels of the four. Jennifer was rather good with telekinesis though, that was her specialty, having learned to manipulate things rather well. As she stepped back, another woman stepped forward. This one had brown hair and eyes and was decidedly Caucasian.

“Emily Mortimer.” This then was the most powerful out of the four and the unofficial leader of the group. She was beautiful. Ridiculously so. Emily was by far the most beautiful out of the group of three women and Gates immediately felt his inner research scientist coming out. And not in a good way either. He knew that he was going to get tongue tied rather soon if he didn’t keep his wits about him. That was rather hard with the woman in front of him though. Knowing that the Director was watching him, he shook her hand and smiled, not wanting to be nervous. Now it was time for the last one. She was the least powerful of the group and the shortest, clocking in around five feet and five inches if Gates guessed right and he usually did. She stepped towards him and put a smile on her face. “Hello Dr. Gates. I think you’ll find working here to be a pleasure.” She said. “I’m Anna Benson.”



“I’m sure I will too.” Gates said in response, a smile on his face. She had the warmest look out of the group, and he felt true sincerity in her words.
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Mir
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Re: Genesis: Anger

Post by Mir »

Gates opened the door of the house that he was going to be staying in. The house was on base and everything had been furnished for him by S.H.I.E.L.D. All of his personal items, which hadn’t been too much, had been brought over the day before and had been unpacked. Everything had taken place according to the plan that he’d put forward, after he had taken a virtual tour of the house and had built subsequent 3D models of the place on his computer. Withouth looking, Gates threw his keys at the right angle with the right amount of force and on cue, they landed in a bowl. he was home alright. There was a familiar smell in the air. It was the smell of food. He had an automated food preparation area that he’d designed and built himself so he wasn’t surprised.

As he walked into the main room of the house, and his feet touched carpet from hard wood flooring, his mind replayed everything that had happened. Vasquez had gotten him away from the Angels shortly after the last introduction. he still wasn’t too sure why. From there, they had continued onwards and had met the rest of the supers who were part of the the Alice Springs facility. The one they called Mettle had been interesting, so too had the one with the codename Nuke. A few hours or so ago, Vasquez had excused herself for some meeting and the Deputy Director had come to finish the tour. His first day was over but the job was just beginning. Tomorrow he was going to touch his lab and see his office and meet his staff. it was going to be hectic. Now he just wanted to sit back and relax a bit.

Already familiar with the layout of the house, Lucas walked towards his bedroom. He opened the door and stepped inside. The lights were dimmed and he was about to raise them, when he realized that there was someone in the room. “Hello there, Dr. Gates.” The person said. The person came towards him and he saw that it was a woman. A familiar scent filled the room, he finally realized. He was a scientist, but often times blind in other departments. “You must be tired.” The woman said and reached up, sliding a hand up his chest, up the direction of his tie.

“I don’t think this is the way that someone should conduct themselves in a business or workplace environment.” Lucas said.

“We’re both off the clock, Dr. Gates.” The woman said. “Besides, we’re not really on base, we’re in your home. Not really a work environment. And I saw how you were looking at me when we met and it made me feel all...bothered.” The woman added as his eyes adjusted and he was able to see that she was wearing a silk top that extended down, stopping just beyond the knees. The blinds on the windows were slightly open and the woman took a step forward into a small ray of light from the setting sun. Gates noticed one of two things.

One, the silky top was green, his favorite color and it had dark blue edging. The other was that the face of the woman had a sinfully sexy smile on it. Ashley Vasquez placed her other hand on his chest. “I’m sure you don’t have a problem with your girlfriend want to mess around with her boyfriend, do you?” She asked. “Because that food you smell did not come from your automated unit. I was all domestic for you. I don't do that that often so treasure the moment.” She added, the smile deepening.

“I was wondering why you left a while ago.” Lucas said before he bent and they kissed. Her hands moved upwards, so that they were wrapped around the back of his head, pulling him lower. His arms went around her waist and he pulled her in closer. The silk was soft, but he wanted her skin. “So, what’s the plan?” He asked.

‘Well, I figured we could have dinner, but first, I’d like you to have me.” She said turning and pressing her other side flush against him.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Lucas’ eyes opened in the morning sun. He knew what time it was, it was four in the morning. His internal clock never failed him. Turning his head, he could see the back of Ashley’s head, the long hair she had flowing freely. She was naked underneath the sheets of the bed and his right hand reached out, cupping the flare of her hip. With a slight moan, she turned herself so that they better fit each other. Lucas lay there for another minute or so in silence, enjoying the peace and quiet. Her internal clock would wake her up in another fifteen minutes or so. He remembered then, that it was her day off that day. Her body would not wake her up. Moving so as not to wake her up, he got a fraction of an inch away when she grabbed his right arm at the wrist.

“Where are you going?” She asked.

“I have to get up, Ashley.”

“Why, didn’t I tell you that I cleared your schedule for today?” She asked, only mumbling a few of the words. “You have nothing to do today. Well, besides us enjoying each other.” She added, taking his hand and sliding it up the inside of her thigh. When she reached the top, she let go of his hand, but his hand kept moving in that area. Her breath started hitching as he continued. “Your lab....can wait, Lucas. I had to make do for six months with out you around.” She said.



“Thanks Boss.” He said as she turned her head, kissing him.

“Don’t mention it.” She replied with a coy smile. “Your lab...will wait until I’m happy.”

He returned the smile before getting to work.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

Post by Mir »

A few hours later, Lucas was actually up. Sitting in his kitchen area, he was having the automated unit work on some eggs and his fingers moved over his personal laptop. His eyes took n the material that flowed over the screen. His personal project here at SARD-Alice Springs was the Gamma Project. They were going to be doing a lot of research into gamma radiation and gamma mutation. A lot of their work was based on the work of Dr. Bruce Banner. Gates had never had had the chance to meet Dr. Banner, but along with Reed Richards, Bruce Banner had been a personal hero. He had been a man of science and a man trapped by that science as well. There were a lot of lessons that could be learned by examining Banner's life and everything that had happened to that man.

Lucas reached out and grabbed his cup of coffee. He was about to take a sip, when his cell phone rang. He took it from it's spot next to his computer and sighed before answering it. "Hello, Mom." He said.

"Hello, Lucas. How's Australia?" She asked.

"Hot. What's going on?" He asked, his voice filled with enough suspicion to make it obvious, even though he'd been trying to keep it down. Unfortunately, he knew that she had been able to hear it in his voice and he knew that he was going to have to deal with some comment from her sooner or later. Hopefully sooner so he could deal with it and get it out of the way. Lucas was hoping that this conversation would finish quickly.

"What, a mother can't just call her son after he starts a job after getting a fancy promotion?" Evelyn Gates asked with innocence in her voice.

"Mothers can. You, on the other hand, can not." Gates replied.

"He hasn't paid his alimony. In four months. And did you see that little tart that he's parading around on his arm and saying is his girlfriend? It's shameful the way he's acting and carrying on. That woman is younger than you are." She said.

"I'm pretty sure he has a good reason for not paying and more importantly, I really don't care about my Dad's personal life. That's his life to live. Besides, when it comes to the alimony money, why do you care? It's not like you need it." Gates said, leaning back in his chair. He had a feeling that this conversation was never going to reach the lofty heights of niceness that it had been at a few minutes earlier. Before he'd picked up the phone.

"It's the principal of the matter. That woman better not be spending the money that's due to me. I'm still appealing that settlement." Evelyn said and Lucas was beginning to feel his annoyance grow more and more.

He hated these conversations with his mother because the topic was usually the same, his father. Lucas didn’t want to hear it and more importantly, he didn’t need to hear it. He was their son, not his mother’s go to person for when she wanted to bitch about his dad. The man was, after all, his father, and there were things that you didn’t say to your child about that child’s other parent. Turning, he looked at the doorway of his bedroom. Ashley wasn’t awake and he did’t want to disturb her. He grabbed his coffee and started to walk. Opening the sliding door, he stepped outside onto his back porch. “Mom, was there anything else?” he asked. “I’m kind of busy.” He added, hoping that it would help nudge her along so he could get back to work. The conversation was going to take a while if he didn’t, and he knew it.

“Oh yes, how is your work going. All that technological good stuff. I hope you’ve got that Fury giving you patents for your work. I still say you should have let me negotiate your contract or at least look it over.” Evelyn said.

Lucas sighed, wishing he’d never let Ashley talk him into quitting smoking. Of course, it had also involved her doing things that they hadn’t really done before, and he’d gotten sidetracked by her flexibility. Cursing himself, he realized that a cigarette would be amazing right now. Anything that would allow him to no longer have this annoyance. They’d had this chunk of conversation everytime they’d spoken since he’d signed with S.H.I.E.l.D. six years ago. his mother was never one to let anything go. It was her inner lawyer. He didn’t know if it was that or her inner devil. One of the two. Either way, Lucas did know that he couldn’t stand it. And he knew what was coming next. It was on the tip of his mother’s tongue, about to be verbalized and sent through their cell phone connection.

“How is Ashley? Is she treating you well?” She asked. “Lucas, I’m going to be honest with you, I’m not sure if she’s right for you.” She added. “I’m sure that she is a wonderful girl and this has nothing to do with her ethnicity or background, which frankly is a little eery. She’s just rather rough and tumble, and darling, don’t you feel like a softer, more refined woman be more suitable to your tastes and needs?” Evelyn asked.

There. She had done it. Over the years, Lucas had developed a thick skin when it came to a lot of his mother’s comments. He didn’t care about how she talked her own skills up as a mother and how she talked about his father. He was also fine with how she spoke about his work and his life. But Lucas refused to tolerate his mother’s comments about his girlfriend. She didn’t know anything about him and so she had no grounds to make the statements that she made. Her opinion was neither warranted or appreciated. “She’s fine, Mom.” He replied and left it at that. But the tone that he’d used had apparently touched his mother off a little bit.

“There’s no need to get huffy with me, Lucas. I just want what’s best for you, that’s all.” She replied.

“So, what, you say I should have a softer, more refined girlfriend, a woman like you?” He asked, sarcasm injected into his voice.

“I don’t like your tone of voice and-”



“And I don’t like the snide comments about Ashley. You do this every time and it’s ridiculous. I’m living my life and I’d like it if you’d leave my personal life out of our conversations unless I bring something up.”

“I’m still your mother and I care about you. I can’t help behaving in this way, it’s what a mother does.” She replied tersely.

And that was enough to set him off.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

Post by Ghost »

Kaley huffed loudly causing the papers on her desk to stir roughly infront of her, Doctor Gates was an interesting teacher but was harsh when it came to things he wanted done.

This whole semester in Physics had been all about this project in which she had been dragged into and other things she didn’t quite understand and in addition, wasn't allowed to questions about. She just kept getting different assignments on “Relativity” and “Electromagnetism”. There had been a time or two where she was taken down to the lab and could observe the experiments but anything beyond that was limited.

Hell, her contact with Doctor Gates was limited.

Out of all her choices of people to work with, for some reason this guy had stood out.

This remote location stood out to her.

Why in the hell it did, she had no idea. She continued to grumble as she chewed on the backside of the pencil, grinding the rubber underneath her teeth with relative ease, deep in thought. Strands of blonde hair sliding over her flawless features of her face as she gazed down at the blank sheet of paper. Yet another term paper, this time about the “Physics of Energy”.

“Such fun!” She said sarcastically, throwing her hands up suddenly in the air. She rolled her eyes and laid her head down on the desk, dropping the pencil from her mouth onto the desk. Her hand rose up from her lap as she flicked the pencil across the desk, only to have it roll back to her face, causing her to flick it again out of boredom, only this time she flicked it too hard. The pencil flew across the room and shattered into a dozen pieces against the wall, the remains of the once nice No. 2 pencil fell to the floor harmlessly.

Kaley huffed harshly as she watched the "thrilling" event transpire. "That is about the coolest thing I have seen in about, three weeks.." At times, she missed being around the city, or even the base's local bar. There had been action there the other night which had gotten a little out of hand, which thankfully Doctor Gates never found out that she was in the middle of the whole ordeal.
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Mir
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Re: Genesis: Anger

Post by Mir »

“What a mother does? Do you really want to get into it about your mothering skills? How about when we got into that fight when I was twelve because you didn’t think I’d washed the dishes fast enough or properly and you broke a plate on my head? I’m sure that’s what a mother does.” Lucas said. His anger was building and he wasn’t sure how to keep it in. The breathing techniques he knew couldn’t really work if he as talking both quickly and loudly. He’d all but forgotten about Ashley sleeping nearby. “Or the time when you were drunk because of something Dad supposedly did and beat the crap out of me. Oh wait, I’d say the time, but that’s presupposing that it was the only time, and that there were really too many to count.”

“There’s your answer. If your father hadn’t-”

“You know, too much blame gets put on Dad. Dad wasn’t the greatest, but he did try. Honestly, you should take a step back and really look at the past and see whether or not there are some things you need to apologize for. Because I’m pretty sure that you’ll be able to come up with at least a couple”.” Lucas said, his anger finally snapping. “And maybe those people deserve some apologies for the things you’ve done in your life, mother.”

“It’s obvious that talking to you gets either of us nowhere.” Evelyn said and Lucas recognized the lawyer voice coming out. His mother, in her mind, had already dismissed everything that he’d said and was going to treat him, yet again, like he was a child instead of a grown adult. She would treat him like she would any witness who refused to cooperate and give her what she wanted. As someone to be ignored and treated as inferior. “I don’t know why I bother sometimes. I was one of the best mothers to you and all you can do is throw a few moments of weakness back at me. A few, that’s all. I know why you do it. You’re ungrateful. You don’t know how to be thankful. And I tried, Lucas, to instill in you those values. But you’re too much like your father. You’re a lost cause, but I still love you. I am your mother. I have to go. Goodbye Lucas.”

“Goodbye Mom.” He said, not even bothering to dispute her claims. No matter what he said, she wouldn’t believe him and she’d stay on this track until he let it go. She’d already redirected all blame to him and his dad. He’d seen it happen too many times already in the past. With a sigh, he put his cell phone on the table that was on the back porch.

“How’s your mom?”

He turned to see Ashley standing there, leaning against the sliding door. She was wearing a long robe, her hair was down, and she had a S.H.I.E.L.D. coffee mug in her hands. The hair being down was rare, and a nice touch.

“Her usual self.” Lucas replied, taking a sip of his coffee.

“I’m sorry, baby.” Ashley said, walking over and sitting down next to him as he sat on the small porch swing he had. She knew that the porch swing reminded him of his childhood, the moments that he’d enjoyed at least. “At least if I ever get to meet her, I can be all ‘hardcore’ around her. It’ll be wonderful.” She said. “Listen, why don’t we have some breakfast and then just have a nice relaxing day like planned?” She asked. She knew how tense Lucas could get after a phone call with his mother. It was one of the reasons why she’d put off meeting the woman for so long. Ashley was liable to physically go after the woman if she met her. Unwinding was something that had to happen, otherwise he’d be upset for the next couple of days.

“I’m going to head to the lab.” He said.

And there it was.

She rose as he did and placed a hand square in his chest. “You need to relax and let go of the anger. She’s a bitch, I know, but you can’t let her get to you like this. Besides, none of your staff is going to be there.”

“That assistant, intern, whatever I have should be here. I work better by myself anyway if she isn’t, and I can read up on everything that the rest of the research team has been working on.”

Ashley Vasquez was a smart woman. She had been an NCO in the US Army for some time before coming to S.H.I.E.L.D. She knew a loosing fight. Also she knew her boyfriend, better than he knew himself most days. “Alright. Okay.” She said, taking a step back to let him pass.

He was almost at the door when she spoke again. “Gates.” She said, using his last name for effect.

He turned and looked at her. She set her mug down and walked over to him. Sliding her arms around his neck, Ashley pulled him in for a long kiss. “And stuff.” She said with a smile as she leaned her forehead against his chest.

“And stuff.” He said back with a small smile.

She’d always found “love” to be a hard word to say, particularly to a member of the opposite sex. When she’d finally been able to tell Lucas that she’d loved him, Ashley had had to add “and stuff” at the end. Now it was what they said to each other instead of “I love you.” It was one of the little things that made them who they were and what made their relationship unique and workable. She was a very dominant woman, and alpha female. Gates was not an alpha male. Vasquez was also not a “feelings” person. But what made it work was that he had pulled her out of her shell a lot more and she had taught him how to build a shell. They complimented each other quite nicely.

She pulled away. “Go be a dork.” She said, getting the real smile that she’d wanted.
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Mir
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Re: Genesis: Anger

Post by Mir »

Roughly twenty minutes later, Lucas Gates walked into his kingdom. He had gotten ready and had driven over to the Banner Gamma Research Center, the newest addition to SARD-Alice Springs. Named Dr. Bruce Banner, the building housed the most sophisticated gamma radiation and mutation related equipment in the world. Because it was going to be one of the hallmarks of SARD-Alice Springs, no expense had been dismissed during the design, construction, and stocking of the Banner Gamma Research Center. S.H.I.E.L.D. had spent close to a billion dollars on the technology and the building itself, most of the technology costs going to WayneTech and Fantastic Research Inc.

As a result, the equipment that was there was state of the art. WayneTech had provided exceptional material to work with and Gates was grateful for it. He had every intention of putting it all to good use in furthering the research that he was working on. Walking into the lobby, he was greeted by a flickering image, a hologram. It was an artificial intelligence system made and programmed for him by his friends at Fantastic Research Incorporated. It had been a gift from Emma Stevens and her siblings after he’d been promoted and given the job at SARD-Alice Springs. They had met a few years prior at a research convention and he had, over time, become good friends with all of them. He wasn’t a big fan of their now former comrade, James Matthews, but James’ younger brother, Paul Matthews had been a good person. The hologram smiled and waved at him. “Good morning, Dr. Gates.”

“Good morning, Evee.” He said.

“We’re currently running at 99.732 percent efficiency. The Gamma chamber is in lockdown. I currently have a repair order out for a leakage. It’s under control. Assuming that SARD-Alice Springs Repair systems take their normal amount of time to get here and get to work, it should be done in approximately thirty seven and a half minutes, Dr. Gates.” The blue hologram said.

Nodding, Gates walked onwards and headed to the elevator. The main laboratory was five stories underground. It had to be, in case something happened with the gamma radiation and it couldn’t be contained. He was headed there, and he pushed the last button on the elevator for the lowest floor. A few moment slater, he stepped out into the laboratory. Facial recognition software that had been set up for the entire base had scanned him and found him on the list of people allowed to enter the place. A smile grew on his face. Gates was most at home here. It was his inner sanctuary, the one place where no one could harm him and no one could touch him. It was his safe place, his playground. He was the god of these parts. Gates walked over to the main console and pressed the button that would start up everything in the lab. Dropping into the main console’s chair, he sat back and just watched, the small smile still on his face. it was magic, the same every time.

WayneTech and Fantastic Research Inc. had come together and putt ogether a good computer console that combined WayneTech computer insides with Jimmy Steven’s computer software and Paul Matthew’s holographic technology. The end result was a green computer setup that was displayed on a long, over twelve feet long, liquid crystal touch screen display. The green controls were raised, displayed, and arranged ina semi circle. His fingers flew over the controls, pushing down wards even though there were technically no buttons, he was typing on air. Accessing a folder on the desktop, a wealth of information appeared before him. He pulled up one of the files and started rereading his notes for the last experiment that he’d been working on back at his old lab in the States.

The experiment had been a success. They had been working on a controlled exposure to gamma radiation. He had attempted to utilize part of the Super Soldier serum to create a strain that would allow gamma radiation to remain within the person’s bloodstream with no ill side effects. In essence, he was trying to find out how to recreate the Hulk, but do so in a way that allowed the person to draw the Hulk out at will, instead of during intense feelings of emotion. Whether or not there would be the same side effects, meaning, whether or not someone would be the Hulk, was unknown. The experiments had been a success because they had been able to effectively combine the serum and the radiation, which had been previously theorized as hard to do if not impossible, due to the thought that the radiation would have destroyed the serum and not bonded properly.

Now they needed to start testing it. Therein lay the problem.

Lucas wanted to test it out on animals first, as he didn’t feel that it was ready to utilize on humans. They didn’t have a full definitive guarantee that the radiation wouldn’t destroy the serum. They were going on a day by day basis on this experiment. This was one of the hallmarks of what he was working on when it came to Gamma Radiation. He wanted to do what Bruce Banner hadn’t been able to, namely, to control the Hulk. If he could do that, then the possibilities would be endless. The next thing that he would go after would be finding a way to isolate parts of the powers that the gamma radiation gave the Hulk, most importantly, the Hulk’s ability to heal from injuries. The applications of being able to isolate and reproduce that and that alone would be one of the crowning moments of his career and of science. They be able to cure diseases and fix injuries in no time.

The military and civilian uses of such a thing would be amazing. And that was just one part of the overall gift that they’d be able to tap into if they could create a controllable Hulk.

Gates’ eyes looked over material that he already knew by heart. He had written most of this himself. At his last lab, he’d only had two other assistants. Fury had insisted that he work with a larger team and this time his refusals had been countered and totally overruled. He knew why Fury had done it, it was rather obvious. Aside from keeping tabs on him, it allowed Gates’ knowledge and experience to rub off onto the assistants who were bound by contracts to remain with S.H.I.E.L.D. for some time. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t supposed to be in his lab for an extended period of time without an assistant for that reason. Gates knew that he was probably considered a prized possession by Fury. His face was awash with the green glow as he looked at what experiment he needed to do. His options were open when it came to what to pursue next. The equipment that he had at his disposal was ridiculous.

With that in mind, Lucas set about planning.
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Mir
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Re: Genesis: Anger

Post by Mir »

Ashley Vasquez took off the reinforced combat helmet with a small sigh. She was in full S.H.I.E.L.D., working on a live fire exercise with S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers and the Australian military. They conducted regular exercises to keep the soldiers in fighting form and they’d invited the Australian military to join in on this one. As usual, Ashley wasn’t allowed to partake of too much of the festivities due to her rank. She used to be able to get her hands dirty and get down in there with the soldiers, but now she was more administrative. These were the days that she hated her job. Hate was a strong word. No, these were the days when the things that angered her about her job upset her even more. There were too many restrictions with being an officer and so high up. The rules that she had were extensive. There were so many things that she simply wasn’t allowed to do.

Setting the helmet down on the field table next to her, she surveyed what she could see of the Australian outback. Her view was good. They had created an interesting scenario which was based off of the idea of a large powered super going rogue and S.H.I.E.L.D. having to stop the super along with help from the military of that country. The Super had been created by a series of sophisticated machines recreating different powers and abilities. Because of that the Cage Angels had been limited in what they could do, unable to utilize their telepathy, further making the scenario a bit more dangerous than the average super related exercise. The rest of the supers that were at SARD-Alice Springs had had to rely on the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers.

That was something that Vasquez was working on and wanted to stress with the exercises. Analyzing different crises and conflicts in the past had yielded something that Ashley hadn’t liked. She felt that the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers had not contributed a huge amount and that the heavyweight Supers had just taken over the fight. She wanted to equip and to train the soldiers to be able to take on larger threats without aid from supers. It was a hard thing to do, but she was dedicated towards making it happen. It was going to require time and training. Luckily, she had both. Fury was turning SARD-Alice Springs into one of the premier S.H.I.E.L.D. training centers.

Most of the training was over. The scenario had been run through. Vasquez looked at her watch. They had made good time something that had pleased her. The soldiers had done well,and there hadn’t been too many issues as far as she had seen. The S.H.I.E.L.D. NCOs were probably chewing the soldiers out as she stood there. She looked down at the fold up field table. There was a laptop on there with an update on Lucas’ progress. She hadn’t seen too much of her boyfriend in the past two weeks. With the exception of their staff meetings and things like that, but it was something that she was used to. Ashley knew that he could easily get sucked into his work, especially when it was something that engaged him and was gamma oriented. It was something that came with the territory when it came to Lucas Gates. She sat down in the chair that she had and pulled up the update from him.

Apparently everything was moving along. There were difficulties with what he was attempting to do. She didn’t understand all of the technicalities, she didn’t have the degrees or the genius that her boyfriend did. As long as she was able to understand the end result of what was being attempted, and knew the timetable that they were working with, then they were good. It reminded her that McCray had something for her with his Pym Particles research. He had told her about it yesterday and she was headed to his lab later today to find out what the breakthrough was. Fury was starting to get annoyed with McCray’s constant dodging of questions when it came to what he was working on. She couldn’t blame him. It was her hope that this mollify Fury for a little while.

While she didn’t know if it would work, she figured that it was worth a shot. She wanted McCray to actually turn in something good, and she had an obligation to Fury and to S.H.I.E.L.D., but at the same time, she wanted Lincoln to have the time that he needed to get over his personal issues. He was still having problems with his wife and they weren’t getting better or anything like that. Jessica McCray was an interesting woman, to say the least. Ashley had met her before, and they had become something resembling friends. Acquaintances at least. It had been a while since she had seen Jessica. The woman was busy with her consulting job in the States. She and Lincoln had a love hate relationship and despite being husband and wife, they usually were only able to deal with each other in short bursts. With a sigh, Ashley exited the document that was attached to the message and shut the computer.

Leaning back in her chair, she thought about the differences between the two men. Both were smart, both were geniuses in their own right. But Lucas was so much more introverted. McCray was an extrovert and most of the time, really obnoxious. Lucas was the kind of guy that you could just be around and not have to always be talking to. He was a quiet sense of calm, sturdy. There was a distinct reason as to why she was with him. It was just interesting that he was a calm man that seemingly was sure of himself, considering that bitch of a mother had sucked so much confidence out of him growing up. McCray was an extrovert that was really a little boy in a man’s body. She looked at her watch.

She had places to go and things to do. It was time to get a move on things.
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Mir
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Re: Genesis: Anger

Post by Mir »

The laboratory was state of the art. Nothing less would have sufficed, especially for the caliber of experiments that he was undertaking. Lucas Gates watched as the holographic assistant that he had was at work. She didn’t need to look like she was pressing the keys on the computer but it was part of the programming, to appear more like a “real” human being. The program had learned that it didn’t need to do it around him when they were alone, but there were a few assistants in the laboratory that day, so to better acclimate them, the program had opted to restart the behavior. Gates didn’t mind, his focus was solely on the experiment at hand. They were doing a complex series of experiments that involved gamma radiation and a weakened version of the serum that had been developed.

This serum was not at full strength, and they wanted to see just how long the serum, even in a weakened state, was able to cohabitate with the gamma radiation and work with it. He wasn’t expecting it to be very long, this version of the serum was incredibly weak. Some might have considered this experiment to be a waste of time. But to Gates it was incredibly important. He wanted to know the lowest strength of the serum that was required in order to work with the radiation, because that would give them a starting point when it came to production. What was the cheapest level that they could produce it at.

Unfortunately, it meant that they would probably run through a large number of test subjects.

The lab mice that they’d gotten did their jobs cheerfully, but really what other choice did they have? A group of them had been given a dosage of the serum, and now they were in their cell, waiting for the gamma radiation that would be soon in coming. Gates watched as the machines got to work. There was a module next to him that displayed the current levels of gamma radiation in the clear reinforced box that the mice were in. The levels were on the rise and he knew from experience that it wouldn’t take that long with the radiation for some kind of effect to be seen. The serum was not without it’s side effects. That was something else that they were working on, with limited success. While there was much that he could do, he couldn’t keep the green tinge that appeared on the mice’s skin and hair follicles. Hopefully that was something that he would be able to fix. It was on his list of things to do.

Lucas sat down in one of the chairs in the main section of the lab and continued to watch what was going down in the reinforced cage. None of them were actually near it, as it was in a separate section that was set up with better gamma radiation protection. There were cameras set up in the room and a number of robotic arms that they controlled that granted them the ability to do whatever they wanted in the room. This way, even if there was a melt down or some kind of problem, there was no way for the humans in the laboratory to be injured doing their work.

As he was sitting there, he started to see the changes. Some of the mice started to run around the ox that they were in, clearly agitated by something that was going on within them, as there was no outside stimuli that would have otherwise caused them to run so erratically. Slowly, they were starting to turn green.

Then it happened.

One of them suddenly grew in size and started lashing out in a crazy haze. Mouse blood started to flow as he massacred the rest of the mice in the box. Then, exhausted and spent, he collapsed, with a simple twitch, before he himself died.

Failure.

He had been expecting it. There had been no way that he was going to get the results that he had been searching for on the first try, especially with such a low level version of the serum that they’d been working on. But it had given him a good starting point. They would be able to get plenty of gigs of data from this experiment and it would allow them to start an exponential rate of increase for the serum versus the gamma radiation. Suffice to say, the next time was going to be longer. Gates knew that for a fact. He watched as the box was taken by the robotic arms for safe disposal. It was interesting to see the effect that it all had had on the mice, that much was for sure. The anger that had been contained within but that had been let out. The rage that had inside. Powerful. Intoxicating. He hadn’t been able to look away as the mouse had disemboweled and destroyed the other mice in the box.

These thoughts and others were on his mind as he turned and started to walk out of the laboratory. He was close to the elevator when he stopped and checked his tablet computer. His holographic assistant had emailed him raw data, and he knew that more analysis was going to be coming as he continued his journey. Evee was a responsible assistant that much was for sure. He needed to take a look at the data, but he knew where he was headed. To Ashley Vasquez’s office. She’d asked him for the results of the first experiment, for a number of reasons. Professionally, she needed to know what was going on and to keep tabs on his progress. That only made sense. Personally, his girlfriend supported him and wanted to know how he was doing.

He hadn’t seen her in a little while, and it would be good to see her. Truth be told, he missed her. After the call with his mother, Lucas had launched himself into his work. It was his habit, and his go to defense against dealing with talking about the feelings and emotions that his mother stirred up. Ashley had given him the space that he’d needed and when he hadn’t been in his apartment some nights because of his work, she’d accepted it. It was why he loved her. Because she accepted him, strengths, of which he didn’t think there were many, and faults, of which he felt there were a multitude of.

Walking out of the laboratory he headed over to his car, to drive to see the Director of SARD-Alice Springs.
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Mir
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Re: Genesis: Anger

Post by Mir »

The base was a symbol of order and discipline. Lucas could understand that and he appreciated it, in a way. He had never been one to be that enamored by the military or the military industrial complex, but he understood it’s necessity and the different things that it allowed people to do. It gave scientists like him access to money that they wouldn’t have previously been able to have, allowing them to do the research that they did. Research that had multiple humanitarian applications. The various research scientist groups that were present on the base had a number of projects, and Lucas kept himself abreast of all of them. It was his job, after all. The head of research for the base had to be on top of everything that was going on when it came to the research side of things. Anything else just really wasn’t his concern.

He continued his drive, and he could see the military aspects of the base ring true more and more. Discipline and drive, instilled by Ashley Vasquez dominated the place. Everything worked like clockwork because she expected it to, and she demanded it to be that way. As he drove, Lucas, saw something in the distance that grabbed his attention. If there was one thing that he liked watching, it was supers practicing and doing battle. From the scientific perspective, the fact that they were able to do the things that they were doing, it was just fascinating. Especially when they were well trained and could harness their powers effectively. The phrase poetry in motion often times came to mind.

What he was watching, and as he slowed down the car, he got an even better glimpse, was a well oiled and well put together team of supers doing just that. It was the Caged Angels. The four telepathic telekinetics were working in close concert through a series of obstacles while being fired upon by turrets and soldiers. All part of the plan. Stepping out of the car, Lucas walked up towards the enclosure, watching as the group continued their motions. There was a man also watching them, close by to where Lucas was, with arms folded over his chest. The head of researched racked his brain for a moment, knowing that he’d been introduced to this man at some point. Then he remembered who he was.

Nuke, was what they called him. He was the Caged Angels’ handler and one of the Supers who was a part of SARD-Alice Springs. A man with a deep past, with a lot of the information redacted and blacked out. Lucas had seen some of the files, but not enough to really get a bead on the man, not that there had been much of anything to go off of. Ashley had told him that the man could be trusted and that he got the job done. Which in the grand scheme of things was all that Gates cared about or wanted to know. As far as he was concerned, he was just a researcher. If the base was properly defended then that was all that mattered. He just wanted to get his work done and do his job. He looked at the man who turned and saw him.

“Gates, right?” Nuke asked.

“Yeah, that’s me.”



“Heard a great deal about you.” The other man said, walking over to him. Extending his hand, he waited for Lucas to shake it, which he did. “You’re one of them brainiacs or something like that.”

“Something like that.” Lucas replied with a nod and a small smile. “You’re one of the higher ups here.”

“We’ll see each other at the potlucks.” Nuke said with a smirk. “Outside of that, I doubt that we should run into each other much. But something tells me that’s the way that you want it.” He said, and the researcher nodded at the last statement. “You run your experiments Doc, I’ll keep everyone safe.”

“Sounds like a plan I can get behind.”
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Mir
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Re: Genesis: Anger

Post by Mir »

Lucas’ eyes kept watching the area, until the Caged Angels were done with their training exercise. It had been an interesting thing to watch and the training exercise had had to deal with a potential attack on the base. All things considered, Lucas had to wonder who in their right mind would attempt to attack SARD-Alice Springs. For starters, they were in the middle of nowhere on what was, in the end, a giant island. Furthermore, there were enough guns and bullets in this place to fight a small war for a good period of time. No, he couldn’t envision a scenario where someone would attempt a frontal assault on the base. Frankly, it just didn’t make sense to him. Any attack that was going to be effective or make sense had to involve subterfuge. However, it always made sense to prepare for different eventualities.

He knew something about that. After the first few times his parents had gotten into their fights, he had started to make preparations in case they started fighting again. he knew what to do and where to go. Leave the house and head to the library so that he could read and study. Then he’d wait until things blowed over, or one of his parents left the house. Then he’d come home. They didn’t concern themselves much with where he went and what he did. They didn’t do that when they weren’t fighting, so when all of their energy was focused on the animosity between them, they cared even less. It hadn’t bothered Lucas any, if anything he had been happy because he’d had fewer distractions. Also, hew knew that after a fight, his mother would go after him, while his father would leave on a “business trip” and he wouldn’t be able to get anything done.

So he took advantage of whatever came his way.

Getting back into the car, he continued his drive through the base. He had a time where he was supposed to meet with Ashley Vasquez and he didn’t want to be late. It wouldn’t do for the Head of Research to be late like that. He’d been introduced to Nuke before, but now he’d had a chance to kind of talk a bit more to the man. Interesting was a word that Gates didn’t throw around often. He saw things that were interesting to most people on a daily basis. Nuke was interesting. How a man could become as battle hardened as he had, jaded to the world, that was a topic that Lucas had some interest in. Maybe he’d see if he could get anything else in the man’s file to be no longer redacted. Doubtful at best though. To say that Nick Fury played things close to the chest was one of the biggest understatements ever.

He kept secrets about the secrets that he kept. That was just his way. So all things considered, Lucas didn’t think that he stood a chance in hell of getting more information on Nuke. Furthermore, he didn’t think that the man himself would reveal anything other than what was in those files. After all, Gates hadn’t even been told the man’s real name, he’d just been told to call him Nuke. And “Nuke” answered to it and to it alone, outside of “Sir.”

His car pulled into the parking lot of the main administrative building of the base. This was where Vasquez’s office was and, exiting his car, he entered the building. The soldiers behind the desks looked up and checked his id badge, before having him walk through a simple looking scanner that Gates was able to tell right off the bat was just a little more complex than it gave away.

Then he was in the elevator, heading up to the seventh floor of the building.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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The seventh floor of the building was dominated by the upper echelons of leadership of the SARD-Alice Springs complex. That much was easy to tell as soon as you got off the elevator. He’d figured as much when he’d first visited here some time ago. It had been back when Fury had been pitching to him the idea of Lucas taking over the Head Researcher spot. After he’d gotten a tour of the place, the first thing he’d told Fury was that if he took the job that he was not going to have his administrative office be in this building. Rather it would be in his laboratory and Fury had been okay with that. The One eyed man did not like bureaucracy any more than Gates did and they had a mutual understanding of that fact. Granted, Gates understood the need for it, and that was why he hadn’t refused to have an office at all, but he didn’t like it and he didn’t want to have anything to do with it, if he could.

But that was one of the bones of taking the job in the first place. So here he was, walking through the hallways and attempting to navigate the office ways. The one thing that he was grateful for, was that the seventh floor was reserved for the important people, or at least the people who thought that they were important. The offices were larger than average and more padded than the ones only a few levels below. This meant that the number of offices that he had to pass to get to Ashley’s was low and he didn’t have to deal with too many people.

That was always good. Always, in Lucas’ book. People didn’t interest him much.

When he got to the door to the outer office, he just walked right in. Her secretary was waiting for him, dressed in a S.H.I.E.L.D. dress uniform. The man looked up from his desk and gave him a crisp, manufactured smile. Lucas wasn’t too cynical of a man, but this guy had that look that he’d been shipped to Australia in a box and was like a toy soldier or something. He gave the man a head nod and walked towards the door, but the soldier rose and held out a hand.

“Mr. Gates, Director Colonel Vasquez is in a meeting.” He said and Lucas frowned.

He didn’t remember reading about any meetings going on now, when he’d checked her schedule. He’d chosen this specific time because she didn’t have any meetings on her schedule. Well that was annoying. Nodding slowly, Lucas backed up and sat down in one of the chairs in the outer office, content to wait. It wasn’t like he was in a rush or anything like that. Pulling out his phone, he opened up his games section and let himself get deeply engrossed in Angry Birds. It was an interesting game, one that he played a lot actually. A great way to lose yourself, you could just zone out and be one with the anger and get in touch with your inner fowl. Something like that.

It was a great way to pass the time, and it proved itself to be a smart download when it keep him occupied and entertained for a good fifteen minutes as he waited. It wasn’t until he was getting close to the twenty minute mark, that the doors to the office opened and he saw just who had been monopolizing Vasquez’s otherwise unscheduled time. The frown appeared on his face, having gotten deeper than it had been when he’d been forced to try again at a particular level four times in a row before beating it.


“Gates.” Lincoln McCray said, walking out. The other scientist was dressed in a black dress shirt with charcoal gray pants and a matching charcoal gray suit jacket. The black shoes were wingtips. Lucas was immediately self conscious about his far more stereotypical research scientist attire. “Who would have figured that you’d be here?” He asked with a smirk on his face.

“Who would have?” Lucas replied softly. He put the phone away and the two men looked at each other. “I didn’t know you had a meeting with Director Vasquez.”

“Oh yeah, the Director and I were just chatting it up about an experiment that I’m working on with the Pym Particles. I think I left some kind of memo or something like that in your drop box.” McCray said. “Anyway, gotta run.” He added with a shrug that gave off that vibe of effortless superiority or at least self perceived effortless superiority. “You’ll be the first to know how it goes, Mr. Head Research Scientist.” He added, as he breezed past Lucas and headed out of the office.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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Ashley’s smile belied the fact that this was a Vasquez-Gates meeting, not an Ashley-Lucas meeting. She was wearing her S.H.I.E.L.D dress uniform, and though some people wouldn’t have found the sight of a woman in a dress uniform as attractive, Gates was one of those people that did. He let the feeling pass over him, and he gave her what he hoped was a responsible and chaste smile, not the smile of a man in love. Either she didn’t notice, or she didn’t care, because her smile was definitely one of a woman in love. She was about to speak, when her secretary walked in. The man’s eyebrows knit together, as he gave her a weird look as he handed her a sheet of paper. Ashley nodded and then turned to Lucas. “Dr. Gates, what can I do for you today?” She asked, trying to be more formal to cover what had happened.

“We had a meeting.” He said with a small shrug and she indicated one of the chairs in front of her desk. “I wanted to show you the latest results of the experiments that we’ve been running.”

Gates handed over the tablet that he had brought with him, and she looked at the screen, using her fingers to swipe through the various slides.


“Interesting, but you’re still having the same issues as before.” She said and he nodded. “I think you’re moving at a decent pace though, Doctor. I don’t think that Nick Fury is going to have an issue with any of this.” Vasquez said, bringing her eyes up. “He understood when he started you, that the Gamma Project was going to take some time before it was able to really get results.”

He nodded and rose, holding his hand out for the tablet. “Well, that’s about all I have on it.” He said. Gates was a little miffed about the fact that McCray had just been here. He’d seen the look on Ashley’s face and the body language. She was very comfortable around the man, more so than he was really used to seeing her. More so than he was accustomed to seeing her with him. Gates was a very introspective person and he knew what his first response to this was going to be. He was trying very hard not to go with that response. “As for the other projects, well, I have to check in with a few of the other research teams, but the current updates are in the weekly .pdf file I send your office. It looks like Dr. McCray seems to have briefed you in person, so I guess that’s that.” He said, turning to leave.

His gait stopped when he heard her voice. But she wasn’t talking to him.



“Lieutenant Deacon, I think it’s time for your lunch chow. You can head out for a little while.” She said.

He turned and heard the voice of the secretary, accepting the order. Gates looked at her.


“What? Deacon has a tendency to try to eavesdrop, and I don’t really want him around right now.”

“Why’s that?” Gates asked, as she came around the desk. Her arms went around his neck, and Ashley pulled him in for a long, long kiss.

“Because I’ve missed you. God, I missed you. We didn’t see each other for months and then you came here and then you were gone for the past few weeks. I’ve barely seen you since your mom called. I know what she does, and I know you needed time.” She said and then there was a twinkle in her eye. “So that’s why I didn’t mind abusing the fact that you have to listen to me....Dr. Gates.” She said.

He smiled and kissed her as an idea came to mind. “Why don’t you clear your schedule for tonight?” He asked.

“Mmmmm. Why don’t I?” She replied, looking at him through half lidded eyes, something that did nothing to keep his system calm after finally being able to hold her and kiss her after such a long bit of time. The arms that had been around his neck shifted, and the hands framed his neck, her fingers pushing in slightly around the back. Because she knew where he carried his stress.

“Because if you don’t, you’ll miss the dinner I’m going to make for you.” Lucas said, grateful for the slight reprieve.

“Tough talk from a guy who can operate a supercollider but can’t make pasta.” Ashley replied, tapping a finger against his chest. She smiled when he laughed. “But I suppose that food processor unit you concocted does a good job. You tried to steal a few family recipes for that.”

He shrugged. “It was worth a shot. I’ll see you tonight.”

“I love you and stuff.” She said.

“I love you and stuff too.”
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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The laser beam shot through the metal, superheating it. The metal was an alloy that McCray had been working on for some time now, something similar to the adamantium vibranium alloy that constituted the shield that Ben Davis called his own. The purpose of the metal that he was creating was to help him stabilize the Pym Particles. Hank Pym had taught him much and had shared with Lincoln a great deal. But the research that they had been doing before the Chrell Invasion had been pushing the boundaries of the Pym Particles. In order to properly pull off what they had been planning, they had needed to work on an alloy, a new metal, that was strong enough to be able to handle the stress that the particles were going to exert. They were making highly unstable Pym Particles, more so than they normally were.

It had been something that he had been working on for some years now, and it was the reason why Lincoln had never had a serious break through in those years. Every alloy that he had come up with had been flawed in some regard and had failed to do what he needed it to do. The work was something that kept him focused, and Lincoln knew that he’d get his answer sooner than later.

He pulled the googles off as the laser stopped and he looked at the bar of metal as bits of it dripped off into the vat that it was hoisted above. In the vat was already a concoction of various metals and elements, kept at a comfortable temperature that ensured that the metal stayed in a molten state. He reached out and pressed a button on his computer console, and the metal was poured out into a mold for an ingot. This part of the experiment was going to take some time, and he was due for a break. He had been at it for the past four hours, going over the previous experiment’s notes. As if on cue, his phone rang.

Looking over at who was calling, Lincoln’s eyes narrowed. Stepping over, he pressed a button on the phone so that he could speak to the caller, on speakerphone.

“Yes?” He asked.


“Hey, how is everything?” The woman on the other end asked. “Were you in the middle of an experiment?” She asked.

“Quite possibly. What’s going on, Jessica?” He asked his wife.

“I was wondering if you’d found out anything more about that Lucas Gates guy?”

“Not really. I know that he and Vasquez are buddies though. I think they’re dating, but I’m not sure.”

“You can use that.” She said.

He nodded, though she couldn’t see it. “There’s supposed to be some kind of party or event coming up and I’m going to see if I can find out more details there. Guy fucking bothers me.” He said.

“Your contract is fairly iron clad, so I don’t know what Fury could try to do.” Jessica McCray said. “Do you want me to come for that party?” She asked. “I can make some changes to my schedule and fly out to Australia.”

“I’ll think about it.” He said and the words hung in the air. There was silence for a few moments. The last time that the two of them had been around each other things hadn’t ended too well. They were very combustible, which was one of the reasons why he found her so damn attractive. They got along, but then they didn’t, and when they didn’t, things got interesting to say the least. “I’ve got to go, I need to finish the experiment that I was working on.” He said.

“Okay.” She replied and he could hear the resignation in her voice. “Okay, you do that, and get back to me about whether or not you want me to fly out there.”

“Will do.” He said and then he hung up, before she could say anything else. He didn’t want to get into anything close to “I love you” or anything like that. He loved her, in his own way and she was just going to have to deal with that and accept it.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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The party was a formal event and as such, the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel in attendance were in dress uniform, civilians in formal attire. The food was excellent, and the drink even better. Lincoln McCray adjusted the dark red silk tie that he had on and continued to sip at the scotch that he had. The ice clinked in the glass as he did, and he surveyed the room over the edge of the glass. Filled with people that he didn’t like and got along with even less, McCray wished that he didn’t have to be here. Attendance hadn’t been mandatory, but you didn’t want to be on Ashley Vasquez’s bad side. That was just bad news all around. Wielder of considerable power, if the Director of SARD-Alice Springs said that you should be somewhere, you usually tried to be there. His eyes landed on a man who also looked rather uncomfortable in the room.

Lucas Gates.

With a smirk on his face, McCray headed over to where Gates was. This was going to be an interesting conversation. The last time that he’d spoken to Gates had been at a staffing meeting. He’d intentionally tried to undermine the man’s authority and had compared Gates to a bible thumper who wanted to halt the progress of science. Watching the other man struggle with keeping his composure had been priceless. Gates had anger issues and it was obvious. Lincoln had been through an anger management course after one interesting episode with his wife, and he had recognized the various tactics that Lucas had been using to keep his calm. From then on out it had become just fun trying to get under Gates’ skin.

As the other researcher approached, Lucas’ face changed. His body language changed as well. “Easy, easy, Gates. It’s a party, I come in peace.” Lincoln said, gesturing with his arms wide open. “Just want to talk.”

“Yes, well, that’s what we were supposed to be doing at the meeting and look how that turned out.” Lucas said in reply. He took a sip from his own drink, which was a gin and tonic. “But, you’re right, it is a party. What did you want to talk about?” He asked. “I’m all ears, but let’s try to keep it off the subject of work, shall we?”

“Fine by me. I was reading one of your papers a few days ago, actually. On molecular cohesion and neutron radiation effects.” Lincoln said. “It was pretty deep and you had some good points.”

Taken aback by this, Lucas nodded in gratitude. “I appreciate that, I really do.” He said.

Of course you would, you retard. Lincoln thought, but he didn’t voice that or the other things that were floating through his head. Instead, he decided to focus on something that would upset the head researcher. “So I know you are a bureaucrat more than a scientist these days, but even you have to not be that entertained by all of this.” He said.

“The party could be worse. It’s not that bad, actually.” The other man said. “I know some of the people here, not enough for me to really be able to have conversations with them, but that’s one of the purposes of functions like this, right?” He asked.

“I thought it was for the food, drink, and the women.” Lincoln said with a smirk.

“Women?” Lucas asked and then his eyes narrowed as McCray pointed to none other than Ashley Vasquez.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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“As women go, she’s quite attractive.” McCray said, shrugging his shoulders as the two men looked at the Director of SARD-Alice Springs.

“Aren’t you married?” Lucas asked, getting a little annoyed.

“Well yeah, but in the vows, it didn’t say anything about not being able to look.” Lincoln said with a smirk. “Come on now, she’s attractive and I’m being appreciative. Nothing wrong with that, as far as I can tell.” He said.

Despite wanting to be further annoyed by the man, Lucas did have to concede that the other had a point. He’d felt baseline attraction when he’d met the women of the Caged Angels, that much was true. “I suppose.”

“Besides, me and Vasquez, that’s a done deal.” Lincoln said, with a small sigh.

“What do you mean?” Lucas asked, his gaze turning towards Lincoln. He tried his best to feign casual interest in the topic at hand, though the conversation was starting to get more than just interesting. “A done deal?” He asked.

“We tried it once. A while ago, actually. Before me and Jessica were married.” Lincoln said, taking a sip of his drink. “Didn’t really work out. She’s not really my type, and I didn’t know what I was looking for, to be honest.” He said.

“Uh huh.” Lucas replied, mimicking Lincoln’s taking of a sip of the drink. “That had to have been a number of years ago, then.”

Lincoln nodded slowly. “I mean, I know she likes geniuses and scientists.” He said and then he considered, giving Lucas a sidelong look out of the corner of his eyes. “Hey, I mean, I know you’re not as smart as I am, but you should try hooking up with her. You never know.” He said and laughed riotously.

Lucas tried to share in the laugh, but it was half hearted, his eyes flitting back and forth between the two people. Ashley had never told him about any of this. She would have told him, if it were true. Besides, how could he trust Lincoln? The man was gunning for his job and had made it painfully clear that he didn’t like him. On the other hand, Lincoln couldn’t know that Ashley and he were intimately involved. There was just no way, unless Ashley had told him. This was something that he was going to have to get more information about.

“If you do, let me know what you think of the mole that’s on her...what was it...left hip, I think.” Lincoln said with another infuriating smirk.

Right hip. Lucas thought. He was about to say something that he would probably regret later, when they were interrupted by a newcomer to the conversation.

Emily Mortimer, one of the Caged Angels.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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It had been a while since Lucas had seen any of the Caged Angels. They were a busy group of people, constantly running different drills and battle tactics and being used in various tactics experiments. They also lent support as safeguards during the more dangerous experiments that took place on the base. He’d signed off on their participation in more than one of such experiments since his tenure had started. All reports had stated that they worked well on almost all possible graded factors. That was all that he knew however. Except from what he’d garnered from their personnel files, Lucas didn’t know much about them. However, he didn’t see anything with that situation that truly needed to be rectified. As they were not researchers or under his paradigm of responsibilities, Lucas could know as much or as little about them as he cared to.

“The two smartest men in the room.” Emily said with a warm, mischievous smile on her face as she reached them. “Whatever could you two be talking about?”

“The science of how you managed to get yourself into that lovely dress, my dear.” Lincoln said, returning her smile.

She was dressed in a burgundy strapless dress that showed off her curves. Emily also had a wrap that was around her shoulders, and she held her glass of wine with a good amount of demonstrative poise. She was an attractive woman, that was not a stretch of the imagination to say. Lincoln let his eyes roam appreciatively, and Emily didn’t appear to mind. If anything, she encouraged it with her body language. “I’m glad that the Angels could find some time in their busy schedule to be at this event.” He said after a few moments.

“We are a busy bunch.” The woman said as Lucas’ mind flitted back to Lincoln’s thoughts about still being able to look even though he was married. “But when Director Vasquez breaks out the free alcohol...well, there’s only so many times a girl can say no.” With that, she turned to look at the other man. “Dr. Gates, how have you been?” She asked. “I haven’t seen you since you first got here, really.”

Gates gave her a smile of his own. Yes, the woman was attractive, but he wasn’t going to be looking too hard. Lincoln had the ability to do what he wanted, or at least, had more freedom to do so, because his wife was thousands upon thousands of miles away. Lucas’ significant other was in the same room as they were and the last thing he wanted to do was upset her. So he decided to go for some humor. “Keeping Lincoln here in line can be just as busy as anything else, I suppose.”

This earned an amused look from Lincoln, who turned his head and gave Lucas an interesting looking face. As it changed into a smile, it conveyed the notion that he wasn’t that upset with what Lucas had said. In the end, Lucas had been taking a chance. He didn’t have the greatest working relationship with Lincoln, that was something that he wanted to work on and develop. Especially important, since they had to coexist on the smallest continent in the world. The face turned into a laugh.

“That’s a good one, Gates.”

“I have my moments.” He replied.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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OOC: Mild Adult themes

IC:
The woman slid out from underneath the covers of the bed. Walking into her kitchen, she grabbed an empty glass and poured herself a glass of water. Drinking from it, she turned and leaned against the counter by the fridge. Finishing the water, the naked woman set the glass down and headed back into the bedroom, still rather sleepy and tired. It was early in the morning, and she didn’t have to be up for a few more hours. That was good, she would be able to sleep in for a little while. Provided she was able to get some actual sleep. But she doubted that. The other person in the room rolled over in the bed and blinked open also sleepy eyes.

“What time is it?”

“About three in the morning.” She replied. Her voice believed a sense of triumph, as if she had been able to do something that she had thought she wouldn’t be able to, or had been challenged to do.

The other person rolled back over with a slight groan. Silent for a few moments, then he spoke, dashing some of her hopes. “I have experiments in the morning. I should go.” He said, getting up. They looked at each other, two people in the shadows, neither embarrassed by their current state of undress. “This was...fun.” He said.

She smiled at him, coyly. “It always is, you know that. You could stay for a while longer.” She reached out after she spoke and dragged a finger down his chest. “We both know you want to.”

“Sure I do, but I have to go.” He said. He started to get dressed and when she sat up and reached for him again, he grabbed her by the wrist. She looked up at him, confused and he pushed away from himself. She fell backwards onto the bed, and looked up at him, even more confused.

“What’s the matter with you?” She asked.

“I said no, Emily.”

The coy smile returned. “And that’s supposed to stop me?” She asked. “Really, you think it will? That’s funny.” She added, with a sharp laugh.

Angrily now, he kept buttoning his shirt. By the time he started to look for his pants, the look on Emily Mortimer’s face had changed from coy to mild amusement and a little bit of surprise. She watched as he hunted for them. “Interesting. You think you’re actually going to leave.” She said.

“You’re telekinetic, not telepathic, lady.” He said.

His pants floated in the air and then came towards her. He made the futile attempt to grab them. Eyes narrowing, he turned and looked at her. Taking a step forward, he was forced to stop. Looking down, his eyes narrowed a bit further. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He said. When he looked up, he saw that Emily was kneeling on the bed, on the edge, in front of him.

The coy smile returned.

A few moments later, she paused. “I don’t think your wife does this, does she, Lincoln?” Emily asked.

Looking down at the top of her head, he smiled. “No...no she doesn’t.”
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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Lucas lifted the protective goggles off of his eyes. The experiment was over, and the brightness from the gamma radiation had ceased, ending his need for them. Placing them on the table in front of him, he couldn’t help the frown that flitted over his features. The experiment had not ended the way that he had hoped it was going to. Looking at one of the tablets that had all of the other computers’ reports sent to it, his mind started moving over the data, trying to pick out what was the problem. Something had happened that he hadn’t expected, and this wasn’t going to sit well with him. This was something that was going to be the cornerstone of his work. The radiation that he was working on, it was tricky sometimes. Too much and it killed. Too little, and...apparently nothing happened.


Maybe that was it. The level of radiation that he was utilizing was not enough. Simple in nature, the experiment was based on trapping the radiation particles within a liquid that could contain the radiation properly. There were other liquids that did the job, but none that were going to be able to do what he needed it to do. Creating a new liquid was just the start of his problems. The radiation was holding within the liquid, but he could see that at the higher levels that he was building towards, the liquid’s molecular strength was not going to hold. It was going to waste away.

His lips pursed together as he considered the problem. The man stepped over to another of the computer consoles and let his fingers dance over the controls, pulling up a holographic representation of the experiment. Watching again, now in slowed down time, the events of the experiment, Lucas’ eyes were focused on the sigils in the bottom that told him the amount of time that was passing.

A few minutes, nothing more.

That was definitively below what was needed and required. Anywhere else, it might have been considered a job well done and a step closer to the end goal. But here, in a building named after Dr. Bruce Banner, it was most assuredly not.

Lucas crossed his arms over his chest, and started making mental notes that he would add to his project files, when there was a soft chime. It was from the artificial intelligence that he had, created by Paul Matthews and his team at Fantastic Research Inc. Turning, he looked over his shoulder. The lab had various hard light displays that could activate whenever Evee needed it to. The hologram appeared and walked towards him, opting to dress in what most would consider a stereotypical laboratory outfit. He didn’t bother to say anything, just lifted an eyebrow.

“Dr. Gates, I would like to inform you that the group calling themselves the Caged Angels are on their way over to the building. They left their place of work 5.39 minutes ago and are expected to arrive in 10.82 minutes.”

He nodded. “Thank you, Evee.”

She nodded in return and then turned, fading into nothingness as she left.

Now...what did they want?
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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The Banner building had a large room designed to be used to entertain people. Lucas had had no real reason to utilize the room until today, but the room was easily put to use for what it had been designed for. By the time the Caged Angels had reached the building, everything was ready. Waiting for them in the lobby, Lucas put a smile on his face, as he tried to figure out why they were here. Never before had they come to his laboratory, and he didn’t really interact with them that much either. Now they were in his building and he could only wonder why. He remembered talking to the unofficial leader of the group, Emily Mortimer, during that party not too long ago. Reinforcing the idea that she was the unofficial leader, she was the one who first spoke.

“Dr. Gates, it’s great to see you again.”

“The same to you, Ms. Mortimer.” Lucas said. He looked at the group of four people who were in the room with him. “I gotta say, I’m wondering why the Caged Angels are here. I think this is the first time I’m being around you all, since I first met you.” He said. “Something going on?”

“Well, we were wondering why you haven’t been so active when it comes to the social scene here at SARD-Alice Springs.” Emily said, with a sweet smile.

“I’m sorry?” He asked.

“You’ve been here on the post for a while now. Easily a few months. But we’ve yet to see you really hit the social scene. It’s like you’re only interested in your work.” Another of the Caged Angels said. That was something of a valid point, and Lucas knew that this was a conversation that he wasn’t that interested in having. While he would have tried to get out of it in the past, he was the Chief Researcher and the Head of Research here at the base. Playing nice and playing politics was part of the game. Something that he didn’t have time for. In a way, Lucas did live for his work.

“We are telepathic. So tell us what’s going on.” Emily said, voice full of cheery attitude.

“I’m not really one to be in the social scene, I guess.” He said. “It’s not something that I find particularly enjoyable.” Lucas shrugged at the end of that.

“But it’s a great way to get to know your researchers and see what’s going on with them.” Another of the Caged Angels said. Jennifer Asoki if he remembered correctly. The man, Anthony Prince, nodded in agreement.

“I do appreciate the thought, but the fact of the matter is that their personal lives don’t interest me. Not to sound cold or callous at all, but to me, it shouldn’t impact their ability to do their jobs. I don’t mind everyone having a bad day here and there, we’re human, things happen, but overall, I don’t need to get involved unless there’s a consistent number of instances where it affects their job performance.” Lucas said.

“I can understand that.” Anna Benson said. She fell silent after a swift look from Emily Mortimer.

“Well, I’m not going to take no for an answer. There’s a party this weekend, off the base, and you’re invited. Clear your schedule, Dr. Gates, you’re going to get down, down under, this weekend.” Emily said, with a twinkle in her eye.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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“I’m not going to that party.” Lucas said, closing his eyes. He was lying on one of the couches in his apartment, and was in the process of toeing off his shoes. Far to tired for anything like that, he decided as he willed the air conditioning in his apartment to work faster.

“I don’t blame you.” Ashley said, as she walked into the room. “Those parties don’t really seem your style.”

“She was really pressuring me to go.” Lucas said, his eyes still closed. He opened them when he felt her standing nearby. Ashley was standing next to him, and over him. And she did not look pleased. “I love you.” He said, just to be on the safe side.

“You better. What do you mean she was pressuring you to go?” Ashley asked.

He shrugged.

“She had better not have been using her telepathy voodoo.” Ashley said. “I have enough problems with those Caged Angels and I don’t need them messing with my boyfriend.” She said, walking towards one of the counters to grab the two glasses of lemonade that she had been pouring. She continued speaking when she turned around and saw the look on Lucas’ face. “Let’s just say that they have a history of misusing their telepathy. Caged is the right word. Angels is not. They’re very, very hedonistic.” She added.


He nodded. That was definitely not his style, then. Lucas was a simple guy and he liked simple things. Reaching out, he accepted the glass of lemonade, and nodded his thanks. Simple, like the lemonade. He tasted it and then made a face.

“What?”

“Only woman I know who messes up making lemonade from a powder.” He said with a smirk.

“You know, Gates, you may need to go to that party.” Ashley said, and in a rare moment of girlish-ness dropped onto the couch, landing on his stomach. She smiled with the sound of the air being pushed out of him. “You may not have a girlfriend.” Vasquez said.

Setting his glass of lemonade on the coffee table, and grabbing hers and setting it down there as well, Lucas snaked an arm around her and pulled, so that she was lying parallel to him, vertically. She rested her head on his chest. “You wanted to watch a movie tonight.” She said. “If I go to sleep now, I’ll sleep through the night.” Ashley added.

“It’s okay.”

“But we’ve barely spent any time with each other, in the past month.” Ashley added, her voice a bit muffled.


“I said it’s okay.”

“Okay. Nap time?”

“Nap time.” Lucas agreed, kissing the top of her head.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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Ashley batted at him, and scowled as she leaned back in her seat. As soon as he sat down, she grabbed the hot dogs from the tray that he was carrying and started scarfing. She needed fuel to keep her emotions going in this game. Baseball was a serious thing, and on the SARD-Alice Springs base, it was next to God. Ashley Vasquez went to church every Sunday, and then she went to the baseball games. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Little League was a big thing, and there were five teams. The reigning champions, the Invaders, were up three runs on the visiting team, which was the champions from SARD-Berlin, the Berlin Bombers. But this was baseball, and things could change with nothing but a swing of a bat. The Bombers were up to bat as it was, and the Invaders’ pitcher was starting to get tired.

It was just their luck that Nuke was the coach. He went out there to the mound and gave the boy a stern talking to. Probably something to do with war and being in the trenches and never giving up. The next pitch was a low and inside fastball that brought the count of strikes to three, giving the Invaders the last out they needed to get to switch up the innings.

“I have so much riding on this game.” Ashley said, devouring another hot dog. She reached out and grabbed the soda that he’d bought as well, the ice in the extra large plastic cup clinking around as she sipped. “Damnit, Lucas, you know I hate root beer.” She said.

“Well, it was my soda, Director.” He said, trying in vain to remind her that they were not here as boyfriend and girlfriend.

The woman wearing the beat up Los Angeles Dodgers baseball hat glared at him, using her free hand to shade her eyes. “Shut it.” She said, looking back at the game. She was wearing jeans and a white tank top and when she’d gotten to the game, a lot of the people there had been rather shocked that the Director ever wore anything other than her uniform or some kind of military issue dress. Those who had been to the SARD Little League games before weren’t as surprised. But then again, she’d almost made attendance mandatory so that they could intimidate the Bombers, so there were a lot of people who had never ever in their lives been to one of these games. “So much riding on this.” She said.

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“Herr Keller and I made a wager.” She said. “If the Invaders lose, we have to give him the new batch of helicopters from Stark.” Ashley said. “I had to through a lot of weight around to get those.”

Lucas chose this moment to be a boyfriend, hoping that most wouldn’t hear. “And that had to be hard because you don’t weigh much.”


Vasquez gave him an appreciative look, tempered because there were people around.

“What happens if we win?” He asked, curiosity piqued.

“Well, I figured you’d appreciate that.” Ashley said. “We get SARD-Berlin’s theoretical black hole inducer and analyzer. With the containment field.”

Ten seconds later, Lucas Gates was cheering for a kid’s little league baseball team louder than anyone in the small little stadium.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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The message came through early in the morning, just after Lucas had finished his second cup of coffee. He was in his laboratory, going over the results of a simple experiment that he’d had running overnight. The message was simple, and from Lincoln McCray. He was ready to present a new bit of research that he had been working on when it came to the Pym Particles and he wanted a venue on which to do it. Lucas frowned after reading it, mainly because he hadn’t been aware that Lincoln had been close to a breakthrough on anything. Going over the reports that the man had sent him during the past few months didn’t yield anything that would indicate that either. But dutifully, Lucas forwarded the message to Director Vasquez’s office, glad that at last this tie, Lincoln had followed the proper channels of communication and had sent it to him first instead of going directly to Ashley.

He still wasn’t sure what the extent of their relationship had been, how serious, and a part of him didn’t want to know. Lincoln remained professional about the whole thing as did Ashley and that was a relief. At the same time, he wanted to know, because he was innately curious and a part of him wanted to have some small triumph over the other man. Especially since now, Lincoln had something to report, and after all these months, Lucas had nothing. His own research had stalled, and he was trying to find different ways to progress what he was working on, all to no avail. Something was blocking him and he wanted to know what it was. Many nights he’d lain away in bed, trying to discover what it was that he was missing. It was obvious that there was something, but he wasn’t sure what it was.

The reply that came back from Director Vasquez’s office was short, sweet, and definitively military like. She wanted to know more about what the breakthrough was, and what McCray wanted in order to pull this demonstration off. Also, it was congratulatory towards McCray, as was expected. Gates sent this message to Lincoln, along with an addendum that asked for them to meet. Lincoln’s reply came back even faster than Vasquez’s has, and he was inviting Lucas over to his laboratory to talk, that day.

Heading over there, Lucas put his own work on hold, his mind grumbling at this. It was one of the pitfalls of being the chief researcher and the chief of research. He had to put his own work to the side in favor of McCray’s or any of the other researchers that made up the team at SARD-Alice Springs. Parking his car in the lot by Lincoln’s lab, he headed inside. Now that he knew his way around there, he entered the lab without assistance.

“Lincoln, how’s everything going?” He asked.

“Pretty damn good, if I say so myself.” McCray replied with a smile.

“So you want to do a demonstration?” Lucas asked. “What have you been working on?”

“Something that I think Fury is going to love. It’s a weapon, but it has a good application. Non lethal actually.” He said. He indicated a table, and sitting on the table was a weapon that looked like it belonged in a sci fi movie. Taking it, he walked over to another table, where there was a metal rectangle that glowed a dull white. Sliding the clip into a receptacle on the weapon, Lincoln waited until the rectangle glowed brighter. Turning he handed it to Lucas. “It’s a gun, obviously. What it does is convert elements of the Pym Particles into a shot. Each magazine holds enough for about twenty shots.”

“How is it non-lethal?” Lucas asked, looking at the piece of technology that was in his hands.

“Because it doesn’t kill, obviously.” Lincoln said, giving the other man a look. “Pym Particles can be used for a number of different applications. Famously, it can shrink you or it can enlarge you. What this weapon does, is it forces you to enlarge and shrink at the same time. You’re in a constant state of flux, meaning that you lose control over yourself, and you lose the ability to control your motor functions.” He said.

“So they’re in stasis.”

“Exactly.”
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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The testing of the weapon had continued, and Lucas had been brought in to help oversee the various tests. It bothered him a bit that Lincoln had delivered something to the table before he had. Granted, he had more responsibilities and things to worry about than Lincoln did, but at the same time, he was the chief researcher. He was supposed to be the best. You couldn’t rush things like this, but it stuck to his pride that Lincoln had done this. Ashley hadn’t been able to contain her excitement towards the weapon, especially since it was non-lethal and would be useful in containment of supers. Lincoln had a specialized safety built in, once the weapon was hot, that dissipated the Pym Particles if the magazine was dropped before all of the charges were fired.

Lucas’ suggestion had been to include thermal sensors for generic models. If the weapon was on hot, and the thermal sensors could not pick up body generated heat from the weapon being held, then the magazine would vent itself also. For personal models directly issued to just one soldier, the sensors would be DNA linked to the individual soldier. Lincoln hadn’t been too keen on the improvements that Lucas had suggested, but he’d taken them and started to implement them into the future designs of the weapon. That had been because of Ashley’s pressure on him to do so.

Now Lucas was sitting in the room outside of Ashley's office, looking at his tablet. He had a simple experiment that he was running remotely, and he was interested in seeing the information that would be generated from the process. Supposed to have a meeting with Ashley that was soon, he looked up when Ashley walked into the room, a smile on his face, anticipating doing their little flirting while working game. She was in one of her S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms, and he saw that there was a look on her face. He frowned but she said nothing.

“He’s early.”

That was all she said, and then through the same doors, a man walked through.

“Lucas Gates, you’re not wilting with the heat. I have to say I’m amazed.”

Gates rose with a small smile on his face. Ashley was right. He was supposed to be coming in a few days, but here he was. That was just the way that he operated after all, he just did what he wanted to do. Realistically, who was ever going to tell him otherwise? The often nicknamed One-Eyed King was now in the room.

“Director Fury.” He said, extending his hand, and the two shook hands. “How was the flight?”

“We both know I don’t give a shit about small talk, so why on God's green earth would you bother with that nonsense? Vasquez here told me that Lincoln’s got himself a really cool taser. I’m highly interested in seeing just what the hell is going on.” He said. He turned and looked at Ashley. “Also, combat exercise with the Angels. They should be working as a team by now.” He said. “Reviews don’t suggest otherwise.”

“I’ll make sure they’re aware.” Ashley said.

“Good. Gates, walk with me.” Fury said, reaching into his leather jacket to pull out a metal tube that had a cigar in it. “Let’s go see what the heir to Hank Pym’s legacy has built now.”
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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Fury watched, with no facial expression, as the Caged Angels completed the training exercise. It had been an exercise against a foe that was exponentially larger and stronger than they were. Nuke had been guiding them as a field handler, and they’d acquitted themselves rather well. At least that was Lucas’ thoughts. Against the simulation, they had done exceptionally well, taking down their enemy in a short manner of time. It wasn’t something that Lucas was that interested in himself, but he had to admit that it seemed rather impressive to watch. It was more than just the flurry of action however. The idea of the team working in concert together was one that was also rather impressive. Lucas turned and looked at Fury to see if the man would have any kind of reaction at all.

“Looking good. But they can be better.”

That was all Fury said. But apparently to Ashley this was a lot, as she had a visible sign of relief. Lucas couldn’t begin to understand what those few words meant, but then again, he didn’t really know Fury the way that Ashley did. When you thought about it though, who really knew Fury? This was Nick Fury, he’d fought in the Chrell War, and he’d been the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. since forever. This was a man who had worked with the previous Avengers and had fought alongside the original Captain America. How do you begin to understand that?

“Understood.” She said. Changing topics, she continued. “Did you want to grab something to eat before we-”

“Vasquez, do I look like I flew some god forsaken number of hours just to sample some of the local cuisine. I don’t give a shit what you want to throw on the barbie. McCray. Now.” Fury replied.

Ashley nodded. She knew damn well that Fury and McCray didn’t get along that well. Then again, Lincoln didn’t seem to get along with anyone, but that was besides the point. There was something special there with Fury though. She tried to avoid having the two of them in the room at the same time, because most of those times, Lincoln managed to get his job possibly on the chopping block along with his head. The group got into the waiting car and started the drive towards McCray’s lab.

“Here’s hoping that this thing of his works.” Fury said. “He’s been asking for more and more funding, and I’ll give it to him, if this thing works.” He said.

“We’re always glad to get more funding and-”

“You misunderstand.” Fury said. “You’re going to keep the same amount of funding.” He added and gave Lucas a look.

Lucas’ eyes narrowed. “That would mean that someone else’s funding would get reduced or cut.” He said. Then he stopped and that brilliant brain of his jumped to the logical conclusion. “You’re going to reduce my funding.” He said.

“Damn degrees make you a smart one, don’t they, Gates?” Fury asked with a smirk. “Vasquez here knows all about it, she’s the one who helped me come up with the plan. Money’s tight across the board, Lucas. You’ve got to make breakthroughs the same way that Lincoln does.” He said.

Lucas’ eyes turned to Ashley, who didn’t say a word.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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Ashley bided her time, knowing what Lucas’ reaction would be. She knew him well and she knew that his first action would not be to confront Fury about what had just transpired. It wasn’t the way that he did things. Every fiber of her being wanted answers and she was going to get them. He may not have been a confrontational person, but she definitely was, that was for sure. When they reached Lincoln’s laboratory building, he excused himself to go talk to Lincoln first, to let him know that Fury was here and wanted to talk to him. She watched, and as soon as her boyfriend was in the building, she rounded on Fury, who was smoking one of his cigars, the look on his face one of someone quite pleased with themselves.

“What the hell are you doing?” She asked. “That was never part of the plan, to reduce one man’s funding and give it to another.”

“Times are tough.” Fury replied, blowing out smoke. “You don’t think that your boyfriend can deliver?” He asked.

“That’s not the point.” She said. “This plan of yours is not something that you discussed with me before hand, why would you tell him that it is?” Vasquez asked, anger in her eyes.

“Because it lights a fire under his ass.” Fury replied evenly, looking at the cigar in his hands. Then he turned and looked at Ashley. “Vasquez, you know what I’m trying to do. Pitting the two of them against each other is what’s best for business and you know it. They’re two of the smartest men on the planet, quite possibly the smartest. McCray can think of the most practical applications for things and Gates knows gamma radiation, hell, any type of radiation better than anyone on the planet. The things that they can do with the proper motivation is ridiculous.”

“You planned this.” She said, realization dawning on her. “You planned it the moment that you promoted Lucas to Chief of Research. You knew that Lincoln would get pissed about it and work harder.”

“Now you’re getting the bigger picture.” He said. He looked around at the base. “All of this costs money and I need to have the best of the best working for me. Getting these two to compete with each other, it’s always been part of the plan.”

“You expect me to stand for this?” She asked.

“I expect you to do your job.”

She stared at him.

“Gates doesn’t get any special treatment or anything because of who he’s dating. I’ve never been one to show favoritism.” He said. “You’ll do your job, Vasquez, because you’re a soldier and you understand what it is that I’m trying to do. I don’t care if you don’t agree with it. Lawful order and all that.”

Vasquez looked away as Gates stepped outside and waved them in to the building.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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He’d been spending more time in the lab.

Far less time at home. Not that he did it on purpose. Well, that was a lie. After all, now he was fighting for his funding and he needed to provide a breakthrough or at least something that he could give to Fury to keep his current level of funding. All of his equipment cost money, and to keep them all powered cost more too. So he needed to keep working. Maybe that was how he justified not being at his apartment or spending time with Ashley.

No, Director Vasquez. She’d definitely made that distinction clear the last time he’d seen her, which had been about a week ago. It had been right after Lincoln’s successful - damn him - demonstration of his stasis weapon. He’d asked her about what Fury had said, and she’d echoed the one eyed man’s words. That had been a bitter pill to swallow. But he had and he’d done what he always did when faced with problems. He retreated inside of himself, inside of his work and he didn’t deal with people. Lucas didn’t run from his problems, not exactly. But he left them alone and didn’t deal with them for a while before eventually tackling them.


It had been Ashley who had worked with him to tackle them more head on. Which made her being one of the problems that much more difficult. It was different than when they had an argument in their relationship, this was about work. He leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes. Now he was on a deadline, and he didn’t even know the date. Fury was a man of his word, Lucas knew that. If he said that he would cut one man’s funding to give it to the other, then he would. Since Lincoln had successfully demonstrated his Stasis weapon, then it was only a matter of time before Fury carried out on his word. How much time was the question, and Lucas needed to work in order to make sure that everything was in order.

The research itself was going well, he just kept running into roadblocks when it came to sustaining the work that he was trying to do. He opened his eyes for a moment to grab headphones so he could blast some Bruce Springsteen, and keep his mind off of things. His mind drifted as he sat there in the chair, mostly thoughts about how he really, really wanted to punch Lincoln for being so damned smug all the time.

He didn’t hear the door to the lab open because by the time it had, he’d fallen asleep. The warning message did go off, but then again, for this person, it was keyed in to allow access without authorization. It tended to do that when you were girlfriend of the man in charge of the building, and the Director of the whole base.

Ashley walked into the main laboratory a few minutes later. She was dressed in civilian clothes. Blue jeans, red shirt, and a black jacket. She carried a brown paper bag with her and she set it down on the table next to where he was, still sleeping. Strains from “Born to Run” bled out of the headphones. Reaching into the brown paper bag, she pulled out a tall, vertical container of chicken soup. She’d made it herself. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. The processing unit that he’d designed and installed in his apartment had helped, but it was the thought that counted. The second container though, that she’d made herself. Ashley had even gotten real lemons, instead of using some powder.

Just to be on the safe side, in a totally uncharacteristic move, the hard as nails former Army woman turned S.H.I.E.L.D. soldier and officer unscrewed the top off the thermos and took a testing sip. The perfect mix, just the way he liked it. With a smile, she put the top back on and set it down on the table. Biting her bottom lip, Ashley reached out and lightly touched his hair, before running a hand through it, at least, what wasn’t blocked by the headphones. He stayed sleeping, though he shifted. Taking that as a good sign, she bent, kissing him on the head. As she took a few steps back, her mobile buzzed. She’d been wise enough to put it on silent. Taking it out of her pocket, she exited the laboratory, while answering.

“This is Director Vasquez.”

“Director Vasquez, we have a vehicle on approach to post.” A voice said. She recognized it as her assistant. The wind was blowing, so she almost didn't hear the next part. “The occupant is one Evelyn Gates.”

Oh, Christ.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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The door opened to the laboratory’s main level, and Evelyn Gates walked into her son’s empire. Not that she thought of it that way. To her, it was her son playing with his toys, as he always did. She walked over to where he was, and she saw that he was sleeping. Of course he was. Without consideration, she reached out and shook him, roughly. He moved, with a start and the headphones slid off of his ears. Eyes opening, he looked around and then Lucas’ eyes focused on his mother.

“Mom?” He asked, his brow furrowing, showing his level of confusion. “Why...why are you here?” He asked.

“Oh, I can’t just visit my son?” Evelyn asked, and ran a hand through her hair, before leaning against the table. “Is that a crime now?” She asked.

“No, not particularly.” He said, though in his mind, Lucas was trying to figure out just what the hell was going on. His mother never came to visit him in the lab. She’d never done it before. If anything, she’d always shown disdain when it came to his work and the research that he did. She’d always touted her work as better or more important than his, so why was she here?

“You look tired.” Evelyn said. “Have you been working long hours?” She asked and he nodded, slowly rising. “Well that’s not good. You ned to rest. I know you get busy with your little playthings, but that’s no excuse for not taking care of yourself. You’re only young once you know.” Evelyn said, not noticing the look that came over his face when she said “little playthings.” Before he could interject, she launched into a story about her younger years, back when she was in college and studying to become a lawyer. He listened, half heartedly, as he moved around the laboratory, cleaning things up a bit.

He looked up when he realized, a few minutes later, that his mother had stopped speaking.

“You’re not listening to me, are you?” She asked, angrily. “Admit it.”

“I...well...I...kind of...?” Lucas managed to say trying to come up with something, before his mother pounced. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful and she instantly morphed into the woman that he'd always known, the mother that he'd had the misfortune to grow up with.

“That is so disrespectful, Lucas. All you think about is your stupid science.” She said, her voice rising in anger and tone. “No wonder you’re always cooped up in here and you never experience life.”

“I’m sorry...what?” He asked, his eyebrow raising in response to her words. “Is the only reason you flew out here to Australia was so that you could insult me?” He asked, incredulous.

“No, my firm needed me to fly out here, so I figured I’d check in on you, because I’m a good mother. I want what’s best for you.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

“It’s not my fault that you’re wasting away down here.”
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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He reached out and grabbed a tablet stylus, so that he had something to hold on to. Lucas knew that if he didn’t, he was bound to do something or say something that he would regret, since putting pressure on the stylus allowed him to channel some of the anger that was moving through him. “Wasting away down here?” He asked. “I’m not sure what you mean by that.” He said.

“There are plenty of researchers who give talks, and travel, and do press conferences. They consult for different governments and for companies. They make a lot more money than you do, and they’re a lot happier than you are.” Evelyn said.

“What makes you think that I’m not happy?” He asked, incredulous. “I’m very happy.” He said.

“Lucas, I’m your mother. You’re not happy.” She said. “I’m sorry that I had to say it,” she said, her voice taking that conciliatory tone that it always did when she got ready to play the martyr, “but I just wanted you to,” she added, her voice cracking perfectly on cue, “to understand that I’m your mother and I love you and I just want what’s best for you.” She said.

“What you think is best for me, it’s not, it isn’t what will make me happy.” Lucas replied, rising and taking a few steps away. The stylus was slowly starting to bend. “Furthermore, if you think that that’s what it takes to make me happy, then you don’t know me as well as you would think.” He said.

“Oh? Is that so?” She asked. “Who knows you better than I do?” She asked. “Not that tomboy of a woman that you date.” Evelyn replied. “So rough.” She said. “There are plenty of women that you could be dating who would be more suited to you. Who would be able to make you happy and are far more refined than she is.” She said.

Obviously the fact that Lucas listened to Ashley more than he listened to her stuck in her craw. He didn’t blame her, not for that at least. Few mothers liked it when their sons started to listen to their significant others instead of them. So for that, he understood. But the rest of it, the rest of it was uncalled for. He eyed his mother, using the breathing exercises that he had learned in anger management when he was a child. They had been necessary to ensure that he was able to deal with all of the fun times that he had had growing up. The exercises had saved him from lashing out and from doing things that he hadn’t needed to do.

But more often than not, his mother had always followed him when she was yelling at him, even when he’d tried to walk away and tried to put distance between the two of them so that he could calm down.

“It’s obvious that you’re not going to listen to me. Even though you know I’m right. We both know I’m right.” She said. Then she shrugged. “Fine. I’ll go. I figured I’d try, because I’m your mother and that’s what I’m supposed to do, but there’s only so much...there’s only so much that I can do for you, Lucas. I want you to know that I tried.” She said and started to walk away.

When he reached a hand out, she waved it away.

“I tried, for you.”
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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“You didn’t try at all.” Lucas said, firing back. “You never tried. Actually, if it were possible, most times you did the opposite of trying. You paint yourself like you’re some kind of martyr, but you’re not. You’re just a weak woman, incapable of caring or loving anyone but yourself.” He said, really giving voice to the thoughts that had dominated his life for so long. “I can’t deal with this anymore.” Lucas said, as his mother’s eyes went wide at his words. “Don’t give me the wide eyed deal. You know exactly what kind of woman you are.” He said.

“Lucas William Gates, I will not be spoken to in that tone of voice.” Evelyn replied, using his full name. It used to work on him.

Used to.

“No, I’m not done.” He said, his anger getting the better of him. It reminded him of the phone call that they’d had not too long ago. She had gotten him so angry, and he had thrown himself into his work. He hadn’t spoken to Ashley, and it had put a strain on their relationship. Then she had gotten busy and now they barely had any time to see each other. Hell, the last time they’d really been alone, they’d taken a nap on a damned couch. Then, just when things had been getting better, Fury had come along and dropped his bombshell, that if Lucas didn’t start getting his research in gear, a lot of his funding would be going to Lincoln I’m the world’s biggest douchebag McCray. Not to mention that Ashley had known about all of this and had been in on it, without telling him.

That was a conversation that he hadn’t had yet with her. He partially feared what would happen when they did have it. “I’m not done.” He said, rising out of the chair. “You think that I wanted to come to Australia? I was excited. Not just because Ashley was here. Because you weren’t, and because it was thousands upon thousands of miles away from you, Mom.” He said. “You’d never come and visit me. Case in point, you’re only in this country because of something you had to do for a client. It had nothing to do with really wanting to come see me.” He said.

“That’s not-”

“I don’t give a shit about what your twisted version of the truth is, Mom. I haven’t cared about it for years. You’re a heartless bitch, and I think you should get the hell out of my laboratory, that I earned with my work, no thanks to anything from you.” He said.

Evelyn was silent, her face a stony mask of anger.

He was shaking, barely able to hold it all in.

“Get out.” He said.

So she did.

And only over a minute or two later did Lucas realize that he’d been holding his breath, and that the tablet stylus that he’d held in his hand had been bent, twisted and mangled.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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Lucas was in his car, starting the drive back to his apartment, when his phone rang. It had taken him a few minutes to stop shaking after his mother had left, and he’d had to throw out the stylus. He was still angry. The fact that his mother had thought that she could have such any say in his life was ridiculous. He was amazed that she could think that way, when almost everything he had ever achieved, had been on his own. A collection of full scholarships was how he had funded his education. His parents had never paid a dime. For her to offer judgment on his life and his lifestyle, when she had been nothing but a detriment to it, was uncalled for and unacceptable. Furthermore, calling it a detriment was giving her words too much credit.

No, there would be no mollifying her statements, no balm in Gilead that would fix this.

He was still so angry, that he almost missed the incessant ringing of the phone, but he grabbed it and answered, without looking to see who was calling.

“What?” He asked, the one word query rather full of emotion.

“I saw that your mother left the base a few minutes ago. I figured I’d call and ask how that went.” Ashley said.

“How do you think it went?” He asked. “The bitch and I had a wonderful conversation. Opened my eyes up to the fact that I hate being lied to, and I hate it when people don’t tell me about things that have happened.”

There was a pause. “Why do I have a feeling that there’s more to this than your mother?” She asked.

Had he not been so angry, it might not have come out, but the fact of the matter was that he was angry enough to say the thing that had been in the back of his mind for some time now, month almost.

“Why did you never tell me that you and Lucas used to date?” He asked.

The pause was longer this time, and if he knew Ashley, he knew that her back had become just a little bit straighter.

“Because it wasn’t relevant.” She said, trying to figure out just how they had gotten on the subject of her past love life. Of course it wouldn't make sense to her, but his mind often times jumped from topic to topic, and his subconscious was able to find the things that linked it all together. But for others, it seemed erratic. She was used to it, Ashley had to be after all this time, but when it dealt with her, she had a harder time keeping up.

“Wasn’t…wasn’t relevant?” He asked, in disbelief. “You asked me to apply for the head of research position without telling me that a man who you used to date, used to sleep with, was going to be one of my people. You never told me, even before I started working here, that you used to date one of the people who worked at the base. I’ve been here for months now, and all this time, I’ve interacted with him, and you never told me. I’m not even touching the fact that Fury’s doing this little competition thing for funding, and you fucking knew about it and are going along with it.” He said, suddenly changing the direction of the car.

“Lucas, just let me explain.” Ashley said, but before she could start talking again, he interrupted.

“No, I’ve had enough of being treated like a child by my mother. I have Lincoln I’m a cocky son of a bitch McCray doing it all the time, and it makes sense now, because he’s got this smug superiority of having been with you first and knowing how to play you and talk to you to get what he wants. Both of those, I can take. It’s fine, I’m used to my mother and I’m used to jackasses like him. But I never expected that it would also come from you.” He said, speeding past the gate, and driving off of the base. “You could have told me, all this time, but you chose not to. I found out from him, because he started talking to me at some dinner event about how the two of you used to sleep together. Not the greatest of ways for a guy to find out about his girlfriend’s past relationships.” He said. “I’ll talk to you later.” He added, hanging up without giving her a chance to respond.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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He pulled into a bar, not too far from the base. Lucas had heard of it before, from a number of different people who worked at SARD-Alice Springs. Good drinks, good prices, which was exactly what he was looking for. While he had never considered himself a big drinker, he had been told that he was a bit more than just a lightweight. Walking into the bar, he took in his surroundings. It was decorated in what the American would have considered a somewhat country theme. He slid onto one of the stools at the bar, and ordered himself a drink, a Sullivans Cove and Coke, but without the tonic. As the bartender placed the double in front of Lucas, the American closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face.

He shouldn’t have gotten angry with Ashley.

That wasn’t the answer, and he had made a bad choice. Angry though he may have been, the anger wasn’t with her, even if what he had said was true, and he had been holding onto it for some time. His anger should have only been directed towards his mother. Tossing back the drink, Lucas, set the shot glass back down, and indicated to the bartender that he wanted another.

When he thought about it though, it didn’t make sense. He hadn’t done the wrong thing. After all, why did Evelyn deserve to have his anger or disappointment verbalized to her, as he had done, but Ashley didn’t? That didn’t make sense. Doing that, keeping quiet to Ashley condoned her behavior, in essence. It cleansed it and made it all right for her to do. There was no way for her to change her behavior, no way for her to examine it and find it lacking, if he didn’t bring it up to her. And it hurt. It really did hurt. She had known all this time, and while they had been somewhat private about their personal lives, he was pretty sure that some of the people at the base knew.

It wasn’t as if she could simply hide her vehicle if she ever came over to his apartment. That was just not possible.

So the odds were that McCray had known, and had known for some time. Had the other man been baiting him during the party with those comments? Had he been messing with him this whole time? Lucas’ grip on his shot glass tightened, and when the bartender came back for a third time, Lucas, reached out and grabbed the bottle of Sullivans Cove and held on.

“I’ll just keep this for a while, if you don’t mind.” Lucas said and the bartender gave him a once over, before nodding. Lucas was starting to feel the effects of the large amounts of alcohol in a short period of time, as he poured his fifth shot, the fourth having happened shortly after the bartender had given him the bottle. He’d only been in the bar for maybe ten minutes, and he was already on his fifth double shot of whiskey.

Lucas was beginning to think that he should slow down, when he heard a noise from another side of the bar. Someone had been in the bathroom, and they were exiting now. The man stepped out of the bathroom, and the two looked each other in the face.

“Lincoln.” Lucas said, with a small smile.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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“You look like shit, Gates.” Lincoln said.

Lucas nodded slowly, and then cocked his head to side, squinting. “Better than being a piece of shit, I guess.”

Lincoln laughed lightly and nodded, looking down and examining his fingers. “Yeah, I guess you would say that. I mean, I am beating you in this little race that Fury has us on. While I’m not that inclined to play his game, I will admit, beating you is very sweet. The best part is that soon, you won’t be my boss.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. Though we both know that I’m going to beat you there.” Lucas said.

“Oh…” Lincoln said, realization dawning on his face. “Then you must be talking about the fact that me and Director Vasquez used to fuck like rabbits back in the day. You got angry with her about it now? I told you about that months ago.”

“Well, I take my time.” Lucas said, tossing back more of the whiskey. “You’re a piece of shit.”

“Why? Because every time you try to slide into little ole Vasquez, you keep thinking about how my dick was there first?” Lincoln asked with a smirk, as he walked over and jovially leaned on the counter of the bar, right next to Lucas. “Or is it that you’re afraid that she liked it more when my dick was the one sliding into her pu-“

“Shut up.” Lucas said, gripping the shot glass tightly, so tightly that the glass splintered, but didn’t break. He’d always had to have a close grip on his anger. When he’d been a child, he had lost control and had beaten kids in school. His anger was his weakness. Lucas knew that he had to control himself.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist.” Lincoln said, knowing that his words had hit home. It did bother Lucas. “Guess once Fury ships you out of here, you and Vasquez will be over. I mean, long distance relationships suck, don’t they? I wonder who’ll she come running to, when everything is said and done. Guess I’ll be sliding back int-“

He didn’t finish the sentence, as Lucas had launched himself at Lincoln, slamming into him. Lincoln was down on the ground, but Lucas wasn’t done, climbing on top of the man and punching him repeatedly, in the face and then the chest when Lincoln tried to use his hands to protect his face.

“Stop…talking…shit…about my…girlfriend…you fucking….piece….of shit!” Lucas said, each word punctuated by a punch, as the rest of the denizens in the bar rushed forward to try to pull him off of Lincoln. They were successful, but then Lucas got past them and kicked Lincoln in the ribs repeatedly, until they hauled him off of Lincoln a second time.

Without waiting to see what condition he’d left one of the researchers on his team, Lucas was out of the bar, the bottle of Sullivan’s Cove in his hand, close to ten shots of the whiskey burning in his stomach. He had a bit of a drive back to the base, and damned if he was going to let the whiskey go to waste.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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God, he was drunk.

The vehicle lurched on the road, as Lucas tried to keep it straight and on the road. Luckily for him, the drive between the bar and the base was a relatively easy one, with few twists and turns. Getting back on the base had been easy as well. He’d kept things together for that part, and most of the security was automated anyway. Now he was driving through SARD-Alice Springs proper, and the roads weren’t always in a grid form. So he was starting to have problems, but Lucas was trying really hard to keep on the road. As he pulled into the parking lot of his research building, he breathed an alcohol heavy sigh of relief.

Getting out, he started walking towards the building, and as he made it inside, Evee flickered on, triggered by his presence. The sensors had picked up on him, and recognized that the person in charge of the building had arrived. The holographic A.I. spoke.

“How are you doing this evening, Dr. Gates?” She asked.

“Fine.” He replied. “Get the…get the software and hardware up and running, I want to conduct a test.” Gates said.

Evee frowned. “Dr. Gates, your blood alcohol level is very high. I don’t think that this is a wise course of action to follow. If you cease drinking now, it will take your system roughly seven hours and twenty three minutes to process the alcohol that you have consumed, making tomorrow morning a better time to pursue your experiment.”

“Evee, shut up.” Gates said, genially. The alcohol was getting him into a better mood and the beating that he’d given to Lincoln had really made his day. His weekend. Hell, his month. “Make sure everything is up and running and let me know when we’re good.”

“Dr. Gates, I’m alerting Director Vasqu-“

“Override, Gates, Lucas. Authorization code is three three oh six five.” He said, and Evee fell silent as he walked into the elevator. She disappeared as the doors shut and appeared into the elevator with him.

“Override acknowledged, Dr. Gates.” She said. “Complying with request.”

“Good girl.” He said, as the elevator doors opened and he walked out into his laboratory. All of the computer systems were up and running and he could see that the Gamma chamber was charging and getting ready to go. The process that he was going to attempt was going to work. He knew that it was going to work, and after it was done, he was going to throw it in Fury’s half-blind face, in Lincoln’s bloody, bruised face, and in Ashley’s face.

The feeling of happiness was starting to go away, replaced by the old feelings of anger.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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“Director Vasquez, you need to wake up.”

Ashley stirred in the bed, trying to figure out what the noise was. Lifting her head, she ran a hand through her hair. She had been asleep, but barely. It was weird, because it was uncharacteristic, that she had been so worried about Lucas. He had been angry with her, of that there had been no doubt. Ashley wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen him that angry, even when he was dealing with his mother in the past. She’d tossed and turned for some time after he’d left, wondering if it was prudent to go after him.

Sometimes, and those times weren’t very often, she did react like a “regular” girl, and not a woman who had served in the military for years and had knee jerk reactions to things. She’d worried. Many of the things he’d said had been rather truthful, despite the anger that she’d felt at them. Ashley had known, when she’d first told Lucas about the position, that Lincoln worked at the facility and obviously she knew the past history between herself and Lincoln. But she’d known if she had told Lucas, that he would have found some excuse to not try to get the job.

She should have told him, even if was after he’d come to the facility. On top of it, she’d allowed Fury to play his twisted game with the two of them, intentionally pitting them against each other. Of course Lincoln was going to talk about her to Lucas, even if he didn’t know that she and Lucas were together.

It all made sense, and for her, she was not someone who could deny responsibility, shirk away from culpability, when it fell upon her. While it wasn’t solely her fault, she was the lynchpin that had allowed all of this to happen.

“Director Vasquez, you need to wake up.”

“I’m awake, Evee, what’s wrong?” She asked, knowing that the AI could transport itself to Lucas’ apartment. The AI would only be trying to find her, to wake her up, if something was wrong with the laboratory.

“Director Vasquez, I’m currently experiencing a severe internal software malfunction as I try to override Dr. Gates’ override.” Evee replied and Ashley’s eyes widened a bit.

“Why did he override you?” She asked.

“Because he’s very intoxicated and he’s about to conduct an experiment in his laboratory without clearing it with the base director, namely, yourself. So far the containment field is holding, but it’s deteriorating at a rapid rate. He’s refusing to leave the laboratory and insisting that he has to beat Dr. McCray.”

Ashley shot up, sitting straight up in bed. But not just because of what Evee was telling her.

There were alarms going off around the base, similar in sound and style to an air raid siren. It was the noise that was intentionally generated to warn people that Lucas Gates, scientist extraordinaire, was about to conduct a potentially dangerous gamma experiment and that people should be warned.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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Before Evee had a chance to say anything else, Ashley Vasquez was already moving. She roughly threw her boots on and started running. Her phone was in her hand, and she was speed dialing the security teams. “I need containment around Dr. Gates’ lab, now. All forces, converge and set up a perimeter. Alert Nuke and the Caged Angels. Find Dr. McCray and get him to Gates’ lab. Start evacuation of all civilian personnel. This is not a drill. I say again, not a drill.” Ashley slid behind the wheel of her personal vehicle and dropped her keys as she fumbled with getting them into the ignition. Cursing, she got the car going and was speeding through the base as fast as she could.

My God, Lucas, what the hell have you done?

That was the only thought that repeated through her head as she made the drive. She knew that it took about ten minutes to get to Lucas’ lab. So when she pulled into the parking lot a little over six minutes later, Ashley was very pleased with herself.

S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers were already there, and she could hear the tanks coming in the distance. The majority would be moving to get civilian and non-essential personnel off the base. She wasn’t sure how big the blast radius could be, if something went wrong, because she didn’t know how big of an overload they were talking here. That was the last thing on her mind though, because she didn’t want to think about worst-case scenario. Whatever was going on, inside that lab, she could stop it, if she could just talk to Lucas.

One of the soldiers handed her a sidearm, so that she’d have a weapon, and she slid the thigh holster on, strapping it, as a Chinese man came running up towards her. There was too much going on, and he was too new to the base for her to remember his name. But she did remember why he was there.

“Dr. Huang Ming.” He said, seeing that she wasn’t able to remember his name. They’d only met a few days ago. “I’m the secondary Gamma specialist on the base.” He said. “I need to get inside there. One of your soldiers said that Gate’s locked the building down, but my readings aren’t going to get us anywhere if I can’t get inside.”

“Trust me, if we could get inside, we could shut down this whole thing.” Ashley said. She turned to one of her soldiers. “Have we cut the power?” She asked. Regulation stated that the first thing if there was any form of issue at one of the research labs was to cut the power.

“We did that, three minutes ago. Whatever is happening, it’s self contained.” Huang said, and her eyes shifted back to him. “Look, I’m a nuclear physicist. Gamma radiation isn’t my specialty. I’m the number two, because the number one is the world’s expert. I can’t tell you what’s going on, unless I get in there.”

She nodded.

“Prepare to breach.”
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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The doors blew open, and the soldiers started moving through the lobby of the laboratory. Evee was already there, the holographic A.I. standing and looking at the oncoming soldiers. The building itself was very deceptive. All of the research happened underground. She gestured to the elevators. “Dr. Gates has turned off the lab elevators, I’m afraid. I can’t override him.” She said.

Nuke merely nodded, moving towards where the stair doors were. Suddenly the building started to rumble, as if an earthquake was taking place. A few of the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers looked at each other, unsure of what was going on. They knew where they were, they knew that the laboratory was unstable, and that gamma radiation could leak out onto them. They had their S.H.I.E.L.D. tech with them, but none of them knew whether or not it would actually hold if anything serious were to happen.

“C’mon, get a move on.” Nuke growled, tightening the grip on his assault rifle. He reached for the door handle of the stairs and he started moving down the stairs, followed by the soldiers.

Dr. Huang Ming came in with the next wave of soldiers, checking his equipment. The gamma radiation that was in the air wasn’t registering as too dangerous, but it was beyond normal levels. There was definitely a leak, definitely something going on down a few floors below. The man led his team in following Nuke’s down the stairs. The soldiers moved quickly, down the number of flights until they reached the level of the main laboratory.

Through the layers of reinforced glass, Nuke could see the outline of Gates, moving back and forth between the various consoles of the lab.

“He’s here, Director Vasquez.” Nuke said. “The glass is reinforced, and it’s going to take us a few minutes to breach everything.” He said into his communications device. Reaching into his pack, he grabbed the first of a series of explosives.

The glass was opaque and heavily reinforced. Bullets weren’t going to work on getting them through and Nuke knew that the doors were going to be locked. Which meant that explosives on the door were going to be the way in. Setting it up, he took a few steps back and waited. One small, controlled explosion later, the door was open. The S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers started filing in, and as soon as they did, Gates turned around.

He started tapping buttons on his tablet.

“Shit.” Nuke said.

“What is it?” Vasquez asked. “Activate your video feed, Nuke.” She said, and he complied, giving Vasquez a live feed and it was just in time for her to see the blast doors activate, dropping walls made out of a mixture of vibranium and titanium between the various layers of glass.

“This just got worse. Gates has a fucking death wish.” Nuke said.
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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“What the hell are we going to do?” Dr. Ming asked Nuke, a mild look of panic on his face. “How are we going to be able to get in there and stop him?” He asked.

“Doc, you’ve got to give me a chance to think about it.” Nuke said, his eyes narrowing as he looked around the short makeshift corridor fashioned thanks to Gates’ actions. There didn’t appear to be any way to get past it. He was dealing with a very smart man, probably the smartest that he’d ever interacted with. The place had been designed by Gates, specifically in the case of what was happening at this point in time. That meant that the walls were secure. One didn’t tend to build things out of vibranium and titanium because the alloy was shined brightly.

It was going to make solving this problem that much more difficult. But it didn’t make it impossible. The main issue was finding a weak point, if any in the metal. Beyond that, the other main point was keeping Dr. Ming as calm as possible. Nuke had a feeling that the doctor was not conditioned for this kind of work. Most people weren’t. Then again, that’s why they generally didn’t put those kind of people on the goal line to make the fourth down play. They put people like Nuke. He reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a few red colored pills, popping them into his mouth. Swallowing, he closed his eyes for a moment, knowing that the pills were going to take effect soon. The adrenaline pumping through his system would be what he needed to get them the hell out of here. “Doc, you need to work on the radiation.” Nuke said. “Keep me posted on what’s going on. I need to know what the timetable is here.” He said.

“Understood.” Dr. Ming said. He knew enough of Nuke that if the man was keeping calm and working under the pressure then that meant that the situation was resolvable, and resolvable in their favor. His fingers moved over his equipment, as he checked his counter to see what the radiation levels were looking like.

So far they were still manageable with the protective gear that they had.

Turning, he saw Nuke fiddling with a small control panel in one of the corners. He was working with some wires and it looked liked he was trying to hot wire the system so that they could escape. Dr. Ming noticed that Nuke’s hands were shaking and his pupils were completely dilated. There was more adrenaline in his system than there should be. Huang looked down as his counter started beeping louder and more consistently.

“We’ve got a problem.” He said. “The levels are increasing. This isn’t good.” He said, and saw that Nuke was still with the panel. “Nuke, are you listening to me?” He asked.

“Yeah, Doc, I hear you. Don't worry, I hear you.” Nuke said, and then a panel on both sides slid upwards. They had a choice to make. They could keep going towards Gates, or they could make their way back towards the stairs to get out of the laboratory. “Let’s get out of here.”

“What about Dr. Gates?” Dr. Ming asked.

“I think he’s pretty sure of his decision. Best thing we can do is contain it. I don’t think we can stop him.” Nuke said.


“I can’t leave him behind like that.” Dr. Ming said, shaking his head. “He’s a member of the team, and Director Vasquez gave us our orders.” He said.

Nuke grimaced. “Fine, but if my piss turns a different color due to this, I’m blaming you."
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Re: Genesis: Anger

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Nuke watched as the doctor stood by the metal wall, trying to work on part of the computer panel. Dr. Ming was trying to find a way to plug into where Gates was so that he could talk to him. There was no way that they would be able to directly get to Gates before the gamma radiation built up to a too dangerous level. That meant that they had to try to talk to him to be able to shut down the reactors. Nuke didn’t hold much stock in that happening. He wanted to help Dr. Ming because Ming was his best shot at getting out of here alive, if they were going to help Gates.

The drugs coursing through his system were a little too much at the moment in order for him to involve himself. He had given himself too high of a dosage, and it was catching up with him. Mentally cursing at his foolishness, Nuke clutched at his right hand with his left, holding it at his side. The veins in his arm were bulging and his arm felt like it was on fire.

“Hurry up.” He said, and Ming looked over his shoulder at the man.

“Calm down.” Ming said, and then his eyes widened when he saw Nuke’s forearm. “What is wrong with you?” He asked. “I have enough to worry about, what with the damned radiation, than to be worrying about you.”

“I’ll be fine, damnit.” Nuke said, through clenched teeth. “You just work on that panel. You better be able to get through, doc.”

Ming looked back at the panel, and nodded, sweat beading at the top of his forehead. The lights weren’t helping, continually going to normal and then flashing green to indicate that the gamma radiation build up was moving at a speed that was too fast for the system. It was clear that Evee was trying to circumvent the holds that Gates had put on her system in order to save her owner, and he was doing his best to stop her from doing just that. Unfortunately for Ming, and unfortunately for many people, his gamma radiation counter chose that moment to start pinging loudly. He looked down and his eyes widened.

“The radiation is going to overload in less than a few minutes.” He said.

“That’s it, I’m out of here.” Nuke said, and moved towards the open panel, the one that lead the way back.

“No, we have to help Gates. We have to do something, we can still stop it.” Ming said, reaching out and placing a hand on Nuke’s shoulder, but Nuke shrugged backwards, hard.

With the amount of strength that he used, Ming went flying back across the short space and slammed into the metal wall of the other side. He watched on the ground and in pain as Nuke disappeared and the gap slid shut. His body was trapped, but his mind was not, and in his head he started his own personal countdown. He didn’t close his eyes until the final few seconds.

Five…Four….Three….Two……

BOOM
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