Chapter 18: Revelations


    The week Brian  spent at the military camp  seemed to fly by, and before he knew it, he was now dressed in his very own uniform. He chose red for the custom color; as he had always favored it for some reason. He also found out that he passed all but one test; the dreaded simulation test.  Brian knew well enough he had to pass it in order to move on to the next step, but he just didn't feel ready for it.  In fact, he was afraid to even try.  Now here he was, sitting in the AMF's cafeteria with over a thousand other new recruits. Men, who just like him, had passed all the basic testing.  But in that room he still felt like an outcast.
 For the entire week he spent at the camp, he had kept to himself and never bothered to talk to anyone.   He did miss William Sterling though, and sort of missed Justin, but could care less if he ever saw Stan again.  

    Brian sat quietly in his seat listening to the others around him talk  until he suddenly   noticed  a red haired female in uniform walk up to a podium, and start addressing the audience. As soon as she started to speak it became quiet.   "I want to congratulate those of you who made it this far", she said.  "I know it's been hard, but you're almost there".   As Brian watched her, he couldn't help but experience an odd feeling of deja vu. "I feel like I know her from somewhere", he thought to himself.  

"Now the next step is for you to pass our simulated flight test", she continued.
 "After you complete that final test, then your real training will begin".   Brian couldn't help but notice something strange about the way she spoke.  Her voice sounded rather hoarse, almost as if she were upset or had even been crying,  but trying to hide it.  He assumed well enough she was probably feeling sorry for the new recruits and how they were all brought here against their will, or so he hoped any way.  "Again, I want to congratulate those of you who've made it this far", she said again.  "You should feel proud of yourselves, so don't even think of giving up now".
"Easy for you to say", Brian scoffed.

"The results of the simulation  test will determine where you go from here", Lynne explained.  "The scoring alone will determine which squadrons you will be assigned to".   -"Great", Brian groaned as he rolled his eyes.  "Now for those of you who do not pass", Lynne said sternly.  "You will be sent home".  Brian was suddenly very surprised.  "If I fail, I get sent home?"   Lynne could see the different facial expressions from the audience.  Some  of them looked determined, some looked unsure of themselves, and others  looked scared and angry.  "I'm sorry", she thought to herself as she looked down at them.   "In order to prepare for the final test", Lynne spoke again.  "You will be given a control manual to study from.  The simulator itself is a cockpit replica of the AF prototypes, and so it is crucial that you learn every single function of them, as it will prepare you for the real experience".   

    Brian wasn't very thrilled anymore. Now he even had the option of going back to his old life, but is that what he wanted?  He told William about Xxionia, and how he had promised that he would rescue her from Zoal and the rest of those savages, but now he was feeling like it was all just hopeless.  "You will have exactly one day to memorize the manual", Lynne continued. "So use that time wisely, because your future depends on it".   Brian's jaw dropped.  "One day!?" He flipped out.  He saw her step down from the podium, and then spotted a soldier that looked like Justin Church starting to pass out the booklets.   "There's just no way I can memorize an entire manual  in one day", Brian exclaimed in anger. He also noticed  he wasn't'  the only one in an uproar over that bit of news.  - "I guess I'm going home", one of the other men  groaned.  "Shit, I'm not studying nothing", complained another.     

    As the soldier passing out the books got closer, Brian could tell that it definitely was Justin, and from the looks of it, he was putting up with a lot of angry recruits.  "I' don't want that damn thing", one of them snapped at Justin.  "I'm getting the hell out!".   Lynne was standing in the far  back, but she heard the protesting and could tell things were getting out of control.  "This is not good", she sighed.   Justin apologized to the man and moved on to the next, but they also had the same attitude.  
Justin looked back at Lynne and shrugged.  "None of them are accepting the books", he said.  
Brian watched as several of the men were storming out of the building. Some even took the manuals and threw them on the ground or ripped them up.   Brian couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Don't they even care about protecting Atlantis city?" he thought.  But then again, he remembered that only a few minutes ago, he felt like walking out too.  "This isn't right", Brian said to himself.  "These men can rebel if they want, but I won't".  Suddenly he stood right up and called out to Justin.  "Enough of this crap", he shouted.  "Justin, give me one of those!"  

    Justin was taken by surprise, especially this coming from someone who at one point didn't respect the military at all.  "Brian?" Justin said as walked over to him.  "You're serious?"  Brian nodded at him.  "The rest of these morons can walk away, but I'm not".   Justin was still in shock, but handed him the booklet anyway.  "Good luck, friend", he said.  -"Thanks", Brian replied.  "I made a promise to myself and I intend to keep it".   As he looked around, he could see some of the other men were still there, and they couldn't believe what he had done.  At the same time, a lot of them began to feel like jack asses, and decided to follow Brian's example, but even so, there were still those who walked out, and never looked back.    Lynne also couldn't believe what she had witnessed, but she was glad that someone was willing to act as a positive influence in front of the others.   She wanted to thank the kid, but still felt too depressed over Captain Grant's situation and what he had said to her.  



--Atlantis City Council Headquarters--

    At that very same moment, Julius Morane had demanded to see Stan Winston, and he was in a very pissed off mood.  He was angry over the lack of communication with the AMF tech crew he hired to do his dirty work, and even more so over Stan's refusal to follow orders.
He sat in his swivel chair, waiting patiently as he tapped his knuckles against the chrome finish of his desk.   When  Stan finally arrived and  entered the office, Morane quickly turned around and glared at him as he approached his desk.  "Where the hell have you been!?" Morane yelled.  "It's been well over a god damn week, Stan!"   - "I apologize for my extended absence", Stan replied.   "No!" Morane yelled again as he slammed his fist down.  "No more god damned apologies, got that!?"   

    -"I'm tired of this idiocy, I really am".   Stan just stood there staring down at him.  "I'm fed up", Morane continued.
 "It's been a week and I'm not even up to date with what's going on, for all I know my plans to expose  Grant could already be screwed up, because my only reliable source is a god damn good for nothing piece of shit!"   Stan was quiet.   "You're useless Stan, absolutely useless. So until you can do something to prove yourself worthy, I don't  even want to see you!"
Stan remained silent and this annoyed Morane even further.  "If you want to prove yourself to me, then get me the rest of the classified information on that foreign doohickey below!  If  you can do that, then maybe you won't be so useless to me after all!"

    "As you wish, Stan finally said, then he turned around to leave.  "Good!" Morane   yelled back.  "Don't you come back here until you get it".   There was a brief moment of silence between them when Stan began walking away until he suddenly stopped and looked back.  -"Yes, father", Stan spoke.

"Father!?" Morane exclaimed as he nearly fell out of his chair.  "Get back over here!" He ordered.  Stan walked back towards Morane's desk, and this time he looked him directly in the eye.  "Why the hell  did you call me father?" Morane demanded to know.   Stan smirked a little before he answered.   "Don't act like you don't know", he replied. "Don't you remember?"   
Morane was dumbfounded.  "Remember what? I don't remember a damn thing", he snarled.    "Not even a certain man who was determined to save his son's life?" Stan explained.  A man who spent a fortune  to have his son's brain turned into some kind of microchip  so he could keep him alive?"  
Morane was in disbelief over all of this.  "The experiment failed", he shouted.
-"Did it really?" Stan asked him.  "Is that why you made sure all of your son's personal data and records were destroyed?"  Why he's just a nameless corpse in the city Mausoleum?"
 Stan could see Morane was starting to sweat nervously.  "You died", Morane told him in a stern voice.  "The experiment was a failure, Stan you're just trying to use this knowledge against me!"    Stan smirked again.  "Use", he mentioned.  "Ah, now there's an interesting word, don't you think so?"   -"Now what are you going on about?" Morane snapped.   "You wanted to save me, right?" Stan replied.  "Well you knew well enough the only way I could be saved was to  plant the microchip inside this body. You needed a human test subject, and what better test subject than your own dying son?"    -"Get the hell out!" Morane yelled.   "Figures", Stan uttered in disappointment. "Well the truth still stands", he said.  Part of this machine is your one and only son, but other than that,I am dead to this world and no one will ever know; no one but you".    Morane just sat in his chair, breathing rapidly from the rage building up inside him. "Nothing left to say then?" Stan asked.  "Very well then, I'll take my leave. And don't worry, despite the difference between us, I'm still going to do your bidding".  As Stan left, Morane remained quiet.  He didn't know if Stan was telling the truth or just playing mind games, but either way he had no idea that this would be the last time he ever spoke to him.



    Later that evening, Brian had finally reunited with William Sterling, and told him about his adventures at the camp and about  the difficult decision he had to make.   "That's really brave of you", William told him. "You should feel proud of yourself for doing that".  Brian tried to smile but he still felt worried.  "I should feel that way", Brian replied. "But, I don't".   William looked at him with a raised brow.  "And why not?" William asked.   Brian shrugged. "I just don't feel like I can do it, that's all he said.  "Memorizing a control manual in one day isn't exactly easy", he continued.  "Is that what you had to do?" Brian asked him.  William stepped away for a moment and walked over to a nearby frozen treat stand and bought himself a slushie.  "Sure I had to read the control manual", William said.  But I didn't have to memorize it all in one day".   Brian rolled his eyes. "Should of known".    -"But", William said as he took a sip of his drink.  "There's a better and easier way to prepare for it".  Brian was suddenly all ears.  "I'm listening", he said.

    William took another sip of his drink, trying to avoid brain freeze, when he suddenly walked towards the entrance of the local arcade.  "I shouldn't tell you this", William said.  "Tell me what, exactly?" Brian asked as he wandered over.  "One of the games inside there was built exactly like the simulator cockpit replica", William explained.    Brian was astounded.  "No way", he exclaimed.  "That's terrific".  William laughed. "Yeah well, it's our little secret".  Brian felt relieved, and decided instead of memorizing the book, he would practice on the machine.

    As the two of them walked inside, they noticed it wasn't too busy and there were only a few others inside.  "Good thing it's not packed", William said to Brian.   Brian looked around.  "So where is this game?" he asked.  William signaled for Brian to follow him.  "It's back here", he told him, as he led the way. As Brian and William were headed towards the game replica, they walked right past Khan and Ahtor. The two spies had been avoiding their duty as they were too enamored with video games.  Even too distracted to notice the two human soldiers walking right by them.

      When Brian saw the machine for himself, he couldn't get over  how amazing it looked.  "That's what it looks like?" Brian asked.  William nodded. "Yep, everything right down to the shield armor gauge".   Brian noticed the setup of the game was split into a four player versus mode, and the machine itself was shaped like an x.  "This is really something", he commented as he plopped himself down in one of the seats.  "One more thing", William said as he headed over to a small nearby machine and bought some tokens.  "Can't play without these", he said as he dumped a bunch into Brian's hand.    "Good thing it only takes one", Brian said as he started up the machine and watched as the title Close Encounters flashed  across the screen.  "Nice name for a game", he remarked as he grabbed a hold of the joystick and began to get acquainted with all the controls.

    Brian soon found out that this game wasn't so easy, and he was spending all of his tokens in a course of ten minutes.  "They make it look so simple", he grumbled as he stared back at the "Game Over" message on screen.   Then he looked over at William who was standing at another machine.  "So, are you any good at this?" Brian asked.   William had been in the midst of a game himself, but he still heard him.   "I'm okay at it", he replied.  "At one time I did have the highest score".  Brian shook his head. "Gee, that sure is reassuring".   -"You just have to practice", William said again.  "Nothing comes easy, you know?"   Brian just shrugged in response and decided to play some more.    "Oh Damn!" William suddenly bellowed in disgust.  Brian quickly turned his head to see what was wrong. "What is it!?  Brian asked.   "Some one beat my high score", William exclaimed in anger.    Brian rolled his eyes at him.  "Let me guess", Brian remarked.  "Was it Justin?"

    "No it wasn't him", William answered.  "It was someone called KHN, but Justin's score is right below theirs, and mine got knocked down to fourth".    -"That sucks", Brian said.  
"Oh well", William sighed.  "I'll just play a different game".  Brian was concentrating too hard  now to pay any attention to him. He was finally starting to get the feel of the controls, and he didn't want to deal with anymore distractions.
It didn't last long, because only five minutes later, William was complaining some more.   "It happened again", William exclaimed.  "Someone named ATR this time, god damn it!"  
"Not your lucky day is it?" Brian remarked.   -"No it sure isn't", William pouted.  


-On the other side of the arcade-


    Khan smiled to himself as he finished achieving yet another high score and then glanced over at Ahtor.  "I need a break from these machines", he said.  "I need something to eat".  Ahtor nodded at him.  "Yeah, I am also starving", he said.  They were just about ready to leave when Ahtor finally noticed the two men in uniform on the other side of the game room.  "There's more of those soldiers", he pointed out.  "And they're also training with these so called "games".    Khan suddenly made an angry face.  "Forget about our starving problems", he said.
"I bet they're trying to beat our scores".

    William had become fed up with playing games, and decided to see how Brian was doing. He grabbed his slushie off the machine and as he turned around, he came face to face with a couple of strangers.   "Uh, you're kind of in my way", William griped.  "So you're a solider?" one of them asked.  William gave him an odd look.  "Yes I am, why?" William replied.   "And are you trying to beat the high score on that machine?" They asked.   Suddenly William realized what was going on.  "So you're the wise guys with all the high scores", he remarked.  "I was wondering when I'd finally run into you two.  So KHN and ATR is it?"  The strangers nodded then introduced themselves.  "I am Khan Armoc and this is my comrade, Ahtor Kreshev", he said.
"Um, well-er nice to meet you I suppose", William replied.  

    "Were you perhaps training on that machine?" Khan asked.  William looked at him funny.  "Training? Well not exactly".   William couldn't help but find himself distracted by the large gold earrings on these two young guys, but he decided not to mention it.   Ahtor noticed the beverage in William's hand and demanded to know what it was and where he got it.  "What is that?" Ahtor asked.  William looked down at the cup in his hand. "It's a slushie", he said.  "I'm surprised you didn't know that. There are stands for these things everywhere. In fact there's one right over there". William pointed.   "I shall try one for myself then", Ahtor said.  Khan was too focused on protecting his score from William to notice Ahtor wandering off to the slushie stand.   "You weren't thinking of beating me at that game, were you?" he sneered.   William rolled his eyes.  "You sure seem obsessive over your game scores", he said.   "And the answer to your question? I certainly tried to beat it, but just couldn't get there".   Khan smirked at him.  "So you give up easily then?"

    William was beginning to feel insulted now.  "You know what?" William exclaimed.  "I challenge you to a game".  Ahtor returned at Khan's side with his drink and didn't have a clue what was going on.  "This soldier wants to take me on", Khan told him.  Ahtor laughed.  "What a fool he is".  William let out a groan of disgust.  "Fine then, I challenge you and your buddy to a game", William corrected.    Khan and Ahtor both laughed at him.  "You're going to take on both of us?" Khan asked.   -"No, of course not", William replied.  "Me and my buddy, Brian. The two of us challenge you guys to a game".   Brian was still in the midst of his own game, when he overheard William.   "Wait, what?" Brian exclaimed.  "A challenge? I'm not even ready!".
William headed over to the machine, took a seat and looked over at Brian.  "Don't worry, we can take them", he winked.  

    Khan and Ahtor also seated themselves at the machine and inserted their tokens.  "What is the wager?" Khan asked William.   -"Hadn't thought of that", William replied as he began thinking.  Right as he was trying to come up with an idea he noticed the large tub of tokens Ahtor had lying on the floor beside him.  "Alright, here's the deal", William announced. If Brian and I win, you have to hand over all your tokens".   -"And if we shall win?" Khan asked.  
"If you guys win, you get to keep your tokens and I'll buy you as many slushies as you want", William told them.   -"Sounds fair, I suppose", Khan shrugged.  "Let the game begin!"  

    As the selection screen loaded, both teams had the option of either choosing the human or alien side.  "We'll be the humans", William announced.  Khan and Ahtor looked at one another.  "That leaves us on the alien side", Ahtor said.  Both of them selected their teams and mech types before the actual match started.  "This will be most interesting", Khan thought as he smiled to himself.  The start screen finally loaded, and now both teams were faced against each other.   Brian tried to keep himself focused on winning, because letting William down, would be the last thing he wanted to do.  "Okay They're the red team, and we're blue", William told Brian in hopes that he wasn't already confused.   
Once the game loaded, Brian and William's mechs zoomed across the opening screen in formation while Khan and Ahtor were planning a sneak attack from behind.  "Keep an eye on your radar", William instructed.  "As long as there are no enemy readings, you're in your safe zone".  

     William  noticed that Khan and Ahtor were side by side on the screen for a split second, and then without any warning, they took off in different directions.  "What the hell!?" William exclaimed. "Brian, watch yourself", he said.  "They're up to something".

    Before Brian had time to react, Ahtor was right on his tail.  "Damn!" Brian shouted in anger.  "Not so good at this game, are you?" Ahtor grinned at him. Brian quickly navigated his mech off to the side in hopes of losing him, but Ahtor followed right along.  William suddenly realized his friend was in trouble, and decided to intercept.  "I'll cover you", he told Brian.  "You cover my ass too".  Ahtor's mech took off in another direction, and this time Brian decided to chase after him.   "Good work, comrade", Khan praised Ahtor.   William was beginning to get frustrated.  "Enough of this cat-and-mouse game", he exclaimed.  "Brian, they're just toying with us, attack now!"
Brian quickly fired off a series of missiles in Ahtor's direction, but he missed.  "Horse shit", Brian sneered.   "I've got you right where I want you", Khan grinned again as he came up right behind Brian and blasted him away.   "Too easy!"   
William groaned and smacked his forehead in disgust.  "God damn it!"  Brian just sat there in complete shock staring back at the "you are dead"  message scrolling across his screen. He then  watched as Khan and Ahtor both took out William together.

    Despite the fact this was only a game, he still couldn't shake the feeling that something like this could of happened in reality.  Brian just sat there frozen, and  William looked over at him. "It's not over yet", he said.  "We'll get them in the next round, cause I'm not giving up so easily ".  Brian felt a little shaky, but still managed to grip the controls again.  "Okay, I'm ready", he said.  This time he decided to focus on something more than just his radar. He decided to focus on something deep inside him; his determination to save Xxionia.

    Once the second round started, William ordered Brian to stay with him until instructed  to do otherwise.  "I've got a plan", William told him.  "Bear with me on this one".  
Khan and Ahtor seemed to be repeating the same behavior from the previous round, and decided to counter attack their targets.  As Brian watched them, he began to notice a pattern; he also realized they seemed to go after whoever appeared to be the weakest target, and sure enough Brian figured out it was him.  "Take him out, Ahtor!" Khan ordered.  Brian glanced at his radar quickly and then without warning William, he spun his mech around,   locked onto his target, and took out Ahtor with a single blast.   "Not so weak now, am I?" Brian remarked as he looked over and smiled at his opponent.    "Nice job!" William cheered.  "I didn't know you had it in ya!"    Ahtor gritted his teeth at Brian.  "ek wa'ew iew!" he snarled.     -"Huh?" Brian replied in confusion.   "We've got one more target to go", William announced.   Khan sneered in response, and decided to go after Brian for revenge's sake.    "You seem to be really popular with these guys", William remarked.   Brian chuckled. "Yeah, it seems I'm  the Real McCoy".

    At that moment, Justin Church was passing by and decided to make a quick stop at the arcade.  When he noticed the versus match going on between  his friends, he absolutely had to watch.  "Interesting game, going on guys", Justin commented.  Ahtor looked up and recognized the young blond soldier.  "I remember you", he exclaimed.   -"You and all of Atlantis City", Justin joked.  "So who's winning?"    William ignored Justin for a brief moment as he locked onto Khan, who was making a quick getaway, and wasted him.   "It's actually a tie now", William answered.   "A tie?" Justin replied.  "What, are you guys equally matched or somethin!?"   Khan crossed his arms and narrowed his brow as he glared at William.  "It would seem so", he leered.  

    "So, I see you and Brian have met my new friends", Justin said to William.  "You know them?" William asked.  Justin nodded. "Yeah, I introduced them to this place, they're from the other side of the city; a regular pair of grifters".    -"Grifters?" William exclaimed.  "So they're con men eh?"  Justin looked at them and shrugged his shoulders.  "That's what they told me".  
Suddenly Khan and Ahtor were very confused.   "Any way", Justin continued.  "I was just stopping by for a quick game before I returned to the AMF lab.  I've got a few projects I'm working on".   -"Top secret are they?" William asked.  Justin shrugged.  "Well, yes and no", he replied.  "I've got some ideas for new weapons, and I've got a mystery case I'm still trying to solve".  Right when Justin mentioned the mystery, he looked right at Brian, as if he knew.  "I should also commend you for what you did earlier", Justin told Brian.  "That was really courageous, and even our Vice Admiral thinks so".    Brian smiled a little.  "Thanks", he said.  "I guess I just kind of snapped, I don't know".    -"I didn't tell you this before, but you don't look half bad in your new uniform", Justin commented.  Brian chuckled.  "Thanks again", he replied.  William also  had to agree with Justin.  "Yeah, it's sure better than that jacket you wore all the time", he said.   

    While William, Brian, and Justin were busy conversing with one another, Khan and Ahtor took advantage of this opportunity and  snuck off to have a private chat of their own.  They walked towards the back and hid themselves behind a wall, and peered back at the men.   "One of them says he is returning to their base", Khan mentioned.  
-"Then he is the one who will lead us there", Ahtor added.  "nekhtew er dewaw", Khan replied.  
"We'll wait here until he leaves, and then we follow him".


--AMF Airbase--

    It had been a pretty quiet evening, and even the airbase officers were silent.   Lynne felt it was important to let the girls know what was going on with their captain, but she didn't want to cause them any more grief.  They had been worried enough over the alien space ship, and watched it closely as often as they could.  "Flight tests have been canceled for this evening", Grace announced.  Lynne was startled by her voice and quickly looked around.  "Oh", Lynne uttered.  "Well, that's fine, we can reschedule them for tomorrow or  even later".  Grace could immediately tell something wasn't right.  "You sound out of it, dearie", Grace said.   "Something troubling you, perhaps?"   Lynne shook her head.  "Not at all", she lied.  "I'm fine, just a little tired is all".   -"Not having any more of those wacky dreams are ya?" Lucy added.  Right as Lynne was about to answer her, the phone rang, and Lucy answered it.     Lynne began to zone out again due to her lack of sleep when she was startled again.  "It's some sanitation engineer", Lucy announced.  "He says he's found two of our uniforms behind some dumpster!"    -"I'll take it from here", Lynne replied as she got up and took the phone.

    "Speak up, sir", Lynne told the man.  "Now what exactly did you find?"   She asked.
-"Two military type uniforms", the engineer replied.  "I thought they might belong to you guys. so do you want me to bring em on by?"   Lynne didn't understand why in the world someone would leave uniforms behind a dumpster, but she decided he could bring them by any way.
"Sure, go right ahead", she replied.  "Thank you for contacting us".  When she hung up, Lucy looked to be just as puzzled as she was.   "That doesn't make sense", Lucy said.  "I know it doesn't", Lynne replied.  "But, I guess we'll see when he gets here".



    
    Justin had finally started heading towards the exit of the arcade  after telling the others he'd meet with them later.  At that same moment, Khan and Ahtor were still watching from behind the wall.  "He's leaving now", said Ahtor.  Khan peered around the corner again, and noticed Brian and William weren't paying attention.  "Those two soldiers aren't looking", Khan told Ahtor.  "Now's our chance!Move quickly!"  Khan and Ahtor made a beeline for the exit and walked right into a crowd of people along the walkway.  For a moment there, both of them thought they had lost the young soldier, but Justin's green uniform stuck out like a sore thumb which made it easy to  keep track of him.    
They soon found the walk from the arcade to the airbase was a very short one, and that the main gates were  right around the corner.

    Unfortunately, the area was wide open which made it difficult to hide, and so the two of them had to find a way to follow Justin without being noticed.  Once he got to the front gates, Justin punched in his identification  number and waited till he was granted access.   As soon as the gates opened and he got through, Khan and Ahtor were trying to figure out how to get in.  "He's led us right to it", noted Khan.  "But now we have to figure out a way to get inside".  Without answering him, Ahtor snatched the magnite out of Khan's pants pocket and waved it in his face.  "Did you forget about this?" Ahtor griped.  "Bhor said it would work on all of their technology".  Khan felt like an idiot.  "How foolish of me to forget", he grumbled.  "Is the coast clear?"   Ahtor quickly surveyed the area around them.  "No one around", he replied.




    Twenty minutes had passed and Lynne had received a large black garbage sack from the sanitation worker she had talked to earlier.  As she reached in and pulled out two strange looking uniforms, her eyes grew wide.   "These are most definitely not ours", she told the girls as she held one of them up in front of her.  They were very strange looking indeed.   Dark Gray and Black with red trimming on the sleeves and chest area, with a strange red and black emblem on the left shoulder and a bizarre looking metallic belt.  Suddenly Lynne had a bad feeling in her gut and had to sit down.  Lucy, Mipsy, and Grace wandered over to have a look for themselves.  "Tacky looking things aren't they?" Grace commented.   "They don't look human at all", Lucy exclaimed.  "Do you think it's possible they belong to some of the aliens from that ship?" She asked as she looked over at Lynne.  "Huh, commander Williams?" Lucy continued.    Lynne nodded slowly.  "While they do look alien, we have to remember that Atlantis City is heavily guarded, and it's damn near impossible for anything or anyone to get in".     -"But then how else did these come about?" Lucy asked her.   Lynne sighed and rubbed the temples of her forehead.    "Perhaps we underestimated them? I really don't know", she uttered.

    Suddenly Mipsy began to panic .  "This can't be true" she wailed.  "They're here, they're in our city".  "What are we gonna do!?"  Grace reached over and slapped her across the face. "Calm down, dearie", she scolded.  "You going crazy isn't going to help the situation".   Mipsy rubbed her face and pouted.
Lynne sighed.  "If by any chance,  we do have invaders, then we have no choice but to keep it under wraps", she explained   "If the word got out, it would be complete chaos, and we'd be the ones they would blame for it. You know just as well as I do".    Lynne suddenly glanced over at the clock to her right.  "It's Eight-Thirty now", she told the girls.  "Your shifts are over for today, go ahead and go now".   They  got up from their seats and started heading to the elevator when Grace suddenly stopped and looked back.  "You need a break too, my dear", she told Lynne.  "Why don't you come with us to the coffee shop? It would do you some good to get out of here".   Lynne shook her head in response.  "No, it's my duty to stay here and watch over everything".   Grace and the others frowned.  "You've been cooped up in here for so long", Grace continued.  "Wouldn't you feel better getting away from it all for a while?"

    "No, I would not", Lynne replied.  "I have my reasons".   Lucy rolled her eyes and Mipsy kept stopping the elevator door with her foot.  "We're really worried about you", Lucy said.  "You act like something is wrong but when we ask, you refuse to tell us, why is that?"  Lynne turned away.  "I'm afraid I can't tell you", she uttered.   -"But why not?" Grace asked her.  "If it's that important, then we have a right to know".    "I can't tell you", Lynne snapped at them.  "Now please try to understand".
Grace just sighed and shook her head.  "Whatever, I tried", she muttered as Mipsy moved her foot out of the way and the elevator door finally closed.   After they had gone, Lynne broke down and started sobbing  into her hands.  She was saddened over the fact that Captain Grant was dying, and even more so over the fact that she would have to be the one to take his place.  "I can't do it", she sobbed.  "I don't have the strength or the experience, he should of picked someone else; someone stronger than me!".

    Of course, that was the least of her worries once she walked towards one of the tower's view port windows and looked down.  She spotted Stan Winston walking towards the outside stairway, and immediately knew he was up to something.  
Stan on the other hand, believed he was all alone.
Still angered from his last chat with Morane; he was now determined more than ever to prove he was still useful to the council.  He would retrieve that classified information and earn Morane's respect again, and nothing was going to stand in his way this time.  
He began heading up the stairway until he heard the sounds of footsteps below.

    "Stan", came a woman's voice.  He glanced over his shoulder and saw commander Williams standing down below  with a cross look on her face.  "You have no authorization to be here at this hour", she told him.  "What are you doing?"  Stan just glared back at her.  "I apologize if I am trespassing", he said.  "I'll be on my way".  - "Not so fast", she snapped. "I want to know why the hell you were inside my private office, and without my permission".   -"I wasn't", Stan replied.   "Bullshit, and you know it", Lynne raised her voice.  "Lucy told me so, and she also informed me that you said you were in there on behalf of Captain Grant's orders, which is also a lie, because I confronted him about it myself, so now what do you have to say for yourself?"    Stan had a very irritated look on his face, and Lynne could tell she had caught him in the act.   "Why the hell would you think you had the right to snoop around in my office?" Lynne shouted.   "Well? I am waiting for an answer here!"

    The angry tone of her voice reminded Stan of Morane and his temper tantrums which only fueled his anger.  "You're right", Stan sighed as he started walking back down the steps.   "How rude of me, now if you don't mind I'll just be on my way". He started acting like he was going to leave,  by taking a few slow steps past her and then he'd stop and look her in the eye.  Lynne was beginning to feel very uncomfortable now.  She felt sweat trickle down the side of her face as she watched his every move.  He glared at her one last time before he finally turned around and started walking away.  As she watched him, she felt relieved,  because he was acting really strange and even had her worried there for a minute.
 
    Once she had guessed he was leaving for good, she slowly turned around when suddenly she felt  this horrible pressure around her neck and soon found herself pinned and thrown up against the wall struggling to breathe ; only to stare back into the soulless eyes of Stan Winston.  


    "You bitch!" He snarled as he tightened his grip around her throat and violently slammed her against the wall.  "Now did you really think I was going to let you stand in my way?"  She started to struggle in hopes of freeing herself, but his grip was too powerful.  "I never liked you anyway", Stan smiled a twisted smile as he watched her suffer within his grasp.  "And now, I'm going to kill you".  Her eyes grew wide with terror as he spoke those words.  "I'll kill you just like I killed that annoying news photographer.  What was his name? I forget, but it doesn't really matter now does it?"  Suddenly Stan glanced up at the stairwell above them.  "Doesn't this look familiar?" He smirked at her as he started  dragging her across the wall.  "This is what I'm going to do", Stan told her.  "I'm going to snap your neck like a tooth pick, then place your body at the foot of these stairs".   Deep inside, she was screaming as loud as she could, only nothing came out.

- "You want to know what the beauty of it is?" Stan asked her.  "The fact your death will look like nothing more than a mere accident.  I'm not human, so I can't leave any evidence behind now can I?"


    At that moment, William Sterling and Brian Smith were walking out of the arcade. Brian had spent the entire time playing that simulator replica game, preparing himself for the big test the next day.  "I feel like I'm ready", Brian announced.   "That's good", William replied.   "I knew it would help, but you've still got to read the manual".  Brian rolled his eyes.  "I've got all the controls down, I don't need to look at that thing".  William shrugged.  "I would if I were you. Just in case ya know?"
-"I really want to see the real thing", Brian said.  "I've always wondered what the AF fighters looked like up close".     -"You can have a sneak peek", William told him.  "Really?" Brian exclaimed with excitement.  "Oh man, that would surely make my day".  William laughed at him.  "Well, I'll take you there right now", he said.  "It's late, and there's no one on guard at this time".

    William led Brian to the gates, and both of them noticed something strange.  "Someone left them open", William said as he gave Brian a worried look.  "This worries me".     "Maybe they forgot?" Brian shrugged. "No", William replied.  "Something isn't right".    William started walking forward when out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Stan in the far distance, and he appeared to be attacking someone.   "Stan!" William shouted as he started running in that direction.   Brian didn't know what was going on, but he trailed right behind.

    When William finally saw that it was Lynne Stan was attacking, he was furious.  "Stan, let her go!" He shouted at the top of his lungs as he sprinted towards him.  Stan heard a familiar voice and when he turned his head to see who it was, William charged forward with his fist out in front of him, throwing a punch directly at Stan's face, hitting him square in the jaw.   Stan staggered backwards as he released his grasp around Lynne's throat, dropping her to the ground.   He then looked right at William; the image of his human face flickering before finally fading away; only to reveal the body of an android.   William's eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open as he stood there in complete shock.  
Brian quickly rushed over and helped Lynne up, and pulled her away.   "He's not human", Lynne cried out to William as she began coughing and gasping for air.  "Get away from him!"

    William just stood there as he watched the robot's body shut down and fall to the ground. William watched Stan as if he were dying right before his  very eyes.   "Get away from him", Lynne called out.  "It might be a trick!"  William ignored her, and just stared down at the body of what was once his best friend.  He was left speechless, he didn't know what to say or what to think as he walked over towards Lynne and Brian.  "Are you okay?" He asked as he knelt down beside her.  Lynne nodded.  "I've been through worse", she uttered.  "How about you? Are you okay?"  William closed his eyes and looked away.  "No, I'm not", he said a low voice.  "For the first time in my life, I'm not".