02x04: Spike's Directive

Spike receives his mission from the Mastermind. Unfortunately, he finds flaws in his plan.

SPIKE’S DIRECTIVE

 

     Earlier that morning, Spike was enjoying the little period of sleep he had. He had gone on the training program a few more times the previous day and had arrived in his suite at 1:00 in the morning.

     He walked out of his room to the living room. He sat down on the couch and took a look outside. He wondered why there were so many sunny days this year when someone wanted to set the world on fire. He stood up and found a disk on the table.

     He grabbed this disk and placed it in his DVD player. He turned on the TV but nothing was showing. He looked back at the table and saw a package. He opened this package and there was a machine with a little glass tip. It looked like a small cone with a rounded tip. It was silver with strokes of purple. It felt cold in his hands as if it was sent to him after they took it out of the freezer.

     He found a note inside the box of this machine.

 

     Use this to play the CD. It has your instructions

 

     He ejected the CD out of his player and pushed a button on the projector machine. It opened a small chamber and he placed the disk inside. He closed the chamber and the machine started to rumble. He placed the machine on the table.

     A purple light erupted from the tip and soon it was a map of the world. Then he heard a voice.

     “Mr. Spike Mordaz Estaquilla, this is a message from your boss, the Mastermind.” the machine spoke in a deep voice. “As you are fully aware of, our primary target to complete operation Sapien Genocide is to collect a child named Ryan Austin Fernandez. A few months ago, we launched an attack against him that backfired. Instead of destroying him with overmutation, we simply gave him every single possible power there is. But he noticed that this might be slightly dangerous as the radiation could go out in one burst and become out of his control. So he created a band, a black band, to control the radiation inside him. This band channels the twenty-four spokes of power one by one allowing him to access one area and maximize this area’s power. As time passes by, the other twenty-three spokes gather up energy and store it inside Austin’s body. When Austin chooses that spoke, it releases all this energy. But if we could release this energy all at once, then it will affect his state-of-being, causing him to lose control of himself. He will become a monster, much like the creatures of the planet where this rock came form. He will want to cause as much destruction possible. Your mission is to sneak on to this island…”

     The map focused on the island near the west part of the Pacific Ocean.

     “… and wait for the opportune moment. Then ambush the target and destroy the black band. Destroy every single piece of it. Make sure that not even a single atom of it remains on his wrist. Then run, as far away as possible... He will eliminate the people closest to him. When these people can no longer interfere, you must lure him into the chamber in our base that is currently being perfected right now. Lure him there and they will activate the chamber, sapping all the power out of him, turning him back into a mere human. After this, it will be very easy for you to kill him, do so and I can finally retrieve his brain and finish another phase of my plan. That is all you have to do. This is the most important mission I have given anyone so far. DO NOT FAIL ME!”

     The projector turned off. Spike pondered on how difficult the task given to him was. He looked back in the CD case and found a note.

 

Destroy the machine and CD after you have finished

 

      Spike placed the projector with the CD in his palm. He looked at it for the last time. In the blink of an eye, the projector showered all over the place in pieces of scrap metal as tons of tiny spikes zipped through the machine towards the ceiling but before they could destroy the ceiling, Spike pulled them back to him and they dropped in his palm. He threw them onto the remains of the projector and proceeded back to the Cliffside.

 

Spike didn’t even bother climbing down. He jumped off the cliff and shot spikes out of his sides. He made them revolve around him, creating a pseudo-magnetic field. He shot them outwards and in different directions, slowing him down. He touched the ground smoothly and found the odd patch of brown land and fell through it. He found himself in the usual lobby and went to the research rooms. He read the names of the rooms, looking for the “PowerSap Room”... He found it and went to the control panel. There was one scientist there. He was a tall man with glasses.

     “Dr. Orción, I presume?”

     “Yes.”

     “And you’re in charge of finishing the PowerSap Room?”

     “Yes. You’re Spike Estaquilla aren’t you?”

     “Yes,” Spike replied. Noticing the camera in the room, Spike said. “Do you mind if we have a discussion somewhere else?”

     “Not at all.”

     They moved out of the room and went outside, being careful not to be seen by anyone. The lobby was empty since it was still 3:00 in the morning and only the scientists were allowed there at this time. They went out to the field outside.

     “What do you want to talk about Spike?”

     “The task I was given. You see the Mastermind told me that�"“

     “Wait, wait, wait, wait WAIT! You aren’t allowed to talk about that to anyone else.”

     “What the Mastermind doesn’t know, won’t hurt him, or us.”

     “No, I can’t”

     “Look here you spineless dick! I have never been given a task more complex than the one you are about to hear, I found a flaw in his plan.”

     “How can there be a flaw in the plan, He’s the Mastermind! His name implies that he has everything planned. There are 48 operatives performing their task right now, all of these tasks resulting in the slight completion of project Sapien Genocide.”

     “CAN YOU JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND LISTEN!”

     “If the Mastermind finds out…”

     “He’s not gonna find out. He told me to destroy the target’s black band and wait for the opportune moment when all of his friends can’t intervene. There’s a problem. He told me to lure him here; to the room you’re developing. I have no idea how you can finish the room, I took and studied everything about this and the only way you could even dream of replicating the PowerSap energy is by using someone with that power. There are only three mutants in this whole thing, Me, Landers, and the Mastermind himself and none of us have that power.”

     “We’ll find a way, and besides, there are more mutants, just not naturally mutated.”

     “What way? HOW THE HELL CAN YOU BE SO CALM? Look, cease operation on this machine. I will use the Dome of Power on the island to give me the power sap power and I’ll make him powerless myself. Then I’ll kill him from there.”

     “That won’t work. You have to pin down an erratic monster. He will be completely out of control and you can’t do anything about it.”

     “What do you propose to do about this then?”

     “We will kidnap the host the Mastermind used last year. We’ll put him in the time reversal chamber and put him in the point when he was hit by the power sap. It failed so the residue will still be on him. We will extract it and use that to replicate the power.”

     “Won’t he be younger than everyone else?”

     “We’ll put him back to his current standpoint afterwards.”

     “You can’t put him back at the exact standpoint; you have no way of getting it exactly right. Look, I’ll handle everything. You just stop working on the machine. Make up an alibi or something, when it is finished, then…”

     “What now Sherlock? The Mastermind has everything thought out beforehand. Don’t change the plan.”

     “Just don’t work on it.”

     “It is my duty, I will tell him about this.”

     “I’m warning you Doctor, don’t piss me off.”

     “You just broke the rules; I’m not part of this.”

     Spike aimed a punch at his head. It hit him and sent him at the ground.

     “I’m telling him everything you said.”

     “How can a dead man tell the Mastermind the truth?”

     “What?”

     Spike crouched down and placed his hands on Doctor Orción’s face. He sent out a barrage of spikes in different directions, causing his body to fall on the floor and turning his head into mush. His skull went flying in multiple fragments. Spike didn’t even mind looking back. He walked away and took the cable cars back to the lodge.