Pride: Part 1 (7 SINS)

This is a rough of a series of short stories I started writing recently as a creative outlet while I worked on editing my novel. It is based on the idea of the National Institution of They (NIT).

"James, focus please. We need to finish this debriefing."

I looked up at my superior, John Stonetine, he was the only one that ever called me James anymore. We were going over my most recent mission in Portland, Oregon. It was my first mission failure with the IT (Institution of They). He was also the only other one that looked as good in a suit as I did. At least I wasn't the only one who took pride in my appearance.

"Sir, as I was saying, the mission was going well until she showed up." I explained.

"One of the others? One of the seven showed up in Portland?" he said, surprised. I swear that man never reads my mission summary.

"Yes, just as I explain in my mission summary. You showed up and told me to abort the mission, said it was imperative that I not proceed due to some new information that we had received. I was confused since I was closing in on the target, but you had the codes to prove your authority so I aborted the mission."

The look of shock was evident but for a second, quickly replaced by the cold efficiency I know him for.

"Jane Smith, she's always been the most difficult one to track. Somehow she can take on the appearance of anyone, even sound like them if she has heard them speak. If she is in Portland and looking to stop us from putting one of our own in office as Mayor, she will try to stop you from protecting him if we send you out again."

I could see the gears turning. He was coming up with a plan, "Sir?"

"Special Agent James Viscero, you shall continue your mission to protect our candidate for Mayor, but he is now your secondary objective. Unlike you, the others from Doctor Sin incident were essentially civilians. You returned to the fold but they have been avoiding us like the plague. You of all people know, they are far too dangerous to be left out there out of control.

"Your new primary objective is to capture or kill Doctor Sin survivors. I have faith that you will not fail us, they seem to be attracted to other Doctor Sin victims. Something to keep in mind, Jane may not be the only one who has come to Portland. The last one we were able to track was Sampson Perry, and when we caught up with him there were two others as well."

I thought over his explanation. The problem with working for the IT, is that you don't really have a choice when it comes to assignments. Last time I tried to deny an assignment, before my promotion and the Doctor Sin incident, I was flown off to Alaska for a year. Sure it was nice in the summer, but the winter...

"I will start immediately sir."

"Any questions?"

It had been five years since I was experimented on and altered. At the time I was supposed to be investigating a potential threat, and I was quickly taken captive. Operative turned victim, shame of IT. They usually disavow anyone who has been captured, the Institute does not exist and neither do the agents that work for them. If I hadn't been enhanced by the experience, I would probably be a bum on the streets. Instead, I was welcomed back and promoted. 

Anyway, my point being, the others were frightened little bunny rabbits when we were captured. I might not recognize them on the streets after a year of rehabilitation to society. I needed photos if we had them, and information.

"Sir, do we have photos of any of the others that were taken after the incident? It will be difficult to recognize them on the streets after all this time."

"As usual, Randall will handle any supply needs you have, Special Agent. He has access to all of the pertinent files, you can request them from him when you resupply."

At that I was dismissed, more like left alone. He left the interrogation room and I followed thirty seconds later. The hall outside was dark. IT facilities were always underneath buildings and always kept very dark. They did this to prevent any potential intruders from finding their way.

I crept down to the end of the hall, feeling my way to the elevator. I hadn't been in Portland for very long so the facility was unfamiliar to me. After reaching the elevator and moving up to level B1 I found myself in a waiting room that reminded me of a dentist office. Nobody was at the desk, so I rang the bell on the counter. The bell rang out and echoed into the infinite space beyond the obvious filing shelves that kept me from seeing beyond. Moments later I heard heavy boots clunking their way from the back.

"Why hello there, Randall." I said, being as cheery as I could manage.

Randall was not a field agent. He was heavy, dirty, smoked, and wheezed when he walked. He wore wire-rimmed coke bottle glasses, dirty worn-too-long jeans, heavy work boots, and a sweat stained short sleeve collared shirt complete with pocket protector and clip-on tie. I always felt dirty and gross when I came to this desk. Sure I didn't like him or his lifestyle, but he knew his stuff, so they kept him here. 

He merely scoffed at my pleasant greeting.

"I'm in need of files on the victims of Doctor Sin along with a Thunder 5 and a box of ammo. Can ya do that for me?"

"Have you filled out a requisition request form, Mister Viscero?" he asked dryly.

Randall was one of the many people in the IT that believed it was a mistake to keep me, let alone to promote me. He never called me by my proper title and he used all of the red tape he could to give me a hard time. 

I reached inside myself, metaphorically speaking, and pulled on my ability. Instantly I felt the thrum of power within me spring to life and begin to push all metal away from me. Any metal I kept on my person did not react, but the rest of the room was a different matter. The metal in Randall’s pens began to press in against his chest, the pictures hung carefully level on the wall twisted and spun away from me, the bell I had rung slid off the counter onto Randall's lap. I felt so proud of what I could do and I pushed out my chest. His glasses nearly flew off his face before he caught them. Intimidation has been so much easier since the Doctor Sin incident.

"I am on a mission from my handler; I do not have time for a requisition request form. Just give me what I asked for." My words rang with pride with a haughty feel, he hated that.

"You are not getting anything without following the proper procedure," he said through clenched teeth, "no matter how special you are."

We stared each other down for what felt like forever, it was likely only a minute. The phone behind him rang. He let it ring a few times before he tromped over and answered it.

"Requisitions, this is Randall." he answered. "Sir, no forms? Yes, I understand Sir. Right away Sir."

Victory always tastes sweet, this was no exception. Randall scowled, hung up the phone, and stalked off into the back without so much as looking at me. A minute later he was back with six remarkably thin manila files, my Thunder V, and a box of shells. He slung everything onto the counter and scowled at me.

"Eventually, you will be on the other side of the Institute's favor. I will relish the suffering we bring upon you." he said bitterly.

"I appreciate your cooperation." I replied with a grin that boasted victory. He wheezed with anger..

I quickly holstered the Thunder 5 under my arm and hid the ammo box in my coat. I winked at him and headed for the elevator with the files under my arm. I waved at Randall as the elevator doors closed, smiling wide to contrast his scowl. That man was a diamond.

Once I was outside the building the IT as hidden beneath I hailed a cab. This is not something as quickly done in Portland as it is in other cities; it usually takes a few minutes before you find one. This time, however there was a cab driving by. Convenience is a beautiful thing.

"Arlington Heights, please." I said.

The cabby accelerated without a word and we headed toward our destination. The thing to know about the Thunder 5 is that it is a revolver, but not just any revolver. Not only can this handy weapon use .45 caliber bullets, but it also uses .410-bore shot shell cartridges. Basically it has its own miniature shotgun shells. That is why it is my weapon of choice, at least ever since the Doctor Sin incident.

I made sure the cabby was not paying attention as I produced my Thunder 5 and loaded it with shot shells. I quickly holstered it and shoved a handful of shells into my inner jacket pocket in case I needed to reload. Due to the nature of the shells and my ability, that was highly unlikely. One shot is all it took along with a magnetic pull towards my target.

Next were the files. I opened one at a time, noticing that half of the pictures were from right after the Doctor Sin incident. I recognized those. The others, not so much. It looked like they had more recent pictures of the ones they were able to track down. I needed to study the more recent ones, know their faces.

Zachary Player was the first one I went to, since he was the last one they were able to catch up to. He wore baggy pants that looked like sweats, a zip-up hoodie, and a beanie. His hair was similar to what I remembered (matted, dirty blond, unkept), except in this picture it was in perfect dread locks and clean. I guess when you finally get out of a cell you were in for nearly a year you begin to have an appreciation with your appearance, even if you don't change it much. His facial hair was scruffy, though it was hard to tell since it was so light, and his eyes were blue and focused. Despite appearing so lazy, he had a focused look that I had never seen when we were boxed up.

Sheila Sanders was the next one with a more recent picture. One thing I will definitely say, the woman cleaned up nice. She was dressed up in a tight red dress with a cut up the side, exposing most of her thigh. Her lips were full and lathered in red lipstick. Her hair was long and graceful, red to match the red of her dress. Her eyes were enticing, the kind of look on them that would cause your jaw to go slack. She could have been the real life Jessica Rabbit in this photo.

The others appeared to be old pictures, not looking like much more than what they had during captivity. The only one that had also been sighted recently was Envy but she took on the appearance of my boss, so there was no point in memorizing her picture. She could change her appearance on a whim for all I knew. I took the time to read through some of the little information they had on them, taking particular notice of the small sections on known associates and whereabouts. There was not much for me to see.

After a while I realized in getting sucked into my files, I also was not paying attention to where the taxi was headed. We were not in Arlington Heights as I requested. We were pulling up to the Oregon Zoo.

"Hey, bud! Get lost much?" I made sure to make my voice sound pissed without yelling. Cabbies did not respond well to yelling.

He didn't say a word, merely pulled up to the drop-off curb.

"This is NOT where I asked you to take me! My company isn't paying for you to jerk me around!" How annoying. His detour and lack of pride in his work were leading me to speak as if I wasn't wearing a two thousand dollar suit.

The rear passenger door opened, and a man plopped into the cab beside me. He wore black shiny leather boots, black cargos, and a black shirt that he had obviously become too ripped to wear. This guy must have hit the gym more than I worked, and I never stopped working. I was so surprised that such a person would just hop into the cab, that I completely missed him pull a gun from his pocket and shove it into my ribs.

"Reach for the gun under your arm and you're a dead man." he said coolly. I heard the gun c**k in his hand, ready to fire.

This guy did not know who he was f*****g with. It was my pleasure to educate him. I pulled on my power and prepared a magnetic pull between my left hand and his gun. Moments and his leverage would vanish.

"Pull the cab over to the service entrance." the stranger commanded.

I took the time to study his face. My initial thought that he was going to try and rob the rich business man in the suit was no longer a possibility. Whatever was going on, the cabbie was in on it. If they were merely going to rob me, why take me to a public place? Even if they wanted to rob then kill me it was a bad place to do so.

I willed the magnetic pull into existence. The door handle flexed, the seats creaked, the driver's seat leaned back a little, but the gun at my side showed no signs of being affected. Before I was not in trouble, before I was curious. Now I was in trouble.

The stranger grinned at me, "Your power doesn't work on me Special Agent James Viscero, you're not in a position to make any moves like that anyway."

He reached into my coat and took my Thunder 5. Not good. I had to keep a calm appearance. I worked hard at it, hiding my shaking nerves. Held up by a stranger in a cab just after being sent out on a mission. They were good. I tried to identify the stranger's features, but 

"What? You don't recognize me? I'm offended man, truly offended. We are brothers of yours James, we are the survivors. Greed will explain."

Who the f**k is Greed?

Cooperating was my best choice at this time. I was in a public place, though not where the public can see. I was low on options as far as resistance is concerned. Gun to my head, me unarmed, and him immune to my magnetic fields. I was sitting in the polar den in no time, awaiting the arrival of Greed. The cabbie, the intruder on my cab, and Greed were all connected in an obvious way. Perhaps they were his subordinates or comrades of some kind, I could not be sure.

A man dressed in shiny dress shoes and expensive suit complete with fedora and cane tapped up to the bench I was sitting on. The cabbie had stayed with the cab, but the intruder merely leaned against the wall behind me.

"Ah, James. Glad to see you again. It has been some time." he spoke with grand tones.

I looked up at him. Underneath all of the expensive clothes and hat, I saw someone I recognized. A teenager I had seen in a cage about five years ago was one person I would never forget. He had adventure in his dark brown eyes, even then in that awful and hopeless situation. He was the most charismatic person I had seen there, even out of the survivors. This was definitely one of the other survivors of Doctor Sin.

"I recognize you, I remember you from the cages he kept us in. Victor Reiley, right?" I said.

He smiled at that, though I could see him sweep the memory aside quickly. I expect none of us like to remember that time. "Good, you were always one of my favorites. Most of the others hid away in their little shell back then, you were one of the few who seemed to be scheming the entire time. I knew it would be you to get us out then, and I know the man before me is the same."

"How very observant of you." I said coldly. I used the time the conversation gave us to try and figure a way to get my gun back and get the hell out of the zoo. Funny, I never thought that thought would cross my mind. He sat down beside me.

"James, I know who you work for and I know what they want you to do. First, I refuse to allow them to put one of their own in the mayor's office, mostly because that person will have their path made to more important roles rather quickly. They are very influential. Second, I need you to work with us to stop the IT." he explained calmly.

"Stop them? From what?"

"From running amok. If you do not already know their plans, I am not revealing what we know. They are the only institution that does not have any regulations or controlling officials. They definitely have too much. You do not have to help us with anything further than stopping their candidate from becoming mayor if you do not want to, but I am almost certain you will help us the first time."

I chewed on his words carefully, "What makes you say that?"

"Because your boss wants us neutralized, out of the picture. If you agree to help us now, I will take you to our base here in Portland."

"Whoa, Greed, you never said anything about bringing a wolf home to kill us all." the man said from behind me. I could tell he had stopped leaning against the wall.

Greed waved a hand to quiet his comrade, "What do you say, James?"

"What happens if I turn you down?" I asked, betting it would result in my death if I did. Still, I wanted to know if he would lie to me.

"Then I cannot protect you, and Wrath here might take measures to prevent the IT from knowing we are here."

Who came up with these code-names? I heard the hammer pull back on the gun behind me. At least he was honest.

"I'll do it, but stop calling me James. My name is Special Agent Viscero."

I must say, they planned this out well. They were much more organized than the Institute had realized, or perhaps informed me of. The three of us had left and taken the same cab that unlawfully brought me to the zoo. We pulled up to a two story yellow house in southeast that I had seen before when crossing the Ross Island Bridge. It was a well-kept house with two single car garage doors and a gate blocking off stairs that led up to the front door.

"Come, Special Agent Viscero. This is our destination." Victor said.

He and the one he called Wrath, whose name I read from the file to be Sampson Perry, got out of the cab and waited for me to follow. I did so and the garage door opened. The cabby pulled in instead of driving off, the door shutting behind him. I followed Sampson and Victor past the gate and up the stairs to the front door and entered.

Though the exterior was well kept and modern, the interior was quite barren and unkept. It made sense that they would want to keep up appearances, though they must have been too busy to take care of the interior as well. That or they simply did not care. There was no carpet or tiling on the floors, they left the floorboards bare as well as the walls. They continued walking past a few rooms to a door that was left open. That door led to the basement.

"After you." Victor gestured for me to walk down. I hesitated.

"Fine, have your gun if it makes you feel safe." Sampson said, tossing the gun over.

I brought it to my hand with a quick snap of my power. It felt like a magnetic yoyo, and the weight of the thing nearly sprained my wrist. I kept on my poker face and holstered it. There was no helping it. Once again I was cornered. I walked down the dark steps into the basement. There was some light, giving me some idea of where the bottom was.

To my surprise, the basement was well decorated. It was nearly the size of the entire house but without walls or doors to parcel it out. The far end had a door, assuming to the garage, and a full size bar that was dimly lit. Sitting at the bar was a Japanese man wearing casual street clothes. He had a bottle of sake with him and he was sharing it with Sheila Sanders, the one who dressed like Jessica Rabbit. 

At the opposite side of the room were a few couches around a coffee table, and a large tv mounted on the wall. The man I had read in my files to be Zachary Player was lounging on one, watching TV. He was wearing similar clothes to what I had seen in the picture as well. The cabbie, who I presumed to be Robert Johnson, was sitting at a couch opposite him.

In the center of the room was a large table with seven chairs around it. The table was dark wood and the chairs mismatched. There were pictures of an estate in Arlington Heights on the table. The same estate that the IT's candidate for mayor was staying in. I hadn't noticed that I stopped at the bottom of the stairs until Sampson pushed his way past me, nearly knocking me over.

"Careful Special Agent, he has a mean streak." Victor said as he followed Sampson past me.

"No kidding." I commented under my breath.

Everyone in the room, except Zachary, turned and looked at me. I was in the spotlight, again.

"You brought him here? I thought he still worked for the Institute of They, don't they want us dead?" the man at the bar said.

"Don't be rude Gluttony, he's our guest. Besides, he's quite dapper in his fancy suit and tie. We can at least keep him around as eye candy." the woman next to him had a voice as seductive as her figure.

I remained quiet as I assessed how much s**t I had gotten myself into. There would be no chance of escape now for sure, though I likely forfeit that when I got into the cab that was clearly waiting for me outside the office.

"Make yourself at home, and have a seat. You are making me look like a bad host." Victor said as he sat down at the table that had all the maps laid out.

I wearily made my way closer while making sure there was at least one definite way out. Victor kicked out the chair nearest him. I accepted the crass invitation with minor reluctance. If everyone ended up at this table, which was likely to happen, I wanted to be near the only one in the room that didn't want to string me up by my ankles and beat me like a piñata. I remained quiet, looking at the maps and pictures that were strewn about the table.

"You do know that he won't help us, right? He doesn't have the necessary motivation to accomplish our goal. At least, not enough for his part." The man at the bar, who they referred to as Greed, said.

"I tried to tell him." a voice came from over by the television, who I assumed to be Sampson.

The room grew still, quiet. I could feel the tension building. I had a bad feeling, so I ran through a mental checklist. I have my ability with magnetic points, though that did not work against Sampson. Either he was immune or my ability or it would not work against any of them. I cannot rely on it. I have superior training in hand to hand combat, but against so many I had very slim chances. My last resort was my Thunder V, which they knew I had. It holds five shots, which would be just enough to take each of them out. Problem was, after one shot, the concussive force of such a loud gun in an enclosed space will leave me deaf and disoriented for enough time that one of them may have the advantage. I was at a loss.

"Special Agent James," Victor spoke with a calm that surprised me in such a tense environment, "can you tell us how you ended up as a test subject five years ago, along with us?"

I had not anticipated this. They want to know my story? What would that change? They need not know details, but I do not see a reason not to tell them a little.

"There was a concentration of disappearances in Mississippi. My control had identified a potential perpetrator, and I was assigned to investigate." I spoke quietly but everyone was listening.

"Continue." the man at the bar said after I was silent for a few minutes.

"He must have known someone was coming, he had me soon after I infiltrated the facility. I cannot remember the mistake I made, but the IT brushed it under the rug since I turned the situation around. I even got a promotion out of it."

By the time I was finished speaking, everyone except Zachary had moved closer to the table. I hadn't realized it until I finished and looked around. I was startled at first, as anyone would be at being surrounded by enemies on a temporary truce.

"Bullshit!" Sampson said in that same hostile tone he used when he had a gun leveled at me in the cab, "That isn't the truth and you know it!"

I jumped at the sudden outburst and had my hand on my gun without realizing it. Out of all of them, Sampson was definitely the most rash. Despite this, he was not the one that scared me the most. In my line of work, I have to deal with a lot of rash people. All it takes is equivalent force to keep them at bay, which in this case was a gun. The one that really scared me was Zachary. He had no care for what was going on in the same room as him, even with someone on order to capture or kill them on-site. He was far too comfortable in this situation.

"Calm yourself Wrath, listen to his words. Watch his body language. He speaks the truth." Victor said.

"He really doesn't know, does he?" the woman said, "We must tell him, he has the right to know."

"He should have figured it out on his own by now. Faith blinds him to the truth. Ironically it is also what kept him alive through the experiments." Zachary spoke from the couch, clearly he had been paying attention. "Telling him will save us time. Greed planned to tell him all along, no sense changing the plan."

Everyone turned from looking over to the couches and looked at Victor. For the first time I had been in the room, I was not the only one who was surprised at what was going on. No one else had known his plan. He hadn't told anyone his plan, and the only one to figure it out was the lazy guy on the couch.

"It was a gamble, I admit." Victor shrugged.

Some of the others seemed like they were about to fall over due to shock, and Sampson was having trouble containing his anger. He turned and walked away before he lost control. In the middle of all of this was me, lost as could be. I had told them everything I knew, everything that happened except the gory details. What was I missing?

"There's no helping it, tell him." the woman said finally.

Victor turned to me and told me something that would alter my life forever, "You were set up, Special Agent Viscero. Doctor Sin was working for the IT in an effort to create a method to alter their special agents, to make them better. They called it the Infinite Project."

The gears began to turn. I wanted to deny his words with every fiber of my being, but the project rang a bell. I recalled seeing a file above my classification that was labeled Infinite Project. Not a week after I inquired about it, I was sent to investigate the good doctor in relation to many disappearances. Still, that could be a coincidence. Victor could be making it all up, right?

"They sent you in to die as part of the ninety-three failures. Think about it James, he knew you were coming. You were scheduled to arrive as an unaware applicant, he was waiting. How could he possibly know you were coming? You were careful right? You were one of the top agents. You became too curious. Too familiar, remember? The IT does not tolerate insolence, it is impossible to make a change from within. You should know best of all. You who could not keep your nose out of others' business, or heed subtle signs of betrayal."

My heart was pounding in my ears. I could feel my body flush with heat. Doubt and emotion clouded my judgment. It could not be true. They had to be lying to me. I was worth more than that, right? At the same time, the IT was not exactly sentimental. To my recollection, nobody left the IT. For the most part they were all KIA or, at the very least, never heard from again. I slowly shook my head as all the pieces began to fit into place.

"It is a lot to digest. The shock should wear off in an hour, enough so that he can make his decision at the very least." the voice came to my ears as background, the kind that you don't notice in movies unless you had already seen it once. They continued talking. What of, I did not know. I had no focus.

After a while, I had the presence of mind to question my unflinching loyalty to the Institution. All things considered, it was a clear possibility that they would contract a madman in attempt to give their elite an edge above all others. That would make them more efficient. They would have more power over the world, while remaining in the shadows. 

I somehow felt far away, distant. I could not remember if I had moved from where I sat down next to Victor or not, but it was time to return to the conversation. The IT had had their way with me for long enough. I had believed they had my best interest in mind, but I was a fool for thinking such a group would value an individual. It became clear to me, thanks to Victor, that the only reason I was kept alive after the Doctor Sin incident was due to the value my new abilities carried.

I opened my eyes and lifted my head. I had not even realized I had closed them. Everyone was at the table now, and all eyes shifted to me. I looked at each of them in turn. Some wore looks of anticipation on their faces. I made sure they could see my resolute expression before I spoke.

"Alright, I am in."

Author's Note

"NIT" and "the IT" are both intended to be used for the same group. "The IT" is used more as a subtle insult or intended disrespect.

Reviews

[David Jae]

This has a lot of potential, with a compelling protagonist and lots of intrigue. There are some strong descriptions in here, too.

"He was dirty, heavy, smoked and wheezed when he walked."
This paints a picture of him that goes deeper than just the words used. That is a skill that not many writers possess. I also liked the concept of the seven deadly sins.

On the flip side, it does feel a little rushed, with a lot of information being dumped on us very quickly. Details are needed, but this runs the risk of boring the reader. There was too much exposition and backstory.

But, this has a lot of potential.

Ganbare

[Nick Day]

Thank you for the review, I look forward to seeing what you think about the next one.