“Report from Agent Chase.” A robot announced.
“Put her through.”
The news screen shrank as a new window opened, with Chase standing inside the hallway of a military compound. Quark and Gar stood behind her, looking around.
“Report.” Nova commanded.
“We got inside. The place is abandoned. They rigged it to blow once we got here, but Quark turned all the explosives into frogs. We’re outside the tetryon field, blocking the innermost area of this place. It could be rigged as well. Quark couldn’t see in there.”
“Proceed with caution, but get in there now. We need their data.”
“Understood.” The screen changed back to the news.
A woman reported, “In moments, Ambassador Ben Talos will address the U.N. General Assembly on behalf of BADGE. It is unclear if this will happen before or after the drop-off of the children in Pretoria, South Africa. The World Corps has removed all of their agents from the streets of Pretoria, only local authorities will be present for the return of the children. We have footage from inside the shuttle.” The video changed to the interior of the shuttle where children gleefully played and chattered while reporters sat with them, just as happy to be there. “As you can see, the atmosphere inside the shuttle is one of joy.”
Nova watched all of this, hardly betraying any emotion. Agent Justin approached and handed Nova a computer tablet with daily reports. “Sir, what they are saying is true. The World Corps has removed their agents. It’ll be hard for us to prove they are villains if they keep acting so...well...honest.”
“True villains know how to capture the hearts and minds of people, Justin. Never forget that. They are playing their hand well. However, once we present our evidence, the tables might turn on them. One kind act is hardly enough to excuse all that we know they have done and are still doing.”
The screens all changed when Ben Talos stepped up to the podium with files in hand. An announcer spoke, “The U.N. General Assembly recognizes Ambassador Ben Talos, speaking on behalf of BADGE. You have the floor, sir.”
Nova whispered, “why isn’t our agent with him?”
Justin shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Ben Talos addressed the room. “Ladies and Gentlemen of the United Nations. I came here with vast quantities of evidence gathered by BADGE to prove maleficence from the World Corps. Recently, BADGE has set their heroes on a task of gathering weapons, weapons that are the only true method of keeping heroes at bay. The AMA is a weapon that no hero can truly defend against until BADGE cracked the system and developed a defense.”
Nova frowned. “What is he doing?”
Ben held up papers. “They have tracked the heroes of the World Corps to expose an evil ploy by this organization. However, I’m finding other evidence, other issues that BADGE has yet to explain to this body.”
Justin asked Nova, “what did he just say?”
Large images appeared behind Ben on the screen of Arx before and after his recent transformation. “BADGE not only has been working hard to thwart the plans to protect this world, they have been doing so with the aid of one of the most dangerous villains in recent memory. Arx, calling himself Craig now, gave them the information to crack the AMA and develop a method of defense against it. Any modicum of trust I had for BADGE was destroyed when I learned this.”
“WHAT IS HE DOING!” Nova yelled at the screen, causing Justin to take a step back.
The news screen was automatically changed when Chase came through. “Sir, we have something you must see.”
“Not now!”
“No, you have to see this.” She turned her wrist comm toward a computer screen in the World Corps HQ. Four images came through clearly on a large monitor, each one denoted with titles. Alpha, Gamma, Delta, and the last one, Beta, who had the same face as the man speaking to the U.N.
Nova lost color in his face, “Beta...is Ben Talos. What have I done?”
On the other screen, Talos called out, “It is time this body votes not only to sanction BADGE, but to hold the entire organization in contempt and remove any protections against their criminal activity. It is time to end their power by any means necessary.”
The computer tablet in Nova’s hand broke under the intense pressure of his grip. “Put me through to the U.N. at once! I want that image from the World Corps HQ and all the other data we have on the augments that he was supposed to present.”
“Sir, how can you get through?” Justin asked.
“I started the U.N. dammit, they will listen to me.”
A robot said, “all data pertaining to augments and their identities has been erased, back-up systems have been purged, data loss is complete.”
“I should have guessed he wouldn’t let us keep any of that data.” Nova threw the broken tablet on a table and picked up another. “We can recover lost data. There has to be a way. Justin, get me Dr. Cyber from the Wisewolf League, he...”
“EMERGENCY! NEWS ALERT!” a robot called out.
“Now what?” Nova turned to the screen to find that the news broadcast over Pretoria was dominating all the channels.
The shuttle was still heading for the city, but it now had smoke billowing from a hole in the back of it. Before Nova could ask what happened, a blast of energy split the shuttle in half. The ball of fire spit out two smoking hulls that slammed into the city. Sirens went wild in Pretoria. A gray skinned man flew through the cloud of fiery smoke and released yet another blast of energy that destroyed a large bridge in the middle of town. He hovered in the air and looked directly at the news camera. Around him flew orbs of colored energy, and on his uniform was emblazoned the word BADGE.
“Another augment.” Justin said.
“Get me a closeup of that face.” Nova commanded.
The screen zoomed in and scanned the face. A picture from the BADGE files appeared next to it.
Justin whispered, “It’s Torrin Wolf, our agent we sent to help Talos. What have they done to him?”
“Turned him into one of their puppets, a tool of mass destruction.”
Torrin flew away from the camera and sent a green ray of energy at the ground. In one swath of power, he obliterated an entire golf course, two buildings, and split a major highway in half. With a gleeful smile, he lifted his hands and split himself into two identical villains, each attaching different parts of the city.
“What do we do?” Justin asked. “If we send in heroes, they’ll spin it like they did the Washington attack. If we don’t fight, millions are at substantial risk and we’re blamed for not stopping him.”
Nova grabbed his special comm unit, “I don’t give a damn about public image right now. Too many lives are on the line.” He clicked it. “All heroes, this is a top priority. Get to Pretoria now. Stop the Augment, save the people.”
Justin took Nova by the arm, "Sir, Torrin is one of our own, he's my friend."
Nova gave Justin a pained, yet stern face. "His life has been taken from him already. Right now, we have millions in greater danger." There was a moment where Nova had to collect himself. He spoke uncharacteristically soft with his next words. "Losing good people will never be easy. We have to focus, time will come for mourning."
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