“What the hell is this thing made of!” Captain Blazer yelled while his hands were glowing bright orange. He had spent three hours using his concentrated fire power to split a sphere open to no avail.
Chase watched him wag his hands around to cool them off. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like this. Even I can’t sense anything about them. I cannot see their history with my power.”
Captain Blazer stuck his hands down in the ice cooler where they were storing bottles of water, a blast of steam exploding up. “I nearly burned my arms off and that sphere isn’t even hot.”
Several of their science officers checked the surface with sensors while Chase ran her hand over it. “How can this be so cold? We’ve used blow torches, lasers, eyebeams, and your firepower, and this thing isn’t even warm. The material’s composition is frightening.”
“Why do you say that?” He asked.
“Think of it. What could craft this kind of metal? What furnace could smelt it? If it was ever used to make armor for someone, they could be nearly impossible to harm.”
One of the science officers held up her computer tablet. “I’ve been searching all metals in our files that might resemble this. I have nothing. Nothing we have on record could withstand all we have thrown at it.”
A BADGE agent approached. “We have trouble.”
Chase looked up and saw a fleet of police cars arriving. One stopped close to the protective ring of agents and heroes. From the back stepped a man in a suit, along with a team of police officers.
“This can’t be good.”
The scientist asked, “Is that a government agent?”
Chase grumbled, “Worse, looks like he’s a lawyer.”
***
Justin walked around the sphere his people were examining. It remained sealed, and he had nothing to report back to Nova.
“Something wrong, sir?” Dragonborn asked.
Dragonborn asked, “Has anyone been able to open one?”
“Not unless someone succeeded in the last half hour. My latest report from BADGE is everyone is facing the same issue.”
“What’s he doing?” Dragonborn pointed at a scientist using a strange scanner that looked like a baseball bat connected to a box by a cord. The long end of the bat was glowing with a color changing pulse.
Justin said, “That is the multiphasic morphon scanner. Something new Dr. Henderson and her people came up with. It should tell us the morphon levels around the sphere.”
“How does that help?” Dragonborn asked.
“Any data is relevant right now.” He walked over to the older man holding the sensor. “What are your readings?”
“I can’t explain this, but... the morphon levels here are almost zero.”
“Zero? But, all the spheres are exuding extremely high morphon readings.”
“Not this one. And...” he held the scanner near Dragonborn and showed Justin the readings, “This can pick up the morphon signatures of all the surrounding heroes, so I know the scanner is working. If this sphere was as full of them as the early reports, this scanner should light up like a Christmas tree.”
Dragonborn took a step back. “So, what does that mean?”
“I do not know. Ren Tech told the world, and our people, that these spheres run on Morphons. Since this one has none, then that would mean it is inactive. But we are still registering the Ren Tech phone and internet service coming from within.”
“I have another theory,” a different scientist said.
“What is it?”
“This is just a theory, so take it at that. But, if these things run on morphons and they also trap people... then perhaps they are harnessing morphonic individuals like batteries.”
Justin’s gaze turned to horror as he slowly looked back at the sphere, “Then, if this did trap Adrianne inside, she is... being used to power it.”
“That’s only a theory. I have nothing to prove or even test that.”
Justin said, “It is a wise theory, and we need to break this open to find out if it is true. If we find her inside, then that is the smoking gun for BADGE to take down... what is that?”
Everyone turned when they heard sirens blaring their directions. The thumping sounds of helicopter blades rattled the air. Growing dust clouds were kicked up by a fleet of vehicles rushing their direction.
“We have an invasion. Heroes, ready for combat!” The BADGE security leader yelled out.
Heroes formed a ring around the site and readied themselves.
Justin called out, “Scientists and non-combat agents, get to the inside of the circle!” He pulled out a BADGE shock gun and charged it.
The rattling, roaring sounds approached quickly. Military vehicles skidded to a stop, with groups of soldiers jumping out and training guns on the people. Three helicopters circled overhead, weapons ready.
A military man held up a bullhorn and called out, “STAND DOWN! THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!”
Justin headed for the front to speak, but one of the more brash student heroes took it on himself to deal with this. The boy raced forward and jumped. As he arched back toward the ground, his fists grew enormous and he slammed the surface, sending a wave across the ground. The earthquake staggered the soldiers, causing some to fall.
Justin yelled, “Stop!”, but the sound of the bullets flying drowned him out.
A hero named Tesla clapped his hands together and an electromagnetic field threw the bullets safely away. Then, he shoved his hands down and the enemy’s guns were all forced to point down.
Justin yelled again, “I SAID STOP!”
The BADGE side halted, but didn’t lower their guard. The enemy were still struggling to lift their guns.
Justin calmly said, “We will release the guns and not fight. I apologize for the reaction. I’m glad that no one got hurt. If you do not stand down as well, we will have to continue this. However, I promise you, it will be a fight you cannot win.”
The soldier with the bullhorn gave Justin a nod and then said, “Stand down!”
Justin looked at Tesla. “Release them.”
The hero lowered his arms and all the soldiers lurched as they had been straining over their weapons, which were suddenly mobile again. The enemy didn’t advance, but they, too, did not lower their guard. Tension filled the air.
“Care to explain?” Justin said.
At that moment, a man in a black suit approached and held up a legal document. “We have a problem.”
***
Nova swore loudly and hit his fist against his desk. “DAMNIT!”
Arx, sitting on the couch in Nova’s office, asked, “How can he do this?”
“He’s good. Clever and knows how to play his game well. Every site, every sphere, is now protected by the local nations and the United Nations. They are willing to go to war against BADGE to protect those damn spheres.”
“Why? People are missing.”
Nova said, “Arx, most humans only care when it actually hits home. A hero goes missing and they are sad, but go on with their lives. Threaten to take away their internet and cell phone service and suddenly we are the greatest villain since Satan.”
“What do we do? We have to find out what is in those spheres.”
Nova said, “There has to be a way. I won’t give up.”
“Can you address the U.N. about this?”
“I already sent messages to our representatives, but getting something done there takes time, and we don’t have time to spare.”
Arx asked, “What about Krystal?”
“Krystal? She couldn’t do much more than anyone else.”
Arx said, “But we haven’t heard from her yet. Everyone else has contacted us about being approached by the local military and lawyers. Has she contacted us yet?”
“No. Her investigation was never on the record, never tracked.” He grabbed his special computer and put in the unique command codes. The screen buzzed and then activated, with Alex on the other side.
“I wondered when you would contact us,” Alex said.
Nova asked, “Has your investigation been interrupted?”
“No. We heard what happened to the other teams out there and waited for local authorities to show up here. No one has come. We didn’t want to contact you first, in case that would alert someone.”
“Smart. My channel is secure. Do not contact me, I will contact you. Right now, your job is to get that sphere open by any means necessary. The only issue is I can’t send you any further help. The moment I move a single piece of equipment your direction, there is a risk Ren Tech will find out.”
The view shook around as Krystal grabbed her husband’s arm and moved the screen to her face. “We have a plan. Right now it is night and Torrik is up to some great magic. The locals will be confused, but they won’t bother us. At least for now.”
“I will get in touch for updates. Stay low, be careful, and work as fast as possible.”
“We will. Krystal out.”
Arx asked, “So, it is still just Krystal and Alex trying to figure this out?”
Nova said, “All we need is one sphere opened. That is it. Right now, Ren Tech knows we are actively ready to do something. But, they think they have stalemated us. Our hopes rest on Krystal. She is smart, powerful, and so are Alex and Torrik. They will figure this out.”
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