First Blow

[GWYNETH WEBB]

It had been decided. Gwyn’s inauguration as department head of Epsilon would not go uncelebrated. All of the appropriate papers had been signed. Hands had been shaken. Speeches have been given. Enemies had been eliminated. So it was only proper that Gwyn go public with the good news.

She knew that whatever she did, it had to be big. It had to capture the attention of both human and vampire alike, while still diverting direct attention away from FEAR. It didn’t take her long to come up with the proper solution; she was a genius after all. Once she had it all sorted out, Gwyn gave Lazarus the orders and the legions of FEAR fell into place.

Laz loaded a few paradigms and executed the plan at roughly 7:35 PM. At 7:45 PM, a field agent hijacked a UPS truck on route to the warehouse near Central Park. The truck detoured to a façade in the area housing a small assembly outlet for FEAR and gained a new package at roughly 7:52 PM. At 8:23 the truck pulled up in front of Frostbite Towers, the agent outfitted in the appropriate uniform and a distressed countenance rushed into the lobby, looking apologetic and pushing a dolly. He spoke to a gorgeous, young secretary.

“Hi- Hello. I’m sorry, but I forgot to drop this package off today. Normally we’d just get you tomorrow, but I’m already on my second strike and I can’t afford to lose this job. It’s urgent apparently. Again, I’m sorry. Really sorry. Please don’t call.” The man kept apologizing as he backed up, turning and then running out of the lobby as if he were late. However, as the door shut behind him, he turned and looked at the secretary in the eyes. He blew her a kiss, winked, and then jumped back in the van.

The package, now curiously placed in the center of the lobby, was large. It was nearly two feet in each dimension. Various businessmen and women passed by it, looking at it strangely. The secretary knew there wasn’t something right about it, but she couldn’t smell anything strange about it. It was as if it was void of a scent. It just smelled like cardboard. She stood and approached it cautiously. Just as she began to reach out for it, the box began to glow and hum and the hologram fell, a small robotic spider projecting the illusion. The spider clicked and beeped, jumping down from the top of a huge metal sphere and ran off as if it knew something was coming. A glossy screen on the top of the orb counted down. “5… 4… 3… 2…”

As the screen ticked to zero, it began to shine brilliantly, projecting an almost tangible beam of blue light that struck the far wall. The entirety of the sphere began to glow blue as well. A deceptively pleasant, female voice rung out: “Goodbye!”

The bomb detonated, a supernova of UV light crashed against the walls of lobby, burning everything in its path. The poor secretary turned to ash immediately. The humans in the lobby, now thoroughly burned and blinded, thought the worst was over, but they were wrong. Another detonation took place that flung napalm across the room. The room was engulfed by 8:30 PM.

At 8:31 PM, Lazarus connected Gwyn to Alice’s voicemail by an untraceable signal.

“You will come to FEAR me.”

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