[ORI2016] First Mission

The completed manufacturing facility was located off one branch of a deep underground military research and development area that spanned almost 160 acres beneath the surface. The only established exception to the below ground operation was what those in the business call a “cut out”, (CIA owned) shipping and receiving company. The business actually shipped heavy equipment all over the world and maintained a profit due to governmental contacts and help. From this surface shipping company the were multiple underground storage areas and tunnels running in all sorts of different directions. The trucks that delivered equipment below the surface level were told to follow a certain colored route until they encountered a string of red lights and to drop their load there. The colors were furnished by L.E.D. overhead lights in primary colors of blue, green, yellow, and red.

There was a tunnel that ran to the manufacturing facility that is the object of this story. The tunnel carried all the electrical needs the facility could ever need. This connecting tunnel was wide enough for two golf cart type vehicles to pass one another abreast. Directly above the facility there was an old abandoned two story white house. The previous residents had moved out complaining of being unable to sleep due to a low pitched hum that was driving them crazy and not allowing them to sleep. The house had not been lived in for several years and was now full of dust, cobwebs, and a few discarded furniture items. The bank had foreclosed on the unsettled mortgage but a small department of the U.S. government paid off the loan and became the sole owner of the above ground property.

Below ground at the end of the described tunnel things were just getting underway.

John Phillips stood before two military dressed individuals as he began explaining some of the nuts and bolts of his latest creation before the full demonstration that was scheduled for today would begin.

"Each of Eve's 1016 chips contain more than 195,000,000 silicon "neurons" whose activity can be programmed according to nearly 1500 parameters. This allows her synthetic brain to replicate the unique characteristics of different types of neurons with one big exception. Her neurons operate and transmit data about 100,000 times faster than our human neurons do. .

Nano hardwired "synapses" crisscross her brain cavity where the processors reside, shuttling signals between every simulated neuron. The millions of neurons are networked effectively replicating the electrical chatter that constitutes communication in her brains."

"Now if you will look just at this monitor you will see there are two other processing centers located here and here. Without the need for lungs and heart we could have placed them anywhere but we found these to be the best location for shielding and communicating on our tri-level traffic buses. Normally all the processing regions communicate and resolve conflicts and mission goals, yet if or when there is a conflict two will over ride the one every time."

" Good gosh John, she is beautiful"!
"Thank you sir, would you like to see a demo"?
"That's why I am here. Do you want us to do anything special or get out of the room"?
"No Sir, that will not be necessary".
John disconnects the tether harness and says, "Eve would you say hello to General Marks"?

Eve's dark blue eyes flutter for a second as she stands and stretches like a cat. She then turns to General Marks and in a beautiful non-mechanical voice says," My, my, General you have so many war ribbons...I am in the presence of a true patriot, a privilege to meet you sir".

The grace and voice of Eve took Marks completely off guard and he almost blushed.

" General is there something you would like me to do for you"? The way she said it sounded more like sexual foreplay than a demo by a machine.

Marks thought he would trip her up by asking, "Eve what would you like to show me"?

The ceiling in the building was 20 feet high with cross girders "I" beams spanning the full width of the underground building.

Before Marks could blink Eve had attached herself by jumping three girders over which would have been almost 60 feet across and 20 feet high. There she hung upside down by her bare feet as she said, " General Sir, I am sorry this building is not bigger so I could really stretch my legs for you; do I look like a bat"?

Marks was almost totally speechless and just shook his head as he stared in wonderment, "Damn that voice is unnerving and the jump... who could believe it was possible", he mumbled and half thought out loud.

Eve let go of her perch with one foot and kicked off the "I" beam landing like a cat 3 feet from the General.

She then walked over to the tool bench and pulled a screw driver from the bench and bent it double using her thumb and little finger of her left hand. She placed the screw driver back on the bench while apologizing to John for deforming the tool.

General Marks looked at John and asked, "How soon will she be mission ready"?

"She is ready now sir and should be maintenance free for at least the next 12 months, however, I would like to send Eve and Adam together.... that way if a situation should arise..... they can buss together as one super processor to over come just about anything the natural environment or mission can throw at them".

The General looked puzzled.

John's assistant who had been quietly observing the demonstration came forward and stuck out his hand while saying, "General Sir, my name is Adam and I am very pleased to finally be able to present myself to you".

Marks took the hand without thinking and a warm friendly hand shake ensued. Not to firm, not to soft, just right, Marks admitted to himself; the hand felt human even though he knew it wasn't.

"John, you are a miracle worker, how did you pull this off..how many Adams and Eves can you make in a year....what do you need for full production"?

Marks would have continued but John was holding up his hand and smiling.

'General Marks sir, now that the bottle neck of the integrated processing buses have been worked out.... We could produce ten a day or almost 3600 the first year. However if parts and lab skin production rates can be increased I could see us double or tripling the units after the first 6 months to a year".

"Thank goodness this gamble paid off.....can they defend themselves"?

John nodded and said, "Both are so quick they can reach into your chest and pull your beating heart out before you can say ouch sir! They both are better than experts with blades or guns and if they go up against soft human targets there will be no contest".

"My God John".

"No sir not really god, just hard work and some amazing tech with a few lucky breaks. If you don't mind sir would you ask your aide to try and hit Adam or Eve in the nose"?

The aide, who was a big burly Captain said, "Hey I don't want to hurt them or worse yet, have my heart ripped out"!

Adam laughed and came forward still smiling. "I will not touch you Captain I promise; give me your best shot"!

For a big guy the Captain was fast, yet, after repeated attempts he finally tried the normal big guy tactic of a full body tackle. The result was, he ended up on the floor never once making contact with Adam...

Adam hung from one of the "I" beams 20 feet off the ground by 4 fingers after jumping to avoid the Captains lunge. Adam then dropped to the floor and in a non hurried voice asked if the Captain wanted help while he reached down and pulled the big man to his feet.

The Captain was so impressed and out of breath he told the General, "I need to get me one of these".

Everyone laughed, including Adam and Eve.

4 days later as the synthetic duo stood at the air stairs of the C-141 Globe master; there was a brief moment when John gave both of them a big bear hug. He then had to wipe tears from both of his eyes with the back of his hand while trying to smile and wish them luck.

Things had moved fast after the meeting with General Marks. Their complete mission brief had arrived via military encrypted CD and had been uploaded to each of their three core processors with appropriate anti behavioral modification checks at every step of the process.

Interesting tidbit on the up load process; Adam and Eve had both taken the end of a fiber optic cable and placed it in their mouth. Nano-light receptors had transferred the data to their processors. John had stood by during the process with his little wireless black kill switch, which when pressed, would shut down the programing and supposedly send a signal to Adam's and Eve's processors for an emergency shut down. The black stone looking device was called the Emergency Disabling Stone EDS which had gotten it's name from Adam the first time he had picked it up.

The mission was simple on the surface; go to Nigeria find a War lord who was known by the name of Vampire by the locals, and either capture or kill him and if able dispose of his lieutenants which hopefully would disable his entire criminal operation.

The departure from Langley AFB was uneventful and the flight was only a momentary delay for Adam and Eve as they would remain in sleep mode. With their onboard nav abilities they had both figured the distance to touch down in Nigeria was 5385 miles on a direct route; but due to the limitations of their Air Force ride a stop over would be needed for refueling in Paris at Orly AFB. They would then transfer to an air France flight leaving from Charles de Gaulle to fly to Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Passport and immigration controls were checked along the way without any glitches. Everyone who saw this striking couple thought they were an international couple either on business or holiday. The cover story was " Mr. and Misses Sparks, both who were oil executives that worked for B.P. Oil".

The flight from France to Port Harcourt was smooth until crossing the coast where a rather large weather disturbance caused turbulence bad enough to have the Flight Attendants stop their service and strap in their crew seats. Again Adam and Eve looked like a normal couple who had slept through the entire trip except when one of the Flight Attendants insisted they awake and have something to eat and drink.

They both had a converter pouch a human might mistake for a stomach but in reality it's purpose was to break down all matter ingested and convert everything it could to hydrogen and oxygen. Any residual mass would be dumped overboard just as a normal human would do in the form of excrement. The plumbing of Adam and Eve by all outward appearances was human and fully functional with both of their perfectly formed bodies capable of changing slightly depending on circumstances.

Their lab skin was a marvel by itself being more elastic or non permeable depending on the electrical charge that could be induced through the lab skin membrane. Adam and Eve could change skin tone making themselves appear any color under the rainbow or combination thereof which was thought handy for future missions.

After clearing customs their rent a car was signed for and they were off to a village named Opobo that was the reported head quarters of the one called Vampire.

To call Vampire a War Lord was a slight over statement. He was involved in Pirating, kidnapping, the weapons stock market, where a local could invest in a weapon that if used during a highjacking the investor would share in some small portion of the profits from the plunder.

Vampire was a slave and sex trader; just an all around business guy who preferred a 1911 45 ACP over a plastic Glock and the AR platform chambered in 7.62x39 over the AK-47. He was a big fellow and had arisen to his current status by brute force and a reputation for sucking the life out of anyone who got in his way; again B.S. but, he was known to eat the heart or liver of a worthy opponent on occasion, so the locals only spoke his name in whispers..

Adam and Eve checked into the shanty hotel just off of King Jaja Street which had been provided by arrangements made through DERNSA. DERNSA was the true puppet master above the National Security Agency. They both unpacked and slipping into clothes more appropriate for their mission. They then exited and walked a short distance to the “Best Bar”.

The sights and smells of King Jaja street were typical of a sea coast town with fishing and tourism being it's major old world income. The Glory days had passed but had almost reappeared after a few major oil companies came back after finding oil and gas deposits. It would never be a sterling example of progress and architecture but there were business people, places to eat, and even hotels with air conditioning.

Vampire was reportedly based here but all the loot and pirating was hidden and conducted from the Ivory Coast either at a fishing village in Togo called Lome or off the coast of Gana at Accra. Both these operations were well organized and funded by the ransom payments from commercial ships.

Often times the selling of cargo from one of the captured vessels was more money for Vampire's organization than any ransom money they could collect from an international company. When a ship was boarded there was usually a price that would be paid for the Captain and first mate, yet the average crew members were just shot in the head and dumped overboard for the marine life to devour.

Vampire thought of himself as an environmentalist. He was quoted by one ransomed Captain who heard him say (before personally shooting 12 crew members in the head), "Hey fishy fishy I give to you... get fat for me"! Those were the old days...

Now, Vampire had many soldiers to do his dirty work, yet even so, he liked to participate, every now and then, just for the blood lust and excitement that was always part of the hunt and kill teams (HK) he had personally trained. Any weak link in the HK teams detected by Vampire's observations or one of his HK team Captain's unfavorable report of an individual became fish food for their lack of performance. This was all by plan as Vampire could actually read and had studied actions by some of the great figures of history and how they handled their barbaric armies and people under their command. With enhancing the teams stature by making them believe they are the chosen few, and by inflating their egos and reputations of being some kind of elite soldiers for Vampire (at least not fish food) Vampire had a well organized crime syndicate.

Not all was thuggery with Vampire, for he was meticulous in the dividing of the spoils . 70% for him (gotta cover overhead) and 20% went to the Hunt and kill teams while the extra 10% went to the stock market/lottery to pay his investors. Everyone in on the scheme seemed to be pleased when a pay day came along.

There were 3 cargo ships anchored now waiting ransom money which would bring in 1.8 million Euros for Vampire's little organization come pay day.

He had competition but none were as large or as well organized as his fondly referred to "Shipping company". If there was a problem with another company a deal was usually struck on the high seas. If not then the competition could be destroyed the old fashion way; by a bullet or machete stroke in the middle of the night back at the interlopers home base.

As Vampire's reputation grew, more and more upstarts simply waved and departed when his boys showed up wearing their red arm bands.. Vampire liked the color red for it reminded him of the blood and sweat he had used to get to his position in the world.... A black "V" on a red background was proudly displayed on all his boats; he even had flags made which could always be hoisted when a possible competitor was spotted on the high seas.

As they approached the front door of the bar Eve continued walking toward "Mama's Beach Attire" which was two lots down King Jaja street from the bar. No verbal words had been spoken between the pair due to their communication link that made each aware of the others processes and actions. The link was fondly referred to as "The Force Link" (referring to a movie by George Lucas called Star Wars) by John.

Adam entered the bar with his sensors in high det mode as he detected an individual with a mouth full of gold teeth and a pistol strapped to his leg who just so happened to be the bartender. This guy was huge and was such a shinny black he resembling a piece of polished obsidian. As Adam approached the bar he knew almost every eye was on him.

"Hey man, welcome, welcome, what you gonna have, we got everything" said the bartender with a big gold filled toothy grin.

Adam requested a Scotch straight up without ice and as the Bartender was making his drink it appeared that all but two of the patrons of the bar had gone back to their card games or watching the 10 year old T.V. which was showing Nigerian news.

As the drink was delivered, "That will be 1266 Naira."

1 United States Dollar = 158.24996 Nigerian Naira according to Adam's data link so that was close to $8.

Adam asked if he would take $10 U.S. and keep the change which brought another big smile and words of "You betcha; we even take chicken or eggs sometime"!

The bar itself was steady slow. The one working waitresses would usually go to the cooler to retrieve a beer for the patrons which left the bartender (who said his name was Ubie) with time to talk.

All the normal small talk was used to include where you from, what do you do, how long do you plan on staying and what hotel, is the room nice, etc etc was conducted by Ubie in pretty good English.

Adam replied to the usual questions with the usual answers and then sensing Ubie was letting his guard down laid the big question on him.

"Ubie could you get me another drink. I have heard rumors I could invest in the local lottery or stock market..... I have money, but like everyone never enough. Besides, I heard a fellow could do quite well if and when the market came through".

Ubie with the big grin didn't even pause in the drink preparation while he said, " My friend you have come to the right place for I know everything there is to know about Nigeria and the lottery! For a price I can arrange almost anything most people can only imagine."

"How much you wanna invest"?

Adam said, "I was thinking of $100,000 U.S...... if you think that would be wise, or enough"?
Ubie almost paused in his body movements as the amount sunk in. Most investors were lucky to scrape up $100 U.S. so this was an amount that would be enough to spread around and still have plenty to invest in the Shipping company.

"If you don't mind let me call two of my friends to talk with us" Ubie said as he hand signaled the two other armed patrons Adam had taken notice of when he first entered the bar.

Ubie told the two in "Cen Tuum" a local dialect, " We got some money sitting here so be nice"!

Adam understood every word.

Introductions were made and according to Peter and Mark they were also investors in the lottery and had done quite well with their investing.

More small talk by the new arrivals verbally dancing around the subject while trying to get a feel of just who Adam was and what kind of goodies he could provide them with.

Finally the amount was once again brought up and Adam indicated he could do $10,000 now but would like to do much more if the payback was as he had been told by his maid in Lagos.

Mark, the smaller of the two new guys said, "There are never guarantees but the lottery has done quite well for me. I invest $100 and get back $240 if I am lucky....once I got back $700"!

Adam smiled knowing Mark was lying but he indicated he would be happy with 100% return on investment. Needless to say Adam acted very concerned in dealing with people he really had not established a long term relationship with.

Mark with a big smile,"Of, course you are a very smart man and it is not wise to trust to quickly in Nigeria, but we are all friends and I can tell you for sure we are all trustworthy and can help. You are very lucky to have met and talked with Ubie our cousin for there are people not as trustworthy or as honorable as we three, for sure”.

Adam nodded and smiled trying to convey his naivete and goodwill which emboldened the three even more.

Adam brought up his maid again,"I was told by Sara my maid that a man by the name of Matthew Lagona was head of the lottery and for the right amount of money to invest he could be persuaded to make sure a return on ones investment was made".

Warning signs in body posture struck like lightning in all three of the Nigerians. Adam had already computed the response he would get and forged ahead with a conspiratorial air about himself, "Since we are all friends here let me tell you a little secret. I too have friends from all over the world that would like this kind of return on their investment...... so I can probably contact a few and bring allot more money for the Lottery...enough for all of to make some on the side...you know... handling charges"...

Ubie slapped Adam on the arm, "Man you sure you aren't Nigerian"?

Adam smiled and with his conspiratorial voice he said, "Ubie for the right kind of money I could be any nationality I need to be; just show me the money".

More laughing, which was mostly forced by the three cousins in a way to convey male bonding. They were trying to cement the groups ties to Adam as he computed he had set the bait and would now have to wait until Mr. Matthew Lagona aka Vampire bit. As if on cue (which it was) Eve walked in the front door and stopped with her hands on her hips. The sight of her struck the bar patrons in such a way that if a Grey Alien had walked through the door they would not have been more surprised and certainly less pleased. The setting sun caused a halo around her that made her appearance more angelic than mortal as she stood with the door open behind her. One of the patrons almost swallowed a fly that had flown into his open mouth..many patrons were lucky there were not more flies.

Adam..."Ooops, gotta go guys..... here is my cell number, which was provided on his business card. Call me when you can set something up with Mr. Lagona."

Ubie wanted Eve to come in for a drink "on the house" but Adam had already started for the door. Someone in the Group called after him wondering if he needed any help, but Adam just said he could handle her himself, there was laughter from the group.

Once outside both Adam and Eve continued to listen to their new found friends via MDSR (Micro dot surveillance receiver) which Adam had placed in the small crack between the bar counter top and the Bannister.

Ubie, like the good soldier he thought he was, had already said he was calling the "Boss" while Mark said he was sure the Boss was in Lagos at the home of Mohammad, one of his Somali Captains.

With cell phones it mattered not where someone was; if there was a signal they could be reached.

Adam and Eve held hands looking to all the world as a beautiful couple in love on a stroll back to their hotel. But in reality they were also running a complete crossover diagnostic check between all six of their processing centers...No faults and all were capable of 100% output. Good to go.

Ubie called twice trying to get in touch with the Vampire yet the man was unavailable and the phone went straight to voice mail.

First call, "Hey, Boss please call Ubie I got something for you"!

Call 2, five minutes later, “Hey, Boss it is me Ubie, I got something I think you will like very much, please man, when you can, call me back"!

"Never fails, when I got something to make everyone happy I can't get no help" Ubie lamented.

Mark and Peter chimed in with words to sooth Ubie's hot temper giving encouragement to the effect that the Boss would call when he had a chance.

Adam and Eve returned to the hotel as the bar conversation continued on the subject of how they could get Adam's money and not say anything about it to the Boss if they had to.

Mark was the one that was heard to say, "Ubie you know if we do something.... for sure..... we will make more money! We could dump the bodies at the mouth of the river where the sharks feed. But.......Man.... if Boss Matt finds out we crossed him..... all our families.... he can find will be killed.... we will be wishing we were fish food before the Boss finishes with us. Besides I would dump that guy Adam even though he seems like a nice stupid white guy to me..... I think we should keep the girl for awhile; man did you see her"!

The next morning at 10AM Adam's phone rang and it was Mr. Lagona.

"Hello, good morning," Eve answered with her best telephonic voice.

"And good morning to you; this is Matthew Lagona calling for Mr. Adam Sparks, is he available?"

"Yes one moment please."

Adam stood next to the mobile phone for a few seconds waiting an appropriate amount of time before he answered.

"Hello".

"Mr. Sparks this is Matthew Lagona I was told you wish to speak with me about investing in a subsidiary of the shipping company. I am in Lagos presently and if you would like, I can arrange a meeting with you either in Opobo or another place of my choosing. I must say though I am a very busy man and my time is limited for such things so as a kindness to me I hope you can make a meeting worth my time".

"Thank you for calling me Mr. Lagona and from what little I have heard about you I can only imagine how busy you must be; so again thank you for your personal interest."

"I am V.P. of logistics and marketing for British Petroleum, based out of Houston, Tx. Myself along with several other world contacts have discretionary income to invest in certain activities and certain well paying investment funds..... if the return is worth our 'time' …...so without making any promises, I can only say, I would not have made the effort to contact you unless I thought you would be interested."

"Mr. Sparks I am not always someone who is pleased to make new acquaintances but based on Ubie's information about your character I will make an effort to set something up with you this evening or tomorrow at the bar. Please keep you phone handy and I will let you know a couple of hours in advance when we can meet, if that is OK with you"?

"That would be fine Mr. Lagona. My wife and I are on a brief break from the office and your time frame would fit our schedule nicely".

There was an audible disconnect of the mobile and Mr. Lagona aka Vampire was gone. Adam and Eve went into sleep mode.

In the mean time, the Big Story in Nigeria were of soldiers and journalist looking at bodies of prison officials killed by Islamic extremist during heavy fighting in Bama, Nigeria.

Quote: “These were coordinated attacks by Islamic extremists armed with heavy machine guns which killed at least 83 people in northeast of Nigeria, authorities said Friday, this is just the latest in a string of increasingly bloody attacks threatening the peace in Africa's most populous nation”.

“The attack struck multiple locations in the town of Bama in Nigeria's Borno state, where shootings and bombings have continued unstopped since the insurgency began there. Fighters raided a federal prison during their assault as well, freeing 337 inmates all of which were considered Islamic extremist. This is yet another example of a mass prison break to hit our country, the officials said”.

“Nakura Ibrahim Ella, a suspected member of Islamic extremist group was arrested by soldiers and tied to a tree in Bama, Nigeria. Information was gathered by our soldiers; Video to follow which showed several supposedly extremist having been shot.... Let this be a warning to all those who attack our offices and national service members. Mr. Ella died later of natural causes”. End Quote:

“Tied to a tree my ass,” Thought Vampire. “ They nailed him to the frigging tree gouged his eyes out after they had cut his manhood off ”!

“Natural causes can mean many things in Nigeria; I suppose it is natural to die from such wounds. Now if he could get part of the money he had paid Ella for this operation back in his own hands all would be perfect”, mused Vampire.

Vampire was insuring all who might be interested (by means of his underworld contacts all over the African continent) that his shipping company had assets that might be useful in toppling the current government; who he considered weak and in the pockets of multinational companies. Besides if they were living so well in the palaces without monetarily appreciating the shipping company and Mathew the Vampire Lagona organizational abilities then something was wrong and he was just the guy to fix it.

No one, in Vampire's mind, was better suited to lead Nigeria than himself, for he knew people and how to get the most out of them to do his bidding.

He looked at his ledger sheets at the bribe money he paid each month to the various agencies and government officials and wondered at times if it would not be easier to just kill all the blood suckers.

Some of his future political plans were already set into motion yet he became frustrated at the slowness and indirect means he had to use. He thought of himself as a man of action, however, as months and years passed he was getting worried he would be to old to enjoy all the fruits of his labors when his plans came to fruition..

Thinking about his wife, his 18 latest mistresses, and the 67 children (he knew of; the thought made him smile) which he had fathered these last 15 years, he once again began to evaluate his children. He came to decision, as he had many times before, that there were only two sons that might be worthy of carrying on his businesses if something happened to him.

Mohammed from Somalia who was now 14 years of age and already part of Hunter Killer Team 3 (HKT3) who from all reports, was a blood thirsty little bugger that also knew how to understand and take orders.

James his 13 year old Nigerian son was allowed to go with HKT 6, when not attending school, and the reports from that team were also considered very favorable .

So, "I must step up their training and education, bring them closer to me... I don't like kids.....but...is something I must do for the future” (sigh)....

He picked up his phone to call the Captains of HKT3&6 and have his sons, who he always thought of as “the little animals” sent to his home in Lagos. After making the arrangements, he made one more call to Mary, his his local Mistress, for some afternoon delight.
The end

a reply to: 727Sky

General Sir, I am sorry this building is not bigger so I could really stretch my legs for you; do I look like a bat"?

You got a flag for that line alone.
That's the best robot come-on I've ever read.

Very inventive, that was a great read.

a reply to: 727Sky

Is this a story you have been working on for a while? Well crafted!