Alpha Flight: The Resurrection Project
Chapter 1
She landed with the grace of a dove, but with the presence of a hawk. She inhaled a deep breath. She hadn’t realized that she had been holding it in. She would have to get used to the pollution again. She looked at the mammoth building in front of her. This building was once her home. She had not wanted to come back. But one of the few people that she still trusted asked her to. The person she saw approaching her now. Except that he was not alone. He must have sensed her unease and waved off the dozen or so men in black armor, which to the point had been following him.
“Hello Snowbird,” the man she only knew as Agent K said.
“Hello,” she replied. “There seems to be a lot of personal on guard duty. Is that Weapon P.R.I.M.E. that I see by that wall?”
“Yes it is. We are on full alert 24/7. A new project was recently started that we want to ensure its protection.”
“What is this project about?” she asked.
“I’ll tell you more once we get inside.”
Snowbird and Agent k walked through an entrance lobby. As they passed more guards, they continued towards a bank of elevator doors. She saw someone else that she recognized. It was hard to miss the tiara and specially that flamboyant costume. Snowbird briefly thought how unfortunate it was that the tiara was forwarded upon her before proper training. The young wearer could have picked a more appropriate garb.
“Hello Elizabeth,” Snowbird said with a slight bow.
“Hello Narya. They told me that you would be here soon. I thought strength in numbers and all,” Talisman responded.
“Elizabeth you are one of the most powerful persons on the planet. It is these people that should be in fear and awe of you.”
“Er…thanks I guess. You are not so bad yourself being a demi-goddess.”
“Right this way ladies,” Agent K instructed. The three of them then entered the elevator. Snowbird could feel a slight change in air pressure when the elevator door closed. At which time he pressed the button for level 66. Almost immediately the elevator door opened.
Elizabeth thought that was way too fast to take an elevator up 66 floors. Not even feeling any g-forces. “Doctor Davis of Engineering has been working on some sort of antigravity tech for our elevators,” Agent K answering the question that was on the tip of Elizabeth’s tongue. “We’re heading to the conference room two doors on your left.” After ushering the two into the conference room he shuffled pass them saying, “I’ll introduce everyone to you.”
“Snowbird and Talisman we have,” Agent K slightly pausing while he pointed at a dark haired 50ish looking man in a lab coat. “First on the far side of the table we have Doctor Greg Donaldson of Cryonics and Neuropreservation. Next we have Doctor Davis. Who I mentioned before is from engineering. Then to her left we have Doctor Rachel Minsky. She is in charge of the Whole Brain Emulation program. Next we have someone that you do not need to be introduced to. Earthmover has been working with the Department H Research and Exploration division as a sort of in house mystic advisor.” Earthmover slightly bowed. Both Snowbird and Talisman responded in kind. “Also meet Doctor Fey of Nanomedicine. Across from them should be more familiar faces. Jeff Brown is CSIS liason to H. Kerry Patrick is an overseer of Department H on behalf of the Federal Government.”
“I’m here to see that no Director X or General Clarke types get control of the Department again,” Kerry inserted with a welcoming smile on his face.
“Thank you Mr. Patrick,” Agent K started up again. “The man with the loose tie and rolled up sleeves is Mr. Gentry. Who is our Operations Manager. The lady next to him you have not met before. Meet Melissa Fan formerly of SHIELD Canada Operations. She is head of security.”
“What’s your job title K,” Elizabeth asked?
“You could say that I am in … procurement.” After a slight pause Agent K started up again. “There is one final person that I need to introduce. You both know Gary Cody.” Agent K spoke while a bearded man wearing glasses entered the room from a side door. Then taking a seat at the head of the table.
A few minutes earlier...
“Doctor Davis,” an Epsilon guard spoke as he walked into the lab.
“Yes,” a lady wearing a lab coat responded.
“Radar has just picked up Snowbird.”
“Thank you,” Davis said while turning to face the room filled with fellow lab coat wearing individuals. “Everyone shut it down. I’m heading upstairs.” She then left the room.
“Beta 7 shutdown the terminal. I’ll power down the Box,” a tech with the label Beta 2 on his coat ordered. Beta 2 walked over to a 7’ tall metal humanoid shape standing along the far wall of the lab. Beta 2 flipped a switch. The red lit eyes of what they in the lab referred to as the Box started to dim, till they were black.
“All done over here,” Beta 7 spoke. Beta 7, Beta 2 and two other lab techs left the lab. Beta 2 being the last turned off the lights, embracing the room in sudden darkness. Soon the embrace was broken by the eyes bright ember glow of the Box’s once dark eyes.
“Gary Cody,” Snowbird said with more emotion than usual heard in her stoic tone. “But…how?”
“Hello Snowbird.” Then nodding towards Talisman Cody said, “Hello Elizabeth welcome to the committee in charge of Project Resurrection”.
After a moment of silence Elizabeth spoke up, “let me guess you were resurrected’.
“Yes, hopefully the first of many”, Cody responded grinning. “You two have a seat. And I will bring you up to speed.” While the two costumed women sat down in two chairs shoved in their direction. Gary Cody took a drink of water out of the glass in front of him. Then continued “when Bedlam killed me,” there was a slight pause over the killed me part. “My body was mainly unharmed,” he continued. “I was put into storage,” his voice wavering again. “I was stored till my mind could be repaired. And this is due to the most part of the work done by Doctor Minsky. Hopefully I am but the first. Agent K has done a great job on procurement,” Cody said as he turned in Agent K’s direction with an eye brow slightly raised. “We have had to expand Doctor Donaldson’s facilities twice. The good news is that Elizabeth,” Cody paused. “One of the people that we hope to bring back is your father Michael Twoyoungmen.”
Not to far away for the Department H headquarters in a warehouse area of Toronto….
“Lambda 3 I am running out of time and patience,” a man said with authority the type that Steve also known as Lambda 3 had never heard before. Lambda 3 was hunched over. The only thing keeping him on his feet were the shackles around his wrist. The shackles were attached to the wall of a very big and very empty ware house. He could hear his blood dripping onto the floor. He could no longer feel the blood trickling out his mouth where his lips and teeth used to be. He could not help not seeing the blood pool on the floor. His eye lids were long gone. He had seen a lot of blood in his time as a bio engineer working in extreme research. But seeing his own blood, and that much of it he was scared. Scared like nothing before.
“Now one last time, what is going on in at Department H. Tell me now or the pain that you have experienced so far will be nothing to what I have planned next,” the man wearing a helmet that exposed his mouth and beard said.
“No. No more please,” Lambda 3 sighed then gurgled. “All I know is that what ever they are doing at Department H is about Alpha Flight.”
“Alpha Flight,” the man roared. “They will not get in my way ever again. They never learn. I am the Master of the World.”
These were the last words that Steve/Lambda 3 would ever hear. A fireball shot out from the helmeted man’s glove towards Lambda 3. The fire incinerated the lab tech instantly. Lambda 3 never heard the metal shackles hitting the concrete wall that they were bolted to.
