A WORLD OF PROJECTS

Part I

By Brent Lambert

with a plot assist from Dino Pollard

Warp Savant whistled to himself as he walked down the dark hallway alongside Sunspot, the enigmatic Fantomex and the battle eager Shatterstar. They had just survived an encounter with three cloned Marauder teams. Survival would have been a pipe dream if not for the intervention of The Neo. If Savant were able to draw up a list of people who would help him, The Neo would have been at the very bottom of that list. Especially considering what he had done to Kilmer.

“If you don’t stop that whistling I’ll be forced to shoot you in the face,” Fantomex said with all seriousness.

Warp Savant gulped. “Sorry man. Just nervous. This place is creepy as hell.”

Roberto shared Savant’s sentiments, but he wasn’t going to let it show. He was on the lookout for any doors that might lead to information that could assist them in tracking down their friends or battling these new Psi-Sentinels. Sunspot just hoped they would find something of value in here. The Psi-Sentinels were such a powerful threat. They had taken down some of the best that the X-Men had to offer. The seven of them would not be enough to beat Shaw.

“Over here! A doorway!” Shatterstar exclaimed as he pointed to the slightly open door that was at the end of the hallway. The four mutants quickly moved to the entrance and Fantomex gently moved the door back with his foot.

When the door opened a voice greeted them. “Hello children. I knew you would survive Amanda’s theft of my soldiers just as I knew you would make it here. There is much information for all of you to indulge in here. Particularly you, Fantomex. Enjoy what I have left for you and do hurry. Shaw is bothersome to me.”

Roberto’s blood drained from his face at the realization of whom was talking to them. “Sinister? Cable said he was dead. What the hell have we walked into?”

Fantomex looked back to Sunspot and said grimly, “A war. One that we need to be ready for. Everyone take a computer and start digging. Lets see what Sinister left us.”

Shatterstar nodded. “My computer skills should be more than sufficient for this task. I doubt anything Mueller has here compares to the technology of the world I’m from.”

“And what’s the status on our injured?” Fantomex asked.

Savant was already tapping away on a computer by the time he heard Fantomex’s question. “They’ll be fine in about an hour or so.”

Fantomex didn’t reply to Savant’s answer, as he was already hard at work accessing a computer in the corner of the dimly lit room. Sinister had left things easily accessible for them as no password needed to be entered. The main screen had a black wallpaper and five folders with the labels; Mueller, Matrix, Rao, and Merrick.

“Each one of us needs to tackle a different folder. I’ll take Mueller. Sunspot take Rao, Shatterstar take Merrick and Savant take Matrix,” Fantomex commanded as he doubled-clicked on Mueller’s file.

In the folder there were four other folders with the labels; Domina’s clan, Shockwave Riders, Fantomex, General Neo Studies. Fantomex proceeded to click on General Neo Studies and there was a listing of ten separate videos. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to process everything he randomly picked the third video. The video took up the whole computer screen and showed Mueller floating over the body of Domina.

Mueller looked into the camera and spoke. “Today I will explain why The Neo can survive a beheading and still maintain their basic personalities. We will begin by beheading Domina with a high precision laser.”

Domina struggled at her chains. “You will die one day Mueller. I promise!”

Mueller simply nodded as one of her assistants stepped in front of Domina and shot a high-powered laser beam in the center of her throat. He quickly swept the weapon from one end of her neck to the other. The pale-faced woman’s head rolled to the ground and almost immediately the stub of a new one could be seen.

That was when Amanda began talking again. “When I first began to engineer The Neo I had constructed their nervous system to also be an auxiliary memory container. So when a Neo’s head is separated from their body the nervous system simply copies its stored memories into the new appendage.”

The camera turned to Domina once more and her face was snarled in an expression of absolute hate. Then the video ended.

“Isn’t that interesting,” Fantomex said as he closed the file and went into the folder with his name on it.

Sunspot had entered Dr. Rao’s files and was looking at her initial video in regards to a subject she called The Gaunt. Dr. Rao was a short and slim Indian woman with a very heavy accent. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she always held her clipboard close to her chest. She seemed a bit nervous as she spoke into the camera and Roberto could only assume that came from her inexperience with Black Womb.

“Hello. I am Dr. Kavita Rao. Today I am going to show you preliminary progress on a project that is tentatively being called The Gaunt.”

Dr. Rao walked over to a table where an emaciated man was strapped down. Sunspot doubt the man could have escaped even if he wanted to. He looked like a walking skeleton with skin as pale as a ghost. There was a desperate look in the man’s eyes. He knew he was headed for a dark fate.

Rao didn’t even take the time to look at the man. “Subject 1230 was infected with a very powerful super germ three days ago while on a cruise. The bacteria have steadily been eating away at his system. Originally a Black Womb agent on vacation, he has now since become a shell of his former self. My plan is to apply another virus to his system that will counteract what he’s going through now.”

She held up a tiny vial full of moving gray material that was sprinkled with what looked like computer chips. “This is a sampling of the techno-organic virus. I believe that I can manipulate it to a point where Subject 1230 would able to manipulate and control this virus. We may need to unlock the subject’s latent X-Gene to further facilitate this experiment, but that remains to be seen.”

With that the video feed shut off and Sunspot leaned back in his chair. “Oh man…”

Shatterstar watched the feed of Dr. Merrick with great disgust. The blonde-haired, blue eyed, suave geneticist seemed to be enjoying his work. The video opened with Merrick tugging at his silk blue tie and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Is this thing on? Oh, it is! Sorry. Well, today we’re going to look at a project I’ve been trying to get off the ground for a while now. Dr. Mueller just gave me the authorization for it and I couldn’t be more excited. As you can see behind me we have five sedated individuals. All of them suffer from some form of mental retardation.”

The five people all looked like they weren’t a day above 16. One was an overweight bald, black guy and next to him was a gangly Japanese girl. The others were all blonde, Caucasian men with very short haircuts. Just seeing those kids strapped up like animals angered Shatterstar to no end.

“These subjects essentially have no family, friends, or attachments. That makes them perfect candidates for the work that I’m trying to conduct here. Unlike, Mother Matrix I realize that we’re not here to help people. Now none of them are mutants, but what I essentially want to do is activate their latent X-Genes.”

Merrick took a few steps back from the camera. “I want you guys to catch my new belt. Anyway where was I? Oh yes, so basically once I get them up and going with mutant powers I’ll have their minds wiped clean. It’ll help to facilitate the later changes I plan to implement much better.”

At that point the screen was replaced with the image of a golden skinned boy with two tiny red horns coming from his forehead. Merrick’s voice soon explained the meaning of the picture. “This boy is one of The Neo currently being grown in The World. My idea is to attach these four soon to be mutants to him mentally. The ultimate idea of this project is to have one mind, one motivation, one goal leading a hundred something mutants. Missions would be accomplished with greater precision and accuracy. I am absolutely positive that this will be Black Womb’s best research project to date.”

The video ended at that point and Shatterstar could only pray that those poor souls had not yet undergone what Merrick had intended to do to them.

They’re all monsters! Who could conceivably do this to children? I will see this place bought to the ground, Shatterstar thought to himself.

“Man she’s got hot librarian all over her,” Warp Savant said as he watched the meek looking woman on his screen. She had her red hair pulled back and up into a ponytail. Her glasses were thin and almost cat-like in appearance. Her white lab coat seemed a couple of sizes too big for her, but from her well-shaped legs it was obvious she wasn’t an ugly woman.

“Welcome to my second research project here at Black Womb. It’s one I look forward to a great deal as I think it’ll be one that multiple people will be able to profit and benefit from.”

The camera followed the woman as she walked down a hallway and stopped in front of a prison cell. “This is Subject 588. She was injured in LA when the Masters of Evil struck there a few months ago. Her legs were crushed and she would have been rendered paralyzed, but she has undergone my treatments. Hopefully, she’ll become a productive member of society once more, but I need to figure out how to rid her of the psychosis that my treatments put into place.”

A strong arm grabbed Savant’s shoulder and interrupted his viewing of Matrix’s work. Savant turned back to see Fantomex who said, “We need to go now. There is something that we have to see.”

Savant knew better than to argue with Fantomex and shut off the computer. “So what’s the deal?”

“There is some place in here called The World. We need to find it and fast,” Sunspot explained.

Fantomex nodded in agreement. “I believe it’s why The Neo came here.”

“Do you really want to run into them? There’s only four of us,” Savant said.

“Four or two, we have to find The World. I also think my son might be there,” Fantomex said. His son had been missing for quite some time and it was finding him that drew him to the X-Men in the first place. He believed them to be the only people in the world who could help him get close to finding his child. Now, he might possibly be only a few rooms away from his son.

“If your son is there then none of us will fail you,” Shatterstar said, “It is our duty as your teammates and you friends.”

Savant stood up from his chair and cracked his knuckles, “As much as I don’t feel like having Kilmer shove a knife hand down my throat I’m with you.”

Roberto smiled and said, “Don’t worry Warp. You can always just make his head go poof this time.”

“I need you all to know something,” Fantomex said and all eyes turned to him, “If we do find my son there and The Neo as well I don’t want a bloody battle. You will take my son and get the hell out of here. I’ll hold off my brethren as long as I can.”

Shatterstar folded his arms across his chest, “You would ask me to commit such blasphemy Fantomex? I am a warrior. I would never abandon you to such a fate.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to Shatterstar, but my son will need a protector if what I say comes to pass. I can think of no one better for the job,” Fantomex replied and Shatterstar wasn’t able to offer any more rebukes.

“Fine we’ll do as you ask Fantomex, but lets just hope The Neo have high-tailed it out of here already,” Sunspot said.

Satisfied with his teammates Fantomex said, “I was able to pull up a partial map of this building. A large group of power generators are east of here. I believe that is where The World’s power supply is at and The World itself shouldn’t be far from it.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Warp Savant exclaimed. “Lets go!”

The Lost Souls and Gaunt were standing before the large plasma screen where a silhouette of a man was only visible. The five former Black Womb prisoners didn’t need to see the man to know that he was not someone to oppose lightly. His voice made up for a lack of physical presence.

“Did you see the body? Or at least some evidence of her death?”

Funeral, leader of The Lost Souls, stepped to the fore of the group. He was a Neo with golden skin and long flowing black hair. The black suit he was wearing was unbuttoned enough o reveal the top of his chest. He spoke with complete confidence and said, “She’s dead. We saw her beheaded body and Requiem tasted of her blood.”

Requiem’s chest puffed up at that statement. He had tasted of his creator’s blood. Now, she was conquered and he was free of her bondage. He wore two large metal bands that extended from his wrist to right below his elbow. Those bands had been used to keep him captive and he would now wear them as a symbol of his freedom. As heavy as those bands were it took a man of great strength to freely walk around with them. The red-skinned Requiem was just that and neon yellow tattoos wrapped around his chest and arms as if they were accenting his muscular frame.

Standing next to Requiem was Perfection. She had the face of an angel and was cloaked in white. Her green eyes were full of passionate beauty and there didn’t seem to be a single blemish anywhere on her form. That stunning, angelic beauty betrayed a vicious power. Perfection was everything that Sinister hoped for in the future of mutantkind. Beautiful and bursting with terrifying powerful.

Next to Perfection was the last of the Neo, Sorrow. She had skin as pale as the first winter’s snow. Her hair was cropped and colored burgundy. Beneath each of her eyes were three black teardrop tattoos. Hugging her lithe form was a black leather jacket and pants of the same material and color. The tip of her high hell boots were colored like her hair and the fish net shirt under jacket was the same.

“If Amanda learned anything from me then I doubt we’ve seen the last of her disgusting presence. Gaunt, did you get what I requested?”

While The Lost Souls had a haunting aura, Gaunt gave off malice in waves. His body was covered from the neck down in emerald techno-organic matter. Gaunt’s fingers were large, jagged, and yellow. A purple cloak hung around his neck and billowed down to his ankles. His body posture was one of arrogance.

“Yes sir, I found it and have it stored safe and sound,” Gaunt said as he put his hand to his chest.

“Good I will need that technology in the days to come. Much as I will need all of you. Are you prepared to perform my work?”

There wasn’t a single no in the room.

“Could they have made this entrance anymore obvious?” Warp Savant asked as the members of X-Corp stood in front of the large metal doors with the giant circular picture of Earth in the center.

Sunspot laughed. “It was probably to keep someone from accidentally walking into this thing.”

“Unlikely,” Fantomex said. “If you look closer you’ll see a genetic scanner on Asia. Probably meant for an index finger.”

Savant sighed. “So I guess we’re not getting in there then? Shit!”

Fantomex removed a glove and put his finger to the genetic scanner. He was taking a gamble on The World being accessible to Neo. It was a gamble he won as the doors hissed and began to break away from each other. Fantomex quickly put his glove back on and reached for his weapons. “Be ready people. No telling what might be in this place.”

As the doors slid open The Neo saw a very familiar grouping of robots. They were something else Amanda had pilfered from another source. “Shiva robots! Everyone scatter!”

Just as Fantomex had given the order a large beam of red energy seared the air and struck The Neo in the chest. His body went flying through the air and hit the ground with a thud. Smoke was coming from the impact area of the attack and Warp Savant could only manage a few words.

“Aww hell!!”

Just as he made that proclamation the roof opened up in various spots and Shiva robots descended from the ground. The X-Corps members were surrounded by metallic death and their strongest member had just been floored.