Episode 1.0: Simon Says

“Ever have one of those lives? You know the kind. All of your life nobody ever notices you. Out of shape. Withdrawn due to ridicule. Really smart but yet get treated like an outcast for it. Ugly on the outside but drop dead gorgeous on the inside. I used to be that way. The crazy thing is when you are too intelligent the wrong people take notice. Right out of High School I was approached by a shady group with no name. Just lots of promises and loads of cash. I should have known better. Who would want a frumpy overweight nerd like me? I’m pretty certain you know who that might be. Only the freaking shady ass Military and their dirty covert dealings. Blackest of black Operations. When I turned them down they just put my name on a milk carton. I disappeared from the real world. I should never have sent a thesis on nanotechnology to the University of Massachusetts. They came. I went with them. Not the University mind you, the shadows that intercepted my thesis.

“Where I ended up was a deep cover agency codenamed OASIIS. Close enough to theSIS! Yes, I’m bitter. Picture Area 51 but for clandestine weapons of strategic destruction. Not fighter jets that turn invisible. Although, I’m sure those were in fashion at some other facility. Try fighter androids that have similar invisible capability. Alien androids that were intercepted from the Antarctic and were reverse, no, perverse engineered. They were so alive at one point that no one could possibly know that they were living amongst us. OASIIS wanted to design and use them as the perfect subterfuge. Assassins that were so real that it was impossible to tell that they weren’t. My area of expertise was Nanite technology. Microscopic antibodies that repaired themselves instantaneously. Combine my tech with the scientific know how of two hundred other specialists in various fields and combined forces, what do you get? You get a killer android with brain patterns of well-selected, deadly trained soldiers. That was the plan at least. Eventually their thought patterns were to be entered into our host beauties and sent off to join James Bond and Nathan Hunt. I spy an android who can’t cry. Well, they can now. We fixed that when the emotion centers were reconfigured. Heartless shells do not make stealthy assassins who can blend in.

“For the last ten years I’ve lived this lie of a life. Forced to commit to making these shells of perfection or lose my own life for failing. I wanted to live so I complied and actually found a family who cared amongst the scientists there. Now I know how the Jews felt in World War Two. Experiments conducting experiments. It would only be a matter of time before the end.

“Luckily we were allowed to make friends to keep our sanity. Myself and the other scientists managed to form a plan of escape utilizing devices that allowed us telepathy that we kept from the higher ups. We knew we were expendable, therefore we needed to use our combined brain power to sucker punch the bastards. We had the plan worked out until the day of testing came. Our subject Colonel Simon Campos was our guinea pig. Of the thirty plus androids he would be the first to enter his brain into the beast. Not his real brain of course. Merely his mapped out neural centers that were fused into the artificial brains of the alien android replicates. This worked too well. Simon went from an old soldier to a Greek God. Every fiber of his new being was dramatically altered. The one thing the military didn’t count on was betrayal. Not only was Simon a fine tuned soldier of fortune, he had a soul. As well as one heck of a poker face. With our help he even fooled lie detectors and our resident telepath Jared. In Jared’s case he simply revealed what Simon told him to say and it all worked out.

“Not only did Simon take to the procedure perfectly. He realized its potential. The android’s functions covered every possible detail to survive, infiltrate, and assassinate. Its flesh was as real as any human although polymer grade for molding tech. Its muscles a steel hard polymer like alloy that was designed through the use of their ships alien hardware. Yes, aliens from outer space exist. Stop the denial folks. Back engineering scavenged parts from their tech helped OASIIS in manufacturing the android armada that we were creating. James Cameron and Skynet would be proud.

“Simon Campos was a decent guy for a career assassin. Targets that were only warranted and deserving in his mind were taken down. I know this because of our own telepathic links eavesdropping on literally everyone to know who could be trusted. Somehow he knew what everyone was thinking once he was introduced into the Nandroid body. Nandroid combining Nanotech and android. Cute we thought! The Military was ignorant like that, they thought it sounded too feminine. Regardless, Simon always treated us like human beings and less like lab rats. He knew what our fate was. As soon as OASIIS carried out their first mission test we the petty scientists were on the chopping block. They couldn’t just let us go. We knew too much. So many good caring people led to unnecessary slaughter. We couldn’t let that happen. Therefore we planned. Planned very well. We were going out in style.

“With Simon’s help.

“Thank God he was on our side.

“Oh, I’m Delores! You won’t know me after today. Not many ever truly knew me anyway.”

The Adirondack Mountains of Pennsylvania.

2:00 A.M.

Truck driver Melvin Daltry steered his Peterbilt semi through the encroaching darkness. Added to the blackness of the night air was an untimely fog, so thick that he could barely see the curves. In all reality he should have waited to cross the mountains in the daylight but his employer was riding his ass about reaching his destinations, late more often than not.

It was bad enough that he hadn’t slept in fourteen hours without the stress. Thank the good lord for that case of Green Monster’s in his cooler. A high dose of caffeine was the only thing keeping him coherent. That and the drawls of country singer Alan Jackson on his radio. All he knew was that he needed to get over this mountain safely. No traffic this early helped his timetable until the fog slowed him up.

Tipping back his can of Green Monster he winced at a loud thump on the roof of his cab. “What the Sam Jesus was that?” Melvin slowed his momentum to listen for any further noises when he heard his motor losing power. ““Ahhhhh come on! I can’t be late gettin’ to Miami. Don’t do this too me, Billy Bob.”

He patted the dash as if his rig had any chance of replying back. Suddenly, all power faded and he coasted to a halt. Radio silent, nothing worked, not even his CB radio. He opened his window and chucked the leftovers of his can of Monster out into the ravine below. Sitting lifeless he swallowed hoarsely. From his rearview mirror there wasn’t a single light anywhere, even if the fog wasn’t there to conceal them. He fidgeted a while then pulled his cellphone from his belt loop case opening it up. Dead as a doornail. Seeing that spooked him and he rolled his window back up. Luckily his rig still had the automatic handle style rollers.

Melvin was to afraid to get out of his truck. He told himself that he would just sit things out until morning. Settling back on edge from his caffeine high he nervously darted his eyes in all directions. “Please no Mothman! Please no Mothman!” He wasn’t that far from West Virginia! Mel even looked up through the windshield half expecting to be abducted by some outer space mothership hovering over him. He had seen the shows, heard the tales. Too eerie for this kind of caffeine high he thought. A few heavy breaths later he heard the screeching of his trailer doors being opened from the back of his rig. That spooked him. All he was hauling was peat moss for a Gardening Center Warehouse. Who the hell would want to break his seal for dirt? “Vampires need dirt!” Damn! Now he needed to pee.

Sucking up his courage he picked up a hand held Taser from his glove box then realized that even that had no charge. “Dammit! Why won’t those trucking company bastards let us carry guns?”

Growling he grabbed a large crescent wrench from his toolbox behind his seat and opened his truck door dropping down to the asphalt road. He hesitated to listen for any further signs of life. Not even crickets or coyotes in the hills. Trembling, he suddenly heard light voices both in front of him and behind. Whirling around he turned directly into the most beautiful naked woman he had ever barely seen. Only a cigarette lighter in his hand offered a hint of light. “Whooza! What are you doing out here with no clothes, Lady?” The black haired woman smiled at him softly almost bashful.

“Don’t be afraid. None of us will harm you.”

“None of ... us?” His eyes bulged when he could finally focus them. Behind her were more naked women and men approaching to gather around him. Even younger teenagers and children. It was unsettling to his nerves that they would be allowed to run nude like some long lost primitive society. Stepping back three feet only to bump into a man six foot tall with blond hair he jumped out of his skin. Ironic since these people had tragically done the very same thing an hour earlier.

Turning swiftly he reared the wrench into the air in a defensive pose. The naked man merely grinned, followed by a friendly wink. Melvin Daltry then felt the wrench drop from his grasp and clink on the asphalt behind him. His whole body became pleasantly numb. The man before him spoke to Melvin, only without moving his lips. “Remain calm, Mister Daltry. We only need your vehicle. I promise you won’t be harmed.” What Simon says, he meant!

The others heard the man’s silent telepathic command to board the trailer and stay hidden. As Melvin’s eyes caught glimpses of the others walk around him, he could only think, “Who are you people? Vampires? Aliens? You aren’t going to probe me, are you?”

The blonde male communicated his thoughts directly into Melvin. “Yes, Melvin. We are aliens. In the morning you will walk to the next town and mumble about your abduction. Little grey men with bulbous heads and black eyes. Believe your story and never think otherwise. Tell them your whole truck was taken aboard the Mothership.” As if having a magic touch the blonde man palmed the trucks door and the color of the cab switched from black to red. A hologram feature was introduced through the android’s fingertips that spread over the Peterbilt. Even the license plate altered its appearance from Pennsylvania to say Michigan with different numbers.

Melvin Daltry’s eyes rolled back into his head as the blonde man picked up the wrench and tossed it back into the cab. Leaving Melvin standing there wavering in his stance the blonde man walked back to the trailers tail end. Looking up at the 25 people huddled within he spoke with vocalized speech, “Okay, People! Our plan is going smoothly. I’ll drive us out of the mountains and escape this fake fog we implemented to cover our tracks from satellites. Once we reach a safe point we can find some clothing and split up. For now just hold on and be patient. I swear to you that OASIIS and General Hardesty won’t know how to find us. Your talents have made sure of that. Now let my talents finish this mission.” With a nod he closed the door to darkness.

Simon Campos marched to the front cab stopping just long enough to pat truck driver Melvin Daltry on the back. “Sorry to do this to you, Buddy. Not much choice when the lives of equally good folks are on the line. I hope your life can return to normal. Take care.”

With his sensitivity fading Simon hopped up into the rig and closed his eyes. Suddenly, the trucks engine reclaimed the power it once had, Simon’s android body linking with the internal brain box of the semi. “That was easy.”

With a quick glance at the gears and gauges he understood all functions. With no trouble at all the rig moved on leaving Melvin on the side of the road teetering. Simon’s glance back at him in the mirror gave him a conscience, “I can’t leave him like this. He might actually be of help.”

Powering down Simon sent a telepathic message out to Melvin who shook his head regaining his thoughts and motor skills. “Holy shit what just happened?”

Turning to see his rig he stumbled toward it finding the drivers door open. The hologram field had ceased function and had returned to the trucks natural color. Looking up into his rig he scowled. It looked vacant. Eventually, he pulled himself up into the rig and shut the door. Glancing over at the passenger seat he frowned as if talking to himself, “Okay! I don’t see you. I’m alone in the cab. Just drive. Gotcha!” Jedi Mind Trick!

Melvin ground gears then put the semi back into motion. Simon Campos merely sat back and let Melvin drive and return to his life. Simon thanked the abilities he had designed into his new body. He now had a psi talent equally as in tune with young Jared Temple that could read minds as well as control others thoughts for short periods. With this power he simply forced Melvin to forget he ever met his payload of streakers. Instead of stranding Melvin to live his life a laughing stock, Simon would encourage him mentally to be a better man. Today was Melvin’s lucky day.

Thirty miles down the mountain Simon noted a road block of State Police. The government obviously knew of their escape already. He mentally instructed Melvin to act normal and get them through supplying an invoice to show his cargo specifics. Campos would add a mental suggestion to the officer’s checking out the rig. A simple look at the trailer doors by the officer was sufficient as he yelled back. “Just bags of dirt. Let him through.”

“That was easy enough.” Simon smirked in thought, “Now where is the military? Can’t tell me that if they had this road blockade they don’t know of the OASIIS incident. Of course, it’s possible they don’t necessarily know of our escape. After all I sealed the base off and flooded it with an experimental nerve gas called Pinch Hitter. I had no choice or we would never have made it out. God forgive me for taking a few good souls. At least the scientists are still alive, if not in android bodies. As long as we think strategically we can all live long, far better lives than before. No tracking devices on us should give us an edge. I’m sure there are ways the off site OASIIS bigwigs can search for us. Hardesty is no dummy even if I pulled one over on him. We’re too valuable not to try. Day at a time, Campos! Day at a time!”

That nerve gas unfortunately killed everyone inside the underground facility right down to the janitors. There just weren’t enough android bodies to rescue more. Bad enough it was a draw straws moment and a few scientists suffered the short end of the stick. They understood. It was death one way or another anyway. The elders chose to sacrifice themselves giving their short straws to their younger colleagues.

The safety of these Psientists were top priority over hired guns whose only desire was money and bloodshed. The term Psientist was a designation for their extraordinary brain capacity. The youngest of them had actual telepathic talents. Tinkering established a technolepathy feature in the others. With the aid of their specific android bodies each of them could tap into said telepathy, as well as limited telekinesis. The features these babies could adapt to would boggle the mind.

They were all dead to society anyway. Bad enough their lives were missing ten years or less due to their confinement in OASIIS. All because they were too special in their prospective fields to let go. Geneticist’s! Engineer’s! Telepath’s! Microtech’s! IQ’s in the clouds! Some adopted so young that they hadn’t had a chance to live a normal life. Children for God’s sake! That was where Simon drew the line. For every dirty deed he had done in his lifespan Simon did not nor ever would kill a child. Someone had to be their Messiah and lead them on this Exodus. Immobile in his seat Simon isolated his telepathy mode to speak only to his onboard computer. Designated Luther after his deceased son who succumbed to cancer at age fifteen he chose to keep his son close by. “Diary online Luther! First official entry.”