Chapter 2: In The Beginning

OK, so now I do exist.

One year later and about 1,500 miles away I have a life (after a fashion), thanks to the wonderful world of computers and the ease of computer hacking (I'm willing to bet that the government wished they didn't teach that in a class to those that don't exist). I have a social security number, drivers license, birth certificate (son of Donna [her real name I found out later] and Gary Pope), a pair of zero prescription contacts to hide the differences in my eyes and even a bank account filled with funds from casinos that don't seem to understand that roulette and craps are not games of chance for someone who is telekinetic.

Poker and blackjack aren't games of skill, either, when someone can read your mind -- at least the surface thoughts. I would lose a few to make it look good, but I always made sure that when I lost it was small and when I won it wasn't too much or often. Stay under the radar, keep a low profile and people don't notice you that much. To augment my meager funds I didn't mind hacking into some off-shore account (those drug dealers didn't need that money anyway) and transfer the account to several different accounts all over the world and even spread the wealth to several charities that I thought could use the money, you know like drug rehab centers and groups to get drugs off the street. I figured that it was a kind of poetic justice that the money they get from selling the drugs went to getting people off the drugs.

One thing led another and I find myself a resident of Dallas, Texas, in a nice quiet community where folks live nice quiet lives. I own a three bedroom ranch with nice big front and back yards. I drive a 2016 GMC Pickup, and a new 2032 Chevy Suburban. I need a big vehicle, if not the thing leans to one side as I get in. Remember, 450+ pounds is kind of hard to hide. My neighbors are nice folks and they ask me lots of questions about my life and what I do for a living, but I have always made up something or other telling them that I was in the process of getting my license to become an armed security specialist (basically a glorified body guard/ private detective/ bounty hunter all wrapped in one nice legal package).

Up until six months after I moved in every thing was going great in my life and I was in the middle of tracking down some leads to which agency was responsible for how I was created and if there were others out there that were like me. Shortly after I got here I made some friends in the police department when I saved the life of one of the officers. She was responding to a domestic disturbance call and upon arrival the man of the house figured that he was going back to jail (which he was, "'cause in Texas we don't cotton to men folk that hit on womenfolk"). He grabbed one of the pistols in the house and when Sharron (Officer Harris) knocked on the door, he opened it and stuck his weapon in her face and took her hostage. Her rookie partner was taken by surprise.

I happen to live down the street and with my hearing I heard his voice as he was yelling "OK, back off or the cop gets it!" Talk about cliché. I now kick myself for not taking care of this myself instead of calling the police (like a good citizen) and reporting the fight. If I'd thought for one moment that they would only dispatch one car I would have.

Walking out my backdoor and jumping a few of the fences, I moved up to the back of the house and checked the door to find it locked, of course. I could smell both the scent of fear and adrenalin coming from all three people, not to mention the mother and her two children in the house; therefore, I waited until he was yelling to the other officer and twisted the lock off as quickly as possible. Making my way into the house on the balls of my feet, I sensed that the children were in their room crying. Their mother was in the living room with El Jerko and Sharron.

I gently touched his mind and placed the thought that he had just heard a noise in the kitchen. Then I took up a position behind the door and as he opened it I punched through, laying him out on the floor. Picking up his pistol I went into the living room and asked Sharron to call for an ambulance because I didn't know if I did any permanent damage or not. It turned out he suffered a broken jaw and a mild concussion.

As she stood there with her mouth open, staring at me, I placed the pistol in Sharron's hand and told her my name and address and walked out to go back to my home. Thirty minutes later there was a knock at my door and I invited her and her patrol supervisor in for a "little chat", which consisted of me answering all kind of questions.

"How did you know about the situation?"

"I was the one who called it in."

"What made you think that you had the right to take matters into your own hands?"

"Well, I figured if we would have waited the amount of time it would have taken to get S.W.A.T. and the negotiator in place that would have given him a chance to fortify his position."

"Where did you learn that type of tactic?"

"I am not at liberty to discuss that at this time."

"What does that mean?"

"For reasons of national security, at this time, I can not discuss where I received my training."

He took a good look at me and then nodded his head. "OK, I'll accept that. What do you do for a living Mr. Pope?"

"I recently took residence in your fair city and I am in the process of becoming a licensed security specialist." I figured that would answer anyone's questions best. "I just want to live in peace and do what I can to help where it is needed."

Standing, he reached out his hand.

When I stood and took it, we shook hands firmly as he said, "Welcome to Dallas, Ted. My name is David. You've done us a solid and I won't forget that anytime soon." Looking over at Sharron, he said, "I will expect your repot on my desk before end of shift, Officer Harris."

When her superior walked out my door, Sharron moved close to me and looked up into my eyes. She said, "Ted, I owe you a lot, maybe even my life, so let me just say this," and jumped up to wrap her arms around my neck. She then kissed me on the lips. Holding herself there she closed her eyes and settled in for what to me is my very first kiss. Her mouth opened and the tip of her tongue danced on my lips before forcing itself past my teeth and on a tour of the inside of my mouth.

To say that I was stunned would be an understatement.

She slowly drew her tongue back into her mouth and dropped to the floor.

All I could do was stand there; wide eyed and stock still.

Sharron is a little thing at 5' 3" and about 105 pounds dripping wet. She has auburn hair that has red highlights and the deepest brown eyes I had ever seen. Her skin is light tan with a sprinkle of freckles all over her face. I had no way of knowing at the time that this woman was going to teach me things that the government had never figured I would need to know.

She looked at me with a little smile on her face and said, "My shift is over at 11pm and I would like to continue to show you how grateful I am. I'll stop on the way over and pick up something for a late dinner. Then we can discuss things."

With that, she turned, straightened her uniform and walked out of my house. All I could do is stand there and watch her go.

When the door closed, I caught my breath and dropped into my chair. My only thought was, "What have I been missing?"

Here I was twenty years old and still a virgin and nervous as anyone has ever been in the history of government made super freaks; and I had a date with a very pretty woman in about three hours.

To pass the time I cleaned the house (not that it needed it), went to my bathroom and took another shower in my custom bath (let's just say it's big and leave it at that), came out dried off with one of the beach towels I use for regular towels and wrapped it around my waist. Then, even though I didn't need to, I shaved for the first time in about a month. My facial hair is very fine and sparse.

Afterwards, looking through my closet I chose slacks and a polo shirt. Then, I set the dining room table for two. Looking at my watch, I realized I still had about an hour to go so I went to my computer in my study and looked around to see who was being naughty and nice (trust me it's much more naughty).

WNN (World Network News) headlines were as follows: O.P.E.C. drops price for a barrel of oil to all time low of $$7.85 ($$= New Dollars: $$1.00 = $2.50 Old dollars), in an interview President of OPEC Mr. Nudad Hijrir stated, "Since the United States perfected the use of hydrogen power, we have seen a marked decline in the exports of our products. Lowering our prices will generate much needed funds to assist in relief for the war torn areas of Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia." Officials for the U.S. state department have said that, "While the casualties are tragic, the U.S. will continue to abide by the Middle East Peace Accords and stay out of any involvement in that area."

Try as I might, there was nothing about super soldiers, but I did see where the Catholic Church was adding a new service where you could have your donation to the church deducted from your paycheck instead of worrying about making that difficult weekly tithe.

It was a little after 11pm when I heard the front door announcing a guest. Turning off the computer, I went to the door and opened it. I quickly realized that I was over dressed. Sharron stood there in jeans and a t-shirt (don't get me wrong I liked what I saw).