Belly of the Beast

I was excited. Really excited. I have been out of action for quite some time. And now I can get into some trouble. Lots of trouble. But this was a big score. I may be getting ahead of myself, but I was always one filled with ambition. It took me a long time to get here.

Half a year ago, I had taken the mind of a reporter. A blond, slim young English guy named Edward Jefferson. He was particularly hard to find, as I needed a reporter with little to no family for this score. I posed as optimistic and meek, hiding my true intentions. Belarus. Going under the guise of wanting to report on the current events of the very closed off metahuman state of Belarus. I was driving in a new Jeep, driving on the long roads leaving Poland. I was surrounded by a lot of vegetation in the very early mourning. It would be about a half hour before the sun would rise. I picked up the speed, going a little bit faster, my excitement getting the better of me. A few minutes later I see it. A very very large wall, with towers as columns. I slow down, to not seem threatening. I grip the steering wheel. Guards were at the gate. Unsurprising. I stop the car in front of it. I didn’t have to say anything. I knew I would be ordered to do something. Belarus was an absolute symbol of Order. I was entering the Belly of the Beast. And I was going to give it the shits.

Smoke blew in the sergeants face. The soldier looked about two inches tall, a sharp constrast from his usual authoritative demeanor. His skin was flushed, his eyes darting, and his pours in overdrive when it came to the area of sweat production. In front of him was Oliver Masters, Gamma. The young man had been taking over quite a lot of Alpha's responsibilities since his brother's memory incident, and that included keeping a portion of the military of Belarus in line. Yes, most of the time the army just ran itself, but sometimes they got a bit too incompetent for Lucius' taste.

"So, let me get this straight...... One guy, oh, and one Deagle, managed to circumvent the greatest border security in the world, and then use an old sewer system to avoid being killed by a bombing run? I don't know whether to be impressed with him, or disappointed in your leadership skills." Oliver said, taking another drag from his cigarette. The soldier stuttered, trying to find the words he needed to get out of this. Instead, he just choked on his own salvia. Fortunately, Oliver was a pretty lenient guy.

"Oh, Christ, just save it. Get back to work. If this happens again on your watch, you're gone." Oliver said, putting his cigarette out on his hand. He wasn't about to throw it on the ground. After all, only YOU can prevent forrest fires.

"Y-yes sir..... Thank you sir." The soldier said, offering a little salute before walking off, relieved he wasn't getting fired, or worse. Oliver just scoffed, rolling his eyes. He really hated this part of being the stand in Rise Head for Alpha.

_________________________


Hours would pass, Oliver going from officer to officer to straighten them out. There was nothing that invoked discipline like a high profile Rise official on the ground. It suddenly made everyone work harder. But, despite the perks of it, after he was done Gamma was quite exhausted. He couldn't imagine being out here full time. His enhanced mind couldn't take the lack of activity. Basically, the bordom was real........

Until it wasn't, of course. They didn't get as many cars as you would think rolling up to their border. When someone was approved for citizenship they usually just got a grant to teleport to the country as needed, so a vehicle was a bit out of the ordinary. That said, they were expecting someone, or at least, Lucius was.

"Sir, we have a visitor. A Mr. Jefferson." A soldier said to Gamma, who groaned at the idea of dealing with this transport.

You see, Oliver was to accompany Mr. Jefferson on the fifty mile drive to where the interview with Lucius would be, which Gamma could only guess was some kind of secluded building. That meant riding with a complete stranger for almost an hour, which was just not what Oliver would call a good use of his time.

But, it was his duty, not just to Rise, but to his brother. This was Alpha's agreement, Alpha's way of doing things, and Oliver would respect that. The male got down off the tower, guards with advanced weaponry flanking him, and then approached the vehicle. He helped himself to the passenger seat, not even asking before opening the door.

"Mr. Jefferson, I'm your ride along. I'm sure we both understand why you need one, and what my job is if things get out of hand, so we can skip all that conversation during the ride. We'll...... Talk about the weather, maybe." Oliver said as the gate in front of them opened, and the shielding in that area went down. The vehicle was now free to pull through, and the two inside were free to talk as much as they wanted. It was going to be a long ride, after all.

Out of bordom, Oliver started tapping his foot, popping his knuckles, and a few other tricks to keep him occupied. When that didn't work, he pulled out a fidget spinner from his coat, and started to flick it.

"So, why are you here? It takes a certain type of crazy to want to interview Alba, and you don't strike me as insane." Oliver said, the spinner in his hand whirling at high speed. For anyone that hated them, the spinning was likely annoying.

The man that got in the car was young. Very young. Much much younger than I had intended for an officer of a powerful country to be. He sat in my jeep.
"So, why are you here? It takes a certain type of crazy to want to interview Alba, and you don't strike me as insane."
He had already begun with lighthearted conversation. At least I know he is sociable. “Well for a few reasons. I was fascinated at the idea of a primarily metahuman state of government, and was hoping to experience it for myself, as a regular human. I also have noticed that, because it is so closed off to the world, that there might be some rumors about it circumventing, that may be untrue. And, quite frankly, I feel very lucky to even be able to interview Prime Minister Alba. If I am correct, I don’t think a lot of people get the opportunity to do such. I am also looking for more than an interview. My visit may be a bit permanent, as I am going to do an article in IntGeo, the parent owner of the Newspaper I work under, about living as a human under the metahuman state. I plan on interviewing a few people here and there, some politicians, and such. To say the least, I am excited.”

I continue to drive on, spewing bullshit. Well…half bullshit. I technically am working for a newspaper under IntGeo, who has the purpose of interviewing The Belorussian Prime Minister, and living as a “human” under The Metahuman state. But That wasn’t all I had up my many many sleeves. I a question of my own. “So, is there any security I should be going through? Any heads up?”  

Oliver spun his spinner, grey eyes half glazing over as he listened to this man. Booorrinng. If this man's life was a food, it would be stale saltine crackers. Sure, he was interviewing Alba, which was probably interesting for anyone, but Oliver still couldn't shake the idea this guy was just like all the others. A worker bee, destined for retirement in Flordia after forty years of boring people to death. This ride was going to suck.

"Awwweessome. That's so cool." Oliver said, the man's words barely registering. That is, until he asked about security. Why he cared Oliver couldn't guess, but either way, Gamma scoffed at the expectation of no security at all.

"You're in North Korea on steroids. This vehicle is being tracked every inch it travels. Of course there is security, I'm part of it, unless you thought i was just coming with you for the sights." Gamma said, lighting up a cigarette and blowing the smoke into the car. He really didn't care if this man objected or not.

"Somebody shoot me....." Oliver said in Liki, a critically endangered language he had taken the time to learn. Sure, he could have thought it, but something about saying things nobody could understand always appealed to him.

"Just to let ya know, Lucius is a dick. Don't try any gotcha questions when you're on the air. He'll eat you alive." Gamma said. They had gone a couple miles so far, so the conversation still had time, but in all honesty Oliver just wanted it to end. A frozen pizza in the freezer back home was calling his name, along with his bed.

I smiled at his response, pretending to be oblivious to his obvious signs of boredom. I listened to his oversold compliment. "Oh! I'm glad you think so!" Asshole. It didn't really matter much. I contemplate attempting to assimilate him. It'd be so tempting to use his body and hurl it off a cliff. But no. Too risky. He was probably the source of the tracking. Even so, I need vessels. I need some vessels to proceed with my plan. Specifically two. And in order to get to the vessels, I need to get to civilization. So far, I am surrounded by nothing but forest. It hadn't been long before this journey started. In the mean time I'll have to endure driving in a Jeep with a man who has the attention span of a eight-year-old with ADHD. In the mean time I sit by myself, deep in thought, planning questions for the Lucius Alba. I'll just ask basic questions. The real fun begins afterwords, when I settle into this established order. I snap back to the guard. "So..got any guard stories? Anything bonkers happen while you are on the duty, protecting this good country of yours?" I say this with a large smile and an optimistic attitude.

Guard stories? Did this guy really think Oliver was a full time guard? In truth Gamma had been on the shielding site maybe three times, and had a vast amount of other responsibilities, mainly running the Canadian/Eastern Russian Rise division. With Alpha doing whatever it was Alpha did these days, it was up to him to step up and lead the family, and the idea that he was just a guard frankly insulted that. Not that this man was aware of his status, of course.

"Come on, bud. You think someone so young would be your ride along if they were just a normal kid? Hell, even if i had military training, sending a normal individual for this would make no difference in security whatsoever. Do a little inference and realize that isn't the case." Gamma said, now spinning his spinner so fast you could hear it straining. Eventually, it simply broke, causing Oliver to react in a rather dismayed fashion.

"Son of a bitch! Stupid China garbage....." Oliver said, tossing the toy into the back seat in a slight bit of irritation. After that, a good amount of silence ensued, the dullness of the drive taking over. Oliver was about to burst into a frenzy with how uneventful this trip was, and they weren't even a quarter there.

"What about you? Is there anything about you that isn't vanilla?" Oliver asked, sounding annoyed now. What kind of an assignment was this, anyway?

(Time skip my next post)

I sat in silence with the insufferable little shit, until I was directed on to a dirt road. I couldn't shake the strong feeling coming from it. I wasn’t unsettled or unnerved. But I certainly felt it. As I kept driving, the feeling got stronger, and the forest grew denser. I finally understood what the feeling was. It was a large wave of paranoia. Not paranoia from myself, but from ahead. I was told to stop the car, and was lead towards a hatch, revealing an underground bunker. The place looked old. Probably during the cold war when Belarus was under the Soviet Union. It was mostly empty, but it was certainly kept. It wasn’t in the greatest condition, but up-to-date. I walked down to a very very long corridor. Everywhere was made of black steel, being dimly lit.

When we finally reached the end, there was a door with metal that was a lot more chromatic then the surrounding. Probably made of even stronger material. The young man turned the very large latch, and opened it. I walked in with a smile on my face, as if I was going to a job interview. “Mr. Alba…?”