Chapter 1

“Things are looking alright for him now, though I’m surprised that he’s alive. He got hit hard.”

I awoke to the sound of voices speaking nearby and a constant beeping noise in the background. I was lying on something somewhat lumpy with something warm pulled over me. I assumed that I was on a bed and the warm thing was a blanket, but I still had no idea what the beeping noise was, or who the voices belonged to. It then occurred to me that I didn’t know where I was, or even who I was. The voices continued.

“Do you think it was…”

“Yes, it was project number 19, better known as Elite Combat Operative or ECO for short.”

“Project 19… It does ring a bell.”

“It should.”

Now I could distinguish the voices as belonging to a man and a woman. The beeping sound continued, and I gradually came to realize that it was a heart monitor. Strange.

“Isn’t he the most dangerous weapon ever created?” asked the woman.

“I’m afraid so,” replied the man.

“And now he’s escaped.”

“Yes.”

“And he’s the one who ran over this guy.” There was a pause, during which I assumed that the woman was gesturing towards me.

“I would assume that’s correct.”

“So what now?”

“We go after him.”

I opened my eyes briefly, then scrunched them shut again as the light threatened to blind me. After a few moments, I dared to open them again. I was in a large room lined with many beds. Some of these had the curtains drawn, but most of them were empty and neatly made. Standing near my bed was a man and a woman; the ones who were talking, I assumed. The woman had her dirty-blond hair pulled up into a ponytail, and her light blue eyes that reminded me of the sky on a summer’s day, twinkled. She was dressed casually in a pair of faded denim jeans and a loose purple cardigan, over which she had a white lab coat. The dark eyed, dark haired man had on a gray suit and shiny black shoes. He nodded in my direction.

“It looks like he’s awake,” he said to the woman, who turned towards me.

“Where am I?” I asked groggily. “And who are you?”

The woman looked at the man and he nodded. “You are currently located in the infirmary wing of a government research facility. You can call me Amanda and he’s Owen.” She jerked her head in the direction of the man in the suit. “And who are you? We were going to run a blood sample through the system but we thought we’d save sticking a needle into you and asking instead.”

“I-I don’t know,” I said, hesitating. “I can’t remember anything, but now that you mention it…” I thought for a moment. “The name Jake Morgan does come to mind.”

“Well Jake Morgan, we’d like to ask you a few questions,” said Owen. I winced as I rubbed a large bruise on my temple. “If you can remember.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember anything,” I said. “Just that name, and for all who knows, it might not even be mine.”

“It looks like he’s suffering from amnesia,” said Amanda, turning to Owen. “So questioning about ECO won’t do much good.”

“I heard you talking earlier,” I confessed. “And you were talking about this ECO thing. What sort of place is this, and what am I doing here in an infirmary? What am I doing here at all?” I groaned as I tried to sit up. “It feels like I’ve been hit by a train.”

Amanda pressed me back gently but firmly onto the pillow. “Here at this government facility, we develop different weapons that can be used during times of warfare, or when they’re needed. ECO is one of the projects we’ve been working on. Unfortunately, he–“

“Escaped,” finished Owen. “Project ECO is an elite form of soldier equipped with heightened senses, abilities, and intelligence that make him far more effective than even the best human soldier serving in the military. He is the most dangerous weapon ever to exist on the face of the Earth, and now he is on the loose. It is crucial that he is captured, or better, terminated, before he can kill too many people. That’s why you need to make an effort to remember.”

“Easy Owen,” said Amanda. “Don’t push him too hard. He’s had a rough time. As for what happened to you,” she said addressing me once more. “You weren’t hit by a train, but by a car.”

“Driven by the escaping ECO?” I guessed.

“Correct,” said Amanda. “Somehow he managed to breach all security and steal a car, which he ran you over and escaped with. We were hoping that you could provide us with some sort of information, a description of what he looked like, what car he was driving, anything to give us a clue of what to look for when searching for him.”

“I’m really very sorry, but I can’t help you with this,” I said. “I honestly don’t remember anything. Besides, couldn’t you just ask the people who… created him about what he looked like?”

“He killed them all,” said Owen bleakly. “There were fourteen scientists devoted to developing ECO, not including Laurence Hayman, the man in charge of the facility. Fourteen may not sound like much now, but the numbers will get progressively higher and higher the longer ECO is out there.”

“What about written documents?” I asked.

“He burned the lab,” said Amanda. “There’s basically nothing that can tell us about his existence left.”

I thought for a moment. “Security cameras?”

“Ah,” said Owen. “That’s the mysterious part. Right before ECO escaped, the power to the entire place went out, and that includes the electricity that powered the security systems and cameras, so we didn’t see a thing, though it leads to more intriguing questions, like, how did he get past the doors if the locks didn’t work? But that’s for another time. The thing that matters is, you’re probably the only person currently alive who knows what ECO looks like, even if you can’t remember.”

“Does that mean he’ll try to kill me?” I asked.

Owen pondered the question. “Probably not. I’m guessing that he figures you’re dead, so his identity is safe. And besides, even if he knows you’re alive, he won’t risk coming back here.”

“You still haven’t answered my question of what I’m doing here in the first place. Do I work here?”

“That’s what we think, but we can’t be sure until we check the system. But enough chatter. You need rest after all this excitement,” said Amanda, folding her arms. “If you need anything, press the red button over there.” She indicated the button. “A nurse should take care of things for you.”

“Wait!” I said as she turned to leave. “W-when will I see you again?” Oh great. I sounded like a total idiot.

Amanda looked thoughtful. “We’ll come to check on you tomorrow. Depending on your condition, we’ll see what we can manage for you. I suppose you’ll be wanting more information.”

I nodded. “That would be great.”

“Alright then,” she said. “Now get some sleep.” She pulled the curtains shut.

My head was a whirl of thoughts. My name is Jake Morgan. I work at a government facility dedicated to the creation of weapons. The deadliest weapon in the world is on the loose. I’ve lost my memory. What is my past? Will I ever find it out? Who am I? These thoughts kept going on and on in my head, until finally, I fell asleep.

– – –

“You’ve been recovering at a miraculous rate. I’m impressed Jake.”

“Your hospital facilities are great. What do you expect?” I said, running a hand through my medium long, sand-colored hair that came over my eyes.

“I don’t know what to expect any more. But one thing I didn’t expect was for ECO to escape. Anything’s possible I suppose,” said Amanda, strolling along beside me.

“So, what do I do here at this facility?” I asked.

“You do security rounds for the most part, but you’re a mercenary here, in other words. You were patrolling the parking garage when you got hit,” she replied. She checked her watch.

“Right… So if I’m an employee, shouldn’t my name be in some kind of database?”

“Well, we searched your name, but it didn’t come up with anything. However, the security guard that was patrolling the area at the time–an old guy named George–managed to tell us that there was another person there, a mercenary. That’s you. And people don’t usually record the mercenary employees because there’s so many, so that’s probably the case. I think you were also a new guy here, so you wouldn’t be in the system yet anyway.”

“Gee, what a way to end your first day at work.”

Amanda and I were taking a tour of the different sectors in the facility. So far, we had seen the range, where scientists in white lab coats were firing different guns at targets, the containment cells, where the genetic experiments were held, and the genetics lab, where the experiments were developed. We didn’t tour the lab for long, though, because we didn’t want to disturb the scientists. Now we were on our way to see the weapons room and the experiment testing lab.

We walked down a short flight of stairs and through a hallway, on one side of which was made entirely out of glass, supported occasionally by thin metal brackets extending from floor to ceiling. Through the glass, I could see a large courtyard, surrounded by glass windows just like the one I was looking through. Inside, there were people sitting on benches or walking to a different part of the research lab. The courtyard itself was very pretty, with plenty of plants and flowers, and metal chairs and tables to sit at. Amanda and I continued past the courtyard and came to a stop at a large, steel-plated door.

Amanda walked over to a panel in the wall and put her hand on it. It briefly glowed green as it scanned her hand, and then the doors opened. As we walked through, I noted that the doors were more than an inch thick. Then I turned my attention to my surroundings.

“Welcome to the weapons room,” she said simply as I gaped in awe.

The weapons room was huge, with every kind of weapon that you could imagine, ranging from grenades, to pistols and rifles, submachine guns, machine guns, shotguns, bombs, rocket launchers, and a whole bunch of other things that I didn’t even recognize.

“Pretty impressive, huh?” asked Amanda.

I nodded my head dumbly. “Wow,” I said.

“I know,” replied Amanda, walking over to a counter and picking up a pistol. “Sometimes, I think that this room alone could supply an entire army with firearms and still have some left over.”

“You mean a lot left over,” I said, wandering around the room. “Why do you have a weapons room, anyway? I mean, you develop genetic experiments, like ECO, not guns.”

“Well, the facility can be a dangerous place,” said Amanda. She set the pistol back down. “Experiments, as we’ve just seen, can escape. We have to be well armed in order to deal with crises like this. Besides, the experiments have to be trained in using firearms too.”

I walked over to a shelf, picked up an AK-47, and loaded it. Amanda noticed me doing it.

“Take that with you if you want,” she said. “You can try it out in the testing room.”

“Okay. Cool,” I said. I swung it over my shoulder, then pocketed extra magazines. “Let’s go.”

A few minutes later, we were walking again. The facility was really nice, being only about a month old and so being basically brand new. However, this time we didn’t have far to go. In less than five minutes, I found myself standing in a room with a team of scientists. There was a sheet of bulletproof glass, through which we could see down into a large room. At the current moment, it was set up with a series of cardboard targets and walls from which they could pop out from behind. In the center of the room stood a black-haired, brown-eyed man, around my age. In his hand, he had a .357 magnum revolver.

“That’s ECO’s prototype, Elite Combat Operative project 18,” explained Amanda. “We like to call him Tom Wilnes. He’s not as powerful as ECO, but he’s loyal to our side, and he’s the second most powerful weapon in the world. Oh, it’s about to start.”

I peered intently through the glass. To Tom, the targets would all be hidden from view, until they popped up at random times. The very air seemed to be holding its breath as it waited for the spectacle to begin. And then, it did, when Tom raised his gun with almost inhuman speed and started rapidly firing shots. He nailed each target in the head, never missing when one appeared, even if it had been behind him. Then suddenly, several hidden doors opened in the wall to reveal black, gleaming submachine guns. They started firing a hail of bullets at Tom. Nimbly, he dodged them all and ducked behind one of the walls. He fired several shots through the window of the wall and disabled the guns by hitting small red buttons under the doors. Then, with a few final shots, he hit the last of the targets and walked back to the center of the room. A loud buzzer went off and a door opened at the far side of the room. Tom went through it and handed his gun to the scientists waiting there. Then the doors closed and he was hidden from view.

“That’s amazing,” I said.

“It is impressive,” replied Amanda.

“I hate to think what ECO will be like if that’s his prototype.”

“So, do you want to try the room out?” asked Amanda. “Only if you’re feeling up to it, of course. You’ve been through a lot, and I don’t want to push you too hard.”

“No, it’s fine,” I replied. “I’d love to give it a try.”

“We’ll turn off the guns so that he doesn’t get hurt,” said a scientist, addressing Amanda. “Don’t get too down if you don’t hit all the targets,” he then added, turning towards me. “They’re specifically designed to be hard to hit.”

“I’ll be fine,” I answered. “I don’t expect to hit many of them anyway.”

The scientist nodded and turned to a computer, which he rapidly started typing on. Then Amanda took my arm and led me to the door that opened into the room.

“Enjoy,” she said, and then the doors closed shut.

The room was larger than I anticipated and altogether very impressive. I casually strolled to the center of the room where Tom had been, waved up at the glass window, loaded my AK-47, and waited. Then my senses took over. It was an unexpected change. Every nerve in my body was stretched taut, waiting, ready for anything. I made a complete transformation from easy-going Jake Morgan to an efficient and highly trained mercenary, skilled in the art of combat. I was aware of nothing but my surroundings, and at the same time, I was aware of everything. Seconds ticked by, and still nothing. There was the sound of my breathing. There was the beating of my heart. Otherwise, silence reigned. And then it happened. The soft, gentle whoosh of air being disturbed. It had finally begun. Whirling around, I fired at the first target, the crackle of my gun breaking the stillness. Another target, I sensed, had come up, and I automatically fired at it too. A bullet through the head, several in the chest, a few in the neck, I hit every single one with fatal blows. One by one, I cleared the targets, and when I ran out of ammo, I quickly replaced the magazine with the skill of an expert gunman. I blasted the final target to bits, and then there was silence. That was the last one. I jumped when the buzzer went off, and crouched in a defensive position, ready to annihilate any other hidden menace. But there was none, I reminded myself. It’s just a buzzer. Taking a deep breath to calm and steady myself, I walked shakily to the doorway. A man in a white lab coat came and collected the AK-47, then scurried off to put it back in its place. Amanda came to greet me.

“Jake, that was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen,” she said. “I think we’ve just found ECO’s match.”

“Thanks,” I said. “Though, I felt so weird in there, like I was a completely different person. I don’t know really how to describe it.”

“Interesting,” said Amanda. “Maybe we can check that out later. But for now, why don’t we go to my apartment to get ready for dinner?”

“Dinner sounds good,” I said. “Really good.”

“We’ll have to take a short drive to the housing sector of the facility. I hope you don’t mind,” she said as she started walking.

“Not at all,” I replied. I started walking too, then stopped. Something was wrong.

“Jake?”

The room was spinning, and I saw spots in front of my eyes. Odd.

“Jake,” Amanda repeated. “Are you feeling ok?”

I collapsed on the ground. My breath was coming out in gasps, and my head hurt with excruciating pain. I tried to say something, but I couldn’t. Amanda rushed to my side.

“Jake!” she cried. “Just hold on. I’ll get help.” She got up and yelled, “Someone get a medic!”

Then I blacked out with those words echoing in my head.

– – –

“Mom, I wanna go out and play,” five-year-old Jake Morgan said to his mom. He was staring across a drainage ditch at some kids in a parking lot playing street hockey.

“Not now, ok honey?” said his mom as she took out the bags of groceries from the car. “Maybe when you’re older.”

Jake sulked. “But I wanna go play with them,” he said. “It’s boring in the house.”

“Well, you have the TV, your toys, and the computer. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of things to do with them,” replied his mom. She bent down and kissed him on the forehead. “How about this. I’ll let you watch a bit more, but then you have to promise you’ll go in when I finish unloading the groceries, ok?”

“Fine,” said Jake. He set himself in a position near the ditch and watched. A boy in a blue T-shirt had the ball and was trying to get it to the goal, which was just an orange cone on the other side of the ditch from Jake. The other team was trying to get the ball back so they could score a goal by hitting the other orange cone, set up across the parking lot. So far, they weren’t succeeding. Then, a red-haired girl confronted him and tried to get the ball.

“Here, Steve! Pass!” shouted the boy in the blue.

Steve, another boy in a green hoodie and black shorts, got the ball when it was passed to him and shot it at the goal. But instead of hitting the cone, it was deflected by the goalie, a brown-haired girl in a black baseball cap and gloves. She launched the ball at a team member, and he then he got it past several of his opponents. Then the boy in the blue T-shirt stepped in front of him and intercepted it again. He got it close to the goal and shot it hard. It missed the cone again, this time also narrowly missing one of the people watching the game, a girl in a red sweatshirt and jeans.

“Hey, watch where you’re shooting that thing!” shouted the red-haired girl. “You nearly hit Sadie!”

“Sorry,” said the boy.

“It’s ok,” said Sadie. “You shouldn’t push him too hard, Kib. And besides, someone should go get the ball.”

“I will,” said the goalie. She climbed down into the ditch and up the other side. Meanwhile, the shot had been so powerful that it had launched the ball across the ditch. It had rolled for a short distance, then stopped at Jake’s feet. He picked it up, and handed it to the girl, who had emerged from the ditch.

“Here you go,” he said.

The girl smiled. “Thanks.” Then she proceeded to climb back into the ditch.

“Jake! Time to go in!” came the voice of his mom from inside.

“Coming!” said Jake, and he got one last glance at the kids before the door closed and blocked his view.

– – –

My eyes flickered open. At first, I was disoriented, but gradually, everything came into focus. I was lying on the ground, presumably in the same spot where I had fallen, and there were people hovering over me.

“His life signs appear normal,” said a voice. “And it looks like he’s coming round.”

“Jake, how do you feel?” asked Amanda.

“Awful,” I replied, sitting up. “What happened?”

“You passed out,” said Amanda.

“My head,” I groaned. “I–I think I had a flashback. My memory… It’s starting to come back…”

“What do you remember?” she asked, suddenly interested.

“Just a childhood memory,” I replied. “My mother. My house. Nothing about ECO.”

“Oh,” she said and relaxed her grip on my arm. “Well, the medic checked you out, and you appear to be fine. Can you walk?”

“I think so,” I said. I stood up and used the wall for support.

“You should take it easy,” said Amanda.

“Yeah,” I murmured.

The medic gave me some pills and a bottle of water, which I thankfully took. After that, I started to feel a little better, and I could walk normally again. Amanda and I went down a series of corridors and passages, passing Tom on the way. He was drinking from the water bottle he was holding, and leaning casually against the wall.

“Hey,” he said to me as I passed by. “You’re pretty good for a merc. It comes useful around here when you’re handy with a gun.”

“Thanks,” I replied. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Amanda’s car was a silver Porsche with black leather upholstery and all the possible features you could imagine a luxury car to have. It was a two-seater convertible, and it was really nice. So was Amanda’s apartment. After a nine to ten minute drive, I found myself standing in front of a brick building, a big sign marked Sector C quarters put over the door. The building itself looked plain, but inside was exactly the opposite. The apartment was equipped with a kitchen, a living room, a marble bathroom, a master bedroom, and a guest bedroom. The living room had a flat-screen LCD TV, the kitchen had granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, and there was also a wooden balcony, opening up onto a private courtyard.

I, however, would not be staying there. Instead, I was given my own apartment on the next floor, which was equally as nice, even if it was only temporary. In it, I found my mercenary armor, along with some extra combat gear that I would need. I also found a change of clothes in the closet, right where Amanda told me it would be. I quickly stripped, showered, and changed, then met Amanda so we could go and have dinner with Owen, a man named General Edwin Bain, Laurence Hayman, and most importantly, Michael August.

We had another half an hour drive to August City, formerly known as New York City. Deep in the back of my mind, a memory stirred slightly, and I could vaguely remember seeing the skyscrapers and twinkling lights of the city before. Several minutes later, after a confusing task of navigating the streets, we pulled into a parking structure and walked to a fancy-looking restaurant called Jacques Roche. Owen was standing in front, still dressed in a suit, and looking at his watch. He glanced up as we approached.

“You’re just barely on time,” he said. “Do you have any idea what would happen if you were late?”

“Just calm down, Owen. I know you’re nervous about this meeting and all, but we’re not late, and that’s what matters,” replied Amanda.

“Well, then let’s not stand here chatting all night,” said Owen. “Come.”

Amanda followed him, her red evening gown swirling around her ankles. She looked very pretty, I realized. I all felt was uncomfortable in my suit. Hesitantly, I followed after the two.

“Oh, and one more thing,” said Owen turning to me before we entered. “You are here because Amanda felt it was appropriate to bring you along. While in there, you are only to speak when spoken to, and be mindful of your manners. Is that clear?”

“Yes,” I replied. I felt like some sort of kid being given a stern telling off.

General Bain was clearly a military man. He was somewhat short and squat and dressed in a crisp general’s uniform. An air of authority and discipline was all around him.

As well as him, there were other people sitting at our table too. I assumed they were other people of high authority from the facility, or even from the regime.

“Good to see you Owen,” said Bain, standing up and shaking Owen’s hand.

“Good to see you, Bain,” replied Owen.

“And Amanda too,” said Bain. “Good to see you again.”

I was completely ignored, much to my relief. We took our seats and everyone continued chatting among themselves. Looking around, I noticed that the restaurant was completely empty, aside from our party. It guessed that it had been reserved. Near the end of the table sat Laurence Hayman, a man with short blond hair and blue eyes, dressed in a black suit. He was casually talking with some of the other people, including Owen. Amanda was generally quiet, but sometimes conversed with the lady sitting across from her. I stayed completely quiet, like Owen had told me to.

“So, who are you?” said a woman with long, tawny hair. I realized that she was talking to me.

“I’m Jake Morgan,” I replied. “A mercenary.”

“Ah, an interesting job, I hear. It looks like you and your comrades will have your hands full with ECO.”

“Yes, we will,” I replied. “We will.”

She smiled. “You look like you’re the quiet type,” she said. “My name is Katelynn. It’s nice to meet you.”

I blushed slightly. “Nice to meet you too.”

Katelynn resumed chatting with some of her colleagues, and I amused myself by twiddling my thumbs, which wasn’t very exciting. I glanced down the table again, and noticed that a new person had joined us. His black hair was slicked back, and he too was dressed in a suit. But the thing that stuck out most about him were his eyes. They were grey, and as hard as granite. Piercing, and cold. They revealed a man that was powerful. Intelligent. Ruthless. And I had seen those eyes before. I just didn’t know where.

I was starting to feel a bit dizzy again. I put my hand to my head, and Amanda, who was sitting right next to me, noticed.

“You feeling alright?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I just need some fresh air. If you’ll please excuse me.”

I rose from the table and walked out the door. I noticed that two burly guards were standing there. I bet there was a ton of security all around.

The fresh air felt great. I stood there, letting the slight breeze cool my face, took a deep breath, turned around to go back, then changed my mind and started walking down the street to a McDonalds that I had seen. The man at the counter looked at me funny when I came up; I was still in a suit.

“Hi, and welcome to McDonalds. May I take your order?” he said.

“Just a regular burger and a small coke,” I replied.

“Ok, your total is 5.50.”

I handed him the money, and he gave me my burger and drink. I sat down at an empty booth and ate my meal, then sat back and relaxed, looking at the TV in the corner. ESPN was playing. Contentedly, I watched.

Note from the Author: That's it for now! I would just like to say that there is a slight chance Chapter 1 will be split into different chapters. I would also like to say that it may be a while before Chapter 2 comes out. But for now, please review this!! Feedback is greatly appreciated. Anyway, thanks for reading!

Jane