Bug hunter

Part 1: God of war
	

	He sat in the back of a smoky bar in the middle of some small village in a
South American jungle. It was a crude and disgusting establishment complete
with old and decrepit bar whores. His finger slowly rubbed at a water stain on
the sloppily varnished table top. His appointment was late, not unusual
really; but he found himself growing more impatient by the moment. He adjusted
his dirty and torn camouflage uniform idly and shifted again frowning at the
prostitute at the bar who tried in vain to gain his attention. She muttered
something under her breath in her native language and he snorted in disgust.
Then his appointment waltzed through the door.
	He was a strong looking bearded man with two armed guards standing firmly on
either side of him; both armed with M-16 rifles. All three of the men were
dressed in camouflage that was slightly different from the man waiting for
them. It was darker and closer to the jungle climate around them. He waltzed
over to the table without stopping and smiled as he sat.
	"You're late," growled the man who had waited patiently.
	"Come now Curtis, you know how it goes; for all I know you were sent to find
me," replied the man with a shrug. His guards kept their guns pointed towards
the other man. 
	"I don't work for anyone but me anymore," was the reply.
	"Ah, but I don't know that. You know how it is commander; my business is
dangerous and I can't afford to take chances," said the burly man as he leaned
back in his chair casually.
	"You have what I want?" asked Curtis with a strange smile.
	"It's going to cost quite a bit; but I can easily aquire it from my contacts
with the old Soviet Republic," said the man. "Honestly though Commander
Curtis; I never figured you for a deserter."
	"Stow it Hardaway. I don't need to explain things to the likes of you,"
growled the man. "Don't think I didn't try this with my command. They were a
bit uncooperative to say the least, I dealt with them rather messily," growled
the man casually.
	"I understand your whole Unit is now a rather hot commodity with the US
Government," said Hardaway with a smile. The two men at his side raised their
rifles to a firing position and smirked at the man.
	The man leaned forward into the light and frowned. "Your trying to double
cross me?"
	"Of course, you understand Curtis; It's business. I like the new look by the
way, the military must have really slackened up on the hairstyle," said
Hardaway with a smile. 
	"Fool, Curtis is dead," said the man with a smile. His hair was standing up
straight in a rather odd, and yet strangely familiar, style that rose about a
foot over his head.
	"Of course he is, won't it be a surprise when they find you delivered to them
alive and kicking?" laughed Hardaway roughly as he leaned forward with a
vicious look on his face.
	"Good bye Hardaway," said the man as he raised his hand and pointed his palm
towards Hardaway's face. A white bolt of energy formed and blasted the poor
man point blank; it all happened in a split second and the men gasped as they
tried to react. Their target seemed to vanish and they glanced around the bar
nervously as they backed towards the door. They never made it as the man
appeared between them and grabbed them by their shoulders. Both men dropped
their guns and screamed in pain as he squeezed and broke both of their
shoulders easily; with that he dropped them on the ground and turned towards
the door. He stopped and faced the prostitute at the bar and shot his hand
forward before any of the shocked patrons could react. He walked on with her
larynx in his hand and idly tossed it over his shoulder. She fell to the
ground dead after a few moments of gagging and the man smiled.
	"Nobody calls me gay," he snorted. He glanced at the remains of Hardaway's
head as it sat just beside the door and squat down beside it. "Curtis is dead
Hardaway, you can call me Vegita now," he said with an evil chuckle. With that
he waltzed out into the jungle with his tail wagging slowly behind him.

	A few moments later he met a tall figure in the shadows. "Did you get it?"
asked the man.
	"He tried to double cross me; we'll have to buy directly," answered Vegita.
	"Do we really need them?" asked the man as he kicked at the dirt in slight
frustration.
	"No, on our own any one of us could cause more destruction; but they'll
listen much harder if we have some," said Vegita.
	"I don't like it, seems like too much trouble for something like this. I
mean, why can't we just go in and destroy a city or something?" said the man
angrily.
	"Calm down Nappa. We'll get our chance; someone will resist. We might lose
the support of some of the others if we try to just attack. Sooner or later
we'll rule this place," said Vegita as the tall bald man walked out into the
light finally.
	"I don't trust some of them. The Saffron and Herb units are trustworthy, but
what about Kagato and Bison? Even Sagat and Ryoga might betray us; and the
rouge units, Ryu and Morrigan worry me too," growled Nappa.
	"Don't worry, soon we'll have the good Doctor in our possession; with the
Washu unit in place they can't betray us," said Vegita calmly.
	"All right, but I still won't be satisfied until we have him," said Nappa
reluctantly.
	"Come on, isn't all this power worth it?" asked Vegita in a joking tone.
	"Sure, but I miss my hair," answered Nappa as he followed Vegita and
disappeared into the foliage.

	It was two a.m. in the morning and twenty year old John Stockton was not a
happy person. His brown hair was messed up badly and his face was unshaven; it
was obvious he had just been awoken a short time ago. He had been drug out of
bed and forced to come by some oversized brutes in military uniforms. "Could
someone tell me why I'm here?" he asked lazily as they handed him a cup of
obviously watered down coffee.
	"Just follow me sir," said one of the soldiers. John reluctantly complied and
staggered after the man down a long hallway.
	They ended up in a dark room with various strategic planning boards and
computer consoles. Standing in the center of the room was a military officer
of some sort. John was too tired and cranky to care at the moment what his
rank was.
	"Look there's a reason I never joined the army; so I could sleep in every day
of my life if I wanted. Tell me why I've been kidnapped so I can say no and go
home," he muttered angrily.
	"It's good to see he picked such a stand up citizen," said the man
sarcastically.
	"Whatever, why am I here?" repeated John.
	"We have a little problem, it seems an old friend of yours has requested some
assistance; Are you familiar with the Cyntech system?" asked the man John had
now Identified as a Commander.
	"Maybe, why?" 
	"Do you know a Carl Markson?" asked the Commander.
	"Yea, we where best friends in high school," said John warily.
	"Excellent, then I suppose you played a part in the system after all," said
the man as he turned towards one of the screens.
	John was confused but didn't say so. He and Carl had been friends a long
time. He knew he was trying to design something called Cyntech since the
eighth grade. He had never explained what it was for though. He kept quiet
because he knew if Carl had lied to these men about his involvement it would
be important.
	"A few weeks ago several of our experimental soldiers escaped during the
testing phase of the Cyntech bug. They where wearing the units when it
happened. They've gone AWOL and have not been heard from since; that is until
last week. Two of them where reported in South America near Panama, they were
trying to buy nuclear warheads. Fortunately the deal went sour and the arms
dealers were killed. There are ten units missing now," said the man calmly.
Several photos of soldiers were shown on the screen, most of them male. 
	"Where is Curtis?" asked John as his condition seemed to improve almost
instantly. 
	"We'll take you down to him. I only pray to god that you'll find a way to
stop these things," said the Commander. 

	John was lead down a long corridor and given some anti static clothing. The
hallway was brightly lit and extremely white; at the end were a pair of
swinging doors that lead to a darkened lab where a single person sat. It was
obvious that many people had worked in the lab; most had long since gone home.
The man turned and smiled at John warmly as he was left alone with him.
	"Who the hell?" stammered John in confusion.
	"Hello John it's been a while hasn't it?" said Curtis as he stood from the
stool he had been sitting on and walked over to his old friend with his arm
extended.
	"Curtis?" stammered the thoroughly confused man. 
	"So what's it like seeing someone standing on his own two legs for the first
time?" asked Curtis dryly.
	"How?!!" stammered John in complete shock. He knew Curtis had been in a
wheelchair since he was three years old. There was no way he could be walking
around like he was.
	"This is what Cyntech was originally for, unfortunately I modified the
technology for a few extras and got the militaries attention. That's how this
whole mess started," said the man with a sigh.
	"This is what Cyntech was?" whispered John hoarsely as he grabbed his old
friend roughly by the arm.
	"Only after I developed it. It's a long story and I want you to hear it so
sit down," said Curtis as he slapped John on the back. He felt as if he had
been stung by a bee. 
	"Jeezus!" exclaimed the man as he almost jumped out of his seat.
	"I'm sorry; I had to do it; I just need someone I can trust on this one John,
that's why I did it," he said apologetically.
	"That's why I was woke up at one a.m.?" grumbled John as he rub at the
strange bump on his back.
	"No, that was for what I just did," said Curtis with a sigh.
	John screamed in pain as he heard a beep and felt something tear through his
flesh and bone starting from where John had slapped him. His heart was torn
apart and stopped completely sending him in to cardiac arrest. He writhed on
the floor as his neck was ripped apart on the inside and his air passageways
and lungs were completely shredded. Finally his hands were stiffened as if
someone had slammed a car door on them and shattered the bone completely.
	"I know it hurts but it'll stop in a few moments," said Curtis to the
unhearing John. The man had stopped moving and lay on the floor silently.
	 
	He awoke a few minutes later on a couch in the hallway he had passed through
on the way to the labs. Curtis was sitting beside him and frowning. The
Commander was with them and he did not look happy.
	"What's this all about, he wasn't actually one of the developers was he?"
growled the Commander.
	"I needed someone I could trust on this. I'm sorry but the unit can't be
retrieved without killing him and destroying it," said Curtis angrily.
	"Are you saying my men can't be trusted?!!" cried the Commander indignantly.
	"It was your men who stole the units Commander," replied Curtis calmly. "I
remind you that the units are my property and I am a civilian. It was your
blunder that caused this. Those units were untested and deemed unfit for use.
They were experimental and meant for the animal test. A human would have had a
different program slate." 
	The Commander turned and faced John angrily. "It seems your man is awake.
Congratulations son, you've been drafted... Private."
	"The units I installed were programmed to take orders from him before they
were implanted Commander. It was my call," said Curtis with an arrogant smirk.
	"We'll discuss this later Curtis," said the Commander. 
	"Programming is locked in after installation. It can't be changed by anyone;
it's a safety feature. That's why we have to stop Vegita," said Curtis
angrily.
	"What the hell is going on here?" said John after a moment.


	"Two years ago I created the Cyntech system as a way to walk. That's all it
was. Then I discovered something called a Callaway battery. It's a self
generating energy capacitor, it has the same power as a nuclear power plant
and is roughly the size of a dollar bill; the best part is it has a half life
of about ten thousand years. I incorporated it into the system and discovered
that it wasn't really a battery at all, but a material that creates a constant
and incredible energy field around it that can be manipulated by the mind of
the subject; I used the programming to limit it somewhat but it's still highly
volatile stuff," said Curtis as he sat next to John in the hallway. He sighed
and glanced at the Commander nervously. "I had ten units for animal testing,
and I got creative with the programming. They system was created to have a
direct link with the human brain and take commands directly from there. I
decided to see if I could implant personality traits with it as well during
the animal testing phase; I had several chimps ready when the military decided
to visit me."
	John frowned and said nothing as he listened, "I don't like the way this is
going." 
	"It worked like this, the unit is placed on your back near the base of the
spine. It works like a parasite in 'the puppet masters' Tendrils move through
your nervous system and all around your body. They take over central systems
and create a synthetic system of nerves. It's hard to describe, but on the end
of each tendril is a tiny piece of the metal we use in the Callaway batteries.
It acts as a relay to the main battery and creates the field," explained the
man as John sat uncomfortably on the bench.
	"That's dangerous isn't it? What if something goes wrong?" 
	"I might have become more paralyzed?" answered Curtis calmly.
	"Or dead," said John angrily. 
	"Well, I didn't die so I got a big government grant and put off the testing
for a while so I could develop extra features. You won't believe the amount of
stuff I've got in these things; the very best and latest in micro technology
was incorporated. I'm still unsure how they found out about the program to
begin with; probably the university told them. Unfortunately they jumped the
gun and used implants I had originally intended for the animals on test
soldiers," said Curtis as he hung his head in shame.
	"What happened?" said John as a slow comprehending look formed on his face. 
	"The soldiers slowly took on the personalities of the programming. It was
messy when they finally decided to leave. Allot of men died trying to stop
them," the poor man looked completely pale as he said this.
	"What did you do Curtis?" asked John angrily as he grabbed the man by his
coat and shook him. The commander stood and watched silently nearby.
	"I used the personalities of Dragon ball, Ranma, Darkstalkers, and
Streetfighter. It was never intended for use on humans! It was sort of a
private joke for when I had the monkeys!" said Curtis with a pathetic whine.
"They have all the powers of the real thing thanks to the Callaway energy
system."
	Something registered in John�s mind and he dropped Curtis on the floor. "What
did you do to me?" he asked lamely.
	"You've been implanted with the Goku System. It's the most advanced one I've
built. We're counting on you to stop them," said Curtis as he stood shakily.
	"I'll have your head for this when this is all over Curtis. I didn't
authorize any of this," growled the Commander half heartedly from his corner.
	"It won't matter in the end, the Saiyan units are programmed to destroy or
take over the planet. Most of the other units have at least one of the same
directives. They'll probably try to double cross each other so his job is less
difficult than it seems," said Curtis calmly.
	"Why?" asked John with a haunted look on his face, he was still in mild
shock. 
	"Because I know you well, you haven't changed since high school; I can see
that much now. I can trust you, your familiar with the powers, and you know
the stories and personalities behind all the units. It won't take over your
body, but it will give you little nuances and personality quirks behind the
character programmed into the unit," said Curtis calmly as he turned away from
his friend.
	"Am I dreaming?" wondered John out loud.
	"You'll wish you where, your opponents are trained military professionals
son. They'll be out for blood," said the Commander curtly. "I have to make a
report, I'll see you later," he said to Curtis as he turned away and left them
alone.
	"Why not just make another Unit?" asked John.
	"The material behind the Callaway batteries is difficult to synthesize; it'll
takes five years to create more. Besides they can't understand the programming
I had to use to work with the brain. Even their best minds and super computers
will take years to completely understand it," said Curtis proudly.
	"Yea, right. There goes that ego of yours," said John a little bitterly.
	"John listen carefully. They need me and they know it. If the units break
down I am the only man who can repair them; it will be that way for twenty
years at least. You have a distinct advantage as long as you have me around. I
wanted you because I know you can help protect me," said Curtis with a little
fear in his voice.
	"Curtis, I don't feel any different," said John honestly.
	"I know, you have to train the unit. That's our biggest disadvantage, they
have experience with the units that we don't," said his friend a little
reluctantly.
	"Train?" said John unhappily.
	"All the powers aren't available immediately, it's another safety feature.
You learn them one at a time and the more you use them the more powerful they
become," said Curtis with a small cough.
	"Oh I get it, this was supposed to be a part of your little monkey game
wasn't it?" said John smugly.
	"Yea," answered the man as he lead John down the hallway. They rounded a
corner and John stopped cold as he turned. He felt something brush up against
the wall behind him and turned to see a three foot long tail wagging slowly
behind him.
	"How close to the real thing are these units of yours?" asked John nervously.
	"You won't change if that's what you mean. We experimented with changing
forms in the Ranma unit, it was never completed. She's the only one who
actually changes."
	"She?" asked John cautiously.
	"Yes, they gave the unit to a woman. You'll meet her; she's one of the few
units who remained loyal. Her and the Musaki unit," said Curtis with a smile.
"The change is physically painful, rather like what you felt when if first
happened. So you can imagine how she feels about it. It's why I abandoned the
morphing process completely because of it."
	"Bummer." said John. He wasn't sure what to say at the moment. "I suppose
it's lucky she didn't turn into a lesbian with that unit."
	"How did you know she didn't?" asked Curtis.
	"Because that would have been the first thing out of your mouth if she did
you pervert," said John with a smirk.
	"Touch�," said Curtis with a small laugh. "I'm glad you have accepted this."
	"Accepted what? Every Otaku's dream?" snorted John playfully.
	"It could become a nightmare John, I'm sorry I had to involve you," said
Curtis solemnly. "Come in I'll introduce you to the others."
	"Why do you keep calling them by their 'Unit name'?" asked John.
	"That's the way they want it, I imagine you'll start calling yourself 'Son
Goku' in a few hours," said Curtis.
	"Hours?" said John in surprise.
	"Yes, it's that quick. You'll even start to look like him a bit," said Curtis
with a chuckle. "I was kind enough not to program the hair into that unit
though."
	"Gee...thanks." said John sarcastically.

	TBC...
	

C&C to Catbert25@aol.com