Beginnings

Friday, September 13, 1985 – Bethesda, Maryland – Home of Stephen and Mary Smith – 1:23am.

Our story begins here, in this quiet little neighborhood in the suburbs of Maryland, just outside of Washington D.C. At this time of night the streets are vacated and we have the area to ourselves. It’s a terrible night to be out, however, as the winds are whipping through the trees as the rain pounds down on the quaint and eerily similar houses. Passing house after house one would get bored quickly as there are no lights on anywhere, save for one. As we come upon the Smith residency we can see that not only are their lights on but there are signs of commotion.

Slipping in through the keyhole along with the wind we see that it is certainly not much ado about nothing. Coming into the family room we can see Mary Smith, 8months pregnant with her first child sitting in a recliner breathing heavily. Rushing into the room comes her husband, Stephen, doing the best he can to comfort his wife as he packs unexpectedly for a trip to the hospital. His wife isn’t supposed to be giving birth until around the 15th of September, but here she is having contractions and looking like she is going into labor.

Just as we begin to settle in and look around Stephen and Mary exit the house in a flash and jump into Stephen’s trusty, and beat up 1970 Monte Carlo. As they back out of the driveway and speed off we notice they are heading in the direction of Sibley Memorial Hospital, and we follow suit. Rushing through the streets we struggle to keep up and Stephen barrels down the road looking to get his wife to the hospital as soon as he can. In no time we watch as he pulls up to the front of the hospital and helps his wife out of the car and into the main waiting area.

Heading in after them we watch as they explain the situation to the desk clerk and are swept up to a private room on the maternity ward as fast as the orderly can get them there. It is here that we take our leave of the Smiths, but only for now as we will catch back up with them later, but there is nothing more for us here right now. There is someone else we must visit, someone who is very important to tonight’s events; someone who as we speak is being called by the desk clerk who checked the Smith’s in.

Rushing back through town on the wind we soon come to a much nicer, more affluent part of Bethesda. Once again all the houses are dark and quiet except for one, and that is where we want to be. For that is the home of doctor Josef Greene, Mary’s obstetrician and the most accomplished doctor at Sibley Memorial. As we arrive he is just finishing up explaining to his wife why he has to leave at such an early hour. Most doctors don’t make house calls anymore, or even make themselves available to their patients at odd our of the night, but doctor Greene is unique.

He has always been there for his patients no matter what they needed and when, and that is why as this early hour he is leaving his house and heading back to the hospital where he just worked a full shift. Following him in we find he is traveling at the same break neck pace that Stephen was and we realize that there is more to this birth than we realize. Upon arriving at the hospital the good doctor wastes no time in rushing up to the maternity ward where a staff of nurses has been awaiting his arrival. As we watch the doctor enter the room and greet the Smith’s we realize now is the time to sit back and watch the events of this fateful night unfold.

“When did the contractions start?” doctor Greene asked as he washed up in preparation of delivering the baby.

“Only about two hours ago doctor,” Stephen said with a worried tone in his voice, “my wife just shot up in bed and started her Lamaze breathing all of a sudden.”

“Nurse, how dilated is Mrs. Smith?” the doctor asked while he was getting everything ready.

“All the way doctor,” the head nurse responded, “she is ready to deliver this baby.”

“But how can that be if the contractions only started two hours ago,” the doctor said looking at the nurse, “not to mention the fact that this baby is one month premature, this should not be happening.”

“Well whether it is supposed to be happening or not it is,” Mary said through clenched teeth as another contraction hit her, “this baby is coming and it wants out now.”

“Then lets begin shall we,” doctor Greene says as he pulls his chair into position and lifts the sheet up.
“Oh my god doctor, the head is almost all the way out already,” one of the nurses gasped.

“This isn’t right, this just…” the doctor said as he watched the baby coming out without any effort on Mary’s part. “I don’t know what is going on but give me one good push Mary and we should be done.”

“That’s easier said then done doctor but unghhhhh…” Mary said through clenched teeth as she gave one all out push and pushed her baby out.

At that moment everyone in the delivery room stopped and stared, as the newborn child made nary a sound. Not a cry, a peep or even a squeak, not a single sound, even after the doctor spanked the child, there was nothing.

“Is, is he alive…” Stephen managed to say through the lump in his throat, “is our son alive?”

“I’m not sure,” doctor Greene responded, “it feels like he is breathing but I have never in my 25years of medicine not had a baby cry.”

Wrapping the baby in a towel handed to him by one of the nurses, the doctor could only stare at the child as one of the other nurses cut the umbilical cord. For everything he had done throughout his career and everything he had seen the doctor had never experienced anything like this.

“Please tell me my son is ok doctor,” Mary said through tears, “he just has to be.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know,” the doctor responded, his voice shaky, “we’re just going to have to watch over him for the next few days to make sure he is ok.”

Handing the newborn off to the head nurse the doctor added, “Get him into an incubator quick, and make sure he is monitored closely for the next few days.”

Getting up and taking off all his surgical garments the doctor looked over to the Smith’s and said as reassuringly as he could, “We deliver plenty of premature babies that make it, he is in the best hands he can be, we will make sure that everything is ok.”

Smiling as best he could the doctor left the room and left the Smith’s in the care of the nurses and the hospitals overnight shift. Let us make our leave now as this is a time for the Smith’s to be left alone, and let us return instead one month later. It was then that the Smith’s were finally able to take their son, Jacob David Smith, home. It had been an ordeal for the Smith’s to say the least as Jacob had been only 4pounds 6ounces at the time of his birth a full month premature.

Despite everything that had happened at the hospital, however, Jacob was not any worse for the wear after having spent a month in an incubator. There were no noticeable birth defects and according to doctor Green when the Smith’s left with their son, he was completely healthy. So it was that life continued on for the Smith’s and the newest addition to their family for the next 6 years. Like all of their friends who had had children before them Jacob was your typical little boy. It wasn’t until later that the Smith’s began to notice that while there were no apparent physical defects, there was something very different about their son.

Revelation

Starting first grade at the age of 6, Jake was like every other kid on their first day, he did not want to leave the house to ride the bus. It was only after a lot of coaxing that his mother finally got him on the bus and waved goodbye to her only son. Slowly as the year went on Jake became more and more comfortable with getting on the bus and with being in the first grade. So comfortable that he was leaps and bounds ahead of everyone in his class. So far ahead that in the second half of the year he was actually bumped up into the second grade.

It seemed that Jake had an inexplicable way of always knowing the answer to the questions that the teachers would ask. At first the administration thought he could be cheating somehow before they realized that he was only six and there was no reason to cheat in first grade. And so it went that Jake was always ahead of everyone in his class, after his first year was over Jake only went to second grade for a quarter of the year before he was bumped up to the third grade.

Things continued along like that until Jake started the 8th grade at the young age of only 11years old. In all the time between his fateful leap to second grade and his first day of eighth grade Jake had displayed some extraordinary talents. His level of comprehension for what he was studying was amazing, and for someone his age his work ethic was unheard of. Not to mention the strange things that always seemed to happen around the house when he was home.

Not only did he always seem to know what his parents were thinking, but also things were inexplicably attracted to him, almost as if he willed them to himself. This his parents decided early on was pure hogwash, there was no way that their son was willing things to himself with his mind. So they wrote it off as pure coincidence and thought nothing of sending their son off to the eighth grade a full two years ahead of normal. Getting on the bus with all the big kids for his first day Jake felt like he had back on his first day of school and couldn’t help but look back at his house until he couldn’t see it any longer.

Let us take this time as Jake is riding the bus to school to catch you up on some important things that have happened so far in his life. As noted strange things always seem to follow Jake not only in his house but in school as well. But everyone else, just as his parents had, passed everything off figuring it was just an illusion. For Jake, however, things were not as easy, for ever since he was bumped up into the third grade with kids older than himself he had been picked on incessantly.

Having worn glasses since the summer before he started fourth grade Jake had gotten used to being called four eyes. What he had never gotten used to was the physical abuse; getting shoved into lockers, kicked to the ground, given noogies, swirlies, Indian burns and flat out getting beat up after school. Yet somehow Jake’s bruises, cuts and scrapes never seemed to last that long so his parents never thought twice about what was happening. The fact that his glasses were broken more often than he could remember was merely passed off as a side affect to young boys rough housing on the playground.

Slowly getting off the bus and looking up at the school Jake knew that this year would be no different than the rest, and he was not wrong. During the first month of the year his glasses had been broken a total of five times and he had been beaten up seven times after school. Despite everything that happened, Jake never complained, never went to the principle and never told his parents what happened. He kept everything inside, showed no emotion and that only made the beatings worse. Nothing was worse than a kid who wouldn’t cry for his mama in the face of a knuckle sandwich from the class bully.

Gym class didn’t make things any easier on Jake, as the first thing they did for the year instead of something outside was dodge ball. Of course being the scrawniest kid in the class made Jake the perfect target for the opposing team, but that didn’t mean they could hit him. Whenever one of the balls would near Jake it would suddenly veer off course at the last second missing him by inches. The fact that he was never hit in dodge ball only served to make his beating after school that much worse, because if the bullies couldn’t hit him in gym they would just have to do it after school.

As October started Jake began to become more and more withdrawn from his family and what few friends he actually had. His parents never noticed this, however, as they were rarely ever home. His father worked as a contractor for the Pentagon and his mom as an editor for the Associated Press, and they both lived for their jobs. As the month wore on things got worse and worse as Jake was now getting beat up every day after school and drifting further and further into his own little world. It was only until the Wednesday before Halloween that people really started to notice just what was happening to Jake.

It had been a day like any other, Jake got on the bus that morning amid the taunts and jeers of everyone already on the bus. He got his requisite swirly before first period, then a gauntlet of noogies as he went from third to fourth period. At lunch a group of his classmates decided they could go without food and instead dumped the watery school pasta all over Jake’s head. That of course drew cheers from the entire lunch room and forced Jake to change into some of the ratty hand me downs that the nurse’s office kept on hand.

By the end of the day Jake had been harassed in any and every way possible, but that was only the beginning. Normally when he would leave a bully or two, sometimes three would corner him and give him a simple beating. A few punches to soften him up and knock him to the ground where they would kick him till they got bored and would leave him be. Today was different however, today half the eighth grade was waiting for him outside of the school and they quickly encircled Jake in a nice little fighting arena.

Today was a special day though; today was the day the eighth graders had decided to make sure that Jake cried uncle, to make sure that they sent him home crying. Kids could be cruel at that age and these kids took that to a whole new level. Grabbing Jake’s backpack and tossing it to the ground the kids began passing Jake around, beating him as they went. Some punched, some kicked, a few bit him and others threw rocks and anything else they could pick up. As this continued on one could only wonder where exactly the teachers were, but the eighth graders that were currently beating on Jake knew exactly where they were. They were on the other side of the school having a meeting, not a single one aware of what was happening outside.

And so it continued, with everyone getting his or her chance to beat on Jake and try to make him crack. Finally the biggest kid in the class, Nate Davidson, who had been held back a year, stepped up and took his shot and what had been deemed impossible. As much as we hate to leave you here at this brutal and heartless display of violence, leave we much for this is the turning point is this little story of ours.

“What’s the matter pipsqueak,” Nate said tauntingly as he circled Jake, “you wanna cry for your momma don’t ya.”

Standing there unwavering like he always did when they would beat on him Jake said nothing, he merely stared off into the distance.

“What the f*ck is wrong with you,” Nate said using a word he mort likely picked up from his father, “don’t you speak.”

Continuing to stare off into the distance Jake remained mute, whether he meant to or not he was truly getting on Nate’s nerves.

“Alright that’s it pipsqueak,” Nate growled, “I am gonna beat you into the ground.”

“Yeah, make him cry,” a random kid in the crowd yelled.

With that Nate grabbed Jake by the shoulders and kneed him in the balls as hard as he could. Most men of that or any age would have dropped to the ground after something like that but Jake did not move an inch, which only served to infuriate Nate even more.

“Oh man, look at this kid, a’int got no balls,” Nate said laughing, “bet you don’t have a dick either.”

That brought a roar of laughter from the crowd and still in spite of everything Jake remained still. Determined to get Jake to crack, Nate suddenly noticed something around Jake’s neck hidden mostly behind his shirt. It was a necklace, something his mother had given him before his first day of seventh grade, and Jake had worn it ever since.
“Oh would you look at this,” Nate said mockingly as he grabbed the necklace and ripped it off, “the little baby wears a necklace.”

Holding it up to the joy of the crowd Nate looked down and held it over Jake’s head just out of his reach, though he never expected what happened next.

“Give that back,” Jake said meekly.

“What?” Nate said startled, “what did you just say?”

“I said give that back,” Jake replied.

“Oh man, the little runt can talk,” Nate said laughing, “and what makes you think I’m going to give this back huh little man?”

“Because it belongs to me,” Jake said still looking down at the ground.

“This, no, this belongs to be now,” Nate said, “you’re not getting it back.”

“Give it back,” Jake said more forcefully as something pushed against Nate.

“NO,” Nate yelled at Jake as he buried his fist deep into Jake’s stomach.

“I SAID GIVE IT BACK!” Jake yelled as a burst of psychic energy shot from his body pushing Nate backwards.

“Why you little punk…” was all Nate was able to get out just before all hell broke loose.

“THAT’S MINE!” Jake yelled as he began crushing Nate’s chest with his mind while he flooded the bully’s mind with the illusion that he was being brutally beaten by a horde of orcs.

“THAT’S MINE AND I WANT IT BACK NOW!” Jake screamed as he continued to crush the life out of Nate.

At the sight of what was unfolding before them the kids that had congregated to beat on Jake dispersed as quickly as they had gathered.

Still unleashing every ounce of pent up rage inside of his body Jake started to sink as the ground beneath him started to cave in.

“NO MORE!” Jake yelled with what little energy he had left, “NO MORE!”

With that final scream everything stopped suddenly, the weight of the world was no longer pushing on Nate’s chest and the necklace was no long in his hand. A crater had been formed around the two boys, fifty feet wide and five feet deep. Crashing to his knees and clutching the necklace, which he had pulled somehow from Nate’s hand, Jake could only stare at the once mighty bully. Nate for all his bravado in front of the rest of the school was curled up in the fetal position sucking his thumb in a pool of his own waste.

That is how the teachers found them when they came rushing out of the building after having heard Jake scream for the last time. Immediately seeking help for Nate the teachers could only look at Jake and wonder exactly what had gone on between the two of them. Sadly they would not get any answers, for Jake would not say a word, the kids who had been there would deny they saw anything, and Nate would never speak another word as long as he lived.

Even after Jake’s parents arrived and took him home, Jake would not say a word. Over the next two weeks Jake locked himself in his own little world, not speaking to anyone, his parents, or the bevy of therapists they sent him to. Of course with his father’s connections the whole incident at the school had been smoother over somehow and it was resolved that Jake would never return to the school. At their wits end Jake’s parents finally decided after a month of silence and not getting anywhere to resort to the extreme.

There was a special program in the military for gifted children with intelligence like Jake’s and while they had held off sending him before, Jake’s parents knew that it was now their only option. Their son had somehow shattered every bone in Nate’s chest, caved his lungs in, and left him scarred mentally for life and he needed help. They thought that the strict discipline of the military program and its leader Colonel Pietr Lang would help their son. And so it was set up, using his connections at the Pentagon Stephen got his son into the gifted kids program and away from his old life. Once again sweeping their son’s problems away so they would not have to deal with them, Stephen and Mary were not prepared for the next set of events that would unfold.

A New Beginning?

Having been enrolled by his parents in the gifted children program at Andrews Air Force base, Jake was forced to pack his life away and leave everything he knew. Not that he would be leaving that much behind, for as we have found his parents didn’t pay much attention to him and the kids at school were less than friendly. Leaving with what his parents thought would be his new lease on life, Jake got everything packed and ready for his departure. On the day that he was to leave a military humvee pulled up to the house and went over everything with Stephen and Mary before taking Jake away.

Now normally this would not seem like a significant event, because the humvee was simply supposed to deliver Jake to the base at Andrews and leave. This is, however, one trip that we need to take and so we begin to follow the vehicle as is leaves the Smith’s neighborhood and heads nowhere near Andrews. Looking into the humvee we can see that true to form Jake is not even paying attention to what is going on around him and is oblivious to what the driver is doing.

As we follow the vehicle we begin to wonder exactly what the driver is doing as we realize the humvee is heading toward Parris Island. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the military bases spread across the United State, Parris Island is the toughest Marine training facility anywhere. Why the driver would take Jake, an 11year old child, to a facility such as this is beyond us, which is why we decide to sit back and just listen for a moment.

Driving onto the base and heading for the back of the property, the driver of the truck, a Corporal desperately hoping for a promotion, stops the vehicle in front of what looks like an abandoned building.

Getting out of the humvee and looking back at Jake he says, “Just stay here ok kid, I’ll be right back.”

Looking at Jake as he just sat there, not saying a word or responding in any way, the Corporal pauses for a moment wondering if he even heard him. Finally he figures Jake did hear him, and heads over to the building and pushes a button on an intercom by a rickety old door.

“Colonel, I have the kid,” the soldier says into the intercom.

Taking his finger off the intercom button the Corporal waits for a response but does not get one. Instead the door begins to open and the soldier heads back to the humvee, gets in and starts it back up. As the door finishes opening, he drives into the building and onto a lift that takes the humvee and its passengers down to the underground portion of the building. Getting out of the humvee again once the lift comes to a stop, the Corporal opens the passenger door and gets Jake and his luggage out of the vehicle.

As he is doing this a very large and imposing figure emerges from a door on the far side of the room and begins walking towards the two. As he nears the pair it can been seen from his uniform that he is a Colonel, most likely the one the Corporal had called for on the intercom, and that his last name was Lang. Striding up to the pair the Colonel pays no heed to the Corporal who has snapped to attention at the sight of him, but rather focuses on the boy standing before him.

“At ease Corporal,” Lang says almost as an afterthought as he kept his focus on the boy, “so you are Jake Smith.”

Standing with his head down, Jake neither responds to the Colonel nor does he move an inch from where he stands.

“Uh, sir I…” the Corporal starts meekly.

“Are you still here,” Lang snarled looking over at the Corporal, “the package has been delivered, you can go now.”

“Y…y..yes sir,” the Corporal stammered, “right away sir.”

Rushing back to the humvee and jumping back in, the Corporal couldn’t even bring himself to look back as the lift started up and began its slow ascent. He had never had the guts to stand up to Colonel Lang, but then again there were few men who actually did.

As observers this will be another one of those moments that will make the hair on the back of our necks stand up, but it is nevertheless another moment we must watch.

“I was talking to you boy,” Lang snarled looking back down at Jake as the lift reached the top, “you will look at me when I am talking to you.”

Still remaining motionless, Jake neither looked up nor responded to the Colonel’s remark, he was, like he had been for the last month, off in his own world.

“I said YOU WILL LOOK AT ME WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU,” Lang yelled as he brought the back of his hand down across Jake’s face knocking the boy to the ground.

“Now you listen to me,” Lang said as he picked Jake up off the ground by his throat and stared straight into the boy’s eyes, “you are mine now. I will break you, and then I will rebuild you.”

Tossing Jake back to the ground, Lang spun around and headed out through the door he had come in through. At the same time two soldiers, one male one female, came out of a door in the wall to Jake’s left and walked right over to him. The male soldier, a Lance Corporal, bent over, picked up Jake’s luggage and headed back towards the door he had just come through. The female, a Master Sergeant by the name of Samantha Dawson, went over to Jake and helped him up off the ground.

“It would be best if you listened to the Colonel and did what he said,” Samantha said looking down at Jake, “it will make things a lot easier if you do.”

Still lost in his own world Jake looked as though he hadn’t even heard what Samantha had said.

“Well anyway, my name is Samantha, but you can call me Sam,” she said taking Jake by the hand and leading him through the door.

After walking a little ways down the hall they came upon a door with Jake’s name on the outside.

“Here is your room,” Sam said pushing a button on the wall that opened the door, “my room is right across the hall if you need anything.”

Leading Jake through the mini apartment and showing him where everything was Sam added, “Reverie is at 0530 sharp and the Colonel required you be showered, dressed and have your bed made by 0600. Your schedule and a map of the facility are next to your bed.”

Heading back to the door and starting to leave Sam stopped, looked back and added, “Like I said, I’m right across the hall if you need anything. And please be careful.”

Sliding into the room just as the door is closing we see that Jake has not moved an inch since Sam left the room. He is merely standing there taking everything in, the shower, the bedroom, it all seemed so sanitary. Remaining in the room we watch as Jake eventually begins to unpack and get settled in before going to sleep for the night. And as reverie is being played the next morning promptly at 0530 so beings Jake’s training. From his schedule we can see that he will not have a moment of free time; there are his normal classes, his discipline lessons, and his martial arts training.

And so the pattern continues, every day for a year, the same exact thing. And we watch, and we see Jake make his way through eighth and ninth grade while excelling at his martial arts training. His discipline training, however, has not provided the results Colonel Lang has been looking for as Jake has still not spoken in all that time. It is on one fateful day that Lang decides to check in on his pupil’s progress, and on that day that we must leave you to let the events unfold as they will.

Like every day before this since he had come to the secret facility at Parris Island, Jake awoke at 0530, was out of his room by 0600 and started his day’s work right at 0700. Starting on tenth grade lessons, things went as they always had, the teacher would give the day’s lesson and Jake would sit motionless taking everything in. He received his discipline lesson promptly following that, and as he always did, much to the dismay of his instructor, Jake did or said nothing.

After that it was off to his martial arts lesson, which was the only time of the day were Jake showed any remote signs of emotion. Today was different though as on this day when Jake walked into the training room it was Colonel Lang that he saw waiting for him rather than his sensei.

“I hear you’ve progressed in your martial arts training nicely but still refuse to talk,” Lang said as he looked down at Jake.

Ignoring the Colonel completely, Jake started into his stretching routine as he always had before today.

“Humph, as stubborn as ever,” the Colonel said, “such a shame. Little boys who don’t respect their elders need to be taught a lesson.”

Finishing his stretching and turning from the wall, Jake looked directly up and Colonel Lang for the first time.

“Well, well, you’ve learned to look at me when I am talking to you, that’s a welcome change” Lang said as he moved towards Jake, “but like I said the day you arrived, I will break you. Now fight.”

Lang rushed at Jake and threw a haymaker of a right at Jake’s head, which the young boy easily ducked under. Charging forward with his shoulder Jake aimed himself at Lang’s stomach only to be knocked to the ground by a double handed smash from the Colonel.

“Is that it, is that all the progress you’ve made,” Lang growled, “I was told you made progress, but it looks to me like you are the same scared little boy that you were when you got here. I told you to fight.”

Charging back at Jake, Lang pulled his left hand back, telegraphing his attack on purpose, and caught Jake off guard by hitting him in the stomach with his right hand. Bringing his knee up towards Jake’s bowed head, Lang was surprised when the boy stopped his knee with both hands and punched him in the gut. Smiling at the boys attack, Lang attacked with a side kick that missed, then spun around and caught Jake in the mouth with his left foot. Coming back around Lang hit Jake in the jaw with a right uppercut that sent the boy flying up against the back wall.

“Are you done already,” Lang snarled as Jake slid down the wall, “no wonder your parents abandoned you and everyone at school teased you. You are a pathetic excuse for a human being, you shouldn’t even be allowed to breath. But I will make you something, oh I will make you something great. Now get up off your ass and fight.”

Angered by the Colonel’s remarks just as he had been that day after school, Jake pulled himself up and rushed at Lang. Rushing in Jake tried a right hook, which Lang was easily able to catch and hold on to. Sliding his fingers in between Jake’s the Colonel wrenched the boy’s fingers back snapping them all in one sickening motion. Continuing to squeeze Jake’s broken hand Lang pulled his arm and in one quick motion dislocated Jake’s shoulder. Lang then held the Jake’s limp arm out straight and broke his elbow with one clean strike.

“Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” Jake screamed out in pain as his arm snapped clean in two at the wrist.

“So it speaks,” Lang said with an air of malice in his tone, “good, we’ve finally gotten over that hurdle. Now get yourself to the infirmary and have that arm taken care of. Tomorrow we begin to see just what you can do with that mind of yours.”

Heading out of the room Lang left Jake to walk to the infirmary, albeit very slowly, to have his arm taken care of. Pushing the button for the door to the infirmary with his good hand Jake walked through the door as soon as he could fit through. Coming into the room Jake could see Samantha in the back of the infirmary taking stock of the medical supplies.

“Help,” Jake choked out, “I need help.”

“What,” Samantha said turning around and catching sight of Jake’s mangled arm, “oh my god what happened to you?”

“Martial arts training,” Jake said blankly, “I lost to the Colonel in a fight.”

“Dear lord what did he do to you,” Samantha said as she helped Jake up onto of the beds, “just sit here and I will take care of you. I told you to be careful.”

“I was,” Jake said as he lied down and let Samantha put in an IV, “I can still use my other arm.”

Slipping under as the IV started to kick in, Jake was lost in his thoughts, thoughts of what had happened that day. All the while Samantha was fixing his battered arm, Jake could not get the words Lang had spoke out of his head. ‘No wonder your parents abandoned you…oh I will make you something great.’ Just as he had promised to do, Colonel Lang had broken Jake, physically and mentally, and now he had the boy ready to be molded.

We fast forward now to the next day, Samantha was successful in repairing the extensive amount of damage done to Jake’s arm and made it her first priority to check on him in the morning. But nothing could prepare her for what she saw when she walked into the infirmary, clipboard in hand.

“Oh my lord,” Samantha said dropping her clipboard as the door to the infirmary closed behind her, “what are you doing up?”

“I feel a lot better today,” Jake said calmly, “thanks for fixing up my arm, it’s as good as new.”

“But that’s not possible,” Samantha said still shocked at the sight of Jake up and moving around not to mention talking, “all I did was set the broken bones and put your shoulder back into place, you should still be injured.”

Picking up her clipboard, Samantha crossed the room and went straight for the X-Ray room.

“Come with me,” she said as she motioned to Jake, “I want to take some more X-rays of your arm.”

Doing as Samantha asked, Jake went into the X-ray room and let Samantha take some shots of his hand, elbow and shoulder. Looking at the X-rays once they were ready, Samantha saw that Jake had indeed been right, his arm was completely healed, but that was clinically impossible.

Heading over to the intercom Samantha switched it on and said, “Colonel Lang I hate to interrupt you, but you better come down to the infirmary, there’s something you need to see.”

Turning around and looking at Jake for a moment completely unsure of what she should say Samantha finally blurted out, “When did you start talking?”

“Yesterday,” Jake said, “why, should I not talk to you?”

“No no,” Samantha said, “not at all, its just that you hadn’t said a work since you got here.”

“Sorry,” Jake said apologetically.

“Oh no don’t be,” Samantha shot back quickly, “it’s just that I was worried that you might never talk again. To be honest I’m glad you are talking again.”

“Do you think the Colonel will be happy too?” Jake asked.

“Why yes, yes of course,” Samantha responded a little taken aback, “he’s been waiting for you to talk as well.”

“Good,” Jake said.

“Although, if there is anything you want to talk about that you don’t feel you can talk to the Colonel about, you can always come to me,” Samantha said in a protective tone, “I’ll always be here if you need me.”

“Thank you Samantha,” Jake said, “I mean Sam.”

Hearing Jake call her Sam brought a smile to her face, which was quickly erased as the door to the infirmary opened and Colonel Lang walked in the door.

“Well Sergeant Dawson,” Lang said angrily, “what was so important that I stop everything and come down here immediately.”

“Umm, these X-rays explain everything sir,” Sam said while cringing slightly, “if you’ll just take a look at them.”

Looking at the X-rays that Sam had put up Lang grew even angrier at the young Master Sergeant and growled, “So what, one is his arm before it was injured and one is after, what’s the big deal.”

“Oh no sir, the one is immediately after his arm was damaged,” Sam said timidly, “the other ones, where his arm is fine, were taken just this morning.”

“What are you saying Dawson,” Lang said shocked at what he just heard, “that this boy’s arm healed over night?”

“Well yes sir, it appears that way,” Sam said with a little more force this time, “it looks like he is able to heal his injuries.”

“Aren’t you just full of surprises,” Lang said looking over at Jake, “how long have you been able to do that?”

“I, I don’t know sir,” Jake said timidly looking up and the Colonel the way a boy looks at his father, “I guess I’ve always been able to do it. When I would get beat up at school my cuts and bruises would always heal up faster than most kids.”

“No wonder your parents never noticed what was going on,” Lang said almost showing his human side, “nice work Dawson, I’ll be giving you a good score on your next fit rep. Just don’t let it go to your head.”

“Thank you sir,” Sam said surprised that the Colonel was acting so nice, “and I wont let it go to my head sir.”

“Well boy, since you’re all healed, what do you say we get started for the day,” Lang said turning his attention from Sam back to Jake.

“Yes sir, right away sir,” Jake said looking up at the Colonel with respect.

With that the two left the infirmary and headed off to begin Jake’s new advanced training program. His healing powers fully realized, the Colonel began to push Jake harder than he ever had before. Over the next five years Jake blitzed his way through high school and college earning a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. Meanwhile his martial arts training intensified with every passing day, as Colonel Lang pushed Jake’s healing powers to their limits and beyond.

Jake and Samantha had plenty of time to talk over the years as he spent plenty of nights in the infirmary when he didn’t have the energy to heal himself. As the days went on Jake began to gain more and more respect for Colonel Lang as he started to look at him as a father figure despite the hell that he was being put through by the very same man. At the same time, Jake found himself growing closer and closer to Samantha, almost like they were brother and sister, while she grew more and more concerned over his well being.

With an eye and ear on everything that happened at his facility Colonel Lang new full well of the budding relationship between Jake and Samantha, and kept it to himself as a nice little insurance policy. In addition to everything else that was going on, Jake had ceased his discipline lessons and instead filled that time with learning to control his mental abilities. Through his training Jake found out that he had the ability to read minds and even communicate to people telepathically which is how he always knew the answer to the questions the teachers asked in school.

Also, Jake worked on strengthening and controlling his telekinetic abilities and his ability to create mental illusions in people’s minds which had flared up and scarred Nate Davidson for life. The days passed one by one, faster and faster, each the same as the last, until Jake’s seventeenth birthday, a normally mundane event, but not this one. For it was on his seventeenth birthday that the next big event in Jake’s life happened, so let us go then, and see where the story goes from here.

Project Zanza

Jake’s seventeenth birthday started off like any other day, he was up at 0500 and started his training promptly at 0700. As we watch his day unfold we see nothing noteworthy until we realize that Colonel Lang has been absent for the days events. Normally eager to see how his ‘prodigy’ is progressing, Lang is nowhere to be found, even during Jake’s mental training. While it took us some time to take in the lack of Lang’s presence it was not something that escaped Jake.

“I wonder where the Colonel is?” Jake asked as he sat down next to Samantha, his dinner in hand.

“I’m not sure,” Sam said looking up from her food, “he usually doesn’t tell me where he is going.”

“I should just try and locate him using my telepathy,” Jake said as he took a bite of his food, “that way I can find out where he is and why he wasn’t here today.”

“But that would be invading the Colonel’s privacy Jake,” Sam said as she put her fork down and looked over at him, “some things are not said for a reason.”

“I guess you’re right Sam,” Jake said swallowing a mouthful of food, “but what good is my telepathy if I don’t use it?”

“I never said don’t use it,” Sam said, “what I meant was to only use it when you are given permission, or in extreme circumstances when you have to. You were given an incredible power, you must use it wisely.”

“Yeah, I never thought of it that way,” Jake said pausing over his food for a minute and looking over at Sam, “how did you get so smart anyway, huh Sam?”

“Whoever said she was smart,” came a reply from the back of the room.

Spinning in his chair Jake saw that much to his delight the Colonel had just walked through the door to the mess hall and was heading in his direction.

“Ummm, well she did have a point,” Jake said looking up at Lang.

“Oh really, and what point would that be,” Colonel Lang said looking down at Sam with a look of contempt.

“It was nothing,” Sam said looking down in to her food, “we weren’t talking about anything important.”

“But, Sam, you said,” Jake said looking from Sam to the Colonel.

“It’s alright Jake,” Lang said patting him on the shoulder, “I’m sure if Sam says it was nothing important than it must not have been.”

Sitting down next to Jake the Colonel added, “Besides, none of that matters now, we have other matters to discuss. Like your relocation for instance.”

“My relocation?” Jake said looking at Lang in surprise, “Where am I being relocated to?”

“To another base, one better equipped to help someone with your unique talents Jake,” Lang said in an almost sinister tone, “someplace where we can take your training to the next level and no one will interrupt our work.”

“Well I guess that sounds ok,” Jake said looking a little unsure, “but can Sam come along too?”

“Sure, why not,” Lang said, “we’ll bring her and the rest of the base staff. We leave first thing in the morning so be ready.”

As we watch Lang leave the room we see the first signs that despite having aged to seventeen, Jake has been hindered in his growth due to his lack of social interaction. His almost childlike attachment to Samantha is at the same time admirable and embarrassing. But what will this new base and new ‘level of training’ bring for Jake? The only way we can find out is to follow this merry band of misfits to the heart of nowhere in Siberia to their new home.

“Here we are,” Lang said as the trio entered the base, “home sweet home from now on.”

“Wow, this is impressive,” Jake said looking around in awe, “now I know why you said we could increase my training here, this place is awesome.”

“I’m glad you think so Jake,” Lang said putting his arm around him, “because it is here that we will truly put your powers to the test and see what you can really do.”

Taking everything in, Jake suddenly noticed something that was completely out of the ordinary for a military base. Off in the corner of the room was what appeared to be a tattooing set up.

“Colonel, what’s that in the corner there?” Jake asked.

“That dear Jake, that is your birthday present,” Lang replied smiling, “you can get any of those tattoos that you have been wanting for the last year, as long as you get one that I pick out.”

“Really?!?” Jake said perking up, “I can get any tattoos that I want?”

“That’s right,” Lang said squeezing the boy’s shoulder like a father would, “right after you get one that I decide upon.”

“Works for me,” Jake said almost jumping out of his skin, “c’mon Sam lets go.”

Grabbing Sam by the hand, Jake rushed over to the tattoo set up and began to pick from a large book of possible artwork that he could get done. After having picked everything that he wanted, Jake sat down in the chair and Lang brought in the tattoo artists he had hired. First off was the tattoo that Lang had insisted upon, a barcode on the back of Jake’s neck that read ‘Project Zanza’ underneath it.

As the ink for the tattoo hit his skin Jake suddenly felt different, he was woozy and the world seemed blurry to him. He wasn’t sure what was going on but he could almost swear that there had been something in the tattoo ink that had made him feel this way. The feeling was vaguely familiar also, as Jake seemed to remember feeling this was when he was recovering from his mangled arm.

Shaking off the feeling of suspicion as paranoia, Jake proceeded to get the tattoos that he had picked out. A Celtic knot on the back of his head, which he had started shaving only a few weeks before, to go with a Celtic band stretched along his lower back. In addition, he had the words ‘Cast in the name of God’ tattooed down his right arm and the words ‘Ye not guilty’ tattooed down his left. Finishing things off he had a large sword with a dragon wrapped around it tattooed onto his chest.

“Thank you so much Colonel,” Jake said as he stood up and watched his body heal around the tattoos.

“You’re welcome Jake, I know how much you’ve been wanting those,” Lang said putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “but its not over yet, I have another present for you.”

“Oh yeah,” Jake said almost giddy at the prospect of something else, “what do I get?”

“You get the next 5 days off to relax,” Lang said smiling, “so take some time to explore the base and start doing things for yourself, without Sam.”

Normally the words ‘without Sam’ would have gotten a reaction out of Jake as he loved spending time with her, but at this point in time he merely nodded his head and walked off to find his room. Following him we see the normally childlike teenager walk with a swagger that we haven’t seen in him before. Over the next five days we watch Jake grow up before our eyes, into a seventeen year old who is smarter and wiser than men 5 and even 10 years older than him. It is almost as if something had been hindering his psychological growth over the past six years, whether something organic in his own body, or something external.

His vacation over, Jake quickly gets back into his normal routine and eagerly jumps right into his new, more advanced training. No longer the wide-eyed boy who took in every word the Colonel said as if it were the most important thing he had heard, we watch Jake contribute to his training. He begins to help plan the workout sessions for both his martial arts and his mental abilities as well as begin to learn military strategies.

Before our eyes he has turned from a helpless boy who relied on others to a budding soldier, someone who could go out in the field and run an operation by himself. And that is exactly what Lang has been planning for him all along, but has just conveniently never told Jake. Watching as the days and weeks go by we see Jake become a formidable opponent in a hand to hand fight, even if he is out numbered and out gunned. We watch as he blends his fighting styles seamlessly with his telekinesis making him almost untouchable.

With Jake’s powers and military prowess growing everyday, Lang can see his plans getting ever closer to their inevitable conclusion. And it is two days after Jake’s eighteenth birthday that we find ourselves now watching as Lang moves his ‘Project Zanza’ to its next step. Again we must leave you now, here in the briefing room with Colonel Lang, for these events must be watched if this story is to properly unfold.

“The boy is ready, we’re moving ahead to the next phase,” Lang says into a communicator, “he will be the perfect soldier, I have no doubt of that.”

Turning off the communicator, Lang hears the door to the briefing room open and looks back to see Jake walk in ready for the day’s training.

“Well, well, I was just talking about you,” Lang said looking over at Jake, “ready for the day’s training?”

“Absolutely sir,” Jake said eagerly, “what are we going to do today?”

“It’s not we today Jake,” Lang said stone faced, “today it’s just you. You’re going out into the field for the first time.”

“I..I am,” Jake said shocked, “but my training?”

“Your training has all lead up to this moment,” Lang said as he approached Jake, “it’s time you stood on your own two feet like a man.”

“Do you think I’m ready sir?’ Jake asked with a slight hesitation in his voice.

“Son, I know you are ready,” Lang said placing his hand on Jake’s shoulder and smiling, “you are the best student I have ever taught and there is nothing more I can teach you now.”

“Thank you sir,” Jake said smiling back at the Colonel, “that means the world coming from you.”

“I know it does my boy,” Lang said, his smile turning to a devilish grin, “now, shall we discuss your mission?”

“Absolutely,” Jake said bouncing on his heels, “I’m ready.”

“Good,” Lang said leading Jake over to a display screen, “then here we go. This is a simple mission, sneak in, take out the designated targets, gather any information you can about their plans and get back to the extraction point. Your target will be this small village in the mountains of Afghanistan, which has been a safe haven for terrorists for some time now. Your mission will be to infiltrate the village using your mental abilities and take out all the terrorists you can find using whatever force necessary.”

“Are you saying you want me to kill them?” Jake asked with hesitation and excitement in his voice.

“If you have to, yes,” Lang said, “remember, these are terrorists, men who delight in the pain of others. Getting rid of them only makes the world a better place. Now, this point here is where we will drop you off and pick you up. The helicopter pilot will have a receptor on that will allow you to find him more easily with your telepathy. And remember, you will have no backup on this mission, it is up to you to get out alive, and should you not make it we will disavow any knowledge of your existence. Do you understand?”

“Sir, yes sir,” Jake replied as he saluted the Colonel, “when do I leave?”

“You leave in 30minutes,” Lang said looking over at Jake, “so you better go get ready. Oh, and one more thing, for this mission, your codename will be Sano.”

“Sano,” Jake said letting the letters roll off his tongue, “understood sir, I’ll see you out on the helipad in 30.”

As we again begin to watch, Jake heads back to his room and prepares for his first actual mission out in the field. Putting on his fatigues and stretching, Jake prepares himself mentally and physically for the task ahead. Heading out of his room we watch Jake maneuver across the base and out onto the helipad where he embarks on his first field mission. As Jake meditates on the trip to the northern Afghani border we watch the world pass by us, the terrain ever changing, from snowy plains to forests to barren deserts. Reaching our destination we disappear once more to let events take us where they will.

“When you’re ready to leave just let me know,” the pilot said as Jake left the helicopter, “I’m going to head out to refuel but then I’ll be close by.”

“Thanks,” Jake said as he saluted the pilot, ‘I’ll be seeing you.”

“I sure hope so kid,” the pilot thought as he pulled the helicopter back up and out of sight heading for a nearby refueling station.

“Well, here goes nothing,” Jake thought to himself as he began to two-mile trek to the remote mountain village.

Using his telekinesis to float over the rocky terrain, Jake made quick work of the two-mile hike and was soon in view of the village. Landing on an outcropping that over looked the village, Jake surveyed the territory with his eyes and his mind. Using his mental illusions to make the terrorists think he wasn’t there Jake made his way down into the village and started to look for information.

Heading from house to house, Jake grabbed everything he could find that he thought would be of use. Things like maps with routes marked down and locations all over the world circled. He picked up various notebooks filled with scouting information on potential targets all around the world. He even managed to find bank information, which would allow them to cut off the terrorist’s cash flow.

With every item he picked up, Jake had to create another illusion in the minds of the terrorists to make sure that his presence remained unknown. Retreating back to the outcropping he had originally landed on, Jake dropped the illusion that kept the terrorists from seeing him in the village. Looking over the village once more, Jake could only see military targets and no innocents in sight.

Now it was time to really go to work, one by one Jake began killing the terrorists from the inside out. The first one Jake saw he made his throat collapse choking him to death, the second Jake squeezed his heart till it exploded in his chest. One by one Jake picked off the terrorists, all in similar fashion, all without a shot being fired. In no time he had killed the entire village and had not been seen by anyone.
Things were not over yet, as Jake had failed to realize that the outcropping he was perched on was part of a path that led into and out of the village. And as he was preparing to leave, a group of terrorists who had been out when Jake arrived turned the corner to see the carnage. Somehow their brethren had been killed and the only person in the area was Jake. Reacting as anyone who saw their friend’s corpses strewn about the ground, the terrorists reached for their AK-47s and started firing.

Before he could even react to what was going on Jake felt the hot sting of a bullet passing through his right leg. Pushing himself off the ground with his telekinesis Jake grabbed all the guns from the terrorists and turned them on their previous owners. Feeling the hole in his leg begin to heal up, Jake took all the guns he was holding with his mind and dismantled them.

Focusing all his energy Jake took control of the terrorists who had snuck up on him and made them attack each other. Floating above them almost godlike, Jake watched as they pummeled each other with their hands, feet and rocks that he had them pick up off the ground. For a moment Jake derived a sick pleasure from watching the terrorists, the scourge of the free world, beating each other to death.

In a flash Jake saw an image of Sam in his head and heard the screams of pain coming from the terrorists and he was snapped back to reality. Realizing what he was doing, Jake quickly snapped the necks of all the remaining terrorists ending their lives painlessly. Staring for a moment and the mangled bodies of the terrorists that he had caused, Jake slowly started to make his way back to the rendezvous point.

Weaving back across the mountains, Jake reached the extraction point just as quickly as he had ended the lives of an enter village. Standing at the extraction point, Jake scanned the area for the pilot and quickly found him thanks to the device the Colonel had made him wear.

“Mission accomplished,” Jake transmitted telepathically, “come pick me up.”

“Roger that,” the pilot replied in his thoughts, “nice work kid.”

Waiting for the helicopter to arrive, Jake thought back to that moment when he was torturing the terrorists, and the feeling of unbridled hate and blood lust he felt at that moment. It was almost as if he had derived a certain pleasure from their pain, but he couldn’t have, it was the terrorists who got joy from others pain, not him. But no matter what he told himself Jake couldn’t shake the feeling that he had enjoyed killing them. As the helicopter arrived, Jake boarded it and meditated for the journey back as he had done on the way there.

Reaching the base, Jake was greeted by Colonel Lang who wore a huge smile upon his face.

“I heard the new, a successful mission,” Lang said clasping Jake on the shoulder, “I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you sir,” Jake said, “I was able to collect a large amount of intel that we should be able to use against the terrorists.”

“Excellent,” Lang said leading Jake back into the base and out of the cold, “I’m sure whatever you found will be of great value.”

Walking back into the briefing room, Jake showed Colonel Lang everything that he had acquired in the village.

“This is all incredible,” Lang said amazed at the volume of information Jake had been able to retrieve, “with this info we will be able to disrupt operations all around the world.”

“I’m glad you’ll be able to use it all,” Jake said faking a smile.

“I would say this was a successful first mission,” Lang said looking over at Jake and seeing the distant look on Jake’s face, “is there something wrong son?”

“What,” Jake said looking up as he realized he had been only half paying attention to the Colonel, “oh no sir, definitely a successful first mission. You were right, I was ready for it, and I used all the tricks you taught me, it went flawlessly.”

“Wonderful, that’s what I like to hear,” Lang said turning from Jake back to all the intel, “now why don’t you go take a shower and hit the sack, you’ve had an eventful day and I’m sure you would like the rest.”

“Yes sir, thank you sir,” Jake said bowing slightly and exiting the briefing room.

Heading back to his room, Jake stripped off his clothes and held up his pants revealing the bullet hole.

“Flawless, right, who the hell are you kidding,” Jake thought to himself, “not only did you neglect to inspect the area where you decided to make your attack from you let yourself get caught up and lose track of what was happening.”

Taking a shower and putting on his sleep pants and a marine corps t-shirt, Jake got into bed but was unable to fall asleep. He kept going over the moment in his head when he was torturing the terrorists and he couldn’t help but feel good about what he had done all over again. Needing someone to talk to Jake left his room and headed down the hall to Sam’s quarters.

“Sam,” Jake said knocking gently on the door, “you awake?”

“Yeah,” Sam said from inside the room, “c’mon in Jake.”

Opening the door and heading into Sam’s room, Jake could see that she was in bed and he had most likely woken her up despite her response.

“Oh, sorry, I woke you up didn’t I,” Jake said apologetically.

“It’s fine,” Sam said sitting up in bed, “I said you could talk to me whenever you needed to and that’s fine. So come over here and sit down.”

Walking over and sitting down next to Sam, Jake couldn’t find the words to start taking, but thankfully she could.

“What’s wrong kiddo?” she said putting her hand on his back.

“I think I did something bad today,” Jake said, “well two things.”

“Ok,” Sam said a hint of concern in her voice, “what two things?”

“Well, for starters I lied to the Colonel,” Jake said looking down at the floor.

“Well that’s not too bad Jake,” Sam said rubbing his back, “what did you lie to him about?”

“I told him my mission was flawless when it wasn’t,” Jake said, “I let some terrorists sneak up on me and I got myself shot.”

“Well it wasn’t anything serious,” Sam said, “I mean nothing your healing powers couldn’t handle easily right?”

“Oh no, it was just a shot to the leg that is all healed now,” Jake said, “its just the fact that I let it happen and then couldn’t tell the Colonel about it.”

“Well don’t beat yourself up over it, it was your first mission and we all make mistakes,” Sam said playing the role of concerned big sister perfectly, “besides, you made it out alive and got some good information from what I heard. So I would say that was nothing bad, what’s the second thing?”

“Well,” Jake said hesitating, “that’s a little more complicated.”

“Ok, then just start from the beginning,” Sam replied.

“Alright,” Jake said, “well, after the terrorists snuck up on me I disarmed them and proceeded to eliminate the threat. Only instead of killing them quickly I had them attack each other, and pretty badly.”

“Well that isn’t exactly a good thing but go on,” Sam said sounding concerned again.

“The problem was I was almost enjoying it,” Jake said almost ashamed of what he was saying, “it was like I enjoyed torturing them to death. Then all of a sudden I saw your face and could hear their screams and quickly snapped all their necks.”

“I, well…” Sam muttered.

“I know it’s weird Sam,” Jake said still looking at the floor, “does it make me a bad person.”

“I don’t think one incident can make someone a bad person,” Sam said struggling with the revelation Jake had just laid upon her, “I think you simply got lost in a moment of rage and didn’t realize what you were doing. It sounds like it’s really nothing more than something you need a little anger management for.”

“You really think so Sam?” Jake asked meekly, You really don’t think I’m a bad person?”

“No, I definitely do not think you are a bad person Jake,” Sam said reassuringly, “in fact I think you are a wonderful young man who is going to do great things with his life and I am proud to have watched you grow up all these years.”

“Thanks Sam,” Jake said looking her in the eyes, “I really appreciate that.”

“I mean it,” Sam said pulling Jake in for a hug, “now go get some sleep, you’ve had a long day.”

“I will,” Jake said pulling away from the hug, “and thanks again Sam, I’m glad you’re here, I can always count on you.”

Getting up from the bed and heading out of the room, Jake went back into his room and fell asleep quickly this time. Looking back in Sam’s room we see that she is now the one who can’t get to sleep after her conversation with Jake. Eventually she does fall asleep, though Jake’s words about enjoying the pain of others haunted her in her dreams that night.

Again we fast forward things as our story is beginning to reach its inevitable conclusion. But what that conclusion is we cannot discern at this point for things are far too unsettled. We watch as the days turn to weeks which turn to months, all the while Jake continues to work on his skills and go on solo missions. Over the next year things unfold in a routine pattern as they always have throughout Jake’s life, for this is not a story about a life, but more about a series of events that shaped a life.

And now we come to the penultimate event, the one day in Jake’s life that made him the man that he is today. What you are about to witness is the single most important event in Jake’s young life, and it is here that we must leave you till this story comes to an end.

The end?

As we watch the year go by we see Jake grow up to become what can only be described as the perfect killer. He had become ruthless, killing without hesitation and showing no signs of remorse. He follows his orders what ever they may be and goes where he has needed. Even after having watched him closely for this past year we cannot begin to tell you the number of people he has killed. We know this is not pleasant news but this is the reality of life, and here it is that we leave you, just before yet another mission for our tortured protagonist.

“You have another mission for me?” Jake asks as he walks into the briefing room.

“Never could put anything by you could I,” Colonel Lang says as he looks up at his recently turned 19year-old prodigy.

“Well you are pretty obvious,” Jake said smiling as he comes to a stop next to the Colonel, “so what’s the mission this time.”

“No sense wasting time,” Lang said looking at Jake and grinning, “as you know things have gotten pretty hairy in Chechnya, and we need you to get some intel on a group of rebels who by all accounts are poised and ready to make things worse.”

“So this would be the usual get in, get the info and get out job,” Jake said looking down at the map, “why all the fuss?”

“This isn’t the usual job,” Lang said looking at Jake with concern, “this isn’t the usual terrorist group. We believe they may have hostages, women and children that they wouldn’t hesitate to put into the line of fire.”

“So is it a rescue mission as well?” Jake asked getting serious.

“No, but you will have to watch out, because you wont know who is your enemy and who isn’t,” Lang said, “and we don’t want any innocents getting killed.”

“Understood,” Jake said, “so what are the specifics.”

“The village is here, in a remote location of the country,” Lang said pointing out important locations on the map, “we will drop you off here and wait for your call to get you out. This time the extraction point will be different; when you are ready to leave you will meet your transport here. These terrorists are smart, and they will be looking for you to follow protocol, so don’t.”

“Don’t follow protocol?” Jake asked surprised.

“That’s right,” Lang responded, “they are expecting you to do everything by the book, they have the dealing with terrorists manual memorized. So adlib and keep them on their toes. Understood?”

“Sir, yes sir,” Jake said snapping to attention and saluting.

“Good,” Lang said saluting, “get back to your room and get ready you leave in 1hour.”

“Yes sir,” Jake said spinning on his heels and leaving the room.

Getting back to his room, Jake changed into his usual winter outfit; a pair of wide legged camouflage cargo pants, long sleeve black t-shirt, standard issue army boots, a black trench coat, black leather fingerless gloves and a hat ala Indiana Jones. Dressed for action Jake sat on his bed Indian style and started to meditate. Before any mission he liked to make sure that his mind was focused on nothing but the task ahead so everything went flawlessly.

Finishing his meditation with 15mintues to go before he was due to leave, Jake got up off his bed and started his stretching routine. It was the same thing he had done before every mission before this, prepare his mind then prepare his body. Ready for his mission, Jake left his room and headed for the helipad to depart for Chechnya. On his to the helipad, Jake passed by Sam who stopped him for a minute.

“Jake,” Sam said stopping him, “be careful out there ok? I have a bad feeling about this mission.”

“Don’t worry about it Sam, I’ve got everything under control just like always,” Jake said smiling, “like the Colonel always says, I’m the best man for the job.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Sam said, “I don’t trust the Colonel as much as you do.”

“What are you talking about Sam,” Jake asked confused, “are you saying the Colonel would lie to me.”

“No, its not that,” Sam said nervously, “I just don’t always trust his motives or his reasons for these missions. What I’m saying is when you get there assess the situation for yourself.”

“I always do that Sam,” Jake said somewhat surprised at what Sam was saying, “now don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

Continuing to the helipad, Jake didn’t even look back at Sam who was watching him as long as she could with a look of deep concern on her face. Reaching the helipad a minute before he was slated to depart, Jake could see that Colonel Lang was not happy with him as it was the first time he was late.

“You’re late,” Lang snarled as he looked down at his watch.

“Sorry sir,” Jake said looking at the floor rather than the Colonel, “Sam just wanted to wish me good luck.”

“That’s no excuse, if she wants to wish you good luck she should know enough to do it at a time when it would not make you late,” Lang growled.

“I know sir, I’m sorry,” Jake said still looking at the floor, “I wont let it happen again.”

“You’re damn right you wont,” Lang said through gritted teeth, “if you weren’t the best man for the job I would ground you indefinitely.”

“Thank you for not doing so sir,” Jake said starting to look up.

“What is your relationship with the woman anyway?” Lang asked attempting to mask his anger.

“She, umm, she is like a sister to me,” Jake said shyly, “we’re close.”

“That’s good,” Lang said smirking, “it’s good to have someone like that, someone you can talk to and trust.”

“Yes sir, Sam really is great,” Jake said finally looking Lang in the eyes.

“Well I’m glad you have her,” Lang said smiling, “but we’ve wasted enough time here, get on the helicopter and Semper fi.”

“Semper fi sir,” Jake said saluting as he got on the helicopter.

Watching the helicopter lift off and disappear over the horizon, Lang headed back into the base. Walking through the hallways he made his way towards Samantha’s room with speed. Reaching her room, Lang knocked on the door and let himself in without waiting for a response.

“I want you away from Jake at all times,” Lang growled as he walked into the room.

“Excuse me,” Sam said shocked at her visitor, “I never said you could come into my room.”

“I don’t care about that,” Lang snarled walking towards Sam, “I just told you to stay away from Jake, do you understand me?”

“You can’t order me to stay away from him,” Sam said defiantly, “I don’t take those kinds of orders from you.”

“You insolent bitch,” Lang said backhanding Sam, “you wouldn’t be here without me, I made you what you are and I can break you just as easily. You will stay away from Jake or I will end your meaningless life.”

“You can’t make me stay away and I wont let you control me,” Sam yelled as she reeled from the slap.

“Oh I think I can make you stay away,” Lang said menacingly.

Lunging forward Lang caught Sam in the face with a hard right that sent her back into the wall and quickly follow that with a knee to the gut. Bringing his elbow up Lang slammed it down into the back of Sam’s head knocking her to the ground.

“Get up,” Lang growled, “get up you worthless excuse for a woman.”

Grabbing Sam by the shirt, Lang lifted her to her feet and proceeded to rip her shirt off.

“No, you can’t,” Sam whimpered through the pain.

“This is my base, I can do what I want,” Lang growled as he finished undressing Sam.

“No, please,” Sam said meekly.

“Yes,” Lang said in a low guttural tone.

Backhanding Sam again, Lang knocked her onto the bed and then took off his own clothes. Climbing on to the bed, Lang had his way with Samantha despite her screams and struggles.

“Clean yourself up,” Lang said looking down at Sam crying on the bed, “and when Jake returns you will stay away from him.”

Putting his clothes on and leaving the room, Lang left Sam in a heap on the bed, crying and covered with bruises. Meanwhile, Jake spent the trip to Chechnya looking out the window and thinking of what Sam had told him before he left.

“What could she have meant by that,” Jake thought to himself, “the Colonel has always had the best of intentions in choosing these missions and there parameters. She must be mistaken, the Colonel would never do anything like that.”

“Hey kid, where here,” the pilot yelled back to Jake.

“Oh, right,” Jake said snapping back to reality, “I’ll let you know when I’m ready to leave.”

Nodding at the pilot, Jake hopped out of the helicopter and started to make his way to the small village. Crossing the snow covered terrain, Jake could see the village in the distance. From what he could see, the village was surround by a wall that had guards at all four corners and one main gate that was guarded by four men. Floating up, Jake created an illusion in the minds of the guards he could see and went in for a closer look.

Floating 100 feet above the ground, Jake could see two guards in each of the towers in addition to the four on the ground. Looking into the village itself, Jake scanned for all the minds he could find and locked onto all of them. With the minds of everyone at the village seeing the tower guards still standing watch, Jake went to work.

For the guards in the tower in the right front, they had their hearts stopped as Jake crushed them with his mind. The tower behind that, the guards there had their necks snapped, which was the same fate that befell the guards in the tower to the left of that. Lastly the guards in the tower on the left front had their throats collapsed and died slowly of asphyxiation.

Tired of the usual distance killing, Jake floated over the top of the guards that were in front of the gate and decided to do things a little differently. Making the guards think they were still holding their guns, Jake disarmed them, and tossed the guns out into the snow with his telekinesis. Releasing his hold on himself, Jake dropped the 100feet to the ground and slammed into the ground, using his telekinesis to soften the drop.

Releasing the mental illusion on the guards, Jack brought himself up off his knee and grabbed the two closest guards and cracked their skulls together. The guards realizing that their guns had been taken away and unsure of where this stranger had come from they attacked merely out of confusion. The first guard to attack rushed at Jake and threw a hard left that Jake was able to dodge easily.

As he watched the guard’s fist go by his face, Jake grabbed it and wrenched the guard’s arm and slammed his palm into the elbow shattering it. Still holding onto the first guard’s arm, Jake spun back to his right and caught the guard rushing towards him in the chin with a back kick that sent him reeling. Turning back to the guard he was holding on to Jake pulled his arm as hard as he could and dislocating the guard’s shoulder.

Pulling the guard in, Jake grabbed his head and quickly snapped his neck. Spinning around, Jake ducked down under the next guard’s attack and swept his feet out from under him. Knocking the guard to the ground, Jake brought his leg back around and slammed it down into the guard’s chest breaking some of his ribs. Not allowing the guard the chance to recover, Jake jumped forward and snapped the guard’s neck leaving only the first two left.

Getting bored with the non-challenge the guards were presenting, Jake pulled the knives out from the bandolier of the second guard he killed and threw them into the two remaining guard’s throats. Standing up, Jake used his mind to pull the knives out of the guard’s throats and collect the other knives, 10 total, that the guards carried.

Opening the door to the village, Jake lifted the knives around himself and started them floating around him like a protective shield. Making his way through the village unseen, Jake was able to collect all the information he needed. Watching the way the villagers attacked Jake was quickly able to discern who was and who wasn’t a target. Standing in the middle of the village, Jake started sending the knives that circled his body out and used them to kill everyone that was a combatant.

His job done, Jake left the village and headed towards the new rendezvous point. Reaching the extraction point, Jake called for the helicopter to return and again allowed his mind to wander to what Sam had told him. Jake would have stood in that same spot for a long time had the helicopter not arrived and snapped him out of his daze. Riding back to the base, Jake still couldn’t get Sam’s words out of his mind, for some reason they resonated in his head more than he would normally allow.

Returning to the base, Jake turned over the information he gathered to the Corporal who was waiting for him and headed back to his room. Taking his clothes off and showering, Jake thought back to the look on Sam’s face. He hadn’t noticed it before, but for the first time Jake realized that she had looked truly concerned. Getting out of the shower and putting his comfy kung fu clothes on, Jake decided he would visit Sam and talk to her.

Reaching Sam’s room Jake knocked on the door and said, “Hey Sam, I’m back, and I was wondering if I could talk to you.”

“No, not right now,” Sam said from behind the door, “it’s not a good time.”

“But you said I could talk to you anytime,” Jake said leaning up against the door, “and I really need to talk to you.”

Getting up off her bed gingerly, Sam walked over to the door and opened it up, “Alright, c’mon in. But keep an eye out for the Colonel.”

Walking into the room and stepping into the light, Jake could see what the Colonel had done to Sam.

“What happened Sam,” Jake asked shocked at the beating she had taken.

“Oh, this, its nothing,” Sam said hesitantly, “the Colonel and I were just sparring and I realized I was more out of practice than I thought, But don’t worry about me, I’ll be right as rain in no time.”

“But Sam, you don’t know martial arts,” Jake said sitting down next to Sam, “you told me once you hated to fight.”
“I…I…” Sam stuttered tears welling up in her eyes.

“Sam, what’s wrong,” Jake asked as he put his hand on Sam’s knee.

“The Colonel…the Colonel…” Sam stuttered fighting back tears.

“The Colonel what,” Jake asked concerned about Sam, “what happened?”

“The colonel raped me,” Sam said starting to cry, “he came in here and told me I wasn’t supposed to talk to you any more and when I refused he beat me and raped me.”

“Oh c’mon Sam, you sparring with the Colonel is more believable than that,” Jake said.

“It’s true,” Sam said looking at Jake with tear filled eyes, “he was angry that I had stopped you and made you late.”

“What are you talking about, he was mad at me for being late,” Jake said in disbelief, “I was the one who stopped to talk to you when I didn’t have to.”

“I’m not lying Jake, please, you have to believe me,” Sam pleaded through tears.

“Well either way, I’m going to go to the Colonel to get this straightened out,” Jake said getting up and heading for the door.

“No, you can’t let the Colonel know that I told you this,” Sam said, but her words fell on deaf ears as Jake had already left the room.

Walking out of Sam’s room and down the hall, Jake didn’t have to go far to find the Colonel.

“Jake, good, I’ve been looking for you,” Lang said as he came upon Jake, “that intel you found was good alright, so good we need to send you back out.”

“But sir,” Jake stammered, “I just got back from a mission and I need to talk to you about something.”

“I know, and I hate to send you back out like this but we have to strike now,” Lang said, “and as for what you want to talk to me about I’m sure it can wait till you get back.”

“Well, I guess it can,” Jake said, “what’s the mission?”

“Change into your normal outfit and meet me in the map room,” Lang responded, “I’ll explain everything there.”

Heading back to his room, Jake quickly changed into his normal outfit; faded blue cargo shorts, an old black t-shirt, a faded black hoodie, skater shoes and Oakley sunglasses with red lenses. Walking back to the briefing room, Jake saw Colonel Lang and some of his subordinates pouring over the information Jake had collected.

“Good, you’re here,” Lang said looking up at Jake.

“What’s the mission sir,” Jake said looking at Lang with an odd expression on his face.

“From the intel you gathered we found a small terrorist camp just outside of Moscow that is ready to mobilize its forces,” Lang said, “and we need to stop them immediately before they can reach the capital.”

“More Chechen rebels?” Jake asked hesitantly.

“Absolutely,” Lang replied, “Chechen rebels ready to bring down the Russian government.”

“What’s my job?” Jake asked his voice fading.

“That’s easy,” Lang responded, “kill everyone in the camp and destroy everything you see.”

“They’re all combatants?” Jake mumbled almost inaudibly.

“Yes, and keep your chin up boy, you’re going to need to be focused on this mission,” Lang said looking at Jake with disgust.

“Sorry sir,” Jake said meekly, “just a little bit preoccupied I guess but I’ll be alright.”

“Well you better be,” Lang said angrily, “because this is the hardest and most important mission you’ve ever been on. So important that I will be remaining in contact with you telepathically the entire time.”

“You want constant updates from me?” Jake asked surprised by what the Colonel had said.

“No, but I want to be able to talk to you at a moments notice depending on what is happening,” Lang replied, “now stop asking questions and saddle up, its time to leave.”

“Yes sir,” Jake said saluting as he headed towards the door and out of the room.

Walking with the Colonel to the helipad, Jake didn’t say a word let alone look at the Colonel. Reaching the helipad, Jake merely nodded that he was ready and hopped onto the helicopter. On the ride over to the terrorist camp, Jake couldn’t help but let his mind wander to Sam. It was one of the few times in his life that his mind betrayed him and would not focus on the task at hand.

“If what Sam said is true, I have to do something about it,” Jake thought to himself, “I can’t let the Colonel do that to her. I just can’t. He won’t let us leave, but maybe I can sneak us out using my mind.”

Looking out of the helicopter, Jake could see the landing zone approaching and got ready to jump out.

Landing on the ground, Jake updated the Colonel on his status, “I’ve arrived at the landing zone sir. I’m going in.”

“Good,” Lang responded with his thoughts, “now get on with the mission.”

Scanning the village for people as always, Jake was able to locate everyone and create the illusion that he was not in the village. Floating above the houses he could see, Jake looked in on the village and was shocked at what he saw. Instead of armed combatants walking around, preparing an assault on Moscow, Jake instead saw families. Mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, none of them even remotely dangerous.

“Colonel,” Jake said telepathically, “these aren’t combatants, they’re families.”
“Don’t let the enemy fool you boy,” Lang responded, “they use women and children as suicide bombers. These people will go to any lengths to get their way and they must be stopped.”

“But sir, I can’t kill women and children,” Jake said, “they’re not even armed.”

“Didn’t you just hear what I said,” Lang said getting angrier by the second, “they use them a suicide bombers so of course they aren’t armed, now kill them.”

“I can’t,” Jake said, “Sam told me killing unarmed people was wrong.”

“What,” Lang thought his anger spilling over now, “I don’t care what she told you, I gave you an order soldier, NOW KILL THOSE PEOPLE!”

“No,” Jake replied forcefully, “I wont do it.”

“Fine,” Lang responded quickly, “if you wont do it then I will.”

“What?” Jake asked, but he didn’t have to wait for a reply.

As he watched, Jake saw explosions going off all over the town killing everyone and decimating what few buildings there were. Putting up a telekinetic shield so he wouldn’t get hurt, Jake was forced back by the magnitude of the combined blasts. Floating wide-eyed, Jake couldn’t believe what he had just seen, the entire village had been wired from before he had even gotten there.

“You, you killed them,” Jake stuttered in his mind, “and you had those explosives set before I even left.”

“Well look who finally opened his eyes,” Lang said sarcastically.

“Why?” Jake asked in shock, “why did you kill them?”

“Because I needed to see whether or not you were loyal to me,” Lang replied, “and by disobeying an order you proved that you are not loyal. And those who are not loyal need to be taught the consequences.”

“But the were innocent people, they did nothing wrong,” Jake said his anger rising, “and you killed them for no reason.”

“They were nobodies, no one will mourn their passing,” Lang said, “and I had a reason, I told you I wanted to see if you were loyal. Now stop being such a baby and return to base, we need to talk.”

“Yes we do,” Jake thought to himself, “but I will be doing the talking.”

Heading back to the chopper, Jake thought the entire ride back just how he would confront Colonel Lang. Reaching the base, Jake went straight for his room so he could change before he confronted Lang. When he opened the door to his room, however, nothing could have prepared Jake for what he saw. Hanging from the ceiling in his room was Sam’s corpse, still dripping blood, her face contorted in a look of shock, horror and pain.

She had been strung up, cut from neck to navel and left to bleed to death all over Jake’s room. Dropping to his knees, Jake couldn’t hold back the tears that welled up in his eyes.

“Oh Sam, Sam,” Jake said through the tears, “Sam I’m so sorry. You warned me about the Colonel and I waived you off. You told me what he had done to you and I didn’t believe you. I…I could have stopped this, I could have prevented this, if only I had listened to you. If only….oh Sam I’m so sorry.”

Sitting on the floor crying, Jake looked up as a note floated down from Sam’s body and onto the floor in front of Jake. Picking the note up, Jake could see that it had obviously been written in Sam’s blood.

“I told you there would be consequences to not following my orders,” Jake read allowed.

Sitting motionless on the floor, thoughts suddenly began flooding into Jake’s head. He remembered hearing Colonel Lang say he had finally opened his eyes and what that meant. For the first time he could see clearly how Lang had manipulated him over the years, turned him into some kind of killing machine. Looking from the note to Sam’s corpse hanging in his room, Jake realized everything that the Colonel had done to him over the years and snapped.

“LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG,” Jake yelled as every muscle in his body tensed up and his telekinesis flared out blowing out the wall behind him.

Standing up Jake looked out at the hole he had just made in the base and smiled a sick smile.

“You destroyed what I treasured most Lang,” Jake yelled out into the empty hallway, “then I’ll destroy your precious base.”

Remembering the layout of the base in his head, Jake pinpointed the munitions dumps and the armories.

Taking a deep breath and allowing his anger to fuel his power; Jake brought his fists up to his forehead, tensed his body up, brought his arms down and out to the side threw his head back and screamed as he let all his power out. In a flash, the munitions dumps and armories spread across the base went up in massive explosions. The force of the blasts ripped the base apart and sent shrapnel flying everywhere.

People all across the base were caught off guard by the explosions and were unable to get out of the base in time. Many were hit with pieces of shrapnel, others were close enough to be killed in the initial explosions, others still were caught in the resulting flames and burned to death. Hearing screams of pain and agony from all over the base only fueled Jake’s rage even more.

“See what you made me do Lang,” Jake yelled out to the collapsing base, “their blood is on your hands not mine. You brought this on them, you’re responsible.”

Flaring the last of his telekinetic energy out, Jake brought the massive base to the ground amid the diminishing screams of the last people to die. Collapsing from exhaustion, Jake fell asleep on the floor, for how long he did not know. Waking up, Jake realized instantly what he had done and knew that his life as he knew it was over. Getting up slowly, Jake walked back into his room where Sam’s body lay protected by his telekinesis.

Picking up Sam’s body, Jake walked away from the rubble that used to be the base and found a nice spot off in the forest. Digging up a grave with his mind, Jake picked up Sam’s body and carefully laid it in the grave. Covering her body up, Jake grabbed two decent sized sticks, some vines off the ground and fashioned a cross tombstone for Sam.

“I’m sorry I can’t do more Sam,” Jake said starting to cry again, “I know you deserve it, and sadly I may be the only one. I’m just so sorry Sam, I shouldn’t have let this happen. I could have done something, I should have listened to you.”

Unable to speak, Jake merely stood for a moment crying and looking down at Sam’s makeshift grave.

“I gotta go know,” Jake said sniffling, “I destroyed the base and people are gonna be wondering what happened. I think it would be best if I were just one of the victims of the blast. I’m gonna get outta here and start over, but don’t worry, like you always said, I’ll be right as rain in no time.”

Starting to cry again, Jake wiped the tears from his eyes, “I gotta go, I’ll never forget you Sam. I love you.”

Walking out of the forest and away from the base, Jake put the hood on his hoodie up and started off towards his new life. Floating up, Jake stopped and looked back at the base.

“Jake Smith is dead,” he said to himself looking down at the base, “from here on out, I am Sano.”

Floating away from the base and from his old life, Sano began what would become his new life. Over the next six months he wandered aimlessly, recovering from what he had seen and done on that fateful day. The memories haunting him as he traveled, Sano eventually ended up in the United States. Figuring Sam wouldn’t want him to feel guilty about her death forever, Sano started to get on with his life. Then, on a warm afternoon while wandering through San Francisco, Sano looked out on the bay and saw a building shaped like a giant T.

From here dear reader you know where the story goes, and we thank you for sticking with us as long as you have. It has been a bumpy ride to say the least, but that is what happens when your mind is at the same time your greatest strength and greatest weakness.