Trouble in Brooklyn Heights

It doesn’t take long for something to, even temporarily, become engrossed in the public conscience.  Take The Mirage for example; it took, about, a week for him to be openly discussed in the public square.  The discussion might have died down if the police hadn’t refused to talk about the matter; some even insinuating he wasn’t real.  Tyler and Susie kept a low profile about the matter; though they did try to get a sense of public option.  Of course, the big question was how he could become invisible and, thankfully, no one seemed to know what tech behind it.

After school, the Smith siblings went home with Tyler going straight to his room.  Packing up his gear he went right downstairs again.  Stopping to give his mom a hug he said “I’m going to meet Sam in The Lab so I might miss dinner.”

“Make sure you let me know when you get there.” she asked as she gave him a water bottle.

“Will do mom.” Tyler said as he walked out the door.

Walking out of his house he turned left to get to the nearest crosswalk to Central Park.  Walking through one of the park's many entrances he saw Jennifer sitting on a park bench.  She had on a light purple coat with jeans; looking like she was waiting for him.  She got up as Tyler took a deep breath and meet her along his way.  She walked right alongside him without saying anything for a minute, letting the obvious hang in the air.

Clearing her throat, she asked, “Have a minute?”  When he answered he did she continued with “Is there something you’ve been meaning to ask me?”

“Yeah, I suppose there has been.” Tyler said taking a moment to pause.  He continued with “We know each other a long time now.  I just didn’t want to mess things up at this point.”

Jennifer stopped walking and said “Listen, I understand that but I’m getting a little tired of waiting for you to ask me out.  Meet me outside my apartment complex tomorrow at five if you still want that date.”

A little surprised he said, “I kind of wish you did that two years ago.”

“I was giving you time to muster up the courage but a girl can only wait so long.  Now, I’m assuming, you were off to The Lab.” She said walking alongside him again.

The two walked while discussing where they could go eat tomorrow; deciding on nothing special.  Reaching The Lab, Jenifer gave a nice hard pat on his shoulder and went her own way.  Looking up at the two-story cement building it appeared not very special.  The building appeared, at first glance, to be a cement block that looked more like a warehouse than a state-of-the-art laboratory.  Going through the first double door, under a “Convergent Industries Labs” sign, he swiped his key card in a reader.

With a mechanical beep, a second set of doors opened automatically.  Opening into a large reception area Tyler said hello to the receptionist and headed straight for the elevator to his left.  The Lab was the visual definition of research design; that is the place was mostly light and muted colors with everything being ergonomic.  Warm LED lights gave off a comforting feeling with differently styled clocks lining the walls of the room.  The open floorplan was cut off by a glass wall on the right side, letting people see into the lab area, and a solid wall, leading to a privet research area.

The second story was for administrative business and then there were three basement levels.  On the way down to the third level Tyler let his mother know he made it to The Lab.  When the elevator doors opened, he saw his dad showing two people around the floor’s facilities.  Happening to look over Mr. Smith waved his son over to meet them.  One of the people was a man who looked to be a little younger than his father; the man was wearing business attire and had short-cut brown hair.  The other person was a young woman who appeared to be Tylers' age.  She had on casual day clothes, a slightly tan complexion, and very light brown hair in a pixie cut.

Introducing the two Mr. Smith said, “Son this is Mr. Jones and his daughter Brenda.”

“Nice to meet you both, I’m Tyler Smith.” He said shaking their hands.

Returning with a warm smile Mr. Jones said “Nice to finally meet you; Dr. Smith has talked you up quite a lot.  I was interested to hear that you do work here.”

“I don’t generally advertise it but yes, I do.  Had to pass a pretty rigorous test and interview process but I work over in Lab 3 of Practical Application of Emergent Technology.” Tyler replied trying not to sound miffed.

Picking up his son’s tone, his dad said “Miss Jones here is going to go through the process to show she can work here as well.”

 Finally speaking up for herself, Brenda said “Your area of work sounded most interesting.  If I get in, I hope we can work together.  Sharing some classes will be a good start all the same.”

“Well, if you start tomorrow, I’ll see you then.” Tyler said and turned to leave.  Looking back, he added “Good luck with the rest of the tour dad.”

He walked the short distance to a door that read “Practical Application of Emergent Technology Lab 3” and walked in.  it was a large space filled with movable tables, screens on walls, a few stationary desks with computers on them, and rolling chairs littering the place.  Sam Brown was hunched over one of the tables tinkering away with something.  Her red hair was in its customary braid so that it wouldn’t get in her way.  Walking into the room he saw she was working with the Nano-Tech ball they created earlier that month.

Putting his backpack on the table Tyler asked “Meet the new people?”

“Yeah, Dr. Smith brought them in as part of their tour.  To think he might let someone else work in the space that was, almost, excursively created for you to work in.” Sam said with sarcasm heavy in her tone.

 “Ignoring that, I wanted to run diagnostics on my equipment.  There’s only so much I can do at home.” Tyler said putting on a lab coat hanging by the door.

The two of them pulled out his equipment and started attaching his equipment computer terminals as Sam asked “How are you holding up, physically that is?”

Taking a seat in a rolling chair Tyler answered “Alright I suppose.  Pretty sore in the shoulder and knee areas.  Beyond that, nothing serious.”

“I was just making sure we didn’t have to involve another member of staff to treat you.  I would hold myself responsible if something serious happened to you out there.” Sam said turning from the computer.

“I know; I promise I’m taking care to not get myself into situations I can’t get out of.  We aren’t exactly partaking in normal, even legal, activities.” Tyler said getting up to pace.

Turning back to the computer screen, Sam asked “So how did you make the name The Mirage stick?”

“I didn’t have to do much.  Just talk to a couple people here, a couple there, and they spread it naturally from there.  It helps that it’s nice and catchy for newspaper headlines.” Tyler said glancing out the door.

All of his equipment came back in good condition, as well as refueling the rocket boosters, so he packed up the gear again.  The two turned their attention to the Nano-Tech ball with Sam saying “I ran some of our number past Neil, on the second floor, and he agreed with our ‘hypothetical’.”

Tyler pressed the activation button and watched the one-inch disk expand into a six-inch metal ball; then again to see the reverse.  Doing this again a few more times, He picked up the metal ball.  It still had a slight give to it, it was by no means bouncy, however.  Looking back at their numbers again, the main problem the two were trying to work out was making the Nano-Tech go around objects.

“How confident was Neil in his agreement?” Tyler asked.

“He liked the idea and suggested that if we actually accomplish such a feat, we can likely get military contracts.  As to how confidant he was; his main concern was power to keep the Nano-Tech in its shape.” Sam replied putting the ball back in a case along the wall.

“Has the simulation program found a suitable material match yet while we’re on the subject?” Tyler asked walking to a computer terminal in the back.

Following him, Sam answered “Not yet.  It must agree with Neil that power consumption is an issue.  I’m having it run through the possibility of using Crystallite as a metal base.”

Tyler packed himself up and said “Normally I would stay but, on the way, here I got a date with Jenifer.  Got to make sure I’m ready for such a thing.  If that simulation finishes yet today just let me know.”

Patting him on the shoulder Sam said “Good luck with that buddy.  I don’t have much in the way of advice.

Getting home shortly after his dad he talked with his parents about his talk with Jenifer.  His mother smiled warmly while his dad looked over his daily newspaper.  Patting him on his shoulder, she said that the best thing to do was let her take the lead.  His dad offered up advice on how to dress and to be sure that he maintained all the manners of a Smith.  Susie overheard, while doing her homework, and came up to him later.  She patted him on his shoulder and said she would give him pointers later.

Later, when Tyler headed out as The Mirage, he was planning to spend his night in the Lower Manhattan area.  He scaled the side of the Empire State Building, using it to get clear sightlines of the city.  He stopped at the top of the building to take in the view for a moment.  It had become one of his favorites since he started being The Mirage.  It seemed like the only place in the world where he could be alone with his thoughts and truly take in the beauty of New York City.

“As much as I love the view as well, I don’t know how you can sit there and not worry about falling.” Susie said in his earpiece.

Turning his sight to the sky he replied “It’s just so relaxing.  Sure, it’s not the easiest place to get to but I know I won’t be bothered here, except by you and Serene of course.”

Serene chimed in with “I would like to report that no criminal activity is currently being reported or pursued Sir.”.

Looking around the sight once more Tyler breathed a sigh of relief.  Getting up, he took a running start to the edge of the building and jumped off. Susie could never watch the camera feed during his free falls.  Tyler soaked up every second of the free falls; letting the air rush past him and feel the pull of gravity on his body.  Twisting his body so wasn’t facing the ground he kept an eye on the elevation meter inside his helmet display.  Time almost slowed to a crawl during free fall, feeling like he was moving in slow-mo, with his only reminder being the elevation meter.

Passing the six hundred feet mark he grappled onto the building on his right, using the boosters to soften the action.  The pull of the grappling hook brought his mind back into focus; bringing his thoughts back to his present action.  He swung from building to building until he found a small apartment building to land on.  Taking a moment to breathe Serene said “Sir. I’m putting through a call from Miss Brown.”

“So, I can only assume you’re out doing, well you know.  You have a minute to hear me out?” she asked.  Saying he did she continued with “So the simulation came back negative for a full crystallite Nano-Tech suit.  I happened to bump into Neil and he suggested changing the parameters of our ‘speculation’.”

“Full nano?  I would go Compressed-Tech meshed with Nano-Tech.” Susie chimed in.

“That’s what Neil suggested actually.  I’m building that model for the simulation program now so we should have results by tomorrow afternoon.” Sam said, not surprised to hear Susie.

“Great, though I don’t think I’ll be in The Lab tomorrow.  You’ll just have to let me know about the results later tomorrow night.” Tyler said assessing his current location.

Going building hopping he found the night to be quiet on the police scanners.  There were one or two complaints of loud parties but not a lot in the way of crime.  After about an hour of Tyler being out a report of suspicious people, ten or more, hanging around a shipping yard in Brooklyn Heights.  The call said that these people were walking around with flashlights and seemed to be carrying weapons.  With nothing else to do Tyler headed toward the Brooklyn Bridge.

His journey was about fifteen minutes long, a combination of scaling the bridge and rocketing, to get to the shipping yard.  Walking up to the scene, invisible, he saw an unattended police car with two police officers stunned on the ground.  After making sure the police officers were all right Tyler grappled up on top of a large shipping container.  Looking around he saw a ship pulled into the dock with more than a dozen people milling about.

The people were all dressed in black, covered nearly head to toe, with all of them carrying around a bulky gun.  They were opening unmarked shipping containers and pulling out crates onto dollies.  Before he could try and see more Serene said “Sir, the weapons those people are holding match blueprints of the High-Power Energy Pulser Model 397.  I would advise caution if you engage with them.”

“I agree with her on this one.  If I were you, I wouldn’t engage them because we don’t know what that kind of firepower would do to your outfit.” Susie said trying not to sound as concerned as she actually was.

Putting his hand to the side of his helmet Tyler said “I’m only going to observe, for now, gather intelligence.  I promise both of you I’ll only engage if necessary.”

Getting onto a different container Tyler tried to find some kind of name or logo on the people.  He watched the people open crates only to see different-sized metal cases in them.  The only markings on the metal cases were serial numbers; someone would come and check the number against a list of serial numbers and have it moved to a van without a license plate.  Finally, after a half-hour, a small black car pulled into the shipping yard.

From the back passenger's door out stepped a man wearing professional business clothes.  Serene could not get an I.D. match right away but he was a white man with combed-back black hair.  From the other side of the car, a man stepped out that Serene identified as a cop by the name of Matt Johnson.  One of the people in black walked up to a businessman and handed over his tablet for him to look over.  Looking over the data he handed it back and gave the off-duty cop a thumbs up.  Simultaneously they both got back in the car and it drove away.

The tablet was handed off a few times and Tyler followed it by moving from container to container.  Finally, the person with the tablet separated themselves from the main group and Tyler sprang into action.  Throwing two smoke bombs to cover his landing, Tyler appeared right in front of the person.  His sudden appearance started them enough that Tyler could stun them.  Grabbing the tablet, he boosted away as he heard two more people quickly approaching.  Before he could turn invisible again, midair, energy blasts were flying past him.

Slipping the tablet into his jacket pocket he started firing back in the other direction.  One of the shots actually hit him making him crash onto the ground.  Before they could see exactly where he landed, he turned invisible and ran into a shipping container.  A few of the people ran right past him while one stopped just outside his hiding spot.  When the person turned their back to him, he used both grappling hocks to drag them inside the container.

Without becoming visible, he ripped off the person's helmet to reveal a woman in her late twenties.  She went to say something but he cut her off with “Who are you people and what’s in the boxes?”

Not exactly sure where to look she said “You’re The Mirage aren’t you.  Even if you’re not you won’t get me to talk.”

Tyler stood in the container doorway and said “That’s fine for now.  If you’re doing something I don’t like I will be back.”

Before taking off again, he stunned her and she collapsed onto the floor.  Getting away before he could be shot at it was a while before anyone said anything.  Susie broke the silence with “You should probably come back because that was a lot.”

Looking over the tablet, Tyler said “Yeah, I think you’re right.  We’ll have to see if we can hack into this at The Lab tomorrow.”

Tyler made it back almost thirty minutes later; making sure he wasn’t followed.  He was doing the nightly routine of packing his gear in the bench but he didn’t put the tablet with it right away.  Turning it on showed a white background with a number lock screen.   He tried a few common six-digit passwords with none of them working. Before putting it away tried one combination, the date Smith Tech went public.  The tablet opened to the list of serial numbers with the list heading being ‘Shipment #0157, Energy Cells and Components’.