Jess Plant was lost in his thoughts as his hovercab sped over the green fields of England towards New Manchester.

Suddenly he found a gun in his face. It extended from the cab's ceiling as a safety feature, but he thought that these types of black market features had been outlawed.

"Wha--?"

"Do. Not. Move." The cab driver enunciated each word carefully and with utter seriousness.

Jess felt an itch in his closely-cropped beard but didn't dare to scratch it. "What do you want of me?" he asked, yet unafraid.

"I know who you are, 'Sir Justin of Camelot,'" said the cab driver, whose face Jess could not see, although he appeared to be an average-looking, grey-haired Pakistani man. "Oh, yes, you didn't think that your little secret identity could be kept a secret forever, did you?"

Jess merely frowned and waited for an answer to his question.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry so much about who I am, Mr. Plantagenet. It's you who should be worried that your identity was so easily discovered by myself. You asked what I want of you? Well, in my investigations into your background I discovered a few interesting things. Namely, that you were once offered a chance at an executive position in the MBL at the ground floor, and yet you refused. 'Why?' I wondered to myself. Surely he and his family would have been better off. Could it be that he had some moral problems?"

Jess Plant sighed.

"Yes, that's exactly what it was, wasn't it, Mr. Plantagenet? You knew something about the holier-than-thou MBL that you wanted no part of, not even if it meant a world free of terrorism and crime."

"I knew it was impossible," said Jess. "The goal was honorable, but the methods of getting there were and are wrong. And we still haven't received that one-world utopia we were promised back then."

"No, indeed. Things sure have changed since Rypta led the team..."

"Just who are you?" said Jess.

"I've lived by several names over the last 25 years, my friend, but the one you would know me by is Agent57."

"Agent 57? But Agent57 is supposed to have died! In battle with VIPER, as I recall..."

"Well, let's just say that my presumed death left me free to pursue my covert work much more easily. It also left me without any ties to the world. After all, if I was dead, then nothing I did would ever have any repercussions on my friends or family, would it?"

"I find it hard to believe that you are who you say you are."

"Then don't believe it. What do I care? But I'd like you to consider a few things first."

At that, "Agent57" swung the hovercab down into a patch of forest and landed next to an old shed.

He turned around and looked at Jess Plant with the false face he wore at the moment.

"I've become aware of all that you know about the MBL and more. I know who runs the damn thing..."

"Yes, Peter Campbell, but--"

"No, you know what I mean. Campbell's only the figurehead. I know who the true power behind the current MBL is."

"Then tell me."

"Not so fast, sir knight. First, let me tell you a little story..."