THREE MONTHS LATER
"The reconstruction effort in Los Angeles received an additional thirty-four million dollars in the recent budget bill passed by Congress and signed today by the President. This brings the grand total up to nearly one and a half billion dollars for the post-invasion clean-up." The anchor man looked down at his paper with headlines as the ticker at the bottom of the screen informed the world of the latest young starlet to find herself in trouble with the law.
"In related news, the Pentagon today announced that the process of reestablishing a Chinese government may get under way sooner than previously thought. UN representatives have been dispatched to Beijing to provide legal consultation to the Chinese delegates chosen by the interim US led government. The delegates are charged with creating a process to set the groundwork for electing officials for drafting a new Chinese constitution. Speculation is that elections could be held as early as the middle of next year. General Patterson, in charge of military operations in China, held a press conference today to address the road map to a new China. When asked about the sightings of the robotic man during the Los Angeles invasion, now dubbed 'Robot X' by the internet and media, the general den...."
Back at Alaskan Command, the General shut off the TV in his office. "Robot X?" he huffed. "Who the hell comes up with these silly goddamn names?" He spread out the photocopied covers of periodicals from all over the world. Many had fuzzy pictures of the Legionnaire standing or lifting something. There were no discernible details as there was too much smoke and debris for the amateur photographers to get a clean picture. All the headlines read pretty much the same. "US Government's Secret Weapon". Everyone knew that it would be impossible to keep a lid on the project once they sent the machine to LA, but he wish that the circumstances of the project were better than they were.
Dr. Little and the machine, now demanding to be address as Dr. Faber and not as the Legionnaire, were working on the next phase and version of the project. LA had proven the success of the hardware and software, though not in the way originally designed. To continue the project to the next phase only made sense. A sleeker machine with more mobility and functionality. And 'Dr. Faber' was proving itself valuable in both introducing fantastic new concepts for the construction as well as speeding up the actual manufacturing. In three months, they had completed nearly half of phase two, which was scheduled to take at least two years before that much progression could be reached.
Col. Myers knocked before entering the general's office. "Sir, the most recent report from Holmes at the lab." He passed a folder over the desk.
The general opened it and examined the contents. "Nothing new from our little 'guest', huh?"
"Not yet, but I do trust Lt. Col. Holmes. He will get the information we need from the intruder."
MILES AWAY AT THE MOUNTAIN LAB
Inside a small room set far away from the regular activity of the base, Lt. Col. Holmes sat across a table with a very unfriendly look on his face. "I'll ask you again. Who are you, and who do you work for?" The man sitting across from him didn't answer.
"You will tell me why you're here and who sent you." Still no answer. Holmes stood up and began pacing around the room. "I don't think you fully understand the situation you're currently in. You were found on an Off-limits, United States Military instillation shortly after a high scale invasion onto US soil by a foreign power, rifling through classified data. You carry no identification. You wear no uniform. You claim no allegiance to any country or army. You may think yourself smart right now with your grin, but what all that really means is that you have no classification under either US or international law. You don't have the protection of the Geneva Convention, the US Supreme Court, or even God almighty himself. You're all mine. So I'll ask you nicely one last time to tell me everything."
There was still no answer. With a nod of his head and slight wave of his hand, soldiers picked up and moved the table out of the room. "I've served two tours in Afghanistan, three in Iraq, not to mention Kosovo and the Sudan. I've even spent time in captivity by enemy troops. I've experienced pain like no other man I've met. Until today." Four more men walked in carrying a large tub full of water, setting it in front of the prisoner. Holmes grabbed him and forced 'Seven' Carmichael's head down into the water.
