D.O.S.A

“Department of Superhuman Accountability”

The Department was buzzing in the early morning hours. Saturday was most of the government employees’ day off, however, a mass recall was sent out to all vital and non-vital employees. The massive concrete obelisk that reached high into the city skyline of Lebanon, Kansas was never busier than this Saturday morning.

The call was simple, yet more alarming than any notification any of them had yet received since DOSA’s founding. This was “Threat Level - V”, the highest, and the most disastrous ranking any incident could equate to within the department’s ranking system. It was a Leviathan.

Darrius Gates’ tracking satellites had picked up the identification signature in the early morning hours. The satellite sent the data directly to Darrius as he rested inside his room within DOSA Headquarters. He had a direct neural link to all the technology under DOSA’s authority, and then some. The Department didn’t even know how far Darrius’ reach extended, and he liked it that way. Although he kept things hidden from his government counterparts, he shared this information immediately. This was serious, as was where the creature was heading.

There hadn’t been a Leviathan spotted in almost a decade. The monstrous titans came in all sorts of varieties. They all held similarities to common animals around the globe but were twisted and mutated into creatures of massive proportions. Their sheer size made them major threats to bigger cities, and this Leviathan was heading straight for Sandusky, Ohio. Sensors on the satellite indicated to Darrius that this particular Leviathan measured eighty-three feet and two inches tall. It had come from the depths of Lake Erie, tucked away in the cold void beneath the surface. Where it came from before that, he was unsure. Maybe it had been there the whole time, dormant.

Darrius hardwired himself into a supercomputer that the Department put in a wall of his room. It was about the size of a city bus. This was old tech, but still useable. He hadn’t planned for this new situation and left his own, much smaller, portable devices at his actual estate. But it would do for the situation. He could make any technology bend to his will. A retractable fiber-optic cable ran from an opening in his forearm to ports in the wall-mounted machines as he analyzed the data from the monster’s scans. Size, scale, weight, mass, and all manner of measurements taken by his satellites were shown in his advanced mind. Darrius could see his reflection in the mirrored steel of the computer’s outer shell as he transferred the data. His black skin was traced with lines that were hard for the naked eyes to spot, even up close. The cybernetic implants were folded and tucked within his body that swarmed with nanites to link and reconfigure himself in any way he deemed necessary. His bald head still looked the same to his mother, but it held a mind far greater than any other within DOSA. He could write code, create software on the fly, hack, re-write code, and re-write software within seconds. He could turn the modern world into an apocalyptic wasteland if he wanted.

He focused back on the data. The images and renderings of the beast brought memories up. The thought of fighting this creature reminded Darrius of old times. Darrius smiled as he remembered fond memories with friends.

Darrius left his room, fully synced to his network, ready to launch his basic drone package if required. He had done the calculations in just a few short nanoseconds, based on the satellite data, and determined the amount of firepower it would take to kill this particular creature. However, a meeting was set to convene once the Secretary of DOSA arrived on base.

In only an hour, all the floors of the Department Headquarters were filled like it was the actual work week, however, people were much more productive. The gravity of the situation had everyone operating at max capacity. Darrius spotted a young man from the mail room sprinting with his little cart to deliver all manner of secretive documents to the correct people. Darrius smiled again as he made his way to the conference room, impressed with the mail clerks’ dedication to his job.

Darrius took a breath as he gripped the large metal bar that protruded from the conference room door. He prepared himself to see everyone again for the first time in months. All of them were there already, and Darrius knew that. He was notified by the arrival log entries from the central watch standing station. He was hacked into everything.

All the other heroes in DOSA were usually spread out around the country for maximum efficiency, and quick response times. None of them saw each other as much as they used to, but Darrius liked that. He hated pretending with them anymore. Even the few older heroes that had survived DOSA’s takeover, and the next ten years after, he didn’t spend time with them. They weren’t friends anymore. They practically could have been strangers to Darrius. But it wasn’t always like that.

Darrius swung the door open and entered the massive conference room with a commanding presence. He paced across to his designated seat, feeling the eyes of the other heroes on him. None of them would admit it, but almost every single one of them feared him. The few that didn’t were too young, stupid, or new to DOSA to understand what Darrius was capable of when pushed. The older heroes knew… they were there that night. The night everything changed.

“Darrius,” Lawrence Peterson greeted a cold Darrius Gates as always.

“Larry,” Darrius responded with a nod. He said nothing else.

Lawrence Peterson was the Director of DOSA Lebanon, which consisted of the older heroes that submitted themselves to DOSA’s authority in the beginning. There were other task forces throughout the country that arose later. These other bases employ mostly newer superhumans in many major cities across the country to help spread the load of crime and catastrophe. Lebanon has always been the largest DOSA base, strategically placed in the very heart of the country to have as equal a reach in any direction as they could. The original idea was for Lebanon to be almost a centralized dispatch for superhumans, under the strict guidelines and regulations of the newly established Department of Superhuman Accountability. Most of the original big-name heroes from before DOSA were in Lebanon simply because it was the first, and only place around to gather them when they could no longer operate independently of the government. It was and has remained the most advanced government location to contain and control superhumans if required. It was quickly realized by Darrius, and a few older heroes, why they were assigned Lebanon as their base of operations. The technology and manpower in Lebanon were ever-expanding and proved to be the most effective place to control the most powerful heroes if the time came.

Lebanon was a rural, small town before DOSA’s establishment. However, in a few short years, the towering DOSA building was erected and a new city was born around it. It was still nothing in comparison to New York, or Los Angeles, but it had a population of about one hundred thousand. Mostly employees of the government agency itself.

As soon as Darrius took his seat at the large table, the Secretary of DOSA entered the room. Everyone stood up from their seated positions at the Secretary’s arrival, except Darrius. Steven Plum, the Secretary, saw Darrius’ lack of effort to even pretend to conform to DOSA; even under the menacing threat of the Leviathan. Secretary Plum was always chafed by Darrius and his ideas that he was somehow in control of the Department. Darrius’ ways were abrasive, and he challenged DOSA on many things they tried to do, but there was nothing DOSA could do to Darrius. Not directly anyway. They ultimately feared him because of what he could do with his power. They knew Darrius wanted to protect people, his mother specifically, and he wasn’t a threat to their operations if he thought she could be in danger from his actions against DOSA. So, they let him get away with more than the other superhumans, and they learned to get along with Darrius. They had to so they could avoid a war with a man that could wipe out their modern way of living. They always knew Darrius was a threat once they knew how powerful he could potentially be, so they had secrets of their own. They had backup plans for him, just as they did everyone else in the Department if things ever went sideways. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill a superhuman… a hero, if they didn’t conform to their will. They had done it before. Darrius knew the information DOSA had on his mother, so ultimately, he played ball.

The true intentions of DOSA and the government were, and always had been, to control superhumans. The ones in power within the government couldn’t allow anyone else to become greater than them. The system had to be the “all-ending power”, not any one person. So, after years of clandestine operation and planning, DOSA appeared in the public eye… and changed everything.

“Where is the threat now?” the Secretary asked. “I need to brief the President as soon as this meeting is over,” the lanky, white-haired man informed the room in a hurried tone. His suit hung over his frame too large and hastily dressed. Everyone in the room with any experience with the old Leviathan threat could see just how overwhelmed and underprepared the Secretary was in the first moments of the meeting.

“Lake Erie, sir,” Darrius responded. “It’s moving slowly, but it's due to make landfall around 0930 if it maintains speed.”

“Where did it come from?” Plum asked.

“Uncertain. My satellite array picked up the faint signature down at the bottom, a little over two hundred feet,” Darrius informed.

“Maybe it’s been there this whole time… sleeping,” Art suggested to Darrius.

Darrius acknowledged his elder friend, “I agree. It possibly went into hibernation when we killed off the ones from before.”

“Possible survival technique?” Art asked for Darrius’ thoughts.

“Could be…” Darrius spoke before being interrupted.

“I don’t care if it was taking a nap,” Secretary Plum spat at the two first-generation heroes. “How do we kill it?”

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Art shook his salt and peppered head when the secretary turned his gaze away, mirroring others in the room who shared similar thoughts about the leader of DOSA. Art Jenson was the oldest of the active heroes. He, along with Darrius, Carol Jenkins, Felipe Estrada, and the Twins were the last six original heroes left at DOSA Lebanon. At one time, Art was kind of a father figure to some of the heroes. They were all very close and took Art’s opinion into careful consideration before they made decisions back in the golden days.

“Sir,” Lawrence spoke up. “Darrius has already sent over the assessment. I believe we have everything and everyone here now to take care of this threat with minimal casualties.”

Secretary Plum almost sneered at the idea of going with Darrius’ plan. He didn’t want anyone to get the idea that he wasn’t the one calling the shots. But, he knew that whatever the plan was, it would be better than anything he could actually come up with. Though, he’d never admit it.

“Very well,” Plum spoke harshly towards the synthetic silver eyes that stared out from Darrius’ seat. “But if this goes south…” Plum tried to contain his smile, “it’s on your head. You will be the one paying the price for it.”

Darrius stood up, no time to waste, “Don’t worry, I’ll get it done.” He walked away without acknowledging anything or anyone else in the room. He had his plan, and he’d enact it to save as many people as he could. “Alone,” Darrius punctuated his exit from the room.

Darrius knew that DOSA, and Secretary Plum, were always looking for a way to vilify him. He’d seen them do it before to a much greater hero… a friend. They didn’t like anyone that couldn’t be bent into shape to fit the mold of a yes sir no sir soldier. Darrius knew that DOSA didn’t want heroes, they wanted soldiers to fall in line and follow orders, period.

About three minutes after Darrius had abandoned the meeting, Art found him in the drone bay.

“We’ll be coming with you, Darrius,” Art spoke steadily.

Darrius had his armored fiberoptic cable retracting back into his arm from the flat black cylinders. He quickly reprogramed all three for the mission before turning his eyes to his approaching coworkers.

“We?” Darrius said, already knowing the order that had been given them by Lawrence Peterson.

“They want us all out there. This is a Leviathan, D. They’re not gonna just trust you to go out on your own. They want muscle out there fighting that thing… not your shitty old tech,” Mark Jackson said cockily as he appeared behind Art.

Mark was a newer superhuman within the Department, appearing at DOSA’s doorstep as soon as he hit eighteen years old. His large rippling muscles weren’t near as big as his ego. He thought he was the strongest man in the world due to his superhuman strength. He thought he was invincible.

Darrius didn’t acknowledge him. He just jacked into the second black cylindrical drone to continue his linking process. Usually, things were much faster for him, but he had to do things manually due to the older tech he had to use at the base. He was really wishing he had brought his full equipment load. This was just supposed to be a couple of days of research using old DOSA records that were still in paper form.

Mark kept stepping towards Darrius, still talking trash to the older hero as he ran his hand through his slicked-back blonde hair. Darrius never looked at him once.

“We probably don’t even need you, or this hunk of shit,” Mark kicked the side of the black cylinder with his steel-toed boot. “If that weak-ass friend of yours could beat the Leviathans, it should be a cakewalk for me.” He shook his head. “It will be nice to finally show up ole’ what’s his name…” Mark’s cocky words were cut off by a metallic blur through the air.

Darrius turned around as Mark spoke, releasing a cybernetic tendril from his left shoulder blade. The silver appendage lunged across the short distance too quick for Mark to react, wrapping around his throat like a boa constrictor, tightening and squeezing his throat as his feet left the ground. The man with superhuman strength flailed like a meal in a predator’s teeth.

“Don’t say his name,” Darrius spoke as coldly as the machines he controlled. He didn’t even let Mark get the name out of his mouth before he attacked him.

The tendril squeezed slightly tighter for another second or two before it released Mark’s slightly blue face from its grasp. Mark dropped to his knees as soon as he was free.

“Geez, Darrius…” Mark was visibly shaking, but he had to play it off. He couldn’t look weak in front of the older heroes. “You’ve still got some kick, huh? I guess you won’t be useless after all,” Mark forced a laugh before pacing away to the staging area. He tried not to cough until he got far enough away that he thought no one would hear.

“Was that necessary?” Art asked Darrius.

“Somebody needs to put him in his place. He walks around here like he knows something about us… about him. He doesn’t know shit!” Darrius vented.

“He’s young, forgive him. You remember what we were all like when we were that age. We all thought we were invincible,” Art spoke reflectively with a smile.

“Yeah… some of us more than others,” Darrius said, combating the fog of old feelings.

Darrius nodded to himself in silence, almost letting his guard down. He noticed, and quickly put his walls back up. He wanted so badly to fall back to how things used to be, but he couldn’t. Not after that night… not after what he had to do.

“You need any help before we roll out?” Art offered as he always did whenever he and Darrius ran into each other at DOSA, always trying to reconnect with the disconnected Darrius.

Art’s powers were of an interesting sort. At first glance, DOSA tried to label him as having telekinesis. However, upon further observation and study, they changed their conclusion to what they deemed Psychokinesis. Art mainly moved objects with his mind, but with practice, age, and experience, Art could do much more with his powers. He could manipulate anything in any way he could imagine. He could manipulate physical objects on a micro scale, or a macro scale. He could manipulate the internal structure of matter itself to create change within an object. If he could understand how something worked, he could control it. That is what he called his power, ‘control.’ Some thought him to be one of the greatest threats before DOSA.

Before DOSA, many heroes ran around solo, trying their best to maintain peace and order. Yet there was a group that operated out of the Chicago area that coordinated with each other. They helped each other out initially, and then became friends. They fought against crime, corruption, and then the first major threat, the Leviathans.

The Twins, Kody, and Kyle Rivers walked straight to the staging area where Mark was holding his throat lightly. They saw from a distance what had happened and wanted to go pick on Mark. They kept things light with everyone within the Department, always joking and having a good time. They were friends with everyone, but no one could say they really knew them anymore. The Twins didn’t get close to anybody anymore, keeping everyone else at arm’s reach and only truly trusting each other. They weren’t always so untrusting, none of them started that way. Not until that night. Still, when a fight broke out, the Twins could turn the tide of a battle in an instant. That part about them never changed. They were the youngest of the original heroes, just hitting thirty years old, but they were some of the most experienced people in the country at fighting Leviathans. Their abilities were identical, just as their DNA, interdimensional teleportation. In layman’s terms, they could teleport, but it wasn’t a simple disappear here and appear there. No, when Kyle and Kody teleported, they were instantaneously moved through a different dimension. This wasn’t realized until DOSA took over and ran several tests on their abilities. Sensors attached to the twins indicated an alien energy signature in the nanoseconds between teleportation. It was called an “alien” energy signal because it didn’t match anything on our planet or documented within the known universe. The energy lingered on them for a few minutes after teleportation but was completely benign to them. Samples were pulled from them after multiple jumps across very long distances that were used to begin many different experiments. The research and development departments within all DOSA were very interested in the twins.

Carol and Felipe were just behind Art after the Twins walked by. They came in as they always did, locked together at the hip.

“We almost ready,” Felipe’s Hispanic accent was always present within his words.

“In a moment,” Art nodded.

Carol and Felipe nodded as they turned and joined the rest at the staging area.

Ten years ago, when DOSA took over the superhuman’s lives, Carol and Felipe never showed an interest in one another. Yet, as the first year of living under government control slugged by, Carol and Felipe found themselves intertwined in a secret affair within the walls of the obelisk. DOSA Lebanon became a place the two new lovers would hate to leave when missions called them away. They married within three years of DOSA’s takeover. They were the exception amongst the superhumans. They found something greater after their lives came crashing to a halt after the chaos and damage done in the early days of heroes. They were happier now than they were before, and it was nice for most of them to see that it was possible. All but Darrius, that is. He was the only one of the original heroes that didn’t go to the wedding. While everyone else seemed to forget or deny what happened… Darrius remembered that night. He would never forget what they did; what he did.

In just a few minutes of prep, all the superhumans and supporting field agents within DOSA loaded into a massive cargo plane. It was an enhanced aircraft, thanks to Darrius, and it could get them to Sandusky within an hour, once they reached altitude. The jet engines pulsed and focused down the runway as the massive airplane shot into the sky at surprising speed.

This was a big mission. There were no Leviathan attacks since DOSA had taken over, so why was there one appearing now, after all the time that had passed? This was also the first mission that all the original heroes had been on together since that night. It was a long time.

After that night happened, the night that Darrius would never be able to forget, there were no more heroes. There were only agents of DOSA. Every hero that didn’t want to go to prison, had to reveal themselves to the public eye if they hadn’t already done so. None of them were in control of their actions anymore. They had to obey the rules and regulations set forth by DOSA, which was created and deemed necessary by the elected officials in government.

Active heroes did whatever they thought necessary to save lives and stop crime in their cities. They didn’t answer to anyone. But as with anything else, there were a few bad eggs. Some heroes were so powerful that they caused more damage than they prevented. As a whole, they racked up property damage that could buy a small country. This provided enough ammunition against all superhumans. Lawmakers hated that they didn’t have the power anymore, and they wanted that power back. They wanted control over the heroes and swayed the media to their side in a ploy to get it back. After the country was pounded by a vicious wave of Leviathans, a campaign for hero reform swept the country quickly. It seemed that everyone wanted more control over superhumans, even though they saved major cities from unknown threats that the military couldn’t handle alone. A few lesser-known superhumans got out of the game and lived outside of the vigilante realm, but bigger household names like Darrius, Art, and the rest of their team could not escape. They had to bend to the government’s will or be contained in a cell. It was all for “safety” after all the public damage and destruction. At least that’s how DOSA and Congress spun it to the American people so they could get away with what they were doing. Needless to say, DOSA was not transparent with the voting public about everything they did to the heroes to gain control.

There were some that doubted, however. Some smelled conspiracy cloaked behind the façade of civilized progress and order. Not everyone bent the knee when the time came. That is what led to the change in these heroes. This is what destroyed their relationships and sent Darrius down a path of becoming more machine than man.