Mateo groaned, sweat staining his white undershirt. His jacket and top shirt were discarded, the room too hot to keep them on. Wasn’t the north supposed to be cold in August? If it wasn’t the storms, it was the heat waves. Everything felt miserable and was only getting worse. Maybe he was getting too old. The ache in his chest was distinct.
David was on the phone with his wife, Rosa. She was a sweet woman, warm and caring. Mateo knew they dated during school but privately never believed it would last. Much as he loved his son, he was not blind to the kind of person he could be in his youth. Running around with other women, taking advantage of others, more than one argument between the two threatened to tear them apart. Not just David and Rosa, either.
Then that day came. When David emerged, he was a changed man. Who wasn’t?
“Alex doing well?” Mateo said.
“Apart from missing her papa,” his boy replied. “Rosa’s having a ball.”
David stared out the window of their shitty apartment. The sun was rising, though their view left a lot to be desired. The glass was cracked, and brown buildings covered most of what they could see. Still, it could be worse. Mateo was packing, knowing they needed to be leaving the city soon. They’d been staking out the operation going on for a full day now. The Supreme United Nations Taskforce was using a third party to move eggs from beneath the city to some facility he couldn’t track yet. It was out of the city, small favors, but that meant little in the grand scheme of things. Why was something he didn’t know. They weren’t being taken to be disposed of. A disposal system was offshore. He needed to figure out who he could approach with the information. David looked back at him.
“We’re thinking of adopting.”
Mateo looked back at his son, eyes wide. David was smiling to himself, softly, picking up his hat.
“So, look forward to being a grandfather twice over, I guess. Never really thought we would, but…”
Mateo crossed the room and embraced his son. David seemed surprised at first, freezing. Then he relaxed, boney arms crossing around his dad’s back.
“You’re going to make a great father.”
David nestled his head in the nook of his dad’s neck. “I certainly have a lot to live up to.”
An abrupt knocking snapped Mateo from his bliss. Glancing at David’s visible confusion, he approached it cautiously. Looking out the peep hole, all he could see was a sensible hat, if a bit drab. Mateo motioned to David, the taller man moving into the bathroom. Opening the door, he grimaced as he came face to non-descript face with SUN Agent Holden.
“Mr. Fernandez,” the man bowed his head. “We need to talk.”
“Who are you?”
“Don’t embarrass yourself,” Holden sneered. His accent, some upper crust British dialect, brushed through. “I never forget a face.”
He was not an intimidating man, but he didn’t need to be. He was an Agent. Mateo didn’t see any goons with him, moving aside.
“Come in, Operative Blackwater.”
The Agents, while their public identities were obviously known to the Taskforce and certain government officials within the Supreme United Nations, uniformly answered to their Operative designations in the field. Coming from all walks of life, sometimes temporarily, it was deemed that anonymity would be key to security. If they knew Mateo was aware of Holden’s real name this encounter would probably be going differently.
The man removed his hat as he entered the room.
“Your son has left?”
“Yes.”
“Very well. He’s unimportant. Mr. Fernandez, I am here on personal business. I believe you have the wrong idea about what is going on, and what your role in all this is.” The Agent took a chair, sitting opposite of Mateo. He declined to do the same. “I am, yes, Operative Blackwater, Supreme United Nations Taskforce Agent. What I am also is a mutual friend of one Mr. Smith.”
That gave him pause.
Taking his silence as permission to keep speaking, the soldier continued. “I cannot, as you would imagine, divulge the details of what is going on. It is of such a sensitive matter that Mr. Smith cannot contact you within the city, no matter how secure you may believe the line to be. Just know that there is more going on than you are aware.”
“Enlighten me. What would some government stooges want to deal with a man like Mr. Smith for?” Mateo said.
“I am not here to relieve your ignorance. Treat it as a blanket if you’d like. A safeguard from the reality of this world. You are not here to investigate us. All I am here to do is remind you why you are here. You must find this child, Mr. Fernandez.”
“What’s so important about a runaway?”
“Not your place to know.” Holden stood. “Consider this a cordial reminder. Your last. Useful you may be, but any tool can be replaced.”
He left as quiet as he appeared. David strolled from the bathroom, wearing a curious grin.
“Our dear Mr. Smith makes friends everywhere it seems.”
Mateo agreed. “Tom Holden. A tedious bore of a man, but one who could get things done. I don’t know how Mr. Smith got his claws in him.”
“Maybe you’re not thinking about it right. Mr. Smith contacted you about changing the world, right?”
Mateo never told David the full story, but he knew enough. He didn’t reply, not wishing to speak, but nodded.
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“Then, maybe he did the same here. Maybe Tommy wants what he thinks is best for the world too.”
“Can’t be that simple. He’s using SUN gear to do it. An Agent could get away with a lot, but not that much. He’d need someone higher up the chain…” Mateo knew something was wrong. The puzzle was laid out with pieces missing. Or worse, it was too large to see all at once.
He knew where one could be. Lightning came in many different colors, many different hues. Typically, one would see white or yellow lightning. Rarer was blue or purple. So, when reports of a lightning storm striking down from one neighborhood came in, crimson strands of electricity, that caught Mateo’s attention.
Especially when that lightning was going into the sky. They arrived at the spot uneventfully enough. Middle of the street of some government housing complex. Not even the SUN could cover that up fully.
“Unless some dedicated pranksters got ahold of Tesla Coils,” David said, staring up at a broken window. “I guess this is the real McCoy. What color was it, dad?”
“Red,” Mateo said absently.
He didn’t like thinking about it. The smell of the dead, the sound of the screams, the feeling of the mud as he tried to claw away from the swarm bearing down on him. It was worse than any battlefield. More horrifying than any nightmare. Until she came. His Warborn Angel.
“That’s new. We’ve had gold, pink, green and blue before, right? Or was it black?”
Mateo grimaced. “Maybe. Only one I’ve been able to confirm is yellow.” That was the only one he’d seen with his own eyes.
What she was he didn’t know. Putting the demons to rest, she was gone as fast as the lightning she carried. It hung off her, cascaded from her luminous form, rising towards the sky from where she surely descended. She could not be mistaken for a daughter of Eve, so perhaps she truly was one of the Lord’s messengers.
“We have eyewitnesses.”
“Had.”
David hummed in response. “Fair enough. People dumb enough to speak too loudly don’t get to keep talking. How do you know they didn’t exist prior to ’84?”
“If they did, it wasn’t on Earth. No way. The SUN like to think they’re the top dog when it comes to censorship, but they don’t have half the reach they’d like. While scarce, I can account for her at different points after the swarm.”
And this might be another of her kind. Damage was certainly done. This was from a week prior to their arrival. In a better world, he would have rushed over before any of it could have been fixed or tampered with.
Sadly, he knew that no effort would be made to repair anything. David whistled at the sight of partially melted asphalt. A car stood opposite the street; windscreen covered in charred tickets. A deep gash was burned into the side of it, the metal having long cooled. This proved it to Mateo. No trickery, no obfuscation. A Warborn Angel was here.
“No discernable pattern in where they’ve cropped up,” David said. “What are the locations you can confirm? Calgary was a maybe, right?”
Mateo agreed. “The damage was too severe to confirm. So many cities were hit that day, the timeline is in chaos. She could have appeared anywhere first. The ones I verified are Eisenhüttenstadt and Beijing.”
“Beijing, that one appeared at the Wangfujing Department Store where a terrorist attack happened, right? I think you said the Soviet town was some back alley.”
“Never could pin an exact cause. There were murders in the area, but I’m not sure how it relates. Frankly, I’m not sure how any of them are connected. Scenes of atrocities? If they truly are Angels, maybe they come to Earth in times of great crisis.” He ran his hand along the side of the car. “I was able to sneak into both, though. The same kind of damage in the wake. It mirrored the melting, the extreme heat, and the impossible electrical discharges.” Stepping away, he sighed. “We need to interview people in the area. See if there’s anything they want to talk about.”
David noticed before he did, looking down the road. Mateo felt the blood drain from his face, non-descript cars with tinted windows filling the street. They pulled to a stop just feet away from the duo. Mateo felt a pang in his chest, sweat starting to build. Without turning he could hear, feel, the same number of cars arrive behind them.
An extremely tall, broad shouldered Japanese man emerged from the driver’s seat of the closest car. His short, black hair was slicked back, and he wore a standard SUN casual uniform, though his came with an orange tie. Mirrored sunglasses finished off the look of the ultimate government stooge.
“Mateo and David Fernandez. The pleasure is mine.”
His voice couldn’t be stiffer if it were made of crumbling drywall. He regarded the two the way one might a tick they found buried in their side. Maybe a flea.
“First I shall offer you empty assurances that you are not to be arrested. You will, of course, respond that you are doing nothing illegal, which will be technically true. You will hastily add that you are certainly doing nothing in S.U.N. territory, which is decidedly more important. After this I will placate you with my charming wit and terrific personality.”
David laughed, though quietly. Mateo stared at the man, at a loss for what to even think of him. A pit of horror cracked in his stomach. Only those who stood far above their peers could be this flippant.
“Let us cut to the chase,” the Agent said.
David grinned. “Oh, but the banter was so pleasant until now.”
“My wit and grace are things of wonder, yes,” the complete deadpan of the man left Mateo still unsure exactly how to read him. “My name is Domon Itsuki, Secondary Supreme Commander of the Supreme United Nation’s Anti-Alien Taskforce. I will give you,” he turned to look at Mateo directly. “A moment to comprehend exactly what that means.”
Mateo couldn’t speak. He didn’t think he wanted to. This was a man who could shoot them both dead in the street and walk away unscathed. A man who could upend their entire lives, destroy their families, ruin even the places they had lived if he so chose. This was one of the most powerful men in the world.
“So, what do you want?” David said.
Mateo whipped around to his son, chest pounding. His dumb, stupid boy had the gall to cross his arms during this encounter. He quickly returned to the man, throwing his hands up.
“Forgive him, he’s not thinking clearly,” he said.
“I am not here to speak to him.” The agent looked briefly at David. David winked back. “I choose to trust decent men,” Itsuki said. “That is what you are, is it not? Certainly, it is why I have not personally put my boot to your neck, Mateo Fernandez. Wrung you out for whatever intel you could give. You are a decent man trying to do what you believe is right.”
Mateo didn’t know what to say. Fear stole his tongue. Itsuki didn’t give him much time to think before continuing.
“I believe you may, without realizing it, hold the keys to the future of this world. The future of humanity. In this moment I do not speak to you man to man. I speak to you as a representative of the Supreme United Nations in its totality. You do not agree with all we do, all we have done, and I will not waste your time pretending to agree with this even in part. But you must understand, we have the best in mind for the world. Regardless how you feel about our politics and actions, all we have done has been in the interests of the betterment of humanity.”
“There are machinations in motion threatening everything. That could unravel all we, you and the S.U.N. both, have worked towards. That could plunge the human race into an age of despair unlike any other seen. A fate not even your Angels could save us from. When you realize the burden of what you know, when you come to grips with the duty to your fellow man that is inherent in your very soul, we will be waiting. Come to any S.U.N. outpost. We will welcome and hear what you have to say.”
Not waiting for a reply, the man returned to his car. Within moments it was like they had never been there at all. What was happening? A heavy pressure hung in his chest, his breathing hitching. His mouth was so dry. His lips stuck to his teeth.
The warmth of his son startled him. Looking from the comforting hand on his shoulder back to his boy, the two men nodded. David looked back to the apartment, whistling.
“Seems not to matter much now, but one curious thing.”
Mateo tilted his head.
“This is where Rick Damon lived.” David stepped away, lazily pointing up at the shattered window. “That apartment, right there.”
Mateo’s face screwed up in confusion. “What does that mean?”
David smiled. “Let’s find out.”