I didn't expect them to figure out things so fast, but it seems that yet again, I have underestimated my opponents. Luckily, I figured I'd do something like that again. I real quick signed to TJ code 93-TRUST, which is just 'Fight.' He understood what I meant.
I stepped forward confidently with my head held high, as I pressed the button on my watch to freeze time.
"Now that we all have some alone time," I said while pressing the watch back to TJ, unfreezing him, and stepping closer to Mark and Fredrick. "Let's play a game."
TJ immediately sprung into action, punching Mark square in the right of his face, which sent him flying off his feet. Immediately after, Fredrick threw a kick to TJ's ribcage, which he caught and tossed back like prime Johnny Bench in 1970. Fredrick quickly landed back on his feet and shook off whatever it was bothering him.
Perhaps he hadn't realized just how strong TJ was.
TJ was no normal human being. The best way I can describe it is that he is a genetic freak. Like I've already talked about, he has hyperthymesia which is a condition that basically gives you perfect memory. Although, it is a lot harder to use and control with low IQ, like in TJ's case.
This isn't the only thing wrong with him, though. He also has a rare condition called Enhanced Actin-Myosin Efficiency. Actin and Myosin are two proteins that control muscle contractions. He has an extremely enhanced form of both of these, which leads to him basically having superpowers. TJ has performed some incredible feats with this, such as outrunning not only a cheetah, but also Olympic level runners. Without so much as breaking a sweat. His genetic mutation lets him go from 0 to 100 in the blink of an eye, which is how he pulled off those feats. Another thing he's done is lifting an entire fucking truck. The thing is, he didn't even struggle to do it. He just did it.
TJ is a fucking monster.
Mark had finally struggled back onto his feet and immediately sent a punch aimed for TJ's jaw, while Fredrick went for the leg. In a second, TJ performed the most diabolical roundhouse kick I've ever seen to Fredrick's jaw, which sent him flying back, and caught Mark's punch inches away from his face. Before I could even finish processing all of this, TJ delivered two sharp punches to Mark's chest, which sent him sprawling to the ground, unconscious.
I looked at TJ, who was barely breathing any heavier than normal. He just took down two superhumans like they were nothing more than pesky insects.
Insane.
"You seem to have underestimated TJ's ability to fight." I called out to Fredrick, who had just stood back up.
He looked like he tried to say something, but with jaw rotated 360 degrees, it looked like it'd be a little difficult to do that.
Fredrick looked down at his hands and thought something. I wonder… has Viktor's plan worked? Does he feel normal human emotions now?
Nah.
I looked at his body language, he was furious. His thought process probably went along the lines of Oh I just lost, I'm gonna go on an anime training arc to prove I out scale TJ!! …or something like that.
A part of me wanted to tell TJ to finish him off right here, right now. But then I thought, would Viktor be happy with me if I did that?
Could he even stop me?
Then another part of me thought something entirely different…
Where's the fun in that? This is the most I've had in forever, I'm outsmarting a genetically created superhuman.
And I am going to continue doing that. Although, maybe Fredrick would come back faster than even I could predict…
Not a chance in hell.
"Damn, Fredrick," I started, and he immediately locked in on me, his eyes cold and full of rage. "That was kind of embarrassing. Do not worry, we'll unfreeze time so you guys can get help. We'll be long gone, however. I would rethink this whole 'perfection' thing you've got going on. You will always be one step behind me."
And with that, TJ and I took our leave.
…
After walking about a mile or so down the road toward the warehouse, I unfroze time.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
TJ asked, scratching his temple.
I nodded and continued to look forward, the sun shining rays down the thick overhead of the forest we were travelling through. The ground beneath our feet squelched with every step, likely due to the rainstorm that happened a couple of days ago. In the distance, I could hear mosquitos making their calls, things roaming through the woods, breaking branches. There were cute, fuzzy little rabbits I saw jumping about here and there as well. I always loved venturing through these woods as a kid, especially being able to pet the rabbits.
"Yes. I would've done it sooner, but we can't magically teleport out of there. The idea is that if they're frozen for too long, they'll be able to call back up from the Arcane Syndicate. Either to track us, or get their advanced medical equipment."
TJ looked up towards the sky, deep in thought.
"I remember doing all the research, but nothing ever came up about this medical equipment."
I curled up my fists, then calmed myself down. Sometimes it was difficult working with people this slow in the brain.
"Well, I made an educated guess. Mark was able to track me through my old phone, and also get access to the flights we purchased, which is not information that easily accessible to normal people. This means the Arcane Syndicate has very advanced technology. They also have been running an experiment to genetically breed human beings behind the scenes, I think it's safe to assume they have advanced medical equipment as well."
"Well then, why can't Mark track your new phone?"
I smiled.
"I'll let you try to figure that one out. Back to what I was saying earlier, though. I want them in a normal hospital and not whatever super doctor house they have in the Arcane Syndicate to buy us time. Both Mark and Fredrick know that we're going to the warehouse, now. They're going to try to stop us from either getting in, getting out, or getting whatever it is that we are from there."
TJ nodded, finally starting to understand everything that I figured out hours ago, then stepped in a puddle, sending murky sludge all over our exposed shins.
"Aw, shit! That's so annoying!" TJ complained out loud.
"Worse things have happened, come on, TJ, let's move."
He looked a little upset, but continued onward.
After a few more minutes of walking in silence, the warehouse finally appeared in our view. I quickly took some time to survey it.
The warehouse was stationed in a clearing in the forest, with only the dirt separating the edge of the forest and the warehouse, this means we'd leave behind a mud trail. Not much we can do on that front, it won't matter much anyway. It's clear enough that technology has not advanced enough for them to frame as fugitives, or they're withholding that for whatever reason, either way, they can't get dogs to track our scent yet.
Next up, the security cameras surrounding the perimeter. After circling the area a few times, I have not been able to find any blind spots. Whoever set these up knows what they're doing. However, looking at the cameras, I can see what they look like. This may sound dumb at first, but let me explain.
Just knowing what the camera looks like is plenty enough for me to figure out how to get by them. I remember reading a book about different security cameras and how they operate. These are older models, probably from 10 years ago or so. How these operate is that there is a 3 and a half second delay between what the cameras pick up, and what is shown on the monitor they are connected to.
3 and a half seconds is not a lot, but it will have to do. I'll figure out what to do with this time after I take a look at the guard situation.
There are 2 entrances to this place. The back entrance is closer to the edge of the forest than the front, so we'll be using that. 2 guards are stationed on either side of the door. However, they both look like snacks for TJ, so they won't be an issue. Suddenly an idea popped into my head, and I whispered it to TJ's ear.
…
TJ and I slowly approached the bush right in front of one of the guards. As quick as I could blink, TJ reached and grabbed one of the guy's ankles, dragging him into the underbrush, then knocked him out cold. The other guy, obviously, came running over to investigate, only to meet a similar fate.
"Now, we wait."
Everything was going exactly as I had planned it.
After about a minute or so, another guy came.
The guy in the security room.
Since there was nobody left in the room, I confidently strolled out of the bushes with TJ in tow.
They lifted a gun and pointed at us.
"Freeze! I won't hesitate to shoot."
I shook my head.
"You're already too late."
As I said that, TJ lunged for his throat and knocked the man out before he could even pull the trigger, then cracked his knuckles. What a demon, man.
I didn't care enough to check if he was dead or not. The man left the doors wide open for us, thankfully, because I really did not feel like picking a lock right now.
TJ and I strolled into the building, immediately looking for the central control room, which would have access to all classified documents. After walking around for a bit, TJ and I found the room.
Yet, we found nobody else.
The cold metal walls around and the eerie silence of the facility, combined with the fact that we're in the middle of nowhere, gave me a strange sensation.
I felt a little scared.
I told myself we would get what we needed and get out. No funny business.
TJ and I found the control room and made our way over to it. Inside, there was a master computer. I immediately went to work, pulling all information I could, and putting onto an external hard drive I brought with me.
After a couple of minutes of waiting, while TJ and I look around for any potential danger, all the information successfully transferred to my hard drive.
Without a hitch.
I quickly pulled out the hard drive and plugged it into my laptop, running all my data decryption software. I heard a noise in the background, but I ignored it for the time being.
Jackpot.
I found the files I needed, they were hidden pretty deep, but nothing can get around the software I had, thanks, again, to the books I had read.
Pulling out the clues, the first one read:
"Where iron hands point to the past,
In the borough where time moves fast.
At the corner where Union meets,
Secrets lie beneath your feet."
Then, my laptop screen glitched out for a second.
I stood.
"We need to get the fuck out of here, ASAP." I told TJ in a panic, quickly packing my things back up and smashing the hard drive against the floor.
TJ started to freak out as well, quickly following me around.
"What's going on?"
"This clue is fake. I knew that they knew we were coming here, but I didn't think they had the time to do something. The clue leads to somewhere in New York, which is where their base is. They're trying to lead us there. We're going to go there anyway, but we need to get out of here before they do whatever it is they want to do with us while we're here."
I heaved my backpack back onto my back and quickly left the room.
"They were trying to put a virus onto my laptop as well, we got here just in time for it to do anything."
"So, what are we going to do?"
TJ asked as we scurried out of the room and back through the halls.
"I have a plan, do not worry."
As we rounded the corner, the backdoor was in sight.
Everything's been going too conveniently, something felt off. It would make sense, since they planted the fake clues, but they made it too obvious, were we just that fast? Did they not expect me to catch on that fast? Maybe it took Mark longer to wake up than expected.
TJ and I were about to run out through the door when someone appeared and we collided.
"Who the fuck are you?" A blonde girl asked.
Rebecca.
"I'm sure you can gather that much by now."
She looked us over with a disgusted look on her face.
"You must be Jeffrey and TJ, huh?"
"That's right, and you'll be coming with us."