Sensorama

Elias Wolf and Darrius Krieger, 11 and 12 respectively, sit in the very empty rec room of the Sesorama, a place for Sensories like them. They had been training for weeks, never thinking they would ever get a field assignment till they were WAY older, but training gave way to something else...

Krieger: Face it, he wants us BOTH dead!

Wolf: Yeah, but wanting and getting are two very different things. Otherwise everybody who ever played the lottery would be a millionaire. And, for the record, I'm pretty sure he only wants YOU dead.

Krieger: It was a slight miscalculation. It could've happened to anybody.

Wolf: No, crap-head, it could've only happened to you.

Two Weeks Earlier

Journal Log, Project Sensory, Entry #55816, Maj. Elizabeth Ryerson reporting. I have had to dispatch two of the apprentice Sensories, Wolf and Krieger, along with Staff Sgt. Ethan Law, to deal with the situation regarding our rogue agent: Nardo Idlewilde. They're both so damn young, but with Wolf's tracking ability, and Krieger's second sight, I feel despite their ages, having them work in tandem with Sgt. Law is the best option for successful termination. I just hope those boys know enough to stay out of Law's way when the bullets start flying. Law is good, but Idlewilde is deadly. And no one knows that better than Law, a fact I kept hidden from our prepubescent duo, for their own good of course. Since neither one of them can shave yet, the last thing they needed to hear was that their first field assignment could very well be their last. End Report.

Combat Log, Entry #34562, Sgt. Ethan Law reporting. The two brat Sensories Ryerson stuck me with got us pinned down in an alley, behind a dumpster. We are taking heavy fire from sanction target: Idlewilde. More to follow.

Law: Damn it, Wolf. I thought you said he had come down this alley!

Wolf: His scent did!

Law: Yeah, well, now he's shooting at us from across the street, dumbass!

Wolf: Hey! We weren't briefed on the fact that he was a trained agent.

Krieger gets a FLASH of precognition. In his mind he sees just as plain as a 3D movie: Idlewilde with Law at a gun range shooting Glocks.

Krieger: He trained YOU! Didn't he, Sarge?

Law: Get out of my head you lil freak, and keep YOUR head down!

Krieger: Look, Sarge, I know you're more comfortable dealing with a Fiver like Hound Dog Boy over there--

Wolf: Careful, I bite. Especially when we're about to get picked off by Mega Death over there.

Krieger: I just mean when you're dealing with Master Smellovision, he's a Fiver Sensory. One of the ones with enhancement of one of the original Five senses. But my enhancement is the Sixth Sense... ESP... You may find it intrusive and it might not be as reliable as Wolf's sniffer, but then again whose ability got us trapped in this alley?

Wolf: Lick me where I can't reach, Dary.

Law: I read your dossier, Krieger.

Krieger: Yeah, but my recapping it for you passes the time, and takes my mind off my impending death.

A bullet pings off the dumpster very close to Wolf's head.

Wolf: Is this nut ever gonna run out of bullets?

Law: Not likely.

Wolf: If he wasn't using a silencer I'm sure the cops would've shown up by now. Even in this neighborhood.

Krieger shudders as he has another precognitive moment.

Krieger: Hey, Sarge, I got something. If we go further down the alley, there's an open door.

Law: An open door to where?

Krieger: Not sure, but if it leads to the back end of one of these restaurants, at least it gets us out of this friggin' alley.

More bullets bounce off the alley floor, the dumpster and the walls.

Wolf: This doink CAN'T be this bad a shot!

Law: He's toying with us. Just laying down rounds to intimidate us.

Wolf: Well, trust me, I'm intimidated!

Krieger: Sarge, I'm telling you our only chance is to go further down the alley.

Wolf: And get trapped even worse without even this very smelly dumpster for cover?! I vote: NO!

Law: And I'll take that under advisement, when this becomes a democracy, Wolf. Krieger...?

Krieger: I know there's an open door down this alley. I know it! Just like I know that open door will save our lives.

The firing stops. The sudden dead silence is palpable.

Wolf: He must be reloading.

Law: Or moving in. He was gunning at us from a higher vantage point across the street. If he's repositioning, he's coming in for the kill. Scoot down the alley, you two. I'll lay down cover fire.

Wolf: Uuuuuuh... You're good at that, right?

Law: Shut-up and move! And you'd better be right, Krieger. GO!

Law begins spraying bullets in the general direction of the previous assault. Krieger and Wolf move like jack rabbits during mating season.

Our intrepid trio arrive at the end of the alley to find an old refrigerator laying on its side, its very rusty door wide open.

Law: CRAP on a stick!

Krieger: Well, ya gotta admit... It IS an open door.

Law: Shuddup, ya little--

Wolf: COOL IT!

Wolf sniffs the air.

Wolf: Smell that?

Krieger: All I smell is bad Chinese food.

Law: Prolly the restaurant that threw out that ratty fridge.

Wolf: No, guys the wind's changed and I smell...

Wolf looks down the alley, and pokes the other two to do the same, and there, in silhouette, raising his assault rifle is...

Wolf: ...Idlewilde.

Law pushes the boys behind him as he begins to draw his Glock from its holster. He would be too late, if not at that very moment... An old Chinese cook comes bounding out of the back kitchen door of the smelly Chinese restaurant, lighting a cigarette and cursing in Mandarin.

The old man manages to get Idlewilde's attention just enough to cause him to hit Sgt. Law in the upper right shoulder with his first volley. Fortunately, Law is a lefty, and the three shots he fires center mass at Idlewilde insure there won't be a second volley coming in the Sergeant's direction.

Krieger: SARGE!

Wolf: Don't panic, Krieger.

Wolf relieves the still frozen in fear Chinese cook of what appears to be a clean enough dish towel and darts to Law.

Wolf presses the dish towel into Law's wounded shoulder.

Wolf: Direct pressure.

Krieger: Isn't it gonna hurt?

Wolf: Yeah, well, bleeding to death hurts worse.

Wolf sniffs the air and scowls. The other two join him in the grimace as they look up to see a huge puddle of urine forming under the trembling cook.

Beyond the old man, the trio can see steam rising from the open kitchen door.

Law: Krieger... Now that's what I call an open door.

Our trio begin to laugh as more Chinese cooks emerge from the doorway, as the old man begins cussing again, in stuttering Mandarin this time.

TODAY

Back in the rec room, Wolf and Krieger absently play cards.

Krieger: Do you think his shoulder's ever gonna work right again?

Wolf: Guess we'll find out today, when he comes in to strangle you with his left hand.

Krieger: Thanks, for making it WORSE, Eli.

Wolf: Can't get much worse for you, Dary. I got GIN!

Wolf lays his cards on the table as a speaker on the wall above them crackles with Maj. Ryerson's voice.

Ryerson: Wolf! Krieger! My office. And double time it!

Krieger: I think it just got worse.

In Ryerson's office, the Major sits at her desk. In the corner of the room Gen. Samuel Calvares stands at a parade rest, silently watching, as Wolf, followed reluctantly by Krieger, enter.

Ryerson: So boys, ready for your peer review of your first, and so far only field mission?

Krieger: Peer review?

Wolf: Are we reviewing each other?

Ryerson: Boys, have you forgotten so soon who was the leader of your mission?

Krieger swallows hard as through the opposite side office door enters Sgt. Law. His right arm still in a sling. He looks at the boys and smirks.

Ryerson: Sergeant... I know you've already submitted your written report of what happened in the hunt for Idlewilde, but why don't you tell the boys here exactly how you felt they did?

Both boys look down, like a pair of French dissidents at the guillotine.

Law: These two talky-squawky brats near about got me killed. Nose boy followed a set up scent trail right into a trap, and psychic boy didn't see it coming at ALL. They got us stuck in the biggest pile of horse pucky since my last fire fight in Afghanistan. BUT... They never panicked. They stayed cool under fire, and I mean a buttload of fire, Major. Krieger's sixth sense proved invaluable in saving our bacon, and Wolf made sure the wounded survived, and since the wounded on this mission was me... I owe him. Frankly, Major Ryerson, I owe them both.

Wolf: Cool kumquats!

Krieger: You mean it, Sarge?

Ryerson: Oh, I think he means it, Krieger. The Sergeant has requested that you two be permanently assigned to him. From now on you three are a field team.

Wolf: Huh?

Krieger: What?

Law: You heard her, scrubs! But now's when the fun starts. I get to train you for the field, my way! And my way, young gentlemen... Is HARD.

Wolf: Sure you're not being too hasty about this permanent assignment, Major?

Krieger beams a smile at Law, as Wolf looks apprehensive.

Ryerson: Dismissed!

Law begins pushing the boys towards the door.

Law: You heard her, scrubs. Time to hit the gym!

Wolf: Gym? Like where you sweat?

Krieger: I don't mind the hard work, Sarge. I want to be beyond ready next time.

Law slaps his hand onto the back of Krieger's neck, and gives him a reassuring squeeze, as he nods to him. Krieger smiles back, Wolf looks nauseous.

The trio exit. Calvares walks up to Ryerson's desk.

Calvares: No, wussy assignments, even the first ones out of the box. I want those three tested.

Ryerson: It's quite a transition from controlled tests here at Senorama and actual field work. Those three left here a rag-tag trio and somehow transformed into something more, perhaps much more. I was quite impressed that they SURVIVED their little quest for Idlewilde.

Calvares: Law should've plugged him in the heart. Word is Idlewilde's recovering.

Ryerson: So I heard. And when he recovers completely and if he escapes again... You know who he'll be coming after.

Calvares: All the more reason for you to give them the most difficult assignments now, so that maybe, just maybe, by the time they meet Idlewilde again they won't survive the encounter simply by blind luck.

Calvares does an about face and begins to exit Ryerson's office. Ryerson taps the gleaming pearl handle of her service revolver, side arm as she eyes the middle of his back, but rethinks her position. As much as she wants to, and as much as Calvares may be deserving of a nice .38 caliber slug to the spine, the situation wasn't worth flushing her career down the toilet.

As Calvares leaves he closes the door behind him, the click of the metal in the door jamb breaking what has come to feel like quite the eerie silence in Ryerson's mind.

Journal Log, Project Sensory, Entry #56102, Maj. Elizabeth Ryerson reporting. As per Gen. Calvares, Law, Krieger and Wolf will be a new field grouping, specifically for Hunt Sanction protocol. I will give Law two more weeks to recover completely from his wound and for more robust training of Krieger and Wolf. Field assignments to follow. They should be ready. Perhaps they'll survive. End Report.