The Civilian's Short Story

“I remember speaking to Mr.Freeman about ‘The Underdog Oath’. I remember when we first came up with the rules of the operation. I had no idea what I was in for, to be honest. The beginning was such a leap, but it was a leap I woulda been stupid not to take. I thought Stu was gonna take my eye out and replace it with a fake that had a camera in it. Turns out the jar of eyeballs was for practicing some unrelated intraocular implant. I had a whole vision of me in that surgical chair in the basement of the barbecue bar getting my eye removed while I was knocked. I can laugh about it now, which is good because there hasn't been much to laugh about since we escaped from freakin’ prison island. The United Nations have been under so much fire since ‘The Riot Of The Century’ as the media calls it. They deserve it though. You can't take the world's prison population and trap them on an island. Britain did it in the late 17th century with penal colonies in Australia, but now is not then.”

“Your gaht damn kittin’ me son, no way you was on the island”

“We've been hiding for the most part. Life hasn't been too interesting, that's why I'm out here now. I wanted to get away for the night.”

“Listen, kid, I don't know if I wanna hear this hogwash tail your twistin’ ” The man grabbed his drink. Lifted it, held it in front of his face for a moment, and looked at it.

“Screw it, I got nuttin’ better a do. But I don't believe ya and I think you're a little coo-coo” He took a sip of his drink.

“I've been driving a cab as a cover. I took this girl to a hotel. She paid me extra to wait outside and bring her back when she was ready. I drive her all the time. Anyway, while I was there I decided to drive around a bit and uh... when I’m in the cab you see my face is completely different then it is now. You know, for the cameras.”

“Nah, no... I don't” He said.

“Well, I took a side street and saw some kids getting robbed at gunpoint. I hopped out of the car and yelled into my watch. It has a name that I can’t tell you because if I say it it will activate and listen for a command. So I gave it the command that controls the nanomaterial that covers my hands and wrists. See you cant see my fingerprints right? It covers them too. Anyway, it was the command that formed the nanobodies into a device that fires a piece of metal that targets the barrels of guns and blocks the end. I fired it twice because I saw two old revolvers. There were four of them. No way I was going to take em all down. I yelled for them to drop the stuff they stole from the two kids. The two without guns ran off. One of the guys with a revolver pointed it at me yelling ‘who the hell do you think you are, I don't see no flashing lights, why don't you back off’ He had the gun pointed at me but his barrel was plugged. He probably didn't feel it get plugged because he was in the heat of the moment. 

The two guys who started running turned back when they noticed their boy wasn't phased by me. I told them not to fire their guns because I plugged them and if they fired, it would blow the barrel apart, possibly injuring them greatly.  I told my watch to form the nanobodies into the gun prop. You see the barrel plugs I used destroyed the integrity of the nanobodies and to form and fire a gun on top of that takes way too much nanomaterial. Not that I wanted a real gun anyway, that's not my style. 

So I held up the prop and told them to give back what they stole. Immediately one of them fired. The barrel of his gun flowered out and busted his hand up. He yelled and the other guy fired his gun before he knew what happened to his buddy. Same result. By that time I wasn't too far from the man but I couldn't grab him just yet because I was telling the watch to turn the nanomaterial back to the gloves. They ran up into a house on the street. I asked the kids what they stole and then went up onto the porch of the house. I told them to throw what they stole out the window and onto the porch or I was coming in. It was a total bluff. I wasn't going to risk going in. I waited about 20 seconds as they fought over what to do. The bag was thrown out the window and immediately I grabbed it and ran. I wasn't going to walk off the porch and risk getting shot in the back. 

I ran back to the car, gave the kids their stuff back, and told the em’ to take off immediately. I knew in the area there were gunfire locators but I still didn't expect the cops to show up that fast. As I was hopping in my own car and taking off I watched one come cruising down the street and get the lowdown from some lady who yelled to him from her house. I wasn't sticking around. I guess he wanted me as a witness or possibly I was a suspect because he ended up coming after me. I noticed him coming up the street after me as I was turning. I also saw another cop pulling up the house the kids ran into. I took off down the main road. I saw it was clear so I sped down the main road. I mean it was like one in the morning. I didn't go too fast, I just wanted to make sure I could get out onto a backroad. I yielded right after the gas station and flew down a side road. Luckily the next two lights were green and I flew past the grocery store in the strip mall and headed out of the city. The cop was right behind me and as I turned onto the main road out into the bushes I saw another cop come flying down. I picked up the pace and watched the houses dwindle down until there was none. The one cop kept trying to pass me but I wouldn't let him and it was getting more and more dangerous so I figured it was time to end it. I was driving a rare vintage checker cab that we paid a ton of money to get and upgrade. I mention that because the car is old and it doesn't have a computer system controlling the engine.

The cop was right behind me at the moment and the other was right up his bumper. So I told my watch to fire the EMP from the back of my car. It lodged itself in between the fender and I sped up as fast as I could and told my watch to set the EMP off at 30% capacity hoping it would cover both vehicles. It did and both of their integrated computers shut down. They trundled along for a bit and soon I was out of sight. I had the shell of my car shuffle around a bit and transform itself into a boxy old car that never existed. The paint job changed and the license plates flipped around. I went back to the hotel and waited for my client. 

You see, I can help people just fine but can I really help myself. If I have to deal with situations like this without causing harm. Making a situation more dangerous. Things like that. That's why I didn't want to drive too fast. You know and avoid the police because I'm an ex-con… I’m gonna get caught eventually. You see The Underdog Oath is a way of life. It's a set of rules I can't break. You know the quote that goes like… uh… in the pursuit of hunting monsters, one must be sure that he has not himself become a monster. You know. This was just a day in the life. The steaks get so much higher out there. You know and when I was sitting in the car I just wanted to tell somebody. Maybe because I feel like a badass. Or maybe because I’m worried it's not going to end well for the good guys. Anyway, I picked up my client and drove her home.”

I looked over and the man was gone. I finished my drink, left a huge tip, and walked out of the bar.