A Hero's Song (Darkest Secrets Volume 1)

Chapter 2 - Omen

Each muscle was designed to act in the same way as the strands of protein in a person. They used hollow bundles of polymer, filled with liquid mercury that produced force through hydraulic pressure. They would amplify his natural strength and speed to Class 4.

While Gabriel was lost in thought, Jimmy - one of his main Handlers - walked up to the door of the lab dome, pressed his finger to the reader, and walked inside.

"Hey, Gabe! That fight was crazy! Hope you healed well with that food we left out for you. I made sure to ask for your favorites!" He almost shouted with energy. "It's almost time for the debrief. Professor Holmes is here, he showed up out of the blue. Are you ready?"

Gabriel watched him, paying close attention to his upbeat expression and honest eyes. Almost instantly, Gabriel knew that Jimmy had nothing to do with the robot. Nothing was hiding in his expression. He just liked Super brawls. It was his partner that enjoyed the actual physics of it.

Gabriel felt guilty for suspecting Jimmy of possibly being involved in what could have been anything from a deadly prank to an honest attempt on his life. The man had taken care of Gabriel since he had been "born". He and his partner, Harold, had been his primary caretakers since the start of Phase 2.

Jimmy had passed on his obsession with Heroes and the Sentinels when Gabriel had been young. He was the only scientist to want to bond with the clone in earnest. Where the others only saw him as an experiment, he had been Gabriel's only source of joyful human contact.

They would talk for hours, and as Gabriel grew taller, their conversations had grown deeper. He had long thought of Jimmy as his emotional life preserver. The one person he could share his doubts and fears with.

"Yes Jimmy, I healed up quite nicely. Thank you for asking. I'm ready." Gabriel began to walk quickly towards the exit, passing the approaching scientist. "Which conference room is it today?"

Flinching at the sudden, blurry movement, Jimmy turned to follow the Super out of the lab at a jog. "It's room 1 today, so on this floor."

The pair walked towards the conference room through the 3-mile long hallway outside. This level - deep under the city of Houston - the secret third basement of the Iodine Building, was shaped like a capital T. Two large rooms - one of which was Gabriel's lab - sat on the ends of the arms and the huge training room in the hall intersection of the basement.

The other end of the T held Lucian's room, but Gabriel was never allowed on that side of the facility. In the long hall between both brothers were hundreds of doors to smaller labs. Where Iodine's scientists were hard at work developing new tech, much of it based on Gabriel's discoveries.

Reaching conference room 1 a few minutes later, they settled into comfortable reclining chairs set up around a table to wait for the other participants. Harold stomped in as they got situated. A scowl on his face, as usual, and a new stain on his lab coat over his belly. He'd just sat down when Professor Holmes walked in, wearing an emerald green topcoat and pants ensemble; customary cane in hand despite having no limp.

A world-famous scientist many decades before Gabriel existed, Holmes still looked under 30. Not aging past their prime was common among Class 3 and higher Supers. Nobody on the Net knew what Holmes' power set was, and no one had ever been able to get a straight answer in interviews.

Holmes rarely made an appearance at Iodine, always off on some mysterious business trip or another. According to the hidden logs Gabriel discovered, most of his trips were black market deals. Holmes had always given him the creeps.

"I understand congratulations are in order Gabriel. Your AM Cannon tests are complete!" Professor Holmes said in his British lilt. "We can begin Phase 3 soon! I saw the footage myself and I must say, it was a marvelous show Old Boy!" He grinned from ear to ear.