Project X - Agents & Assassins [COMPLETE]

Chapter 24

The three of them hastily followed the pale-faced Scarlett and were led by her into the living room where the television was picturing a press conference with a company. A red balk was placed at the bottom of the screen with bright, white words covering it up.

BREAKING NEWS!

A nervous aura floated in the air and Kalea noticed how August and Thomas were looking at the television as well. She hoped Thomas was okay after he left them so suddenly without a proper reason. A woman appeared on screen and started speaking in an interview. She wore simple clothing and her face reminded Kalea of a reptile.

The man holding the microphone wasn't seen on screen but he asked questions about a certain man that was going to give a speech in just a few minutes.

'And are you afraid for his experiments? What are your thoughts on these agents?', the man with the microphone asked the woman.

'I am not scared, no,' the woman answered. 'I think that these agents are the best idea anyone has ever had for this country.'

'But aren't you scared that these agents might do something unplanned or do something destructive that they weren't meant to do?', the man asked.

The woman shrugged her shoulders and smiled. 'I wouldn't worry about it. Mr Adams wouldn't let that happen.'

A flood of realisation developed itself over the room and many held their breath while hearing the name Adams. The image switched to a large roofless auditorium where hundreds of people were seated on the black, wooden chairs that were taken out just for them. On the stage itself, three people sat on barstools and microphones in their hands. They didn't zoom in just yet on the stage, so no one could properly see any clear faces. After they'd shown off how much people were gathered they finally zoomed in on the stage when one man, who seemed to be the host for today, asked everyone's attention. Scarlett could hear her father holding his breath and the tension grew enormously in the room. She faintly recognized the figure of her former captor; Raphael but couldn't make out who the person next to him was. What was happening was purely the act of a man at wit's end with a call off desperation and getting help from the first person he could come up with. The man on the barstool shushed the audience and started the conversation once everyone was quiet. 'Now,' the man said, 'this is truly breath-taking news!'

Everyone could tell the man had a talent for show business and immediately grabbed everyone's attention making them all send quiet. The man laughed and continued the conversation. 'Tell me, for how long has this idea gone around?'

The man next to Raphael pulled his own microphone closer to his mouth and smiled to the hall and the people seated in those chairs. 'That's a very good question, Bob,' he answered. 'See, this is probably the longest project my co-workers and I have ever worked on.'

'But why was it a secret until this moment?', Bob asked.

Scarlett watched the interview very closely, just like everybody else in the living room and almost felt like being pulled into the interview. It felt like a typical interview and she almost forgot that that man, Raphael had kidnapped her only hours ago. Everybody in the living room wasn't sure what this conversation was about anyway and were all eager to find out why this was such big news in the first place. 'Now, for those who don't know yet what all the fuss is about, can you tell us a little more about your project? What is it's purpose?', Bob asked the men.

'A very good question again, Bob,' the man next to Raphael said.

Richard frowned his eyebrows in confusion. He'd never seen that man before and had no clue what his relationship with Raphael was. He quickly scanned the room and noticed how the elder people in the room were extremely tensed and wondered if they knew who the mysterious man was. For all he knew, that man could be a random stranger Raphael picked up from the streets. But then again, that wouldn't be the way Raphael would clean things up. 'See, I started this project with this fine young man next to me, about twenty years ago. We tried figuring out some new ideas and opportunities this country, no the world could have. But unfortunately, all our experiments failed and after four years, when we were close to giving up, we were blessed with a prodigious idea. We decided to call it Project X. We tried several things to make this project work; to machines, serums and other things. And in that same year we made our breakthrough. This man here, was the first person in the world, to create life of a human out of a machine!'

The audience applauded and cheered as loudly as they could while everyone in the living room had their eyes pierced to the television. Not one of them dared to say a word but they were all very aware of what they were talking about and who.

'That man is awesome,' Felix whispered softly. Faces turned to him in astonishment and misunderstanding. After Felix noticed that everyone was now looking at him he scraped his throat. 'What? Isn't it awesome that he could do something like that?'

Richard shook his head. 'Wake up man,' Richard said, 'he's the one that held you captive in his house!'

Felix's eyes opened in realization and looked again at the television. He'd never seen his captor. Hearing that someone who he would've looked up to had kidnapped him, he realized what he had said. 'It's okay,' Kalea said, 'he probably didn't recognize him.'

'So, these agents,' Bob said as he wiggled on his chair. All eyes were pierced to the television one again. 'These Agents are across the world?', he asked. Raphael and the man nodded. 'Yes,' Raphael said, 'Edward and I had all of our co-workers spread around the world and set the agents free to do good and protect the citizens of this world.'

'Well I guess I've had everything on my list,' Bob said as he stood up from his barstool and shook both their hands. 'Thank you for your time, gentlemen,' he said. The two of them smiled and waved goodbye to the audience, then disappeared from screen. The screen flashed again and went back to the program that was showing on that channel. August let out a sigh and stood up from the chair he was sitting in. Before he was able to walk away, Scarlett approached him. 'Who is Edward?', she asked, directly getting to the point. August kept silent, opened the fridge in the kitchen and took out a can of beer. Everybody watched how he took a sip of the can and put it down on the table. 'Who was that man next to Raphael?', Scarlett pressed on.

'He, Raphael and I all have something in common,' he started, looking Scarlett right in the eye. 'Raphael is my brother,' he said. Scarlett listened carefully. She remembered that Raphael had indeed called her dad his brother but hadn't paid full attention to his words. Now that he had everyone's attention, August sighed.

'And Edward is our father.'