Chapter One

[Jacqueline Skinner]

Graduation is only two weeks away. Exams are starting to wrap up and the pre-graduation parties are already starting. The beach areas are almost constantly crowded with those who were set to graduate along with the usual tourist wave starting to roll in for the summer. The shops were abuzz with activity from tourists and people who needed last minute items for their vacation and didn't mind paying a bit extra for the over priced items from the souvenir shops.

Jacqueline Skinner, a seemingly normal young woman preparing to start her journey through life as an adult. Currently she was a Senior in high school, set to graduate with average grades not having anything below a C on her record. Her hopes was to get a scholarship to a decent college through surfing, having signed up for a contest for the summer that was supposed to take place in early July. The prize was a full ride to a school of the winners choosing and Jackie had an idea of what school she wanted to use that money towards. Even if she came in second or third the prize would be extremely helpful in getting her into California State University in Long Beach, but she had confidence that she would come out on top since this wouldn't be her first surf contest.

It was late in the evening, around 8 pm when Jackie finally got off from a grueling day of dealing with foreigners and disgruntled locals alike at work and she was more than ready for a shower, a hot meal and bed. To make matters worse her friends were starting to grow distant since a majority of them had the same idea with the surf contest as she did and they all started seeing each other as competition. It was as though years of friendship hardly mattered at all, showing Jackie exactly who her real friends were since alot of them were only out for themselves. Even her boyfriend had left her because of the contest and not wanting to have to compete against someone he was romantically involved with. So her day pretty much sucked all around. "How could things get worse?" She thought to herself as she walked home from the shop. That was always a horrible question, for things could always go from bad to worse.

As if in response to her silent question, a cargo van rolled up behind her, a van she had noticed since she had gotten out of school earlier in the day but thought nothing of. She was soon snapped out of her thoughts as she was suddenly grabbed from behind, a rag being pressed over her mouth and nose...then...darkness as she lost consciousness. When she finally woke, grogginess heavily obscuring her sense of direction, she looks around. She didn't feel right about any of this since what she felt was the opposite of a homely feeling. Rather, she felt as though she were in a hospital judging by the amount of white she could make out through foggy eyes. To add to it she found she couldn't move since her arms and legs were strapped down to the table she was laying upon. "Wha...where am I?" She calls out, hoping someone would be there to answer her question.

"Welcome, Miss Skinner. You have no reason to fret, you are in good hands." This ominous response was given by a male, the voice seeming calm and collected as though nothing was wrong about the situation. Jackie tests her bindings, a pinch in her arms causing her to wince lightly. She looks down, her vision still hazy from behind knocked out, though she could make out several needles protruding from either arm hooked to some sort of fluid. "What is this...what are you doing to me?!" She calls out, the realization that she was helpless dawning on her and causing her to panic. A warning buzzer started sounding as her heart rate increased heavily "Now, now. No reason to get excited. These chemicals being pumped into your veins will are relevant to your heart rate, the faster it beats, the quicker it works through your stream....now if you don't calm down the imbalance in your bloods genetic structure will surely cause your heart to fail and ultimately cause your death." The same voice speaking matter-of-factly as though this were a normal occurrence. This only caused Jackie to panic even more.

This was where things took a turn that was unexpected even to the doctor speaking to his captive youth as sirens started sounding. Jackie's heart rate skyrockets as things seemed to turn chaotic. "Reactor meltdown imminent, evacuate immediately" A mono-toned feminine voice calls out over the PA system, repeating itself over and over. "Shit...it would end like this, wouldn't it?" Jackie's thoughts turn to home, tears starting to flow from her eyes. "I just wish I could have seen them one last time..." With that, her eyes close. The very foundations of the building shake as a thunderous roar echoes through the halls, the sirens seeming to have stopped though the sound of a reactor exploding drowned out any sounds that would otherwise be heard around the facility.

The smoke clears, news crews all over the place as well as fire and rescue personnel littering the scene of the explosion of a Dynamicorp research facility near the heart of the city. Luckily the explosion was contained, having happened in the sub basement levels of the building. The rescue crews could be found picking through the rubble, looking for survivors or other bodies to add to the steadily increasing body count. "I got a live one!" Comes the call of one of the rescue crew, digging out the unconscious form of a young woman. The media crews nearly swarm the scene, hoping to get a comment out of the girl who seemed to be coming to, miraculously looking to be unscathed by the collapse.

[Desmond Church]

Desmond stands there watching the scene unfold. News crews, police, rescue workers all shoving him aside. They assume he is in shock, like so many of the other on-lookers, but Desmond was much more fascinated than stunned.

It was almost too coincidental that the Dynamicorp research building exploded as he arrived. He wanted answers and he felt he could possibly find them there, but now, with so many people swarming over the place, he could never hope to make it inside. He would have to search somewhere else.

"I got a live one!" a fireman shouted. People thronged over to the origin of the cry. Desmond walked casually towards the commotion. His hood up, he slipped his way as close as he could, just behind a police officer assigned to crowd control. He had to lean left and right to see past the officer, but what he saw amazed him. It was a young girl, about his own age, being pulled from the wreckage. She was pristine. No cuts, no blood. She was covered in dirt and dust, but was otherwise unharmed.

What was happening. How could so weight fall on a person only to have that person be completely undamaged. Desmond's curiosity peaked. Could this have anything to do with his own accident? He had to know.

Desmond decided to follow her. He needed to know who she was. The ambulance would let him know where they would take her. He moved in that direction.