DIGIMAN #1

November 2015. Artemis Laboratories.

"I'm in".

He jumped down onto the floor. He composed himself and looked around.

"All clear!"

He carried on walking down the corridor. The voice helping him keeps talking in his ear.

"Whatever happened to never hacking anything again?"

"Are you kidding me? Artemis are the best in the cyber-security business. It's a challenge..."

"What about your altruistic persona? The people's champion kind of thing?"

"Well, if people want to think of me like that then they're more than welcome to. Doesn't bother me!"

The voice chuckles.

"They could've come up with a better name for you though. I mean, Digiman? Really!?"

"It could've been worse. It's better than 'wanker' and 'criminal mastermind'".

"I suppose. Even so, 'Alan Turner: Digiman' still sounds ridiculous".

"Then don't put my real name in front of it then, idiot,.."

Alan reaches a door.

"I think I'm here. Check the schematics..."

There's a slightly pause on the comms. Alan looks at the door. Basic coded door. Easy peasy.

"Yup. That's the room. Are you really sure you want to do this?"

"They built it to try and slow me down. Might as well give it a trial run!"

"Couldn't you just wait a few days?"

"Nah. Too impatient".

As he finishes this sentence, Alan retrieves a device from his backpack. He holds it against the coded keypad and presses a button. It whirs. After a few moments, it stops and falls back into Alan's hand. The door opens.

"I'm in".

"Ok. Disabling cameras now".

As Alan looked up, the camera started to point downward and shut down. He smiles and looks dead ahead. The room is full of towers and wires all interconnected into each other like copper bridges. Alan walks into the room and roams among them, amazed at the amount of technology in the room. Towers almost as high as the room loom over him like a technological metropolis.

"Are you getting this, Tom?"

"It's beautiful..."

He looks straight ahead and notices a solitary computer at the edge of the room. A seemingly weird oasis in the jungle of wires around and above him. He walks up to it.

"This must be it..."

Thunder can be heard faintly outside. It doesn't even catch Alan's attention.

"Alan, we've got a storm coming in..."

"We're not stopping now. Got this far. Might as well get the home run..."

He cracks his fingers and leans into the keyboard. He presses the on button and the screen springs to life.

"Ha. This shit runs on Windows 8!"

He goes on to do what he's best at. He starts to hack into the computer. The screen turns into code as Alan furiously works at the keys. He smiles and laughs as he does so.

"It's fighting back. They may actually be onto something good here!"

He continues to fight the computer until, after about 5 minutes, the computer gives in. The screen turns a bright white as the data on it fades away into seemingly non-existence. Alan jumps back and puts his arms in the air in celebration.

"DIGIMAN, 1 - ARTEMIS, 0! SUCK IT, GRINGON!"

"Like Gringon's going to care. And did you really just call yourself 'Digiman'?"

"Let me have this..."

The screen changes colour and the change catches Alan's attention. The desktop comes on to reveal a single file on the menu. He looks at it curiously.

"Well, as I'm here..."

He clicks on the file and it opens up to reveal a single document. Letting his curiosity to take him, he clicks on it and reads what comes up. Suddenly, his face becomes very sour. He can't believe what he's reading.

"Holy shit..."

"Alan? What is it?"

"They're insane..."

"What is it!?"

"I opened a file and...Tom...it's...disgusting!"

"Is it porn?"

"NO! It's...I don't know how to describe it...a battle plan maybe?"

"Battle plan? Against who?"

"I can't make out all of the names. There's a few here though. I don't recognise any of them...Ghost...Speedfreak...Elemental...Shade...Beau...Silver Spectre...NO...WAIT...THEY'VE GOT BLACK DRAGON ON HERE!"

"The vigilante woman?"

"What are they all doing on here?"

Alan continues to look deeper and deeper into the file. The thunder gets closer.

"Alan, the storm..."

"This is huge...I have to find a printer..."

"If you get hit by the storm it will surge! And we've taken down the protections!"

"Someone's targeting Naturals and Augs! I want to know why!"

Alan continues deeper, and deeper, and deeper before finally stopping. His face sours even more than before. He steps back in shock as he reads it.

"They want them dead..."

"What!?"

"They've found a way to kill them...they're going to wage war on the Naturals and the Augs..."

"How?"

"By turning them on each other...This is a hit-list..."

"So? Let them fight! They have the powers to do so!"

"Innocent people are going to get hurt..."

"Since when did you care?"

"Since I realised you and I are two of those innocents!"

The thunder and lightning return once more and brighten Alan's shocked face. He pauses for a moment before looking determined.

"I'm going to rewrite the protocols..."

"Alan, we don't have time!"

Alan gets to work. The thunder and lightning become more and more frequent. Alan furiously types in an attempt to email the list to someone as well as rewrite the plans.

"Come on, don't give up on me now..."

"Alan...the lightning..."

The towers around him start to whir back into animation. He looks around but continues working.

"Alan, I'm getting a major spike in electrical activity. Get out NOW!"

" I'M NOT DONE YET"

He types a little more...and a little more...before finally...

"DONE"

As he says this, a bolt of lightning hits the building and surges through it like it's on water. It goes into the towers and starts to spark between each other. Alan looks around in horror as a concoction of electricity and other substances from the labs mixed in it fly around the room between the conducting towers. He sees the door starting to close and decides to make a run for it. He does so, dodging the bolts of light as they pass between the towers. 

"GET THE CAR READY!"

Triumphantly, he nears the door. As he does, he hears a buzzing. He stops, turns to his right and sees a beam fire right at him. The beam hits his head in a flash and he screams in agony as he's electrocuted from head to foot. After about 10 seconds of electrocution, he falls to the floor. Fading away as he does.

The room is empty as the attack subsides. With a lonely voice calling out...

"Alan...Alan...can you here me? Did you make it out!?