The Adventures of Phineas Frakture (4 page)

Episode
7

Abraham Lincoln: the last man to be elected President of the United States…and the first to be declared Emperor Elect of the United States. Said to have gone mad after his wife was assassinated while at the theatre, he lobbied that threats from within were as grave as the threats from without. With the rising tensions between the superpowers, and proof of espionage and sabotage of technological advances, Lincoln took the idea from Napoleon Bonaparte that the nation needed a stable long-lasting leadership and, with Congress’ support, created the American Empire.

Already stretching through Mexico after the Mexican-American War, and later through parts of Canada, the Empire kept its policy of not allowing invaders to keep any lands they attempted to claim if the Empire had already conquered them. The same policy, already used by the English, created an ongoing race, involving skirmishes between nations, in order to gain some of the most strategic footholds around the world.

The letter Phineas held in his hands was penned by that very same man who had started the paranoia which laid the foundation for the new American Empire.

‘Doctor Heisenberger,’
it read,
‘I have reviewed the proposal for your “Monster Soldier” and have decided that your program would be of benefit to this great Empire of ours. Funds and all necessary materials will be at your disposal. Proceed with the utmost haste. The wolves are at our door. Let us send them something more vicious. Sincerely, Abraham Lincoln.’

A monster soldier. Phineas dug through the desk until he found what he was looking for: the doctor’s private journal. Scanning through it, he found the first entry regarding the monster soldier.

‘
I have set forth a proposal to the President. The man is mad enough that he might just approve of it. I received word of his desire to create soldiers to set upon our enemies once war is declared, soldiers who would be unstoppable and who will strike fear into the very hearts of our enemies’ people. My eugenics experiments would greatly benefit from the money involved and the fool would provide me with the materials necessary…’

‘…I have been selected and approved to proceed with my project. Little do they know, this is the beginning of their end…’

‘…work has begun in an underground facility. I have convinced the President, now Emperor, of the need for secrecy should enemies of the States try to stop us. Workers have been assigned to me and they will build my new lair to my specifications…’

‘…the complex is finished. The workers have concealed the entrance in the sewers where we may come and go in secrecy. Before they could leave, I threw them a party and the fools were rendered unconscious with a bit of tainted alcohol. Those who built my lair will become the first inhabitants as my slave army. No one will know where I am…’

‘Success…one month to transform an ordinary man into a controllable monstrous killing machine. The process, unfortunately, has rendered them unable to breathe normal air. A gaseous form of the chemical bath in which they are cultivated is required for them to survive. Environmental suits, like those of sea divers, must also cover their bodies at all times. They are slow, but magnificently strong. I have sent them out to garner more test subjects. Soon, my army will grow and all will be helpless to stop me. I will be Emperor soon.’

‘…The city is already cowering in terror and I have yet to begin my conquest. I have been sending them out only at night to increase the fear in the populace. Incubation time has been reduced to twenty days. Some subjects have retained a fragment of intelligence. They have shown a level of thought that the others do not possess. They should make excellent lieutenants for the rest.’

Phineas put down the journal, now sick to his stomach. This is all that it was? A crazed man’s goal to take over the Empire? For some reason, Phineas felt empty. All this time, wondering what was behind the abductions, the fear and the unknown…it was nothing more than a madman’s political coup.

He absorbed what he had read. Twenty days for incubation…that meant that the Dolonites had been active for the better part of the month, but why, if their master had been dead all this time, would they continue their mission? Unless continuing the mission was their prime goal until told otherwise…which meant that if they were not stopped…the entire city would be inhabited by Dolonites.

There had to be a weakness. Obviously, their inability to function outside their environmental suits was their biggest flaw; however, as Phineas had witnessed, it was no easy task to breach.

Once again, Phineas dug through the files, hoping beyond hope that there was something, anything he could use to save the city.

Abigail worked her way back through the field of containers and checked each one as she went. As she moved further down the line of subjects, their progress of transformation decreased, which meant that these were fresher captures than the ones near the entrance. She stopped suddenly and put her hand to her mouth to stifle a shout of surprise. Before her, in one of the tubes, was Markus Weatherall, a mechanic she worked with at the airfield. He had gone missing seven days ago, and no one had heard from or seen him since. It was assumed that he had quit his job and moved on as he had so often wished to do. She felt terrible that this was his fate. No one had even bothered to check on him. Like so many others down here…he probably wasn’t even noticed enough to be counted as one of the missing.

She looked at his face. It still bore some resemblance to the man she knew; traces of humanity were still evident.

His head suddenly picked up, sensing the motion outside of his tube, and he looked Abigail straight in the eye. A feeling of sadness emanated from his gaze, as if he had given into his fate. If there was any recognition in them, that he knew her at all, he failed to show it. Slowly, his head dropped again and his eyes closed, going back into his hellish slumber.

There was a noise off to Abigail’s right and she pressed against the base of the tube. Peering around, she inhaled sharply as a lumbering Dolonite walked past a few tubes down. Keeping low, she crept closer until she saw more, most of them assisting as unconscious captives were stripped of their clothing and then hoisted into the tanks. One of the captives woke up as he was being put in and began screaming. He was quickly submerged and, after a few moments of thrashing, he settled and began to breathe the liquid within. His eyes rolled back in his head as he submitted to the changes that were about to take place.   

Cautiously, Abigail snuck further until she caught a glimpse of a familiar face. William was encased three tubes away from the one they had just put someone in. That meant that he hadn’t been in there for long and there was probably hope to still save him. She turned quickly and, in her haste, knocked over a loose cylinder that was standing next to one of the tubes.

The clanging metal made the Dolonites turn. Abigail closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and muttered, “Oh, crap.”

Episode
8

Fifteen Years Ago

Doctor Wilhelm Heisenberger entered his home beneath the streets of New York, his house courtesy of the Empire. He threw down the day’s newspaper in disgust. The new Emperor, a former soldier named Grant, was talking peace with England and France, trying to end the impending war before it began. The man was tough, but Heisenberger needed him to stand firm against the enemies of the States until he was ready to make his move. No sense in having to fight two wars in order to conquer one country. Though, if Victoria was to invade, Heisenberger’s monster army could come up from below and save the nation from her heel…and he would be lauded as a hero of the Empire. That scenario could work as well, he thought. The might of his army would be unstoppable.

He flipped a switch on his desk transmitter. “MS Designate 378...report to me immediately,” he ordered into the microphone. It would be a bit of a wait; they moved so slowly, something he still hadn’t been able to breed out of them. But no matter, he had plenty of time…down below, hiding in the shadows.

MS Designate 378 was by far the most intelligent of his soldiers. Several weeks ago, a shutdown of the pneumatic system forced the doctor to frantically try to save a new batch of initiates. While he was working, he realized that one of the soldiers, 378, was working down the line on the problem as well…without instruction. He watched in amazement how this servant repaired the system without having any prior knowledge of how it worked. He soon gave 378 other tasks to test its intelligence and found that it had a high mechanical aptitude, something completely unforeseen. Others had shown signs of individual thought, but none to this degree.

The door to his office swung open and the telltale sound of the re-breather heralded the entry of one of his soldiers. Sure enough, 378 lumbered through, much quicker than he had expected.

“Ah, my boy. Please come in. I have good news for you,” he said with a thick German accent. “You have been showing much, much promise and I wish to show my gratitude.

“You see, I have noticed that you, above all, have been bringing us more recruits than any of my other children. You have also shown that you can lead, and fix the machines when they need it, without my direction. This makes you an invaluable part of our army. As such, I hereby designate you as Prime, general of our forces.” Heisenberger placed a template upon Prime’s chest plate and swiped a brush dipped in red paint over it. When he removed the template, a tattoo of a red star and crossbones was emblazoned on the soldier’s chest.

“You will lead the others in bringing back more initiates…every night. As the simpering cowards say, tonight will be a Dolo-night…as will every night from now on.” Heisenberger sat down in his leather chair and propped his feet upon his desk. “Those are your orders…go and carry them out to the best of your ability.” He punctuated the statement with a long string of maniacal laughter.

The earth shook and Heisenberger sat up, gripping the arms of the chair and looking around in confusion. “What…what is going on?” The earth shook once again, and the last thing he heard was the crash of the ceiling as a half-ton piece of rock smashed through and landed on him.

Prime, not comprehending what was transpiring, or even caring, for that matter, turned and navigated through the field of falling debris to carry out his orders. Unfortunately, the cave-in also blocked the tunnel leading to the surface. In accordance to his nature, Prime took command and the Dolonites began the long dig to the surface.

Now

Phineas sat down on the edge of the desk and tossed a rock across the room. There was nothing here to give him any idea on how to stop these monsters. Nothing. He rubbed his hands over his eyes and shook his head in despair. Shoving the journal into his coat pocket, he began to gather up the schematics and fold them for storage as well.

He was about to leave the house when an echo resounded through the cavern.

“
PHINEEEEEEAAAAAASSSSSSSS!”

One thought came to mind at that moment—
Oh, crap
.

Phineas bolted from the house and ran towards the containers. Abigail burst from the test tube forest and Phineas slowed her down as he grabbed her hand.

“Did you find him? Did you find William?”

“Yes…and all of his new friends. We have to get him out of that tube before it is too late.”

“Where is he?”

“On the other side of the mass of Dolonites heading this way,” she replied.

Phineas looked around. “If we circle around, maybe we can avoid them and give them a chase. That might give us enough time to get him out of here.”

They re-entered the maze as the first of the Dolonites emerged. “This way,” Abigail said, pulling Phineas’ hand. After enough running and dodging to get even Phineas lost, they came upon the new recruits.

Phineas quickly set to work finding a way to open the tube. “Did you see how they locked these things?”

“All I saw was some of them lowering one of the men in and another putting the top on. I didn’t think to ask for directions.”

“Typical woman,” muttered Phineas as he climbed on top of the tube.

“I beg your pardon, sir. You know very well that I am just as mechanically apt as you are,” snipped Abigail.

“Just watch for our friends and be ready to shoot them, please. We can argue who is better later.”

Shaking her head, Abigail turned and swept her pistol from side to side, watching for impending doom. It didn’t take long. The Dolonites were much smarter than they looked…at least the one leading them seemed to be.