Garett sat at his desk biting his fingernails out of his nervous bad habit. He was administrator of the division that handled the Trackers. His skin always itched when the Overseers came by. The Overseers were the higher ups in charge of the entire Project. While many knew what inhabitants were in the Project, the reasons for its existence was unknown, that is except for the Overseers. The Overseers caused fear by the mere mention of their name. The Overseers liked pain and often dealt pain to the other groups to ensure order in the division of Corps. Garett surpressed a shudder, the Overseer that was visiting him was the worst of the bunch - known as Nigel.

"So.." a soft deep voice echoed through the halls, causing Garett to fall out of his chair as his heart fluttered rapidly. "What is the progress of Tracker sects 2 and 8?"

"I..I..." Garett looked around frantically trying to pinpoint the owner of that voice. His heart nearly stopped as he saw a tall thin shadow walking, no...drifting his way. While under normal circumstances, he would boast over these two units that he jurisdicted, he was still taken aback by the Overseer's presence. He quickly regained what little of his composure he could muster as he climbed back into his seat, and looked for his paperwork to hand to the Overseer. "As-s-s y-you can see, they're the best of the best in Trackers."

Nigel came into light and Garett was taken aback. The man had very soft features that almost gave him a feminine quality. His jet black hair hung straight over his shoulders and down his back. Nigel looked over and eyed Garett critically, noticing the growing pot belly due to much office work and buzz cut blonde hair. His thick glasses were covering much of his face but Nigel grinned inwardly as he could smell the fear in his scent and can see the terror in his eyes. Nigel picked up the documents from Garett and looked them over.

"Hmm..." he said looking over sect 8's statistics. "I'm disappointed, only 2 low level Teeks?" Teeks was short for telekinetic; those who had the power to move objects with their minds. These were a dime a dozen, he thought and scanned over sect 2.
He recognized these two. These were the girls that were marked because of potential that was detected childhood. "What are the powers that these two posses?" Nigel asked as he pointed at the photos of his inquiry.

"The girl here," Garett responded, "is known as Cross, she's got some 'pathic powers and some sort of sixth sense, we cannot determine." Garett moved his finger over to the other girl's photo. "This one, Cat, we've been unable to decipher her genetic code but as far as we know, she only has low level telepathic and kinetic powers as well." Garett noticed a small frown on the beautiful man's face.  "But, they have excellent records. They're my best." he amended.

"This is no good, I was hoping..." Nigel let his statement purposely trail off. No need to allow this low level cretin what was in store for these people. "What we have in sect 2 are Paths and one of them low level Teek powers." Garett nodded in affirmation.   "Hmm...well they aren't what we need in Corps." Nigel smiled at Garett. His white teeth glistened and his grey eyes lit up in excitement over his next statement.

"There will be a Culling." Nigel said. "Send sects 8 and 2 to be culled, they're no longer needed."

"What?!" Garett exclaimed in surprise, then quickly lowered his voice when he saw the menacing look from Nigel. " Sect 2 is my best unit yet sir, is this really necessary?" Nigel nodded.

"Do not worry about who to send out for the culling." Nigel smiled again, "I will send out my special units to take care of it." he looked at Garett's blanching face. "You just need to tell your sectors that they'll be on a special mission. I want this done by tomorrow morning at 700 hours." he finished.

"Yes sir." Garett nodded sullenly, he truly was proud of sect 2, and now... he knew better than to finish that thought, Nigel could probably read him.

"I can read you." Nigel replied and snarled at Garett making him shiver violently with fear. Oh he loved the fear...it was arousing Nigel even more so. He leaned over inches away from Garett's face "Just do as I say."

"Of course." Garett squeaked. Making Nigel grin once again. "It will be done at 700 as you asked." Nigel moved away and looked back at the pictures.

A pity, he thought taking another look at the two girl's photos they're so pretty too.

"I don't like it, Cat, I really don't." Cross protested as she squirmed into her uniform. "What do we need us for on this mission with sect 8?"

Cat sighed as she straightened out her own uniform. Cross was correct, considering that they were higher in rank than 8, but apparently the boss needed them for something, so who was she to protest. All it meant was more money in her purse and more of a chance to get the hell out of this job.

"Come on Cat, say something." Cross frowned at her friend. "You have to be thinking there's something fishy about this mission."

"Not really." Cat lied " I mean, what they probably want us to do is teach sect 8 our skills, and who is best to teach them but us?" Cat winked at her friend trying to ease her worries. She reached over to her friend and put a hand on her shoulder. "Besides it's just more money in the bank for us."

"Okay, you're right, but I still don't have to enjoy it." Cross pouted.

"What? You actually don't enjoy getting out of here to do a mission?" Cat playfully said as she pretended to check Cross' head for a fever, which caused Cross to smile. Cross usually was the one who made jokes.

Cat reached for her katana, as Cross reached for her gun, and both headed out their dorm.

As Cat and Cross reached the administrative center, they noticed two other men standing in uniform, and noticed their markings indicating they were from sect 8.  Both women gave a nod of acknowledgment towards the two men. Both were of great athletic build and had short hair cuts. One was a light blonde while the other was a brunette. The men turned at the girls, blinked and then saluted.

Cross could immediately sense sexual arousal and she immediately felt Cat's disdain.

Cat you're such a prude sometimes... Cross smiled back at the men and flashed them a sexy wink. Those poor guys are such horn dogs, at least they're higher rank then both of them. She could go after the blonde, he had great blue eyes. The brunette wasn't bad either but she always had a thing for blondes.

Garett walked up to the group. Cross immediately felt his anxiety,  as she held her gaze briefly,   his features relaxed. He then flashed a brief smile at Cross, which Cross happily returned.

What the hell was that?  Cat wondered as she observed the interlude between the two. She dismissed it as Garett spoke up.

"Allright, basically we have some disturbance over at the East Sector. There have been reports of civilian casualties and rather than allowing one sect to investigate I decided that it would be best to have two work together. Cat, I want you to be sect leader for this mission."

"Me?!" Cat gasped in surprise. She never thought herself a leader and now, this strange mission she was being appointed? Garret nodded in affirmation. He then  stepped back, and all four Trackers looked behind him noticing a tall man with a soft face. Nigel smiled as he came into view. Nigel glanced around and then focused his gaze at the two girls.

He's so beautiful...Cat looked back in surprise. There was something scary about that man though. Cat decided not to dwell on it as Nigel walked over to both of the girls offering his hand to shake.

"I hear that you are the best Trackers that the Corps have. I'm quite honored to meet you and quite elated that you girls have been appointed to this mission." he said with an engaging tone. "You must be...?"

"Cat, and this is Cross." as she pointed over to her friend who was equally entranced by this man.

"Nigel." he replied. "Well ladies and gentlemen do you need anymore briefing."

The group nodded, and Nigel went over more of the plans for their mission.

"Man this thing stinks worse than the sock." Mic Foley tossed his leather mask over to his gym bag, as Rock and HHH walked into the locker room. The half Samoan known as the Rock wiped some sweat from his brow as he went after the showers. Once again the matches have gone well and the locker room for the most part was in good spirits. The other athletes walked into the room all gathering their things. HHH glanced around for his gym bag and realized it wasn't in the same place he found it.
A blonde slightly smaller man, with a big toothy grin looked back at HHH and tossed him the gym bag he was looking for.

Many of the wrestlers were already planning nights out for their newly acquired funds from the matches tonight. The wrestlers were in good spirits and the locker room was bustling with activity. Soon X-pac came in with a silent Kane, which caused some of the activity to die down a bit. Kane, Undertaker's younger brother was literally the strong silent type. Kane took off his mask, which revealed features of dark Auburn hair, intense light colored eyes, and a scraggly beard. When Kane first arrived he had some really bad burns which covered part of his face, but McMahon had been kind enough to take him to one of the best cosmetic surgeons around, at the Undertaker's suggestion. Sure enough he had been restored where the difference is hardly noticeable, however, it did nothing for one problem.

Kane would not speak. No one around the locker room ever recalled Kane speaking, and when he did, he never did it without the device that was formerly used when people had throat cancer. It was an obvious part of the gimmick and Kane never bothered to use it outside the ring. Kane's silence was disturbing for the other wrestlers, although they'd rather have him in the locker room than his older more morbid brother.

"Come on.." X-pac directed Kane over to their side of the locker room. X-pac gave a nod to HHH and a man in braids known as Road Dogg  who was now entering the locker room, with a 6 pack and tossed a few beers over to his fellow comrades.

"So where we're gonna party tonight?" Road Dogg asked. Road Dogg despite stature was always the charismatic and good natured man of the bunch. He was also the party animal. He grinned and chugged down a beer, in which several other people in the locker room followed his lead.

"Oh I don't know, I could go for some old fashioned BBQ" a man with short blonde hair and a Southern drawl replied. Jeff Jarrret packed away the rest of his things. "Well then again I think I'm out for tonight, man my back is sore! The Acolytes always work so stiff." he frowned.

"Yeah well if you have a tattooed dead man as your manager, I think I'd be working stiff too." replied Road Dogg, grinning like crazy.

"Aww come on, you could take them." chimed in Foley who was putting on an old plaid shirt, and worn jeans. Foley turned to Road Dogg, "I think I'll sit this one out tonight too. I wanted to gather some motherboards from an old friend." Foley got up with a grunt and headed out the door.

"Of course I'm going, jabroni." Rock quipped in jest,  in when Road Dogg started to tally up wrestlers who were walking in and agreeing to  come along for the outing. Soon the locker room began to clear up and wrestlers were going in groups to their vehicles and out the door.

Stone Cold sat isolated listening to the music pounding in his headphones. The man usually stayed away from other wrestlers and put the headphones on between matches and after them. When he was sure most of the crowd in the locker room had left, he gathered his bags and started to head out, deciding he wanted to follow the guys, even if only at a distance. Besides he could use a good beer. He walked along not paying much attention to anything when he bumped into a young lady with shoulder length straight brown hair.

"Whoa, sorry honey." Stone Cold said as the woman started rubbing her shoulder. She looked at him with a quizzical look on her face, then spoke up.

"Have you seen my dad? I wanted to talk to him over some issues for upcoming storylines." She responded, not really too concerned about the big man bumping into her like that.

"Uh Uh, sorry." Austin shook his head. "He probably went back in the office, Stephanie."

"No, I just checked there, hrm..." she frowned, wondering where her dad could be. "Thanks anyway." She waved back at Austin as she strode off continuing her search.

Austin nodded at her and went back to the garage where his truck was kept so he could go join the guys at the bar. He figured after all the guys would go to their favorite spot, "The Den".

Vince had walked up to where the Undertaker's gang resided in while the matches were going on. He shuddered, as much as the guy freaked him out, he knew he was still a valuable asset to his company. He knew however it always came at a price and while he was usually willing to buy it, Undertaker's prices were high indeed.

Vince let out a huge sigh, as he tapped on the door.

"Enter." rang out a deep voice. As Vince opened the door he was surprised to find that Undertaker was alone, the Acolytes and Paul Bearer had left to go follow the group and join the party despite the fact they're precense was left to be desired by the other grapplers.

"I wanted to talk to you about having more members in your group. I heard you were still scouting." McMahon started.

"Yes...and?" Undertaker prompted.

"We don't have that many on our roster. We can't have you-" Vince immediately stopped when he looked into Undertaker's eyes. The glare almost made him piss his pants. Oh shit Vince thought.

"Fine. Then find more people to fill your roster." Vince nodded and decided he needed to leave this room as soon as possible.

"Sorry for disturbing you." Vince cowered and walked out the room causing the Undertaker to grin.

As the door shut, Undertaker went back into deciding who he wanted on his roster, mind body and soul. Hmm much of the men he elimitated and decided, that he will wait till Vince hired new folks for his roster. In the meantime he was going to make sure everything was ready when the new blood did enter.
 
 

© 1999 Harumi Kijima