Entry 13: Dusk Shine
So close, I’m so close to understanding the truth!
Dusk Shine was in his personal lab. The formula for the Firestorm Matrix was displayed for him via holographic projections. Through this he was able to see the many detailed intricacies of the Matrix as a whole.
Dusk was able to save many of Professor Neigh’s research, despite the good Professor’s efforts to keep his notes secret, Dusk Shine was secretly mirror copying all his data. There were so many mysteries about the Firestorm Matrix, and one of them was the two girls. Dusk Shine waved his hands about, making the hologram projector display the two Firestorm girls who had been thwarting their Firestorms.
He looked upon them both, studying them, scrutinizing them. He needed more information about these two, somehow they held the key to the Firestorm Matrix.
All the other Protocols are imperfect, even the one inside me. They’re all missing something, something that lies within these two! And then there was…that thing…Professor Neigh, knowing you, it’s not as simple as a single key.
Suddenly, the hologram projector brought up a display, showing that he was being called by the Big 3. Dusk Shine grunted his annoyance, he needed those impatient louts, but he was getting closer and closer to just finding them and roasting them alive.
They knew not the importance of what he was doing here, how important it was to him to bring the Firestorm Matrix to completion. With a grunt, Dusk Shine waved his hands about, closing out the holograms and leaving for the conference room.
The young man strode through the hallway, Organization soldiers stopping to salute him as he walked by, and waiting until he left to go about their business. He had power, the intellect, and yes, the killing instinct to achieve his ultimate goal, so he had to do what needed to be done, smile and wave, “yes sir”, “no sir”, and “as you wish sir”, all a mask, the persona of a smart yet loyal creation.
The only thing that kept him from being killed by the Big 3 was that only someone like Dusk Shine could understand the Firestorm Protocols, now that Professor Neigh was gone. And two: he was able to lead.
Dusk Shine entered the conference room and waited for the monitors to display the three men, veiled in shadows as to hide their real identities. Not like it mattered to him, he knew who each of them were, long before he first talked to them. Soon the monitors each came to life, showing the shadow silhouette of the three.
Miser, a name befitting of a man who’s only ambition was money. He made his money through both legitimate and illegal business practices, using the legal ones to mask his true money line. Weapons were his thing, his company, the biggest supplier of arms to the military, also sold weapons in the Black Market to terrorists, and the enemies of different nations who were at war.
He made his money from destruction and bloodshed, and if there was one thing that remained constant in this world, it was that there would always be conflict, and always someone in need of a bigger gun.
To Dusk’s right was Money Bags. He probably despised this man the most. This man made his money right where Miser left off. Only, instead of weapons, he dealt in something worth just as much as a big gun, a living person. Not many would admit it, not in the criminal underworld, but Money Bags had a hand in every human trafficking ring in the world, young boys and girls, ripped from their families, taken off the streets, or made to believe that they had no other choice but to sell themselves, he did it all.
He was basically a modern day slave owner and trader, his southern accent, it was all a ruse just to sound like he was a nice guy, but underneath that, it was a fake accent and a deceiving smile, hiding that he was every bit a monster as those they worked on in the facilities on the lower levels.
The last of them, occupying the center monitor, was a man simply called Foresight. Out of the three of them, he was the visionary, bringing them together to form the Organization. All of this was due to his leadership and equal wealth, he saw the world differently, and he believed the Organization could make it come true. There were some things about him that were clouded in mystery, but Dusk Shine wasn’t worried about it.
{Not once, not twice, but six, six times, Dusk Shine! Six times that these girl Firestorms have defeated our other Protocol recipients!} Miser shouted.
“Honestly, and with all due respect sir, those you have been selling to aren’t exactly trained soldiers or assassins, just those who have been able to pay your exorbitant prices. And, while we’re on the subject, how did an artist and a surfer get ahold of one our Protocols?” Dusk asked.
{Ah wouldn’t mind knowin’ that myself, how exactly did that happen?}
{Who cares how they got it, a deal was made, money was transferred, and somehow those two got it! We’re not responsible for whoever so happens to wrist it from someone else before they transform with it! Why haven’t you had your little teenybopper squad kill them yet?! I would think that freaky trio would have the necessary training to get the job done!}
“Again, the Sirens are only there to observe. What they have reported is that the two unknown Firestorms seem to originate from Canterlot City, USA. Their first appearance in that city could’ve been attributed to coincidence, there was no guarantee that they lived there.”
“But when the battle in Manehattan happened, they reported seeing two streaks of fire shoot through the sky. They followed them to the city and witnessed them engage a couple of our clients.”
{I cannot believe you simply allowed them to just watch and not render aid! Our clients would still have their Protocols if they had fought alongside them, the problem would’ve been over then and there!}
“That’s where you’re wrong, sir.” Dusk Shine waved his hand, making the hologram projector in the room activate. He then brought up footage of the battle, and showed the moment when both of them glowed. “See here? Their sun emblems glowed at the same time, and continued glowing for a set amount time, and during that time period their fighting capabilities doubled, allowing them to overpower the clients.”
Dusk Shine brought up the image of both girls.
“There is much we still don’t understand about their powers. We know they can remove Protocols, and absorb them into their bodies after the fact. I have observed the footage and deduced that, for whatever reason, the Protocol was split between them, one gaining some abilities and the other gaining another portion.”
“I believe that it is because of their incomplete halves that the Matrix within them is trying to compensate by pulling in other Protocols and absorbing their Matrices. In the process it seems to make them stronger, possibly giving them additional abilities that are still unknown to us. Until we know more, we can’t just blindly attack them, and risk losing more than we would gain.”
{All the more reason, to use Project Skull!}
Dusk Shine clenched his fists. “Project Skull was a failed experiment. The bonding of atomic energy to a living organism, it had adverse effects on the body. Need I remind you, gentlemen, why it was named Project ‘Skull’ in the first place?”
{We’re well aware, Dusk Shine. But unfortunately, every Firestorm we send against them is defeated for the very reason that they have Protocols inside them. Project Skull’s powers are derived from an alternative source of atomic energy, so the two girl Firestorms won’t be able to steal his power. On top of that, the specimen is a trained soldier, and has years of experience in combat. These girls will be no match for him.}
Dusk Shine raised an eyebrow at that. “Wait…you’re not saying you’re going to kill them, are you?!”
{What do you think, boy?!} Miser snapped.
“Sirs! You can’t, there’s still too much we can gleam from studying their Protocols! Professor Neigh obviously engineered that one to be different from the others! It could be the key to making the Firestorm Protocols perfect! Possibly even more powerful than they are now!” Dusk Shine pleaded.
{Sorry ol’ top, we can’t let this go on. The Protocols are plenty strong as they are right now, shoot, don’t rightfully know if makin’ ‘em stronger than they are now is a good thing, could end up blowin’ up the Earth. And no world means no more money and business.}
{It’s unanimous, Atomic Skull will be prepped and sent out immediately to Canterlot City. Inform your operatives and our other associates of the coming danger. Dusk Shine, have your Sirens remain on standby, should Skull prove to be noncompliant in ceasing further action, then we’ll need a way to subdue him. And the special skills of your operatives will help with that. Dismissed.}
Two of the three monitors turned off, all but Miser’s. Dusk Shine could tell that the man behind the screen was giving him a cocky smile and a withering glare to boot.
{Looks like you’re not as special as we were hoping.}
The monitor cut out just then, leaving Dusk Shine alone within the meeting room.
“You…I was not asked to be made…!”
7 YEARS AGO, ORGANIZATION BASE DELTA…
Dusk Shine was a smart lad, by most accounts he was a prodigy. He was able to grasp the basics of walking, talking, and everything else at an astonishing rate. And he was only one year old when he learned it all.
It was something that he could never grasp, but he didn’t pay it much mind. He learned about the normal rate of human growth, but somehow he was getting older within a few short years. He should’ve been at least three or five years old, but he was already ten going on eleven, and his mind was growing sharper with each passage of time.
He felt more like a teenager trapped in a child’s body most of the time, but then again, the scientists and doctors always said he was a “special boy”. Now he knew they didn’t mean it to be derogatory, but Dusk couldn’t help but feel there was an underlying meaning to it.
Until, one day, the young boy decided to find out about his origins. Hacking the Organization’s computers was a breeze, their cyber security was a complete joke. Dusk Shine typed away at the keyboard, his eyes roving over the many windows of information that popped up. His eyes caught sight of something strange and he stopped. Dusk moved a few windows around and found the one that popped out to him.
He gasped and nearly fell backwards on his chair as he bolted to his feet. On the screen was a girl, she had the same violet hair with a pink streak in it, the same lilac skin color, and purple eyes as him, but she was a girl, and yet she looked like him, but younger, at least six-years-old. Dusk Shine placed his hand against the image of the girl, she could’ve been his little sister.
“Who are you?” Dusk asked to no one.
The boy brought up information on this girl, his eyes widening with each passage he read.
Subject: #333108
Sex: Female
Age: 6
Entry 500: #333108 has displayed intelligence above the standards of the other subjects. Orders were given to have her education furthered with Professor Bill Neigh. Reasons behind this decision suggest that #333108 can help the Professor further along his research and progress in the creation of Project Firestorm.
“Huh…just like me. Why didn’t the Professor say anything about this?” Dusk Shine wondered aloud.
Entry 789: #333108 has displayed further advances in her intellect, contact with Professor Neigh has yielded a positive response to her growing knowledge. Despite Professor Neigh’s reluctance to take on a young assistant, the good Professor has started to change his tune a little.
The rest of the children are showing progress as well, but subject #333108 continues to excel more than the others. A simple sleeper agent may not be the best fit for her. Plans will be made to grant her a place within the Organization, provided with a simple reprogramming.
Dusk Shine continued sifting through the data and found a new entry.
Subject: #333108-02
Sex: Male
Age: 7 (months)
Entry 01: The raid on Epsilon Base was unfortunate, we lost subject #333108. According to Professor Neigh the soldiers who attacked us killed her and stole her body, most likely to decipher how we created the girl and the other subjects. It is a great loss, but not unsalvageable.
We were able to save some of the cells from #333108 and grew a new specimen. However, the higher ups have deemed it necessary to accelerate the development of the new specimen in order to make up for the loss of the subject three years ago.
Experimental growth enhancers were added to the culture in order to ensure that subject #333108-02 would reach maturity much quicker than #333108.
Dusk Shine paused for a moment, he then raised his hand and looked at it as if seeing it for the first time. He knew he was different, but not in the way he believed. So…this girl is my sister, but more like an older sister really…I guess that’s alright. Too bad she’s dead, would’ve been nice to meet her.
Entry 07: I did a test on #333108-02’s DNA, and the results aren’t good. As I feared, the growth enhancers have caused defects in his cellular structure. His telomeres are low, and getting lower. He’s already 5 years old and it’s only been two years since he was extracted.
His intelligence, as expected, increases exponentially in response to his rapid aging, the enhancers were only meant to get him to the age that the previous specimen was, after which he was to grow up at a normal rate. However, recent evidence points to the opposite.
#333108-02’s aging will continue to accelerate as time moves on, he could jump from anywhere up to two to three years, per year. At this rate his cellular structure will soon experience total failure, while he’ll look young, his cells will become older, and he’ll die, and by the looks of it not a swift death either.
I have informed the higher ups of this, and they have decided to continue with his courses. They wish to get as much out of him as they can before he expires. If we had the cells of the original we could clone a new and better specimen, and with the data gathered from #333108-02, we’ll know when the right time is to introduce the enhancers in order to avoid another failure like this.
Dusk Shine’s eyes widened, his heart thumping in his chest, body trembling in fear at what he just read. It couldn’t be true, he was going to die? He was aging too fast, and he was going to die within a few years? That just wasn’t possible, he couldn’t believe that.
The boy ran out of the room and headed straight for Professor Neigh’s lab. Some of the Organization troops paid him no mind, he was one of their creations, and he was a child, so therefore he posed no threat.
Once he reached the lab, Dusk Shine forced the door open and found Professor Neigh working on the Firestorm Matrix, two of them to be exact. For a brief moment, Dusk wondered what the other was. The first one had an orange nucleus, with white rings hovering around it, and small red orbs following the rings like electrons. The other had a crimson nucleus, the same white rings, but the orbs seemed to glow with a kind of aurora, rainbow color.
“Dusk, what are you doing here? It’s not time for our scheduled sessions,” said Professor Neigh.
“Is it true?!”
“Is what true my boy?”
“Is it true you taught a girl who looked like me three years ago?!” Dusk Shine clarified.
Professor Neigh’s eyes widened at that moment, his body became stiff as a board. “Who told you this?”
“I saw it! I knew I was different, I always did, but I never knew why! So I looked up some things in the database and found a file on a girl called #333108! You taught her, and she got killed by soldiers! Then they grew me to replace her, but they screwed up and my telomeres are defective! I’m aging too fast, and I’ll die within a few years!”
Professor Neigh grimaced at this as he averted his eyes, it was at this time that Dusk Shine’s eyes narrowed as his suspicions were confirmed.
“You knew, didn’t you?! You knew about my condition!”
Professor Neigh sighed heavily. “Yes my boy, I did know. They told me about their debacle, and I warned them against it when they attempted it!”
Dusk clenched his fists. “So why haven’t you been finding a way to stop this?! There has to be a way to fix me!”
“Dusk…”
“Did they just give me to you as a pet because you lost her?! Did you name me because of what’s going to happen to me?! Because I’m going to die!”
Professor Neigh walked up to the young boy, who looked up at him with anger. The Professor then lowered to one knee and brought Dusk Shine into a hug, surprising him. “I named you Dusk Shine, because, although your life is short, I know you will shine brilliantly!”
“I know it’s not fair Dusk, I know. Fate it seems is cruel to you and those like your older sister, maybe it’s the punishment of a higher power, for tampering within the realm of creation, a place that was once thought to be only God’s domain.”
“So what…it’s God’s fault I’m going to die in a few years?! My life, my fate, is all His fault?!”
“No, this is the fault of greed and power lust, of impatience and ignorance, man’s folly.”
Dusk Shine wanted to believe the Professor’s words, he had been a great mentor, a decent person compared to those who forced him to work, and those who created Dusk. The young boy’s teary eyes fell upon the two Firestorm Matrices, something clicked in his mind as he continued to gaze upon them.
“Professor…can the Firestorm Protocols save me?”
Professor Neigh separated himself from Dusk Shine and looked at the boy seriously. “I do not know, Dusk. It may be unwise to put all your eggs in one basket.”
“But the power it produces, theoretically, it can prolong the user’s lifespan and heal cellular damage upon transformation!”
“‘In theory’ are the key words here Dusk. Neither you nor I know what will happen once someone takes hold of these.”
Dusk Shine growled with frustration. “Then use me! I’m not going to live long anyway! At least if you use it on me we can tell if it works! Dying now or later, it’s all the same! At least for the time I do have the Matrix, I’ll be powerful enough to…to –!”
“To do what, Dusk Shine, to kill those who made you?! And then what?!” Professor Neigh asked as he stood to his full height. “Do you really wish for your life to end so quickly, if you want to cling to life then don’t go seeking ways to shorten it!”
“If I’m to die later then why not burn the whole world with myself! At least everybody then would suffer the same fate and I wouldn’t have to die alone!” Dusk yelled out.
Professor Neigh brought up his hand and slapped the boy across the face, hard. Dusk Shine recoiled at the blow, stumbling backwards as he held his throbbing cheek, staring at Professor Neigh with wide eyes.
“I don’t want to hear such talk from you! The purpose of science, of this thing they want me to make, is not to kill! In the right hands it can be more than just a weapon, and you, Dusk Shine, can be more than what they want you to be!”
Dusk Shine let those words sink in, they unlocked something within the boy, a part of him he did know he had. His mind was suddenly on fire with ideas, ways to prevent his fate, ways to exact vengeance on those who had created him and made him their puppet.
But most importantly, a way to use the Firestorm Protocols that would make even Professor Neigh proud of him, whether or not the good Professor was alive to see it in the end was another matter. But even in death he would do him proud.
Professor Neigh watched as the boy’s shocked expression turned into something else, something that made his blood run cold. A smile formed on Dusk’s lips, a smile that verged on maniacal and sinister. When he looked back up at the Professor, he flinched. Dusk’s eyes no longer held that childish wonder and curiosity, now they were cold, calculating, as if he was piercing through to his soul.
The young boy righted himself, standing up straight as he continued to smile at Professor Neigh. “I understand Professor, I think I know how to fix this, everything. Let’s continue to work on the Firestorm Protocols, and its Matrix, together.”
After that day, Dusk Shine was forbidden to work on the Firestorm Protocols, per Professor Neigh’s insistence. The higher ups didn’t mind, they saw the Professor making progress even without the additional help of Dusk. However, Dusk Shine wasn’t one to be left out of the loop. No, through the years he had been secretly spying on Professor Neigh’s progress, learning all he could about the Matrix and Protocols. All while playing the part of a good subordinate to the Organization.
Through his efforts, in seven short years, he had climbed the ranks to director and commander of their Science Division, becoming not only a rival genius to Professor Neigh, but also becoming a deadly individual. He had honed not only his mind, but his body as well, training with the soldiers in order to become more efficient in the art of killing and combat. He quickly mastered the use of firearms and martial arts. Even close combat weapons, such as the sword, knife, and almost all manner of medieval weaponry.
He even became their chief interrogator. Learning the ways to pry information from a human being by means of psycho manipulation, torture of the mind and body, and other methods that would be considered crimes against humanity. Dusk Shine was happy that he inherited his Eidetic Memory from his “big sister”, it cut down on a lot of repetitive lessons and allowed him to hone them on his own later.
The raid on Gamma Base and Professor Neigh’s sending away of the Matrix was an unforeseen event, but thankfully he was able to finish the Firestorm Protocols. But Dusk Shine wasn’t satisfied with that, no, he knew the Professor had something else up his sleeve, a perfect Firestorm Matrix, one more powerful than the others. A possible way to undo the future damage caused by the Organization, or so Dusk Shine believed, however…he was unprepared for what happened in Storage, and ever since then it’s been eating away at him.
The young man had hoped to find answers within Professor’s Neigh’s research, thinking there was something he missed. Now, unfortunately, time was not on his side, the story of his life really. He couldn’t turn on the Organization yet, he still needed their resources, but at the same time, he couldn’t risk his operatives, the Sirens, being caught in the crossfire. They were invaluable assists to him, and may prove to be useful later when he made his move.
Dusk Shine was trapped in a corner, his research into the Firestorm Matrix wasn’t yet complete, and there was still some key elements that he needed, elements that could make all the difference! But now, now the Atomic Skull would be sent out, and he would no doubt kill the two Firestorm girls.
All he could do now was pray that the Matrix the two girls possessed was powerful enough, and that the girls themselves were skilled enough to use its power. Beating Atomic Skull was not what he hoped for, at this rate, he only had hope that they would survive.
Dusk Shine strode out of the meeting room and down the hallway. He took out a comm. device from his pocket, placed it in his ear, and pressed a button on its side.
“Contact: Adagio.”
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Oh wow, this is getting exciting! I'm glad we know now about Dusk Shine's origins, though I still wonder how he met the sirens. Twilight and Sunset have a storm coming their way! Uwa I'm so nervousited!
I can't wait for the next chapter!
Hmmm....... there's something about all this that's rubbing me the wrong way. Dusk Shine is a really mystireous person, we don't know what his end goal is and even then there's something about him that I can't quite understand.
I'm not worried at all for Sunset and Twilight, if anything they'll just have some bruises from the fight. What I'm worried about is something else, to my eyes its seems like someone is pulling the strings so to speak and the Big 3 are just but puppets in all of this.
There something even more sinister happening in the background, in a way its so close but just far away enough that we can't grasp what's truly going on. But the question is who's the one pulling the strings and what are his/her goal's?
I don't know if I'm just imagening things but again, somethings rubbing me the wrong way about all of this. I mean clearly three men whose busnissess are so different from the others couldn't have come up with something like the Organization all on their own.
You could say that I have this sense that let's me pick up on things like this, but the point is that everything is pointing at someone more dangerous, powerfull, and wiser than the Organization is behind this, but I don't quite understand what creating the Firestorm Protocol and everything else that's happening could benefit this mystireous puppet master.
That's all I have for now, other than that, it was nice chapter and revealed more things we didn't know about the Big 3 and Dusk Shine.
Until next time.
You can't handle the truth!
Hm. Wait, creation, he's, like Twilight?
Hm-
Like Scrooge, but less Christmas hating, and more arms dealing.
I think I'm going to despise him too.
You should be.
Money.
Interesting.
I would like to know.
Atomic Skull, lime green, you're not being very subtle.
Accelerated aging, so he is like Twilight. Explains the name.
So, Dusk is a male clone of Twilight who has rapid aging like Star Wars clones to help him reach maturity faster. Interesting.
How sweet.
And thus, the little child became the local Big Bad.
Wonder how long he's last in close combat against a Jedi or a Sith?
From Nobody To Nightmare.
What are you planning?