> [Prototype] New World, Same Story
>  by Jomm
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> Prologue 
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       It was just a pony running for his life. He was trying to remove one of the two most lethal virulent organisms since the Black Death. He knew that the secretive organization that had hired him was eliminating all of its employees that had worked on the virus. He had been researching it, studying it, documenting it, and changing it. It was supposed to only harm specific racial types such as gryphons, dragons, and changelings. It's original function would be to hide itself in the cell, making it unnoticed for a large enough amount of time for it to reach every cell. Once it circulated throughout the body, the virus would tear the cell apart instantly. On that magnitude, time, and the amount of viral cells in the body, the virus would kill the host in minutes.



           He was just running without stopping. The urban jungle that was the crowning city of Equestria, Manehattan, stood higher than most pony cities ever could think to rise. Aside from Prance and Canterlot, this was one of the most advanced cities in the world. The strong military presence was threateningly close, and they have engineered weapons and cures that seemed only fictional, and are most common in fantasy games. The streets were also dark with surroundings that give you the feel of a gang related comic series that revolves around dark themes. Smog filled the air, and walking through the numerous crowds would give a small villager a small case of claustrophobia.



           One such stallion has made these streets his home. He adapted to the crowds, and they now hide him from the prying eyes of his executioners. Still, the stallion is easily identifiable among the large crowds. Although a recent trend making ponies in rich cities wear clothes covering the upper half of the body had recently came into picture, the leather jacket is not a popular thing among the upper class. In order to get one, you must have killed as a hunter for a dragon willing to pay, and then you must ask for dragon skin as a payment. Leather is a symbol for a dead tradition, and very few own one. The twin dragon designs on the back tells you who made the jacket. This article of clothing made this stallion an easy target.



              "Found him!" One of the pursuers called out from through the masses.



              "Shit!' called out the leather donned stallion.



              "There is ecape- ARGH!" One of the attackers had stopped suddenly.



           The chase had lasted for half an hour before the voices of the pursuers died down. Slipping out of the opaque crowds was a lot easier than the stallion had thought. 'Now to get this vial out of here.' he thought. Almost instinctively, he reached into an inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small vial carrying a dark, black liquid. Releasing a sigh he didn't even remember holding, he placed the vial back into his inside pocket.  He looked up and saw he was next to a familiar underground railroad station.



           Penn station.



           Releasing another sigh, he trotted towards the station. 'What's the deal with all these sighs? Am I getting tired?' He was nearing the entrance. Penn station was a massive building, much too large to be a simple train station. Plenty of trains come in and out of the city, and the security is lagging around this time of day. Although the sun tends to instantly switch from morning to afternoon almost instantly, the guards seem to fall asleep as soon as the sun sets. 'This is as good a time as any to start as any...' Beginning a quick trot across the street, the leather donned stallion was suddenly halted by an increasingly annoying voice.



           "Alex Mercer!" The voice echoed around the street a few times before the speaker addressed the leather-donned stallion, now identified as Alex Mercer, once again. "We know you have the vial, hand it over!" Alex didn't have a good look at the pursuers due to the crowds of ponies, and the fact that he was in a rush to not be seen by this pony. Now, he could see every exploitable feature. The stallions that were pursuing him were completely identical. They were wearing  suits, likely to reinforce the government spy cliche. The stallions also had similarly low cut manes, pants that concealed a cutie mark, shaded glasses, and the speaker had a stern voice. The other was silent. The speaker pulled out a magic compressor, or gun as the military called it, and aimed it directly at Alex. "We don't want to fight you, just hand over the vial... And we'll let you leave."



           Alex scoffed at the stallion's words. Let him live! This wouldn't be the first time these guys have said something like this and still shot whoever they aimed at anyway. These stallions can't be trusted, nopony could be trusted. These government stallions had resources everywhere, and they were watching every movement. The technology was new, and Alex designed a good portion of it. No, if he were to escape, he would have to kill these stallions swiftly. Pulling out the black vial, Alex prepared to throw it at the stallions. He then realized that he wouldn't make it twelve meters before he would die, breathing the virus or not. No need to waste the opportunity to kill these bastards on the chance that the stallions could catch it. Taking his final breath, Alex threw the vial onto the ground, shattering it. The black liquid seeped out.



           Alex didn't expect this, but the two suited stallions both placed gas masks on their faces. 'Well shi-' Seven loud bangs were echoed around the streets. Anypony who heard them immediately ran in the opposite direction. The no longer active body of Alexander J. Mercer fell ungraciously to the ground, landing directly on the vial. All around them, ponies began to convulse and immediately die. The two suited stallions didn't care in the slightest. They weren't paid to care, feel, or love. Just act. They were Blackwatch.



           One of them placed his fore hoof onto a wire leading into his ear. The other one checked the dead body. "Red Crown, this is Sentry 201, final scientist is dead, over." He waited for Red Crown to respond. Trotting over to his companion, he looked at the several other bodies that were having seizures. "Yo, Duke." He called out.



              "Yeah?"



              "Wheres the vial?"



           The suited stallion, Duke, turned the body over showing pieces of glass lodged into the corpse. He knew that his partner, Orion,  was asking about the black liquid that was in the vial. He just wanted his accomplice to know what he was about to say before he uttered the words. "The virus is gone, likely dissipated into air."



              "Crap..." Orion was silent for a moment.



           A buzzing sound was coming from his ear. Orion knew who was calling so he answered. "Sentry 201, have you acquired the substance, Codename: Blacklight?" Hearing Red Crown asking questions always gave him a shiver down his spine. The old gruff stallion behind the wires was extremely old. He was nearing retirement from his post, and they already have his successor picked out. A young, teenage mare with long red hair. The current Red Crown, a stallion with a deep hole where his file should be, was supposedly the grandfather of the mare. Even though you could hear his tired breathing, he still calls and answers his line clear and simple, like a machine. "Awaiting confirmation."



              "Yeah, Red Crown... About that..."



              "What is it, Sentry 201"



              "The specimen, Blacklight... Evaporated."



              "... Please, repeat again. I know in my old age, my hearing has faded, but did I just hear you say-"



              "You are correct, Red Crown. The specimen is scattered with the wind."



           For five whole minutes, the entire radio channel for Red Crown was silent. Nopony knew what to say next. They had been killing scientists for months to get this one thing, and it's now gone forever. Red Crown was furious beyond words. He was just about to call Orion over so he could strangle the stallion with his own old bones. In Blackwatch, failure could lead to the the world ending, quite literally. Red Crown was inches away from uttering the kill call before Orion's voice piped up. "Sir, Duke says the virus vile is lodged inside of the target's lungs. He believes the virus may have seeped into Alexander's bloodstream. If we act now, we could extract the virus from his body... Assuming it went into his body."



           Red crown was pleased. "Alright, new objective... Transport the corpse to Gentek research morgue. Also, burn the bodies of the deceased. We don't need another Hope going on."



              "Yes sir!"



           The radio channels were silent. Blackwatch had the biological weapon in their hands, assuming the virus was inside the body of



Alexander Mercer. The old pony sat back, waiting for their mission conformation. Everypony in Red Crown HQ was silent. They knew what could happen if all of the bodies weren't properly disposed of. It was their job to prevent the disaster that comes next.



           But were they ready?