Chapter 6
Finnigan Watts - Connecticut
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Finnigan Watts stood behind the large, rounded centerpiece table inside Quinn's mansion. His eyes followed the butch man in the suit who had just walked in with Quinn and Jade. He was unlike other frail human beings. He carried himself like a man with field experience. Like a former military type. The man was bald with a short, grayed boxed beard. He wore a tailored dark gray suit with a blue and brown striped tie. He looked to be in his sixties. But what was he doing here? Finnigan Watts could only guess that he was a representative from the Covert Operations Group.
Amina Dark nudged Finnigan's elbow. "Who's the suit?"
"I was wondering the same thing."
Quinn made his way to the head of the table and faced them. Jade stood at the right side of the table, nodding in acknowledgment to Finnigan and Amina. The man in the suit stayed behind Quinn with his arms folded behind his back. "I've gathered you here so you understand the magnitude of what we're about to do," Quinn said. "Until this point, we've worked alongside COG in an unofficial sense. For the betterment of our country. Because even though Starfalite came from above, it is America that made us. The government funded the Starlight program. And there are those in this world that are fighting for a system that prohibits the freedoms they founded our country on. That's why we will unite under one banner to safeguard America. We will use the powers given to us by gods of the universe, and operate from the shadows to protect our flag." Quinn took a pause, allowing his words to sink in. When the room kept its silence, he continued. "We may not share the same bloodline, and I may not know what it means to have a family. But I hold you all in that regard. If you have questions about what I'm saying, speak freely."
Finnigan Watts seized the opportunity to quench his curiosity. "And who is he?" He nodded to the mystery man in the suit standing behind Quinn. "Is he under our banner, too?"
The man stepped forward, stopping shoulder-to-shoulder with Quinn. "You may call me General Webster. Officially, I am one of the inner circle at the Covert Operations Group. And that means we consider you someone of high value."
"COG has an inner circle?" Amina asked.
"We do." General Webster delivered his words in a booming, self-assured tone. Making deliberate eye contact with each individual he addressed. "A core four, if you will. We are key decision-makers in how America approaches its foreign affairs. And with the looming threats in Xopren that wish to cripple our economy, they have given us more power and more jurisdiction than ever before."
"That's right," Quinn said. "And General Webster here will be our personal COG representative. Meaning that all of us inside this room are forming a fresh division of our own. We are becoming decision-makers. We are no longer a bunch of super-powered soldiers."
"Then, the first decision we need to make is how we're going to track down and kill that bitch from the parking lot," Amina said.
Finnigan nodded. "She killed one of ours, and that will only make those global threats more willing to try something. They'll think we're not as strong as everyone thought."
Jade spoke for the first time. "They called her Zella. We have a name, so that's a start."
"I plan to look closer into this woman," Quinn added. "Even from our brief encounter, I can tell that there's something not quite normal about her. Before we get to her, I have to find out more."
Finnigan rubbed his ribs. "She's stronger than any other human, that's for sure." The pain was gone now, but his ego throbbed. Never had he been tossed so effortlessly by a regular human.
"The other guy was yelling about me blinding him as if I had done it to him before," Amina said. "I don't remember him, but maybe they're a bunch of victims looking for revenge."
"I would bet my life on that," Quinn said. "I'm going to meditate on all our missions and think about when we left witnesses. From this moment on, we can never leave a witness behind on a job. Kill them all."
General Webster broke the silence that followed Quinn's words. "You said the reporter was in touch with these Solace people, correct?"
"That's right," Jade answered.
"Get me the email address from the reporter and I'll have someone over at the EIA track down their location immediately."
"I'll get on it as soon as we're done," Jade said.
"Quinn is right. Get rid of the reporter once we have that email address." General Webster added. "We don't want any whistle-blowers."
They understood what must be done. The door opened and Finnigan's eye caught two women carrying trays. The door closed, and the two women stood by it. Perhaps they were waiting to be acknowledged and called over.
It was Amina who spoke up and kept the conversation going. "I hope you'll let us tag along when it's time to hunt them down."
"Don't you worry," Quinn replied. "We're all going to get our sweet revenge for losing one of our brothers. Zip wouldn't want it any other way."
There was one more elephant in the room that Finnigan had to address. "Speaking of which. Where's Masha? Isn't he going to be part of this little collective, too?"
"As you know, Masha has always had an identity crisis," Quinn said. "He doesn't know where he fits in. But it will be my job to remind him why exactly he needs to be right here in this room."
"I hope so," Finnigan replied. "He's too strong to be our enemy. I'd be worried if he weren't with us."
Quinn's eyes bulged at Finnigan's words. He turned to the women standing by the door and waved them to the table. As they made their way to the table, Quinn strolled around it. Finnigan closed his palms, tensing his muscles, anticipating Quinn getting closer to him. "What you're failing to understand, Watts is that it doesn't matter who our enemies are. We've already won. We already pull the strings." Quinn stopped behind Finnigan, watching over his shoulder as the women in burgundy uniforms held out trays with an assortment of brown cubes.
"What is this?" Amina asked.
"It's your initiation," General Webster said. "Everyone here must eat one to become fully attuned."
Stood behind Finnigan like a teacher observing a student's work, Quinn continued to speak. "They used to speak of prophets, sages, oracles, and stargazers. But in reality, it's the people that see their futures so clearly defined that are the true seers of society. They actualize what's destined to take place. They plant the seeds and materialize the future." Quinn reached around Finnigan and took one of the brown cubes from the tray and held it in front of his face. "We are the Seers."
Finnigan leaned forward and took the cube into his mouth. He had the urge to gag at the bitter, herb-like taste filling his mouth. Amina Dark mirrored his own screwed-up facial expression as she chewed. He guessed that there must be some significant after-effect from eating it. He decided it best to get it over with and swallow to find out what would come next. The last thing Finnigan remembered was General Webster dropping a cube into his own mouth.
*
The cream marble floor was cool against Finnigan's feet. In fact, the feeling of the floor against his bare feet was nice. It was like his feet were breathing. Like they were harmonizing with his surroundings. This room was new to him. He'd never seen it before. It was large and luxurious. It felt like he was in a king's apartment at some palace. There was white coving along the ceiling. The walls had squared segments of fancy artistic detailing. A bed sat at the far side of the room, closed off with silky curtains.
Finnigan didn't know where he was. He was about to look around the room and go through the cupboards, but the sounds of walking caught his attention. It wasn't just one or two pairs of feet that he heard. The sounds of the feet tapping the ground were rhythmic and practiced. The timings of each step perfectly matching up. Finnigan turned towards the large double doors leading out to a balcony. He gazed over the ledge to see a procession of possibly thousands of people marching across the road beneath him. There were men and women of all races. Their faces were still and emotionless as they marched in formation.
There was a presence above them. Finnigan could feel them watching. He glanced up at the sky. They were shapeless. Not existing in a physical sense. But they were there. They were looking at him and smiling. He felt great warmth from their smiles. They were proud of him.
"This is what our ancestors want you to see," came the voice of Hubert Quinn. It startled Finnigan to find Quinn standing next to him on the balcony. He'd come from nowhere.
"What is this?" Finnigan asked.
"It's your vision. Eating the cubes allows us to unlock our minds and flow outside of the closed parameters that confine our existence. It allows us to connect with our ancestors. The ones from above. The ones that sent their gift crashing down to earth, allowing us to be born."
Finnigan took a moment to process this before speaking. "So, this is like a dream? A hallucination?"
Quinn smirked. "It's more than that. It's an awakening. They want you to see this, Watts. And it's for you to figure out what it means." Quinn lowered his gaze to the procession of people below. "They are mere mortals. Regular folk. And we are not among them."
"What does General Webster see then?"
"He sees himself in the White House. Politicking with gods."
Finnigan felt another warm vibration within. They were smiling at him again. He looked above and smiled back. Another question sprung to mind now. "How are you able to talk to me like this?" He asked Quinn.
Quinn smiled. "What makes you ask that?"
"Did you eat a cube too? I mean, I'd assume if you did, then you'd have your own vision. And if you didn't, then shouldn't you see me high out of my mind in the real world right now?"
Quinn stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "This is all a part of my capabilities. The ancestors have blessed me. Just as they have you. You can manipulate currents, voltages, and electromagnetic fields. Perhaps even lightning if your powers evolve. And I, well, I operate with an expanded brain capability. I manipulate the mind." Quinn's arm fell to his side as he offered Finnigan one last menacing smile. At that moment, Finnigan understood why Quinn was their leader.
--Mere Immortal is written by Gary Swift. If you see this on another website under another name, then someone has plagiarized it. Visit mereimmortal.com for official chapters. Subscribe to the Substack paid tier to read further ahead in the story. --
--This version of Mere Immortal is written in US English. --