Prologue


The silver lining of the walls could go on forever.  The linoleum flooring caused the loss of yourself and the feeling of vertigo if you stared down to long at it.  The temperature was set just right for everyone, and the faint sounds of beeps and buzzing could be heard constantly within the walls.  The elevators were nice and cool, touch tone buttons and voice activated commands built into them.  Secret access tunnels and long tunnels leading down making way for the inhabitants of this place.

In Cairo, Egypt, the Sphinx Corporation is world known  for their contributions to country, and to the world.   Their contributions are in the field of science and medicine, such as cures for the common cold, for AIDS, even partial relief to Autism.  Their science contributions involve new ways to conduct a surgery, a new form of forensic science, and new ways to keep the world clean and unpolluted.  Their other contributions are in the fields of politics, and business.

But there is more to Sphinx Corporation than meets the eye.  Above the surface, the Sphinx Corporation is a massive building.  Solid steel structure with about fifty stories, and tinted windows, and their legendary logo of a Sphinx with its massive paw over the world outside of their building.  The employee parking lot was as almost as massive as the entire building itself.  There were six levels of the parking lot, equipped with its own parking lot, and the standard parking spaces.  The parking lot itself is connected to the very top of the building and at the very beginning of the building.  The only way to access it at the bottom of the building is going through what seems to be a parking garage.  You need a special I.D. card and a specified password.  At the top of Sphinx Corporation, on the roof, there was a special landing strip for the Owner of Sphinx Corporation’s private jet and helicopter.  

On the inside of the building, there were thousands upon thousands of offices.  No cubicles.  The owner doesn’t believe in cubicles.  He believes in an office for his workers.  But not every office is the same.  No.  Every office is designed differently according to each department.  Some is for the development of new medicines, in which case the offices would be a bit more spacious for presentations the workers would set up, or another office in a department of medicine would not be an office at all.  Instead, it would be a series of labs, three to four people assigned to each lab area.  And there are other offices just like these.  

The receptionist isn’t alone in her task.  She has maybe five or six people working with her.  There are six phones with over a thousand phone lines all connected into one.  The phone isn’t a regular phone either.  It is a headset connected to the base of a traditional phone.  There are security cameras behind the desk and computers for information on clients and such as well.  

Most would think that with a building this big, there are at least a thousand security guards.  But then again, most would assume wrong.  The security office is as a total of three office sized rooms.  There are thousands of computers and monitors.  The security staff is a total of fifty men and woman, with total control of security.  The computers lead to defense systems built in through the cameras and activated with special codes.  Security is of the best quality and they never have had to been warned by the bosses about intruders.  Their security cameras span on the outside with a view of up to five miles long.  This of course is to prevents assassinations and conspiracies as well as to prevent someone from attacking the building with explosives.  The security defenses include nearly invisible wires that have a strong electric charge of up to one hundred thousand volts.  That may be enough to kill if set at the maximum, but the maximum is never needed to be used.  Outside also, concealed within the cameras are turrets that extend from the top of the camera lens and shoots up to fifty rounds a minute.  The rounds used are strong enough to punch through a rhinoceros’s skin.  These built in guns have never needed to be used.  There are many other secret defenses that are even a secret to the people that the security staff takes their orders from.

But this is just the upper levels of the Sphinx Corporation.  These levels of the Sphinx Corporation are just used as a facade for the public eye.  These levels are in fact what they have proved to be.  But they aren’t what Sphinx Corporation is about.  Yes, the owner does have dreams about helping the people of this world.  But not by the ways that his company has described through television commercials, magazines, billboard ads or anything like that.  No, that way is meaning less.  As meaningless as the rest of humanity’s attempts at making this world drug free, and try to quit smoking, the owner and president’s thoughts are.  

Below this massive structure and mask is the real Sphinx Corporation.  The whole reason it was built.  The reason that the Owner decided to try to help the world this way.  Deep below the building itself one would not know how to describe it.  One would be at a loss for words.  But the Owner knows how to describe it.  He knows the most accurate way to describe his creation.  His description puts it best.  Perfect.

The lower levels are about five miles below ground.   The security for the lower levels is kept tighter than above ground.  And most would think that is a little outrageous, this part of the corporation so low underground.  And again, most would assume wrong.  The security for this part of the corporation is much more advanced.

The security staff down here is half of what the above ground section of the storage labs are, but they are always recruiting.  They have over two hundred thousand security monitors for the lower levels.  The measures taken to prevent attacks are nothing like the measures on the above ground security systems.  Down here, the guards are equipped with automatic weapons, stun grenades, stun batons, smoke grenades.  The automatic weapons can vary, and sometimes aren’t just automatic.  Sometimes the weapons are .12 gauge shotguns, or AK-47 assault rifles.  Some could be a standard .45 caliber pistol.  The security staff however, as people, are trained to be the best.  They must be trained through rigorous training exercises such as inclement weather like hurricanes, blizzards, thunderstorms, foggy weather, and other difficult tasks.  Their accuracy must be of the highest quality.  The lower levels team must be able to fire off a bead at the flip of a coin and hit the coin before it hits the floor.  Their defense measures that are taken specifically are done, mainly through themselves.  In the security control room, they are capable of locking the doors, getting maps for areas that might be potentially dangerous, cutting off air to certain rooms incase one of the specialists down here cannot keep himself under control and feel suicidal, etc.  But the Security here does do one thing differently down here.  They do take their orders from everyone in the lower levels.  The only one that can override anything that they do, is the big boss himself, the Owner.  But these men and women have never had to worry about bad reports.  They have never had to worry about someone getting into the lower areas and able to hurt someone.  They are near perfect.

However, the other areas of the lower levels can go on forever it would seem.  The hallways were lined with silver doors and silver linings and optical lenses that must be used as well as security codes to get into the specified rooms.  To walk down this place as a rookie and not know where you are going, would like walking in New York City as someone from a third world country new to our country.  The ability to get lost in a place like this is as easy as trying to find out what happened in the Bermuda Triangle yourself.  

These rooms are the main labs.  The labs used for chemical warfare, for human testing, for bio-engineering, for weapons development.  These lower labs are used for creating the best of the best.  The labs have different levels, and different areas.  These levels are too difficult to describe.  The Owner has made sure of that.  But he has done something no one else in the world has.  He has provided the ability for his people to work and live at this place if they choose too.  They can work inside of rooms they are provided and never have to leave there.  The rooms they are provided are the size of a house, and even have a lower level for a basement.  There are computers and beds and televisions and phones provided already for the rooms, as well as a refrigerator with food supplied as well.  The people that work in these labs and homes, they are the epitome of genius.  They are the best of the best.  They are Perfect.  

But the one room that no one dares to enter is the Owner’s room.  No one enters that room without his permission.  From within that room he can access any room, any office, any lab in the entire building.  This room and two others in the entire Corporation can do what this one room does.  

The room is decorated with fine Corinthian leather.  An ebony desk rests a desktop computer and a phone with lines to every line in the corporation.  There are shelves lined with books on ancient Egypt, books about science, even books in different languages.  Red velvet carpet lines the office, the carpet seeming to run red like one of the plagues, that caused the rivers to run red with blood.  A long silver box the size of a refrigerator lies against the wall to the left corner of his desk.  The file cabinet contains files on every major project that has been done and occurs.  On the opposite side of this file cabinet, five line the wall.  These filled with profiles and files on every worker inside of the Sphinx Corporation.  

The halls of the lower levels of the corporation roared with silence.  The buzzing and whistling of the electronic devices didn’t sound.  The faint murmurs of muffled conversation and breakthroughs in science.  That was until the sound of a steel cane clashed with the linoleum tiles broke through the silence.  Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack, the sound came louder as the he walked down the halls.

Black rimmed sunglasses covered his penetrating grey eyes.  His grey hair was slicked back.  There was a suave stagger to the man’s walk as his Italian leather shoes clashed in timed succession with the steel cane.  The steel cane was pure black, the handle of it, a special gold at the end.  He wore a razor sharp grey Armani suit, a white shirt beneath the jacket of the suit.  A black silk tie around his neck.  In this suave man’s coat pocket rested a silver pocket watch, roman numerals and a blue face with the date and time.  

He walked down the long hallway from the elevator at the beginning of the entrance.  His lips curved into a sly smile as he reached the end of the hallway and turned to the left going down to another set of hallways.  The smile still stayed upon his face as the click-clack of his cane echoed through the halls.  His eyes shifted to the right as he shifted into that direction.

The man’s movements were even, balanced.  He moved to a door with a numeric keypad and put in the code.  The sound of the confirmation of the correct code broke the slight pause of silence as a small blue sphere emerged from the door in front of him.  “Good morning, please insert your eye to the optical reader.”  A female’s voice spoke softly.  The man smiled once more, revealing his grey eyes.  He closed his right eye and placed the open left eye to the blue sphere.  A blue beam scanned over his eyes for but a moment.  “Thank you.  Welcome back President Macmanus.”  The man smiled still as he placed the sunglasses into the inside of his coat pocket.  “Thank you Irene.”  President Macmanus said and the blue sphere retracted, returning inside to the door.  The silver door slid open, and Macmanus walked through.

The silver door led to a large room with an entire wall devoted to security cameras with infrared sensors, keyboards, control switches and a few chairs.  In the center of the wall in front of Macmanus, stood a large plasma viewing screen that was blank.  To the President of Sphinx Corporation’s left, the head of Security sat in a chair observing the monitors with close intent.  He wore the standard Sphinx Corporation Security staff clothing, which consisted of a .9mm pistol side arm in its holster, a black combat vest, and black combat pants and boots.  His short brown hair was covered in sweat as though it had been a rough morning.  

On the opposite side of the room, a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties was leaning against the computer console, anger boiling within his icy blue stare.  He wore a black leather suit with Italian leather shoes.  His skin was tanned, his black hair slicked back like the President of Sphinx Corporation.  The man’s tone was expressed in rage, his accent was English.

“I don’t care what the hell the Irish says!  Get that damned thing back here!”  Roared the man with the English accent.  

The man in whom he was talking to through the intercom sighed heavily.  “Yes sir, right away.”  He said.  The intercom buzzed for a bit, then went dead.  

The English man turned around, seeing President Macmanus standing in front of him.  The rage of Hell disappeared from his eyes as they softened to greet him.  “Riley, when did you get here?”  He asked in a soft tone.

“Just now Richard.  You were talking to someone about the Irish,” It wasn’t a question.
“Ah..yes.  Sorry about that Riley.  I didn’t mean to offend you.  Its just that our people there are under new management from that new guy we hired.  He thinks he runs the entire Corporation.  Bloody bastard.”  He said with a snarl.

Riley Macmanus, the President of Sphinx Corporation chuckled softly.  “No offence was taken Richard.  I could care less about them myself.  A land filled with drunkards and idiotic dreams.  I may be an Irishman, but I hold no love for them.,” He said with a bit of contempt in his voice.  He then continued.  “Now, what are they giving you a problem about?”  He asked.

“The formula for our...Divinity Project is stored on one of their computers.  A notebook actually.  And that same notebook is being used by one of the hackers they have there.  And it that same hacker  is the head of their security department.  Its his notebook and he won’t part with it.”  

“Really now.  He’ll change his mind when he realizes that he could have an accident at the top level of the parking lot at any time.”  

“But then they would be losing one of their most brilliant people and security staff.”  

“Remind me to send a sympathy card.  And I’ll put his death certificate on the inside of it.”  An impish smile crept upon his lips.  

“You are a rotten creature Riley” Richard Preston laughed.  Riley Macmanus only laughed.  Preston went to the intercom again, keying in the numbers on the keypad  to their branch in Ireland while Macmanus walked over to the security guard and looked over his shoulders as the monitors, his eyes scanning over them with the pace of a jaguar.  Something caught his attention.  “Show me camera forty-two.”  The guard nodded, pressing some keys, and the blank plasma viewing screen turned on, a clear picture of camera forty-two showing a room with someone in it.

The only thing of the figure that could be seen were the golden rings of his eyes.  They were filled with a tenacity know one had ever seen before.  The figured walked towards the door and rammed its fists into it.  The metal door dented at the relentless attacks that seemed to go by in a blur.  The attacks to the solid steel door boomed like thunder in an open field.

“So, he wants some amusement...”  The President said, intrigue in his tone.  

“What should I do sir?”  The guard asked.

“Hmm.  Richard old friend, come here.”

Richard walked to the center of the rooms and stared at it with fascination.  His eyes scanned the screen quickly, taking in everything he saw.  What fascinated him the most was not the strength, but the speed and precision at which the figure was throwing its fists.  It was as if this creature knew exactly where to hit.  “I think he wants to play Riley.  Why not give him a chance?”

“I agree.  So let us send in some...”  Before Riley Macmanus could finish, the silver door opened, and the sound of sneakers connecting with the linoleum floor sounded off.  He turned his head to see who would dare enter his secret room without announcing themselves.

The one who entered was no more than four foot five, and blonde hair that looked as though it was a field of dandelions.  He wore a black combat vest and black combat pants, glasses upon his face.  His black sneakers click-clacked against the floor as he walked into the room, the silver door closing once more.  At his sides, two holsters with silver desert eagle .44 caliber revolvers with laser scopes at the top of the barrel.  The handles were custom designed for his hands alone.  His belt was tied around with black shells for the guns.  His blue eyes scanned the room, than looked to his father.  “Father, your back!”

Macmanus smiled.  “Vincent my son!”  He said, matching his son’s enthusiasm.  The boy ran to his father, and his father bent down and hugged him.  The two hugged as though they hadn’t seen each other in years.  Richard and the guard watched, Richard smiling.

“Welcome back father.  I trust your trip went well?”  Asked Vincent.

“Yes my boy, everything went well.”  Said Macmanus.

“Welcome back Vince.”  Richard Preston said with sincerity in his tone.

“Thank you Rich.”

“Welcome back Sir,” The guard said.

“Thank you Lieutenant.”  Vince said with a nod.

Riley Macmanus smiled as he stood up.  His eyes scanned his son up and down.  Though the two hadn’t seen each other in a few days like it happened sometimes, Riley was always the first to say that no matter how big his accomplishments at creating this company was, his creation of his son with his darling wife Shannon was always the biggest and best accomplishment of his life.

Vincent Macmanus was nine years old.  It would be very surprising to most that a nine year old would sport .44 magnum revolvers and wear combat gear.  But not to anyone in Sphinx Corporation.  Vincent was one of the leading designers of weapons and security at the Corporation.  He had perfected the tactics and weapons to his own genius design.  His experiments on altering the strength of regular bullets, making them ten times the more powerful, was well known throughout the entire Corporation.  But not only did he create weapons, he was also the head of the entire Security staff, hand selecting only the best for the under ground levels.  Vincent smiled as his eyes wandered to the screen.  “Father, I finished my latest project.”  He said with a hint of triumph in his voice.
“What is it you finished, if I may ask.”


“Well, I was meddling around in the chemicals labs, injecting bullets with some rather...strong poisons.  And I decided to try it out with my revolvers.  And when I tested them out on one of the demons we caught two months ago scavenging around the town, it proved it worked.  You see, the chemicals I added were sulfuric acid, a small droplet of nitro-glycerin inside of our special casing, and four different poisons.  When I tested the guns on the demon in field combat, the bullets, normally would merely take some flesh off, leaving him perfectly capable of continuing a battle, perhaps even killing me.  Instead, the bullets tore his arms off, clear off the bone, the acid burnt away at his limbs, and caused half of his right side to explode.  When I fired a shot into his chest, it left a hold big enough to put a baseball through, and I saw that the nitro-glycerin caused an explosion of his insides and the sulfuric acid ate away at the major arteries.  He was dead either way.”

Macmanus smiled triumphantly.  “That is marvelous my son!  You must equip our security staff with the weapons!”  

“Yes, very well done Vincent.”  Richard Preston said.  

“Already done father, they are all equipped.  And I also finished the Sentinel security Elites.”  Vincent said.

“Alright.  Now, it seems our friend wants to play.  Commander, send in about five of our men.  Have them treat him as a hostile, armed and extremely dangerous.  Shoot to kill, and no screw-ups.”  Macmanus said.  The guard nodded and made the call.

Vincent watched the screen with the curiosity of a man who thinks he has seen Jesus Christ in a reflection of a puddle.  Richard joined him as well as Riley, watching the creature bang away at the doors.  “You must give him credit for persistence.”  Richard Preston stated.

The second in command of security hit the off button of the intercom.  He looked to his men.  “Aright, Alpha team will take this one.  Seems Specimen AH-56B is in the mood for blood.  Command station said that he’s already taken out four of the scientists that tried to give it one of those damned sedatives.  So let’s test out Vincent’s new gifts to us and put these bad boys into action.”  Said the second in command.  

Alpha team left the silver room and head out into the hallway.  They were all dressed the same, their clothes pure black, combat gear.  The leader of Alpha team was a man named Imotep Sakire.  A local Egyptian who graduated at the head of his class at the Academy.  He specialized in tactics and accuracy.  Rumor had it he could put a bullet in a man’s head from fifty yards back.  Well tonight his team would get to see that action.

The figure in the rather large room moved its fists toward the door but stopped.  Its eyes went somewhat dimmer, and through its eyes, you could see that the figure was grinning maliciously.  He moved back, his room shrouded in darkness thanks to his urge to destroy the lights within the room.  

“Here comes some rather interesting entertainment.  Let us see how well our friend proves in real combat.”  Macmanus said.

Alpha team made it to the room, which was in one of the sub-levels.  The five men stood, their weapons drawn and the lasers sighted about the door.  Imotep drew what looked like a black credit card from his pocket, and slid it through the slot.  He keyed in the access password and the door opened.  He motioned for his team to move in first.

The team entered, their guns and flashlights raised, scanning the room.  They spread about the room checking each area to make sure it was secure.  Imotep walked in after they all nodded that it was secure.  He held his gun raised out in front of him, his finger on the trigger.  His pulse was slow, his breathing masked as if he was not even breathing.  

“We’re all clear sir.  But I think the creature...”  The guard’s sentence was cut off as he saw a large figure with looming golden eyes stand over his leader’s body.  The guard immediately pulled his weapon forward and opened fire.  

Imotep rolled to the ground and got back to his feet seeing the massive creature standing there.  He drew his weapon and fired in rapid succession.  “Alpha Team open fire!  Open fire now!”  He roared at the top of his lungs.  The team acknowledged and fired their weapons off.  The loud thunder of the weapons going off echoed through the halls as if thunder itself had broken in.

The creature’s reflexes were faster than Alpha team could have expected.  It moved before the shot came anywhere near the designated target of its chest area.  It jumped to the wall and then off of it, coming behind the guard who had opened fire first.  The creature’s massive hands grabbed hold of the guard by the back of the neck and threw him back into the wall, the gun falling to the floor.  It walked to where the guard laid seeing the guard was down for the count.  He then turned to the others firing at him.  He moved with a lightning fast speed that even the most precise of people could never even imagine.  He grabbed another guard’s arm and tore it clean from its socket.  Blood and flesh fell to the floor as the guard screamed out in agony.  The creature shut the guard up by ramming the torn off arm through the guard’s throat.  The guard’s blood splattered against the floor and the wall.

Imotep got up and reloaded his weapon, firing rapidly, he watched his team fall at the hands of this creature.  He looked at the blood and the carnage that was displayed on the floor and the walls.  He had been with this team, that he had gone on dangerous training missions with these men, training missions that turned into real life missions that depended on their survival.  Now, he was watching them get decimated by some creature genetically enhanced, some stupid scientific creature that if they didn’t kill, would kill more scientists.

The creature dodged the bullets that were being fired at him in rapid succession.  Its thoughts on the pure adrenaline and thrill of the kill.  It  saw another two guards draw their melee weapons, two sets of stun batons came at him with a speed almost as a good as its own.  No, not at all as good.  Rather pathetic actually.  The creature jumped towards them, jumping at them, and moved with such force and speed, that forced down one of the guards.  It jumped from a wall, and ran towards the standing guard with the batons, the creature seeing the guard’s eyes go wide foreseeing the death that would take him.

The creature jumped, its massive claw, slicing through the guard’s neck, the body of the guard going limp, falling to its knees.  The head rolled off, and blood fell to the ground a pool of it washing over Imotep’s feet.  Imotep looked in horror as he noticed there were two remaining members of the Alpha team left alive.  Himself, and the guard knocked out on the floor.  He looked at the creature.  “Praise the gods my friend.  One of us is going to see Anubis today.  And it will not be me.”  Imotep said, throwing a new clip into his weapon.  He ran towards the creature, not firing, but just to strike it.

The man’s words echoed through the creature’s head.  He looked at the man as he ran.  He moved towards him again, this time, his massive claws outstretched to take the man’s face off.  He jumped from one end of the room to the ceiling and then back down to meet Imotep.

“Seems like our friend is at the end of its rope,” Richard Preston said.  

“Don’t be so sure Richard.”  President Macmanus said with authority in his tone.

Imotep ran at the creature, and as the creature came down upon him, a loud boom of thunder sounded in the room.  The creature stopped, and stood back as a liquid oozed from its chest.  It looked down seeing a hole in its chest, the size of a baseball.  The creature fell back onto the floor, its blood surrounding it.  Imotep smiled triumphantly as it dropped the weapon.  “The mission has been finished...”  He didn’t finish his statement.  He looked behind him and saw the creature with its golden rings, filled with hatred.  He nodded as he tore the combat armor off his back, tattoos of hieroglyphs drawn about his back and chest and arms.  From his right side, Imotep drew a scimitar that broke into two swords.  He waved them in the air and then ran at the creature.  Imotep swung, and that was his final move.

The creature grabbed the arms of Imotep and without effort, ripped the arms from their sockets and dropped them to the floor.  Imotep screamed out to the gods begging for a quick death.  His blood leaking out to the walls, to the floor, to his own body.  The creature moved again, this time with its own legs.  With two foul kicks, Imoteps legs came out from under Imotep and fell to the ground.  More blood fell to the ground in pools.  The creature then dropped its foot upon the head of Imotep, crushing his entire skull.  Bones, veins, and the brain, dripping from the empty sockets.

“Lieutenant, activate the Security Sentinel Elites and send them in.  And make sure the safety protocols are off.”  Vincent said.  The guard nodded, pressing in a few keys on the keyboard.

The figure looked at the remaining guard.  His golden rings focused for a minute as he stepped closer to the guard.  The guard stood and looked around at the carnage.  The site of mangled flesh, pools of blood, and his fallen comrades made his stomach wrench and he could feel vomit work its way to his throat.  He looked at the creature stepping before him.  Drawing his gun he placed it to his temple.  “You won’t get to kill me you abomination!”  The guard said, and his finger slowly pulled the trigger.  

Before the trigger went down fully, the creature moved with its deviant speed and grabbed the guard’s arm, the bullet colliding with the wall, and banging off to the floor.  The creature snapped the guard’s arm, the guard’s eyes nearly exploding in their skulls, tears fell down his face.  “I..won’t scream.  Not for you!  Not even for President Macmanus!  Not even for his brat kid!”  The creature made no sound, and snapped the guard’s shoulder right out of its socket.  “There..never was a murder of the scientists.  Everyone was fine.  This was just a damned tune-up for you, you piece of crap thing!”  The guard roared at the top of his lungs, spit coming flying from his face.  The creature made no sound, and only rammed the guard head first into the steel wall, his brains and skull caving in, blood falling down to the floor in a pool.  

The Security Sentinel Elites are better than their human masters.  Programmed and created by Vince Macmanus, these androids are the epitome of sentry forces.  They stand at seven feet tall, and weigh five hundred pounds of solid steel.  The artificial intelligence is controlled by Vince himself.  They have weapons built into their arms, and their legs.  Automatic weapons, and swords created out of the strongest steals hidden within their backs.  Their appearance is that of a skeleton only, no wires visible.  Only a skeletal structure.

Two Security Sentinel Elites walked down the long corridor, the loud thud and crash of metal of linoleum shaking the halls.  Scientists came out of the rooms, breaking away from their experiments at the sound of the androids.  One stopped and looked at the scientists.  In a drone voice it said “Please, remain inside the labs.  An intruder has escape from capture and must be detained.  He is armed and extremely dangerous.”  The scientists murmured to each other, and went back inside.  The Security Elites began walking down the doors and soon came to the stairwell.  

Richard Preston gazed on in disgust with the bloodshed that there was in the creature’s room.  He couldn’t believe it.  All that gore, all that blood made his stomach wrench in knots and made him want to hurl.  He looked at Vince and Riley Macmanus.  “How...disgusting..”  Richard Preston said.

“That damned creature...is everything I envisioned it to be,”  Was all Macmanus said and continued to watch the screen as the Security Sentinels made their way to the room.

The Security Sentinels walked through the doors and turned down the hallway.  They walked down the corridor and made a turn towards the room.  They looked at the creature.  Both of them stood, and out of their arms extended two barrels from each side of their forearms.  A laser scope from the four weapons focused on the creature.   “Don’t move.”  The Sentinels said in unison.
The creature looked at the sentinels.  Then, without warning, moved with its uncanny speed and was behind one of the machines.  Wrapping both of its massive claws around the first Sentinel’s head, bolts and smoke started coming from the android’s head, and then, the body stopped moving, and smoke bellowed from the neck.  The machine fell.  The head was thrown back.  The second sentinel aimed the four scopes on the creature and opened fire.  The roar of the automatic weapons boomed in the large room, the shots nailing the creature.  

Blood shot out from every area of the creature.  The Sentinel moved forth as it watched the creature stop in its tracks.  The spent magazines ejected from its forearms and a new magazine was replaced in each.  The scopes were on the creature again.  But this time, something went wrong.  The sentinel’s forearms were blown off.  The creature was using the downed sentinel’s weapons as a counter.  

The sentinel fell to the ground, holes covering the entire body.  The creature looked at the camera and walked towards it.  It stared at it as Macmannus watched.  “What...the ...”  Then, there was nothing but the black and white snow as the cameras went down.  Then, every camera went hazy as a power failure boomed.

“GET THE POWER BACK NOW!”  Roared Macmannus.

“We’re trying sir!  There seems to be a sunspot!”  Said the Control Commander.

The power was brought back on a few minutes later, and the halls were clear.  The creature had escaped somehow.  Macmannus grinned.  “Clean up that disgusting mess.  Get rid of the bodies.  They were useless anyway.”  He said and walked out.

Vincent looked at his father as his hands fell to the butt of his weapon and just eyed him down.  

If looks could kill, Macmanus would be dead.