[The west Atlantic, North Atlantic Ocean]

[March 11, 2022]

Warren shivered as he huddled in the box he was living in. The simple wooden construct was simple enough. Five wooden boards built on a shipping pallet and an outhouse shoved in.

All so he could check out Val Verde. To see if the rumors were true. They were getting desperate as mutant sentiments were flourishing into something worse.

His wife Sue, and his daughter Susan. He was doing this for them. He shivered as the cold air, and cold thoughts mingled.

Warren cursed at the damned lack of outlets around him.

The simple electric heater had kept him warm at first, but recharging it was another issue. He had been using a large portable battery to power his things.

The crew was a little spooked. They had caught his shadow twice and were now jittery. He heard two men whisper that a spirit haunted the cargo. How right they were.

Warren grinned as he took a sip of cold water. It didn’t help his core temperature, but it helped his thirst. The journey was taxing, and he felt it in his bones. They had packed what they could, but it was not enough.

He sighed as she sat on his seat cushion. A simple cover blocked the toilet seat and sealed off the hole. He had enough food for another two days before he had to steal from the kitchen.

The ship’s engine changed hums. The powerful machine shifted to a lower sound as the ship’s motor reduced speed.

Warren sighed, as it meant that they were finally approaching the port and shipping yard. Finally!

Which meant that as soon as nightfall hit, he would be back on land. Which meant he was also one step closer to getting back home to New York.

Gods, did he miss solid land.

—

Captain Smith sighed as he watched the ship slow to a stop. The new dock system attached giant suction cups to the side of the ship. The thick mechanical arms and muscle cables settled the massive container ship. The arm system then moved the ship to settle under the new crane system.

Those intimidating soldiers were the first to board. Their weapons in hand. The rules were simple, make their life easy, and they would do so in kind.

It was easy to disregard them as token soldiers. A common mistake that revealed their fangs. They were difficult to intimidate.

This new Val Verde was not afraid of making life hard for the captains. Delaying them with very slow inspections. Very slow, meticulous inspections.

Which resulted in reduced traffic to and from the island. This was a big issue since this would affect the island. The Supreme Leader and his government didn’t seem to care about the influx of goods and resources.

Andrew Smith stared at the few ships in the dock. This used to be a busier place, yet things have changed. These soldiers were more critical, unlike the previous years. It made illicit goods harder to smuggle.

He was no fool either. Val Verde was changing and changing fast. There were far fewer imports of goods. No basic foods, no consumer goods. They brought in rare resources, top-end electronic components, and the odd luxury item.

Their exports had also changed. Food was now going out instead of in. Exported to other countries, and tonnes going to the pseudo-nation Utopia.

No one was trying to escape as desperate people did from terrible environments. In fact, every person he had seen so far seemed very cheerful and happy. They were successful at toughing out the food shortage. That was a rough year and a half as they suffered.

“Hello, I am Captain Jenson,” a cool female voice said as she snapped off a salute. “You are Captain Smith of Container Ship, Blue Whale?”

“I am Captain Smith,” the grizzled and bearded man greeted. “I own this ship.”

“Before we begin the usual docking and cargo process... can you verify that all crew members are currently here? In front of us?” Captain Jenson asked as she looked over the two dozen personnel.

Captain Smith looked over at his men. The two dozen people looked at him in confusion. They were all here.

“I account for everyone,” Captain Smith said in confusion. Oh, no. Did he somehow get on their nasty side?

Captain Jenson nodded and looked away. Within moments, a half dozen jets lifted into the air and flew over their ship.

They settled down to hover near the deck. The back door opened and a small army disgorged onto the ship. Everyone tensed as the now a hundred powerful soldiers were on deck.

“Captain Smith, our sensors are picking up another Lifeform in the cargo hold. We will check the interior and I suggest you cooperate,” Captain Jenson said.

The other soldiers jogged into the ship proper. Their heavy gear clanging on the deck as they hustled through.

Captain Smith nodded. Hearing about it was one thing. Seeing it was another. This was why Val Verde got labeled as a stiff port. A place where law and order had to be respected.

—

Something was wrong. Warren’s finely tuned danger sense hummed like the engine once did.

They had spent over an hour docked, but there was no hustle and bustle of the cargo crew. Instead, he could hear a growing set of stomps.

A group of people was running around. Heavy people.

He opened his mouth to take in slower and longer breaths. It was important to breathe quietly. Modern tools could detect excessive breathing.

Warren tensed as a sharp sound rocked his box. A steel spike broke through the front board. The cheap wood giving way before solid metal.

Warren eeped and held his breath. The spike left and a small sphere landed with a funny tinking sound.

Then Warren heard a hiss, and his vision grew blurry. He didn’t register the sound of his body falling forward.

—

Captain Smith watched as the soldiers returned and boarded their hover planes. The difference was that they were now carrying a box he had never seen before.

A person hogtied followed it to a metal pole. They lifted the pole between two soldiers. They attached beeping and colorful handcuffs at the wrists and ankles to the metal pole. A helmet over the head blinked and showed off a small trembling display.

The man had seen enough soap operas to recognize a heart rate monitor.

What chilled his heart was the melted skin on the tied up man. While he stood stock still, his spirit got shaken. These soldiers did not play games.

He made a mental note to smuggle nothing to the island. Whatever weapon they used, it was inhumane.

The soldiers brought the stowaway to the hover plane and took off. The box got attached to the belly of the plane and then flown away.

“The stowaway has gotten apprehended. Everything else checks out, and we can proceed with your cargo,” Captain Jenson said as the jets took off. Her suit’s red eyes stared into his.

Captain Smith nodded and swallowed. Suddenly all the waits he had to endure seemed so trivial now.

—

[The west Atlantic, North Atlantic Ocean]

[March 16, 2022]

Warren sat down and watched the two men on the screen. One in a fine suit, and the other was a red robot wearing a cape.

The newscaster was summarizing the event that had taken place a few days prior. It included footage from less lucky places. These towns needed the Justice League. Who had been able to save the day.

Cobra had hit this Raccoon City hard. The small city taking the most structural damage. Yet they suffered the least civilian casualties.

“Thank you, Red Tornado,” the Supreme Leader said as he shook the android’s hand.

“You are quite welcome,” the red robot replied. “With this, we confirm the city to be free of any contamination.”

The camera zoomed in on the robot’s metal face as he spoke. Then it zoomed out as the robot flew away.

Warren quickly finished his sandwich. The food here was both good and plentiful. He was glad they had let him send those emails back home. Sue would be relieved.

As a Morlock, he knew that fresh food was more scarce than it should have been. Back home, most of their food was less fresh. It was the cast-off from store shelves that didn’t sell.

While the people were not heartless, neither were they overly kind. One look at their abnormal physical forms and their empathy shrank.

The guards here?

Warren had to admit that they either had nerves of steel, or they genuinely didn’t care.

“Forgot your drink,” a woman said as she dropped a soda can by him. The Val Verde Cola was a popular drink. There was a full fridge of the stuff.

Compared to the brand names… it was pretty good.

“Thanks, Anna,” Warren said as he absently opened the drink. He stared at the TV and the showcased monsters. They were recapping the world-shaking event.

“That town is lucky we had men there,” Anna said as she bit into her sandwich. The soft sizzling sounds of their pop cans filled the silence.

“You think that this is going to be a fresh problem?” Warren asked before he took a long sip.

“Cobra’s involved. These bio-weapons are going to be a new standard. We might have a vaccine for that first outbreak. I am also sure they will make some sort of variant,” Anna sighed as she talked around a mouthful. A piece of ham flew out as she spoke.

Warren rolled his eyes. Funny how the New Yorkers considered Morlocks savages.

“Then… aren’t you worried about Cobra attacking the island?”

Anna snorted. “I am a soldier. My duty is to run at them, guns blazing. I shoot the enemy. Man. Woman. Monster. It's high command that needs to worry about vaccines. Not that I want to get infected, mind you.”

Warren nodded but felt fear at her conviction. If the rumors of the Supreme Leader were true, then she would be an invaluable ally.

If he hated mutants…

The image of a thousand Anna’s stomping towards the tunnels scared him. Thus he jumped at the sudden, new sound.

The door opened, and the two people froze. A dozen soldiers entered. All fully armed and armored. Unlike the generic green variants he had seen, these bad boys were all in black.

Anna froze as she was less scared and more respectful. Sudden movements were like a nail sticking out. It was asking for a hammer to strike.

Anna eyed this new woman for a moment before giving her best salute as she slid to her feet.

“At ease, Captain Jenson,” a soft voice said as she walked into the room.

Anna slid back to her seat and finished chewing. She didn’t go back for another bite.

Warren watched as an oriental woman stride in. She tied her blond hair up, and her brunette assistant was at her side.

“Warren Zolfer?” the woman asked. She had no accent, but her annunciation was sharp. Maybe it was the fact that Anna was acting tense and a single word from this woman would turn him into swiss cheese.

“Yes. I am Warren Zolfer,” Warren shifted from Anna, who was acting so stiff and formal, to the blond woman.

“Hello, my name is Sue. Your profile says that your meta-gene grants you density shifting of rocks?”

I nodded. That sounded like a wordy way of making rock soft like mud. The density of the rock affected the feel. It was a power useless outside of construction work. Which always leads to odd and strained work relationships.

The owners of various companies wanted his powers, but not his looks. His odd powers came with fresh looks. The skin cells were overactive, causing them to overgrow and then sag. He looked like a human-sized, clay doll and then given a grey tinge.

Simply other workers didn’t want to be around him. Especially with the anti-mutant sentiments boiling around the country.

“Rock,” Sue said, and a soldier placed a melon-sized rock onto the table.

Warren eyed the rock for a moment. Then lifted his hands. It was like tensing an invisible hand. He felt his hands tingle, and he turned the rock into a softer thing.

He rolled into a ball. Sue smiled.

He then patted into a rough square. Sue’s smile grew.

“Can other things move into the rock?” Sue asked.

“Yes,” Warren said as he kept his left hand on the rock. He let the tingle pass into the rock.

Sue produced a metal stick and poked at the hard square. The stick slid into in, and then out. Up, down, left, and right.

The metal stick moved through the simple sedimentary rock. It was much like moving through wet mud. Sue’s smile was now predatory.

Warren never felt like such a mouse before.

“Well, mister Zolfer,” Sue almost purred as she removed the stick. It was spotless. As if she had never pierced the rock. “I believe a man of your talents is worth his weight in gold. Tell me, what can we do to hire you?”

Sue’s smile was all teeth.

Warren blinked. “Huh?”

————

Year Three Side Story: Mister Warren Zolfer