I’m now proficient in cooking well enough not to die of starvation or malnutrition. The menu is still a little bit limited, though. But Gwyn said we could work on that the following weeks. And first thing sunday my father summons me to the base by the river, which is as indication that my off-time is now over. Kinda a good thing, considering I have not been training much.

The general has sent his second in command to meet me at the gates, for I don’t have a pass yet. Peter is an old friend of my dad and he was also transferred here to deal with The Scorpio. I consider him to be a friend of my own, plus he’s my godfather.

“Hey kid, it’s been a while.” He gives me a hug.

“Only a couple of weeks. You getting emotional, old man?” We are both smiling and Peter gently hits my shoulder. “I missed you too, Pete.”

“Come on, you little rascal. Your father is not fond of waiting.” I follow his lead. “Enjoyed your vacation?”

“You could say I did.”

“Really? Your mother was under the impression you were somehow stressed.”

“Oh, there was a misunderstand on my part. All is fine now.”

We reach a briefing room where my parents and the rest of the task force are.

“What took you so long?” Dad greets me.

“I’m sorry general.” Though he is not really my dad now, he is my boss.

We take our seats and he continues the explanation. There is no new information since the midnight tour to the Humane Institute. So they are rediscussing what little is known.

“Reviewing the videos we have and what the interrogated officers related, we believe he is a normal human.” Says an officer named Albert.

“Normal? In what sense of the word would normal describe The Scorpio?

My father flinch when the name is mentioned, he really hates that “media bullshit”.

“He disabled a very advanced security system within minutes, put down seventeen armed man with his hands and stole confidential information for God knows what reason!” Good point, Jerry.

“What I mean is that the suit is his source of power. Our engineering team said it looks high tech, they never saw anything like that.” Albert answers.

“His suit? Isn’t it made of metal?” I remember reading something like that on the reports.

“Alloy to be more precise. We don’t know which metals they are. But it’s a complex and resistant piece of armor. Bullets just bounce on it, knives don’t even make a scratch and while fighting him no one saw any joints we could damage. He is a freaking monster.” Jerry has been paying attention to the reports.

“Do we even know what the guy is after? Because clearly it’s not our not-better technology.” But no one answers my question, they all just exchange disappointed glances.

“No matter what it is, everyone in this room has one mission: to arrest him the very next time he shows up. That’s it for the briefing. You can return to your stations.” Dad concludes, but his eyes tell me to wait.

Once everyone is gone, my mom comes to my side. “Your target is not the only one with a fancy suit. The team made a few improvements. Let’s check it out.” She is smiling like a child when she says it.