Robert Frost stepped into his office early in the morning. It had been his habit to get in early and leave early. He was quite surprised to see Lila asleep on the large leather sofa.

"I'm not asleep," she said through closed eyes. Only her lips moved.

"Ah, good morning Lila. It looks like you should be asleep though."

"I will soon enough. Wanted to report."

"Report? So the Central Park case-"

"Yes. Lab got it this morning. Two of them, in good condition."

"Ah! Good job! Is there anything else? This is quite the unexpected visit, Lila."

"These were unusually fast. They also had a poison or toxin."

"The lab has your bloodwork already?"

"Yes," Lila nodded her head slightly.

"I'm sure there's nothing to fear. You're quite the fighter. Still, take care of yourself, Lila."

She shifted slightly and then got up from the couch. "I'm going to bed then."

"Good, good. I'll make sure everything else is handled, and we'll let you know on your bloodwork as soon as the lab gets any results."

"Good night."

Lila slipped quietly into her house. The computer remained silent, as she liked it. She had owned a house partly to accommodate her lifestyle, partly because she could afford it, but mostly because she demanded it. There was always much talk behind her back on her solitary and aloof lifestyle. It didn't bother her.

The computer did brighten the interior lights marginally before speaking. "You have received no calls."

The door closed behind her and she stood still for a moment. She let her eyes close relaxed against the old wooden frame of the house. She had been awake for over four days in Central Park. The house absorbed all her tension and washed her in it's aura of tranquility.

She disrobed as she moved into the living room, letting her gear, her shoes, and her clothes leave a messy trail behind her. The house was warm and silent except for the ticking of an ancient mechanical clock. At it's heart was the living room, a place where Lila had stored an innumerable amount of old things, antiques and collectables. She had surrounded herself with the dust and cobwebs of hundreds of years, and she liked to sit and bask in their gentle memories.

She picked up a large understuffed bear from the couch and headed for the bedroom, shedding the last of her clothes on the stairs.

She woke up some time later, disoriented and groggy.

"Computer!" she croaked out hoarsely.

"You have been asleep for three days. Do you require anything?"

She sat up clutching the bear to her chest. She could recall small fragments of nightmares, but nothing more detailed than hazy images of pain and agony. She reached for her naked stomach but found no trace of infection or injury. She flopped back on the bed, but got up after a moment and padded to the shower.

She needed to check in with the lab. There had been no immediate positives for bio active agents, but her body was telling her otherwise. It was complaining of phantom aches and twinges that should have disappeared in her sleep. She stood a moment in front of the mirror, but she looked fine. Clear eyes, smooth, clean skin, dark hair, even muscle tone, nothing visibly untoward or out of order. She was unused to feeling out of sorts.

As was usual she ignored most of the greetings thrown her way as she went up to see Robert. She nodded to her peers and other members of the Lovely Angels', but paid no attention to the men who tried to get her to smile. She was the best among the girls who essentially formed a small private army. The Lovely Angels were the heart of Phalanx, a security agency offering protection services for a fee, ranging from simple courier services to protection for the important or well monied. Their nickname came from the fact that all of the security forces were young women, between the ages of 19 to 26.

The augmentation process that Phalanx used only worked on women, and best on women in late puberty. Any younger and the risk for developmental deformation was too high. Any older and the chance that the process would work was too low. The process also had a high chance of making the women infertile, leaving upwards of 80% of the Lovely Angels barren.

The fertile ones were jokingly called Matrons', because these women had the greatest chance of passing down the genetic enhancements on to their children. For a small percentage of the women, maybe 5% or so, the process didn't really stick. They would become stronger, faster, and generally more physically capable, but would never be able to make the cut in the field. These women formed the working core of Phalanx, and still enjoyed all of the same privileges and benefits that the warrior caste did.

Lila got off the elevator at level three, the research facility level. The medical labs and equipment were found here, though the medical ward was actually on level four. Level four was avoided because you would normally only visit in case of a serious injury that required immediate treatment.

The floor was organized into halves, one side where all the machinery and hardware lived, the other side where all the people and medicine lived. She entered the medical facilities and headed for the nearest medtech, a young woman by the name of Charlene, or Charlie. The computer quietly announced her presence and Charlie turned to Lila.

"Oh, hey Lila. I'll be done with Christi in a moment." Charlie smiled at Lila and headed off towards a bank of machinery and computers.

"Hey Lila, what's up? Long time no see."

"Hey Christi. I'm here to check on some bloodwork."

"So we haven't seen you in... what, a week or so? Is Robert still giving you the hardest jobs?"

"Yeah. Got hit with a virus or poison, just following up today." Lila sat down next to Christi on the examining table.

"Ow. What happened?"

"Two degenerate auggies."

"Oh dear." Charlie hurried back to the table. "Yes, I think this is right. You need to eat better, Christi"

"Oh geez. What's the big deal?"

Charlie smiled at that. "Here, some vitamins to take with your meals for a few days. You never know when you'll need to go off and save the world."

Christi grumbled. "Yes, mother."

"Run along and play now. They're only vitamins, Christi."

Christi pulled on her shirt, her voice muffled by the cloth. "Alright, alright." She turned to wave before she left, "Hey, Lila, catch you later."

Lila nodded.

"Okay, here are your results." Charlie was holding up the lab's report.

"It looks like you were hit by a virus. We can't tell yet if it's a virus that mutated after encountering the infected individual or if the virus was already present and mutated along with the individual."

"So far the simulations and analysis indicate no reaction. You shouldn't worry. In fact most of the Lovely Angels would shrug it off as no worse than a cold. More work is being done, though, as to whether this kind of virus... oh, I'm sorry. Anyway, everything should be okay. I'll take another blood sample right now though, just to make sure."

"Fine." She watched silently as a small amount of blood was drawn from her arm.

"Okay, there you go. Everything else checks fine so you're free to go."

"Thanks, Charlie."

"No problem Lila, take care." She smiled again at Lila, and disappeared inside her office. Lila stepped out into the hallway and headed off to meet Robert.

Lila didn't schedule her meetings with Robert. She usually just dropped by unannounced and would wait until he was free. Right now Robert was on the phone when she stepped into his office. He acknowledged her presence by raising his hand up for a moment.

She wasn't paying attention to his conversation, but an image of a young man popped into her head. It was fuzzy and colorless but strangely reminiscent. He wasn't any older than herself and she knew he was the one speaking to Robert on the phone.

She didn't bother to glance at the screen to confirm it. Robert ended the conversation and greeted Lila.

"Hello, Lila. What incredible timing, I was just on the phone with a young man by the name of-"

"Michael Wong." Lila completed his sentence quietly and Robert nodded, a strange look on his face.

"Indeed. How curious. We had an interesting conversation"

"I'm not sure why he called, but he brought up some very interesting topics. He's the son of an old colleague and we chatted about things like Deus X, enhanced DNA, advanced human augmentation, and the like. What brings you here today, Lila?"

She hesitated, having forgotten the reason she had came here. She thought a moment.

"You asked to see me."

"Ah, yes. Silly me. I wanted to talk to you about Genesys, especially after those two victims you brought in."

"We are continuously doing research to improve our own booster process and have kept abreast of other techniques or technologies. The government, for example, is working on advanced slave bodies, little more than organic robots, for a future generation of soldiers. Of course I'm not supposed to know this, but it's pretty obvious."

"We haven't been able to find out who these two were, but their DNA has been significantly altered by a process not unlike our very own booster process. The labs have identified some markers that may be indicitive of Genesys products, but nothing damning." Robert sat back, silent for a moment.

"I think Genesys is attempting to duplicate our process and do it one better. Currently our process only works on women."

Lila nodded. "It's public knowledge how Phalanx's booster process works."

"Women get a special stage of development that we take advantage of; pregnancy, during which their bodies change to accommodate and support a fetus and enable childbirth. We hijack the female's capability to redesign itself for pregnancy in order to create a Lovely Angel. Stronger, harder bones, greater strength and endurance, much faster reflexes, better vision, greater capacity for healing and pain, and increases in intelligence, too."

Lila waited.

"We've been spending a fair amount of our resources trying to create a gender neutral augmentation process, but to little avail. One of the drawbacks of the male linked Y chromosome, it seems."

"GeneSys has also been trying to create a male capable booster process. I suspect these... victims you've been dealing with recently may relate to that. These two were the first human type on the record. I suppose that GeneSys may be getting close to creating a workable process and is starting to field test on people. Our own research has been disheartening, to say the least."

"We're waiting on further labwork to confirm the presences of GeneSys markers in the DNA. Incontravertible proof. It's not something we can level at them lightly."

Lila chose to interrupt. "What about Michael?"

Robert looked surprised, "Michael, eh? How did you know his name? Have you added mind reading to your little bag of tricks?"

She shook her head. "His name popped into my head when I stepped into the room."

"I see. Well, I'll start with Deus X then. Deus X was a project that was closed over 20 years ago, it's foundations lie in the human genome project, the human proteome project, and the human phenome project. The project was focused on creating a more perfect human being. Such as yourself, I suspect, though we'll never be able to find the records to prove it."

"My old colleague David Wong was involved with Deus X and it seems his nephew may have some interesting information for us. I haven't heard from David in over 12 years now, so it was a surprise to hear his name come up today. We're going to be doing a family favor and providing some protection services for Michael. I'd like you to go pick him up for me. Would you be willing to do that?"

It was cold, dark, and quiet. There were times that even this old city slumbered and lay still. Lila didnt need a timepiece to know it was deep into the night. Lila was unaffected by the chill wind.

She was in Central Park, an old historical landmark of the city. Away from the paths, from the lamp posts and street lights, you could imagine being able to see a few dim stars overhead.

She paid the sky no mind. Tonight she was hunting.

A wild animal had been sighted, making meals out of the hapless homeless who took shelter in the park. Forensics work indicated something very big, just shy of 100 kilo, with large, sharp teeth and claws. It moveed swiftly on all fours but stood on two legs just as easily. It matched the description of a young female bear, excepting of course three things.

Bears aren't known for eating people.

Bears have five claws and no opposable thumb.

Bears don't live in Manhattan Central Park.

Which is why Lila was here, three in the morning, hunting for a killer bear. Except it wasn't a killer bear. It's eating habits were too specific, too unusual.

She stopped in a small clearing. Yes, she thought. It had been here, sleeping. She sniffed. The scent still hovered in the air, the stench of man, but sickly.

It was standing in front of her.

Had it been there the whole time? It was ungainly, it's arms were too long, it's legs too short. It had dull, green, eyes, a stubby snout, and dirty grey hair all over its body. It sniffed experimentally, it's vision evidently incapable of discerning Lila.

It swung its head about awkwardly and shuffled into the clearing. It could smell her but not see her. She remained motionless waiting for it to get closer.

Wait.

Just

Another

Moment.

Quickly, now!

Just as it moved within reach she drew her blade and leaped. It moved much faster than she expected, nearly as fast as herself. They traded blows, a long trailing gash across it's chest for a set of shallow scrapes across her stomach.

The pain was intense, a burning fire that seemed to spread across the skin. There was no time to nurse injuries.

She threw her arm outward but moved quickly to her left, spinning around it. The thing lashed at her moving arm but was caught by surprise as she stepped behind it, burying her blade deep into its chest. She continued her motion and clamped her free arm around its neck to prevent it from twisting around and held on until it stopped struggling.

Lila let a noisy breath escape.

She let it fall heavily to the ground, it's blood pooling thickly at her feet. She cleaned off her blade and stepped back for a moment.