Grendel Unit 2: Ignition Sequence Read Online Free PDF Page B

looked down at the scroll and he saw a soft red light blinking in his eyes and knew it was scanning him. The scroll was scanning his name and identity and personal history in order to find the most attractive, alluring image it could.
    Suddenly , a picture of Frank appeared on the scroll. He was walking into a court room wearing a suit, carrying a briefcase. The image dissolved to read, "THIS CAN BE YOU FRANK KELLY. UNIFICATION MILITARY SERVICES WILL PAY FOR LAW SCHOOL."
    Frank folded the scroll pamphlet and put it back in place in the information kiosk. "Wrong guess," Frank said.
    Ju st as he crossed through the threshold to leave, he saw a beggar walking toward the front door who looked at him and nodded encouragingly. "Keep going, friend," the man mumbled as Frank walked past.
    " I will, thanks," Frank said instinctively, thinking that somehow this poor man, this complete stranger dressed in clothes so baggy they were falling off of him, had seen the look on Frank's face and recognized the need for a brief affirmation. A little pat on the shoulders telling him not to give up.
    F rank picked up his pace as he walked into the warm summer sun. It felt good to be outside, breathing clean air instead of the tightly-controlled and sanitized oxygen of the courthouse. What did his father know anyway? Frank was half tempted to go back and grab some of the pamphlets from Unification Works! and slide them under the judge's chambers door.
    He looked back at the courthouse from the sidewalk, trying to get one last glimpse of the man who'd told him "Keep going," and saw that he was just about to walk into the scanning booth. In that moment, he saw that what he'd mistaken for a beggar's baggy clothing were actually oversized and loose enough to conceal hidden equipment. The man lifted his arms to enter the scanner and Frank looked in horror at the belt of thick plastic squares tied around his waist.
    Sirens erupted from the scanner just as the man cried out, "Humans forever!"
    There was a bright flash of light and everything turned white like Frank was looking straight into the sun. He heard a low, dull whumping sound that sounded like distant cannon fire and the next thing he knew, he was pushed backwards like someone shoved him in the chest. The force of the explosion sent him tumbling end over end, sending him onto his back and head, skittering across the sidewalk like a stone skipping across flat water.
     
    A Unification soldier came to visit Frank in the hospital later that week.
    The soldier was only a few years older than Frank, but his face was already weathered and lined with deep, furrowed marks along both sides of his face. The ballistic vest covering his uniform shirt read Unification Investigator in bright letters across his chest. Frank saw the outline of sizing stickers that still remained on the man's uniform and said, "Brand new outfit?"
    The soldier smiled and said, "I've never been big on wearing it. I try and spend as much time in plain clothes as possible, fitting in with the locals and gathering intel. But Command wanted us all down here in uniform just to show the flag, I guess."
    "Show the flag?" Frank said.
    The soldier tapped the word Unification on his chest and said, "You know, giving the panicked locals the reassurance that your government is here and everything is going to be okay."
    Frank laughed bitterly and said, "Is everything going to be okay?"
    "No, absolutely not," the soldier said. "Not for a really long time. But in the meantime, it's my job to find the people who did this and bring them to justice. Would you mind if I asked you some questions about what happened?"
    Frank shrugged and said, "Sure. Go for it."
    "The man you saw, the bomber. He said something to you in the courtyard as you walked out. I saw it on camera. What was it?"
    Frank closed his eyes and leaned back , trying to focus. "He said, 'Keep going,' and he called me friend," Frank said.
    " Keep going? As in, get the hell out of