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INVISIBLE
A Painkiller Jane Short Story
In last Thursday morning’s security briefing, Section Chief McBride notified usthat Agent Palmer was found dead in his home just a couple of hours earlier. That madethree agents in as many weeks. All strangled and beaten to death while at home. It wasapparent that these were not random home invasion murders. We were being hunted.Most likely hunted by a Neuro. McBride posted a picture of the crime scene on the monitor. The picture showedone word, written in a smear of red. The word:
invisible
.We had found no clues at the other two scenes. There were no finger prints,unrecognized blood samples, or hair samples left behind. We were puzzled as to howtwo very well-trained agents could be dispatched so easily and brutally, without at leastlanding a few blows on their assailants. Now we knew. Agent Palmer had given us aclue to help us find the assassin.
 Invisible
.It all made sense now. This Neuro could trick our minds into not seeing him,allowing him to beat our agents to a pulp, at will. Pretty sadistic if you ask me. Sadisticand dangerous. We hadn’t faced a Neuro with this particular ability before. We neededto approach this one with extreme caution.McBride outlined a plan of action. Starting on that day, the team would go intolockdown mode. No one would be allowed to go to their personal residences until wecaught this Neuro. No one, that is, except me. I was going to be used as bait.The tech team outfitted me with a covert wireless camera. It hung around myneck on a titanium chain. The camera looked like an ordinary charm, but it had a veryimportant use. The Neuro would be able to manipulate my mind to make himself invisible to me. But the camera doesn’t have a mind. The camera would capture hisimage and relay it back to headquarters. There, the research department would be able toidentify him.* * * * *I went about my normal routine for four days. At night, I ate dinner and watchedtelevision while waiting to be attacked. Nothing abnormal happened until the fifth night.I had just sat down in front of the television when I heard Riley yelling in myearpiece.“Get up now!” he said. “He’s walking towards you!”When I stood up, Riley told me that the Neuro was about an arm’s length in frontof me. I decided to get the first blow in.
 
 I pivoted on my right foot and thrust out a full-power side kick. I aimed at a pointa few inches above my waist level, hoping to hit the intruder in his gut. It was a perfectshot. I felt the weight of the man, maybe about two hundred pounds or so, as my footplowed into his stomach.I couldn’t see him fall against the wall but I felt the room tremble when he hit it.My framed Monet print fell from the wall and threw shattered glass across the floor. Ireally liked that print!In my ear I heard Riley yelling again. The Neuro was getting up. He was fast.Before Riley could tell me what was happening, I felt a punch to the left side of my face.It was a hard punch, but it didn’t land very cleanly. I could tell that this guy wasn’t muchof a fighter. If I could see him I was sure that I would have been able to take him outwithout much effort.I stumbled back a few steps before I regained my balance. Riley spoke again.The Neuro was less than three feet away from me. I jabbed with my right, connectingwith his face and followed up with a quick left hook. I heard the guy go down to thefloor, crushing some of the glass fragments lying about.Before I could get more direction from Riley, I felt a hand around my ankle. TheNeuro pulled my feet out from under me and I went to the floor, striking my head on thehardwood.The blow to the back of my head stunned me. Before I could react, I was pinneddown. I felt hands around my neck trying to choke the life out of me. The guy bangedmy head on the floor a few times and continued choking me. The back of my head feltwarm, wet, and sticky. I gasped for breath. The room began to spin and then . . .darkness.* * * * *Dr. Carpenter told me that when Recovery brought me back to headquarters my jaw was broken in three places, my nose was broken, and I had a fractured occipital bone.Apparently the coward kept beating on me even after he was sure that he had killed me.Too bad for him I can’t be killed.Dr. Carpenter was able to collect the Neuro’s DNA from my fist and blooddroppings on the broken glass. Riley enhanced the video from the camera. We were ableto identify the Neuro as Arnold Branson, an assistant football coach at City University.We’re not sure how he found out the identities of the agents in our unit or what made himgo on his murderous rampage. We need to bring him in to get some information.It’s time for me to go hunting. Riley has given me a pair of glasses with a heads-up display linked to the camera. With these glasses I will be able to see what the camera
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