For Every Action - The Quantum Mechanic Series Book I

NPR World News

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June 17, 2027

DS: Good evening, this is NPR World News. I’m Don Summeral.

An astonishing development has occurred concerning the crisis in Volgograd today. As most of you are already aware, a rogue unit of cybernetically enhanced soldiers calling themselves the “Kollektiv Kiborg” captured the city last week, and slaughtered thousands in the process. They declared themselves an independent state, and threatened war with anyone who attempted to cross their borders. The Russian military attempted to reclaim the city for several days and suffered extremely heavy casualties before retreating. But today, multiple sources have confirmed that all of the Kiborg are dead.

This morning at approximately nine thirty local time, an American Special Forces unit and selected members of the press arrived at the Gumrak airport. This was apparently in response to a bizarre challenge issued by the Kiborg on Tuesday that America send their finest fighting force to face them. If defeated, the Kiborg would surrender the city. But if not, the UN and Russia would have to acknowledge their sovereignty, essentially granting them nation status.

According to NPR News correspondent Katarina Akaida, only four soldiers were in this unit, but they managed to defeat the Kiborg without the use of weapons. Having been invited by the American government to observe, hundreds of news organization captured the events on video. Ladies and gentlemen, what these videos show is so incredible that I must invite you to go to our website and watch for yourself. We have taken care to censor the video in many places due to some of the violence it contains, but it is clear enough to help understand what you are about to hear.

Katrina, can you describe for us what happened?

KA: I can try Don, but it’s still difficult to believe, despite having witnessed it myself.

DS: Please do.

KA: The soldiers in question wore only black, and the unit insignia on their shoulders has never been seen before. A downward pointing blue triangle, with a circle inside of it of the same color. As I said earlier, they carried no weapons of any kind, and at 9:52 AM, the leader of the team issued an ultimatum to the Kiborg, demanding they surrender to be tried for crimes against humanity. When the Kiborg responded by opening fire, the soldiers apparently ran directly through the firestorm to kill the Kiborg by hand. They did so with an incredible display of martial arts skills executed at speeds defying description. Only after recordings of the events were played back in slow motion was it possible to see what actually happened.

The soldiers, whom the press has dubbed “The Four Horsemen”, appear to have been given superhuman abilities through the use of some unknown technology. Two of them were women strong enough to literally rip the massive Kiborg limb from limb. We watched them and the two men in their team as they engaged the Kiborg in hand to hand combat, killing them all in fewer than nineteen seconds.

DS: I’m sorry Katarina, did you say nineteen seconds?

KA: That’s right Don. As incredible as it sounds, the events were recorded by literally hundreds of journalists from across the world. I saw it with my own eyes and every video shows the same thing.

DS: How is that even possible?

KA: No one knows Don. Even experts in the fields of human enhancement are at a complete loss to explain today’s events. Adding to the confusion is the total media lockout put in place by the White House. Members of Congress who should have knowledge of any programs capable of this aren’t taking questions.

DS: Katarina, some are claiming the soldiers weren’t really human, or they’re the product of some technology stolen from the Phu Ket cloning labs.

KA: Speculation is everywhere Don, but no one has any real answers. All we know is that America has revealed their newest weapons and they are truly terrifying. It’s difficult to imagine how anyone could hope to defend themselves against soldiers like these, and today we only saw four. For all we know there may be hundreds, or even thousands more horsemen just like them.

DS: Thank you Katarina, and now we turn to our science desk, where NPR’s own Roger Beddingham is going to give us his take on today’s events...