The
following is the excerpt from Agent 37's final surveillance report of
potential SHIELD recruit, subject 89, to be further referred to by
initials M.C..
...At 11:00am, M.C. left his apartment building. As he locked the front door of the building, his key snapped in the lock. From the time he spent looking at the broken key and trying to get it out of the lock, I will safely assume this was an accident. After 10 minutes, M.C. gave up and left for the train station. The rest of the team and I followed M.C., leaving Agent 49 behind to inspect the door. Agent 49 reported that a portion of the key was stuck in the lock, preventing the door from locking. I tasked Agent 49 to remain at the building to prevent any other agencies to use this opportunity to hinder our investigation.
M.C. arrived at the train station at 11:47am and rode the 12:00pm train into the city for a job interview. At 12:47pm, M.C. exited the train, picking up an empty glass bottle from the train floor. M.C. came to a stop just several steps outside the train after spotting a trash can roughly seven feet to his right. "If I make this, they'll give me a job on the spot," he said as he threw the bottle at the trash can (Agent 22 reported as she was in the best position to lip-read). M.C. missed wide and the bottle shattered on the platform. M.C. ran away up the stairs onto the street.
As I raced up the stairs after him, an older woman's scream came from the platform, followed by the sound of crunching glass, a thud, and an animal whimper. Turning back, I saw an older woman yelling "Stop!" and pointing at a very large, black dog which lay just beyond the shattered glass, streaks of blood trailing behind it. I tasked Agents 15 and 73 to follow M.C. while I investigated. I mingled with the crowed to get closer to the situation, spotting Agent 22 on the other side of the group. An old woman approached the dog slowly, cautiously. The dog's paws were a mess, almost a dozen shards embedded in each of it's four paws, blood gushing from a couple of the deeper ones the dog managed to pull out with it's teeth. "Just give me back my purse, you thief," she said to the dog but every time she got close the dog snapped it's jaws at her. Getting closer, I noticed the black purse under the dog's belly. Then I noticed it was not a dog, but a wolf.
I signaled Agent 22 but she'd already figured it out as well. She stepped forward, producing her badge and gun and identifying herself as a SHIELD agent. "Vigo the Wolf, you are under arrest. Change back now or I will put you down." By the time she finished speaking, Vigo had changed back to a naked, human male, glass covering his palms and the soles of his feet. I stayed long enough to watch Agent 22 place the handcuffs on Vigo and then call for an extraction team before leaving to catch up with Agents 15 and 73.
When I caught up to with Agents 15 and 73, they and M.C. had already reached their destination, Thompson Square. As you know, the courtyard at Thompson Square is bordered on one side by the street and surrounded on the other three sides by towers. M.C. had an interview with Fullerton Ltd on the 45th floor of the middle tower. Based on the intel I gathered, he was still almost an hour early for the interview.
M.C. bought a Sprite from the lone vending machine in the courtyard and sat on the only bench under a tree. He proceeded to drink the Sprite and smoke a cigarette. He finished three cigarettes before finishing the Sprite. With 30 minutes until the interview, M.C. entered the middle tower. I assigned Agent 15 to remain outside while Agent 73 and I followed M.C. inside.
Though Fullerton Ltd is located on the 45th floor, M.C. took the elevator to the 46th floor to use the restroom. I sent Agent 73 to the 45th floor while I lingered in the hallway on the 46th floor. Five minutes later, a known super human SHIELD has been tracking, (to be referred to further as SH-A) entered the restroom, then exited and headed to the elevator. Agent 73 reported that SH-A had exited the elevator on the 45th floor and entered the restroom. Minutes later, Agent 15 back in the courtyard reported that another super human (to be referred to as SH-B) exited the middle building with a brown paper bag, bottle of water, and a book. SH-B headed straight for the bench M.C. had been sitting at. Agent 15 reported she sat for a minute before breaking out into a fit of coughs. SH-B headed back inside. Minutes later, Agent 73 also reported seeing her exit the elevator and head to the office on the opposite side of the hall of Fullerton Ltd. M.C. exited the restroom and headed down to the 45th floor for the job interview. Obviously it would be suspicious to follow any further at this point. Luckily, we managed to place several cameras within the office the night before. As we watched him enter the interviewer's office, Agent 15 reported that a third super human, SH-C, had exited the left tower and entered the courtyard. He headed across the courtyard to the vending machine. Agent 15 reported she witnessed SH-C whack the vending machine twice before heading into the middle tower. From outside, she reported seeing SH-C buy a bottle of Sprite from the small first-floor convenience store. Immediately after receiving Agent 15's report, there is an explosion from inside the office. Checking the cameras we placed in the office, I saw the entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows shattered. M.C. and the interviewer were on the floor. Floating in the air just outside the window was an unknown male in a metallic suit. He pointed a cylindrical object on his wrist, a blue light flashes, and the back wall exploded. Simultaneously, Agents 15 and 73 reported in: Agent 15 reported SH-C stepped outside and flew into the air, straight up the the 45th floor. Agent 73 reported a blur sped out of the restroom toward the Fullerton Ltd offices. Before I could enter the office, SH-A burst through the office on the opposite side of the hallway and then smashed through the wall of Fullerton Ltd.
I followed SH-A through the hole in the wall and into the interviewer's room. Inside, the three super humans were fighting against the metallic man. I grabbed the interviewer and started dragging her out of the room as I motioned for M.C. to follow me. Instead, as the unknown assailant's back was turned, M.C. grabbed a stapler off of the ground and threw it at the man. The stapler connected with the man, adjusting his aim upward and blasting SH-C into the ceiling. The collision somehow activated the sprinkler system. The now slick floor caused SH-A to slide into SH-B, knocking them both to the ground. The enemy took the opportunity to retreat out the window.
At this point I identified myself as a SHIELD agent. While we waited for the EMTs and a SHIELD containment squad, I tasked Agent 73 with taking statements from the three super humans while I questioned the interviewer and M.C.. A point of interest I would like to take from Agent 73's report: When asked about their quick response time to the situation, all three super humans stated roughly the same thing - that they just so happened to be in the area. SH-A reported that he works on the floor above. When he found the restroom occupied on the 46th floor, he came down to this floor. He had just finished in the restroom when he heard the explosion and raced to see what was going on. SH-B reported she would normally be in the courtyard on her lunch break, but the smell of cigarette smoke at her favorite bench drove her back inside to her office across the hall. She was at her desk when she heard the explosion. SH-C reported that he would've been back at his office in the other tower but the vending machine in the courtyard was out of Sprite so he had to go to the convenience store on the first floor of this building. He had just stepped outside when he heard the explosion so he flew into the air.
I talked to the interviewer first. She stated that the man was a Robert Fletch, a recently fired employee of the company. I sent Agent 15 a message to send several agents to his home as well as to put out an alert with the local authorities. M.C. had no other information to offer. He was just there for a job interview. Then I asked about the stapler and why he threw it. He responded, "I thought I could distract him. I was just trying to help. I should've know something like that would happen. It always happens. I swear I was just trying to help." The EMTs finally arrived and determined only minor injuries in all of them except SH-C, who they took for further observation. At this point I'd seen everything I needed to and withdrew my team from the field.
As I said, this is my final report regarding surveillance of subject 89 for recruitment into SHIELD's super human development program. I respect that the Board will have the final decision, however, I would also like to make my own recommendation which I hope you will take into consideration. I would like to suggest that subject 89 NOT be formally recruited into SHIELD at this time. We are still unsure if M.C.'s abilities are just pure luck and coincidence or if he really is capable of a currently unknown reality-bending superpower. Either way, recruitment of subject 89 WILL result in ACTIVELY attempting heroics, which as I witnessed first-hand, result in the opposite of what he was trying to accomplish, usually with an extremely negative outcome. Instead, I would like to request hiring M.C. into a desk position at one of our shell companies. This will keep M.C. around where SHIELD can still monitor him without informing him of his abilities.
Oh, and in case I forgot, during all of this, Agent 49 reported M.C.'s landlord, Mr. Spratz, had a heart attack in the apartment building while mopping the floors. Luckily, the EMTs managed to get there in time - thanks to the door being unlocked when they arrived.
I've been spending a lot of time on Reddit Writing Prompts and this story was inspired by the following post: "Write about a superhero whose power is a combination of ignorance and extreme luck - he doesn't even know people think he's a superhero, yet everywhere he goes, he accidentally rescues people and defeats villains without realizing it." I thought about writing this from the first-person perspective of M.C. but then, how would he find out he did anything? I thought that I'd just have him see it on the news or maybe a neighbor would tell him about it, but those all seemed ... boring. I don't know, maybe that would have matched the story better. So I just decided to use a bystander viewpoint to tell the story. Obviously, who better to monitor superhumans than SHIELD. Oh, and if you're wondering why it took so long to post this, well, at the last minute I decided I wanted to have a picture to go with the story, you know, like how real books have cover art. So obviously since I lack a desk at home I needed to take it at work. And so, I needed time to put together a manila folder, stuff it with scratch paper, and then take a picture of it without anyone at the office wondering what the hell I was doing. It's funny because I almost used this one
...At 11:00am, M.C. left his apartment building. As he locked the front door of the building, his key snapped in the lock. From the time he spent looking at the broken key and trying to get it out of the lock, I will safely assume this was an accident. After 10 minutes, M.C. gave up and left for the train station. The rest of the team and I followed M.C., leaving Agent 49 behind to inspect the door. Agent 49 reported that a portion of the key was stuck in the lock, preventing the door from locking. I tasked Agent 49 to remain at the building to prevent any other agencies to use this opportunity to hinder our investigation.
M.C. arrived at the train station at 11:47am and rode the 12:00pm train into the city for a job interview. At 12:47pm, M.C. exited the train, picking up an empty glass bottle from the train floor. M.C. came to a stop just several steps outside the train after spotting a trash can roughly seven feet to his right. "If I make this, they'll give me a job on the spot," he said as he threw the bottle at the trash can (Agent 22 reported as she was in the best position to lip-read). M.C. missed wide and the bottle shattered on the platform. M.C. ran away up the stairs onto the street.
As I raced up the stairs after him, an older woman's scream came from the platform, followed by the sound of crunching glass, a thud, and an animal whimper. Turning back, I saw an older woman yelling "Stop!" and pointing at a very large, black dog which lay just beyond the shattered glass, streaks of blood trailing behind it. I tasked Agents 15 and 73 to follow M.C. while I investigated. I mingled with the crowed to get closer to the situation, spotting Agent 22 on the other side of the group. An old woman approached the dog slowly, cautiously. The dog's paws were a mess, almost a dozen shards embedded in each of it's four paws, blood gushing from a couple of the deeper ones the dog managed to pull out with it's teeth. "Just give me back my purse, you thief," she said to the dog but every time she got close the dog snapped it's jaws at her. Getting closer, I noticed the black purse under the dog's belly. Then I noticed it was not a dog, but a wolf.
I signaled Agent 22 but she'd already figured it out as well. She stepped forward, producing her badge and gun and identifying herself as a SHIELD agent. "Vigo the Wolf, you are under arrest. Change back now or I will put you down." By the time she finished speaking, Vigo had changed back to a naked, human male, glass covering his palms and the soles of his feet. I stayed long enough to watch Agent 22 place the handcuffs on Vigo and then call for an extraction team before leaving to catch up with Agents 15 and 73.
When I caught up to with Agents 15 and 73, they and M.C. had already reached their destination, Thompson Square. As you know, the courtyard at Thompson Square is bordered on one side by the street and surrounded on the other three sides by towers. M.C. had an interview with Fullerton Ltd on the 45th floor of the middle tower. Based on the intel I gathered, he was still almost an hour early for the interview.
M.C. bought a Sprite from the lone vending machine in the courtyard and sat on the only bench under a tree. He proceeded to drink the Sprite and smoke a cigarette. He finished three cigarettes before finishing the Sprite. With 30 minutes until the interview, M.C. entered the middle tower. I assigned Agent 15 to remain outside while Agent 73 and I followed M.C. inside.
Though Fullerton Ltd is located on the 45th floor, M.C. took the elevator to the 46th floor to use the restroom. I sent Agent 73 to the 45th floor while I lingered in the hallway on the 46th floor. Five minutes later, a known super human SHIELD has been tracking, (to be referred to further as SH-A) entered the restroom, then exited and headed to the elevator. Agent 73 reported that SH-A had exited the elevator on the 45th floor and entered the restroom. Minutes later, Agent 15 back in the courtyard reported that another super human (to be referred to as SH-B) exited the middle building with a brown paper bag, bottle of water, and a book. SH-B headed straight for the bench M.C. had been sitting at. Agent 15 reported she sat for a minute before breaking out into a fit of coughs. SH-B headed back inside. Minutes later, Agent 73 also reported seeing her exit the elevator and head to the office on the opposite side of the hall of Fullerton Ltd. M.C. exited the restroom and headed down to the 45th floor for the job interview. Obviously it would be suspicious to follow any further at this point. Luckily, we managed to place several cameras within the office the night before. As we watched him enter the interviewer's office, Agent 15 reported that a third super human, SH-C, had exited the left tower and entered the courtyard. He headed across the courtyard to the vending machine. Agent 15 reported she witnessed SH-C whack the vending machine twice before heading into the middle tower. From outside, she reported seeing SH-C buy a bottle of Sprite from the small first-floor convenience store. Immediately after receiving Agent 15's report, there is an explosion from inside the office. Checking the cameras we placed in the office, I saw the entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows shattered. M.C. and the interviewer were on the floor. Floating in the air just outside the window was an unknown male in a metallic suit. He pointed a cylindrical object on his wrist, a blue light flashes, and the back wall exploded. Simultaneously, Agents 15 and 73 reported in: Agent 15 reported SH-C stepped outside and flew into the air, straight up the the 45th floor. Agent 73 reported a blur sped out of the restroom toward the Fullerton Ltd offices. Before I could enter the office, SH-A burst through the office on the opposite side of the hallway and then smashed through the wall of Fullerton Ltd.
I followed SH-A through the hole in the wall and into the interviewer's room. Inside, the three super humans were fighting against the metallic man. I grabbed the interviewer and started dragging her out of the room as I motioned for M.C. to follow me. Instead, as the unknown assailant's back was turned, M.C. grabbed a stapler off of the ground and threw it at the man. The stapler connected with the man, adjusting his aim upward and blasting SH-C into the ceiling. The collision somehow activated the sprinkler system. The now slick floor caused SH-A to slide into SH-B, knocking them both to the ground. The enemy took the opportunity to retreat out the window.
At this point I identified myself as a SHIELD agent. While we waited for the EMTs and a SHIELD containment squad, I tasked Agent 73 with taking statements from the three super humans while I questioned the interviewer and M.C.. A point of interest I would like to take from Agent 73's report: When asked about their quick response time to the situation, all three super humans stated roughly the same thing - that they just so happened to be in the area. SH-A reported that he works on the floor above. When he found the restroom occupied on the 46th floor, he came down to this floor. He had just finished in the restroom when he heard the explosion and raced to see what was going on. SH-B reported she would normally be in the courtyard on her lunch break, but the smell of cigarette smoke at her favorite bench drove her back inside to her office across the hall. She was at her desk when she heard the explosion. SH-C reported that he would've been back at his office in the other tower but the vending machine in the courtyard was out of Sprite so he had to go to the convenience store on the first floor of this building. He had just stepped outside when he heard the explosion so he flew into the air.
I talked to the interviewer first. She stated that the man was a Robert Fletch, a recently fired employee of the company. I sent Agent 15 a message to send several agents to his home as well as to put out an alert with the local authorities. M.C. had no other information to offer. He was just there for a job interview. Then I asked about the stapler and why he threw it. He responded, "I thought I could distract him. I was just trying to help. I should've know something like that would happen. It always happens. I swear I was just trying to help." The EMTs finally arrived and determined only minor injuries in all of them except SH-C, who they took for further observation. At this point I'd seen everything I needed to and withdrew my team from the field.
As I said, this is my final report regarding surveillance of subject 89 for recruitment into SHIELD's super human development program. I respect that the Board will have the final decision, however, I would also like to make my own recommendation which I hope you will take into consideration. I would like to suggest that subject 89 NOT be formally recruited into SHIELD at this time. We are still unsure if M.C.'s abilities are just pure luck and coincidence or if he really is capable of a currently unknown reality-bending superpower. Either way, recruitment of subject 89 WILL result in ACTIVELY attempting heroics, which as I witnessed first-hand, result in the opposite of what he was trying to accomplish, usually with an extremely negative outcome. Instead, I would like to request hiring M.C. into a desk position at one of our shell companies. This will keep M.C. around where SHIELD can still monitor him without informing him of his abilities.
Oh, and in case I forgot, during all of this, Agent 49 reported M.C.'s landlord, Mr. Spratz, had a heart attack in the apartment building while mopping the floors. Luckily, the EMTs managed to get there in time - thanks to the door being unlocked when they arrived.
I've been spending a lot of time on Reddit Writing Prompts and this story was inspired by the following post: "Write about a superhero whose power is a combination of ignorance and extreme luck - he doesn't even know people think he's a superhero, yet everywhere he goes, he accidentally rescues people and defeats villains without realizing it." I thought about writing this from the first-person perspective of M.C. but then, how would he find out he did anything? I thought that I'd just have him see it on the news or maybe a neighbor would tell him about it, but those all seemed ... boring. I don't know, maybe that would have matched the story better. So I just decided to use a bystander viewpoint to tell the story. Obviously, who better to monitor superhumans than SHIELD. Oh, and if you're wondering why it took so long to post this, well, at the last minute I decided I wanted to have a picture to go with the story, you know, like how real books have cover art. So obviously since I lack a desk at home I needed to take it at work. And so, I needed time to put together a manila folder, stuff it with scratch paper, and then take a picture of it without anyone at the office wondering what the hell I was doing. It's funny because I almost used this one
You can still kinda see the shot glasses in the background just behind the keyboard. The dumb thing is that after all of that, the following thought crossed my mind, "Why would SHIELD still use paper for their files? Shouldn't they be using some sort of advanced electronic communication thing?" Well that was all a waste of time.
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