Dr John Reyes

Doctor John Reyes woke up, on time, without an alarm, and immediately began his morning workout regiment. Dr Reyes was like clockwork, the most disciplined man you've ever met. At 30 years of age, John was not only in the prime of his life, but also in peak human physical and mental condition. A true polymath and Renaissance man.

After a full workout and a quick shower, he joined his lovely wife for breakfast. From their humble abode in Chicago, you would never guess that this couple was comprised of two of the smartest living people in the world. There were six doctorates between the two of them. John had the most. They two had met as undergrads in the pre-med program, before being accepted by Redmond Enterprises for an accelerated learning program. While in the program, after finishing their second doctorates, they were married. They had a son, and Martha decided to become an online professor.

John was accepted by Arthur Redmond onto the top secret Project NOVUS, and quickly became one of the project's head scientists. These days, their son was in boarding school, and Martha was a leading professor at the University of Chicago.

After finish his breakfast, speed reading the news, and conversing briefly with his wife on topics from personal life to scientific discoveries, John got up and kissed his wife goodbye. He grabbed his bike, headed out the apartment door, and carried the bike down the narrow staircase. Once outside, on the sidewalk, he set down the bike and pulled a ring out of his pocket. This was not a wedding band, but instead a far more intricate device. This ring would grant the wearer with enough energy to allow them to move at lightning speed.

John slipped the ring on and rode his bike all the way to a warehouse at an undisclosed location. Unbeknownst to John, he had been watched, by a couple of guys who saw him slip a ring on and disappear. John rounded the corner of the supposedly abandoned warehouse. He walked through a back alley, guarded by security personnel dressed as thugs. John discreetly flashed his ID, and walked through the back door. He ventured through the warehouse, until he found what appeared to be a random large "wooden" crate. After pressing his hand on the crate, a device read his handprint, and the crate swung open revealing a large elevator. John stepped in the elevator, which descended deep into the ground. Once exiting the elevator, John passed through a hallway of security checkpoints, before finally making it to the laboratory.

John was the head scientist at the Chicago laboratory, and the foremost authority on the mysterious subatomic “neo-particles”, as well as the superhumans called neo-humans. John's current top secret project was working to unravel the mysteries of the Kinetic Force. The ring was made to charge a person with a surplus of Kinetic Force, giving them superhuman speed.
He observed the plants, which he had left charging with Kinetic Force energy overnight. They had aged overnight and withered away. He took the ring out and put it in a special lead box, determining it was safer to keep sealed. Exposure to the energy seemed to cause rapid aging. He would need to develop the neo-human longevity powers before doing any more human testing with the Kinetic Force.

*****
Martha walked down the staircase to her Prius parked just outside. Once she sat in her car, two men emerged from the back seat and put a gun next to her head.

"You are going to take us to visit your husband at work", they said in a thick accent that she had never heard before.

"I don't know where his office is," she protested.

"Well then, you are going to need to bring him here."

*****
Back at the lab, John received a message on his device. It was not a cell phone, since he couldn't get reception underground, but instead a special device his wife used to contact him while at work.
"Need you back at the apartment. Hurry!"

John rushed for the elevator, up to the warehouse, out the back door, to the cab which was already waiting for him. The cab was called in by an intern. John hopped in, gave his address and a stern order to "step on it".

John paid the cabbie and lept out of the car. He opened the door to the staircase, to find his wife and two thugs inside. One of them holding a gun to her.

"Let her go," he said, "it's me you want."

If only he hadn't left the lead box in the lab. The man with the gun pointed it at John. The other man motioned for Martha to go upstairs. John walked with them out the door, into their car. They put John in the driver's seat, the other two sat on the bench-seat next to him."Now drive us to your secret lab, and let us in, or I'll put a bullet in you head."

John started up the engine and began to drive. He knew that once he got to the warehouse, the guards in the alley would kill them all. John had sworn an oath to protect the lab, even with his life. He started to pick up speed as he drove down the streets. Then, came a red light. John slammed his brakes. The momentary shock paralyzed the man holding the gun. John could see, like being in slow motion, as the shocked gun man flew through the windshield.

His partner, like John, had put on his seatbelt. Both rushed to unbuckle, and the man began to reach into his jacket. John grabbed the man's hand, first. He bent the fingers back, breaking them, then reached for the gun. The man grabbed John's hand, but that backfired when John broke his other hand. The man opened the door with his (broken) right hand, and they both climbed out. He tried to pull out the gun with his left hand, but a well placed kick from John caused him to drop in. The man stood up and aimed a few kicks. John blocked them with his hands.

The man quickly turned around and reach down towards the gun lying on the floor, but John grabbed both of his arms and pinned them behind his back. John pushed the man to the floor, picked up the gun and pointed it at the man with his right hand. With his left hand, he pulled out his phone to call the police.

The scene was a mess. The first guy laid out in the crosswalk, either dead or severely injured. The other man laid down on the sidewalk. Both he and John were bleeding, but John had no broken bones. It was a long day... and it wasn't even lunch time yet.