Paranormals (Book 1) by Christopher Andrews Page A

the older man returned to his seat, but now his words were filled with a lot more emotion , and Steve realized that he was not the only person in this world affected by his family’s deaths.
     
    "That was your doctor. I don’t have much time, so I’ll get right to the point. We need someone to take McLane out, someone who can deal with his associates ... and who wants the murdering bastard in the worst way."
     
    Steve certainly qualified for that last condition; a fiery passion filled him now that demanded he avenge his family. But how could he — a suddenly alone young man — deal with paranormals? And...
     
    "Alan, what does any of this have to do with my ‘not having to be blind?’ Spit it out , for God’s sake!"
     
    "Regardless of whether or not you accept this full ... proposal, I will not let Joseph’s son go blind, not when we can do something about it. We can use a project that McLane, thank God, had nothing to do with. We can replace your eyes with mechanical implants, Steve."
     
    " ‘Mechanical implants,’ " Steve repeated. Was this the time for dawning hope or severe skepticism ?
     
    "Yes. Artificial eyes , one of the side-projects the government’s allowed us to pursue. Your dad wanted to work on something besides anti-rogue weaponry, and he took full advantage of the company’s new resources. I believe he had your great-aunt in mind at the time—"
     
    "Dad was going to fix Aunt Jane’s eyes?"
     
    "Yes. The implants are amazing technology — they’ll function just like your natural eyes did. With a few final touches, you’ll hardly know the difference."
     
    "Uh-huh. So what’s the catch?"
     
    "There is no catch ," Alan quickly insisted, "at least, not the type that you’re implying. We could leave your new eyes as just that: Mechanical eyes . We’ve discovered, however, that the nature of their basic design makes them capable of much, much more." Alan’s voice came closer as he leaned forward again. "Did your dad ever mention the vortex wave ?"
     
    "No."
     
    Alan’s speech flowed out like a bursting dam, a rush of excitement and pride and urgency and nervousness. "The vortex wave harnesses more power than any other conventional weapon in the world . It generates enough kinetic energy to crush an armored tank or punch a hole through a mountain. No known paranormal has the invulnerability or the strength to resist this much force. Steve, the focal lense of the prototype is virtually identical to the artificial retinas in the mechanical eyes — we literally borrowed the design from the weapon to solve some problems with the implants. With modification, I believe you could emit the vortex directly from your new eyes ."
     
    "No shit," Steve whispered.
     
    "And there’s more ," Alan continued as though he hadn’t heard. "Between their intrinsic construction and the adapted vortex lense, I think they could also be customized for a wide variety of other uses — lasers of varied intensity, infrared or ultraviolet scanning, glare protection ... but the vortex would be by far your primary weapon ..."
     
    Alan finally stopped to catch his breath. "Sorry. I didn’t mean to get carried away. All of this is very, very new , Steve. I hadn’t even fully considered the possibilities until after your ... your outburst yesterday. It broke my heart ... and it pissed me off . I watched you and John grow up, and Joseph was like the brother I never had. McLane must not get away with this ..." His voice choked, and his words trailed off.
     
    If Steve’s mind had been a whirlwind before, it was a veritable hurricane now. The things Alan was describing ... five years ago, Steve would have thought he was joking, or crazy.
     
    But that was before the White Flash, the Seven Stars, and the Paranormal Effect. Was anything truly "impossible" anymore?
     
    "I’d be able to do all of this?"
     
    "It’s theoretical," Alan reiterated, "but, yes, I believe it will work. Now remember, Steve ... if you