Chapter 4: First Recruits, First Rules
The formation of Finex began not with a grand announcement or a flashy press conference, but in a grimy, abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of New York. It smelled of mildew and stale beer, and the only light came from a single, bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. Adam stood in the center of the room, his enhanced agility making him seem more graceful than he actually was, watching the three people he had assembled. They were not mutants. They were nobodies. Disaffected, struggling, and desperate humans, the kind of people the world had long forgotten.
There was Sarah, a former stockbroker who had lost everything in the 2008 recession and was now on the verge of homelessness. Mark, a quiet, hulking man who had been a bouncer until he was laid off and was now living out of his car. And finally, Lily, a young college dropout with a knack for computers and a serious lack of prospects. They were the perfect candidates, people with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
"Thanks for coming," Adam said, his voice echoing in the cavernous space. "I know this isn't exactly the Four Seasons, but it gets the job done."
Sarah, a cynical glint in her eye, crossed her arms. "You said you had a job for us. Something that would change our lives. This better not be a cult."
Adam let a slow, sarcastic smile spread across his face. "A cult? No. A mutually beneficial partnership with a few… interesting terms? Absolutely. Let me ask you a question. What do you think of mutants?"
Mark, the quiet bouncer, shifted uncomfortably. "I don't. Not really. I mean, they're just people. Some are weird, some are nice. Just like everyone else."
"Wrong," Adam said, his voice dropping to a serious, almost menacing tone. "They're not just people. They're the next step in human evolution, and the rest of humanity is terrified of them. That fear is going to lead to a war, a war that we're all going to be caught in the middle of. The world is going to change, and if you're not on the right side of that change, you're going to get crushed. I'm offering you a way to not just survive that change, but to thrive in it."
He then, with a thought, activated his domain. The humming sensation filled the room, and he could see their genetic signatures in his mind's eye, a blank, static grey.
"This is my power," he said, gesturing to the space around them. "I can manipulate genetics. I can take X-genes from mutants and either give them to myself or… give them to others." He then, with a thought, pulled up the system's storage interface, a sleek, digital menu that only he could see. He had a few simple X-genes stored from his weeks of observation. He chose one, an X-gene for enhanced strength, and another for enhanced durability, both from minor, non-essential mutants he had observed. He knew these would be a good start.
"I'm going to give you power," he said, looking at Mark. "Strength. Durability. Everything you need to not just survive, but to be a force to be reckoned with. But it comes with a price."
He explained the rules, his voice as cold and clear as a winter morning. "Finex has two rules. The first is non-negotiable: no harm to innocents or children. You break that rule, you will wish you had never met me. My retaliation is… disproportionate." He let that sink in, watching the fear and awe in their eyes. "The second rule is a bit more personal: a 10x return. If someone harms a member of Finex, we don't just get even. We get ten times back. An eye for an eye is for amateurs. A city for a limb? Now that's a statement."
He then, with a surge of energy, initiated the X-gene transfer to his new recruits. He felt the familiar pull, the sense of giving a piece of his power away. The system flashed: [X-GENE TRANSFER COMPLETE. BACKLASH PROTOCOL INITIATED: CATCHING COLD FATIGUE.]
The energy left him, but it was replaced by a different kind of sensation, a sudden, debilitating exhaustion that felt like a thousand pounds of lead had been strapped to his bones. His limbs felt heavy, his mind foggy, and a violent, shaking cold began to set in. He shivered, the cold fatigue a tangible, physical consequence of his power. He stumbled, catching himself on a rusted metal barrel.
The three recruits, meanwhile, were on the floor, gasping. A moment later, they looked at their hands in awe. Mark clenched his fist, and the old metal barrel he was leaning on crumpled like a soda can. Sarah looked at her reflection in a puddle, and her eyes were a different shade of blue, her posture more confident. Lily, the computer expert, felt a strange, new awareness, a mental map of every piece of electronic equipment in the warehouse, a minor electrical field manipulation.
They stood up, looking at their new leader, a man who was now shivering violently and clutching his stomach. They were empowered, and he was… sick. The irony wasn't lost on him.
"This is the genius of the system. I give them power, and it makes me look weak. It's a perfect disguise. They think I'm just a guy with a powerful tool, not a god who can create and destroy with a thought. My weakness is their strength, and their loyalty is my prize. This is going to be fun," he thought, managing a weak, sarcastic grin.