Hawkblood: Vol. 1: Infinite Genesis, #2

By Kyle J. Durrant

Return to the Infinite Genesis Universe, a series of interconnected stories featuring vigilantes, superpowers, and dangerous villains...

 

Six years ago, Jared Harper was a successful entrepreneur, running Stoke & Harper Solutions alongside his best friend, Thomas Stoke. That was until he disappeared during a business trip, presumed dead. However, for several months he has lived, secretly, in the shadows of his home city of Nottingham, fighting crime as the masked vigilante Hawkblood.

 

Now, his city, former company, and best friend are under threat from a dangerous terrorist calling themselves Dismantler. And they're not afraid to use dangerous Augmented Persons to achieve their aims.

 

But in his fight to protect Nottingham, Jared will be forced to question where his true loyalties lie: with the city he has sworn to protect, or with the company he helped build.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Infinite Genesis
• Release date: Apr 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223819837

Book preview

#1

It was a momentous day for Nottingham, and one of mixed moods. Whilst some welcomed what was coming, others railed against it, their petitions falling on deaf ears. Some would say a wall of money had kept their protestations unheard. Regardless, the innovation that had been lobbied both for and against was being introduced to the streets of the city.

At city hall, a sea of journalists sat before the pedestal, waiting for the man of the moment to appear. The mayor – Janet Corden – was sat on a chair off to one side of the stage, Nottingham’s police commissioner – Ran Nayar – beside her; a pair of curtains at the back of the stage obscured the star of the show.

A wave of whispers chased away the silence, colleagues predicting what the speech would entail. Would he mention his company’s co-founder, missing for six years now? Would he dare to acknowledge the controversy surrounding this occasion? Some amongst the pack readied their more inflammatory questions, ready to test the composure of Nottingham’s preeminent entrepreneur.

A disturbance of the curtain hushed the crowd. Then it was swept aside and a well-groomed man, inarguably handsome, stepped out, directing a few inaudible words at the darkness as he approached the pedestal. Cameras clicked and voices rose, questions already being shouted. Standing at the pedestal, he waited, unspeaking; slowly, the clamour died down.

There would be time for questions after he spoke.

Smiling at his audience, Thomas Stoke, CEO, leaned forward on the pedestal, bringing his lips close to the microphone. ‘Good morning.’ His voice boomed around the hall. Still smiling, he leaned back. ‘Today is a proud day for Stoke & Harper Solutions. Since our days of renting a desk in an office full of a dozen other start-ups, our commitment has always been to Nottingham first, the rest of the country second. Today, though our products are available worldwide, Nottingham remains our heartland.

‘Last year, we started our Nottingham First Initiative – a project designed to make sure this city that gave us so much is the first to benefit from our innovations. Which brings us to today: a few months ago we were fortunate enough to receive a contract with the City of Nottingham and Nottingham Police, providing new technology to support the safety of this city’s people. You have already benefitted from our enhanced speed cameras. Our brave police officers have a more efficient number plate recognition system than ever. Half the businesses in this wonderful city are protected by the Stoke & Harper Thief-Stopper System.

‘Now, we are rolling out the new StreetSafe Facial Recognition System. This is the most advanced system of its kind not just in the UK, but in all of Europe. It boasts a 98% positive ID rate, using the police’s criminal database to identify not just previous offenders, but also those who may be wanted for other crimes by matching their face to images captured by CCTV.

‘With this new system, the city will be a safer place – our valued officers will know exactly where a suspect is, allowing them to respond before the criminal even knows they’ve been spotted. Our new system will support parole officers, forensics investigators, and the general public. This is a great moment for Nottingham, and Stoke & Harper Solutions are proud to be providing this service.’

He stopped, then, grinning at the crowd, listening to the scribbling down of notes, the tapping of keys on phones and laptops. Then, he pressed on.

‘We are also providing a private system: Stoke & Harper HomeSafe. For those already benefitting from our HouseWatch cameras, the facial recognition software can be easily added to your existing device. Your subscription will allow your camera network to access the criminal database, alerting you if a known criminal is spotted on your property.

‘With these new systems, we will remove the need for the vigilantes emerging across our city, making Nottingham a safer place for everyone. There is no escape for criminals.’

Here, he stopped, adopting a pose that said he was ready for questions, hands in his pockets. He was the epitome of confidence, though at the side of the stage mayor and police commissioner shared uncertain glances. Here was where things could go wrong: Thomas Stoke no longer had his script, and the journalists would be looking for the chink in his armour.

Mundane questions were answered first.

‘Do you have access to all criminal records?’ ‘Yes, but we can’t make changes.’

‘Have you eliminated false positives?’ ‘No system is perfect, but as I said, we have a 98% positive ID rate.’

‘Will this system be made available elsewhere?’ ‘Eventually, but we have a six-month exclusivity period with the City of Nottingham.’

‘How is the system being implemented?’ ‘It requires a lot of processing power, so control centres have been constructed across the city to house the network servers. Fortunately, we already had cameras installed across much of the city due to our public and private contracts.’

‘How much will the HomeSafe subscription cost?’ ‘Those details are still being worked out.’

But inevitably, questions turned to the controversies.

‘What do you say to allegations that this new system will be an invasion of people’s privacy?’

Thomas cleared his throat before he answered. ‘These cameras will only be active in public spaces or where private citizens have chosen to install them. No one’s privacy is being infringed.’ After a short pause, he added, ‘The only people who should be worried about this are those with something to hide.’

The widening eyes of the police commissioner weren’t missed by the journalists.

‘Is it true there have been threats against your company?’

A shrug. ‘All large companies receive threats. It’s nothing to worry about.’

‘Mr Stoke, some people are saying this new system of yours is putting too much power in the hands of a private company. What do you say to this?’

Thomas smiled. ‘Well, can you really say the general public trust our governing bodies any more than they trust corporations?’

This time the mayor frowned at him, though there was a buzz of voices conceding his point. Before any more questions could be thrown at him, Thomas Stoke made his final statement.

‘Stoke & Harper Solutions has only ever had the best intentions in mind for Nottingham and its people. We are committed to keeping everyone safe in their homes, on the streets, at work, when they’re shopping...the StreetSafe Facial Recognition System, and HomeSafe, will improve security across the city.

‘After all, you all know our slogan: Improving Lives One Innovation at a Time. Thank you. That will be all from me.’

As he walked away from the media circus, leaving the mayor and police commissioner to answer any and all follow-up questions, a figure rose from their seat, stepping away from the television set they had been using to watch the press conference unfold. ‘Fascist,’ they muttered, body trembling with rage as they paced the darkened room, walls of corrugated steel encasing them. Light was provided only by a weak bulb buzzing from a lamp rigged to function off an old solar-powered generator.

They approached a desk, over which stood a corkboard pinned full of newspaper clippings. Most were related to the new StreetSafe system, from announcement, through protests, to only the day before the conference. Others featured blurry photos of Nottingham’s most prolific vigilante, a man in red wielding a bow-and-arrow. One showed a picture of an unusual bank robbery perpetrated by a man with claws for hands.

It wasn’t any of these things that the figure paid attention to, however. Instead, they went to the equipment scattered over the desk: small drones and jars of liquid; electricals and chemicals. To one side, a stack of packages fitted with timers. Through their welding mask, the figure assessed their growing armoury, gloved hands pressing into the wood.

‘I tried to warn you,’ they growled. Picking up one of the packages, they weighed it in their hand, nodding approvingly. ‘You had your chance, Mr Stoke. Now, your whole company will be torn apart. You only have yourself to blame...’

Night, and despite the launch of Stoke & Harper’s StreetSafe software, criminals were still out in the city. At a jeweller, where they trusted Stoke & Harper security systems to protect their goods, a sextet of men stabbed crowbars into the flimsy metal shutters, tearing them open.

One amongst them was a broad-shouldered behemoth, easily half a foot taller than his companions, yet he left them to tear open an entrance. His eyes, instead, were on the paths, the roads, and the shadows that gathered in alleyways and on rooftops. They weren’t going to be ambushed tonight – and if a vigilante did try to stop them, he would break them.

Metal groaned, popped, crumped. Then there was a smash, the tinkling of falling glass. ‘David,’ one from the group hissed, grabbing the behemoth’s attention. ‘Come on.’

There was no alarm – at least no audible alarm – as they squeezed their way inside, David coming last, still watching the night as he stooped, backing in after the others. By then, they were already swinging crowbars and cricket bats at the cases. More glass littered the floor, crunching under their trainers, as they poured rings, necklaces, and ornaments into duffel bags.

‘Idiots,’ one of the criminals muttered. ‘Thought their S&H security would stop us. People are getting complacent around here; it’s too easy to clear them out.’

‘Shut up and grab what you can,’ David snapped, filling his own bag with valuables. ‘It’s not the getting in that’s the problem. It’s getting away with it.’

Conversation died down after that, limited to exhortations of ‘Hurry up!’ The only sound was the glass under their feet and the singing of metal, bags rustling, becoming heavier on their shoulders. Several times, David ducked back to their point of entry, looking outside, listening to the sounds of the city.

Waiting for the sirens. Hoping the way was still clear of vigilantes. Especially the red archer.

On the sixth visit to their entrance, he heard what he’d been waiting for. ‘Time to go,’ he announced, throwing his bags out the door, pushing through first. One of the others passed him a crowbar, and then they were throwing their bags out to the path, squeezing through. David kept watch as his companions grabbed the bags, sprinting for the van they’d parked across the street – no number plates, of course.

Before any of them could reach it, however, something zipped through the air, slamming into the handle of the sliding side door. Bags were dropped, weapons readied; David cursed himself for not looking up once he was out of the jeweller.

He stepped out into the street, and now he did look. Standing on the ledge of the roof was the red archer, bow ready, a second arrow already nocked. He regarded the six thieves from behind a crimson mask, decorated with a hawk motif of a slightly different shade, edged with thin black thread. His eyes were pure white, creased in a frown.

Gripping the crowbar with both hands, David smirked at the man, fighting down the fearful embers that gathered in his chest – he knew what this man was willing to do. ‘Nice night for it,’ he jeered. ‘What’s the weather like up there?’

‘I’ll give you one chance,’ the vigilante growled, voice carrying over the street. ‘Return what you’ve taken and walk away. Put this life behind you.’

A ripple of laughter bounced from one criminal to the next, despite their nerves. ‘Thing is,’ David said, maintaining his bravado, ‘there’s six of us. Only one of you. We’re