A tall brunette woman reaches her home in Lakeside, TX a suburb of Fort Worth, TX. She doesn’t know that today is a new dawn for her. She walks to her porch where a small box sits waiting for her. The return address is from Oxford University in England and attached is a note card. She takes it inside with her and heads towards the kitchen.
Mara stands at her kitchen counter remembering her time spent studying under Professor Whaetherly, but that had been almost ten years ago now. She had been working on her PhD in robotic engineering at the time and he had taken her under his wing. Whaertherly’s knowledge had always seemed just beyond Mara’s grasp. She considered him the smartest man she’d ever known. The old man always said he saw potential in her, but she never fully believed. She was never the best, but she was dedicated. She always felt like she had been a disappointment to Whaertherly, which contributed to her decision to leave England to work in the United States once she graduated. Whaertherly and Mara hadn’t communicated since about a month before she finished the program. Which is why this plain brown box she had received in the mail from him was such a surprise. She reads the hand written note that accompanies the package. “Dear Mara, I always knew you’d be something special. I think this will be of interest to you and your research. Good luck with your new future”.
Mara puts the note down and opens the small cardboard box sitting on the counter. Inside she finds a small non-descript jewelry box which she turns over in her hand. She quizzically looks at the small black box and suddenly gets the feeling she is being watched. She looks up from the box in her hand and scans the kitchen. “Must be my imagination” She says out loud to herself before opening the unexpected gift. Inside she sees a stunning green jade pendent inlayed in a shiny gold and silver setting. She sets the box down and grabs the pendent. It fits well in the palm of her hand and Mara realizes there is something weird on the back. She turns it over and finds what resembles a circuit board.
Mara is so lost in examining the odd item that she didn’t hear her husband and daughter come home. “What is that honey?” Jack asks as he comes into the kitchen. Mara laughs and says “Oh, I didn’t hear you come in. My old mentor from Oxford sent me this with a note saying he thought I’d be interested in it for my research.” Jack looks from his wife to the object in her hand. “Well it just looks like a piece of jewelry to me. How could this have anything to do with your research?” Mara looks up to her husband and before she can answer she hears tires screeching out front. She and her husband turn too look out the kitchen window and she three black vans. Within an instant it seems like dozens of armed men are pouring out of the vans.
Mara knows she only has seconds before something terrible happens to her and her family. She doesn’t know exactly what the soul gem is, but she suddenly realizes it is the only way she can save her family. She takes the Jade soul gem and shoves it onto her forehead. The soul gem burns her skin as it begins the exaltation process. She can feel the moonsilver and orichalcum fibers weaving their way into her brain. Her skin begins to transform into green and red jade armor. She can feel a connection forming across time and space, but to what she does not know. She feels a surge of energy flowing through her. She can feel her body becoming stronger and more durable. She feels her mind quicken and her perception heightens.
Mara’s focus comes back to the world around her. She hears her daughter scream upstairs. She feels the flash bang go off in front of her and readies for the gun fire she knows will shortly follow. Her heightened awareness and reflexes kick in and she reacts before she is fully aware of her actions. She jumps through the broken window and charges the point man. His bullets fly by her as she reaches him in a blur. She removes his holstered side arm before he even realizes she is next to him. She fires the pistol and before the bullet hits him she is already registering her next targets. She empties the clip in an astonishingly short time and 8 attackers are hit. They each fall to the ground. One of the remaining armed men levels a shotgun at Mara and she takes the blast straight to the chest. Despite taking what should have been a lethal hit Mara remains unharmed. She flips an assault rifle off the ground and into her waiting arms with her foot.
As she takes a moment to think about it, she realizes it is obvious that these are not trained soldiers, but they are some kind of security force. She seen no form of identification on their solid black uniforms. She fires the assault rifle into half the remaining attackers, the other half flee to one of the vans. She rolls across the ground to one of the downed men. She drops the empty rifle she grabs two grenades off the man’s vest. Quickly she pulls the pins with her thumbs and throws them under the front of the van. As they explode, destroying the engine, she reaches for the another assault rifle. Mara knows this fight is over and decides to let the remaining men flee on foot.
Mara looks back to her house and sees her husband standing there. His face hides none of the shock and disbelief at what he just watched. Mara knows that the world has changed. She had heard the stories of super people appearing across the world, but being a woman of science she chose to disbelieve. Now she has no choice, but to believe. She feels the armor reforming into clay and in a matter of seconds she is back to her old self. Well she knows she still has the armor and the power, but it is hidden. Her daughter runs out to her and they hug as tears fill Mara’s eyes.
Meanwhile…
Down the street two men sit in a black car. They watched the whole situation unfold from beginning to end with a calm and calculated demeanor. Once it is over the man in the driver seat starts the car and drives away. The man in the passenger seat makes a call. “Sir, phase one was successful. The exaltation successfully implanted within the subject. We are returning to base with all the collected data. We are ready to go to phase two.”