[center][sub][h1][img]https://i.imgur.com/5evX1mu.png[/img]
[b][color=black] I S S U E  # 1[/color]
[color=cadetblue]I S S U E  # 1[/color][/b][/h1][/sub]
[sub][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHh7WTUqyoc][i]Recommended Listening[/i][/url][/sub][/center]
[sub][color=cadetblue][b]NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK[/b][/color][/sub]

A light shines into the apartment. A gloved hand rips down the police tape blocking the doorway, revealing a disheveled living room. In the center of the room just below a ceiling fan is a noose laying next to a tipped over chair in a pool of dried blood. The body is gone but the air still has hints of death that assault the nostrils. The Question steps through the door.

[color=cadetblue][i]'Was supposed to meet an informant once I got into the city. Got the call yesterday that he had died. Cut his wrists and hung himself. Load of shit. Someone got to him before I could."[/i][/color]

He walks past the pool of blood and into a small office where a computer is running. Stepping up to it, he taps on the keyboard and watches the screen light up to reveal the setup page for LexOS. [color=cadetblue][b]"Wiped the computer... Clever."[/b][/color] His eyes pivot to the desktop tower and he reaches over to open it up. Inside he finds the hard drive, disconnecting it from the computer and pocketing it.

[color=cadetblue][i]'Don't have the gear to try to recover the files on the drive. But I know someone who does, even if he doesn't know me. I'm sure he'll help me considering the information I can hang over his head...'[/i][/color]

He leaves the apartment as swiftly and silently as he entered it.

[center]---[/center]

David walked along the sidewalk on his way home, hands in his pockets and eyes darting around every few seconds. He lived in a less than desirable neighborhood, the kind where you wanted to keep your head on a swivel in case you didn't want to get shanked. It was stressful and every time he left the house he was worried it would be the last time. But lo and behold, once again he made his way home safely.

Then he noticed that the door had been kicked open.

David slowly opened it up and stepped into the shadowy hallway. He saw the light was on in the kitchen, approaching it cautiously. The door was cracked open and he peeked inside, seeing a man in a trench coat and fedora sitting at the dining table, a spoon and can of baked beans in hand.

[color=cadetblue][b]"You're home,"[/b][/color] the man said.

[color=darkkhaki][b]"W-who the hell are you? What are you doing in my house?"[/b][/color] David asked, his voice shaky.

The man stood from the chair and rolled down his mask to cover his mouth and chin. He reached down to his belt buckle and pressed a button, a yellow cloud slowly seeping out of the belt buckle and up to his face. He stepped forward and David instinctively backed away until he felt his back against the wall.

[color=cadetblue][b]"Not going to hurt you. Got something I need your help with,"[/b][/color] the man said, before pulling a hard drive out of his pocket. [color=cadetblue][b]"Need to recover the data that was on this."[/b][/color] He tossed the hard drive over to David who fumbled to catch it.

[color=darkkhaki][b]"Why the hell should I do that? I should call the cops!"[/b][/color]

[color=cadetblue][b]"Because if you don't, I'll tell those cops that David Lieberman, alias Microchip, was affiliated with the Punisher during his war on crime."[/b][/color]

David froze. How the hell did he know that? He supposed that the best idea was to just play along. [color=darkkhaki][b]"... Okay. Fine, I'll help you. Just... Who the hell are you anyway?"[/b][/color]

[color=cadetblue][b]"That's the question, isn't it?"[/b][/color]

Then it clicked. [color=darkkhaki][b]"Oh God, you're [i]that[/i] deep web nutjob?"[/b][/color]

[color=cadetblue][b]"Something along those lines. Now come on, let's get this hard drive checked out."[/b][/color]

The pair ascended up a set of stairs to Lieberman's office. Inside was nothing but computers and other electronics from wall to wall, any technology enthusiast's wet dream. David sat down in his chair and set to work on hooking the hard drive up to his computer.

[color=cadetblue][b]"Impressive setup,"[/b][/color] the Question said.

[color=darkkhaki][b]"Yep. Can you tell I don't get out much?"[/b][/color] David chuckled bitterly to himself.

After a few minutes of work, David had recovered the files on the hard drive and was going through them. The screen was filled with documents and blueprints pertaining to a Project Daedalus. The more that they read, the clearer the picture became.

[color=darkkhaki][b]"Jesus Christ... They're gonna be making fucking concentration camps."[/b][/color]

[color=cadetblue][b]"So it seems."[/b][/color] The Question slowly clenched and unclenched his fists.

[color=darkkhaki][b]"Alright, let me put these on a flash drive for you."[/b][/color] David plucked a flash drive from a desk drawer and slotted it into the computer, copying the files onto it.

Then a series of notifications went off on the side of the monitor, emails being sent. David began to panic a little, checking the notifications only to find that the emails contained an attachment of all his personal information being sent to the Agency's anti-vigilante tip line and various news outlets. [color=darkkhaki][b]"Oh fuck. Oh fuck! No no no no no, no!"[/b][/color]

[color=cadetblue][b]"... I'm sorry. I didn't realize they could have bugged the hard drive."[/b][/color]

[color=darkkhaki][b]"Fuck, man! I'm fucking ruined!"[/b][/color]

The Question stepped up and unplugged the flash drive, pocketing it. [color=cadetblue][b]"I'd suggest leaving. Immediately."[/b][/color] With those words he made his way to the door. David was too busy holding his head in his hands to do anything about it.

[center]---[/center]

Vic Sage removed his mask and threw it onto his bed before sitting down at his desk. This hotel room was well furnished, he'd have to remember to give them a positive rating once he left. He pulled the flash drive out of his pocket and slotted it into his laptop. All the files on Project Daedalus were about to be uploaded onto his deep web leak database on top of being sent out to every major news station in the country.

He prepared a summary of the contents:

[color=cadetblue][i]These files are some of the most damning I've found. The Agency and the US government are plotting to herd any and all metahumans into concentration camps where they will be held and more than likely murdered. President Lord's new regime is one of fear and hatred, and now he is planning to cement himself as a leader of the same stature as Hitler or Stalin. This is unacceptable. Now is the time to rise against these tyrannical bastards and show that we will not go down without a fight.[/i][/color]

He pressed submit and the post was live.