phil jones2 Read Online Free Page A

barely visible to the human eye. Phil felt quite overwhelmed by the whole experience, silently wondering what all this testing would entail.
    'Mr. Jones.' A bald man in a lab coat too large for him approached with an extended arm. Phil shook it nervously, waiting for the inevitable probing and prodding he had come to expect from doctors.
    'We have been setting up the holographic projector to run a series of aptitude tests on you, first we'd like to take a look at that glove of yours. If you don't mind of course.'
    Agent Smith walked over to a desk with a smile on his face, he had clearly been waiting for this. Pulling out a small box he proceeded to a large table and set it there, Phil was flanked by Annika and the doctor but didn't feel any safer for having company. There was something entirely unnerving about that smile.
    Seating himself at the desk, he looked up at Smith with questioning eyes. 'What is this?'
    Smith's smile seemed permanently etched upon his face, he was enjoying this a lot. 'It's a box for your glove.'
    Once again, Phil didn't feel any wiser for having been told something.
    'What's in the box?'
    'Your hand will be in the box in a moment,' Smith replied. 'Then we shall see whether the glove really has chosen you or if this is all a bad coincidence.'
    'Will it hurt?'
    Smith shrugged. 'I guess we're going to have to find out. Place your hand in the box, Mr. Jones.'
    Phil Jones stared at the small wooden box, it looked oddly out of place surrounded by all this high-tech equipment. He hesitantly reached forward and put his hand into the dark hole at the base of the box.
    A sucking noise came from the box as it attached itself to his hand, he leapt off the seat and turned over the desk, falling sideways and bouncing off one of the walls in his frantic attempts to get this thing off his hand. He vaguely heard voices trying to reassure him that everything was going to be okay and not to panic but when your arm feels like it's being sucked into a portable pool of quicksand it's more than a little distressing.
    It took seven lab technicians to restrain him, Agent Smith didn't seem overly fussed with the reaction but the doctor in the white coat was aghast at the potential damage Phil could cause their equipment.
    Then as suddenly as it had begun, the sucking noise ceased. Phil lay there in relief as the box slowly detached itself from his hand and dropped harmlessly onto the floor.
    He looked down and a familiar sight greeted him, he was still wearing the glove.
    Smith stared. 'No. There must be some kind of mistake here.'
    It was Annika that cut in protectively. 'Agent Smith you have used the box, it has a 100% success rate with everything except the glove-wearer. The human genome station designed it that way as a fail-safe, it is not in error.'
    She gazed at Phil adoringly. 'He is the glove-wearer, he is the chosen one.'
    Smith was silent, clearly he didn't hold that opinion.
    'Regardless of whether the glove is successful in identifying the suitability of our candidate, we still require a barrage of tests to be run on Mr. Jones,' the doctor said.
    'What sort of tests, Doc?' Phil asked, his fear starting to rise once again.
    'I'm a scientist, not a doctor. First thing we need to do is determine your aptitudes and capabilities so that we may select a team that fits around your skills.'
    Seeing his blank stare, Annika prodded the doctor into explaining more.
    'Yes, well, you see the tests are virtual in nature. We project images around you and give them form which you can grasp and control. Most of these images will be to test you, others will be available to aid you in that test. Are you ready to begin?'
    'The chosen one is ready for any task that you throw at him!' Annika exclaimed, bubbling with positivity.
    Phil looked at her in shock, he'd much rather have just gone home but he doubted that was an option any more considering they couldn't get the damn glove off.
    'Er... I guess we can start the tests now if you