(first story)
(flashback - before the experiments)
Logan heads to a shooting range. He is good and can put six shots into a quarter... when his hands aren’t shaking. He accidentally wounds some geek with a ricochet, but who cares. Well, the suits do, he guesses. Some attitude they’ve got, he think. Screw ‘em.
(present)
At the Experiment X facility, the Professor, a tall, gaunt and bald man, eyes the heading on a pile of papers. It reads Experiment X, and his glasses highlight the X and the Men in the word experiment. Some of his notes explain a little of the subject’s history. The subject is Logan. A four-month survey has been carried out on him, and it is determined that he is prone to manic behavior and has possible self-destructive tendencies and such like, resulting from chronic alcohol abuse. It explains that he has a morbid obsession with the current ‘mutant’ scare stories and has some form of nervous disorder or psychosis, this being inconclusive at present.
A leave of absence is recommended, or alternatively dismissal from the service. A further note comments on his wounding of a shooting range staff member. The papers also include a newspaper report on a Dr. Abraham Cornelius, who has fled the United States. Meanwhile, the doctor himself has been given a number to call and he picks up the phone. He arranges to meet with the Professor under a street lamp and a deal is brokered.
The Professor then arranges an interview with a young woman named Carol Hines. She was formerly an employee of NASA, and is employed by the Professor for her computer skills to keep Cornelius informed about the subject’s status. The Professor later reads as much information on his subject as possible. His computer screens hint further at the subjects’ violent nature, suggesting extreme caution be taken when handling him. They set up the project, ensuring everything is in order before their subject arrives.
Logan spends his nights at a bar called the Prophecy. The Prophecy is a bar for fallen Christians, but he lied to get through the door. Hey, it’s free for the fallen. He guesses he qualifies. Prophecy is part of the apocalypse. He never knew that. Some drunk bum at the bar told him that. Spat as he said it, too. Then he croaked. It happens a lot around there, and Logan’s been thinking about moving on.
When he returns to his apartment, he continues to drink. The place is in turmoil, much like his life. On his table are a smashed glass and a pistol. Newspapers strewn across the table report on Dr. Cornelius and his misdeeds. They also feature the general outcry over mutants in which Logan has a keen interest. He really feels he needs to get away from it all, maybe up in the Klondike where nobody knows him. He can catch the eight o’clock up to the Yukon after he’s finished tying up some loose ends. First, though, he needs some sleep.
During the night, he dreams, only his dreams are nightmares. He wakes with a start. It’s the same every night. He dreams of pain and bones and spikes. Dagger hands, eyes bloodshot… a vile stench, horror. He sits by the wall, contemplating these dreams. He doesn’t know why he is burdened with them. Lightning strikes outside and he looks out his window. Just like the ol’ geezer said, he thinks. The apocalypse, when all the secrets are exposed an’ all the runnin’ ends. Hell… hell is comin’.
Later, after tying up the loose ends, Logan climbs into his Lotus Seven and heads for the Klondike. He finds a bar en route and has some beer. There, he drinks and smokes his cigar, watched surreptitiously by a man seated at a nearby table. After a rest, he and two other men watch him leave the bar, but Logan doesn’t think much of it as he heads for the Lotus.
