Hook sniffed the contents of his glass, wrinkling his nose in distaste before pushing the offending drink across his desk. Whiskey wouldn’t help him keep his mind clear. He needed more time. Without Dr. Barrie, the PX-2 trial was a bust.

Years ago, it had seemed like all was lost and Neverland might be shut down for good. The PX-1 trial had been a miserable failure, and though the PX-2 drug had been nearly ready for testing, Dr. Barrie had had a change of heart—he set fire to the lab, destroyed all his research, and stole away with as many of the Neverland children as he could—nearly all of the male subjects.

It had taken a new group of scientists, billions of dollars, and a few unfortunate accidents to complete the new PX-3, which had led to a whole new crop of subjects to test. But like the PX-1, the new drug still only really showed results with teens; what was more, all the new subjects required a constant supply of the PX-3 or they burned out and died.

But there was hope for Hook and the D.U.S.T program. Barrie may have made it off the island with most of his PX-1 subjects—but not all of them. He still had the girls and the younger boys. And those originals, injected with PX-1, showed no adverse side effects to the PX-3.

All he had to do was get the rest of his originals back. He had to find the lost boys.

A knock sounded at his office door, interrupting his sinister planning.

He barked out an order. “Enter.”

A Red Skull soldier slipped inside and stood at attention, stopping a foot from the striped rug that decorated the cement floor. He was in his late forties but could pass for someone much older, with his scarred hands and graying hair. His uniform, the standard black with the red skull and crossbones patch on his shoulder, marked him as one of Hook’s men, mercenaries that were loyal to him—not to Neverland or to anyone else. But they had been with him a long time, and he wanted younger, deadlier, and more powerful soldiers.

“Report,” Hook ordered.

“We released Michael into the neighborhood. The Neverwood boys did as you predicted, they picked him up, but there was an incident.”

“And?”

“Our sources say that he went off-program.”

“What do you mean?” He assumed the worst. His investors wouldn’t take well to a product that expired before its use-by date. After all, everyone has an expiration date. Those in the D.U.S.T. program just expired a bit faster.

“He’s fighting us,” the soldier continued, “not letting us sync to him or see his memories.”

“Show me,” he demanded. The lieutenant brought over a headpiece covered with wires and sensors, and Hook slipped it onto his head. He flipped it on and brought down a glass screen that dropped over his eye.

Adjusting the dial over his ear, he was able to fast-forward the memories of Michael, one of his youngest Red Skulls. An original.

Only by accident did they discover his power. When he was younger, he had a nightmare so terrifying that he knocked out their security system at Neverland. It was the same night that Dr. Barrie had escaped with the children. With more prodding and testing, they discovered that they boy was a techno kinetic. His mind was a super computer, and with the right equipment, they could download his memories and replay them, upload instructions to him, and use him to control anything with a Wi-Fi signal.

And they had.

The boy’s memories became glitchy, and the screen skipped and fast-forwarded. It looked like Michael had tried to bury his memories deep within his mind. It would take time to hack into those mind vaults, but the boy missed one memory. One wasn’t locked away because he kept revisiting it.

Hook had access to only a few seconds. It was a confrontation on the roof of some building from Michael’s point of view. He was irritated that they weren’t able to access more, but he instantly recognized him—Peter, and a young blonde female.

“Could it be?” he said aloud.

Something about that memory seemed familiar. He paused the playback of Michael’s memories, flipped up the glass screen, and searched his own laptop computer until he found one particular file— Subject 1-04. He compared the photos, she was now seven years older and her face had become thinner, but there was no denying it was the same girl from Neverland. The girl from the rooftop whom Dr. Barrie had defended and swore had no gifts.

He continued reading until he came to her last evaluation by Dr. S. Mee. The good doctor noted that the subject complained of seeing shadows, and Hook wondered if her gift was similar to another of his secret projects. It was worth looking into.

“Interesting,” Hook said aloud. Reading further, he found her familial connection to the young Michael. She was his sister. No wonder the boy was fighting them. He wasn’t going to betray his sister. He wouldn’t give him any more information.

But Hook wanted her. Well, wanted her power.

He spun the computer around and showed the blonde teenage girl’s visage to the soldier. “This one, bring her to me.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Also, what’s the status on my virus?”

“It is almost ready to upload, sir. A few more days. A week at the most.”

“Excellent,” he pressed his fingers together in a steeple.

The soldier hesitated. “But, as we mentioned Captain, the boy is fighting us.”

“Then get your best hacker on it. Destroy Michael if you have to, but I want CROCODILE activated soon. Do you hear me?” He slammed his fist on the desk.

“We’re on it.” The soldier said, backing out of the room, the door closing with a soft click.

Hook stared at Peter’s face on the computer with disdain. “I’m coming for you, Peter. You and your boys won’t be able to hide behind your protected walls from me forever. I’m going to huff and puff and . . . let myself right in,” he chuckled evilly.