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"Michael Cray - Chapter Three": In a house in Oakland, we see a black man opening a bag full of guns and grenades, and take out a bloodstained green arrowhead. The man puts in in a trophy case next to a set of masks, a pair of golden bracers, and a shattered boomerang.

Quote1 You will fail. The future is already written. Your mind is weak. You're just a police officer in your little lab who sees the storm. But you cannot change it - Quote2
Barry Allen's alter ego

Wildstorm: Michael Cray #3 is an issue of the series Wildstorm: Michael Cray (Volume 1) with a cover date of February, 2018. It was published on December 13, 2017.

Synopsis for "Michael Cray - Chapter Three"

In a house in Oakland, we see a black man opening a bag full of guns and grenades, and take out a bloodstained green arrowhead. The man puts in in a trophy case next to a set of masks, a pair of golden bracers, and a shattered boomerang.

The scene abruptly changes, showing a house in Salem, MA, while Christine Trelane narrates for Michael Cray: Amelia Gonzales got her doctorate at MIT at age 16. A bona fide genius, she was working for a shadowy company owned by Elon Musk, researching the military applications of artificial intelligence. Recently, she had received a burst of credible death threats, which led to her employees putting her in a safehouse in Salem, eating TV dinners in Kevlar chest armor with a team of heavily-armed bodyguards.

We see a man in a black bodysuit punch through the door of the house, then after activating a device built into the suit's wrist, he moves with great speed, killing all the bodyguards. He finally comes to Dr Gonzales, and as he vibrates his fist at great speed, he says he forgives her, "because you know no what you do".

The view cuts away before the killing blow, as Christine explains the killer put a fist through Dr Gonzales' chest with enough force to make her heart explode. She and EPS think the culprit is Barry Allen, a man who put out a manifesto two years ago about the impending danger posed by AI, and calling on science to give up on the field. Allen got an FBI visit for his trouble, but science did not listen, and now scientists are being killed.

Michael Cray interjects, asking how Allen could have achieved the murder, and why he has not been arrested. Christine explains that Allen has filed a patent for a 3-D printed bodysuit design which would enhance muscle reaction time. In combination with drugs he has been purchasing on the darkweb, which dull his body's ability to regulate its own adrenaline flow, he could theoretically move at super-speed. As to the second, the murders are being written off as ordinary, thanks to Boston PD's top CSI: Barry Allen.

Christine says that EPS wants Allen dead, and all of his research and equipment to come to them. Mulling this over, Michael Cray says his first move will be to review Allen's manifesto, saying he needs to understand Allen.

Barry Allen comes into his workspace, clearly drained. His reflection starts talking to him, congratulating him on the murder of Dr Gonzales, but mocking him as a mere policeman, who can see the coming storm but cannot stop it. Enraged, Allen punches the mirror, then cradles his head.

At Dr Shahi's office, Michael Cray wearing brain-scanning electrodes and testing his superpowers. As nothing is happening, Dr Shahi notes that his powers do not activate randomly, which is good. She suggests that they are triggered by emotion. Michael immediately thinks she means anger. Shahi says he should muse on what that says about him. Michael tries to invoke anger, conjuring up the snarling image of Oliver Queen, the man he killed... but nothing happens. Dr Shahi suggests a different emotion. So, Michael conjures up an image of himself and Dr Shahi kissing... and the ball promptly dissolves. Dr Shahi says this i=data will be good. Michael says he is leaving for Boston for an unknown amount of time but will make an appointment when he comes back. After he leaves, Dr Shahi uses the data from the electrodes to see what he imagined. She sees Oliver Queen, and her self.

On the Golden Gate Bridge, Michael meets his father, George Cray, to tell him that he will be out of town for a bit. George acknowledges that this is work-related but tries to warn his son. Michael tries to wave him off, but George demands the right to say his piece. He says that while Michael thinks his skepticism of EPS will save him, but the truth is, he has placed himself within their power, and they have the power to kill him, but... haven't. In America, powerful white people have a habit of telling black people that if they prove their economic worth, they will be lauded, protected from the hate of idiots. But idiots, for all their hate, respect black people who stay outside the system, because those are the people with their own power. Meanwhile, black servants of power, like Michael, always end up getting disappointed and abandoned. Wishing his son luck, he abruptly leaves.

At a bar, Michael meets his team - Hector Morales, Leon Carver, and Victoria - to discuss the mission. Hector explains that they have put together a possible plan, but that based on the last mission, they are annoyed by the prospect of Michael spinning a line about how he "works alone". Nevertheless, Hector hands over the printout... and Michael is pleasantly surprised by what he finds. The resources necessary are beyond what EPS can readily provide, but Leon says he "knows some people" who can fill in the gaps.

In a dark alleyway, Barry Allen prepares to beat a man to death. The man exclaims that he has done nothing, but Allen undercuts him - his victim has an IQ of 160, and is researching A.I. Allen will take no chances.

And undisclosed time later, Allen comes into work. Waiting near his desk is Michael Cray, who introduces himself as an employee of the American federal government, a representative of a group of like-minded individuals who read Allen's manifesto... and maybe, the best new friend Allen didn't know he had...

Appearing in "Michael Cray - Chapter Three"

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Other Characters:

  • Dr Amelia Gonzales

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