Jim Theta was an average guy. He was 5'8" around 185 give or take a doughnut. He had a wife, kids, and a good paying job that he liked to do. But all that was taken away from him in one brief moment. His death really was an accident despite what investigators wanted to believe.
He was driving along a country road late one night. He was coming back from a business meeting in the next town over. It really wasn't the truck driver's fault that he fell asleep at the wheel. Could've happened to anybody. The truck drifted into Jim's lane and was coming right for him. He tried to swerve but didn't get away in time. The truck clipped his rear end and sent him spinning into a tree. The impact didn't kill him, but the branch that went through his stomach did.
Now while it was a complete accident, the truck driver panicked. He called his supervisors to come out and assess the situation. The driver worked for a powerful genetics company called NicksCo after the owner John Nicks. John didn't get to be as powerful as a man as he was by spending all his money on lawsuits, so he decided to have his people cover it up. They took the body and destroyed the evidence of an accident. All that was left was the charred remains of Jim's car and a few scraps of hair, not enough for any CSI to make a case.
As for Jim's body, well they couldn't just leave him there, so they took him back to their lab to be used for experiments. They kept him frozen in their body freezer for nearly five years. Then they decided to use him to test a new chemical agent they were working on. This chemical (called XSIV) was designed to stimulate muscle growth and increase the senses and healing aspects. There were planning to market it to the government for use to make super-soldiers. It was still largely untested which is why they used Jim, as it would still work post mortem.
They shaved Jim's head to make it easier for them to inject the chemical directly into Jim's brain and spinal cord. They made three injections, two into his temples and one at the base of his skull. Then they waited to see if the chemical kicked in. They had Jim under close observation for a couple hours. At first it seemed like the experiment was a bust and they were ready just to pack up and go home when something happened.
Jim's arm twitched, then his leg, then his other arm, and then his whole body went into convulsions. The doctors had to fight to keep him from falling off the lab table. Then his body went limp again. That's when something unexpected happened. The hole in Jim's stomach suddenly started to close up and heal. In a matter of moments the hole was gone without so much as a scar to say it was ever there. Next, color slowly started to come back to his body. It went from the cold dead pale white, to light tan and full of life. Then, out of nowhere, Jim sat up. He looked back and fourth between the doctors that were in the room.
One doctor slowly approached him. Then the others joined him. They all wanted to gather around the man who they had just accidentally brought back to life. Without warning, Jim reached up with speed not normal of a human and wrapped his hand around the throat of the nearest doctor. Jim lifted the man off the ground with one arm and held him in the air. The other doctors tried to get him to let the man go, but Jim just swatted them away with his free arm.
He looked deep into the eyes of his captive who was struggling to breathe and said, "Where's my wife?" But the doctor never got to answer as the power of Jim's grip on his trachea cutting off his oxygen killed him.
Jim tossed the man to the ground and got off the lab table. He cracked his neck and looked down at the dead man. It was at this time he noticed that he was naked, so he took the dead man's pants. Just as he was zipping the fly, three armed men came bursting through the door. They had their guns at the ready and were prepared to fire if made any sudden movements.
Jim heard footsteps coming from down the hall, quick powerful strides, the stride of a successful businessman. Moments later that is exactly who walked through the door. Mr. John Nicks stood before Jim with a large smile on his face.
"Ah, Jim my good man. It is good, although a surprise, to see you up and about. I would bet my entire fortune to say that you are wondering just how it is you got here. That, I can explain. You see, quite some time ago you were involved in an accident. An accident that, I am sorry to say, you did not survive.' He paused for a few moments and let Jim take that statement in. He found that it was always better to give bad news in small doses. He continued, 'Well after that, I had my people do their best to save you but alas you did not make it. Which brings us to where we are today. You see, I never gave up hope that there was something I could do to make things right. So I had my scientists working day in and day out to find some way to bring you back. And I can see it was a success."
This whole thing was a bold faced lie. Mr. Nicks had seen what Jim did to the doctors on a camera and he didn't want that unbridled fury to be directed at him. If anything he wanted that fury to be on his side so he could use it against his enemies, of which there were many.
Jim took this all in, but he still only wanted to know one thing, "Where is my wife?"
Mr. Nicks frowned. He felt like he was being ignored, something a man in his position didn't like to be. Then he smiled again trying his best to put his best foot forward, "Your wife is fine. She it home right now with your lovely children."
This was not a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth. In reality, in the five years Jim had been dead, she had gotten remarried and had another child. But Mr. Nicks really didn't want Jim to know that. But Jim wasn't hearing it. He wanted to leave. He took one step forward, but the men with guns lifted the up and pointed them at Jim.
"Just where do you think you are going, Jim?" Asked Mr. Nicks.
"To see my wife." Jim replied simply.
"I am afraid it is not that simple. You see, with you coming back to life and all, there is a great number of test we need to run to make sure you are completely healthy before we release you back into the world. You do understand do you not?"
Jim just nodded. He wanted to leave as soon as he could, but he would be willing to go through some tests if it got him back to his wife sooner.
"Great! Just follow me, Jim, and we will begin the tests." Mr. Nicks said as he let Jim pass. "Just go down the hall and turn left. I will catch up to you in a moment." As soon as Jim was out of sight Nicks said to a guard, "Have someone clean this up (referring to the dead doctor). And do it discretely. I don't want knowledge of our new little pet getting out."
But unbeknownst to Nicks, Jim heard him perfectly well and he didn't like being called a pet.