No rest for the wicked

Chapter 2: Choices

Terminal City, dawn

Max was frustrated: they had searched the entire area without finding a trace of Alec or his captors. Most buildings were reduced to rubble and the intact ones were either deserted or sealed shut. Some were locked by security doors made of massive steel, which made it impossible to enter. She guessed that they had served as storeroom for dangerous chemicals and were closed after the pulse.

She had spent the morning contemplating about the attack last night. These new enemies had been able to enter Terminal City and capture several transgenics without much resistance. And the last night had shown that were excellently trained and well organized. She wondered who could be behind these disappearances. Although she was convinced that at least some of the attackers were X5s, one of them had used psychic abilities to prevent her from jumping over the wall. Max had experienced this once before, when she had rescued Ray from White’s sect pals. Could White be behind this, using his own men and some captured transgenics as enforcers? The trouble with Alec had shown that this was his style.

She guessed that White was trying to reduce their numbers and lower their moral before he arranged a frontal attack on Terminal City. If this was his tactic, it was definitely working: many transgenics felt vulnerable and helpless. Also the loss of many loyal and capable transgenics was making it even more difficult to organize everything.

Alec’s capture had shocked the community of Terminal City. Max didn’t know why but many had seen him as her second-in-command (no one would make someone that unreliable an officer) and with Logan’s help he had manage to arrange a steady flow of supply from the outside. If they didn’t find out soon how the attackers had entered Terminal City, things would go out of control. Max had heard rumors that there were already plans of leaving the city through the sewers, which was in her opinion not only the wrong way to handle their problems but also very dangerous. She was convinced that White would use this opportunity to storm Terminal City.
Mole came up behind her, stopping her musing, “We found no trace of them,” he said, “there is no way out in this area, not even an entrance to the sewers. If I didn’t know it I would say that they escaped somewhere else.”

“Perhaps there is a secret passage to another part of TC,” Max suggested.

“No way,” Mole said, shaking his head, “this is a dead end. But I think your lover discovered something, he told me to send you to him.”

“He is not my lover”, Max snapped, “but thanks for the information.”

She headed towards Command Centre, wondering what Logan had found.


* * * * *
Somewhere in Seattle

The first thing Alec felt when he woke up was a raging headache. One of the attackers had knocked him out with a massive blow, resulting in the pain in his head. When he tried to massage his temples with his hands, Alec realized that he was shackled spread-eagled to wall.

After a few failed attempts to free himself he gave up and instead scanned the room, searching for something that could help him escaping. There wasn’t much to see: the only furniture was a bed and a table. There was one barred window, which filled the room with twilight and a massive steel door, which seemed to be the only exit

“Great,” Alec muttered to himself, “why do I always get myself into trouble?”

“Well, 494,” a voice said, “you didn’t have a chance to avoid capture. After all it was me, who caught you and it would take a least five transgenics of your format to best me.

The X5 searched the origin of this voice, but couldn’t find anything. Then a figure stepped out of the shadows revealing a man about his age and height. He had blond hair, grey eyes and a goatee which couldn’t hide his weak chin. Although he was Alec’s height the stranger was much thinner, almost gangly. There was an air of aloofness around him and he wore an arrogant smile that drove Alec nuts.

“You caught me?” Alec replied, “I must be out of practice if a blow from such a weakling knocked me out. And by the way what’s your name, so I can print myself a T-shirt with the label ‘I was captured by the world’s most arrogant sucker.’”

The strangers face darkened, “I am Ertai.” he said, taking out a bottle filled with blue liquid and taking a sip. “And once I’m done interrogating you, you won’t be so cocky anymore.

Something inside Alec’s mind stirred when he saw the liquid, a vague memory, like a déjà vu.

flashback:

494 moved silently through the forest, stalking towards his prey. He spotted his victim, standing at a river a few feet away, obviously scanning the area. Chuckling, 494 leapt, slamming his opponent to the ground.


The memory faded as fast as they came leaving only a few sensations behind: anger, a kind of triumph and a strange, coppery taste, almost like blood. Confused, Alec shook his head and concentrated back on the present. Ertai didn’t seem to have noticed his blackout; he had continued to explain that he was brilliant, extraordinary etc.

“But now we should get started,” he said, moving towards Alec. ”Tell me all you know about X5-452!”

Ertai’s voice seemed to echo in his head, it seemed very important to answer it correctly, without sparing any information. In horror Alec realized that his capture was a psy-ops and was using his abilities to probe his mind. Fortunately he had encountered psy-ops several times in Manticore and knew how to avoid being manipulated. He tried to empty his mind, thinking about nothing, especially not about Max. This would make it much more difficult for Ertai to read his memories although it wasn’t 100% safe. The urge to tell him everything about Max became weaker and suddenly ceased to exist.

“Interesting,” Ertai said, “I didn’t expect you to resist my tremendous abilities. However I know exactly how to break through you defense.”

He filled some of the blue liquid into a vial and brought it to Alec’s lips. “Now be a good boy and take a sip,” he said with a cruel smile. Alec’s jaw dropped, allowing Ertai to force the liquid down his throat.

It had no taste but burned like fire when it washed down his throat. Almost instantly his vision blurred and memories flooded his consciousness. He didn’t even hear Ertai’s question before he lost himself in visions.

* * * * *
Command Centre

Max walked into Command Centre, hoping that Logan had better news like Mole. She moved over to his desk, which was crammed with a laptop, several CDs, a map of Terminal City and abundant of notes. Seeming a bit lost in the mess, Logan was working at his Laptop, looking up when she approached.

“Hey,” Max said, “Mole told me you’ve found something.”

“Yes,” Logan replied, “I checked some old maps to find out what was stored in the sealed rooms you found. Most of the firms which had buildings here broke down after the disaster, except for one. And this firm owns the area, where our mysterious enemies vanished.

“It could be property of White’s sect pals,” Max mused, “we should check this out. What’s the name of than company and what do they fabricate?”

“At this point things start to get interesting,” Logan echoed, “its AESIR Cooperation, a huge pharmacy enterprise. In the last year they bought several smaller companies and are now one of the biggest companies in the USA. Their headquarter is here in Seattle. I’m sure they are involved in the disappearances, but I need more information. Could you gather some for me?”

“Sure,” she replied, “what do you have in mind? Breaking into their headquarter sounds a bit too risky!”

“Not into AESIR Tower but into a storehouse at the harbor,” Logan said, showing her a map,
“All their computers are linked with each other, so you’ll be able to copy all important data.”

“Sounds like fun,” Max said, taking the map and some security plans, “you’ll have your information tomorrow.”

“Be careful,” Logan said, “this could be very dangerous!”

“No problem, Logan,” Max replied, heading towards the door, “I managed to infiltrate better secured places before.”


* * * * *
flashback:

Psy-Ops cell - Manticore

494 lay on his bed in the little cell, lost in memories. It had been two months since his failed attempt to save Rachel, two months filled with torture and punishment. Two months in darkness, buried in the basement of the Psy-Ops. He was in a kind of daze, memories and realities were overlapping each other, so 494 could never be sure if he imagined something or if it really happened.

In the few moments his mind worked normal, 494 worried if he would ever get out of here and in which state he would be then. The two months had wrecked his brain and if these side-effects of his “treatment” didn’t lessen, he would be loyal but insane when he got out of here.

Suddenly the cell door opened, yanking him out of his thoughts. For a moment 494 thought Rachel had entered his cell, getting him out. But then the vision faded, revealing the true nature of the visitor: an attractive, red-haired woman in her late twenties. Although she looked like any Manticore scientist, her face revealed an unusual amount of empathy for him.

“X5-494?” she asked, “I’m Dr. Polito. Are you alright? You look quite messed up.”

“Because I AM messed up by the treatment of your dear colleges,” 494 replied, “unless you want to tell me that I can leave psy-ops please leave me alone.”

494 knew that it was dangerous to talk to a scientist in such a rude way but in the moment he didn’t care. His situation couldn’t get any worse.

“Well, I came to make you an offer.” Polito said. “If you assist me by an experiment, I’ll get you out of here.”

“Sounds interesting,” the X5 replied, “but what kind of experiment are we talking about?”

“I’m searching for a way to repair the X5’s brain chemistry,” the scientist replied, pulling a vial out of her pocket, “this is a combination of modified Tryptophan and other amino acids. It should stop your seizures, you just have to drink it regularly in increasing quantities and I’ll examine you from time to time. I’ll also show you how to resist the psy-ops re-indoctrination. Deal?”

“Deal!” 494 said, taking the vial from her and draining it.

2 weeks later, Polito’s laboratory

“I think I found the reason for your new qualities,” Dr. Polito said, “the modified Tryptophan which is part of the Serum reacts with several other substances in your body, creating a new kind of neurotransmitter. It is similar to the neurotransmitters the Psy-Ops have, granting you some limited psychic abilities.”

494 smiled at the enthusiasm in the scientist’s voice. He knew that Polito longed for testing the Serum on other transgenics, especially Psy-Ops, hoping she had found not only a way to cure the X5’s seizures but also a way to grant them new abilities. He didn’t share her elation for science but getting out of the re-indoctrination programme and gaining telekinetic powers was a great deal, although he had to admit that they were quite limited, compared to real Psy-Ops.

494’s mind was a lot clearer since the start of the experiment, due to a technique Polito had shown him: If he emptied his mind during the indoctrination, it’ll be much harder to probe and manipulate his mind. The massive side effects had decreased, ending the hallucinations and enabling him to fell quite normal. However, the deal with Polito still had to get him out of here and he was tired of waiting.

“When will you get me out of this basement?” he asked the scientist, “I fulfilled my part of the deal, now it’s your turn! What is keeping you?”

“I have to convince several high ranked Manticore employees to get you out of Psy-Ops,” she replied calmly, “and it would look suspicious if you are back to normal after only two weeks in my care. Be patient, only one or two weeks more and you’ll be out of here! But now it’s time for your dose of serum.”

Still grumbling, the X5 took the offered vial and drained it. The Serum itself had no taste, but burned like alcohol. After consuming it, sensations he felt became more intense and it became easier to use psychic abilities. Also, 494’s seizures had stopped since the start of the experiment and there hadn’t been any negative side effects. Only the increased dose worried 494, after all everything can be poisonous in the right quantities, another reason for getting out of Psy-Ops soon.

“Alright,” Polito said, “you are dismissed.”

Another 2 weeks later: the edge of the forest near Manticore

“This is the last step of my research,” Polito informed 494, “after this test you’ll be free to return to your unit.”

“And what kind of test is this?” 494 asked.
“Three X5s are patrolling in the forest,” the scientist replied, “your job is to knock them out without raising alarm. The purpose of this combat simulation is to compare your Serum-enhanced abilities with those of ordinary X5s. The huge dose of Serum I gave you should make sure that you can use your telekinetic powers.”

“Sounds like fun,” the X5 remarked, moving towards the edge of the wood, “they won’t know what hit them!”

Before Polito could warn him not to underestimate his enemies (she constantly reminded him not to do so), he had vanished into the wood.

The forest near Manticore:

494 moved silently through the forest, stalking towards his prey. He had followed one of the patrolling guards for a few minutes, waiting for the right moment to attack. His quarry had broken through a thicket, disappearing from view. Noiselessly 494 followed him, preparing to attack.

He spotted his victim, standing at a river a few feet away, obviously scanning the area. Chuckling, 494 leapt, slamming his opponent to the ground. The X5 hadn’t a chance, within seconds 494 landed a blow to his temple which knocked him out.

As he started to bind his opponent 494 noticed that the effects of the Serum were becoming stronger instead of fading away. He knew that it took his body some time to produce the neurotransmitter (which Polito had named Serotonin S, due to a lack of information about its structure) which enhanced his abilities but by now the effects should lessen. Instead his sensations became even more intense and he felt a dull pain in his head.

Before he could muse further about these strange side-effects he heard footsteps. He used his telekinetic powers to move the X5’s body under a bush then hid himself in the brushwood. After a few moments 494 spotted the origin of the footsteps: the two remaining X5-guards, carrying automatic rifles.

For a moment 494 seriously debate taking the rifle of the already knocked-out guard, but discarded the thought because Polito had told him not to kill or seriously harm his opponents. He would rely on surprise and telekinesis to best them.

The subjects of his musings had split up each searching a different part of the clearing either for him or for their comrade. He quickly decided which he should attack first then stalked towards his new target, using the brushwood as cover. He was almost near enough to strike when the guard spun around and saw him.

“Shit” 494 said, instinctively jumping for cover and mentally reaching out for the weapon. The X5 could shoot two shots which both missed before his rifle was torn out of his hand and landed in the river. Being forced to act now, 494 slammed into the guard, knocking the wind out of him. Giving his opponent no chance to recover, he landed another blow, knocking him out.

When he tried to find the last remaining X5 something hit him in the back, sending to the ground. When he rolled to his back, intending to get up and find out what had hit him, he saw the last guard who was aiming at him, the rifle only a few inches before his face.

“One move and you’re dead,” he growled, “don’t try any tricks!”

“Listen,” 494 said, trying to buy some time “there’s no need to be that serious! After all, this is only a test!”

“What are you taking ab………. ARGH!” the guard yelled as his legs were pulled away by 494’s telekinesis. Wasting no time, 494 jumped to his feet and ripped the weapon out of his grasp. His opponent proved quite agile, coming back to his feet and landing a blow in 494’s face, causing him to stagger backwards and filling his mouth with the coppery taste of blood. Several further hits and kicks, slammed 494 to the ground once again and the guard retrieved his weapon, aiming once again at him.

Panicking, 494 improvised a telekinetic attack at the X5 not bothering to aim at a special target. The result was some kind of projectile, which knocked the guard a few feet away from him and sent him once again to the ground. Giving him no chance 494 jumped to his feet and aimed a kick at the other man’s temple which laid the last guard low.

Panting, he tried to calm himself and started to tie his two prisoners up. Polito would be pleased but although he was glad to have passed the test 494 was troubled. The dull pain in his head had evolved into a throbbing headache and he felt dizzy. Then pain shot through his body, the whole world convulsed and everything went black.

Later: hospital wing

494 slowly regained conscious: he became aware that he laid on a soft bed in a light-flooded room. When he tried to sit up he noticed an amulet and a note, which were lying on a table next to his bed. Firstly he examined the heart-shaped amulet, it look familiar but in his confused state he couldn’t say where he had seen it, so he pocketed it to answer this question later. Then he picked up the note, unfolded it and started to read:

“I managed to get you out of Psy-Ops just as I promised. I’m sorry not to tell the guards about the test, but it was crucial for the experiment (I wanted them to give their best). You were in a pretty bad state, when we found you and your memory of the last weeks could be damaged but I’m quite sure it will come back. Please don’t tell anyone about our deal; it could be very dangerous for both of us. Farewell!”

J. P.

When 494 had finished reading and started to wonder what had happened since he returned form his last mission (what was this mission about? He only remembered that something had gone wrong) the room blurred and he fell into darkness.




Back somewhere in Seattle

Finally Alec came back to his sense, shaking of the effects of this strange trance. He wasn’t sure if he had just imagined it all or if it was real and he had forgotten (or was made to forget) it. However, the presence of three other persons in his cell yanked him out of his musings.

One of them was the already familiar, arrogant Ertai, his face expressionless. Alec realized that he didn’t seem to be as arrogant as usual; perhaps one of the others cowed him enough to make him humble. To his right stood a red-haired woman in her fifties who watched her prisoner with an evil kind of triumph. She wore the coldest and most evil sneer he had ever seen and seemed far too pleased to see him tied up.

Left of here stood a tall, very muscular Latino with jet black hair and even blacker eyes. His face was inscrutable; Alec couldn’t tell if he was angry, amused or just bored. When he had finished the analysis of his captors (coming to the conclusion to get out of here immediately) the woman spoke up, her voice as cold as her eyes.

“So finally awake 494?” she said, “I was beginning to worry about you, dying on an overdose of serum. After all I wanted to meet you in person. Let me introduce myself: I’m Nicole Horne, Director of AESIR Co-operation and this is my second-in-command Volrath. I think you already met Ertai, our Psy-Ops!”

“What do you want from me?” Alec demanded, “Why are you capturing transgenics? Do you want to sell them to other countries?”

“Oh, quite the opposite!” Horn replied, “We really want to keep you. We are the Cabal. All you have to know that we’ll stop the pathetic rebellion started by 452. Of course the leaders of the uprising must be executed to make an example of what happens to disloyal soldiers.
Since you are one of these leaders, you’ll be executed within 24 hours according to degree 436 of the Council. I wish you a pleasant death and don’t worry: Your rebellious friends will soon join you!”

After her incredibly comforting speech Horne left the room, obviously letting Volrath and Ertai doing the dirty work. Alec desperately tried to free himself but it was no good: the shackles were to strong.

“What a kind and warm-hearted person she is,” Volrath chuckled; “I’m sure you aren’t afraid of dying anymore. But don’t give up hope yet; I’ll make you an offer you can’t refuse. Oh, I always wanted to say that.”

“Name your offer!” Alec replied, “I hope it includes freeing me!”

“Of course,” Volrath echoed, “after all you can’t help me if you’re dead. But unfortunately you have to do something for me as compensation. This mission would be regarded by your fellow rouge transgenics as treacherous, but we all know that everything has a price and a life is quite expensive. Also, loyalty is only a myth, you can be sure that everyone will betray you, if they can profit from it! If you turn out to be a capable soldier I might offer you a position of power in the Cabal after your mission. But now I should tell you the details of this favor!”

With these words he approached the captured X5 and whispered instructions in his ear. Alec’s eyes widened in horror, hearing what would be the price of his freedom.

“I can’t do this!” he said, “I can’t betray Max!”

“That’s my offer,” Volrath replied, “take it or leave it. But you should consider your limited options: either you die here and now or you have the chance of saving your life with the minor drawback of having to betray your friends! So, you may have death and oblivion or freedom and power. How will you choose?


* * * * *

AESIR Co-operation storehouse, Seattle harbor midnight

Max stalked towards the storehouse, shivering form the cold. It had rained heavily since the afternoon, a fact which made breaking into a storehouse easier, yet much more uncomfortable. She planned to enter the building through a window in the third storey, (AESIR seemed to have a crush for high buildings, even a storehouse has six floors) disable the security system in the next room and go up to the sixth floor where the data Logan searched were stored.

She was amazed how well her plan worked, climbing to the window was easy (due to her skill and excellent equipment) and she deactivated the security system without meeting any guards (Logan had managed to organize the codes). Although she encountered several of them on her way up, they were easy to avoid due to their lack of motivation (some were eating, others watched a football game on TV).

Finally she reached her goal: a massive steel door with a code lock, which led to the archive. Unfortunately Logan hadn’t been able to get this code so she just had to improvise. The lock proved inferior to her hacking skill, after a few minutes the door opened and she entered the archive.

The rectangular rooms was crammed full with shelves loaded with CDs, all labeled with a barcode. Smiling about the irony that she stole something marked with the barcode, she started searching the room. Logan’s informant had told them that the most valuable data was stored in a locked chest in the middle of the room, which was impossible to hack.

Fortunately, Max knew another way of getting the information she wanted: a well-placed dose of C4 (she had found some in a Terminal City storehouse) should destroy the locking mechanism and open this treasure chest. After examining the lock quickly but thoroughly she planted the explosive, retreated behind a shelve and triggered the detonation. Then she quickly took the discs out of the chest, removed the barcodes and replaced them with empty ones.

When she had left the room with her goods and headed back to the third floor, she froze in horror: The way down was barred by at least 20 heavily armed soldiers, standing in attention in the next room. Cursing her bad luck, Max hid in the shadows behind a desk and searched desperately for a way to avoid them. While she scanned the area a woman with flaming red hair entered the room, talking to a muscular man, who was similar dressed like the soldiers.
Due to her extra-sensitive hearing Max could follow their conversation:

“How many loyal soldiers do you have?” the woman asked.

“About 26, Ma’am,” the soldier answered, “not all are ready for action at the moment but we’ll soon fix the problems.”

“Good, Marek,” the woman replied, “a troop of X5s could come in handy when Volrath or the Council does something stupid. But now you should start the training, every civil guard has left the building so it’s unlikely that we’re being watched.”

Without hesitation the soldiers formed pairs and were soon engaged into hand-to-hand combat with each other. This was the chance Max had waited for: She sprinted through the room and jumped out of the window, hoping her plan would work. She heard someone yell “Seize her” before she started her six-storey fall.

After a few terrifying moments, Max realized that her plan would work: at the height of the third floor she managed to catch her rope and to slide down to the ground. Unfortunately the first thing she saw was gun aimed at her face, obviously one of the soldiers had stood guard outside the building.

“Freeze!” he ordered, “what are you doing here?”

“I’m beating up guys, who point guns at me!” she replied and emphasized the message with a kick between the guard’s legs. When her opponent doubled over in pain, she finished him of by slamming her fist onto his temple and quickly made her way back to the sewers. On her way back to Terminal City she wondered if the information on the discs were worth this.


* * * * *

Somewhere in Seattle (again)

Alec chose:

“I’ll do it,” he said, “now please remove these shackles!”

“First I’ll have to insure that you won’t try to betray me,” Volrath replied, “Ertai hold him!!!”

Within seconds Alec’s body was completely immobile, paralyzed by the Psy-Ops’ telekinesis. His head was yanked to the side so he couldn’t see what Volrath was doing. After a few moments in this uncomfortable position he heard his captor approaching and felt a sudden pain at his throat.

“Excellent,” Volrath said, “release him, Ertai! I want to explain him what this was about.”

Alec regained control of his body and turned to face the other transgenics. The pain in his throat was gone but he had the odd impression that something cold moved inside of him

“What have you done to me?” he demanded to know.

“In a sense we three are brothers, 494,” Horne’s second-in-command echoed, “Polito tried to enhance us. You and Ertai were part of her Serum experiment while she granted me a different enhancement: nanites and the ability to control them. I injected some of them into your carotid artery. If you fail to complete your mission within 24 hours, they’ll be activated and start to disassemble your body. No-one except me can prevent this, so you better get started with your task. Ertai will bring you to Terminal City and these vials might come in handy.”
With these words he removed Alec’s shackles and gave him two vials filled with Serum.
When he left the room with Ertai, his mind was spinning, trying to find a way out of this mess.

* * * * *
Volrath’s quarter

Horne’s second-in-command was in an excellent mood: 494’s capture had offered a unique possibility. If he managed to fulfill his mission the Council would be so impressed that it would grant him any position he wanted.

Volrath really liked working for the Cabal. It was a simply hierarchy without restrictions like morals or laws. At the moment the Council planned the time after the completion of their current operation and everybody tried to secure his or her position. Horne and he both wanted the same position so one of them had to loose and Volrath was determined to win this mind game.

He had joined the Cabal together with Ertai after the destruction of Manticore, knowing that the “normal” or better inferior humans would try to eradicate them. He had needed someone to protect him and the Cabal seemed the obvious choice.

The thought of capturing or killing other transgenics didn’t bother Volrath at all. He preferred ruling in Hell to serving in Heaven. A life in constant fear and miserable living conditions wasn’t attractive for him.

He really looked forward for beating Horne; this arrogant bitch had commanded him long enough. He wouldn’t kill her because the Council didn’t approve killing your superior (only when he or she was really incompetent and unfortunately Horne was quite capable). Also it would be much more fun to watch her fall-from-grace than simply kill her.

Smiling, Volrath walked to his desk where a chessboard and several chess figures laid. The game represented the battle for power between Horne and himself. Volrath was the black, his rival the white king, both surrounded by other figures, representing their allies. There were more white figures than black ones but they were scattered on the board, so it was able to win without disposing them (Horne had more allies then Volrath but they were always fighting each other). He placed another figure at the board: a bishop (494), who could beat the white king.

“Check!” he said, chuckling.

* * * * *


A/N If you can spare a moment or two please rate and review, so I’ll stay motivated while writing the next chapter.