The Decommission Agent

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The Decommission Agent Page 21

by Nash, Lisa


  “Synthetics,” Dr. Leo Getman said. “Like you.”

  -72-

  “One question,” Thomas said. “Once we get your group of bio-syns inside and they take the contaminated samples, how do we get them out?”

  “Out?” Duncan said.

  Franklin Waters sighed and shook his head.

  “There’s no getting them out, kid.”

  Thomas’ gaze shifted from Duncan to Franklin. “But they’ll be killed.”

  Neither Duncan or Franklin bothered to respond.

  Thomas’ face became flush with rage. “You’re no different than them – Than Grant Bio-Syn. You’re using the synthetics for your own selfish purposes…”

  “Whoa,” Duncan said. “We’re nothing like them.”

  “You’re exactly like them. You’re sending those synthetics in there without their knowledge. They don’t have a choice in the matter…”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Thomas,” Dr. Green finally said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “They do have a choice, my boy. We wouldn’t be doing this otherwise.”

  Thomas approached him in disbelief. “You gave them all free will.”

  “I did.”

  “And they volunteered for this insanity – this suicide mission.”

  “In times like these, Thomas, one must decide if they act for the good of one or the good of the many.”

  Thomas stepped back with his mouth wide open. His mind flashed back to the air shuttle. “The woman – The one with the glasses on the shuttle…”

  “Charlotte,” Dr. Green smiled. “She followed Duncan not long after we made it to this facility.”

  “A good woman,” Duncan said. “But a better soldier.”

  “You’ve been following me for weeks.”

  Franklin smiled. “I’m the one who altered your test.”

  Thomas’ head started to throb with pain. “Test? You mean I didn’t have a high score.”

  “Shit no,” Franklin laughed. “You did piss poor. One of the worst scores I’ve seen actually. You should be happy though. All the test really measures is how big of a sociopath you are because it takes a real sick son-of-a-bitch to be a decommission agent.”

  “But why?”

  Dr. Green rested his hand on Thomas’ shoulder and looked at him lovingly. “We needed one last piece of the puzzle, and you brought it to us.”

  Thomas shook his head. He had never felt so betrayed. “What piece?”

  “Panic,” Duncan said.

  “Panic?”

  “You’re half-bio- syn,” Duncan said. “You walked into their facility and walked out with one of their units. As soon as they found out, and we made sure they did, they went ape shit and started scrambling for answers. We added a little extra chaos in the mix by getting a few politicians and the like very, very nervous that their whole sordid histories were about to be uncovered.”

  Thomas looked at Dr. Green. “You knew who I was all along.”

  Dr. Green nodded. “My boy, I’ve had Duncan keeping tabs on your for a number of months.”

  Thomas fumed. “That whole ‘fate’ speech was bullshit?”

  Dr. Green looked confused. “Fate?” He stared at the floor and nervously shifted his weight from left to right over and over again. “I’ve no idea what to make of that. I did say something about fate. I remember that. Why do I remember that? It’s not true.”

  Duncan placed his hand on Dr. Green’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, doc.”

  “But the boy is right, Duncan. I appear to have lied. Why would I do that? Why?”

  “Sometimes you remember things differently. That’s all it is, doc. Don’t be too hard on yourself.” Duncan led Dr. Green to the door. “Run along and get some rest. I can hold down the fort for awhile.”

  Dr. Green hesitated. He turned to Thomas, smiled and then left the room.

  When he was out of sight, Duncan sighed deeply. “They did a number on his head in that hospital.”

  “He lied, Duncan, and you went along with it. This had nothing to do with fate…”

  “Kid, that man loves you. He’s too brainy to come out and say it, but he does. He wants to believe that fate brought you into his life because in his mind that means something, it means everything if something bigger, something more, something “other” is at play here. He doesn’t always think straight, and sometimes he can convince himself something’s true when it’s not. He thought fate brought you into his life, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him fate had nothing to do with it.”

  Thomas felt his anger slowly subside until he almost felt sorry for Dr. Albert Green.

  “And you should know, kid, the doc never wanted to get you involved in this, but I convinced him we needed you. We had to shake things up in a big way. This only works if Grant Bio-Syn makes the first move. That’s how you win a war. You get the other side to fire the first shot.”

  -73-

  Denise Harvey was dressed in her black combat fatigues. She stood in the back of the dilapidated building directing her heavily armed security team to hold their positions while she discussed details with her informant.

  The man with more chins than years left on his life expectancy chomped on his cheap cigar and counted the cash Harvey had handed him.

  “What kind of firepower are we facing?” Harvey asked him.

  The fat man shook his head. “None to speak of. Duncan’s got a pistol, but it’s nothing more than a peashooter.”

  Harvey was disappointed to learn there wouldn’t be a major shootout. “How about manpower? How many in their group?”

  Scratching one of his chins, the informant said, “I wouldn’t exactly call it manpower, but I’d say they’ve got 60 or 70 folks down there.”

  She smiled sensing the promise of a conflict resurfacing.

  “Mostly synthetics though.”

  “Synthetics?”

  He nodded.

  She was surprised to learn there were that many. Turning to a member of her security team, she said, “Call in for another wagon. We’ve got more cargo than I expected to move.”

  -74-

  Thomas entered the room and was disturbed to find a nude Cora sitting on the edge of the cot crying. He quickly sat beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she leaned her head against him and allowed herself to cry even harder. When she got her emotions under control, she said, “I’ m not – this. I’m not a teacher. I don’t live in the city. I know that.”

  He hesitated. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ve fooled myself. I knew it all along. I did it because I thought it would help. They told me it would help. I just wanted to feel better. I was tired of being sad.”

  “Sad? Why were you sad?”

  She ignored his question. “I didn’t expect this. I love you, Thomas. I don’t think I’m supposed to, but I do. I’m just so confused.”

  He held her tighter. “I didn’t expect this either.”

  She pushed away from him. “You have to go.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Get out of here. Run. Don’t let them find you.”

  “Who?” He reached out for her, but she slapped his hand away.

  “I don’t have time to explain. They’ll be here any second. Just go. Run. Forget about me. Forget about this place. Just don’t let them find you…”

  “Well, well, well,” Duncan said from the doorway. “Looks like somebody’s become a little self-aware.”

  Cora turned to him. “This isn’t right, Duncan. I’m starting to see things clearer. Whatever they did to me is wearing off. I should never have been a part of this…”

  Hey, hey, hey.” Duncan gave her a reassuring smile. “This is normal. We’re getting close to the end of the 72 hours.”

  Thomas quickly pulled the sheet from the bed and draped it over Cora. “Why is she sta
rting to figure everything out?”

  Duncan scratched his jaw line and searched for a good answer. “It’s just shitty conditioning I guess. It happens. Sometimes it just doesn’t hold.”

  “No, no,” Cora said in a panic. “I won’t do this! I can’t. It’s not fair. They didn’t tell me it would be like this. They didn’t tell me…” She fell to the floor and doubled over in a crying fit.

  Duncan kneeled down in front of her. “Take it easy. We’re almost there. Just breathe.”

  Thomas kneeled next to her. “We have to do something.”

  “Go get doc!” Duncan said. “We need to put her under and let him work his magic.”

  “No!” Cora yelled.

  Thomas hesitated.

  “Go, kid! She could go into shock or worse!”

  Thomas quickly stood and bolted out the door.

  -75-

  Senator Trelow did not participate in the orgy. He sat on a chair and just soaked in the activity. The tangled mass of bodies had been writhing and humping and grinding for nearly an hour, and he felt the same odd mixture of exhilaration and exhaustion as those engaged in the decadent sexual acts must have felt.

  He so enjoyed watching people having sex. It was life-affirming, almost magically so.

  He looked at his watch and frowned at the realization that it was all about to come to an end.

  -76-

  Dr. Green stood over Cora taking her pulse. He mumbled to himself, leaned in and lifted her eyelid to examine her pupil.

  Thomas stood at the end of the cot. “What did you give her?”

  “A sedative. A fairly large dose, I’m afraid. She was on the verge of a major incident. She’ll be a tad confused for quite some time when she wakes.”

  “I don’t understand what happened. How did she start realizing what she really was?”

  Dr. Green shook his head. “It’s perplexing. It is. It is. It is.”

  “I told you it was shitty conditioning,” Duncan said.

  Dr. Green considered Duncan’s statement. “Oh no. I don’t think so. It’s a strictly regimented process. I just don’t think that could be it.”

  “But I thought you’ve seen this before,” Thomas said to Duncan.

  “I have. Not this bad, but I’ve seen it.”

  “I’ve never come across it. No, indeed, I can’t say that I have – Something must have disrupted the programming.”

  “Maybe it’s that drift thing,” Thomas said.

  “Not likely,” Dr. Green said. He crossed his arms. “I suppose you may have stumbled upon her free will trigger. It’s a one in a million chance, but I just can’t think of – Did you say something to her?”

  “Say something?”

  “Yes, yes, something – A phrase, not common, not terribly anyway, but known.”

  Thomas shook his head. “No. We just talked. We were getting to know each other. It was just normal conversation.”

  “Not a saying or quote that you just repeated innocuously?”

  “A quote?” Thomas quickly retrieved his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out the slip of paper. “Fate will find a way,” he said excitedly. “I said it in the restaurant. We were talking about…”

  “Your mother,” Dr. Green said.

  “Yes, yes. My mother gave me this quote on the day she disappeared.”

  Dr. Green fell to one knee and it seemed as if he was about to slip into shock.

  Duncan hurried to him. “What’s wrong, doc?”

  Dr. Green seemed lost for a brief moment before he became mindful of his surroundings. “It was your mother’s trigger.”

  “What?”

  Duncan almost laughed. “That’s not possible, doc. Do you know the odds – I mean that your son would be matched with a synthetic that has the same free will trigger as his mother. That just can’t happen.”

  “I can think of no other explanation for Cora’s behavior.”

  “But it didn’t work. Not when I said it in the restaurant.”

  “The effect is slow,” Dr. Green said. “It’s for their own good. If they are exposed to the phrase over and over again, it can speed up the process. It would wipe their memory clean in the process though. I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s really very messy. One can never tell how they’ll deal with their new found freedom.”

  Thomas knelt down beside Cora. “But if I say it to her over and over again, she’ll be able to think for herself?”

  “She will,” Dr Green said with a grin. “But, my boy, you will be a stranger to her. She will be starting with a clean slate. That is the only way to accommodate rapid self awareness. It is a quirk of the synthetic’s neurological structure.”

  Thomas shook his head. “I don’t care.”

  “How can you not care…”

  “Because I love her!” Thomas barked. “I’d rather her think for herself than remember me.”

  Dr. Green placed his hand on top of Thomas’ hand which was resting on Cora’s arm. “The trigger has been pulled, son. She will have free will in time…”

  “But it was torture for her. I won’t let her go through that. You think the slow realization of who they aren’t and what they are is better for them, but it’s not. It’s like slowly watching yourself die. I saw it in her eyes. She was terrified.”

  Dr. Green patted his hand. “Well, nothing can be done about it now. She’ll be out for a while…”

  A loud crashing noise came from the lobby at the end of the corridor outside the room. Duncan looked down the hallway and then hurried back in the room. He grabbed Dr. Green by the arm. “We got company, doc.”

  Dr. Green stood with Duncan’s help and allowed himself to be guided to the doorway.

  “What’s going on?” Thomas said following after them.

  A few rounds of gun fire blasted throughout the underground complex.

  “Grant Bio-Syn took the bait,” Duncan said.

  “They’re here?”

  “Oh my,” Dr. Green said. “They’re ahead of schedule.”

  “Where are you going?” Thomas said.

  “I’ve gotta get the doc out of here,” Duncan said as he pulled a pistol out of a holster clipped to the back of his belt.

  “Wait,” Thomas said.

  “Wait?” Duncan said. “For what?”

  “You can’t just leave Cora and me here…”

  “No one’s stopping you from joining us, kid.”

  They were near the end of the hallway. “But I have to get Cora…”

  Two members of Grant Bio-Syn’s security team appeared at the other end of the hall. Duncan fired in their direction, and they ducked back out of sight.

  “No time.” Duncan pulled Dr. Green into a utility closet. “Doc and I are headed down into the sewer system. I suggest you come along.”

  Thomas stood in the hallway. The sounds of people shouting and the occasional gunshot could be heard from the opposite end of the facility. The door to the utility closet slowly started to close. He watched as Duncan used a slender piece of pipe to pry the manhole cover to the sewer system below loose. The door clicked shut.

  He quickly ran back to Cora’s room. A member of Grant Bio-Syn’s security team entered the hallway just as he slipped past the doorway. He knew he was out of time. Pushing the door shut, he searched for something to block it, but the room consisted of a cot and a coat rack. He moved away from the door with his fists clenched. He had nothing else to defend Cora with. He was going to lose, but he was going to make it as painful for he could on whoever walked through that door.

  He heard the footsteps approaching. People where yelling back and forth to each other. They were searching rooms. Looking for any signs of life. Someone stopped outside his door. He watched in fury as the door knob turned and the door was slowly pushed open. Cocking his fist, he readied himself to fight until he drew his last breath.

  A woman dressed in black combat fatigues stood in the open doorway. “Mr. Miller, I presume.”

  Thomas relaxed ever so
slightly. “You know me.”

  The woman laughed. “Let’s just say you are a star in some circles.” She stepped inside the room. “My name is Denise Harvey. I’m head of security of…

  “I don’t care who you are. I won’t let you take her,” Thomas said.

  Harvey looked past Thomas and examined Cora on the cot. “They told me you would behave in one of two ways at this point, Mr. Miller. You would either cower before me like a spineless twit or you would tower above me like a gallant hero.” She pulled out a handgun.

  “What do you mean they told you?”

  “They. Them. The powers that be.” She stepped to her right with the gun trained on Thomas. “They’ve been kind enough to allow me to decide what becomes of you. I can either shoot you now, or I can send you back with the synthetics to Grant Bio-Syn and have you decommissioned like all the others.”

  “Those aren’t your only two options,” Thomas said.

  “No?”

  “You could let us go.”

  A smile quickly spread across her face. “I suppose that is true.”

  Thomas felt a slight twinge of hope in his gut.

  “But I think it is more fitting for the decommission agent to be decommissioned.”

  “I never got the job.”

  She shrugged. “Details. Details.” Her finger flexed on the trigger of the gun. “Don’t worry. This is just a tranquilizer gun.” With that, she pulled the trigger and watched Thomas stagger back and then collapse backwards on top of Cora.

  -77-

  Arthur Trelow, III stepped up to the podium and felt a wave of nausea travel up his esophagus. He cupped his hand over his mouth and swallowed it. A room full of reporters stared back at him as he nervously scanned their faces. They were utterly confused by his demeanor. The man had been described by many of them as cool and collected throughout most of his political career. He now looked like a virgin on his first date.

  The lights burned brightly and sweat formed on his brow. He looked down at his hands and saw them as the hands of a stranger. They belonged to a man he did not know. They belonged to a man who many wouldn’t see as a man.

 

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