by Kal Spriggs
“Doctor,” one of the technicians said, “we’re already past the maximum recommended dosage. Any more and we could do him permanent damage.”
Halving looked back down at him and for just a second, Shaden felt some hope that the pain would end. “Proceed with the dosage,” Halving said, “and continue with the electro-stimuli.”
Shaden braced himself for more pain.
“Stop it!” David shouted and Halving shattered like glass. The operating room vanished, replaced by a black, gloomy room.
“You can’t trust them,” A young man’s voice whispered. “You can’t trust anyone… but don’t trust them!”
“I saw…” the boy said, “I saw it, Peter, I saw what they said you did…”
“They lied!” the young man said. “You know I wouldn’t do that, right David, you know it! Don’t trust anything they say. Don’t listen to them…”
Memory, Shaden realized, this is one of David’s memories… and that was one of mine, one I didn’t know I had.
“I saw the bodies, and the blood, and…” the younger version of David started to sob, “Peter, there was so much blood!”
“It wasn’t me,” Peter said. “You know it wasn’t me…”
“Get out of my head!” David shouted and the room vanished. Suddenly, the adult David stood before Shaden. “Get out of my head,” David grated.
“I don’t have the energy to be here,” Shaden said. It was true. He could feel that he had pushed himself too hard after the fight at the warehouse. David had attacked him, had come into his mind…
“You brought me here,” Shaden said. He could feel the truth of the statement, “You brought us here in response to what you saw in my mind.”
David turned away, “What I saw… what you experienced. How are you still alive?”
“I don’t know,” Shaden said. “Most of the… process, they must have wiped from my memory, along with everything else. They left a… base, a cardboard cut-out of a personality.”
“I could tell,” David shuddered, “they took everything from you. If I didn’t see how horrible it is to have no past, I’d wish they did it to me.” He looked over, “You know, there’s nothing when I look at your memories. There’s no happy thoughts, no sad ones, just this emptiness where a person used to be. You’re like a raw, open, festering wound.”
“That’s your ability?” Shaden asked, “Memory?”
David nodded slowly, “I’m a telepath, but memory is where I’m strongest. ESPSec mostly uses me for interrogations, to find…” He swallowed, “To find out where psychics hid their families and friends.”
Shaden asked, “The man from your memory, Peter…”
“My brother,” David responded. “He was older than me, stronger than me… but he couldn’t filter things out. I realized that the thoughts from other people pushed him over the edge… I went to ESPSec and turned myself in. They asked me to talk him out, said that he had… hurt people. They showed me what he’d done.”
“What did you do?” Shaden asked.
“I turned him in,” David’s expression went hard. “They injected him with a drug that is supposed to prevent psychic abilities. He’s…” For a moment, Shaden saw a bed-ridden form, a slack expression on a pale face.
“I did what I had to do,” David said softly.
“You were a boy,” Shaden said. “You shouldn’t have had to make that kind of decision.” His stomach rebelled at the thought, at what ESPSec had done to the man.
“I did what I had to do!” David shouted. “Peter would have hurt more people. ESPSec was the right choice!” His eyes flashed with anger, “I don’t want your pity!”
“I don’t know what the right choice was,” Shaden said. He looked around at the gloomy room, the reflection of David’s mind. “Look,” Shaden said, “In every way that counts, I’m every bit as screwed up as you. Maybe you made the right decision about your brother… but do you really think that ESPSec has your best interests at heart? Look what they did to me.”
David scowled, “You’re at my mercy, you know. I could snuff you out, wipe your mind, leave you a vegetable… or just kill you.”
“Maybe that would be a mercy,” Shaden said, thinking back to the memory that David had dredged up. “But why? You can see what I’ve been through. You can see what I’ve done. You know I’m not lying. Everything I’ve done has been to survive.”
“You’re going after Doctor Halving?” David asked.
Shaden nodded. “He’s the one with answers, who can tell me what they did to me.” Shaden shrugged, “He also needs to pay for what he did to me.”
David shuddered, “I was a recent assignment there, I didn’t know…”
“I wouldn’t hold you responsible,” Shaden said. “How could you know?”
David looked up, “How could I not? I’m maxed out on ESPSec’s internal loyalty tests. They used me to screen their internal meetings. Not that I ever really listened or thought about what I did overhear.” He closed his eyes, “I’ve been a fool. ESPSec used me. They manipulated me and the things they have done to people are every bit as terrible as Peter…”
“Look,” Shaden said, “focus on the matter at hand, okay?”
“What?” David asked, his expression distracted.
“You have a bomb in your head,” Shaden said. “Let me help you.”
David snorted, “There’s no helping me. As soon as the mission went south, they would have sent the trigger code. That signal will reach me anywhere on Earth, outside of a shielded room.”
“Can we remove it?” Shaden asked.
David shook his head, “It’s fused to the bone, right where my spine and skull meet. I’ve seen what happened to psychics who have tried to cut it out. Either they kill themselves from trying to remove it… or they botch the job and it explodes. I’m dead, either way. At least it will be quick.”
The room vanished and Shaden felt the cold concrete floor against the side of his face. He slowly pushed himself to his feet.
David had pushed himself into the corner. “Thanks for healing me,” David said. “Just… drop the shielding, let me die, okay?”
Shaden swallowed and he felt tears prickle his eyes. “It doesn’t have to be this way,” he said.
“I want this,” David said softly. “This is all I’ve really wanted since… since I saw what Peter did. I just want it to be over.” His haunted eyes met Shaden’s gaze. “I never wanted these abilities.”
Shaden backed to the door. He rapped on it and Moira pulled it open.
“Shaden,” David said as Shaden went to close the door behind him. “If you do catch the man who did that to you… make the bastard pay.”
***
“I don’t believe this,” Moira hissed. “You want me to let them go?”
“It’s the right thing to do,” Shaden said.
“You said yourself that the psychic just wants to die and that he’s got a bomb in his head ready to go off as soon as he leaves the building,” Moira said. “As for the commando…” She trailed off and her hand went to the small of her back where she probably had a holstered pistol.
“No,” Shaden snapped, “you aren’t going to kill either of them.”
“They were trying to kill you,” Moira replied. “Fair is fair, right?”
“That was different,” Shaden said. “Look, Alex is some kind of technical genius, right?” Moira nodded grudgingly. “Well, bring him here. Maybe he can disable the bomb or something.”
“What about the commando?”
Shaden turned to one of the guards, "Give me your stunner," he said.
The guards looked at each other. "Look, I'll give it back," Shaden said.
One of them passed his stunner over and Shaden went to Staff Sergeant Shade's cell door. He opened it and she stood up, "What--"
Shaden fired and she jerked and then dropped limply to the floor. He turned back to the guards, "You two, dump her somewhere in town. She hasn't seen anyone's faces here. Her
implant will have to reboot after the stunner round, so by the time they can track her, you should be able to dump her somewhere."
"We'll need to ask Mister Kaid..." one man said.
"Fine," Shaden said, "but you have thirty minutes before her implant reboots. Clock is ticking."
***
"This is a very interesting design," Alex said an hour later as he studied his sensor display. Shaden had just finished holding David down to let the engineer do his work. David had done everything he could to keep them away, and eventually it had taken both guards backing him up to keep the ESPSec psychic in check for Alex to finish his scans.
"The way these tendrils spread out, it almost looks like the implant expanded or grew somehow," Alex pointed at his screen. "I mean, I'm not a biologist or a doctor, but it looks like these bits of wire are tied into his nervous system."
Shaden shook his head, "Fine, that means what, exactly?"
"Uh," Alex shrugged, "I don't think it can be taken out. I mean, not without risking serious injury to him. And these two pieces here? They look like fail-safes... so if they get severed, it'll trigger the main charge."
Shaden winced at that. He had expected it to be something simple, like a grenade or a remote detonator. Instead, it seemed that the implanted bomb tied into David’s spinal cord right where it attached to his skull. It also tied into the neural implant that ESPSec had put in him.
Alex gave another shrug, "Without some kind of brain surgeon, I definitely wouldn't want to even try to cut this stuff out."
Moira nodded at Shaden, "There you are, there's nothing he can do..."
"Oh, I could probably set up some kind of jammer or shielding system," Alex said. "This thing needs to receive a kill code. If I just block the right signal, it should be fine." He looked at Shaden, "I could do it in an hour or so."
"Go for it," Shaden said. He gave Moira a look, "See?" She scowled at him, but she stepped out of Alex's way as he stepped out of the corridor.
After the guards had taken Staff Sergeant Shade out, they had told Shaden that he had responsibility of the remaining prisoner. Evidently, Thomas Kaid didn't care about the prisoner's fates beyond wanting nothing to lead back to him. In his shoes, Shaden would have felt greater concern. Then again, Shaden still couldn't believe that the colonial terrorist dared to show his face on Earth, much less to host extravagant parties. It said something about the corruption endemic to Amalgamated Worlds that one of their most wanted enemies could operate so freely on Earth.
"I don't know why you care," Moira said after a long moment. "From what you said, you don't even like this guy."
"I don't," Shaden said. "But that doesn't mean I want to be responsible for his death."
"He made his own choices," Moira snapped.
"Well," Shaden said, "maybe in the future, he'll make better ones.”
She didn't seem to have a response for that.
***
"Here you are," Alex said, passing over what looked like a smart watch.
Shaden in turn held it out to David. "This," he said, "is yours."
David took it and then stared at the watch as if it were a venomous snake. "This will prevent the signal from... this will keep me alive?"
"Yes," Alex said. "Though it has a limited range. Any more than three meters away from you and the signal will penetrate the jamming." He grinned sheepishly, "Uh, you'll also tend to jam up people's wireless signals nearby."
David stared at Shaden, "You couldn't just let me die with dignity, could you?"
"Ungrateful prick," Moira muttered, just loud enough for Shaden to hear.
Shaden fought down a smile and met David's eyes with his own. "All I did," Shaden said, "was put your life in your hands. Live or die, it's your choice." He glanced at Moira, "You made preparations?"
She nodded, "They'll pick us up in twenty minutes."
Shaden looked back at David. "They're going to transport us out of here and drop us off in the city. After that, you're on your own." He shrugged, "If you want, you can take that watch off and throw it down the sewer at that point."
David glared at him and for just a second, Shaden thought the other man would smash the watch. Finally, however, he just gave an apathetic shrug. "Fine, whatever."
"Alright," Shaden said and turned to face Moira. "What now?"
"My father doesn't want you to know where we are," Moira said. "It is contingent upon our departure, especially with your new friend here."
Shaden frowned at that. He would guess that he had seen enough of the area that he could probably guess their location as somewhere out on Long Island.
"Oh, I took a page from your book," Moira said. She pulled the stunner from behind her back and aimed it at Shaden. "See you in a bit."
She fired it before Shaden could respond.
***
Chapter 23
With every day I feel like I learn more, more about myself, more about human nature, and more about my abilities. I feel as if I’m growing stronger, too… though that is something that terrifies me. It’s as if the process they began was only the start. Every time I discover some new way to use my abilities, it seems like three more possibilities appear. What am I becoming?
--Memoirs of Shaden Mira
In many ways, Project Archon is merely the first step. It is a beginning rather than an end. If my research so far has proven anything, it is that with practice, psychics can be made more powerful. Who knows the limits of possibilities? Psionics are the manipulation of matter and energy through quantum means. Perhaps we will unlock the very secrets of transcendence, to will our very consciousness into energy and to reshape the universe to our interests?
--Dr. Jonathan Halving, Project Archon Notes
Shaden opened the door and saw Primus standing in the living room. Without thinking, he had his gun out and drawn. Beside him, Moira moved almost as fast. Primus's reaction was just as quick. He ripped the pistol from Moira's hands and caught it and leveled it at Shaden.
Shaden stood there, uncertain what to do. What is he doing here? Shaden wondered, even as he hesitated to open fire. Moira drew another pistol from somewhere and had it leveled back in Primus’s direction.
"Ah, I see you've already met our guest," Shaden's mother said from the kitchen doorway. Her tone suggested that drawn guns were entirely unnecessary. "Tim, would you like one or two sugars with your tea?"
"Uh," Primus said, lowering the pistol, "two, ma'am."
"Sweet tooth," Janis said with a nod, "Shaden, I see you brought some additional guests." Her eyes went narrow as she looked at Moira, dressed in her tight jeans and top, "We can do introductions in a bit. Tea?"
"Yes, please," Moira said.
"Do you have honey?" Alex asked from behind Shaden.
"Sorry," Shaden's mother shook her head, "no, I'm afraid not. Too expensive to get here in the city."
"Oh," Alex said, "well, I'll have some tea with sugar, please."
"Of course," Janis turned away. Shaden heard her working in the kitchen.
Shaden slowly lowered his pistol and then holstered it. He walked forward gingerly and raised an eyebrow at Primus, "Tim?" With his shaven and spiked hair, holographic tattoos, and armor-studded jacket, he didn't look like a mild-mannered 'Tim.'
Primus gave a cough, "I, uh, can't very well run a street gang of psychics with a name like Tim." He shrugged, "Your mother refused to call me Primus and got my real name out of me."
"Huh," Shaden said. They stood there in awkward silence for a moment.
Janis came back with a tea tray and several cups on it. None of them matched. She passed each of them cups and then took her normal seat in her comfortable chair. "Now, then," she said, "sit, all of you!"
Shaden hastened to take a seat on the couch. His mother stared at him expectantly and he flushed. "Uh, mom, this is Moira Kaid and Alex Agathan."
"Kaid?" His mother merely arched an eyebrow.
"My father is Thomas Kaid," Moira said.
"I s
ee," Janis pursed her lips. She turned her gaze to Shaden, "Well, I take it you've been busy?"
Shaden could only nod. Somehow she reduced what he'd been through over the past few days to the actions of a wayward child. "I've found out where the facility is," he said.
"Good," she said. "Tim here had just finished explaining that Cezero couldn't manage to tell him anything useful."
"What?" Shaden asked in surprise.
Primus gave a sigh, "My brother was clearly in over his head. Whoever he had dealings with, he messed with his mind. There was some serious mental blocks whenever we came to important information. Whenever we pushed him, he'd just start speaking gibberish or even have a seizure until..." Primus shrugged.
"I would have liked to know more about Halving and his people," Shaden said quietly. "Still, I'm sorry about your brother."
"He betrayed his own kind," Janis said in a flat voice. "He's lucky he didn't get much worse."
Shaden shivered at her tone.
Primus spoke up, "He didn't mean to, not at first." When everyone's eyes went to him, he shrugged, "Look, I'm not saying Cezero was a saint... far from it, but he didn't plan to betray anyone. This Halving guy caught him and his people forced names and info out of him." He shrugged again, "Cezero went along with it when he realized what he made out of it, but I'm not sure how much of that was them twisting his brain."
"Okay," Shaden sighed. "Well, I know where to find Halving, now, so I guess it doesn't matter..."
"No," Primus snapped, "it does matter. Halving twisted my brother’s brain and because of that, my people helped him to round up isolated psychics for ESPSec. We got to take the bastard down."
Shaden's gaze went to his mother and she gave him a slight nod. Whatever they had discussed before Shaden's arrival, she apparently trusted Primus.
"Alright," Shaden said after a moment. "We're going to have to find out what information we can without tipping them off. From what I remember, they have some pretty substantial security, so I think a small, stealthy mission would work better than an all-out attack."
Primus gave a smirk at that, "What, you don't think I could do subtle?"