A/N: An AU where the serum in Deathwalker makes it back to Earth.
Cost of Living
---
They were not ready for immortality.
At first, there was an epidemic of paranoia in the government as they tried to keep the formula a secret. But no matter how well encrypted they kept the information someone had to read it. Someone had to remember it if they were ever going to use it.
And then, very quickly, the Psi Corps found out about it. Unfortunately, as far as they were concerned, the only humans that should be living forever were telepaths.
---
"You make some good points," says the Psi Cop. "And there is still considerable resistance from Earthforce. To have a respected commander speak out against them would certainly be beneficial to the cause."
"I won't be some propaganda tool for your nice new dictatorship," he says through gritted teeth.
The Psi Cop smiles, infuriatingly calm. "Oh, of course not. But perhaps few words to calm them down. They're still bombing our colonies on Mars...Proxima III..."
"And you don't have the manpower to stop them." He tries to keep the satisfaction out of his voice.
"They are killing more mundanes than telepaths, you know."
Good, he thinks, less of us for you bastards to slaughter. He isn't sure if the flicker of annoyance he sees in the Psi Cop's eyes is real or imagined.
"What about Ivanova?"
The Psi Cop shrugs. "We can take her out of the camps too, if you like. If you co-operate."
He doesn't quite hide his sigh of relief. Still...
"And she'll be safe?"
"She is a mundane, Commander," says the Psi Cop, his eyes narrowing. "She'll be as safe as any of you can hope to be in these interesting times.
He takes a deep breath. But she's all he's got left now. He has to save someone. "She's a telepath."
And he suspects the look of surprise on the Psi Cop's face is genuine.
---
He asks to stay with her and they let him. He's not a threat, after all. Just a mundane who is useful enough to be kept a live for a while. She's still feverish, but she's woken up. The smile she gives him is enough to make him feel sick.
He wants to tell her what he's done. That he's betrayed her last secret, and they'll probably never see each other again. She's trying to speak and so he gently offers her a glass of water, but she shakes her head as best she can.
"Don't help me, Jeff," she croaks, and there's still anger in her voice. He takes her hand, and he can feel her trying to tense her muscles. "I'm glad I had a chance to say goodbye."
He doesn't have the heart to tell her she isn't dying anymore.
----
He can see a processing building from her window. They've decided to shut this camp down. He wants to scream at the prisoners to run. To fight. To do anything but queue, docile and cold and hungry and afraid. Suppression of information. It's the first weapon of their new masters.
One of them will save her forever. All of them will die.
He notices that they have started to call it harvesting.
They knock on the door to give him some notes on what he's supposed to say to ISN. He knows that he won't give a convincing performance. He knows it won't be enough to save him.
"Jeff..." And he's at her side immediately.
"What is it, what's wrong?" he asks desperately. Please let me help you.
"Don't let them get me," she says, coughing a little and he sees blood in her mouth. His breath catches as he's afraid the treatment hasn't worked. "Don't let those bastards use me."
They won't, you're one of them.
----
He's comforted by the thought that at least it won't be genocide, because they need us. They won't go through the guilt of killing each other when they can convince themselves they're killing a lesser species instead.
He's glad he didn't see her face when she found out she was going to live forever.
He tries to convince himself that he did the right thing. Even if it means someone else has died in her place, he saved his friend. One friend who will have all the time in the world to hate him.
He's quiet as they lead him away, and he wonders who he will save when he dies.
---
Cost of Living
---
They were not ready for immortality.
At first, there was an epidemic of paranoia in the government as they tried to keep the formula a secret. But no matter how well encrypted they kept the information someone had to read it. Someone had to remember it if they were ever going to use it.
And then, very quickly, the Psi Corps found out about it. Unfortunately, as far as they were concerned, the only humans that should be living forever were telepaths.
---
"You make some good points," says the Psi Cop. "And there is still considerable resistance from Earthforce. To have a respected commander speak out against them would certainly be beneficial to the cause."
"I won't be some propaganda tool for your nice new dictatorship," he says through gritted teeth.
The Psi Cop smiles, infuriatingly calm. "Oh, of course not. But perhaps few words to calm them down. They're still bombing our colonies on Mars...Proxima III..."
"And you don't have the manpower to stop them." He tries to keep the satisfaction out of his voice.
"They are killing more mundanes than telepaths, you know."
Good, he thinks, less of us for you bastards to slaughter. He isn't sure if the flicker of annoyance he sees in the Psi Cop's eyes is real or imagined.
"What about Ivanova?"
The Psi Cop shrugs. "We can take her out of the camps too, if you like. If you co-operate."
He doesn't quite hide his sigh of relief. Still...
"And she'll be safe?"
"She is a mundane, Commander," says the Psi Cop, his eyes narrowing. "She'll be as safe as any of you can hope to be in these interesting times.
He takes a deep breath. But she's all he's got left now. He has to save someone. "She's a telepath."
And he suspects the look of surprise on the Psi Cop's face is genuine.
---
He asks to stay with her and they let him. He's not a threat, after all. Just a mundane who is useful enough to be kept a live for a while. She's still feverish, but she's woken up. The smile she gives him is enough to make him feel sick.
He wants to tell her what he's done. That he's betrayed her last secret, and they'll probably never see each other again. She's trying to speak and so he gently offers her a glass of water, but she shakes her head as best she can.
"Don't help me, Jeff," she croaks, and there's still anger in her voice. He takes her hand, and he can feel her trying to tense her muscles. "I'm glad I had a chance to say goodbye."
He doesn't have the heart to tell her she isn't dying anymore.
----
He can see a processing building from her window. They've decided to shut this camp down. He wants to scream at the prisoners to run. To fight. To do anything but queue, docile and cold and hungry and afraid. Suppression of information. It's the first weapon of their new masters.
One of them will save her forever. All of them will die.
He notices that they have started to call it harvesting.
They knock on the door to give him some notes on what he's supposed to say to ISN. He knows that he won't give a convincing performance. He knows it won't be enough to save him.
"Jeff..." And he's at her side immediately.
"What is it, what's wrong?" he asks desperately. Please let me help you.
"Don't let them get me," she says, coughing a little and he sees blood in her mouth. His breath catches as he's afraid the treatment hasn't worked. "Don't let those bastards use me."
They won't, you're one of them.
----
He's comforted by the thought that at least it won't be genocide, because they need us. They won't go through the guilt of killing each other when they can convince themselves they're killing a lesser species instead.
He's glad he didn't see her face when she found out she was going to live forever.
He tries to convince himself that he did the right thing. Even if it means someone else has died in her place, he saved his friend. One friend who will have all the time in the world to hate him.
He's quiet as they lead him away, and he wonders who he will save when he dies.
---