"And that's how it happened," Michele said, concluding his report on the shooting. Ferro reached forward and turned off the tape recorder and removed it from the tray.
"So she froze again," Jean said, the hard edge in his voice matching the hard gleam in his eyes.
"She hesitated, yes," Michele clarified. "But she did pull the trigger, in the end."
"Something she couldn't do at Lake Maggiore," Doctor Belesario noted. He looked to Michele. "Why did she follow your orders and not Jean's?"
"You're the doctor. You tell me," Michele said.
The three were in the recovery ward, where Michele had been moved after the bullet had been removed and the wound stitched.
"Maybe because her life was in danger?" Ferro suggested.
"Her life was in danger on the boat, as well," Jean said. "Both terrorists tried to shoot her, but she still would not fire."
"As I noted at Maggiore, over time her feelings will change. When we—" He stopped as Jean gave him a sharp look.
"We should let Michele rest," Jean said with a smile Michele found quite insincere.
Belesario nodded and headed for the door, followed by Ferro and then Jean. They walked down the hall into Belesario's office.
"Sorry," the bald doctor said. "I forgot that Michele doesn't know about Raballo and Claes. To finish my thought, with her memories wiped, Claes' feelings about non-violence should be weakening. It's possible they have now weakened enough that in that situation, she was able to act."
"It is also possible she is more…receptive…to his orders," Ferro suggested.
"What are you implying?" Jean asked.
"He is the only handler I have seen spend personal time with her," Ferro said. "He took her on vacation to Monte Carlo with Kara, they work in the garden and they practice cooking in the kitchen. I also know she borrows books from his library, as well."
"Cyborgs can't bond with another handler," Jean said.
"Technically it's not impossible, just very difficult," Belesario noted. "Doctor Ziliani suggested the course of action he did for Claes because, at the time, she was almost catatonic and we didn't have another handler for her."
Ferro raised her hand. "You're interpreting facts not in evidence," she said. "All I am saying is that she seems to have some respect for Michele. Maybe that was enough to make her follow his orders in this case."
"Well it's certainly something worth keeping an eye on," Belesario said, and Jean nodded.
"Mio dio," Triela said again once Claes had finished describing Marcello's death.
"Yeah," Claes said.
"So…what now?" Triela asked.
"I don't know," Claes said. "I've crossed a line that I do not think I can go back. I took a life in violence, Triela. But maybe it was a good thing. Now that I've so comprehensively broken my promise, maybe it's time for me to become an active member and go out on missions. With Pia, Elsa and now Angelica dead, I am sure the adults could use me."
"Claes, our mission is to kill people. Yes, you have now crossed that line and taken a life, but…"
"But what? How many people have you killed, Triela?"
"I honestly don't know, Claes. Hundreds. Maybe more. I don't keep track like Henrietta does."
"But there was a first, wasn't there Triela? And then there was a second, followed by a third. All leading up to the two you killed last week in San Severo and whomever you will be asked to kill next. You were not given the option of stopping at one. Neither was Henrietta nor any of the others. Why should I be any different?
"Because I'm a lab rat? Something the medical staff tests until I break and then they put me back together to break me again? If I'm supposed to make the cyborgs better, why was I the last of the first generation cyborgss? Why did they not make you or Silvia the lab rat? You both were converted soon after Angelica. She would be the control and you the variable in each experiment. But no, they made both of you active agents. Then they added Silvia, Beatrice, Rico, Henrietta and all of the others as active agents.
"Kara said I was the basis for her model, but I'm stronger then she is. I can lift more then she can. I'm more durable and resistant to damage then she is. Her conditioning and programming are different then mine. What, exactly, have I provided that is incorporated in her body?"
Claes took a sip of her tea and turned to look out the window. Dusk was now falling and the lamps around the agency flickered on in response.
"I love my current life. The quiet. The privacy. The routine. But sometimes I ask myself 'why am I so different then the rest of you'? Is there something wrong with me? Was the promise really something I made with someone or is it just a manifestation of an error in my conditioning that they can't fix that makes me useless in the field? Is that why I don't have a handler? Did I have a handler, but when I was found…defective…did he get reassigned? Did he get a new cyborg? Is he walking the compound now, with another girl at his side? Could it be Michele? Is that why he's interested in me?
"And why are they sending me out in the field now? If the promise is just a programming error, have they created a fix? Are these missions meant to be tests to see how it works? Now that I have killed, does that mean the fix worked?"
"You have been my roommate since you first arrived and it has always been this way for as long as I can remember. I never saw you with a handler and you never accompanied us on missions until last year. I don't know why you never had a handler, Claes. Or why you never went on missions with us. I think, maybe, you're just a bit overwhelmed by what has happened and after some time to…digest it…you might feel more comfortable."
Claes shrugged and drained her tea. She reached for her boots and pulled them on and grabbed her coat off a chairback.
"Where are you going?" Triela asked.
"To digest," Claes replied.
