Chapter 7: HOSTIS (ENEMY)
"Cat caught your tongue?" Malum queried. "It's only natural I suppose. Irene placed herself in standby mode and you're fighting hard to contain your thoughts. Nevertheless, I have everything I need retained inside the mind of Jack O'Neill. I could also mention that enlightening dream he had. Did your father really think he could distract me by playing the Captain's role? How audacious of him! More like his mother than he cares to admit."
Telum scowled at the familiar sentence, for she had voiced those exact words to Irene hours before. Moreover, was infiltrating Jack's subconscious the event Jonathan had mentioned he would oversee? Was it his way of occupying the A.I.'s attention while he attacked from a different more subtle angle?
"Your timing is perfect, as always Charlotte." Grandeur declared behind her.
"Or perhaps it was something else entirely." Malum concluded her debate. "You should work on protecting your thoughts more thoroughly, Telum. The safe guards are pathetic. However, I have to admit, your dad did a fine job on Irene. I can't get through to her."
He looked beyond her at Grandeur and chuckled as he marked the stern expression.
"My, my, even your A.I.'s inaccessible. Excellent job, well done son." A smirk lined his lips. "He's proud of you; if it helps settle your daddy issues. Can't hear enough of it. C'mon, does he really think that will help me have pity on you? Convince me to kill him rather than his family tree. What idiot of an enemy will pass on this opportunity? All I need is . . . Sam."
Malum frowned at the remorse accumulating in his chest.
"Wow, I admit that's a powerful concern he has for her." He gazed at Grandeur and saw only him, then noticed his face open up in a gleeful smile. "What are you smiling at? Where's Telum?"
"What you're experiencing is my father's niche, Malum, the one thing that supersedes that of any technology, whether past, present or future. Nothing can conquer compassion and love shared between people. It's what separates the good from the immoral."
"You should've paid more attention in the dream." Telum's voice reverberated in Jack's mind. "Seekers prevent key events from playing out by studying the mistakes of the past. We make the necessary adjustments so that Domitors, as yourself, weaken over time. All we did was use mercy and compassion to dampen your resilience."
"Enough! I demand you show yourself."
"She's right you know." Grandeur professed. "It took a while for me to understand what my wife, Elise and my mother envisioned for this technology we possess. It wasn't to make our lives easier. It wasn't to defeat our enemies with a shrewd method of tactical warfare. Nor could they have predicted that you, Malum, would use it as a springboard for something more sinister. The man you now control, he sacrificed his life so that I could finish what they had started. I hated him for the selfish path he took, a path that my wife took as well, but in the end, it led to one goal. Peace was all they ever wanted for their future."
Jonathan lifted his left arm, right hand hovering above the wristband. Malum glared at him, eyes like shooting daggers.
"Jack and Elise O'Neill cared a great deal, Malum and no A.I. dared to ignore the quality, instead they directed the human's attention to it whenever they could. It's only recently that I discovered Samantha Carter wanted her husband's compassionate nature to outlast his lifespan. A legacy no one could contradict, not even you."
"And we swore to protect it at all costs." Charlotte concluded as her father initiated his cloak.
