Chapter 10

"Good work," Adelle DeWitt's voice said from the speaker. "It seems that Mr. Kassel is, indeed, prepared to negotiate in good faith."

"Since that's what we came here to establish, is it time for us to come home now?" Langton asked. Behind him, Adelle frowned unhappily.

"No," DeWitt said. "I'm coming there myself. I want the two of you on hand to assist me with the contract negotiations. Echo's insights should prove to be very useful there."

"I'm not sure that's wise, ma'am," Langton protested. "I'm not sure of the stability of the imprint."

"It's lasted this long without any sign of instability," DeWitt countered. "And I should be there tomorrow. I'll re-evaluate the situation myself and, if Echo's imprint isn't fully stable, I'll send you both home."

"Understood," Langton said unhappily. "I'll monitor her until you arrive."

"Mr. Langton, you are really too much." DeWitt sounded both amused and annoyed at the same time. "I intended for this to be a sort of paid vacation for you. You've done enough for me and the Dollhouse that I wanted to reward you for it. And yet, you refuse to enjoy yourself in the middle of the most exclusive resort on the planet. What are we to do with you, Mr. Langton?"

Adelle spoke up then, saying, "Leave that to me. This facility provides some very interesting services, and I have some ideas."

"Very well," DeWitt said, before Langton could protest. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

Late that afternoon, Adelle met again with Kassel beside his private swimming pool near the tower's apex to continue their earlier discussions.

"One of the advantages of fusion over fission," Kassel explained, "is the relative lack of radioactive waste. A fission reactor produces a great deal of highly dangerous waste that is expensive to dispose of. The system we currently have operational still produces some waste, but only one-tenth the amount that a fission reactor produces, and it's less hazardous to boot."

Adelle nodded. "A ninety percent reduction in nuclear waste is a good selling point, I'd think. But does that make it safe enough to be used anywhere?"

"That's a delicate question," he conceded. "The first world was anxious enough about providing fission reactors to third-world nations, even though the technology for a fission reactor is quite different from the technology needed to create a fission bomb. One could give electricity to an unstable regime without giving them weapons."

"And that's not the case with fusion?" Adelle asked.

"A fusion reactor is a bomb, Ms. Echo," Kassel said. "Just one in which the explosion is carefully controlled. In fact, it's quite a bit easier to construct a fusion bomb than it is to construct a fusion reactor."

"I see," Adelle said. "I can appreciate the first world's concern, in that case."

Kassel gave a short bark of laughter. "Quite so. The solution, of course, is to keep the reactor under the control of my own personnel. If the local government attempts to seize control of the reactor… Well, if they don't accidentally blow it up themselves, we'll be able to make it self-destruct." He picked up a glass of champagne from the table between them and took a sip. "It should be an adequate deterrent to any but the most psychotic of dictators," he continued. "Not only would they lose their major source of electricity, but probably a substantial portion of their capital city as well."

"That should give you quite a bit of leverage over their behaviour," Adelle agreed.

Kassel took another sip of champagne. "I do look forward to explaining all of this to Ms. DeWitt in person," he said.

Adelle pouted. "You really find her more attractive than me?"

"There's no accounting for taste, Ms. Echo," Kassel said, smiling. "However, in my case, I've long since tired of empty sex with shallow young women. I've come to prefer women with a certain amount of… let us call it experience with the world." He shrugged and said, "And that experience seldom comes in a body as young as yours. I've taught myself to be attracted to mature women."

"But you could have both the experience and the youthful body," Adelle pointed out.

Kassel grinned. "Maybe when I'm in a younger body myself, Ms. Echo."

Adelle took a sip of her own champagne. "Of course," she observed, "it's not really Ms. DeWitt that you want, is it?"

"Ms. Echo…" Kassel began, a note of warning in his voice.

Adelle held up a hand and continued. "I'm only pointing out that there are things we can do during the imprinting process. Modifications can be made. Memories suppressed. And sexual preference is one of the easiest things to tweak."

Kassel pressed his lips together tightly, saying nothing. "We're quite aware of Ms. Costello's history of childhood sexual abuse," Adelle went on. "Once we've achieved the means to permanently transfer a personality to another body, we'll be able to make certain… therapeutic modifications."

"I'm not sure that I like what you're implying," Kassel said, looking away from Adelle.

"She'd still be the same Laura Costello," Adelle assured him. "Just… happily heterosexual. Or bisexual, if you'd prefer."

Kassel turned back to stare at Adelle. "Ms. Echo, I get the impression that you want something from me. Not just for your organization, but for you, personally. And this – is somehow intended to tempt me to give it to you. So what is it?"

"Can't you figure it out?" Adelle asked. "Sanctuary."

Kassel stared silently at her, so she went on. "I'm living under a death sentence, Mr. Kassel. Once we're done here, I go back to Los Angeles, where everything I am, everything I've experienced, will be… erased."

"Adelle DeWitt will still be around," Kassel countered.

"True," Adelle said. "But I'm not her. Not entirely. Not any more. I have my own experiences, my own memories now. And I don't want to lose that."

"So you want to stay here?"

"Why not? Why can't I? I'm just one Active – the Dollhouse wouldn't miss me." She leaned forward and said, "They'd certainly be willing to part with me as a condition of a larger deal."

"No," Kassel said flatly.

"Why not?" Adelle challenged.

"Why should I risk the entire deal over you, Ms. Echo?" Kassel asked. "It gains me nothing."

"I've been working with you to make this entire deal possible!" Adelle shouted angrily. "You get everything you want, and I get nothing for it!"

"That is simply the way of the world, Ms. Echo," Kassel said, shaking his head sadly. "You were made to be… used."

"And thrown away," Adelle spat, her tone bitter.

"And thrown away," Kassel agreed. "But it was not I who made you so."

"Goodbye, Mr. Kassel," Adelle said darkly, rising to go. "Congratulations. You're about to close the deal of a lifetime. And I'm going to get erased. Convenient all around, isn't it?"

"Don't take it personally," Kassel said to her back as she walked away.

"How could I?" Adelle shouted back. "I'm not even a person."

When she was in the elevator, Kassel pulled a phone out of his pocket, pressed a few keys, and then said, "Kassel here. Please have Security escort Ms. Echo to her room, and keep her there, before she does something rash. What? No, her bodyguard can do as he pleases."

"The Dollhouse clearly still has a few bugs in the system," he muttered to himself as he closed the phone and put it away. "This may be more expensive than I thought."