Okay, I know the last chapter was not too happy and unfortunately this one is still kind of dark but I'm getting there, don't worry. You're gonna see unit two in action again soon.
And yes, you're finally gonna find out one important thing in this chapter as well.
452max: Here you go, another update. Thank you very much for the review. You're gonna see about Kyla in this chapter and also a little bit about Max. Max will get more 'screen time' during the next chapters, though. Promise! Thanks again!
"Fortress Delta is currently on a full lockdown" Ares informed them. They were – once again – in that famous briefing room and Max slowly but surely started to hate it because it seemed whenever they had been in there since the Strasbourg mission they received bad news. "Before you ask: This is because shortly after we attacked the Alliance base in Italy together with Wolf and Kyla somebody tried to shoot down one of our Cougars with a Stinger. We think it was the Alliance; some sort of reminder that they could hit us back if they wanted to. Nobody died but it was close call and we don't want to relive something like that again."
"You think the Alliance want revenge?" Alec asked a little bit skeptical. Pride didn't really fit in the image he had of their enemy.
"Not revenge" the Delta soldier corrected him. "But perhaps they'll try to put enough pressure on us to make us stop our operations against them. Maybe they hope if they show us they can hit us, too, we will stop pursuing them."
Lydecker nodded approvingly. It was a well-known and common tactic but although revenge was not the primary motivation it sometimes still felt good to know you could hit your enemy back. He almost expected the Alliance to make a move during the next weeks.
"What about Wolf's body?" Max wanted to know, ignoring the uncomfortable looks some of her teammates shot her.
"The French SRTU reports that the site near Strasbourg is completely destroyed. Whatever they used it was strong enough to blow up the whole complex and leave nothing but a big crater. There's nothing left, I'm sorry." Ares briefly nodded at Lydecker and then went to his chair and sat down. It was awfully quiet in the debriefing room and he could understand the X5s hesitation and sorrow all too well; his report had just destroyed the last hope the still had to retrieve their fallen brother's body. Wolf's corpse was definitely lost.
"Thank you, Ares" Lydecker said gravely. "Max, what's the status on the information core?"
The X5 in question stood up.
"We analyzed the data we've got from the base in Strasbourg" Max began her report and briefly hesitated. Ares and her unit – with the exception of Jondy and Jace who were still in the infirmary and Kyla – watched her attentively; they would not like what she was about to tell them. She shared a brief look with Lydecker who already knew what she was going to say and he gave her a small nod. "There were the locations of their bases but we already had that information. Furthermore we found a lot of old mission reports. So far that's what we know: The Alliance was founded during the first years of this century. At the beginning there were only a few members. Their operations were always about information research as they were too few and not strong enough to actually take action in a military way. During the years they grew stronger in numbers and gained more influence but it looks like they're still a rather small group; they're not a military organization so achieving their goals by force is the exception, usually the try to remain hidden. The soldiers who attacked us in Montpellier and Strasbourg were the majority of their armed forces; they don't have much more personnel. For the attack in Strasbourg they must have concentrated almost all of their troops."
"What are their intentions?" Alec wanted to know.
"It is indicated that in the beginning the first members of the Alliance had one common goal: Destroying the transgenic forces that were created at Manticore. However it looks that became a secondary objective after some time."
"Destroying us?" Blade asked surprised. She had recovered from her injuries quite well but sometimes her legs still hurt and she needed help to walk. "And why would they change their priorities?"
"We don't know" Max admitted. "As a matter of fact we hardly got anything useful out of that data core. There are tons of junk data files which are of no use at all. The information we got is old and not really useful either. We only know now that they are after transgenics but we don't know why and we still don't know who their members are."
"In short: We got nothing" Havoc said bitterly and Max could do nothing but nod sadly. It had been a trap with the information core as decoy. And they had fallen for it. Because some of the files – the ones she and Jondy had stumbled upon first when they had hacked their enemies' computers – were original ones they had remained long enough in that bunker to make a complete download and because of that they gave their attackers enough time to make their move.
"Do you want to tell us" Artemis began slowly understanding what Max was saying "that all of this – the whole Strasbourg operation – was for nothing?"
"Apparently."
"That can't be true!" Alec exclaimed. "Wolf and Bear died for that data!"
"I know that, Alec" Max said with dark venom in her voice. She did her best hide her feelings and to convince herself it had not been her and Jondy's fault. The data had been very carefully prepared, the trap thoroughly masked but somehow she still felt guilty. "You don't have to remind me."
Alec shook his head and sat back with a bitter snort. For about a minute nobody said a word as they all tried to wrap their minds around the fact that their siblings and friends – X5s and Deltas alike – had died for nothing but a heap of useless data. Finally Nova cleared her throat.
"What are we going to do now?" the blond medic wanted to know.
"Recon" Lydecker replied and stood up. "We have to know where they have relocated."
"Wait a second" Brin interrupted. "Relocated?"
"Intel from the Delta recon teams indicates that they have abandoned all their bases" the old officer informed her with regret. "The data about their bases' locations is worthless. We lost them."
That was too much for the assembled transgenics; several of them swore in frustration, Brin stood up and kicked her chair across the room and even in the faces of the usually so calm Havoc and Artemis Lydecker could see emotional turmoil. He had expected something like that and allowed his soldiers to vent some of their anger for a few seconds before he decided it was enough. But before he could say a word somebody he did not expect at all beat him to it.
"Will you stop it!" came a loud and aggressive order from the door. She had been waiting just outside the door until now. "From what I heard you were not given permission to bitch so shut the hell up and sit down!"
They all turned around and stared at the newcomer in surprise. Kyla just gave them an icy glare.
"I said: Sit down!" she repeated her order grimly. "Now!"
Her siblings slowly obeyed, watching her carefully. The last time they had seen their 2IC she had been a broken woman, screaming and kicking. The young transgenic they were looking at now was – in an almost dangerous way – controlled and determined. Max could sense her friend's suppressed anger and hatred and when she looked in the eyes of the older transgenic she could see that old Kyla again, X5-301 who had captured her all that time ago in Seattle but she also saw something else, something she didn't recognize. And she didn't like it at all. Suddenly she felt cold.
Once Kyla was sure her unit would stay calm for the moment she made her way towards Lydecker who was watching her with a mixture of surprise, expectance and relief. She shared a brief look with Ares who was the only other transgenic in the room still standing and they barely noticeable nodded at each other.
"Sir!" she saluted the Colonel. The look in her green eyes was fierce and her voice was cold. "X5-301 reporting for duty, sir!"
"At ease, soldier. I'm glad you're back!"
"Me too, sir. Do you have orders for the recon already, sir?"
"Negative. Command should come up with a plan within forty-eight hours, though." The older man eyed the young woman. There was nothing left of the devastated young girl he had met two days ago. Kyla was looking as strong and concentrated as always, perhaps a little bit angrier and…darker. But not weak and guilty anymore. He could see she wanted revenge but he could also feel his soldier was back and that was a good thing; she had found a purpose again and he was glad for that because although he knew she still had a long way to go he was sure now she would find it on her own. "I was about to end the briefing."
"With your permission, sir, I'd like to talk to my unit in private."
"Permission granted." He had an idea what she was about to tell them and he silently agreed with her that it had to be done. "I will contact you as soon as I have new orders for you. You have the room!"
"Sir!" She saluted again and the rest of the transgenics stood up as Lydecker left. When Ares wanted to follow him she silently signaled him to stay which the Delta did but not without a surprised and asking glance towards her; he was not a member of her unit, after all. As soon as the Colonel was gone Kyla turned around to face her siblings and whoever might have thought she would relax after Lydecker had left realized they had been wrong. She still looked tense and determined and that slightly dark and threatening aura around her wasn't gone. Max had a bad feeling about this; sure, Kyla had always been a calm and sometimes even restrained woman and she was a soldier first but she had also seen the caring and warm side of the young woman and she knew Kyla was only cold and dead-hearted when she had to in order to survive. But it seemed like that Kyla was gone, at least for the time being.
"I wanted to talk to you" the black-haired transgenic began in a quiet but still harsh voice, looking from one to another, "because I want to apologize. I made a mistake in Strasbourg; I failed and let you down. We all know the consequences of that mistake. Be silent, Blade!"
The Asian X5 had wanted to say something, protest against her 2IC's words. They all wanted to but they remained silent when they heard Kyla's calm but resolute order.
"That will not happen again" Kyla continued. "We forgot how to act as soldiers and it killed two of us and five of the Deltas. In here we can be friends, we can be family. But out there we must become the soldiers again we once were. I've learned this lesson the hard way; I think you all have, too. Wolf is gone and as his 2IC I resume command of this unit. If anybody has a problem with that, speak your mind!"
It wasn't a threat, they all understood that. Kyla gave them the opportunity to voice their doubts or skepticism. They remained silent for a few seconds, a little bit stunned and surprised by her straightforwardness; they had all thought she would need much more time to recover – if she would recover at all – and now she was here, the image of the perfect soldier again.
"Nobody?" she asked after a minute of silence looking at all of them and then at the only SRTU soldier in the room. "Ares?"
He just shook his head.
"Kyla" Artemis suddenly said. She'd had the most contact with her older sister since they'd come back from Strasbourg and to say she was surprised by the sudden change in her behavior would have been the understatement of the century; she had seen how hard Wolf's death had hit her and how devastated she had been. But she also knew Kyla was a survivor and a fighter; it was very well possible she had overcome her pain and grief. "I don't question you as our new commander – I don't think anybody in this room does – but all of us would understand if you need more time. But if you're sure you're ready to lead I will follow!"
The others murmured their approval and for a brief moment Kyla felt almost happy again that her siblings still trusted her, most of all Alec who had been in command until now and Max who hopefully really didn't blame her for Wolf's death. But she remained stoic and only allowed herself a small smile.
"Thank you, that means a lot to me." She looked around again. "Okay, enough talk; let's get to work. Nova, I need a detailed report about Jondy, Jace and Blade. I want to know when they'll be ready for active duty again. Don't look at me like that, Blade, you know very well you're not ready yet. Havoc and Artemis, contact the Sergeant-Major of the armory. Prepare full equipment for night and day observation for at least six days, same goes for weapons, ammunition and supplies. Alec, you're the new 2IC. Try to get as much information as you can out of the command staff already. I don't care how you do it – if necessary bribe them – and coordinate our preparations with Ares and the Deltas; if we're going out there again I want to be ready. The rest of you: Prepare your personal equipment and help the others if necessary. I'll be with Alec and we'll try to find out where they're gonna send us. Any questions?"
Nobody said a word; they were just too overwhelmed and surprised from her sudden appearance and energy and for the moment they all just nodded although Kyla could clearly see some of them – most of all Artemis and Max – were watching her with attentive eyes, possibly looking for a sign of weakness or incertitude. She couldn't blame them. Until her talk with the Colonel she had really been in a sorry state but afterwards it had gotten better; he had made her understand that she needed to move on and she knew for certain Wolf would have wanted her to get back on her feet and resume her duties as her team's new leader.
And that was exactly what she was going to do: She would lead her siblings in this war, against the Alliance and their allies, against Renfro and the committee. She knew she had to become 301 again, the cold and calculating X5 she had been before this mess and she didn't have a problem with that; Wolf was gone and so was her desire to be anything else than a soldier and a leader to her siblings.
"Very well. Move it!"
One after the other the transgenics left but while her siblings made their way towards their quarters or the armory Kyla went to Lydecker's office; there was one last thing that had to be done. When she approached the door she could hear several voices discussing and arguing.
"With all due respect, Colonel, I'm sick of this!" That was Hayden she thought and frowned. The young corpsman was usually not one to talk like that to Lydecker. "We're sending those kids out there time after time while we sit here and do nothing. That's not what I signed up for!"
Kyla stopped abruptly right in front of the door. Now that seemed to be an interesting conversation. She could sense at least three people in that room so if her guess was correct there were Lydecker, Hayden and…
"I have to agree, Colonel" another male voice said. Yes, correct guess; that was Major Coleman. "I know we can't keep up with them in an actual combat situation but this doesn't mean we have to stay in this Fortress all the time."
There was silence for a few seconds and apparently Lydecker was considering their opinions until he said something for the first time.
"What do you think, Sergeant?"
"I didn't sign up to hide and let others do my job." That was the calm and deliberate voice of Sergeant O'Neill. Well, she had not sensed him but he had always been kind of a sneaky guy. "I must admit that I'm quite fed up with hiding in this Fortress, Colonel. Not that I don't appreciate the SRTU's hospitality but if we have to stay here for the time being we can at least go out with the X5s. We're soldiers and although the transgenics may be the better ones in my opinion we should still go out there with them and do our job, sir."
Kyla could hear Lydecker sigh and she had to admit she was a little bit surprised herself; sure, Coleman had been her TAC leader since her childhood and Hayden and O'Neill were fine soldiers but hearing they actually asked Lydecker to be sent out into the field again was not what she had expected. Still it made her feel a little bit better in a very odd way she could not describe. She shook her head and finally knocked; there would be time to ponder about that later.
"Enter!" she heard Lydecker's sharp order and opened the door. The four men in the room looked up at her entrance but didn't seem too surprised.
"I'll think about it, gentlemen" Lydecker said to the three former Manticore black ops soldiers. "As soon as I have news you'll be the first ones to know!"
The three soldiers nodded and saluted before they left.
"What can I do for you, Kyla?" the old officer wanted to know and examined her attentively. Yes, she really had become a soldier again, anybody could've seen that. Her posture was proud and disciplined and her eyes were full of determination.
"Permission to speak off the record, sir?" she asked and after a second of hesitation he nodded quietly.
"Sir, I'd like to thank you what you did for me" Kyla began slowly, carefully choosing every word. She was still kind of unsure about that incident in her quarters and she could only hope he wouldn't consider her to be weak because he had seen her breakdown. "I've lost my focus. I also hope what you saw will not make you think less of me. I'm a soldier, I've always been. I just needed somebody to remind me of that."
Hearing this Lydecker suddenly chuckled softly, making the young X5 look at him in surprise.
"Kyla, I will surely not think less of you just because you felt grief over the loss of Wolf" he said understandingly. "It's natural, I can understand and I believe that the bonds you all share make your unit so unique and strong. Don't worry, I know you're still able to do your job."
"Thank you, sir!" She felt relieved her mentor did still trust her.
"You're welcome." He suddenly felt kind of uncomfortable seeing her grateful smile; he really was not used to this kind of situation. He shook his head with a small smile and nodded at her affirmatively before he chose to change the subject. "By the way, it's good you came here. I got some coordinates from Meyer we should check out. The first one is…"
Seattle
"Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Bling sounded concerned. He had worked with Logan long enough now to know this was not just a simple visit and it was quite possible Renfro's agents were somewhere around.
"I can do this" the cyber-journalist assured his friend and protector. "Don't worry, I don't think this will last long."
Logan got out of the car and took in his environment; it was quite warm and for once the sun was shining and the huge mansion looked peaceful and comfortable. Still he felt quite uneasy; being here was not that enjoyable for him as he usually tried to avoid most of his family. Nevertheless he wanted answers and after the initial feeling of discomfort had worn off he straightened up and marched towards the front gate and was not surprised when it opened as if controlled by an invisible hand.
'More like Jonas' hand' he thought with sarcasm. His uncle had sounded very surprised and also a little bit suspicious when they had talked earlier on the phone but nevertheless had invited him for a talk. Of course Logan had not yet told him what that visit would be about. He made his way to the front door of the mansion and just when he was about to knock the door opened revealing Jonas Cale with his always professional smile.
"Logan" his uncle greeted him. "Please, come in!"
"Thanks, Jonas."
They made their way to the rather impressive living room and Logan couldn't help but wonder how quiet the large house seemed to be; apparently they were alone.
"So" Jonas began. "How are you?"
"I can't complain, thanks."
"You're kind of difficult to reach lately. Are you hiding or something?"
"No, just got a little bit bored. I needed some change."
"I see" the older man chuckled quietly. "And I think you still won't tell me about that miraculous healing of yours, right?"
"Sorry, Jonas, I'd like to keep that a secret for the moment" Logan replied with a slight smile. He knew his uncle was more than just curious about how he had been able to recover from his injuries but he would not tell him about the exoskeleton; that would only complicate matters. And besides that the military already knew about that kind of technology; it had been them who had developed the prototype he was currently using, after all.
They talked for a while, mostly about their daily lives and life in general until Jonas seemingly wanted to get to the point.
"So, what brings you here? You don't pay me visits very often." Jonas wanted to know and got himself a glass of whiskey. "A drink?"
"No, thank you" Logan shook his head. "As a matter of fact I would like to ask you how the business is going."
"Business?" This time the older man really seemed to be surprised; usually Logan kept out of everything that involved Cale Industries. "Well, I can't complain either, everything's just running fine. Why do you ask? Let's have a seat."
The two men sat down in the large and comfortable armchairs in the middle of the room.
"And the hover drones? Are you still able to keep up the sales figures? By now all the police forces should have been equipped with them, no?"
Of course Logan knew already that the number of sold hover drones was not just stable but had been drastically increased during the last months. The only thing he didn't know for sure yet was why.
"You're right, the police does not require our services as frequently as they used to, but we have found other clients."
"Like who?"
"You're awfully inquiring today, junior" Jonas observed. "Usually you don't really care about business. What happened?"
"You do build custom models for outside buyers, right?"
"Well, yes. Why?"
Okay, so beating around the bush would not get him what he needed Logan decided with a silent sigh. This was gonna be ugly. "A friend of mine has seen hover drones attacking people in Europe."
"What?" Jonas exclaimed. All kindness and relaxation was gone. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about how the sales figures of the hover drones went sky-high not too long ago although most of your former clients don't need any more of them. I'm talking about reports from Europe indicating hover drones taking action in combat operations." Logan's voice grew louder. "Armed hover drones, Jonas!"
"What are you trying to tell me?" Suddenly Jonas' voice was a lot colder.
"I want to know what you did" Logan replied trying to sound more composed. "Who's that new buyer of yours? Is it the military? Because if it is I want you to stop it! The entire company is built on the idea that hover drones protect people; the military was never to be a customer!"
"How did you hear about this?"
"I have my contacts. Jonas, you have to stop this!"
"How dare you?" The older man looked at his nephew with a mixture of anger and disdain. "All that time you've done nothing but always claimed your share of the fourth-quarter earnings from the Cale trust and now you want to order me around how I have to run the business?"
"You have no idea what you got yourself into!" Logan warned him.
"I have no idea?" Jonas gave him a derisive smile. "Let me tell you what I know, junior. Right after the Pulse Cale Industries made abnormally high profit because everybody wanted what we offered. After some years however the market was saturated and during the last two years we were only able to sell our goods at sacrifice. A few more years like that and we would've been insolvent."
The older man stood up and took another sip of his whiskey.
"Now I know you never really had to work for a living but I did. And I did what it took to save this company, the company that allows you the luxury to live your life however you want to, by the way."
"Who is the new customer, Jonas?" Logan asked again, ignoring his uncle's barely hidden criticism.
"Some government organization" Jonas finally answered with a small growl.
"What organization?"
"The kind of organization that does not give you their calling card. They paid."
"And that was all you needed, right?" Logan was barely able to hide his disrespect.
"As long as you live from the money that comes from Cale Industries I suggest you don't play do-gooder, Logan. Welcome to the real world" Jonas said awfully calm again. "We did what had to be done to save the company, that's all you need to know."
"Yes, you did" Logan agreed. "I just hope the price won't be too high. Have a nice day, Jonas!"
"I'm sure you'll find your way out yourself."
Logan left as fast as he could without running. Outside Bling was still waiting, always the loyal friend and protector. Logan got in the car with a stony expression on his face.
"Go!" was the only thing he said and Bling was wise enough to get the hint and did not ask questions.
For a few minutes they were both silent until Logan finally spoke up.
"They did it. The hover drones Max talked about were from Cale Industries."
"Are you sure about that?" Bling asked carefully. "Couldn't it be from some other company?"
"Cale Industries are the only ones with the technology and the experience to manufacture that kind of drone" Logan explained. "Nobody else would be able to do that in such a short amount of time or I would have heard of it."
Before he had decided to pay his uncle a visit he had used every source about military technology he could find and everything had lead him to Cale Industries. He had already been convinced his family's company had something to do with the drones that attacked Max but to find out that his own uncle had sold the technology willingly was not what he had expected. He had to contact Max.
"And besides that Jonas said there has been a government organization who bought the technology."
"Manticore" Bling presumed grimly.
"Yeah" Logan agreed and looked out of the window. The sun was gone and it looked like rain again. "Manticore."
When he woke up the first thing he felt was pain. He couldn't exactly say which part of his body hurt, it was more like he was generally in pain. He tried to open his eyes but the bright white light stung too much and he closed them again, feeling his tears well up. He lay still and slowly got aware of his environment with his other senses; a distant smell of blood and antiseptic, the soft feeling of light fabric on his skin and something much harder around his wrists and ankles.
Where was he? He tried to remember what had happened.
He remembered a dim and cold room, people talking. Somehow he knew they were important to him and that he cared about them.
Other images and memories started flashing through his head. Weapons, a feeling of sorrow and loss but also anger and rage.
"Bring it on!"
He remembered other people charging into that cold room, gunfire, explosions, screams, pain and then blackness.
"…bastard is still alive…finish him…no, we bring him back…we're losing him…keep him alive…all cost…"
The voices and words he slowly began to remember made no sense at all; most of them were full of hatred and disgust but some seemed worried and almost caring. He suddenly felt dizzy and moaned quietly when another wave of pain hit him. After it had passed he lay still for a few more minutes until he tried to open his eyes again.
The light was still painful but not as bad as the first time and after some seconds he started to see more clearly. He was lying in a hospital bed in a white room. There were no windows, only a door and a small table. He tried to get up but found out he couldn't. It wasn't just because of the pain even the smallest movements caused but also because the hard things around his ankles and wrists held him back.
'Restraints' he suddenly realized somewhat surprised. Before he could ponder about this new realization the door opened and a blond woman entered. She smiled but there was no kindness in her eyes
"I see you're finally awake, 451" she said calmly and slowly approached him after she'd closed the door again. "Don't worry about the confusion; it will wear off after some time."
He didn't answer, just starred at her in shock. Confusion? Yeah, right! The second he'd seen her there hadn't been any confusion anymore at all. The memories had come back as soon as he had recognized her face. He looked around, trying to find a possibility to escape, something to open his restraints but of course there was nothing. He knew where he was now; Manticore headquarters, Gilette, Wyoming. It was the same room Kyla had been in all those months ago.
The blond woman recognized the changes in his behavior and she looked at him attentively and also amused.
"Ah, you remember now, don't you?" she asked with an evil gleam in her eyes. "Yes, yes I can see you remember. Very well, that makes things much easier!"
He didn't answer, just starred at her with intense hatred. Yes, he remembered, he remembered everything. Renfro! He wanted nothing more than to grab her and choke her to death but he didn't move. He knew the restraints would hold him down and from the constant pain he felt he could tell any sudden movement would only worsen his condition.
"You caused a lot of problems, 451" Renfro continued when he didn't say anything. She picked up a file from the table and started to read. "First your escape and now this. After they brought you back from France Cottle gave you almost no chance of survival; one bullet in your left thigh, one in your right shoulder and two in your chest. And I'm not even talking about the severe concussion you suffered or all the shrapnel they had to pull out of you. It's quite impressive you're still alive."
"So sorry to disappoint you" he snarled, finally breaking his stubborn silence. His voice was hoarse but speaking didn't hurt as badly as he had dreaded.
"Oh, but you didn't disappoint me at all, 451" Renfro replied with false kindness. "As a matter of fact when I heard you survived the attacks of our troops and got captured when they had stormed that bunker I was rather pleased."
"Really" he snorted. He shouldn't talk to her; all his military training told him to shut up but somehow he couldn't. Perhaps he had really spent too much time with Max. "Now why would that be? Because of me my unit escaped and as I know them they're already after you again!"
"You think so? Then maybe you don't know them as well as you think." The smile on Renfro's face would have been best described as predatory. "What survived of your old unit is possibly still unable to get over the fact that they had to leave you behind. And as soon as I'm finished with you you will help me to get rid of the last of them."
"Never gonna happen!" he growled.
"Oh, yes, that is gonna happen" she promised with an evil grin before she turned around and walked towards the door. "You will help me destroy what is left of your unit and deliver the two rogue 452s to me."
"Max and Kara?" The names were out of his mouth before he could think about it. "Why are they so important?"
Renfro stopped dead in her tracks and turned around again. Every false kindness was gone; she looked at him, her face an expression of cold hatred and disgust.
"They are not important! Don't you ever again dare to say that!" she snapped approaching him again until she stood at the side of his bed. "They have something that is important, something much too important to leave it to one of your kind. But they are not important themselves! They are meat, animals which should never have been created, just like you! How could any of you abominations ever be anything else?"
At the end she was almost screaming and suddenly she spit him in the face. He flinched in disgust and despite better knowledge tried to get up and attack her but the restraints held and he hissed in pain.
Slowly Renfro regained her composure and she looked down on him with the cold hatred and disdain he already knew.
"PsyOps will need months until they can be sure they broke me" the young transgenic growled angrily but not without a hint of self-content. "And during all those months my unit will be after you. That's more than enough time for them to change their plans and positions and to hunt you down, director!"
"Oh, we won't need months to break you, 451." By now she was the calculating and calm Director Renfro again and her voice held a dangerous promise. "Actually 'weeks' would be a better guess. PsyOps has had much time to do research and we've come up with a new procedure. You will actually be the first one to test it so we can't really be sure if there are gonna be some 'complications' but don't worry, we'll try to keep you alive. We will start in a few hours before you start to force yourself to forget things. Don't worry about your physical injuries, the procedure is not invasive. If the simulations have been correct you will do whatever I tell you to do in about four weeks."
"Never" he snarled with a feral grin, showing his canines. "I will never help you!"
Renfro leaned forward and fixed him with a grim stare.
"Yes" she promised quietly and with an evil joy in her eyes that made the young X5 shudder invisibly. "Yes you will, 451!"
She briskly turned away and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind herself. He exhaled and seemingly relaxed once she had left. But his thoughts were racing.
It was clear most of his unit had escaped the trap in Strasbourg or Renfro would have showed them – or their bodies – to him to mock him and to weaken him further. He could only pray that Kyla had made it. And now this mess! That was definitely not what he had planned.
You could say whatever you wanted about Renfro but she was not stupid. If she said PsyOps had a new procedure it was most likely true and he did not look forward to find out what it was. It would take him hours to use the techniques Lydecker had taught them in their childhood; he just didn't have enough time to force himself to forget about everything, eventually they would dig it out again.
How he wished Kyla would be there now. With her he was always calm and concentrated but now he didn't even know if she was alive anymore.
No! She was alive! She had to be!
And he would not give up without a fight! Maybe Renfro would eventually break him – nobody could resist torture indefinitely – but he would make her work for it, giving his siblings as much time as possible!
He closed his eyes and focused on staying calm, preparing himself for what was about to come as good as he could. But still Wolf could not deny that underneath his growing self-assurance and determination lay another feeling, small but still detectable.
Fear.
Yes, he is alive. I mean, come on, I couldn't just kill him, could I? At least not like that.
Yes, this chapter was still kind of theory and not much action but as I said this is gonna change soon.
During the next chapters you're gonna find out what Max, Kyla and their siblings are gonna do and what happens to Wolf.