Author's note: Wait, what is this insanity? It's only Tuesday! What is going on, you crazy author you? Well, it's simple, my dear if rather creepy reader: Today is Midnight 270's birthday, and as a special present to her, Luna and Vinyl asked if I would update on her birthday instead of Thursday this week. I'm afraid that means I won't be updating again until Sunday, which is really mean of me because this chapter ends on one heck of a cliffhanger. I'm just a horrible person.
So here it is, the special Midnight270 update! Happy Birthday Midnight!
Now let us continue with the pivotal chapter: not only is it the midway point of the story, but it's the point the first half of the story has been building to all this time...
Send In The Clones: Part Two
Chapter Twenty: Sunset For The Twins
Violet Spy did not get to sleep for very long that night. Once he had left his two new allies to bicker in their shared room, he crept back to his own single room and lit a cigarette with a satisfied smile.
Putain, that felt so good after going half a day without a single smoke. It was worth it, though. Not only did a little show of thoughtfulness help to convince the Heavy he could be trusted, it also meant he didn't have to put up with the Medic's coughing, which he found incredibly irritating and unpleasant. Thus is the price of having allies. He vowed to get the man treatment as soon as he could, before he felt the need to smother him just to make him shut up. It would also mean he would survive long enough to be useful, of course, which was a definite plus.
He frowned, looking at the smoke twirling from his cigarette. Medic's illness was puzzling. Admittedly, he wasn't a physician, but it did not make any sense. It had developed so soon after his misadventures with the RED Medic that it couldn't possibly be a coincidence. The two events were linked, had to be. However, what with healing and respawn, surely any long-term ill effects would have been cured by now? In fact, wasn't it even possible the medigun could cure cancer? Or was it limited to trauma-related injuries? Spy frowned, wishing that he had listened to one of the Violet Medic's long diatribes on the subject instead of tuning his rambling out.
He prowled around his cheap room for a bit, letting the nicotine relax his muscles and thoughts, and then sat down for a pleasant read before bed. Once he finally felt calm and at peace, he settled into the clean sheets and closed his eyes. He must have been more tired than he realised, because he quickly spiralled down into a black oblivion.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"Quoi?" Spy blinked himself awake, trying to figure out what had disturbed him, and then scrambled upright when he realised it was the long-distance radio Violet Sniper had given him. He rummaged in his bag and held it up, clicking the transmit button. "This is Boomslang, over."
"Chameleon reporting in." Sniper's voice crackled and popped over the airwaves. "Sunset for the twins. Sunset for the twins. Over."
"Merde!" Spy hissed.
"Too bloody right mate. No solid time yet, but I reckon it'll be soon. Over."
"I will get there as quickly as I can. Dove and Bear are secured. I will bring them. Over."
"Be quick as you can. Over and out."
Spy leapt up and raced out of his room, still wearing his black silk pyjamas. He hammered on the door of Heavy and Medic's bedroom.
"What is it?" Heavy's voice asked sleepily.
"Emergency." Spy said through the wood. "We have to leave for Teufort, right now."
"Vhat is zhis nonsense?" Medic's voice was tired and irritable sounding.
The door opened with a click and Heavy glared at Spy before yawning.
"Not nonsense." Spy said breathlessly. "I will explain on our way. I know you do not trust me, but I beg you: come with me now. Lives depend on it. I dare not talk freely here. Please."
Medic raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked at Heavy, who shrugged.
"Da, we come."
"If only to see how you intend to stab us in zhe back next." Medic added. "It vould get boring if you vere not constantly endangering our lives."
Spy did not even waste time answering that, but raced back to his bedroom to throw his clothes into a suitcase.
Shortly after, the three fugitives sped away into the night.
Miss Pauling's neat court shoes clacked along the echoing, lavender painted corridors of TF Industries headquarters. Bars of bright morning sunlight shone through the windows, striping across the darker corridor as she walked from shadow to light and back again. She held her clipboard tightly to her chest as always. It was something of a habit, but a useful one, since this particular clipboard was reinforced with Kevlar and could withstand a bullet impact or two, should the need arise. Thankfully, no one had thought to shoot at her- so far.
She tapped on a blank metal door, and then pushed it quietly open. A bank of television monitors looked back at her, showing scenes of battle set against snow. As she watched, a BLU Pyro in the top right monitor stepped on a nest of sticky grenades and exploded into red fragments. It was a sight that Miss Pauling had seen so often she barely registered it now. In front of the bank was a high backed chair facing away from her. A finger with long red nails flicked a switch.
"The enemy has captured your intelligence."
"Ma'am, a moment of your time please?" She asked.
The same long finger was held up in acknowledgement. Another switch flicked.
"Victory." The Administrator leaned back and reached for her cigarette. "Good morning, Miss Pauling."
"Morning, Ma'am. Sorry to interrupt, but I've got some urgent news for you." She said, pushing her glasses up her nose.
"Tell me." The woman's chair spun round and she looked at the secretary expectantly. Miss Pauling was pleased to note that the Administrator did not doubt her at all. She knew that if Miss Pauling said it was important, it was.
"I was examining the security camera data from the RED infirmary in Teufort earlier today, and I found a problem. Could I show you please?"
"Please do." She rolled her chair back and gestured to the control panel.
"This conversation was recorded last night. There are others as well." Her small fingers flicked over the board, and the largest TV lit up.
The two women looked at the Spy, pacing anxiously back and forth near an unmade hospital bed. He took off his balaclava, scrubbed his hair and then put it back on.
"I think that RED Spy will have to be taken out of service soon." The Administrator said.
"Yes, that clone has started to fail, but that's not the big problem." Miss Pauling replied grimly. "You'll see."
RED Demo entered the room, making Spy jump and swear.
"Aye there Spy, I came tae see how you were doin'." Demo said cheerfully. Spy turned to glare at him. "Bugger it, laddie, ye look like death warmed up. Who'd have thought a body could be allergic to penicillin like that eh?"
"Did Medic not tell you no visitors?"
"Yeh, but nobody listens to 'im, crazy barmpot that he is. I reckoned you needed a wee bit o' company if ye were off yer legs. Cheer you up a bit an' that. Anyway, I'm a nosy bugger an' I wanted to see how you wuz doin'."
"I am fine." Spy replied through clenched teeth. "Goodbye."
"Ah, don't be like that." Demo said. "Look, I brought ye a fruit basket." He held up his hand.
"It's an apple in a plastic bowl." Spy stated.
"S' the thought that counts." Demo said with a shrug. "Can I get ye anythin' else?"
"Yes, you get get some silence for me. You can find some about five miles south. Go and fetch it immediately."
"Eh, come on laddie, I know when someone is eatin' themselves up wi' worry. What's bothering ye? Why don't ya talk to ol' Uncle Demo?"
"You're younger than me." Spy replied witheringly.
"Young Uncle Demo then." Demo replied with a grin.
"Hey, is it visitin' time now? How's it goin', Spook?" Scout banged the doors of the infirmary open.
"Merde."
"I dinnae ask him to come." Demo said with a shrug. "Keep the noise doon, Scout, the lad's not feelin' good."
"Yeah I know, I just came to..."
"Cheer me up." Spy finished. "Good. I am now cheerful, so you can leave."
"Hell no, I only jus' got here." Scout stated, flinging himself into a plastic chair. "You look like shit."
"You are so reassuring." Spy said sourly. He made a soft moaning noise and then rubbed his forehead and sat down on the bed. "Ah well, since I have an audience, however unwanted, I may as well make an announcement."
"Announcement?" Demo asked curiously.
"I have decided to retire. I am leaving RED. I have had enough. This... illness... has convinced me that my skills would be better used elsewhere."
"Fuck. Like, woah. Really?"
"Ah, hell." Demo said softly. "Don't that, laddie. It's no' a good idea."
The listening Administrator frowned slightly. Miss Pauling nodded solemnly.
"I don't believe my career choices are your business." Spy said stiffly. "I merely wish you to pass this news on to the other mercenaries."
"I ken it's not my business, but... I cannae tell ye why, but don't retire. It'd be bad."
"I know why." RED Scout suddenly said. He voice was unusually quiet and lacked its normal arrogant nasal edge.
"I doubt ye do." Demo replied.
"No, I know what I saw." Scout said, spreading his hands in a wide gesture. "Stuff isn't what it seems here. I reckon...we can't leave. Not really."
"I think ye should shut yer trap right noo. Spy doesnae want to hear yer ramblin's." Demo said warningly.
"Indeed he does not." Spy said, fiddling with his nails.
"No, listen! This is important n'shit. I know what I saw." Scout said. "It was the first day we got to this base..."
The Administrator took the cigarette out of her mouth and leaned closer to listen.
"...I found the sewer pipes, you know? The ones under the base. Well, me an' the Doc went exploring through the pipes in the BLU base. I ran on ahead, 'cos waiting for the old dude to catch up is fuckin' boring..."
"Shut the hell up, Scout." Demo said, his voice low and threatening but the young man ignored him.
"...so I ran into the BLU Medic. Only, he wasn't. He was our Medic, but dressed in, like, blue. Same guy, like a double..."
"STOP TALKING!" Demo shouted.
"...No, you shut up, this is important!" Scout insisted. "...I shot him in the guts an' he totalled me with that wicked nasty saw. Everything went to hell the next week, right? Like, Medic topped himself, but I reckon he was set up..."
"Ah Gods, ye pesky wee scunner." Demo moaned, putting a hand over his eye.
"...'Cos the whole thing stank, right? Dude was crazy, but he wasn't about to top himself. I know, I've lived on the edge, and I've seen stuff. I got thinking, and I took a good hard look at that faggot of a BLU Scout, and yeah, he totally looks like me too, like my uglier, younger brother."
"I suggest you keep your theories to yourself, Scout." Spy said, suddenly sitting straight up and listening intently. "Careless talk costs lives, as they say."
"I reckon we all need tae walk away an' pretend this conversation never happened." Demo muttered, looking down at his tightly curled fists.
"Fuck that." Scout replied easily. "We're in the middle of somethin' big, I know it. I don't think we can leave. I got this idea that we're, like, lab rats in the biggest experiment ever, us and the BLUs. It's kinda cool, really. But you know what they do to lab rats when the experiment is over?" Scout drew a finger across his neck dramatically.
"You are not the only one to have noticed oddities here, Scout." Spy said quietly. "Others have as well. I am not at liberty to say whom."
The Administrator's finely curved eyebrows rose in surprise.
"Ach no..." Demo said, closing his eyes in dismay.
"However, enough is enough. I will leave- and accept whatever fate has to offer me." Spy lent back and closed his eyes, his face suddenly losing its tension and looking peaceful.
"Hope ye're happy, Scout." Demo growled. "Ye might've just signed all our death warrants."
"Watch." Miss Pauling said softly.
The RED Demo looked directly at the camera monitor and frowned worriedly, before leaving the room.
The Administrator gave a nasal sigh. "I see. An unpleasant security leak. It's puzzling how that Demoman seems to know more than he should."
"I'm afraid that's not all." Miss Pauling said regretfully. "After seeing this, I decided to look back over some previous records as well. The two strain-029 Medics were seen by four different people in the base during that first fight- on the RED side, Sniper, Scout and Demo and on the BLU side, Pyro. They've been telling other team members. Let me show you."
Miss Pauling's hands flicked over the board, quickly bringing up a different recording. The two women listened in silence.
"They were the same person, the two Medics, and in that moment, they knew it." BLU Pyro said quietly.
"Hot damn. You sure?" BLU Engineer asked.
And another:
"I don't give a damn, Heavy. It's not this poor bugger's fault your pal got killed, so leave him the hell alone." RED Demo shouted at RED Heavy.
"'Got killed'?" The Administrator asked, raising an eyebrow.
Miss Pauling nodded grimly. "Somehow, the RED Demo figured out it was not a suicide."
Another:
"The BLU Medic and our Medic...they were the same person. Completely identical. I saw 'em next to each other, out by the bridge. Like they were twins." RED Sniper said.
"That's not possible." RED Spy replied.
"I know what I saw."
And one final one:
"Doc's just a lil' bit too like his old friend for comfort." RED Engineer commented.
"Mission begins in ten seconds."
"Nay, they're nothing like each other. Ye gotta remember that." RED Demo said pointedly.
"That RED Demo knows far more than he should. Too much." Miss Pauling said. "I wish I knew how he found out all these things. It's very suspicious."
"Hmm." The Administrator pressed her thin lips together. She closed her eyes briefly. "I gave them a chance. More than I have given any other base."
"I believe there are now a total of six Teufort mercenaries who have suspicions about Project Pelargonia- eight if you count the missing Heavy and Medic clones." Miss Pauling stated.
"I think this shows that staying our hands has not worked." Helen stubbed out her cigarette, the last of its smoke curling from her nose. "We cannot afford a repeat of the Gullywash incident. If the Mann Brothers found out- no, this has gone far enough. I believe I have no choice."
"I agree, Ma'am." Miss Pauling stood back from the control desk, and the Administrator rolled her chair back. She sighed briefly.
"Remember, we do what we must." She said, talking to herself as much as the younger woman. "That does not make it pleasant. An evil act, for the greater good. This is our burden." Miss Pauling nodded silently.
The Administrator took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, then she unlocked a clear plastic safety cover and removed it from a rarely-used black button. Above it were the words 'Terminate Base: Teufort'.
Her long nail pressed it down with a firm click.
In Chapter Twenty-One: It's a race against time to save the mercenaries of Teufort. Who will survive, and who will fall? And what is the RED Demo's secret, anyway?