The Übermensch
It is now ninety seconds to midnight.
Wesley blinked in shock after the adjudicator unit ended the call abruptly. He would have been concerned about one of his own creations disobeying its commands and turning rogue, were it not for something far worse that happened only a minute later.
The news feed on his terminal was lit up with the latest developments at Janus Station. The American armada had finally started its attack.
"That stupid, goddamned son of a bitch!" Wesley cursed as he dialed up Lambert's number.
He decided – against his better senses and his better judgment – to try one final time to talk some sense into the president. Of course, with the outbreak of war having only just occurred, Wesley didn't truly expect Lambert to pick up. Then again, it was really more of a way for him to tell himself that when humanity nuked itself out of existence, he could at least say he tried to stop the end times.
But, to his final surprise, Lambert actually picked up. He appeared at the other end, and from the look of things, he was currently in the war room with his feet casually kicked up on the table while the joint chiefs of staff coordinated battle tactics. That was to say, the president of the New United States had become so far out of touch and so oblivious to the ramifications of his actions that he was picking up a call in the middle of starting a war.
"Wes!" Lambert smiled. "You just missed the start of the show. Still an open seat here for you, if you want. Get down here fast enough, you won't miss the fireworks."
In the background, a few joint chiefs of staff were heard conversing.
"Let's keep punching holes in that curtain. Send in more bomber squadrons, we need to make room for our warships to break through."
"Uncle SAM has redeployed Admiral Becker's fleet to the sixteenth quadrant. ETA, fifteen minutes."
"Confirmed. SEAL teams are moving into position and are prepared for boarding action. You have a green light, commander. Send in your boys. Get them on that station and get the confluence back."
Wesley shut his eyes and took a deep breath. "Lambert, listen to me," he said slowly and carefully. "You need to call off this attack and shut down Uncle SAM. It's not too late to-"
"What? Are you serious? Haha!" Lambert straightened up and started to laugh. "You must be joking! We got those commies by the balls. Uncle SAM will lead us to victory, we just have to trust in him."
"This is only going to end in one way!" Wesley snapped. "You need to put an end to this madness now! You've started a war, Lambert! A war no one can win! When those nukes are launched, it's not just the end of America. It's the end of humanity!"
"Always one for overdramatizing things. Wes, think about this. We have a chance to stand on the winning side of history again. Uncle SAM knows what he's doing. His mind is infinitely more complex than any of ours combined! If he thinks we can win, I have total faith in him. That and I wouldn't want to get on his bad side. Do you? As long as we play this right, we have a chance to put our nation back on top where we belong!"
"What happened to retiring? What happened to stepping down from the plate like you wanted to?"
Lambert chuckled dismissively. "Yeah, I changed my mind about all that hogwash," he leaned back and interlaced his fingers behind his head. "If I pull this off, I'll be the greatest president in American history. I'll be a national hero. I already was, what with being the longest-serving commander-in-chief and all but after this... I'll be immortal."
Wesley shook his head in utter disgust.
"I was thinking of finally making the jump to a full cyborg," Lambert continued. "What do you think? If I shed this meat suit for good, I can keep doing this thing forever. I'm already almost all synthetic organs now anyway. With Uncle SAM at our backs, we'll be unstoppable. The greatest that America has to offer and to share with the rest of the galaxy. Our best selves, and what is the point of living, if not to constantly improve?"
"I should have left you to die in Khe Sanh," Wesley said with all the cold, spiteful hatred he could muster. "At least then, we would have been spared your lunacy."
Lambert's smile faltered for only a second before he plastered it back on. "Wes, you're my oldest friend so I'll say this only once because right now, you're toeing the line on treason," he said. "You can stand at my side or you can be crushed beneath my boot. Uncle SAM has delivered us an opportunity to spread democracy and security to the galaxy. Think of the long-term peace we could establish, the prosperity we could make for future generations. Communism is a disease that needs to be rooted out and destroyed for good. So, what will it be?"
The secretary of defense leaned in to speak to Lambert. "Sir, the USS Halcyon and the USS Zephyr are almost in position. Nuclear payloads are primed and ready."
Lambert nodded. "Showtime, people! We are now at DEFCON one! Ninety seconds to zero hour!" he leaned towards the secretary. "Ask Uncle SAM to hold his fire for now, we still need to get the confluence back. If we can't, we'll turn that station and Arcadia into dust," he looked back at Wesley. "I need an answer, Wes."
"You've gone insane," Wesley said. "And I won't have any more part of it," he ended the call.
Afterward, he quickly gathered the rest of his things from his office and made his way out, passing his assistant's empty desk. Wesley had already sent Poppy and her family off to one of the vaults in Port Armstrong a week in advance of the day he feared would come.
Wesley had tried to reason with Lambert one last time and he had failed. He had also failed to have Elsa killed, but comparatively speaking, that didn't really bother him nearly as much in comparison to everything else going on.
Now, it was time to seek shelter in the underground vaults and wait out the coming storm.
