Chapter 22

In the days leading up to my meeting with Manny, I made some preparations. It didn't take a lot of guesswork to figure out what the topic of the meeting would be, and I knew he would be suspicious of my actions. So suspicious of them, that he might do more than be passive aggressive and indirectly accuse me of wrongdoing. I hid my tracks as well as I could, but that wouldn't be good enough. After all, I wasn't able to keep 11-7 and I a secret from him.

It was easy enough to contact my brother. They dropped a cryptic message off at my house soon after the first one that implied the Crab Shack had ties to them. I would come to find they didn't own it or anything. Most of the people working there didn't know about their relations with the HLA, but information could be passed between us secretly there, among other things. Wasn't hard to convince Ron to go with me so I'd have a reason to be there, either.

Today was the day I'd have to meet with Manny. He had chosen his house as the meeting place. I didn't even know he had a house, and from what Ron said, it was in a nice neighborhood, too. It was weird to picture him living in a normal house this whole time, waking up in the morning and making coffee, watching the news on tv, or whatever he did in his spare time.

As Ron drove us over to Manny's house, we passed through a large gate to the neighborhood. Much like the one that led to my neighborhood. Nice was an understatement on Ron's part. This place was swanky. Nice cars and SUVs in the driveways, and the houses themselves were huge. I'd go as far as to call them mansions. Some had intricate gardens full of exotic looking plants, ponds, or fountains in the front. And I thought I was in the "upper class."

I looked away from the gardens at 11-7. She seemed on edge but I knew she could do this. She returned my look and I offered a smile, she smiled back. In a way, I felt like this day was a long time coming. The things I've done in the past, and now, it never really felt like Advent had punished me for any of it. Today would be it, my ultimate sin against them. My brother and his goons were able to escape because of me.

Something had been changing in my mind the last few days. I'd never had to confront Advent or Manny before, besides when 11-7 and I got found out. It was almost like I had been coasting along and going with the flow until now. And when I decided to save my brother, that changed everything.

I looked back at 11-7 and Ron. There were people I cared about, ideals and morals I was beginning to develop. Things I didn't want to lose. But most of all, I was beginning to see the bigger picture of all this. How things I've experienced could be compared to the world at large. This wouldn't be my end; it couldn't be.

The car shook as it stopped abruptly. "We made it." He smiled at me and tipped his hat. "Don't have too much fun in there." He was oblivious to what was going to happen.

I nodded. "Thanks for the ride. See you in a few hours."

"See ya."

He drove off after 11-7 and I got out of the car.

Manny's mansion was beautiful, but didn't stand out from the rest of them. His front yard was simple, but elegant. Grass with some short, squared hedges. It had a tasteful stone fountain and stone paths that went around it to the backyard and to his front door. There was a clean black sedan in his driveway, not too different from the one I rode here in.

The only features that differed from the other mansions was the two Advent troopers standing guard at his door.

As I walked up, they gave me a sideways glance, or what I assumed was one because their faces were covered by the black helmets Advent Troopers always wore.

The trooper to my right tilted his helmet to face the gun strapped to my hip and back up to my face.

"Relax guys, I've got the go-ahead to carry. Check my permit if you want." I held out my arm so he could scan my phone.

He scanned it and let me pass. As I walked inside, the interior caught me off guard. The outside of the house had light colored siding and stone accents, but the inside was dark. The decor was strange too, and not at all what I was expecting from Manny.

Exotic animal skin rugs, dark hardwood floors. Deep red curtains that hung over the windows, and red wallpaper with dark wood trimming on the walls. Guess he had a favorite color, but the furnishings were not what I was expecting at all. The sconces on the wall and the furniture had a Victorian style to them. There weren't many ceiling lights either. It felt like I had walked into a museum of a house rather than a place someone lived.

There were Advent troopers inside the house too, four immediately within view, and no doubt more in other areas of the house.

Manny walked up to us from the hallway. He was wearing a cheery expression that was probably fake, along with his token blue suit. "Welcome to my humble abode, Mr. Hickey. I'd hoped you would find it more comfortable than my office."

"I do." I looked at a tiger-skin rug in a room lined with bookshelves to my left. "I didn't know you had such exotic tastes?"

He began walking down the hall and gestured for us to follow. "Not of my choosing. This domicile was furnished like this when I moved in. But I will admit it has grown on me."

I looked into one of the side-rooms. It had a black and white checkerboard floor, with some kind of red rug that you'd expect to see at your grandma's house. There was a table at the back of the room I got a glimpse of as we passed the doorway. It had what looked like ancient Greek armor and a spear on it.

He had succeeded in making me curious. "So, who owned it before you?"

He chuckled. "A member of an organization that spawned early into Advent's liberation of Earth. They had similar... goals to us. It was not difficult to pacify them and make them see things our way. Before him, this domicile was owned by my senator friend. The one we discussed previously."

Living in the house that he betrayed the person closest to being his friend in? I didn't know what to make of that. Beyond its something a psychopath would probably do. "Any reason why you chose this house?"

He stopped walking for a second and looked at a landscape painting on the wall to his left. It depicted a grassy field being blown by the wind under an overcast sky. "I... like the layout of it."

We passed by some more Advent troopers as he led us to an open area that contained both a living room and a sizable kitchen. The living room had a marble fireplace with a tv above it and a couch across from that.

Manny gestured to the couch. "You may make yourself comfortable here, Unit 117, while Mr. Hickey and I have our meeting."

I was worried we were going to have to find an excuse to get 11-7 separate from us. But, his action only further confirmed my suspicions about the topic of our meeting. 11-7 gave me a reassuring, determined look as Manny led me up a beautifully carved wooden staircase to the second floor.

He led me to what I assumed was his study. There were a few paintings on the walls and the room had a green and gold color scheme. It was much brighter than the rest of the house. The thing that stood out the most was an intricately carved hardwood desk that took up most of the space in the room. It probably weighed hundreds of pounds. There was a large window behind the desk, but thick curtains were drawn over it. The only light in the room came from a green desk lamp and the light fixture on the ceiling.

Manny shut the door and gestured for me to sit on one of the two green felt cushioned wooden chairs in front of the desk. As I sat down and got comfortable, he walked behind his desk and sat a silver tray on it. The tray had two glasses and a crystal decanter filled with brown liquid.

He looked at me expectantly. "Do you want ice?"

"Yes."

I heard him open a mini fridge, and he tossed a few ice cubes in each glass before pouring some of the liquid in both. He handed me my glass before sitting down in a leather chair at the desk.

He didn't say anything right away. We both just sat for a bit and sipped at our drinks quietly. I was starting to feel my heart rate increase. The way his eyes focused on his drink, and that slight satisfied look on his face told me he knew what he was going to say. But he was still deciding how to say it.

I tried to get the jump on him. "So, were you able to capture the rebels?"

He shut me down right away. "Relax, Mr. Hickey, all in due time." A playful smirk crept up on his lips. "Let's keep the conversation topics light until I finish my drink."

I leaned back in my chair and took a sip from my drink. It was awkward making conversation like this, but I tried. "Alright. This place is really nice." I punctuate my sentence by gesturing to the room. "Not at all what I was expecting from you. I was expecting more of a tenement thing."

He nodded. "Normally, that would be the case. However, I am above a majority of the drones Advent employs, and, due to my occupation, it makes more sense to live among humans to better understand them."

"So, you know your neighbors?"

He pushed some air out of his nose. "Of course, as an upstanding citizen, it's important I know everyone in this neighborhood and attend their social gatherings. No matter how mundane the occasion." He said with an annoyed sigh.

"Why don't you live with your own kind, then?"

His smirk faded away. "How eloquently put Mr. Hickey. Perhaps you should have worded that better?"

I didn't shrink back from that, but normally I would have. "I meant the house is enormous. There's no one here except for those troopers. And I know they're not much for conversation."

He chortled. "There isn't many of what I am left. So, I will presume you mean living with vipers. There's a simple reason for that, and I'm in a sharing mood today." He paused for a moment and took a big drink from his glass. "They are repulsed by my form. For them, looking at me is like looking at a grotesque science experiment. I cannot fault their sentiments, though, because that is what I am. They are afraid of seeing what Advent could've turned them into."

This got dark fast. "Oh..."

He tapped his fingers on his glass as he spoke. "That is why I live here. It is regrettable that I have more in common with you humans, than other aliens. I've tried to relate to my own kind, to interact with them, but they wish nothing to do with me."

I shrugged. "Maybe in the future that could change." It was strange he was revealing so much to me out of nowhere. Maybe he was confident I wasn't going to be able to share this with anyone after our meeting.

"There is nothing that can fix this." He gestured to himself. "Even if I cared to try; to betray my own biology is the worst thing I could do to myself. No doubt I'd end up worse than when I started." He took another drink. "No, I could not care less about their acceptance anymore. In the future, I'd like to go somewhere far away from here..." He mumbled as he went to sip his drink, discovering it was empty. After smacking his thin lips once, he set the glass on the silver tray and looked at me. "That was quite a conversation, but now that my drink is finished, its time for the business."

I set my half finished drink on the tray next to his. "So what happened?"

He smiled. "I should ask you, Mr. Hickey. You were the one who was there."

His icy glare gave me pause for a moment. "I... uh, haven't heard much about it."

"I'm sure." He let up his glare and looked at a painting on the wall. "You deserve commendations for sneaking through that office building undetected. There were no reports of disturbances from the posted guards. The 10 minute gap in the security footage was considered to be a glitch by the IT on staff."

"That's good. Were you able to track down the terrorists?"

"We were able to find the location they downloaded the data from, but that was only after raiding buildings with servers being used as proxies. They were smarter than expected, fed the data in many different directions from that transmitter. We didn't have the personnel to follow all the directions it went in."

I feigned ignorance. "So they got away?"

Manny gritted his teeth. "They did. Spectacularly in fact. Though I can't help but think on how they managed that feat. Careful planning perhaps, likely expecting the trap we had set..."

"I take it I'm not getting any reward then."

His eyes darted to me, and I saw a flare of anger in them for a moment. "No, you are not. In spite of what likely happened, I cannot help but wonder if something tipped them off to our activities. A subtle thing not easily noticed. Would you know anything about that?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I wouldn't know. I did everything they told me to."

Manny shot out of his chair and slammed his fist on the table. "Don't play games with me!" He pointed at me. "You had communications with them during the operation! And I have probable cause to psionically extract information from you!"

I held my hands up. "I don't know anything honest, and even if I..."

The sounds of gunfire followed by a small explosion resounded throughout the mansion. We both froze in that instant.

I saw something in his eyes I hadn't seen before: fear. "Terrorists... here?" He murmured. "How? My location is not in any easily accessible databases."

His eyes drifted from the wall to me. I smiled in response. God, this felt good. "Yeah, there's probably no way they could've found out where you lived. Unless someone told them."

"You... In two days?"

I nodded. "Yes. Learned from the best after all, using rebels to do my dirty work."

"Then you know about..."

"Of course I know. It was suspicious enough without my brother telling me they were tipped off on my convoy's route."

He frowned. "We could not allow that Tourism bill to pass! It would allow too much human traffic between cities! It would have opened the floodgates for the terrorists to smuggle themselves into cities."

I subtly placed my hand on my gun. "So that's all I ever was to Advent, an expendable asset you could just use to stop some dumb bill."

"Yes! As we all are for the greater benefit. The problem with humanity is you think you are all special. Too individualistic for your own good."

I stood up and pointed at him. "You're wrong! You think you know everything about humans, you think you understand people, you don't. This is proof of that."

He was silent, probably thinking of a response, but I had prepared for this confrontation and he hadn't. "Manny, this relationship between Humanity and Advent isn't perfect. Humans are treated like cattle. Herded around, forced into jobs we didn't choose by the government, brow beaten every day by society for standing up for ourselves. Turning the things we were once proud of into new ways of ridiculing us. I was able to hide from most of it in my gated community, but I still saw it happening."

He sneered. "The subpar actor talking politics. What a joke."

"It doesn't require a political degree to see the writing on the wall! This can't last forever. Humans don't have much say in the government. There's a reason the dissidents keep getting stronger. Maybe instead of killing everyone, we should try to mitigate the damage."

His face was like stone. I could no longer read what emotions were on it. "And what would you propose?"

I didn't actually expect him to be interested in what I had to say. "The aliens aren't getting a fair deal either. Both 11-7 and you think you are expendable. It doesn't have to be like that. You don't have to play the part of the mindless combat drone in this..."

He cut me off. "You're a fool Mr. Hickey. What could you possibly give me that the Elders couldn't? I have everything I could ever want, so why would I join the losing side? You won't win, Mr. Hickey, no matter how much you want to."

I went to speak, but he cut me off again. "How many species before do you think have thought the same thing, hmm? Countless worlds taking up arms to fight against the Ethereals. How many of them won? We who serve now are examples of those they found useful, but how many did they not find useful? Entire civilizations erased from existence. I know more about this subject than you could possibly imagine. Your ignorance is amusing; I doubt you could comprehend what you would be fighting. The Ethereals are timeless immortal beings wielding the powers of gods. They have put down rebellions like yours time and time again. There will be no different outcome. No happy ending. Only death and destruction for those that oppose their will."

"It's not as if they did all that themselves. You just admitted they've always had subjects. If we actually worked together like that propaganda they shit out we could get somewhere. Didn't you say you wanted to leave, to be free of this?"

"I have a duty to something greater than myself, Mr. Hickey, a word I know you are unfamiliar with. Your arguments are weaker than what my friend the senator once told me years ago. I am bound by my nature, the nature the Elders programmed in me. I cannot act in any other way, just as you cannot help but act on your own instincts. And, I do not have faith in the sympathy of humans. Now, if you are finished spouting your juvenile idyllic drivel to me. I have an offer for you."

That caught me off guard. "Really? You have an offer for me?"

He nodded. "I understand why you have done what you did today. I backed you into a corner and misjudged your initiative. Earthlings make mistakes. No one is perfect, not even me, which is why I am willing to extend this to you. Let me leave. I'll give you the only copy of your, mmm, we'll call it a sex tape since you're a celebrity." He reached into his pocket, pulled out the same flash drive he showed me before, and set it on the desk. "You may destroy it at your leisure. But you will tell these rebels you've killed me and do whatever you planned to do beyond that. And after, you'll help Advent destroy them. You will actually help destroy them this time."

What the hell. "Why would you trust me? Why should I trust you?"

"I already have you on the hook for many things, and would take precautions in the future. You're attempting to kill me after I've attempted to kill you. We are even in that regard. My only goal is to further Advent's goals. I have no interest in pursuing revenge. Trust is a hard thing to come by, and you've gained a great deal of it from these terrorists in a short amount of time. That is valuable. Destroying an entire cell is much more valuable than capturing one squad, so I'm willing to overlook the events that have occurred now and at the party."

It was tempting... "You'd honestly forgive all this, like that?"

"You are resourceful, capable. Agree to this, and I'll trust you more. Be more lenient with your behavior with Unit 117. Treat you like a peer rather than a child. There is much to be gained, but make your choice quick. Or The rebels might make it for you."

I tensed my arm.

He chuckled and furrowed his brow. "I don't want to spoil your moment, but your plasma pistol you've been fingering this entire conversation is connected to the Advent Network. Advent will know if you use it to shoot me. To turn down my offer would be the stupidest decision you've ever made in your life. Consider that I will not go away. Even if you succeeded here today, another would simply take my place. Someone will always be in my position over you."

I don't know why I bothered trying to reason with him. 11-7 must really be an outlier for aliens. "You still haven't figured it out and you never will. I'm an Idiot, fuck you!" I drew a .38 revolver and pointed it at him. The end of the barrel was only a few feet away from his stupid face. I pulled the trigger and smiled. He looked surprised.

I was more surprised than him when the back wall didn't get sprayed with blood. I was so shocked that I missed him; I didn't pull the trigger again right away. How? Either I have the worst aim imaginable or he had lightning reflexes. But how was it possible he dodged a bullet from a few feet away?

In the few seconds it took for me to process what had happened, Manny hissed at me and spit something in my face. It exploded into this thick black cloud and knocked me to the ground.

My face burned, and so did my lungs. As I coughed and wheezed, Manny spoke. "I didn't expect you to pull out a gunpowder firearm, yet more surprises from you."

I responded after finishing a coughing fit. "My brother lent it to me."

I heard his light plasma rifle extend to its full size behind me. "Shame you only fired it once."

Once I had expelled the initial poison from my lungs, I could breathe well enough in the poison cloud. I spun around. Upon seeing his silhouette in the poison, I fired two shots at him. He grunted, and I ducked behind the desk.

I heard him discharge his plasma gun haphazardly in my direction. He laughed loudly as he did. "Hiding won't save you!"

My heart beat heavily in my chest. I think I hit him, but I was losing. His gun had infinite ammo for all I knew, and mine only had 3 shots left unless I wanted to chance reloading. Fuck, I was going to have to get creative. He wasn't far from me, and that chair I was sitting in before didn't look too heavy. The room was still filled with the sounds of fighting below, so I couldn't hear his movements. I peeked out and saw his silhouette creeping towards the desk.

This was a dumb idea. In one motion, I ran to grab the chair by its backrest and shoved it into Manny's extended arm. He shot a hole through the chair that missed my arm by inches. Before I could shoot, I was shoved back with significant force, throwing me into the wall. Fingers wrapped around my throat and lifted me up against a wall. He was surprisingly strong, despite his thin physique.

"Caught!" The poison fog had settled somewhat, and I saw his face. His lips had spread into a maniacal grin. "You're such a fucking headache, Mr. Hickey, but this is the most fun I've had in a long time! I'm going to enjoy wringing the life out of you before I kill the rest of your terrorist friends and melt down your slut of a bodyguard into protein soup!"

My brain was losing oxygen. Black dots danced at the edge of my vision. I did the only thing I could think of, which was to strangle him back. I wrapped my hands around his throat and mustered all the strength I could. We stared into each other's eyes as we squeezed. As the black dots almost filled my vision, he dropped me and backed off. I collapsed to the floor and looked up at him. There was a hole in his suit that leaked black blood.

I felt my gun next to my leg when I landed and grabbed it. Manny panted as he looked around at the floor for his gun. But I didn't give him the chance. I charged forward and tackled him to the ground. He punched me in the shoulder and knocked me off of him.

I heard a loud popping sound and felt intense pain that pulsed throughout my entire left arm. As I lay on my side, gritting my teeth, I saw Manny was sitting up. This was my chance to take him out. No bullshit way to dodge when he's sitting on the ground. I didn't hesitate and fired three bullets into his chest. More of that poison gas sprayed out of his chest, and he gasped loudly before slumping down to the floor.

My left arm flopped around limply as I walked over, still pointing the gun at him.

He sat there and didn't move, I thought he was dead until he looked up at me. I backed off and kept the gun pointed at him.

He wheezed once. "You... need to reload." His smile was interrupted by a fit of coughing. "Idiot, you've wasted everything we gave you, ruined everything. Gained nothing." His voice was quiet. I could barely make it out from the sounds of the fight below us.

I tried to move my other arm and winced in pain. My shoulder looked deformed. He really managed to dislocate it with one punch. I popped out the cylinder and set the gun on the desk to reload it one-handed, keeping Manny in the corner of my eye as I did. He didn't move a muscle.

"You're wrong. I've gained my freedom, and a chance at freedom for everyone else" I pushed the cylinder back into the gun and pointed it at Manny again. "Freedom from you, and maybe someday: freedom from the Ethereals."

"Maybe you say. They'll still control your life no matter what you do. Even if you live like a cockroach like these vermin Terr..." He groaned in pain.

"Not if I'm on top, and not if they're dead."

"Freedom through power, you'll never succeed. If anyone is free, it is me. I'll go to my gods soon, and you'll have to deal with their retribution. Pray for their forgiveness because they will not be more merciful than I tried..." I fired my gun at his head two times, reducing it to shredded meat and fractured bone. There was nothing left I needed to hear from him. It was strange how I could pull the trigger like that. No remorse, no sympathy, just a slight sense of satisfaction. It's probably what he deserved. A fitting end: killed without remorse in the house he killed his only friend in, without remorse.

His chest burst open and sprayed out more poison gas. I opened the door with my good arm while holding the gun and ran out into the hallway, coughing. While I leaned against a wall for support, I saw an Advent trooper out of the corner of my eye. He dropped his rifle to his side and said things to me. Probably asking if I was ok. I pointed my revolver at his head and pulled the trigger, spraying orange blood against the wall. As he collapsed onto the ground, I remembered something important.

Fuck, the flash drive. I turned to look at the room as that black poison gas flowed out of it. I took a few deep breaths of fresh air before rushing in. It took me too long to locate it on the desk in the smoke, and I breathed in more of the poison. I shoved the flash drive in my pocket and collapsed in the hallway next to the Advent trooper I shot.

Thank god for my poison resistance. If I didn't have that, I would have been dead seven times over. I laid on the ground breathing heavily, trying to get some fresh air as the sounds of gunfire washed over me.

0-

Time passed. It was difficult to know how long I laid there, but my rest was disturbed by someone shouting my name. I leaned up to see some black guy in grey armor walking towards me.

"Lucas? Oh good, you're alive." He extended an arm to me. I grabbed it with my good one, and he pulled me up. "Your arm's dislocated."

"I noticed."

He nodded. "I could pop it back in for you, but it's better this way. The less unscathed you are, the less suspicious this'll be."

I gritted my teeth again. "Fine."

"You sound grumpy. I hope you don't have hard feelings from when I tased you."

This guy was weirder than I remember. "No, it's fine. Water under the bridge."

He nodded. "Pick up your gun." As I picked it up, I heard him activate his comms. "I found Lucas, Captain. What's the status of the mission?"

I heard what my brother said back to him, but only pieces of it. "Good work Crabman. Only - few - left. Charges placed. Crowd - gathered outside. Need - now."

I holstered my gun. "How is 11-7 doing?"

"The snake with the gun? Killing the hybrid soldiers, same as we are."

"So..."

"No more questions. I have to get you downstairs."

There were still hostiles, so I didn't question it. I followed him downstairs.

The main level looked like a warzone. Furniture kicked over, huge holes and bullet holes in the walls, garbage scattered everywhere, and dents in the floor. Crabman picked his helmet up from the bottom of the stairs and put it on. The rest of the group was gathered in the living room by the destroyed fireplace, and I saw 11-7 with them. She was off to the side, looking at the floor. As soon as she noticed me, I could tell she wanted to run over and hug me as tightly as she could, but we talked about this beforehand. She'd have to wait until we got home.

My brother, wearing his patchwork bandit armor, walked up to me. "Lucas! Looks like you got a few battle scars." He sounded happy.

I chuckled. "Nowhere near as many as you."

"It's a start." This was probably the first friendly exchange I had with my brother in years. It felt good as he walked up and gave me a one-armed hug. Then I groaned in pain. "Woah sorry, your arm is dislocated."

I furrowed my brow. "Yeah, I'm still fucking aware of that! I didn't need to be told that my arm is fucking dislocated, twice!"

"Well, you'll be out of here in a minute. Mind giving me back my revolver?" I undid the belt buckle for the holster and handed it to him with the leftover bullets I had. "Great. We're almost finished downloading the data we needed. You remember the plan, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Go out and make a scene, tell the authorities you arrived in a van... How did you get here, anyway?"

He waggled his finger. "It's not a good idea to reveal secrets like that, but I'll give you a hint anyway: we didn't drive or fly here."

I thought for a moment. "The - sewers?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe."

"Sir, the data has finished downloading!" a rebel shouted.

"Good work, Circuit. Set the incendiary charges for five minutes! Team Alpha Wolf Omega we are extracting." He looked back at me. "We'll be in touch soon. Take care of yourself."

"Y-you too."

"And don't worry about offending us. Say whatever you need to to the reporters." We shook hands.

11-7 slithered up to me and moved under my good arm to support me. The rebels went their separate way from us. They went out the back, and we headed for the front door.

11-7 spoke once the rebels were out of earshot. "I am so happy you are alright."

"I was worried about you, too."

She curled her neck around and pressed her lips into mine.

"Mmmph, they might see us."

She smiled and said, "I hope they do," before kissing me harder. She stopped after a few moments. "But we should get out of here before we are incinerated."

"We'll have more time at home."

As we reached the door, she asked me a question. "Did you get the flash drive?"

"I did."

"Thank the Elders. We're really safe now, aren't we?"

"Safer than we were before, at least. Let's not keep them waiting."

There was quite a crowd outside. Civilians, some who looked like they just woke up and a shit ton of Advent Troopers. It wasn't hard to distract them. I yelled and babbled about terrorists in a van, and that some were still inside the building. A couple of troopers rushed in, and the building was filled with fire in an instant. Whatever they put in those charges was really effective, and it only took a couple of minutes for the entire building to be engulfed in flames. I almost felt bad. It was a really nice house, but there couldn't be any evidence of my involvement.

An ambulance and a fire truck showed up. 11-7 and I climbed into the ambulance and I was taken to the hospital.

0-

I wasn't in there for very long. All they did was pop my shoulder back in and pump me full of painkillers. I was hounded by reporters, but I brushed them away. I'd need time to make a statement. It didn't take long to get home, but once we got back, I could tell 11-7 was conflicted.

She was lazily flicking through channels on the tv, not really watching anything. "Hey, is everything alright? I know that wasn't easy for you."

She tossed the remote onto the coffee table. "I can't believe I did that. I cannot believe I killed more of my fellow soldiers. They were not my sisters, but it didn't feel right." There was sadness in her eyes. "Did we do the right thing?"

I opened my arms for her. "Come here." She slithered over and I hugged her. "We did what we had to. It was either this, or be Manny's puppets for the rest of our lives. If that, he would've tossed us aside the moment we were no longer useful."

She unburied herself from my chest. "You sound so confident. How can you be sure? You don't agree with your brother, do you? Do you want to destroy Advent?"

"He wasn't helping us, and of course I don't agree with my brother. Randy's crazy... but he has raised good points. The terrorists are a symptom of a real problem. I don't want to destroy Advent, but maybe change wouldn't be such a bad thing. Do you really want your sisters to be treated like cannon fodder forever?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Exactly. Maybe I could do something about it. Maybe I could find a solution." She giggled in response. "What?"

"You sound just like a character from a movie."

At least she wasn't having another existential crisis. "I don't know about that..."

"No, you are! You saved me, destroyed your enemy, and now you're making your speech."

"Yeah, sure. If I was in a movie, I'd hope my last speech would be better than that."

"You better start working on it, then. You're going to be interviewed soon."

"Honestly, I just want to lie here with you for a while. I don't want to think about anything."

She grabbed a pillow with her tail and flicked it into her hand. "That can be arranged."

We laid there together for a while. The news came on and reported on the incident. Saying there had been 15 casualties in a house fire. Really? A house fire. No mention of the terrorists that started it? Heh, fucking liars. One casualty mentioned was my manager: Manfrid Wittmer, an officer of Advent. I only knew it was him because they showed his picture and labeled him as the owner of the house. Huh, didn't know he had a real name, or a last name. I relaxed and held close to 11-7 as the reporter droned on about what could've caused the fire. We could deal with the flash drive later.