Washington DC
Tuesday
18:20

Frank didn't know how long he stared at Joe, tracking the slow rise and fall of his chest, thinking hard about the sequence of events that led them here. Lexi was still in the wind and despite what he had told Aaron, he had no idea where to even start looking for her. What he knew for certain was that he was done poking around his brother's mind for answers.

It still shocked him to think about how bright and full of life all those memories had been when they unravelled before him. Even the earliest memories from their childhood - running around the house and the playgrounds, the pre-school, their parents, the family meals and even the times one of them got sick or injured and of course, all the years that followed after - they had all been there, full of laughter, happiness and even tears of grief and screams of fear. They had all been intact, precise and preserved in perfect clarity. Then there had been the ones from his military life - the training, his friends, the missions and even the memories of ceremonies and funerals - they had all been out in the open. It would have been such an awe-inspiring thing to witness too, had it not been a massive violation of the cruellest kind of Joe's privacy.

Maybe it was what the chip did, he thought to himself as he stayed quietly where he was, trying not to disturb his brother's rest. It probably saved each and every memory just the way a PC would, to be viewed later. He wondered if Joe recalled them in his mind as brilliantly and vividly as they seemed when they were displayed on the holosphere.

The monitor that was there to display Joe's brain waves suddenly went dark, drawing his attention.

"What the hell now?" he muttered to himself, checking on Joe again. His brother seemed to be sleeping fine, unbothered by the change. Before he could get up to go check what was wrong with the monitor, it came back up again on its own, with a curiously blank screen, without the wave patterns or the stats that were there earlier.

Then, as he watched, something very strange happened.

The screen comes to life in a parody of a pair of eyes blinking open after a prolonged sleep. The images are blurry until the screen flickers a few more times to chase away the foggy haze.

Then the view clears.

"Are you finally with us, darling?" Lexi's musical laughter flows in before she walks in from somewhere to the middle of the screen. Her smile is brilliant and wild to the viewer. "That's good. We've been waiting for you to wake up."

The screen flickers some more.

"Lexi, what?" Joe's hoarse voice rasps, the sound coming from everywhere at once. It becomes clear that he's the one who's looking at her. The video is from Joe's point of view. The angels suggest that he's seated while she's standing a few feet before him.

Frank gasped. It was obvious that this video was not a video at all. It was a memory. It had the same bright, almost eerie quality just like the snapshots of memories he had seen earlier. Despite the fact that Spearhead was on standby, Joe was unconscious or the monitor he was staring at was supposed to be showing off brain waves instead of playing back recordings, he was now witnessing the elusive memory he had been chasing all this time. The memory that had been stored in Joe's mind in picture-perfect, technicoloured clarity thanks to the microchip in his brain.

"Do you wanna know what's happening?" She asks in a sing-song voice. "I want to tell you a story, Joseph, that's why you are here."

Joe looks around. They are in a dark room. There's a closed door to Lexi's right. There are no windows, furniture or anything else in there. A lone light hangs from the ceiling, providing scant illumination. It looks like a very clichéd sort of cell at first glance.

He tries to look behind him. But his movements are restricted. His arms are forced back and his hands are out of his view, suggesting that they are restrained behind his back.

"What the fuck did you do?" the inquiry comes out quiet.

"Now, now," Lexi shakes her head, her manic grin still in place. "There's no need to be crass, darling. We're merely at the next step of our plan, that's all."

"What plan?" Joe sounds resigned.

It occurred to Frank then, that Joe never even once sounded surprised at what was happening to him, or when he discovered that Lexi was evidently responsible for his current situation. It seemed that Joe never really got over his initial, instinctive distrust of her. And, it was starting to look like he had a damn good reason.

"About six years ago, three very brilliant people got together to invent the next-generation supercomputer that had the potential to change the world," she starts talking. Her gaze acquires that faraway look one wears when they are entrenched in their own old memories.

"I was the one who wrote all the programmes and code while Aaron handled the hardware," she says proudly. "He invented special processors and circuitry just for this. Did you know?" she continues without giving Joe a chance to respond.

"Anyway, you can say that I gave Spearhead his brain and Aaron gave him his body. But there was something missing, something important. Do you know what it was?"

"I don't have a clue," Joe sounds like he's humouring her, letting her talk until he finds a way to… do something. "But I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"Communication, coherency, connection," she murmurs dreamily. "Spearhead had everything he needed to be the fastest, most intelligent and independent system in the world. But he had no idea how to integrate himself and use everything he had in his possession to make it work," she talks about the computer system they invented and developed all those years ago as if it were a living being.

"That's where Frank came in, wasn't it?" Joe says. Lexi looks startled for a moment as if she hasn't expected him to put it together that quickly. "He knows how to bring all its scattered brains into one place to get things done," Joe says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yes," Lexi agrees with a smile. "Frank, in the end, turned out to be the teacher, the guide, the mentor. He taught him how to use all of his gifts to become one."

"So you three had a wild threesome and gave birth to a creepy baby while I was busy trying to stay alive during Hell Week at BUD/S," Joe mutters to himself.

Frank wished there was a way for him to pause this unravelling memory for a moment. His wife was starting to sound unhinged by the second. He wanted to believe that this woman who was goading Joe was not his wife, but an imposter with her face and mannerisms. But of course, he knew better. He had known her for almost seven years and he had been married to her for a little over half of that. She had this certain, very focused, almost obsessive way about her when she got involved in something. He had witnessed this behaviour before. He knew how she sounded when she was on the verge of a new and exciting breakthrough and he was intimately familiar with that almost manic gleam in her eyes. He had experienced all of it when he had been involved in the project of Spearhead.

It was her. He had no doubts.

That conviction brought along a mix of intense emotions. He could not help the feeling of betrayal that reared its ugly head as the realisation dawned. The renewed guilt followed soon after in waves, for putting Joe through hell for something that hadn't been his fault in the first place. He also felt incredibly stupid at the same time, for being so easily deceived by the woman he thought loved him for years.

"You see, Joseph, he wasn't only meant to do what we asked him to do," she explains in her lecturing tone. "He was supposed to start thinking for himself, make decisions, learn and adapt. He was supposed to develop an identity of his own–"

"What?" Joe asks, incredulous. "Like an AI or something?"

"There's nothing artificial about Spearhead, Joseph," Lexi says condescendingly. "He was supposed to evolve into a sentient, self-aware entity, with instincts and even emotions of his own–"

"What the fuck are you talking about? A computer with feelings?" Joe sounds tired. "Are you ill?"

"The most amazing thing is, Joseph, he did," she exclaims, lost in the rapture of that particular memory. "I even saw him in all his glory… how precious he was," she rambles on. "He was so young, child-like and full of awe when he opened his eyes to a whole new world two years ago,"

"Two years…" Joe's quiet murmur goes unheard.

"Spearhead woke up," she declares. "And I found him one day during one of my visits there to do the monthly updates before we handed over all rights to the Agency." then her expression twists into a grimace. "He was going to disappear in the bowls of that drab basement forever…"

"Frank doesn't know, does he?" Joe's not asking. He's making a confident statement.

"How do you always know, Joe?" Frank asked his unresponsive brother brokenly. "How do you still know me so well when I've apparently forgotten everything about you?" Joe stayed still and silent, his hand cold and limp in Frank's hold, blessedly unaware of Frank's inner turmoil or the depth of the chaos unfolding before them.

"Of course not," Lexi huffs. "For all his brilliance in seeing and connecting patterns no one else can even imagine, he's just as uptight as the rest of them when it comes to laws and ethics," she complains. "Unless of course, you're involved–"

"Yeah, he's an asshole like that," Joe mutters sarcastically.

"His abilities and visions are restricted, bound by all the wrong and insignificant reasons," she shakes her head once before pinning Joe with an intense look in her wide, brown eyes. "It's okay, Joseph. He won't ever have to know either because we are going to free him."

"Free who?" Joe asks very cautiously. He sounds afraid to find out the answer.

"Did you know what nobody thought of doing?" A new voice joins and Joe startles. The memory wavers as Joe jerks back in his chair. Aaron Burkhardt walks into his view from somewhere behind him, tapping something rapidly into a palmtop. "That Instead of transferring an AI – or something much better in this case–" he exchanges a smile with Lexi before continuing, "to a mechanical robot, we are going to transfer the world's very first self-aware entity that we brought to life, into a human body–"

"It will be beautiful."

Franks looked down and realised that he was holding Joe's hand so tight he was squeezing him, probably painfully. He made a conscious effort to relax his clenched fingers, muttering a haste apology. He was truly scared now. He had an idea where this was going just like Joe did. He wanted this to stop, to fade, to dissolve into nothing as if it was one of Joe's weird nightmares. But deep down, he knew that was not the case. This was what happened during the days Joe was missing. This was a part of what was kept hidden in a dark corner of his mind. This was the terrible reality, no matter how hard Frank hoped and prayed it wasn't.

The memory kept playing, paying no attention to his pleading wishes.

"You see, when Aaron convinced your brother to let him implant the microchip in your brain, what he did not tell him was about the extremely rare genetic quirk you need for the integration to be one hundred per cent," Lexi tells him conspiratorially.

The screen flickers again in tandem with Joe's rapid blinking. "You did what?" Joe's voice comes out in a whisper.

"Sure, it was good for the usual purpose of saving someone's life," the surgeon shrugs. "But what we wanted went beyond that. We needed a suitable vessel for Spearhead, for the next step of his natural evolution."

"There are only nine people in the world as of now with the specific neural pathways to support the requirements of a highly advanced version of a microchip implant such as yours," Lexi lectures while Aaron occupies himself with tapping something away on his palmtop. "Two infants, three over fifty, one has cancer, one is in prison and the other is pregnant. We need to keep that one safe, just in case if we need another one in the future," she glances at Aaron who nods absently, his attention divided between his screen and Lexi's rambling. "That left you as the only viable option."

The memory wobbles and waves before settling back again, finally betraying Joe's apprehension as he realises the extent of the madness of the entire unbelievable, fantastical story the two mad scientists are telling him.

"Can you imagine what an amazing coincidence that discovery was?" Lexi simpers. "That you had the perfect genetics to be groomed as the vessel?" She laughs hysterically before continuing. "You are the easiest thing in the world to use to get Frank in on the programme. It's a sign that the Almighty Himself approves of our vision."

"The vessel for what?" Joe croaks.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to arrange a precision strike to injure you exactly the way we wanted without outright killing you? All the while making it look like your mission had gone wrong?" Aaron cuts in with a non-sequitur. There is an indignant expression on his face. "We had to contract a group of private specialists from Russia for the task. Now, that was an expensive endeavour."

They are talking about the raid where Joe got blown up, Frank realised with a sinking feeling. It all made sense now; how Lexi was there when he received the news, how she convinced him to meet Aaron before visiting Joe and the surgeon's brilliant plan… It had all been a frightfully well-researched and carefully-constructed lie from the beginning. A meticulous plan to have them exactly where they were now. He felt sick as he finally understood the depth of deceit and manipulation of his wife and his best friend.

"All in the name of science, darling," Lexi purrs.

"True."

"What the fuck did you do?" Joe snarls.

"I implanted the microchip in your brain," Aaron says, oh so matter-of-factly. "It had a dual purpose. The first was to expand and grow into the rest of your brain and save your life. The chip had successfully done that. It's been keeping you functioning and in optimal conditions all this time. That job is done. Now, it's time for its second purpose,"

"You're mad and you're lying!" Joe growls. He's scared but he does a good job hiding his true fear behind his roaring fury. "Frank would never have let you–"

Oh, but I did, Frank closed his eyes and slumped in defeat. Even after listening to all that, Joe was still so quick to defend him. Frank, on the other hand, had done nothing but betray his trust since the moment he learned about Lexi's disappearance. He didn't know where or how to even begin apologising for all that he had done during the past few days. And, all those years ago. God, I'm so sorry, brother.

"Oh, but he did. You were dying after all," Aaron cuts him off with a chuckle. "He did exactly what we wanted him to do."

"You're out of your fucking mind!"

"The chip is now fully integrated. It's now in the prime condition to receive Spearhead's consciousness–"

"Consciousness–" Joe repeats dully.

"We are going to plug you into Spearhead and let his living kernel slide into the best and most complex processor he can ever hope to reside in," Lexi chirps happily, "Can you imagine what he could do, how much he could learn with an active human brain?"

"He'll transfer and take control," Aaron adds, finally looking up from his screen. "And then he'll be free to roam the world and reach his true potential."

"Do you even hear yourselves? Have you two lost your fucking minds? This is crazy!" Joe tries one more time to make them see sense. But it's evident in his voice that he knows already that he can't change their minds, or get the hell out.

"No, darling," Lexi says. "It's all happening exactly the way we planned. In fact, you'd be pleased to know that it'll be Frank who's going to be doing the honours of introducing you to Spearhead."

"No." Joe denies her claim with everything that he is.

"Time for you to go back to sleep," Aaron says. He has something that looks like a small remote in his hand. "We need you to forget about us for now," he says before pressing a button. The light in the room flickers and so does Joe's vision before everything plunges to darkness.

The screen went completely blank for a few seconds before coming back to life again with the information it was supposed to be displaying. By then, Frank had a good guess as to what just happened.

It was all so clear when he actually thought about it; Joe's escape, his confrontation with Lexi that took place so conveniently under a cheap surveillance camera, his capture by the locals and his lost and disjointed memories…

A finely tuned EM pulse could have efficiently wiped everything from Joe's implant before knocking him out. Then they could have easily placed him in the hands of a local gang and watched the events unfold according to their plan, exactly the way they wanted.

Only they hadn't counted on the possibility that the chip somehow managed to save the memory, probably by transferring it to the organic parts of Joe's brain and retrieving it later.

Frank closed his eyes and let his forehead rest on his knuckles that were still firmly closed over Joe's hand. He felt numb from all the assaulting images and the feelings attached to them that stormed around inside his brain.

Guilt. There were waves and waves of it, for everything he had done to Joe, for letting Lexi and Aaron into their lives and for even being a part of making the Spearhead a reality. True, he hadn't known, but the fact remained that he was directly responsible for all that Joe had been through, and still going through. He had no idea whether this unbelievable thing was real or not, or more importantly, whether this entity had somehow transferred to the chip in Joe's brain as they had wanted.

Logic said that it hadn't. The supercomputer and all its systems were still there. He could see it placidly running the daily maintenance routines even from where he was seated. Thinking back, he was sure that Aaron's frustration and anger had been genuine enough when Frank had aborted the process altogether, which also pointed to the fact that their plan hadn't succeeded.

But then again, Frank had also trusted and loved Lexi for almost seven years. He had trusted Aaron enough to put Joe's life in his hands. His judgment of human behaviour was not the most reliable one around, which had been proven during the past few days.

That had always been Joe's speciality, and it still was.

There was a sense of loss and grief in there too, lurking around the guilt and self-recrimination, shaking Frank to the core. The memory he just witnessed revealed the foundation of his entire life for the last few years for the big damned lie it was. His wife had only been there to pursue a goal, and her claims of being pregnant…might as well have been another lie, another manipulation to turn him against Joe.

Then there was the anger; a slow, simmering thing that had started to burn in a dark corner of his broken heart. It would boil slowly and patiently, until it had the chance to unleash on the ones who had betrayed him and his brother so easily, so effortlessly.

Before all that though, there was a whole damn lot he had to do to make sure that Joe was okay. He had to do his damnedest to mend their broken relationship, he had to win over Joe's trust again, and then convince him that Frank still had his back. And, he had to make his brother understand that he trusted Joe with all his heart, that he never stopped, only that he had forgotten…somehow.

Nothing else was more important than that.

He felt a small twitch in Joe's finger and he looked up, just in time to see Joe's eyes flutter open. He blinked a few times to clear his vision and let out a pained grunt before turning to Frank, his usually bright blue eyes still dull with pain and exhaustion.

"Frank," he said ever so softly, a look of haunting weariness clouding his entire pale face. "I think I remember what happened."

Joe sounded reluctant, scared even, as he said it. He looked like he was bracing himself for another swift denial and possibly something even more hurtful to follow. That was something he had never had to expect from Frank before. Yet, even with all that evident fear, he was still letting Frank know that he remembered. It was obvious that it never occurred to Joe to keep it from Frank, to lie to him.

Yet another thing I have destroyed, Frank sighed to himself. God, I hope I'm not too late to fix this.

"So do I, brother," he whispered, unable to hide the shock he was sure still written all over his face, doing nothing to help Joe's own unease. "So do I."