Jhondie
I try not to think about Manticore. I mean, I can't help but think about how I am and what I can do, but I try not to think about what happened there. I hate remembering what we went through, and the most terrifying thought of all is "what if we didn't escape?". I think about that sometimes, and wonder what would have happened. Would we have become nothing more than mindless killing machines? Maybe. I knew there was a group there that was a little younger than us, but none of us had contact with them. I think Zack knew one of them, but I never met one. They kept us all seperate. They never ran when we did. Never had a chance. They would be...sixteen or so now I think. Don Lydecker's weapons systems.
I was still pressed very close to Justin. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could. "I knew I should have stayed," the other man was saying to Senator Martin. "Damn! But there was that emergency in Texas..."
"We thought we had it under control," the Senator replied. "I almost had the Executive Committee convinced, but that...that thing...I wasn't expecting it to be so...so..." he couldn't finish. My stomach was in a knot. It? Thing? My grip on Justin tightened. It would take about three seconds to make them see we were just as real as they were. Maybe even more so.
The Senator looked around. "Let's go upstairs," he said. The other man nodded, and they slipped out.
"I need to follow them," I whispered to Justin. "They don't seem to like Manticore much, and something happened they really don't like. I want to know what the hell they are talking about."
"If they see you, they're going to find out who you are and where you come from," he whispered back urgently. "There's no hiding if they see you." For a second he sounded so much like Zack I wanted to slap him.
I pulled back a little and smiled at him. "I just won't get caught," I said with a tiny smile. He wasn't amused. I couldn't help but be a little frustrated. "Justin, I'm just a guest. I don't know what they are talking about, and I know how to do surveillance remember? On the remote chance they see me, I'm just looking for the bathroom."
"Don't do this," he pleaded. I wanted so much to say okay, and then just go back onto the dance floor just to get the worry from his eyes.
"I have to know," I whispered. "If they're talking about what I think they are, then I have to know every detail. If not and they realease them; I have no idea what could happen." He looked a little confused. I had never mentioned the X-6 to him before. "I'll explain later," I promised, and then pulled away from him gently. He didn't look happy, but he let me go.
I headed off in the direction the men had gone. There was a staircase right there, and I had a feeling they might have gone into one of the dressing rooms or offices on the second floor. I took a glance back at Justin before I ran up there, and he had left the floor and was circulation as if nothing was wrong. I breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he didn't stay with one group too long, my absence wouldn't be noticed. I took a deep breath and went upstairs as quietly as I could.
I walked down the long hallway, listening as carefully as I could. One of the ushers was screwing the maid of honor in a closet. I could have done without hearing that. After a few minutes I found the room my quarry was in. I went around the side of the room and crouched down near the hall. If anyone noticed me, I would simply say I was walking around and lost my contact lens. It worked like a charm. I could hear their voices clearly, their words making me shiver. I was right. The X-6 were very much viable.
"Tony," Senator Martin was saying, "I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. We had them. I was up all night and I figured out how to counter that cute little demonstration, and then she didn't even hesitate for a second."
Who didn't hesitate doing what? Damn, they better give out some better information than this.
"You should have shot that little bitch when you had the chance," Tony replied angrily. "I never thought you were the type to wimp out from sheddding a little blood Phil."
"Are you that blind?" came the angry retort. "Jessup has got a picture of his fifteen year old daughter in his office. Did you see what she was wearing? How she had her hair? It didn't matter that she didn't sound like she was a teenager, she made him think about his kid. They would have only seen me blow away their pretty little daughters or granddaughters."
There was silence for a second, and then Tony spoke, sounding slightly amused. "You're starting to do it too."
"What?"
"She. You call them he's and she's, and the next thing, you're going to mistake them for human." I really wanted to slap the crap out of this guy.
When Senator Martin spoke again, he sounded resigned. "I wish you hadn't of had that emergency," he said. "Maybe if you had been there the next day...maybe if you had given the order she wouldn't have done it and proven the point."
"Why didn't you give the order?" Tony asked.
I could almost see the shrug. "I could be dismissed as a civilian. She..it...they...it's all been military for them. They might ignore Senator Phillip Martin and get away with it, but if General Anthony Hepburn had given an order and it was disobeyed; that would speak volumes."
"I read the reports," Tony said. "Kellman's from the night before it happened, and then a write up on what happened in the meeting."
"Did you see the tape?" Senator Martin asked.
"No," Tony replied and then continued with licentitious undertones, "was it that...interesting?"
Senator Martin snorted. "Not like that, but interesting in itself. You know how you ordered Kellman to see how well it really blended in with others the night after the match up?"
"I thought he would give a more slanted opinion after what had happened," Tony said. "I had to leave that night, and only got the reports the next evening. It seemed all was well. Too well for my taste."
"Too well my sweet ass," the senator spat out. "After it pulled that little stunt in front of the committee, I spent all night pacing in my office trying to figure out how to stop the committee from letting it all go, and Kellman decided to help her celebrate a win. Took her out to dinner that night."
"That wasn't part of his orders," Tony said tersely.
"I know that!" Martin snapped back. "Apparently, she…it…whatever…blended in *SO* well, your fearless Kellman forgot to remember what he was dealing with. He said later that he liked her, and didn't need to be ordered to spend time with her."
From the way his volume was raising and falling, I could tell he was pacing. I wanted to bust into that room and kick some sense into the both of them. I didn't care that the X-6 were raised Manticore. We were human beings, all of us. It was their fault that we were born. But there was a big question. Not everyone was for Manticore? There were some people that would like to see it shut down? As much as I wanted to remove a vital organ or two, there was that old saying: the enemy of my enemy is also my friend.
Martin continued. "I got to see the tape. I must have watched it a dozen times since then. Kellman escorts the most advanced killing machine ever created into the lobby of the hotel, right up to the elevators, and right before it gets on, he kisses her good night. Nothing wild, just a kiss. According to what Lydecker said later, Kellman didn't know it, but that was the first time she had contact in such an intimate fashion with anyone. Then the tape switches to her in the elevator just staring all starry-eyed with a cute little smile. It follows her getting off of the elevator, and she's floating down the hall, just like any real kid would be doing after her first kiss. She was even humming."
"Jesus Christ," Tony muttered in disgust. I found myself rooting for the X-6. Every second she found herself taken from Manticore and doing what she shouldn't was another second she spent in freedom. Enough of those and she would want the full treatment.
"So the next day, I've talked to the committee. Sure, they are exactly what they seem to be, but what happens if you give an order they don't want to obey? After what she had done yesterday, it was obvious that there was some human emotion there. What if one of them decided something was wrong or immoral? Would they do it? And then the committee posed that question to Lydecker."
Tony blew out a breath. "Deck's a slippery bastard. You should have known he would be ready for a question like that."
"I wasn't expecting him to put on show and tell," came the dry response. "I don't think you could have estimated the amount of faith he had in 'his kids'. He whips out the tape and shows it to all of us. They all wanted to be disturbed, but they couldn't help but think how cute it was. I could see it in their eyes."
"Then he puts it away and calls 608 and Kellman into the room. He tells Kellman to wait at one side of the table, and then has her come to him. He tells her that's he's giving her a direct order to eliminate a target. She doesn't flinch; hell, she's heard it before. Then he offers her a pistol and says the target is Kellman, and then something like Gamma Echo."
"That's the blast pattern she was to use," Tony said distantly. I knew that. Gamma Echo meant three shots to the chest, and then a head shot to make sure. For some reason, there were times when they would want a target to be shot more than once. It wasn't our place to question why it was. We were just supposed to obey. Bastards.
"She didn't hesitate," Martin said, and I could hear real horror in his voice. It was the same as I felt. God, they had really created what they were after. If they had them, did that mean they wouldn't want anymore X-5's? Why look for us when they had the X-6? It was a dangerous thought. Too comfortable. I would love to believe it. But in my heart, I knew Lydecker would look for us until his dying day.
"I told you they weren't human," Tony said back in a low voice. "The reports didn't say much about her behavior, just that she obeyed."
"Don't you see?" Martin said, sounding almost desperate. "She didn't want to. It was obvious! But I watched 608 turn, raise the gun and pull the trigger three times. Maybe she paused for just a second when she looked at Lydecker and knew he was serious, but when she turned, she didn't hesitate for a second. Kellman was thrown to the ground, and it walked right up to him, and just before the final shot, Lydecker stopped the demonstration. Said the order was rescinded. You would have thought that her face was a mask; it was so devoid of expression."
"Then she looked around," he continued. "God, she was furious. She knew what it was all for, and…I can't even describe it. You warn me about mistaking them for human, and I guarantee you would have then too. She *knew* from the time Lydecker gave her the order what it was all about and why the target was Kellman." His next words were spoken slowly and with great deliberation. "She…did…not…want…to…do…it."
"When Lydecker told her to stop, for a second, I was almost scared. I thought she was going to go after all of us, and then she…she asked if there was anything else that was needed. She was keeping control over herself, but she seemed like she wanted to scream or something. Lydecker told her that she could leave, and she threw down the gun and walked out. One of the other guards was helping Kellman up. Apparently, there had been an order that all personnel in the building wear bulletproof vests that day. 608 didn't know that."
"Lydecker looked around with that smug expression and asked if there were any questions. Jessup asked where 608 was going and if he had sent her out just because he didn't know if he could control her. Lydecker grabbed a radio and ordered her to return. She said she was on her way back, and walked back into the room a minute later just as cool as you could please. Like nothing could touch her. Total ice. But she wouldn't look at Kellman. Lydecker told her that that Jessup needed some help carrying some things to his car. She looked at Jessup and coolly asked if he needed help now or later. He told her later was fine, and Lydecker dismissed her."
There was a long pause. Then Tony spoke up again. "If we could just have another '09, then there wouldn't be any debate." My heart was slamming in my chest. What would it take for another '09? And was there another way? What if I walked into that room and showed them my barcode? Would the want reinforcements? Would they tell me how to take it down? There had to be something that would make them cut off funding besides an escape. I was a second away from walking in there when I heard Tony speak again.
"So why Renfro? 'Deck was pissed as hell that he wasn't given the directorship when Pete retired."
Senator Martin laughed. "Lydecker cut his own throat. He was told that he needed to keep up with having the direct contact with 'his kids' since he had shown how much he could control them. Tried to protest and say 608 would be their leader, and he would give her the orders to pass on, but the committee nixed that. They aren't ready for one of them to have real authority."
"Thank God for small favors," Tony muttered. "That would be like placing a gun in charge. Those things are weapons, not leaders." There was no way I was going into that room now. Maybe I would talk to the Senator, but if I had to look at that guy and he called me an "it", the gloves would be off.
"Renfro was perfect to take over," Martin explained. "She sees them as weapons, not kids. And she's not intimidated by Lydecker like Pete was. She won't hesitate to slam him down and remind him who's in charge. Pete was worried one of Lydecker's kids would pay a visit, but her ego won't allow for that possibility. He started to fight her and she mentioned that one of them, 674, wasn't performing to standards and should be used for spare parts for the others. He shut up quickly."
"Was it removed from service?" Tony asked quickly, the raw greed in his voice making my stomach clinch. He thought we were less than human? "608 was very close to the others, enough to die for them. Something like that might provoke an '09"
"674 was the one in the accident a couple of weeks ago," Martin replied flatly. "Tony, was that a real accident?"
"Six real men were lost in that as well," Tony replied a little angrily. "I didn't order it, and from what I know, nobody else did either. It was just one of those things." He sighed. "There's got to be another way."
"All it would take would be for one to run away, and that would be enough," the Senator replied. "Damn," he muttered. "I need to get back. Doreen is going to kill me if I miss any of the photo-moments for Denise."
They were moving closer to the door and I hunkered closer to the wall. "Another '09," Tony said softly. They paused in their exit.
"What are you thinking?"
"Nothing for sure," Tony replied, and I could hear the smile in his voice. "You said yourself it would only take one." He blew out a little breath. "Let me think on this for a while." Senator Martin padded away, and I heard Tony say very softly, "If his star was gone, then it would all fall down, and I would retire a very, very rich man." He laughed lightly and then followed the senator's exit.
