[Parasite Eve: Redux]
Chapter IV: Paradox
Merchant and pirate were for a long period one and
the same person. Even today mercantile morality is really
nothing but a refinement of piratical morality.
-Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
*****
…Computer Lab, Shelter…
Yoshida took another sip of coffee and went back to scanning the computer screen. It was a readout of the Shelter's current operational capacity.
It was quite dismal, unfortunately. The GOLEM supplies were quite low. In the days before Agent Brea got trigger-happy, there would be nearly two thousand of the combat cyborgs on standby at all times. But since so many were killed by Aya and the rail-bombing (and the fact that the cloning tanks were completely destroyed in the orbital bombardments didn't help) less than three hundred functional GOLEMs remained.
Yoshida was interrupted from his musings by heavy thumps emanating from the elevator hallway. Figuring it was just a GOLEM or two making noise, the computer tech decided to give them a piece of his mind. He came down the short corridor to the hallway, and peeked out the door. What he saw surprised him, to say the least.
In the center of the room was the cloned Bowman, surrounded by several dozen GOLEMs. At the lead of the cyborgs was No.9, crossing his arms and smiling.
"I told ya I'd tell th' boys." No.9 laughed. "Let me tell ya, they ain't happy."
One of the GOLEMs, a Pawn, stepped forward, brandishing his plasma-blade. No.9 stopped him with a wave of his hand.
Bowman maintained a blank expression and spoke quietly. "You have no idea what you are doing, No.9."
The King GOLEM laughed again. "Of course I know what I'm doing! Wer gonna waste you, then go on with th' plan!"
Bowman smiled. "Very well. You may try."
No.9 pulled his sword out of its scabbard and banged it on the ground. "Let's get'm, boys!"
The events that followed happened so quickly that Yoshida had to sort them out in his head later. The GOLEMs charged forward, clearly intent on dismembering the scientist. Yoshida expected Bowman to at least attempt to flee, but he just stood his ground. Just before the GOLEMs reached the researcher, a blinding flash of light emanated from Bowman. When Yoshida could see again, all the GOLEMs were pressed to the walls by some unseen force. Bowman stood where he had before, looking rather pleased with himself.
Bowman gestured at No.9. The GOLEM detached from the wall, and floated towards the scientist. The GOLEM then suddenly fell to the ground on his knees, pushed down by what appeared to be the scientist's shear force of will. Bowman looked down at the cyborg. "Now, No.9, there are going to be some changes around here." He started pacing around the GOLEM. "From now on, you will do what I say, when I say it. We will do things according to my plan, and you will not interfere with it, especially if Agent Brea is involved. Any questions?"
The GOLEM looked up at him, straining under the pressure. "Jus' one. Why don' you kiss my ass?"
Bowman stopped. He sighed. "I was afraid you would be uncooperative." He walked around until he was in front of No.9. He grasped the GOLEM by the throat, and lifted him off the ground. Bowman spun, and tossed the cyborg at a nearby wall.
Yoshida could see reddish-brown veins snake their way through Bowman's exposed arm, and the programmer shifted his position so he could get closer. "Shimatta." He whispered to no one in particular, "How in the hell…"
No.9 slammed into the bulkhead, grunting under the impact. He tried to get to his feet, but Bowman, casually strolling over, reached him first. Bowman hook-punched the GOLEM in the head, knocking him onto his stomach. The scientist waited for No.9 to get onto his hands and knees, then kicked him in the chest, sending him flying down the corridor. The huge GOLEM hit the ground, then slid to a stop.
No.9 looked up at Bowman, blood trickling through his shattered faceplate. "A'right, a'right. You win. I'll go along w'your lil' plan."
Bowman smiled. "Excellent." He waved his hand, and all the surrounding GOLEMs fell to the ground. He turned back to No.9. "Now, if I were you, I would make myself useful. Go prep the remaining GOLEMs for transport."
By this point, Yoshida was rightly scared out of his wits. What at first had appeared to be a normal man was in fact some sort of superhuman. He ran back towards the computer room, hoping that Bowman hadn't noticed him.
*****
…Elevator Hall, Shelter…
No.9 glanced towards the hallway that leads to the computer room. "What was that?"
Bowman smiled. "The programmer was observing us. It is of no concern, however. He will not betray us."
The GOLEM struggled to his feet. "How do you know?"
Bowman smiled again.
*****
…Parking Garage, LA Minimum Security Prison…
Jake leaned against the hood of his car. "So, what do we do next?"
Aya shrugged. "We could try the Shelter again. Maybe we can find a way inside." She flapped her jacket to move air around. "Does it feel warm in here to you?"
Jake paused. "No, not really. Although I think I know how to get in the Shelter. Some of my old buddies in the military might be willing to lend us some hardware."
"Like what?"
The man grinned. "Oh, you know. Armored hummers, heavy machine guns, mortars. Nothing big."
Aya rolled her eyes. "You're insane. You know that, right?"
Jake scoffed. "Of course. I thought MIST accepted nothing less."
Aya started to reply, but the room suddenly started to swim. Jake's face blurred out, and she lost her footing. As she fell to the ground, time seemed to slow to a crawl. She heard Jake call out to her, but it seemed to be a mere echo. She blacked out.
*****
…Highway, LA…
Aya regained consciousness. She was laying in the passenger seat of a pickup truck, with Jake in the driver's seat. She managed to sit up straight despite her body's indignant protests. She looked over at Jake. "What happened?"
Jake didn't take his eyes off the road. He was doing 110 on a 65mph highway. "I dunno. You fainted, then everything around started exploding. My friggn' car got trashed! I had to commandeer this one."
Aya rubbed her temples. Her head felt like it was going to explode as well. "Wonderful. Now my mitochondria are trying to kill us. As if the GOLEMs and ANMCs weren't enough."
"No kidding. I'm just lucky I didn't get deep-fried."
Aya snapped her attention back to Jake. "Wait a minute… You were in range. Why didn't you get burned?"
Jake shrugged. "I have no idea. All I know is that stuff was blowing up all over the place, and I wasn't one of 'em."
She settled back into her seat. "If you weren't affected by the mitochondria, that means… Oh crap."
"What? "
" Nothing. Did you call ahead to MIST already?"
"Yup. Some dude named Maeda is gonna be there to check you out."
Aya breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. He'll sort all this out."
*****
…Medical Lab, MIST Headquarters…
Aya winced as Maeda stuck the needle in her arm and pressed the milky liquid into her vein. "Sorry," He pulled it out, wiping the area with an alcohol swab. "This should suppress your mitochondria for a short while."
Aya smiled at the Japanese scientist. "Thank you, Kunihiko."
Maeda blushed.
Jake was standing over Aya, his arms folded. "So, what happened? Why'd her powers freak out?"
Maeda started, then collected himself. "Well, it appears that some of her mitochondria responded to the resonance of another life-form with similar strength." He walked over to a computer screen. It showed several of Aya's mitochondria, all humming with energy. "They activated themselves, then tried and take over her cell nuclei. Fortunately, other mitochondria that were unaffected by the resonance repelled the invaders. The backlash of external energy that you saw was merely the outward sign of this… this…" He turned to Aya. He spoke in Japanese. "How do you say 'struggle'?"
"Struggle."
Maeda turned back to Jake. "Of this struggle."
Jake stroked his chin and looked at the screen. "Another life-form?"
Maeda nodded. "That is the most likely situation. This 'Bowman' that you talked about on the phone could definitely be the cause."
"Great. This keeps getting funner and funner." Jake sighed. "So, why wasn't I affected by Aya's super-hissy?"
Kunihiko shrugged. "I honestly don't know. There is a possibility…"
Jake raised an eyebrow. "Of what?"
"It may be possible that you are a Neo-mitochondria carrier. If you would lay down on the other bed, I could perform some tests to determine if this is the case."
The Hunter complied, stretching out his tall frame on the hospital bed. "So you think I could be like Aya, here?"
Maeda nodded, prepping another syringe.
Aya glanced over at him. "Guess I'm not the only one getting poked today, eh?"
Jake rolled his eyes as Maeda drew a sample of blood from his arm. The scientist took the vial of liquid to the microscope, squirting a sample onto the plate.
Jake craned his neck to watch the screen, and heard Maeda mutter something in Japanese. "What's up, doc?"
Maeda looked confused at the Loony-Toons reference, but didn't dwell on it. "Well, I don't see any signs of abnormal cell structure. If you were a carrier, there would be far greater reserves of fat and carbohydrates in your cells, in addition to oddities in ribosome count and amino acid content."
"So I'm normal?"
Aya rolled her eyes. "That's a stretch."
Jake shot her an annoyed expression. "I mean I don't have funky mitochondria."
Maeda nodded. "It would appear that way. Although, I would like to run more tests, if that's okay with you."
Jake shifted into a more comfortable position on the bed. "Test away. I'm in no hurry."
*****
…Computer Lab, Shelter…
Yoshida burst into the lab, panting heavily and cursing. No.12 looked up from a novel he had been reading to look at the computer tech. "What is the matter?"
Yoshida took a few moments to catch his breath, then cursed again. "Shimatta. It's all going to hell."
The GOLEM looked quizzically at the programmer. "What is?"
Yoshida sat down at his desk, taking a swig from a water bottle. "Bowman! I just saw him beat the crap out of No.9!" He took a few deep breaths. "Bowman threw him into a wall! Literally!"
No.12 stood up. "If the King is being harmed by Bowman, then I shall have to terminate the clone."
Yoshida gestured for the GOLEM to sit down. "No, don't even try. He's way too strong."
No.12 stood for a minute, then sat back down. "If I cannot defeat Bowman, then what am I to do?"
Yoshida sighed. "I don't know. I honestly don't know."
*****
…Medical Lab, MIST…
Maeda pulled his glasses off, and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He was no closer to figuring out why Jake was unaffected by the Aya's rampant powers than he was when he started.
Jake had wandered off to get a snack, and Aya had fallen asleep on the clinical bed. Kunihiko rubbed his eyes. They were tired from looking at the computer screen for so many hours on end. He popped his joints, then stood up and proceeded to go through a few simple stretches to get the blood flowing through his veins again. As he sat back down, his hand slipped, and knocked the vial of Aya's activated mitochondria onto the slide with Jake's blood. Cursing, he got up to clean the plate off when he noticed a reaction. Watching the computer screen, his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped.
He leapt from his chair, nearly knocking Jake over as he returned from his quest for food. The scientist helped Jake to his feet, talking excitedly in Japanese.
Jake held his hands up. "Whoa, Maeda… calm down. What's going on?"
Kunihiko took a deep breath, then started speaking again, this time in English. "I've found out why you were unaffected! Come, quickly!"
As his led Jake to the computer desk, Aya awoke. She yawned, and looked at Maeda, with Jake towering over the shorter scientist, jabbering something about mitochondria. Intrigued, Aya walked toward them, peering over Jake's shoulder. The taller Hunter noticed her, and moved to the side so she could see.
Maeda quickly repeated the events that led to his discovery, administering a sample of viral Neo-Mitochondria to slide with Jake's blood.
On the computer screen, she could see her own mitochondria try to infest Jake's cells. They were swarming the outside of a red blood cell, when a huge macrophage swept past, devouring the swarming microbes. Aya watched in fascination as all the Neo-Mitochondria were systematically targeted, scooped up, and destroyed by Jake's immune system.
Maeda turned to the two Hunters. "It's so simple, really. During Jake's encounter in Iraq with the primate Neo-Mitochondria, his body was able to establish an immune response that would protect him from infection. I would guess that the strain that the military was experimenting with was less virulent that the current form."
Aya looked vaguely alarmed. "How do you know about Iraq?"
"I told him about it." The three turned in unison to the door. There stood Rupert, framed by the lights in the hallway. "I felt Dr. Maeda could be trusted with this information."
Jake crossed his arms. "It would have helped is you had told us. Who else knows about this?"
Rupert stared at Jake. "May I remind you, Agent Brant, that I am the supervising agent in this operation. I do not need to reveal everything to you."
Aya looked up at Jake. The man's jaw was clenched, and his nostrils were flaring. He looked about ready to deck Rupert. "And may I remind you, 'Sir', that Agent Brea and myself are the ones that are going to have to rely on this information with our lives."
"Do you honestly think you are the only one that's in danger here? I'm putting my ass on the line by even telling you anything!"
Aya stepped in between the two men, keeping them from beating each other into a bloody pulp at least temporarily. "Stop it, both of you!" She glared at them both, alternating her gaze between the two of them. "The last thing we need right now is a testosterone contest!"
Jake glanced menacingly at Rupert before returning to the computer desk. "Fine. Do what you want. But if something goes bad, and I find out you're responsible…"
"That won't happen." Rupert turned to the door, but stopped. He looked at Jake and Aya. "Something big's going down. If I were you, I'd keep my eyes open, and my gun loaded." He walked out the door.
Jake smiled grimly. "Well, at least we know our job security is in good shape."
*****
…Holding Cell, Shelter…
Eve kicked the wall of her narrow cell. She had been penned up this small room for over twenty-four hours, her only interaction with the outside world a small slit through which her food was slid. She wanted desperately to go home, to be with her big sis again. She hated this place.
The little girl sat down on the edge of her bed, focusing her mind on the outside hallway. One boon to being brought back to the Shelter was that her mental abilities, sealed since almost three years ago, had resurfaced. She had spent the last few hours slowly chipping away at the barriers surrounding the mind of the GOLEM that was guarding her. She had almost reached it, but she didn't dare move to quickly. That man, Bowman, was far to powerful. He would most certainly detect her if she tried to force her way into the cyborg's brain.
As she mused over these thoughts, an almost audible click echoed through her mind. She was in.
She started by searching through it's memory, looking for anything useful. One thing about cybernetic brains was how well ordered they are. Human minds are jumbled messes, with bits of information scattered throughout the brain, along with memories, emotions, and random data. Cyborg brains are perfectly ordered, with all relevant data grouped together in their memory nodes. It made searching for floor plans a breeze.
Once she was finished, she had lifted a full map of the Shelter, all the GOLEM patrol routes, and access to the GOLEM wireless data network. She filed the access codes for the latter in her mind for later use. She didn't want to risk detection just yet.
*****
…Computer Lab, Shelter…
Yoshida looked up from his cup of coffee at the computer screen. "What the hell…?"
No.12, who had been leaning against one of the walls, turned his camera lens at him. "What is it?"
Yoshida typed a string of keystrokes into his laptop. "I don't know. Pawn GOLEM No.273 reported a malfunction. Something about a 'Memory Record Disruption'."
"Should I have him replaced?"
Yoshida shook his head. "Naw. It's just guarding the little girl. A minor storage error isn't cause for alarm."
No.12 nodded. "Affirmative."
*****
…Aya's Apartment Complex, LA…
Aya opened the car door, and waved goodbye to Jake. After his car had the ill fortune to be melted by Aya's rampant mitochondria, MIST had been kind enough to lend him a rental for the next few weeks. A navy-blue 2001 Civic was the best car they could let him have, so he went for it. Aya could tell his missed his '65 Mustang, though.
Aya closed her coat against the chill breeze, and walked into her apartment complex. She greeted a few of her neighbors in passing, and headed to the elevator.
After a short ride, she walked down the hallway to her apartment. Once she reached her room, she felt a slight chill. Ignoring it, she opened the door.
Inside, all the lights were off. She entered into her living room, and went to turn on a light. Just as she was about to flick the lamp on, a hand darted out of the darkness and closed around her wrist. She tried to pull away, but the man's grip was too strong.
Getting vaguely annoyed, she summoned a massive static electric charge from her mitochondria. Whoever this moron was, he was gonna get a big surprise.
She stopped, however, when him speak.
"Aya, it's me!" Kyle Madigan's voice hissed through the darkness.
"Kyle!?" Aya threw her arms around him. "Oh my god… I've missed you so much!"
Kyle held Aya close, laughing. "I thought I'd never see you again."
Aya pulled back slightly. "Why'd you leave?"
Kyle took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you. All I can say is that I'm back working for the Government.."
Aya rolled her eyes. "Great. Like I haven't heard that at all lately."
"What?"
"Nothing." Aya hugged him. "It's just so good to see you again."
The door suddenly opened, and Aya saw a flailing Jake stumble inside. "…goddamn it! Friggn' assmunches… couldn't tell me where Aya's room is…" His head moved back and forth, searching through the inky blackness. "Holy f*** it's dark in here." He reached over into the kitchen and turned on a light.
Aya and Kyle were blinded momentarily by the sudden flash of light. Jake blinked a couple of times then looked at the two lovers in the center of the room. "…Oh, shit. Did I walk in on something? I'm sorry." He started to walk out.
Aya disengaged herself from Kyle. "No, Jake. It's alright." She turned to Kyle. "Kyle Madigan, meet Jakob Brant."
Kyle extended his hand. "Pleased to meet you."
Jake grasped it. "Likewise." He looked at Aya. "This the dude you were talking about?"
Kyle looked rather bemused. "You were talking about me?"
Aya sighed. "Yes to both your questions. Jake is my new partner, in case you were wondering."
Kyle nodded. "Oh, I see. You been taking good care of my Aya?"
Jake shrugged. "More or less."
Aya snorted. "Less rather than more, as it turns out. I take care of myself." She looked at Jake. "Was there a reason you stopped by?"
"Yeah. Rupie wants us down at MIST on the double. I couldn't catch you on your cell-phone, and I figured you might need a lift."
Aya smiled. "Thank you, Jake. I appreciate it.
Jake nodded, then ducked back out the door.
Kyle half-smiled. "A very interesting fellow."
Aya laughed. "Yeah, he's a little hard to get used to." She stopped, then looked at Kyle. "So… I'm willing to bet this isn't just a social call, is it?"
Kyle looked grim. "No, it's not. It turns out the people I work for now have heard about your investigation. And, to put it mildly, are more than just a little upset about it."
Aya backed away. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that I breached protocol to even tell you about this. If you don't close the case immediately, then you and your partner will disappear. Permanently."
Aya scowled. "Is that a threat?"
Kyle rubbed his temples. "No, it's not that. I'm just warning you. I couldn't stand to see anything happen to you…"
The woman backed away further, then started walking towards the door. "You know what? I'm starting to get just a little fed up with everyone stringing me along with little bits of information." She turned around. "You let yourself in, so you can let yourself out." She walked out the door, then slammed it shut behind her.
Kyle looked after her sadly. "I'm sorry, Aya…"
*****