PART FIVE : " Tribulation "
Ames White checked his watch. It had been 3am when he met the man who called himself 'Legion' at the Pike Place Market, and just after 4pm when he had emerged from the Manticore rubble. Legion had spent an hour explaining what the two calls were about. Ames didn't know where the man got his information, but so far he had demonstrated more than sufficient ability for Ames to believe him. Legion had commented that he would be in touch soon, and had simply walked out as quietly as he had arrived at the Pike Basement. Driving back to Seattle, Ames allowed himself to consciously consider the man, something he hadn't dared do in his presence.
He had picked up many things during those hours. Despite his earlier suspicions, the man was not a mental transgenic from Manticore PsiOps. White had caught a Psy-Ops transgenic named Mia once some time ago at the Seattle Airport. He'd lost 5 agents bringing the girl and her idiot human boyfriend in.
He'd also learned that while Legion seemed calm and collected on the outside, inside he detested humanity with a passion. White felt nothing but contempt for the inferior species but this man brought a new meaning to the word 'hate'. Legion wanted mankind to suffer, painfully and continuously. That was not the goal. Complete domination and control was the mission of the Conclave, but as they had learned thousands of years ago; torture and misery of the mass populous only bred revolution.
However, it was worth considering that if the man brought about the first stage of his plan, the inferiors might revolt against him, giving the Conclave the perfect opportunity to step in and seize control. Ames smiled; the Conclave could even conceivably spur the revolt. He'd have to brief his superiors and gain their perspective.
Pulling into Seattle, he headed towards the Space Needle. Ames normally didn't give the construct much thought. A year and a half ago he'd had a couple of agents check it out along with several other abandoned buildings. It seemed that although the 60-year-old monstrosity had two fairly spacious floors, there was no evidence that anyone had taken residence there in years. But he had given orders for the building to be checked every three months for transients.
Obviously he had been on the right track, because Legion indicated that 452 occasionally climbed the monolith to the top for some 'time-out' away from the rest of her test-tube buddies. He drove up to the outer gate and turned off the car. The area was rife with transients and low-end gangs, but they usually knew not to screw with officials. It was the weak that they preyed upon.
Ames entered Seattle Center, and as he walked towards the Needle he noticed his men waiting at the base of the building. Surveying the area for police or transients, he approached them. "I want the Needle wired. Get me vid transmitters and infrared motion sensors on both floors and the upper outer slope."
He pointed to a nearby building. "Get a constant network recorder-cam hooked up and running from there. 452 has been here, and there is no telling when she'll come back. Don't install any ground cameras, they'll just be taken by the local residents."
Looking up at the saucer, he added; "Make sure the sensors won't be seen either day or night."
"Yes, sir. We'll get on it immediately." Two of the five men pulled on a couple of backpacks and began climbing the structure, while two more left to work on the other security equipment.
Otto turned to Ames, looking interested. "You've found something, sir?"
Ames turned, glancing at him. "Just some information that turned up unexpectedly. Take charge of this operation, then clear out. Let me know when the network feeds are online."
Otto watched the two men climb. "Immediately on completion, Agent White."
Ames walked away towards the car and pulled out his cell phone. Dialing, he brought it up to his ear as he opened the door.
"White. Fe'nos tol. I have some information for you regarding the agent you sent me to meet yesterday," Ames briefed the Conclave priestess on the phone.
"We are aware of his agenda," she replied. "Even as we have our own. Continue to cooperate with him if he needs you."
His frown deepened. "Our goal is to become the dominating force planet-wide and filter the human race," he stated. "I believe this person means to commit complete genocide."
A brief pause, then the priestess answered patiently, "You have informed us that the transgenic could single-handedly destroy all that the Conclave has strived to accomplish for more than five millennium. Ultimately, that may change how we must view the potential of mankind. There are sufficient numbers in our private society to continue as a race at this time should the inferiors become eradicated. There are even those in our numbers who may lose focus on our cause due to corruption from the outside."
He unconsciously absorbed this with the high level of acceptance that had been imbedded in him since childhood. However, he also had always been highly independent, a rogue conceptionalist. He idolized the Conclave, but did not always agree with its methods. He seldom failed in expressing his opinion, but had never truly disobeyed the Conclave. In fact, there was really only one thing in his life that meant as much to him...
Suddenly he felt a chill. "What do you mean by corruption?"
He could almost hear the disapproval in her voice as she answered, "It's not like you to question the orders of the Conclave to this degree. There are a small number of 'Those Who Belong' who have been corrupted by the ideals of the inferiors, there are also a limited few of 'Those In Training' who have been diseased with doubt at so early an age that they will never shake it loose."
Ames didn't say anything for a few seconds. "I understand. I'll wait for his contact. Fe'nos tol." He pressed the disconnect button, and had to fight to resist the urge to shatter the phone into the Seattle Center gate wall. He knew she was referring to Ray, his son, who had been taken by 452 and had planted the seed of doubt about the group that his father, and now he, belonged to.
He sat in the car in silence for several minutes before driving off. He knew that they were testing him, seeing if he was still strong. But this was his son they were playing with. He had always thought that he would give up anything in his life for the Conclave, and in fact had risked his son's life as his had been risked when he was a child. This was different; they were talking about the eventual slaughtering of his son, not as a test of his strength but because they didn't trust him. And if that wasn't enough, he suspected that her comment about Those Who Belong also referred to himself. His instincts were fine-tuned enough to know an implied threat when he heard it. The message was clear: you're with us or you're with them. For the first time since his own childhood, he felt doubt. Though a weakness, he knew he had to come to terms with it one way or another. They were right about one thing. He was either with the Conclave or he was not.
He shook his head to clear it; this was definitely not like him. Must be from that freak's contact in his mind, still must be traces messing with his clarity. Enough, he had work to do.
The phone chirped. "We followed 452 as ordered. She's in Bellevue at a business called SciTech. They make pacemakers, pagers, electronic gizmos. Also, Agent Stewart reports that the Sekova woman has still not left Terminal City."
Ames briefly replayed recent events in his mind. He had located Hannah Sekova and discovered that she had cancer, but also that she had been searching for 452's host mother. He had propositioned Hannah's doctor to administer a formula constructed by the Conclave, which in fact prolonged her life so she could continue the search. Ames had decided that her search could only help them in the long run. She'd surprised him when his contacts reported that she was entering Seattle and seemed to be on her way to Terminal City. He'd had no choice but to order his agents to intercept. Irritatingly, the woman had managed to disable the agent and escape before his backup arrived. He'd been furious to find that the agent had also injured the woman severely in the attempted interception. The entire maneuver was a disaster as well as amateurish, and White had reprimanded the agent for acting before his partner showed up. He suspected the freaks were giving her medical attention in the small enclosed area they now called home.
"Keep me posted. If she leaves, I want to know where she goes. Don't be noticed."
Ames hung up and pondered her choice of destinations. SciTech was a fairly common local brand name in post-Pulse Puget Sound. He made another call and requested an inquiry file be opened and the data forwarded. No sense leaving anything to chance.
White's thoughts turned back to his son. He knew what he had to do. It was possibly going to be the hardest thing he had ever done, but Ames had never shirked from hard decisions before. This would indeed be his ultimate test.