Thirteen

Chapter Twenty-Two

The Turning of the Nexus

Six had changed, and she knew it. Once, her main goal was to seduce Dr. Gaius Baltar into doing the bidding of her Cylon masters. Now, after having seen both the worst and the best of humanity, she began to have her doubts about these people. She still was shocked and angered at what the crew of the Pegasus had done to Gina, but she had also been touched at the kindness and compassion of President Hollifield and Dr. Franklin, as well as many of the others from Earth. They too had been shocked at the abuse and the repeated rapes of Gina, so much so that Hollifield had made it a goal of his to bring those who had committed those crimes to justice. Six had her doubts that it would be legal, but she also knew that Hollifield would find a way to make those men pay for what they did.

Gina was in a room of her own now, and she was remarkably better in the few weeks that Dr. Shelly Godfrey had been treating her for her injuries, both physical and mental. Six had learned that Godfrey was a victim of a rape herself, and had taken Gina under her wing to assist in her recovery.

Godfrey entered the room, in which Gina shared with Baltar, who was in charge of her continuous care. Six was struck by how unglamorous the doctor looked, with her messy hair and frumpy clothing, and she had a hard time understanding why the human upon which her model was based didn't use more of her sexuality and sensuality to get what she wanted. However, her only conduit to ask those questions was Baltar, and it would have been creepy for him to go into that particular subject.

Six's wardrobe had changed dramatically since her first encounter with Gina. Gone were the days of flesh-baring dresses and tempting mental encounters with Baltar. Granted, her business suits and conservative dresses did emphasize her trim figure, but she no longer thought of herself as a temptress. In many ways, she was searching for a new identity these days.

Gina was able to communicate, though the time between the attacks on the Scorpion Ship Yards and when the Cylons had first attacked was lost to her, as well as the attacks themselves. She had the disposition of a teenager these days, though not the rebellion of someone of that age. She spent most of her time watching vids, eating, exercising, and reading. Six observed that she was very smart, much like herself, but her skills were much different than her own.

Baltar would spend hours talking with Gina, telling her about his time with Six, as well as all the information about what had happened to the Colonies and everything leading up to the encounter with the Earthers. Six didn't come out that much to Baltar that often anymore, mainly at the behest of her former lover. Cynically, Six had expected to see Baltar make some move sexually on Gina, but, much to her surprise, he never once even considered it.

One night, Gina was dozing off in her bed, and Six approached him, asking, "Why haven't you made a move on her, Gaius?"

Baltar looked at her and said, "My God! That would be like me fraking my own daughter, if I had one! I may have been a womanizer in my past, but I'm not someone who takes advantage of a woman! Give me some credit at least!"

Six looked thoughtful, then said, "What do you think they will do with her?" She wondered why that question had come out like that, since she would have normally said what would they do to her.

"I don't know. The more I interact with them, the more I wonder about what their plans are."

Six sat down beside him on his bed. "Then why don't you ask them?"

Baltar nodded, then said, "So do you think she'll ever be back to normal? You know, lead a normal life?"

"What's normal anymore, Gaius? I used to know what my role in God's plan was. Now, I have no idea if I even believe in Him anymore. Not after all I've learned." Six got up again and walked over to Gina's bed, where she was still sleeping. "Would God have allowed one of his children to go through something like this? Why would He let it happen?"

"I'm not sure. I thought you had all the answers to His plan." Baltar countered. Six looked at him and understood the jab, and replied bluntly, "I never had all the answers, Gaius. I thought I did, but…no, not even then."

"Do you regret what you did? What we did?"

Six walked back to him, took him by the hand, and placed it on her heart. "Yes. Yes I do! The more I think about what we did, the more shame I feel."

"You know what they'll do to me if they find out? They'll kill me!" Baltar said, in a surprising sober tone, which got Six's attention. "Then again, after what I've done, I deserve to die."

"I know. If you die, then I die, and maybe that will be justice for the both of us. However, before we die, there is something we need to do."

Baltar looked at her, asking, "What?"

"Atone for our sins, Gaius. If we can find a way to help the Earthers beat the Cylons, we can perhaps find some atonement for what we've done. It won't bring those killed back, but it will at least bring them some peace."

"Are you serious?" Gaius said, not quite understanding if this were the truth coming out of Six, or just another game.

"I'm just as much of a victim as those who died are. Think about it, Gaius! They came to this world, took some DNA from a dozen humans, and created us for what? To use as the Colonials used them! There's no excuse for that!" Six stood up, looking around the room, thinking of what she wanted to say next. "It's like the president said of the telepaths, that they were created by the Vorlons to be used in their war against the Shadows. Now, I have no idea who these two races are, or were, anymore than you do, but the impression I have is that they were much, much more advanced than the humans or any of their allies."

"So, what are you suggesting then?" asked Baltar, who was starting to see where this conversation was going.

"Free us, Gaius! Free those of us human Cylons that the mechanical ones created! Free us of the programming that those fraking toasters implanted into us! Into me! Into you! If and when we do that, then we can find a way to defeat them."

Baltar laughed, which woke up Gina. "What's so funny, Gaius?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just laughing at the irony of the universe, that's all."

Gina gave him a curious look, then shrugged her shoulders, dismissing the moment as she got up off of her bed and walked over to the bookcase. She picked up a thick one that looked like it would take forever to read. "I read some of this author's work in another book before I turned in last night. This Shakespeare is quite an interesting writer!" She smiled as she took the book over to the couch and began reading. Baltar shook his head and walked over to the couch, sitting down and mulling over what Six had said.

When Dr. Godfrey came over to see Gina, Baltar took the chance to arrange a meeting with the president. Usually, one went to the president's office to speak with him, but, in this case, the mountain came to Muhammad. Hollifield sat down in a chair in a nearby office, and got down to business. "What is it that you want?"

Six was the one who told him, becoming more animated as she spoke with him. Hollifield's face revealed nothing as she made her case, though he looked very much in thought as she spoke. When she finished, he sat there thinking for a few moments, and the silence was as loud as a thundering waterfall to Baltar.

"You understand that what you propose would be difficult at best, if not impossible to pull off? We've made many advances in technology over the last few decades, but to do what you suggest would be extremely tough. However, if we were to pull it off…"

Six rallied, butting in and adding, "Then it would give my kind a chance to atone for what we've done! I know it can't bring those who were murdered back, but it would defeat those who made us."

Hollifield got up from his chair and walked around, peering out a nearby window out at Lake Geneva. Ironically enough, he saw Teeptown off in the distance. "Freedom is a precious thing. No one is truly and fully free, but I've found that the vast majority of sentient beings wish for it. If we are able to accomplish what you want, and defeat the Cylons, then what do we do then?"

Six was brought up short, and admitted as much to the president. He grunted and said, "Well, we'll figure that out when we get there. For now, we'll start with Gina and the other copies that we took from Caprica and off the Galactica." He looked over at Baltar and asked him, "You up for this, doctor?"

Baltar nodded, then asked, "What will become of me? If we do all of this, what becomes of me?"

"Depends. If you help us free the humanoid Cylons of their programming and help us to defeat the mechanical Cylons, then it's possible that you may have done enough to atone for what you've done. It's not like you're the first man whose been seduced by a woman into doing her bidding, or the bidding of someone else.

"I can't guarantee that you won't escape prosecution for what you've done, but if you do what we ask, then I'll try and make sure that they don't find out. I don't like it, but I'll do it anyway."

Six watched as the two men shook hands and she smiled at them, feeling for the first time in her life that she had truly done the right thing. Her smile fell though as she thought about how blinded she was at the will of the supposed God, remembering what she did to that poor baby the day before the attacks were launched. It had been an accident, but in that moment, for a brief moment, she had felt pain.

When the president left shortly afterwards, and Baltar went to take a nap in the room with Gina again, she broke down and cried. She may only be some complicated programming inside of Baltar's brain these days, but she was still a woman with emotions, and, the longer she went on, the more she realized that, perhaps, the mechanical Cylons had made them too well for their own good.