Author's Note: Apologies for the delay in posting something new. Due to a variety of things, my workflow for writing this and other projects got a bit out of hand, and I needed some time to reevaluate things. After having time to consider, I have decided to try out posting smaller chunks of content more frequently. This project is a natural candidate for the experiment, as the chapters are broken into scenes with different perspectives already. To avoid confusing those who have already read the first three chapters, I will not be breaking them up and reposting them.
The 'parallels' you will start seeing in titles refer to those scenes which take place in the distant past relative to the main plot, more in line with the original series events rather than the X series. The 'panoramas' refer to scenes that show glimpses into how all these events touch the lives of people who are not prime movers of the story. All other scenes are just called 'scenes.'
Let me know what you think of the more frequent, smaller update format as it unfolds.
1991
The conference room was a pressure cooker.
Sweat beads on the General's forehead, his stretching and stretching his uniform collar, Okita studying him with a hint of fear; the air crushed Touma and Sergei from every angle.
"Jesus fucking Christ." Garvey slapped the papers on the table. "This is treason."
He shook his head and jabbed his finger at Okita merely for unlacing his fingers. "No, not a word from you. I passed the hat for Weil's projects every time I briefed Congress, no matter how much of an ass-chewing I got."
"General, please," Okita said, hoping not to be heard.
"All those questions about his allegiance? I argued for him! And this is how that Commie son of a bitch shows gratitude?"
Sergei's eyes dimmed. Touma pat his back.
"I suppose you want me to believe neither of you saw this coming?"
"Respectfully, General, we rushed back here to tell you our concerns as soon as Albert went missing." Touma felt a different pressure out from within, swelling to match that without.
"Not soon enough, sadly." Agent Foster adjusted her glasses and thumbed through her own copy of the report. "Weil's got our research all over Usenet. Students at MIT are already archiving everything and that Stallman nutbag's egging them on publicly. The Boston Globe's already run an article on it."
"What are our options for containment?" Okita's voice drifted far to the back of Touma's mind. He looked back for signs he might have missed, biases that may have blinded him. He had scarcely done anything else since that night; setting the legal and political issues aside, he couldn't believe that Albert could ever—would ever—keep him in the dark like this.
"—will hold a press conference to that end," Okita was saying. "Of course we'll have our best people draft your statements."
Sergei's brows were tightly knit, his jaw sawing side-to-side. What had he missed?
"Sorry, what was that?" Touma asked.
"I was saying that it is essential that you two, as his closest confidants and as high-profile members of the institute, publicly denounce Weil and his actions."
"I refuse," Sergei said, standing from his seat just as Touma felt ready to burst.
"So do I."
"Consider your position carefully." Garvey spoke through clenched teeth.
"I'm considering our position. The whole institute's." Touma said. That gave him a moment to breathe. His mouth was cotton-dry, head crowded and empty all at once. "Based on the report, Albert leaked things relating to materials engineering, processor architectures, networking, energy sources . . . But nothing on weapons, none of the surveillance tech we've developed. He's steered clear of things that could hurt people or hurt us."
"Don't tell me you're on board with what he did." Foster checked that the others were as worried as her.
"No. I'm still here, aren't I? But think. The 'keeping an alien robot a secret' stuff looks bad, but it was always going to, even if we revealed it. The rest of the leaks look good for us. Even if I disagree with Albert's choice, I can't see that he's done anything to be ashamed of."
Whispering back and forth on the other side of the table.
"We will revisit the issue later, when we've had time to get a better handle on things," Okita said. "We will take your comments into consideration; you may resume your usual work for now."
One of the MPs in the room opened the door and six staring pairs of eyes pushed Touma and Sergei out.
"Still," Garvey said to their backs, "it would be best for you to put some distance between you and Doctor Weil. However the PR on this shakes out, he's still a criminal."
Touma stiffened, kept walking; Sergei turned back.
"I admit I did not get to know Albert as well as I would have liked, but I can say this for certain: he is brilliant and brave. Now, he has nothing to lose. These are terrible qualities in an enemy."