2163

Lab 3 was finally shaping into a real lab. With each machine set in place, each supply chest stocked, each technician and engineer moved in, Cain-Doppler Research gained form. From the window of his office he could look down on the floor and imagine its final form.

A knock on his door. He had a satisfied smile ready, expecting Sig or X; instead he saw her. The Church-appointed interloper—observer, if he felt like being polite, which he didn't.

"Is this a good time?"

"Ah, Cardinal Eckhart, come in." There is no 'good time' for dealing with you lot. "What can I do for you?"

"Please, call me Katherine. May I?" she asked, pointing to his floor-to-ceiling window.

"Be my guest." Don't drag this out.

She stood to his left, surveying the work below and making a few semantically null hums. She was, to be fair, not the scolding simpleton Cain had expected, but the possibility she was merely waiting for the right moment to bludgeon him with a steel-bound Remnant Bible was not off the table.

"I wanted a chance to get acquainted with everyone properly, since we couldn't before the press conference."

"I'm sorry you couldn't speak with X before that. I'm sure that made it strange for you."

"Actually, I bumped into him walking the grounds. We had a nice chat."

Cain had to consciously fight each vertebra's urge to lock into place. "Oh. I didn't know that."

"He must not have thought it was important enough to mention," Eckhart said, shrugging.

Cute. You probably asked him not to say anything. "I suppose." Pause, appear thoughtful, sigh for effect. "Listen: I'm sure you know I don't care for the Remnant, and I won't pretend I'm okay with having you looking over our shoulder. I'll tolerate you to keep things running smoothly, but if you imagine we're going to be friends—"

Eckhart laughed into her hand. "No, I figured that was a lost cause. I respect that, actually. Out of that respect, I'll tell you that the real reason I'm here is to undermine your relationship with X and convince him of the Remnant cause."

That was . . . unexpected. Refreshing honesty, or a sick joke? "Hah! What would your superiors say to that?"

"Strictly speaking, I don't have any superiors," Eckhart said. "Unless an emergency conclave appoints a Legate, all Cardinals are equal. But don't mistake me; that's just the real reason I'm here, the thing I'm expected to do without being asked."

"Out of respect for your honesty, let me tell you that I won't let you people get in X's head."

"That suits me. I'm sure you'll do some digging on me now that I'm here; you'll find I do things as asked. I'll observe, report my observations, and if X takes any interest in what I have to say, I'll say it to him openly. What happens then and how he behaves is up to him, isn't it?"

And who else should step into the room at that moment but X? He registered the least hint of surprise, quietly nodding to them both.

"How did your visit go?" Cain asked.

"Miss Sy is recovering well; both the surgeons and Preston say she's progressing faster than most people who receive such major prostheses."

"That's great news. We should organize a little celebration for the five of us when she's on her feet."

"I spoke with Miss Mkapa about hiring Miss Sy for our security staff as you arranged for Preston."

"Ah . . . you did, did you?" He coughed into his hand and looked at Eckhart, who was watching in quiet amusement.

"Given her expertise in infiltration, it seemed like a good fit." His eyes widened for a moment, and he turned to Eckhart. "I'm sorry, it was thoughtless of me to . . . I . . ."

"Naturally I can't forget that she had a part in the deaths of good men and women, but these things are only possible because God willed that you should enter the world. Now, perhaps you'd like to discuss business matters with more privacy?" Eckhart bowed to each of them and walked out casually; X watched her back with some interest.

"Close the door, if you would."

"Yes, Doctor."

Once it shut, Cain palmed his face. "That woman tests my patience already."

"Isn't this the first time you've spoken privately?"

"I know, it's a bad sign. Though, I gather you two had a nice chat earlier?"

X blinked. ". . . Did I do something wrong?"

"That . . . No." Cain sighed, slumped into his chair. "I just need a little bit of time to get used to her being here. Really, it's my own fault for not seeing this coming, it's the smart move politically."

X stood still: thinking. Cain realized that at some point, he'd stopped finding it odd or unnerving, and started wondering what the Xavier of his past life did when he needed a moment to process. Did he look down, up, off to the side? Did he shift his weight, or pace around? Would those things ever come through in this life?

"Do you want to know what we discussed?"

"If you want to share that with me, then I want to listen. If you don't, then I want to respect your privacy."

"I asked her to explain some of the Remnant religion to me, from her perspective. You and Doctor Doppler have—"

"But we have obvious biases on that topic, you're right. It makes sense to get another angle on it. What did you think about what she had to say?"

"It's intriguing, comparing it to my internal knowledge base, much of the foundational doctrine looks like a synthesis of various strains of late-twenty-first century European Neo-Catholicism, but the importance of the Cataclysm story gives it a Protestant revivalist tinge that—er . . ." He must have noticed the wry grin on Cain's face. "Sorry, I didn't meant to get carried away."

"Hah, not at all, my boy. Ideas excite you, don't they?"

"I heard that's how you were, when you were younger." Something in X's face softened.

"You've asked Sig about my past. I'll choose to be flattered by the interest. But you were saying?"

"Cardinal Eckhart indicated that there has long been debate in the Remnant Church about what it would mean if . . . something like me . . . were ever dug up. There are some who think that the Cataclysm was just a prelude to something worse, and that my being here now means the world is about to end."

"There have always been nuts who think the world is ending."

"But they think I will end it. Me, personally."

Cain had had insults and blame heaped upon him for decades, but that was one he'd never had thrown his way. He struggled to imagine how that would feel, cursed Eckhart for telling X.

"Supposing you did end this world. What's to say a new one couldn't rise out of it? A better one? And that you'd bring that world about? Come here for a moment." He spun his chair about, beckoning X over to the window. "All these people here, and plenty more beyond this building, are about to give over a chunk of their lives to help you bring a new, better world about. Those people down there, X. Those are the people you should listen to."

X stared out that window for a long time; Cain was certain he was etching every detail of that scene into his memory.