A/N: Well, here it is. Chapter 70. I gotta tell ya, this is one I am admittedly a little nervous about doing. Throughout all of this story I must have run through at least five or six different variants of this chapter. In the end, I decided on this option and hope it was the right way to go about it.
*Chapter 70*
"Team A, report in," Reach ordered quietly, his grip on his BR85 tight as he, Carolina, and Wash slowly moved through the thick undergrowth. Nature had reclaimed most of the facility, suggesting it had been abandoned for quite a long time. Large gnarled trees had broken through the crumbling concrete walls, roots poking up through the pavement and vines growing on the walls.
"Team A reporting in. No signs of life anywhere. No security, either," South answered. "It's…quiet. Too quiet." Over the COMs, he could hear Maine hiss in agreement.
"Keep your eyes and ears open. Want to make sure we're not walking right into an ambush. Be on standby in case we run into any resistance. Team B going radio silent, over and out." Reach shut down his suit's external speakers and glanced over at the hologram of Alpha; the AI seemed a little more jittery than normal and hadn't made a snide remark in far too long. "What's wrong?"
"I…don't know how to put this, but I'm getting a weird sense of déjà vu," he said, massaging his temples. "It's also giving me one hell of a headache."
"No sign of forced entry anywhere," Wash muttered. "There's got to be a way in."
He stepped towards what appeared to be another dead end in the labyrinth of roots and vines and touched the crumbling grey surface of the wall. A spinning holographic lock appeared, much like the ones often use by the Insurrection when Project Freelancer was still active. Wash let out a chuckle and set to work disabling it, looking over his shoulder. "What do you know? This should take not even a minute. Give me thirty seconds."
"Literally? Because I can start a timer for you if you'd like," Alpha offered helpfully.
"Shut up, tooth fairy," Wash grumbled. "Pay attention on the lock; the Director was rather thorough with this one. Goddamn…whoever invented this thing was a genius."
The lock clicked and vanished, the hidden door revealing nothing more than a lonely control panel and a few Battle Rifles.
"You were saying?" Carolina put her hand on her hip.
"Whoever designed this is an asshole," Washington corrected, looking at the panel. It flashed bright blue, swirling like an ancient rune. "Wait…isn't this F.I.L.S.S? What happened to her?"
"This is a secure location. Only authorized personnel may enter. You have thirty seconds to leave or be incinerated. Have a nice day," F.I.L.S.S chirped.
"Alpha?" Reach glanced over at the white AI.
"Open the door," Alpha ordered.
"Certainly. Welcome back, Director," the 'dumb' AI said cheerfully. "Strange…I don't recall you leaving. Since your last visit. I'll have to check my logs to see where the error occurred."
"You mean you show the Director both inside and outside of the facility?" Washington asked.
"Strange, is it not?"
"Yes…and exactly what we were hoping for." Carolina gripped her pair of plasma rifles tightly and the wall swung open to reveal a second hidden entrance. The halls were dark, the only light coming from a pair of dim bulbs dangling from the ceiling. The smell of oil was filtered out thanks to their suits, the taste of it still on their tongues as they progressed into the bowels of the facility.
Each footstep was filled with tension and the air became thick with it. It only grew when the sound of Allison Church's final video to the Director fell on their ears. Over the sound of the recording, Reach could hear the tired old rasp of a man who hadn't eaten or slept in several days. "Play it again."
'The Director…he sounds…tired.' Then again, he would wouldn't he? The man had been trying for years to bring back his wife, regardless of how unethical the experiments were. He kept trying to make her right, eventually succeeding with Tex to create a copy that was a complete match biologically. But in the course of that, he broke one of the few laws that ONI didn't just slap you on the wrist for. The Mortal Dictata Act was a set of laws that outlined what was and wasn't acceptable for genetic engineering, and he broke several of them. Humans were never to be cloned nor were AI supposed to be tortured to the point of fragmenting.
In a strange way, Reach could only feel pity for the man. The Director's true wish was something anyone would have if they lost someone they loved. But he went about it the wrong way, perhaps out of desperation as a result of failing so many damn times. Beta was the first attempt, an AI that had the personality and voice of Tex after Alpha was created. But she was too unstable and now locked away in a dead memory unit being studied by ONI's scientists. Who knows how many other times the Director tried and failed in his experiments?
"Dude, you okay?" Alpha asked.
Reach let out a mirthless laugh. "Spectacular. I take no joy in doing what needs to be done, Alpha. This is a personal problem and it has to be seen through to the end."
"But—"
"No buts. There's no way for him to get around what he's guilty of. He did this to himself. Maybe if Beta hadn't come along when he created you, things would have played out differently. Or maybe if she survived the war."
Alpha sighed in defeat. "Shit. Too many questions and not enough answers. It's even worse for me because I can come up with about three hundred different scenarios where this could have been avoided altogether. Sucks knowing it and not being able to do a fucking thing."
"Tell me about it." Washington snorted. "But at the same time, if it weren't for Project Freelancer's experiments, I would have been awaiting a court martial. They gave me a purpose, my life back. Knowing what would happen if things were a bit different…it makes it hard to wish it was. Too big of a question to get a real answer."
"Well said," Carolina murmured softly. "Yeah, I nearly died and only survived out of sheer dumb luck. But at the same time, knowing what tragedies we prevented, how can we change it? No point in looking back. Just have to keep moving forward."
"He never learned to let go," Reach said softly. "That was his biggest mistake."
The trio was stopped by a heavy iron door and Washington hung back, shaking his head when Reach turned to ask why he wasn't joining them. "This isn't my fight. This is something for you and Carolina. I'll go back and rendezvous with the others."
The hyper lethal vector paused, but conceded. Washington was right; despite being a member of the project and getting incarcerated for it, he had no personal quarrel with the Director. Epsilon was absorbed back into Alpha, the tortured AI slowly repairing his fragmented mind. The three of them had closer ties to the Director than Wash did.
"Very well. We'll be on standby if you need reinforcements."
Washington nodded and turned on his heel, swiftly leaving to join up on Maine and South. When he was gone, Reach shouldered his rifle and took point, proceeding through the abandoned structure. Unlike the more labyrinth style facilities that they had encountered before, this one was rather straightforward. No turns leading to dead ends, nothing.
A rat squeaked in the dark and his enhanced eyesight allowed him to watch it scurry away from the two Freelancers. It disappeared into one of the drainage pipes that had fallen from the ceiling, the red and black armored soldier not paying it any mind.
A few lights above them flickered and died the further they went in, and Reach could feel the sudden drop in temperature even through his suit. The base's life support was well on its way out. If the Director couldn't find a way to get the heat back on, he'd die sooner or later. They were lucky that he was still alive to face judgment for his actions.
Reach stopped at a heavy steel door, rusted from age and neglect, and he glanced over at Carolina. She had been eerily quiet thus far, perhaps the thought of finally confronting her father beginning to get to her. No, she was made of stronger stuff than that. She'd do what needed to be done. He trusted her to do her duty.
The aqua Freelancer nodded, the two of them spinning the door open. Once the lock clicked and it slowly creaked open, Reach's rifle was up in a single swift movement, finger resting on his trigger guard. He half expected for the Director to pull out a handgun and open fire once he realized he was no longer alone. However, the man did not move from his chair, eyes fixed on the last video he ever got to take of his wife.
"Director," Carolina said stiffly, her stride rigid and frozen as she and Reach approached the man who had put them all through so much.
"Hello, Agent Carolina, Agent Reach. Would you care to watch this file with me?" he rasped, his voice hoarse from not drinking or eating in days.
"No," Reach answered. "You know why we're here."
"I do." The Director nodded before glancing back at the screen. The file had ended. "Play it again, F.I.L.S.S."
"Sir, you really should take a break. It has been several days—"
"Again!" The Director's fist came down on the metal desk he had procured from the wreckage of the MOI. His hands were shaking, not from anger, but from despair. The realization that his life's work was nothing but a failure and bitter memory.
"So, this is what you've become," Carolina said, hints of pity thawing her tone.
"I just need to watch this." The Director shook his head.
"The authorities are hunting you, now. If we found you, then they will just as easily." Reach readjusted his grip on his rifle. "Best to just stand down."
"I think I've found a way to bring her back right this time. I just need—"
"NO!" Alpha's hologram flashed up next to his creator in anger, the AI letting loose all the venom he felt for him. "You've had your fucking time! You need to answer for what you've done!"
"Church—" Carolina stepped forward, only for Reach to shake his head. This was something Alpha had to get out of his system and he wasn't going to get another chance to get these words off of his chest. He needed to let it all come out.
"Not all of us got off scot free, Carolina!" Alpha snapped. "He has to pay. Not just for what he did to me, but to the Meta, Wash, all my fragments, and to her! To Allison!"
The Director averted his gaze from Alpha, unable to meet the fury and hatred radiating from the white AI. "Hello, Alpha. You came all this way to see me one last time?"
"I'm here to remember what you've done! Someone fucking has to!" Alpha's body began to flicker through the various different fragments that came from him, anger pouring through his voice. "He was brilliant, and we trusted him! But he lied to us! Twisted and tortured us, used us for his own purposes and for what!? For this…this shadow!?"
He slowly returned to his natural color, voice shaking with barely controlled fury. "He needs to pay."
Carolina took off her helmet, brushing her hair to the side to get one last proper look at the man who was her father. The Director himself spun his chair around to meet her, two pairs of green eyes locking together. One old, sad, and tired, and the other pair conflicted. They had the chance to end it here and now, so why were they hesitating? Reach was surprised to feel his own desire to kill the man slipping away. Instead, he could feel the strange emotion of pity that he was driven to this.
Carolina's hand twitched towards her pistol, but she steadied her shaking fist and instead leaned to give him a kiss on his forehead., turning to Alpha. "Come on. We're leaving."
"I thought we came here to kill him!" Alpha seethed.
"Church, you remember what you learned when you absorbed Epsilon back into you?" Carolina asked softly. "You need to let go. Your past doesn't define you. It just gives you the starting point for who you're going to be."
"Agent Carolina?" Her father touched her arm to stop her. "Would you be so kind…as to leave me your pistol?"
At first, Reach wondered if this was one last attempt of the Director making a last stand, but upon closer inspection, he could see the defeat in his gaze. If they weren't going to kill him, he'd do the deed himself. Perhaps it was better that way. Reach could…understand, to an extent, of wanting to go out on one's own terms. The Director would be sentenced to death by ONI anyway. Better to die a free man than a prisoner.
"Of course…" Carolina removed her handgun from the side of her armor, her hand brushing against his. "Goodbye…sir."
"Goodbye, Carolina." The Director took the pistol and held it, ejecting the clip and emptying it save for one single round. The round he was going to end it all with. "You were my greatest creation."
"I don't know what the fuck I am, but I know this. I'm not just some copy of you," Alpha snarled. "I'm better than you."
"I wasn't speaking to you." The Director didn't look at Reach until Alpha vanished after Carolina. "Reach…or, rather, Adam B-312…do what I never could. Make her happy. A dying man's last wish."
Reach looked at the hand that bore his wedding ring underneath and nodded. "I will. Pity it had to come to this. For what it's worth…thank you for giving my life back."
"You'll do more good out there. I know you will." The Director flashed a rare and sad smile. "Good luck."
Adam B-312 placed his rifle across his back and turned away from the Director, the cold steel doors hissing shut behind him.
Dr. Leonard Church watched the Spartan III walk away, leaving him by himself. "F.I.L.S.S?"
"Yes Director?" the AI asked sadly, knowing what was to come.
"I would like for you to delete all our files except for this one," he requested quietly.
"All files? Including…including me, sir?"
"I am sorry. But before you do, take everything offline. Lock me in."
"Director, sir, this is a secure facility. Life support would not be—"
"Please. Shut them all down."
"Was…was the project a success, sir? Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked him.
"No…no I did not," the Director confessed, sighing. When did everything go so damn wrong? He never wanted to be a war criminal; he wanted to just see his love one last time. "But I feel as though I came very close. Perhaps…this is for the best." He looked up at the holo projection of Allison before she left on her final tour of combat, only to be killed in action not even a month later. A pair of tears rolled down his cheeks and with his hand shaking, he placed the pistol's barrel under his chin and the last words his wife ever said to him rang in his ears.
Don't say goodbye. I hate goodbyes.
"Perhaps next time…" The Director took in a deep breath and got to hear F.I.L.S.S speak before he pulled the trigger.
"It…it has been an honor, sir."
The single shot that rang out was the last thing Dr. Leonard Church heard before the blackness took him.
Reach caught up with Carolina, the redheaded Freelancer trying to keep it all bottled up. Even if what the Director had done was horribly wrong, even if his experiments had endangered them all, he was still her father. Knowing that he had taken his own life had to be painful, and she had given him the means to carry it out.
Wash ran over to meet them, his helmet off. "So…that's it then? It's over."
"Yeah…" Carolina nodded. "It is."
Reach took this opportunity to make himself scarce. He wasn't the one she needed to talk to. Wash was; he was closer to Carolina than anyone else really and he would be there for her.
The red and black armored soldier approached South and Maine, the two fully at ease now that they knew it was done and over with. Maine growled in greeting and Reach nodded subtly in return. They had plenty of time to discuss what had transpired inside on the way back, but right now they needed to let Carolina and Wash have a bit of time to themselves. Plus, everyone else was waiting for them onboard their ship.
"So…that's it then. The Director is gone, along with everything." South stretched her arms above her head and let out a weary yawn. "I guess…we try to find a place where we fit? Can call a home?"
Reach hesitated. All he knew was bloodshed and war, having the talent for it beaten into him since he was an angry colony kid who wanted to lash out against the Covenant. He wasn't expected to live this long, but now he finally had an opportunity to experience something that was…well, normal. Something he never knew existed. He was married, had a child on the way…shit, for someone who was expected to die a hell of a lot earlier, he had scratched a few things of his résumé that he didn't think he would get the chance to.
And to think, all of it was because of a damn miracle and a man who didn't know how to let go until it was too late.
"Yeah. Let's go home."
Carolina and Church stood on one of the moss and vine covered arches that spanned the length of this world, wherever they had landed. The award ceremony the UNSC gave them once they heard of the Director's death was rather nice, but the crash that followed…well, it could have been a hell of a lot worse. Tex had spent two days ranting and raving how much the pilots sucked for crashing in the middle of an uninhabited jungle, forcing Reach to spend a lot more time with her than anyone else. She wasn't worried about them; they were both fighters through and through. They'd be fine.
Nor was the redhead concerned about Maine and South. Short-tempered, yes, but they had more than enough self restraint to stop themselves and each other from beating the living shit out of the simulation troopers. With Wash now at the head of Blue Team after Maine stepped down, it would be interesting to see how he handled his first ever command position.
She felt a twinge of guilt as she looked down at not just comrades, but friends. "It's…not exactly the paradise city I think we were all looking forward to. Still, it'll suit them for now."
"Oh?" Alpha looked back over his shoulder. "You make it sound like you're going somewhere. Have a date planned or something?"
"Picked up a stray transmission," Carolina answered. "Apparently some low level thugs have gotten their dirty hands on equipment way above their shitty pay grade. Sounds like it might be some of the missing gear from a certain defunct military project we both know about. I think I'm going to go take it back. And with all those new upgrades, I could really use someone to help me run it. Keep us busy for quite awhile."
"Tempting…" Alpha stroked his chin and sighed. "I don't know, man. It feels really shitty to just leave without saying goodbye to the guys, you know?"
"Then don't," she suggested. "If you don't say goodbye, then you're never really gone, are you? You're just not here right now. Besides, something tells me you'd rather try to become better after everything we were a part of and helped happen than deal with that."
She jerked her thumb below, where to their amusement Caboose had accidentally cut off the power to Blue Base by spilling paint on the generator. He had tried (and failed) to blame Tucker, but their petty argument drew to a rapid close when Maine stomped out of the base half naked, wearing a pair of combat trousers and little else. Good God the man's scars were visible even from afar.
"Shit, you convinced me. Alright then, slide me in."
"Bow chicka…bow wow?"
…
"Holy shit, these guys really have rubbed off on you." Alpha let out a laugh. It was nice to see he still had his humor, even after everything done to break him.
"Don't press your luck." Carolina rolled her eyes with a smile, sliding Alpha's chip into her helmet. It connected with her neural implants and she felt the familiar shiver as his mind joined hers.
"Just remember to keep your head down. There's two of us in here now."
A/N: And…well, that's it really. The Project Freelancer part of this story is done and next time opens up the part I'm personally excited for: Chorus. The end is coming sooner with each update. Thank you all for reading, and take care! Good night!
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