It's been a while, as per usual. I hope I'm still delivering the good stuff here. As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Kane's gambit had paid off.
With her in the front, in the blast zone, there was no way Paszek would let her take a step if he wasn't entirely, completely, and positively certain that the next step would be a normal one and not one charged with TNT and ball bearings.
It was more stressful than it was meticulous, mostly because of the ever-dwindling amount of time they had left before something much, much, much worse would happen. Waiting, thinking, planning – these were concepts that had to be shelved in favor of doing, doing, and doing, because, in the absence of the former three, being eviscerated was the alternative.
It was here than Kane once again caught glimpses of the gruff, no-nonsense Paszek that seemed only to populate the battlefields and briefing rooms. The simple fact that this persona was forced to roam the halls of a hospital in metropolitan America was enough to make Kane worry dearly about what was coming next.
The further they managed to travel down the corridor, thankfully, the more confident they became that there wasn't another charge in waiting.
Kane dipped around the corner that led to the final short stretch of tile before the biohazard signs, and it looked as inconspicuous as the rest. Paszek nodded in agreement, and the two slowly moved towards the double doors that separated the hazard area from the remainder of the hospital.
Paszek breathed an internal sigh of relief upon pushing open the doors.
They weren't rigged. They weren't locked. That seemed to support their theory that there was something a bit more dangerous lurking in the biohazard wing, albeit something tied to a timer and not footsteps.
Immediately overwhelmed by the complexity of the lab, Paszek gave the okay for he and Kane to split up and search individually. She mumbled a response, but Paszek didn't understand it.
No matter. He quickly dashed to the opposite end of the lab, which was perhaps 20 yards in length, leaving Kane near the entrance.
The balance between his admittedly frantic search being swift, thorough, and gentle enough to not set off an unsuspecting bomb quickly became the focus in his mind. Ideas of what was familiar and not familiar became more and more solidified as he rummaged through drawers and cabinets, tossing aside anything that did not immediately strike him as suspicious.
He was more careful with what lied on the lab tables – rows and columns of labeled containers – most of them holding clear liquids in varying amounts. Paszek, even in his state of haste, wasn't going to take the biohazard signs lightly. They could contain smallpox, anthrax, or something far worse that he didn't want to try and imagine at the moment.
Paszek's experiences – real and DNI-implanted – made him almost entirely certain that a vial of liquid unconnected to anything could not possibly detonate on its own. That said, he didn't feel peachy about the outcome if any of them were to be ignited.
Fucking shit. There were still at least three dozen cabinets to go through. Paszek was swiftly approaching the limits of how fast he could sift through the mountains of lab materials without being too belligerent.
Four minutes. How was he supposed to do it? He could sling out every item with the least amount of possible prejudice and still not even come close to finishing. And he was only covering half of the first room in the biohazard section. Kane, not cybernetically imbued, was likely working even slower. Who knew how big the next room was? Or the next?
Well, Kane probably did, actually, but that was beside the point.
What was the only thing stopping this bomb from going off? It wasn't him. It wasn't Kane, either. It was Savior. This was the perfect move. He had somehow sneaked it into one of the most secure buildings in the nation – and there was hardly a chance of it getting found were it not for his TV-riddle-broadcast.
Paszek was more than tired of picturing the proverbial four-dimensional chess board. Every move Savior makes seemed to tug his motivation in a new but equally inexplicable direction. His word choice became something to be scrutinized under a lens – and only the finest of microscopes set at precisely the correct resolution had a chance at unveiling a pawn. A pawn, which, of course, might not even be particularly relevant to the game at hand.
He scrambled over to the door separating the next section and kicked it in.
There were at least 4 rooms on either side of the hall. His gut dropped to his knees.
"Get over here, I've found something!" Kane's voice echoed across the lab.
It couldn't have come a moment sooner.
Fifteen more rooms remained in the biohazard section. Kane, well aware of this fact, silently thanked her lucky stars that this behemoth of a device had been planted in the entrance area.
Paszek stumbled in as she swept around on the floor to circle around to the other side of the device.
"Fuck," was all he could manage to spit out.
"I'm pretty sure this it, but I have no idea how to even begin disarming this!" she said, much, much faster than she normally spoke.
"Any thermite?" he asked.
"No. It's not like the one at Coalescence." She bit her tongue. "Electronic timer on this end. Doesn't tell me much."
On second thought, what the hell was this thing doing here?
"Wait, no…this timer isn't even attached to anything. No wiring or bolts…it's…" She grabbed the edges of the screen and jiggled it. "This is…glued on?"
Kane spent a useless second attempting to pry it off before realizing it didn't mean anything.
"This isn't going to do us any good," she said plainly.
"What…what I can do to help?" Paszek stumbled over his words.
Kane couldn't even begin to think of a response. Nothing about this thing made sense – no visible wires and no visible detonator…what was even going to cause this explosion? Not thermite…but it had to be big. It had to knock this building down.
The room smelled like bleach. Ultra-sanitized, no doubt. But this thing – whatever it was – didn't smell like anything. Should it? C-4 didn't stink, but there wouldn't be enough in here to destroy this whole lab. Anything else would have some grit to it. Well, anything except…
"Change your HUD to Geiger view, right now!"
"Fuck!" He almost stumbled backwards a step.
"Anything?" She already knew the answer.
"A lot. It's contained…really well contained, but who knows how high that number gets if, you know…"
"It's nuclear!" she exclaimed. "Stand back!"
"What?"
"Get back, a few yards at least, I know what to do!"
Kane was relieved to see she didn't have to explain herself further as Paszek took a few paces backwards. She was fairly certain he would not be too understanding of her justification.
Producing her laser tool from her belt, Kane quickly melted off the outer casing, revealing a slick panel of steel cooling tubes and circuits behind it.
Then, after traveling three steps backwards herself, she unholstered her sidearm and promptly fired three rounds into the opening left by the discarded panel.
"What are you doing?!"
She expected this reaction, placing a hand outwards to indicate that Paszek should remain where he is as she bent over to examine the impact zone.
"What…are you doing?!" he exclaimed again.
"Checking to see if I disarmed this thing."
"You just…shot a nuke!"
"Yeah, I did!"
Keeping her hand outstretched, Kane took a few steps back again and waited a few moments. She heard Paszek make a few under-voiced attempts to start another sentence, none of which developed into words.
And on the floor, after those few moments had passed, Kane noticed a small pool of water leaking from the device. Perhaps a few fluid ounces were on the ground before it stopped.
She let her arm fall.
"It's safe."
"Alright…" started Paszek. "Not that I don't believe you, but what-"
She had already connected her call. "Winslow, we're all clear. Bring in bomb disposal, and make sure they've got radiation suits on just to be safe."
"Oh, thank God, Kane. Really…I really don't know what we would have done if…" Winslow's Southern drawl was a bit more pronounced that normal.
"Don't worry about it. We'll meet you over by the ambulances."
"Yeah, alright…I gotcha. See you in minute." Disconnect.
Paszek cleared his throat. "So…what was that exactly?"
Kane walked past the device and closer to him. "I could tell from the casing that this wasn't a homemade nuke, just a repurposed nuclear core. They have too many failsafes to count. I just destroyed one of the cooling pods…the whole thing shuts down. 13th grade stuff."
Paszek seemed a bit stunned.
"In case you forgot how smart I can be…sometimes." She lightly hit him on the arm and started walking out of the building.
After about a half minute, he followed.
"Eh…your rad count is a little higher than it should be, but there's no reason to take you the hospital, unless you're feeling light-headed or anything."
The EMT patched up the needle insertion wound. "That won't be necessary," said Paszek as he stood up from the gurney. "Thanks for checking, though."
"No worries. Just doing my job. You should be back at normal levels within a few days."
Paszek had supposed that this Winslow character was fairly trustworthy, as Kane had spent a notable amount of time talking to her directly, waving off anyone else from the feds that wanted to talk to her.
Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder that he didn't recognize. He turned to see Curran, still suit-clad, standing just behind him.
"I see your powers of deduction came in handy today. Good work."
"It was mostly Kane's work. I just tagged along. You, uh…should be thanking her."
Curran nodded his head. "Oh, trust me. We will." He lowered his voice a little bit. "Say…did you get a chance to use that cryo-weapon today?"
Paszek almost shuddered. The thing hadn't even crossed his mind today, though by slightly shifting his weight he realized that it was still sitting in its holster. Just thinking about it made him feel a little uneasy, not because of the weapon itself, more so the weird power trip it had taken him on back in Ethiopia.
He had hoped that the whole project would fall under the wayside in the midst of the Savior fiasco, partially because of the aforementioned power trip and partially because he didn't really want to make any decisions on whether it was fit for field use.
Paszek wasn't sure exactly what it was supposed to accomplish. It didn't fill a niche that any existing ballistic weapons couldn't cover. It was effective, sure, but so was an MR6. Ammo capacity was quite limited too, at least compared to the standard sidearms.
"Hope you're not turning ghoulish on me." Paszek swiveled and found Kane standing, forcing him to notice that Curran had vanished as quick as he showed up.
"What?"
"Ghoulish? It's a…ah, never mind. Anyways, they're taking us back to the Pentagon for debrief."
"Figured as much." He paused. "You feel weirded out at all by Curran today?"
"He's always been a little odd. A little standoffish. Why?"
"I was thinking…maybe…maybe Savior wanted to get a close look at his work. Did the second in command really need to be on the ground today?"
"You think Curran is Savior?" she asked.
"Makes more sense than Salim or the janitor," he responded.
"No, the janitor admitted to planting the fake bombs in Coalescence, right?"
"Yeah, but he's about to be locked up, probably with no bond set…on federal charges. Court date probably won't be for a few months, at least. There's no way Savior would give himself up this fast. Not on those terms."
"I think you're right about that much," she bit her upper lip. "Curran is a little shady, sure, but…all of the CIA bigwigs are…I mean…I don't buy Savior being brash enough to get this close. If he was around today, well…I don't think he put himself out there."
Paszek was cut off before he could respond.
"Look, we…really shouldn't be talking about this here. Later, alright?"
"…Alright."
"I appreciate that, Officer, but…really, there's no need to make a big deal of it."
Winslow was as sheepish as she had been earlier in the morning, Kane quickly realized. The stress must have snapped her out of it until now.
"You did good work today, Winslow. That shouldn't go unrecognized."
"Well, I'd much rather, you know…stay on the down low here, you know?"
"Why's that?"
"I know who I work for. What they do. I don't want to get involved in any of the big stuff. Don't wanna take orders directly from…well, you know…"
"Teele? Curran?"
"…A and B. But…but especially B." Winslow looked down at the floor.
Kane sighed internally. "Did Paszek talk to you before me? He's been-"
"Oh, no, no, no, haven't spoken a word to him."
"Well, then…why don't you like Curran, then?"
"He's the director's assistant, right? Okay, so…why is he always on the ground getting all friendly with everyone? Seems a little below his pay grade. Maybe if he seemed…I don't know…genuine? Then I wouldn't mind it so much, but…I don't know…"
Kane hadn't put much thought into what Winslow had described. She still wasn't convinced. Every upper in the organization had plenty of things to hide. Well, every person in the CIA did. And she had also had her fair share of overzealous superiors, and fake-as-hell ones, too. Even given the masked man scenario they had found themselves in, it just wasn't logical to suspect one shady suit over the other – whether or not Paszek trusted them was particularly relevant.
Trust had been something Kane relied on more that day than she liked to. It had occurred to her during their ride to the CDC that she had perhaps placed a bit too much of it into Winslow. Not that she had much choice in the matter, anyways. But it still felt distinctly out of character for her – even if the fact that she'd done the same with Paszek meant she was batting a thousand.
"You reckon they'll have me out in the field with you two again? I appreciate what you said and all…but I don't think I'm cut out for the action. Rather stay behind the scenes."
"With the new administration? Couldn't say." Kane wasn't lying. She hadn't been able to get a read on Teele or any of his cronies.
"Well…I need to head back. Uh, guess I'll be seeing you around, then." Winslow awkwardly remarked. Her boot scraped on the concrete as she pivoted herself around to walk away.
Kane was not so sure she would be seeing her again.
The ride to the Pentagon was uneventful. Media panic from the morning had mostly died down now the deadline had passed and an official police statement was released. It was a denial game, as per usual – the record stated that there wasn't ever a bomb and the threat to human life was never legitimate.
Paszek wasn't as put off by the deception as he might normally have been, perhaps because he was actually there when the real events happened…and wasn't exactly keen on what he had seen being shared with the general public.
Seeing the display in the stairwell was more unnerving that he had expected to see back in the States – not because of the absurdly gory sight, but more to do with who was involved.
It took only a moment for him to search in his HUD for statistics regarding bomb squad casualties. Today's count was only eclipsed by 9/11, and even that number was more of a technicality, since they were all attributed to after-the-fact debris and health conditions.
Of course they had signed up for danger. Being blown to bits, though? That was the kind of danger he was supposed to deal with. Not anyone else. He wasn't going to be receiving any recognition for what he did – not that he wanted or deserved it – but neither were the people that died. They died for nothing. Literally. Technically. Because there were no bombs.
There were no bombs.
Was he supposed to repeat that over and over in his head, too?
The Pentagon had long seemed antiquated to Paszek. He had always assumed that the powers that be were far too stubborn to update the exterior or just build another base. It's not like they didn't have the money. They had all the money. They owned the fucking concept of money.
But tradition had a way of holding back those sorts of things. Not that it really mattered, anyways.
The debriefing he and Kane sat through was nothing special. Just standard protocol. His interrogations of Salim and Stephen Johnson meant that he had to endure a second one with Curran present, which he was not particularly glad to do.
It took just under four hours to for them finish speaking to everyone individually. Then came time for the larger meeting. Paszek's security clearance technically wasn't even high enough to attend, but Teele must have made some sort of exception, since he was admitted with no obstacles.
As efficient as ever, the first half-hour of the meeting was a re-hash of what they had been told earlier in the day. Official statements, witness reports, and the like. As much as he would have liked to, Paszek found himself entirely unable to zone out during this time. The pace at which his mind – consciously and not – was processing the information being spoken by Teele or Hernandez made each sentence seem like it lasted fifteen minutes.
Well, sometimes when Hernandez spoke, the sentences were practically fifteen minutes. She was shockingly detail-oriented. And not just to the typical CIA degree. It didn't seem like anxiety or OCD, either. Paszek pondered just how much she had to restrain herself to draft up those mission reports. The ones he saw must have been the shorthand of the shorthand of the shorthand. What biblical epics must have lied on her computer…
Teele was different. Not the polar opposite, but definitely in a different hemisphere. He got to the point quickly. Never shy on the specifics, but never reliant on them, either. He was more than qualified to do his job. What left the most immediate impact on Paszek though, was the remarkable plainness with which he described…well, everything. The uncannily mundane way that Teele spoke of dismembered corpses and thermonuclear devastation.
Not that any of that was unfamiliar to Paszek. But there was something to be said about a man in Teele's position – a man who had never seen any combat or traveled outside of WA countries – saying them in the way that he did. A veteran of civilian life was supposed to flinch when talking and thinking about these things. He didn't. Teele had either done something to gain an intimate sense of familiarity with the morbid nature of war, or he was very good at pretending.
"And, with all of that said, we're fairly certain we've narrowed down the possible suspects for this figure to two people." The room seemed to collectively straighten up after Teele spoke.
"Hiram Salim. As mentioned before, his uncle was one of the architects of the DNI. It's possible that he believed Yosef was left to dry to his former employers. Or that, after the Singapore leak went viral, saw the entire corporation as immoral. The rhetoric is not consistent with his own personal views, but it could easily be just an act."
Paszek didn't buy it. Hiram was bitter, yes, but did he have concrete motivation for be a terrorist? Whatever. He had a pretty good idea of which name they were going to say next.
"Danny Li of the 54 Immortals."
Or not.
"We have reason to believe that, contrary to our initial report on the breaching of the 54i's bio-domes, Danny Li is alive and well. Either that, or someone is doing a particularly convincing job of impersonating him."
Hernandez tapped on her keyboard, and in response a video popped up on the display screen. A bald figure, shrouded in darkness, sat in an oversized chair in what appeared to be an office of some kind, with numerous crates placed around behind him in the room.
"He's not even trying to hide it. Still using his old codename – Blackjack. The TV spiel that the suspect made wouldn't fall too far from the Immortals' philosophy, and Danny Li has plenty of outside connections."
Teele paused.
"And, while we're at it…we can't ignore Danny Li's relations with the late Commander Hendricks…for whatever they were worth."
That was something Paszek had never previously considered. When Hendricks had explained to him that Danny Li was a "friend," it wasn't exactly elaborated upon as to how or why a WA black ops asset was "friends" with one of the slimiest people in the 54i.
There had to have been a story or two or seven that Paszek hadn't heard.
"Now, there's no telling whether our suspect is a lone wolf, or a part of some larger cell. But, from what one Stephen Johnson has told us…he's more than capable of manipulating people into doing the grunt work for him."
Another pause. Paszek had plenty of questions. The others probably did, too, but everyone knew better than to interrupt Teele.
"We don't know how he got a nuclear device. We don't know how he was able to covertly place it inside of the CDC. We can worry about learning those things after we catch this guy. And if Hiram Salim is him, then, well…maybe we already have. Direct all questions to Hernandez. Dismissed."
Most everyone stood up and tried to leave as quickly as they could. Whether they other things to get to or were just bored to tears was beyond Paszek. He locked eyes with Kane, who appeared just about as drained as he was.
"Hey, uh…before they drag me away for something else," Kane started. "I just wanted to clear a few things up."
Paszek nodded.
"I shouldn't have reacted the way I did back at the hotel. There was a lot…going on, and…when you brought up Corvus, I just started thinking the worst."
She took a deep breath in.
"I know that you would never keep something like that from me on purpose…and I also should've figured it out by now that you're more than strong enough to handle whatever's happening in there."
Paszek glanced upwards. "I…I didn't handle this too well either, alright? I should've found a better way to tell you…and I should've told you about my tip from Savior sooner."
"That's in the past. We stopped it, right?"
"I…guess we did." Paszek was relieved by how smoothly that had gone.
A momentary silence.
"So…Corvus and Hall…really?" Kane asked.
"Really. Down in the CDC basement, Corvus talked to me again. I think…I think he actually helped…make it happen. Helped me take over the grunt."
"He?"
Paszek half-coughed. "Trust me…it's weird for me, too. But Corvus has thoughts, feelings, even…emotions. If he says so, then he's, well.. a he."
Kane started to speak, but Paszek quickly had to change the topic to avoid opening up a deeper rabbit hole.
"What did you think of their…assessment of Savior?"
"Based on what Hendricks told us about Danny Li…I don't doubt that he could have survived, but…it doesn't add up. He wouldn't care what any of us do outside Singapore."
"I'm with you on that," Paszek responded. "And I don't think it could be Salim, either. He's not an anarchist…neither was his uncle…"
"Well…" Kane started. "I already know how you feel about Savior's identity."
"Don't you think…he…could be?" Paszek was well aware of their surroundings, and what uttering Curran's name could mean. He was certain than Kane did, as well.
"It's…" She trailed off. "…Possible, yes. But even…even if he was, hypothetically…how long could he, you know…keep up the act for? There can only be so many incidents before they'd suspect something."
"Maybe that's why Danny Li is on their hit list…they'll never be able to capture him, not unless he wants to be caught."
"That's quite the conspiracy you've put together, Paszek."
"We've unraveled bigger ones, haven't we?"
Their conversation was not able to last much longer before Teele pulled Kane out of the meeting room and into another. She would very much have rather continued to discuss the Corvus situation with Paszek, but, well…a job was a job.
Kane had not been inside of the previous CIA director's office, so she was a bit taken aback at just how…ordinary it looked. It was almost indistinguishable from any other one in the Pentagon. She wondered if it was intentional or not.
Teele also didn't have a secretary, Kane noted. That certainly wasn't normal.
The door shut quite swiftly after they entered, with Teele stepping behind his desk so that the two were facing each other.
"I'm not going to dance around the point here," Teele began. "If you hadn't been there today, we'd be royally screwed right now. You saved millions of lives. That's not an exaggeration."
"Thank you, director."
"And, it really shouldn't have taken us this long to realize your worth to our cause…but better late that never, yes?" Teele smirked. "I've just upped your security clearance a level. Take that as a sign of good faith."
"I…I very much appreciate that, sir."
"I apologize for parading you around here for so long…but I want to show you something." Teele grabbed a paper from his desk, folded it, and placed it inside his pocket, afterwards walking out towards the door.
Kane arched her eyebrows. They had hardly been inside the office for a minute. She reluctantly followed him out of the room and back into the hallway.
It was then that Kane was bound to wordlessly tail Teele throughout the Pentagon's labyrinth, with the halls becoming less and less familiar with each turn.
Teele, at each security checkpoint, invited Kane to swipe her card as well, presumably as a display of the newfound clearance she had. Though she wasn't entirely certain that she didn't already have access to much of where they had trekked through thus far.
It was only after she was led past the blacked-out windows and the x-ray-guarded gates that she reasoned they were going to a part of the Pentagon she wasn't allowed to know about until a few moments earlier.
Whatever amount of blue and grey made up the building's palette had almost entirely been washed away by white in this section.
Hospital white.
She didn't like this already.
"I know what you're probably thinking," said Teele, prompting Kane to try making her mouth a bit less dry. "…but no. Coalescence has no stake in this project. We've been working on this, again…independent from them, for a few years now."
"And what exactly is 'this'?" Kane responded before clearing her throat.
"As I'm sure you're aware of, our brand of intelligence gathering is deeply rooted in human psychology. What did you get your bachelor's in?"
"Sociology, sir."
"Not too far from the tree, then," Teele smirked. "The DNI was, obviously, invaluable to us. But only analyzing the information acquired from interfaces and picked up from the sensory trackers was…well, we weren't using it to its full potential."
He paused.
"But the metadata…the metadata contained in just a single DNI has untold amounts of raw evidence, it's just waiting to be studied and analyzed, and…and eventually, it becomes new, highly useful knowledge about every portion of the human psyche."
Kane didn't know what to say.
"Next door on the right," Teele said, walking over to the room and slowly opening the door.
The room was merely a buffer between the hall and some other area, Kane noted, but that in of itself was a clue. A desk, with a computer monitor stood up on it, flanked an observation window.
Kane peered into the window from a safe distance. It looked like an autopsy room. Stainless steel coated nearly every surface and sinks with the overstretched faucets and rubber hoses fixed to the end of them lined the back wall. The centerpiece, naturally, was an only-mildly-scratched-up examining table.
Before she could attempt to think of something to say to Teele, the lights in the autopsy room quickly flashed on, and a duo of scrub-clad figures entered, wheeling in a gurney covered with a blank sheet.
Kane almost shuddered when the sheet was removed by the pair to reveal a tall corpse – a black man, maybe 30 years old – with his head shaved and upper skull removed. She fully expected to see a DNI sticking out of the cadaver's head, but it didn't stop her from being a little shocked to see it anyways.
After the body was placed on the table, one of the figures walked out of the room for a moment, quickly returning with a small laptop.
It didn't take much time for Kane to put it together.
"We keep the DNI connected to brain…connected to the nerve endings. Makes everything a little easier," said Teele, his arms crossed as he gazed into the window.
"You understand, right?"
Kane figured she would be forced to speak soon. "Pardon, sir?"
"You understand why we're doing this stuff…yeah?" He almost sounded unsure of himself.
"As long as we're, um….using this research…ethically." She hoped that was inoffensive enough.
"There's no one here to warn us if we're breaking protocol." Teele dropped off. "But we're sure as hell going to do better with it than Coalescence would."
"This is a former special forces soldier?" Kane asked.
"Yes. Every cadaver here is either an asset killed in action or a civilian who donated their body to science. No grave-robbing going on."
Kane supposed she would have been relieved if she was of the disposition to believe a single word that this man said.
"Just how many are there, total, then?" She posed.
"A hundred and fourteen. Well, fifteen, if you…"
"If you?"
"We've got a, uh…special case, you could call it…"
Kane narrowed her eyes.
"Look, why don't you just follow me, alright?" Teele rather hurriedly began to turn around and leave the room, placing Kane once again in the following role.
Deeper within the lab, more rooms similar to the one Kane and Teele previously stood in lined the walls, along with a handful of offices, server rooms, and the occasional restroom.
She wondered who was given this sort of security clearance just to mop the floors.
Teele peered over his shoulder as he walked. "Any DNI that's connected to a living person spits out metadata about seven thousand times faster than we can analyze it. That's why we have to examine, erm…expired individuals."
"That makes sense." Kane didn't want to appear too nervous.
"But, well…we have a bit of an anomaly on our hands. You'll just have to see what I mean."
The next room she was led into was considerably different than the last. It, like the autopsy area, had a buffer with an observation window, but nothing else. The main portion of the room had a whole bevy of medical machines and monitors – all active and running - with an IV being fed into a person lying on the bed.
A person who…what?
No.
It couldn't be.
She…no…that…just wasn't…
"I imagine you're a little…surprised?"
Kane could hardly hear Teele say anything at all, as the entirely of her senses were focused on processing the fact that Sarah Hall lay in a hospital bed in front of her.
The same Sarah Hall, as Kane constantly noted over and over in her head, that was bleeding out from her sternum in the outskirts of Cairo, and that fell over limp when Paszek interfaced with her, and that was pronounced killed in action at the site, and that methodically and brutally murdered nine CIA agents under the influence of Corvus, and…
It didn't make sense! None of it did! People died and never came back! That was the one thing she knew for sure. A sucking, untreated chest wound meant death. An interface meant death. These were facts! These were indisputable!
What kind of sick show was Teele putting on for her? Putting Hall's body into this secret lab and dressing her up and putting all these machines here to trick her? Was it a test? How was she supposed to react? Was she supposed to keep her composure? Or not? Be shocked? Stone-faced? Skeptical?
Paszek had said…no! No, he couldn't have known that! Even if Corvus knew something, even if…
No! Bullshit! It didn't…there was no way that…ugh…
Deep breaths.
"…How?" Was all she could sputter out.
"She was wounded pretty severely…almost dead. But the Egyptians threw her under ice…the Navy arranged to transport back to the states, and well…here she is."
Teele crossed his arms. "It's a damn miracle that she made it in one piece, it really is."
"What about…her injuries?"
"Patched up just fine…after some trial and error. But her brain…we don't quite understand what's happening."
Kane diverted her eyes to Teele and narrowed them.
"Nothing has deteriorated," said Teele. "But there's no activity. No response to stimuli. I'm no doctor, but our best people have no clue either. So, we just observe. And wait."
"And the DNI?" She was almost afraid to ask.
"Another mystery. It's still running, but it's not transmitting any data. None. We can't extract anything from it, either. But it's still on."
Kane opened her mouth to speak, but decided against asking another question, letting her exhale fall flat.
"…Anyways, I'll give you some time to process this. Drop by if you need to know anything else." Teele turned around and exited without much agency.
Kane wiped and massaged her eyes with three fingers before continuing to be affixed by the scene in front of her.
Corpses were supposed to be pale, right? Hall wasn't. Well, she was a little pale…no more than when she was alive, though. Maybe. She couldn't quite remember.
But she was alive. Right now. She was alive right now. She had to keep telling herself that every few seconds, or she would forget it, and find herself right back where she started. There was a cognitive path, somewhere, to her understanding exactly what sat in the hospital bed, but it was not a straight line – it looped around and backwards and maybe dipped into in the third dimension. It eventually led forward, Kane figured, but how long it would take was a different story.
With enough mental gymnastics having been completed to accept, at least for the sake of pondering, that Sarah Hall was, indeed, alive, Kane needed to ask…was this in her best interest? Was she being held against her will?
This facility – from what she understood – only operated on deceased patients. If Hall wakes up one morning…what happens to her? Considering that it had taken nearly a decade of near-spotless service and the defusing of a nuke to grant Kane access…how would Hall's level 3 clearance fare?
Well, she already knew. Sarah Hall was alive. But within an hour of her awakening, she'd be dead again. Or maybe for the first time. Morbid curiosity was the only thing staying the barbiturate or whatever they would use.
Where the fuck did this even fall in her laundry list of mental priorities? Before or after her partner's terrorist stalker and the uber-intelligent AI inside of his brain?
It certainly must've been higher up than the fact that she hadn't spoken to her parents in over a year.
No. That went to the back. This, what was sitting in the same room as her, that was what was important. That was what mattered.
This was what mattered.
It took only a minute or so for Paszek to realize he wasn't exactly wanted in the Pentagon's lower floors, so he soon found himself topside, camped out in a remote corner of the food court.
He figured he may as well catch up on some stuff.
A quick skim of some buried medical files revealed to him that Khalil was going to be okay. His legs still needed another few months before he'd be able to walk again, but altogether, he came out of NRC captivity better than most.
Cairo had fallen back into Egyptian control, with a large WA force – mostly British special forces – heavily bolstering the normally-outmatched EA. The situation in Egypt, and Northern Africa as a whole, was still far from ideal, but seemed to be slowly improving with increased WA support and a growing sense that the CDP wishes to distance itself from the NRC.
It had also been decided by a multinational committee that the WA and CDP would officially declare Singapore a "rouge state." This technically required both parties to recognize the 54 Immortals as the official reigning power of the nation, which, while dubious, also cleared red tape for civilians and government officials to be evacuated, pending negotiations. China would likely lead the way in that regard. The new head enforcers for the 54i – whoever they were – had far less of a grudge against their neighbors than any of the more affluent Western nations.
With Kane at least 15 or so feet underneath him, there was only one other person he could consider talking to.
"Hey, I know it's real late over there…if this is a bad time…"
"Not at all." De Klerk replied. "The work schedule is very odd now. This is actually my break time. Funny, yes?"
Paszek halfheartedly chuckled. "Sounds rough."
"I hear that there was terrorist plot back in America. Is everything okay?" De Klerk sounded a little distressed.
"I was right there, actually," Paszek replied nonchalantly.
"I should not be surprised, I guess. I trust you and Officer Kane are alright?"
"We're fine. Business as usual," he replied. "Have you talked to her at all recently?"
"I don't believe so. I think the last time was a few weeks ago when you called. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, nothing in particular. Just curious. We, uh…actually had a little miscommunication, but it's all worked out now.
"Ah, good, good…" De Klerk drifted off. "The talk about our work, it is…depressive, no? Perhaps another topic would be best?"
"Sure."
After a short silence, De Klerk chuckled rather audibly. "Ha ha…I guess I have not found too many things to talk about that are not depressing. I spend very little time not working or sleeping."
"You have any friends to be around? Family?"
"Colleagues. Some are friends…some are not. Most of the family moved to Germany a few years ago…I call sometimes, but it is not the same, yes?"
"Sorry to hear," said Paszek. "Ever think of joining them?"
"Yes, yes…" De Klerk began. "But my work here is good…helping people. Even...even if I were to be allowed to join the German branch of Winslow Accord…I do not feel so comfortable with all of their actions. Does…do you understand what I mean by that?"
"…I get it, yeah," was all Paszek could muster. He himself had spent too many sleepless nights with the same sort of question, and it never had a good answer.
"I do not mean to insult you…you are good man," De Klerk said, making Paszek wish he had been a bit more elaborative in his support. "But I have qualms enough wearing my country's peaceful colors…any more red, and I could not take it anymore."
"They just reached an agreement about Singapore, you know…maybe it'll all be over soon."
"I hope so, friend," De Klerk quickly replied. "I hope so."
Another silence overcame the two.
De Klerk once again broke it. "I must apologize…I need to get some sleep. We will talk more soon, yes?"
"Of course. Just call anytime."
"Glad to hear. You stay well."
"You too."
Paszek breathed a sigh of relief knowing that at least he wasn't responsible for ending all of his phone calls today.
But as his thoughts drifted back to Corvus and Hall and the bombs that almost killed him, the prospect of tomorrow quickly overtook him once again, and he found himself wishing for the next day to not come for a long, long time.
That was not the whole story. Kane knew that much. Whatever benevolence Teele claimed to hold, he didn't. No one that high up could. It didn't work like that.
She also couldn't ignore Paszek's concerns about all the suspicion Curran seemed to be placing on himself. Whether what Teele and his underling were up was connected or not was another question in it of itself, but she didn't have to information to answer it. Or to answer just about anything.
But what Kane did have was her basic intuition and a brand-new level in clearance that certainly would be at least worth testing on some well-to-open doors.
Teele had gone to back to his office, and she wanted to avoid any additional contact with him, so she simply followed the numbers back to the personal office of one Jaime Curran – who was predictably absent.
Kane hesitated as she reached for her card. Her trying to do this – successful or not – would be logged. And maybe flagged as suspicious. She already had a poor excuse ready, but she wasn't too confident in the disposition of whoever would confront her to be forgiving.
Fuck it. The level of treason she was already plotting in her head far exceeded whatever bureaucratic infraction this was going to be.
Yes.
The green flicker that appeared on the card receptacle was one of the more satisfying moments she'd experienced recently, and any reservations she had about this receded halfway as she lightly swung open the door and entered.
She took little note of the interior – it was almost identical to Teele's with the exception of being much less well organized. After closing the door behind her, she moved behind the desk and to the computer.
Kane tapped on the keyboard, with the screen lighting up a short moment after. Another moment of relief washed over her as she saw Curran's desktop being displayed immediately – no password needed.
As she skimmed over the folders, files, and programs that lie cluttered on Curran's desktop, Kane quickly came to the conclusion that she was going to have to search this computer with a bit more specificity than she had hoped – there was simply too much to sift through in a single sitting. Would she be able to come back and do this again? There's no way she could get away with a hard copy, let alone a digital one that could be traced back to her account…
She clicked on a file labeled "Diagnostics 11/2." Maybe it held something as to whether Curran had a DNI? Paszek had insisted that Savior had one.
Nothing. A text file with too many numbers and symbols to process. Unopenable in any other programs. Why have this on your desktop?
Savior claimed to have a DNI…but did he? Was it necessary? Was he just trying to throw them off? Curran should have been in the loop enough to know they were bad news from the start…right? Even if he didn't…why keep it? It seemed less and less likely with every sentence that Kane formed in her head that Curran was un-augmented.
"DNI"
The search term that Kane typed into the task window pulled in the kind of results that she was looking for. Mission reports. Project files. All sorts of things that even someone of her level would be handed a redacted copy of. What untold secrets hid in such…
No. Toss that aside. Can't get distracted.
How long did she have?
His schedule was easy to find. Kane was quite honestly surprised at how comprehensive it was, given how organizationally nonchalant he appeared to be. Auto-generated? She stopped giving it thought.
Kane felt her shoulders fall a bit as she read today's breakdown. Curran would be in another meeting until 7, and then was going home, apparently. She had all the time in the world. Well, no. Not really. Someone would come eventually. She still needed to act with some amount of agency.
Now for the make-or-break moment.
"Paszek"
The sheer volume of results came close to making her physically shudder.
They were talking about him. Talking about him all the time. Almost every day. So many emails…so many chains…so few people involved.
She needed to find the start. She needed to know where this began…who started it…and what the hell they were planning on doing now.
It was too much. Too many words…too many tangents…she couldn't process it like Paszek would be able to.
For perhaps the first time in her life, she wished she had a DNI.
Exhaling forcefully, Kane found herself semi-arbitrarily clicking on a message with Curran's name in the author box and diving right in.
ELECTRONIC MESSAGE ARCHIVES: CIA PENTAGON:
DO NOT REMOVE FROM LOCAL DRIVE
FROM: Curran, Jaime
TO: Teele, Robert H.
Cc: Hernandez, Caitlin
SENT: December 3rd, 2070, 22:57:03
SUBJECT: For your consideration…
I know I've mentioned this before, but I'd like to get the ball rolling on making my proposal official…whatever that entails, exactly. I think this could be the best idea I've had a long time, and it's gonna do more for your legacy than you can even begin to understand right now.
I showed you those video files, right? I attached them in case I haven't. The guy's an absolute fucking machine. He's taking down entire buildings worth of targets in minutes – with zero fire support. That's not a guy, that's a fucking one-man-army.
It looks too fucking easy for this guy. Why don't we just throw him wherever we need the most done? He's clearly willing to do it for us – he hasn't sold out after the Coalescence leak and I doubt that he will. Especially considering the lady in his corner.
Just think about it.
FROM: Teele, Robert H.
TO: Curran, Jaime
Cc: Hernandez, Caitlin
SENT: December 3rd, 2070, 23:12:12
SUBJECT: RE: For your consideration…
Commander Paszek would be a valuable asset, Curran. I don't doubt that.
What I am concerned about – and what you seem to misinterpret – is that we cannot assume that his feelings towards our organization, our mission, and our country are set in stone. He is a critical thinker, and not nearly as blind to our motion as you might want to believe. I've seen the videos, yes, but have you read his reports? His files? I have. Hernandez has, too.
Bringing on Paszek for critical mission deployment is something I'd be more than willing to do, but we need to be far less nonchalant about this.
Do we keep him cuffed to Kane? I don't believe we should. If anything, we should place them very far apart – any allegiance Kane holds to us will still transfer over, but they won't have the means to conspire, something that our regional asset, Mwangi, seemed to be certain they were doing.
What exact role do we place him in? As much as we'd like to throw him at our most pressing issues, we cannot expect his compass to remain still if he is doing constant black operations. He is not that naïve, and we shouldn't be either. Singapore was risky enough, but Tajikistan? Mongolia? We cannot afford to send anyone with a left brain there.
I've already got Hernandez on the paperwork to bring him back in January. From there, we take it slow. Maybe keep him stateside for a while. We're not going to win this war in a day.
FROM: Curran, Jaime
TO: Teele, Robert H.
Cc: Hernandez, Caitlin
SENT: December 4th, 2070, 19:29:59
SUBJECT: RE: RE: For your consideration…
Just wanted to follow up on what we talked about earlier today. The precedent set by the closure of the Battle Simulation trials means that allocating Paszek as a Specialist is the best way to lock down our contingencies. We don't even have to start slow, unless we really want to for some reason.
He'll be successful. He'll get shit done for a while. If he gets KIA on a mission? Unfortunate, but any risk of his straying goes away, and maybe we learn a thing or two about which buttons in the Middle East we can't quite press. If we sense he's planning on going AWOL? Bring him back to the facility and terminate. We have the authority to do it, as long as he's got the Specialist class attached to that file. There's no way we lose this.
What the fuck?
Kane had to stop. Everything before that point was enough to make her skin crawl, but that? Termination at their own fucking leisure? On what authority? Battle Simulation?
She needed more answers. Still more digging to do. Now, she needed the answers now. No time to wait. Termination. Now. At any moment.
"Battle Simulation", like the other terms before it, yielded more search results than Kane would have liked to see. Kane readied herself mentally before opening the most recent file in the query.
Mission Report: Russell Pond, Maine: March 14th, 2069: Associate Intelligence Officer Bryan Makowski:
It had been decided one week prior that March 14th would serve as the date of termination for all Specialist assets located at the Langley center. This information was only given to the officers to execute the termination and to a small group of analysts.
Unbeknownst to us, on March 12th, Officer Dara Mills discreetly warned two Specialists – assets Battery and Seraph – that they were to be terminated on the scheduled date. Presumably, Battery and Seraph relayed news of their termination to the remaining assets, and they planned a counterattack.
On the morning of March 14th (it should be noted that their termination was to occur at 17:00 local time), a group consisting of assets Ruin, Battery, and Nomad directly assaulted their medical staff, killing two and wounding another. Soon after, additional officers arrived and killed the three assets, after which the termination was, as an emergency precaution, moved to occur immediately.
In a more coordinated conspiracy, assets Seraph and Prophet launched a series of assaults on the present officers, killing five and wounding seven more before being put down.
Asset Firebreak was found dead in his quarters, a victim of self-immolation. He also intentionally destroyed his DNI before doing so.
Asset Reaper did not participate in the rebellion and surrendered immediately. It voluntarily agreed to be deactivated.
Assets Outrider and Spectre were unable to be subdued and escaped the facility. A full-priority search is underway. At the time, it is unknown if the two are together or have since separated. We have reason to believe they have communicated with Officer Mills, and they may be located with them as well.
Again…what the actual fuck was she reading?
What were "assets?" People? Test subjects? Soldiers? What were they doing in Maine?
Was she supposed to be surprised by this anymore? Did she honestly think they weren't doing these things without her knowing?
It was one thing to sweep the leg from underneath your assets overseas…but to do it on US soil? That was a special kind of…
No, it wasn't. It was the same. What she had supervised…what she had overlooked…it was the same as what they'd done in Maine. It was the same. It wasn't better.
That didn't make it okay. It made it terrible. Despicable. Unforgivable.
It was long past time for her to escape this mess of an organization – long past time for her to actually own up to it – to stop making the same bullshit excuses she'd made for the past ten years.
No! Well, yes, but…this wasn't the time. Computer. Intel. Paszek. Read, read, read, process later…
There was only so much information she could take in at once. The front of her head and the rug underneath it only had so much room, and they were both bursting at the seams.
But she had to keep going.
FROM: Teele, Robert H.
TO: Curran, Jaime
Cc: Hernandez, Caitlin
SENT: December 5th, 2070, 05:57:11
SUBJECT: RE: RE: RE: For your consideration…
I hope you understand my hesitation in moving forward with your offer, Curran. I shouldn't have to remind you that it's not exactly my prerogative to execute our soldiers. Paszek has served this country well – more so than just about anyone else. I will certainly take the opportunity to make use of his skills. I will not relish my ability to kill him at any moment, because I would dislike doing so very much.
Terminating Paszek should not be so easy. Officer Kane is quite attached to him, if you haven't noticed, and I am even more reluctant to get rid of her. Her actions have done a truly exceptional amount of good for our cause. Would you like to find an excuse to terminate her as well? I would hope not.
If you've got a better way to get around this, then I'm all ears.
FROM: Teele, Robert H.
TO: Curran, Jaime
Cc: Hernandez, Caitlin
SENT: January 1st, 2070, 06:01:00
SUBJECT: Change of plans
Send Paszek and Kane to Al-Arish in two days. Assign him the Specialist class – whatever the least consequential toy you have, give that to him. Things are different now, but we keep them on a short leash.
I can't stress enough how delicate this situation is. Short. Leash.
FORWARDED MESSAGE FROM: Hernandez, Caitlin
SENT: January 4th, 2070, 10:27:77
Don't make a mountain out of a molehill, but Teele wanted to keep you out of the loop on all of this. I'm sending it your way. Just keep it quiet, okay?
-ORIGINAL MESSAGE-
FROM: Teele, Robert H.
TO: Hernandez, Caitlin
SUBJECT: Future tests
SENT: January 4th, 2070, 07:01:55
It's unorganized, I know, but this is just for you to look at, get familiar with what I'm thinking here. Organize it yourself, if you want.
What analysis/dissection of Asset PI_1 could yield (research/leads):
Increased capacity – brain stem enlarged?
Damage control (minimizing mental errors/"under pressure" mode)
Lightswitch theory evidence (multiple cockpits or multiple pilots?)
Non-combatant applications (IMPORTANT – live analysis required)
Transplant? – partial or complete
Implanting AI
Corvus project still active? Worth a shot or scrap?
If starting from scratch…use existing organic template?
The potential just sitting inside this man is astounding…I find myself feeling like a bounty hunter…Paszek is worth just as much to me dead as he is alive. But in a situation totally and utterly unique to myself…I have the man right within my grasp. I can choose to reap my reward and any moment…but when? For how much longer will his living skills outvalue the vast wealth of information I can pluck from him?
I guess it's my job to answer these questions myself. More important is determining exactly how on board with the process Paszek will be. The fact that he's even agreed to return in the first place makes me feel a bit more comfortable with the situation, though.
That cryo-weapon he'll be assigned…what a piece of junk. It's plenty effective…but makes one hell of a mess. And at 2 grand for a single round? Talk about inefficient. Hopefully he'll figure that out for himself. But not too quickly.
I have a hunch that this business in Zurich is not nearly as big of a deal as it's being made out to be. It will at least be a relevant matter to send Paszek into. Give him some agency.
She wanted to throw up. But she needed to leave. They needed to leave now. Go off the grid. Never look back.
Was Teele still here? In the building? What about Curran? And Hernandez?
Hernandez…Caitlin? She was nice. They had gotten lunch together. Was she really this…bad? Evil? Was that even a word she was allowed to use anymore?
Paszek! Was he still upstairs? They needed to leave now. But she couldn't make a scene. It had to be normal. Normal walking and normal talking and normal driving back to their apartment…
Was it worth even going back there? Should they just go somewhere else? When was Wes going to get back to her…did he have something lined up?
Money…could she even access her accounts…was she thinking too far ahead?
Where was Paszek?
The alarm sound that blared from the door-side wall nearly made her fall out of her chair, but it only took her a second to physically collect herself and run for the door. Was this for her? Did they catch her?
"Hey, hey, don't take the elevator! Stairs! Get to the stairs!" shouted an unfamiliar voice from the hallway. Kane rushed over to the door and yanked it open to see three maintenance staff running in the opposite direction as a short man in scrubs, who quickly turned and addressed Kane.
"At least two bombs just went off on this level!"
"What?!" she stammered.
"Bombs! Evacuate and warn whoever else you can, alright?"
Kane nodded as the man dashed off. She realized a moment later that there were certainly no exits the way he had ran.
It was him.
Savior was right in front of her.
And it was going to end, one way or another.