Chapter Seventeen

THAT SAME NIGHT…

Curtis always considered himself to be one of Brother's Day's most loyal agents.

He worked his way up the ranks to be one of Titus Sweete's best subordinates. He understands how important it is to follow instructions to the letter, and how foolish it is to question those instructions.

The only time he managed to fail an assignment was when he was sent to fetch Dr. Edmunds from his apartment. Brother's Day still needed his help to infiltrate the Nosis. He arrived at the apartment to find two Dr. Edmunds before taking a blow to the back of his head. The next thing he knew, the apartment was empty; and when he finally made it to the docks, the sub had already left.

It took all his courage to report to B.D. Commander and explain why he was not on the sub. When he did arrive at the headquarters, he was apprehended like an intruder. As far as Brother's Day knew, the real Agent Curtis was had just fled the sub with Dr. Edmunds moments ago.

For four days, Curtis was branded a traitor and held in confinement, under intense interrogation. The Nosis had been blown to bits, but Sweete had been captured and arrested…and Curtis was blamed for running like a coward. Despite the treatment he had received from his fellow agents, he stuck to his story about the two Dr. Edmunds. But then B.D. Commander received information from a spy in the NSA about Infiltration Unit Zeta. The information showed that Zeta was the second Dr. Edmunds, and his crazy girlfriend knocked him unconscious. With this new evidence, Curtis was exonerated and reinstated.

His new assignment is to act as an orderly for Dr. Eli Selig, Zeta's creator.

When Sleig's escape pod was shot down, he and his assistant, Donossa, were captured by the sub. Since then, B.D. Commander has ordered that they be confined in the infirmary while he extracts information about Zeta and the IU Program. Sadly, the 'guests' have been less than cooperative.

And now, as a blindfolded Dr. Selig sits strapped in a wheelchair, Curtis wheels him into the Dark Room. Curtis has been in there before, so he knows what's in store for Dr. Selig. And considering what he had to endure thanks to this whacko scientist, Curtis does not feel sorry for him at all.

The door closes behind him, leaving them in darkness. A moment later, a light shines on a huge desk at the far side of the room. Curtis has never seen such a desk in here before, but what really shocks him was the huge chair behind it. It turns around to reveal a figure in a long brown trench coat. His hands are covered in black gloves, and his face is concealed by a black ski mask, matching goggles and a brown fedora.

Curtis can barely believe his eyes. It's him! It's B.D. Commander…! At least, Curtis thinks it's him. He has never seen the Commander's face. Those who probably have never talk about it.

And now B.D. Commander is actually in the Dark Room, confronting his 'guest' face-to-face… Curtis shudders as he hears the Commander say, "Thank you, Curtis. Bring him to the desk, and then you can wait outside."

B.D. Commander's voice is still the same as if he was outside the room. Curtis can only speculate that there's a microphone hidden under the mask. But he knows better than to just stand there wondering about it. As soon as Dr. Selig is in position, the door opens. Once he's outside and the door closes, he takes a deep breath as though he's been holding it in the whole time he was in there. The thought of having to face B.D. Commander all alone… (Better you than me, you old quack!)

B.D. Commander focuses his attention on his 'guest'. "Dr. Selig, this has gone on long enough. I have gone out of my way to ensure that you recover from your ordeal, although a huge part of me still feels that we should have left you to sink with that evil lab of yours. Do you have any idea what you've done? Well, do you?"

Dr. Selig says nothing. First his lab was blown to bits, and then his escape pod crashes into the sea. The next thing he knows, he's being held in what might be some kind of hospital. But he can't be sure, not while he's being strapped to a bed and blindfolded the whole time. What's worse, the 'doctors' only want to ask questions about the infiltration units, especially Zeta. It breaks his heart to be reminded of what he had hoped would be his greatest accomplishment. He had so many plans for that one…

"Dr. Selig! Are you even listening? I'm trying to help you right a tremendous wrong! By creating these IU units, you have jeopardized humanity!" B.D. Commander grabs the only file on the desk. "It's bad enough that you create robots that impersonate the people they're sent to kill, but you've managed to do the unthinkable… You've enabled a robot to actually become human!"

Suddenly, he grabs Selig's blindfold and yanks it off, taking a few white hairs with it. Then he grabs Selig's glasses, which he had hidden in the desk, and shoves them on Selig's face. B.D. Commander is through being nice to him. He wants answers, and he wants them now.

The first thing Selig is able to see is a pile of papers sprawled on a desk. He's not able to read the fine print, but he does notice one page with the words "Wanted" in huge print. Below those words are two pictures. One is the face of a young man. The other is a headshot of… (Isn't that…?)

B.D. Commander holds up the wanted poster. "That is Zeta! Infiltration Unit Zeta! You created this monster! And now it's walking the streets, pretending to be a human being!" He shoves it in Selig's face. "Open your eyes and look at what you've done!"

Dr. Selig's eyes are wide open now. And they are completely focused on the human face on the poster. The young man with blue eyes…the black hair…the forelock… (He looks so familiar… Where have I seen him…?)

"Don't act like you don't know who this…! Oh, wait… You still haven't figured it out yet, have you? Well, let me explain it to you. The human face next to Zeta is his human form. For years, he's been posing as 'Zee Smith'. After the government had failed miserably time and time again to capture Zeta, they decided to throw in the towel, allow him to run wild and let his jaded past fade away, like another conspiracy theory.

"Do you know why? Because you, Dr. Selig, decided to install a 'conscience module' and not tell anyone! What were you thinking, giving a killing machine extra artificial intelligence? And why did you keep it a secret? You had plans for Zeta, didn't you? Plans you didn't want the government to know about? Would you like to clear your own conscience and tell me what those plans were?"

B.D. Commander puts the wanted poster back on the desk. "And before you go into denial again, let me show you something." He opens a drawer and brings out a disc. He then grabs a small laptop, inserts the disc inside it, and after clicking a few buttons, he turns it around so that Selig can see the screen.

Selig cannot believe his eyes. It's him! It's like he's talking directly to a camera as he talks about Zeta.

…Truth is I never had the stomach for building weapons, so I put an extra module in Zeta: a conscience, to make him rethink his programming. Imaging if the government knew what I was doing on their time.

So you never told them?

Of course not. They'd have stopped me… But it doesn't matter now. The module never activated. Zeta became a killer like the rest of them. It's a shame. I had plans for that one.

Selig remembers that moment. It was on the Nosis, right before…everything exploded. But he wasn't talking to any reporters. There was only…that man in the picture…

B.D. Commander puts the footage on pause. "I can see it in your eyes, Selig. You finally recognize him. He…is…Zeta! Your stupid module's been active the whole time! That's why he's been on the loose all this time…looking for you! And when he did find you…you had no idea who he was." After a deep breath he adds, "You know, Selig, for such a brilliant scientist, you're not very smart. With all that technology at your disposal, you create a special module for that one robot; and yet, it never occurred to you to keep track of it once the government let it loose on the world. All it knew what to do was run from the NSA." He goes through the file and pulls out another wanted poster for Selig to see. "It was this smart-aleck street urchin, of all people, who made it realize that it needed to find the person who made him. She's been by its side ever since, although I'm sure the unlimited cred card it carries has something to do with that."

(That girl…) Selig suddenly remembers her, too. She really was by that young man's side both times…

His mind wanders back to a time when the Nosis was still intact; when he was ordered to drop whatever he was doing to lead a team of scientists to create robots. But they were not to be just ordinary robots, they would be synthoids: synthetic humans. The government wanted these synthetic humans to impersonate wanted criminals in order to infiltrate their secret organizations and destroy them from within.

But in order to do that, they had to be equipped with weapons that would put a small army to shame; ideal for getting rid of anything or anyone who stood in their way…even the people they were impersonating.

How it sickened Selig to have been put in that situation, but he wasn't in a position to say 'no'. So, with a heavy heart, he went to work creating the government's new toys; and it took everything he had not to get sick. The very idea of making these things in order to kill people… (What if they kill someone who turns out to be innocent? What happens then?)

That was not the kind of legacy Dr. Eli Selig wanted to leave behind…

B.D. Commander puts the poster back in the folder. (Selig still won't say anything. How can he still be in denial? Perhaps it's time I play the trump card…) "Listen, Selig. You need to understand how dangerous these synthoids have become. They will replace humanity as we know it unless they are stopped. And Zeta is the most dangerous one yet. Not only does it have artificial intelligence, it also has nanonites."

(Nanonites…nanonites…) And now, another flashback comes to Selig's mind…

A few years back, he had just finished another science lecture when he ran into a fellow classmate from his university years. He could barely remember her name, but he listened as the former classmate, now a college professor, went on and on about her husband, children and grandchildren.

It was the most painstaking forty-five minutes of his life.

It made him think of all the years he wasted burying himself in his studies, too busy to enjoy life and what it had to offer. He wasn't a young man anymore, and now that he was working for the government, he had even less time to socialize than he could have had during his university years. His chances of building a family for himself slipped through his fingers a long time ago.

He knew adoption was out of the question; his schedule with the government kept him away from his home for weeks, even months at a time. And his age would also be a big concern. So he decided to work on a special off-duty project between assignments. Most of the work done on this was on his computers at home. He did not want to government to know about it. This was something he had to do for himself. If it worked, it would be a legacy he can actually be proud of…

B.D. Commander is ready to jump over his desk and shake the living daylights out of Selig, but he knows better. He is not going to give this old coot the satisfaction of thinking that he is crazy in any way. Selig is the madman, not him! Selig created these robots. Selig has those things killing people and replacing them. Selig is the threat to humanity…and one way or the other, B.D. Commander is going to make him see the error of his ways.

Sadly, this way just doesn't seem to be working.

After taking a deep breath, he blindfolds Dr. Selig and returns to his desk. Using a remote control unit hidden in his desk, he opens the door. Curtis, who has been waiting patiently, is slightly startled as he had no warning. Nevertheless, he peers through the entrance, waiting for instructions.

"Take him back to his room, Cutris. There's nothing more for today."

Curtis does as he is told. As he wheels Dr. Selig back to his room, he can't help but wonder what was said in the Dark Room. Once that door is closed, the room is completely sound-proof. Nothing would please Curtis more than having the chance to interrogate Selig his own way. Of course he knows better than to pull a stunt like that; he'd never risk being confined in that cell again. But judging from the way B.D. Commander spoke just then, Curtis can only assume that Selig was being uncooperative as usual.

Once inside the infirmary, a nurse is waiting by the bed with a needle. Her orders are to keep Selig sedated just enough so that he can't put up a fight. After the injection, it's up to Curtis to move Selig's body from the wheelchair to his bed. Even though he's been sedated, he must be strapped to the bed. Escape is not an option.

Now that Selig is 'tucked in', Curtis calls it a night. His shift is finally over. The 'night staff' will tend to Selig's needs while he gets some rest. He hurries to the locker room to change out of his orderly uniform and into a construction worker outfit. He would prefer something more casual, but if he wants to keep working for Brother's Day, then part of the job requires him to dress accordingly when coming to and from the elevator connecting the secret underground organization to the construction site on the surface. It was a warehouse, but now that neighbouring warehouses are being converted into office space, B.D. Commander has decided his should do the same to avoid any suspicion.

For Curtis, it's a small price to pay. Dressed like all the other construction workers, he can move about casually to the parking lot. And as he drives to his apartment, he has the satisfaction of knowing that Dr. Eli Selig isn't going anywhere. The NSA thinks he's dead; and even if they were looking for him, they'd never think to look in an active construction site…

And best of all…his days of manufacturing killer robots are over.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

To be continued…