Extremly sorry for the late dely on updating, a lot was happening over the holidays.
Some minor language below and some dialouge from Falling Skies.
Chapter 14 Making a New Weapon
After an additional two days in the infirmary I was finally out. Dr. Glass wrapped up my chest again and gave me some more pills to take at specific times each day. I just took the pills, now used to taking some form of medication for almost the last month. I know it sounds weird but Dr. Glass seemed happy to have me leave the clinic. She's been acting weird for the past two days, always leaving the clinic in the middle of the night along with Lourdes. Maybe they were looking for Alyssa who hadn't returned to the clinic, but I doubt that.
My last two days in the clinic were pretty boring and quiet since Pope wasn't there to bother me. Apparently he had done something amazing with the 2nd Mass's bullets and they could now blast through Mech armor. Weaver was obviously impressed so he appointed Pope as overseer of the bullet making division. I doubt the former overseer is happy with Weaver, though I'm sure Pope is thrilled to be doing something even if it is helping the 2nd Mass.
After wondering around for an hour I sat down on a bench outside and began reflecting on the days to come. Mr. Mason had returned back from his scouting mission and apparently he and Weaver had agree that we stood a good chance against the skitters if they could properly place the bombs underneath the structure. Dr. Glass told me that there was some concern as to how far they would make it past the skitters but with Pope's bullets they were confident they could carve a way through.
I heard some noise coming from inside the cafeteria and was curious as to what it could be. I got up and began moving towards the noise where I was shocked to learn that the noise was actually laughter. I entered the cafeteria and saw that a ton of people were sitting down, watching some cartoon movie on the screen. I leaned back against the wall and began watching the movie. It was pretty corny but I enjoyed watching something on a screen, it had been a long time since that happened.
I noticed the Mason kids sitting down on some chairs, all laughing together like one big, happy family. Pangs of jealously and rage went through my body as I observed them, why did they get to be happy when so many others were miserable? Why did Ben get so much love while I had to scramble for drops of it? Ben probably didn't even mean the things he said in the clinic, he certainly didn't look like he was suffering.
It was at that moment when I realized that I missed having a friend. I missed Ben and guilt went through my body as I remember my confrontation with him. Why did I have to get mad? What was the point of that? I knew that Ben would already be pissed when I told him, so why did I allow myself to get just as mad? It was stupid and had lost me a friend. What I regretted most was calling him a razor back. Ben didn't deserve that title, nobody did.
But then I remembered how Ben had reacted, which was overboard and stupid himself. Did he really have to beat the crap out of me and damage my body even more? No, no he didn't. In a way Ben was messed up, but then again, so am I.
"Glad to see your out of the clinic." A voice said next to me. I turned slightly and saw Mr. Mason standing next to me.
I nodded, "Ya." I said, not really wanting to talk with anybody right now.
"It's been almost a week since we've talked Michael, do you remember anything else about the attack?" Mr. Mason asked me kindly.
"No." I said monotone.
Mr. Mason nodded his head and turned towards the movie, though I noticed that he was mainly just looking at Ben. I also noticed Dr. Glass looking over at us, though she turned away and tried to look preoccupied when we made eye contact.
"Michael," Mr. Mason said. "I want to ask you something. Before the landed yourself in the clinic again, did you noticed anything odd about Ben"
"Odd?" I asked, thinking of several good examples.
"Ya, odd." Mr. Mason said, not willing to clarify on the situation. I looked back at Dr. Glass who was once again looking at us through the corner of her eye. I turned towards Mr. Mason and shook my head.
"No." I responded. I looked away from him, focusing my attention towards the stupid movie as if to signal to him that I was done with this conversation. Mr. Mason silently nodded his head and began to walk away, before turning around.
"If you do, please tell me." Mr. Mason said. I nodded my head, not making eye contact with him. After a few minutes when I knew he was gone I turned to leave. I could believe that Ben hadn't told his family about the end of our friendship, he didn't want to draw any more attention to himself since he knew he was some freak.
The drugs were starting to take effect so I wondered back to the fighter's quarter in a daze. When I entered the room the few fighters there gave me odd looks but I ignored them. I fell onto my cot, which I could distinguish from the rest due to the blood on it. Before long I was out of it and dreaming.
"Hello? Earth to Michael!" A voice said, "Wake up!"
"Wh… What?" I said. My eyes came into focus and I saw that Jimmy was standing right above me. "Jimmy? What do you want?"
"Captain Weaver wants to see you." Jimmy said plainly.
"What about?" I asked, trying to get up without causing too much pain to my chest area.
"Beats me." He said, walking away. I grunted loudly as I tried to get up smoothly, finally achieving my goal. As I dressed more appropriately I saw the few fighters that were in the sleeping quarter with me were giving me weird looks. I sighed, realizing it must be because of my bandages and bruises. I finished putting on my clothes, making sure that they carefully did not irritate my bandages and walked outside to Weaver's quarters.
As I walked down the corridors to meet with Weaver I noticed that almost every fighter I passed was looking at me. This time I knew it wasn't because of the bandages which were safely covered under my clothes.
When I reached Weaver's quarters the two guards outside gave me sympathetic looks. I looked at them curiously. "Captain Weaver told me to report to him." I told the guards.
"Of course he did." One of them said, opening the door for me. I looked at both of them again but neither of them would look me in the eye. I entered the room and saw Weaver standing beside a window, looking out at nothing in particular.
"Sit down Michael." Weaver commanded, not turning towards me. I nodded and sat down in a seat in front of his desk. Weaver continued to look outside for a few more seconds before turning around and sitting at his desk. He looked at me, staring over my entire body, making me feel inferior to him. After a minute or so he finally spoke.
"How old are you?" He asked me.
I gulped nervously, "uh, 14 sir."
"14?" Weaver asked. I nodded my head and Weaver began to nod his. "Quite brave of you to become a fighter."
"Thank you sir." I said, my body still tense. Weaver stared at me again, his eyes burrowing into me. After another minute he spoke again.
"Michael I now relive you of your duties to the 2nd Massachusetts. You are no longer a fighter and now a civilian again."
I was stunned, feeling like a train had just ran over me. The blood disappeared from my face and I felt my gut turn in painful directions. I hadn't felt like this since the Mech attack.
"Wh…what?" I could barely manage to say.
"You will report to the armory and disperse of all your weapons to the quarter master. You will then pack your bags and return to your living conditions in the civilian quarters. It has been an honor to have you serve under me. You are dismissed." Weaver said, looking me directly in the eye. After he finished his speech he turned to some work on his desk and began to work as if nothing had happened.
"But sir… why?" I could barely manage to get out.
"Why?" Weaver said, not turning away from work. "Just look at yourself Michael."
"What about me?" I said, not wanting to state the obvious.
"Your too damn injured!" Weaver shouted, slamming his fist down on the desk. I shuttered as his fist hit the desk from shock and Weaver uncontrolled breathing. "Just look at yourself Michael, you're a mess! I can't have you participating in the assault in your condition, you'll just slow us down! How the hell did you even manage to get so broken?"
I sat there mouth open, unable to respond to Weaver's questions. Weaver didn't even seem to want an answer as he continued his rant. "Anyone who can't keep themselves in good condition doesn't deserve to a fighter! It just slows the unit down and with those bastards from space out there we can't have that! We need to be united and you would not help."
"I… I…" I started.
"You can what?" Weaver said, cutting me off. "Serve as a fucking meat shield? Because that's all your good for right now Michael! Now, once again, you are dismissed!"
Stunned and near tears I got up quickly and ran out the room and down the hallway, trying to get as far away from Weaver and the rest of the fighters as possible. I ran into a bathroom and began to cry like a girl. Everything seemed to be falling apart! My friendship with Ben was dead, my life as a fighter was gone, and my body is also falling apart as well! Part of me knew that Weaver was right, but did he have to say it like that and dismiss me entirely from the service? What the hell was that about? He could of put me on leave or something, not kick me out like that! Rage replaced the anguish I felt moments ago and I told myself that I would not let Weaver get to me so much.
I tried to think ahead, what would I do now? There was no way in Hell Ben would allow me to stay in the same room as him and I'm pretty sure it's a death sentence for me to go back to room 117 with my 'family' since they'd kill no doubt. I decided that I would figure it out eventually, but for now I had to stop throwing myself a pity party and man up. I splashed some water on my face and dried my eyes before stepping back outside. I tried to walk confidently around but all the looks the fighters were giving me were wearing me down.
To make matter worse I was on the ground now due to some idiot crashing into me while running out the door of one of the classroom. I was not in the mood for this crap so I got up as best as I could and was ready to start shouting.
That was before of course I realized it was Ben who crashed into me and he gave me a look not of malice or vengeance but of fear.
"I… I'm sorry." Ben spurted out and ran away from me. Scott came running out of the room seconds later, looking at the direction Ben ran.
"What the hell was that?" I asked Scott who looked down at me.
"Oh god Michael! How'd you get on the floor?" He asked me, while helping me off the ground.
"Ben pushed me down." I replied.
"Oh I'm sure he didn't mean to do that," Scott said.
'Not sure about that old man.' I thought to myself.
"It's just that Ben's going through... something." Scott said weakly. I looked at him curiously and he began to elaborate. "Well we were working together inside the room and all of a sudden Ben started acting weird, like, like he was in pain or something!"
"Pain?" I asked curiously. "From what?"
"Well I have no idea! One second everything was fine and the next he's cringing in pain and muttering excuses to leave while running out my door!" Scoot explained.
"What where you doing?" I asked.
"Nothing much, just messing with the radio frequencies on the transmitter. As soon as I started changing the frequency Ben started acting weird." Scott said distressed. "Maybe you should talk to him Michael. You two are friends right? Could you find-"
Scotts words were lost on me as my mind drifted away from the present to the painful past…
'Keep moving!' my dad shouted to us as another blast from the Mech went off, destroying one of the cars in the neighborhood. Everybody was screaming as the smell of ozone and smoke infiltrated our noses.
We were sprinting to a nearby house while the Mech aimed its laser and fired at people and objects on the street. The two skitters had also joined the Mech on the ground, not firing at people but grabbing children and dragging them away from their dead families. Uncle James and Aunt Cindy were still weak and slow from their accident so we had to carry them most of the way while Bethany screamed loudly. I wanted to tell her to stop because the Mech would hear us but I knew it was useless. It already knew that we were here.
A blast went off, destroying a car with a family inside that was attempting to flee. The car's remnants went flying, hitting the RV. The RV fell over, destroying the satellite and radio equipment on the roof. A loud siren went off that cause us all to stop in our tracks and cringe in pain. The siren stopped and then the Mech began to make weird noise while the skitters were bashing them hands into their hands, also screeching.
I looked at the Mech again, seeing it spin around, firing at random things all around it. Houses began to blow up and explosion ripped through the air, exploding high above our heads. One of its arms that was flailing around actually hit one of the skitters, sending it flying while leaving a trail of blood.
'Michael lets go!' I heard my dad shout. I was so stunned by the mass destruction of the scene that I couldn't move at all. Suddenly another explosion occurred, this one closer to us. The blast sent me falling back, landing on my back and winded. I looked up to see where the explosion came from and I saw that the RV and all the satellite equipment with it had blown up.
The Mech had stopped making those disturbing moaning sounds, and began turning its body at a controlled pace. I felt somebody grab me from behind and I turned and saw my mom.
'Sweetie we have to go now!' She said to me, panic laced into her voice. A moan came from the Mech and I looked up to see that it had turned towards us. Another moan echoed and the laser appeared, aimed right at me and my Mom.
'Charlotte! Michael!' I heard dad scream. My mom got me off the ground and into the arms of my father who had run down from the porch to reach us. My mom looked at us with a sadness in her eyes which brought tears to my eyes.
My dad let go of me and I fell to the ground. He grabbed my mother and threw her to the ground besides me, the laser now pointed at him. He began to back up farther from us, leading the lasers away with him.
'DAD' I shouted, now crying nonstop.
'DARYL!' my mom shouted, tears forming and her voice cracking as well.
My dad looked at us one last time, crying himself, and said one last thing to us. I couldn't hear what he said though because at that moment the lasers all turned yellow and the Mech fired, blowing the man who had been there for me since day one to pieces. Blood and matter landed all over the place, including on me and my mother.
Everything went black after that as I fainted.
I breathed in heavily as the memory faded from my mind. The shout of my father, the crying of my mother, both things brought more tears to my eyes. But the painful memory served as purpose. Scott was still talking about something so I stopped him mid sentence.
"Can you show me the radio you were using?" I asked.
"Well of course, but it's actually a radio transmitter to be precise." Scott said, motioning me inside. We went to the back of the room, past piles and piles of junk that Scott hoped the salvage. He had done a good job with the projector, though he needed a better taste in movies, hopefully he could replicate that success with something else.
"Is this it?" I asked as we stopped by some junk that looked like a transmitter.
"Yep, I was just messing with this dial here and everything went crazy with Ben." Scott said. "Now you stay here Michael, I'm going to go find Tom and get his help. Don't touch anything!"
Scott ran out of the room, leaving me alone with a lot of eerie looking junk. Instead of staying in the room I decided to leave and look for Ben. To be fair, Scott did just tell me to go find him before my flash back moment.
After a few minutes of searching I found him, alone in a rather big closet near the part of the school that probably belonged to the maintenance people. He looked up at me, anger and sadness mixed into his expression. I entered the closet, leaving the door open just in case I had to sprint out of there before he could hurt me. Not that I would get far due to my injuries, so it was more so I could alert somebody if I was attacked. I sat down on some buckets opposite of Ben and looked at him.
"I hear you don't like radios." I said softly. Ben didn't grace me with a response, just a dirty look. It was quite after that for awhile and I realized that Ben didn't have to tell me anything. I was the jerk in this situation, I always had been, so I might as well start the conversation.
"Ben-" I began.
"You were right." Ben said, cutting me off. I looked at him surprised.
"Right about what?" I asked.
"Me." Ben said, "My razor back statues."
"What do you mean?"
I was quite after that, and I dared not say anything. Ben finally responded, "I… I can hear things."
"What things I asked?"
"Radio frequencies!" Ben shouted, "Frequencies from that transmitter that only I can hear along with Rick!"
"Rick?" I said confused, when did he enter this?
"Ya, my razor back buddy!" Ben shouted, exasperated. "After I started hearing those frequencies he shows up and tells me not to worry about it, that their coming to get us! He's crazy you know? He thinks that the skitters are our friends and family!"
I had nothing to say to this so Ben continued with his rant. "I keep telling myself that they aren't, and I know they aren't! But whenever I think about that 'evil' that the skitters put us through, I don't remember anything except a sense of… of happiness! Now that I'm back here with humanity what do I have? Dirty looks and beatings from my fellow humans, a family that isn't even a family, and people who use me for their own purposes!"
Ben had actually stood up during his rant, his entire body shaking the entire time. He looked at me and began to cry a little bit before sliding back down to the ground. "How long?" he asked.
"How long until what?" I responded, not wanting to anger Ben any further.
"How long do you think I have until I become like Rick? How long do you think I have until everybody here turns against me? How long… how long until…" Ben couldn't even finish his sentence because he burst into tears. "Everybody is right… I am different… I am a monster."
Ben continued to cry as I tried to think of something to say while resisting the urge to comfort him. He wasn't my friend and I'm not his family, I don't need to tell him everything was going to be ok. After a few minutes Ben had calmed down enough for me to say something. "You're right, you are different."
Ben looked up at me, and began to laugh insanely. "Thanks for that Michael. Friend of the year right here!"
"Are you going to shut up and listen to what I have to say Ben, or are you going to continue this little soap opera drama of yours?" I asked harshly. I knew I had no right to say anything like that to Ben but I needed him to stop crying. My words seemed to work as Ben calmed down, relaxing his posture and face.
"You are different." I stated again, "You're different because something horrible happened to you. Your body changed, and so did your mind apparently because of that harness those skitters put on you. You are like them because like them, you can hear radio frequencies that humans cannot."
"How do you know they can hear these frequencies?" Ben asked.
"Because before a Mech blew my father to pieces two skitters and a Mech were affected my faulty radio systems." I said plainly. Ben looked at me with guilty surprise.
"Your father was… was blown up?"
I laughed at how eloquent that sounded, "Ya, he was."
"You never told me that." Ben said softly. "I'm sorry."
"You never asked." I responded. "And don't be. It happened a long time ago." I mentally kicked myself for how bad I just sounded. I missed my dad a lot and simply dismissing him like that made me feel sick.
"What about your mom?" Ben asked cautiously.
"Perhaps another time." I said, not wanting to relive her death as well right now, which had been just as violent if not more painful. I got up off the ground and turned towards the open door. "For now I want to go visit Scott and use that transmitter again."
"No! I'm not going back there!" Ben said defiantly.
"If you want to prove that you care about the 2nd Mass you must." I said.
"What does going to listen to frequencies just to confirm I'm a razor back have to do with the 2nd Mass?" Ben asked.
"Trust me Ben! Please?" I said, holding out my hand to help him off the ground. Ben looked at me, not wanting to trust me at all after what I did to him. "Please?" I said again. Ben broke after that and grabbed my hand as I helped him off the ground. We exited the closet and began making our way towards Scott's workroom.
It was an awkward walk there, with neither of us saying anything and everybody we came across looking at us. We reached Scott's workroom to find that he was already back there and working on something else. He looked up towards us.
"Ah Ben and Michael!" He said, "I was wondering where you both went. I couldn't find Tom anywhere so I came back here, he must be busy with planning the assault with Weaver. Ben, you had me worried there! What happened?"
"Scott," Ben said. "You'd keep a secret if we asked you too." Scott looked at us both funny, and I felt a little weirded out as well. I wouldn't of started the conversation like that.
"Ben what's the matter?" Scott asked concerned.
"I'm… I'm not sure." Ben said, shifting his stance uncomfortably. I decided to take over from here since Ben couldn't even look Scott in the eye.
"Can you turn it on?" I asked Scott, pointing to the transmitter.
"Turn it on? Why, what for?" Scott said confused.
"Please Uncle Scott?" Ben said softly, finally making eye contact with Scott. Scott looked at both of use again, confusion evident across his entire face. After a few seconds he nodded and sat down to work the transmitter again. I heard a slight hum from it as he turned it on and then looked at us, waiting for instructions.
"Can you start changing the frequencies again?" I asked. "And turn it up?"
"Oh, sure." Scott said, turning some dials. I heard nothing but the creaking of some dials but after about ten seconds or so Ben cringed and groaned at something.
"Ben!" Scott shouted. Stopping the radio frequency.
"Don't stop!" I told Scott, who ignored me and ran to Ben's side. I took matters into my own hands and began messing with the frequency system, turning the dial different directions. I must of hit the right one because Ben once again shouted in distress. I went back to the point where I thought Ben was hurting the most and turned up the frequency power. Ben actually shouted when I did it and Scott turned to me with accusation all over his face.
"What the hell are you doing?" He shouted at me.
"Testing something." I replied, turning up the frequencies' power. Ben shouted again and actually began to shake a little bit in his posture. His shouting was now extremely loud and I was surprised that nobody had come into the room looking to see what was happening.
Scott left Ben's side and pushed me out of the way, shutting off the transmitter. Ben let out a gasp of relief when it was off, though he seemed to be crying a little bit and his body was still shaking. I jumped out of my chair and moved closer to Ben, giving him my body as a support for himself. He looked at with pain and sadness in his eyes.
"I don't… I don't know what I am anymore." He said to me.
"I do." I said, "You're a weapon, a weapon that we can use to help the 2nd Mass."
A plot element that I hope that they cover in Season 2 of Falling Skies is Ben's ability to 'listen in' on these frequencies. Ben is essentially a weapon, especially if he gets the 'powers' that Rick showed off in the last episode of Season 1, and if humans are humans then there will definitly be people who are interested in using or studying Ben and Rick for an advantage over the Skitters. In the flashback I had the Skitters affected by the radio transmission as well since it only seems logical since harnessed kids and Mechs seem affected by it.
One of the reasons why this update took awhile was because it happens during the episode 'Mutiny' which is my least favorite episode from Season 1. I did not like that Lt. Danner guy (where the hell did he come from anyways? It doesn't really fit together) and how they talked about Porter's death and how Weaver's entire break down thing wasn't that interesting to watch. And then riding out into the sunset with the entire 2nd Mass going to war? Kind of nice but at the same time you have to wonder when they had time to plan that since Weaver had gone bonkers and Tom wasn't really helping with planning (as usual since he's more of a 'I'll jump into it and see what happens' kind of guy)
Two more chapters now! I hope to have them out soon!
