iv. The Truth Discovered

For three or four weeks things seemed to go well. Gerald worked obsessively at his project and the soldiers basically left him to it. After the third time they'd asked for a detailed report and he'd gone into full scientific lecture mode - including a large proportion of polysyllabic words and incomprehensible diagrams - the questions had been reduced to a simple "Is it progressing?"

Today he was working on some of the older codes from the Gizoid's memory dump, not the weapons info but what seemed to be fragments of the ancient programming, trying to determine the most effective way to make the changes he intended. When he called up the computer files - which were supposed to contain everything that had been in he Kauai computers - he found that one of his files had gotten damaged and was half missing. So now he was rummaging through all the computer files in an attempt to recover the missing info. He was fairly certain this could get him into a large amount of trouble if he was caught - but it never occurred to him that it might lead to even more trouble if he wasn't caught...

He had, automatically and almost absent-mindedly, 'acquired' the passwords for most of the secret and private files, but he ignored those at first, presuming that the missing data was more likely to be found in the gaps between files (when was the last time they de-fragmented their computer?) or erroneously appended to another public file. So he hunted for bits of familiar code until the word 'ARK' caught his eye. 'ARK's Indestructible Seal'? What in heaven's name is that? It sounds like some sort of security program. The file had a fairly high security lock on it, but Gerald's curiosity got the better of him and he cracked it open easily and without a qualm. Skimming over the initial secrecy warnings and prosecution threats he located the main text– and felt his blood turn cold.

This was it. This was IT. The plan that had destroyed his life, his work, his plans and hopes. "Due to the erratic and highly aggressive nature of the Project: Shadow organism and the evident inability of the researchers to control it...The Ultimate Life Form branch of the project must go forward to create the perfect soldier...evacuation of all civilians on the ARK and capture and confinement of all involved with Project: Shadow or in close proximity to the Ultimate Life Form...Officially they are to be reported as victims of the 'accident'." Capture and confinement. Not death, but prison, he glanced around his own room, no bars in sight, but... Or the equivalent, at least. He began hunting through the file, feeling a sudden surge of hope– was it possible that Maria wasn't dead? If the researchers and all had been taken captive rather than killed - of course, without the Heal Units her disease would have reemerged, but... His heart beat faster as he scanned and rescanned the text looking for some indication of where the researchers were supposed to have been sent once they were captured. If he could find out where, he could find out if they really were there. And if they were... Perhaps it's not too late yet. If she was healthy, at least effectively so, when she was captured, she could still be alive. And if we can locate Shadow, I can generate the cure again and save her... Frantically he worked his way through the document, growling in frustration as he discovered that nothing was named directly. Code names! Why are the military and government so obsessed with code names, even in their own secret documents!? At last he found two names that he thought indicated where the "victims" were supposed to be held. Now he only needed to figure out where "DeepWoods" and "ArcIsle" were.

More hunting through files he oughtn't have been in (and blocking or diverting a couple of security programs that attempted to identify him as an intruder) revealed that ArcIsle was actually ARKauai, well he knew there was no one there. DeepWoods proved trickier to identify but finally turned out to be...right where he was. Prison Island. Disappointment settled around him; he hadn't seen or heard anything about any of his fellow researchers being here. But a last glimmer of hope sent him digging again for the actual inmate list - perhaps they were in another section? Being kept separate from him for some obscure reason? What he found was something else entirely.

The security films from the space colony. Buried deep, under several layers of passwords that should have meant no one but the base commander could access them, he found the inmate list and also a set of very familiar file names. Eagerly he called them up, desperate to see what sort of threat had sent Shadow and Maria fleeing for their lives, that was so awful or secret that the military would not even tell him what it was... He keyed in the hallway outside the observation room first, the site where that one picture had shown Maria and Shadow running. He stared almost greedily as the pair ran into the camera's pickup, at the sight of his beloved granddaughter - and then stared in confusion as a group of soldiers ran into view. Soldiers? But I don't see the threat they– onscreen Maria stumbled before he could finish his thought, and he shouted in horror as one of the soldiers fired at the pair! He saw Maria clutch at her arm, then Shadow dragging her on. NO! Not GUN, they CAN'T be the enemy can they? They were sent to the ARK to protect us! They BUILT the colony in the first place for our research! It made no sense, they wanted to use the scientists' brains, why eliminate them? And why attack a helpless girl? The recorded corridor was empty now, he fumbled at the keyboard, having to backspace and retype several times before managing to pull up the recording from the camera in his lab. Knowing he didn't want to see what was going to happen, but needing to know what had become of his family, he forced himself to watch.

The angle was perfect, showing the door, the control column and the escape pod. The door slid open and Shadow leapt through, turning to lock it as Maria stumbled for the control console. Gerald turned pale as he saw his granddaughter leaning on the console, blood dripping down one arm and onto the column, as she typed with the other, saw her turn her head towards the hedgehog who ran to the escape pod and opened it, saw both heads turn sharply towards the door. Whoever was outside didn't immediately step through, but the muzzle of a gun came into view, followed by the rest of the gun and an arm in a GUN uniform. Gerald couldn't move, he couldn't even breathe; he KNEW what was going to happen and wanted to close his eyes, to hide, but he could not even look away from the screen. He saw Shadow freeze in the pod, not daring to move, he saw Maria slowly standing upright from where she had been leaning on the console...he saw her sudden lunge for the pod and her body twisting in mid-step as the gun flashed. He saw Shadow's involuntary flinch, and knew why the Ultimate Life Form had left without his sister, for the pod slammed shut even as the inner laboratory door sliced down, blocking the soldiers out. He could only stare in horror with tears flowing down his face as his fallen Maria raised herself on one arm, the entire back of her dress stained red, apparently saying something to Shadow, and then the pod dropped, taking most of the lab's air with it as it left, leaving the twelve-year-old girl sprawled face-down on the floor.

The outer airlock door closed (the inner one was actually part of the pod) the air was replaced and the inner lab door opened, allowing the squad of soldiers entry. One caught Maria by the shoulder and roughly flipped her over...and it was clear that she was already dead. Somehow Gerald shook off enough of his paralysis to stop the tape, and close out the file. They lied. They lied about everything . THEY killed her, they killed her for no reason at all and fed me that story about how they'd tried to help her, her last words when she was already dead when they got into the lab! He was shaking now with a mixture of grief and rage. He didn't need to look any further for his colleagues, he was certain that they were dead as well in the 'accident'. Accident! An accident arranged and executed - literally executed! - by the ones that were supposed to protect us! How could they? How could they!?

The chimes rang to announce mealtime. Somehow he got to the mess hall and got his meal, for he found himself sitting at a table eating...something...his mind still pitching back and forth between that horrible, damning tape and his own fury. Then he was back in his room, pacing from the far end of the lab through the door to the opposite side of his bedroom and back again. The tumult in his brain had too much energy, some had to be converted to physical motion or he would explode. At some point he must have stopped his pacing and gotten into bed, because when the first of his nightmares brought him awake in cold sweat and tears, that was where he found himself.