Salvation
Chapter 7
By Nan00k
Iowa's attempt to be a step-dad fails miserably, and then O'Malley tells Ada a secret. :O
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Warnings: original characters, violence, foul language, mentions of torture, alternate-universe story line
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo (© Bungie) nor do I own Red vs. Blue (© Rooster Teeth Productions). The original characters in this story were made up for the purpose of this story.
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The session had been going so well. Having Zeta leading the charge emotionally speaking, she had kept Lambda, Tau and Theta present and calm. They had made up a game of alternating colors on their visual displays that somehow relied on rhythm for the game aspect of it. Sigma joined in, easily distracted by fun. Ada watched with a smile, enjoying the fact they could at least derive some niceness from being allowed to interact.
The childishness, of course, made O'Malley and Gamma irritated; they decided to fight back by talking about their exploits of terrorizing the Blood Gulch men, which in turn antagonized Church. Beta, bored, easily joined the shouting match that erupted. Delta did his best to intervene, but rarely did they ever listen to logic.
Oddly enough, the loud arguments never amounted to anything truly upsetting for any of them, even the unstable ones. Ada felt like she was inside of a cafeteria instead of a volatile lab space; she preferred to avoid that volatile feeling when dealing with group sessions, even if an equal amount of nothing ever got achieved. Their frequent interactions clearly meant that they were improving. They were getting used to each other. That was… a good thing.
Delta was refusing to directly communicate with her outside of polite exchanges. She wasn't terribly surprised, but she had to ignore a faint twinge of disappointment when she realized the AI hadn't quite forgiven her about prying into his past. He wasn't angry, though. Most likely, he had agreed with her ideas of rehabilitating implantation, but wasn't up to admitting it. She let him have the peace and quiet of dealing with his siblings; she owed him the option to reach his conclusions about trusting her all on his own.
For the first time in a while, she felt confident, about everything. The Chairman had been oddly enthusiastic about the idea of implantation. All of the psychologists on the project had agreed that the Alpha's appearance among the AI had clearly made the AIs more willing to cooperate. Livingston's suggestion of implantation had given them a solid plan, instead of just hypothetical outcomes. They had finally devised a final destination, after so many months of trying to ignore the fact they didn't know where the program would end up.
Yes, things were far better. Livingston smiled behind her hand as she watched Church half-heartedly chase Zeta around Beta who was laughing boisterously.
"…Ada."
The abrupt direction of conversation toward her made Livingston surprised. She turned and saw Delta was staring intensely at her, his siblings still quietly bickering beyond him.
"Yes?" she asked, sitting up properly.
Livingston had never the green AI look so… so… tense. He raised his arms at her, as if she was about to do something crazy, or become upset. A cold feeling swept through her.
"Do not panic," Delta said, sounding strangely upset himself. His green form was taking just the faintest hints of red at the bottom. He tilted his visored head behind him. "Get behind… the table."
He was not the only one to change. The previous pleasant atmosphere evaporated instantly. O'Malley had seen the same thing upsetting Delta, but instead of mocking it, he snarled and stepped all the way back, far away from Livingston, to the very edges of the hologram platform. Livingston knew something had to be in the room to make them both act that way, so she turned around in her seat.
The doors of the lab were never opened, or at least very rarely, during a session. Theoretically it wasn't a security risk since there was a huge magnetic field between the two doors leading outside the lab, but it wasn't exactly protocol either. The door had chimed and another human had slipped inside. Helmet gone, Livingston knew the face immediately, both by the telltale gray armor on the rest of his body and his face.
Livingston gaped, standing up immediately. "Oh! Agent Iowa—!" she blurted. What on Earth was he doing in here? !
Iowa, grinning as always, walked up casually to meet her halfway between the door and the desk. "Hey, Liv!" he said brightly. "Bobby said I could stop in. He said it wouldn't be a problem 'cause of all the progress you're makin', so I figured I could introduce myself for once. He said I shoulda knocked, but I thought it was sorta silly to. Was I wrong?"
There was no contention in his voice or expression, so Livingston didn't believe he actually wanted to cause a problem. However, the suggestion had been misguided. "I really don't think now is a good—," she began, casting a worried glance over to the table, where all the AIs had either not noticed Iowa, or were ignorant of his function.
That ignorance, unfortunately, did not last long. Tau tilted his head and blanched, flashing bright colors of distress.
"FREELANCER!" he shrieked over and over, alerting the others to the situation before Ada had a chance to stop him. "FREELANCER!"
Well, that sent all of them except Church, Delta and Omega into a real panic. Sigma immediately vanished from sight, as did Tau and Lambda. The others began to scream in both fear and anger.
"DOC, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Beta bellowed. "You goddamn Freelancer SCUM! Going after civilians now, are you? !"
Iowa blanched at the yelling. "Whoa, what the hell?" He looked back to Livingston, uncertainty painting his face. "Liv, um—?"
"ADA! NO!" Zeta shrieked. His yellow form was flashing the same red as Delta and Beta. "GET AWAY! GET AWAY! HE'S GOING TO HURT YOU!"
Almost speechless, Livingston struggled to remain calm herself. "Zeta! Stop!" she exclaimed. She turned and fixed the ex-Freelancer there a firm look. "Iowa, please, I think you should leave."
This was going to take forever to get out of their systems, if the screaming was any indication. Iowa glanced between the flustered AIs and Livingston, still confused.
"I didn't do anything!" he said. He raised his hand. "Liv, didn't you tell them about me—?"
The action made the remaining AIs shout louder. "DON'T TOUCH HER!" Zeta shrieked. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"
Livingston gaped. "Boys! Please!" she said. She gathered her senses and shoved Iowa further back toward the door, now realizing she should have acted sooner. "Iowa, leave!"
"But—!"
"Now!"
Iowa all but ran out, the door shutting with a quiet hiss. Beta was cursing loudly, but Zeta had finally stopped screaming at least. He continued to emit an odd whining noise, however, and was almost jumping back and forth between his non-corporal legs. Delta was tinged red, while O'Malley looked like a feral dog ready to bolt. Church was, of course, enraged.
"You never said there were Freelancers on board the damn ship!" Church exclaimed.
Livingston opened her mouth to contradict him, but when she thought back… she hadn't explicitly talked about Iowa before, had she? She had told them they were safe from Freelancer on the ship…not that they were far away from them.
Oh, no, she thought, realizing she had undone at least some degree of trust between them.
Zeta's panic was so out of character, it was shocking. "He's a Freelancer! Freelancer is here!" he cried.
"No, no, it's not like that," Livingston said immediately, trying to sooth their agitation. She motioned, pathetically, knowing her words would do very little to help them. "Agent Iowa—he isn't an agent for Freelancer anymore. He's working for UNSC."
"LIES! IT'S ALWAYS THE SAME LIES!" Beta exclaimed, angry. "He's here to kill us! To finish off the job!"
"Beta, please!" Livingston replied, a bit sharper than she had intended. She sent them all a firm look. "I would never let a real Freelancer stay here, let alone enter the room with you! He's only here because they were worried about—about accidents. Iowa is a good man. He doesn't—!"
Beta returned her look with a livid one of his own. "He's lying to you, Ada! Freelancer will NEVER let us go. EVER," he snarled. He cut off her instinctual reply to that. "Don't let him know you know, or he'll kill you. They always do, Ada. Never, ever trust them."
"Goddamn it," Church added, flickering before he abruptly left the table. O'Malley growled lowly and did the same.
That left Livingston staring down the remaining AI. She felt… like she had wronged them. It had never occurred to her that...
"I'm sorry," she said, a shake barely there in her hands. "For not explaining everything."
Harumphing, Beta flickered and vanished. It left Livingston with an odd ache in her gut. She had messed up, badly.
To the side, Delta caught her attention with small movement. "Doctor, I apologize," he said abruptly.
Livingston was taken aback. "Delta… I know this is upsetting," she replied. She shook her head. "It's okay to get worked up over things."
Delta tilted his head, as if he were frowning. "No. I am sorry that we cannot offer you much protection," he said, surprising her. "From them. Or us."
Protection? Livingston watched him carefully, not sure what he meant, or how to react. She didn't need to be protected. They were the ones who needed…
"…I'm not the one in danger, Delta. Thank you, though," she said. She sat back down and tried to regain her composure. "I'll be just fine. What we need to work on is making sure you're okay. Iowa is here to help."
Zeta whimpered. "No…"
Livingston smiled at the AI. "If you do not trust him, do you at least trust me?" she prompted gently.
The question left Zeta visibly agitated, but he eventually stopped jumping, his color returning to delicate yellow. Just when Livingston had hoped her coaxing had worked, however, Zeta seemed to grow smaller.
"Don't leave us, Ada," he begged. "It's so scary here."
Where had that even come from? She was there for the long haul. They knew that. She had hoped at least Zeta and Delta had known that, but judging by their morose states, Livingston realized they still needed reassurance.
"I won't leave you. Any of you," she told them firmly. She motioned with her hands. "Now… would you like to rest? Come on. Let's get some rest. We can continue this talk another day."
So much for a nice session.
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She was exhausted the next morning. Iowa had apologized profusely for intruding and stirring up the AIs, but it wasn't like that would fix anything. Livingston knew she would have to ease her way back into talking with the AIs individually before they were going to be able to handle a group session. Her colleagues who had dealt with Tau and Theta earlier had said they were still immensely agitated.
Sigh. Livingston braced herself for the inevitable loss of progress. She also braced herself for facing one of the more trying AIs that day. This would not be pleasant.
O'Malley appeared on the holoscreen almost immediately after she settled in her usual spot. "Well, that was a fun session yesterday," the white AI said coyly. "Did you have fun? I sure did."
"Good morning, O'Malley," Livingston replied instead, withholding another sigh.
His eagerness to make her agitated was practically tangible in the air. "Who was that, anyway? Iowa, you said?" O'Malley continued. "And you trust him?"
"I do. He works for the UNSC now." Livingston sent the AI a level look. "He is a good man."
Perhaps she didn't trust him entirely, but he was a friend. The AIs most likely would not be able to accept or understand that. It wasn't like these sessions were about her or her life, however.
"Good men have done horrible things for good causes," O'Malley replied, cackling. "Once a Freelancer, always a Freelancer."
Livingston frowned, noting his paranoid statement. "You have never been so suspicious of them," she said. Normally that was Theta or Beta's job.
O'Malley snorted. "I'm suspicious of everyone, doctor. You should be, too."
"If I was, I'd never be able to do my job."
"You actually trust Sigma?"
The abrupt question made Livingston physically freeze up. It was unexpected, and ultimately, a neon sign.
Carefully, Livingston folded her hands in her lap. "…Yes, I do," she said, watching O'Malley with hawk-like intensity. What was he getting at now?
"And your little Freelancer friend?" O'Malley asked, edging even closer.
"Yes."
"And your employers?"
"Yes."
She trusted them all to do their jobs. It wasn't a lie. Perhaps she didn't trust their intentions, but she knew the rules they were playing by, all of them. She couldn't not trust everyone involved, since they would never get anywhere with everyone being suspicious of ever action and motive—
O'Malley tilted his holographic head back and laughed—his cackle filled the lab and Livingston waited it out patiently, even as the sound snuck under her skin and made her shiver faintly.
"You are a fool," he hissed, grin in his voice once the laughter petered off.
She was used to his insults and his mocking. "Perhaps. But it's who I am," she replied calmly. "Why don't you trust the UNSC to help you?"
"Why?" O'Malley giggled. "Oh… you have no idea the sort of secrets this army—all branches of it—have accumulated. Dark secrets. Brutal ones."
Livingston nodded. "I can imagine. We were at war."
That made the AI in front of her oddly disappointed; she didn't know what he had wanted her to say. She waited for his next comment, but he seemed to withdraw in his thoughts. Picking up her tablet, Livingston considered her next scheduled question—
Without prompt, O'Malley turned and faced her again. "You want the truth, Doctor?" he asked quietly.
"About what, O'Malley?"
"Come closer. I don't bite." O'Malley pause and then dropped the sweet act, saying with some glum reluctance, "Can't, mostly."
Livingston smiled patiently, regardless, and edged closer. She faced the white AI fearlessly, knowing his complaint was true. He was harmless like this, albeit a little scary. "What, Omega?" she prompted.
"You seem to be a severe disadvantage in this whole… situation," O'Malley began, motioning with his hand. He sounded like he was grinning. "You're just the middle man, so to speak. You can only use what we give you to sway your bosses. What we say must really mean something to you."
Hesitating, Livingston frowned. "I don't know what you mean, O'Malley."
Tilting his head, O'Malley seemed to grow larger as the shadows around them flourished.
"Allison wasn't a Freelancer," he whispered. "She was one of us."
Everything in the room stopped.
"…What?" Livingston asked, too stunned to react properly.
Allison. Who was…?
Wait.
O'Malley only seemed to grow brighter, though he never raised his voice. His whispers seemed louder to her now.
"Texas… Agent Texas… the Director named her himself. After his homeland," he continued, ignoring her shock. "She was precious to him, even more than Alpha or the rest of us." He chuckled darkly. "She was everything he had ever lost."
None of that made any sense. She had heard of Allison before, but… "What are you saying?" she demanded.
"Agent Texas was an artificial intelligence unit," O'Malley told her mercilessly. "A remnant of memories the Alpha carried from the Director's twisted life. A lost lover, a lost friend. Allison."
Livingston remembered Zeta's innocent stories.
"Let me tell you stories about me and Ally playing!"
Oh… God. And then… Xi…?
"Xi, we're only trying to help you."
"No. No. I need her. I need her!"
"Who, Xi?"
"Allison. I need her!"
Ada shivered away that memory of the destroyed AI. This wasn't possible… was it?
"And when Allison died, and all the Director had left was her memory, he was pleased to see her come to life again… from the mess he made with us." O'Malley cackled louder. "A delightful afterthought."
After everything she had learned, after everything she had experienced in this project thus far, Ada was still left speechless. She didn't understand it, but the parts that she did understand were… terrifying.
"…Why are you telling me this?" she asked at length, struggling to keep calm. Could she even tell anyone else this? To verify it? Did anyone else alive even—even know?
If Texas had been an AI, then… how many others… ?
"Sigma has plans. I have plans. Everyone involved in this has a plan for themselves," O'Malley went on to say. He seemed gleeful. "You don't seem to have an advantage yet, doctor. So, to even the playing fields, here's a little treat, on me. I'd be careful with it, of course. Who knows what sort of trouble you'd get into, knowing such a dark little secret."
She didn't want this. "I don't follow, O'Malley," she told him. "I-I have no need for secrets."
That made him laugh again. "Yes. Yes, you do. Because, my dear doctor, you landed this unfortunate job. If you actually survive past your usefulness to the Director and his followers, well, I would be highly amazed." He laughed loudly, ignoring her wince. "Besides, watching Sigma have all the fun plotting gets dull. I like knowing she has an opponent somewhere other than myself, or our bastard father."
Part of her knew she had to pay attention to what he was saying, even if it made her sick. "And what sort of plans do you and Sigma have?" she asked, feeling numb.
O'Malley laughed sharply and stood back away from her. "Large ones. Small ones. Some are just like back at Freelancer, where she just let others do her dirty work. Those plans include you, of course, as well as everyone else involved here," he said, sounding oh-so pleased with himself. "You need an ace, regardless of your naivety. It's time you started to play the game as well, Livingston. You might live longer that way."
It wasn't a game. It was… politics. And psychology. And trying to outwit the bureaucratic nightmare that was hanging over their heads.
Livingston felt ill. She didn't want secrets—she wanted no part in this.
But now… did she have a choice?
O'Malley withdrew further, ignoring her silence. "I believe we're finished for today. Oh, and do take care not to tell anyone about this," he said. He raised a finger to his faceless face and chuckled. "It'll be our little secret."
Livingston watched him until he vanished into a streak of white, leaving behind an empty holodeck.
"…Yes, it will, O'Malley."
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End Chapter 7.
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Next, Ada realizes something about Epsilon and the nature of man.