Generator Rex: The Modern Prometheus Chapter Three: "Reflections"
Holidays ribs showed though her skin like a starvation victim.
"So Six do I look fat to you?"
The man in green handed her a box of power bars, a bottle of vitamins, and a gallon of half and half with chocolate sirup added in.
"I think you haven't been eating right."
"Haha."
She started wolfing it down. They'd been talking a long while and she hadn't had time to reset her inner workings. Six talked like he was speaking to a robot, clearly and with as little contractions or slang as he could.
"Your polarizing things, not seeing the shades of gray, and I do not know how to help that because it might be . . . .mechanical. How can I go forward, and keep your trust."
"I get what your trying to do Six, and I'm better then that, or I hope I'm better then that. The part of my brain that controls personality is the same as it was before trust me I've got enough scan data. It processing things in binary, yes but . . . OK we don't fully understand the brain as it is so I can't give you a black and white explanation, but I'm just NOT."
He was still just as calm as he had been for the past three hours.
"If in theory, and this is not a you who would know you better well enough to check?"
She took a comical swig of the milk jug, and seemed to take Six at his word.
"Here, with clearance for this mess? You, Rex, and Callan."
He kept going, in that same tone of voice, his heart breaking a bit as he did.
"And why those people Doctor?"
"Time. My partner, my charge, and my ex-boyfriend. Who else would there be with my life being all HERE for years."
If anyone knew about Holiday and Callan they had never told Six, and he was a man that listened for things. Also the fact that White Knight never made any snarky comments about it made Six think she was being very calm and open about things she'd be guarded or at least uncomfortable with talking about this openly before.
"I was wondering, your geared to eat a lot right now, and their was a minor report about food in one kitchen, was that you? That question IS totally off the record of course. I am just worried."
She smiled, increasingly convinced Six wasn't probing her for information. Six himself felt worried for something inside he found in this place a long time ago.
"Yes that was me, did Noah call you? I wanted some company, so Rex and I had dinner."
"Considering the circumstances, White Knight would want someone to ask why you'd think Noah reported you."
She wolfed down two bars at once, and Six knew she'd need to sleep soon for lack of more food.
"Well he looked a little worried a few times, and considering he was hanging around with REX he might have been worried we where doing more then just eating. I mean Rex is Rex so jokes I'm sure where told."
"I don't get it Sara what do you think Noah was worried about?"
"Six come on, Rex probably though we where on a date, and was just waiting for me to sleep with him! Not that I'm not flattered with the attention, and annoyed with the attention, and before Circe worried a tiny bit about the attention. Not that he's not cute but Rex is too young."
Six had heard enough, it was like suddenly he was talking to an echo of Sara Holiday. He was afraid on a level he didn't admit this was some THING and not some ONE anymore.
"Well I am very glad we resolved that Doctor, and I am going to need to go now. Do you need anything before I do? Also how long will you need to sleep."
She looked sooo happy, like they just had a heart to heart talk.
"No this snack if fine, and I'll be awake in 126 minutes or so. Good night Agent Six, I missed you."
"Yea I miss you too."
Rex woke up to Six's hand over his mouth. He sat up, and saw Noah looking at the corner.
"What the heck?"
"No questions, just answers Rex, and for the love of god keep your bio's from spiking we use that when we can't listen you know that."
The EVO kid, was confused.
"Noah did you dime me out too five oh?"
Noah didn't talk, but six did.
"What in hell does that even mean?"
"Call the cops you know Hawaii FIVE OH?"
Six sat next to Rex very tired, and very drained.
"No he did not. I told him in no uncertain terms to sit down, and stay silent while we do this, because sending him out to the bathroom would set off a security sweep."
Rex shook the cob webs out.
"She isn't used to living under a microscope Six. I am and I still can't stand it some times. You need to just blow it off some times you know?"
Six looked at him like he swore in church, Rex in fact could suddenly remember being smacked by an old woman for doing just that. For once he didn't share his happy tidbit of his lost past, he had other things to worry about.
"SHE is not HERSELF, and you will remember that or I will make you! Now I need to walk a tightrope with no NET very shorty. I need information, everything you've been doing, leave nothing out or I might not have what I need understand me?"
Rex stood up fast.
"Dios Mio Six! If somethings wrong with HER it CAN'T be HER fault YOU get that right? 'Cause its all . . . mine."
Six took his glasses off and the boy learned he was half blind for the first time.
"The man that took my eye, killed my wife. It's his fault I lost HER and IT, but if I bump into something tomorrow, its mine, because I'm an adult, and it's been five years."
Rex only half understood, for very understandable, very human reason that he was completely entitled to.
"Well it's been three weeks for her! If she's . . . wrong some how I'll fix it, I'll throw nanites at her all night if I have to!"
Six put his glasses back on.
"You can not help her Rex, and if you force it they will just move her to another facility. Now give me everything that happened, and don't leave anything out if you want to keep working with the Doctor."
Rex looked over at Noah nervously.
"Sara just needed me. . . "
Agent Six stood in desert lighting his first cigarette in five years, pulled out a cheap disposable cell phone he bought with cash, and checked his watch. The frequency scanner they used to tap cell traffic in the area would be offline for the next eight minutes if Rex did his job right. Then he made a phone call that would get him killed if Knight ever found out about it.
"Charlie Tango nineteen sixty seven."
A voice on the other end of the line sounded only a tad confused to hear a code from the cold war meant to signal an agent in the field with no support was looking for an emergency bail out.
"Bannon her, what do you need?"
"Hello Race, this is Six. I need a message delivered to Doctor Quest off the books of course."
"Six? Sure I can do that for old times sake. To take that risk with Knight you must be in over your head."
"Yea old timer I am. Tell the Doctor. . .Fell is angling to get his old job back, and willing to sacrifice Holiday to get it. She took his job, and sending him to see if she could keep it was a stupid move the mans IQ aside. He is ignoring information, and keeps getting into a pissing contest with her over scanning equipment while she does most of the work . . .when she might not be in a sound state of mind to do that work."
The old Cold warrior took a deep breath, and Six just knew he'd put the fifty five year old in a position he though he was done with.
"Fell's done after this Six, no one with TWO black marks like that on their record will be able to keep their career. If I know Benton he'll tell the rest of the Committee he wants to come down there himself, or send Johnny. Either way Agent Six you be damn ready for scrutiny when then someone gets there, understand? "
"Thank you old man, it's worth it I swear. Six out."
He hung up the phone, and dumped it in the dirt. To cover up everything Holiday had been up to the most efficient thing to do was have everything Fell reported thrown out on suspicion of bias. White Knight would never by that, so it had to be done over his head. A review of this kind could hamper everything they do in Providence because of the extra attention from outside, and Fell his ego aside was an asset lost. Six hoped that his faith in Holiday to be the one to figure this out or at least give them what they needed to really have a chance. Rex was a puzzle and he couldn't unlock himself. If that boy lost both of his guardians Six knew that hope MIGHT be lost, but he didn't move heaven and earth trying to save Holiday it WOULD be lost.
"The kid would run if I didn't do this, and we'd lose this war. He brought her back with a power he didn't understand for purely innocent reasons, and now I need to play the father and tell him he's not innocent anymore. All to save what might be a ghost, while we both pray for resurrection."
Next: "Schrodinger's cat "