Words that bite
Colin was fighting emotions that surged in him. Hate, fear, betrayal, all do these and more. This man was everything Colin hated.
"Stop talking! If you talk again, he will react badly." Mag held Colin, but not tight. Gentle. "Whatever you are doing here, he is not to blame."
The infamous man on the screen nodded and then the man was speaking, but no sound came. Muted? Colin's eyes went huge as text appeared underneath it. And the text was his words! Smart! Colin had been programmed to kill the man, that was clear from his emotions. He wanted to. Oh, how he so wanted to, but he also did not want the ones who had made him to win.
'No, he is not, Miss Boothe.' The words under the man paused as Mag snarled.
"My name is Mag or if you have to be that way, Elizabeth Tenno." Mag snapped. "Elizabeth Boothe died when people like you decided that the Technocyte virus was a dandy tool to gain political power. Americans among others." Trump eyed her and then nodded, when he spoke again, it was slow and careful. Obviously to keep the text clear.
'As you wish, Mag.' The written words still infuriated Colin, but nowhere nearly as bad as the spoken ones had. The man who Colin hated more than any other in existence was shaking his head. 'I am no longer in power, but I was briefed about this since I am the target. You will believe what you will about me. What is done is done and I cannot change that.'
"Why would you?" Mag snapped. "You got what you wanted. Hate and fear. America in chaos. Your war is coming. Soon. Hooray." She didn't like the man any more than Colin did, it seemed and Colin scraped up smile from somewhere as she shook her head.
"You won't believe me but that was not what I wanted.' Trump's face was calm, but held deep tension. 'I wanted to shock America out of its apathy, its complacency. I hoped to do it without a war. I gave them a true villain that they could hate and what did they do? They ignored me." His face was scrunched up in consternation. 'Hell, they have all but deified me!' He shook his head. "I may be a politician, Mag. I may be damned to all eternity for my ambition or my greed, but I did not want this.'
"Don't try to tell me it doesn't soothe your ego to have people worshiping you as the second coming!" Mag was fully fluent in sarcasm it seemed. "Don't even try."
'I won't.' The texted words surprised Colin and it must have shown because Trump smiled grimly. 'I do what I do and I am good at it, if I do say so myself. Mag, I am not your enemy today. I had heard of you, but I no idea what you lot were or why until I took office. My predecessor was quite blunt on what your kind do and why. On why making you Tenno mad is a bad idea. I was briefed on what happened in 1987 and what nearly happened again in 2008.' Mag looked at the airmen who stared at her, scared. 'Mag, these are not enemies of the Tenno. They are part of a special task group who are read in on some of the facts. That task group is highest level secrecy and was put together by my predecessor in case you Tenno needed help in the continental US. You did today.'
"I had it under control." Mag scoffed, but then paused as Colin snickered. "No comments from the peanut gallery! I had it under control!"
'Mag, you know what the corporations want.' Trump surprised Colin by seeming to be worried. 'You must not give it to them!'
"I can't give it to them." Mag snorted. "Even if, by some miracle, they managed to take me, destroy the frame and all, they cannot get what they want. It is not physically possible. I am not human anymore. They think like humans." That was a clear insult. What was she talking about? Did Colin want to know? From how the airmen all looked sick? Probably not.
'And if they take bits of you to make something like him?' Trump's texted speech paused as Mag seemed to swell. When she spoke, it was cold hard and terrifying.
"His name is Colin and he has as much right to exist as you do. Maybe more." Mag did not shout. She did not use any profanity. That made it worse somehow. Colder. More dangerous. "He did not incite a mob that attacked the US capitol." Trump opened his mouth, but shut it as Mag speared a finger towards the monitor. Her tone did not change, but held disgust deep down. "Don't even try. You brought the mob together. You incited them to violence. You set them off, knowing that all the wackos were just waiting in the wings to take advantage of your attempt at overthrowing the government. You are responsible." Mag shook her head. "You may be able to buy off enough of the law to get away with it, but anyone with half a brain or any military experience abroad knows a coup attempt when they see it. You didn't pull any triggers, or swing any clubs or kill any cops yourself, but you were in command. You set it all up. You are responsible for the deaths that day and later. You are responsible for everything that has happened since. The buck stops with you."
'I am not a soldier and neither were they.' Trump argued. 'They had the right to say 'No'. Anytime.'
"Some of them were soldiers." Mag retorted. "Former of course. Because most serving military personnel do not have time for political bullshit. And yes, they had the right to say 'No', but you fired them up nicely. I have to say, it was fairly well done. Mobs can be hard to control and you did it nicely. Not as well as the evil men you quoted so often managed, but decently done." Was Mag complimenting his tactics? "I have seen a lot of mobs, even a few mobs that attempted coups and you had them eating out of your hand. Well done, sir." Her 'praise' was mocking. "You tore the US apart and all it cost was a few lives of US citizens. For someone like you? No biggie. Law doesn't mean anything in the US anymore when a president can do such and get away with it." She shook her head. "Not my problem. I am not American anymore and I don't give a shit about your power or lack thereof. I give less of a shit about people with compensation issues who have to follow a demagogue to get their rocks off." More than one of airmen snickered even as Colin did at that image.
'No.' The former president said via text. 'Your concern was the virus that they used at the warehouse. I assume you found this one there.' Mag glared at him and Trump shook his head. 'I am not your enemy today, Tenno. He is meant to kill me.'
"Probably." Mag admitted. "We were curious about who set him on this path and why they did it so clumsily. While he was under full time surveillance in the psyche ward, they and we couldn't touch him, but that was cut back by the lockdowns."
'And then at least two groups tried for him in the psyche ward.' The man on the screen agreed. 'No one can identify two of the bodies. One was in an interview room, the other was clearly a shooter and killed everyone else but no firearms were found.' Trump paused as Colin held up a hand and then nodded, remaining silent as Colin dug into his pockets.
Colin hadn't been sure why he had kept the lanyard with its ID. It wasn't incriminating like the guns and silencer had been. It was small, flat and he had basically forgotten about it for quite a while. Until now. Colin pulled it out of his pocket and held it up.
"That is an ID like you had in the warehouse." Mag said slowly. Colin nodded, but then showed the picture and name that wasn't his. "That is not you… One of them had this?"
"The shooter." Colin could barely recognize his own voice. "Nothing else on him." Words appeared on the screen again as Trump shook his head.
'No one will believe that any more than than anyone with half an ounce of brains believes me.' Even in writing, Trump was just as fluent in sarcasm as Mag, it seemed. 'For all they know, you stole it from the warehouse.'
"And Colin hid it where?" Mag asked, her snide rising again. "He didn't have anything when he was being held in that loony bin. They searched regularly. Inside and out. You know this." Colin nodded, not trusting his voice.
'Point taken, but even then that is not evidence that any court would accept. Especially when such a powerful corporation is involved.' Trump was clearly thinking hard now. Then he eyed Mag. 'What are you going to do?'
"Better no one in positions of power knows." Mag replied, almost casually. "Where is the plane going?"
'It was scheduled to pick up a delivery at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and deliver its cargo to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.' Trump's texts declared. 'We diverted the van to Langley from Richmond International where it would have likely met a corporate jet from that company. We do not know which plane the van was supposed to go to. We were trying to access the van's internal systems when you made your mess.'
"Would you have preferred the van explode?" Mag asked, still snide. "Because that is what he was going to do to deny the enemy their tool and foil their plan." At that, everyone went still, all the airmen and the man on the screen all blanching. "I can't say I blame him, honestly. The last time someone tried to warp my mind… Well…" Mag shook her head as all four airmen winced hard in unison. She shrugged. "Okay. I may have overreacted just a little bit."
'That would not have anything to do with the squadron of fighter jets that mysteriously crashed in Mexico and the column of armored vehicles that got smashed like tin cans nearby?' Trump was shaking his head now as Mag looked innocent. 'Would it?'
"I dunno. Would it? Some wackos from some alphabet agency wanted to make me angry. They did." Mag shrugged. "End of story."
'And them.' Trump was shaking his head hard now. 'If he runs around loose, every law enforcement agency in the US will hunt him. The executives of that corporation already claim he is a domestic terrorist who is attacking them personally. They have a lot of clout, of course. Hence why they got away with deploying mercenaries instead of calling the cops.'
"He won't be loose." Mag said sternly. "Until we find their Technocyte lab…" At that, everyone jerked into stillness again. "...he is the only witness we have. We can and will keep him safe. We will find the lab, eventually. Hopefully before their test subjects break containment as usually happens when idiots play with the Technocyte virus."
'In the US?' Trump all but begged Mag who glared at him.
"Don't even try." Mag snarled as she held Colin. "We know you and yours funded several labs studying such outside the US. Why wouldn't you do it inside?" Then she scoffed."Well, except for that fact that it is insane! All it takes is one tiny little breach of hazmat protocols and you have another Lasria on your hands. Why not do it in the US?" She demanded. "You want the US to fall apart and having half or three quarters of the US population die would do that quite nicely, wouldn't it? We were so tempted just to let it happen this time."
"You wouldn't!" Trump spoke aloud and Colin staggered as his rage mounted. Mag snarled and made a gesture. The monitor tore right off the wall of the plane and hit the floor, sparking.
"Moron." Mag gave Colin a shake as he fought for control of his emotions. "If it goes too far? We would not be able to stop it. There are not enough of us to stop an outbreak the size of the US. We have been lucky, but luck only goes so far. Easy, Colin, easy. Easy." She crooned to the shaking man. She glared at the bound woman who was clearly shell shocked by all this. The woman opened her mouth, but Mag snarled again and a piece of metal flew from the floor to wrap around the woman's head, binding her jaw shut. Mag shook her head at the hate the woman was glaring at her. "I will get to you in a minute, you evil witch."
"Mag… I…" Colin tried, but his emotions were still flip-flopping.
"Just relax for a moment, Colin." Mag reassured him as she spun to look at the airmen who looked at each other. None of them seemed to know what to say. "Who is in command?" She demanded of the four uniformed personnel.
"Um, plane captain today is Major Harris, Ma'am." The one with the most stripes on his sleeve said slowly, clearly not wanting to anger Mag. Smart.
"Why do I sense a 'but' in your words, airman?" Mag demanded. "Just spit it out."
"Ah, standing orders are to take your commands, Ma'am. Any Tenno." The airman braced to attention as Mag all but gawked at him. "The whole point of Task Group Ten is we are supposed to support you guys if you need it. Today, you needed it."
"I had it under control." Mag muttered but Colin snickered again and she scowled at him. Her heart wasn't in it though. None of the airmen dared comment, but all looked amused. She shook her head and then looked at herself. Colin as hardly the only person to gawk as her attire shimmered and she was suddenly clad in a flightsuit! It had no rank markings, no insignia at all, but it mimicked the ones the airmen wore. "I need to talk to the plane captain and I need to keep that one secure." She nodded to the woman who was struggling in her metal bindings. "You lot got any duct tape?"
"Ma'am." The senior most of the airmen feigned hurt that she would ask such and Mag smiled.
"Right, silly question. Better you do it then. I could make it so she couldn't possibly escape, but that would get messy." Mag's smile turned downright vicious as she looked at the bound woman. "Nyx is kinda a softy at times, so I don't want to drop the woman bleeding or missing limbs in her lap. My sister tries to be nice, but she can be can be downright mean when she gets angry."
"We can handle that, Ma'am." The airman spokesman said with a growl as he stepped to the side of the aircraft, reached into a locker and pulled out a roll of the ubiquitous, gray, infinitely useful tape.
"Knock yourselves out, just leave her able to breathe. We have lots of questions and corpses don't answer such well." Mag turned away as the woman started to make noises of fear. The airmen ignored her, returning to whatever they had been doing as the one with the roll started for metal wrapped woman, pulling a strip of the tape out.
"Anyone stupid enough to play with that virus gets what they deserve." The airman with the tape declared as the woman tried to hop away, but he grabbed her with his free hand and started wrapping.
"No argument from me." Mag retorted as she led Colin towards the front of the plane. "Come on, Colin, there will be seats up front. You will be able to sit down, relax. You are not alone, okay?" She gently guided him towards a door, hatch or whatever the Air Force called such things on airplanes.
"He will use me just like they would have." Colin managed through the rage that still foamed within him.
"Yeah." Mag didn't bother sugar coating it. "It is what his kind do. They see some kind of advantage, they grab it and to hell with collateral damage or consequences. Such do not matter to his kind. If it doesn't affect him personally, he won't care what happens. We don't feel that way." She reassured the stumbling man. "We see consequences every day."
"You fight the things I saw in the warehouse." Colin said softly. Mag nodded as he eased him past the door.
"What you saw is the least of it." Mag said heavily as she started up a set of stairs that were so steep, 'ladder' might have been a better word and helped him up. "Those in the warehouse were the smallest, least dangerous of the Infected. Anything larger would have batted you aside without blinking." Colin stared at her but let her guide him towards a set of chairs that were set up by one wall of the airplane. A door marked 'Authorized Personnel Only' was close, but she eased him down into a hard chair and then stood for a moment, holding his hand. "Our lives are not fun, Colin. I am sorry you got mixed up in them."
"It wasn't you or me that did this." Colin bowed his head and waves of fatigue swept through him. He squeezed her hand, but that seemed to be all he could do. "I am okay, Mag, Whatever they did, I am calmer again. I just… Why?" He all but begged.
"Everyone wants super soldiers." Mag said softly as Colin sank into the uncomfortable chair. "They want soldiers who are faster, stronger, able to take more punishment and most of all…"
"Expendable." Colin said when Mag trailed off.
"Yeah." Mag heaved a sigh. "Of course, if you take all the things that make a human being what he or she is out of a soldier, all you have left is a robot. Dangerous, to be sure, but limited. Human emotions fuel human creativity. This has been known for a long, long time. Take away creativity and imagination and what do you have left?"
"A soulless killing machine." Colin said softly. "Is that... They wanted me to be a robot?"
"I don't know." Mag admitted. "None of us do. But we Tenno know about being made, Colin. We were all made to be what we are. Um, well… I sort of chose this life." Mag grimaced, but it was a bit comical. Colin stilled but Mag wasn't done. "I knew there was danger. I saw someone who needed help and I gave it. I have no regrets about that. Even if I had known all the bad that was going to happen? I probably wouldn't do anything different. She was made to be a weapon, I was trained to be one. I helped her and that was good thing, even with all the bad that resulted. We both chose to do something different. My kin were made to be weapons by mad scientists, so this kind of thing makes us all very mad."
"I can see that." Colin was sinking now. Falling asleep? "Mag, I…"
"Sleep, Colin." Mag reassured him. "I am not going anywhere. You are safe. I will make sure of it." Something brushed his forehead. Not a kiss, but a feeling of warmth, of comfort.
Was she humming a lullaby as he fell into darkness that was oddly soothing? If so, he wouldn't comment. He liked his health. A last thought percolated and almost had him jerking back awake. Was he falling for her? Then he knew no more.