Omega [REDUX]

Chapter 36

Hans stood in the lighted circle, darkness shrouding his surroundings, as well as the silhouettes of the committee he now faced. The illumination was dim enough such that his eyes did not hurt from the lighting contrast, but bright enough for him to feel mildly intimidated. Despite being trained as an elite operative to block out his emotions he was not totally immune to all of the UIF's psychological tricks.

"General," one of them spoke up, "We are gathered here to assess your recent sanctioning of Operation Blue Rose, and its legitimacy given the losses we have suffered."

Hans remained silent.

"We call into question the recent deaths of—" A pause. "Four soldiers deploying alongside the contingent sent to retrieve a—" Another pause. "A hostage of questionable value."

"I recognize that the Council has certain prerogatives," Hans retorted, "but with all due respect, I find your use of linguistics highly disturbing."

"Disturbing?" Another Councilor leaned forward, still shrouded by shadows and silhouettes. "General, our main priority is the upkeep of UIF defenses—"

"Which in turn has nothing to do with dehumanizing those involved."

That shut him up. Another one of the four attempted to counter-attack. "We don't have time for petty morality at this moment, General. The war we wage forces us to reduce casualty lists to mere lines of text and numbers if we are to effectively execute our duties."

"So why the concern with this operation in particular?" Hans retorted. "If they were mere texts and numbers to you I clearly wouldn't be standing here."

"They are texts and numbers to us, and you have compromised them—"

"In the interests of time we have chosen to disregard your clear disrespect to the chain of command before you," another Councilor responded, "and also because there are some amongst us who remain convinced there was some tactical value in your decisions. We requested your presence to justify those decisions."

"I was doing what was right."

"What is right, and wrong, if I may point out," the final Councilor said, breaking his silent vigil, "Is very subjective. You of all people should know that."

Hans shifted his weight, disgusted with the turn of events. "I don't see anything wrong with what I did."

"Your operation was sanctioned with the authority we granted to you. A generous amount, if I might say so." A screen behind the silhouettes flickered, bringing up the files of the four casualties Operation Blue Rose had sustained. "Their blood is on your hands, General."

"For a bunch of people asking me to remember that the definition of right and wrong is subjective," Hans spat, "your current assessment is surprisingly blind."

A silence descended upon the Council.

"Oh, don't give me this intimidation bullshit," he continued, unfazed by their psychological tactic, "I know what I did. I knew that a number of those soldiers weren't coming back alive—"

"Omega-designated soldiers, General," a Councilor interrupted.

"I salvaged a delicate and volatile situation, and prevented the collapse of our most valuable military asset in UIF history."

"That is questionable as well, General. We noted you had allowed her to deploy alongside the soldiers."

Now Hans was genuinely angry. "To hell with the pragmatism; saving innocents is clearly the right to do. The hostage was taken for the sole purpose of compromising Asset Omega. She had absolutely nothing to do with anything."

"Was she worth the lives, and the tactical capabilities, of these four soldiers? Was this really for the greater good?"

"Do you really want to play this game?" Hans glared at the shadow who had just voiced her opinion. "To look at everything so bloody objectively? Fine. Fine then. I've be as bloody pragmatic as you want."

"General," another Councilor began as Hans paced the floor angrily, "we'd like to remind you—"

"I prevented the emotional breakdown of Asset Omega," Hans cut him off, "which, stemming from her emotional attachment to the innocent hostage in question, would have completely neutralized her tactical capabilities AND her loyalty to the UIF. Leaving the hostage to die would have a massive tactical mistake which I prevented, and am currently being questioned for.

"I don't know how valuable hindsight is to the military," he ranted on, "but in case you haven't noticed, Operation Blue Rose was not only a success, but also procured another Omega-level asset for the UIF, whose technology and overall capabilities rival that of our first Asset Omega. Preliminary reports already indicate she is literally a living weapon."

"General—"

"And don't you dare tell me this was all not for the greater good!" he snapped. "For all the yapping you all do about that stupid principle. I saved an innocent life, protected a valuable asset and recovered one more. Objectively, the combined tactical capabilities we now possess is worth far more than the four lives I sacrificed."

Another silence. A different kind, this one more uncomfortable than the first one. His fury sated, Hans shut up. He'd said all that there was.

"The Council has heard your defence," one of them spoke, "and will withdraw to review your actions. You are dismissed."

He turned on his heel without another world and strode out of the chamber.

"I'm not sure you fully comprehend the extent of what's happened to her—"

"With all due respect," Elsa said to the room of researchers she stood in, "I am literally the product of your research. Everything you've found in her, you'll find some variant of in me. Aside from that, I spent extensive hours researching your reference material, which was the preliminary report done on me. I know pretty damn well what they've done to her."

She let that sink in before continuing. "Now tell me, exactly, what they've done with her."

The lead researcher sighed, shifting uncomfortably before motioning for Elsa to take a seat before he continued his presentation. Elsa watched him sweat a little bit; he was no doubt bound to feel nervous after she practically busted the door down just so she'd know how Anna was doing.

The last she'd seen Anna was as she'd exited the darkened room, her lover's exhausted form curled up in her slumber. She still couldn't fully understand what Empyrean had done to her, but she had a pretty good idea. If she was going to help Anna in any way she needed to know exactly what she was dealing with.

The researcher brought up his presentation again. "As far as we can tell, modifications are corresponding with known Ascendant program modifications." He brought up a series of charts and diagrams as he continued. "Full biological alteration, down to cellular level."

One particular diagram caught Elsa's attention; she watched the cell in question react under a series of stimuli. "We had difficulty in retrieving this tissue sample thanks to advanced defence systems that the body deployed," the lead researcher remarked, "because whatever apparatus we had either had difficulty penetrated the skin to begin with, or were dissolved after successful penetration. We were thus forced to use sedatives before successfully extracting it for testing.

"As far as we can tell, every cell in the subject's body has been augmented to behave like a machine. Fully functional, semi-organic in nature, yet able to negate a variety of mechanical weaknesses." Another video clip was brought up. "This particular recording shows the tissue sample displaying a muted response to a miniscule EMP charge; it could not be fully neutralized, continuing to retain a certain functionality until excessive amounts of electricity was applied. Given that the subject was also able to neutralize our probing apparatus we concluded it had other, unknown, defence capabilities."

"What about the weapons we've observed on the subject?" another researcher asked.

"Extensive testing, and the series of incidents after the subject's awakening—" At this point the researcher adjusted his tie nervously and glanced at Elsa, "has confirmed our initial theory that our subject is a transforming, adapting weapon. Biological scans confirm that the weapons that her body forms are in response to perceived threats, both psychological and/or tangible in nature. This may explain how she was so resistant to tests to begin with."

"Can it be cured?" Elsa asked.

The room fell into a deathly silence. It gave her the answer she dreaded.

"Unfortunately, ma'am," the lead researcher responded cautiously, "her augmentations match that of yours in various ways, including its full body augmentation. Because every single cell in her body is basically a microscopic machine, capable of linking with other cells to form more complex machines instantaneously…"

He took a deep breath. "It is severely unlikely to be cured, and if it is, our current knowledge and technology are unable to accomplish such a feat."

No. Please no. She blinked back tears, desperately trying to deny the fact that she faced.

"But we know that she isn't impaired in any way, right?" another researcher asked. "If everything has followed the previously recorded instance of Ascendant augmentation, our subject now should have enhanced senses, reflexes, and neural capacity?"

"As far as we can tell, that is correct, though we require further testing. We deemed that—" He glanced at Elsa again, "undesirable when the patient was about to wake up. We then monitored her for the next 7 hours until she eventually awoke."

"Any potential psychological trauma she might face?" Elsa asked. "PTSD, hallucinations, that sort of thing?"

"We can't be sure, though the recent incident immediately after she awoke does raise some concerns. We were hoping you would have prior experience with such matters to advise us on."

You mean aside from the constant guilt and self-loathing over the fact that I'm a living abomination? "None that I can remember," she said flatly.

"Then that's about all we have," the researcher concluded. "Quarantine protocols dictate that we cease all research now that patient is conscious, and we cannot proceed with physical testing without consent from the subject." He closed the presentation with a swipe of his hand and handed the datapad to Elsa. "This is all our research from the past few days combined. The datapad is yours; we have our own copy."

She clasped the metal device in her hand and looked at the display. Anna's smiling face looked up at her, one of her academy's mandatory identification photos now marking her files. It sent another stab through Elsa's heart. "Thank you…" she managed.

She found herself on the roof of the base, leaning against the balcony railing as she gazed at the city in the distance, the tall skyscrapers towering over the ground, their image distorted by the shimmering of heatwaves from hovercars streaking across the sky. Her icy ring levitated around her, drifting with the wind, as senseless as her current state of mind. She was far too distraught.

This is all my fault.

She sniffed, brushing a tear from her cheek as she grit her teeth in anger. She wanted to hurt herself badly. Every blow she'd deal to herself would be for every mistake she'd made. Every person she'd condemned. Everything she'd ruined.

The entire railing had frosted over before she'd reined in her thoughts and shut them out. It would do her no good to think this way.

She never wanted this. Even when in Empyrean she'd refused to hurt anyone barring self-defense. Every blow she'd taken she'd done so for others. She'd always believed if she tried her hardest everything would turn out alright. That even if she couldn't save herself, she could pay the price to save others. But no matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried, she always ended up hurting people.

She didn't know what to do anymore. How could she help? She would only hurt Anna in some way she could not now fathom, and make things worse. And yet, how could she let go? To leave the only love she had ever had to her fate?

She gripped the railing tighter, hot tears streaming down her cheeks as she contemplated what she'd done. How could Anna ever see her in the same way? One way or another Elsa had ruined her life, had gotten her mixed up in a conflict she wasn't supposed to be in. How could she bear to face Anna?

How could she dare to love her?

"You okay over there?"

She quickly regained her composure, wiping away her tears. "I'm alright."

"I'm not some lie detector or anything," Charles said as she heard him roll up behind her, "but you're not exactly doing a fantastic job of concealing the fact that something's troubling you."

She looked down, confused. She'd crushed the railing she was holding on to; the metal was bent and scarred. "My bad."

"Nothing's wrong with admitting that something's on your mind," he went on gazing at the sky above them. "It doesn't make you weak. It makes you strong."

"I'm not strong enough."

He stopped his wheelchair just next to her. "Well, you can start becoming stronger by talking about it, if you're willing to."

"You wouldn't understand."

"You'll be surprised, young lady," Charles said as he turned his wheelchair around towards the scenery before them, a distant look clouding his features. "I can't claim to have gone through things as traumatic as you have, but living longer does have its benefits." He paused briefly. "I've had tough times of my own."

"You're not a monster like me."

Charles gave her a strange look. "Is that really what you think of yourself?"

She didn't reply. That, in itself, was her answer.

"You know, I didn't have a very good impression of you when we met again. Guess that comes with losing both my legs because of you." He let that sink in, or bought himself time to think of something else to say; Elsa couldn't tell which was which. "My only impression of you was a lethal assassin with supernatural powers, who'd stop at nothing to achieve her goals."

"You're not wrong there."

"Then I realized your goals were nobler than a base instinct to kill. Meant to protect and care those you care about. After Blue Rose I realized you were human."

She didn't respond again.

"You doubt that. I see that now."

"Can you blame me?"

"No."

A silence passed between them, the wind whistling in their ears as they gazed at the city together. Charles let his hands fall upon the wheelchair armrests and sighed. "Look, I know I'm not very good at this, but you need to give yourself another chance. You don't need to be this hard on yourself."

"Really?" She looked up at the sky, eyes brimming with tears, pleading the heavens for forgiveness. I didn't want this, I swear. "After all I've done, and all that's happened—?"

"As far as I can tell, based on what I've pieced together and what Hans has been willing to disclose about you, I'd say you've done what you could have."

"I should never have dragged Anna into all of this."

"You didn't. It was Empyrean."

"I—"

"None of this was ever your fault, Elsa. A lot of things really aren't. Humanity has never had the benefit of future-sight to guide their every move. No one could have predicted all of this would have happened."

"Then how am I supposed to protect her?" She was crying now. "How am I ever supposed to protect anyone?"

"You believe."

"In what?"

"Yourself."

She wanted to break down right there and then. Myself? Believe in myself? What could possibly be in me to believe in? I don't know if I should laugh or cry some more—

"The only thing you can do now is to help her," Charles went on. "Help her cope. Help her recover. Help her move on with who she has become. Help her in ways you wished others would have helped you."

"But I'll only end up hurting… her," she managed despite her sobbing, her voice quivering in agony. "I dragged her into all of this when I tried to get close to her. I let Empyrean target her. Hurting her is all I've… ever done."

She felt him reach out and grasp her hand within his, trying to soothe her, trying to calm her down. But he said no words and made no sound, just wrapping his fingers around her hand as she continued to cry.

She forced herself to clean up. She didn't want Anna to see her this way; she didn't want her to feel bad for her when everything was Elsa's own fault. Luckily her powers granted her a myriad of ways to appear normal; she frosted over her irises gently to make them look whiter instead of red, and frosted over her skin so that her glistening tear trails weren't so obvious. When she looked in the bathroom mirror she couldn't tell that she'd been crying for the past hour.

Charles had sent her a datapad with some information he declined to disclose, telling her to open it when she met Anna again; apparently it concerned both of them. It was night again, and the quarantine section's active population was thinning as the staff retired for bed. They were used to her presence now, so no one paid her much attention as she strolled down the hallways to Anna's room, her left hand grasping the datapad.

Wordlessly she keyed in the passcode to the quarantine chamber and pushed the door aside, dragging it close behind her.

The tinny sound of a recording reached her ears.

It was gunfire.

Anna was sitting on her bed, tears streaming down her cheeks, illuminated by the glow of the holographic projection that sprung from a device mounted on her metal shoulder. Though inverted, Elsa recognized the series of images; it was their little skirmish at the Empyrean facility. Right now she watched, from Anna's perspective, herself being pinned down, choking in Anna's vice grip around her neck.

Her lover looked up, her tear-stained face now overcome with shock, and the video paused. "I—"

Elsa didn't know what to say. What could she say to that? Nothing had ever prepared her to deal with any of this. Instead she just stood there dumbly, gazing at Anna, realizing that even with what had happened she was still so deeply in love with her. And nothing would ever change that.

Anna's jaw had dropped open as she gazed at the projection, then to Elsa, then back to the projection. "I'm sorry, I—" her voice cut off again. A strangled sob escaped her open lips.

Wordlessly Elsa strolled over to her, sitting herself on the side of Anna's bed. She reached over Anna's shoulder, her hand pressing down on the projector sprouting from her metal skin, and to her surprise the device retracted back into Anna's exoskeleton. She felt a hand grab hers tightly, and Elsa moved her other hand to caress Anna's cheek, gazing at her with tender loving eyes and a small smile on her own face.

"I tried to kill you…" Anna's voice came out in a whisper. "I can't believe I—"

Elsa pulled her into a tight embrace, and Anna broke down, her racking sobs piercing Elsa's heart over and over again. It was all she could do to wrap Anna in her arms and attempt to stay strong for her. How strange it was, she realized, that she herself needed to comfort of someone else to soothe her, and yet she was the one to comfort Anna when she broke down.

Love, she decided, worked in really strange ways.

Because now she found herself at peace. With Anna in her arms she couldn't find it in her to blame herself anymore; she focused entirely on Anna, on helping Anna tide through her own crisis. And as Anna's sobs gradually died down she broke the embrace to plant light kisses upon her lover's cheek and forehead, lavishing Anna with her love.

"Shh…" she cooed, "it's all over now."

Anna buried her face in Elsa's shoulder again. "This is the second time—"

"Stop it." She pushed Anna's face up gently with her finger so as to chide her gently, pouting as she did. "It wasn't your fault."

"You can't say that, Elsa."

"Why not?"

"Because that's who I am now. A monster."

And then everything seemed to click for Elsa. The one thing she'd been telling and asking herself her whole life washed away in an instant, and she understood. She understood the one thing that had changed ever since she'd met Anna, the one answer she had been searching for this whole time.

"You're not a monster."

Anna sighed. "Let's be honest with each other—"

"I am." Elsa let her fingers entwine with Anna's, clasping her hand tightly. "You aren't a monster at all."

"Then what am I?"

Elsa hesitated. "An angel."

Anna scoffed as she said that, but failed to hide the sadness in her voice. "You don't have to make me feel better. I know exactly what I am."

"We aren't defined by what you think we are," Elsa continued. "How we look, how we appear, what our cells are made up of are irrelevant. It's what we do that defines us."

"Easy for you to say—"

Elsa gave Anna a funny glance, and she caught herself mid-sentence. "Fair enough," Anna conceded, "but still—"

"You understood that principle not so long ago, you know."

Anna raised an eyebrow as she finished her sentence. "I did?"

"Because you loved me."

"That doesn't change anything."

"You loved me despite knowing exactly what I was." She let the same snowflake materialize in her palm, the same one she had shown Anna in the dark room in the convention center when they had been attacked. The same gesture that had brought them closer together. The same gesture that had started it all. "You loved me despite what I did. You chose to love me regardless."

"I don't understand."

"You looked past what I was and chose to focus on who I was. You loved me as a person instead of the weapon I was. And even though I can't run from my past, I can embrace whatever, and whoever, I am. I see that now." Elsa cupped Anna's cheek again as a small sob escaped her lover's lips. "Because it didn't matter to you at all."

"I—" Anna began to sob again. "I—"

"That's why you're an angel. Because you forgave me. You taught be to be someone. You taught me to be human. And I can never thank you enough for that."

She held Anna tightly as she cried, her own emotional maelstrom lessening somewhat, purged from the burden of self-loathing and blame, enveloped by her love for Anna, and Anna's love from her. Elsa pulled her lover into another embrace, entwining her fingers into Anna's red hair, cooing as she cried, a sense of liberation coming over her.

And maybe now, she thought, maybe now she'd have a chance to fix this.