The Game
Edited by Karen Leigh
The cyborg left the room, relieving One of his immediate concerns. He could still sense Wraith screaming on the edge of his consciousness. The mad creature seemed unaware of how much of the unfortunate Mac 27 had been integrated into his makeup. The mourning of the Mac 27 for its former existence was painful to realize. Fortunately, the woman's cyborg parts were not like that. She had enhancements, but, at least, they were not cannibalized from a sentient android. If there were a chance, One would take a chance and try to accept her. If his kind was to be deemed worthy of independent life, then they must not judge other types of life. Although humans did it all the time, he considered, but that was not an admirable trait of the other species.
Ricky Caruso sprawled his legs up on the table. His hands were busy with small glass orbs that he had taken from a bowl. He said, "Well, I'm getting bored. I want to do something. Maybe go find out if Pendrell really is still alive and if he's made any more Mac version of you guys. Or maybe I should go looking for a new job. I bet Walter has fired me absentee by now." The little orbs dropped to the floor and Ricky said, "Damn, I keep losing my marbles."
2068 eyed Caruso assessingly for a moment. Yes, this one definitely needed an outside influence to keep him out of trouble. Still, he did have a responsibility to Sypher... "I am sure that Sypher will cause no trouble, but I will arrange for someone to guard her in my absence or she can come along if you wish. The choice is yours."
He hesitated a moment before continuing. "However, her condition disturbs me. She is, for the most part, all too human and far too susceptible to damage at this time given the fact that she has unexplained nosebleeds. If the information she carries is as important as she claims, I would prefer not to risk it."
At that moment, Baines spoke up. "I think you should remain with Sypher as promised. Alexei and Sasha will look after Ricky. Michael and I will keep an eye on them." Addressing One he said, "I agree that you should take some time alone with Sypher. She is likely carrying important information and the longer she holds it the more damaging it is to her. With Wraith coming in, and the attendant problems he poses, the sooner you deal with her the better. We will meet them at the gate and escort them in slowly.
Who exactly is bringing him in? One, who looked like he had a headache, said, "Mac27 666 and Marita Covarrubias".
Leigh frowned, "Is she the blonde who takes orders from Mulder's smoking man?"
One almost shrugged, "It is likely."
Baines, who had been gathering information at an alarming rate on the players in The Game said to the room at large, "My original opinion of the woman was not high but if she is a tool of the same man who ran Alex for years then it would be wise to be on guard. According to everyone who knows him, he always has more than one agenda and can never fully be trusted and nor can his people, including Alex."
Ricky perked up at the thought of action of any kind and smiled up at Alexei and Sasha still standing quietly behind him.
Sypher sighed tiredly. She was feeling a bit run-down from the events of the past few hours and absolutely needed more sleep; but she also needed to get set up for Krycek's arrival--a crucial task in itself--and there was something else she needed to check out once she did. She didn't like the painfully itchy feeling in the back of her skull she sometimes got when looking at one of the MAC-27's, and personal experience had taught her to trust her instinct. If the instinct was right, then Morpheus had a lot to answer for.
She'd been told where she might be able to find Sands; but having no idea of the layout of the mansion, she found herself wandering a bit until she stumbled across an open doorway where two men were totally engrossed in each other and one of them looked like the man she was looking for.
Yup; sure enough. She'd know that profile anywhere; and damned if the other one wasn't one of Alex's many copies. She'd never been much for voyeurism, but watching these two stirred up a possible answer to a question Sypher had kept from asking herself until now.
And they were beautiful...
Hard pressed not to giggle at their playfulness or invite herself to the party, Sypher regretfully decided to make her presence known. After all, she was going to need Sands very soon. But it was a crying shame to bust up something so pretty. Pulling out her Ray-Bans, she prowled into the room and stood close by, waiting for the two lovers to take notice.
The damn intercom had said that Eugene was needed in the medical office, interrupting an intimate voyage around the world. Rodney was still squirming from thwarted arousal. Eugene sprawled on the couch...Eugene did sprawl well. Rodney pounced and straddled his lover's chest.
"Want to play doctor?" Rodney asked, working his hands under Eugene's silk tee shirt to find his flat nipples and tease them back into perky peaks. He leaned down, taking the opportunity to rub his engorged cock over Eugene's lean torso.
"I'll be the proctologist, Eugene said, flipping Rodney over. Both of them thumped down onto the floor without disengaging from a kiss.
A moment later, they looked at a pair of steel toed combat boots; their gaze traveled over well shaped brown suede pant legs, slim hips, and a nicely filled bosom, and then all the way up into a pair of Raybans. The pretty woman was rubbing her head, disturbing her glossy ringlets.
"Were you looking for the doctor?" Eugene asked, scrambling up.
Smiling wickedly, Sypher pulled the sunglasses down her nose and fixed Sands with an openly appraising stare that stopped at his gaping fly. His dick, as gorgeous as the rest of him, jumped in salute and her gaze flicked back up to the doctor's face. Her smile grew as she realized that he was blushing furiously. "I'd say that I found him," she replied with a chuckle in her voice.
The woman's gaze went to Eugene's groin as Rodney's lover realized that he had managed to open his fly...and drag his erection out the aperture.
Still sprawled on the floor, Rodney covered his face and begin to chuckle. He pointed at Eugene and gasped out, "That's the Doc and he's uh out!"
"Oh, I can see that!" she agreed enthusiastically, and then sighed. "You are a very, very lucky man indeed," with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, she winked at both of them in turn, then held out her hand to the clone on the floor. "I'm Sypher, and it looks like I've managed to interrupt something good for you two, again. I really am sorry, although the first time wasn't my fault, Doc. I told 2068 I was all right, he just refused to believe me." The last was directed at the hapless Sands, who was busily trying to get himself situated--if only his wayward member would cooperate. The clone on the floor, in a similar state of disarray himself, merely smirked up at his lover. /Shit, he's just as stacked as Ale...Krycek, as Krycek./
"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'm getting my equipment now and that I'll probably be ready to go within the next...90 minutes? So, whenever you're finished with your...more important research," Sands blushed again at the warm, knowing smile she directed at both of them," Langly and I will be waiting," so saying, she put her Ray-Bans back on and left, firmly and quietly closing the door behind her.
There was a thump from within, and Sypher shook her head ruefully. "Some guys have all the luck," she muttered before turning away and heading back out to her car. Allison and Mac Brown came out into a corridor, Allison carrying Sappho. They saw Anne coming down the hall with a woman and another android.
--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--
Lost in thought, Sypher didn't notice the small group coming toward her until she was almost on top of them; nearly careening into the short, cute brunette right in her path. "Oh my god, I am so sorry!!" she gasped, "I wasn't paying attention. Are you okay?"
Suddenly finding herself caught in a dark chocolate glare that reminded her of Neo, a quick, violent shiver rocketed up Sypher's spine. "I'm sorry," she said again, "I wasn't paying attention. Please accept my apologies."
"It's okay." Jess tamped down the canine hostility at being bumped and smiled reassuringly. Instinctive reactions were so much harder to manage as the full moon neared.
It was at that moment that Sypher noticed the two androids in the group and the unconscious wave of hostility they were projecting. /Please...I mean you no harm,/ she pleaded, squeezing her eyes shut. /Jesus, it hurts! Please, please stop! I don't want to hurt you; can't you understand that?/
Jess watched as a fleeting change of expression in Johnny's face. The Mac 27's scent didn't change like a human's would in response to their moods, but she knew Johnny well enough to know something was going on.
She left them quickly behind and resolved to spend the rest of her time at the mansion sequestered in whatever room One chose to set her up in. There was no way she could consistently withstand being the focus of so much hostility.
Jess looked from Mac Brown to Johnny. "Care to tell us what that was about?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
"She is different..." Johnny hesitated. He did not know whether or not to classify the cyborg a threat.
Jess crossed her arms and glared at Johnny. "And is that a problem? Cause I'm not exactly normal myself, and you don't have a problem with that. So what's the difference?" Johnny was right though. There was something about the stranger's smell that she couldn't quite place. Jess made a mental note to track down the woman later and see if she could figure out what it was.
--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--
Grunting, Langly tried to hold onto the phone as I-Mac went down for the third time today. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain this to Frohike or Byers, but hell if he would ever give up I-Mac. He used to try to imagine his perfect woman, but she was a male all the time, a male android at that. "Yeah, well, keep surfing, Frohike. We need to know about every sighting of Krycek in the city."
Coming, Langly muttered as he heard a knock on the door. He said, "I-Mac, I got to clean up, babe. Get the door for me."
Finally hauling the two large cases and her backpack to Langly's door without another incident, Sypher knocked; hoping that she wasn't interrupting the other hacker in the middle of something as well. It was absolutely amazing how much sex was going on around this place. The worst part was that none of it was coming her way; and with all of the male pairing going on, it didn't look likely to anytime soon. The realization brought a strong pang of loneliness with it; and for the first time, Sypher wished she hadn't pushed for this assignment. Even the illusion of belonging was better than being constantly reminded that you didn't.
When the door opened, Sypher found herself face to face with the strange, redheaded I-Mac and she couldn't help staring. Alex as a redhead was disconcerting enough, but even stranger was the fact that he didn't make her head hurt. It was clear that he was of a different make than the rest of the line. As they stood regarding each other, Langly came back into the room and put a possessive arm around the android.
When Langly reentered the room, Sypher was uneasily staring at I-Mac. Langly tugged at his stringy locks and jealously went to put an arm around the android. "This is I-Mac, my uh boyfriend. He's a big help."
Stifling the obvious comeback, Sypher merely raised an eyebrow at Langly and allowed herself a small smile. They were kind of cute together after all. "My apologies," she seemed to be saying that a lot lately, "I'm afraid I know next to nothing about Mac systems. But my neural net is designed to interface with any type of system, so perhaps you'd be so kind as to give me a crash course sometime."
Blinking big lashed eyes at Langly, I-Mac imitated him and brushed his own crown of red hair back. He said, "She is very unusual, a blend of android and human? How interesting." I-Mac went behind Langly and wrapped his arms around him. He continued to stare at Sypher with innocent avidity. Langly had already learned that I-Mac was curious as a cat. He didn't have as many preset programs as most of the other type of Mac 27s. He seemed designed to learn by experience or to accept direct input from his user.
Smiling at Sypher, Langly said, "I guess the first thing that comes to mind is that we have to find out how to make your interfaces work without giving you pain. Where's Sands? He was supposed to meet us here."
"The good doctor is otherwise occupied," and she finally let the knowing smirk break free and watched her fellow hacker's face color up, "but he'll be here in a while. As for my neural net, I've had it since I was little more than a brain stem in a lab. It isn't what's causing the problem; the information overload in my brain is. Once we get set up, we're going to need to run a diagnostic, a benchmark, and...," she hesitated, still afraid to say the words out loud. But she had to; there was no way she was going to be Morpheus' unwitting scapegoat again. "And a virus scan," with that, she unlocked the cases and started pulling out equipment, "and if we're going to be ready by the time Krycek arrives, we need to get started."
Adding a rack of test tubes to the pile in Rodney's arms, Eugene hummed happily. Rodney had lost the throw after Eugene's lovely future patient gave them their privacy and now walked with a hint of bow legged contentment.
"I don't see why I have to carry all of this?" Rodney complained.
"Because my lovely pugilist, you spend a hell of a lot of free time lifting big hunks of metal. What's the difference?" Eugene replied.
"It's not balanced. Weights are balanced, babe." Rodney answered. "They make my body just the way you like it."
"Do you think I'm shallow?" Eugene teased. "Maybe, you think I'll dump you if you don't stay in fighting trim. Hell no, I love your body. I love your face, but I'll love you even when we are old."
The shy smile half hidden by duck of his head pleased the hell out of Eugene. For the longest time, Rodney had never believed that Eugene really cared for him. He was just used to being used. Now, Rodney was confident and held his head up with pride. They were made for each other.
Almost ready to hook in and start the diagnostic, Sypher cocked her head slightly at the sound of the conversation coming from down the hall. It sounded like the Doc and his lover, a man named Rodney that Langly had informed her used to be a small-time fighter. Had to say this much for the two of them, they were prompt...she spared both of them a smile and a wink as they came through the door.
Eugene found the room, which was set up as a computer center and lab, easily enough. The red haired android, I-Mac, bounced around the room, apparently wanting to know everything he could find out about Sypher.
Finding a table, Rodney waited for help to be unloaded. Eugene said, "Hey, we're all here."
A slight pang seized Sypher even as she smiled at the exchange. Knowing what little she did about the lives of the two men before her made her glad they'd found each other; but recently she couldn't help wondering when it would happen for her--if ever. Must be the atmosphere around the place.
On the heels of that particular thought came another delicate brush of I-Mac's sensitive fingers against the I/O port in the back of her neck, bringing with it another jolt of pleasure to race through her system--pleasure that had to be ruthlessly tamped down. Tamped down because first, for all his sexual knowledge, the red-headed android was still an innocent, second, because she didn't need anymore problems than she already had, and third, because you just didn't hook into a fellow hacker's files like that. She happened to like and respect Langly. He had awesome mojo.
Which was why the glare he was currently directing at her made Sypher skitter about ten feet away from the inquisitive android whenever he touched her. She almost wished she were in the middle of a hostile crowd of regular Macs. At least she knew *they* wouldn't be pawing her every five seconds.
But when she noticed the small puzzled pout I-Mac was directing at her, she gave him what she hoped was an apologetic, non-encouraging smile. No such luck: as soon as I-Mac saw the expression, he was after her again.
This time, she held up a hand to ward him off before he could touch her again. "Stop," she said firmly. /Don't fall for the pout, *don't* fall for the pout.../ "I-Mac, I'll be more than happy to answer all the questions I can for you and you're going to be here for the duration; just...please don't touch me anymore."
A slight quiver of the android's lower lip told Sypher that she'd just hurt his feelings horribly. Christ, how could she explain this? He had no idea of the effect he was having on her-- or on poor Langly for that matter..."look, I-Mac...it's just that, well..." /think, for the love of God!/ "...you can't keep touching me like this, it isn't proper."
Nope, nothin'..."See, humans use touch to bind themselves to other humans, especially in the case of establishing sexual partners and...well, your constantly touching me is sending out some very confusing signals right now."
She firmly turned him in Langly's direction. "Especially to your currently established partner." Satisfied, she turned to the two who had just joined them as they walked over to the last empty table. "What's shakin', Doc?"
Glancing at Sypher, Eugene said, "I hope you don't mind if Rodney stays. We like to be together because well, you never know do you?
She smiled warmly at the ex-fighter as she catalogued the infinitesimal differences between him and his original. Slightest offset of the nose--must have broken it in a bout sometime, whoever set it was a genius; a little broader from shoulders to torso--the aforementioned weight-lifting; hands were a bit wider, the fingers slightly shorter; thighs and calves thicker in proportion to the rest of the body--not much, but it looked good on him, as Alex had been rather too lean with no body fat to spare; /skip the package, you've already seen more than enough of it, girl.../; eyes more hazel than Alex's, making them closer to the color of I-Mac's if the light in the room was just right.
All business for a moment, Eugene washed up and took out a blood draw kit.
Rodney, used to pitching in at the shelter, followed suit. Both snapped on surgical gloves before handling any of the equipment. Eugene said, "I need to get a blood sample, see how your system is dealing with the stress related chemicals."
"It's not the stress or the chemicals I'm worried about, Doc; it's this damn file. If I'm carrying a virus, we're going to have to figure out how to retrieve the data without destroying it...or anything else. I don't fancy the idea of being a vegetable, you know? Death is an even less appealing option."
Although Rodney had always played stupid in school, he was bright as the next clone. He said, "Hey, babe, maybe she's rejecting the implant?"
"Not possible, sweetie. I've had this thing since before I was completely formed; if I were to lose it now, becoming human broccoli would be the best I could hope for. I have a less than 0.5% chance of surviving without my neural net. It's that integrated into my system."
Noticing the slightly green look on Eugene's face, Sypher thought she knew what might be the problem. "Hey, it's copacetic, Doc," she murmured gently as she laid a hand against his cheek. "Think of all the lives that were saved by what was done to me. Somebody had to be first. Somebody *always* has to be first. If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't have survived without intervention. As it is, I'm a walking miracle, so don't sweat it anymore, 'k?"
It only took her a moment to observe all this about Rodney; but Sands, damn him, was very observant. She answered his sly smirk with the same all-inclusive exam, which earned her another blush. She was looking forward to meeting Krycek's fibbie sometime to compare. "No, you never do. One, Baines and the others should be here soon as well. Then I hope I can answer all your questions--or at least some relevant ones."
One walked in followed by Ricky who seemed to pop up everywhere there was a chance of action. As One settled in a corner of the room, Ricky leaned over the chair, an affectionate arm around the android. His curious eyes took in Sypher and as she met his eyes, Ricky winked and showed her thumbs up. Eugene shrugged; Ricky was an overgrown puppy, really friendly and harmless in a bowl over the china kind of way. He supposed it was the way that Rodney might have been if his life had not been so difficult.
One said, "I am attempting to modulate my transmissions so you will not feel discomfort. I am imitating I-Mac's frequency as best as I can."
"Not very well," I-Mac muttered to Langly, who shushed him.
"I heard that, mister," Sypher drawled lazily, "behave yourself. Not every being can be as technologically superior as you," she spared One a smile and a quick wink before getting back to business. "As I've tried to explain, One, my only discomfort where the Mac 27 line is concerned comes from the hidden failsafe programming that activates whenever I come into contact with one of you. Seems it's one of those options that's set to a default of 'always on' for all standard Mac units. I can understand why it's needed, so I won't ask you to reset it. Langly does have a few ideas in mind for a patch tailored specifically to me though, and it might go easier for everyone if you worked with him on it. Just a suggestion."
She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "The virus, if there is one, is something completely different. It's enhancing the reaction, as well as my response to the overload in my head. I...didn't know what it was the first time it happened, and I was later told that it was an anomaly that had been removed. A friend was working on a special virus eradication program for me, but he died before it was finished. Maybe Langly can pick up where Mouse left off on that as well."
She stripped down to her skivies--in this case a white tank top and boxer briefs--and settled herself into the VR couch that had been brought down from Skip's game room. "Do whatcha' gotta do, Doc. One thing, though--thoroughly destroy that sample when you're done. The nanocytic technology going into that vial is something that nations all over the world would kill for if they knew it existed," she winked back at the bouncy clone hanging all over One and blew him a kiss, causing his face to light up with a bright, flirtatious smile.
She was right--Krycek needed to smile more. Fuck guns and stilettos, he could get anything and everything he wanted just by flashing that grin around. Squirming self-consciously under that knowing gaze, Sypher allowed herself to be restrained at the wrists and ankles and wished that her nipples hadn't just popped up to say hello in response to the attention from across the room--and that she could have stifled the startled moan of pleasure that tumbled out as the hook-up was inserted into the back of her neck. She swore she could almost smell him from where she was.
/I need a nap...or a good long hard...enough! He's probably like everybody else in this place and doesn't get into girls. You'll live, Sypher--you have so far./
Eugene felt that this was a big audience, something he was out of the habit of experiencing. Shades of being a star surgeon and a bright, shining star...well, he had fucked that and learned a lot in the process.
Capping off his specimens, Eugene said, "I'm going go use that interesting laboratory Skip seems to have no explanation for to have a look at this." Although he had lost most of the rest of his innocence to that drug dealing creep, Raymond Blossom, Eugene never really lost his compassion. He stripped off the drug and laid his hand across Sypher's. He smiled at her and said, "Everything happens for a reason. I thought I lost everything and then, life happened...."
"That's what they keep telling me, Doc. What they neglected to mention was that the waiting is a bitch." She watched as he looked over at his lover tenderly and couldn't suppress the smile as they left for the lab together.
Eugene's gaze turned tenderly to Rodney who met his gaze with the dazzle of his green eyes. The two of them left for the lab, one soul in two bodies.
"Well, Langly, load me up..."
Langly watched Caruso checking Sypher out. As bitchy as the Krycek clone was about Walter Skinner and some other FBI agent, it wasn't stopping him from checking out this interesting blend of human and machine. Frohike said that Mulder told him that Ricky swung both ways. Langly mused that Ricky seemed to have a hyperactive libido go with his twitchy, restless personality.
As for Sypher, Langly envied her. He loved computers, the inherent power in them and the enhancement they gave to his life. He wouldn't mind jacking into the net although he wouldn't like the pain that seemed to be plaguing Sypher.
Of course, maybe Langly could do something about that. he always said that there wasn't a virus he couldn't kill or a program he couldn't hack. He still thought his kung fu was better than Frohike's.
Well, hmm, Sypher's interfaces were complex, very complex. It was frightening thinking that one mistake might wipe out her life. He signaled I-Mac over and said, "Help me out, bud. This has to be right the first time." Langly about to make the worm turn.
Sypher grinned at her fellow hacker. "Relax, Dude. It's a diagnostic and a benchmark, nothing you can't handle. It's just like running one on a normal system; the software does all the work--with a little input from me. Not as hands-on as you're used to, but I think you'll live this time."
She glanced at the screen. "Now, the upper part of the screen is my vitals. It's pretty straightforward. They run higher than a normal human's because the nanocytes make my body and brain run more efficiently. Rule of thumb: as long as I'm not covered in bulging veins and foaming at the mouth, I'm cool."
"Lower part of the screen is for the diagnostic. Also pretty straight forward. It'll flash general info: how long the program's been running, percentage of work done--that kind of thing. Any changes made will be done by me internally and a list of them come up at the end. Print that off."
"The benchmark is straight up too. It's a five-minute system efficiency test, so there are no changes made at all and at the end, another list comes up; print that off as well."
She took a deep breath, and then let it go. "The virus scan is tailored especially for a bio-organic/AI interface. It's designed to specifically scan uploaded files and leave memories and knowledge alone. One of Mouse's pet projects, as are all of these programs. The kid was a freaking genius."
"Now Langly, if there is a virus, Don't Do Anything. Understand? Like all computers, the virus will stay contained as long as nobody screws with the file. I'm going to offload a copy of the eradication program before I run the scan and let you see what you can do with it. If worse comes to worse, we'll have to dump the file and see what we can piece together from my memory. But that's going to require about a week in this chair hooked into IV's and catheters with the Doc hovering over me while a comprehensive search and retrieve runs, so dumping it is a last resort, got it?"
She turned her head to look at One. "My setup is self-contained, so if the virus gets out, none of you will suffer any damage. Don't let anyone hook me into any other system. Don't hook into mine. And if it gets out, shoot me between the eyes. I loaded this thing into an AI a few years back without knowing it and the system had to be destroyed because it started killing people. I'd rather die than have that happen again. Promise me."
"You ready, Langly?" Another deep breath as her eyes moved rapidly behind closed lids and the freedom of digital space rushed up to meet her. "Working."
--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--
When Spender looked up from his telephone discussion with One, David raised an inquiring eyebrow. "He's thinking about it," was all the human offered.
"They shouldn't be together," David stated flatly. "The prisoners should be isolated, especially Wraith. He isn't stable. His predisposition to violence is being altered by something that was recently done to him beyond what his programmers intended." Hesitating more than slightly, David waited, hoping that the human would do more than nod politely as he was.
When Spender did not speak, David quietly asserted, "Alex Krycek will have trouble transporting him and ... and Wraith will certainly kill him if given the opportunity to do so."
The expression on Spender's face was a cross between amusement and understanding. Frowning, David continued, "Marita Covarrubias might be useful." Reluctantly, he admitted, "As might I."
Finally, Spender looked intrigued.
--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--
A multitude of frustrations and furies began battering at Wraith before he even completely regained consciousness. They jostled for his attention amid a headache that threatened to split his skull open.
Betrayal. The word was inappropriate but he couldn't help but call it that. Marita had told him he was to work with the unit and Krycek. Every inch of exposed skin itched intolerably. He was wrapped in bands that dragged at him no matter which way he shifted.
But what if Marita had not known? The unit and Krycek may have acted without her knowledge. Perhaps she lay nearby in straights as difficult as his own. The mere thought of that made his temperature soar.
Wraith's body twisted, muscles bunching uselessly against his bindings. There wasn't enough air in his lungs.
He was going to destroy Krycek. That one had to be responsible. Wraith had heard tell that Krycek acted without orders, had his own agenda. Wraith would break every one of the bastard's fingers then pluck out his eyes and squash them.
Hobbes had to have been disabled as well. That thought hurt in ways Wraith couldn't even process. He had failed his partner. Their orders hadn't been carried out. Their mission was at a standstill, no, interrupted. This had to be merely an interruption.
If Hobbes or Marita were harmed Wraith would make Krycek and every one of the Mac27s pay. He'd shut them all down. Everything that wore the face he looked at in the mirror had to be terminated.
Wraith attempted to find a focus so he could judge his situation but his body insisted on struggling and all he really wanted to do was wrap his fingers around someone's throat and twist.
Small mercy, fury, made the memories that weren't his recede. It shut down the whisper of voices that had been tormenting the back of his brain. Calm clarity could wait if anger gave a reward like this.
A sudden sound let Wraith know that he was not alone, and then a sharp prick in the flesh of his thigh brought oblivion once more.
--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--
Spender spoke, "David, Ms Covarrubias? I would be most grateful if you could manage to convey this..." he indicated the unconscious Wraith, "to One for me. It will save much trouble later."
David looked from Wraith to Marita and back to Spender. "We can, if the lady agrees," he muttered, "But I believe they were expecting Alex Krycek to be the messenger."
Marita nodded curtly. "I'll go."
When Spender simply looked at him with an "Is there anything else?" expression, David shrugged and asked, "I trust this journey is subject to our standard compensation arrangement?"
Marita arched a brow.
An affirmative nod from the human was all that was required. After receiving it, David turned to Marita. "Shall we go?"
Marita nodded, turning to leave, taking it for granted that David would follow. [Will they be able to help him?] Marita had seen a spark of humanity in Wraith, and wouldn't want harm to come to him.
She walked towards the facility where Wraith was being held, turning to David as she put her hand on the door of the cell.
"Let me go in first... you stay behind me, out of sight for now, okay?" She opened the door, and walked to where Wraith lay on the floor, groggy after his latest shot.
Marita placed a hand on his forehead. "Wraith? Wraith, it's Marita. Are you all right? Can you hear me?" She squeezed his shoulder gently. "I'm here to help..."
Strange such a soft wispy sound could be so settling. Marita was here. . She would explain everything, she had to. He couldn't sit up. His eyes weren't working properly either. Wraith wanted to look up and drink in cool reassurance.
Marita ran her hand down his arm, to the tape that bound his wrists. Dare he... no, better check his intent, first. She stroked his cheek.
Enough movement was allowed that Wraith could raise his head slightly and slam it back down to the floor. Pain would help cut through the haze. It would burn off whatever muck they flooded his system with.
"Wraith!" Marita said, alarmed. "Don't - you'll - you'll hurt yourself." She put her arms around his shoulders, and helped him to sit up slightly. She propped him against the wall, and got some water from a sink in a corner of the room. "Here."
That was better, she wasn't in perfect focus but there she was, a hazed vision from a dream. "Marita? Where are they? Cut me loose. I'll kill them for you."
She smiled, kneeling in front of him. "Where are who? Who will you kill for me, Wraith?" she asked sweetly, with a small smile. [Intent... I need to know his intentions.]
"You'd - you'd kill them for me? Why would you do that?" "Them?" Her voice was surprised. "Push you out? Well, all I want... is for you to be free. To be who you truly are "Krycek and the Mac27. They are interfering with the mission. They're manipulating you." They must have trapped Marita between them in the booth on purpose, Wraith reasoned internally. Krycek was a known source of trouble and he was contaminating Marita. Again the rumor that Krycek was Marita's lover snuck up on his thoughts and cut at him.
"They've disabled us. I don't know what they've done with Hobbes and they've imprisoned you and I. It's intolerable." Wraith struggled harder with his bindings, hoping blood would slick them. "Inga Fossa said to destroy all the units. They threaten the human race. They threaten you."
Marita looked so sad.
"Help me get free. I'll get the door open. I have to pursue the mission... show them that we can work together." It was a weakness that he wanted to keep these partners but he did. They looked him in the eyes, saw him, touched him despite all his protests... and a deeply buried fragment, what little remained of Lauren Faber, liked it.
Marita turned at a sound from behind them. David .
Wraith's teeth bared in a snarl before the unit was properly visible. A tangible source of his troubles was within reach if he could just tear free from these damnable bindings.
David watched Wraith carefully and quietly requested, "Marita, step back, please." Concentrating hard, David sought the connection with Wraith that had so sickened One. Keeping a firm grasp of his own identity, he searched for Wraith's true one.
It wasn't his imagination. The ache in his mind was worse when those damned Mac27s were about. Words formed without conscious > thought. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD." Wraith screamed and fought to attack. Adrenaline shot through him. Slicked with blood one of his wrists was almost free.
"Stop it, Lauren," David murmured, kneeling next to Wraith. "Don't make me hurt you. You know that I can and I'm telling you that I will to protect Marita or myself. And only for those reasons. Do you understand?"
Hearing that name spoken aloud was jolt. No one used that name. That it had to come out of the mouth of machine for the first time in so very long was an insult.
Something flickered in Wraith's eyes, both at the mention of what David thought was his true given name and Marita's. "I'm going to put these on you," David informed Wraith, holding handcuffs where he could see them and clean up your wrist. That is all."
Without more, David deftly slipped the cuffs over Wraith's wrists and snapped them shut and wiped the blood from the injured one, speaking all the while. "You are going to go with us, Lauren, because you must. Even your superiors understand that this is what must be. Hobbes is fine and is accompanying Alex elsewhere. I believe that the other one is to be returned to Mr. Santiago, but I am not certain of that."
Marita looked at David sharply
The unit was doing the talking but Wraith kept his eyes on Marita. This was what she wanted of him? Marita wanted him bound. Marita had allowed Krycek to separate him from Hobbes. Wraith was quickly coming to suspect that his faith in the woman was misplaced.
She looked at Wraith, measuring him with her eyes.
Marita placed her hand on his shoulder. "Wraith... listen to me. The mission you were given is wrong. It isn't true, what..." She searched for the name. "What... Santiago has told you is false. It is he who is in the wrong. As is my... controller, as well. But we must all work together if this is going to happen."
Not follow orders? Not obey his last designated supervisor? The very idea was preposterous, and yet Marita seemed to have no problem with the concept. She seemed to find that kind of free thinking acceptable... free... Marita wasn't bound. She showed no indication that she had been restrained at all. Her breathing was normal and even. Her expression displayed her usual placid calm, the calm he had to fight constantly to display over the last few weeks.
Pausing for a moment, David stood. "If I am in your head, you are also, to an extent, in mine. So you can, if you choose, verify the veracity of my statements to you. I know that Marita would rather not drug you again and I'm in agreement with that. You're having enough trouble assimilating, but if you struggle we won't have a choice. Do you understand?"
"No, David, don't talk like that..."
'Assimilating?' There it was again! Wraith lashed out, shoving the unit away from him. "I AM NOT A MAC27! I AM NOT A MACHINE!" He shouted the words out at both of them. He'd made a mistake. Marita was asking him to oblige this unit. Marita was not on the same side as Wraith, she never had been, and it appeared. That realization hurt in ways Wraith could begin to understand.
"No, no, of course you're not," Marita said soothingly, glaring at David. "You're as human as I." She placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him towards herself, stroking his hair.
"Don't touch me. I won't let you touch me again." Wraith threatened, Cuffs or no, just let one of them try to infect him with more drugs. Wraith was well aware of the best way to damage the Mac27 and Marita was even more fragile.
Marita recoiled, surprised at his outburst. Then she saw the look in his eyes - the look that said he sensed betrayal. She lowered her eyes.
Glancing at Marita, David pitched his voice for her ears alone and asked, "What do you think?"
"I think you should leave us - leave us now. It's become obvious to me that you don't understand him, nor do you care to."
Whether her words were intended to sting or for effect, David didn't know. He did know one thing, however. Marita did not appreciate how dangerous this one was. The cuffs were some of the strongest made, but David had never seen a human-machine hybrid in so much distress. Since there was no telling what might happen, he retreated the shortest possible distance and listened.
Wraith's entire body tensed up, testing to see how much movement the bindings would allow.
"There, there, sweet one," Marita soothed, stroking him again. "You'll be all right. We want to help you - help you regain your memories. Don't you want that? Need it?"
Impossible. Most of his own mind was emptied, dumped to make room for new information. As far as Wraith knew pieces of it had been removed to make space for artificial components.
Marita was offering him something precious, but it was beyond her reach. If she realized that then she was just being cruel, but if she didn't...
She caressed his neck and chest, leaning in close, brushing her lips against his, and leaning in to catch his ear in her teeth. "Don't you want to remember who you are... lover?"
Lover? What sort of game is the woman playing? Resisting the urge to put a stop to the taking of such a risk was more difficult than David imagined such a thing would be. Wraith was too unstable for this; any improvement in his behavior would be temporary and subject to reversion without warning.
"I don't know. I don't know anything." Slapping him couldn't have achieved a more immediate reaction that the use of that single word. It shocked him deeper than even his name had. He couldn't breath, couldn't think. Every spot she touched him was burning, refusing to obey his brain any longer. The brush of her pale hair against his skin was more powerful than the binding pull of the handcuffs.
She moved her hand lower down on his torso, caressing the buttons of his fly. She whispered huskily, "We can beat them all at their own game. I don't like being controlled any more than you do. If we work together, we can destroy the whole thing... from the inside."
All? Who is all? What precisely is the whole thing?
Wraith's body acted of it's own accord, straining into the light touch even as part of his mind screamed at him to take this opportunity to seize her throat. Most of the voices were temporarily quiet. Only few of the strongest whispers remained and they urged him to surrender to the sensation and stop thinking.
He could kiss her, he vaguely recalled how. Marita would allow it. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, a statue of dazzling ice and starlight. The whispers urged Wraith to accept her attentions, to return them. The smoking human had saddled him with a highly unstable and extremely dangerous android-human amalgamation. Moreover, he was expected to move him with the aid of a woman having little or no loyalty to the cause. But, after a moment's consideration of his predicament, David had to ask himself - Did he?
Marita opened Wraith's fly and was stroking him firmly, yet slowly. "But I must know I can trust you..."
Wraith fought to find his voice. Gasping seemed to be all his throat was capable of right now. He honestly meant to offer her his allegiance; to offer to do whatever it took to earn her a seat at the long, dark table their owners gathered around.
He felt it just as his eyes were closing against the tremors Marita's touch caused. It was perched in the back of his mind just waiting for him to drop his guard. It just needed Wraith to grow distracted by his body, by the world outside long enough to make its move.
"Yes, lover... kiss me, touch me. I've missed this so much..." She offered her mouth for a deeper kiss.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Wraith had to push Marita away, maybe too hard. She fell awkwardly. "Don't ever touch me. It feels too good. I can't think when you touch me." His complaints started out loud but dwindled to hissed protests. "I was here first. I'm staying."
[Lauren.] She was beginning to wonder if the handcuffs were going to make any bit of difference. She could tell she was reaching Wraith on some level... Lauren. She needed to reach him. She decided to take a gamble
A heavy shudder wracked his body and it withdrew leaving him in unsteady control once more.
David heard a thud, the most likely cause of which was Marita Covarrubias landing on her ass. Not really interested in interrupting and wanting to keep his options open in case things were worse than he imagined, David stayed put, out of sight as requested, and called, "Are you all right, Marita?"
She turned around slightly. "I'm fine, David..."
She got up, and went back to Lauren. She had to think of him as Lauren now.
"I can't not touch you, my beloved," she said. "Every month that's gone by has been torture for me. How much do you remember? Do you know me?"
Sitting beside him, she ran her hand over his wrists. "Please, don't forget me... I couldn't bear that... Lauren." She waited. And hoped.
Wraith had to concentrate to keep from breaking the bones in her wrist. "Do you know who I am?" The sentence came out as something between a challenge and an honest question. "You care?" This defied belief. "I've looked at you." He whispered, unwilling to let the enemy in the doorway overhear the confession. "I thought I might know you, but I might just have known someone like you."
His grip on her was released in favour of lifting bloodstained fingers to thread through her pale hair. "I've see this in my dreams. I've so few dreams."
Risking everything Wraith, edged closer, allowed his eyes to close briefly and inhaled the scent of her. "Tell me what to do Marita." His chest hurt and his head was aching again. "I'm just a weapon. I could be your weapon."
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