The Game 40
Edited by Karen Leigh
Skip said, "Sorry about interrupting you, but did you feel anything a few moments ago? There was a tracer on the map that just went out. First thought I had was that someone killed one of you, but you would have felt that, right?"
Shaken from his own misery, One looked at the screen. He hadn't succeeded in getting all of the Mac 27s to the temple. A few of them seemed to be deactivated, immobilized by one means or another. Then also some of them had refused to leave lovers and friends. One of them was even caring for a human child and wouldn't desert the young one; he felt the temple was no place for a six-year-old girl.
Wondering which of his people had blinked out without him knowing it, One shouted, "Not more of us. I thought they called them off!"
"Calm down. It could have been just a glitch," Skip soothed, "Now, can we get these things installed in Bernie and Malibu?"
Nodding One stared at the screen. He couldn't understand the large cluster of Mac 27s. They had brought out all those Baines had found and destroyed much of the laboratory. It was afterwards that One discovered that lab was only one of many. He wondered about the two units in the billiard room. They had led Baines to the rescued units, perhaps they knew more about the ones that appeared to have been missed.
"Do Malibu's first. I have to pick Bernie's brain first," One said.
Fine with Skip, but he didn't like to look at any kind of surgery. He stared up at the ceiling and sang, " Riding out on a rail, feels so fine. Talking 'bout that cocaine express, mainline, got a good head of steam"
One went to sit with Bernie on the bed while Scotty worked on Malibu Alex.
"Okay, Bernie, give. What do you know about the Mac 27s who appear to still be in the ruins?"
"What you got to trade me?" Bernie asked.
"A helicopter ride...it's a hell of a long walk to the ocean," One said, taking out a few emotions on his annoying compatriot.
"Cold," Bernie said, and then at One's scowl, added, "Cold can be good."
'That hurts!" exclaimed Malibu.
Everyone glanced over at the Mac 27, but Bernie reassured him, "Just for a minute, then you can be free with me. We'll have ever so much fun."
"All right, I heard, when I was entertaining a certain technician that Pendrell disappeared with a number of specialty Mac 27s. I guess we've seen some of them, I-Mac and the other two Mac type androids, but this was a lot of them. There are some very big caves deep under that factory. I think Pendrell might be hiding with some of us. He went a little crazy, you know, but the guy's brilliant. Almost as smart as me..." Bernie said.
A high-pitched chuckle punctuated his information. Scotty started in his direction and Bernie opened his flap, flopped back dramatically and said,
"Take me, I'm yours."
A few moments later, both Mac 27s were gone from the screen. One looked at them and said, "It's dangerous out there."
"Gonna be dangerous everywhere. I want to go home to the sea," Bernie said, "They never should have made me with a dolphin's mind."
Malibu trustingly holding Bernie's iridescent hand nodded, "To the sea. When I come back, I'll be just like Bernie. I'll be smart."
"God help us," Skip replied. He said, "I already ordered the copter."
One hugged Malibu and said, "Be careful."
"I'll take care of him," Bernie said sincerely.
Somewhat later, Skip held hands with Mac Smith as the helicopter lifted off with Malibu and Bernie. He looked at One who seemed to have most of his thoughts elsewhere. He said, "Think they'll be safe?"
A smile of sorts greeted the comment. One said, "Safe? No, but at least they have a chance at happiness. I envy that..."
After he saw Bernie and Malibu off; One couldn't stand to return to the endless work in the temple. He ignored the Mac 27s who followed Wraith and Marita at a discreet distant when they relayed her call to him.
Let Wraith find his own path...perhaps he would fight his way free of the chaos of his brain. Perhaps not, but it was best that he leave.
Skip wanted to "Put Wraith out of his misery like a rabid dog,"
One as much said that he would leave if that happened with the implied threat that all the Mac 27s might follow. That was far from true. He hadn't even managed to get all the Mac 27s to agree to come here to find safety in numbers as well as in Skip's fortifications. He didn't need to ask Mac Smith if he would leave Skip. He already knew that the Mac 27 would not.
Skip certainly meant well, but he was showing some of the ruthlessness that had kept him alive and made him rich. In any event, Skip had backed down and agreed to let Wraith go.
--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--
Wraith wanted to fidget but didn't dare. The surrounding enemy already knew too much. Giving a visual clue that he was upset wouldn't do. Guards were spying on them, discreet guards who seemed willing to give the impression that they were something else, but still guards.
Hobbes was to be written off. That decision hurt but it had to be made. Hobbes was compromised, contaminated. Perhaps the soldier could be salvaged later but now wasn't the time. Marita was all that mattered now. He had to get her into a position that would allow her to take control and that position wasn't here.
He needed a window or a door, some access to the outside. Given a clear passageway in view Wraith was certain he could manage to get Marita out of this prison. He'd try to just disable their shadows, their captors' gentle handling had earned their people that small consideration, but he would kill if that's what it took to secure Marita's freedom.
Marita's food was finished, so was his. They'd lingered long enough. "We should walk." Wraith stood and moved to pull her chair out. "Get some air." Marita's arm was caught and his hand settled at her back.
Too many heads turned, tracking their departure.
Marita glared at the guards, making for an exit to the outer grounds, but they moved to indicate they were not permitted outside the compound.
"What is this?" Marita said, frowning. "Are we to be prisoners, here, then?"
Frowning, she looked around the cafeteria, and then said to the Mac 27 that had blocked their exit, "What is the point? Surely you can let us out. We need some air. We won't leave the perimeter fence... go beyond it, that is. We only want to be alone..."
"That is not permitted," the Mac 27 said after a beat. "You may be alone in one of the bedrooms, if you like. But Skip and One have told us ... wait a minute."
He looked at them curiously. "I have received instructions that I can allow you to go outside. But don't leave the perimeter without telling us. And, once outside, you may not be permitted back inside."
Shaking her head in disgust, Marita walked outside, Wraith at her side.
"I'm not sure what I want," Marita said as they walked through a Japanese garden Skip had on the grounds. "I guess I just want to be free. Free of people using me for their own ends. And, you know what... they've been doing it so long I don't know if I even know what those ends are anymore. If I ever did."
She paused. She sat down on a bench overlooking a pond with large orange and red Koi fish swimming slowly about. She motioned for him to join her, and stroked his cheek.
"What about you? Actually, at this point, I think we should try to restore you to the way you were... before. But, what do you want? Are you happy now?"
She waited for his response.
Wraith couldn't bring himself to simply sit so he knelt before her. His eyes needed to sweep the area but continued to return to her face.
"Happy?" He had to echo the word, taste it on his tongue. The flavor of it was bizarre. The word felt like a foreign language. 'Happy' wasn't really a situation he could relate to. "I suppose I am... in your company, knowing you desire to be in mine."
The fence was distant, no easy run for Marita. Wraith suspected it was electrified as well. The gate would be too obvious. They would realize his intentions if Wraith drew Marita in that direction.
"Restoring me is a waste of time. I can take better care of you the way I am."
Perhaps he should grab one of the Mac27s wandering about, force a download and reprogram it to aid them. The option was dismissed. It would take too long and there was nothing a Mac could do that he couldn't... except perhaps fling itself through the fence to open a path. Unfortunately, Wraith suspected that Marita would disapprove of that tactic.
A sudden jolt down his spine startled Wraith, pitching him slightly forward to lean against Marita.
It was a seldom-used emergency recall. Dr. Sawyer was calling him back to the lab.
"Wraith?" Marita said in a worried tone. "Wraith, are you okay?"
She thought for a moment.
"Lauren, is it the voices in your head again? Are they troubling you? Tell me what to do, what you need."
She saw a Mac 27 trudging up the path, carrying gardening tools. As he headed towards the house, she asked him, "Would you ask One to check on Wraith, please? Something happened to him. Can One find out what it is, how to help? Remotely maybe?"
The Mac 27 nodded, and continued towards the house.
Marita wrapped her arms around Wraith, soothing him. "It's okay, love. It's okay. We'll get you help."
"No. No more of their help. I don't need their kind of help." Wraith climbed to his feet, dragging Marita up with him. "We're leaving. Now." His grip on her arm wouldn't allow anything other than for her to walk along with him.
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Alex had taken enough lip from his paranoid lover. He stalked over to where Mulder was lounging, supercilious grin on his face, and backhanded him, watching in satisfaction as the blood bloomed at the corner of the full lip.
"Just where do you get off, you fucking jerk? Tom here has been through a lot, and the only thing that you can do is come in here and insult him? You'd better get your ideas together, and learn how to be nice. I'm working here." Turning to Tom, he put an arm around him.
"You know what, Tom? I need your help a lot more than I need this sorry piece of shit. You want to beat him? He's yours. He owes you. Don't go."
The throbbing pain of Alex's blow was like a shot of some aphrodisiac to Mulder. He bit back a response... if he got further into a fight now with Alex, he knew he'd disgrace himself completely in front of Tom. Fuck it, he needed Alex so much, and Alex just kept harping on about work, and the damn toy soldier.
Alex paused. He still needed to talk to One - not to mention David. That android had a lot of explaining to do, and their previous meeting had been a dead loss. He came to a decision.
"Stay here, both of you. Mulder, if you can't be nice, and I find out, I'll kick the shit out of you when I come back."
Yes, please, thought Mulder, ruefully. Make me hurt, Alex. Do something to stop all this bullshit that's swirling round in my head.
He'd been pulling on his clothes, and as he finished speaking, he turned and left the room, striding down the corridor with a frown. When the two Macs at the end of the passageway stopped him, Alex was so angry that for a moment he couldn't speak. When finally he managed to calm himself, he asked in a furious voice, "What the hell? I want to see the person responsible for this, and I want to see them now. Then I want to see David.
Skip had been on his way back in when the worried Mac 27s who had been guarding Krycek contacted him. He listened to the complaint and laughed. He had borrowed two of the Mac 27s that Baines had trained to accompany him since Mac Smith was worried about his kitchen. "Rambo, tell Mr. Krycek, that I will see him in my office. Have him escorted there. And someone better fucking find David soon and tell him to get his ass there too."
Scowling, Skip made his way toward his office. He wasn't too pleased that Wraith was out on the grounds and turned to his other escort, Achilles, and said, "Can you tell the Mac 27s who are guarding Wraith to keep a damn close eye on him, but let the son of a bitch go if he wants. One says I can't shoot any of the captives. Hell of a way to run a war...what the hell does he think I am, a military advisor?
--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--[o]--
Dr Sawyer was calling him back to the lab. She never used this method unless it was an absolute necessity. It could be he wouldn't go there, not if Marita didn't want to, but that the doctor would use this method suggested something major was going on that he needed to know about. Perhaps Dr Sawyer had discovered the flaw in his last uploading that was causing him so much trouble.
Marita was dragging her feet, looking back towards the manor, but every long stride took them closer to the gate road. Wraith didn't want to, but he increased the force he was using to move her along. This place wasn't good for Marita. She'd been confident and sure of herself before this journey began. Wraith needed her to be that way again.
The gate loomed as a problem. He couldn't maintain the pressure required to keep Marita moving and deal with the gate guards at the same time, not if they attempted to deny him exit.
"They aren't listening to you here, Marita. They're not giving you the authority you deserve. Let me take you somewhere your voice will matter. We're going back to Innobotics. I'm going to make them treat you how you deserve to be treated. I can get access to every computer in the network if you just come along. I can give you all their secrets... combined with what we've learned here..." Wraith let that line of conversation fail as they approached the gate.
Marita was angled so he was towing her behind him. Walking up, Wraith announced his intentions to give these guards a chance to remain unscathed. "We are leaving. We were told we could. Let us out." The 'or else' was obvious in his tone.
"Just as soon blow the guy away," mumbled one of Skip's human security guards.
The Mac 27 that was partnered with him replied, "One said to let him go and the woman go. Skip agreed."
"Probably just have to shoot him later," grimly predicted the human guard.
"Yeah, you can go. Sayonara, creep," said the man out loud, opening the first gate. He radioed ahead to make sure that Wraith kept to the straight and narrow path to the next gate. Skip's ninja warriors watched from the woods."
"Lady, make sure you stay right on the path. The surrounding area is full of surprises. It would be real hard to wear high heels with no shoes..."
"Right. Thank you." Marita stepped out, then looked back.
"Um, Lauren... where's our car?" she said, realizing that they'd need transportation once they hit the main road.
The Mac 27 at the gate said, "We have all visitors' cars in a lot outside the compound proper. If you go around the side, you should see it, after you come out on the main road."
Nodding, Marita turned, and walked with Lauren towards the road.
"So, what's the plan, now?" Marita said. "You know, the Consortium recently bought Innobotics... but I guess we can deal with that."
"It failed because it lost focus. The people might be gone but the information is still there it has simply been moved... given to others," Wraith stated. "There were too many projects going, some of which were at odds with each other. We will salvage only what you need. It is a matter of deciding what is important."
She said, "Another part of my job has been in the alien-human hybrid project. Most particularly, as a test subject myself. I'd rather not go back to the Consortium having disobeyed them again. I nearly died last time, and believe me, there were times I wish I had."
"You won't be going back as a employee to be used and discarded. No one will ever hurt you again. I won't allow it." Her arm was caught and Wraith supported her over the rougher ground they now walked on. "You're done with front lines, Marita, I'll make them give you a seat at the table." He wanted to stand behind one of those elegant leather chairs and know that the woman he adored sat comfortably amid the men who held power. She deserved that.
Stepping gingerly over a fallen log, Marita smiled. "I was supposed to bring you back to them as a good little Mac 27. But I find that I like you more and more the way you are. And there's the road, just ahead."
His automatic growl of 'I'm not a Mac27' had to be swallowed. It had to be a slip of the tongue. Marita didn't think of him that way. She couldn't. She'd lay down with him. She'd told him she knew his past, remembered when he was man. Marita had told those people back at the compound that he was her husband. How Wraith wished he could recall that if nothing else of his past.
All the rumors he'd heard about Marita and Alex Krycek must have been a misunderstanding. They must have been about her and him... from the time when he had been Lauren. Wraith's memories of that time were gone but it made perfect sense that as Lauren he'd been an operative.
Perhaps once Marita's situation was secured he could consider pursuing information on his own past. It had never seemed important, but if he had been with Marita, it was worth knowing some details.
She stepped out of the trees, onto the shoulder of the road. "And up there is the parking lot..."
Finding the small car they'd driven in, Marita fished her keys out of her pocket and got in on the driver's side.
"Ready?"
As he climbed in and shut the door, she started the car and backed out, onto the road, driving towards the largest of the Innobotics laboratories.
"Maybe we'll have to do this another way, but I trust you. Tell me what your plan is."
"Dr. Sawyer is calling me back to the lab. I will go. We will go," Wraith outlined. "There is no reason that we should be denied or detained." He looked over at Marita, amazed once more by the flawless beauty of her. "From Dr. Sawyer's equipment we can access everything. Information can be gained. Orders can be issued electronically. I have Mr. Hargreaves pass codes to get me into the system. My direct interface will cut through any remaining resistance. Any artificial units still within the command structure will be coded to accept your orders, Marita. I will lock up their financial situation, I can issue orders to security in the field, and it's possible Dr. Sawyer has addition material on the Mac 27s and other projects that she failed to give me on my last upload... I shall attempt to discover and download it. I have the memory space to spare. I will be Innobotics, given enough time undisturbed in the lab." Wraith frowned. "I will however need you to make sure I have that time... at least until I can take control of security... which shouldn't be longer than ten minutes."
"Once that is all done the board will have no choice but to listen to you, Marita... and once you speak, I'm certain they will see your potential and give you the respect you deserve." Wraith, offering to make his lover the Master of the world.
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As the two Macs conducted Alex to Skip's office, he was attempting to establish for himself just exactly what was going on. He hated to be out on a limb like this. It meant the difference between survival and extinction. While he'd been attempting the very important task of converting Hobbes to their cause, God only knew what the others had been doing behind his back. The Meeting to end all Meetings had been a total wash, and Alex wanted to know just what the hell David had pledged in his name - what he might be pledging now.
When he arrived in the office, he was ready. As Skip came through the door, he said, coldly, "What the hell is going on?"
Totally ignoring the stressed-out classic Alex...you know, Skip really missed Jolt Cola all of a sudden, the Bokonon priest, ex-drug dealer, and former Vietnam soldier (His motto being 'tis better to give PTSD then have it) sashayed across the office, hooked his office chair around and sat down. He took a moment to arrange his large feet on the shining surface of the rosewood desk. The two Mac 27s took military standing guard positions at his back. Two of his human guards posted themselves outside the door and now Skip was ready to talk.
"Now, Krycek, I understand that you like to come into a man's house and object to his security arrangements. You aren't a cautious man, Krycek? Well, I am. I put up with all the peace and love crap from One as long as I thought it was safe. Longer in fact."
"You understand nothing. Less than nothing. That's not always a bad thing, but in this case it is."
"I don't owe you an explanation or anything but a thank you for wearing a face that was the prototype for someone I love. However for the sake of argument, you were sharing a room with Hobbs, a man who entered my home as an enemy soldier. Now he may have changed a lot as a result of being freed of that chip, but that doesn't mean I'm going to assume that he's my friend. As for Mulder, that asshole who I've heard is your lover, I am purely not fond of him."
"I don't know what side you are on, Mr. Krycek, or if you're on a side. Let me tell you where I stand...I opened my home and have committed my considerable wealth to protecting the beings called Mac 27s. Ain't nobody going to kill any more of them if I can prevent it," Skip said. "Now, if you just came here to cuss me out, let 'em fly, but don't try to scare Skip Brule. He's not a man who scares easily."
"He's a man that should be scared. He should be fucking terrified. I'm doing my best to keep not just the Macs, but my clones from harm, and you lock me up like some no account piece of shit. Let me set you straight. To begin with, Hobbes, who was sent here under the influence of someone who's interest is in destroying the Macs completely, has now agreed to help turn the fight back on them, and has told me enough that I can do something about them. Secondly, The reason for the Macs creation still exists, and until that enemy is defeated, you, the Macs, and all of humanity are in danger. You'll be going the way of the dinosaur. Lock Mulder away, and the only one who can do anything to save the fucking world is not going to be handy when the time comes."
"ME? I'm what you might call a facilitator. The Macs and the clones were given my face for a reason. I only know part of that reason, but I know a damn sight more than anyone else does, and if you want to save the Macs, you'll be anxious to provide me with assistance and not bullshit. I'll leave it to you, Mr. Brule. I'm a plain speaking man, but I'm not going to waste my words. Either you are for me, or against me. If you're against me, I'm out of here, and when you and the Macs go down, you'll maybe remember that you had a choice."
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Mulder waited a couple of minutes after Alex had left before scrambling back into Fox's leather trousers. "I'm going to check out that bathroom, and get a drink of water," he mumbled to Tom, and headed into the corridor. But outside he found his way barred by some of the androids. They permitted him to enter the bathroom, but told him he was confined to this area. He slumped down on the toilet, glad for a couple of minutes of peace. So many conflicting thoughts and needs were jostling in his head. Topmost, was what had just occurred with the Macs... fuelling his suspicions that Skip was accumulating a private army of robots in this guarded compound. Skip was some cult leader, wasn't he? And there were all the Alex clones rutting like bunnies... maybe drugs were involved. Sieges... Waco... What were Skip's motives, really?
But he was so tired, he couldn't think logically. And he needed Alex, to make love to him... and, he whispered to himself, to beat him.
Just tell him then, Spooky said Fox, sadly.
It's okay for you... you and your sex games with him. You ask and he'll play. And if he won't you find someone else, and you're happy. I only want Alex. You know that... dropping me in that shit in the pool. Jeez, when I came to my senses, I really freaked.
It's better to tell him how you feel than take it out on people like Tom, and niggle Alex until he gets mad at you and punches you.
If he wants to fuck Tom rather than me, it's his business. What the hell's the point of getting possessive over someone you hardly ever see.
But you hate it.
Yeah. Mulder stroked his swollen mouth gently, then looked at the blood on his fingers, and smiled.
And why do you want him to hit you, Spooky... ? You don't get off on it in the way I do.
The pain clears my head...
..and the bruises and aches make you feel he's still there...
..when he's gone. Right. We need sleep, Fox.
He got up, and washed his face and hands in icy water, to try to wake himself up. He looked in the mirror, and a sad, drawn face stared back at him. Gently he removed Fox's bits of jewelry from his body, and stowed them in his pocket. "You're out of it for a while, Fox. It's back to work for me." he whispered to the other, in his reflection.
Back in the bedroom he stretched out on the mattress, and shut his eyes. He had to sleep. "Wake me when he gets back, Hobbes, please," he sighed. Within minutes he was snoring gently.
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As Baines walked through the halls looking for what he was beginning to think of as his new family, Leigh began looking at the walls he'd erected in his mind. They seemed a bit drab, considering he was going to have to live with them a long time. He chuckled to himself, little Susie homemaker. The walls had a bunker quality and the door was steel. Cold. Let's warm this place up a bit. Books. Who was it said Books Do Furnish A Room? Ah Anthony Powell. Okay, first bookcases wall to wall, floor to ceiling, filled with books, colorful spines. The door, one of those ones you see in the movies, pull a book and the shelves of books revolve. Hmm, a couple big comfy chairs, a small fireplace. Even while playing around in his own head, it was not possible for Leigh to be unaware of his surroundings; one of the androids lifted a hand as though to catch his attention and he stopped furnishing his room with an inner smirk and an outer nod.
"Did you want me?"
"You are Baines, correct?"
"Yes."
"There have been some requests for training. We were told to speak to you."
"Yes, of course, could you contact Alexei and Sasha and ask them to meet me at the infirmary. I have something I need done. I will speak with them about setting up a session. I am sure Alexei has training manuals in his programming; perhaps he can share them with the Mac's that want training. Then we can run through the repetitive stuff, the mind/body practice."
"They are on their way."
Leigh found Roy and Michael in the dining room sitting at a table with several others. Michael's eyes lit up the moment he spotted Leigh and Roy's eyes went past him as though looking for his companion. A trace of disappointment quickly masked as he smiled at Leigh.
"So, how did it go? Michael asked eagerly, knowing that his sex life depended on how quickly Leigh learned whatever Jess wanted him to learn.
Leigh's eyes danced as he realized he didn't need to be able to read Michael's mind to know what he was thinking at that moment.
"Jess is pleased. I am, apparently, an apt pupil. Most likely because of some innate ability rather than because I am a fast study."
He grabbed a sandwich from the plate on the table and drank the last of Michael's coffee. "I've asked Alexei and Sasha to meet us at the infirmary. I want to get that x-ray done and over with so I can concentrate on other things."
Roy asked, "X-ray for what?"
"A tracking device of some kind implanted in our bodies. My commander sent me here and both of you already lived in town. But, a lot of the others came almost by compulsion. I think we need to know what that compulsion is, how it works, how to recognize it, how to disable it."
"You planning on running every one in the building through the x-ray machine?" smiled Michael.
"No, just us." Leigh looked up from the last of the sandwich. "Training exercises begin today too. Going to load you up with a pack and weapons and run you around the compound for a few hours. Then you can field strip four or five different types of guns. An then......"
"Whoa...wait.." Michael was looking closely hoping Leigh was joking.
"A faint smile and Leigh said, "Well, maybe not all of that today. Should check your fitness rating first. Show you how to handle the weapons before you take them apart. Should pool our knowledge anyway. Meanwhile, let's get this first problem out of the way." He rose from the table and the two followed him out.
Arriving at the infirmary, they found Alexei and Sasha waiting. They had been keeping busy, running errands, keeping track of events in the house. His eyes and ears. He made a mental note to spend some time alone with them today to catch up.
"Alexei, I need someone to operate the x-ray machine. Can you do it, or pick someone's brain for instructions?"
"I can do it, Leigh. Who do you want x-rayed?"
"Myself, Michael and Roy."
The infirmary was fairly large but only two beds were set up, both still occupied by Skinner and Denise. Ricky was practically nodding off as he lay on Denise's cot. Sasha remained at the door leaving more room for the other four to move around.
Alexei went right to the machine to set it up and Baines started looking through the files next to it. Scully, neat and competent as always had placed Hobbes' x-ray in a neatly labelled file. His chip had been removed from the plastic bottle and placed in a small cellophane pouch and taped to the inside cover. Baines removed the x-ray and clipped it to the light box. The chip was clearly visible in the small lump of fatty tissue that in women sometimes became the widow's hump.
"Alexei, that is the area we should check."
"Who wants to go first?" Alexei was placing the self-developing plate into the machine.
"Michael, you first, then Roy and I."
Denise and Ricky watched sleepily as the three clones each took a turn stripping off his shirt and positioning himself under the lens. Alexei labelled each plate cover as it was removed from the machine and set aside to develop.
They all stood around the light box and examined Hobbes' x-ray. Alexei took out the chip and placed it under a microscope comparing what he saw there with what was on the x-ray.
It wasn't long before the first plate, Michael's, was ready and Alexei put it up beside Hobbes'. There was no evidence of a metallic chip. There was a light mark on the film but nothing like the shape and size of the one taken from Hobbes. The same was true of Roy's. An identical light mark in almost exactly the same spot. Whatever it was, it too was not metallic.
It was Baines' x-ray that held the shock. Clearly delineated on the film was an implant. A roar of anger burst through his carefully erected walls and rooms away Jess came up off the bed, where she had been relaxing in the peace and quiet of her own mind. Standing beside the bed, shaking slightly she sent, What the hell is wrong?
Nothing came back but the color red washing over and through. The anger was like a living thing in her mind. She followed his mental broadcast to the infirmary where she found him standing apparently calm and at ease in front of a series of x-rays. Immediately she moved to his side and placed a hand on his back and said, "Leigh."
His body was still, relaxed; his face expressionless. But Jess felt battered as the anger rolled in waves over her mind.
She tightened her shields. She was starting to feel like a rock in the middle of breaking waves. She looked at all the others gathered "Come on, somebody let me in on the secret.
It was Michael that answered her. "We found what we think is microchip in Leigh's neck."
She made the obvious assumption. "A tracking device of some sort?" A cold shudder ran through her. What if... "Can you x-ray me as well?"
Alexei nodded and gestured to the machine. He repeated the procedure on Jess. But while the x-ray was developing, she was a bundle of nervous energy. But she went perfectly still when Alexei placed it against the light and saw the light mark low in her neck.
"No... no... no... no..." she whimpered. She backed away from the x-ray, closing her eyes and shaking her head. Back against the wall, she slid down and curled into a ball, one hand covering the back of her neck.
Leigh knelt down to her level and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Jess?" She didn't respond to Leigh, either mentally or verbally. He tried reaching out to her mind-to-mind, but she was locked away tight behind her shields. "Get Johnny in here now!"
"I've already contacted him," Sasha said, as the sound of running footsteps could be heard. Johnny burst into the room. Ignoring the others, he went straight to Jess and nudged Leigh out of the way. "Jess? Tell me what's wrong."
She seemed to come out of it a little at the sound of his voice. "There's a chip in my neck," she said with a tremor in her voice.
He hadn't told her about it. Hadn't wanted to burden her with the knowledge of what it was - a tracking device as well as a failsafe. If it were removed improperly, she would die. "Jess, it's a tracker, and it's inactive."
She blinked and shook her head. "You... know about it, Johnny?" He nodded as she stood up. Now she was tense, her eyes narrowed. "You know about it? When the hell were you going to tell me?" Pushing away from him, she stomped towards the door.
"Jess," Johnny called after her.
She spun around, glaring at him. A low growl could be clearly heard. "I don't want to talk to you now." Each word was carefully enunciated. She stalked out the door, slamming it behind her.
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A nagging call seemed to sound from somewhere in the compound. The signature wasn't One's, so David ignored it. "I ... I have to find some way out of this, Sypher. I need to get back to what I know."
"Demon, what you know is still there inside you; it never left. You just know so much more than you used to," she nuzzled him physically and mentally, trying to comfort him. "It takes time to assimilate and that won't happen if you're constantly thinking about it. So it's a good thing that there's work to be done to take your mind off of it." She turned his attention to the call he was ignoring. "Come on. The last thing I want to do is keep Skip waiting too long."
David wasn't sure he agreed with her words, but he allowed himself to flow with her efforts to soothe. He couldn't muster the energy to be angry with himself for that weakness.
She was wrong. As David followed her to the location of yet another meeting, he thought of nothing but pair bonding and related concepts that he could find. Nothing encouraging came of it. A tentative reaching out to One brought the dreaded connection to the fore and the emotive wave shook David. One was in great distress and he had no one to comfort him.
Halting at the doorway to their destination, David murmured, "Sypher, One is ... I am unsure what he is feeling, but ..." The word despair flew into David's mind, but he couldn't utter it. "Could you see if he's all right?"
Glancing at the guards, she mentally sent a burst that roughly translated to "Later. He needs time, too."
When she opened the door, he stepped through it automatically, realizing only then that he had no idea what Skip Brule wanted with him. He'd never processed the message or asked Sypher who obviously had. A quick glance around what had to be Brule's office revealed a likely cause -- Alex Krycek, bouncing on the balls of his feet with eyes spitting fire.
David sighed, wondering whether any Mac 27 had ever had a more trying twenty-four hours, and nodded in the original's direction. "Hello, Alex." Turning only his head, he asked Skip, "What is it that I can do for you?"
"Things are just fine with me, buddy-boy," Skip answered. "However, Mr. Krycek seems to have a problem with my security measures. I explained to him that it's my damn temple and the only reason I didn't crack down sooner was that One was spouting all that peace and love IDIC stuff."
Skip shot a Vulcan salute at David and then turned it quickly into a finger. Grinning again, Skip said, "Now, I like the Grateful Dead as much as any self-disrespecting former druggie ought to, but Wraith is dangerous with a big D. Marita...well, I never liked skinny blond women ever since my third wife skinned me damn near down to my last million fifteen years ago. Then there's Mister Fox Mulder who is looking for the secrets to the universe up his own ass..."
Leaning back, Skip put his hands on his chest, displaying tattoos that said, 'Left' and 'Right' on the wrong sets of knuckles. He said, "I 'splained to Mr. Krycek that you didn't have anything to do with the lock down. I just appointed myself Chief of Security. Gonna have a new camouflage robe made up with scrambled eggs down to my elbows too."
Just to be a little more annoying, Skip switched on the lava lamp in the corner using his big toe so as not to stop twiddling his thumbs...
David blinked at Skip, trying to assimilate all of the references in the human's speech and other more physical forms of communication. Sypher seemed amused by some of what she heard or observed, but he couldn't connect a television show, a rude gesture, a rock and roll band, and the other mildly antagonistic, aggressive behaviors.
Uncharacteristically, David stopped trying, instead opting for interpreting the communication at a macro-level. Skip was protecting his home and investments as well as the Mac 27s and clones, according to his own rules. Alex didn't like that, but then again, Alex didn't particularly care for rules. David had always admired that trait in the original.
Krycek was mad now. He wanted to speak to David, yes, but he had been interrupted too soon. Still, this might be an advantage. David was one of the Macs. Maybe Skip would believe him, if not Alex.
"Good. Tell this overzealous but well-meaning jerk just who I am, will you? He thinks I want to murder all the Macs."
Looking from Alex to Skip, David wondered what was wrong. Alex was usually so controlled. That is what had first given David the idea to emulate him when he'd sought out Sypher. David's preferred method for dealing with humans was similar except, he'd found, with regard to Sypher herself. Control always seemed to be an issue when she was involved. Recognizing that it would be too easy to let his thoughts drift down that pleasant path, David applied himself to the task at hand.
Alex huffed impatiently. He was sick of pandering to game-players. From Mulder and Hobbes, through to this man here, and David too. He wanted to get the air cleared once and for all.
"Alex is, as you know, the original from whom the clones were generated and the model for Mac 27s. Aside from that, he has over the years been anywhere from a central to a peripheral to an outcast figure in what currently appear to be failing efforts of the humans to protect themselves from an alien menace. Most recently, he has received orders from Charles Spender to protect the clones and the Mac 27s as both were 'designed' to assist the humans in that fight. Despite his well-know differences with Mr. Spender and his methods, to the best of my knowledge Alex's behavior after receiving those orders has been consistent with them. Based upon these facts, I can only infer that he, at present, is not our enemy. I do not believe that he is yours, either, Mr. Brule, but that, of course, is for you to decide."
Talk about damning with faint praise. Alex took a deep breath, and tried to contain his irritation, knowing that it was not going to help his cause.
Turning to Krycek, David added, "From Mr. Brule's explanation, it appears that his concern is more a function of those with whom you have associated yourself. All I know of Hobbes is that he was sent as a partner to Wraith to terminate Mac 27s and clones and that he seems to have altered his outlook as a result of the removal of some sort of chip. I have not examined the chip, nor do I know of anyone who has, so I cannot say whether Mr. Hobbes has, in fact, changed his position or would only have us think so."
"Don't you think that to do so is a priority? Considering the danger that the man represents, I'd have said that would be first on the agenda. As it is, I'm the only one that has thought to do so. I'd think that you especially would take it from me that my integrity is beyond question in this matter. If you are as anxious to help humanity as you profess to be, why was it left to me?"
"As to Fox Mulder, I appreciate his importance in the conflict to come, but he has placed himself in a precarious position here by his callous treatment of Malibu and Bernie. His view, that Mac 27s are simply machines, is not the prevailing one and," he added, glancing at Skip, "evidently will not be tolerated."
"I will not speak to Marita Covarrubias, as my initial assessment of her appears to have been in error or based on insufficient or misleading information."
Allowing himself to look in Sypher's direction and be buoyed by the small smile she bestowed on him, David concluded, "I am uncertain what further information I can provide."
"Marita is using the weapons she has to try and contain Wraith. It would certainly be good to keep them under guard. I fear for the safety of Macs and clones at large should he get loose before he's re-programmed. I brought him here because you and One were the only ones I could think of outside Innobotics who could assist me with that. Can we start to get it done?" Alex growled.
"Neither is possible. One has already determined that Wraith could not be reprogrammed. He's the expert." Skip said. "You're spouting all sorts of things now, but seems to me that you were more interested in screwing Hobbs than talking to us earlier. You never said what the hell you were doing or thinking. I got over that mushroom business before I left Vietnam. Ain't no one gonna keep me in the dark and feed me shit."
Alex spluttered. "Just who made you the expert? I came here specifically to get Hobbes and Wraith dealt with, as 'James Bond' here... " he indicated David, "can attest. I was ignored while everyone went off and fucked each other senseless, and had to make my own arrangements to try and gain Hobbes' loyalty. I attended the meeting that was supposed to share information, and all I got out of it was the information that 007 here had been impersonating me. But that's okay, because he's a fucking Mac 27 and therefore above reproach. Now I hear that you've turned Wraith loose. Well, Mr. Brule, I can certainly attest to your love of the Macs. After all, there are 10,000 of them. What are a few losses as long as you have your own, personal, always ready piece of ass? You'll forgive me if I find you a hypocrite."
David risked a glance at Sypher and saw her wince at Krycek's pronouncement regarding their host. He tried to send a calming wave to her, but wasn't sure that he succeeded.
"Now as for Wraith, the right thing to do was to put him out of his misery, but when I proposed to do just that, One set him loose and the blonde went with him. Course, I had my very good friend, Mac Smith, plant a little electrical device into his Mac 27 parts. We can listen in and I added a little surprise or two that I think I'll just keep to myself on principal," Skip said. He was down right embarrassed that One had imitated his voice and ordered Wraith set free, but there was no use crying over spilled milk now.
"You'd better hope that that 'skinny blonde' you despise so much can hold him, because if she can't, there's gonna be a lethal weapon out there aimed at all the Macs, and every clone that exists, and sooner or later, Mac Smith is going to be fucked, and I don't mean in a good way. Now, I'm open to reason, and if you want to help these guys, this is a one-time offer. I'm used to working alone and I prefer it. That way there's only one asshole to blame when things go wrong."
"Well, Mr. Krycek, I agree about one thing. There's one asshole to blame and I'm looking at him. As far as I'm concerned, this meeting is over." Skip pushed the desk over barely missing Krycek and thundered out of the room.
Alex shrugged and turned to David. "Why were you impersonating me, and why shouldn't I kill you right here and now?"
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