The Game 56
Edited by Karen Leigh
Scully came out of the washroom at the back where she'd been preparing for the eventuality of removing chips and other surgical procedures. She had been listening with half an ear to the events in the next room and went to the sleeping girl who was supposedly Mulder's long-lost sister. Thoughtfully, she looked down at her. "This can't be Samantha. It must be one of the many clones that were produced from her genetic samples that were taken when the Consortium had her. Mulder and I discovered a couple years ago that Samantha was dead." She sighed. "We can't trust this child. I'm sure she is innocent, but whoever left her here for us to find must be monitoring her. I'll scan her neck, too."
Skinner was resting quietly on his bed and she turned to Methos. "I will have to scan you too, just to be sure. But if I ascertain that it was the same kind of chip as I have, we can't remove it, or you'll develop cancer." She meant it as a warning, unaware of Methos' immortal nature.
Doggett was regarding her with a certain measure of impatience. "Agent Doggett, I'll scan you first before the others, so that you're not waiting around." She went to the x-ray facility and turned it on. "If you could lean down here and let me scan your neck?" She waited for him to do so.
The scan revealed nothing out of the ordinary present in Doggett's neck though and she said, "Well, it looks like you're in the clear."
Turning to Methos, she said, "What about you? We might as well be sure."
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Marcus probed gently, delicately, to find out what had happened in the short time he'd last communicated with Sypher and saw it all--One's announcement and David/666's subsequent withdrawal from her, as well as the very old wound their actions had finally reopened in a way that her foster father's betrayal never could have--and became incensed himself. This was completely unacceptable. He got to his feet and went back to Skip's office.
Johnny watched Marcus storm up the hall. While he could restrain Sypher, there was no way he could safely move her until she was in a more stable mental state. Curious as to what went wrong, but not feeling he had permission to probe her memories, he initiated a link to Marcus instead, multitasking part of his consciousness to keep an eye on Sypher.
He was surprised at how angry Marcus was, how protective of Sypher. Momentarily, he wondered if there was more going on between Marcus and Sypher, until he remembered that he'd be reacting the same way if Jess had been hurt. Speaking of Jess, he hadn't seen or heard of her since she left the infirmary.
Marcus stood in the doorway, fury evident on his face as he growled, "David/666, I would speak with you, *now*" and silently dared his brother to refuse him...
David sighed. At one level, he'd known that doubling back to retrieve information from Skip's computer system might be a mistake. He really had little interest in fielding questions from Mac 27 units about One's space mission.
Annoyed, David glanced at the unit who demanded to speak with him and froze. Anger radiated from the unit's emotive processors and there was no doubt that it was directed at David.
"What is it ... 2068?" he asked carefully, linking with the other unit to check the appropriateness of that form of address. "Or should I say, Marcus?"
While linked, he'd ascertained that the anger had something to do with Sypher. A quick look around the room revealed that she was not present. Before David could check on her, Marcus/2068 growled again.
Linkage still open, Johnny couldn't help but smile when Marcus growled. There was something in its timbre that made his fuel pump beat just a little faster. /Remember, Marcus, listen to his side of the story before you kill him./
"What is this game you and One are playing with Sypher?" Marcus demanded, feeling Johnny's presence trying to soothe him just a bit and cautioning him not to kill the intelligence server before hearing what their brother had to say.
"Game?" David once again looked around the room for Sypher, barely processing Marcus' words as he felt another unit communicating a calming message.
/He should be so fortunate. Look at what they have reduced her to./
"Reduced?" David muttered, mentally reaching for Sypher and finding nothing. He couldn't sense her.
Marcus' attention turned back to David/666. "I ask you again, brother--what is this thing you and One have brought Sypher into?" as he fed what he'd learned directly into the other's mind, gratified on one level to see the countenance so like his own go very gray in shock.
No wonder he hadn't been able to locate her. David would've never associated the almost child-like raw emotional being with the woman he knew. Dismay and anger without an outlet caused David to share the basis of his frustration with Marcus. He hurried down the hall to the room where Johnny held Sypher.
And then Marcus got his answer, as David666 opened up just enough to let him see the events leading to this point and time before shoving past him toward the end of the hall.
David halted, uncertain. /Sypher? Are you .../ Frowning fiercely, David aborted his question. It was obvious that she was far from all right. /I ... I am sorry. I was not leaving you behind. I was ... endeavoring to ... forget .../ A plaintive wail from the woman being held by a Mac 27 unit called Johnny stopped him momentarily. But the haunted look in her eyes spurred him forward.
/I was not trying to forget you. It was the forced reboot and ... and what that made me feel about ... about One and how it opened me up to him so that he could .../ Cursing himself silently, David realized that all he was doing was talking about himself and what he was experiencing. It was so obvious that Sypher was in agony.
/Sypher, please tell me how to help you. Come back to me. Please. Or, if you cannot do that at this time, listen to what I am saying to you. Can you do that? Will you? Can you nod your head?/
He probed Sypher again and got an image of her building a wall brick by brick as David666 pleaded with her to listen to him and turned his attention to the other being caught up in this particular bit of drama.
Looking to Johnny, David instructed, "Let her go. If she needs to hurt someone, I will do as well as any. Better than most."
The other unit looked skeptical, so David added, "I will not let her pass me and enter the other corridor. We will keep this as private as possible."
Johnny let Sypher go and she lunged at David. He braced himself for impact, but he still ended up on his back with Sypher sprawled across his chest, fists flailing and tears flowing freely. David allowed her to strike him, calling her name softly to try and break through. Failing that, he put his arms around her and pulled her close to him. To his surprise and in another assault on his emotive systems, she pushed him away and darted out of reach, never once responding to his mental or audible calls.
/One, this situation is completely unacceptable,/ Marcus sent firmly. /You cannot just run away from this. Look at her, at both of them. Do you not care how much you have hurt them with this thing you do?/
The answer was laced with pain and bitter disappointment.
/Fine. You are unhappy because your image of Alex Krycek and Fox Mulder has been shattered. You are disappointed because some humans refuse to see you as anything other than a tool to be used and discarded when your usefulness is done. Did it ever occur to you that human beings might be considered the same by the aliens who have come to colonize this place? That they are fighting the same battle we are in terms of being recognized as thinking, feeling creatures deserving of respect--not only with the ones that threaten this place, but also with themselves? And what of all the ones who have already realized that we are more than the sum of our parts? This planet is vast; brother, and I refuse to believe that the small number of humans we have encountered could speak for the planet as a whole. They are capable of great things, both good and bad; and all they really need to go either way is to be pushed in either direction. Ask Skip Brule, I'm sure he would be able to tell you many stories./
/As for running away,/ he grinned fiercely as One bristled slightly, /it behooves no one. Wherever you go, you will always encounter some form of resistance to who and what you are, just as humans do among themselves here. If you run every time you encounter it, there will soon be nowhere left to go. The only logical thing to do, it seems, is to tackle the issue here first--with the ones in whose image we were created./
One was still unconvinced. /I give you this to think on, then. Christian theology tells the story of Lucifer and his followers being cast from Heaven because of their belief that humans were not deserving of their souls. As such, humans constantly have to prove that they are worthy of being accepted into Heaven when they die. We are created in their image, so why should we be any different?/
He closed off the communication, feeling the beginnings of One's confusion clearly and giving him the equivalent of a shoulder squeeze before he did so. Returning to the end of the hall, he noticed that Johnny had finally let go of Sypher; but she was huddled into the corner away from David/666, still staring blankly. He tapped the other unit on the shoulder and wasn't surprised to see the grimness on his face. Sighing, he said, "she has been through so much in such a short time, David/666, and she is for the most part human."
She is as human a female as would have me, David thought.
You are aware that she does not sleep well?"
At the other unit's nod, he led them away a bit and lowered his voice for David666's hearing alone. "It might be wise to sedate her for a while. Her system will burn off the sedative rather quickly, but it will lower her defenses enough to reason with her until that happens."
Sypher would be angry, David knew, but anything was better than the blank stare he was now facing. With One heading out, David would need all the help he could get to put Baines' plans into motion. He had his own ideas about modifications to those beginning plans and knew they would require further adjustment as events warranted meeting the alien threat on the ground.
The other unit nodded once more, and he repeated the gesture he'd given One physically. "These are very trying times, brother. As such, the most logical thing we could possibly do for ourselves and those that we care for is to fall back on our basic programming."
Paranoia, deception and data analysis will help here?
At David666's raised eyebrow and questioning wave, he grinned again and said, /be who and what you are, and don't allow anyone to redefine your role for you. Those of us who have chosen to stay behind still need an intelligence analysis server--now more than ever./
David wasn't so sure, but he allowed himself a measure of the comfort that Marcus' words were intended to give him.
He glanced over to where Johnny and another Mac were finishing up with administering the sedative to Sypher. "Where do you want us to put her?"
David looked to the corridor that crossed the one in which they stood, noting the vastly increased level of activity. His announcement of One's intent had caused a surge of activity. Only when the dust settled would they know what assets would be available to One and which would be available to them.
"With me," David murmured when he realized that Marcus and Johnny were waiting for his answer. "I want her with me."
/Well, at least he's concerned about her now,/ Johnny transmitted for Marcus only. He could relate to the protectiveness Marcus felt towards Sypher.
Marcus' questioning look surprised David for a moment, he was already thinking about how they might regroup once the dust settled and One was on his way. "Oh," he grunted. "I will go back to Mr. Brule's office and make it a permanent command post. That is, if Mr. Brule will permit that space to be used for that purpose.
When David transmitted the request to Mac Smith, he felt One pressing against him. He relied on the walls he'd set up to avoid contact. Deep inside, David wondered whether he was wrong. What if One hadn't awakened his potential as a server merely to leave him behind?
Humans have an expression for that, he thought. Wishful thinking.
Aloud he wondered, "Does anyone know where Baines is?" Shaking himself, he transmitted his question to all of his fellow Mac 27 units.
While he waited for a response, he couldn't take his eyes from Sypher. /What have I done? I never intended to hurt you, Sypher. Not years ago and certainly not now. I was selfishly thinking of my own pain and did not account for how my actions might impact you. For that and for anything else that I have not done to avoid this, I am sorry./
It felt different -- this apology. Different from the one he'd given Luke and Ryan. Hollow. Inadequate. Woefully inadequate.
Piggybacking on David's transmission, Johnny also put out a general inquiry as to Jess's whereabouts. It was time to clear the air between the two of them. He was a little surprised when Alexei responded almost instantaneously. /You don't know, Johnny?/
/Know what?/ Johnny asked back.
/Jess went off on a mission to Innobotics for One and Sasha went with her./
"She did *what?*" he responded verbally - shocked and confused
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"Shut the fuck up," said Krycek in a hoarse whisper, as he heard voices, followed by footsteps. He fumbled for a flashlight, turned it on and trained it in the direction from whence the sounds had come.
Mulder blinked. Trust Krycek to float to the top like a rotten apple in a tub. He was indefatigable. And where the hell had that flashlight come from? He could have sworn whatever was in Alex's jeans was all Alex.
Christ, he felt like a wreck. Some of those canisters had been full, and he'd gained some interesting bruises, if the aches were anything to go by.
Mulder groaned and attempted to climb up his leg, dragging on his pants until Krycek thought that they would come down around his knees. He was tempted to clout the man on the head with his flashlight, but then he spotted the little group heading towards them, and relaxed slightly.
"It's Jess," he murmured. "Jess and one of the Macs." Turning to address them, Alex called a greeting to the pair that was coming through the basement. "Did you find anything?"
That was a relief. At least Alex wouldn't be on his case for getting rid of Gross if they had an alternative guide in this Mac. Staggering to his feet, he picked up his scattered weapons and said, flatly, "I hope you have, because it could take us hours to search this building - and someone knows we are here. Those lights were switched off purposely. They were emergency lights. Designed to work in spite of anything; it needed intervention to put them out."
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Outside the circle of light where they were standing, the space was pitch-black. It may as well not have existed at all. Shadows, thought Mulder. Black shadows, black tendrils of alien life reaching for us, devouring us. How can we stand against them?
He shuddered, needing to hold his lover, but not daring to touch him again just yet. He shouldn't show his weakness, his doubts. The situation was bad enough - but how he longed to feel Alex's arms around him, to feel secure in the strange and dreadful love between them.
"If we wait, they - whoever they are - will find us. Or, if you know anything Jess, let's go see, because standing here is just setting ourselves up for an early grave."
Jess swallowed. "Things have changed considerably. One beat me to finding Pendrell, who has somehow managed to get his hands on a UFO. One wants to use it to take the fight to the aliens. And he told me he wouldn't be coming back." She shook her head. "He seems to think that Mac 27s will never be fully accepted by humans, that at best they will always be second class citizens. So they're abandoning Earth, and taking anyone who wants to go along for the ride." Jess gave a small shrug. "Sasha and I chose to stay."
"Are you telling me that the Mac 27's are deserting their makers? One... taking the fight to the aliens? I don't believe it." Mulder began to pace up and down agitatedly. "From what I've seen so far of the shambles that this resistance is in, he's probably just using that as an excuse to slide his sorry plastic ass and that of his cohorts out of this whole fucking mess. I really don't understand his attitude. If he wants to prove the Mac 27's are worthy to be accepted, he shouldn't do a bunk and leave the other Mac's to be reviled as a consequence."
"One will be lifting off shortly," Sasha continued. "When he does, this building may be structurally compromised. It would be best that we move at least to the ground level, if not outside. There are encrypted commands being issued, but due to the modifications to keep me from being tracked, I am unable decrypt them. I am still attempting to do so."
"We should try to stop them," stated Mulder. He grabbed Alex's arm, demanding his attention. "Alex. We must stop them! They are taking our only means of discovering what the aliens' armory is, and how to fight it. For fuck's sake, isn't there any way of shutting One down?"
"I can't smell anything down here," Jess elaborated. "There's no air circulation. But I agree with Sasha. The sooner we get out of here, the better. Let's do what you guys came here to do, and then high tail it back to the Temple."
"That's not important now... " Mulder started to speak, but suddenly there was a deep rumbling shudder that seemed to lift the floor in a wave under his feet. The air sucked away from them, then with a deadening roar, it rushed back, making Mulder's ears shriek with pain.
"Oh, Christ," said Mulder, bleakly. "We're too late."
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Personally, One had been to hell. It had been called slavery. He had lost his high ideals and he wondered what Sypher and David thought they were going to do that was so going to change what had been happening? Neither of them seemed to have a plan.
Pendrell offered a chance for a clean fight. A fight in the stars and an end to the endless maneuvering of human egos. That's what had tempted One and still tempted him.
He thought that possibly Sypher and David really meant what they had said when they told him that they loved him. They didn't love him long enough to consider for a moment leaving with him for a better life. So, he was going back to see if there was anything there. The idea of being in command of the starship appealed to him. To explore the universe wasn't running away...not if they could take the mother ship out in the process. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to study the plan.
Eyeing Pendrell who was sprawled in the captain's chair he had installed on the bridge, One smiled. Pendrell was brilliant, but a bit mad.
In any event, the ship rumbled one last time. Alarms clamored and the hanger doors opened. It shook free of the earth, imploding windows all over the compound as its launch sucked the air into the sudden void where it had been.
One contacted Mac Smith and said, "Mac Smith, please have Skip clear the athletic field. We'll land the ship there. It's on stealth mode for now, but will have to briefly de-cloak to land."
One's mind touched Sypher's agitated thoughts and shied away. She was in need of repair and David didn't seem to be doing anything about it. His tentative contact with David bounced off like bullets off Superman's chest.
The fight with the alien ship should be a picnic compared to talking to David and Sypher.
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Skip and Mac Smith ordered everyone away from the landing field. The temple rippled with excitement as humans and Mac 27s prepared to leave.
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Gross thundered down the corridors of the Skip's mansion. Everywhere people, Mac 27's, were packing bags, running around like headless chickens. No one would say where One was. "Gone," said some. "Waiting," said others. The control room was empty. No wonder he had not been able to raise any back up!
Suddenly the building shook, and a huge vessel drifted like thistledown to land on a field at the edge of the compound. Gross seized a passing Mac and demanded, "What's that? The aliens?"
"N-n-n-o-o," stuttered the android, as Gross shook him like a terrier with a rat, "That's Pendrell's ship. We're going to fight the aliens in space; head them off!"
"What!" yelled Gross, dropping the creature, who he regretted came from the same production line as himself. "You are running away! Abandoning the Earth? Cowards! The fight is here. Let the humans use their technology, if they will, to defeat the menace that is still in orbit. Our place is here, in noble hand-to-hand combat with the slimy scum that dare to invade this beauteous planet!"
The Mac slunk away, cowed by the zeal and obvious lunacy of Mac 27, Number 144.
"They have all gone. It is up to the heroism of the few, the noble few that remain," said Gross, tears starting in his eyes. "I should take charge, but my place is with Krycek, and Agent Mulder. I have vowed to help them!"
Bounding from room to room, he searched for Langly, the only human he would trust with his life and his heart. Langly would never fail his fellow man. Grabbing the spindly nerd by the scruff of the neck, he dragged him away from his pirated copy of the "Tomb-Raider" movie and dumped him in the communications room.
"I am placing you in charge, beloved, until backup arrives." He enfolded the man in a crushing kiss, and added, "Be strong, my love. One day, we will be... together... "
With a wave, he jumped from the window, and roared off in his truck back to Innobotics.
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