The Game 68
Edited by Karen Leigh
It's so dark...why is it so dark? Where is David?
She reached for him--or tried to--and was rebuffed. Whatever was happening, she was being excluded from it and panic was beginning to set in. David? One? Please...answer me! Fear and doubt were starting to creep in as well. The memory of the strength of One's love and longing for David was foremost in her mind now and she felt herself drowning in despair. One finally had the connection he'd been pining for...but would he be willing or even able to allow her to share it, share David, now that he did?
Purity. Floating in clean, joyful satisfaction. Floating in the happiness of finally being allowed to join as he had yearned for so long now.
Fear. Deep and primal.
How can an android have primal fears?
An interesting question, although it was but one more fleeting concept/image in the maelstrom flooding David's awareness.
One tried to dispel David's fear. They were two magnets, fitting together perfectly and irrevocably, their beings so embedded in each other that the flow of their beings took on the intensity such a union would produce, a pure electrical field of unusual, new proportions. Attraction on a quantum level, creating a unified field of such strength and force that One began to wonder if they would be able to separate when the time came.
Irrevocability. Inseparability. Bound with chains that cannot be seen, only sensed. Uniqueness subsumed. Lost.
David knew despair.
We are a match. Neither of us is greater than the other, but in this we possess a greater ability and strength than when we are apart. One's thoughts were crystal clear and somehow tinged with focused hope for future utilization of this power, despite the overwhelming drowning sensation as they existed together, suspended in the field. If we were to take every pair and connect the network en masse, we would energize a combined, unified force of such power that any attempt to destroy it would be futile. We may have found, in theory, the means with which to create a harness of the sexual energy produced by each attracted couple. It would be amplified exponentially! With each pair of us properly aligned, we would create a gigantic electromagnetic field, energized with the sexual charge. This field could repel or attract, flipping it to use as a shield or a weapon of directed energy!
Despite his feelings as to the methodology, this madness might well have the purpose that One attributed to it. The hope that this unity was not the answer they were seeking seemed petty, but David couldn't pretend that he felt otherwise. Not in this place. Not under these circumstances.
But One was now painfully aware of the inescapable obvious reason for David's fear of being lost in One's 'greater' mind... It was a reaction to the insistent, enduring longing that he had for his beloved dark brother. Their equality was not the issue, it was the chase. His greed in reaching for David.
Bitterly, One realized there was nothing that he could hide from David in this state; David knew now just how much One wanted him. It was almost a losing victory, to have this union he had craved again only to discover that he could not help the selfish, demanding nature of his own feelings for David.
One's reasons for interest in the reboot process overwhelmed David. He hadn't known ... couldn't have known ... and never had suspected that his brother ... felt as he did. David felt small, insignificant, now that he understood that One could feel so deeply, want so much, desire complete communion. His effort to deny his feelings even in this state of shared mentality in order to spare David humbled him.
One was horrified to discover that the power and intensity of their combined field was instantly colored by the emotional content, the psychological state of one or either of them. David's fear of this initiated act already circulated throughout their mental bond and now One's fear of loss and rejection joined it. In achieving what he thought he'd craved, One stood to lose David. And there was no way he could attempt to calm David's fears without betraying the deception of his own impatience and desire, undermining the attempt even as he tried - it was a solipsistic vicious circle.
Humility edged toward shame. David was helpless before it.
NO! We can do this, he appealed to David. We cannot allow the potential of this to go untapped. This is the key, One added, certain that it could be used rather than remain a trap.
It may be a tool, David allowed, stubbornly adding, one of many.
I promised him...I promised him I wouldn't let him get lost...oh, god, David, where are you? Come back to me...come home...I need you..." Sypher reached and found nothing.
One was half-aware of the close press behind him of Sypher's body to his, and that he had reached out to hold David close, tight to him, attempting to emulate with the contact of their bodies the closeness of their joined minds.
Helpless and alone, Sypher turned inward, letting memories wash over her.
are you my friend?
yes, i am your friend.
why?
because i know you need one.
how do you know?
i know what it's like to be alone.
Despite the fact they were so enmeshed in each other as to be now inseparable, One forced himself to retreat to the one pure, guiltless emotion he had - the admiration and love for David that he always held. Out of love for him, One could abide with whatever David wanted, whatever choice he made. No pressure, no force.
Something was happening. A change had occurred but David couldn't fathom what it was.
This seemed to affect the balance of their unified field and created a positive flow rather than a negative one. The vibrational frequency of love seemed to be a faster cyclic wave than fear, which counteracted David's doubts and worry and immediately began to reverse and amplify the intensity of their field into one with a wholly positive frequency...
David's body lifted off of the overloaded piece of furniture as the wave of... something incredible hit him. What the ...?
Astonished, One murmured, Quantum love. David, beloved - we can make this anything we wish. I leave the decision of 'us' up to you. We support each other; it is not a one-way flow. Regardless of your choice, we are brothers-in-arms. Know that I will never compromise you out of selfish desire. He was drowning in him. Waiting for David to - choose.
One - suspended on the knife-edge of fulfillment and loss.
Speechless was too mild a term to describe David's state. What One suggested ... how he'd suggested it ... the potential power he'd wielded briefly and then left in David's hands ... It was all too much.
And it was just enough. Smiling, David leaned forward.
Suddenly, David realized what was missing. Where is Sypher? Where is she?
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Alex could sense turmoil in his peculiar lover. He permitted Fox to deepen the kiss, loving the taste and scent of him, and then gently disengaged himself.
"Sorry, baby. We'll catch up with that stuff in a little while. Right now we have a crisis on our hands. Phoenix may or may not be toast. Wraith seems to be mostly unhurt and he's incredibly dangerous. We have to get him out of here. There's too much damage he can do. Jess and I had plans to search the building and see what we can find. I don't know why she just left like that. Come and help me look for stuff? We need to do it quickly and then toast this building. It's far too dangerous." He regarded Fox with a quizzical smile, and then turned to explore. "The open doors are probably not worth exploring. He locked the ones that had good stuff in them. Grab your gun and come blow some locks for me, babe. I'm really nervous now that they've withdrawn our link with the compound. I don't know why Sasha was removed, but it leaves us out on a limb, unable to communicate with David or One. We need to get in and see what there is fast, then get out again."
Fox took the gun that Alex was holding out to him as if it would come to life and bite him. He knew how to use it, because Mulder did, but whether he'd be *able* to use it was an entirely different matter. He suspected he was more dangerous to himself and Alex than to any enemy with any sort of weapon.
Maybe he could manage to shoot a door, though. It wasn't as if a door would shoot back, or suffer horribly if he didn't shoot straight and kill it right off.
*Wuss,* taunted Mulder, softly.
*For Chris'sakes, come back, Mulder,* begged Fox. *I can't cope with this.*
*Tough,* said Mulder. *I'm busy. There are these voices, pictures. I want to know what they're saying; it's misty... You'll be fine.* His voice faded to silence.
Fox froze with horror. He couldn't feel him. Mulder was always there, always in his mind - a background murmur he'd never realized was with him until it wasn't.
He licked his lips, looked at Alex with wide, scared eyes and said, "You don't know how good those words sound, Alex-love. I really, really want to get out of here." Hell, suppose Hobbes or Wraith cameafter Mulder. He'd been acting like a psycho; what thefuck was wrong with him?
"Um, where do you want to start? Here, in the basement? Or another floor?"
Just then there was a loud clattering from the emergency stairs and a Mac 27 almost fell through the door. There was no mistaking the fedora and the whip, though he was hung around with so much other equipment that he looked like a Christmas tree. It was Gross.
"At last, I've found you. Are you unhurt, Mr. Krycek, Agent Mulder? I met a partylead by Mr. Baines on the floors above but they were not, as I expected, reinforcements for you, but a search and rescue party. Are you alone?"
He panned the area. "There are others behind the door over there." He pointed with his gun to the place where Wraith and his companions were. "Did you know? I have explosives or knockout gas, would you like me to deploy them?"
Fox felt like fainting with relief into Gross's strong andcapable embrace.
Alex had been trying doors, leaving each open as he discovered that it wasn't locked. When he finally tried one that wouldn't open, he raised his foot and brought his boot crashing down on it. It wouldn't open.
"Mulder, c'mon. I need you and that machine gun. Get over here." There was a brief pause, and then the man that Alex believed to be his beloved crept reluctantly to him. "Shoot that sucker," Alex said. "We need to get in here and find out why it's locked." Alex watched in disbelief as Fox closed his eyes and blasted away at the door lock. After a minute or so, the thing was so riddled with holes that it resembled a colander. It seemed that Fox would continue firing until there were no more bullets left, but Alex shouted to him to stop, then punched his arm hard enough to snap him out of his trance. This time, the kick that he aimed at the door had an effect, and the door flew back on its hinges. As it did so, an alarm klaxon sounded through the building.
Jess had trotted up further into the hall, sniffing around, searching for the acid or some other corrosive that Baines wanted her to use on Phoenix before heading upstairs to join him. Sasha still stood guard over an inert Phoenix. But when she heard the sound of gunfire and the alarm go off, she turned around and began to run back towards where she had left everyone.
Mulder hadn't intended to abandon Fox for more than a few minutes; despite feeling on cloud nine, practical considerations hadn't completely deserted him. But as soon as he had disengaged, he seemed to float away, and what was happening was not important any more. He found himself looking down on himself and the others as though they were pieces on a chessboard.
The infernal buzzing, which had given him such a headache, had become voices - indistinct - not because they were whispered, but they were far away. Overlaying the dank basement he could see the opal glow of that summer island, swirling, merging into a desert sunset, a rain-lashed road, a cold, dead November through his own apartment window. Behind it there was another scene, a recent one. Puzzling, he realized it was Skip's compound, though not has he remembered it - the shadows were different. Indistinct figures moved before him, spoke to him, but their voices were no more than a low frequency hum.
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It had to be Krycek. Wraith knew he shouldn't have left the turncoat out in the hallway unsupervised. Pushing ahead of Tom and Marita, Wraith practically flew out the now unlocked door of the medical bay. His target was disappearing into the lab that contained one of the more dangerous experiments located on this level.
("DO NOT GO IN THERE!") The command was shouted aloud and screamed twice as forcefully on a server level. An order to restrain Krycek accompanied the words. Phoenix's tampering had opened Wraith's access to that tool. It would be foolish not to use it in case any of Krycek's companion's were susceptible to that kind of persuasion.
Phoenix's chained form was stepped over without attention. That problem would have to wait until Krycek was contained and evicted from what Wraith now considered his domain.
Hobbes shoved the torch at Marita, "Wraith wait," Hobbes followed quickly trying to grab at the man to stop him. He saw Alex and Mulder ahead. Mulder. Instinctively Hobbes drew his gun. He was not going near the man without protection this time. He didn't trust Mulder, not as far as he could throw the man. And Mulder wanted to kill him.
He too stepped over Phoenix but threw the kid a glance before trying to catch up to Wraith. He grabbed at Wraith, catching his arm. But Hobbes found he was pulled along with Wraith's momentum to stop Alex.
Jess could see them now. Alex, Mulder, and Gross standing in front of a door that looked like it had been shot out. Wraith, who looked very pissed off, Tom and Marita were moving towards them. And Sasha watched from where he stood near Phoenix's inert form, transmitting everything to Alexei. ~Leigh, get down here fast. The whole situation's about to blow up.~
Baines, Alexei, Roy and Michael headed back for the stairs at a run.
Hobbes stumbled slightly. "Alex wait," Hobbes called out, "It could be dangerous if you go in there." Little did Hobbes know, the danger could be coming from Wraith.
Charging in from the other direction, Jess slid to a stop, claws gouging groves in the floor. She reared up on her hind legs, but kept her twitching paws to her sides. She didn't want to have to face off with Wraith again, but she was more than ready to defend Alex and Mulder. Ears flat, but not growling, she placed herself between Wraith and Alex. This further and no more, her body language said.
Gross blinked. An emergency, and so fast? With difficulty he tugged his trusty whip out from his clutter of equipment and stood shoulder to shoulder with his erstwhile enemy.
"Fear not!" he declaimed. "I am prepared."
"The things in those rooms are not for the likes of Krycek." Wraith's wrist knife slid out with a soft hiss. The gun he's snatched up in passing was lifted with the other. "The human staff of Innobotics are mostly dead. Marita, Tom and I are responsible for what remains. We will need those things and the rest of the material in the building to hold against the threat from off world. I know what it all is. Only I can make it function correctly."
The room fairly reeked of confrontation as Fox slid behind Alex, picked up the knapsackAlex had dropped, and sneaked into the laboratory they'd just broken into. As the others snapped at each other like wild dogs outside, he upended the bag onto the floor, hoping in his terror to find some weapon that would put an end to the situation, and fast.
However everything that Gross had packed seemed intended either to blow everyone to kingdom come, or poison them... at least in the confined space of the basement. He looked wildly around for somewhere to hide, instead. He felt like a shit, but he'd be of no use out there he knew, and just maybe he could retrieve the situation... free everyone later if Wraith didn't catch him.
Across the room were shelves containing jars full of unmentionable and revolting... organic things. Mulder would just love it, he thought, trying not to look. The lab was huge... one bay had been set up with chairs and a whiteboard, and a table with labelled bits of complicated equipment, intended as a presentation.
Perhaps he could be useful in some way after all. He hurried over to take a look. There was a folder full of handouts and lecture notes labelled "Project Outreach." Flipping through, the words 'thought enhancement' sprang out at him. It sounded more than good... maybe it was unfinished, not working, but Wraith seemed very keen to keep them out of here. Taking the knapsack, he stuffed it full of as much of the mysterious equipment from the table as he could, added the notes, and crept back to the door to see how the standoff was progressing.
Wraith shifted the gun barrel slightly, trying to acquire Krycek despite the obstacles in his path. "Tom says the Mac27 collective wants our aid in this battle. That aid will come on 'our' terms. Krycek forfeited his rights here a long time ago." His head tilted to catch a glimpse of the werewolf's Mac. "Consult your controllers."
A tentative step forward was taken. Given an excuse, he'd gladly put a bullet between the rogue agent's eyes. Krycek may have had Marita first, he may have had Tom as well... but Innobotics and its bounties were Wraith's to control.
The internal shout he attempted was muffled and mostly bounced back but they might hear it. "{If you want an alliance make Krycek withdraw!}" Wraith glared. "Tom, shoot the werewolf if it attacks." Trusting his partner to handle one threat, Wraith scowled at the foolish Mac 27 in his path. "Move unit. I am in authority here."
Gross could never understand the philosophy of actually *standing* and *talking* to someone who was patently an enemy. Either you ended up with that enemies cohorts taking their chance to surround you, or you had your confidence undermined. His philosophy went more along the 'shoot first, ask the questions later' school of thought. Even if the enemy turned out later to be a friend, as Jess had, it was better to defuse a dangerous situation.
Faster than the eye could see, Gross's whip cracked upwards, wrapped itself around one of the many fat pipes that snaked across the basement ceiling and with a bloodcurdling cry he leapt into the air, seized it a good way up and swung, feet foremost, towards Wraith. Wrapping his thighs around Wraith's head, he bore him inexorably into the wall behind. They slammed into it with a crash.
Gross seized Wraith's head as it bounced forward, groping for the port in the back ofthe creature'sneck where a disabling switch should be located. There was no time for finesse, he merely jabbed his index finger into the access hole to make a goodelectrical connection and transmitted a string of code tooverride Wraith's BIOS that had been implanted in his brain earlier at the compound.
"Keep the others away, friends, while I complete my task," he shouted as he reached for a knife, sliced the skin round his finger, and with a twist disengaged it at the second knuckle. It was left flush with the hole, plugging it, and would be impossible to removewithout specialized equipment orWraith's brain would be damaged.
He lowered Wraith to the floor, and stood. He pitied the poor mongrel. Neither human nor Mac 27, it seemed to have become an uneasy alliance of the two that denied the compassion and decency of either.
He struck a heroic pose and tried to look victorious, yet humble.
In the battle Hobbes had been knocked over since he was so close to Wraith. He fell on his side and rolled in time to see what Goss had done so quickly. "NO! DON'T HURT HIM!" Tom shouted as he started to get up, grabbing for his gun. But he felt something else as well.
Alex grabbed Hobbes to stop him, throwing him against the wall, pinning him with his own larger frame. "No," Hobbes cried out, "We need him... he's one of the main servers!" He shouted struggling against Alex. He finally broke away from Alex and skidded over to the limp form of his lover. "Wraith?" he called out seeing no life in the man. He cradled the head in his lap as he stroked the perfect hair back, "Wraith? Please speak to me?"
Tom glared up, "What the hell did you do to him?" He snapped.
For a moment, Krycek gaped. Then, as Gross raised his noble profile as though taking a photo opportunity, he addressed the rest of the stunned crowd.
"Gross, can you carry him now that he's disabled? Mulder, Jess, we need to leave this building. The charges are set and it will be rubble within the next fifteen minutes." He turned to Tom Hobbes, speaking rapidly to the man that had been his lover so briefly. "Tom, you have to take this on trust. We won't hurt him." He gestured with his thumb at the unconscious Wraith. "He should never have been permitted to leave the compound without some discussion as to his loyalties and intentions, and now we will have that discussion. I know that you care about the future of humanity, and I care about you, so let's go now, and fight about things later. Care about him? What? Oh fuck... now this would really trigger Mulder. Hobbes tore his gaze from Alex for he had been transfixed on his words, hearing them being rushed at him. Marita! What about her?
"Marita, we have to get Marita out." He turned and ran down the hall, "Marita!" He shouted then saw her coming to the door. He grabbed her tiny hand in his and started pulling, "We have to get out of here. Alex said the place was going to blow." Marita nodded. Alex had no reason to lie, and Hobbes face told the story. Besides, she trusted him. She also knew he wouldn't let any harm come to Loren, who he knew as Wraith. So she just asked, "Where's Loren?"
He pulled her along till he came back up to Gross and his unconscious lover. He heard her gasp behind him, "Wha... what have you done to Lauren... my husband?" she snapped at Gross. But he just ignored her.
Hobbes squeezed her hand, "He's going to be all right," he said to her in a painful voice. Worry showed in his handsome features. Marita put and arm around Hobbes and glared at Gross. "For your sake, Gross, he'd better be." She turned to Wraith, stroking his face and neck gently, sadness in her voice. "Whatever he did to cause you to do this... he is a good man. It wasn't him doing it." She met Hobbes' gaze, and Gross's, hoping he'd believe.
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