Chapter 6
Sara sat in her room, brushing her hair. The mirror that she had bought only a few weeks ago saw her staring back at it.
Gabe had been at the house for five months. Now, Sara couldn't imagine a life where they hadn't been together. Every day with him made her happy. They might not have much money, but they didn't need it. Their life was simple, and happy.
Sara felt good about herself. When she was at home, she wouldn't wear her gloves. If it was very warm, she wouldn't wear her hosiery either. In the sweltering 60 degree heat of the summer, she'd even sunbathed outside once. She could never do something like that in town, and she couldn't imagine ever wanting to either.
Even still, she had become a member of the community once again. The people there had not so much been put off by the way she looked but by the fact that she was new, and different. Gabe now worked at the bar that they had often visited. On his days off they were usually to be found there together, enjoying themselves. Most of the money he brought home came from tips; his wage was ridiculously low, but it was more than enough for their humble needs. The owner had been reluctant to hire Gabe, but was getting to the age where he couldn't work every night all week. Gabe was more than happy to take less pay. It was less a job to make money and more a job, Sara saw it, to ingratiate brother and sister with the town. Familiar faces were always streaming through, giving her brother the time to socialize, become acquainted with, and make connections for jobs that he could perform for the individuals who need things done.
Gabe was completely different than she had imagined. Gabe made her feel good. She wanted to show him the side of her she couldn't show anyone else. He wasn't wasn't afraid of her defects. He wasn't disgusted by her.
He thought she was beautiful.
Sara wondered a moment if it was intentional, a plot by the Underground The twins may have been programmed to feel like that; they were counterpart units, after all.
But they had always been referred to as siblings, brother and sister.
Not as lovers.
Sara had to admit to herself, though, what she felt wasn't familial.
"I'm in love with my brother."
---
"Bill, we'd like you to carry out your first mission."
Bill stood at attention, a wry smile threatening to bloom onto his face. He had been waiting, couped inside, trying not to unleash the violence that had built inside him. He knew the importance of appearances, of self control. His skill at those things, he realized, was not what others might require of him but there was no helping that.
"What would you have me do?" Bill said gruffly, to cut himself short of letting a sly comment slip past.
It seemed the Underground man sensed this but was unable to formulate a firm response. His expression was sour, ruining his otherwise attractive features. He shuffled through his papers, found what he was looking for and handed Bill a clipboard.
"There is a man in the Underground council who has, of late, been a threat to our security."
"Threat, how could someone threaten us?"
"The Apath Corporation has recently acquired a majority holding in that man's company," The man said.
Bill looked at his clipboard while his man talked. He saw a handsome if slightly plump man in his late 50s. It looked to be a company profile photo, taken from one of their quarterly reports no doubt. Looking briefly at the rest of the information that had been given to him, Bill saw the man's vital statistics, food preferences, the restaurants he ate at, hotels he stayed at, the places he lived and the routes he took to get from work and home and any of other places on the ledger.
"His name is Robert Heidelberg. He owns a chemical conglomerate of some importance that we needed more direct control of. When he discovered we had somehow attained majority stock hold position, he had something of a lapse of judgement, and threatened to go public with the plot."
Bill of course knew of the true plot, but he wondered how much of it had been fed to the deepest member of the Underground council. He had a biting curiosity to compare and contrast the stories.
"Obviously there is little chance of his succeeding but we must take these threats seriously. He could have lived a relatively prosperous life with his company, as a puppet ruler that enjoyed most of the profits with none of the stress of running it. As you may know the Underground does not stand for pointless violence but sometimes these things are necessary."
Bill could hardly contain himself. Was there such thing as pointless violence? He couldn't fathom a moment where violence was not needed and often preferred that solution.
"We need you to assassinate him. It will remove the obvious threat, and there is nothing which would connect his death to us in the world at large. We, as you well know, do not exist. It will also send a message to other corporate heads in the Underground council that should the day come where their direct involvement is no long needed, that they should take the cash and run." The man looked pointedly at Bill, "A power grab is out of the question. The Underground exists to absorb power, not give it."
The clipboard felt light in Bill's hand. He flipped through the pages, scanning them quickly, and frowned. He looked back at the man, "How am I supposed to do this. You've provided the data but not the means."
The man shrugged, a casual gesture that didn't fit his type in the least. It was a practiced motion that made Bill feel like he was talking to a cardboard cut out, not a person.
"You provide a corpse. It must be recognizable. You can poison, shoot, stab, or garrote him, really whatever you see fit. We wish him no specific harm or disfigurement, so you may make it as painless or painful as you like, though we would prefer it if you refrained from torture. We are a civilized organization, and we would like to inspire confidence in our ability to keep secrets, not fear of our methods."
Bills eyes narrowed under his face mask, looking at the plump, handsome man, Robert.
"I'll think of something." Bill said.
The man nodded his head decisively, indicating the door with his hand.
"This is to be taken care of immediately. You will be flown by private jet to West Virginia, where he lives, and in 2 days time you will be expected to be ready to return."
Bill nodded, his guts cold and calculating now, the fever that often accompanied him replaced with a billion thoughts fighting for supremacy in his consciousness. His first real mission was to be done in a way that would define him, he decided.
The man opened the door, and another Underground agent led him to his next destination.
---
Bill was rather enjoying this.
The jet cruised at 10,000 feet, the cross country flight a long one, but Bill adjusted the tie on his suit without a care in the world. He was in a fine, pinstriped suit, expensive and well made, fitting his body perfectly.
'I feel like royalty, like a corporate champion going to do business around the world. I guess I am!' he thought.
Bill had, initially, a hard time deciding if he would have preferred being in uniform to being in finery, but after getting the suit knew for a fact that he enjoyed this much more. He was well aware however, that there was a certain appeal to appearing in the green coat of the Underground, seeing the growing realization on Heidelberg's face, and then killing him without explanation.
The suit of course, opened up the avenue of explaining to him in exquisite detail what had led up to the moment of his impending demise. bill would be waiting, with bated breath, for Robert to say "Just who are you?" Ah! That would be the moment. There were many possibilities, Bill knew.
Bill had brought with him, other than another immaculately tailored suit, two BLOCKSabres. He had to leave his prosthetic behind in order to blend in. He had immediately dismissed poisoning as the method of death. Too clean, to impersonal. Why use a BioSuit to administer poison?
Bill's mind briefly thought of a female agent administering a poison or venom with her body, BioSuits being immune to almost all forms of venom or poisons. It was a pleasant thought, but not something he needed to invest much thought in at the moment. Something to keep in mind for later.
Guns too, he had ruled out. There was something unsporting about guns, he felt. His first kill he wanted to feel with his own hands. Any child can kill with a gun, but it took something more to drain out the life of someone with a blade.
His fingers ran through his hair, and Bill settled back for a nap, eager for the plane ride to come to an end so he could begin his task.
---
Gabe opened his eyes, seeing the ceiling to his room, and pondered the lack of thoughts in his head. How empty it seemed, first thing in the morning.
Slowly reality began to creep in, one stray thought at a time, until his consciousness was complete.
Things were certainly different from when he first came.
Sara had tried to kill him, though that, to be fair, had lasted only the initial moments of their relationship. Soon after they had become good friends, and then it truly began to feel as if they were siblings, were family.
They had revealed some of their inner secrets, looked out for one another, and become partners.
Sara could go into town, though she did avoid it at times. He had work, and enjoyed it. Sara continued her relatively isolated life at the cabin but seemed very content. She looked happy.
Gabe propped himself up in the bed, swinging his legs over the edge and onto the cold floor, the heat draining out of his toes. Things had changed a bit in strange ways too.
Sara was keen to do anything she could for him, to the point to putting herself out. When Gabe's sleep schedule changed in order to accommodate his job at the bar, Sara's too had changed so she could continue making Gabe food right when he woke up, and when he got home. She seemed most excited, each week, for their trip to the bar together. She was always sure that he had a good time, had plenty to drink, and that they both got home alright.
It seemed to him, now that he thought about it, that she as getting a lot closer to him. Physically, she was always touching him, in little ways. A hand on his shoulder, or a massage after work, or bumping into him as she laughed.
Gabe stretched and rifled through his dresser, finding some clothes to wear.
'I'm probably thinking too hard about this. Better forget all about it before I make a fool of myself.' he thought.
---
Bill stood over Robert Heidelberg with a boot planted on the man's chest and a BLOCKSabre buried in his ribcage, puncturing his lung and stabbing into the floor.
The man, who was built rather firmly, not plump as his photo had suggested, fought for breath, wheezing under Bill.
"Why... haaah haaaah.... why are you doing this." It was a question so obvious as to be rendered rhetorical.
Bill's face had split into a manic grin, his teeth grinding in their exaggerated smile. Bill had a bullet lodged in his belly that was making his inside scream out in pain. The blood and bile of it was seeping out,his shirt coat and pants all wet and slick with it.
Bill slowly twisted the blade, making Robert scream out in pain The brittle blade broke and the pinned man made and attempt to rise, desperately, but a new blade shot out of the BLOCKSABRE, forcing him to the ground again.
Things had not gone as planned.
"Well, Bob, I'm doing THIS," Bill twisted the blade again, Robert writhing under him, "Because you shot me in the fucking gut. I can't promise it wouldn't have happened anyway, but I know for sure I would have taken less pleasure in it."
Robert grabbed the blade. It sank easily into his skin, the razor sharp edge slicing him like it might butter. He shuddered under his assailant, his normally perfect hair unruly and unkempt.
"Why... did you... come for me?"
Bill smiled, ready to give the speech he had prepared, but flinched as a wave of pain rippled out of his gunshot wound. He grimaced and wished his other BLOCKSabre hadn't been broken.
"You got on the wrong side of your partners. You did wrong by those that did right by you. You threatened those you should never threaten, so now you--"
"Wait, I'll... cut you a deal. If you... work for me I'll... pay you right out... of the company's coffers. You wont want... for anything. If we break open this Underground thing... we'll be heroes. We'll have saved the--"
"Shut up!" Bill spat, "Do you think your world is mine? Do you think your wealth interests me. I have a purpose in life, Bob. I'm built for something better than collecting material things," As Bill said 'built' Robert's eyes widened and he shuddered under Bill's blade.
"You're... you're one of them aren't you. You monster."
"Guilty as charged. And you are a traitor. Goodnight, Bob."
Bill tore the blade out of Robert's left chest and plunged it into his right, twisting it until it broke time and again until the razor sharp, brittle weapon had shredded the man's heart. Bill stood, looking down at the man crassly. The metal of the sword drained back into the hilt, which he attached to his belt. He made sure to pick up the other BLOCKSabre where it had been left laying on the floor, the bulb that held the liquid metal having been shattered by a bullet. Bill frowned as he stood. There wasn't much he could do about the liquid metal that had spilled, or the fragments of his sword left in Robert's chest. It was unlikely they could trace it back to a source that didn't exist, however, and Bill exited the room, hand on his belly, hoping he could leave the house without attracting any attention.
It had not been a perfect first mission, but it had been accomplished successfully. Bill at least could take comfort in that.
---
July had been uncommonly warm, but Gabe was more than thankful for it. The weather had as a blanket warmed the whole of the area, giving rise in him to occasions he had thought he might never enjoy so far north. The nearly scorching 70 degree whether, which made for constant complaints by those who passed through the bar, was more than welcome to the BioSuit who had come from much warmer climate originally. An act of supreme self indulgence were his lovely sister's occasional sunbathing exercises, which he had noticed but not attempted to internalize, she only did when he was off and around the cabin.
He knew intellectually that his sister to a limited degree could adjust her comfort level, affecting how she felt in mild climate. Seeing her in her swimsuit, however, he could only wonder how she wasn't covered in goose bumps. There were still patches of snow from the last fall in may.
While Gabe split wood outside with an axe, Sara closed the door to the house with a folding chair under her arm, a towel over her shoulder, and glasses pushed up and out of her eyes so she could see before she set everything up.
Gabe planted the head of the axe on the ground and yelled to his sister, "Hey, what are getting up to over there?" He could see from there the pattern of living scars that covered her entire body, the black worked into her every vein. It was disturbing and beautiful at the same time. If not for the way it pulsed along with her heart beat she could have passed it off as an elaborate tattoo.
Sara wore a two piece black bikini, something the likes of Greenland had probably never seen. It was cut low, with fabric pulled high to the waist, curving back and just barely hanging on to her buttocks without disappearing between her cheeks. It was, all and all, a very revealing set of bottoms. The top hung from her neck, crossing over past her shoulders and cupping her breasts, wrapping around the tie in the back.
Gabe shook his head, trying his best not to idly watch her as she set her things up, putting out the fold out chair, laying a towel on to it and sliding the sunglasses onto her nose.
"I thought it was fairly obvious!"
"Obvious and ridiculous. I'm not even sure how you picked up a habit like this. I can't imagine they had tanning beds in the Underground."
"Wouldn't you like to know!"
In truth, Sara had learned about tanning from a book she had read. The idea seemed simple enough, and the weather was just tolerable enough to attempt. Her stomach felt as if it swirled inside her, thinking of Gabe seeing her like this. It was a somewhat transparent plot, but then again she was looking for ways to let Gabe know how she felt, to peak his interest.
Gabe had grown increasingly uncomfortable around Sara. It was becoming hard to ignore that she was by all accounts a stunningly gorgeous woman. The problem wasn't so much that as that it was apparent that Sara was well aware of the fact, and knew how to use it to her advantage. This was not to say she was using sex appeal like some sort of country trollop, but she was certainly playing havok with some of Gabe's better judgement.
Through her glasses Sara watched Gabe work, both amused at his apparent embarrassment to have her out here with most of her body exposed, and with a bit of girlish eagerness to see him exert himself. She tracked him as he raised the axe, with one hand, bringing it down quickly, splitting the wood with ease. His prosthetic swung by his side, the fingers not dexterous enough to help him with his swing, so it grabbed the next log, centering it on the block, so he could swing again, splitting another.
Sara wondered if it was narcissism that made her attracted to her twin. While he was strong certainly, and had proven himself to be a good man, he was hardly super masculine, especially in appearance. He had the distinct look of a young man who had just a little extra curve in his hip, a slimness of body that made him appear almost like a younger sister to Sara. There was a hardness about him too that came through in his eyes. They shared the same face but it was impossible to deny that they were different, and that she found herself drawn to both that difference and similarity.
For his part, Gabe had to admit that many men would have killed to be in his place. There was little about Sara that he could find anything less than appealing. Other than, of course, that she was his sister, and more than affection and even love, they needed to be able to rely on each other, and not necessarily because of deep emotional ties to one another. What would happen if things didn't work out? The flaw of familiar relations was obvious to him; if it ended, where would that leave them as brother and sister? Gabe had no reason to believe in permanence.
Finishing his predetermined work load, Gabe walked over to Sara and sat in the grass, feeling the slight moisture from the ground through his pants. He looked up at the sky, noting the lack of clouds and remarkable sunshine that made such a warm day possible.
Sara sat back, reading her book, not saying a word. Gabe had to fight to keep his eyes to himself.
'Really! if she knows what she's doing she's a cruel, cruel woman.'
Gabe was forced to leave when, Sara, feeling the need to sun her back, laid flat on her stomach and asked if Gabe could help untie her top.
---
Bill sat in on the council meeting. It was another deathly silent affair, the man with the number 1 on his face holding sway over the men and women gathered.
"Type 06, you've done well. It was not, as your report stated, a flawlessly executed assignment,"
Bill tensed at the mention of his mistake. He had been far too careless, allowing himself to be shot before he could say a word to his target.
"But you have done as was asked of you. If nothing else you have proven in some way the resiliency of the BioSuit. You were fine after taking a bullet to the stomach a mere day later, with little else aside from dry cleaning to cost us."
There were faint chuckles around the table, the various corporate heads nervous, considering who had been the target. Others were more than happy to see another piece of the council go, which meant one less voice to compete with.
"You will be given other missions as they arise..." he made an obvious show of turning his head to look at each of the council members, given that his eyes were hidden, "Hopefully they will not be missions of the same type."
The council had learned its lesson, once you were a member you had a chance to touch the fate of the world, but only at the expense of relinquishing yours into the Underground's hands.
Bill had returned, only worse for wear for his embarrassment, but was happy by the recognition he received.
"Thank you, Type 06, William. We look forward to your work in the future."
Bill inclined his head, and took his leave of the meeting.
---
"Hughes! Hughes!" William hollered as he entered the old doctor's private labs, seeking to discuss something with his creator.
The old man was crouched over a computer terminal, typing in something rapidly, a frown on his face.
"Dr. Hughes. I've come from the council meeting. The Underground was pleased with my success."
Hughes grunted, not looking in Bill's direction.
"Hughes you piece of decrepit flesh, don't you ignore me." Bill spun the man to face him, eye ablaze behind his visor.
"They were happy? Hmph. I designed you, I thought, with a modicum of dignity. You fought like a wounded animal. You were wounded which is a mistake worthy enough to have you sent to the scrap heap in itself!"
Bill reared back and slapped the man across the face, sending him sprawling into the console.
"Don't you raise your voice to me. You know what I am, and that is superior. Even if I don't meet your exacting standards, you know that there's not a thing you can do to stand in my way."
"At least you are as brutal as I intended."
"What a strange thing to say, I've thought about killing you dozens of times and yet you still live."
"I could say the same to you."
"But which of us has the means."
"What do you want, William?"
Bill took a walk around the table, letting his hand feel the flat surface. He remained silent, stretching out the moment, before he looked back at Hughes.
"The BLOCKSabres were a joke. I can see them as a weapon of last resort but they are much too fragile for the sort of fighting I enjoy. I need something with a bit more weight to it, something durable that I can drag across the bodies of my enemies.
Hughes nodded his head, "Yes. Yesss..." He turned and began typing at his computer. He said nothing more.
Bill waited for a reply and when he got none raised his voice, "Well what."
"You will get what you ask for but shut your ungrateful mouth and leave me, I've work to do."
Bill smirked, patting his creator's back with a bit too much force, and exited the room.
---
"Sara, could you tell me about the Underground?"
Sara stiffened next to him on the couch, and Gabe knew why. It was a strange question. If anything, they had talked less and less of the Underground each day, and more of their everyday lives. They had talked about music, literature, the people in town. Their conversations had turned to ideas, thoughts, dreams for the future. The Underground had began to fade away, becoming apart of a background, a given that was not discussed.
Sara licked her lips, her mouth dry. Gabe could see she was uncomfortable, but that was not surprising. He wanted to see what she would say.
After considering it for a several moments, she said, "What do you want to know?"
"What is the Underground's purpose. I have an idea, but nothing that was really given to me straight. I want to know if I'm off about it. And I'm curious, if you'd care to tell, how you were treated there. You've mentioned it, but I wondered if you had any stories. How do people see us? I was an outcast, but from the sound of it you were different. I wanna know what people who know we are actually different think of us... not just like the people in town. We're just outsiders at times for them."
Sara took her time in replying. Many thoughts swirled in her head but how to start was not one of them.
"First, the Underground is not an independent entity. It has its hands in many very big things. Well... I guess that's obvious. The Apath Corporation is probably a front for it. When... when I escaped the Underground, the elevator brought me up through the New Century Apath Corporation building."
The revelation shocked Gabe. He had come out another place, it seemed. The connection between Apath and the Underground seemed flimsy at best, but it would explain how they got their funds. Even removed from civilization, you could feel the slight touch of the Apath Corporation. Any personal computer you found was run on their operating system.
Sara continued, "I'd rather not go into detail about my time there. It's still... hard to think about. Hopefully you'll understand when I say they were both afraid and... in awe of me. I think some really loved me, and others were nervous about what they had done to get to me. I represent... we represent a lot. It may have been different with you, since you were..."
"An accident?" Gabe chimed in. He was not bitter or accusatory. He had accepted that aspect of himself easily enough.
"Ahm, yes. but because of that you didn't mean the same thing. It wasn't as apparent that you were, as designed, something that kills people and then one day will replace them."
'So,' Gabe thought, 'What Bill said was true. We are supposed to replace humans.'
"I'm not sure, the details were never revealed to me, but the idea as far as I can tell is that we, that is, the BioSuits who are made today are going to help the Underground take over. Not just the United States, but the whole world eventually. Once they get all the problems worked out with the current models, they'll mass produce them into an army, and we're gonna steam roll whatever the rest of the world throws at us."
"So how are we supposed to replace them. Are we gonna exterminate the humans after we take over?"
"That part... I'm not so sure about. It wasn't made apparent, and obviously that's much more long terms. They are after all still working out the kinks with individual units. I have to assume there's another stage to the plan, but what I couldn't tell you."
Gabe nodded, taking it all in. Bill seemed adamant that BioSuits were the next step in human evolution. How that was possible when BioSuits were sterile, he couldn't grasp. And they required Artificial Intelligences to run, too...
Sara continued talking, staring straight ahead, carefully not touching Gabe, which was strange in itself.
"As for how we were treated... there was only one other that could be considered a success."
Gabe frowned and looked over at her, "What?"
"I obviously failed eventually, as far as they are concerned, but I got past the initial stages. It was a failure on their part, not on the part of the unit. But the Type 04 was the only one that was considered a success. As far as I know she was held in high regard. She was the first of Dr. Hughes' designs, and the first female. The first two were men, and failed."
"Wait, there are 4 Types of suits before us. What was the other one?"
"The very first one was a test model, more than an actual person like us. It doesn't really count."
Gabe could sense the detachment in her voice. He remained silent, waiting for her to continue.
"Matt, and John, both failed soon after activation. Matt lasted longer than John, but he committed suicide. John was activated and immediately used his DS^2. He killed everyone in the lab except for..."
Gabe leaned in closer, "Except for who."
Sara finally turned to Gabe.
"Except for out creator, Kathryn Engelmacht."
---
What I heard of Engelmacht was strange, and it seems to fit with what you told me. She preys on us... well... on you men, at least. I barely saw her, and she seemed quite distant to me, actually. But I heard many rumors about what she did to her first two creations, and based on the stories I think you had the benefit of being a bit more aware, and her being on a shorter leash.
Of course, some of this may be manufactured, but I corroborated some of it and the data fits in places. As for the actual conversations well that I'm not so sure of. The point is, I think I can see why things can get so bad down there. These egos are walking around, people trying to become gods, working on their own little dreams and fantasies. But they are working in reality and it has had a bad case of backfiring, hurting us more often than them. Well, I can't say that. It's hurt people, many people, and it would be foolish to say it was only us. They have been hurt too, though not always the people who... deserve it.
The basic story is this: Engelmacht was brought in by the Underground because she was a genius in the field of bio mechanics. In the time where they were having problems deciding whether they wanted to augment already living people or use a different method, Engelmacht helped perfect that other method. There were a lot of other people working on the project, obviously, but she was ahead of them all. She was granted permission to design the very first BioSuit, the first one that was supposed to be more than a test, the first true prototype. That would be Matt. I guess our technology wasn't far enough along, and there were some issues with his brain. Basically, that we didn't have sophisticated enough equipment for him to run his AI, and when Engelmacht tried to compensate, it caused a cascade that ended up with him slitting most of his veins until he bled out. Considering at that point they had already accelerated our blood production abilities and our healing he had to be very intent on finishing the job. Matt knew what he was doing.
That's where the rumors come in. They say the Kathryn had a thing for him, like a big thing. Like, she wanted him BAD. They think she tried to come onto him, you know, use him for sex. Considering the instability in his brain and his inability to process what was going on, her passes at him must have seemed very bizarre, maybe even frightening. They think that is what drove him to do what he did.
John was a bit of a different story. They made several upgrades which were supposed to iron out the technical issues, and added some new equipment like the first prosthetic system for testing to see how it functioned with the AES. Considering how close they had come with Matt, John was expected to be a big success. Like I said, he went off and killed himself and just about every tech that was helping download the AI into his body.
The rumor is, and this one is less likely, that she tried to reprogram the AI before it was installed so that it would require affection. And then she would come in and be the one to give it. They say something went wrong, obviously, and when the AI was plugged in it saw Engelmacht, smiled like a doll, and blew itself up to get her. They found her wedged in a duct, really shaken up. Whether it was because she did what the rumors say or just the string of accidents is why they gave Hughes the Type 04. I'm not sure why she got to design us but as far as I'm concerned we should have succeeded. It was just... bad luck. She's a really unlucky woman.
---
Sara slept on Gabe's shoulder on the couch. He was wide awake, unable to sleep if he wanted to. Engelmacht: Was she some kind of technophile? Was she deranged in some way that made her obsessed with her male creations? Was she trying to build herself the perfect partner? Even if her aims were benign she was dangerous, and what she was willing to give to the world, an army to conquer it, to get her perfect man was too much.
If there was something else to it, he couldn't think of it. He just thought of her, trapped in a duct, wondering what she had done wrong, what had failed this time.
As Gabe thought of himself, he wondered what Kathryn had decided to put into him that was different from the rest.