Dark Angel Fic: Music of the HEART (Part 1)- DA Reverse Bang
Art Title: Music of the Heart
Artist:
nanoks (all the love to you Hun for being an awesome artist and an awesomest(This word should totally exist!) partner)
Link to the Art Masterpost: Shower your love here!
Rating/Warnings:PG, None
Fic Title: Music of the Heart
Author:dollysdoodles
Beta- Reader:dollarformyname (Did I tell you I totally love you for helping me out even when you were so busy? You are the best!)
Parings/Characters: Max/Alec, Ames White, Senator James McKinley, Joshua, Detective Clemente, Dix ... yada yada yada
Rating/Warnings:PG, None
Word Count:~14,000
Summary:it’s a melody Alec can’t get out of his head-a song that was programmed in him. It is a song that is classically elegant, and lethal, one that may put Max’s life in danger.
Music of the Heart
Apart from the escaped transgenics and scientists, some files and a few disks were the only things that survived the fire at Manticore facility. They were skimmed once and then dumped in evidence room of sector nine’s precinct.
The police personnel there never gave them a second thought. So, saying that they were surprised when a group of FBI officials arrived at the precinct looking for those very files, would be an understatement.
None of them knew what importance these files held for a certain FBI official named Ames White.
He wasn’t having a good day and now, it seemed like these files everyone had so conveniently forgotten about, might be the only things that could save him from a certain fate.
He was given a mission to eradicate every transgenic from the face of the earth by his cult leaders. So far, White had failed miserably.
The Conclave wasn’t happy about it, and White needed to find a way to correct his mistakes fast or else he might not live to see another day. That much was clear from Conclave’s latest command.
Pushing back all thoughts of frustration, White rummaged through the yellowing and crumpled papers. They contained reports on some of the missions Manticore had assigned its transgenic pets, some information about recent discoveries in the field of genetics and the profiles of what Manticore considered to be their “problem children.”
452 was one of them and so was 494.
Ames picked up 494’s file and gave it a once-over.
This file held some interesting facts about 494 a write-up on a mission he failed two years ago, and information about a small computer chip controller embedded in his brain.
A cruel smile tugged at White’s lips.
Maybe he had finally found the opening he was looking for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alec was out on patrol duty. He needed to make sure their perimeter was secured, the transgenics deployed at various exit points all over TC were still there and not running around like damm toddlers.
Manticore housed quiet a variety of creatures but there was one thing common in all, discipline. Well, at least it was back then, now, not so much.
Since the time Manticore got burned to the ground and their own supervisors turned against them, transgenics were left to fend for themselves. They were now alone in a world, where no one was responsible for them and they were answerable to no one.
That meant freedom, a thing none of them ever got a chance to explore…until now.
And as it seems, not all of them were meant for it. Some had let this freedom thingy screw them in the head way too much.
So now, when they were required to take a last stand and work together like a military unit, many were finding it quiet difficult to readjust themselves to the chain of command.
Max was not going to be happy about it.
That meant Alec definitely needed to tell her about it. She was a control freak, therefore, more than capable of controlling these freaks.
Alec made his way to the computer edifice, it had been an old, crumbling building that the transgenics had rebuilt over the last few weeks. Logan was bound to be there, trying to set up his IT servers and other techtoys that might enable them to reach out to the world and make a case from the transgenic front. It meant Max was going to be there too, along with OC, Joshua and Sketchy.
Josh and OC were good with people; they both could help in dispelling the panic. Sketchy was plain stupid, but at least he could make someone laugh. Alec shook his head in exasperation as he remembered some of Sketchy’s misadventures these last few days.
A sudden flare of pain behind Alec’s eyes made him stumble, and he would have faceplanted himself on the gravel if he hadn’t caught himself on a withered stone ledge, at the last second. Dark spots marked his vision and his surroundings wavered.
As he sank down next to the stained wall, Alec tried to breathe through the excruciating pain in his head, which was making it almost impossible for him to... well, breathe. Screeching sounds from unexplainable origins filled his ears.
Was that---Is somebody playing a piano? Why in the hell is it so loud? Oh, stop the damm thing already!
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew it wasn’t a piano; the pitch was too high, the tunes all wrong and the bits of music managing to make way to his ears felt more tangible then they should have. Still, for the lack of a better explanation, he chalked it all up to some stupid teen transgenic getting crazy on some abandoned instrument.
Problem was, somehow this music, or whatever the hell it was, seemed to make his pain more and more unbearable every passing second, and just when Alec thought he wouldn’t be able to take it any longer, the music stopped altogether.
The pain receded somewhat, allowing him to stand. He looked around uncertainly. Had somebody tried to attack him in some way?
He couldn’t see anybody around, but one could never be sure about what lurked in this place’s shadows.
Still, possibility of an attack seemed unlikely at this point.
Maybe it was just some residual pain from the ass-kicking he'd been dealt by one of the Familiars' warrior princesses earlier in the day.
Though, to be honest, his ass wasn’t kicked, not really. That had been a deliberate move on his part. Like a good soldier, he took one for the team, totally.
Well, whatever.
Sighing, Alec promised himself he would check the extent of his injuries sooner rather than later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I promise you it’s a good lead. We’ve already tested the program. Just few more tweaks and we’ll have him.”
“…..”
“I understand, sir, but with all due respect to the Conclave, calling the Phalanx here wasn’t my idea and I possibly can’t be blamed for their failure.”
“…….”
“That won’t happen again. Yes, I know the stakes. Fenos to’l.”
White cursed under his breath as he switched off his cell. Senator James McKinley was not an easy man. He was also the current head of the Conclave, making dealing with him unbearably difficult. Still, White had somehow managed to convince him of his plan.
Though, he had no idea why it had been so hard for him to convince the Conclave. It wasn’t like they had any other option, the situation with the transgenics had become messier than anyone of them could have ever imagined possible.
Anyway, dealing with Conclave’s screwed up way of thinking was last on White’s list at this moment. He had a task to do, a few hundred transgenics to kill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max looked around herself. The small room was buzzing with activity. Joshua was completing his flag from yesterday, there was paint splattered all over his clothes and his big nose. Dix was helping Logan set up and tweak all those c-32 processors and IT servers in hopes of intercepting the TV network again. OC and Sketchy were helping Gem with her baby, and since they wouldn’t be able to get out of Terminal City without getting gunned down, they had to make best of the junk available here in order to get the baby the things she needed. Molee was fighting again with the arctic division guy, only this time, the fight was more on the lines of how better they could form a defences rather than some stupid macho showdown, some X5s were stacking all the arms and ammunitions they had managed to smuggle inside TC these last few weeks for inspection by Molee and Alec.
Everyone was doing their best to contribute to this fight in one way or the other. They looked scared--hell, it was a freaking pandemonium in here--but they were also still fighting in every way they could.
From the hundreds of transgenics that had taken refuge in TC, a quarter of them were mere tools in Manticore’s hands back in the day. They were trained, yes, just not to fight. Many were trained to dig trenches, others were trained to go undercover and collect intel. If they got caught, they were taught how to self-destruct. Some, like Dix, were taught to fashion complicated devices from scrap they found lying around dumpsters. Some, like freeze from the arctic division, were taught carry delicate Manticore equipments through climatically brutal environments. Some were just muscle with barely any brain or thought of self preservation, some had good medical training.
They weren’t made to fight, and they didn’t like too. So, it wasn’t fair that their current situation was demanding them to do exactly that.
Yet, these people were still here and not running down sewer holes trying to save their own life, because Max had asked them to not run, to take a stand, to fight for what was rightfully theirs.
More than anything else, this was the thing that gave Max hope about winning the war for good this time.
A loud siren interrupted her thoughts and she looked out of the room’s window worriedly. The room they were in right now provided a good view of Terminal City on one side and of rest of the Seattle on the other, and this siren sound meant only one thing: more and more police cars and army trucks were gathering beyond the gates.
This was not good. Logan needed to get their message to outside world soon.
Also, they needed to be sure of their defense strategy. They weren’t going to attack but it didn’t mean they weren’t going to protect themselves either.
Where was Alec? Wasn’t he sort of in charge of this thing? Being a battle strategy expert and all? God help him if she found him making out with another transgenic right now--his ass wouldn’t live to see another day.
Right on cue, Alec entered the room, stumbling slightly. He was still feeling the after effects of…well, whatever it was that made him collapse earlier. His brain felt murkier, several thoughts mashed up in one single stream making no sense whatsoever. Even his vision was slightly blurred and he had a killer headache. Maybe he should have accepted the Tylenol when OC had offered him some, but no, Alec had to babble about how he was always frigging all right, every second of every single day.
He sighed. No use crying over spilled milk now. Maybe he could get some shut-eye after reporting everything to Max.
Max was upstairs, looking outside the window. There was a scowl on her face, telling Alec she didn’t like what she was seeing--like that was even a surprise…
“Hey, Maxie, trying to scare the outside people from here?”
“Alec, where have you been? Do you even see the way they’re piling up cars outside the perimeter? It’s like they think we’re going to shoot missiles at them from in here.”
“Well, if we were, some cars wouldn’t stop us; also we have genetically empowered soldiers deployed at every exit all across Terminal City. Twenty of those people aren’t even close to one of us. Stop worrying, worry wart.”
“It’s not them I am worried about, Alec,” Max said, turning away from the window and facing him.
Alec couldn’t explain the sudden urge he felt to comfort her; he wanted to say the right thing and make Max forget about Ames White and his crazy selective breeding cult, even if just for a few seconds, but he couldn’t, because the next second, the terrible pain was back in his head and suddenly the voices around him were too loud.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max never saw it coming. One second, Alec was standing beside her, looking as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know if he should and the next second, his legs gave out as he clutched his head and screamed. Had it not been for her genetically improved reflexes, Alec would have face-planted himself on the cracked floor.
“Alec, hey! Talk to me! What’s wrong?” Max asked, trying her best to ascertain what might have caused Alec to collapse like this, but the only reply she got was another scream as he started convulsing.
“There’s a hover drone outside, they’re attacking us! Alec was standing right in front of the window!” somebody shouted from behind them.
After that, it was pandemonium. Transgenics had never been involved in a stampede before but right now, it looked as if the first one in the history of genetically empowered was about to happen. Panic filled the air like poison and the venom made everyone go crazy. They were screaming and running every which way: some stumbled over hastily assembled chairs and tables, some used the recently collected electronic equipment as a shield against whatever was out there to get them, others simply started throwing punches at the ones trying to control the situation.
This wasn’t supposed to happen, they were all highly trained soldiers for god’s sake! Manticore wouldn’t have tolerated such behaviour, but then, Manticore no longer existed. Was that enough to change something that was ingrained in them from birth?
All this while, the painful convulsions never stopped racking Alec’s body, though his screams had started dying down, as the seizures sapped more and more of his energy. It didn’t matter how much Max tried to comfort him, didn’t matter how much she asked him to fight it, whatever it was. In the end Alec just gave in to the lure of pain-free unconsciousness and slumped against her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The voices around him were one big jumble of craziness. No, not voices--they were more like instruments, several hundreds of them being played simultaneously, their notes totally off key. It was horrible, every sound wrecked at his brain, making the pain behind his eyes soar from dreadful to being this-is-going-to-be-the-end-of-me unbearable.
Someone was holding him, trying to keep him from falling face-first onto the floor. He tried concentrating on this someone but the pain was too much. It certainly didn’t help when it spread from his brain to his entire body.
He screamed as the convulsions hit him hard. The messed up instruments playing louder than ever in the background, their pitches so high that Alec wondered if his ears worked on bat frequency.
It wasn’t long before he knew he couldn’t take it anymore, so, when the blackness beckoned him, he gladly gave in without a fight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I have seen them and, believe it or not, those people are more like us than we can ever imagine. So, killing them, waging a war against them, is wrong. The proof is out there. There were no casualties at Jam Pony. Some of the people held hostage in there actually vouched for these so called monsters. I say we give them a chance before making any hasty decisions.”
Detective Ramon Clemente presented a good case. In fact, Senator James McKinley could already see the House’s conviction wavering. Something needed to be done about this, and it needed to be done fast. Where the hell was White? He needed to be here, helping him regain some control of the situation. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse than this.
As if to prove him wrong, a low keening sound filled the board room, and every television screen in the base displayed a pair of eyes all of them had seen so many times--it was an Eyes Only hack.
“This hack will last only 60 seconds, it cannot be traced, and it cannot be stopped. I have a message from the transgenics. They are like us; they feel pain and have relations. And most importantly they are humans; anyone trying to convince you otherwise is fooling you. They don’t want to fight, all they want is peace. The reports about a transgenic hunting and killing a girl down in the sewers were based on a lie. The real criminals are among us and they are not genetically empowered, as they would like us to believe. To make their stand clear, transgenics won’t attack first. They are only trying to protect their right to live but, if provoked, they will take all measures required to protect themselves. After all, isn’t survival a basic human instinct? They request that you and the government give them a chance, because the real danger looming on us is not from the genetically empowered. And if transgenics are given that chance, not only will our society live in peace but they will also protect us from this other danger. This has been an Eyes Only hack.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Did we get him?”
“We got him, for good this time, sir. The hover drone lurking inside TC’s boundaries was able to track and send a signal to 494.”
“Nice job, Otto. Tell your men that I need a full report on this computer chip, or whatever this thing is. I want to know everything it can do and how many other transgenics might have this implant.
“Right away, sir, Oh, and, sir, you have several messages from Senator McKinley at the front desk. He said he needs you immediately at the base.”
Ames scoffed. What did the old man want with him now? Oh damm it… the meeting at the base.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Finally you’re here, White. I feel privileged,” the Senator said as Ames White entered his office. From his tone, White could tell something was wrong, and whatever it was it had just gotten on the wrong side of his cult leader. Again.
“I am sorry, sir. I was at the office trying my best to deal with this situation…”
“Trying your best, were you? Then tell me, White, how is it, that while you were trying your best to deal with this situation, your friend Detective Ramon not only managed to sweep the government off their feet with his sweet talk, but also succeeded in convincing them to give that transgenic filth a chance? How is it, that while you were trying to deal with the situation, the government has decided to negotiate with the transgenics?”
Ames just looked at the Senator. He didn’t have any answer, not when the situation had escalated so much without him even realising it.
“Sir, I…”
“That’s not all, White. There was an Eyes Only broadcast earlier this morning. The hacker told people and the government about the real danger they were facing and, according to him, it wasn’t from the transgenics.”
White racked his brain for some sort of answer but, for the life of him, he couldn’t come up with anything. He could see it in the Senator’s eyes, the disappointment. The same look he had seen in the eyes of his cult followers so many times. Two decades back, this disappointment was about what his father did to the cult when he abandoned them and embraced science. White had had to work for years and years to prove himself and now that he had finally managed to achieve some sort of respect in his community, his father’s creations were hell-bent on ruining it all for him all over again. Not only this, 452 also had his son, his only son, and the worst part was that he didn’t even know if Ray was still alive.
Sudden hatred filled White. No, this couldn’t be happening all over again; he wouldn’t let it happen all over again.
“Sir, I have plans that can turn this tide and, believe me when I say this, there is nothing they can do to stop it.”
“You have a plan. Amazing! Let me hear it.” The Senator sounded skeptical.
“Last night, we managed to unearth some interesting facts about one transgenic, designation 494, also known as Alec McDowell. From what I know, he’s pretty close to 452. The facts involved description of some sort of controller chip embedded in his …well, for the lack of better description let me say, embedded in his wiring. It was implanted when he went rogue on a mission a couple of years back and turned against Manticore. This chip was supposed to force him into submission. We have a team of scientists trying their best to learn everything about this chip. Also, we have already been able to use the program to connect with this transgenic. Once we have full information on the possibilities of this controller, we’ll be able to use it against them.”
“Interesting. And what exactly do you wish to accomplish with this one computer controlled transgenic?”
“Alot, Sir. And there might be more transgenics with this chip. The possibilities are endless.”
“I don’t know White, doesn’t sound like that great a plan to…”
The senator was interrupted by a loud buzzing sound from White’s cell. Cursing under his breath, White fished out his phone and read the caller’s name. It was Otto. He needed to take this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part II
Part III
Artist:
nanoks (all the love to you Hun for being an awesome artist and an awesomest(This word should totally exist!) partner)
Link to the Art Masterpost: Shower your love here!
Rating/Warnings:PG, None
Fic Title: Music of the Heart
Author:dollysdoodles
Beta- Reader:dollarformyname (Did I tell you I totally love you for helping me out even when you were so busy? You are the best!)
Parings/Characters: Max/Alec, Ames White, Senator James McKinley, Joshua, Detective Clemente, Dix ... yada yada yada
Rating/Warnings:PG, None
Word Count:~14,000
Summary:it’s a melody Alec can’t get out of his head-a song that was programmed in him. It is a song that is classically elegant, and lethal, one that may put Max’s life in danger.
Music of the Heart
Apart from the escaped transgenics and scientists, some files and a few disks were the only things that survived the fire at Manticore facility. They were skimmed once and then dumped in evidence room of sector nine’s precinct.
The police personnel there never gave them a second thought. So, saying that they were surprised when a group of FBI officials arrived at the precinct looking for those very files, would be an understatement.
None of them knew what importance these files held for a certain FBI official named Ames White.
He wasn’t having a good day and now, it seemed like these files everyone had so conveniently forgotten about, might be the only things that could save him from a certain fate.
He was given a mission to eradicate every transgenic from the face of the earth by his cult leaders. So far, White had failed miserably.
The Conclave wasn’t happy about it, and White needed to find a way to correct his mistakes fast or else he might not live to see another day. That much was clear from Conclave’s latest command.
Pushing back all thoughts of frustration, White rummaged through the yellowing and crumpled papers. They contained reports on some of the missions Manticore had assigned its transgenic pets, some information about recent discoveries in the field of genetics and the profiles of what Manticore considered to be their “problem children.”
452 was one of them and so was 494.
Ames picked up 494’s file and gave it a once-over.
This file held some interesting facts about 494 a write-up on a mission he failed two years ago, and information about a small computer chip controller embedded in his brain.
A cruel smile tugged at White’s lips.
Maybe he had finally found the opening he was looking for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alec was out on patrol duty. He needed to make sure their perimeter was secured, the transgenics deployed at various exit points all over TC were still there and not running around like damm toddlers.
Manticore housed quiet a variety of creatures but there was one thing common in all, discipline. Well, at least it was back then, now, not so much.
Since the time Manticore got burned to the ground and their own supervisors turned against them, transgenics were left to fend for themselves. They were now alone in a world, where no one was responsible for them and they were answerable to no one.
That meant freedom, a thing none of them ever got a chance to explore…until now.
And as it seems, not all of them were meant for it. Some had let this freedom thingy screw them in the head way too much.
So now, when they were required to take a last stand and work together like a military unit, many were finding it quiet difficult to readjust themselves to the chain of command.
Max was not going to be happy about it.
That meant Alec definitely needed to tell her about it. She was a control freak, therefore, more than capable of controlling these freaks.
Alec made his way to the computer edifice, it had been an old, crumbling building that the transgenics had rebuilt over the last few weeks. Logan was bound to be there, trying to set up his IT servers and other techtoys that might enable them to reach out to the world and make a case from the transgenic front. It meant Max was going to be there too, along with OC, Joshua and Sketchy.
Josh and OC were good with people; they both could help in dispelling the panic. Sketchy was plain stupid, but at least he could make someone laugh. Alec shook his head in exasperation as he remembered some of Sketchy’s misadventures these last few days.
A sudden flare of pain behind Alec’s eyes made him stumble, and he would have faceplanted himself on the gravel if he hadn’t caught himself on a withered stone ledge, at the last second. Dark spots marked his vision and his surroundings wavered.
As he sank down next to the stained wall, Alec tried to breathe through the excruciating pain in his head, which was making it almost impossible for him to... well, breathe. Screeching sounds from unexplainable origins filled his ears.
Was that---Is somebody playing a piano? Why in the hell is it so loud? Oh, stop the damm thing already!
Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew it wasn’t a piano; the pitch was too high, the tunes all wrong and the bits of music managing to make way to his ears felt more tangible then they should have. Still, for the lack of a better explanation, he chalked it all up to some stupid teen transgenic getting crazy on some abandoned instrument.
Problem was, somehow this music, or whatever the hell it was, seemed to make his pain more and more unbearable every passing second, and just when Alec thought he wouldn’t be able to take it any longer, the music stopped altogether.
The pain receded somewhat, allowing him to stand. He looked around uncertainly. Had somebody tried to attack him in some way?
He couldn’t see anybody around, but one could never be sure about what lurked in this place’s shadows.
Still, possibility of an attack seemed unlikely at this point.
Maybe it was just some residual pain from the ass-kicking he'd been dealt by one of the Familiars' warrior princesses earlier in the day.
Though, to be honest, his ass wasn’t kicked, not really. That had been a deliberate move on his part. Like a good soldier, he took one for the team, totally.
Well, whatever.
Sighing, Alec promised himself he would check the extent of his injuries sooner rather than later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I promise you it’s a good lead. We’ve already tested the program. Just few more tweaks and we’ll have him.”
“…..”
“I understand, sir, but with all due respect to the Conclave, calling the Phalanx here wasn’t my idea and I possibly can’t be blamed for their failure.”
“…….”
“That won’t happen again. Yes, I know the stakes. Fenos to’l.”
White cursed under his breath as he switched off his cell. Senator James McKinley was not an easy man. He was also the current head of the Conclave, making dealing with him unbearably difficult. Still, White had somehow managed to convince him of his plan.
Though, he had no idea why it had been so hard for him to convince the Conclave. It wasn’t like they had any other option, the situation with the transgenics had become messier than anyone of them could have ever imagined possible.
Anyway, dealing with Conclave’s screwed up way of thinking was last on White’s list at this moment. He had a task to do, a few hundred transgenics to kill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max looked around herself. The small room was buzzing with activity. Joshua was completing his flag from yesterday, there was paint splattered all over his clothes and his big nose. Dix was helping Logan set up and tweak all those c-32 processors and IT servers in hopes of intercepting the TV network again. OC and Sketchy were helping Gem with her baby, and since they wouldn’t be able to get out of Terminal City without getting gunned down, they had to make best of the junk available here in order to get the baby the things she needed. Molee was fighting again with the arctic division guy, only this time, the fight was more on the lines of how better they could form a defences rather than some stupid macho showdown, some X5s were stacking all the arms and ammunitions they had managed to smuggle inside TC these last few weeks for inspection by Molee and Alec.
Everyone was doing their best to contribute to this fight in one way or the other. They looked scared--hell, it was a freaking pandemonium in here--but they were also still fighting in every way they could.
From the hundreds of transgenics that had taken refuge in TC, a quarter of them were mere tools in Manticore’s hands back in the day. They were trained, yes, just not to fight. Many were trained to dig trenches, others were trained to go undercover and collect intel. If they got caught, they were taught how to self-destruct. Some, like Dix, were taught to fashion complicated devices from scrap they found lying around dumpsters. Some, like freeze from the arctic division, were taught carry delicate Manticore equipments through climatically brutal environments. Some were just muscle with barely any brain or thought of self preservation, some had good medical training.
They weren’t made to fight, and they didn’t like too. So, it wasn’t fair that their current situation was demanding them to do exactly that.
Yet, these people were still here and not running down sewer holes trying to save their own life, because Max had asked them to not run, to take a stand, to fight for what was rightfully theirs.
More than anything else, this was the thing that gave Max hope about winning the war for good this time.
A loud siren interrupted her thoughts and she looked out of the room’s window worriedly. The room they were in right now provided a good view of Terminal City on one side and of rest of the Seattle on the other, and this siren sound meant only one thing: more and more police cars and army trucks were gathering beyond the gates.
This was not good. Logan needed to get their message to outside world soon.
Also, they needed to be sure of their defense strategy. They weren’t going to attack but it didn’t mean they weren’t going to protect themselves either.
Where was Alec? Wasn’t he sort of in charge of this thing? Being a battle strategy expert and all? God help him if she found him making out with another transgenic right now--his ass wouldn’t live to see another day.
Right on cue, Alec entered the room, stumbling slightly. He was still feeling the after effects of…well, whatever it was that made him collapse earlier. His brain felt murkier, several thoughts mashed up in one single stream making no sense whatsoever. Even his vision was slightly blurred and he had a killer headache. Maybe he should have accepted the Tylenol when OC had offered him some, but no, Alec had to babble about how he was always frigging all right, every second of every single day.
He sighed. No use crying over spilled milk now. Maybe he could get some shut-eye after reporting everything to Max.
Max was upstairs, looking outside the window. There was a scowl on her face, telling Alec she didn’t like what she was seeing--like that was even a surprise…
“Hey, Maxie, trying to scare the outside people from here?”
“Alec, where have you been? Do you even see the way they’re piling up cars outside the perimeter? It’s like they think we’re going to shoot missiles at them from in here.”
“Well, if we were, some cars wouldn’t stop us; also we have genetically empowered soldiers deployed at every exit all across Terminal City. Twenty of those people aren’t even close to one of us. Stop worrying, worry wart.”
“It’s not them I am worried about, Alec,” Max said, turning away from the window and facing him.
Alec couldn’t explain the sudden urge he felt to comfort her; he wanted to say the right thing and make Max forget about Ames White and his crazy selective breeding cult, even if just for a few seconds, but he couldn’t, because the next second, the terrible pain was back in his head and suddenly the voices around him were too loud.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max never saw it coming. One second, Alec was standing beside her, looking as if he wanted to say something but didn’t know if he should and the next second, his legs gave out as he clutched his head and screamed. Had it not been for her genetically improved reflexes, Alec would have face-planted himself on the cracked floor.
“Alec, hey! Talk to me! What’s wrong?” Max asked, trying her best to ascertain what might have caused Alec to collapse like this, but the only reply she got was another scream as he started convulsing.
“There’s a hover drone outside, they’re attacking us! Alec was standing right in front of the window!” somebody shouted from behind them.
After that, it was pandemonium. Transgenics had never been involved in a stampede before but right now, it looked as if the first one in the history of genetically empowered was about to happen. Panic filled the air like poison and the venom made everyone go crazy. They were screaming and running every which way: some stumbled over hastily assembled chairs and tables, some used the recently collected electronic equipment as a shield against whatever was out there to get them, others simply started throwing punches at the ones trying to control the situation.
This wasn’t supposed to happen, they were all highly trained soldiers for god’s sake! Manticore wouldn’t have tolerated such behaviour, but then, Manticore no longer existed. Was that enough to change something that was ingrained in them from birth?
All this while, the painful convulsions never stopped racking Alec’s body, though his screams had started dying down, as the seizures sapped more and more of his energy. It didn’t matter how much Max tried to comfort him, didn’t matter how much she asked him to fight it, whatever it was. In the end Alec just gave in to the lure of pain-free unconsciousness and slumped against her.
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The voices around him were one big jumble of craziness. No, not voices--they were more like instruments, several hundreds of them being played simultaneously, their notes totally off key. It was horrible, every sound wrecked at his brain, making the pain behind his eyes soar from dreadful to being this-is-going-to-be-the-end-of-me unbearable.
Someone was holding him, trying to keep him from falling face-first onto the floor. He tried concentrating on this someone but the pain was too much. It certainly didn’t help when it spread from his brain to his entire body.
He screamed as the convulsions hit him hard. The messed up instruments playing louder than ever in the background, their pitches so high that Alec wondered if his ears worked on bat frequency.
It wasn’t long before he knew he couldn’t take it anymore, so, when the blackness beckoned him, he gladly gave in without a fight.
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“I have seen them and, believe it or not, those people are more like us than we can ever imagine. So, killing them, waging a war against them, is wrong. The proof is out there. There were no casualties at Jam Pony. Some of the people held hostage in there actually vouched for these so called monsters. I say we give them a chance before making any hasty decisions.”
Detective Ramon Clemente presented a good case. In fact, Senator James McKinley could already see the House’s conviction wavering. Something needed to be done about this, and it needed to be done fast. Where the hell was White? He needed to be here, helping him regain some control of the situation. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse than this.
As if to prove him wrong, a low keening sound filled the board room, and every television screen in the base displayed a pair of eyes all of them had seen so many times--it was an Eyes Only hack.
“This hack will last only 60 seconds, it cannot be traced, and it cannot be stopped. I have a message from the transgenics. They are like us; they feel pain and have relations. And most importantly they are humans; anyone trying to convince you otherwise is fooling you. They don’t want to fight, all they want is peace. The reports about a transgenic hunting and killing a girl down in the sewers were based on a lie. The real criminals are among us and they are not genetically empowered, as they would like us to believe. To make their stand clear, transgenics won’t attack first. They are only trying to protect their right to live but, if provoked, they will take all measures required to protect themselves. After all, isn’t survival a basic human instinct? They request that you and the government give them a chance, because the real danger looming on us is not from the genetically empowered. And if transgenics are given that chance, not only will our society live in peace but they will also protect us from this other danger. This has been an Eyes Only hack.”
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“Did we get him?”
“We got him, for good this time, sir. The hover drone lurking inside TC’s boundaries was able to track and send a signal to 494.”
“Nice job, Otto. Tell your men that I need a full report on this computer chip, or whatever this thing is. I want to know everything it can do and how many other transgenics might have this implant.
“Right away, sir, Oh, and, sir, you have several messages from Senator McKinley at the front desk. He said he needs you immediately at the base.”
Ames scoffed. What did the old man want with him now? Oh damm it… the meeting at the base.
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“Finally you’re here, White. I feel privileged,” the Senator said as Ames White entered his office. From his tone, White could tell something was wrong, and whatever it was it had just gotten on the wrong side of his cult leader. Again.
“I am sorry, sir. I was at the office trying my best to deal with this situation…”
“Trying your best, were you? Then tell me, White, how is it, that while you were trying your best to deal with this situation, your friend Detective Ramon not only managed to sweep the government off their feet with his sweet talk, but also succeeded in convincing them to give that transgenic filth a chance? How is it, that while you were trying to deal with the situation, the government has decided to negotiate with the transgenics?”
Ames just looked at the Senator. He didn’t have any answer, not when the situation had escalated so much without him even realising it.
“Sir, I…”
“That’s not all, White. There was an Eyes Only broadcast earlier this morning. The hacker told people and the government about the real danger they were facing and, according to him, it wasn’t from the transgenics.”
White racked his brain for some sort of answer but, for the life of him, he couldn’t come up with anything. He could see it in the Senator’s eyes, the disappointment. The same look he had seen in the eyes of his cult followers so many times. Two decades back, this disappointment was about what his father did to the cult when he abandoned them and embraced science. White had had to work for years and years to prove himself and now that he had finally managed to achieve some sort of respect in his community, his father’s creations were hell-bent on ruining it all for him all over again. Not only this, 452 also had his son, his only son, and the worst part was that he didn’t even know if Ray was still alive.
Sudden hatred filled White. No, this couldn’t be happening all over again; he wouldn’t let it happen all over again.
“Sir, I have plans that can turn this tide and, believe me when I say this, there is nothing they can do to stop it.”
“You have a plan. Amazing! Let me hear it.” The Senator sounded skeptical.
“Last night, we managed to unearth some interesting facts about one transgenic, designation 494, also known as Alec McDowell. From what I know, he’s pretty close to 452. The facts involved description of some sort of controller chip embedded in his …well, for the lack of better description let me say, embedded in his wiring. It was implanted when he went rogue on a mission a couple of years back and turned against Manticore. This chip was supposed to force him into submission. We have a team of scientists trying their best to learn everything about this chip. Also, we have already been able to use the program to connect with this transgenic. Once we have full information on the possibilities of this controller, we’ll be able to use it against them.”
“Interesting. And what exactly do you wish to accomplish with this one computer controlled transgenic?”
“Alot, Sir. And there might be more transgenics with this chip. The possibilities are endless.”
“I don’t know White, doesn’t sound like that great a plan to…”
The senator was interrupted by a loud buzzing sound from White’s cell. Cursing under his breath, White fished out his phone and read the caller’s name. It was Otto. He needed to take this.
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Part II
Part III