Shedding the Demon (8 page)

His reverie was broken by the entry of Jeffrey. “Good
morning,” he said as he entered the room from the secure elevator running
through the core of the building. He knew Renard well, and immediately sensed
his melancholy. “What’s the matter?” he asked simply, sitting down in a nearby
chair.

“What do you know about this Human Augmented—whatever it’s
called—program?”

Jeffrey looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, there are
many ways to answer that question. I don’t think you’re asking about the
operational capacity of the subject, nor do you want to know about the costs
for developing the weapon.” He paused, tapping his finger on his chin, “So what
is it you would
actually
like to discuss?”

“I’m worried.”

“I gathered as much”

“Hmmm. I’m worried about the outcome of this Implanted,
Augmented, Human—could we please give this a better name?” Jeffrey smiled,
while Renard continued, “What will this weapon do to the balance of power in
the Consensus? What will this new approach to solving our problems with a
super-weapon do to the coherence of the Consensus? And finally, and most
worrisome, HOW do we keep this power out of the hands of the Prykes?”

“Human Implanted Enhancement program—maybe we can get
Avelina to rename it. What do you mean by keeping it away from the Prykes?”

Renard sat down across from Jeffrey and leaned forward. “I
watched his face as Avelina revealed the details of her weapon. I saw the look
of excitement, avarice, and ambition. He was not concerned about how the
Consensus would benefit from this new development. He was trying to figure out
how it would benefit him directly.”

“Alexander is ambitious, greedy, and violent, yes, but he
knows he can’t defeat all of us combined.” Jeffrey paused, thoughtful, while
Renard watched him come to the realization. “You think he plans to divide us,
possibly get us to fight each other, and then pick up the pieces?”

Renard smiled and leaned back, thinking how working with
Jeffrey was almost as good as working with his great-uncle.

Jeffrey wasn’t done pursuing the thought. He continued, “But
how . . . and how does the Human . . .” he stopped at a
glare from Renard, “how does the new weapon come into play?”

Renard shook his head as he replied, “I’m not sure exactly.
However, I see it as a wild card, an unpredictable element, and I don’t like
unpredictable elements!”

Both men were silent as they contemplated the possibilities,
before Jeffrey asked, “But the weapon will be under the control of the Council,
we will be able to control its actions.”

“Ah, you’re wrong!” Renard stood and began pacing, “We’re
talking about a living, breathing,
thinking
human being.” Renard stood by
the window again and reached his hand out to touch the glass, as if reaching
for the vista beyond. “Since it is human, it is susceptible to influence and
corruption. This is the heart of my worry. We must do everything we can to
control the weapon, or at the very least make sure Alexander does not control it.”

Jeffrey tapped absently on his ever-present screen, “But the
Council will support this completely. No one will want this power to fall into
a single person’s hands. Surely the unified Council will be a match for any
Pryke machinations.”

Renard held up a single finger and said, “That is the one
thing we must guard against at all costs. We must remain unified against the
Prykes. At least until we can gain control of this weapon, or somehow replace
it with something better.”

Jeffrey rarely needed to be told what to do next, and this
case was no exception. He replied without being asked, “We can reassign the
best and brightest from our R&D Labs to learn everything they can about
D-SAP and Human Implanted Enhancement—yes it needs a new name—and start work on
making it obsolete.”

Renard smiled, feeling more comfortable after discussing the
situation with Jeffrey, and added, “Perfect. And I will go work on Avelina. She
really is the key.”

 

**** ****

 

Damon sat in his cell turning the
possibilities over and over in his mind.
If I do not agree and rot away the
rest of my life in this cell, I certainly can’t help the Family. If I agree to
the program, they have promised protection, and I stand the chance of escaping
and finding my way back.

“How many times am I going to rescue you?”

Damon was used to hearing Andrea’s voice in his head, and it
took him a second to realize it wasn’t in his head this time. He looked up and
saw Andrea standing at the door to his cell, along with a female guard he
hadn’t seen before.

“How did you get in here, and
why
?” he asked her
through his confusion.

“I’ve got friends everywhere,” she said as she glanced
toward her escort.

The woman showed no expression. “You’ve only got a few minutes,
then I have to come get you.”

“I understand, thanks, sweetie,” Andrea said to the
departing guard.

“I’m so glad to see you, Andrea, I have to warn you about
the other gang and the danger to the Family.”

“I know, we saw the bodies.”

“No, you don’t know how
many
they’ve got, we can’t
defend against that many!”

“Oh come on, we’ve handled worse, stop panicking and pull
yourself together, we need to figure out how to get you out of here.”

“Andrea, wait, you really don’t understand. I can make a
deal with them to ensure the Family’s safety. I’m so glad you’re here so I can
let you know what they are going to do.” He saw that she was going to interrupt,
so he continued quickly, “No, please, let me finish.”

She nodded, and Damon began to recount all that they had
told him about the opportunity. His excitement grew as he described it to Andrea;
he was coming to terms with the idea that he could become a super-soldier.

After he finished she quickly replied, “I don’t like it. It
stinks of lies.” She paused, unsure exactly how to proceed, “If it was me, I
would rather rot in a cell forever than do their dirty work for them.”

“But the Family, I can get them to protect the Family.”

“Damon, you never listen, do you? You can’t trust them. It’s
a lie, or a trap.” She looked up at him sharply as a thought came to mind, “You
didn’t tell them how to find 4C, did you?”

“No, of course not,” he replied defensively. “But if they
are going to protect the Family, they will need to know.”

They were interrupted by a knock on the cell door before it
opened to reveal Andrea’s friend. “Time to go,” she said.

Andrea said, “Look, we can probably get you out of here
through the courts, but it may take some time. Stay strong and don’t take their
deal. I’ll come back when I can.”

“But Andrea,” Damon said, “I can make it work.”

She had started out the door, but now turned back and
pointed a finger at his chest. “Don’t,” was all she said and the door closed.

“But, I can protect the Family. And you.
Kyndra’s tears
,
Andrea, I love you,” but she was gone and could not hear him.

Less than a minute later, with Damon’s thoughts still in
turmoil, Captain Remmen and Colonel Tashus entered the cell, all smiles.

“Time to decide, Demon, we’ve got other volunteers waiting
in line behind you,” the colonel said.

 

**** ****

 

Renard Trueblood entered Dr. Baksa’s
office at the Council Research and Development Lab and stopped short when he
saw Alexander Pryke sitting in a visitor’s chair across from her desk.

Avelina looked tense and Alexander was leaning forward in
his chair rather aggressively. Renard hoped his face did not betray the
surprise and flash of fear he felt from the situation.

“Good afternoon, Dr. Baksa, Mr. Pryke. Avelina, thank you for
seeing me on short notice. Am I interrupting?”

“No.” Avelina said quickly.

“Yes.” Alexander answered simultaneously.

“Surely I can come back a little later,” Renard conceded, backing
out of the room. He glanced first to Avelina and then to Alexander, where his
gaze lingered, soliciting an answer from him.

“Fine, fine, we’re done here anyway,” Alexander said while
standing up and straightening his tie. He turned back to Avelina and said, “Thank
you for your time, Dr. Baksa. We’ll talk again soon.” With that, and a nod to
Renard, he left the room.

Avelina slouched back in her chair and sighed, “Thank you
for saving me, Reverend! He was driving me crazy with his interrogation.”

“Was he threatening you?” Renard asked, genuinely concerned.

“No, no, boring me to death is more like it. How does this
work, how do you do that, how can we make more D-SAP, how—”

Renard interrupted, “What did you tell him about D-SAP?”

“Nothing, really. First of all, I can’t describe how it’s
made, it’s just too complicated. Second of all, it took us almost ten years to
make enough material for one patient, and it will take at least six more for
the second. We are improving our techniques, but it is still so slow—”

“Dr. Baksa,” Renard interrupted again, “I must apologize,
but I do not have much time and I need to discuss specific things with you.”

“Certainly,” she said without annoyance.

“Most important of all, we need you to protect the secrets
of D-SAP; how it’s manufactured, how it’s handled, how it’s machined, or
anything else that would help someone reproduce your work. Even so far as to
not give any information to the Council itself. Or even to me.”

He paused to make sure she was absorbing what he said before
continuing, “The material and the knowledge of the Implantation project cannot
even be trusted to Council members, it is far too dangerous.” He could tell by
the look on her face that she was uncomfortable.

“I’m not sure I can comply with that, Reverend, my
responsibility is to the Council; how can I purposefully withhold information
from them?” She looked at him with wide, innocent eyes.

Taking a seat, he sighed. He knew it was futile to try and
explain the political ramifications; she just didn’t care about these things.
I
need to put this in terms she will relate to,
he thought.

“Avelina, you know that our Great Mother Kyndra created the
Consensus for the good of humankind, and left behind five trustworthy and
responsible people to manage it after she left us.” They were both practiced
enough to make the ritual motion without interrupting the speech. “However, as
the Consensus grew, it moved beyond the ability of five normal human beings to
handle. We have tried, generation after generation, to hold to the original
ideals of the Consensus, but inevitably things have declined. The Trueblood
line, descending directly from Kyndra Dickson herself, has always held the
Council together despite corrupting external forces.

“Now, however, things are changing. Whether it is the
beginning of the end times as described in The Chronicle, or whether I am just
not as strong as my predecessors, I do not know,” he waved off her attempt to
rebut his implication of weakness, “but either way, the external forces are
making inroads and threatening the welfare of the Council and the Consensus.”

“But Reverend, I do not believe things are so bad
. . .” she trailed off, apparently at a loss for more words.

He nodded in recognition of her compliment, “Thank you, but
you are not the most astute student of political subterfuge, are you?”

She smiled and said, “No, that I definitely am not.”

“Well, then, will you take my word that this is true?”

“Of course, I would never question you.”

“Hmm, Kyndra teaches that you should never trust completely
in another human being, but that is a lesson for another time.” He made the
ritual motion slowly, deep in thought, before continuing. “This may be the most
important thing I have ever requested from you, but I know you will be able to
meet the request. Are you willing?”

“Of course,” she said without hesitation.

He breathed in and out once slowly before continuing. “Avelina,
you must do everything in your power to make sure of four things. One, that we
have a way to control this Enhanced Human; two, that you do not make any more
of them until we have proof that he can be controlled; three, you must somehow
prevent the production of large quantities of D-SAP; and finally, you must
ensure that ALL of the knowledge and know-how
never
leaves this lab.”

She shook her head slowly and opened her mouth to speak,
only to close it again pressing her lips together. Finally, she said “I just
don’t know how to do this type of thing. Limiting production should be easy, especially
with your help from the Council. But control is a tricky thing. Whether
considering control of the Enhanced Human or control of the information,
neither one can be guaranteed.

“Specifically in the case of our Enhanced Human, control
routines will significantly reduce his ability to react instinctively, thereby
eliminating the advantage of using a human in the first place. If we plan to
control it, we would be better off with a machine. But we’ve seen time and time
again that machines just aren’t suited to this kind of work.”

Renard’s thoughts drifted as she spoke, and he realized the
gravity of the situation. They would never be able to control this weapon;
after all it was a person. A person soon to have unimaginable power. Throughout
history, people and power have never mixed well.