by Aer-ki Jyr
“Given to you by whom? The Word didn’t originate with the beginnings of the universe, so I fail to see how it’s a natural function.”
“The function predates the organization. We merely acknowledged its existence and structured ourselves accordingly. We do not create our mandate, only respond to it. Star Force is the unnatural machination.”
“We safeguard Humanity, not The Word.”
“You safeguard against external threats, but do so by corrupting our purpose. One is a noteworthy function, the other is an abomination. We do not wish to end Star Force, merely to put you fully on the proper path which you already have a foot on.”
“Can nature be improved upon?”
The Primarch hesitated, unsure how to answer the question. “Nature provides us with all we need.”
“Technology?”
“Using the tools that are available within the structure of the universe is not contrary to nature, it is a function of it.”
“Yet you decry improvement. How can we be acting contrary to nature if we’re simply using the tools?”
“Misusing the tools,” the Primarch corrected him.
“Define misuse.”
“Utilizing the tools to act counter to purpose rather than to enact it.”
“By attaining self-sufficiency I and my associates are more knowledgeable and powerful, given the amount of training and experience we can accumulate with an unlimited lifespan. This allows us to safeguard Humanity better than a force that continually has to replace its personnel. We are using the tools of nature to accomplish our purpose.”
“But corrupting others in the process. That is not a victory.”
“Nor is it a victory when you have to sacrifice those you are trying to safeguard, for you become the enemy in the process.”
“Lifespans are not unlimited. A loss of a life is merely a premature death. Unfortunate in many cases when viewed from the individual perspective, but so long as the commonality continues, sacrifice can serve a beneficial purpose.”
“If there is a commonality or purpose to life, we are unaware of it. We are born in locations not of our choosing, through parents not of our choosing, at a time not of our choosing. We are thrown into this universe cold…we know nothing of who we are or why we are here, and we enter as individuals. Commonalities try to suppress the individual nature and conscript them into their groups, but it is that individuality that is the fundamental truth to life,” Davis said, getting at the heart of Star Force philosophy.
“We don’t know where we come from, just that we’re here,” he continued. “We have to figure out everything as we go, with our ‘nature’ being default programming inherent in our genetics to allow us to function cold. Sexuality insures reproduction, thirst and hunger encourages refueling, burning lungs triggers a breath. We operate on programing until the individual can learn how to operate their body and mind, and when they do…or perhaps I should say ‘if’ they do…they find the capability to reprogram themselves in order to customize their body and mind as they wish.”
“But we don’t know that when we’re born,” Davis said before the Primarch could utter a rebuttal. “We have to figure it out on our own, and there is so much complexity in the universe that we cannot figure it all out on our own…which is why we intercept individuals when they come into the universe and teach them what we know, skipping them through the ignorance phase and ensuring that most of them will live where otherwise they would not. We encourage the individual’s growth, and from it Star Force finds its strength and purpose.”
“We are all individuals, and to betray one of us is to betray all of us. Sacrifice is abhorrent because it goes against everything we are doing in life, with that being trying to advance, to learn, and to figure out what the hell is going on in the universe. If we die, it will be at the hands of an enemy or by accident. If it is at the hand of an ally or friend, then those terms no longer apply and we’re back to commonalities rather than individuals, for the sovereignty of the individual is the fundamental principle. Abandon it and you abandon reason.”
“Which is why we’re not going to kill you,” Davis finished. “You certainly deserve to die, given the things you’ve either organized or allowed to happen within The Word, but you are an individual, and now that we’ve made sure you’re not in a position to harm anyone else, we’ll leave you to ponder the mysteries of life in solitude. If you can’t understand the concept of self-sufficiency, there will be plenty of training aids made available, as well as workout facilities. You will either learn and grow and attain self-sufficiency…or you will not. If not, you will slowly degrade and die. Your fate is in your own hands, but one way or another The Word dies with you, for if you survive it will be by contravening the ‘nature’ you ascribe to.”
The Primarch crossed his arms over his chest. “So you’re not here to interrogate me. You’re here to pass sentence?”
“I’m here to look the bastard in the eye and see what he’s made of,” Davis said bluntly, allowing a bit of his anger to slip into view. “And I’m not impressed.”
“I am but a part of the whole. You shouldn’t be impressed with me, but I will say I am impressed by you. That you could have come so far and achieved so much while missing the basic truth of life.”
“Which is?”
“It ends. We accomplish a few tasks during our temporary window, advancing the commonality, then we pass on.”
“Obviously not.”
“Your longevity is unnatural, and as such it cannot be sustained. How long it will be before you realize this I honestly cannot say, but I know you merely prolong the inevitable.”
“You can take that and the rest of The Word nonsense to your grave while we live on…unless you wise up. Like I said, it’s a chance we’re giving you that you don’t deserve, but you have it none the less. If you want to commit suicide we won’t stop you, but you’re not going to have our help with it.”
“After the interrogation,” David corrected.
“Yes, after,” the Primarch echoed, looking at the face of the Archon he’d become familiar with during his brief stints of consciousness over the past few days.
“We still have questions that need answering so we can save at least some of the lives you’ve put in harm’s way,” Davis added. “After that your solitude will begin, and you won’t see another living being for the next millennia. So if you feel like talking, now’s the time.”
“Despite your assertions that the Masters have been captured, I only have your word for it,” the Primarch said defiantly, though Davis could detect a bit of trepidation in his eyes. “I won’t give you anything to compromise them…and through them The Word will continue. I am not the first Primarch and I will not be the last. You may have weakened us, but others will continue forward as we fall. That is the nature and structure of life. You can kill the individual, but the commonality will continue.”
“We’re not killing you.”
“So you say. I have yet to experience your interrogation techniques. If you have any skill with them, you would know that survival isn’t guaranteed. Then again, you do have this magical medicine. Will it be used to repair my mangled body?” the Primarch taunted.
Davis stared back at him, then a small smirk tugged its way onto his face. “You think that because I admitted to the existence of ambrosia that you can extract information out of me. You are mistaken. You are still a rookie, and rookies don’t get access to the higher levels of Star Force’s collective knowledge…at least not until you’ve earned it. Prerequisites and all that. Until you master the basics you don’t need to be distracted with the complexities.”
“You delude yourself if you believe I will become one of your initiates.”
“Oh, that won’t be happening. Even if you survive your millennia you won’t ever be allowed into Star Force. I was merely pointing out that your status as our primary enemy, here on Earth at least, doesn’t afford you any special privileges. You’re not our peer.
You’re just a twisted kid, and as the days go by that point is going to grow more and more obvious.”
“Years do not necessarily beget wisdom,” the Primarch countered as Davis motioned to David, who hit the energy field release, dropping the blue barrier between them.
“We won’t meet again, so this is me saying goodbye,” Davis said, stepping forward into a short lunge and driving his left elbow into the man’s chest.
The Primarch flew backwards and bounced off the wall, tripping on the bunk that he then fell down onto, unable to get his balance as David sent a weak stream of Fornax energy into him, making him feel far more affected by the hit than he should have been.
Nice form, David commented telepathically as Davis turned his back on the Primarch and casually walked out.
All yours.
The ranger left his perch against the wall and walked over to the Primarch, who he was still feeding a bit of Fornax to keep his body wobbly, and helped him sit up, leaving his hand on the man’s right shoulder with a couple of fingers reaching over and brushing the skin on his neck.
“Packs a punch, doesn’t he?”
“A taste…of what’s to come?” the Primarch asked, his breathing heavy as Davis began hacking into his nervous system and subtly beginning the interrogation.
“No, no…if I hit you I might kill you. Why are all of you guys so pathetically out of shape? You can barely sit up right now.”
“You have unnatural strength. More so than I estimated, or is he as strong as you?”
David smiled, both at the question and the workout thread he identified in the man’s mind that gave him access to the Primarch’s daily routine that included some light running, weight lifting, and yoga…typical ignorant workout fluff, especially the weight lifting. David got a slew of memories from recent lifts, as well as him tearing a quad a couple months ago.
“Not even close,” David said, sending a bit more Fornax out to make the man slump over…all so he could help him sit back up, giving him an excuse for keeping a hand on his neck. “You and I are going to get to know each other very well. My name’s David.”
“Yes…I know. And if you don’t already know my name I’m not going to give it to you.”
As soon as the man said the words his name popped up inside his conscious thoughts, basically handing it to David.
“Do you prefer Jameson, James, or Jim?”
“Jameson will suffice.”
“Alright, Jim. Let’s get you over to a more comfortable room,” he said, pulling him up off the bunk with ease and practically dangling him like a puppet with the wobbly legs the Fornax was giving him. “Then we can start our very long chat. I’ll make sure they bring us some donuts.”
7
March 25, 2451
Solar System
Earth
David sat at the computer console in his room, typing out a report on his interrogation findings for the day while they were still fresh in his mind. He was handling the Primarch while the rest of Green Team was out with Blue and Red teams hitting Word facilities as fast as David and the rest of the interrogators could identify them. Those hits were likewise bringing back with them more prisoners to be interrogated, along with the 11 Masters they already had, which had prompted them to call in all the highest Ikrid-rated Archons within the system to assist with the mass of interrogations.
David and the others knew the faster they could hit The Word operations the more of them they’d be able to sweep up before they had a chance to respond. The cellular nature of their organization, which in the past had always been an advantage, was allowing the Archons to take out one Agent’s operations with the others more or less unaware, for the raids weren’t making the news vids.
Part of him wanted to be out there busting heads, but he knew the interrogation of the Primarch was the highest priority and wanted to get it finished as soon as possible so they could pass him off to a Star Force prison and wash their hands of him. Problem was he had a huge amount of intel, and digging it out of his mind was not a straightforward process…especially when David had to hide the fact that he had the ability to delve into the man’s mind through physical contact.
That said, he was making considerable progress and wanted to get the most recent finds into the computer records before he headed off for his second workout session of the day. He’d gotten all of his core workouts done in the morning before saying hi to the Primarch, but he wanted to get some skill work in this afternoon before he headed back over to assist with the interrogation of Master 2.
Today he’d dug out The Word’s origins from the man’s mind, finding that it had began back in the 2290s in direct opposition to the changes that Star Force was making on Earth…meaning the organization had operated in the dark for years before Davis had picked up on their illicit activity. What their ultimate goals were David hadn’t gotten to yet, but his prying into the Primarch’s mind clearly indicated that the man felt he was but one piece of an ever growing puzzle…a puzzle that Star Force was in the process of putting an end to before it could fully take shape.
David was keeping track of Green Team’s operations in between his interrogation sessions and workouts, all the while tagging new missions for them as he oversaw the collective data files being assembled piecemeal by all the Archons involved in the mass interrogations…which was why he needed to get his latest findings down in a report before the slew of facts he dealt with on a daily basis washed away some tidbits of information that may or may not prove useful in the long run.
‘Type now, think later’ had become his habit, and it allowed him to disassociate one activity from another. Once today’s sessions were over, both his training and the interrogations, he’d thumb through the other recent interrogation reports, as well as the ones from the field missions. From there he’d make adjustments to Green Team’s assignments while throwing others to Blue and Red teams for the insystem work, while Yellow and Orange Teams had already been dispatched to other systems to hunt down Word facilities there.
Purple Team was still standing by, waiting for a different system assignment when the interrogators had weeded out another cell from either the Masters or the Primarch, though from what David was learning the vast majority of The Word’s operations were here in Sol. The other star systems didn’t afford them a great many opportunities to establish independent bases, and with most of the extra-solar colonies being Star Force owned the security was tight enough to constrict Word operations minimal activities.
Where there appeared to be pockets of The Word in other systems was, of course, the national colonies. They were few, meaning most of Star Force’s interstellar empire was untouched by the taint of The Word, but where there was a colony, station, or ship not run by Star Force personnel, The Word would try to insert its people, extending their network of operatives out into previously untouched segments of Humanity.
Those had to be eliminated, but given the distances involved David and the special Teams were going to be hunting down Word fragments for several years to come, but most of their activities were right here on Earth, which took priority for Green Team. Only Antarctica and a few tiny territories across Earth were under Star Force control, the rest of the planet was a conglomeration of nations, and even those allied with Star Force, such as Brazil, were not immune to Word infiltration. In that way Earth had been a weak spot as far as Star Force’s intelligence division was concerned, and The Word had done well to exploit that advantage, leaving a lot of cleanup to do on the planet.
Already they’d hit 118 Word facilities, with another 52 on the to-do list, with more being added by the day as they discovered their locations through the interrogation of the Masters and Primarch, along with the tech work being done at captured facilities, giving them electronic trails to follow to even more hideouts.
The size of The Word was far larger than David had expected, and he could imagine what they’d been up to their first 100 or so years. They’d needed to establish their own infrastru
cture, off the grid, in order to keep Star Force from using the economy to locate them. Doing so must have been a long and tedious task, and David found it surprising they could have been so patient. Usually philosophical zealots needed to be seen and heard, but The Word had been a ghost for such a long time David wondered what else they might have been up to, and had only begun to interrogate the Primarch concerning such things.
He had discovered that anti-Star Force wasn’t their driving mandate, for they sought control and/or influence over all factions, and with their primary focus being here on Earth they had a lot of dealings with the local governments as they pried here and there. It was always clandestine, up until Davis had outed their existence, with the public swell of support being a new factor the Primarch had to work his way through.
This one, like his predecessor, had kept The Word independent from the social movement that bore its name and manipulated it as they did other threads within Human society to get the outcomes they desired. That way, nothing could be backtracked to expose the organization, though the Primarch was still wondering if it somehow had, for neither David nor anyone else had informed the prisoner how exactly he’d been exposed.
Which worked well as an interrogation technique, for the man kept running possible scenarios through his head, effectively giving David a rundown of Word facilities and operations where the breach in security might have occurred. As far as he knew, for he wasn’t monitoring the man constantly, the Primarch had never considered the possibility that an Agent might turn.
He’d considered the possibility of other personnel being captured and interrogated, but they knew so little that there wasn’t anything they had access to that could have led Star Force to the Masters or Olympus, so every time David questioned him in a way that brushed upon a new idea, the Primarch would unwittingly run it through his mind for the Archon to see, showing more memory threads for David to backtrack then or later.
