It was not as if Connor had much of a choice but to remain with the bureau. He had not obtained many skills from his stint in the military, and though he’d developed and honed investigatory expertise in the field, he wasn’t certain that he could parlay his aptitude into another career. He was too comfortable in the familiarity of the BSI, even if the office and its agents seemed more distant and alien nowadays, and he had no true motivation to change. He was alone in life, drifting with no central purpose—the true reason he’d joined the BSI—and it had been Orion who’d sparked a shift in his attitude and outlook. With his partner gone, Connor had no personal connections and, therefore, no motivation to improve himself or to try something new.
But as Connor sat at his desk reviewing the database for a new case to pursue, as he had done many times in the past, he knew that he was ignoring a crisis of conscience under the guise of protecting Orion Starr and his sister. If Connor were indeed an Other, as he was starting to believe, should he be hunting his own kind rather than asking to be quietly transferred to a different department? Two of the three BSI assets had reconciled their dangerous nature with the difficult decisions of the mission, but Connor was doubtful that his capability to do the same had remained undamaged. His time with the Starrs had shaken his convictions, and he knew now that euthanasia wasn’t the only answer; yet, it was the BSI’s default verdict when it came to protecting the civilian population. He didn’t think that he could make the hard decisions anymore—not without considering who else they might affect and, therefore, allowing his judgment to be compromised.
Conversely, if his credibility became doubtful, the Starrs would be put at risk. Protecting them meant that he had to stay the course, but perhaps there was a way to assuage his conscience as he navigated the morally questionable waters in which he’d found himself.
It was undeniable that there were Others who should be euthanized: As much as it pained him to admit it, Brian Chamberlain was only one example of the handful Connor had discovered who posed an active threat to the public good. Connor’s other, more benign discoveries had undergone mandatory training so they would not become a danger, and while he’d initially kept in touch with many of them, Connor now suspected that some had been euthanized because they hadn’t completed the training, despite him being informed otherwise. A few may have even been executed because their very existence had posed a threat to Operation Blackout, as Samantha Anderson would soon prove. It was to these individuals whom Connor felt that he owed a debt—one that had started with Jacob Stern.
Morgan Connor had survived due to the actions of an Other, and he’d originally set about repaying this debt by finishing college and then trying to find a new purpose in life to justify his continued survival. At first, he’d thought that he’d found it in the BSI mission: Protect the civilian population against the dangers posed by Others. But his exposure to the Starr siblings had realigned his axiom: Others themselves were not always a danger; sometimes they, too, needed protection. Perhaps the best way to repay his debt to Jacob Stern was to continue to separate the wheat from the chaff; but he had to continue to sift through the wheat to isolate specific grains and prevent the compulsory registration of those Others who posed no danger because if they remained undocumented by the BSI, they would be safe from euthanasia. Concealing the survival of the Starrs was only the first step in his new mission, but it would not be the last: From inside the BSI, he could ensure that harmless Others escaped notice.
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Operation Blackout Page 49
