* * *
1:51 P.M...
Elsewhere in the Sanctum...
Peters and Maxwell skittishly glanced around the hall and walked into the armory as Argus packed a duffle bag with equipment, and a cane leaned against the table. Argus' cuts and scrapes were mostly healed, and he favored his bruised ribs.
"Is the Council sending you out on a job?" Maxwell asked.
Argus nodded to the heavy set tech.
"Are they sending you after Pandora?" Peters questioned.
"No." Argus paused from packing. "I'm to follow Cerberus."
"Oh..." Peters replied.
Argus turned to the techs and questioned them, "Why did you want to know?"
Maxwell answered, "We feel kind of bad. I mean, Pandora rescued us from the Factory, and all we did in the past was hurt her."
Argus moved to the men. "What do you mean?"
"About eight months ago, the Factory captured Pandora." Peters quieted his voice. "We were part of the group who experimented on her and some of the stuff we did..." He paused, unable to finish the sentence.
"Some of the stuff we did was harsh," Maxwell admitted. "Torture, to be exact."
"You were the ones!" Argus glared at the techs till he thought about his own role in the ordeal, and his anger vanished. "You're afraid of what Pandora might do if she finds out." He went back to his duffle. "Will she come after you and take her revenge?" Argus placed several magazines to his M4 in the bag.
The techs nodded as Argus zipped up the equipment, and Argus said, "You might not have to worry about that."
"Why's that?" Maxwell asked.
"Cerberus is being sent to take out Pandora."
"What?" Peters shouted and looked outside to the hall to see if he caught the attention of anyone. No one seemed to notice, so he turned back. "Cerberus is going to kill Pandora?"
"And you're going to watch?" Maxwell uttered, folded his arms, and asked, "Aren't you?"
"It is my job." Argus grabbed his black trench coat from a bench and put it on. "I'm not to hinder or help." He picked up his M4 from a table, slung the assault rifle over his shoulder, grabbed the cane, and headed for the door. "My job is to watch." The cane made little sound as its rubber tip struck the floor.
"Even after she saved you?" Peters asked.
Argus stopped beside the techs and looked at them. "If the Council captured Pandora, brought her in here, and ordered you to experiment on her, would you? Would you even after she saved you?"
Peters and Maxwell frowned, knowing they would for fear of their own life.
"Then leave me to my dark path. You have your own to walk." Argus continued out. He wished he could be more like Kat; he wished he could help when his heart beckoned.
#2 Shades of Gray: From Moscow, With Love Page 38
