Manipulator

by Thom Parsons

  “WHAT DID YOU DO TO ANNIE?” he screamed angrily at Alex, small pieces of saliva flying out as he shouted. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY WIFE?”

  “OWEN!” Kate screamed at him from the doorway where she stood guard. She had turned to see what the commotion was about and he was doing. She ran into the room, pulling her gas-mask off from over her face as she ran as it was just hindering her vision. She jumped nimbly over the large leather sofa and grabbed Owen's arms in an attempt to pull him off Alex, but he was just too strong for her. “OWEN! STOP IT!” she shouted at him, refusing to let go.

  Behind Alex, on the far wall of the room a portal manipulated in at Owen's command, leading right back to the prison system. Alex looked straight ahead and saw the portal, his eyes widened with fear.

  “No. No. No. No…” Alex started muttering, struggling to talk properly, wheezing because of Owen’s hand wrapped around his throat.

  “YOU KILLED HER!” Owen shouted as he tightened his grip around Alex's neck. Quickly and forcefully, Owen leaned backwards, pulling Alex up off the chair. He dragged the man towards the portal, his hand still clasped tightly, his face contorted with the anger which was flowing so freely through him.

  With all of the strength that he could muster, Owen pushed Alex hard, almost throwing him through the portal as he released his hand from around the man's throat. Alex stumbled backwards, falling to the ground once again as the change of flooring caught him off guard. The look of shock on his face was the last thing that Owen and Kate saw of him.

  In a millisecond, the portal closed up to its centre point.

  Alex was gone, pushed back into his own prison world.

  “We’re done here,” Owen said in a tone that didn’t warrant questioning.

  Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

  Chapter Fifty Two

  Date: December 11th 2035

  Location: New York Streets

  Being in a moving vehicle didn’t help with the heavy motion sickness that accompanied Owen and Kate as they left the world of PRoGRaM. They were used to being dizzy on exit, but the van moving around them added a whole new level of uncomfortableness to the experience.

  Owen opened his eyes. Heavier than last time. Harder than last time. He was glad that he was strapped into the chair. If it wasn’t for that, he’d have probably been on the floor by now. As his head spun with dizziness, he looked over at Kate. She looked just as rough as Owen felt.

  “Is everyone okay back there?” Nick shouted from the drivers seat once he noticed that Owen and Kate were awake and semi-conscious of their own actions.

  “We’re good!” Eli shouted back to him, satisfied that both Owen and Kate had come out of PRoGRaM relatively unscathed. “Connection to the system is completely cut. We’re totally offline now. There's no way they can even trace us from this point on.”

  “It’s getting worse, isn’t it?” Kate asked Owen directly in a quiet tone as she tried to keep Eli and Nick out of the conversation.

  “Yeah,” he replied, genuinely struggling to keep his head in the game and the contents of his stomach down. The dizziness was subsiding… slowly.

  “What’s going on?” Eli asked, noticing their hushed tones, concern showing in his voice. Probably more concerned for his own skin than anything. Owen thought.

  “PRoGRaM,” Owen said, deciding to bring Eli into their conversation. “More specifically… PRoGRaM’s entry and exit routine. We’ve been through it so many times in the last few days. It’s getting gradually more difficult to use the damn thing.”

  “You need to stop using it,” Eli told him forcefully as if he had some prior knowledge on the subject. “Both of you, immediately. Who knows what you're doing to your own brains?”

  “I can’t,” Owen replied, shaking his head slowly to emphasise his point, but not overdoing it due to the pain that was firing through his brain. “Not until I finish what I've started."

  “We did it!” Nick shouted excitedly from the drivers seat, unaware of the serious conversation that he had just broken up in the back of the van.

  “We should lie low for a few hours," Eli interjected, bringing the conversation back down to a more serious note. "Who knows if we got away untagged, nobody’s ever pulled off something like this before.”

  “How do you want to play it?” Owen asked Eli, unsure of how they should proceed.

  “We need to have Nick drop us off in random places around New York. We all need to be careful. Only go home when you’re sure there’s no-one following you. We have no idea if the Prison System has any kind of external guards or someone out there who's going to try and track us down.”

  "Did you get that Nick?" Owen shouted through to the front of the van.

  "Yeah. No problem," he called back.

  “Tonight,” Owen said loudly, satisfied that everyone was listening. “Everyone be at my apartment at nine. We’ll all meet up, start sorting this all out and begin putting everything together.”

  "I'm pulling over here," Nick shouted from up front. "A couple of you jump out now and go in different directions. I'll do another drop-off in half an hour for whichever one of you is left."

  "What about the van? And you?" Owen asked.

  “Don't worry about that. I’ll hide the van. I’ve got a few friends who owe me a favour or two." Nick replied with a sly smile.

  "I'll jump out here." Eli said to everyone as he began to pack his laptop away into an over-the-shoulder carry case.

  "Me too," Kate followed up with.

  The van stopped. Kate slid the door to the van open and jumped out. She was followed seconds later by Eli, who began to walk away from the van without so much as a goodbye or a glance back. Kate turned to look at the van and called out to Nick and Owen inside. “Tonight at nine,” she confirmed, nodding her head.

  Nick turned and nodded back to her before Owen slid the door to the van shut from the inside. Seconds later the vehicle was gone, merged seamlessly into the traffic of the busy New York City streets.

  Eli walked one way.

  Kate was supposed to walk another.

  But there's something I need to do first.

  Chapter Fifty Three

  Date: December 11th 2035

  Location: FBI's Special Projects Division Headquarters

  "Sir?"

  Richard Sterling raised his right hand and beckoned the young agent into his office without saying a single word or looking up from the mountain of paperwork that was spread out all over his desk. He was too busy looking through some of the recently closed PRoGRaM case reports from each of his seven teams. He was genuinely trying not to be disturbed so that he could work his way through them and maybe have the upcoming weekend off for a change. But things were never that simple.

  He felt the young officer's presence in the room. The man was clearly waiting for Sterling to look up at him from his desk so that he could deliver some form of bad news. It was always bad news.

  "Are you incapable of talking to me unless I'm looking at you?" Richard said to the nervous man without even looking up from the report in front of him. Las Vegas PRoGRaM Team have been up to a fair bit lately…

  "Erm. No Sir. It's just…"

  "Spit it out man!" Sterling shouted out of frustration as he finally looked up at the agent in front of him. The officer physically jumped back a little from Sterling's desk out of sheer surprise.

  "There's a call from you Sir. It's from the Atom Project. We're unable to transfer it through to your phone."

  "That's because I turned the damn fuckin' thing off," Sterling said angrily before letting out a huge sigh. "I'll pick it up from here."

  The Atom Project? Haven't heard anything from them in a while. Not since Veridian set the whole project up. Great. Sterling thought before he picked up the phone, watching his nervous officer scurry out of the room. Whatever was happening at the Atom Project could surely wait. It was probably only going to add more onto his workload anyway. Always the problem with being in charge of people. They fuck
up and for some reason it's the bosses fault. Causes me more work. Can't these people do their own Goddamn work?

  "This is Sterling," he said seriously as he picked up his phone and pressed it between his head and left shoulder.

  "Mr Sterling, Sir," a deep male voice said to him through the phone. What a suck up. Richard thought. He didn't even know who it was but already, Sterling didn't like them.

  "What's going on?" Sterling asked in a condescending tone, stretching his words out as he said them. "Power fluctuations again?" Or something else equally as pointless to report?

  "There's been a break in Sir," the male voice said to him, getting straight to the point and causing Sterling to look up from his work. He sat speechless.

  "Sir? Are you there?" the voice asked him after not getting any form of response.

  "Did you just say what I think you said?" Sterling asked quietly.

  "Two people got into our system. They took one of our captives out of the main system world. But minutes later, they threw him right back in."

  Sterling sighed. "Who did they take?"

  "The inmates name is Alex Morgan, Sir."

  "And the perpetrators?" Sterling asked, hoping that whoever was on the other end of the line was about to give him some good news amongst all of this shit.

  "We're not sure yet." Typical. "Although the captive, Alex Morgan, keeps repeating one word over and over again. I think it may be relevant."

  "I'm listening," Sterling replied.

  "He keeps saying the word… 'Archer.'"

  Oh Archer you stupid…

  "Run his memories," Sterling ordered. "I want to see everything that Alex Morgan has seen in relation to the event. I want to know where they took him, and I want to know exactly what happened. Keep me updated."

  "Sir," the voice retorted, sounding anxious. "It may take days."

  "I don't care how long it takes. Get back to me when you have something solid. A name. A face. Anything."

  "Yes Sir," the voice replied sharply, even though Sterling didn't hear it as he was too busy hanging up the phone.

  "Archer, you dumb shit... What are you doing?" Sterling muttered to himself. It has to be Owen Archer. But until he could prove it, there was nothing that he could do. Richard rubbed his eyes deeply as he realised just how tired he was feeling. Today isn't over yet. It's just got even longer.

  Things were getting serious. He needed to make a phone call.

  There was someone else, someone far more important than him who needed to know what was happening.

  Chapter Fifty Four

  Date: December 11th 2035

  Location: New York Streets

  The New York City streets all around her were teeming with life. The hustle and bustle of city life provided her the perfect cover as she walked carefully down the streets, waiting for Ethan to answer his phone. The two of us need to talk.

  “I expected an update a lot sooner than this,” Ethan said slowly as he answered his phone.

  “I haven’t been alone. I haven't been able to call out without somebody overhearing me.” It was true. For the last few hours, Kate hadn't been able to make contact and update Ethan on their situation. Everything was unfolding too fast. Owen was putting it all together quickly. Together, her and Ethan needed to do something about it.

  “I understand,” Ethan replied, keeping his sentences short and letting Kate make all the moves.

  “I need to talk to you. It’s about Eli,” she said, getting quickly to the matter at hand. It was her main, if not her only reason for calling.

  “I didn’t think that he would be a problem.”

  “You’ve got to understand. The man is an absolute genius with PRoGRaM. He even gives you a run for your money,” she said, only to be greeted by a silence on the other end of the phone. Have I upset him?

  “How much of a threat?” he said sharply in response to her statement.

  “The man broke us into the Prison System where you put Alex. Owen’s figuring it out. He’s getting closer and I can’t block him anymore. It won't be long now until he figures out what’s going on.”

  “Hmm," Ethan hummed down the phone as he thought about what to do next. "Eli is an unforeseen circumstance. Just like the video message to Owen. It was something we hadn't planned for. Eli is exactly the same. We hadn't planned for him. Except… with Eli, we can actually do something about it."

  "What are we supposed to do?" Kate asked, almost afraid to hear the answer. Silence hung as she waited for Ethan's reply. She heard him release a long sigh. Many seconds passed before he spoke.

  "We need you to kill him.”

  Oh shit. Kate thought, suddenly terrified at the predicament that they were in.

  Beep. Beep.

  Ethan had hung up. She was all alone. I never asked for this. Yet, regardless of that fact, she almost knew that something like this was coming. The final outcome was always going to be inevitable. Eli cannot be allowed to interfere any longer…

  This was the exact reason that she had been discreetly following Eli since the two of them had jumped out of the van together. It was also the reason she was carrying a concealed, silenced weapon.

  Now, it was all about waiting for the opportune moment.

  Eli had absolutely no idea that he was being followed, and that was what made it so easy. Not the killing part though, Kate said to herself as she followed him at a distance. I really never wanted to kill anyone because of all of this. Right now it's him or me. Remember why you're doing this Kate. Remember what's in it for you. For your family…

  Slowly but surely, Kate followed and followed, waiting for the perfect time to strike. Eli made his way into a quieter part of the city. Do I really have to follow him all the way back to where he lives? Maybe if he just went somewhere quiet before then…

  And then Kate got just what she asked for, as Eli turned and walked down a dark, seemingly empty back-alley. He's taking a shortcut. Kate realised as she visualised in her head the route back to Eli's place. Perfect.

  It was time to pick up speed. She had lost line of sight if only for the moment, and she couldn't afford to lose her only chance here and now to take Eli out. Picking up the pace, Kate quickly caught up to the alleyway in which Eli had walked into. Carefully, she pressed herself up against the concrete wall and peeked around the corner. There weren't many people around to notice what she was doing, but either way, it didn't bother her. As long as no-one else was in the alley, that was all that mattered.

  Kate spotted Eli walking alone, almost halfway to the other side of the alleyway. Inconspicuously she followed, quickly closing the gap between them, hoping that he didn't turn around and look at her. Even if he does, he'll suspect nothing of what I'm about to do. And that moment of surprise will be enough for me to put him out of the game.

  She reached into her jacket, and quickly pulled out a concealed, small, silenced pistol now that she was was close enough not to miss. Kate quickly looked backwards over her shoulder, checking her surroundings and making sure that there was nobody else around. Without breaking pace or missing a step, she raised the pistol with both hands firmly around its grip and did exactly what she had been told to do.

  Thud. Thud. Thud.

  Three shots slammed into Eli's back.

  He never knew what hit him as he stumbled and fell forwards, landing in a huge pile of garbage. It was over. Eli wasn't moving at all. Satisfied that the problem was dealt with, Kate walked away without even looking back, as if nothing had ever even happened, just as she had been trained to do.

  Chapter Fifty Five

  Date: December 11th 2035

  Location: Owen’s Apartment, New York

  Owen hit his bed for the afternoon as soon as he got himself home. After the experience that he had been through, he needed it. He quickly fell into a dreamless sleep until a knocking at his front door in the distance woke him. He found that his earlier headache had just about subsided. How long have I been out? It surely can’t be nine yet, could
it!?

  He got up and jogged haggardly through his living room and moved nearer to the front door. “Give me a minute!” he called out to whoever it was that stood on the opposite side. At the very least he had to make himself look a little bit presentable before he let anyone in. He managed a quick glance at the clock on the wall as he quickly made his way back to the bedroom. it was just before nine now, and Owen could barely believe just how much he had managed to sleep. Well, at least I got some rest and managed to shift that damn headache.

  Less than a minute later he was acceptably dressed. He jogged back over to his front door and opened it, not wanting to keep whoever was on the other side waiting. Kate was stood there, leaning on her shoulder up the doorframe.

  “Hey,” Owen said to her. He gestured to her with a quick head movement, signalling her to come in. She walked past him as he closed the door behind her.

  “Hi,” Kate replied as she walked in. “Am I the first one here?”

  Owen turned away from the entrance to the apartment and walked into the front room, sitting himself down on the sofa. “Yeah. No Nick or Eli yet,” he responded.

  “You want some coffee? You sound a little rough,” she shouted jokingly to Owen as she walked over to the open plan kitchen and helped herself by putting the coffee pot on. Owen didn't mind, in fact, he found it quite nice that she was willing to just help herself and not have to always ask his permission. She was finally becoming a true member of his team. Yet, Owen didn’t answer her question. Instead, he ignored it and waited until she looked over at him. He had a hard look on his face as he hit her with a difficult statement.