Manipulator

by Thom Parsons

  "We've finished the memory analysis on the man who was taken from the system on December 11th."

  "Remind me of his name," Sterling asked as he thought about what he had been told about the break in. He had some notes on what had happened somewhere on his desk, but there was so much paperwork that he didn't even know where to start looking. "Was it.. Morgan?"

  "Yes Sir, his name was Alex Morgan, and we have some good news. We managed to pull from his memory an image of the man who took him."

  Finally. Some good news... Sterling thought, letting out a deep breath. He felt himself relax slightly as he leant back into his chair. "Send it me. As well as all of the data on the break in."

  "Yes Sir. We're just about to send the compiled report over now," the man said. There was something in his voice that started to seep through. A feeling that hadn't been evident up until that point.

  Tension.

  "Is there something else?" Sterling asked, curious as to why the man had rang him in the first place when an email would have easily sufficed. There was something that was being held back.

  "Well," the voice started, sounding a hell of a lot more nervous than before. "The man that broke in and took Alex? He's one of your agents, Sir."

  I knew it. I fucking knew it! Look at what you've got yourself into Archer. Shit's about to get out of control. What are you up to?!

  "Who else knows about this? Who else have you spoke to?" Richard Sterling demanded.

  "Nobody yet sir. That's why I rang you directly. I thought that you ought to hear it straight from me rather than through an email. I'm the one who compiled the report about it."

  "Good. Leave it with me, and don't tell anybody else about this for the time being. Send me everything that you have on this. Now. And do it securely. I'll deal with it."

  Classing that as his goodbye, Sterling slammed the phone down and opened up his emails. He found exactly what he was looking for at the top of his inbox. Opening the message up quickly, Sterling began to quickly skim through the report, catching only the most important facts.

  Two unknown figures entered the Prison System… Still unclear how they made their way into the world… Alex Morgan was forcefully taken from his home… Forced to re-live memories that he didn't want to share.

  Having read enough, Sterling clicked on the image that had been sent with the email. It opened and took up his entire screen. He locked eyes with the two people in the image. The two people who had taken Alex Morgan. Two very familiar faces stared back at him.

  Owen Archer.

  Kate Miles.

  What the hell were they up to? I need to read this report properly and find out what happened... Owen has to be on this personal mission of his still… But why? How? How the fuck did Archer get hold of a PRoGRaM device?

  As he saw it, he had two options. Option one. He could try and get in touch with Archer himself and get the man to explain what was happening. He knew Owen. He was a decent man. He wouldn't run… would he? But who knows what he's up to? Who knows what's going on in that head of his?

  Or there was option two, in which Sterling could actively disavow Owen Archer from the FBI. He'd be able to send some of the bureau's agents after the man and get him brought into Headquarters that way. At least we'd be able to grab him quickly if we took option two. Owen could drop off the grid if I gave him a call. He might get spooked. Who knows what he's tied up in?

  He thought long and hard about it, throwing the options and the possibilities around in his head, going over the pro's and con's of both scenarios. It took him a good minute to decide, but in the end, Sterling felt that he made the right choice. We've always been straight with each other. He conceded, as he reached forward to pick up his phone. He would ring Owen and convince him to turn himself in.

  But before he could even grab the landline phone on his desk, Sterling's mobile unexpectedly began to ring out. He leaned back and reached into the inside of his jacket pocket, pulling his mobile handset out from within. There was an unknown number calling him.

  "Sterling," he answered professionally.

  "Mr. Sterling," a modulated, robotic voice said slowly to him over the airwaves. The boss. Now? Why are they calling me now?

  "I wasn't expecting to hear from you today," Sterling replied, putting his more professional voice on. "Although, it is convenient that you've called. I was going to be in touch with you shortly. It seems I've got some answers on what happened down at the Atom Project."

  "It doesn't matter anymore," the synthesised voice said emotionlessly to him.

  "Excuse me?" Sterling spat back in retaliation, surprised by the lack of care that his boss was showing to his efforts.

  "I said, it doesn't matter anymore. Remember our agreement two years ago? Well, today is that day. It's time, Mr. Sterling."

  Damn. Richard thought. Now? Today? I always imagined that we'd have more time with PRoGRaM…

  "You knew that this day would come sooner or later."

  I did. Sterling realised. "I didn't think that it would happen so soon," he replied, sounding slightly let down by the situation that was about to take over.

  "We are officially shutting down the FBI's Special Projects Division. We're taking back PRoGRaM."

  Richard Sterling sighed as he asked, "Veridian?"

  "Yes," the distorted voice of his boss said back to him. "Veridian are pulling back the ownership of PRoGRaM."

  "But surely you can't do that so soon?" Sterling asked, knowing that his question was pointless. He already knew the answer. Of course they could. His boss wasn't even a part of the FBI. They were a part of the mysterious company known as Veridian. Technically, his boss, and therefore Veridian, could do whatever they wanted to do in relation to PRoGRaM.

  Why?

  Because they created it.

  "I can. And I will. Remember. Veridian owns PRoGRaM and everything to do with it. You've always known that the FBI was just loaning and completing a trial for the use of our technology. You've always known that we could pull it back anytime. And that is exactly what we at Veridian have decided to do. Today."

  "So what are you calling me for?" Sterling asked disappointedly. Even though he hated the workload that came along with it, running the PRoGRaM team's and looking after the staff at Special Projects HQ was his dream job. Regardless of how much he actually complained about it, the man genuinely enjoyed what he did. "You sound like you've already got things sorted out," Sterling clarified. "What do you want?"

  "You are to forfeit to Veridian all of the Perception Recreation Geist-Reality Manipulator devices."

  "Fine," he answered, perfectly aware that his operation was always going to be shut down sooner or later. He just wished that he could have had more time. Who knows? Maybe Veridian will employ you now? You're perfectly capable of managing something for them. Hell, you've definitely proved yourself here during your time with Special Projects.

  "Furthermore," the boss continued in their monotone synthetic voice, cutting Sterling's trail of thought off. "You are to forfeit to Veridian all agents and staff with any knowledge of the FBI's Special Projects Division for memory evaluation… and memory erasure. That includes you Mr. Sterling."

  "What?!" Sterling answered, shocked to his core by what he was being told. They're going to take all of our memories. Everything that we ever knew about PRoGRaM, gone in the blink of an eye…

  "Yes, and unfortunately for you and all of your staff, you cannot disobey. I have a binding contract here in front of me that proves everything I've just said, made two years ago with the leaders of the United States Government."

  Nobody ever told me about this. They never told any of us here about this. But… I can completely believe what I'm being told. Those pieces of shit bureaucrats in the government were willing to accept anything to get their hands on Veridian's technology…

  "And if I don't want to comply?"

  "There is no way around this, Mr Sterling. It is a part of the contract that we worked out with the U
nited States Government. Submitting you and your staff to memory erasure is mandatory. If you disobey then we have full authority to send Veridian Agents to apprehend you and everybody who resists. The FBI was always using this technology as a trial. Now, the trial is over and we at Veridian are taking back control. Do not make this difficult for yourself Richard."

  He could feel the anger coarse through him as he listened to the robotic voice of his boss through the phone. One word came to mind. Betrayal. Betrayed by the United States Government. Betrayed by the very people he worked for. It hit him hard. He was always just a puppet and he never realised it. He was always being controlled by the ones above him.

  He was being manipulated.

  "Well. I tell you what," Sterling said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. "You and your company can fuck right off."

  "I was afraid that you would say that Mr. Sterling."

  Beep. Beep.

  Chapter Seventy Five

  Date: December 13th 2035

  Location: PRoGRaM

  Minutes passed in silence. Owen didn’t want to talk to Ethan, he didn’t even want to listen to the man. Instead, Owen just paced around the room in silence, gun in hand, waiting for Ethan to make a move. But the man seemed beaten. Ethan just sat there in the middle of the room. He had finally given in and given Owen exactly what he wanted. It seemed too easy, but maybe Ethan wasn’t the type to fight a losing battle. The man knew he had lost.

  One of the walls in front of Owen changed. It morphed from its current fancy decor into a plain white wall. Black letters forming words appeared on it, dead in the centre. Nick was sending them a message into the world.

  We rebooted PRoGRaM from scratch. The first message said. It scrambled to white after a few seconds, giving Owen just enough time to read it.

  Audio synchronisation complete. Streaming in… 3… 2… 1…

  The messages in huge black font disappeared and the wall that had been changed to white only moments before began to revert to its original state. The air around them changed, and the voices started to come through. This is it. Owen thought. This is where it all ends, where I reach exactly what I set out to do.

  “Ah ah ha! It’s been too long my old friend!” the happy, booming voice of Marcus Ortega burst out, kicking off the conversation.

  “Marcus!” Ethan replied, also sounding cheerful to see the man in return. “Come on in, everyone else has just arrived.”

  A short silence hung in the air. Owen kept his eyes on Ethan in the middle of the room, and his ears on the conversation projecting all around them. Ethan didn't even make a move. He just lay there on the floor staring up at the ceiling. A beaten man. Or is it all just a show?

  “It’s good to see you all again,” Ethan presumably said to a crowd of people. Owen figured that they had all just met in the common room in which he was now standing.

  “How have you been?” Marcus asked. Owen couldn’t tell who he was speaking to as he was only hearing and not seeing the memory, but the question was about to answer itself for the first time since Owen and his team had started this journey.

  “I am good thank you,” Ethan replied, filling in the first real gap in the conversation. “I trust that all is well with you? Shall I pour us all a drink?”

  “Of course, I never turn a drink down!” Marcus boasted. It was mostly a two way conversation so far, but Owen figured that could have been down to Marcus being the last one to arrive to this meeting. Ethan and Alex must have already had their own introductions.

  “Drinks for everyone else?” Ethan asked.

  There was a silence after the question. This isn’t good. Thought Owen, suddenly thinking about Nick’s theory on a potential fourth person.

  “And me,” Alex Morgan said. It was his first input into the conversation. Oh no. Owen thought, his face visibly shocked. Nick was right. There’s a fourth person involved. How else can one person ask a question, there be a gap, and another person answer with ‘And me.’ … This isn't over yet.

  Alex finished his sentence, speaking enthusiastically, “It’s been a long, long time since I’ve seen this place. Doesn’t seem to have changed too much!"

  “So,” Marcus said, satisfied that introductions were complete. “Lets get down to business. What’s going on Ethan?”

  “Gentleman, I’ve figured it out. Phase Two,” he replied.

  “Impossible,” Alex called out.

  “You can’t be serious!” Marcus said, following up on what Alex had said. “You continued your research?”

  “I did," Ethan answered proudly. "It’s been such a long time coming, but I believe I’ve made it possible.”

  “Amazing!” Marcus replied with a genuine tone of surprise showing in his voice. “Have you tested this as such yet?”

  There was no reply from Ethan. Another missing piece that showed once again, Owen and his team had been missing someone all along. Who the hell is number four?

  The silence passed quickly though, as the voice of Ethan Darkes kicked back in to respond to what seemed like some disagreement from the missing fourth party. “You were the only one to voice that opinion yes, but it cannot be the defining factor in determining the progress of science. As for the testing Marcus, I have done partial testing and the results are very promising. With all of your help here I believe we can iron out the kinks and make phase two a reality.”

  Silence followed. Someone else was here, clearly showing disapproval to whatever it was that ‘Phase Two’ was. There was more going on here than what could be heard, and Owen really needed to know what it was. Why wasn't this fourth person named in the video?

  “Science isn’t about the ‘Why’, It’s about ‘Why not’,” Ethan shouted out, raising his voice for the first time in the conversation. Further silence hung in the air. My God. Are we really missing this much conversation?

  “I’m sorry,” Alex chipped in, sounding genuinely upset. It was only his second sentence of the night, he really wasn’t one for talking. “I can’t turn this opportunity down.”

  “Neither can I,” Marcus said, sympathising with Alex and Ethan. “This was always going to be the next logical step. Imagine the possibilities!”

  Silence.

  “But we’re going to need your help!” Ethan called out.

  Silence. More?!

  “You do not have a choice! You will be a part of this one way or the other!” Ethan shouted, the anger really showing in his voice now.

  There’s so much missing. I really thought this was it. There’s a fourth person, thats for sure. Someone who opposed Marcus, Alex and Ethan. Someone who crossed them. These men are dangerous. The people they work for are dangerous. If the fourth person didn’t agree with them, whoever was controlling this group could easily have had them killed.

  And then a possibility hit him.

  Oh my God. Annie is the fourth person.

  “This isn’t going the way I planned it.” Ethan said in the memory that was projecting out around them. Owen almost missed it entirely due to being way too caught up in his own thoughts.

  “We need to call the boss,” Marcus replied. There was a short silence that followed. Owen couldn’t hear it specifically, but he knew that Ethan must have been grabbing a mobile phone at this point in the memory.

  “It’s me,” Ethan said to an invisible force. Owen wasn’t worried about what was said on the other side of the phone call. He had Ethan’s side of it and that was enough for him to more or less figure out what was going on.

  “… We have a problem."

  "… Yes? But it’s not been tested yet."

  "… I understand."

  "…on Annie? Okay.”

  A short silence passed. I guess that this is the end of the phone call.

  “They hung up,” Ethan seemingly said to everyone in the room.

  “Are we to implement phase two?” Marcus asked, attempting to guess the outcome of what Ethan had been told over the phone.

  “Yes,” Ethan repli
ed to him. “Yes we are.” A short silence passed between them before he questioned himself. “Why can’t we just kill him?"

  Relief washed over Owen. Ethan had said 'him'. Annie couldn’t have been the fourth person in that room! It was somebody male! But he had mentioned her by name when he was on the phone. He was involved somehow. Owen had never been so relieved to be wrong about Annie.

  “You heard the boss,” Marcus said to Ethan.

  “It’s not our decision to make,” Ethan replied, slowly. He was reassuring himself of the fact that it was not him that made the decision. Maybe the man isn’t as ruthless as he’d have us believe after all. Owen thought.

  “The boss made the call," Ethan finished. "Not us.”

  “Why Annie though? Why does it have to be her?” Alex said, speaking for the first time in a long time.

  Why Annie though? Owen said to himself in his head. The line still sent chills up his spine, and made him shiver slightly. Out of everything that he was hearing, that one line was the most terrifying. What did these people do?

  “I don’t know,” Ethan said, still talking slowly and calculatingly. “But we know what we have to do next…”

  And on that note, the memories came to a stop.

  Owen knew it was far from over.

  Chapter Seventy Six

  Date: December 13th 2035

  Location: Owen's Apartment, New York

  “What is that?” Nick asked slowly as Eli carefully jumped down from the top of Owen’s kitchen worktop, holding a small electronic device in his hand.

  “It’s… a camera,” Eli responded, sounding just as shocked as Nick was. He brought the small electronic unit up to eye level and closely examined it. “Someone else has bugged Owen apartment.”

  "Oh shit," Nick replied, seeing the implications of having a camera watch their every move. "Someone's been watching us."