Revolution: Luthecker, #3

by Keith Domingue

  “Over time, fear was less and less necessary for survival. But fear had no place to go, so it became anger. It became greed. It became hatred. It needed enemies to sustain itself, so it created them. Fear, which is rooted in our DNA, which is a part of our original nature, our animal nature, would not let go, so we fed it, the Coalition exploited it, until it became so large that it consumed us.

  “We struggle to evolve from it because it is in our DNA. It is part of our original pattern. But if we are to survive, we need to kill that part of the animal. And Coalition Properties is the culmination of all that we fear. It won’t let us evolve beyond it. And because of this, it has become the part of the animal that must end.”

  “The end of the animal is near,” Nikki repeated. “Is that what PHOEBE meant?”

  Alex turned to Nikki. “Don’t be afraid,” he said to her.

  “You’re pathetic in your ignorance,” Turner snarled. “I should kill you right now with my bare hands. Without the Coalition, the world order as we know it collapses. There are over seven billion people on this planet. How are you going to keep order without us? You’re right about one thing, the human being is an animal, and we’ve been killing one another since we first walked the earth. And that will never stop. Nor should it stop—it’s how we keep ourselves in check. It’s how we cull the herd.

  “And you’re wrong about fear. Fear is not changing. It’s not obsolete motivation. Hell, fear of pain is what keeps a kid from putting his hand on a hot stove. Fear is how we keep from engaging in our darkest desires. It’s what keeps the worst among us from hurting others. Fear of consequence is the single biggest and most effective deterrent from succumbing to the terror all around us.

  “Coalition Properties didn’t create fear. We only organized it. We understood its necessity. And because of that, for the safety of the world, we became brokers of it. And that’s why we are the most powerful organization in the history of the world. What’s that old saying? It’s better to be feared than loved. Because fear is forever.”

  “Not anymore. People are tired of fear.”

  “No, they need it. It gives them motivation to better themselves.”

  “It’s a false motivation. An empty promise. Look no further than the state of the world as proof.”

  “You think you’re special?” Turner snapped. “You think that you’re somehow better than us? Better than me? Well let me tell you something. You’re not. Nothing you do is special. Nothing. You’re nothing but a carnival gypsy. So you read people and tell them their fate, in hopes that they’ll change it. In hopes that they’ll take responsibility for their lives. Well, people don’t want to take responsibility for their lives. Look no further than the state of the world as proof.”

  “What I see in the world is its exhaustion. I see in the world a need for change. If it wasn’t so, why would I be such a thorn in the side of the most powerful organization in the history of the world?”

  “You’re an obsession of the weak. And your ability is at my fingertips. Coalition Psychological Operations are just getting started. Our data analytics and social media analysis tools can micro-target anyone in the world, in real time. People put their entire lives online and our algorithms can predict their next decision, before they even make it.

  “Just like you, soon we’ll be able to accurately predict how and when they will die, based on eating habits, social behavior, and “likes,” all of which people happily post online for us to scoop up. Take one of our online quizzes, and I can tell you how much money you have in your bank account. It’s all just so easy now.

  “And I can manipulate people’s beliefs and get them to modify their behavior. No different than you can. You’re not special. Nothing about you is special. If anything, we have more in common with PHOEBE than you ever will. I promise you, she understands exactly what I’m talking about. After all, she’s threatening us all with a nuke, isn’t she?

  “And as far as the Coalition? Yes, we’ve killed people. Yes, we’ve taken over countries. Yes, we’ve exploited resources for our own gain. Yes, we’ve exploited fear. We’re not the first to do it. We’re just better at it than anyone else has ever been. And that’s the future.

  “So let me tell whatever the fuck that’s listening something real: there can be no balance without order. And that’s because there is no real equality. People aren’t equal. Some are simply better than others. Nature doesn’t guarantee equality. There will always be winners and losers. And we maximize the fate of the species by protecting the winners. It’s the winners who decide what’s real. It’s the winners who decide what the truth is. Otherwise, it’s chaos and misery.

  “Our way, the Coalition way, is the only way the species survives. Not your way. Not the Alex Luthecker way. That way is cowardly. That way always loses. And whether it’s with PHOEBE, or a new and improved Black Widow, the digital extension of the universe will evolve, and we’ll help it to evolve to recognize the power and necessity of fear. We’ll build a future in both worlds and we’ll do it our way.”

  “Our species faces certain extinction, does it not, Doctor Kirby? If we stay on the same course? If we follow their way?” Luthecker asked.

  “Oh yeah. We’re a goner. Guaranteed, if we don’t drastically change our behavior. That’s the truth. It’s a mathematical certainty. There won’t be any winners, only losers.”

  Kirby looked back and forth between Turner and Luthecker. His eyes settled on Alex. “If you can get PHOEBE to dedicate her services to solving the extinction problem we face, I’m team Luthecker.”

  “I should have killed you in my office.”

  “Who’s the useful idiot now?”

  Luthecker held his hand up for Kirby to be silent, before turning to Turner for a response.

  “Here’s a hard truth,” Turner began. “There’s too many of us. And we need to cull the herd. And climate change just helps us get to that point. So does war, if necessary. There are no accidents in the universe, and you know it. There’s your balance.”

  “Fuck you.”

  Everyone looked to the source of the profanity. Randy Baez.

  “And who gets to decide who lives or dies?” Baez asked.

  “The winners, son. And you’re one of them.”

  “Yeah? And what about my brother? He’s got a bad heart. Does that mean in your world he dies? ‘Cause that’s some Nazi shit right there.”

  “Easy, son, I wasn’t aware of your brother’s illness, but we’ll take care of you,” Turner started.

  “So if you work for the Coalition, you’re fine, but if you don’t, you’re fucked? Is that it? And if I don’t subscribe to your beliefs, I’m a loser? And what’s next, you send the losers to the gas chamber?” Baez picked up his rifle and chambered a round.

  The room went still.

  “Easy, son,” Turner said again, backing up.

  He remembered the CZ 75 9mm in his waistband. He was smart enough not to reach for it in front of a trained soldier armed with an M-16.

  Alex knew it was now or never. There was no time to read every person in the room and share what he saw. It would have to go through this young man, Randy Baez, who was already wavering. Randy Baez, who was already beginning to see things as they really were.

  “Your grandfather came here from the Dominican Republic,” Luthecker began.

  Baez turned both his attention and his rifle toward Alex.

  All eyes were on the two men.

  “Your family settled on the West Coast, and your grandfather picked oranges for money until he passed away at the age of forty-six.”

  “Don’t listen to his bullshit,” Turner cut in.

  “Shut up. How do you know this? Have you read my file?”

  “Your father was only fourteen at the time,” Luthecker continued. “He dropped out of school after his father died to go to work and help your grandmother pay the bills. He worked sixty hours a week for six years, and he was working as a clerk for a hardware store when you were born
. He worked three jobs to support the family, and you rarely saw him.

  “You thought he had to work so hard because of you, and you felt tremendous guilt. Your brother with the heart condition was born two years after you, and the family’s focus changed. Your mother was strict and raising you in the Catholic tradition, but she was not hypocritical. She believed in the Bible, and so did you. She gave you a commandment. She called it the “Eleventh Commandment,” a commandment for you alone. And that was to be your brother Jacob’s keeper.

  “You discarded the rest of the Catholic faith when you discovered the hypocrisy of its leaders, but you kept the Eleventh Commandment that your mother gave you, and you always took care of your younger brother, Jacob. If anyone bullied him at school, they felt your wrath. When Jacob became addicted to drugs, you held his hand through rehab. You got him better. And you did all of this when you were only eighteen. There was no going to college for you. There was no job waiting for you.

  “So you did what was best for the family, and you joined the army. You fought for your country. You saw things in war that changed you forever. It drove many of your fellow soldiers to drink and do drugs. But not you. Not you, because of what these things had done to Jacob. You saved him so that, in turn, he could save you.”

  “How…?”

  “Because of this, you understand compassion,” Luthecker continued. “You understand that we all need one another. You understand that division destroys. And it’s there, just beyond your grasp, but you can sense it. Something is wrong with the world you are living in. And the concept of winners and losers is a false construct.”

  Tears rolled down Randy Baez’ cheeks as he stared at Luthecker.

  “Oh my god…” Muranaka thought aloud. Tears streamed down her cheeks as well.

  “Don’t listen to his nonsense. We all have problems. That’s life,” Turner interrupted. “Suck it up, soldier. Remember who signs your paycheck.”

  “I’ve been chasing a paycheck all my life,” Baez replied. “Chasing answers all my life, too. Why was I the strong one and Jacob the sick one? I understand now. Jacob was strong when I needed him to be. For me.”

  Baez lowered the barrel of his rifle. “I killed people in Iraq. People who had families like mine. Kids that reminded me of Jacob. I killed them because we were told we had to. But what you just said about me…it’s true. All of it. How could you know these things about me? And these people.” Baez waved his hand over Yaw, Chris, Camilla, Masha, and Joey. “They are your friends, right?”

  “They are my family.”

  Baez whipped around and stared at Turner. “What have these people done? What crimes have they committed?”

  “They are terrorists, and they broke into these facilities.”

  “They came here to free their friend. They came to free their brother.”

  “Alex Luthecker is an enemy of the Coalition.”

  “But what did he do?”

  “You just got a taste of it yourself. With his abilities, he is a threat to the stability of the world. We just can’t have that, son.”

  “You can’t have that. Because he threatens your world. He spoke the truth about me. He spoke the truth to me. And I want no part of your world. I want no part of killing for you. I want no part of fear.”

  Baez slung his rifle over his shoulder and approached Yaw.

  “What are you doing?” Turner asked.

  “Setting them free. All of them. And then I’m leaving.”

  Baez pulled his M-Tech blade from his pocket and cut the zip-tie from Yaw’s wrists. Baez did the same with Chris, Camilla, Masha, and Joey. Baez even cut the Barbarian free. In seconds, they were all on their feet.

  “Are you just going to let him do that?” Turner said to Scholl.

  “Free will, man. We all got a choice. And I respect his.”

  “You’re fired. Both of you are.”

  “I quit,” Scholl replied. “What he just did?” Scholl said as he pointed to Luthecker. “That shit’s waaay too spooky for me. I’m not about to have this guy tell the world my secrets. But I’m not going to kill innocent people either.”

  Everyone watched in stunned silence as Baez and Scholl exited the Cyber Center.

  “Oh my god that was awesome,” Kirby commented, the second the door closed behind Baez and Scholl. “Do me next. Do me next. You promised,” he said to Alex.

  Luthecker looked at Kirby. He didn’t see Turner pull the 9mm from his waistband and point it at his chest.

  Mark Kirby couldn’t believe it when he saw Turner pull the gun and point it at Luthecker.

  Kirby was standing close enough to Turner that he could make out the CZ brand insignia on the slide of the gun.

  It was then that time seemed to slow down. The screams, the movements, all of the sound, all of the motion, became a blur.

  The only thing that was crystal clear was the detail of the weapon, who it was pointed at, and what Kirby had to do.

  Kirby was not a fast moving man, so he took advantage of his perception of slower time. Kirby grabbed the gun in Turner’s hand and moved the barrel’s trajectory away from Luthecker.

  There was a brief struggle with the gun. Kirby looked down to see that the barrel was pointing at his mid-section.

  Turner pulled the trigger and the weapon discharged.

  Kirby immediately dropped to his knees. It’s not like in the movies, he thought as the impact of the bullet made his legs go numb, and he fell to the floor face first.

  He rolled onto his back, just as his belly began to feel like it was on fire. He put his hand on his stomach and felt a warm wetness.

  He pulled back his hand, and it was covered in blood.

  He looked around the room, and blood spilled all over the floor in a large pool.

  His blood.

  The next thing he saw was Luthecker standing over him.

  “Is this why you never told me my fate?” Kirby said. “Because you knew this would happen?” Kirby struggled to get out the words.

  “I knew you would have to make a choice,” Alex answered. “But I can’t see things that involve me, remember? If I could have seen this unfolding, I would have stopped it. I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. I involved you. Whether you wanted me to or not. That was my choice.”

  “You sacrificed yourself to create a new destiny for me. Understand this, you have given me a gift. I will forever be in your debt.”

  Kirby started to grow very sleepy. It was then that he knew he would die. It didn’t prevent him from wanting answers. It didn’t prevent him from wanting to know.

  “You must have known I was going to die. Is that why you wouldn’t tell me my future?”

  Luthecker took Kirby’s hand. “Let me tell you what I see. We as a species will not go extinct. And the reason we will not go extinct is because your work will continue. On this, you have my promise.”

  Kirby smiled and squeezed Luthecker’s hand one last time before his life left him.

  Yaw had reacted the second he saw the flash of Turner’s gun. By the time he got across the room, Mark Kirby had fallen.

  Yaw made sure that there would be no second pull of the trigger. He kicked Turner’s wrist hard enough to shatter the joint, and he followed it up with an elbow smash to Turner’s forehead that knocked the Coalition CEO out cold.

  With the sound of the gunshot and the scramble that ensued, Ivan Barbolin saw his chance. While everyone moved toward the fallen scientist, he sprinted toward the door.

  He had almost reached the handle when something hit his legs mid-stride, sending him to the linoleum fast, and he saw stars as his head smacked against the floor face first.

  Dizzy, his head wracked with pain, he rolled onto his back, only to see Masha standing over him.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  The door to the Cyber Center abruptly opened and several heavily armed Coalition Assurance soldiers stepped through and surrounded the group, M-16s bearing do
wn on all. Brian Scholl was leading them.

  Everyone froze.

  “I guess you’re gonna arrest us now,” Yaw said.

  “No,” Scholl answered. “The whole Fortress was listening in to what happened here. They heard every second of it. It was piped through every speaker, every television, every radio, and every cell phone. Hell, I think the whole world heard it. And we’re here for those guys,” Scholl said, waving his hand over Glen Turner and Ivan Barbolin. “The rest of you are free to go.”

  Nikki approached Alex. “What about PHOEBE? What do you think she’s going to do?” she asked.

  Turner’s phone began to ring in his pocket. Sitting on the floor holding his shattered wrist, he remained unconscious from Yaw’s elbow strike to the head.

  Yaw stooped down and reached into Turner’s pocket, pulled the phone free, and handed it to Alex.

  Alex put the phone to his ear and listened.

  “The launch sequence. It has stopped completely. We have things back under control. The emergency is over. We are safe,” a relieved Captain Dimitrov said.

  Luthecker hung up the phone, looked at Nikki, and smiled. “I think we have our answer. It’s over.”

  Muranaka approached Alex and Nikki. In all her years of studying computer code and logic, she had never witnessed anything like what she had just seen. And Nicole Ellis was right. More than anything in the world now, she wanted to know.

  She looked back and forth between Nikki and Alex. “I want in. Whatever it is you’re doing next, I want in.”

  As Luthecker led Nikki, Yaw, Camilla, Chris, Masha, Joey, and now Rika Muranaka out of the Cyber Center and through the hallways of the Coalition One Building, Coalition employees stepped out of the group’s path and watched them walk past. Some nodded in acknowledgement, some even clapped. Many looked at the group with a combination of awe and uncertainty. Every one of them had heard the conversation that had taken place inside the Cyber Center, and it had raised a lot of questions. Questions that they all wanted answers to.