by Gavin Magson
“I know that it won’t be easy, but if you can sleep I’d advise it; we won’t get anything done tonight and everyone could benefit from the rest. Once my men are in position they will start updating me regularly as to what intel they are gathering. I won’t be micromanaging them, so I might not get information as fast as I would li-.”
Aiko paused mid-sentence as her tablet began to ring and, with a speed unseen in a non-augmented body, brought the device to her ear.
“Gerant, have you and your men reached the mansion already?” asked Aiko.
In the background Aiko could hear sirens as they converged on the caller’s location, and the shouts of nearby people.
“Aiko, the mansion is ablaze. We can’t get close enough to enter it and, judging by the bodies littered around the grounds, we are too late to save anyone still trapped inside.”
“Fuck, any sign of Steel? Never mind, I’ll get a hover and meet you there. Keep your men out of sight, don’t let the authorities see any weapons, and record any sightings of Steel.”
Aiko disconnected the call and could not keep her face neutral when she looked back at the men before her.
“Something has happened at the mansion before my men got there, its alight and there are bodies everywhere.” Duke let go, his tears quick to come and free flowing. Aiko could see similar pain on the faces of his crew, of Ilya’s friends. “I’ll get a hover to take me up there, but I don’t know whether it would be smart for you three to come with; I don’t know what you would see up there, and it sounds as if we can’t get close enough to help.”
“You go, we’ll figure out what to do from here. You’ve Duke’s details, call his tablet and tell us what you can over the connection. If you find Ilya please bring her home.” said Lev.
“I will. First thing I’ll do when I get there will be to call you. I know it’s a lot to ask but try to keep your minds off the mansion.”
Aiko grabbed the two devices she’d placed on the dresser, stowing them away, before heading for the door. The men did not turn to watch her go, yet they all heard the door close behind her.
Several minutes passed by, Greg still holding Duke, Lev stood aimless as he could do nothing to stop his thoughts wandering to Ilya. Aiko unloaded unexpected and terrible news, and within a few moments report of the mansion in flames had left them without a single grain of hope.
“Do you think that she made it out?” asked Lev once he could no longer keep the question bottled inside.
“She’s resourceful and fiercely intelligent, I’ve every hope that she found a way out. I just want this night to be over and Ilya returned to us.” Greg kept his eyes locked to Lev’s, trying his best to show his partner his fear without speaking it. Greg did not want Duke to tear himself up about something that was out of their control.
Duke looked up, his eyes puffy and beard damp from the tears. Neither man beside him had ever seen him so upset, not even when sending off Ajax at his wake.
“She’s got to be okay, we can’t lose two so close together. I raised her for fuck’s sake; I want my Ilya back. Greg, call a hover; we’ve got to – Lev, get that bloody door.”
The knock was quiet, three raps against the wooden door and a long pause before it was repeated. Lev turned around and walked over to the door, the knock sounding for the third time. He opened the door.
“Is that Aiko back already? It had better be with good news.” Duke was pleading at this stage, desperate for anything positive to come of tonight.
“Just me, Duke.” came Sarah’s voice as she stepped inside. “My shift has finished, Sal asked me to bring you guys a few more beers before I called it a night.”
“You’re an angel, Sarah. Thank you for these.” thanked Duke, a large smile breaking through his gloom.
The door closed behind Sarah and Lev passed a drink each to the other two men.
Chapter 24
The room was brightly lit, and, thanks to its oval construction, no shadows were allowed to form. The domed ceiling housed thousands of bulbs that emitted a natural light, bathing the room. The mirrored wall that ran the rooms circumference was seamless and polished, showing the two men their reflections wherever they looked.
“You assured me that he would be ready weeks ago. My patience has long since worn out; what is taking so long?” asked the tall man as he paced around the chamber before them.
“I told you, sir, the technology is still experimental; it’s impossible to predict the results. I have only tested the technique twice before and both times the subjects were ready by now, but the extent of damage varied considerably. His vitals have normalised, and the tissue growth has not showed any signs of rejection; there is nothing stopping him from waking, Major.”
Major stopped in his tracks, a minor relief to the other man as he found the motion disorientating when trying to follow his boss’s movements. They stood inside a laboratory that house several cabinets, each filled with numerous instruments.
At the laboratories centre was a curved glass chamber, no part of the front face obscured from view. It was filled with an emerald green liquid that swirled around the patient. Inside both men could see the solitary inhabitant, a multitude of needles, tubes and wires covered him head to toe and a mask strapped around his face provided oxygen. The body floated in place, gently moving as air filled and then emptied from his lungs.
“We are fast running out of time. I warned you that if he did not show signs of waking by summer it would be too late, and all this money would have been wasted. You leave me with no choice, it's time we took drastic measures; open the damn thing.”
“But sir, if you open it now you could cause him to go into shock; there is no way of guaranteeing that his body would be salvageable if that happened.”
“Did I stutter? That was an order, open the chamber and let's see what the sleeping beauty has to say about a wakeup call.” Major stepped back so that he no longer stood on the drainage grates underfoot.
Raúl hesitated momentarily, uncertain whether or not to follow his superior’s orders at the risk of condemning the subject. He knew the wrath he could suffer for disobeying a direct order, yet he also knew the consequences of trying to force this body into life. Only when he weighed the pros and cons against one another did he decide it was best to listen to Major.
Raúl paced over to a small console that would grant him full access to the growth chamber. He hoped that Major would changes his mind, commanding Raúl to stop. When no such objection came Raúl typed in the emergency release sequence, resulting in the banks of light above changing to a blood red as an alarm sounded. He silenced the alarm with the turn of a key, it's wail grating on his nerves almost instantaneously. The scientist stepped back in line with Major as the chamber began to open.
The whine of two motors filled the room as the heavy glass chamber door released and slid upwards slowly, allowing the green liquid to gush out and funnel into the drains that encircled the chamber. The various tubes and needles detached from the lifeless body as he slumped to the large chambers floor, all except for the mask.
Raúl collected a bag from the counter beside him and stepped forward once more, sliding the door fully up so that he could step within. Careful not to trip on the mess of wires and tubes he moved over to his subjects still form and crouched down to better inspect him.
From within the large bag he produced three silver pads that he stuck to the man’s shaved head, from these trailed leads that he attached to a small box he pulled out from within his lab coat.
The device began to hum quietly as it built up charge until it was primed to pulse along countless neurons in an attempt to kick-start the brain. His finger almost came down on the button before a hand grabbed him around the wrist, stopping him. A faint rasp of breath escaped the subject’s lips, the words lost behind the thick mask.
“I told you it would fucking work; you should never doubt me.” said Major.
Raúl set down the box within his hands and went to reach
for the mask. He had no warning, save the ripple of muscle as it tensed in his patient’s body. With a sudden snap and a scream Raúl’s left wrist was broken, bent back at an unnatural angle.
Major stepped over the snivelling scientist and gripped the patient’s hand, prising it from Raúl’s hand. It amazed him how quickly Raúl scrambled to distance himself from more pain.
Major looked the man before him in the eyes, making sure he knew who was boss. Satisfied he wouldn’t suffer the same as his minion Major moved quickly, removing the three pads and unclasping the mask, allowing it to fall free.
The man tried to look at Major stood above him, his unfocused eyes struggling to see inches in front. “Is this real? Am I alive?” he asked.
“Yes, Ajax, you are alive.” said Major, as he watched the man lose consciousness.
“Come over here, I think he is finally waking up.”
Ajax opened his eyes, blinking furiously to bring the two men into focus. Both stood a few feet away and stared at him with evident curiosity. Ajax felt a strange pain emanating from within his chest, yet it was not the physical pain he had experienced a multitude of times before, more a memory that had come back to haunt him.
Ajax lay on a thin padded bed dressed in loose, white clothes. A sheet now covered his frame that barely staved off the cold of the room. He shifted his weight, feeling real pain this time as his muscles started to work together. Through the discomfort he sat up, feeling the muscles of his chest pull tight. Both men continued to stare at him in surprise, neither speaking nor moving towards him as Ajax grunted with the pain.
“You don't have to look at me like that, it should be me who is stunned into silence. Where am I?” he asked, flexing his fingers and feeling a sharp pain once again.
“That is easy enough to answer. You’re inside a laboratory in the Konar military base, currently within an observation room after we moved you out of the growth lab.” answered the scientist, writing something down on the flux paper he had taped to his left arm.
Ajax looked at the pins and supporting ring that surrounded the man’s wrist and allowed himself a small grin.
“Growth lab? Never mind, you can explain that one later. How am I even alive right now? Last thing I remember was taking a knife to the heart, not an injury that one can just walk off.”
“I thought you said his memory wouldn't come back so fast?” asked Major.
“It shouldn't, I can't explain how he is recovering this quickly. He is truly outstanding, a unique specimen.” the scientists voice was bitter, which only amused Ajax further. He squinted at the pair as his eyes still adjusted, their faces coming in and out of focus.
“Have you two finished avoiding answering me? I can hardly feel my fingers, my head aches uncontrollably and I am in a strange place with a man who, not so long ago, was trying to kill me. Yes, Major, I don’t forget faces that easily. Now would some- Raúl? Are you the man who helped Henry murder me?”
Unrelenting anger built up within Ajax until he was overcome with bloodlust. His hand darted out too fast for the eye to see, clamping around the man's throat. Raúl grasped at the large hand with both of his, helpless but to watch Ajax step down from the bed and suspend him a foot above the ground, feeling his neck strain as it struggled to support his entire weight. He could not suck in any air, his lungs as useless as his hands that tried to claw at Ajax.
“That is enough, if it weren't for Raúl you would still be dead. Let him go!” shouted Major, a thick vein throbbing in his forehead as he pointed a handgun towards Ajax.
Ajax turned to look at the man, his eyes focused on the gun’s barrel aimed directly at his head. Reluctantly he lowered Raúl, releasing his vice grip on the man's throat. Overcome from his exertion Ajax stumbled, dropping back to sit on the beds edge as Raúl sucked in deep breaths.
“Just answer me this: how am I alive?” asked Ajax, his quiet voice reflecting the sudden fatigue he now battled.
“In a sense you aren't, officially who you were died that day at the hands of Henry Steel. Raúl had to work fast, if he had not the you before us would not exist. Your body came to rest in Sector Seven, just like Henry requested, but with your implant inside the clone of Henry you had killed.
“Raúl and his team worked tirelessly for days to stabilise your body, keeping your brain alive. There was damage to it from the lack of oxygenated blood, and it has taken him a long time to repair it, as well as the rest of your body. The process of repair was a lot slower, as the nanomachines would not repair your corpse, but this lab allowed your body to be returned to full health. It even removed your scar tissue, which was an unexpected by-product. You are reborn, though whoever Ajax Frost was is now dead.”
He did not know what to think of the man's words. It all sounded too complicated and Ajax was too fuzzy to debate the semantics Major uttered. This was his body, he was Ajax; how could he not be?
“You said that you repaired my brain, Raúl; how long did that take?” asked Ajax.
Raúl, the purple finally fading from his cheeks, looked up from the floor at Ajax. “Close to seven months.”
“Seven months? Fuck! Ilya, what happened to Ilya?” wild panic rose within him, remembering for the first time the reason he had confronted Henry and ended up bound and slaughtered.
“She is still being held at the mansion. Raúl continues to pose as an employee of Henry's at my orders. Tell him that she is still alive, the man needs to be reassured.” said Major, nudging Raúl in the ribs with his foot.
“Major is right, she is still alive; though Henry does horrid things to her. He beats the woman daily and has her locked away on the top floor, ensuring any visitors never get close enough to hear her screams. Henry is keeping Ilya prisoner.” said Raúl.
“I will kill him for what he had done to her. Where are my clothes? I’ll tear the whoresons head from his shoulders!”
“Calm down, Ajax, you are in no fit state to wage a war right now. Show patience and we will build up your strength and, once briefed on what it is you have to do in order to truly kill Henry Steel, you can plot his downfall. If you go in unprepared there is no guarantee that you will be successful, and I have never tried to revive a person for a second time before.” said Raúl.
He did not want to admit it to the men, but Ajax felt sapped of all energy, unable to bring himself to stand let alone kill Henry. All he could think of was the last sight of Ilya he had seen, tied to a chair and beaten by Henry; the thought caused yet more rage to build inside of him.
“How soon can I be ready?” he asked.
“That depends entirely on how well you listen to instructions. I notice that you haven't yet asked the most important question; why? Are you not curious why we brought you back to life?” asked Major. “To repair a body and bring it back from the point death is not something everyone could afford, if it were the city would be crawling with Immortals.”
“The thought had not crossed my mind,” Ajax said, rubbing at his temples to try and quell the migraine. “but I have a sneaking suspicion it wasn’t for my company. So why did you bring me back?”
“You showed a lot of promise that day in the slums, killed some of my best men in protecting Steiner; a worthless wretch of a man. If you would risk your own life for someone like him then you could be very valuable to me, an asset to be feared. You died, Ajax, you had your natural time and anything additional to it is a gift from me. I ask that you repay this kindness with your service, join my ranks and I will reward you handsomely. I will allow you to avenge your death and rescue Ilya, even provide you with intel on the location of Henry's backups and any equipment that you need to ensure he is permanently eliminated. After your task is done you will become an asset in my army, mine to do with as I see fit. What do you say?”
“Let me get this straight. After Henry killed me you had Raúl patch my corpse back together in order for you to bring me back to life, solely to recruit me into your army and yet you have given me the choice of joining you? How
can there be a choice, what would happen if I refused?” asked Ajax.
“I would take from you what is not rightfully yours. I trust that I do not need to further explain what that is.”
“I think we have a deal.” said Ajax.
“Good, I'm glad that you have willingly accepted Major’s terms. We are going to speed up your recovery, to do so I will need to inject you with an engineered growth hormone and your old augment. Lay back on the bed and roll up your arm. Make sure that you do not move, this will hurt enough without you disrupting me.” said Raúl.
Raúl retrieved a thick metal case and an adjustable stool from the table adjacent to the rooms only door. He sat down next to Ajax and opened the case, removing three tubes and laying them besides Ajax’s bare arm.
Raúl picked up the first tube and reversed it, pushing the flat front face onto the base of a needle until it attached via a magnetic connection. The tube contained a familiar silvery liquid that shimmered in the laboratory’s light. Ajax recognised the nano machines for what they were and was surprised that Raúl had somehow managed to get another sample of the augment.
“How did you get your hands on that? I thought that only Steiner knew how to produce that augment?”
“Unfortunately, he still is the only person who knows their secret, which is why, for now, there will not be another walking around with this augment. Steiner is dead, he was too much of a liability and without you to protect him the assassination was very easy. He would not even trade the information for his own life, the fool.
“Raúl managed to extract these straight from your body, no small feat considering how they are designed. We had been preparing a device to do so for some time; just be glad you weren’t alive for that experience. Turns out the damn things are encoded to your genetic code, even if we were able to reproduce them they could only be used by you.” said Major, smiling at Ajax as realisation spread across his face.
