Downfall, Part 5
11 Jun 2017User4296
Deslandres Terminal, Yarrite SystemImperial Space
June 3302
Oh shit.
My earpiece beeped, and I reached up to scratch my ear.
"I thought you said he got thrown out a window?" Talia's voice whispered.
"Looks like he got better. He also told me he was a relative newcomer, not that he was leading the damn thing."
There was a pause on the other end as Tucker – as Maxwell - and Mr. Scott were exchanging a bit of good-natured banter on stage.
"This is bad. We need to get out of here," I said.
"Agreed. What's the plan?" Talia asked.
"Head for the elevator, and let me know when you get on," I replied, quickly surveying the room. "They're probably watching me, so we'll need to move quick."
"Got it," she said, then fell silent.
"...In truth, Mr. Scott," Maxwell was saying, "A great deal of the recent breakthroughs in our research have come thanks to the generous contributions of several volunteers, all of whom were able to see the value of what we were doing. We were also able to avail ourselves of the Empire's... unique stance toward indentured servitude to draw some of the more adventurous population into useful ways to clear their debts."
"In what way, sir?" Scott asked.
"By human trials, of course. We can understand how some of these genetic changes can be achieved and their effects in theory, but to really nail down how some of this works we needed to perform trials," Maxwell answered.
"Dangerous trials, Mr. Browning?" Scott followed.
This elicited a sort of half shrug from Maxwell. "In some cases, yes, but I would remind you that Imperial law is clear - indentured servants are not made to do anything they do not consent to as part of their contract. Anyone who participated in some of the more... advanced trials did so willingly."
Bullshit, I thought.
"We are also pleased to announce that the trials have gone very well - and aside from some... setbacks," Maxwell looked into the camera at that, and his eyes seemed to focus in on... me? "We have made significant progress and have learned some 'good science', as the saying goes."
I shook my head. He can't see me. I'm imagining things.
Scott was nodding appreciatively as the room erupted into applause. My earpiece sprung to life. "I'm here," Talia's voice said. "Get moving."
Time to go. I couldn't help but keep my gaze locked on Maxwell/Tucker as I slowly turned around and headed for the door.
"Now, let us lay out some investment opportunities for our illustrious audience this evening," Scott went on, as the doors slid open at my approach.
The lobby was empty, and I crossed it quickly. The only thing I had to worry about was –
Shit. The lone guard in the security checkpoint exited the booth as I approached, and moved to block my path. Play it cool, maybe it's just routine.
That thought was shattered as I drew closer and several other security guards emerged from side doors after I had passed. I cast a glance over my shoulder - they were all watching me, but none of them had moved, instead preferring to wait in front of their respective doors.
"Is there a problem sir?" the guard asked.
"They mentioned investment opportunities - seems I've forgotten my PDA downstairs in my room," I said, not slowing.
"I'm sure someone can be sent to retrieve it," the guard replied as the stun baton in his hand sprung to life.
The guard was only a few paces away now. I leapt toward him and drove my foot into his face, and was gratified to hear the loud crack as his nose buckled under the blow. The guards behind me all seemed to break into a run simultaneously, and I wasted little time in hopping over the small fence that stretched across the hallway and formed the checkpoint.
I was running now, too, and I heard the heavy footfalls of the guards behind me as they also hopped the small fence. I crossed into the lavish elevator room and skidded to a stop in front of the bay of elevators and hammered on the call button, looking back toward the rapidly approaching guards.
They haven't raised an alarm... They don't want to attract the attention of the whole station - if I can get off this level...
One of the elevators beeped, and I turned toward the opening door. However, the elevator was already occupied by an Asian man with a half-burnt face. His hands were hidden behind his back, and he tilted his head upon seeing me.
"Ah, so good to see you again, John-san," Takamura said, stressing the honorific. "I'm glad to see you decided to make an appearance."
I drew back and threw a punch, and Takamura threw up one of his arms to deflect it. A stun baton found its way into my stomach a moment later.
I gasped and doubled over, but before my knees touched the ground I felt something grab me by the back of the head and pull, drawing me back upright. His open palm hit me square in the chest, driving me away from the elevator and farther into the room. The security guards were upon me a moment later, and one of them jabbed a stun baton into my ribcage, knocking the air out of me a second time.
"Search him and take him aboard," he said next as the guards surrounded me and hauled me to my feet. "There's someone who would very much like to see him again, I think." He offered a slight bow in my direction.
The baton crashed against my head a moment later, and everything went black.
***
The first thing I became aware of was the motion.
The room seemed to be shaking ever so slightly, and this was enough to slowly bring me back into consciousness. The second thing I noticed was the light - opening my eyes proved to be extraordinarily painful, and I screwed them shut against the unwelcome barrage. It was at that moment I felt something warm leak into my right eye. I reflexively lifted my hand to wipe it away, but –
My wrists seemed to be secured to whatever I was sitting on. It took a moment for this realization to sink in.
Uh oh.
I felt something - a towel or rag, maybe - brush across my forehead.
"He's waking up," a nearby voice said. It was unfamiliar, and I decided to try opening my eyes again.
The bright light was less intrusive this time, and I could take in more of the room. It was lit by a single light in the center of the ceiling, leaving the edges of the room darkened. I was seated on a metal chair in nearly the exact center of the room. An orderly, to whom the voice belonged, stood near me holding a cloth, streaked with blood. Apparently, I was bleeding.
"So good of you to join us, John-san," another voice said, "I was worried you and I would never meet again." It was unmistakably Takamura.
I blinked several times. My vision was slowly adjusting, and I began making out vague shapes in the darkness along the room's perimeter.
"Somebody had a remlock built into his suit," I replied. "Smart - but what happened to your face?"
He stepped forward into the light, and crossed the few paces to the chair, motioning up at his scarred face. "Do you like it? It is your handiwork - when you forced open the airlock, it seems I drifted too close to the Diamondback's engines before the remlock could fully deploy. I rather like it, though - scars are how we remember who we are."
"Shame you didn't die," I said.
"Indeed." He drew back, and the back of his hand impacted just above my left eye, snapping my head to the right and causing the chair to topple over.
"Calm down," a second voice said, as the orderly pulled myself and the chair back upright. I recognized this one, too.
"Not many people can survive a ten story drop onto pavement, Tucker... Or should I say Maxwell?"
Maxwell emerged into the light as well, and pushed his glasses back up onto his nose.
"You liked my trick, did you?" he asked. "I needed a way to disappear after being forced to look after that damned girl for so many months. It turned out that the police in that section of the station rarely identify bodies - and even if they did, by the time they figured out it was me, I would have been long gone."
"But you can't be the public face of a company when there's a warrant for your arrest in the Empire," I shot back.
Maxwell shrugged. "I don't need to be the face of the company. The only people to see me are the investors and the members of the board. The public face? That's what Mr. Scott is for."
"So what'd you do? Clone yourself? Genetically re-sequence something to appear human?" I asked.
He shot me a skeptical glare. "Don't be silly. I lured a... transient to my apartment with money and then threw him out a window. Well," he paused, before he nodded at the orderly, who disappeared into the darkness, "had Takamura here throw him out the window. It would seem, Mr. Mathurin, that our relationship is one built upon lies."
"I've noticed," I observed as the orderly returned. He was holding what appeared to be a small gun, with a cone shaped protrusion where the barrel would be and a glass tube sticking out of the back. He wasted no time in jabbing the tip of the cone into my neck.
With a pull of the trigger, a small needle emerged from the tip of the cone and broke into one of the veins in my neck, and blood began to be pulled through the device and into the glass tube at the end. After a moment, the tube was nearly full, and the orderly pulled the device away.
"For example, I'm somewhat surprised you were easy to fool with my story about how I had just begun working for the company," Maxwell laughed. "Both you and Sidra, for that matter. Speaking of, how is she?" he asked.
"You don't know?" I tilted my head and winced at the new neck wound. "Your dog here killed her."
Maxwell turned toward Takamura. "Did he now? Regrettable."
"Loose ends," the Asian said simply.
"Where's Cassandra?" I asked.
A low beep sounded from somewhere in the darkness. The orderly stepped back into the light a second later.
"Well?" Maxwell asked.
"Not a match," the orderly said, which elicited a sigh from Maxwell.
"A shame," he said. "We could always use another test subject. Ah, well, I suppose your death will have its own use," he trailed off, and his hand disappeared into the jacket he was wearing. A moment later, it re-emerged holding a small glass vial, filled with a clear liquid. "As for your friend," he went on, "there's no need to worry about her. She's safe, and we've resumed our work on that front."
"Bastard!" I shouted. "Hasn't she suffered enough?"
The orderly walked over and handed Maxwell the injection gun - sans the empty glass vial he had used to draw my blood - who carefully slotted the new vial into place at the back of the device, then moved toward me. "Don't you worry, John," he said, placing the tip of the cone against my neck again. "We'll make the future a better place, thanks to her. It's just unfortunate that you won't get to see it."
A pull of the trigger deposited the contents of the vial into my bloodstream. The effects were nearly instantaneous, and beans of sweat quickly began forming on my forehead, despite the comfortable temperature of the room. The shaking began shortly thereafter, followed by a burning sensation that seemed to spread throughout my entire body.
I looked at Maxwell. "What did you..."
"The first stage of the genetic re-sequencer," he replied. "In those whose genetic structures are a match, it begins making changes so they can accept the next stage of the treatment." A smile crossed his face. "We don't know what happens when we inject it into someone who isn't a match - like you."
My lungs suddenly felt like they had tightened, and I had to fight for every breath.
"Good luck," Maxwell said, before he retreated into the darkness.
"It's not like throwing someone out an airlock," Takamura added, "But I am told this has its own charm."
My head tipped forward, and my heartbeat pounded in my ears. Somewhere, I was vaguely aware of a door opening, and then closing a few moments later.
The burning sensation intensified - it felt as though every fiber of my being had caught fire. I thrashed about in my chair, which toppled back to the ground. A moment later, my scream echoed off the walls of the small chamber.