By: Spooks
~ ~ ~ ~
After escaping for a few hours into the blank oblivion of exhausted sleep, the four awoke, alerted and jolted into full awareness by a soft knock at the main entrance to their living quarters.
Instantly they fell into a preplanned strategic pattern. 03 wheeled himself forward, taking point position to answer the door. 04 walked behind him, hiding a gun between 03 and the rear support of the wheelchair; the cold metal dug painfully into the man's back, but the blank expression on his face betrayed no discomfort. 02 took a position out of sight in their work room, hastily covering the frame and all of their tools just in case. 05 stood in full view of the door, his stump of a hand held in a manner that made the injury glaringly obvious. The maimed of the group carefully positioned themselves to all but flaunt their old injuries. Their intention was to draw attention from their recognizable facial features with the flagrant display of their handicaps. Experience had taught them that people rarely studied the features of those they had to avoid staring at in disgusted awe.
In less than sixty seconds, 03 was carefully opening the door, wheeling his chair backwards even as he leaned forward to grasp the door handle, the gun at his back sliding downwards to settle in a more concealed position. As the metal portal swung open the tension in the room mounted to a fevered pitch, almost tangible in its intensity. When the person on the other side was fully visible, the three men in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief.
It was just the son of one of the terra farmers, Benadas, standing on the other side of the doorway. He held bags of supplies nervously in his hands, swinging them in his clenched fists. He twisted his wrists as he waited on them to let him in, banging the bags lightly against his thin legs.
"Come in," 04 invited, pulling the gun from behind 03 and tucking it away almost before Benadas could step inside.
A flash of brown eyes was all that betrayed the boy’s acknowledgement of the weapon. "I have this week's rations from the bosses'," the teenager chirped, continuing to pretend that he hadn't noticed the flicker of harsh metal in the low light. "How've you guys been holding up down here? I don't see how you can stand it, all cooped up in the middle of this hot little pit of machinery all the damn time."
05 shrugged. "You get used to it."
"I suppose you can get used to anything if given enough motivation," Benadas responded, a dark note entering his voice.
"Have you been enjoying your schoolwork lately?" 03 asked. The boy had been having some trouble with his teachers, the result of a bit of natural rebellion combined with his high intelligence.
"Oh yes, things have gotten a lot better after I talked with you about them," Benadas responded, setting the bags down and raking a hand through his short dark hair. "Oh! And guess what? My mom's going to have a baby! Our release form is still pending, but we think they're going to let her keep it. We've been good."
"That's great," 04 replied, his gentle smile contrasting sharply with the wrinkled red scars that creased his face. Of all the things Romefeller controlled, childbirth was one of the most controversial subjects.
Suddenly 02 stepped into the room, a parody of cheerfulness featured on the stage of his countenance. "Hey, Benadas. Can I ask you something?"
05 quickly stepped forward and grabbed the other man's arm at the elbow. Something was wrong. Leaning forward and hissing into 02's ear, 05's voice was harsh and low, a hiss. "What are you doing?"
02 just shook his arm free, his eyes narrowing, the smile faltering from its allocated space. It was an eerie contrast with the continually carefree tone of voice. "Do you like your life?"
Frowning, Benadas just stood there, shock-still and instantly wary. "What do you mean?"
"Do you enjoy your life as it is?" 02 repeated. Fear and anticipation thickened throughout the room, lying heavily over each of them, stifling and smothering in its severity. "What if you could change things?"
"That depends. Are you trying to test me?" Benadas responded, panic suddenly gripping his expression. "Are you with the re-education people? If so, I don't enjoy being toyed with. I'm a loyal subject! I promise! I swear it!" The teenager's voice was shaking, and his face betrayed his abject terror.
"We're not with them," 02 spat out, his voice changing as he uttered the phrase, the last word leaving his mouth in a tone twisted by intense loathing. The emotion in that last word spoke volumes, all but flagging him as a confirmed dissident.
"Then no, I'm not happy," the boy whispered as he stared up at 02. Naked disbelief was evident on his face at the man's show of emotion. "Please don't tell anyone."
"No problem. I was just wondering," 02 responded, his voice suddenly bright and cheerful. The difference in weight and attitude from his previous words was both startling and disturbing.
"Maxwell, are you feeling okay? Have you been taking your pills?" 04 asked, his voice full of worry as he stepped towards his associate. He reverted to using a name because of the presence of an outsider. As soon as 04's face was out of the boy's line of vision, his expression went from concerned to nearly hateful in its sharp anger.
"No," 02 muttered, sensing that he had said far too much. Now he had to humble himself, play the part of the foolish incompetent so as not to give them away. It was a part he played well.
"I'm sorry about that, Benadas, he's not usually like that," 03 toned softly to the stunned boy. "I'll show you out. Feel free to come and visit us any time."
As soon as the confused teenager had been ushered out, 02 and 04 stopped their charade. Instantly three sets of eyes riveted on 02. Cringing slightly, he stepped back, colliding with the doorframe that lead to the workroom.
"Look, I was just thinking..." he started, his face twisting in slight fear at the rage burning in his colleagues’ eyes. A moment later he straightened up and glared right back at them, all but daring the other scientists to question his actions.
"What were you thinking? Come on! I want to know why you would put us at risk like that when we're so close to success!" 05's voice was livid. "We'll be finished tomorrow, why endanger us so late in the game?"
"We still need a traveler, someone to go back," 02 replied quietly, his eyes shifting up meet his associates’, one by one. "I was thinking he would be suitable option."
"Well then, why didn't you wait to consult us first? You've put us all in jeopardy because of your sudden whim," 03 stated, his voice a calming influence despite his reprimanding words.
02 sighed, then shrugged, his thin shoulders moving within his loose shirt. He closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the scars at the base of his skull. "I know. I apologize. You all know how I get sometimes. I was just struck by the idea." He lifted his bowed head, a haunted expression marking his face and making him seem much older than his 25 years. He was ancient. "Forgive me?"
"Of course," 05 rolled his eyes. "And I actually agree with your judgment on this, the boy could be a suitable subject."
"Yes, but will he agree to the consequences?" 04 asked softly, his voice hardening with resolve as he continued. "I do not think we should tell him."
"But he must be told about the deadline!" 02 protested.
"Yes, but he won't have to know what that deadline will mean," 04 responded, his voice calm. "It is the only way. Do you really think he'd agree otherwise?"
"No," 02 finally replied. "It is necessary, but it isn't right."
"None of this is," 03 added.
Outside the closed steel door, Benadas stood. His dark eyes were almost impossibly wide as he pressed his ear against the warm surface, hearing every word spoken in the room. A moment later, he pulled away and ran as fast as he could, getting as far away from the strange men as quickly as possible.
He was afraid. He didn't know what to do.
~ ~ ~ ~
A few days later the weekly news feed from the Earth and colonies was shipped in for broadcast. Reception was bad on this part of Mars and most of the mining and certain large scale farming equipment caused problems with normal communication with the nearest space colonies, never mind the Earth. Therefore the inhabitants of their little Mars colony only received news once a week. As was their ritual, the four numbered men gathered around their small vid-set to watch the decline of society on the tiny screen.
As always, the most prominent reports were on the re-education programs and their multiple successes. An update on the internment systems was included in the compilation newscast. The latest trend in the prevention of undesirable continued rebel activity was sterilization of all rebels and the abortion of any already forming infants within a female dissident's womb.
A calculated genocide. The smiling news anchor reported that amazing success had been achieved with this new "deterrent." Of course, they couldn't outright terminate any of the undesirables, public execution was too quick an escape, too easy. Romefeller felt that their subjects should be converted at any cost, even if it took years in painful rehabilitation. Of course, sometimes rehabilitation was fatal. Some losses were to be expected.
After the news program ended, 05 walked over to the vid-set and turned it off. His face was blank, but as he rotated the small dial to the off position, his fingers shook minutely. Snatching his hand back at the sight, he absently started tracing the scars on the stump of his other wrist. Silently he sat back down with the others.
"It's getting worse," 02 finally spoke, his voice full of loathing. "Killing babies. They won't execute adults, but they slaughter children before they're even born."
"Soon it won't be like that," 03 said after another quiet spell.
"Yes, the frame is finally complete," 04 added, an undecipherable light shining in his good eye, making it gleam strangely in the low light. His eye patch reflected nothing, a blank spot on his face.
"And we'll be finished as soon as we can get a traveler," 02 added. "I almost don't want to be done with this. You realize that if we succeed, we're going to probably be the cause of hundreds of thousands, millions even, not coming into existence? I know that they might be better off dead than living like this, but still... It's a heavy responsibility. And what if it doesn't work?"
05 ran his hand through his short black hair. "If it doesn't work, then we just have to find another way, and what you're worrying about wouldn't matter. But still, if only we could fight now, for ourselves..."
"But we can't. Even with the most powerful technology we could have stolen from the future, you know we'd need more than the four of us to wield it," 03 said softly, his eyes flickering down for the barest moment as he glanced at his useless, atrophied legs. "The cost of rebelling is too high for many, and those few that would fight would be almost impossible to find."
"This is the only way," 04 quietly put in, pausing for a moment, shaking his head slightly at his worrisome thoughts. "I'm nervous."
"This close to success, that is to be expected," 02 broke back into the conversation. "The build up and work has taken years, it will take a split second for the world to change for us. It's exciting. It's also terrifying. I wonder if we'll be able to feel it happen..."
A knock at the door surprised the four, but they did not startle. Moving in smooth unison, they took up their assigned positions. Within moments 03 was opening the door.
"Benadas, come in," 03 actually sounded surprised. "How long have you been standing outside?"
04's hand ghosted down to rest on the handle of the gun once again hidden between 03's back and the chair. If it was necessary, he wouldn't hesitate to kill the boy.
"Oh, just a second or two," the youth said, a smile on his face as he stepped through the doorway. "I wanted to come and talk."
"Talk?" 04 asked acidly, his hand now gripping the gun tightly, shifting it up even as 03 leaned forward, both shutting the door and freeing the weapon a bit more.
"Yeah. You said I could come and visit," Benadas responded, brown eyes wide. "Did you guys see the news?" Fear edged the boy's voice as he said the last sentence. Obviously he had a reason for coming to see them, and it had to do with the recent program.
"Yes, we did," 02 nodded as he stepped through the other doorway. Again, he had been covering the frame and telltale signs of unusual activity.
"What did you think? About the sterilization of the dissidents?" Benadas's voice was shaking now. He was obviously afraid to even ask such questions. The consequences for doubting the corporation were steep and painful; re-education was never pleasant.
"It is horrible," 03 stated plainly.
Benadas shut his eyes for a moment, opening them to look at each of the older men in turn. "Thank you. I...I agree."
"Would you like to do something about it?" 04 asked, stepping forward.
"Yes," the boy answered, his voice full of resolve. His brown eyes flickered with emotion.
"Then follow me," 02 spoke up, waving the boy forward. Nervously, Benadas stepped up to the scientist.
"How would you like to change the world? It is within your grasp to do so. You could be a...you could be...could be...be a hero," 02 said, his voice thick with emotion that hadn't surfaced in years. Clearing his throat, he placed a hand on the boy's back, leading him to the covered frame. In one quick motion he unveiled it.
"Wow..." Benadas gazed at the machine, his eyes coming to rest on the flickering translucent energy in the center of the silicon doorway. "Um...What is it?"
"A gate through time," 05 answered from the doorway. The other three scientists had followed them into the room but were keeping their distance. The shock to their traveler's system would be lessened if he were not overwhelmed by their presence. Better to leave 02 to do most of the explaining. That way the boy could look his instructor in the eye. Rarely did anyone look at the other three anymore, their scars and handicaps always a cause for uneasiness. Invisibility was earned with their most noticeable features.
"How?" Benadas asked, his voice soft as he ran an index finger over the edge of the frame, touching the cool metal in an almost reverent manner.
"That's not important. It took a long time, and it was very difficult. The important thing is that this is a ticket to the past. We have a mission for someone, and we want that someone to be you. If you change the past, you change the future, and then you'll be free from the tyranny of Romefeller," 02 spoke, weaving a spell with his soft words. Benadas looked fascinated, gazing up into the chiseled face of the scientist.
"Free?" The youth whispered, his voice trembling on the verge of tears. Thousands of emotions fought each other on his face before he managed to get control of himself. "I can't believe it's possible. I don't remember being free, not ever. Why are you asking me, of all people, to do this?"
"Just look at us," 04 responded bitterly as he gestured to himself and the two scientists on either side of him. "We are unable."
"I'm just not strong enough anymore," 02 answered as the youth's gaze turned to him, his voice defeated.
"Besides, we already had our chances when we were your age. We failed. Now we're giving you your own chance to do what we could not," 05 spoke up quietly.
"Will you save the world for us?" 02 asked after a short silence.
The silence was thick in the room, 02's question hanging in the air like a living echo. The soft crackling of energy in the center of the frame only added to the explosive atmosphere, and time seemed to slow as four men stared at the teenager before them. The air rippled with heat. The world was focused completely on one small boy, and the child knew it. Indecision and doubt was clear on the youth's face, but he took a deep breath and closed his eyes after only a moment. Then he spoke calmly, a newfound maturity coloring his statement.
"Yes," Benadas answered, the word floating from his mouth and through the air. The affirmation hit the ears of the tired men like a cooling balm, washing over them and restoring a tiny bit of their hope with the sound of the three letters strung together. Everything was going work out.
"Can you come back tomorrow? We need to proceed with this as soon as possible," 02 was finally able to say, his voice breathless with excitement.
Benadas nodded. "You want me to go that quickly?"
"You'll only be gone a split second in our time," 02 said gently, still trying to convince the boy.
"Okay, I'll be back tomorrow, after lunch," Benadas responded, nodding again. "Thank you for this chance."
As the door closed behind the boy, they all breathed deeply, calming themselves. That had gone almost too well. They would cease to exist in less than twenty-four hours, but the only emotion that surfaced was extreme relief.
They were so tired. Soon it would all be over. Soon it would all be done...all over again.
This was it. It had to be.
~ ~ ~ ~
The next morning the scientists rose early, getting together everything that their traveler would need for his journey. Long dead emotions surfaced and were quietly forced back down as they moved around each other, each completing their own task in a way that coordinated with the actions of the others so closely that it almost appeared to be part of an intricate dance. Efficiency and group awareness was evident, the closeness that could only be achieved by spending years working with each other. Hours before Benadas was to arrive for his briefing and his jaunt through time, they were finished with their preparations. Checking and rechecking done, all they had left to do was wait.
Gathering together in the tiny living room, they were silent as they listened to the sounds the air filtration machinery made, the clicks and wheezes so loud that they could be heard through the walls. Lately it seemed incredibly futile to bother with their menial job. In a few short hours they would not exist, and neither would those particular machines. What was the point?
So they sat. They waited. An hour passed.
"Something about this feels wrong," 04 suddenly said, his voice breaking the intense hush that had flooded their senses.
"You're nervous," 05 spoke, not judging his associate's mood, just observing.
"No, something else," 04 argued. "I just can't put my finger on it. Something is wrong here."
02 stood up and strode into the next room. Soft rustling could be heard as he moved aside the cover that hid the frame. "Everything appears to be in working order."
A ghost of a smile flickered across 03's face, gone almost before it could be observed. "You used to get weird feelings all the time, remember?"
04 looked sharply at the crippled man. "The past is now dead to me. Please don't mention it in the few hours I have left. We are changing all that."
"I'm sorry," 03 replied calmly. "I did not mean to upset you."
"I know. I must be feeling...guilty," 04 replied, his eye softening slightly. "I forgot what that felt like. I haven't felt at all in a long time."
02 snorted. "Benadas cannot know the reason for his deadline. You were right, we don't have a choice. Emotions are only obstacles in the mission. Left alone, we have no choice but to surrender ourselves to our goals, our resistance. In doing so we will save everyone."
"But we have lost ourselves," 05 concluded. He cradled his stump to his chest.
"So be it," 02 spoke, his voice cold like hardened ice on a steel blade. Of all the scientists, he was the most jaded, the most bitter. Whatever had happened to him in that Oz compound had changed him completely. His conniving stealth and razor sharp wit had only strengthened, but his psyche had never returned.
While 04 had also changed, he knew that every bit of it had come from his own remorse and self-loathing after he had been scarred. Shame and guilt threatened to overwhelm him, so he had let himself be twisted rather than lose his mind. 05 had found a purpose, but lost himself...and he knew it. 03 had nowhere left to turn, and his entire upbringing had prepared him enough that although he was indeed sorrowful, he was neither bitter nor twisted. The most calm and most balanced out of all of them, if not for 03 they would have lost their cause in their own bitterness long ago. But as it was, nothing could pull 02 from the line of extreme anger and cynicism he toed daily. Almost insane in his focus on the project, the mission, he had become a machine.
Conversation had ground to a halt, so they continued to sit in their own respective worlds, enjoying their last moments of existence with private introspection. Skipping lunch, deeming it unnecessary by unspoken agreement, there was no movement or noise until a tentative knock sounded at their door, jolting them from their private reveries.
Moving once again in their coordinated pattern, they answered the door. Benadas hurried in, a small pack slung over his shoulder, his face a mask of many emotions tumbling together and fighting for dominance.
"Hello. What am I going to do?" The youth asked, getting straight to the point as they lead him into the room that housed the frame. He sat his pack down with the utmost care.
"This is a brain modifier, meant to mold memories to suit your needs. You will need to use it to erase the memory of your arrival and presence for everyone you meet in more than passing. You'll press this button, and a small piercing whistle will sound and basically do all the work for you. It was, er, is used in the future to repair mental damage done by traumatic experiences. Touch here with the pad of your thumb," 02 instructed, holding the small device out for Benadas to hold.
The boy took the device and carefully placed his thumb on it as instructed, yelping when it extracted a tiny slice of tissue when he touched it. "What was that for?"
"So that your own memories won't be erased. It is a specialized machine and can only be operated by you. There's a way to make it so other people will not be affected, but you won't need to know that. It could damage time itself if anyone remembers you being there," 02 said.
From there 02 went on to explain exactly where, when, and what Benadas would need to do in order to assure the survival of 01. By this point, everything about the plan was ingrained a thousand times over into the synapses of his brain. After a certain point, though, it would be impossible to make any concrete plans because hopefully time would have changed enough so that their information would no longer hold as the truth.
Finally the briefing was over, and Benadas stood in the center of the room, looking scared to death. He held his supplies and condensed information, holding a roll of maps tightly in one hand. For a moment he stared at the prepared energy in the frame as it flickered coolly only a few feet away, then bowed his head. A single tear escaped from one closed eye, trickling a wet path down his face.
"What's wrong?" 03 asked as he wheeling himself forward to the boy's side.
"I--" Benadas started. He gazed at them all in turn, then at the frame. He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at the small bag he had brought in and set down so carefully.
"No," 05 whispered, eyes growing wide with dawning horror as he spoke for the group.
"Yes," Benadas responded. His voice a strangled sob. "My mother--pregnant--I...I'm sorry!"
A second later the door to their living quarters literally flew in, the flimsy metal colliding noisily with the opposite wall in the next room. Good eye wide, 04 slammed the door to the small workroom they were in, only to be shoved back when it was forced open again. Men dressed in black stood in the doorway, crowding every available open space of the doorframe with the muzzles of a high-powered semiautomatic assault rifles.
Benadas, by this time, had backed into a corner, sinking to the floor and drawing his knees up to his chest. In the sudden stillness that had gripped the room after it had been invaded, 05 reached over and opened the bag the teenager had brought in. He had a little difficulty with the buckle. Finally pulling a remote listening device out of the small pouch, he just turned and looked briefly at Benadas, his eyes speaking for him. Loathing, anger, and understanding all mixed together in that one molten gaze. He set the device down beside the bag, shaking his head. It wasn't the boy's fault. Not really.
"Put your hands up and step away from that machine!" The leader of the soldiers barked as he shook his rifle for emphasis, finger moving from the trigger guard to rest on the trigger itself in one well-trained motion.
Slowly, ever so slowly, they raised their arms, moving in unison. The effect was almost as unnerving as the glances that were being tossed around between the four scientists as they communicated without speaking.
After bare seconds of this silent exchange, they exploded into action.
02 dived in the direction of the charts and schematics Benadas had dropped, scooping them up and ducking under the table, scuttling along close to the floor. Even as 02 was leaping, 03 had wheeled forward, ramming straight into the outstretched gun barrels. 05 and 04 similarly moved, essentially making themselves a combined human shield to provide 02 with some measure of cover.
The commander of the troops, the one that had spoken before, saw what they were attempting. "Stop him! He can't go through there or we're all dead! Fire!"
Even as the last word was tearing its way from his throat, his men were bringing their rifles to their shoulders and firing. Bullets torn savagely into the three in front, blood splattered in all directions as the unforgiving slugs ripped into their flesh and literally rended them apart. Death was almost instantaneous, but it wasn't quick enough to stop startled little cries of pain escaping from the lips of the dying.
They did not scream.
Benadas was sobbing and howling, covered head to toe in the splattered blood of the men. He hugged himself and wished he had never been born. The boy would have to be reprimanded for his faltering in resolve. The commander sneered in disgust even as he pumped a few more rounds into the crippled man, watching the scientist's legs dance for a moment from the impact of the bullets. The barrage continued for a moment, the fronts of the faltering bodies becoming solid masses of red.
A moment later it was over, the three dead men falling onto each other limply like slabs of bloody meat. It had taken less than ten seconds of firing to clear the obstacle, but it had been too long for the soldiers. It had been enough for the scientists.
02 was gone.
~ ~ ~ ~