“
This is where we don
’
t see eye to eye with her cause, why she isn
’
t one of us
,
and why we aren
’
t allies. We want the same thing, to change the world, but she doesn
’
t agree to our terms. She is right, a war is coming shortly and Polyhelix cannot be dealt with reasonably. They want to turn us all into mutants!
“
Until now, we thought Crimson was some daydreaming radical that could never pose a threat. We are beginning to think otherwise. She came to you because of the fact that you run Legion Nine, am I right?
”
Zarfa was wondering how long Badger would drone on for.
“
Yes, she did,
”
he replied.
“
We don
’
t know what she is planning, but it has to be big. I suspect that if she thought she could reason with us, she would have solicited us for her purposes as well. From here on out, she is our enemy. We won
’
t declare an
all-out
war on her until we know who her army is, but if an assassination attempt avails itself, then we shall strike. We can
’
t have that damaged idealist out
i
n the wild.
”
“
Okay, well, thanks for the morbid tale and all, but I don
’
t see why you brought me here unless you want me to kill her.
”
“
No, we have our own wet crew. We don
’
t need you for that. We brought you here for the same reason that she pulled you aside. We want Legion Nine to join us. You
’
ve already declared war on Faraza, which makes you an enemy of Polyhelix.
“
As you know, if you follow through with your injections, you will be able to hear the wasps and where they come from, where they go back to and hide. You will be able to go on the offensive and get what you desire. As our little friend Crimson also made you aware of was that if you go through with the injections, at any time we can flip a switch and regardless of you agreeing to our terms, you are our soldier. What we offer you is this, an agreement. You keep your free will, add your army as a separate independent army to the Psyker Scream revolution. Join us and fight for us and when the war is over, you will have a seat at our table of power. Sound good?
”
“
What about my men? If I understand right, after crushing Polyhelix
,
you plan to implement a technology that will control the masses around the world. Very few will have free will. What about my loyal soldiers? What will be their reward?
”
“
Their reward is they will get to see the day their dream comes true and Faraza is destroyed. When we do control the world…well, let
’
s face it, they can
’
t all have free will. That is reserved for the elite; however, they won
’
t know the difference.
”
“
And if I refuse this offer, what then?
”
“
Simple, you follow through on the treatments. You will have free will until the day we determine you don
’
t need it. You don
’
t follow through on the treatments and we will still let you live until our common enemy is defeated, or until you work up the nerve to try and fight us. No matter your answer, you walk out of here alive today. No sense in killing someone who is an ally, even if
he is
an inadvertent ally. I really encourage you to take our
best
offer.
”
“
I see. How can I be sure that if I follow through on the injections and take your best offer, as you put it, that I won
’
t be subjected to mind control? How can I be sure you aren
’
t lying to me?
”
“
Simple, say yes to us now and you stop the treatments. We give you a reversal nanobot that destroys the others. Then we implant you with a chip that will make you immune to the frequency that we are going to use to spark the mass controlling of the populace.
“
The frequency is
only
a first step. All it will do really is make people want a new product we are going to release. The product will be cheap enough for everyone to afford and when the two combine, they will be under our control. By the way, I am telling you this because it is inevitable; you can
’
t stop it. Not even with Legion Nine. So I am sure you see where I
’
m coming from. We are truly trying to be generous to you, Zarfa. What do you say? Join us?
”
Zarfa sat and stared at Badger a good long while.
I wish the prick would take off his damn glasses already. I know he is doing it just to bug me.
He knew Badger could read his thoughts, and he had alluded that Zax was even more skilled at it, but he didn
’
t care. He knew he was being careful to not give them anything.
“
I am going to have to respectfully decline. If you make me some mindless subservient after the war, so be it. As for now, I am unwilling to make a decision. I am also unwilling to sell out my men only to save myself. So if our business is over now, can I leave?
”
He was cool, calm, controlled. Badger
’
s cheeks were red, and Zarfa knew if he had his glasses off, he would see an annoyed look in those eyes of his. Zarfa could tell by the disposition of the other two that their plan had not worked the way they hoped. Zarfa, for his part, hoped they weren
’
t lying about allowing him to leave.
“
You know we could
forcefully
implant you with a mind control device, right, and send you on your merry way, don
’
t you?
”
questioned Badger,
trying to remain calm
.
“
Yeah, I know. You said you wouldn
’
t. You said you would let me leave unhindered. I questioned why that might be when you told me,
and then
I realized something…
”
Zarfa paused for a long while, making sure to think random things so they couldn
’
t discern what he was going to say.
“
And what was that? What did you realize?
”
“
That you wouldn
’
t have a clue how to contact Legion Nine. Only I know that. They are secretive and hide other than when there are raids from the Faraza. If you controlled me now, my return wouldn
’
t be natural. I wouldn
’
t contact them the way I always do, the way that you don
’
t know. You can
’
t control me. That is what I figured out.
”
Badger removed his glasses as he stared down Zarfa with a look of befuddlement mixed with rage and a
ggravation.
Even with all of the tricks up his sleeve, he still couldn
’
t best Zarfa, and Zarfa knew that got under his skin.
“
How are you doing this?
”
Badger
’
s voice blared in his mind.
His reaction only confirmed Zarfa
’
s hunch. Zarfa leaned back and smiled a bit in the satisfaction that he had found a way to beat the odds. He always had, and he always would. Folding his hands behind his head, he let out a sigh of mocking boredom.
“
So, gentlemen, how about a ride back down town? I need to get my stuff then I
’
m going home.
”
Badger sent mental orders and before he knew it, Zarfa was being escorted back outside. They got him in a hovercraft and took him back to where they had picked him up as if nothing had happened. Several hours had passed and it was late in the day. Zarfa was hungry and near broke.
He began walking back to his house, relieved he was still alive. He was also happy to have gotten rid of the Psyker Scream freaks; he knew in his gut, though, it wouldn
’
t be the last he saw of them. He replayed Badger
’
s story of Crimson in his mind over and over and wished he had probed more into what exactly Crimson
’
s plan was.
He felt bad for her; he wished she had never gone through what Badger described. But Zarfa didn
’
t feel she was broken; he just felt that she truly saw the world. He wished he had listened to her better, but he still wasn
’
t sure if he would ally himself to her cause.
That night, after returning home to get his things, Zarfa boarded an underground rail back to Ilyeion. He had only a backpack full of belongings and he felt it best for him to bring the next four rounds of injections with him. He would be home in a matter of two days. He would be greeted by his men, and he would have to make a decision, one they would be a part of.
I
’
ve got to warn her about Badger. I
have
to tell her what happened. Hopefull
y
, I am out of their range and they won
’
t hear me. I
’
ll be their mortal enemy for sure then.
He looked around and came to the realization he should have thought about it sooner. He didn
’
t have the number for her com-
link;
neither did he have the number for Max
’
s. He could look it up on the interface, but there wasn
’
t one anywhere on the train. It would have to wait until he reached Ilyeion.
* * * *
“
He
’
s coming back home,
”
said Ghast, sounding annoyed and relieved at the same time.
“
Father? Why is he coming back to Ilyeion?
”
asked Sarah.
“
Not your father, Zarfa.
”
“
This is good news. He should be easy to take into captivity then.
”
“
How do you propose? The plan was to get him a
t
Alexandria
when he was by himself. He is on a train headed back right now. The intelligence came in too late to deploy an interception team. Our only chance will be to pick him up at the train station. After that, he will be reunited with his troublesome army and we have had little success taking any of them in any other way than corpses.
”
“
True, they seem to fight like the berserkers of ancient Norse mythology. They don
’
t care if they die. In fact, they
’
d rather die than be taken alive. He seems to fight better than all of them and even worse, he is always surrounded by his elite guard when they face us on the field of battle.
”
“
So as I said, our only chance is at the train station, right when he gets off the train. It will be tricky. In fact, we should
call it a massacre and take whoever is in the station, kill those who put up too much resistance, and try to minimize losses by using…them.
”
Sarah thought about it for
a while
. She stared at Ghast, trying to figure out if he was serious.
“
They are ready? I thought it hadn
’
t been perfected yet.
”
“
It
’
s close; we have some early prototypes that respond well to commands. They aren
’
t optimal. In all reality, they are somewhat failed experiments so we need to dispose of them anyway. Any that we lose will help us with that.
”
“
Are they able to execute a capture command or are they too unruly still?
”
“
Ugh… How did I know you were going to ask that? It is about a twenty
-
eighty split. Twenty percent of the time they go insane and do whatever they please. Eighty percent of the time they execute their commands exactly. The genetic coding needs to be refined a little bit better to make them more subservient. However, they are the best soldiers we currently have. They are strong and fast. Their eyesight is unmatched; the tentacles have progressed nicely on this round of creation and escaping their grasp would be near impossible. Even for him. Also, they are able to blind with their ink.
”