Chaos Theory – Chapter 16

Observations

2020, 30 miles north of Seattle , Washington – Manticore Facility

494 was ushered into a large room. Colonel Lydecker was already seated next to Director Renfro. The large conference table was surrounded by Manticore’s Board of Directors, a handful of trainers and some medical personnel. 494 had gone through this before and he knew what was in store for him.

Suppressing shudders as his eyes wandered around the room, 494 took in the stony face of the Colonel, the Director’s cold eyes and sly smile, and the blank stares of the others present. Then his eye lit on a woman at the back of the room, standing off to the side. She was cloaked in a white lab coat and was holding a brown case file between her arm and stomach. She nodded slightly at him. 494 stopped and stared.

Manticore’s directors, and in general all personnel, never showed any positive facial expressions towards the soldiers. Manticore policy was to treat its soldiers with indifference or hostility, so the nod and slight smile 494 saw on the technician’s face took him aback.

Colonel Lydecker opened the meeting. “X5-494, I’ve read your mission report and I must say I’m disappointed with how everything turned out.”

Renfro’s eyes sparkled maliciously as she spat at Lydecker. “I warned you they needed simplification, Donald! These soldiers are ticking time bombs; one day this project will blow up in our faces, and all because of them.”

Lydecker silenced her with a glare. He flipped open the file in front of him and one by one, everyone in the room did the same. From his position at the head of the table, 494 could see the evaluation. They had already made their decision regarding him before having heard his explanations. He sighed mentally. He was going to Psy-Ops again.

“494, would you like to explain yourself? How did 714 end up captured by the enemy?” Lydecker looked stern, but not quite as angry as he might have been.

“Permission to speak freely, sir?” 494 requested, eyes forward, his face composed in the blank mask all the soldiers wore. Lydecker nodded to him.

“714 went into heat, sir. As I was unable to isolate her from the others, I…took care of the situation the way I thought best.”

Lydecker eyed him carefully. “Oh, so you felt that putting off the mission to copulate with 714 was the best way to resolve the situation, 494?”

“No sir. I knew that if I didn’t step in, the others would fight for her and the possibility of injured soldiers under my command at such a crucial point could have compromised the mission, sir.” 494 took a breath before continuing. “I stepped in because I knew they would not fight me, sir.”

“I see,” the Colonel rubbed his jaw and looked thoughtfully at the soldier standing before him. He knew the boy was right and he had deflected a potentially disastrous situation but the results were the same. 714 had been captured, leading to 818 having been sacrificed.

Renfro’s voice was icy as she addressed 494. “You state in your report that X5-664 compromised the mission and was responsible for 714’s capture. Would you elaborate please?”

494 stared straight ahead and spoke in a flat tone. “664 sabotaged our ambush attempt. 714 became aware of this and went to fix the charges. The enemy caught her.”

Renfro’s eyes narrowed. “Why would he do such a thing?”

Lydecker turned to the woman beside him and snorted in disgust. “Elizabeth, we have already received reports regarding 664’s behavior in the past. It’s quite obvious why he did it. We’ve implemented your simplification program. 664 will be the first test subject.”

Lydecker faced the X5. “494.” 

The young soldier’s eyes locked with the Colonel’s. “Yes sir?”

“While it is obvious that you tried to protect your Second in Command, and we are willing to overlook the fact that you delayed the mission during the unfortunate occurrence, the mission was messy and we lost one of our top soldiers. I hereby recommend to the board, that you spend a period of 2 weeks in Psy-Ops for evaluation and psychological testing. You will accompany Dr. Sukova for a quick medical and then report to the Psy-Ops lab on level 3. You are dismissed.”

494’s heart caught in his throat and fear flashed in his eyes for a brief moment. He knew that Colonel Lydecker had given him the minimum time period for Psy-Ops evaluation and he was grateful. Had it been Renfro, he’d have likely been sent in for months. She was sadistic and hateful that way.

The white coated woman who had smiled at him earlier stepped forward. “I’m Dr. Sukova. Follow me.” 

494 fell in line and walked in silence beside her. She glanced at him every now and then, taking note of his handsome face and well proportioned body. He was strong; it showed in the muscles that rippled under the thin fabric of his t-shirt and she wondered at the abilities of the young man. His file was impressive and he was said to be the best soldier Manticore had produced. She shook her head slightly, saddened that this young man was to be subjected to the mental and physical tortures of Psy-Ops. She meant to help him.

494 felt her eyes on him and snuck a glance in her direction. The woman’s face was pensive and sad. She turned to look at him then, and caught his gaze. He looked away quickly.

They reached the door of the infirmary and she stood aside to let 494 enter, following behind and shutting the door securely.

She whirled to face the young man and spoke softly. “I’d like to make a cursory examination of you and then we’ll talk.”

494’s eyes shot to her face. He couldn’t hold back the surprise at her unexpected statement. What would they talk about?

Dr. Sukova smiled as she caught the look on his face. “Don’t worry, 494. I won’t bite. I want to help you. But I need to know everything I can about you in order to do so. Please undress.”

494 shed his clothing. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the sympathetic look she flashed him, her eyes were kind. 494, who was usually so wary of Ordinaries, felt strangely drawn to the woman. He decided to risk it.

“Dr. Sukova? What do you mean by wanting to help and why?” He climbed onto the examination table and laid down.

The woman grinned, her smile reaching her eyes. “Please, call me Hannah.” She bent over him, beginning her examination.

494’s breath hitched and his eyes widened in recognition. “You’re Hannah? The Hannah, who supplies the X5s with -“

She silenced him with a finger to his lips. Her eyes darted around wildly and she lowered her voice before answering. “Yes. I am. I’m also the one who is going to give you enough pills to dull the physical pain of Psy-Ops. I only wish I could do more.” Her eyes were sad as she looked at him.

494 understood. He spoke in a low voice as he enquired further. “Why do you care? The trainers and guards are human and they look at us like filth. What makes you different?”

She smiled gently. “My father was a minister. He preached of love for all creatures and creations. I grew up on that. Every being deserves respect. You’re no different to me.”

494 flashed her a smile of gratitude. He’d heard stories of this woman; she was legendary among the X series. An angel undercover in hell.

“Right, let’s get you set up.” Hannah handed 494 a small envelope of pills. “They won’t search you as you leave straight from here for Psy-Ops in a hospital issue robe. Slip this under the bandage on your shoulder. That should be safe. The electrodes and probes are placed in more,” she bit her lip, pain pinching her pleasant features, “vulnerable areas.”

494 shuddered visibly this time, and swallowed hard. The guard was approaching and time was up. He reached out and gripped Hannah’s hand. “Thank you,” he whispered. 

She handed him a robe which he donned quickly. Hannah ruffled his hair lightly and pushed him toward the door. “Good luck, 494.”

494 followed the guard down the hall, deep in thought. He’d been lucky that Hannah had been on duty today. He knew Psy-Ops would be a hellish experience no matter what, but having painkillers would make things bearable.

494 stopped short, gasping involuntarily as two medics dragged a badly beaten girl down the hall by her hair. She was fighting, flailing her legs and gnashing her teeth, screaming curses that made 494 blush, and he’d heard some nasty sailor-talk in his time. The girl was rewarded with tazer prods for her efforts and finally fell limp.

“Eyes front, 494!” the guard shouted, poking him in the back with his baton. 494 turned away from the sight and put one foot in front of the other. 

Who was she?