After his fourth training program, Taylor stopped to breathe for a moment. Fading generated training opponents littered the floor of his gym, a testament to the rate at which he’d completed all four routines. Each was of a different kind, a different type of monster to test his skills, to concentrate his thoughts on anything other than the blonde.
For a moment, he considered a shower, but that was a mortal habit and he had no need of it. He wasn’t mortal, he wasn’t weak, he had none of their frailties. He was above that, he was beyond the point where anything could hurt him. He was better than that.
Better than the man who had lost against something that shouldn’t have existed.
One requirement refreshed himself, clearing the sweat from his body, another had him in his formal uniform, the unfamiliarity of the suit making him uncomfortable. It was far too constricting, the tie served no purpose, and it was much harder to weave in harm-resistant thread into something that looked like a business shirt than it was to strengthen a decent military jacket.
Still, he had no intention of approaching him in anything less than formal dress. It wouldn’t have been right.
He accessed his temporary top-access controls and shifted himself into the Director’s office.
The director made no move to welcome him, to ask about the intrusion or to ask for a status report. The director simply sat there, his head resting on his desk, his breathing slow and regular. No change from the last time he’d seen him, no change in the last fifty years, not that any was expected. There was no expectation for him to wake up, but the hope remained anyway.
‘Reynolds,’ he said as he approached the desk, far too aware of the sounds his suit was making. ‘Sir?’
Director Reynolds said nothing, his eyes staring across at some point on the far wall.
‘He’s done it again,’ he said. ‘You would never have let this happen.’
The Director made a small groan, shifted his head a little, and began to drool.
‘It’s a dilution of what we are,’ he said as he rounded Reynold’s desk. ‘You need to stop it.’
He lifted the Director away from the desk, wiped away the drool with the handkerchief in his pocket – likely the only advantage of wearing the suit, and gently placed the older agent back down. A simple requirement replaced Reynold’s dust-covered suit with a clean one.
‘He’s done you nothing but disservice. You should have chosen me.’
The catatonic director still remained silent.
‘You should have chosen me!’ he screamed.
Reynolds began to drool again.
‘Make him go in your place. You need to come back. Someone else can pay the price now.’
An alarm sounded in his mind, and he was shifted from the director’s office back to his own. His temporary controls were gone, he was no longer in charge, he again under the direction of a man who didn’t deserve the privilege of leading.
One quick requirement had him back into comfortable clothes. One quick shift had him in front of his “commanding officer”. Ryan still looked pale, not nearly as sickly as he had on the roof when all of this had started, but still less than adequate. Ryan had taken back directorial control, and he still wasn’t dressed yet.
The lab was quiet, and the regeneration tub was slowly receding back into the floor, and Ryan was leaning against a bench, slowly buttoning up his shirt. Dressing himself like a mortal. Dressing himself like a human would. Ryan looked across at him, and said nothing as he finished buttoning up his shirt.
He watched as the field agent required his vest, and slipped into it, still silent, still offering no explanation or apology. No reason as to why he was willing to repeat a mistake.
He wanted to hurt Ryan. He wanted to kill him, but the anger was old…an older, deeper anger than that which had nearly made him kill the scholar. There wasn’t much to be said that hadn’t been said before. Ryan would have the same answers he always had. The same reasons he always used. The same excuses for being a poor example of an agent.
There were so many things to say, but one question seemed most important. One question that actually had the potential to make the other agent stop and think.
‘What use will it be?’
Ryan finished tying his tie, tucked it into his vest, then looked up. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Your recruit,’ he said, his calm surprising him again. ‘Of what use will it be?’
‘She will-’
‘What did it ever do to deserve this? It had no talent, or skill, or-’
‘You signed off on it,’ Ryan said as he put on his jacket, ‘you can’t argue it now.’
‘It’s a liability.’
‘So were you.’
A thought summoned Magnolia. He turned his head to look at her, and he easily ignored her state of incomplete dress, her open corset that barely covered her breasts, the fading bruises on her pale skin, and the lines of fine muscle definition. All unimportant, ignored.
‘On your knees,’ he ordered his recruit. With a sharp nod, she was on her knees in front of him, an expectant look on her face. His next thought had a gun in his hand, and he was pleased to see that she didn’t flinch.
‘Don’t!’ he vaguely heard Ryan shout.
He pulled the trigger twice, one bullet slamming into her shoulder, the second lodging itself into her knee. He ignored the field agent’s damning of him, and looked down at his bleeding recruit, who was staying upright despite the blood and despite the pain. Neither would last very long, this wasn’t a test of her ability, just a demonstration.
‘Recruit guidelines, from page one, now,’ he ordered.
‘Recruit handbook, version 85.1.5, current to all recruitments up to and including October 2009, according to the standard calender,’ she began, dropping the injured shoulder a little to alleviate some of the pain.
‘Get her medical attention, now,’ he heard Ryan order.
He turned to face him. ‘No.’
‘Damn you, she’s-’
‘A real recruit,’ he said, cutting the other man. ‘This is what they are. They are tools to be use, at our discretion, for whatever we wish, however we wish. They signed up for this, they fight, they die, that is their entire purpose.’
‘Version changes to this document include-’ Magnolia continued, trying to keep the pain from her voice.
He took a step toward Ryan, and looked down on the shorter agent. ‘This is what a recruit should be able to do. You’re weak, your recruits are weak, and this experiment…she won’t pass the limit testing, I won’t let her pass the limit testing. Do everyone a favour, and end this now.’
‘No.’
‘You’re creating another Whitman.’
Ryan’s face went impassive. ‘And I killed Carol, didn’t I? I’m sorry that it wasn’t before she attacked you, I’ve apologised a thousand times, I cannot make up for what she did, we brought you back, we tried, we did all we could.’
‘You-’
‘I killed Carol,’ Ryan said again. ‘I did what I had to do. Compared to that…killing Stef would be easy.’
‘A mistake that you-’
‘This discussion is over,’ Ryan said, turned, and shifted away. .
‘-pertaining to the second-’ Magnolia continued to recite.
‘When the Parkers finish with you,’ he said to his recruit, ‘finish your report on the experiment.’
‘Yes sir.’
‘And read the associated files, you have access now.’
‘Yes sir.’
He shifted her to the infirmary, leaving him alone in the lab with only her bloodstain and the silence of an unoccupied room – the same silence there had been after the mad Whitman had gone into a room full of recruits, and walked out of a room full of bodies.
He immediately shifted to his recruits’ gym, and began to shout orders at the well-trained soldiers, ordering them into formations. A pointless exercise, other than its inherent value to test their readiness. But noise, any noise, even useless noise, was better than being alone and frightened.
hehe.. he IS scared! I knew it XD
He has a lot of fears, girls, blondes, kitites…ok, maybe not kitties. 😛
…, no change in the last fifty years, not that any was expected.
‘You should have chosen me!’ he screamed.
‘Make him go in your place. You need to come back. Someone else can pay the price now.’
‘Of what use will it be?’
‘I killed Carol,’ Ryan said again. ‘I did what I had to do. Compared to that…killing Stef would be easy.’
–> double lie (or actually triple)
But noise, any noise, even useless noise, was better than being alone and frightened.
This period will be very hard for Taylor, i can see, the poor little lamb…
–> double lie (or actually triple)
Only a very few people actually know what he did with Carol. But even so…offing Stef would be easier than never seeing his girl again, so it’s not quite a lie.
This period will be very hard for Taylor, i can see, the poor little lamb…
Yeah, but there’s plenty of blood and violence, so that makes up for it a little. 😛
Is Taylor actually afraid of Stef, or of the idea that Stef might become Carol#2?
And poor Mags… but hey, she’s used to that >_>
…Stef, with her shiny little heart, has the potential to be a hell of a lot more dangerous, so there is that (rational) fear, but most of it is just the irrational fear that there’s a crappy sequel on its way. >_>
And poor Mags… but hey, she’s used to that >_>
Two bullets, one compliment, it’s worth it. ^_^
a crappy sequel on its way. >_>
… i’m sure is not going to happen, right? … RIGHT???!!!
…I’m not that cruel. Stef’s amount of crazy is going to stay just about where it is. 😛
while Carol snapped and went insane, with some rather nasty fallout, Stef already is insane, and won’t snap again (since the pieces are already moving independently, there won’t be much tension (for certain values of the word)), so no more (serious) fallout… 🙂
Weirdness (eh.. quirkiness?), sure, but that’s not quite as dangerous to the other agents and recruits, now is it..? 🙂
‘Course, Tyler doesn’t really know that…
…tectonic plates of sanity have already shifted as far as they’re going to go? 😛
There does remain the possibility for Stef to go crazier, but it isn’t very likely that she’ll get as crazy as Carol.
Weirdness (eh.. quirkiness?), sure, but that’s not quite as dangerous to the other agents and recruits, now is it..? 🙂
No, and is even a valued trait sometimes. 😛
Well so much for him having feeling again, and boy that must have hurt a lot for Magnolia.
Well Carol was fully human when they changed her, correct? Stef now has part of a mirror in her and has died twice now (I know, more times then that but those where when she was human). And can be taken apart and put back together again and still live, though that part really hurts at least she got use to getting offed by Taylor. So maybe that will help her when they start to put her back together again.
and boy that must have hurt a lot for Magnolia.
Yeah, but she doesn’t mind.
<_< >_>
Mags’ brain: Ow…I’m possibly bleeding to death.
Taylor: *talking*
Mags’ brain: ZOMG COMPLIMENT, meh, I can die happy now. *continues to bleed*
Well Carol was fully human when they changed her, correct?
Yup, plain old vanilla human. Died by a gunshot, no magic involved in her death.
And can be taken apart and put back together again and still live, though that part really hurts at least she got use to getting offed by Taylor. So maybe that will help her when they start to put her back together again.
And thanks to the incoming Agent-y bits, the pain factor will decrease by a whole heck of a lot, but that doesn’t take away from the mental trauma of it. -_-
And can be taken apart and put back together again and still live, though that part really hurts at least she got use to getting offed by Taylor. So maybe that will help her when they start to put her back together again.
And thanks to the incoming Agent-y bits, the pain factor will decrease by a whole heck of a lot, but that doesn’t take away from the mental trauma of it. -_-
So the possibility exist for Taylor to turn her into Carol v2.0, then she could go all Dr. Jekyll on his ass and he would deserve it. It would be ironic, and very cool.
Maybe Merlin will help with the limit testing like he helped Jonesy. I can see it now: Taylor summons a swarm of training monster and tells Stef to kill. Poof they all turn into giant gingerbread men, and Stef proceeds to demolish them, breaking Taylor’s own record for the exercise.
So the possibility exist for Taylor to turn her into Carol v2.0, then she could go all Dr. Jekyll on his ass and he would deserve it. It would be ironic, and very cool.
He has the very real chance of sending her crazy with the limit testing. -_-
Taylor summons a swarm of training monster and tells Stef to kill. Poof they all turn into giant gingerbread men, and Stef proceeds to demolish them, breaking Taylor’s own record for the exercise.
That would be completely awesome. 😀
I think Stef’s way of taking out them would be by changing them to chocolet chip cookies and then eat them. That would piss Taylor off to no end either.
…Stef, Godzilla sized and breaking apart buildings looking for cookies. >_<
…Taylor woke up and realised it had all been a very bad dream.
…then he punched a kitten.
…because he can.
But…if he punched a kitten, there’d be nothing left of the kitten. ;_;
But…if he punched a kitten, there’d be nothing left of the kitten. ;_;
It was actually a Dajulveed kitten, entirely different. In fact, the kitten won. Taylor had to spend the rest of the night in the infirmary. Mags just happen to get injured right after she found out, they spent some quality time together, him ignoring her, she drooling over him.
Of course he didn’t say it was a kitten. His report states he subdued an unidentified hostile Dajulveed creature. And he also didn’t say that by subdued, he ment it kicked his ass until it got bored and went away.
Ok, dude, you just made my day. ^_^
That’s…brilliant. Thanks for the lol. 😀 (And I read it out to share with a couple of the other people in the house).
…drooling on him.
they ran out of beds, you see.
…I’ve already got one drooling girl, I don’t need another. -_-
I don’t worry about Stef’s future. I know she and Ryan are going to retire and have lots and lots of babies and 12 fat little grandkids. *nods sagely* Word of Stormy.
(By the way, Stormy, do you know MeiLin?)
>_>
I think I may have been joking about the 12 fat grandkids. 😛 Wasn’t that in the same post when I said Taylor was going to take over the Agency? >_< There will be fat children one day, I can't say who they'll belong to, but I do promise at least one cute, cuddly child at some future point in the MV. (And not personally, we've been around a couple the same boards, I've advertised on the Intimate History's PW adboxes a couple of times, that sort of thing).
that may have been how I got stranded here…
You say stranded like it’s a bad thing. ;_;
FYI: it isn’t.
You remembered me!
…
I feel like such a putz for totally going AFK. For a year. Or so.
And yay! I thought I recognized you on the boards! “Stormy” could be a pretty general sn, but it seemed like the kind of story you’d like. *Wuffle luffs Intimate History*
And OHOHOH, this song came on the radio, and even though it’s like, almost completely unrelated, it filled my little MirrorVerse loving heart with glee. I squeed all the way to work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvVOoCKjonY (Check lyrics, lollipop) ((lollipop is my word for ‘duh’ for the day))
~mikokit
Of course I remember you. 🙂 You were one of my first crazy fans (I still have the emails, remember Stef-duckie? :P).
As to the story…some other “Stormy” did a bonus story for MeiLin if that’s what you’re talking about. I’m like on Weblit.us and stuff, not the actual Intimate History boards.
*goes off to listen to song*
*listens*
*starts to rock out to The Killers*
*gets to “or dancer”*
*starts giggling*
No, unfortuantly, I don’t. I lost them when my old comp went *PUTZ!* I would appreciate it if you sent them back! (Mikokit+Gmail ((don’t want possible spam bots to pull my email, I think you are clever enough to figure it out. <3)) ) Also, yay! MirrorVerse Demon song! Hehehee.
Aww, that stormy wasn't you? Okies. Sorry for the mistaken identity.
Whoo! I am an original crazy! I dub us 'Duckies"! (Well, I guess I'm more like a lurker fan. Except now I have an account. But I never sign into it. ^__^;> )
LOVE THE NEW VERSION BY THE WAY.
~Mikokit
I shall send them back, probably later tonight. 🙂
Glad you <3 the new version. Selfishly though, I like the fact that I'm *finally* into new material. >_>