Chapter Text
NEON
The tower emerged from the low fog of the evening dusk like a haunting spirit, materializing into view through the diffuse mist, shadowless and pale. You had ridden up with the others, sitting on the back of a quad with Kyle, dressed for the weather and to meet your guests: Kate and Mara Laswell. Your wellies had come in handy in the wet grass, and you wore your sweater underneath one of Johnny’s spare raincoats, bundled as much as you could be. It still wasn’t enough. For early fall, this cold was too harsh, too biting, and much too persistent according to your poor memory. The world had changed quite a bit in its climate, and that fact made you worry perhaps even more than you did about bombs or radiation.
As you pulled up to the main door, you watched John put in the code and, one by one, you all filtered into the tower’s main atrium behind him. Just as before, a large concrete pad greeted you with a main elevator shaft in the center. You peered over the edge of the balcony, scaring yourself with the height, and you held your breath as you stared into the dark well. Red, blinking lights marked floors all the way down, and you wondered what they kept in each of these for storage. Food, you thought. Or weapons, maybe. The cryo tanks they’d mentioned were in here, somewhere. But just thinking about crawling back inside one of those icy coffins made you shiver. The idea of going into stasis again frightened you to your core.
Kyle’s hand on your arm startled you, and as you spun your head to look at him, he held you more softly. Whispering, he slid his hand down to hold yours and brought it up to his mouth, “Come on, babes.” He planted a kiss against your fingers and wrapped his other arm around your back, bringing you over to the elevator doors.
You walked in first, letting go of Kyle and moving to the back corner of the small lift. You wondered for a moment how everyone would fit inside of here, but all four men climbed in behind you, and you were immediately surrounded by their hulking, warm bodies. All the chill you had felt outside was chased away, and you couldn’t help but sigh.
“You alright, birdie? Bit of a squeeze with us, innit?” Simon kissed the top of your head, positioning his arms in front of himself to try and give you space where there was none to be had.
You shook your head, and you looped your arm through his, mumbling, “Finally warm.”
You had spent the day getting everything ready with them. Much of the preparations were already done, but you and Kyle prepped meals, you worked in the barn with Simon on some of the extra fusion cores that he had collected during their trip to Guernsey, knowing that Kate might need more for the sub’s repairs. Price had spent the morning with Johnny down at the tower, and they’d come back to collect you and the others by the time the sun was setting. It had been chilly all day, and you were dying to be inside, wrapped up and warm again.
Simon chuckled, “This is nothin’, love. Wait ‘til winter gets here; you’ll find out what cold really means.”
That didn’t sound good. Maybe you should’ve asked for warmer clothes on their last outing, you mused. But, you were sure there were plenty of things to be borrowed here and there.
As the elevator started to move, you listened to it rattle, but it was a much smoother ride than you thought it would be. You made your descent slowly and in complete silence. For some reason, the tone from the group wasn’t one of excited celebration for Laswell’s arrival.
“What’s wrong?” You whispered up to Simon. “You are all so… tense.”
Simon shrugged, looping his arm around your shoulders. “Been a while. Tha’s all.”
You got the sinking suspicion that was not, in fact, all. But, you didn’t ask again.
By the time you reached the desired floor, you were thawed out, and when the doors opened again, the cold shocked you. You were also surprised that, even though the inner door had opened, there was an outer door that also required a code. It was dark and aged; there was clearly some sort of moisture dripping from the top of it forming a kind of rusty red drip pattern on the dark grey concrete. Kyle put in the password this time, and the door lowered down instead of sliding to the side, making a loud, echoing grinding noise as it revealed the damp passage in front of you.
Lights flickered on, a golden orange glow dotting its way down the hall, and you followed the others out. When you reached a corner, you turned with them to see the small corridor open up into a huge chamber with an arched ceiling, all growing moss and algae from being so wet for so long.
In the middle of the huge space, you saw a pool of water sloshing back and forth between two concrete platforms. You were standing on one side, and you saw the same span of flat pad jutting out on the other. You couldn’t tell how deep the pool was, but it looked like you could park at least four cars across the middle without touching either side of the platform.
On the far end of the rectangular chamber, you saw two metal doors, rusted and stained. Suddenly, there was a loud cranking sound, and you turned to see Price stepping away from a computer terminal. He’d opened them. They began to slowly press outwards, swinging away from each other at the middle, pushing through the water and making waves, revealing the wide, black sea and the evening sky still steeped in the hazy fog.
But, there was no boat. No peeking top of a submarine. Nothing but the churning dark waves and the mist.
You waited for a while, staring at the open gate, but you were getting colder by the second, so you spoke aloud, “How long until she arrives?”
Price answered you in a low tone. “She’s already here.”
As if on cue, bubbles began to form in the center of the pool in front of you, and you watched as the fin of the submarine broke through the water’s surface and grew taller and taller as the enormous craft ascended. The waves began to rock and to break, causing a chaotic din of sound and activity in the chamber. You felt your heart begin to pound, and were it not for the calm demeanor of the men around you, you might have stepped back into the corridor to escape from the strangeness of what you were seeing.
It was huge; way bigger than what you wanted it to be, and the size made you very uneasy. You weren’t sure that it was actually going to fit in the pool that you had thought was so wide. The ship was painted matte black, and it blended in with the pool until you weren’t really sure where the water ended and the submarine began. Water kept pouring off of the high fin and splashing in the middle of the pool until finally, you saw the long body of the sub emerge from the depths. Behind it, the metal doors of the chamber began to close, and the waves slowly came back to a normal sort of rhythm.
Then, you were back to waiting. You stared at the sub with an uneasy sort of feeling in your belly, watching for any signs of movement. Finally, you heard a metallic sort of thud and saw the hatch pop open. A long arm pushed up and out until, at last, a woman’s head emerged from it, smiling wide. Then, her face immediately fell into a frown.
“You grew out the beard.”
John immediately put a hand up to his chin and ran his fingers down his face, a guilty expression in his eyes.
“I hate it.” She glared at him, the frown twisting into a look of disgust.
“We hate what?” A voice with a strong accent came from below her, echoing out of the hatch.
The woman called down towards her feet, “John grew out his beard. It looks awful.”
“Alright, alright.” John grumbled, “Get the hell out of there, Katie, before I send you back where you came from.”
Kate Laswell. She didn’t look how you’d imagined her. She was pale, her hair a short-cropped ashy blonde, and her eyes were sharp and grey like a wolf’s, her intelligence and cunning clear in her gaze. She was older than the others, and you could see the defined wrinkles on the sides of her mouth and between her brow, years of worry etched into her expression permanently. Wearing a navy jumpsuit, unmarked and without any branding, the woman seemed exceedingly clean and neat given the state of the world. Her body looked thin but capable, and you watched her appraise you for a moment before she looked back at John.
Kate’s face morphed back into a wide smile and he returned it, shoving his hands in his pockets as he watched her climb out of the hull. Then, Kyle and Simon moved to the center of the platform and pulled a set of metal stairs up from the side which you hadn’t noticed. Kate grabbed the other end and hooked them onto the rail of the submarine, securing it into place.
She returned to the hatch and began pulling things up out of the hole; bags, crates, more bags, and four large, very heavy, metallic orbs. You could hear the clunk of them as they landed on the hull. Kate laid it all out on the top of the craft, staged to be brought up the stairs. Then, she reached into the dark one more time and pulled out another person.
Except, it wasn’t a person. Well, not entirely. She had skin on her hands, but her forearms were made of a shining sort of metal. You could see straight through part of the bone-shaped titanium where the light passed between the colored wires and cables. Then, she had flesh again. Finally, when she turned her face towards you and the men, she smiled wide, and you couldn’t really tell what you were looking at. She was wearing a matching jumpsuit to Kate, but hers was a bright, friendly, marigold color. Her eyes were gleaming in the dark, shining beneath a blunt-cut black bang, and they were so yellow that your gaze stuck to them.
She saw you staring, and you watched as her expression darkened into worry. Scrambling out onto the hull, she stood beside Kate and spoke to her quietly, but the acoustics of the chamber amplified her voice.
“They didn’t tell her!”
“Didn’t tell her what?” Kate asked, her volume lowering to match the other woman’s.
“About us.” Her voice was tinny and thin, and the way she pronounced the word us sounded more like she would rhyme it with juice than with fuss.
“Really, John?” Kate put her hands on her hips as she stared up at him.
“What?” He called back, a bit indignant.
“You didn’t give the girl a heads up she’d be meeting a synth?”
John cursed under his breath, and you watched him shift his eyes to you and then back to Kate. “Bloody hell… I forgot. I’m sorry.”
“We are Mara!” The woman called to you, looking at you with a cheerful expression as she pointed to herself. “It’s nice to meet you. What’s your name?”
“Uh,” you tried to be polite even though every hair was standing up on your neck, “I… don’t know.” The animal instinct in your bones did not like the jerkiness of Mara’s movements.
“Oh,” she covered her mouth. “That’s okay.” Then, she whispered to Kate again, but you could still hear her, “This isn’t going very well.”
“It’s alright, c’mon.” Kate bent down to get a few of the bags and started passing them in a line up to Johnny, Kyle, and Simon.
Price was at the end of the chain, and he set Kate’s belongings to the side on the platform where you were standing. Finally, the only things remaining were the four metal orbs. They were sort of a brassy color, and although they shined more than the body of the submarine, they weren’t polished or gleaming.
As Kate and Mara reached down to touch them, you saw that they flipped hidden switches, bringing the orbs to life. They unfolded appendages and what looked like round eye stalks from their round bodies, the green lights on their arms blinking, the boosters beneath them flashing as they righted themselves.
Johnny was on the lowest step, and he whistled low, “Creepin’ Jesus. You’ve outdone yourselves with these.”
“They’re for you, Sergeant,” Kate said, looking at the robots proudly.
“No! You cannae be serious.” Johnny beamed with excitement.
“A promise is a promise. A shepherd bot, a med bot, and two patrols. Well, one patrol and one work in progress,” she stared at one of the robots on the end, watching it as it moved a little more sluggishly than the rest.
“Fantastic,” Johnny sighed happily, looking up at Price who nodded back down to him.
“C’mon. Let’s get up to the house,” Price commanded.
Then, the boys grabbed the bags and crates, and you managed to snag a small tote, stealing it out from under Simon’s hand, earning a very disgruntled look from him.
“I can help,” you said quietly, cutting your eyes up at him and expecting his wrath.
But, he didn’t protest. He just shouldered his own load and gave you a small grin, amused at your miniscule effort. You made it to the elevators first, and when Simon climbed in behind you, there wasn’t really room for anyone else. So, Johnny loaded his bags in front of Simon and waved you off, leaving you alone with the tall man and most of Kate’s gear as the doors slid closed.
“Bastard,” Simon snorted, staring down at Johnny’s abandoned burden and pressing the up button on the lift.
As soon as the elevator began its slow crawl upwards, Simon dropped his own bags and turned towards you, pulling you into a rough, claiming kiss. The feeling of his hot mouth against yours shocked you. It came out of nowhere, and other than the small bit of affection he’d shown you on the ride down, you hadn’t anticipated such passion.
You kissed him back once the initial surprise wore off, dropping your own bag and wrapping your arms around his waist.
“Mmngh…” He groaned, pressing his hips against yours, sandwiching you between his hard body and the steel wall of the lift. “Been achin’ to do that all bloody day.”
You scoffed, “Liar. I’m dressed like we live in Siberia. Not sexy.”
“Who’s lyin’ now?” He kissed you again, snaking his hand up into your hair so that he could control your head, pulling you away and baring your neck, trailing hot little bites down the side and giving you a different sort of chill.
“Simon…”
“Don’t give a fuck how you’re dressed, love. I know wha’s underneath.”
The lift came to a shuddering stop and only then were you released back under your own control. You gasped, smiling up at him, and he left you with a soft press of his lips in the middle of your eyebrows. “Pretty bird.”
You rolled your eyes, bending down to grab the bag you’d dropped, “Yeah, right.”
“Don’t believe me?” He chuckled, tossing out the crates and bags one by one as the lift doors opened. “You’re fit under all those layers, and now that I’ve seen you, it’s like I’ve got x-ray vision. Can’t keep myself fuckin’ contained.”
“Well,” you sighed, dragging out a particularly heavy crate that Simon had been lugging around with only one arm, “You’re gonna have to try. We have company. I need to make a good impression.”
Simon pulled out the last of the bags and sent the lift back down to pick up its next load, and he turned to you with his hands on his hips, a lustful look painted on his face.
“When’s our second date, then? Tonight. Your bed or mine?”
You couldn’t help but smile at his hunger, but you still weren’t confident about what was allowed and what wasn’t. He could see you hesitating, and he put his hands on his hips, shrugging, “Or not, birdie. It’s alright, I just –”
“I mean, I just don’t want to… upset the balance.” You tried to joke about it, but he wasn’t laughing.
“Told you I talked to him. He won’t get in our way.” Simon didn’t need to say John’s name in order for you to know he was talking about his captain. He reached out to you and wrapped you in his arms, letting out a long breath. “Johnny’s achin’ for you, love. Keeps askin’ me to kiss and tell.”
“Is Mara… alive?” You asked, the question burning through your mind.
“Don’t change the subject,” Simon scolded you, holding you a little tighter, almost as punishment. “And yes. Sort of. It’s complicated.”
“I mean, alive alive. Like, she’s a person?”
“Yes, Mara’s a person.” Simon stepped back from you, narrowing his gaze. “Look, I’m done waiting. I know you want us, too. Don’t you?”
You didn’t know how to answer him. So, you didn’t. You stared at the muddy toes of your wellies and tried to come up with something.
“If you’re waiting on Price to come around, I understand, but…”
His hand warmed the side of your face as he slid his palm against your jaw, lifting your head up to look at him.
“I’m sorry, birdie. I’m just impatient. C’mon. Let’s go before you start your shiverin’ again.”
You thought about what Simon told you as you helped him - weakly - drag the bags out to the fleet of ATVs. You sat on the back of his vehicle, shivering, as you considered if what you were doing really was waiting on John Price to come around. You hadn’t thought of it like that, but maybe you were. You thought that Kyle’s assertion that it was either all of them or none of them meant that it included their captain, but if Simon really had struck some sort of agreement, perhaps that was no longer true.
But, yes, you begrudgingly admitted to yourself, part of you was still waiting on John. You didn’t really want to be in this complex, multi-person relationship without him. They were a team. You were all a team. A family, even. And you didn’t want to cause a rift. Nor did you want to fracture the tenuous ecosystem that they’d already built.
And just because your heart leapt at Simon’s invitation to slide into his bed with him, didn’t mean that your head would ignore the obvious consequences of that action.
Simon had put you in the large side-by-side cart, and you snuggled down into the passenger seat. Once he was done loading the bags evenly onto the other vehicles, he settled himself beside you and started up the engine.
“So, what’s a synth?” You asked.
Simon looked over at you for a moment and twisted the side of his mouth, trying to think of how to explain. “Like if a robot was a human.”
“But, her arm –”
“Old injury. Don’t make body parts like they used to.” He grabbed your hand as he drove, resting his wrist on top of the steering wheel. “She’s good with machines. And she’s good with Kate.”
“And they’re married.” You said it like a statement, but it was really a sort of question.
“Aye. Price married them about ten years back, I guess. Had a little party.” Simon smiled softly, remembering.
“So.” you took his hand into your lap, massaging his small bones through his glove. “What would we do on this… second date?”
That earned you a bright look. His honey-brown eyes warmed as he stared at you, and you felt your cheeks flash with heat.
“Seems like everyone else should get a first date before you get a second, if we’re being fair.” You teased him.
“I don’t play fair.” He shrugged. “I can’t get las’ night outta my fuckin’ head. Sleepin’ next to you was too bloody good.”
Johnny had been the first one you saw when he woke you up this morning, bright and chipper, showing off the fleece he’d stitched together for you. Having the large rug in your room did a lot to warm it up. Made it less cold with some of the concrete slabs covered up. He’d even brought you a heavy fleece blanket, and while perhaps it was still too warm for it now, in a few weeks, you thought you’d need it.
But, Simon hadn’t been there. When you’d reached for his body, all you’d felt was a cold, empty bed.
“You left,” you said softly, “in the morning. I woke up alone. Well, with Johnny, I guess.”
“Had to put gas in the quads. ‘Round here, work’s never over.” Simon shrugged. Then, he added. “I wanted to stay.”
“I know,” you looked down at his hand and pulled it up to your lips, kissing his glove where his bare knuckles would be.
As you pulled up to the base, Simon killed the engine and sat with you for a moment, his voice quiet and even as he asked you, “You’d let me stay with you. Tonight, I mean.”
You were silent, thinking, but you didn’t let go of his hand. He spoke on your turn, interrupting your loud thoughts. “We can jus’ sleep, birdie. Don’ need anythin’ else.”
Simon wouldn’t pressure you. You knew that, and you nodded, showing him that you understood. But, that wouldn’t last forever. But, you were both adults. What exactly were you waiting for, anyway?
You just didn’t want to see that look on the captain’s face. The way John looked at you across the corner of the kitchen table when Simon had announced your date with him flashed through your memory. It was the same way he’d stared at you when he’d exposed your bare breasts in his lighthouse. The way he looked when he thought you couldn’t see him.
“Yeah, okay.” You smiled up at Simon, and you would’ve thought you’d hung the moon by the way his face lit up with a mixture of joy and relief.
“Inside.” Simon took his hand back from you and started untying the bags. “Go defrost.”
You followed his order, and you huddled in the entryway, shutting the front door only part of the way so that he and the others could bring things inside. You peeled away your layers one by one, taking off one of the beanies you’d borrowed and smoothing down your hair. You hung Johnny’s coat on its hook and slid your wellies off, putting them in their spot in the corner.
You were nervous to have other people here, you realized. You paced around the kitchen, looking for something to do. You tidied the countertop a bit, wiping it away even though it was already clean. Then, you put on a kettle for some coffee and tea.
Do synths even drink coffee? You wondered. But, at least Kate might want some.
You tried not to dwell on the fact that you and Mara had experienced just about the worst introduction in the history of the world. You should’ve just made up a name. “I don’t know” was too embarrassing for you. What name would you pick instead?
Your mind drew a blank. Any name, you chided yourself. Just a single name. Anything? Hello?
The front door swung open and Johnny piped up, “Hey, bonnie. Och, coffee. Jus’ what I needed. Be back in a mo’.” He drug some bags back towards Price’s room where you assumed Kate and Mara would be sleeping while they were here. You’d offered to give up your upstairs space, but Johnny had shut you down this morning, immediately.
Simon shuffled in behind him, loaded down with gear, and his eyes lingered on you for a moment as he followed Johnny down the hall.
Kate came in next, and she walked straight over to you, holding out her hand, “Kate Laswell. It really is good to finally meet you in person.”
“Nice to meet you, too. Just making some coffee. Be done in a sec.” You smiled, holding her hand warmly for a minute before letting her go.
“I’m sorry.” Kate slid onto the bench seat of the kitchen table and ran her hands through her hair which had been windswept from her ride in. “John should’ve explained.”
“It’s okay.” You shook your head and waved your hand as if clearing smoke from the room, wiping away her worries. “I’m used to being kept in the dark around here.”
You had meant it in a light-hearted way, but she had taken it seriously. You watched her brow furrow as she was about to speak again, but Mara peeked through the door and stood by it, holding her bag over her shoulder.
“Um, hello.” She said, her voice meek and small even for the tightness of the room.
“Hey,” you smiled wide, trying to be more welcoming. You walked over to her and held out your hand, “Come on in. I was just putting the kettle on if you want some coffee or tea.”
“Oh!” She reached out for your hand and took it in hers. While her left was the side with the visible robotics, her right was as human as could be, and to your surprise, she was warm. “Thank you. We would love a coffee.”
“Sure,” you said, making a point to look into her glowing eyes with friendly intention, and then you let her hand go, returning to mind the kettle that really didn’t need much help with its job.
Kyle appeared beside you, and you felt him wrap his arm around your hips, his fingers dipping under the hem of your shirt to touch your skin.
“Hey,” he murmured, kissing your temple. “All good?”
“Yeah,” you smiled, turning your face up to him.
You didn’t know how you felt about these little displays of affection in front of Kate, but you decided to just trust that these men knew how to behave in front of their friend. You weren’t embarrassed, per se, but you also had no idea how private they would all be together.
Finally, the kettle began to hiss and you poured the boiling water into the full press, trying to brew enough for the whole house. John came in last, pulling off his hat and rolling his shoulders out of his jacket so that he was only wearing a very tight white tee shirt and a pair of jeans. He replaced his cap, putting the bill backwards on his head, and he sank into his seat.
“Mm,” he grunted, “So, what’s the news, Katie?”
You poured two cups of coffee for your guests first, and Kate thanked you, taking her time before she answered him. “I’d like for you all to be here, first.”
“Fine,” he sighed, and then, when you handed him a cup as well, he purred a very brief, “Ta, love.”
Kyle made you sit by him down on the far end from Price, and although you saw John glance towards your empty spot, he didn’t look surprised when Mara climbed into the bench seat to sit by Kate. Simon and Johnny came in from the hallway, and they joined you, pouring themselves a cup as well.
Now that she had everyone’s undivided attention, Kate said, “Shaun has the GECK.”
The men froze in place. You stared at them, trying to decide how to react.
“Who’s Shaun?” You said, taking a sip of coffee.
Kate’s head spun towards you, and Mara’s eyes lit up in surprise. Then, Kate rounded on John immediately, “Have you told her anything? Like where she is or what fucking year it is? What does she mean ‘Who’s Shaun?’”
“She doesn’t need to be here for this.” John said flatly.
“I think she does.” Kyle sniped back, earning himself quite the cutting glare.
“She knows the wee year,” Johnny smiled, checking with you, “Right, bonnie?”
“Yeah,” you said, breathing out through your nose. “And we’re on Jethou.”
“Oh, good.” Kate’s voice dripped with sarcasm, “Well, at least I know you’re not a complete fucking lunatic, Captain. Let me get this straight. You crack open a cryotank with a whole woman inside –”
“Don’t start with me, Katie. You know damn well th–”
“ –she’s got no name, no ID, not even a–”
“Did have a bit of ID on ‘er,” Simon chimed in as they were talking over each other, smirking impishly.
“ –come in here, first thing out of your goddamn mouth, talkin’ about fuckin’ Shaun Makarov with a bloody creation kit –”
“ –medical work up on her? Run her through the system? I can’t believe you haven’t told her ab–”
“For what!” John roared, slamming his hand down onto the table, his flat palm booming as it struck the wood. Then, quieter, but with no less rage, he said, “What would tellin’ her about him do, Katie-cat? Hm? She can’t remember her own bloody name much less what the fuck happened to her. And you want me to recruit her for the fucking mission. Five hundred years, and you’re still the same, Laswell.”
It was silent for a while. You could hear them breathing, their faces pink from their outbursts, the whole table tense like a stretched rubberband.
“What’s a GECK?” You asked, refusing to just disappear. You might not understand what anyone was talking about, but you were in this. One hundred percent. Whatever that meant.
Mara smiled brightly, her tone completely innocent and absolutely glazing over the previous altercation that still lingered in the air. “GECK stands for Garden of Eden Creation Kit. The kit was invented by Mr. Stanislaus Braun, a Vault-Tec inventor, who designed a terraforming device that fit into a small box, promising to restore the Earth after the apocalypse. But,” she giggled, “Most of the kits were a scam. The ones sent to the vaults could grow crops, purify water, and generate power using fusion cells, but that’s about it. But, Shaun found one. The one that Braun hid from Vault-Tec. The real one.”
“The real one?” Kyle asked. “That’s a load of bollocks.”
“We thought so, too. But, based on the energy readings from two of our probes, we are sure.” Mara grinned, taking a dainty sip of coffee with her pinky raised.
“Can I ask about Shaun, now?” You inquired, watching John’s jaw working inside of his mouth, holding back his tongue in a physical way.
“Shaun…” Kate began carefully. “He is a synth, like Mara. He has been around for three centuries, now. And we think that he is the one who started the Second Great War.”
“Your war,” Simon added, keeping you up on the timeline.
“Why?”
“Because he’s a fucking demon, tha’s why,” Price snarled, staring down in to his coffee like he could reach inside of it and pull the man out.
“And we want to kill him,” you said.
You looked around the table and, slowly, six pairs of eyes looked up at you, each of them acknowledging the crux of their mission.
“Aye, bonnie.” Johnny nodded. “Tha’s the plan.”
“Where is he?” You asked another question, using Kate like a shield, all the while wondering when you would eventually be pressed aside so that they could get back to their business.
Kate sighed raggedly, shaking her head, “We don’t know. We’ve narrowed it down to four possibilities.” She pulled a datapad out of her pack and put it in the middle of the table. The screen flickered on, and she opened a map, pointing to it as she spoke, “Western Holland, Cardiff, Belfast, or the Isle of Mann. Each of these locations have spikes in their energy signatures which tells us that, whatever they’re doing, they need a hell of a lot of power to do it. The Hague has one, Schiphol has one, Cardiff has two, Belfast has one, and the Isle of Man had three.”
“Had?” Simon asked.
“We have heard nothing for six months, and we check every day.” Mara reported, her face falling a bit.
“Does he…” You tried to control the tremor in your voice as you asked your final question, “Does he know where we are?”
“No,” Kate shook her head. “I think he believes we are all dead.”
“And we like to keep it that way,” Mara added.
You let out a shuddering breath.
“And that’s the bad news?” Kyle asked, looking at Kate expectantly. She turned the pad back to another screen and showed him a chart. He took it from the table and raked over it, fear gleaming in his soft brown eyes. “Oh, fuck me.”
“That’s the bad news,” she whispered. “Mara’s algorithm confirms it.”
“What?” Price grabbed it from him and looked at it for a minute, and then he asked Kyle, “What does this mean?”
“Hard freeze. That’s why the RAD storms are getting worse.” Kyle put an arm around your shoulders and held you close to him, worry carved into his face.
Mara nodded, pointing to the datapad as Price set it down in front of him, “Kate asked us to track the winds above the Norwegian current, and there is… too much radiation for our prediction to be wrong. In fact, this may be our most optimistic projection.”
“So, we will find him before winter,” you said, “Right?”
“You,” John smiled bitterly, “won’t do anything. We will take care of Makarov, love. I don’t want you gettin’ involved.”
“John,” Kate said warily.
Price raised his hands in front of him, emphasizing his words, “I don’t want her involved, Katie.”
Suddenly, Simon leaned forward, and he looked at Price. “Took her shootin’ las’ night. She hit four pucks like it was nothin’. Like she’d been doin’ it all her bloody life.”
At first, John looked confused, but then, Simon cast his gaze over to you, and the look in everyone’s eyes changed dramatically. Well, everyone except Mara’s. She still looked naively joyful, and she praised you with a chipper tone, “We are very impressed.”
“Thank you,” you replied to her quietly.
“Holy shite, bonnie.” Johnny gaped. “I hit five on a good day.”
“And you’re a terrible shot,” Kyle snickered.
Johnny puffed up, pointing his finger at Kyle across the table, “I’m a wee sight better than you, you fuckin’ rocket.”
“Four?” John’s voice cut through their squabbling, silencing it, and he looked directly at you. “You hit four, little bird? In one go.”
You nodded, rubbing your lips together, worrying them between your teeth nervously. “I didn’t know I could do it. I don’t even remember owning a gun.”
Price sighed, and he put both of his hands flat on the table. Then, he looked at Kate with a hard stare. “Can you… Will you please give her a workup? And run her through the system.”
“Yes, John. You okay with that?” She directed the question at you.
“What do I need to do?” You asked.
“We will run diagnostic testing to check your health, and we will crosscheck your DNA with our database,” Mara explained, “It is very quick. We brought our medkit in our bag.”
“Alright,” you nodded, standing up from your seat.
Kate rose from the table, and she put a hand on John’s enormous shoulder as she walked past him, patting him gently as she led you down the hallway with Mara. The boys didn’t follow you, and you suspected that they had plenty to talk about with you out of earshot.
They were staying in John’s room, and it looked like the bed had been freshly made. Their bags were piled up against the wall, and Mara pulled one out from the middle. She lay it on the made bed and unzipped the pocket, revealing a very well-kept medical case. It was white with the traditional red cross in the center, and you watched as she opened it, the different tools shining in their individually packed cases.
She motioned for you to sit next to the box, and you tried not to be nervous.
“Would you please reveal an arm for us?” Mara asked.
“Oh,” you pulled your hand out of the sleeve of John’s sweater, and you yanked up your sleeve. “Sorry.”
“We will draw some blood, first. Alright?” Mara moved toward you, and you looked over at Kate, expecting her to draw your blood as well.
Kate smiled, stepping back, “Mara speaks about herself in the plural. I won’t be drawing blood from you, ever, unless it’s with a gun.” She laughed.
You chuckled, but you didn’t really feel at ease. So, you distracted yourself with questions, “Why the plural?”
“We are a Multi-Agent Recursive Architecture. M-A-R-A. Mara,” she beamed, placing the needle at the bend of your arm, “There can be many of us. This is our third body.” She drew your blood painlessly, but she only took one vial, sticking a bandaid on your basically non-existent wound. She winked, “But Katie says we are her favorite body so far.”
“Oh, my God,” Kate rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t wipe the grin from her face. “We use Mara’s framework to pilot the ship, and she runs our main computer. All of our relays run on her processing schema. Lots of Maras all over the place.”
“Wow,” you looked up at Mara, “It’s my turn to be impressed.”
Mara seemed to enjoy your praise very much. She placed the vial of your blood into a sort of machine and punched in some buttons. “We are glad you think so. We were worried you would be afraid of us.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. You’re my first synth… person.”
“It is okay. We understand. What year are you from?”
“2287. I was born in 2257, if that’s what you mean.”
“Ah, yes! That is right. We are finished with our analysis.”
Mara turned the machine around to show you the green arrow. She pressed it and, out of her eyes, a holographic image appeared right in front of you.
“Woah!” You fell back in surprise, and Kate came around to Mara’s side, dragging her farther away a little bit so that the screen wasn’t cutting through you in a distorted sort of way. Then, you saw yourself. There was only one picture of you, but there you were. Mara had apparently taken it while you were at the table. Information about you began to populate the side of the hologram.
SYNTH: NO
SEX: FEMALE
AGE: 271.6
FERTILITY: 96%
RAD DEG: 4%
The machine listed out all sorts of other information about you; your height, your weight, your blood type – the list went on for pages and pages.
“Well,” Kate shrugged, “You’re a human being.”
“What a relief.” You also had a birthday, apparently, stashing the date away in your mind.
“And you are… fertile. Are you doing something about that?” She asked, her tone somewhat leading.
“Oh, I’m not…” You looked at the hallway towards the men who would be responsible for whatever that entailed, “We’re not…”
“Because you don’t want to?” Kate pried.
“Uh, no. Price, um…” You started to try and explain but you must’ve prompted something for Mara because her system brought up –
“John Price, Captain of Task Force 141. Profile available.” Mara said cheerfully.
Then, John Price was in front of you. Pictures of him flashed over the screen.
SYNTH: NO
SEX: MALE
AGE: 571.9
Then, you saw a photo flash across the hologram of him holding a little girl in his arm, propping her up in the crook of his elbow, smiling like you’d never seen before. He looked like a whole new man. His beard was shaved at the chin, and he was wearing a ridiculous boonie hat, his tan skin glowing in the sun. The little girl had dark black hair down her back, plaited all the way up, and through the middle of her braid, you saw a red silk ribbon.
“Who is that?” You asked, your voice oddly quiet compared to the conversation you’d been having.
Kate pointed casually, “That’s Stella. Must’ve been… God, I guess it was around 2029, 2030? It’s been a while.”
“Who?” You couldn’t stop staring at the picture.
“His daughter, you mean?” Kate enlarged the picture by pulling at the hologram with her fingers.
“Oh, right,” you nodded, pretending to know what you should obviously already know.
Then, she was quiet for a beat, and she tapped Mara on the shoulder, turning her hologram off, and the synth changed back into her chipper self. Kate looked at you and crossed her arms.
“You didn’t know.”
You shook your head, “I’m a stranger, really. I get it. I mean, it’s only been a two weeks? Maybe more, since they woke me up, I think.”
“Well, I don’t know what John’s playing at, but Kyle looks like he’s already picking out rings, so I’m gonna offer you an implant.”
“A what?” You were sort of drifting. Dizzy. What was she offering you?
A daughter with tan skin and black hair and blue eyes and the same red ribbon that he used to mark his page in his books.
“Birth control. If you change your mind, we can take it out, but it’ll last ten years. The wastes are no place for a fucking baby.” Kate chuckled, laughing at the audacity of a child.
A child. A child from a wife. A wife who was no longer here. A wife who wasn’t you.
“Alright,” you nodded robotically, and in the next breath, Mara had placed some sort of syringe against the inside of your arm. You felt a slicing cut, and you winced, coming back to your senses, watching a drop of your blood run in a tiny river down to your elbow.
“Oops, we will fix you right up.” Mara, hurried with a bandage, wiping your blood off of you and taping down the wound. “All done.”
“I’ll make sure Mara runs your DNA for a match. We’ll find your name for you, alright? Don’t worry.” Kate squeezed your hand, promising to discover who you were.
You didn’t have the heart to tell her that a name wasn’t going to fix what was happening to you. You were falling in love with four men. Four men who were already in love with one another. And one of them was never going to love you back.