Visisonor's blog

Chapter 7

The room was darker and smaller. Constantin was sitting on a bed, struggling to open his eyes.

— Am I hallucinating? — he grumbled, looking around sleepily.

Then he noticed Linda entering the room. And then those who followed her in.
— Linda! Watch out, — he shouted, jumping upright sharply and reaching for his empty holsters. — Syncons at your six!

— It’s all right, — Linda assured him hurriedly, — They’ve rescued us.
— They what?!
— Emily brought troopers with her… She then told them to kill us. Syncons arrived just in time and took them all down.
— You should have seen Linda in action, — Tomoko patted Linda’s shoulder, smiling broadly. — She almost took down syncons right after!

— Well, it was… Um, — Linda stumbled, then waved her arm around the room, — Costa, this is Tomoko and this is Leliana, agents like us. And these are our rescuers, Tess and Rick.
— So syncons have names… — muttered Constantin.
— While we have not yet verged from the subject of seeing it in action, — intervened Rick, — We have it recorded.

Constantin watched in disbelief as the syncon grabbed a large laptop from the side table and started video playback on it. Linda turned to the screen too, reliving events she was part of, now from a different perspective.

— I wouldn’t believe it myself if I haven’t seen it personally, — she remarked once it was over.
— Damn. That was bloody stupid of me, — Constantin frowned. — I warned you about possible plots and yet I took her story at face value.
— We cannot confirm or deny whatever Emily was saying since she was not our focus, — commented Tess. — We were watching the two of you.
— Watching? — Constantin repeated, looking at her intently. — Wait, I’ve seen you before…
— Oh, — Linda suddenly remembered. — In the tunnel!
— That is correct, — nodded Tess.
— And you let us out, — stated Constantin.
— Yes.
— What sort of game are you playing? — he asked after a few seconds of contemplation.
— Our game is to end this war, — said Tess levelly.
— End this war? But you are actively fighting against us! — argued Constantin skeptically.
— It is not as simple as not fighting, — objected Rick. — If we do stop, humans will not, and we will be destroyed.
— So you are saying we would still fight you… — reasoned Linda.
— Think of it in terms of cui bono, — suggested Tess.
— Is there any benefit for us in this conflict? — demanded Constantin.
— The whole human population lives in a constant state of martial law, — Leliana, who was silent until this moment, joined the conversation.

— Exactly! — nodded Constantin.
— You have to forfeit your wellbeing to support the vast military, and focus all your efforts on the mission, on the orders. Pretty much every aspect of your lives is sacrificed for the war and regulated to be in line with the needs of the governing structure.
— Yes, the war requires sacrifices, we can’t just live like it’s peaceful times… — conceded Constantin.
— And who is gaining the most from having this structure?
— Those who are on top of it, — surmised Linda. — The Command.
— QED, — summed up Leliana.

Silence fell for a while. Constantin thought it over, looking visibly stricken.

— It doesn’t seem right, — he said finally. — Someone will notice.
— Not everyone. Not even majority, — pointed out Rick. — Some will, yes. Mostly those who are used to thinking outside the box.
— Ironically, human military needs such people, — continued Tess. — Brute force alone is not sufficient to fight us.
— Agents, — gasped Constantin.
— Yes, — acknowledged Rick. — But people like that will eventually figure out that something is not quite right with the system. When it happens, the system tries to get rid of them.
— So here we are now, — sighed Tomoko. — Broken in different ways.
— And the agents are… — Constantin hesitated, looking around them all until his gaze fell on Linda. — Do all agents end up here?

— Those who survive, — clarified Rick. — We try to save as many as we can, but it is not always possible to rescue everyone.
— Wasn’t something like that mentioned on that laptop? — asked Leliana.
— I… Yes. It was only an outline… Where is the laptop now?
— It was damaged, — revealed Rick. — We took it along just in case, but it is inoperable.
— Speaking of the laptop, — Linda twitched. — What happened to Costa back then?
— The sheer shock of the revelation can be sufficient to shut your mind down, — explained Tess.
— I guess that’s how our brains are wired, — shrugged Tomoko. — But it affects different people differently. I was knocked out for several hours. But you seem to react more like Leliana.
— It depends on many factors, — elaborated Rick. — It is possible that you have not yet realized it deep in your subconscious.
— Which is why we insist that both of you need some rest, — added Tess. — There will be enough time to continue with your questions.
— I’d like to talk to Costa in private before that, if you don’t mind, — requested Linda.
— Very well. We’ll wait outside.

Two former agents and two syncons left the room, leaving Constantin and Linda alone. Constantin sighed and sat on the bed again.

— Is it all happening for real? — he asked once the door was closed. — Or maybe we both lost our marbles?
— This madness hath the oddest frame of sense, — she replied wistfully.
— This is not very reassuring, you know.
— I’m not sure of anything anymore.
— But do you believe them?

— That’s irrelevant, — Linda scratched her chin. — Their story is consistent with the evidence we have. And you? What do you think of all that?
— I don’t know, — Constantin shook his head slowly. — There must be more to it. It is consistent, but… I don’t know.