Something Afterwards

  “I believe the Doctor will approve,” said CNet.

            Ian was sitting in a chair with his left hand placed on a pad around which was a number of small robotic arms with tiny surgical implements. The robotic arms were working bearishly to attach two robotic fingers to Ian’s maimed hand. The fingers were only metal skeletons with wires and tiny servos exposed between, but CNet promised white casings like those on his hands.

  “This is really amazing work, CNet, though I never thought to be augmented,”

  “This could barely be seen as an augmentation, I’m merely replacing two fingers,” CNet said and silence prevailed for a short while. “I’ve offered this service to Commander Swardt as well, though he has yet to respond,”

  “Yeah, well, after they let him out of the hospital today, I don’t blame him taking some time to spoil Elizabeth with some time alone. I did the same with Danny last night,”

            It had been three days since the attacks during which time they spent most of their time in or around the hospital. De Beer was still in a critical condition and his daughters and wife were there constantly, with Jacks as protector. Connor was being kept another night for observation but apart from a broken leg he was fine. Ian was there for all of them.

  “There, done” said CNet as the robotic arms finished attaching the fiberglass casings.

            Ian lifted his hand and flexed his fingers. He was surprised at the ease with which he was able to move the robotic fingers. It was almost as if he never lost his fingers. Almost.

            JR found Ian a few hours after lunch time in the study. Since the day of the attacks, he had not dared return to the manse, instead he stayed at the house which was now only occupied on occasion. But the time had come for him to man up and face his extremely disappointed friend.

  “Sit,” Ian said without looking at him. JR took a seat on the opposite side of the desk.

  “I’m sorry, buddy, I screwed up. I’m an idiot, and a moron, and a useless fuck not worth the air I breath,” started JR.

  “There,” Ian said and slid him a file. JR opened it and looked away almost instantly. “Look,” Ian ordered but JR didn’t move his gaze. “Look!”

            Finally JR lowered his gaze back to the photos in the file. Each one was as horrific as the next.

  “Three hundred dead, double that injured. That’s just civilians, mind you. And then we’ve got De Beer in ICU fighting for his life because of you and that bitch of yours,” Ian’s words were harsh but his tone was steady, cold with only the slightest hint of anger. “If you wanted answers, all you needed to do was ask,”

  “Oh, yes, and I’m sure you would have given me the truth like you have for the past seventeen years,” answered JR, suddenly on the war path.

  “You think we enjoyed lying to you? You think we sat around laughing and joking, ‘Poor stupid JR, falling for out lies again’? Do you have any idea how difficult it was to explain away the coincidences that all three of us would disappear at the same time, for the same number of days? And not only to you, but our families as well,”

  “You could have told me,”

  “No we couldn’t! The less people that knew, the better. For all of us. But enough of this, I’m taking you off of the field and placing you on probation until either myself or Ed tells you otherwise,”

  “You can’t do this,”

  “Like hell I can’t. Because of you, hundreds are dead and De Beer might join them. Think long and hard on that,”

            JR opened his mouth to protest but thought better of it. Instead he got up and stormed out, at first making his way to the front door, but altering his course so that he could get to the sparing room where he would cut at the training dummies until his hands were torn.

            Devon found himself suspended upside down in a panelled van. His head was pounding and his ears ringing. Outside he heard the sound of gunfire and metal rending flesh from bone.

            He loosened the strap that secured him and fell flat on his back. Still slightly dazed, he crawled towards the back doors and flung them open. Directly ahead of him stood Stone, unloading a shotgun on a mountain of a man armed with an axe. The buckshot seemed to only piss the man off and he cut stone in half as Devon crawled out of the truck into a world of chaos.

            There were a number of overturned cars with their occupants struggling to escape. Some were unlucky enough to draw the brute’s attention which made it slice at their vehicles with his axe. In most cases managing to part the steel and kill the occupants.

            Devon unsheathed his bastard sword readied himself. This wasn’t the first time he had faced one of these brutes, but the previous time had almost ended in disaster. This time would be no different.

            The brute had its back turned to Devon, which was exactly as he wanted it. He charged at the mountainous man and swung his sword with two hands, driving the blade deep into the back of the brute’s left leg. It howled and turned around. Devon rolled between its legs and cut at the back of the brute’s right leg. It was enough to unbalance the beast and cause it to kneel. Devon got onto its back just before it rose to its feet and drove the blade of his sword down in between the brute’s neck and left shoulder.

            The brute howled as Devon twisted the blade, but it grabbed him by the collar and flung him into a bus. Devon landed on his hands and knees, looked up and saw the brute charge at him.

  Good, he thought and waited for the perfect moment to dive out of the way so that the brute would run head long into the bus.

            Devon started throwing rocks and pieces of debris at it, trying to get its attention and to make it mad. It worked, the brute roared, the veins on its arms, head and neck bulging and then…

            The brute went silent and collapsed, blood staring to pour from his eyes, ears and nose. Devon walked over to the body and retrieved his sword before returning to the van and looking for Evelyn. He found her, unconscious in the driver’s seat with blood dripping from a wound on her head. He cut her free of the seatbelt and dragged her out of the van before calling for EMTs.

  “Commander?”

  “Yes, CNet,” said Ian.

            He was on the rooftop, looking at the stars in the sky as he contemplated the day’s events, though it wasn’t a very long list of events.

  “I’ve been trying to find information regarding the Agency and their actions, yet all the files in my databanks are corrupt,”

  “Yes, that they are,” said Ian and chuckled.

  “You find this amusing?”

  “Yes. The greatest wealth of information regarding the Agency is also the greatest secret. Sure we typed file and reports and our orders were handed to us in file marked with so much black marker ink that it might as well have been black parchment, but none of it was kept. Not truly. The older agents made sure of that long before the Fall,”

  “But surely the Agency left behind something that could say what they did and why?”

  “We left nothing behind after the Fall,”

  “Except the strongholds and me,”

  “The strongholds weren’t owned by the Agency, they just took them, and you. You I built myself. Sure some of your code came from the CNet VI but that isn’t you. You are an artificial intelligence, capable of making your own decisions and mistakes,” Ian said and then they were silent for a while.

  “Are we the good guys?” asked CNet.

  “What do you think?”

  “From what I’ve gathered, from the conversations between yourself, Commander Swardt and Commander Drotsky, I’d be inclined to say yes. But without documentation, I am unable to validate this,”

  “What did you hear that made you think we are on the side of good?”

  “The Agency saved people from those that would do them harm, and they would only kill those who directly endangered others with their actions. But again, without documentation I cannot validate this. Why did you never expose yourselves, surly the people would want to know?”

  “No, the people out there don’t want to know. But perhaps the time has come that they should know,” said Ian and he fell silent for a while. “CNet, set up a camera in one of the empty rooms, I think it’s about time we create documentation for the Agency,”