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The announcement of an EVO cure caused the single biggest surge in Providence recruitment since the organization’s inception. For the first time the absolute number of soldiers coming out of Providence’s infamously difficult 6 week compacted training program matched the demand for new troops. Militaries around the world similarly felt their ranks bolstered by Providence dropouts turning to more traditional means to combat EVOs. With one press conference Providence changed the entire outlook of the Nanite War, from one of a solitary military organization barely keeping humanity from the brink of collapse to a vision of resurrection and rebuilding. Just as every person remembers where they were when The Nanite Event first triggered the grotesque mutations, so too did they remember when a stone faced man in a white suit announced to the world: “We can cure them”.
Might and Machines: A Behind-The-Scenes Look at Providence and the Nanite War, Kirby Jackson and Duff Enyawd, Library of Congress, 2027
It was 1 o’clock in the morning. Alarm bells and claxons had woken everyone in HQ at 22:30, although most people had gone back to bed when the announcement came over the PA that the situation had been “dealt with”. No information about what the situation was exactly, only that it was over and they were all to return to standard protocol thank-you-very-much. Everyone, that is, except for a small group of scientists, representatives, and top agents currently meeting in EVO processing lab 3, plus two civilians, a teenage boy, and a talking chimp.
“You know, at late night meetings like this there’s usually chow.” Bobo the chimp scratched an ear with his left foot. He eyed the group in the center of the room with distaste. “Maybe I’ll hit the cafeteria, see if there are any tacos left.”
“Do you honestly think we’d let you just walk out of here?” One of the agents, a man known only as Six, stood a few feet away quite distinctly not leaning on the counter behind him. All weapons stowed, he kept his back to the wall and didn’t turn his head to address the chimp to his left. “You’re lucky we let you in at all.”
“Will you bring me back one?” The boy, Rex, was perched up on a counter at the side of the room where he could watch the proceedings without getting in the way, the agent and Bobo on either side of him. If Six was turned a degree or two off of being parallel to the wall in order to better see him, no one commented on it, and if Bobo had been teaching him to make rude noises with his armpits, at least one of the scientists was glad it kept him occupied. “Or maybe we could all go get tacos?”
“We’re staying here.” Replied Six shortly. “Especially you, monkey.”
Bobo shrugged and picked a nit out of his shoulder fur. If he was being honest, he really should have left over an hour ago, just after the alarms stopped and the danger of molecular dissection was neutralized, but before the gang of higher-ups had gotten together. But everyone had either been ignoring the kid, or staring him like he would explode. The kid needed someone to tell him that stuff was okay, and of all the things Bobo was good at, which was a pretty long list if he did say so himself, that one ranked pretty high. “They’re probably out anyway. Getting set up for the night shift lunch, and night shift tacos is no good. Now if you want REALLY good tacos, you gotta go to El Paso. They’ve got this restaurant, piece of heaven, with a 20 pound taco special.”
“20 pounds? You’re joking.” Rex giggled and stared wide-eyed as Bobo launched into an elaborate tale, complete with sound effects and hand gestures, some done with his feet, about absurdly large tacos and the men who dared to try to eat them.
Six rolled his eyes, not that anyone could tell behind his sunglasses, and tuned out the story to listen in on the meeting.
“… and when I woke up, it was in a vehicle. They told me I was being taken to Providence headquarters. I’ve been getting tests ever since. Please, when can I call my family, tell them I am alive?” One of the civilians, Leo Zanardini, formerly a systems engineer in the Venito region in northern Italy, more recently a class four lupine-form hostile EVO, sat at the centre of the larger group. A woman in scrubs wrote down his story on a tablet computer while monitoring his pulse and occasionally checking his pupils. When he finished, she nodded, obviously familiar by now with the story.
“You will, son." General Graves, USAF, was more than a little uncomfortable in the knowledge that he hadn’t combed his hair in the rush to attend this meeting. As the American military representative within Providence, he was currently linked through his earpiece communicator to an emergency conference call with the Joint Chiefs, the President of the United States, and 4 of the other top military officers in his country. He was doing his best to relay their thoughts to the meeting while still upholding his own opinions, and in general the dignity of his, impeccably ironed, uniform. “Just as soon as we … that is… after we determine the proper course of action. Wouldn’t want word… to get out before… would cause undue pa- no… It is the opinion of the President that the world be informed of this development in a manner that mitigates excessive speculation."
“Not to mention the panic this could cause if people don’t believe the cure really works.” Dr. Zhao glanced to the side where two other individuals in lab coats were examining the readings on an MRI screen. The other civilian, a Thomas Mooney of Virginia according to his driver’s license, formerly a class four reptilian EVO with exocular optic growths, was currently unconscious within. The man had woken up briefly around 9pm and responded positively to his name and the request to run extra tests before passing out again. The medical staff, and their lawyers of course, took this as blanket permission to run whatever non-invasive technique they could think of, as assumed consent had earlier only given them leeway to ensure he wasn’t going to change back or kick the bucket. One of the two scientists turned and gave Dr. Zhao a brief thumbs up before returning to pressing buttons on her keypad. He nodded in return. “So far it seems to be stable in both of you, but a sample size of two is hardly statistically significant.”
“I’m more concerned about how we will present this development.” Collette Tremblay, NATO representative, was similarly connected to a conference call between individuals with much more power and influence than she had. However, unlike General Graves, she was doing her utmost to ignore everything they said regardless of how loudly they said it. Occasionally an angry outburst was audible by the rest of the assembly. “With the discharge of Dr. Fell, Commander Slovski will surely also resign, honourably or not, Providence will need a new leader and a new scientific commander. We cannot expect the world to believe in a miracle without people standing behind it.”
“If it’s a leader Providence needs,” crackled a voice from a computer terminal. The group turned to the screen, the pale face of Agent White Knight glared at them from behind the static. All equipment in the molecular dissection room had been heavily damaged in the accident, it was lucky they were able to establish any communication link at all. “I volunteer. I am still the highest ranking agent Providence has.”
“But, sir, you barely survived the explosion.” Dr. Ganarangam flipped through a few pages of notes, grimaced, and looked back up at the screen. He was a recent transfer from Providence’s Nairobi base and was carefully suppressing his accent to sound more American in hopes that it would make him seem more reliable. It didn’t. “The molecular dissection stripped you of all nanites and devastated your immune system. There’s no way to know yet just how extensive the damage is.”
“Wait a moment, you’re saying he has no nanites? None at all?” Carin Batra, UN representative at Providence, probably had more people speaking over her earpiece than anyone could reasonably presume to be healthy. This distraction was compounded by the fact that the emergency meeting currently pestering her with questions and opinions was made up of a group of people who also wore earpieces connected to larger meetings of various UN councils, working groups, and committees, some of whom would occasionally would speak in languages other than the five in which Representative Batra was fluent. She had adopted the strategy of listening to as much as possible before speaking, which had the effect of making her appear calm, reserved, and rather dizzy. “How is that possible?”
“Do the cured men not also have no nanites within them?” Asked General Xu, Chinese military representative currently on a diplomatic visit with the Chinese Ambassador, who was still sleeping in his guest quarters. General Xu had no one speaking in his ear and was trying not to be too obvious about the pride this gave him that his government trusted him with such high level intelligence. His report would later be subject to more scrutiny than any other Chinese military document in the past decade, but for now the apparent trust was enough to allow him to speak for his country with confidence. “Are they in any danger without the machines?”
“They have minimal nanite levels, especially compared with an EVO.” The woman in scrubs, Dr. Dottori, looked up from her conversation with Leo Zanardini, and the notes on her screen which now displayed nanite readings. Ordinarily one of the registered nurses on the base would have been called in to help, however she was the only medical personnel on staff who was fluent in Italian. She knew exactly how redundant her name was. “They had a small amount of nanites left in their bloodstream when they reverted back to human, plus whatever they’ve absorbed from the atmosphere in the last few hours.”
“So they are only as nanite-free as the rest of us,” Observed Dr. Whealan dryly, he was the only scientist present not holding a notepad or electronic device. He stared at the static-ridden screen thoughtfully; he had never liked Dr. Fell or Commander Slovski anyway. “With the exception, of course, of White Knight.”
General Graves stroked his mustache. “This could work.” He stared into space for a moment as though lost in thought as the head of the US Army argued with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in his ear. “As the only nanite-free person on the planet, White Knight is the only one we can trust to never go EVO, ever.”
Representative Tremblay and one of the UN Security Councilors in Representative Batra’s ear both swore in Quebecois French. “He is trapped in that lab.” Representative Tremblay declared, waving her arm at the screen. “How can he lead an international organization when his computer barely works?”
“He would have to leave.” Remarked Dr. Whealan. “We can retrofit the adjoining room and a corridor or two with high powered magnets to remove the nanites from the immediate atmosphere. It’s temporary, but it would allow him some movement.”
“What do you say Knight?” General Graves strode up to the screen and did his best to look imposingly down at the other man. However, based on the angle of White Knight’s face, it was more likely that the trapped agent was himself looking down at the four-star general. Height difference had less and less impact with the advent of video chat. “Will you enact the … duties and responsibilities as commander and … chief of Providence?”
“I will. Sir.”
“And what would be Providence’s direction, under this new leadership?” inquired General Xu. Representative Tremblay crossed her arms and shifted her weight, looking pointedly at Dr. Ganarangam who fumbled nervously and dropped his notebook.
“That depends on the reliability of this ‘cure’." Replied Knight, glancing up and behind the assembled group, “Whether or not we can safely say it’s a third option after ‘capture’ and ‘kill’.” Leo Zanardini noticeably blanched. Thomas Mooney groaned from within the MRI machine, but that was probably a coincidence.
“With respect, sir,” One of the lab-coated figures from the MRI machine walked up. “I believe that we can place ‘cure’ before ‘capture’ or ‘kill’.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, if I may introduce Dr. Rebecca Holiday, formerly Dr. Fell’s chief assistant and the one who first studied our EVO cure.” As though triggered by the dryness of White Knight’s tone, the screen collapsed into static. Dr. Whelan gave the computer a sharp whack and the screen resolved.
“What are you talking about?” General Xu glanced between Dr. Holiday and Leo Zanardini, “Why do you say ‘studied’ the cure rather than ‘discovered’? You have all been very hush-hush about it, what is this miracle you keep promising?”
Dr. Holiday called back at the MRI machine, “Rya, would you please finish up with him and fetch the test specimen.” Behind her, Dr. Irani hurried to shut down the MRI and dashed from the room after tossing a blanket on the still unconscious Thomas Mooney.
As Dr. Holiday began addressing the group, Six turned his attention back to his own companions. The boys, as Six had already started referring to them in his head, had moved on to discussing motorcycles, or more specifically who would win in a fight between zombies and ninjas if both were riding motorcycles.
“No way, ninjas have swords and kicks and punches and things.” Declared Rex, whose knowledge of ninjas was limited by the fact that he couldn’t remember ever having seen one, other than Six, but he was sure they existed, somehow.
“Yeah but they gotta be all stealthy-like, hard to be stealthy on a motorbike. All the zombies gotta do is swarm ‘em and their Harleys and bye-bye ninjas.”
“But wouldn’t the zombies fall off?” Bobo had done his best to explain what a zombie was earlier in the conversation. Rex was under the impression they were some kind of bug.
“They’ve got hands.”
“Huh?”
“Rex,” Six interrupted, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “They’re going to need you in a minute.”
Rex glanced at the hand on his shoulder, looked up at Six and smiled. “Sure thing.” He hopped down from the counter and started toward the meeting where Dr. Holiday was now waving at them.
“Rex,” she crouched slightly to his eye-level when they arrived. “In a minute Dr. Irani is going to come back with an EVO, I want you to show us what you showed me before. Can you do that?”
“Yeah, okay, but who are they?” He pointed at the officials, frowning, General Graves gave what was probably intended to be a reassuring smile, Dr. Ganarangam tried to wave but ended up dropping his notebook again. Representative Batra was staring into space with one hand on her ear and Dr. Dottori was conversing rapidly in Italian with Leo Zanardini. The rest were watching Rex with varying degrees of curiosity and skepticism.
“Just some government people, they want to see what you can do.” Rex raised an eyebrow. Suddenly the lab door opened with a crash and a deep throat-ed growling filled the room. Dr. Irani rushed in followed more slowly by two Providence soldiers wrestling a class four feline form EVO. Both Generals and Representative Tremblay pulled out their side arms. Leo Zanardini and Dr. Zhao drew back behind the group. Six uncrossed his arms.
“Rya I said sedated!” shouted Dr. Holiday
“It is sedated!” cried Dr. Inari, racing to a cabinet and prepping a tranq gun. “I even gave it a double dose.”
The EVO was moving sluggishly, but it was still more than a match for the grunts hanging off its arms. It surged forward toward the group with a roar. When it was about ten feet away one of the soldiers dropped off. The EVO stopped and sniffed the air as though confused by the sudden loss of weight, allowing the other soldier to regain his footing, or hers, it was impossible to tell under Providence armour. Rex took a step forward.
“Wai-“ started Dr. Holiday. Six held up a hand to stop her. The adults in the room, chimp included, held their collective breath as Rex walked up and reached out a hand to press against the creature’s chest. There was a chirping like an electronic start up noise and a blue glow started to form around Rex’s hand. The EVO roared and twisted around. The soldier dug in, tightening her grip on the creature’s arm. Or his, really it was that hard to tell. The EVO's other arm flailed around and hit Rex in the side of the head, sending him to the ground.
In an instant two swords flashed to the EVO. The flat of one blocked its free arm, the sharp edge of the other pressed to its neck. Rex looked up, more surprised than hurt.
“Get it done.” Six commanded, not tearing his eyes, or at least not appearing to tear his eyes, away from the EVO before him. Rex stood and pressed a hand to the monster’s chest, the chirping started up, the blue light strobed for a second, then both choked off. The EVO shifted and Rex dropped his hand with a start.
“Focus, kid.” Rex looked up at Six, took a breath and pressed both hands to the EVO. This time the chirping was louder and the blue light traced asymmetrical lines across his hands. Six had enough time to think circuit board before a blinding flash enveloped them.
Six blinked. His swords pressed against empty air. A young woman with black hair and light brown skin was collapsed against the armoured soldier. Rex was breathing as though he’d just sprinted up three flights of stairs, hands on his knees and head bowed. “Good job.” said Six. Rex straightened and smiled, the two of them turned back to the waiting committee.
General Graves had dropped his handgun on the floor. Representative Tremblay swore so severely that the UN Security Councilor, who hadn’t seen the event, gasped over Representative Batra’s communicator. Dr. Ganarangam was shakily lowering himself into Leo Zanardini’s vacated chair. For his part, Leo was weeping into Dr. Zhao’s shoulder, who was grinning like a moron. The rest merely looked shocked, save for Dr. Whelan who was watching Representative Tremblay, and Dr. Holiday who positively beamed.
“Ladies and Gentlemen," announced White Knight, “Providence’s cure for EVOs.”
“Remarkable.” said Dr. Dottori.
“We must inform the world of this,” Declared General Xu, “It is our duty. It cannot stay hidden.”
“Tomorrow,” Agreed General Graves, “Provided Mr. Zanardini and our other recoverees are able to stand as evidence?” The Italian man nodded weakly, though he did choose that exact moment to sit on the floor, there was a shortage of chairs in the lab.
“Thank you Rex,” called Dr. Holiday. Six looked down, the teen was distracted watching Dr. Irani treat the formerly EVO woman, he gave him a nudge.
“I can do another one if you want Doc,” stated Rex, looking up. Six frowned, the kid certainly looked fine, and he wasn’t breathing hard anymore, but after the last one had given him so much trouble…
“Save some for tomorrow.” Replied Dr. Holiday briskly. “It’s late and you’ve had a long day. Sleep.” She looked directly at Six, “Now.”
Nodding, the agent gripped Rex by the shoulders and steered him out of the room. As they were leaving he heard the meeting start up again. “Of course we cannot hide the fact that the cure is an EVO,” Representative Tremblay was saying. Something about that woman rubbed Six the wrong way.
Rex was quiet for the first half of the walk down the hall to the medical rooms. Finally he spoke, “Sorry I couldn’t cure that one as fast as the others.”
“What?”
“I guess I must be a little out of practice, huh?” he rubbed at the back of his neck.
Six raised an eyebrow, “You did fine.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll tell you who was really impressed,” Bobo caught up with them, “Doc Holiday.” Six ignored the voice of authority in his head that said the chimp should absolutely not be wandering the halls and kept walking.
“Really?” asked Rex, face stretching into a grin.
“You bet, couldn’t take her eyes off you.”
They’d reached the room Dr. Holiday had put Rex in earlier in the night. Six stopped and opened the door. Ignoring it, Rex leaned back on the wall. “Where do you sleep, Six?”
“Below the barracks. Down the hall, down three flights, around a corner and two more hallways.”
“Oh.” The teen glanced into the dark room. He was nervous, Six realized, this was where Knight had grabbed him in his sleep. He wracked his mind for something appropriate to say, but Rex beat him to it. “Can Bobo hang with me for a while?”
“What? Why?”
He shrugged, “He’s funny, and I’m not tired yet.”
Six eyed the chimp, Bobo for his part was doing his best to look innocent, it came across as snide, “He’s a terrorist.”
Rex rolled his eyes, “Yeah, but he’s a friendly terrorist.”
That was not the answer Six was expecting. Barely keeping himself from smirking, he reached into the room and flicked on the lights. “Very well, but make sure you get some sleep tonight.”
“Or Holiday will have my hide.” finished Rex, stepping into the room and jumping on the bed. Bobo followed, declaring that he was about to instruct the young man in everything his amnesia had robbed him of. Ignoring the kid’s first question (“Bobo, what’s a terrorist?”), Six shut the door and went in search of coffee.
About half an hour later, Six walked back into EVO processing lab 3. The discussion seemed to be winding down, General Xu was saying something about "adequate sharing of resources," which Dr. Zhao was countering with "limiting bureaucratic roadblocks through Providence control," while Representative Tremblay kept bringing up the need to "distance ourselves from the cause of the problem and avoid the potential distrust". Dr. Holiday spotted him standing by the door and ambled over.
"Any results?" Six asked.
"They've started to recycle arguments." She replied, leaning back on a counter. "Any minute now Knight will bring them back to the main point and we'll have a verdict." She nodded at the steaming cup in his hand, "I thought you didn't drink coffee."
"I don't. But I understand scientists basically live off the stuff." He held it out to her, "Milk, two sugars. It's what you had at dinner." The doctor had skipped on food when they had brought Rex to the cafeteria earlier, instead putting back an extra-large coffee while furiously taking notes on the teen's explanations for how he talked to nanites and answering his question on what Providence and the nanites actually were.
She looked surprised. "Thanks." She took a sip and sighed. "I sent Dr. Dottori and Leo to bed. She's supposed to be on 12 hour day shift, and he'll be no good to us exhausted tomorrow. Dr.’s Inari and Ganarangam are looking after our other two patients in the med wing. Hopefully they'll be up and about tomorrow too."
"We're going through with the press conference?" It wasn't how Six would have done things, but that was beyond his call now.
She made an affirmative noise, "The sooner we let people know, the sooner we can start helping them. They're just discussing Rex's involvement."
"It's safe to say he'll be involved."
She raised an eyebrow at him, moved as though to say something, then shook her head and turned back to watch the group. "Dr. Zhao has been made Providence Science Commander."
"Dr. Zhao?"
"Mmmm-mmm. He had the most seniority after Dr. Fell. Dr. Whealan is his second."
"What about you?"
She grinned, "Chief Research Officer Specializing in EVOlogy, It’s pretty much what Dr. Fell did, but without the weapons research division."
"Congratulations."
"Thanks." She took another sip of her coffee, and then stared into the mug, her grin fading. "Six, are we doing the right thing?"
"Of course. It will change the world; give us a chance to end this war."
"I know, but is it the right thing for Rex?"
He didn't speak; his movement was imperceptible but his stance changed nonetheless.
Dr. Holiday either didn't notice, or took his silence as an invitation to continue. "He has no idea who he is. He barely knows how he can do what he does. I'm worried about just throwing him out there. How can we ask him to save the world if he doesn't even remember what the world is like?"
Before he could answer Dr. Zhao called them over. Dr. Holiday didn't look back as she set the now empty mug on the counter and strode forward. Six followed.
"We've come to a conclusion regarding the EVO cure," began Dr. Zhao, "As the two initially responsible for the cure, you will naturally be involved."
"Rex is responsible for the EVO cure." cut in Dr. Holiday.
Dr. Zhao waved a hand, "Yes, yes, of course." He fidgeted slightly under her gaze. He had worked with Dr. Holiday under Dr. Fell, being her superior was the one thing he was not looking forward to about his new position. "But you are the Providence employees responsible for discovering him. We have decided to put a Providence face on this."
Dr. Holiday narrowed her eyes, "What are you saying?"
He continued as though she hadn't spoken, "Tomorrow we will hold a press conference announcing that Providence has a cure for EVOs, we will also announce the new leadership at Providence, but naturally that won't hold nearly as much interest. The cure will available free of charge, but only at Providence bases."
She relaxed slightly, so Providence wasn't planning to profit off curing EVOs, which was something at least. "What does that mean for Rex?"
General Graves cleared his throat. He was not entirely comfortable with this plan, his own son was nearly the same age as Rex, but his government supported it, his duty was to stand by his orders. "We will transport him as needed of course, however he should be kept out of the spotlight as much as possible, if we restrict his actions to Providence bases, he can get out of sight before the people he helps wake up."
"What?"
"No one will trust a cure from an EVO, even if it's free." Dr. Whealan tore his eyes away from Representative Tremblay's skirt just long enough to hit Dr. Holiday with a look of pure scorn. Unlike Dr. Zhao, he was looking forward to being Dr. Holiday's superior; he found her theories on EVO and nanite behaviour ridiculous. Of course, he found everyone's theories ridiculous except his own, but that was beside the point. "Our best option is to keep the source of the cure hidden for now."
"So you're just going to cart him around like some kind of tool?"
She stared at the group. General Graves and Dr. Zhao were avoiding looking at her; Representative Batra swayed slightly, one hand on her earpiece, muttering in Spanish and German. General Xu spoke up, "No more a tool than any other soldier. Ask your Agent Six here, we are all weapons in this war, some more powerful than others. Rex is to be our secret weapon, until the world is ready to trust him."
"He's a boy! And what about this press conference tomorrow? Isn't that the perfect time to show what he can do? Prove he can be trusted?"
Representative Tremblay shifted her stance, for the first time all night the voices in her ear were silent. It was very distracting. "The EVO will not be part of tomorrow’s proceedings. White Knight will present the news, Dr.’s Zhao, Whealan, and Dottori will corroborate with evidence from our post-EVOs. We will announce that the cure is EVO-derived, no more."
"What about his family?" She was barely controlling the volume of her voice. How much had they decided while she was drinking coffee with Six? She had made and repeated this point, and had thought to have at least one of the Generals on her side. "He can't remember who he is or where he's from. His parents may be searching for him. Putting his face on the news is the best way to help them find him."
"Don't be a fool." Representative Tremblay stepped forward, pointing an exquisitely manicured finger at Dr. Holiday. "You say he is 14? 15? He is obviously malnourished. Pinched. He has been living rough. People with happy lives do not block out their own memories. They are not more drawn to assassins and animals than doctors. He has no family. Do not throw away our best weapon for your own romantic fantasies." The finger was nearly touching Dr. Holiday's cheek. The two were standing so close she could smell the Representative's hair spray.
"Holiday," The entire group, except Representative Tremblay who glared at Dr. Holiday and Dr. Whealan who continued to watch Representative Tremblay, looked at Six, Representative Batra had forgotten he was there. "Maybe we shouldn't just throw him out there."
"I... but..." Dr. Holiday took a breath, turned, and left the room.
White Knight broke the silence. “If that is everything, Ladies, Gentlemen, let’s adjourn for the night. Six, if you wouldn’t mind, I need a word.” The others left at their own pace, Representative Batra was still muttering into her earpiece, although now in Swedish and Russian with the odd English word; General Xu was already drafting his report in his head; General Graves, whose report was less critical due to his supervisors being, in a manner of speaking, present, was thinking only of his bunk. Representative Tremblay purposely waited until Dr. Zhao pulled Dr. Whealan off to help with the commissioning of clean rooms for White Knight, then left in the opposite direction. Six waited until he was sure none of them would return for a forgotten cell phone or coffee cup, and then approached the screen. “Quite a day.”
“Don’t play cute Six. That kid, the EVO, is he a threat?”
“I don’t believe so, no”
“Uh-huh. Does he have anything to do with the giant robot… thing that took down four fighter jets?”
Six paused, if Knight didn’t know, he could say no. Claim the robot was a hybrid, that the other parts had been destroyed in the assault, that Rex was only-
“Is he, or is he not a threat?” It was the tone White Knight used on subordinates. The one he’d once told Six he reserved specifically for newbie grunts the first time they messed up, so they’d never do it again.
He knew.
“He is. The same.” He paused for a hair longer than was strictly polite, “Sir.”
“Did you see the casualty report on that?”
“I did.”
“We lost good people today Six. That is unacceptable. You keep that boy on a leash, you understand? He doesn’t move, doesn’t speak, doesn’t breathe without someone watching.”
“Understood.”
White Knight made a noise in the back of his throat, somewhere between a sigh and a growl, and stared at the side of the screen. “This whole situation makes me sick. I don’t want to hear or see you, him, or Holiday for another week, longer if I can help it. Are we clear?”
“We’re clear.” Six turned on his heel and walked toward the door, leaving the computer on.
“Six,” called Knight, he looked back, the trapped man was still staring to the side of the screen. “We replaced the two top people at Providence today and it took less than an hour. No one is invaluable, not you, not Holiday, not even me.” The screen went black.