Inner Discord, ch 02 (Patreon)

Tristan dropped the body, adding another to the trail he and Alex left on their way to the scientist’s lab. There had been initial rush of opposition as anyone within hearing range of the man yelling for reinforcement came running, and Alex immediately dropped any pretense at not wanting to kill, if not exactly needing to kill. This was job, so killing those who put themselves in their way was what was called for. It was the rest of the time Alex needed to realize his extreme reactions weren’t warranted.

Now, they hardly encountered any resistance. The researcher had locked themselves in their labs, and there were few guards left to try to stop them, or with the courage to attempt it.

The light dimmed to nearly full dark before returning to full strength. Alex checked his datapad.

“They did a power-down cycle to enable a core reset.”

Between two and six hours before the systems were fully operational outside of Alex’s control, depending on the model, the designers and how hard those in charge demanded control back. Regardless of that, thirty minutes before more than life support was usable.

“That one.” Alex said, three intersections later. He checked his pad, then shook his head. “Even if I still had some control, the security system aren’t done cycling. The lock has nothing to listen to.”

The lock was an Erfinaen. Midling design offering adequate protection against untrained people. The corporation had  ceased to exist seventy objective years before, and in the wake of his dissolution, their products had found their way on the market at high discounts that made them appealing to anyone more interested in the appearance of security than its implementation.

He had the cover off, the wires rearranged, and didn’t bother covering his work before opening the door.

“What is going on?” the man looking up from the computer demanded. He was still furiously tapping at it, as if his insistence would make something happen. “Who are you? Are you with the prison?” He glanced at a set of chairs, to one of which a woman was strapped, tense and mouth opened in a silent scream.

Alex’s twitch was nearly imperceptible.

“Don’t worry, she’s fine,” the man said dismissively. “She won’t remember any of this once the machine’s done.”

Tristan caught Alex by the arm as he took off, knife in hand. “No,” he said, and the murderous glare his human gave him had nothing of the mad glee of when he lost control. This was rage fueled murder.

“He needs to pay.” Alex’s voice was so low as to barely be audible.

“He will,” Tristan replied, “but we’re here for information first.” There had been none of the rage when Alex had told him about the interrogation through the scientist’s machine when he’d explained what had set him on the path to search for the Samalian. He’d been detached, recounting something that had happened to someone else. As if the machine had severed part of his mind, so he wasn’t able to care what was done to him.

If it had down something like that to him, what else could it have done? Rendered him incapable of controlling base urges like killing?

Seeing the rage in Alex’s eyes, so hot he trembled, Tristan realized it had been Alex cutting the memory away. Forcing the distance so he wouldn’t have to feel. Deal with what had been done to him.

It could still be responsible, but even if it wasn’t, there would be information there he could use.

“Look, I have important work to do,” the scientist said. “When will whatever’s going on be done with?”

Tristan watched Alex forcefully pack the anger down, leaving only embers in his eyes. He nodded, back in control, for now, and Tristan let him go.

“The complex had been attacked,” Tristan said.

“That’s just great. Tell me you’re dealing with it.”

Alex chuckled.

“That’s now why we’re here.”

The man studied them more carefully. “Am I in danger? Are you here to take me and my research to a secure location?”

“You definitely are in danger,” Alex said.

Tristan was impressed by the man’s lack of awareness. “We’re not here to take you anywhere.”

“Then why are you here?” the man demanded, annoyed.

His obliviousness was such Alex looked at Tristan in surprise.

“We’re who are placing you in danger,” he said.

“You’re not making any sense.” The man threw his hands up. “Do I have to put you in my machine to get a straight answer out of you? If there’s a problem, why are you—”

Alex moved faster than Tristan could reach for him and had the man against the console, knife pressed against his neck.

“You are never putting me in that thing again,” he snarled. “Do you ear me? I will slice into tiny pieces before you can get me close to it. I will do it while you’re breathing and screaming for me to stop. I won’t stop. I’m going to make you feel what it’s like to have pieces of you ripped out against your will and not be able to do anything about it.”

“Alex,” Tristan said gently, stepping next to him.

“No, I’m not going back in there. Do you hear me? I’ll die before he does that to me again.”

Tristan placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’re not going anywhere, Alex. You are safe. I will protect you.” He looked into his human’s eyes, watched the terror retreat. Not forced away, but melding under the reminder Tristan would never let anyone hurt him. “I need you to move the knife away.”

The breath was shuddering as Alex stepped away.

“He’s crazy,” the scientist said, voice shaking. “I have no idea what he’s talking about.”

“He was referring to the torture you inflicted on him with a previous generation of your machine.” Tristan had looked for anything on the open and closed net relating to what Alex had suffered and come back with nothing. Even going through Luminex’s system had only revealed the man had been employed there within their product behavior acceptance research department.

The corporation might not have wanted to document what the man had for them, but it had to acknowledge his presence, as well as his severance. The document had been so bland as to be a strike against the man. If he sought further employment in his field, this would tell the potential employer that he was worse than a bad employee. He was an unremarkable one. Even bad employees had their place, sets of skills as part of what made them unsuited for their current employer that another could find useful.

Employees that had never gotten themselves noticed had nothing anyone could make use of.

But this one had still found employment, then vanished within the bowel of another corporation. That had told Tristan all he needed to know. Luminex might have claimed he was unremarkable, but he’d been able to prove that wasn’t true.

And there was only one way that happened.

“What?” He looked at Alex. “I’ve never seen him before. I swear. And I don’t torture, I do research.”

Tristan smiled, and the man shied back at the sharp teeth suddenly visible. “You work for Luminex at the time. A woman named Katherine Silt brought him to you to interrogate. She was looking for evidence he was my accomplice instead of my pawn.”

Recognition flashed in the man’s eyes, then he looked at Alex again, longer. Doubt forming. Disbelief. He shook his head. Not a denial of the events, but that the man he was looking at was involved.

The reaction was understandable. The Alex the man met was nothing like this one. Plump would be a generous way of describing him. He remembered pieced of the mask he’d worn then, the enjoyment he’d shown when they finally touched. It had been genuine in the moment. His masks were always real while he wore them. Underneath, he had felt nothing for the man he seduced.

Tristan had been proud for so long of not feeling anything for anyone.

“It doesn’t matter if you remember him or not. You’re going to give me anything your machine gave you when you put Alexander Crimson under it.”

The man recognized the name, but the disbelief was stronger when he looked at Alex, searched for anything that might resemble whatever records he had on him.

“Forget about if that is him or not. It doesn’t matter. I want what it gave you about the person with that name. And all the research associated with it. I’ll need that if I’m to understand what those results mean.”

“I don’t have them,” the man said. “I wasn’t allowed to keep any of the work I did for Luminex. It was in my contract. They owned it all.”

“Then how did you get hired after they dropped you?”

“I… I explained the research—”

“No corporation will take someone’s word. They will want proof.”

“I had a prototype.”

“No, you didn’t. Luminex owns your machine, remember? They would have programs floating around, waiting for you to purchase anything that was even tangentially related to the machine you built. They would have you arrested for corporate espionage so fast, it would have been as if you’d never left. Except for the difference in quality of the accommodations. I have no doubt they made sure you knew that. So no. You didn’t build a prototype you could show. What you had was your research. The one Luminex is so certain they took away from you. You kept more than one copy, I expect. You know corporate’s mindset on ownership of ideas, so you would have made sure they couldn’t take every copy away from you. That is what you had to demonstrate your worth. What brought you here.”

“I had my work, that’s true,” the man said, so nervous he stank. “But just the just the machine’s abstract, I had to—” he gulped as Tristan shook his head.

“You had to show proof. You knew that. And a researcher of your caliber wouldn’t leave anything out. Now, if you feel like protesting again. Trying to lie your way out of this, keep in mind the man you tortured for the sake of your research is the man I love. That I defied who I was to stay with. I will not be overly patient with you if you continue this way.”

The man pissed himself.

“Good. Your research, please.” Tristan escorted the man to a different computer. An old Heshiron that had seen much use and been maintained with care. Tristan handed him a data chip, and the man inserted it in without running it through any scan against malicious programs.

No matter how the man came out of what Tristan planned, there would be nothing there for him to work with.

He took the data chip and scanned it for any extra program. Then ran a search for Alex’s name. He nodded in satisfaction, and the man sagged with relief. Only to tense as Tristan grabbed him and pulled him away.

“I gave you what you want, I swear! I didn’t hold anything back.”

“I believe you,” Tristan said. Alex looked away from the woman in the chair, still tense and in a silent scream. Hope flicked in his eyes, but Tristan shook his head. Killing him was too good. He called up the information on how to operate the machine and quickly read as he dragged the protesting scientist along. He didn’t need to know much at this point. Only had to activate one of the chair.

He threw the man in the one next to the woman hard enough he had trouble breathing. Tristan secured him, Alex joining him and eagerly helping

“Why?” the man asked plaintively.

“You can think of this as gaining firsthand experience on how your machine works,” Tristan said casually, as he made sure all the straps were tight. “I’m sure your future research subject will appreciate that insight.” 

He looked at the control and adjusted the setting to what he’d read, then he grabbed the man’s head, claws digging in as he forced him to look into his eyes.

“But I’m doing this because you hurt the man I love. You hurt someone back when he didn’t deserve to be treated that way. I used him. Do you hear me? I used him; he was never my accomplice. He told you and her the truth, but you didn’t care. You were just happy she was providing you with someone you could torture.”

“She didn’t give me a—” the man’s scream as Tristan activated the chair was not silent. That has to come until after the subjects screamed themselves raw.

“Don’t worry,” he told the man, not bothering to raise his voice. “If this ever ends, you won’t remember a thing, right?”