Genomorph

Chapter 65

CHAPTER 65

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2005
1200 EST

“So it’s over?” Barbara Currant asked as she sipped a cup of tea in the parlor of Amanda Breton’s estate.

“The organization is crippled, but there are still enough of them running around to cause trouble,” Amanda said. “I doubt we have heard the last of them, but the major players have been dealt with.

“Admiral Hammerstein is being placed in charge of the stockpiles of Forerunner technology, and will oversee the research into them for useful application to aid humanity. Of course, there will still be military and intelligence applications as well.”

“I’d like to be a part of that,” Barbara said. “What about Susan?”

“Susan will be taking charge of everything related to the Genomorph Protocol,” Amanda told her. “Admiral Hammerstein has already asked if you would remain in your position at the Nevada lab and oversee the work on the stockpiles of technology there.”

“I’d like that very much,” Barbara said. “I take it the Genomorph related items will be moved?”

“Yes, they are looking at an unused complex at Edwards Air Force Base,” Amanda said. “It will be much closer to Brandi and Melissa, and Susan feels Brandi will be more comfortable not having to return to the Nevada site, if she chooses to continue with the project.”

“There is still a lot we can learn from her,” Barbara said hesitantly. “And there’s a lot she still has to be told.”

“All in good time,” Amanda said. “She’s been through enough for now. Let’s give her some time to enjoy life without a shadow hanging over her.”

“Well, we owe her that,” Barbara admitted. “I know she never asked to become what she is, but we couldn’t have done this without her.”

“Nor could we have done it without you, my darling,” Amanda said. “I’m very proud of you, and very glad that this chapter of your life is over.”

“I just did what was necessary.” Barbara shrugged. “Just like you taught me, Mother. Did you go to the funeral?”

“Yes, I owed him that much,” Amanda sighed. “He lost his way, but he was not always so consumed with the pursuit of power. I went to say goodbye to the man I loved, not the man your father had become.”

*****

Brandi sat down on a bench on Ocean Front Walk and lit a cigarette. She had just finished a very rigorous ten miles and was drenched in perspiration. She found that jogging helped her focus; she could get into a near meditative state as she ran and thought.

She had a lot to think about. She had tried to convince herself that what she had done in Washington was necessary, that the Man had to die to ensure that he could no longer threaten the security of the nation. It was true; despite all the evidence, he had been set free because too many people feared he might expose them in one way or another, or that the country would be devastated by the scandal of what he had very nearly accomplished. Even though she did not like it, she understood the reasoning behind it.

But there was a part of her that had still craved revenge. She understood fully now why Susan had done what she did in Nevada. She would never be sure if she had killed the Man because it had to be done or because she wanted to do it.

She knew Melissa could sense her turmoil; there was no hiding her emotions from her lover since the bonding. But Melissa also knew that this was something she had to work through on her own.

She was afraid, terrified, that she was becoming the very thing they had wanted to make her; a cold, emotionless killing machine. She looked at the burning tip of her cigarette, a glowing reminder of the behavior that had been programmed into her.

“That was some pace you set.”

Brandi looked up to see a young woman stretching nearby after her own run. Brandi had seen her before; she ran along Ocean Front nearly every day at the same time Brandi usually ran.

“I’m amazed you can keep a pace like that and smoke those things,” she continued, wrinkling her nose in distaste. “I’m Leia, Leia Marie Danforth.”

“I guess I’m just a slave to my habits, Leia. My name is Brandi Williams.”

Her identification was now officially established as Brandi Williams, age twenty-one. She had never really used the name Brenda anyway. All mention of her in any police records regarding the shootout had been totally expunged, and the owner of the Hummer she and Melissa had stolen had been fully compensated. Gary Rand had been taken care of too; the weapons she had stolen had been replaced with brand new ones, which of course provided an added benefit: Brandi got to keep the others. She suspected she would have use for them in the future. She had also gone and personally apologized to Gary, and he had forgiven her, which took a great weight off her mind.

“Nice to meet you, Brandi,” Leia said, smiling as she sat down on the bench. “I don’t mean to be a nag or anything, it’s just I really hate to see such a pretty girl like you smoking. It really, well, it really kind of ruins your beauty. It’s also a nasty habit and very bad for you.”

Brandi smiled. “I appreciate your concern, Leia. You’re right, it is a nasty habit. If I could quit, I would. I’m afraid it’s just programmed into me now.”

“Addiction can be hard to beat,” Leia said. “I used to have an addiction to food. I ate and ate and ate and never did a bit of exercise. Then one day I looked down at the scale, and I weighed over two hundred pounds.”

Brandi looked at the girl, who was about Melissa’s height and very close to Melissa’s physical condition. Her stomach was flat and sculpted, and her body was trim but still retained a nice girlish figure. She probably weighed less than Brandi herself did.

“I’m just saying people aren’t computers, Brandi,” Leia continued. “We put the programming in, and we can take it out. It’s never as easy to get rid of it as it was to put it in, but it can be done. All we have to do is want it enough.”

“I wish it was that simple,” Brandi said.

“It’s never simple, sweetheart,” Leia said, laughing as she rose to her feet. “Well, I’ve got to run … literally. I’ll see you around Brandi.”

“It was very nice to meet you,” Brandi said.

She watched Leia until she was out of sight, which was a long time with Brandi’s enhanced senses. She wondered if it could be that simple. Yes, she had been imprinted with programmed behavior by the GMU, but was the imprinting process really any different than the way habits were assumed by people every day?

Without even consciously thinking, she took the pack of cigarettes from her fanny pack and raised one to her lips. She caught herself as she brought the flame of her Zippo close to the tip and stopped.

“There’s only one way to find out,” she said.

Rising from the bench, she broke the cigarette in half and then crumpled the pack into a ball. She discarded it and the lighter in a nearby trash can and turned towards home.