I emerged from the bathroom wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. They were mine, but not what I had been wearing last I remembered, which meant Tom had dug through my drawers while I was unconscious, a fact I was actively trying not to think about. In an actual emergency, I might have even been touched by his thoughtfulness, but since he had intentionally drugged me and was, consequently, just feigning concern, it was actually kind of gross. I pushed it to the back of my head and focused on being grateful, at least, to be out of the hospital gown, whatever the circumstances. As I returned to the table, I saw that Tom was no longer alone. The other man sat with his back to me, sipping his coffee.
“Glad to see you are feeling better, Rayna,” he didn’t turn to face me when he spoke.
I allowed myself a brief smirk as I approached, sliding into the chair next to Tom.
“I wondered how long you would keep me waiting,” I met his eyes. “It’s been a long time, Wallace.”
Pete Wallace’s broad smile faltered for just an instant, betraying his disappointment,
“You aren’t surprised?”
“I’ve never been less surprised by anything in my life, to be honest.”
I shook my head. Really, who else would it have been? If the two of them thought they were being secretive about it, then they were worse at this than I thought and maybe I was worrying for nothing. After all, this was Wallace’s facility now, wasn’t it? Tom had admitted as much. And I knew Wallace well enough to know that what he wanted most was control, power. He would never allow something like this to occur under his nose unless he was directly in charge. Wallace recovered his composure and laughed, good-humoredly,
“That makes sense. I suppose there are few others who would have the nerve to do what is necessary.”
I managed to resist the impulse to roll my eyes, but only by focusing on grabbing a waffle from the plate in the centre of the table, instead.
“And what exactly is that, Wally? Tom has been a bit vague about it. I assume you are here to fill me in on the details?”
“Of course, Rayna. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have,” he grinned, spreading his hand magnanimously. “Within reason, of course. I just thought we could catch up for a moment, first. After all, it’s been a long time.”
Not long enough.
“I suppose it has,” I poured syrup onto my waffle, letting it puddle on the plate. “I’d ask what you’ve been up to, but I think I can guess.”
“I suppose that is fair. I have a good idea what you’ve been up to, as well,” he glanced at the cut on my forehead and shook his head in a way that could only be interpreted as patronizing. “Speaking of which…”
Wallace reached into the bag at his feet and extracted a bottle of bourbon. He poured himself two fingers, then slid it across the table towards me.
“I don’t know about you, but discussing this topic always makes my throat dry,” he took a pointed sip, as if demonstrating the safety of the liquor. “Drink?”
“Well, you know me, I’ll never say no to that,” I filled my glass with amber liquid. “Truthfully, this sets my mind at ease.”
“Oh?” Wallace raised an eyebrow.
“I was worried, for a moment, that this was all an elaborate intervention, of some sort,” I sipped my drink tentatively, it tasted expensive.
Wallace laughed,
“Perish the thought. I am sure you are more than capable of handling yourself without my input.”
“Seriously, Pete?” Tom broke in, his tone exasperated. He glared pointedly at the bottle in my hand.
It seemed he wasn’t on board with this plan. Well, it was nice to know that he, at least, cared.
“Relax, Tom,” Wallace’s tone left no room for further protest. “No need to be so serious. We’re all friends here, aren’t we, Rayna?”
“Of course. We’ve known each other a long time, after all,” easily long enough that I knew not to trust him for a moment.
“That we have,” which meant Wallace, presumably, also knew not to trust me.
I took another gulp of bourbon and felt it warm my stomach. Tom frowned, crossing his arms over his chest, but he didn’t press the matter any further. I felt a bit guilty about that, but frankly, if I was going have to deal with Wallace, it was necessary. More than that, it was what Wallace expected of me, so at least a few drinks were needed to keep him from thinking I had my guard up. At least, that is what I told myself. It was even partly true.
“I suppose, if we are all caught up, we should just get down to business, then.”
“I’m all ears,” I mumbled around a bite of waffle; it paired surprisingly well with the bourbon.
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“To start with, I understand you met Ed?”
It took me a moment to remember that this had been the name of my roommate in the infirmary.
“I take it that wasn’t a chance meeting, then?”
“No. Though there was some chance involved, because we weren’t sure he would speak with you; he hasn’t spoken to anyone in weeks. But I thought that if he believed you were another prisoner, he would be more open. Apologies for the restraints, by the way, but it seemed like the best way to convince him,” he sipped his own drink, clearly pleased with himself. “I felt that speaking with Ed would illustrate the problem for you very clearly. You didn’t know him, before, he worked as building support staff, but Ed used to be an outgoing, friendly man. He brought cupcakes for every birthday party and always organized the holiday potluck. Now, he spits on the people who go in to feed him. Surely, you can see what we are dealing with, here? What the stakes are?”
“You’ve tried to…” I began.
“We’ve tried everything,” Wallace cut me off. “Nothing gets through to him. He was close to his family, always showing pictures of his nieces and nephews, going to all their recitals and games. He was so proud of them. We tried having a few of them come by and talk with him, he screamed at them, calling them fake, impostors, demanded to see his ‘real’ family. It got… ugly. We haven’t tried again, and I am not sure they would come if we did. We’ve tried drugs, we’ve tried therapy. We even thought just giving him time might help, but if anything, he has gotten worse, closed off into himself. The Immune were supposed to be… well it’s in the name, isn’t it?” Wallace shrugged. “But you saw how they destroyed his mind, reduced him to… that. And he is far from the only one. We thought we could control them, but we were very mistaken. None of us are safe.”
“From the Domini, you mean?” I knew he didn’t.
“I wish the Domini were the only problem,” he regarded me sadly. “But, unfortunately, they are only the tip of the iceberg. The problem runs much deeper. You know that better than anyone. Was the incubus you shot the other night Domini?”
I shook my head,
“Not that I could tell.”
“Precisely. Even if we were to hunt down all the remaining Domini today, the ubarae could spawn another movement like them at any moment. They are a cancer on society. A tumorous mass. We spent centuries keeping them at bay, sacrificing innocent lives to slow the growth, but you saw how well that succeeded, in the end. It was always only a matter of time. No, we cannot appease them any longer. The only cure is to excise the mass entirely. Surely you can see that, can’t you?”
I hesitated. I had to walk a fine line, here. Too eager and he would figure out my game, to reticent and he wouldn’t reveal anything. I had to let him convince me, but I couldn’t make it seem impossible.
“I don’t know, Wallace. Even if you are right… All that death… It can’t be the only solution. And frankly, it’s a little convenient that what is ‘necessary’ is what you have always wanted.”
Wallace shook his head sadly,
“I don’t want this, Rayna. I wish that there could be peace between us. But unfortunately, that is not how the world works. I know that this is challenging for you to accept. It is why I hesitated to approach you about this in the first place, but Tom was certain you could be made to see reason, and we do need all the help we can get, for an undertaking like this. But much will depend on you, on if you are ready to see the truth. I worry that you were James’ protégé, and you are, perhaps, too much like he was. Too soft to do what needed to be done. It’s why all of this happened, in the end.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I felt my tone sharpen and struggled to keep myself calm.
“You know exactly what I mean. He was too kind to the ubarae. He allowed them too many liberties in the office. If James had been stricter, kept them on the proper leash, Suzette and Carmine wouldn’t have been able to undermine the entire structure of our organization.”
“Bullshit. It’s easy to attack a man who can’t defend himself, but it isn’t like only our section was corrupted. It happened around the world. Are you going to claim James was at fault for that, too?”
“I am not attacking anyone, Rayna, just stating how things are. And the problem wasn’t him specifically, but his mentality. Too many treated to ubarae like friends, allies. We had grown complacent, too comfortable with their presence. They were given excessive trust and access. That should never have happened. If I had been in charge, I would have done things differently. And now that I am, I will prove that. I will protect humanity, the way we should have done long ago.”
“And how, exactly, do you plan to do that? It’s not like you can just round them up and shoot them. There are too many, and Gail hardly even has enough people left to keep order. Do you have a plan?”
“Of course I do. But we aren’t there yet. I need to know where you stand, before I give you any more details.”
“How can I decide where to stand without knowing more?” I retorted. “Even if I agreed with you that extermination is necessary, if it is impossible, I don’t want to be involved. I am not interested in throwing the rest of my life away causing suffering and death for no gain. I am not interested in some pipe dream.”
“Oh, it is much more than that,” Wallace reassured me. “We are preparing for war. When the time comes, we will be ready.”
“Come on,” I drained my glass and reached for the bottle to refill it. “Why play coy now? I think that we both know you’ve already revealed too much to just let me leave, if you don’t trust me. And you clearly don’t, so I am under no illusions that I am walking out of this place anytime soon. Since you are obviously going to keep me here anyway, you might as well give me something, right? Something to convince me that you actually have the ghost of a chance to succeed at what you are suggesting.”
Wallace grinned,
“It is nice to see that you understand the situation. I have missed working with real professionals. And I suppose you are right, I can’t very well expect you to get on board with a plan that you think has no chance of success, can I?” he rubbed his chin, considering. “Perhaps if you saw how far our preparations have already gone, you would feel more secure.”
“It certainly couldn’t hurt,” I shrugged.
“Very well,” Wallace rose, brushing off his hands as he did. “How about we start with a tour of the facility, and go from there?”
“Pete, are you sure that is wise?” Tom interrupted, a worried expression on his face.
I suspected he wasn’t told that I was going to be a prisoner, here, and Wallace had him suddenly concerned about how this was all going to end, for me. I wished I could tell him that it was a bit late to be worrying about that now.
“Why not? This was your idea, wasn’t it, Tom?” Wallace held his gaze. “If she needs more to convince her, then we’ll give her more.”
“Sounds fantastic,” I popped the final bite of waffle into my mouth and stood. “I am looking forward to seeing how you are going to bring about your grand vision for the future.”
“You are right that my goals are ambitious, but I think you will be pleasantly surprised with how much I have accomplished in only 6 months. Follow me.”
Wallace opened the door back out into the hallways of the prison complex, and Tom trailed quietly behind him. I topped up my glass, grabbed it from the table, and followed them out.