Deviant control, p.2
Deviant Control, page 2
part #3 of The Controllers Series
“You need to leave, please,” he said.
His posture radiated tension. He was ready to haul me over to the elevator but was wary after my last little trick. I didn’t have an exhaustive supply of them, and he was a trained soldier, I doubted I would get past him a second time.
He didn’t know this, and I was glad since I needed him to tell me what the hell was wrong.
“Please.” His eyes pleaded, then flicked subconsciously to the inner lock.
My body softened with dread. “It’s broken,” I said.
“We need to hurry!” Merry called.
The soldier nodded to my question. “I can shoot it out from the other side.” His voice shook a little. “Please get in the elevator.”
Merry was calling, and so was Peter. I could hear the approaching screams…and the unloading of weapons, but it all faded out.
He was going to die. They would kill him. I knew it; he knew it.
He was so damn young. He was someone’s baby, and he’d had the misfortune to be the one to try and get my ornery self out of this hospital.
I had his gun in my hand and had shot him in the leg before I could second guess myself.
He dropped with an agonized grunt and a curse.
“Help me get him in the elevator!” I called.
“Jesus Christ, Lilly! What the hell are you doing?” Peter rushed over while Merry held the door.
“Yes, what the hell are you doing?” My poor soldier escort demanded. “They’ll court-martial my ass! Give me my damn gun back and get in the elevator.” Blood spewed, and cursing profusely, he tried to get up.
“Better court-martialed than dead,” I snapped back as Peter tied off the wound and the blood flood slowed to sluggish. “They’ll come for me, they won’t come for you, and I can’t let you die.”
He weighed a ton. Why hadn’t I just pointed the gun at him and ordered him to walk over there? He was as strong as an ox and fought our efforts until I threatened to shoot his other leg. Even Peter was screaming at me to ‘see sense’ by this point.
We dragged him in the elevator between us. I’ve no idea how. There was blood smeared over the floor and walls of the elevator, and all over us, and he was still demanding that I give him the gun back when he passed out. I didn’t like that he had lost consciousness, but Peter was an excellent doctor, and help would be available at the bottom of the elevator shaft.
“I need to lock the door. I’ll be in the next one.” I didn’t give them a chance to react, and to be fair, they were distracted by the soldier I’d just shot. By the time they realized something was amiss, I’d hit the button and stepped outside the door.
“Lilly, what have you done?” Merry whispered, her face deathly white.
“They’ll come for me,” I repeated. “They won’t come for him, and I can’t let him die.”
The door snapped shut. I stared at it for a long, stretched moment.
Then I ran back to the big drop door, stood on the outside, and fired at the door lock. On the third blast, it slammed down. It was a drop door and could not be opened once shut, but I still shot it another dozen times to make absolutely sure.
I stared from the gun in my bloody hand to the sealed door.
I dropped the gun. It wouldn’t help me now—more likely get me killed.
Shivers wracked my whole body, and I sank to my knees.
I wasn’t one for bad language. My father’s position meant I had lived my life under the kind of spotlight where such expressions were frowned upon, and I conditioned myself accordingly. But as I knelt, red blood splattered over my beautiful red ballgown, and my mind struggling to process this calamity of my own making, the only words that came to mind were, “What the fuck have I just done?”
CHAPTER TWO
Theta was the first dynamic to be revealed in a human infected with the Copper virus. A junior research assistant accidentally infected himself, or so it was alleged. Thetas are hyper-intelligent and driven toward the accumulation of wealth, prestige, or both.
Of all the dynamics, I believe the Theta dynamic to be the most ruthless.
My wealth of personal experience supported this determination.
Doctor Lillian Brach
Ryker
“SHE SAID WHAT?” I asked, scratching my jaw slowly. I had been redirected from another operation, and I’d spent the transit time going over the details.
They hadn’t put this in the details.
“Better court-martialed than dead,” General Sherwin repeated eyeing the information tablet in his hand with heat. I knew that look, I’d had it directed at me a time or two. “They’ll come for me, they won’t come for you, and I can’t let you die.”
Sherwin was an Alpha and a great bear of a man with a moon face and sharp eyes that missed nothing. There had been many occasions when I wished he were a little less astute.
He placed the tablet on the desk behind him with a clatter, his expression awash with frustration. The operation tent we stood in was sparsely furnished, a few seats, a desk, a field grid-link in the corner, and a big-ass interactive table between us displaying a three-dimensional map of the troubled city. “Get her back, Ryker. I don’t care how you do it. Just get her back.”
I nodded and shrugged. “Sure. Who’s on point?”
“You are.”
I am? Had he forgotten what happened the last time I was on point? They never let me take point. I was tempted to remind him, but something in his cool study told me he knew the risk and was carrying on regardless. This must be a seriously fucked-up operation if they were letting me off the leash. “Whatever you need…Is he dead?” I asked, still rubbing restlessly at the stubble on my jaw. “’Cos if he’s not I’m heading over to the infirmary tent to shoot the hapless fucker myself.”
Sherwin waved a dismissive hand like he’d already given the idea serious consideration. “I’m inclined to cut him some slack,” he said—which had to be a first. Sherwin was renowned for ripping apart those who made mistakes, not cutting them slack.
“She is Governor Brach’s daughter and has a reputation for being difficult,” he continued. “The allocated soldier was not Alpha or even a Beta Controller. I’ve ordered an inquest into why he was sent. The governor had an agreement with his daughter that she would never be allocated a Controller—still, that’s not a good enough reason. It was acceptable while she was in a civilian situation, but not acceptable the moment her hospital became a war zone. The governor is blaming himself and didn’t fight the decision to allocate her one now. That law change pertaining to Omegas can’t come soon enough. This is a mess. A real mess. We need her back. She’s a Singular, and even if she weren’t her research into the Copper virus has revolutionized our understanding. We’ve had more new singularities and Alphas since she was given free rein over the program. It was a tragedy when she revealed as an Omega and they gave the position to someone else. The new Program Director does things a little differently. She’s still part of the program, and we need every advantage we can get.”
“Fuck me,” I said, which summed up my opinion on the matter perfectly. “She been captured?”
“The hospital sector has fallen under enemy control.” He indicated the location on the map. “All those who made it to the secure complex are safe inside this central sector. According to her assistant, she tricked them into leaving her behind. We have no information about Doctor Brach’s current status.”
I’d read the report earlier. The internal defense system had failed in several sectors, and a hard line existed between the whole, untouched city blocks and what had become a wasteland. Enemy troops were bombarding the next sector’s defense, and with over a million people within its protection, evacuation wasn’t an option. That wasn’t my problem, the little Omega doctor was.
“But we should assume her capture is imminent. I want you on point. Black was debriefed earlier. Once he extracts her, he’ll hand her over to you. Having gotten him on the inside, we want to keep him there as long as we can.”
I nodded again. “No problem.” I’d worked with Ethan Black on plenty of operations. He had been deep undercover for a while. Balls of steel…and a twisted fuck, but it worked for him, and he got the job done.
“You’ll need to have a procedure done,” Sherwin continued, looking away. “Due to her unique singularity.”
“Come again?” I said, and then remembered that I was talking to a general and that that might have been a bit too familiar. It wasn’t like I had any choice in what the fuck they did to me, but the ‘procedure’ term was throwing me. “Ah, sir…” I took control over my rambling mouth. “Procedure?”
“Yes,” the general said still staring at the city map. “She has certain…requirements from a Controller.” He shrugged. “It’s…technical. The doctor will explain. The benefits are outstanding—like a shot of raw adrenaline or so I’ve been told. They were still testing it, but the Program Director believes she’s had conclusive results for a while but was stalling because of the personal nature of the singularity. Her body will react to the danger, and you’ll need to—” He made a little circular movement with his hand. “Doctor Tsing, the Program Director, will explain.”
“Sure,” I said. What the fuck was I being signed up for? “Ethan having this done too?”
“Yes,” the general replied. “Already done. A while ago.”
A while ago? An interesting side note. “And he’s okay?”
“Yes,” Sherwin said, which wasn’t very forthcoming. Ethan wasn’t renowned for caution, so I wasn’t sure I could take too much comfort from him forging ahead.
This was all becoming—odd, and I was suspicious that all was not quite right.
“What exactly is her singularity?”
“Donor,” said the general as the operation tent flap opened and a slight, blond man, with dark, almond-shaped eyes entered. “Blood donor.”
The temporary military base had been established in the city’s stadium; a vast Deadball field, which already housed temporary support, and storage tents, and containers of every shape and size. Thousands of troops had been deployed to shore up the city’s defense, along with a dozen Healers and even a Singular, with supporting Alpha teams.
The ground was coarse and gritty, and the passage of troops kicked up copious amounts of dust.
“So, what’s this procedure?” I asked.
The doctor coughed, waving a hand as if trying to smite an invisible assailant. I suppose he was closer to the dust than me being as he was so short. “I’ll need to administer a serum. You will experience a minor level of discomfort as it’s absorbed. A few minutes, and you can be released for duty.”
Still coughing, he directed me into a small tent with a couple of Beta guards outside.
It was a tiny space, made more so by a wall of medical paraphernalia, a small desk and chair, and another sturdier chair in the middle—the kind that came with restraint straps.
I was told to sit.
I sat down, eyeing the straps. Minor discomfort? The straps said otherwise.
The tiny doctor busied himself preparing my doom, shooting a disdainful look at me every time I glanced his way. Since we were the only two people in the tent, and it was either him or the restraint straps, I looked at him a lot. I guessed he might have been the one to administer whatever the fuck this was to Ethan, and that might explain the attitude.
At first, I thought he was an Omega, but there was no scent and Omegas always smelled alluring whether male or female.
Having finished the preparations, he strapped me down, and here I was given an injection.
I had been long enough in the game not to be phased by this approach. And no fucking way was this going to be a minor discomfort. Whatever this was it would hurt like a bitch, and they didn’t want me tearing up the expensive equipment if I thrashed.
When the doctor suggested a gag might be appropriate, I figured it was going to hurt a lot.
It hurt like a motherfucker.
Given a choice, I’d rather go ten rounds in the practice pit than be strapped to this seat feeling like I was being peeled apart from the inside out. Sweat bathed my body, and my stomach cramped so hard I thought for sure I would throw up.
The doctor appeared to come to the same conclusion because he removed the gag and said, “The worst is over now.”
He lied.
What followed was a series of hot and cold sweats while my body convulsed violently. I bit my tongue during the shakes, got a mouth full of blood for my pains and wished he’d kept the gag in.
“Is this normal?” I grunted when the ability to do something other than writhe returned.
I felt feverish, my head pounded, and my stomach roiled. How the fuck was I supposed to go on an operation feeling like this?
“Perfectly,” said the doctor, his blond head bent to inspect the information tablet in his hand. “I’m delighted to inform you that you’re our second successful candidate…We didn’t do so well with Betas.”
While I was trying to assimilate what that meant, the pain eased.
“I can release you now.” The doctor put down his information tablet and set about releasing the straps. “You’ll experience weakness for a few minutes, but that will clear too.” He passed me a water bottle, and thirsty, I gulped the contents down.
“So, are you going to explain how this works.” I gestured at myself. This had all happened quickly, and while I understood it was the way of operations, and that I was effectively the property of the government, a little explanation went a long way. “I’ve never heard of an Omega, Singular or otherwise requiring a specific Controller. Sherwin called Lillian a—Donor.”
The doctor sat on the thin metal chair opposite. “Yes, Doctor Brach is a Donor, a blood donor. You’re going to need to drink her blood.”
“Come again?” I swiped a hand over my face, then reached to knead the back of my neck. “You want me to drink her blood? Are you fucking insane?”
The doctor’s face was pinched. Well fuck him and his feelings, this was a fucked-up conversation and being polite wasn’t going to make it any easier.
“How’s that going to work then? She going to put it in a cup or something?” Yeah, that sounded ridiculous, and really, a cup of blood wasn’t the first thing that had sprung to mind. “Don’t I need sharper teeth?” No, that didn’t sound a whole lot better than the cup o’ blood…I still poked a finger in my mouth like I was expecting a couple of canines to have magically appeared. Yeah, that was plain stupid—About as stupid as drinking someone’s blood.
I kneaded the back of my neck harder, but it didn’t help to relieve the tension.
“The skin over her neck.” Tsing pointed at the side of his throat close to where the jugular sat. “Is thin, and the blood vessels are numerous. A normal bite will break the skin.”
I lowered my arm. “Then I do what—drink? Suck?”
He nodded.
“That’s a bit fucked up, isn’t it?” I muttered, shaking my head. “I can’t believe that this is part of a viral dynamic. I have literally got to drink her blood? I couldn’t just eat her pussy?”
“There’s no need to be crude!”
“What? It’s a great way of transferring body fluids, and no one needs to bleed. Or even a kiss, like Healers do. Because that’s also a straightforward, non-invasive way to transfer body fluids.”
“It’s not a chemical transfer. Well, not exclusively.”
“We probably should have had this conversation before you shot me up with whatever that shit was. Minor discomfort, you said! You didn’t think to mention the vampire, blood-drinking part?”
He gave me a questioning look while I fantasized about ending the unethical fucker.
“I’ve done some freakish stuff in my time. But I’m being honest here, I don’t think I can drink anyone's blood. The only time I see blood is when it’s spraying all over the place as I kill someone. Omegas are for fucking, not bleeding. The two things don’t sit well together in my mind.”
“You will need to find a way,” he said, tone bristling with disapproval, as if his direction that I should do so was sufficient to see the discussion close.
“You ever been with an Omega?” I asked.
He shook his head, but his eyes darkened in an interesting little tell. It looked to me like the doctor wanted to get with an Omega…or maybe he just wanted to fuck Lilly.
“How long have you been working with her?”
“Nine years…almost ten. I’ve been her research partner since she started working with the Copper virus.”
Poor bastard. “What are you anyway? Can you still smell her? I can’t imagine trying to work all day with someone who smells like that.”
The pinched expression was back “Doctor Brach was extremely late, twenty-five when the virus revealed. She believed herself immune. That was three years ago.”
That got a raised eyebrow from me. She was older than I’d presumed, and I’d never heard of anyone revealing so late. No wonder she had developed an independent streak. I’d been thirteen when I identified as an Alpha, still a kid, and I’d been trained and prepared for what I would become ever since. And to become an Omega after all that time, to suddenly lose your ability to be objective. Must feel a lot like losing your mind. Still, we were what we were, and all had their part to play. However, it had come about, she was an Omega, and she needed to be controlled.
“I’m a Theta,” Tsing said. “And yes, I can still smell her, but I’m not a slave to my basal urges.”
I grinned. Yeah, he wished he was. “Three years, that’s gotta fuck you up. Nothing smells as good as an Omega, and you sit with that every day? I can smell one at fifty paces. Trust me on this; their hot little cunts taste even better than they smell. And they are so fucking tight—”
He made a choking sound so I figured I might have taken my side discussion a step too far. “All that is normal Omega. And it goes both ways.”
