Genomorph

Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

“Susan if you have a moment I have something you should see,” Amanda said from the base of the stairs to the basement. Susan had spent many hours the last few days looking through the artifacts that Amanda had collected, and had stumbled across something she had seen before.

“Sure, I have something to show you too,” Susan said. She retrieved a large canvas bag from the work table and slipped it over her shoulder as she joined Amanda.

They made their way to Susan’s office, and upon entering she saw that there was a large crate on the floor.

“This arrived by courier from my source in Nevada this morning,” Amanda said. “I believe it is very important.”

Susan stepped over to the crate, and upon seeing that the top was already pried loose she lifted it away. The inside was lined with a thick layer of foam, and once the top piece was removed Susan saw a gleaming silver cube; a storage case for Forerunner technology.

The cube was two feet on each side, and as with other such containers, was seamless with no apparent way of opening it. Generally, such cases had a small black square on top, which when pressed caused the lid of the case to open, in actuality the lid would simply disappear. Another square on the side was used to reseal the case.

This one was different, however. Instead of a square there was a black hand print on the top. Next to it were some lines in Forerunner script and one word in English - Brandi.

“This came from the cache at the lab?” Susan asked.

“Yes,” Amanda confirmed. “My contact found it while cataloguing some of the artifacts. There were several other identical cubes, but only this one had Brandi’s name on it.”

“Whoever your contact is, they took a big chance smuggling this out,” Susan commented.

“Yes and I was not at all pleased,” Amanda said, a frown on her face.

“Well it is obviously connected to the Genomorph Protocol, and intended for Brandi,” Susan said. “When I saved her data file, the computer must have transmitted the data to this container and encoded it for Brandi.”

“Shall I make arrangements to get it to her?” Amanda asked.

Susan nodded, “I have no idea what it is, but it must be important, or at least highly useful.”

“I’ll make the arrangements,” Amanda said. “I was just about to have tea on the veranda, won’t you join me? You can show me what you found then.”

A few minutes later they were sipping tea and enjoying the lovely fall day. Susan reached into her bag and pulled out what looked like a large PDA and set it on the table.

“I found this in your collection,” Susan told Amanda as she showed her the device.

“It looks like a tricorder,” Amanda smiled.

“I should have known you would be a Star Trek fan,” Susan grinned. “As a matter of fact that is basically what it is. It’s a miniature computer and scanning device. We had several in Nevada but this has one major difference … it’s fully functional.”

“Can you operate it?” Amanda asked.

“Now that it has been interfaced with my computer and has translated itself, yes,” Susan said. “With this we can scan for changes made by the brainwashing device, and program the device you have to remove those changes, even after the sleeper has been activated, as long as the programming has not been active for too long.”

“You should scan me, and Gretchen as well,” Amanda said.

“Amanda I trust you,” Susan said.

“Trust is not the point, Susan,” Amanda said. “If we have been programmed, we wouldn’t even know it. The only way to be sure is to scan us.”

Susan ran the scan, finding Amanda clean. She then scanned Gretchen who was likewise clean. After that was done, she showed Amanda how to run the scan so she could verify that Susan was free of the sleeper programming.

Amanda ran the scan and gasped, “Susan …”

Susan looked at the screen, which displayed a list of programming that was buried within her mind. She could not tell what she was programmed to do, just that there was code embedded in her sub-conscious. She stared at it for a long time before speaking.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” she said quietly. “They had ample opportunity to get to me in the four years I was working for them, I just have no idea when this was done.”

She began shaking, and soon she was crying as Amanda held her.

“It’s like being raped!” she cried. “They violated my mind! Those fucking, evil bastards got into my head!”

“But we can fix it, Susan,” Amanda soothed, though inside she was seething. It was, just as Susan said, a kind of rape; even more perverse and violating than a physical assault in many ways.

“I feel like I know some of what Brandi must feel now,” Susan said once she had regained her composure. “I mean intellectually I understood it before…but to really know that something has been put in you to make you act in a certain way…it’s a very uncomfortable feeling. The one thing we truly can call our own is our thoughts, and yet these people have no problem invading that sanctuary and shaping it to fit their design.”

“I imagine the programming is intended to make you obedient and supportive of their agenda once they initiate their plan,” Amanda said. “They would still want your knowledge available to them.”

Susan shuddered, wondering just how obedient the programming would make her.

“Why didn’t they just activate me and use me to get to Brandi?” Susan wondered.

“We caught them by surprise,” Amanda said. “I do know they can activate individual sleepers, but it requires them to be close. In order to activate you now, they would have to use their satellites to send out a general signal and activate all the sleepers. They are not ready to do that yet.”

“So they don’t know about you?”

“They don’t perceive me as a threat,” Amanda told her. “I have been very careful to cultivate that impression, and it has required me to turn a blind eye to some things they have done.”

“He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight,” Susan said, smiling.

Amanda smiled as well, “Sun Tzu also said, ‘All warfare is based on deception’, and we must never forget that our enemy is a master of deception.”

“Yes, indeed,” Susan agreed. “Now let’s get this garbage out of my head.”

Susan rose and then turned to Amanda, a smile crossing her face.

“Wait, I have a better idea,” she said. “A little deception of our own. But we’ll need some help.”