“At least it didn’t suffer,” said Jon.
“They told me the range on it, Jon,” said Tabby. “It has a range of miles. No drop off. No way to disrupt it. Pair it with a targeting system, and—”
“And say goodbye,” said Jon.
“It obliterates flesh, and metal, and brick, and stone, and anything else,” said Tabby. “And I helped power it.”
“You didn’t have a choice,” said Jon. “More people are missing. I don’t know what Shaw is doing with them, but it can’t be good.”
“There’s always a choice,” said Tabby. “It just wasn’t a good one. It doesn’t matter, anyway. They’re cutting me out.”
“What do you mean?”
“You can recognize it, just like anyone else,” said Tabby. “When people have cooled on you. Maybe they just didn’t like how I reacted to the cow. But they come to me less and less often for help. More and more to my team, who now are about as well versed on the tech as I am. I’m obsolete.”
Jon shook his head. “I still don’t get why my news made you more afraid.”
“Think about it, Jon,” said Tabby. “Do you think it’s an accident Shaw mentioned soldiers? The end of trauma? Please. I’m sure he’d like you to believe that he’d give your tech to everyone, free, for ally and enemy alike, but I don’t believe it for a second.”
“But that’s the whole pitch of this place,” said Jon. “It’s saving the world.”
“The whole place is a lie,” said Tabby. “Shaw never intended to save anything. We don’t even know what’s actually happening on the surface. Everything could be back to normal for all we know. He’s kept us afraid and in the dark, and we’ve been creating new technologies for him, for free.”
“And now he can take them, and sell them to the highest bidder,” said Jon.
“I don’t think that’s his plan,” said Tabby. “Although it’s no better.”
“What’s his plan, then?” asked Jon.
“What did he tell you about the soldiers?” asked Tabby.
“He said to imagine a soldier who’s been shot, or been blown up. Imagine their wound healing on the battlefield, completely. Maybe with the help of a single medic, if there are complications. He said that it would end all conflict.”
Tabby stared at him. “Here. Imagine this, instead. Imagine one army, all members functionally invincible. Able to heal bullet wounds, and explosions, and god knows anything else on the battlefield, within a couple minutes. Imagine that same army with advanced weaponry, that is nearly silent, has impossible range, and incredible firepower. And now, imagine that same army equipped with all the technology down here that you and I have no idea about. Armors, explosives, who knows what. All supported by unparalleled systems funded by the richest man on Earth.”
“Fuck,” said Jon.
“Exactly,” said Tabby. “He is preparing for the end of the world, Jon. God knows how long he’s had this plan, but it’s been a long time. He’s seen the writing on the wall, and he bided his time, and gathered resources. Managed his persona and brand. Used his natural charisma to sway anyone he couldn’t win over with money.”
“It was all the lie,” said Jon. “I can’t help him, then. I can’t help give him more power.”
“I’ve heard word of a resistance,” said Tabby. “Only whispers, though.”
“Down here? Like Armitage?”
“I don’t really know if Armitage even did anything,” said Tabby. “He could have been a false flag. Just like the nuclear attack. Something to deflect attention from his true motives.”
“I don’t know what to do,” said Jon. “I don’t want to help him.”
“At this point,” said Tabby. “Does your team even need you?”
“I don’t know,” said Jon. “I still have some know-how that Stone and others don’t.”
“What about the rest of your team?” asked Tabby. “Can you protect them?”
“I can try,” said Jon.
“Then that’s what you do,” said Tabby. “Try and stick around as long as you can. And maybe we can sabotage something, somewhere. I think that’s our best choice. We can’t do anything if we’re dead. Not to mention Tommy. I doubt Shaw would still care about him if you were gone.”
Jon’s heart hurt at the thought. He nodded. “I’ll do my best. But I can’t sandbag. Shaw is watching me like a hawk.”
“Well, he still wants his arm back,” said Tabby. “That hasn’t changed. That arm is as part of his image as anything is, and if the first picture back is him with a new arm? That’s all the news will see.”
“I thought we were saving the world,” said Jon, his head in his hands.
“We’ve never been saving the world,” said Tabby. “We’re working on taking it over.”
21
Jon wasn’t affected by the rats. The mutations bothered him; the failure bothered him, but he didn’t carry a rat’s death home with him. There were too many of them. It would break him if he allowed it.
The chimps were a different story. Failing with them went home with him. He didn’t know when the line was crossed, but seeing the chimpanzees mutate, removing a limb and then watching it grow back into some terrible monstrous thing—it hurt. And the hurt stayed with him, no matter how many animals they destroyed.
But he could rationalize it, even then. It was for the greater good. It was for boys like Tommy, who would never walk again otherwise. Many others, who through no fault of their own, would be disabled for the rest of their lives. Shaw’s monologue about the cost of a chimpanzee life rang true in that. A human life was more precious than a thousand chimps.
But this? This he couldn’t stomach. Just the thought of it made his guts ache, and he felt a migraine growing in his head. His body was telling him to do whatever was necessary to stop this from happening, to take the bullet for the cause.
But Jon knew that wouldn’t matter. If he stepped down, Stone would step into his place. Hell, he already was. Stone was enthusiastic in all the ways that Jon was not. He was happy to draw up plans about how to torture chimps, to inflict trauma on them, and see how they regrew. Jon looked into Stone’s eyes, and he didn’t know what was there. What drove him? Was it sheer fear of Shaw? Was it blind ambition? Was it pleasure from inflicting pain? Jon didn’t know, but in the end it didn’t matter. If Jon was removed, the only change would be less oversight, and less protection for Mel. Tabby was right. He’d have to hold on.
Sherman gave them everything they needed. They had moved into a new lab, twice as large, with a huge experiment area, modular, protected by blast shields. Sherman also sourced them various firing range protections. He also gave them armed guards. Two of them inside, two of them outside. No matter how long they stood there, Jon couldn’t get used to them. They were quiet, and did their job, but Jon kept envisioning them turning their guns on him. One order from Shaw, and it was him in the firing range.
“Jon,” said Stone, raising his voice slightly. It jolted Jon from his thoughts.
“Sorry,” said Jon.
“We need to push the chimps further,” said Stone. “It’s the only way we can progress with live testing on the scale Shaw wants. We need to push everything harder.”
“We still don’t know what the long-term effects are. We just fixed the last chimp, but we don’t know if the changes to it are stable. If it can even withstand further injury, or further trauma? It won’t always have a nutrient bath. What if it gets injured again? It could trigger further mutation—”
“Shaw doesn’t care, Jon, you know that. We need to push it harder.”
“I don’t know how,” said Jon. “They’ll burn up. And live testing means no nutrient bath. We have to both accelerate the healing process and do it without dunking them in concentrated nutrients. That’s the only reason it’s worked so far. If they’re conscious, they will resist everything. They won’t stay in a nutrient bath, and they certainly won’t just let us hurt them, in whatever manner we choose.”